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Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reminded the Chinese community that if they gave the DAP their votes, they will end up not having any representation in the Government.
“You have to decide if you want a louder voice in Parliament or representation in the Cabinet where they can be more effective in representing all communities,” the Barisan Nasional chairman said.
He said if the Chinese did not have representation in the Cabinet, their requests would not be heard.
Posted in badawi, gertak | Leave a Comment »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
The problems plaguing the Indian community could be resolved by removing MIC president S Samy Vellu who stifled Indian voices, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.
In the second part of an exclusive interview with the Malaysian statesman, Mahathir said removing the MIC leader would allow more Indian voices to be heard.
“I know their main grouse is not with me, their main grouse is with Samy Vellu because with him there, another Indian has been deprived of the chance to come up,” he said.
Speaking to Malaysiakini at his Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya, Mahathir deflected allegations that the root cause of the Indian community’s strife was due to his pro-Malay focus during his tenure as PM.
“So they want to blame me? It is not that. Samy Vellu did not ask for assistance. The problem is that he is preventing other Indians from having a say.
“(Indian Progressive Front president MG) Pandithan was got rid of, (former MIC deputy president S) Subramaniam was got rid of, K Pathmanaban died but of course before that, he was (former MIC vice-president).
“That is his (Samy Vellu) way of doing things and of course the other voices cannot reach me. And of course, he doesn’t say there is this battling among the Indians,” he explained.
Pandithan, who was formerly with MIC, started IPF in 1990 after falling out with Samy. The two parties have been at odds with each other, especially after IPF sought to join the BN coalition.
Both Subramaniam and Pathmanaban have a history of bad blood with Samy in their failed attempts to challenge for the party presidency.
Mahathir also said in jest: “You know Indians are very political. Tunku Abdul Rahman used to say if there is one Indian, there is one political party. If there are two Indians, there are two political parties.”
‘Don’t stay too long’
In the interview that lasted almost an hour, Mahathir also alluded that people should not stay in power for too long and chances should be given to others.
“It is up to him to decide (to step down). A lot of people will say “if you step down, we will step down” and they will cry and all that. But when I step down, nobody stepped down,” he mused.
Samy Vellu who is the works minister and the longest-serving cabinet minister has been the MIC president since 1979 for 10 consecutive terms.
Mahathir also criticised Samy for not bringing up Indian issues in the cabinet.
“That is his excuse. I know how much he talks in the cabinet. Don’t (say) something that others cannot prove because nobody heard him in cabinet except us.
“He talks, but these things were not the issues that he raised – like the recovery of money for the Indian community who were brought here by force and all that.
“He never mentioned that, I’ve never heard him. He never said that the Malays were committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. He never said that. Why didn’t he say that?” he asked.
Asked to comment on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), the former PM said their demands were unreasonable.
“Quite a lot of their demands were quite unreasonable – practically denying the position of the Malays as the indigenous race on this country. You know this is something very sensitive to the Malays.
“If the government tell the Malays ‘sorry you’ve got the same status is the Indians’ I think there will be a big drop of support for the government from the Malays,” Mahathir added.
Mahathir: Samy stifled Indian voices
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in bernas, mahathir | 3 Comments »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
In a wide-ranging interview, Anwar addresses the many challenges Malaysia faces and calls on the electorate to vote for change.
Asia Times Online: What do you see as wrong with Malaysia?
Anwar Ibrahim: Now we’re seeing more anger. The Indians are enraged because of perceived discrimination and demolition of temples. It’s widespread throughout the country. And among the Chinese there’s a perception that the discriminatory policies have gone a bit too far to enrich the few at their expense.
So this is the basic problem. The government’s failure, due to incompetence and poor leadership, has affected them aversely. And the state of our economy: we rely to a large extent on [foreign direct investments] … and we have lost that. We have lost our competitiveness; we have lost out to our neighbors.
ATol: The Chinese and Indian communities have voiced their frustration about a number of government policies, but over the years most have continued to support the Barisan Nasional-led ruling coalition. Do you foresee a change at the upcoming polls?
AI: Well, I see change because I think [the government has] crossed the line. For example, we have seen the destruction of [Hindu] temples, the issue of permits, or building bylaws. This is the first time we have seen a 100-year-old temple demolished. Nothing has been done to address the legitimate grievances of the Indian community: poverty, unemployment, housing, crime.
And among the Chinese, when the economy becomes more sluggish, then they of course will attach blame to poor governance and the [affirmative action] New Economic Policy. And then how does the government respond? Of course, brandishing the keris [traditional Malay dagger] towards minority groups becomes very symbolic. It’s virtually a threat. They change the language … of instruction [to Malay] for math and science in Chinese schools.
So I think unlike previous elections, the Chinese and the Indians have virtually made a clear shift. Normally Malaysians maintain their decorum and are quite polite. But now you see ministers going and being booed, which is unheard of.
ATol: Why vote for your PKR party? What can you and your party bring to the people that the BN [Barisan Nasional] has not?
AI: First is the issue of governance. We have made it very clear that constitutional guarantees must be protected, which means we respect the Malay majority [and] Islam as the religion of the federation. But the constitution also guarantees freedom of conscience, religion and expression. The rights of non-Malays in terms of language and culture must be respected.
Second and very critical is our Malaysia Economic Agenda. We’ve crafted our agenda in a way that will make us more competitive and attract investment – but not at the expense of the Malay community. Even in areas where you need to have affirmative action, it will not be based on race: affirmative action for the marginalized, for the poor irrespective of race.
ATol: There is a great deal of indignation among the Chinese, having been victim to discriminatory policies for so long. Isn’t there a legitimate fear among Malays that if you scrap the New Economic Policy, the Chinese would pursue their personal and community interests at the expense of the Malays?
AI: There is, I agree. I have crafted the Malaysian Economic Agenda for more than a year now. There is no free media. So therefore we have to publish half a million pamphlets so people can understand. It will not be at the expense of the Malays, because it is affirmative action to protect the interest of the majority of the poor and marginalized, which means you do away with the 30% [ethnic Malay ownership] control [requirement for local] companies. We would take RM10 billion [US$3.1 billion] for quality education, so the majority of the funds would still go to the Malays.
ATol: But what is it about the policy that guarantees protection for the Malays?
AI: If I have 10 billion ringgit to spend for education or whatever, do I then give contracts or construction away to 20 Malay families? Or do I allocate these resources to all poor Malaysians, irrespective of race? Now, 80% of [state] funds go to [only] a million Malays.
But then the funds will also be able to be absorbed by the Chinese and Indians – the deserving ones. And the Malays would actually benefit more than they do now. But there has been incessant propaganda for the last three decades that our [Malay] survival would depend only on the New Economic Policy.
ATol: What is the party, and more broadly the opposition, doing differently this time around from the 2004 elections? What lessons have been learned and how have you re-tooled and re-strategized?
AI: One is to work together; one opposition candidate versus the BN. Second is to address issues clearly to the public. We can talk about independent judiciary, free media, freedom of conscience, constitutional guarantees. But you have to articulate these issues in clear terms.
ATol: But in the past the opposition has raised these issues without sufficiently articulating the consequences. Are the consequences being articulated? In other words I could say the BN is corrupt but unless you’re conveying to the people the consequences of that corruption, the message runs the risk of getting lost.
AI: That’s right. When our speakers talk they must not just talk about an independent judiciary. You talk about how corruption has led to cases being determined at the expense of the people … which means the poor suffer. Or, on the issue of price increases, why is it that Malaysia is the [world's] largest producer of oil palm and still [there isn't] enough in their supermarkets? Is it because you protect the cartels? You don’t even allocate 2% to benefit the poor. So you have to articulate it in a way people can understand.
ATol: Some people have charged that you’re not a genuine reformer. How has your time in the political wilderness changed you?
AI: Well, of course, it’s a time to meditate and reflect and read. But for me it should be done from our programs and actions … Because I think that even in my time in government, you talk about public housing programs, you talk about toll increases – I could defend my record … Why is it when I go to the low-cost housing areas like Kampong Kerinchi I have huge support? They know that I was the last bastion for effective programs by the government for the poor when I was minister.
ATol: How have you changed your ideas about governing and the direction of the country since you were last in office?
AI: Well, I think you mature. And I think globalization and the changing environment would dictate – demand – that you also adapt accordingly. Your understanding of the policies or the economy, your assumptions that you can decouple easily, knowing that it’s not realistic.
Okay, I’m very passionate about working with and helping the poor. [But] you realize that without growth and competitiveness, you will not have the resources, which means you have to have a market-friendly economy and other things – reforms – before you can assist and elevate the living conditions of the poor … I think [the government] has failed on both counts, attempting to propel the economy but ignoring the plight of the poor.
ATol: You are now articulating a much more democratic agenda
than what you did when you were in the United Malays Nasional Organization (UMNO)-led government. Did you have some epiphany that democratic principles are important for development?
AI: Of course you can articulate your position more freely now. But if you look at my position – freedom of democracy and empowerment and support for an independent judiciary are there. So I don’t think it’s quite correct to suggest that these are only thoughts [I'm having] now. But then you articulate, you craft in a different manner, because of the constraints of the media.
ATol: A letter writer to a politics and culture website recently commented that your “faction within UMNO was remembered [even] by UMNO members as one of the most aggressive … and deeply feared”. How do you respond?
AI: Aggressive, yes. We were looking to achieve reform. For instance, I introduced this anti-corruption bill. It was immensely unpopular among the UMNO leaders. Not [just] UMNO supporters, but ministers for that matter … I looked at the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption. There’s a provision that if you are deemed to be corrupt even after 10 years in office – that you benefited while you were in power – they can go after you. That provision was strongly opposed to.
ATol: I think, though, what the letter writer meant by “aggressive” was intimidating.
AI: That’s the first time I’m hearing this. I was [part of] the more liberal wing of the government. It’s quite known. For example, I engaged the Bar Council at the time [former premier] Mahathir [Mohamad] was fighting [them]. When there was a huge protest over the Bakun dam, I allowed them to come in and discussed it with them. When the draft bill was tabled in cabinet, I faxed the draft to the opposition leader the moment I got it, which had never happened in the past.
ATol: Some people say Islam has begun to play too central a role in Malaysian life. Do you agree and what would you do to revise matters?
AI: It depends on how you perceive this. The super-liberal wing of the public would want to have nothing to do with Islam. And you have an extremely conservative wing that wants to dictate. So I don’t share either view. But then we have to sort it out.
You have to engage them, allow them to articulate their views. So I think for a person to suggest in Malaysia – to deny the role of religion and Islam – I don’t share that view. Where I think we draw the line is when it comes to compelling people, or not allowing non-Muslims to use the civil courts. That’s unheard of in our 50 years.
ATol: Obviously there is increased tension between the races with religion playing a part. What as a leader would you do to defuse the situation?
AI: I am opposed if a group for example wants to compel others to Islam, [or] if you apostatize you should be shot. And the other view says religion should have no role whatsoever; we should do away with the religious court. I also disagree with that. I think the consensus among Muslims is that the sharia court should be confined to Muslim personal law and Muslim affairs.
The problem is when you use this legislation to compel … to deny non-Muslims to bring their cases to the civil courts, because finally the issue of faith is a personal issue. I am a Muslim. I believe in Islam. I don’t rejoice in hearing that people are leaving Islam, but I think finally it is his or her personal decision. It is beyond me and I don’t think we should politicize that further.
ATol: The prime minister’s son-in-law and UMNO deputy youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin recently branded you as an agent of the Jews and the United States. There are reportedly pictures of you and [former US deputy defense secretary] Paul Wolfowitz being disseminated in the villages. Could this be damaging to you politically?
AI: It could. But look … I say yes, I’m a friend of the Jews. I am a friend of the Chinese, a friend of the Muslims. Where is the problem? The Iraq war – I am against it. There are many Americans, including Jews, who are against the Iraq war.
ATol: But anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism run deep in Malaysia. It’s maybe not as vocal as in some other places, but there is a great deal of ignorance and fear. And UMNO has the machinery to fan the flames. What are you doing to combat it?
AI: It does [run deep], it’s ignorance, and it’s been [reinforced] by leaders. Mahathir did it … and this is dangerous. I did address [the allegations], but in the last few months I have not because I asked some religious leaders and they said [only] a small number of people are being influenced by this and they said I don’t need to respond. So I have moved on … We are taking a civil suit against Khairy on that allegation.
ATol: Some people say you haven’t been very critical of the prime minister. This has led to speculation that you may one day attempt to rejoin UMNO. Why haven’t you been more critical?
AI: I have nothing personal against him.
ATol: But this is the election season. Don’t you need to use everything within the capacity of the law at this point to end the BN’s two-thirds parliamentary majority?
AI: If I have evidence, I present it. But with Abdullah there is incompetence … He gives a multi-billion ringgit contract to his son to build a monorail in Penang without tender. He gives a 25 billion ringgit development approval for Patrick Lim, his crony in Penang. These things are being said.
But to make personal attacks, I refuse. But it’s wrong for them to say I haven’t been critical. You say the leadership is incompetent, you say that under Abdullah we have been less competitive economically, that corruption has become more endemic, crime rates have increased – all under Abdullah. I have done that, made major criticisms of him. But to go [down the road of personal attacks], well [Abdullah] sleeps all the time, why is he married to this [new foreign wife] Jeanne? I don’t go there.
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in anwar | Leave a Comment »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
“They (Barisan) will panic if the opposition gets 40 seats,” said Zainon Ahmad, political editor of the Sun newspaper, which toes a more independent line than the pro-government dailies.
“But if BN (Barisan Nasional) loses two-thirds majority, there will be a lot to account for by the leaders.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen … but if BN loses 50 seats, it’s a remarkable gain by the opposition and the BN have to review some of the policies and tone down the Malay agenda.”
Pollster Ibrahim, who has been working on privately commissioned opinion polls during the campaign, said he felt the opposition parties could perhaps win around 35 to 40 seats in the new parliament, including the 20 they currently hold.
It could be more if Malays also desert Barisan, he added.
Even if Abdullah avoids a major reduction of his majority on Saturday, there could be trouble in the shape of a vociferous opposition-backed campaign for reform of the electoral system.
A lobby group called Bersih brought 10,000 people onto the streets of the capital last November to call for more balanced media coverage of politics, fairer electoral boundaries, reform of electoral rolls and tighter controls against voter fraud.
A senior member of Bersih said on Thursday he felt more street protests could be likely if Saturday’s election is perceived to have not reflected the will of the voters.
“I think there’s quite likely to be (protests), but at the moment there is no decision yet made,” said Bersih’s Yap Swee Seng, a human rights campaigner and opposition supporter.
Malaysia’s dull poll campaign could spring surprise | Reuters
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in BN government, kosong | Leave a Comment »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
The allegations are misguided, Abdullah’s spokesman Kamal Khalid said.
Discrimination
Racial tensions in Malaysia, which have dominated the campaign, increased since an unauthorized demonstration against discrimination brought more than 10,000 supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur last November.
Indians and Chinese together are a third of Malaysia’s population of 27 million. If enough vote against the ruling coalition, it would lose the two-thirds parliamentary majority it has had for more than 30 years, which gives it a free hand to alter the constitution.
In 1969, after urban Chinese and rural Islamic opposition groups won a majority of votes and more than a third of Parliament, Chinese victory parades prompted a bloody backlash by Malays and emergency rule.
The government then created an affirmative-action policy that gave Malays educational, housing and job preferences.
Birth Rights
“Let us be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin,” said Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of the mainly Chinese Democratic Action Party, which has the most opposition seats in parliament, in an interview on Feb. 28.
The DAP is cooperating with Anwar’s People’s Justice Party and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party against the government, and pledges to scrap the 37-year-old race rules.
Lim Kit Siang, Guan Eng’s father and parliamentary opposition leader, demanded “justice,” “equality” and “freedom” as he spoke at a rally yesterday in Penang that continued into the early hours. Abdullah is due to speak in the same northwestern Malaysian state later today.
Approval for Abdullah among Indians fell to 38 percent in December, from 79 percent in October, according to a survey published by the Merdeka Center, an independent Malaysian research group. His rating among Chinese fell to 42 percent from 47 percent.
Foreign Investment
“This election is important because it’s the first of the next 50 years,” Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said in an interview last week. “Foreigners are looking at Malaysia for investing, and the next 50 years, in some way, depends on the outcome.”
The government, in power since independence from Britain in 1957, expects growth of as much as 6.5 percent in 2008, up from 6.3 percent in 2007. That may be enough for some voters.
“They know how to manage the economy,” said Goh Swee Joo, 78, a former accountant who sells car insurance in Penang and plans to vote for the coalition. “We hope our Malaysia will always be very stable.”
While the opposition doesn’t expect to win office, it wants to check the government’s power. PAS, as the Islamic opposition party is known, is also fighting to keep control of Kelantan, the only state in Malaysia not ruled by the coalition. The party has dropped calls for an Islamic state in favor of criticizing the government for corruption.
Corruption
Abdullah promised to crack down on corruption and to build a more inclusive multiracial country in his 2004 manifesto. Malaysia slid to 43rd in Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index from 39th in 2004, when he won his landslide.
Abdullah’s Barisan Nasional coalition pledges to maintain ethnic unity while retaining the race-based preferences. His United Malays National Organisation says they are part of a social contract agreed at independence, leaving some minority voters disenchanted with the Indian and Chinese political parties in the coalition.
“They can’t speak a word, they can’t represent us,” said Steven Yeh, 54, an ethnic Chinese unit-trust consultant in Penang. “I just don’t want to waste my vote, voting for BN.”
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in BN government, [s]Malaysia @ 50, kosong | 1 Comment »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
‘Why am I here in Singapore? Because I will not get fair treatment by the Malaysian press,’ said Mr Anwar, who was in Singapore to speak at the Risk Minds Asia conference at the St Regis Hotel yesterday.
Citing reports carried in yesterday’s edition of The Star, Mr Anwar claimed that the Malaysian press has launched a ‘vicious personal attack’ against him.
The Malaysian daily carried three separate reports where Mr Anwar’s past policies were criticised.
One had Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi questioning his record as Education Minister, another had a former friend KS Nallakaruppan suggesting that Mr Anwar would ‘destroy the nation’, while a third had Malaysian Chinese Association president
Ong Ka Ting telling voters not to be taken in by Mr Anwar’s rhetoric.
‘The reports (criticising me) had not a sentence of opportunity for me to give a reply,’ Mr Anwar said yesterday.
‘But that proved one point. That we’ve been quite effective to be able to force the ruling authority – the UMNO government and the entire media – to attack me.
‘First, the media said I am anti-Hindu and anti-Chinese. At the same time, the Malay leaders of UMNO went to the villages and distributed leaflets and said that I am anti-Malay because I am pro-Hindu and pro-Chinese.
‘I think it (such practice) doesn’t go well for a multi-racial country like Malaysia and it is very demeaning.’
The Electric New Paper, Singapore – The Electric New Paper News
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in anwar, bernas | Leave a Comment »
Posted by omong on March 7, 2008
The merry-go-round is painted in bright hues of pink, yellow, green and blue. The slides and rides shine in the sun as a little girl contemplates which of the two plastic horses to mount first. Her mother sits by the swing in the near distance, her eye firmly fixed on the pride of five boys and girls frolicking around the sandpit and climbing ropes.
It would appear like any other children’s playground in any other suburban setting, save for the fact that the plastic palm trees are there to lend the place a somewhat exotic, middle-eastern feel to it.
Welcome to the kiddies playground in the Islamic civilisation theme park, one of the latest innovations bestowed upon the people of the state of Trengganu in Malaysia, as part and parcel of the Malaysian government’s attempt to promote its brand of Islam Hadari (Civilisational Islam).
The banner that hangs in front of the visitors’ complex carries the image of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with the slogan “Thank you for bringing Islamic civilisation to Trengganu” (though one would think Muslims there were already civilised).
Other attractions to the park include model replicas of famous mosques from around the world. As one drives through the main entrance the first sight that greets you is a replica of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, save that the model is diminutive in scale and ambition and the gilded dome gives the uncanny impression that it is made of gold-painted plastic.
I ask the construction worker how long it will take for the park to be completed, but he cannot understand what I am saying as he only speaks Bengali.
Right at the end of the park stands the so-called ‘Crystal Mosque’ that is meant to be the main attraction of the theme park; the mosque is not made of crystal, but sheets of glass that line its domes and minarets.
A crowd of Malay women meander around the floating mosque complex, and laze about indifferently. I ask them where they are from and why they are here. One of them answers in Kelantanese dialect, “We are from Kuala Lumpur and are heading to Kelantan to vote”. I ask her if she and her friends are impressed by the Crystal Mosque. “It’s pretty, like a crystal toy. But it also looks a bit plastic to me. Is it finished yet?”
It is election season and the flag and poster war is being fought in earnest. The streets of Besut, Marang, Kuala Trengganu are lined with hundreds of posters and banners proclaiming the achievements of the ruling UMNO party and the leadership of Prime Minister Badawi. Since he came to power in 2004, Badawi has pursued his agenda of inculcating in the nation values of Islam Hadari — said to be an approach to Islam that is moderate, pluralist and progressive — to win the hearts and minds of Malaysia’s Muslim voters in particular.
The state of Trengganu, where the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is strong, is certainly a key state in the election. Here, the election campaign has returned to the old ways of the past, with both UMNO and PAS claiming to be more Islamic than the other. The UMNO banners proclaim that over the past two years alone the UMNO government in Trengganu has built 62 mosques all over the state. (A claim that has gained the state government a place in the Malaysian book of records, no less.)
PAS on the other hand retaliates by noting that the instances of absolute poverty in Trengganu is higher now than ever before, and that building mosques will not feed the stomachs of the people or give them a better future. Right in front of the main entrance to the Islamic civilisation theme park, the Islamists of PAS have erected a banner that reads: “250 million Ringgit for a mosque built for tourists: what for?”
While the tone and tenor of the election campaign on the more urbanised, multiracial states of the west coast reflect the concerns of the urban middle-classes, on the northeast coast of Malaysia another election is being fought altogether.
The leaders of UMNO and PAS continue doing what they do best, which is to assume the holier-than-thou posture loved by Islamists and conservatives. UMNO claims that thousands of children below the age of 8 have read and memorised the Quran in Trengganu thanks to the efforts of Badawi’s Islam Hadari programme.
PAS in turn responds by noting the cases of drug abuse, violence, prostitution and casual sex among the young of the state at the same time.
Neither side really talks about the issue of democracy, human rights or an election campaign that is free, fair and transparent.
The few exceptions to the rule seem to come from the younger leaders of PAS who are more reformist-minded and policy oriented. In the state capital of Kuala Trengganu the PAS firebrand Mohammad Sabu goes around the local market and fishing villages calling for the return of democracy and the right to equal development: For once, the common slogans of Islam, Shariah and Hudud laws are not mentioned.
But such attempts at injecting some degree of political education into the campaign are few and far between, and sadly the election campaign that has been fought in the predominantly Malay-Muslim states of the northeast reflect the same parochial concerns of the 1980s and 1990s, with a more than a little hint of communitarianism thrown into the bargain.
One wonders to what extent the campaign in Trengganu and other Malay states has really been shaped and informed by the Civilisational Islam project of Prime Minister Badawi. Thus far little effort seems to have been made to civilise the conduct of the campaign, or to introduce ideas and themes that are really modern and progressive.
With only a few days to go before the votes are cast on March 8, the Election Commission announced that it will drop the idea of using indelible ink to mark the hands of voters to ensure that fake votes are not cast.
How such irregularities can be reconciled with the glittering empty mosque in the vacant theme park is anyone’s guess.
Dr Farish A Noor is Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site
Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Comment: Failing to impress —Farish A Noor
Read:
Human Rights Watch fears Malaysians will be denied fair vote, says elections biased
Malaysia’s political poverty – International Herald Tribune
Khaleej Times Online – Malaysia’s ‘Islam Hadari’ cannot correct itself
BN unfair in redrawing constituency boundaries
Posted in BN government, [s]Malaysia @ 50, kosong | Leave a Comment »
