Tanjung Piai, between Umno and MCA

A very high ranking Johor Umno leader asked me the other day whom should BN field in the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election.

I actually felt honoured that he asked for my opinion. After all, I'm just a nobody while he is a very important Johor Umno decision maker.

I told him that my opinion on the matter is probably not the best as I have been away from Johor for quite a while and due to that I'm quite out of touch with the local sentiment.

"Datuk, I can give you my personal opinion, but I want you to know that I will still respect your decision and that of Zahid's on this matter if you all choose the other option. All that really matter is for BN to win the by-election," I said.

Having said that, I told him that personally I would prefer MCA's Wee Jeck Seng, the former MP there to be the BN candidate.

The main reason for my choice is that I believe BN will contest the by-election as the favourite to win it due to the current political climate and that if the coalition fields an MCA candidate, then it would prove that the recently sealed Perpaduan Ummah pact with Pas was not meant to alienate the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese community.

It will send a strong message to the Chinese community, especially in Johor that DAP's accusations of BN over the years, especially about Umno being a racist party were not true.

Tanjung Piai, despite being a Malay-majority constituency (currently at 57 per cent) has been an MCA stronghold until the last general election.

Wee had done well there by previously winning against DAP Malay candidates in 2008 and 2013.

The guy was well liked as he served his constituents diligently, irrespective of their race or religion.

In the last general election, despite other MCA candidates being massacred elsewhere, he was beaten by the late Dr Md Farik Md Rafik of Pribumi Bersatu by a razor thin margin of 524 votes.

I was told that Wee managed to get about 30 per cent of the votes from among the Chinese voters in the constituency, which was exceptional compared to the average five per cent received by other MCA candidates from the community.

The bulk of voters who used to support Wee but turned against him last year were actually Malays.

This is evident from the results at the two state constituencies within Tanjung Piai.

In Pekan Nanas, where the local Chinese community is concentrated, the MCA candidate managed to reduce the DAP's majority from 2,669 votes in 2013 to 1,308 while in Kukup where the Malays have the outright majority, the Umno candidate's majority of 6,946 votes in 2013 was reduced to merely 862.

Considering the current trend of Malay support swinging back to BN, Wee may get back his lost votes.

This is the full result of GE14 for Tanjung Piai

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PH	Md Farid Md Rafik	21,255	47.29	+ 47.29
	BN	Wee Jeck Seng	20,731	46.12	- 10.00
	PAS	Nordin Othman	2,962	6.59	+ 6.59
Total valid votes			44,948	100.00
Total rejected ballots			841
Unreturned ballots			69
Turnout			45,858	85.67
Registered electors			53,528
Majority			524	1.17

Do take note that it was the first time Pas, which is now a BN ally had contested in Tanjung Piai and its candidate acted as a spoiler that prevented Wee from winning. Also, to be considered were the over 800 spoilt votes which could have been from those who protested against the BN leadership at that time.

Click on this link for the electoral history of Tanjung Piai,
Tanjung Piai (federal constituency)

All that considered, I told the Johor Umno leader that Wee would be the ideal BN candidate for the coming by-election.

I also pointed to him that most of the parliamentary constituencies in Johor are of the marginal type and BN will need all the Chinese votes that it could get in future elections in the state.

"If Umno and Pas campaign hard for Wee and he wins in Tanjung Piai which is a Malay majority constituency, then the Chinese, at least in Johor, will realise that the Perpaduan Ummah is not a threat to them and some may even return to support MCA again.

"Bear in mind that not all Chinese even like the DAP. Wee even received over 30 per cent of their votes despite all the BN's problems during GE14," I said.

The Johor Umno leader nodded in agreement. The guy is nice and sensible.

However, he told me that many other Johor Umno leaders, including those at the Tanjung Piai division wanted their party to contest the by-election.

"They felt that there's no benefit in giving MCA another Malay majority constituency. Umno suffered so many betrayals by MCA members who voted for DAP and its allies in past elections. They told me that if MCA want to win elections in future, they have to do so at Chinese-majority constituencies so that they can truly say they represent their community," he said.

I told him I do understand that sentiment and I don't blame those Umno leaders. I was myself enraged when TS Abdul Ghani Othman lost to Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah in 2013 because I believed that the Chinese, who are the majority there betrayed their own MB at that time despite him contributing so much to their community just because he is a Malay.

But then again, I still feel that the Johor Umno leaders need to see the bigger picture which is how to once again turn Johor not only to be the tiang seri of Umno but also the stronghold of Barisan Nasional.

Let's not delay justice for Adib anymore

The inquest ruled that

Adib’s death caused by rioters

excerpts;

Coroner Rofiah Mohamad in reading out the ruling said the blunt chest trauma that led to Adib’s death was caused by an assault by more than two individuals.

She said the testimony of witnesses at the scene indicated that there had been an assault on someone in the area.

Rofiah said the court also accepted the testimony of United Kingdom-based senior consultant forensic pathologist Prof Dr Shahrom Abd Wahid, who said that Adib, was dragged out of a Fire & Rescue Department van and beaten.

Honestly, I never expected that verdict which was so obvious from the start of the case.

That's because I didn't believe that the inquest was even necessary as it was a clear cut case of Adib being killed by rioters at the temple.

Police just needed to get the rioters who beat up Adib there and then.

My lack of faith in the inquest at that time was also confounded by the conduct of the AG's Chamber, particularly concerning the representation of Adib's family.

But never mind all that now. The important thing is that the court has ruled that Adib was beaten to death and therefore the killers must be brought to justice.

The police must quickly catch them and the AG's Chamber must after that prosecute them.

If the AG's Chamber tries to be funny on this one, then we as Malaysians must take the government to task for its conduct.

The case is over eight-month-old now, lets not delay justice for Adib and his loved ones anymore.

In remembrance of Adib,

Unifying Malays without oppressing others

Saw this post by Rocky just now,

Kongress Maruah Melayu

In English, it should be called Malays' Dignity Congress.

excerpts;

I was told Dr Mahathir Mohamad will deliver his amanat at the end of the Kongress, which has encouraged the conclusion that this is an event quietly sponsored by the Prime Minister's own party, Pribumi Bersatu . Wallahualam.

Looks like they need to have a congress for their dignity.

That's a bit off, I think.

As pointed by Rocky, it looks like all the Malay leaders are now scrambling to be the champion of Malays' this or that after the Umno-Pas recently sealed cooperation.

The ultimate objective, however, I believe is still Malay Unity. The way I see it, all of them ultimately want to be the champion of that because it's the key to power.

Well, whatever.

Since this is actually a Pribumi Bersatu's project, I do wonder though as to how are they going to approach and persuade those of Umno and Pas to join them in unity to discuss the dignity of their race.

Or would they?

Honestly, at the moment, I don't think that any of these Malay stuff can do without the participation of Umno and Pas.

But, I still remember this from just two months ago,

No DAP whatsoever. That's what Zahid said.

And Pribumi Bersatu is an ally of DAP.

So, I don't think Umno will be there and probably Pas too.

Unless Zahid and Hadi want to betray their own Perpaduan Ummah pact lah.

Therefore, I don't think they'll be interested to help Dr Mahathir's party with this Malay Dignity Congress.

After all, their Perpaduan Ummah sounds better as it emphasises on unifying the Malay Muslims without threatening or suppressing others.

Compared to that, the Pribumi Bersatu's one have this;

excerpts;

Of course, Hamzah and friends are also concerned with the relationship between the Malays and other races. To promote unity, they think that it is time the Government introduce the OSS - the One School System - and abandon the vernacular schools. This is not going to go down well with some quarters at all but as one of the brains behind the Kongress told me:  "If Singapore could do it, why not us?" 

They are promoting the congress by among others calling on the closing down of vernacular schools, especially the Chinese ones.

It sounds very much like a Malay nationalist bait, to me.

Forcing Chinese kids to go to sekolah kebangsaan.

The excuse was to enhance national unity as usual, but personally I think it's just them selling Malays' dignity or is it pride or just ego for political interest.

Anyway, closing down Chinese schools will unite the Malays meh?

Malays are divided because Malay political leaders are selfish and only care about their personal interests or that of their supporters, okay. It has nothing to do with Chinese schools.

We have the various school systems for decades without much problem. The country is even doing relatively well.

We don't have civil wars like some of those country with single school system.

Well, we may have one if we try to close down the Chinese schools.

You all think the Chinese community will just keep quiet when forced to close down their schools?

It's like telling Malay Muslims that they cannot have mosques because religions are divisive.

Really guys, do we want that?

Singapore can do it? You all want us to be Singaporeans?

Hey, I have friends who studied in Chinese schools and they are good people.

And one of them is definitely more patriotic than myself.

I wrote about her here when MH370 went missing in March 2014;

Message from a patriotic DAP supporter

I'm all for Malays to be united but I'm against anyone attempting to achieve that by victimising others.

Malays should unite for their betterment and not for the purpose of oppressing others.

Anyway, try to unify the Malays first la before you all want to talk about unifying Malaysians. One at a time okay.

How a Muslim celebrates victory

Khabib won again earlier this month.

And he celebrated his victory as a true Muslim.

With respect.

And Khabib's opponent Poirier deserves the respect as he is a good man and fighter.

Whatever it is, the lesson here is that Muslims must treat their opponents with respect.

And be humble and gracious in victory and at all times.

At least try to be so, okay.

InsyaAllah.

What non-Malays need to know about Malay unity

A friend called last night to tell me that he was worried about the sealed Umno-Pas alliance.

He's worried that it could be the end of a multi-racial Malaysia.

He's a Christian Sabahan Chinese.

I do understand his concerns.

I reminded him how I was against the whole thing to a point where I got into quite a serious quarrel with some pro-BN bloggers in the run up to GE14.

This is one of my posts from those days,

• So much for Pas

At that time I still believe that not all Chinese would forsake BN as a multi-racial coalition.

That despite the Chinese tsunami of GE13.

At that time I still wanted the multi-racial BN to remain as it was.

I have never wanted a Malays versus non-Malays fight.

Then GE14.

BN as it was ended.

Its non-Malays side was almost totally wiped out.

On top of the substantial number of Malays who sided with Dr Mahathir due to the failure of Najib's team to counter the corruption and other allegations, more than 90 per cent of non-Malays sided with Pakatan.

It was estimated that over 95 per cent of Chinese voted DAP and its allies, which was even more than during GE13.

I have to admit now that I was wrong about the Chinese.

They were already overwhelmingly united under DAP after GE13.

Now, there's no turning back.

The Malays are now doing their own unity drive under the Umno-Pas banner.

The same as what the non-Malays, particularly Chinese did under the DAP banner.

It's proven, even the minority could overwhelm the majority if they are united.

Even more so if they are the majority.

How did it gets to this point?

Actually, it started in the run up to GE13.

For those who are too young, they need to realise that before the current Penyatuan Ummah between Umno and Pas, there was the Penyatuan Cina by DAP.

That's how it started.

DAP went all out on racial issues to win over the Chinese for that general election in 2013.

They even played up religious issues too for good measures.

Just look back at the DAP's campaign videos at that time.

And they succeeded with that Chinese tsunami, wiping out the BN's Chinese-based parties at the polls.

After that, knowing that they needed a certain percentage of Malay votes for GE14, they started a campaign to win over particularly the liberal Malays.

They knew that by then they already have almost all the Chinese votes in their pocket.

With Dr Mahathir leading the Pakatan charge, they got the Malay votes that they needed to get what they really wanted - POWER.

So, that's the outcome of GE14.

Then they started the move to slowly strip the Malays of what they have.

ICERD, Statute of Rome and other issues.

There were also other things that they did which hurt the Malays.

The turning point for me was when fireman Adib was killed during the temple riot last year.

I just can't forgive them, especially for the way they reacted to the incident.

The last straw for me was the way they tried to justify Adib's death.

And I believe that I was not the only one who felt that way.

The signs of what's coming was clear for all to see at the Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau by-elections.

It was clear that most Malays are angry.

To make things worse, this Pakatan government has been floundering on almost everything from day one since their GE14 victory.

Stupid statements from stupid ministers day in and day out.

And that's all about it.

To put it bluntly, I believe this administration is the worst since Merdeka.

It lied to the people on its election promises and was not even ashamed about it.

Even the Najib's administration, with all those allegations against it, seemed to have done a better job at governing the country.

And with the supposed handing over of the PM post by Dr Mahathir to Anwar by May next year looming ever larger over the horizon, I can't see things getting any better for Pakatan.

Should the non-Malays really worry about the Umno-Pas penyatuan ummah?

Yes, I think that they should.

But not in the way DAP is trying to make them believe.

There will be no war against the non-Malays as Guan Eng tried to scare them.

It's not the natural way of Malays to bully others.

In fact they have always been welcoming of others.

That's how the non-Malays are here in this country in the first place.

First of all, this cooperation between Umno and Pas, the two biggest Malay-based parties, will indeed sink Pakatan, which was almost wholeheartedly supported by the non-Malays.

That's for sure.

The facts and numbers are all there to ensure that.

Yet what the non-Malays should worry about is actually just the lost goodwill between the communities.

Most Malays now know that they had been duped.

They were actually ready to change after GE14 but what happened after Pakatan came to power made them realised that they will eventually lose everything that they have.

It's just like what happened in 1946 when the British colonial rulers tried to force the Malayan Union deal upon the Malays.

That was the first time ever that the Malays were united.

And the end result was Merdeka.

Now, it's the second time they are doing it again.

After the first Malay unification, the non-Malays continue their life peacefully and prosper, especially the Chinese.

The Malays did so too albeit with some difficulties.

I believe it will be the same after this second one.

Really, the Malays just want what are theirs. They will not try to take anything from the non-Malays.

This is the Umno-Pas agreement,

It doesn't say anything about taking away anything from the non-Malays.

As for the lost goodwill, I don't think they should worry too much.

Malays are not really a vengeful lot.

In fact they want to like others and be liked back very much.

They bend backwards for others quite a bit sometimes.

Just so to be liked by those others.

That's just the way they are.

So, I believe things will be back to normal after a while.

By the way, MCA, MIC and other non-Malay based parties are still there on the side of the Umno-Pas alliance.

If they win significant support from the non-Malays in the next general election, I believe they can stand to protect the interests of their communities just like they did during all those years of BN's rule.

So, despite their worries, I don't think the non-Malays should worry too much.

Muzzling Malaysians

This is the front page of NST today,

You can read the report by clicking on this link;

Social media ban in crisis gets an aye

Personally, I think it's a totally insidious bullshit.

I dare say that it could be an early step to further muzzle Malaysians.

Since this report is by NST , which was and is linked to the powers that be, I'm taking it as an early warning that the government may in future shut down the social media if it deems the country as being in crisis.

I believe they will use whatever survey quoted in the report to tell everyone that Malaysians are okay being shut up in time of crisis.

Who the hell exactly these people who did the survey?

Not even the previous BN government, said being so evil, had ever tried to shut down the social media.

Heck, not even the communist government in Beijing had resorted to such measure to clamp down on the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

The way I see it, it's the government's job to manage the flow of information without shutting down channels of information.

It's definitely not its bloody job to shut up people.

When they campaigned for GE14 the Pakatan leaders promised freedom of this and that, but now that they are in power, they are mulling to shut up everyone, are they?

Crisis? What is that? Is it for the government to define what is a crisis?

This currently terrible haze is a crisis to me. Does it mean the government should shut down the social media?

Anti-government protesters defying police in down town KL. Is that a crisis that warrants the government to shut down social media?

If yes, then the people of previous BN government were really fools for not doing it back then during all those Bersih rallies and such.

Well, let's wait and see where this whole thing is leading to.

For all I know, this Pakatan government may be worse than the communist regime in Beijing.

Haze getting worse yet crazy "environmentalist" attacked PMO over Lynas pulak

The haze was very bad today.

It has been like this in KL for quite a while.

As everyone knows, it was caused by people setting forests in Indonesia on fire so that they can set up farms and plantations.

It has been a problem since the 90s and I can't see any chance there will be a solution any time soon.

Not even the Malaysia Baru government seems capable of doing much.

When Indonesian president Jokowi visited Malaysia the other day, everything seemed the same.

Not much attention given to the haze problem.

The Pakatan Harapan environmentalists were also not saying much.

They appeared more busy fighting over Lynas which their own government had declared safe.

This is the latest

Wong Tack urges MACC to probe 

PMO officers over Lynas FAQ

excerpts;

The 14-point infographic, citing information from the energy, science, technology, environment and climate change ministry, also said data and reports by government agencies and experts showed that Lynas’ operations in its plant in Gebeng, Kuantan, in Pahang, was controlled and safe.

Crazy guy that one.

I'm still waiting for the PMO guys to respond to this nonsense.

Tell MACC to probe Dr Mahathir la. He's the one who said Lynas is okay.

Go after Yeo Bee Yin, who is the minister in charge of environment too as her ministry's data on Lynas were quoted by the PMO.

In fact, go after the entire Cabinet because it was their collective decision to let Lynas continues its operation.

Seriously, if this Wong Tack, Fuziah Salleh and others like them were really concerned about the environment and well being of Malaysians, they should have switched to pressuring the government over the haze problem.

Go la and make noise about it.

Why they did not have a demo when Jokowi was here? The haze is from Indonesia what. That was scientifically proven, okay.

Lynas scientifically proven to be safe by even their own Pakatan government yet still they want to make noise pulak.

Still trying to deny that they lied over the years about Lynas.

So shameless.

No white terror at our airports, please

I don't really blame these guys

4 MAHB IT officers lodge police reports against 
their employer over KLIA technical glitch

excerpts;

The four, who are pioneer IT officers with MAHB since it began operations 20 years ago, made the police report to counter a police report lodged by the airport operator on Monday at the KLIA police station.

It was learnt that the four staff who have been suspended following the incident were part of 12 MAHB officials called by police to assist in investigations following a report by the company's senior IT department manager.

Those in charge of MAHB can be quite irrational.

The airport system screwed up, causing chaos for almost a week and what did they do?

Immediately lodged police report against their employees and made it as if they are a bunch of saboteurs.

Crazy.

Why can't they do their own proper internal investigation first?

What if it becomes a trend that every time a company screwed up, a police report is lodged against the employees?

Police got nothing better to do, is it.

But then again MAHB is known to do crazy things like that.

Picked up quarrels with their clients and even went personal against them.

Ya, it even filed a personal suit against the CEO of its client because the guy made a statement defending his airline.

Really crazy.

Now pick up a quarrel with its own employees pulak.

I think something need to be done to stop such nonsense at MAHB.

Anthony Loke, please do something, okay.

We don't want that sort of white terror at our airports.

Don't let it become like this,

Chinese Merdeka - Part 2

My mother attended this university in Taiwan,

She told me that her days at the university were among the happiest in her life.

Taiwan is a beautiful democratic country.

Yes, it's a country to me now.

I used to accept that it's part of China, but not anymore.

I pray that the communists in Beijing will never take over Taiwan.

In Taiwan, the people who are overwhelmingly Chinese are free.

They can voice and express their opinion without much fear,

Just like in Malaysia since the Najib's administration several years ago,

Yes, the Chinese in Taiwan and Malaysia enjoy their freedom and democratic rights....

.....unlike their kins in Hong Kong,

and definitely unlike their kins in mainland China,

Tiananmen square massacre, 30 years ago.

The massacre of unarmed students right at the doorstep of the communists' seat of power.

Till now those communists in Beijing pretend that it never happened.

Their rabid dogs, despite their bravado in social media, could not answer to it.

The Hong Kong kids are currently fighting so that they would not be subjected to such oppression.

They may not likely win but the world will remember their sacrifices and their unwillingness to roll over and die without a fight.

That's why I'm now praying for their safety.....and their unlikely success.

Chinese Merdeka

As Malaysia celebrated Merdeka yesterday, people in Hong Kong are fighting for their freedom and paying the price for it,

It actually reminds me of those demonstrations calling for Najib's resignation prior to GE14, except that in those instances the authorities didn't use force against the demonstrators,

As mentioned in the video, the protesters at the rally against Najib were largely Chinese.

Since the authorities back then didn't use violence against them like in Hong Kong, I believe Chinese in Malaysia have more freedom than Chinese in Hong Kong and definitely more so than Chinese in mainland China where this is how they break up a protest,

The protesters in Hong Kong were accused of being driven by foreign powers. So did those massacred at Tiananmen Square in Beijing back then. Were the protesters in Malaysia driven by foreign powers?

Well, that's what they said.

Whatever it is, Malaysia pre GE14 was relatively tolerant of protesters against the government.

Maybe we are better now.

That had not always been the case though. This is a protest during the Reformasi era of late 90s,

But then again the Reformasi protestors back then were largely Malays, not Chinese.

The Chinese only started going to the streets in large number after this anti-Lynas protest in Kuantan after the Najib's administration promised not to crack down on them,

You can read more about it at this post in the old BIGCAT blog just days after it happened in February 2012

DAP's victory in Kuantan last weekend

As it turned out now, all that anti-Lynas protests were just political bullshit.

But back then it led to the other Chinese-dominated rallies in the run up to the GE14 where BN was defeated in the end.

Maybe the Chinese authorities in China and Hong Kong learnt from it.

Maybe that's why they don't allow the Chinese there to rally peacefully. They beat up and even killed those Chinese protesters over there.

Well, I guess the Chinese, along with others in Malaysia are more Merdeka than those in China and Hong Kong.