HOW TO WOO THE CHINESE VOTERS? IGNORE THEM.

…AFTER THEY REELED OVER THE RESULTS OF PRU-13 OF 5 MAY, 2013.

By Mansor Puteh

The majority of the Chinese voters distanced themselves from Barisan Nasional because Barisan gave them too much ‘face’.

The mentality of the Chinese especially is such that they are not enamored with offers of assistance that had been given, but those which they still clamor.

So it was not such a surprise that they gave their votes to the opposition, so that they thought by doing so they could get more goodies in the future, since Barisan would be more desperate in wanting them to support them and to get their votes, that they could not get in PRU-13.

So how could Barisan woo the Chinese voters back to support them, to give them their votes in PRU-14, which is expected to be held in four to five years’ time?

Easy: Just ignore them!

Since they had voted the opposition, let the leaders of the opposition serve them and offer them whatever they want and demand.

Barisan should turn away from them and only deal with those who had supported them, especially the Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak and the Indians.

So it was good that the Najib Cabinet II sees more involvement of the Melayu and Bumiputera and Indians.

Especially so when a Hindraf leader, Widyamorthy was elected to be in the cabinet too.

The Najib Cabinet II reflect the real and true Malaysia of today. And it is time for the well-being of the Melayu and Bumiputera and Indians be given priority, since these groups have been coy enough not to made demands in the past that their economic standing had fallen.

The country had given the Chinese too much favors, the more they demand, the more they get.

The trend was started by the British colonial masters who favored the Chinese who they thought were more loyal to them, so they wanted the Chinese to prosper instead of the Melayu who if they are economically empowered, they could create a serious threat to the presence of the British in Tanah Melayu.

So the British wanted the Melayu to remain poor, with the Chinese enjoying the benefits of their repressive regime for so many years.

The Chinese voters in Malaysia thought they had been empowered and could test their limits in the last general elections by voting en masse the DAP, PAS and also PKR.

They did not care if PAS is an Islamic party and PKR is also a Melayu-majority party which tries very hard to fashion itself as a multiracial one.

PKR is like DAP and also Gerakan which also tried to pass themselves as multiracial parties.

How could they be multiracial when everything about them say that they are Chinese-dominated, especially DAP and Gerakan and PKR a Melayu-dominated party.

The Chinese voters especially the younger ones and also the older ones, had been misled by their own miscalculations.

They wanted to try and get rid of Barisan Nasional.

But what happened was something so shocking that many Chinese voters in Malaysia are having nightmares of the backlash that had just happened yesterday, when Barisan listed a new Najib Cabinet II with Melayu and Bumiputera with few Indians and only one or two Chinese.

The composition of the new cabinet truly signifies the new and real Malaysia of today.

However, if the Chinese really want participation in the government of the country, they cannot count on voting the opposition anymore or more exactly DAP, PAS and PKR, whose limits have been exposed by the PRU-13.

The mentality or psychology of the Chinese in Malaysia especially the Chinese with vernacular Mandarin school background, and especially those who did not go up in education dropping out after standard six or form three is peculiar.

And those who protested in Taiwan by carrying the Malaysian flag upside-down are mostly those with such educational backgrounds, they who could not get admission at universities in the west because their command of the English language to be negligible; they thought they are better of studying in Taiwan than in England or America.

They are the Chinese who live amongst themselves and who hardly ever mix with the Melayu and Indians, so their mentality was so shaped that they only see Malaysia and the whole world from such a blinkered vision.

Their counterparts in Singapore, too, are in the same boat as themselves.

But they were all not like that before. In fact, the Chinese who had studied in Taiwan and Singapore and who are now working in Malaysia have distanced themselves from the actions of the brethren in Taiwan, especially.

These Chinese and Taiwan-trained or educated Malaysians have been back in the country so they have confronted the realities. Compared to those who are still there who are aloof to them.

But they can be wooed. How? Only those who know them will know how to woo them.

Umno does not know how too woo the Chinese of this type. They behave differently compared to the Chinese who have ‘sekolah kebangsaan’ background and those who are conversant in English as well as in Melayu.

They are easier to approach and to talk to.

The Chinese who have Mandarin school background and those who live amongst themselves who also do not mix with the Melayu and the others, must be treated differently if Umno and Barisan want to woo them.

The way too woo this group of Chinese who comprise the majority of the Chinese in Malaysia is too ignore them.

They will start to look around and will slowly come forward and show their support to the party that ignores them.

Barisan Nasional lost their votes in the 2013 elections because Umno and Barisan showed too much interest and also ‘too much face’.

This caused them to react and negatively, so in the end, the results have spoken for themselves when the Chinese voters voted en masse against Umno and Barisan.

Giving them too much also can cause them to be less enamored to Umno and Barisan, as they will feel that it is still inadequate; they will in the end not feel grateful.

This is the nature of the Chinese who do not know how to feel grateful and to say ‘thank you’ or ‘si si ni’ or ‘kamsiah lu’.

The more Umno gives, the more they want.

This group of Chinese who do not have much of an education and who do not know much Melayu to be able to communicate with people of the other races, know that it is the responsibility of the government to provide them.

And who says the Chinese voters were influenced by the social media? They do not even know how to use the cell phones properly and hardly communicate using it.

They only make their decisions based on racial sentiments. 

BARISAN NASIONAL AND ESPECIALLY MCA AND GERAKAN DO THE DONKEY WORK FOR THE CHINESE ESPECIALLY, WHILE THEY GIVE THEIR VOTES TO DAP AND PAKATAN.

…BARISAN AND THE MCA AND GERAKAN SHOULD STOP SERVING THE INTERESTS OF PAKATAN RAKYAT IN THE CONSTITUENCIES PAKATAN HAD WON IN THE ELECTIONS. …AND IT IS GOOD FOR MCA AND GERAKAN TO CLOSE THEIR SERVICE CENTERS.

By Mansor Puteh

Why must the MCA and Gerakan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional do all the donkey work for the Chinese community while they conveniently vote for the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat?

And what have the DAP, PAS and PKR done to the areas they had won in 2008 and can do to those that they have won in 2013? Nothing.

MCA and Gerakan were nice in telling the Chinese that their parties would continue to serve them even if their candidates were not voted by them.

But the Chinese voters took it differently and still voted the opposition which has never said they would serve the Chinese communities other than to seek the votes from them.

They did not ask themselves what Tian Chua had done in Batu; what Kit Siang had done in Ipoh Utara; what Karpal, and what his son, Gobind, Teresa Kok had done in Seputeh and Nuru Izzah in Lembah Pantai in their areas?

And for that matter; what Hadi Awang, Azmin Ali, Mahfuz and the others in DAP, PAS and PKR done in their areas that they can be proud to tell everybody what they are in the forms of video productions and brochures?

Maybe the voters in their areas did not want them to do anything as most of the things would be done by Barisan anyway; and all they wanted were people who could continue to hog the limelight promoting their parties, no matter what as there is no such thing as negative publicity to them.

And may be the mainstream media ought to consider also not to promote them, as it benefits them more than ever, getting free publicity along the way, which in turn encourages them to come up with more outrageous things.

And the organizers of Bersih 2.0, etc. knew the flaws of the media and they would organize more of the gatherings knowing that they could get wide coverage for them, and not getting the full brunt of the law.

The Chinese leaders of MCA and Gerakan must be brave and tell the Chinese that their parties could not do much if the Chinese do not give their votes to them, and if they still choose DAP, PAS and PKR, they have no choice but to turn to these opposition parties if they need any help.

That being ‘moderate Chinese’ do not tally with the Chinese who would prefer their leaders to be firebrand and who would harp on racial issues.

This is despite the fact that it was the MCA and Gerakan which had caused the Barisan government to acquiesce to some of the demands of the more radical and chauvinist Chinese groups, yet, the Chinese voters do not seem to be aware of it thinking that it happened because of the insistence of the Chinese opposition parties.

PAS and PKR have never been known to have done anything to the Chinese communities; yet, they still got the votes from the Chinese. 

This is the sad truth that the Chinese voters ought to remember, that voting for someone means they have faith in him, and if the person is voted in, then surely it is his responsibility to live with the community to know what their grievances are and to solve them, if they can.

The Pakatan Rakyat members of parliament and state assemblymen do not seem to do anything; all they need is to get the voters to support them, and if they win, by whatever means, including deceiving the voters, they can then sit back to relax and campaign through the whole of the five years’ term before running again in the next elections.

In the meantime, it is the Barisan members and state as well as federal government elected and non-elected representatives who are serving all the constituencies, with the MCA also having their service centers for everybody to come to them for assistance.

All this while the voters thought they could vote for Pakatan and when they win, they do not have to go to the Pakatan members of parliament or state assemblymen, but to the Barisan ones, including those who have lost, to seek help and whatever assistance they needed.

Because they knew only Barisan representatives are the ones who can help them out especially in their hour of desperate need.

So it is also a shock to see Ali Rustam losing in the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat in Melaka, when he had served the people of Melaka well, regardless of the races, with a lot of development everywhere, including the Portuguese Settlement.

The reason why the voters, especially the Chinese in Melaka and also the Melayu ones had chosen to vote for Pakatan is because they could still depend on Barisan to do the bidding for them post-elections.

They know they could not depend on any of the Pakatan representatives in Melaka and all over the country, the tasks of which are all taken by the Barisan elected or non-elected representatives.

All through the years, we see MCA and Gerakan elected and non-elected representatives doing their level best to serve all, irregardless of who they support, either Barisan or Pakatan.

But come elections time, the majority of the Chinese and some Melayu voters turned their backs on them.

Michael Chong of the MCA complaints bureau must insist on asking who those who come to his office to seek assistance, if they are supporters of Pakatan or Barisan, since if they do not support Barisan, why then should they now bother to come to his office.

Michael should ask them to go to the DAP, PKR or PAS complaints bureau or service centers.

And why must Barisan continue to provide services to those areas which have fallen to Pakatan?

If this happens, then there is no need for the Pakatan representatives to serve them, as the duty has now been taken over by Barisan, who despite losing in some of the parliamentary and state areas are serving the local communities well.

In the end, it is Barisan who are helping to serve Pakatan, while the elected and non-elected representatives of DAP, PAS and PKR in the respective areas do not do anything; so they are able to continue campaigning and giving ‘ceramah’ all over the country, almost every other night.

Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in Johor has fallen to DAP head honcho Lim Kit Siang, who beat former ‘menteri besar’ of Johor, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

So now let Kit Siang serve the constituents of Gelang Patah and see what sort of development he can create in this area, so those who had voted him to parliament in this area can see how good he is.

Barisan should ignore this area and let DAP and Pakatan prove their mettle, and allow those who had given them a victory in this area judge for themselves if DAP and Pakatan are good for them now and also in the future, so they can decide if they still want to retain Kit Siang as their member of parliament.

If Barisan continues to serve the people of Gelang Patah, then Kit Siang will have it easy. His party and coalition will also get a free ride on the backs of Barisan, so that the Pakatan leaders can go around the country to campaign and also not spend a single day staying in the area they now control.

This is what had happened in the last general elections when many MCA and Gerakan candidates lost, because the voters knew even if MCA and Gerakan lost, they still could count on them to help out, without ever depending on the DAP, PAS or PKR leaders especially those who had won in the elections.

One can also ask what did Kit Siang do to the constituency where he had won which is Ipoh Utara in Perak and also Karpal Singah and the others in DAP, PAS and PKR, in the areas they won in the previous general elections of 2008 that the voters there found to be impressive enough to want to continue to support their parties in 2013?

Chances are they have not done much; otherwise, they would not have the time to go all over the country giving political speeches and also being embroiled in national politics and other pseudo-political undertakings all through the last five years till they won again in the 2013 elections.

If they had all done wonderful things to their previous constituencies, then surely, they would have published special brochures and even videos to show to the voters. But unfortunately, they have neglected to do even this.

So in the end, the main reason why they had won again in 2013 is because Barisan had spoilt them by serving the constituencies that they have won, and the voters there knew they could still vote the opposition, because in the end, it will be Barisan who will come to their every aid and assistance, post-general elections.

Those who vote the opposition know they can still get one of their leaders in parliament or the state assemblies, to create ruckus in them, while getting all the assistance from Barisan. 

DAP, PAS AND PKR’S STRANGE BEGINNINGS AND WEIRD HISTORY AND STRUGGLES.

…AND THE HISTORY OF UMNO AND BARISAN NASIONAL.

By Mansor Puteh

If the DAP, PAS and PKR are excellent political parties, with a long history, how come they are not able to get someone to work on his doctorate thesis on any of these parties especially of DAP and PAS which have been around for too long, compared to PKR, which is a greenhorn in Malaysian politics?

In fact, there is no serious work on the history and struggles of any of these parties that have been written by local as well as international historians and scholars.

Compared to Umno and even MCA and MIC which have many books written about it and its leaders.

There are even memorials constructed for the top leaders of Umno, MCA and MIC.

Yet, DAP and PAS do not see it fit to establish even one memorial for its founders.

Are they afraid that such memorials will cause their leaders and parties to be scrutinized by sober scholars?

The United Malay National Organization or Umno was formed with a noble intention, which was for the country to wrest independence from Britain. And their leaders who cooperated with the other two major racial-based political parties, the Malayan-Chinese Association (MCA) and Malayan-Indian Congress (MIC).

So no wonder each of the three parties has their leaders acclaimed as national heroes of independence. It is a fact which could not be erased.

The only thing that they could do and had erased were the names of many of the roads bearing the names of former British colonialists who had earlier governed the country, so now instead of Mountbatten Road and Campbell Road, and so on, we have Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan Maharajalela instead.

But the DAP or Democratic Action Party, earlier and sometimes known as Parti Tindakan Demokrat is an offshoot of the Parti Tindakan Rakyat or People’s Action Party (PAP) based in Singapore, has a strange and weird history.

It was formed under unusual circumstances; it was to ensure that Umno and the two other coalition parties, MCA and MIC failed and were rejected by the voters and people.

This is certainly not a noble intention, especially since Umno, MCA and MIC were the parties that had evicted the British out of the country so the country could become independent.

And there is no point for DAP, PAS and now PKR to want to evict those parties, especially when its leaders could not fit into the Umno, MCA and MIC molds to change them from within.

They are insistent that they offer a better choice for many or most Malaysians, using the legitimate and legal political platforms and mostly the pseudo-political and psychological platforms that they can create.

The DAP is championing for the Chinese to claim more rights than they deserve, while PAS claims to be more Islamic while PKR insists that Anwar should be the next prime minister, through street protests and sometimes at the polls, if these have proven to be ineffective.

DAP which claims to be multiracial and agreeing with the ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ slogan in the end only champion the cause of the Chinese. So they should rephrase their slogan to ‘Chinese Malaysian’ instead, and be fair and truthful to everybody.

None of their leaders have stood out to champion the cause of the Melayu and Indians and of Islam, only the Chinese.

They want the government to give more land and money for the Chinese schools. But they have never demanded the government to continue to develop the other schools, such as the ‘sekolah kebangsaan’ and ‘sekolah Tamil’ including Native Sarawak and Sabah education.

However, one thing for sure is that even if they are able to do that, they can never be allowed by anyone to replace the names of road bearing the names of the early freedom-fighters of Malaya or Tanah Melayu and those related with it, such as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan H. S. Lee, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kampung Tunku, Putrajaya, Jalan Tun Razak and so on, replaced by names such as Jalan Lim Kit Siang, Jalan Anwar Ibrahim, or Bandar Nik Aziz and so on.

One of the founders of PAP is Lee Kuan Yew, who chose the slogan of ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ when the state was part of the Federation of Malaysia, when it was established on 16 September, 1963, which by sheer coincidence happens to be Kuan Yew’s birthday, a fact which is not generally mentioned or wondered.

When Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1966, Kuan Yew could not shout ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ anymore now that he had to create Singapore into a country from a state.

However, with Singapore in his tight grip, he did not bother to create a new slogan to shout, which is: ‘Singaporean Singapore’.

I am sure if one were to do that, one would definitely sound quite strange if not odd.

Malaysian Malaysia has a ring to it and it sound eerie, whereas Singaporean Singapore quite ridiculous.

And DAP of Malaysia, which is a direct off-shoot of PAP, thought they could carry on and try to shout the slogan of Malaysian Malaysia, but over the years, they sounded coarse, so much so that their leaders especially Lim Kit Siang had to put the slogan aside.

Unfortunately, without the slogan DAP cannot claim to have any real political struggle in Malaysian politics of today, as the real and only mission of the DAP was to create Malaysian Malaysia.

But what they do not know is we already have Malaysian Malaysia. Malaysia cannot be for foreigners like American Malaysia or British Malaysia, and so on.

So it was such a ridiculous slogan and I did not know why Kuan Yew had to bother creating it in the first place. He would have been appreciated better if he had coined the slogan of Singaporean Malaysia like Melakan Malaysia or Johorean Malaysia and so on to indicate that a person from the different states in the Federation, yet, a citizen of the country.

One could also be described as a Nesbraskan American or Bostonian American and so on, and it still makes sense.

But Malaysian Malaysia simply does not make any sense at all. And it is not politics, but simple English.

Yet, the DAP now wants to pursue an agenda which is to displace Umno and Barisan Nasional, as their only goal.

The history of Parti Islam SeMalaysia or the Islamic Party of Malaysia or PAS in short, on the other hand has another strange history.

First of all they were created by accident, when a small group of Melayu ulama thought they were more Islamic than those in Umno, the United Malay National Organization.

So till today they do battle with Umno who they have charged to be ‘infidels’ or ‘kafir’ again and again like it is their mantra.

Unfortunately, what PAS has failed to accept the fact is how they could easily settle this dispute without ever dragging it into the political arena where many Melayu and Muslims have become collateral damage and victims.

PAS must insist that a national referendum be held for the Melayu and Muslims to decide if they prefer Umno or PAS, and if Umno loses, their members and leaders have to become members of PAS.

Or if PAS loses, their members and leaders must join Umno.

And in the end the One Melayu Party can decide who will be their new line of leaders.

In this way, the dispute on terminology and religious acceptance can be settled outside of the political arena.

But PAS is not about to propose such an idea. The reason being, they know they can’t get the full support of the Melayu throughout the country.

They can only capture the hearts and loyalty and imagination of a small group of like-minded Melayu and Muslims to join them, so that with the collusion of DAP and now PKR, they can form a formidable political force and be Umno Party and Barisan spoilers.

PKR or Parti KeAdilan Rakyat on the other hand has an even more weird history.

No doubt that it is an off-shoot of Umno and Barisan Nasional. It could very well be a wing of Umno and by default of Barisan, too, if Umno and Barisan had allowed for such a wing to be created from amongst those who did not see eye to eye with the party and coalition anymore.

And their only political agenda however, is quite obvious and well-known, which is for Anwar Ibrahim to become prime minister of the country, no matter how that such a thing can be done or happen.

His desire to become prime minister stems from the fact that he was a former deputy prime minister, therefore, he thought it was his right to rise a step further and succeed Dr. Mahathir Mohammad as prime minister.

But what Anwar did not seem to realize or did not want to realize is that the post of the deputy prime minister was not an elected one, but one which was not even mentioned in the Constitution of the country.

It is the prerogrative of the prime minister to appoint his deputy and if he chooses, he can also sack him.

And sack, he did. Malaysia had seen how Mahathir had Musa Hitam sacked as his deputy. Next came Anwar.

Yet, Musa did not complaint. Only Anwar did.

When Ghafar Baba was chosen to succeed Musa as deputy prime minister, it was the same Anwar who had complotted to get rid of him. Ghafar had to accept it as a fact of life.

But Anwar could not accept it as another fact of life when it was time for him to be sacked by Mahathir who had all the authority to do that.

So Anwar took the matter to the courts and lost.

But his personal dilemma did not end there. He still wanted to pursue it in the streets at the same time as in politics.

The general elections held every five years prove to be the only recourse that he has to bid for the prime ministership of the country.

He thought he came close to getting to Putrajaya, but somehow the road he had to take was diverted to Sungai Buloh where he got stuck there for six years.

Malaysia has not had anyone who had been in prison who later became prime minister. Maybe Anwar could be the first.

But the sad tale of this essay is how the history of DAP, PAS and PKR can be said to be so weird more so when one sees how the three of them could not trust each other when they did not dare to officially register their coalition Pakatan Rakyat in order that they contest in any election under this banner.

MAHATHIR, NIZ AZIZ, HADI AWANG KIT SIANG, KARPAL, ETC. OVERSTAYING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PARTIES AS PRESIDENTS AND ALSO AS PRIME MINISTER MAY BE THE ROOT CAUSE OF CONFUSION AND DISSENT IN THE MALAYSIA TODAY. – PART II.

By Mansor Puteh

Mahathir surely do not have talent to spot talent; he thought he was getting someone interesting and promising in the person of Anwar, who became deputy minister upon his entry into the Umno fold and quickly rose to become deputy prime minister under him, which allowed Anwar to create for himself a new Malaysian political dynasty.

And by sacking Anwar as deputy prime minister and Umno/Barisan, Mahathir thought he had had the last of Anwar, who he also assumed would be left limp with nowhere to go to.

But the opposite happened.

‘Reformasi’ was established in 1998 with more Umno and Barisan officers or leaders joining him, which ultimately caused the formation of Parti KeAdilan Rakyat or PKR and later Pakatan Rakyat, the loose coalition of opposition parties.  

The founders of ‘Reformasi’ got the idea from the other Umno members and officers who had left the party when it was disbanded by the courts to form ‘Parti Semangat 46’ which later ran against Umno Baru.

So it is not wrong for anyone to say it was Mahathir who had helped to create PKR and also Pakatan Rakyat, and the new generation of nemeses of Umno and Barisan that we have now. 

All this should not have happen if Mahathir had resigned as prime minister in 1991 or few years later, if he truly loved Umno and Barisan and not only to want to serve his personal interests. 

Because Mahathir had stayed on too long, the others in the Umno and Barisan Nasional hierarchy became confused and disillusioned; and they too thought they ought to follow in his steps by overstaying their welcome.

His deputy then, Musa Hitam should have been allowed to take over from him, so that the history of Umno and Barisan would be different with the flow of new blood into the party and coalition and dissent within Umno especially would also have been thwarted.

It now seemed that the only way for Mahathir to cling onto power to remain as prime minister was to replace his deputy in the cabinet as well as in Umno itself so in the end he had four different persons acting as the deputy Prime Minister – Musa Hitam, Ghafar Baba, Anwar Ibrahim and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who in the end managed to succeed him, but only for as long as he wished, before Abdullah himself was compelled or forced to resign.    

Maybe Mahathir feared if Musa had succeeded him as prime minister, Musa would become a better prime minister than he had been, and Mahathir would be treated the same way he had treated his predecessor, Hussein Onn and also Tunku Abdul Rahman who both left Umno to join or support Parti Semangat 46, who support saw the Johor Baru parliamentary seat going to it.

So no one know how Musa would have fared as prime minister, and how the course of the history of Umno, Barisan and the whole could would be henceforth till now, as does the existence of DAP, PAS and the other parties in Barisan, and if Musa would have caused the end of Anwar’s political career early in his personal and political life so that he did not have the energy, ground support or cunning to try to chart his comeback like what he has been since he was sacked by Mahathir in 1998.

Worse, those who were expelled from Umno and also Barisan still harbored intentions of staying on in politics in Malaysia, even if they do it on the other side.

So no one can blame those who are now in Parti KeAdikan Rakyat (PKR) and Pakatan Rakyat for doing what they are doing; they are those who do not have principles of attacking the very party and coalition which had given them everything they had, which they had benefited very much from, including getting their pensions and other fiduciary interests, including their spouses and children who are now vociferous critics of Umno and Barisan.

They knew they had not had enough, so they insist on staying on and test their luck with each general elections.

Some of them were lucky in 2008 when they won their seats in parliament and the state assemblies.

And most, if not all of them were once in Umno and Barisan, who would have all gone up the Umno and Barisan hierarchy if not for Mahathir blocking their way there.

Anwar Ibrahim would have succeeded Mahathir after becoming his deputy and chances are Anwar would be as critical of the Chinese and Chinese or vernacular education as he was before.

His favorite punching bag or bags today would be Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) and the Democratic Action Party (Dap), who now form the two of the three major components in Pakatan Rakyat.

And surely, those who are in the Najib Tun Razak cabinet today would not be where they are now, with Najib and his deputy Mahyuddin Yassin and also Najib’s cousin, Hishamuddin Hussein Onn becoming chairmen of some GLCs or retired politicians.

Mahathir’s eldest son, Mokhzani, too would not be in the list of the most wealthy Malaysians today as does his other son, Mukhriz who definitely cannot find himself in the Anwar cabinet.

And Nizar Tun Razak might not have taken control of CIMB Bank, formerly Bank Bumiputera.

But at the same time, by Mahathir not resigning earlier, he might in fact have stopped Mokhzani from becoming the wealthiest Malaysian in the country and all of his children and those of Tun Razak, too, from becoming international personalities and who could become more successful today simply because they did not want anyone in the country and the whole world to think that their success was all due to their parents’ influence in the government and not of their own personal achievement.

So we can also feel sorry for Mokhzani and his brothers and sisters and those of Nizar’s for not being able to fully realize their potential.

And for that matter, all of Lim Kit Siang’s, Karpal Singh’s, Nik Aziz’s and Hadi Awang’s and the other old-timers in DAP, PAS or even Gerakan, MCA, MIC and the others in Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat today, would be more successful than they are now and they could even be more important than their own fathers were, if they had resigned along with Mahathir.

And Malaysia would be a much peaceful country today, with PAS, DAP and the Chinese, Indian and also the Malay chauvinist groups not being able to do much.

Most likely Anwar, too would have resigned by now having been prime minister for more than ten years, leaving behind an image of him which is positive and his reputation intact internationally.

One can see him playing the roles like what Musa Hitam is doing now.

Chances are, too, that he would not have found his ‘lookalike’ taking advantage of him by acting in videos that are often posted in YouTube.

However, Mahathir today would not be like what he is now, an international statesman, which some stature but no real influence today; he would be much like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Hussein Onn and also Abdullah Badawi, as former prime ministers, although it would seem highly unlikely Abdullah would be deputy prime minister and prime minister, but a mere former minister and later perhaps chairman of another GLC of his own choice.

Maybe Mahathir knew if he had not overstayed his stay as prime minister and left the office ten years after assuming the post, he would not have such an interesting career in politics, as most of what he had done were done after the first decade of his premiership, when his own children had all grown up having left university, although none of them had excelled in their studies.

So in other words, Mahathir’s refusing to relinquish the post of prime minister in 1991 or 1996 was good for the chauvinists in the country who now can demand whatever they want because the Melayu are now fractured into many parts and each of the part seems to be interested to pacify non-Melayu dissent by giving whatever they want, more schools and land and money, especially to those who are not well educated who dropped out of their vernacular schools early in their lives.

And Anwar, too, would now be a former prime minister, after assuming office in 1991 and leaving it in 2001, if the two of them had agreed to stay on the job for two terms of ten years each.

It is long enough for each of them to live an imprint in the history and development of the country.

What more would they want to do?

And the two of them would not be sitting on the opposite sides of the fence, but at the same place, serving Islam, Melayu and the Federation of Malaysia or the Melayu and Islamic Kingdom of Malaysia.

In the end, we can also say Malaysia has been hijacked by two persons, who used to be together in the same party and coalition – Mahathir and Anwar, but who now find themselves in opposite positions.

The ‘Mahathir and Anwar Episode’ of the country has dragged on for too long now; when will it end?

MAHATHIR, NIZ AZIZ, HADI AWANG KIT SIANG, KARPAL, ETC. OVERSTAYING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PARTIES AS PRESIDENTS AND ALSO AS PRIME MINISTER MAY BE THE ROOT CAUSE OF CONFUSION AND DISSENT IN THE MALAYSIA TODAY. – PART I.

…CREATING THE UNLIKELY ADVERSARIES AND NEMESES FOR UMNO/BARISAN NASIONAL AND PAKATAN RAKYAT AND TURNING THE COUNTRY UPSIDE DOWN, ALL FOR NOTHING.

By Mansor Puteh

An interesting aspect concerning Mahathir Mohammad’s refusal to relinquish his post as Prime Minister earlier can be seen in how he had not allowed his own children and the many others from succeeding more than they are able to do today. Pity them!

They cannot excel more than what they have done, simply because they did not want to be seen to be too successful with can cause many in the country and elsewhere to think they are what and who they are simply because of the influence of their father. This is not true!  

Better still if all the senior leaders of DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MC, MIC and the other parties had resigned, so their children could become more successful than they are, too, on their own, without anyone charging them for practicing cronyism and nepotism.

It could also allow the political parties to function more like political parties instead of private limited companies, with the politicians staying put and become professional politicians and also media clowns and media pigs, too, whose skin has become so thick that threats of hundred million-ringgit law suits, as much as exposition of videos showing them in incriminating situations do not threaten them anymore.

This is also the main reason why the senior leaders in the opposition are hogging traffic because their children could overshadow them, standing on their own merit, without them being too embolden to them and if they finally succeed, their parents could claim credit for putting them where they are.

These political leaders do not seem to agree with the adage that the children should excel in education and their chosen profession than them, like the rubber tappers who are happy to see at least one of their children to go to university in the country or better still abroad.

In Malaysian politics, this may not be the case, as the politicians do not want any of their children to overshadow them, thus obliterating their legacy they want to promote.

Look what is happening to Samy Vellu after he left MIC, and imagine what will happen to Kit Siang, Karpal, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang and the others in DAP and PAS, if they had resigned few years ago.

For one, DAP and PAS would be a faint reflection of themselves today; and this is what the old guards fear most. They do not fear Umno or Barisan, but their own parties and their own children who they did not think could allow their parties to be as they are today, if not ‘worse’.  

And PKR too would be in total disarray once Anwar and family leave it. Who could take it away from them? This party is basically a PKR sdn bhd which can only survive as long as it has a ‘memorandum of misunderstanding’ with DAP and PAS.

It is also not helpful if some people in Umno or Barisan who have problems with their party, who were forced to leave it and join the opposition, so their life in politics is unnecessarily lengthened or prolonged, and with each of them, they carry the feeling of intense hatred of the very party that had brought them to the fore in national politics, and in the process also create some new and unusual intrigues which could not have been created if they were not forced out of their party in the first place. 

If Mahathir had resigned as Prime Minister ten or even fifteen years after his first appointment in 1981, surely, things would not be as it is today in Malaysia.

For one, Malaysia could achieve twenty percent economic growth instead of a mere five percent that the government is proud to say today and more Malaysians could have become international personalities and leaders in many industries who can enhance the image of the country without there having any need for the country to have the so-called ministry of tourism which costs a lot to keep and sustain; yet, Malaysia is still relatively unknown in the world.   

Those who are now on the Left, would still be on the Right, with dissent and opposition politics reduced to a mere aberration or footnote or more exactly as street standup comedians that they are with the police being put to better use and the Lahad Datu incident might not have occurred as a result of that who had to spend a lot of time and energy to keep Dataran Merdeka free as opposed to Lahad Datu from being infiltrated by the Sulu soldiers of misfortune.    

Malaysians have a lot more to agree than to disagree. Those who now disagree with the government are those who could be allowed to agree simply because their voices and views were not taken seriously as Malaysia was then under the control of just one person, who had overstayed, and who could not move on as there was nowhere else that he could go to.

Better qualified Malaysians have no access to public space in the media and the streets, so much so that those who think they are better educated and trained could seize the opportunity to trust themselves by creating their own NGOs and other organizations and associations and claiming the right to be heard and to also hurt.

Meanwhile, the best scholars in all fields that we have in the country were cowed into silence simply because they would not dare to speak too loud as they were all trained to be polite and to present their views in a proper manner.

Those who did not have proper academic experience and education didn’t care about manners especially when they are in public or before the media; they think the more they can scream diatribes, the more enhanced their stature is in the eyes of the public and the media, too, who prefer these men and women over the better educated ones.

In the end, Mahathir ended up having to hog on the political traffic and caused many behind him to fall onto each other, with some almost touching his feet and pulling him down with them.

No one can doubt that most of the most severe critics and nemeses of Umno and Barisan Nasional that we have today are those who were originally from the party and coalition; so they were all the creation of Umno and Barisan, nay, of Mahathir personally.  

They were pushed to go to the other side, as there was no where else that they could go to, including being forced to embrace the very persons whom they had earlier on severely criticized and demonized, especially those in the DAP and PAS.

And maybe if all the senior leaders of DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MCA and MIC, and the others in Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat had resigned together with Mahathir, their children too might become more important to their parties today, so much so that Parti KeAdilan Rakyat (PKR) did not have to be created to bind the two major opposition coalition known as Pakatan Rakyat that we know today.

It could also be due to Mahathir’s mistake for trusting Anwar Ibrahim by taking him from Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim), where he could do much other than to make noises.

Abim today is almost dead; it’s only noticeable achievement is the election of Anwar as one of its presidents.

So if Mahathir had left Anwar as president of Abim, chances are over the years he would have grown tired and whither with the association to be what it is today.

So one can say Mahathir had created a ‘monster’ for him, his party and coalition to have to deal with which have all created unnecessary dissent.

WHERE DOES THE MALAYSIAN LEFT COME FROM?

…AND HOW IT CAN BE SHATTERED AND BROKEN AND STOP CREATING NEW LEFTISTS OF THE FUTURE.

By Mansor Puteh.

Where did the Malaysian Left come from? They cannot come from anywhere. They are everywhere, but mostly from the Malaysian Right.

Some of them are from the Chinese villages and other tight-knit Chinese and Indian communities that were created by the British colonialists who brought them to the country in the first place, who also took with them their peculiar ideals that they could not shake off despite having been here for a few generations.

They are unlike their brethren in America and England, for instance, who had no choice but to do that, since their numbers there are small.

Even Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar cannot tolerate chauvinisms that were imported from China and India.

In fact, these countries do not allow them to speak in their own languages or to have their vernacular names.

And because their adopted counties were insistent, the Chinese and Indians could not do much, but to comply. They are not given an inch of land or a single cent to build any house of worship or school that teaches in their mother tongue.

In fact, there are also no political parties established to promote the well-being of their own community.

And where did the United Malay National Organization or Umno, Malaysian-Chinese Association or MCA and Malaysian-Indian Congress or MIC come from?

They came from the desire of Malaysians or Malayans then, to aspire for independence for the country known then as Tanah Melayu.

And where did the Democratic Action Party or DAP, Parti Islam SeMalaysia or PAS and Parti KeAdilan Rakyat or PKR come from?

These two opposition parties came from the need for them to criticize Umno, MCA and MIC; they were not created because of any higher ideals.

The history of the DAP especially is unique in that it is an offshoot from the Parti Tindakan Rakyat or People’s Action Party or PAP based then in Singapore.

PAS arose from a group of disgruntled Melayu who felt that they were better off being ‘more Islamic’ than those in Umno.

While the history of PKR is even more unique in that it was formed not because of any real political ideals, but because of frustration of a few who were sacked from Umno and Barisan Nasional, and especially its founder, Anwar Ibrahim who was deputy prime minister and was sacked by prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed.

In the end, Pakatan Rakyat, the loose coalition of parties comprising of the DAP, PAS and PKR had to gang up simply because they desired to become a bigger voice to condemn Umno and Barisan.

They are not there to become the real opposition parties of Malaysia.

And because of their incessant promotion of their different ideals, they are able to attract some people of like minds to join them, as staunch supporters and also leaders at the divisional and national levels. 

Malaysia does not enjoy and cannot enjoy a two-party political system. And Malaysian cannot create its own opposition, other than critics of the government that many Malaysians continue to see as the government that had freed itself from British colonialism.  

Malaysia could have a one-party system if the right systems are put in place, which discount whatever leftist leaning that some people may have, which in the process creates what is termed as The Malaysian Left.

This cannot be done even if the Right creates its on Left wing, who may be termed to be the internal critics of the Right.

There is a hodge-podge of people who prefer to go to the Left, when the Right offers them everything.

What seems to be the reason why there are such Left-leaning individuals in Malaysia today?

Who are they? Where do they come from? Why they prefer to be on the Left, considering how many of them were indeed from the Right at one time?

Malaysian Political Left, may not necessary be a political issue, but a psychological one.

But where are the psychologists in Malaysia who can say this?

It is also a sociological issue.

But where are the sociologists who can say this too?

There are none of them, so in the end, all political matters are seen through the very eyes of the same politics whose problems the country embraces as its own.

So now the Malaysian Right and Malaysian Left have become entrenched.

Can the Malaysian Left be broken?

They can be broken by demography. They can also be shattered by psychology. And they ca also be broken into pieces by sociology, although they may not be so by cultural and linguistic or religious means.

Malaysian Left was indeed created by the flaws of the Malaysian Right, which also created the Middle Malaysia or Fence-sitters who do not know which way they want to go, to the Right or to the Left.

They represent a sizeable group of people who think they know better so they are willing to wait till polling day before they decide if they want to side with the Right or the Left.

But the sad truth is that the Malaysian Left comprises mostly of those who were from the Right, who had fallen favor with it so they made their way to the Left by embracing the very people who they conveniently criticized before.

Now they praise them for exactly the opposite reasons why they did not like them before.

Some political analysts in Malaysia say that those who go to the Left are mostly those who are frustrated and angry.

Yet, what these political analysts do not seem to know or realize that the Malaysian Left are people who grew up in enclosed environments.

Their parents were on the Left, so they joined them to continue on with their trek.

Of course, in Malaysia, there are ways to destabilize the Malaysian Left, that can happen by natural and also unnatural means, which if can happen will help to create a better environment where people of diverse racial backgrounds can support each other better to develop the industries so that the immigrant populations do not continue to think they are alien to the land that cause them to be self-marginalized and living in a self-apartheid environment for ever. 

‘ANWAR SUDAH SAMPAI… (ANWAR HAS ARRIVED…)’, SAYS PROFESSOR WILLIAM ROFF.

By Mansor Puteh

I happened to be visiting Ghazali Basri at his rented apartment near the Columbia University in New York City campus sometime in the summer of 1981.

(American President Barack Obama had just enrolled at the university a few months earlier to work on his bachelor’s degree.) 

But he was not around, so I sat with his wife, Noriah, when the phone in the apartment rang, so I answered it. It was William Roff, who was then teaching at the same university, who said, ‘Anwar sudah sampai’ and breaking into English. He thought I was Ghazali.

I then found out that it was the Anwar Ibrahim, then president of Abim or Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia had arrived at Kennedy Airport in Queens, and he would be meeting some students of Columbia, before going off to go to another university where he had been invited to speak to the students in a Malaysian students convention.

But I declined to attend the gathering with Anwar, as he was just a mere president of Abim.

I do not know how many Malaysian students of Columbia and from the other universities in New York City met Anwar. There must be so few from Columbia as the Malaysian student population at this university was so small.

So that was why I wanted to study at this university because of that, which also meant that the university is good, compared to the other universities in America which had more than one thousand students, which only meant that they were the non-competitive universities.

I proved to be a better judge of character when I declined or refused to meet the then president of Abim who had a reputation of some sort, which many others thought was interesting, being a firebrand person.

Compared to the many others who trusted Anwar fully by supporting him until they were willing to become accomplices to some of his unmentionable social and personal deeds, and who would later turn around to condemn him.

Blame should also be on Dr Mahathir for not seeing through him, for bringing him to the fore, from being the mere president of Abim to get into his cabinet and coterie of trusted individuals, who would later found to be undesirable to Mahathir.

Alas it was too late. It’s the case of ‘nasi sudah jadi bubur!’ (‘Rice that has become porridge!’).

Unfortunately, the porridge has become stale and now poisonous.

But as a student of Columbia and majoring in film directing, I could see beyond and above all that artificial veneer of authority; I was not awed by his stature as the mere president of Abim or fell for his early speeches, which many could say and in better ways without being crass and convoluted.

Dr Mahathir and Anwar could become the best and worst of what Universiti Malaya had managed to create, a university that has not been known to have created internationally acclaimed intellectuals but local heroes who could achieve some measure of international repute by virtue of them having held official posts in the government mostly, but not on their own personal achievements or merit.

Even today, one can hardly ever to out of the country and show his degree from Universiti Malaya and get the others to stand up to pay obedience to him.  

What is the president of Abim anyway? And I had no idea why was the association give too much credence by the Malaysian public?

It was definitely an odd association of Muslim youths, with no real philosophy or direction and who were their members?

Even now one wonders what Abim is all about, if it still exists, and what it has done for the Muslim Youths of Malaysia.

The only other Malaysian personality who came to New York City, who I agreed to attend the gathering he had with the students, was Musa Hitam, who was then deputy prime minister of Malaysia, and who was in the city on an official visit.

The gathering with Musa was held at the Malaysian Consulate in New York City.

Musa asked for all the students in the room to introduce himself or herself, one of who was his niece, Aloyah who was sitting beside me at the end of the long table.

I knew what Musa was aiming at, by asking for our names; he wanted to know if I was Chinese or Melayu.

When I mentioned my name in full, he was relieved to learn that I am Melayu after all, so the short speech he gave had more Melayu bent, giving the students – Melayu students – some friendly and fatherly pep-talk, which could be useful.

After the meeting, we had some lunch, and Musa was kind enough to offer me a plate after he saw that I was on two crutches, which I had to walk on after the surgeries on my left knee I just had had at the St. Luke’s Hospital and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

I did not ask any of my friends or Ghazali what Anwar had said in the gathering they had had with him, as we were all caught up in our own personal affairs afterwards to be bothered with Anwar or the meeting. This could also mean that the meeting was just a meeting with no substance. 

One of the Columbia students who was working on his doctorate was Wan Manan. He also attended the gathering and came to know Anwar.

However, when he returned to Kuala Lumpur for a holiday, he met Anwar at the Abim office as a courtesy, but was given the cold shoulders.

I also did not speak with William Roff who had come to Malaysia in the 1960s or 1970s to work on his doctorate thesis, where he managed to learn a bit of Bahasa Melayu, where he also met Anwar who could be one of his respondents for his research, and became close to him.

I recently communicated with Roff again, after so long, and found that he had long retired from teaching at Columbia and am now living with his daughter somewhere in Edinburgh, Scotland, aged about eighty years old.

Ghazali would in later years joined and support Anwar after Anwar was expelled from the Mahathir Cabinet in 1998. together with him, there were those in Abim and the Cabinet and other individuals in Umno and also Barisan Nasional who pitied and sympathized with Anwar, and enough to also be willing to suffer being incarcerated during the ‘Reformasi’ year.

Ghazali and the others who joined the Anwar bandwagon would later run in the 1999 general elections, but many of them lost.

Yet, not long later, most of them left Anwar to become his severest critics; with many of whom are people of standing in academia and also the industry.

There were many people some who have impressive academic backgrounds and were also lawyers of some repute who also ran in the 1999 elections representing Parti KeAdilan Rakyat or PKR and lost.

Yet, surprisingly, they were not people who could judge characters, which I found to be strange, as the more one travels the world and studies deeply into one’s own specialty one could see beyond the veneer that some others had managed to create about himself.

But it was quite obvious, that despite that, they were not able to do so, and they end up supporting blindly certain characters who many consider to be shady.   

I do not know what William Roff will say to me if we meet again. He probably will say, ‘Anwar takkan sampai…’ (Anwar won’t be arriving…)

PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT (PKR) AND NOW PAS – PARTIES OF UMNO/BARISAN REJECTS, MISFITS AND INGRATES.

– AND WHO ARE THEIR OWN WORST ENEMIES WITH UMNO AND BARISAN BECOMING THEIR MERE PUNCHING BAGS.

By Mansor Puteh

Parti KeAdilan Rakyat (PKR) cannot be described as a true political party in Malaysia. It was formed for a different reason, which has got nothing to do with any political agenda of national interests, other than to be a sworn enemy of Umno.

However, in the process, it became a party which is a sworn enemy of Barisan Nasional, i.e. by default.

The main characters involved in the formation of PKR are those who were staunch supporters of Umno and Barisan.

And the supporting characters, comprise mostly of the wives, children and also cronies of the de facto leader and founder of PKR, who is Anwar Ibrahim.

So what can one say of this party? It does not aim to champion some wonderful national political cause, but that aims to belittle and condemn the very party and coalition of parties which had first trust its founders and staunch supporters in the first place.

So it is not wrong for anyone to say PKR is a party of Umno and Barisan misfits, rejects and ingrates.

Now Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) is also in such a situation when it readily accepts a former senior Umno leader, Muhammad Muhammad Taib as its member, who left Umno and Barisan in such haste that one wonders if he decided to join PAS in order to further extend his political life as in order that it does not take him into his ‘second political childhood’.

My take is that Muhammad Muhammad only aims to turn PAS into a party of Umno and Barisan rejects, misfits and ingrates such as him, which PAS leaders will take a long while before realizing it and to accept finally that those who wish to join their party are merely serving their personal interests and not of PAS’ whose interests keep on changing from time to time so much so that their main agenda which is to establish Malaysia as an Islamic state, whatever that means, must be achieved if they get the support of another party who has stated that they are opposed to such an idea.

What is means is that PAS is collaborating with their own ‘sworn enemies’.

So no wonder many of their staunch supporters and leaders have left the party to become the most severe critics of the PAS leadership and party itself.

Being in politics in Malaysia all his life, surely, Muhammad Muhammad Taib cannot bear the brunt of not being able to hog the political scene for a while longer, even if he is now on the other side.

Unfortunately, most of the original founders of PKR had left the party to join mainstream politics, and who are now most vocal in their criticism of PKR and its lead founder, Anwar.

One can almost discount Anwar’s first daughter, Nurul Izzah for any diatribe which she may have on Umno and Barisan as she is merely performing her filial duty and not a national duty.

And her last win in Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat, was a fluke. The voters just wanted to get rid of the President of the Wanita Umno, incumbent, Sharizat Jalil, and not because they liked Nurul more, just like how Loh Goh Burne who won in Kelana Jaya and became a one-time member of parliament after his party did not extend his political life by nominating him for the thirteen general elections.

Goh Burne could not speak Melayu at all and had given or read only one speech in his halting Melayu while in parliament through the last five years, which dealt with some foreign affairs matters, that made Hamid Albar, the then minister of foreign affairs to smile widely.

Anwar was very angry for not being able to succeed Mahathir Mohammad as prime minister. He thought Mahathir had made a very bad and awful decision for sacking him as his deputy, which Anwar thought was not a wise move.

But why did Anwar and his supporters think Mahathir had made such a wise move by accepting Anwar into Umno and hence the Mahathir Cabinet, and who later shot up in the Umno and Barisan hierarchy quickly so much so that those who had been waiting in line had to be removed or sidelined?

And yet, when Mahathir had the wisdom to change his mind about Anwar and sack him, why then did Anwar and his supporters not say it was also a wise move by Mahathir?

From being someone who was wise, by admitting Anwar and accepting all his quirks and style, suddenly Mahathir had become not wise simply because he had chosen not to allow Anwar have his ways anymore.

Being the deputy prime minister of Malaysia is not a right; party members of Umno do not choose who to become the deputy prime minister. The right rests in the good hands of the prime minister himself and it is his prerogative to appoint and even sack anyone in the cabinet as he so pleases.

And there were many Umno and Barisan leaders who had to face similar music before as it is the practice by incumbent prime ministers to discontinue the services of any member of his cabinet who he finds to have served too long or who deserves to be ‘promoted’ to retirement, a ‘post’ which many may find to be disconcerting as they think political life in Malaysia is enduring and all-encompassing so not many of them have made retirement plans.

So when it finally happens, one gets a rude shock.

One way to overcome this shock is to become a turncoat and join PKR and now PAS, the two parties which can be described as the ‘graveyards’ and ‘dumping grounds’ of Malaysian politics, especially by those who think that there is indeed life after political death, who in the end may be party-spoilers.