First I’ve heard of of such a thing. Is it because non-Muslims can’t become members of Parti Agama Islam Se Malaysia?

Whatever it is, to my wee knowledge of my surroundings, this is the first such reported incident of an entire MIC branch “crossing over” to the other side.

But then the March 8 Elections Tsunami (I’m using this cliche for the first time here) aftermath has yielded some really strange stories.

This I guess, is just another slap in the face for Samy Vellu, who until now still doesn’t get it that MIC lost so badly because of him.

What is more important is the MIC grassroot mindset that “voting PAS will mean you will be forced to convert to Islam, and kena sunat (get circumcised), is changing.

I will choose to see it as a herald of times to come when people of all racial and religious backgrounds get the assistance they need, without their colour and faith being brought into question.

Bukit Gantang MP Roslan Shaharom is making the right noises so far.

 Don’t assume that without (MIC president Datuk Seri S.) Samy Vellu and the MIC, your welfare will be neglected.

“We will take care of you because any problem affecting the Indian community, will affect members of other communities too,” said Roslan.- The Star

This would be a bonus for the Indians in the constituency, because I doubt many received any help at all in the past.

Let’s hope for more people in politics to come and not just bridge the racial/religious divide, but one day make this divide non-existent.

It is a hope. It is my right to be romantic and hope for a nicer future for Malaysia. And I’m not alone.

Update: Been texting my friends about Earth Hour global “blackout“and one replied that the Petronas Twin Towers must black out for an hour too.  

What say you Kuala Lumpur? Suria KLCC? KL Tower? What about Mid Valley Megamall? Dare to do it?

—————————————————————————————————

It is EARTH HOUR tonight. So, be a responsible Earthling and do the right thing, fellow bloggers, readers and Netizens.

What: Switch off your home lights (or wherever you are). For ONE Hour.

When: From 8pm to 9pm tonight. Saturday. 29 March 2008.

Why: In conjunction with the Earth Day Campaign to reduce energy usage and wastage. Also in conjunction with Malaysia’s own Earth Day celebration.

Those  interested to be part of this global campaign can also sign up at for Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org/user/SLC6.

Penangites are doing it too, so why not join them. They plan to reduce energy usage by 5%. You and I can make it more.

Twenty four global cities are participating in Earth Hour at 8pm Tonight. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.

Read more on Earth Hour.

 The Land Below the Wind i.e Sabah , has for a sizable part of its existence in Malaysia, been the Land Below the Radar for the Barisan Nasional coalition. They’ve shut up all these while because the power base has for the large part remained with Umno.

Read more about Sabah, rich in natural resources, but with the highest number of people living below poverty line,  in this exhaustively researched Wikipedia entry.

I’ve said before in this blog that after the GE 2008, BN owes its hold on federal power (however tenuous) thanks to Sabah and Sarawak, and the Cabinet appointments must reflect this fact, for equitable representation if not sheer gratitude.

The BN coalition won 24 out of 25 Parliament seats, and 58 out of 60 State seats in Sabah. That is almost carte blanche. If these 24 seats went to the PAS/PKR/DAP alliance, the difference would have been razor thin. Can you imagine a ruling the country with BN: Opposition ratio like 116:106? And that is just Sabah.

You would think that a state that had supported Barisan for a long time would be taken care of. But no. The announcement of the Cabinet by Pak Lah last week was highly anticipated, but delivered little in terms of Sabah representation.

And the Sabahans are tired of keeping quiet about it. Read this report from last week.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has reportedly described Sabah as a “fixed deposit” for BN.

Sabah Umno Assistant Secretary Masidi Manjun said yesterday,

“We (Sabah) have been dubbed Barisan’s fixed deposit (bastion). At the moment, we feel that we are not getting enough interest from our fixed deposit. 

“If the interest is not good, people will put it elsewhere,” said Masidi, adding that many people in the state were disappointed with the current representation.

Thinly veiled threat, that. Although Pak Lah named the same number of cabinet ministers as he did in 2004 (three), he upped the number of deputy ministers from two to four.Three of the deputy minister have since quit, including Ghapur Salleh, who left his Natural Resources and Environment posting yesterday.

Some say it is a sign that the Sabah representation in the federal government needs a re-look. What I’ve been reading indicates so much more needs attention in this country

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang talked about the worrying hardcore poverty levels in January this year and asked what Pak Lah was going to do about it.

Mat Tyson said after he was named to the Rural Development portfolio that he was going to tour the country to hear people’s woes. Maybe he should start in Sabah.

The population boom in Sabah is explosive. I could choose to think that Sabahans breed like rabbits. But that would make me an idiot. There is a more sinister reason, as was suggested in this Daily Express story.

Richard Leete of UNDP has some interesting charts to show you the demographical shift as well as other statistics in Sabah. At least 23 % of Sabah’s 3.3 million population lives below poverty line, in 2004. This is 8% down from the 1990 statistics. Eight percent in 14 years. Four more years have passed since than. How much do you think, the poverty levels would have fallen by now?

Maybe the situation wouldn’t be so bad without the “New Sabahans” that got bumiputera status because some Peninsular-based political behemoth wanted supremacy over the Kadazandusuns in Sabah? Read this story and weep. 

There are people in the Peninsular Malaysia who have lived here for more than 50 years, but are still just penduduk tetap. There are lots of people in Sabah who barely even speak Bahasa, and have been here less than 10 years, but are part of the voting population.

Go figure!

I just adore Husin Lempoyang. His sometimes wry, other times wickedly funny digs cannot fail to leave you in stitches.

However, this particular posting is a high quality gem in the world of political satire in Bahasa Melayu.

Malaysians, go read it. If you can’t understand, go back to school. If Loh Gwo Burne can take BM tuition, and you should too. It is the Bahasa Kebangsaan.

Why don’t someone put fatigues on George W Bush and Dick Cheney and drop somewhere over Iraq?  If they survive the drop, then they can fight alongside their troops.

But this particular Texan seems too dense to understand the magnitude of damage he is inflicting on Iraq as well as his own troops.

The US troops are showing strain over this very long engagement. According to Associated Press, up to 4003 of their own soldiers have died since the Americans started Operation Get Saddam, not to mentions thousands of Iraqi civilians. But who keeps count of civilians deaths anyway.

The chiefs’ concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon’s ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.

In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003, according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into Baghdad’s Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.

An end is nowhere in sight. It is up to Bush, but he says they are winning in Iraq. Who? At what cost? On one hand, he aggravated an already volatile brew in the Middle East with his Iraq misadventure (by convincing America and its allies that the road to Al-Qaeda is through Iraq.)

Now he says victory is possible despite General David Petraeus’ assertions otherwise.

Read more by Fred Kaplan at Slate.com

What does Bush think he is? Jerry Bruckheimer?

The Singapore government takes positive steps towards providing infrastructure that benefits the public. It promotes competition.So the consumers benefit.

Starhub,M1 pair up to bid for cyberhighway

The Straits Times
Monday, March 24, 2008

By Alfred Siew

Rivals StarHub and MobileOne (M1) have joined forces in a bid to build Singapore’s new, ultra-fast cyber highway, throwing up the latest surprise in a long tender process.

The network, dubbed the Next-Generation National Broadband Network, will let users surf at speeds at least 10 times faster than now.

When ready islandwide by 2015, it is expected to shake up a telecom market now dominated by SingTel and StarHub.

Read more..

 What made me blog about this are the following paras…

The winner will be unveiled in the third quarter of this year. A second tender will then be called for the operation of the telecom equipment in the network.

This separation is meant to prevent one telco from dominating the scene, the Government said. It is giving out up to $750 million to help firms build the network.

In doing so, it believes more small firms can offer online services without being bogged down by the cost of building the network. -Asia Media News Daily

No overt concessions to dominant player Singtel despite it being owned by Singapore govt’s investment arm Temasek Holdings.

This is governance.

For others there is UMNO? Heheh. Cruel joke in this current climate, I know, but to those many Umnoputras who benefited from the UMNO largesse over the decades, this may be time to stick to your people and support them.

But then one wonders, what kind of loyalty does money buy? As I write this post, my thoughts go back to somewhere last year and a story my neighbour told me about a conversation he had with a Wanita Umno type.

Z: Tak pergi perhimpunan agung UMNO ke?

W: Malas lah. Kali ni depa tak bagi duit. Pergi pun buang masa aje.

Telling, isn’t it?

Fast forward to this week and Pak Non’s opinion piece in The Edge. I would like to direct your attention to these particular paragraphs.

Those in the know say the problem in Terengganu is expected to be resolved by early next week. Again everyone knows that “resolved or selesaikan” is euphemism for compensation or rewards.
And this in essence is another major problem within Umno. Members have become so greedy, so obsessed with self-enrichment that perjuangan (struggle) has taken on a new meaning.
It is no longer the party struggle for bangsa, agama dan tanahair (nation, religion and country), the party slogan of the early years — that has taken a back seat — but the narrow individual struggle to amass wealth. 

Most pertinent in relation to the conversation above is his weary conclusion.

No doubt some also lost because party workers refused to continue working when the allocation meant for them did not arrive. Thus, many campaign posts had to be abandoned. For Umno, volunteerism is long gone.

Is this what they meant by protecting the interest of Malays? Is this the unspoken side of the New Economic Policy that non-Umnoputras have no inkling of?

Now that we discuss this, I’m reminded this bit of news from 2006. Pak Lah announced then that RM600 million would be allocated to UMNO division throughout the country (except Sarawak)to be disbursed for little projects for Class F contractors.

Malaysiakini then reported on this. So you know I’m not simply pointing fingers or picking on an already unpopular government.

Firstly, Sarawak was excluded because there is no Umno branch or division there I guess. So the Class F contractors there can go fly kite la.

Secondly, it occurs to me how much the Class F contractors have to kiss the local Umno head honcho’s arse just to have remain solvent.

Thirdly, these kind of “throwing scraps for the loyal dogs” treatment not only demeans the honest, productive Bumi contractors but also encourages them to be lazy. It sends a signal that it is not know how, but KNOW WHO, that gets them a job.

How the hell do you elevate the economic status of the needy Malay Bumiputeras (I know UMNO doesn’t give a damn about the Non-Malay Bumis) if you don’t encourage them to compete?

UMNO and in extension, Barisan Nasional, has been digging its own grave with such selective patronage and short-sighted policies and the hole has gotten deep enough to deprive them of Kuala Lumpur and FIVE other states this month.

The way back into favour with the people would be to prove that they are sincere enough about serving the interest of the common people.

But then, some fat cats who have been raised on a diet of Friskies dry food would not be too excited about actually going out there and catching rats for dinner.

My morning perusal of the local news headlines brought forth an involuntary giggle that burst into a long, satisfied laughter. My neighbours raised eyebrows. I don’t care.

This is why. The newly appointed Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik gave an assurance that bloggers will not be controlled. Instead they will be engaged by the government.

I’m not so arrogant as to think that we bloggers were the reason Barisan Nasional lost so badly for the first time in 50 years. No. That would be presumptuous and stupid.

But we were part of that information revolution that shaped public opinion. It cannot escape the public notice that most of the seats lost were in urban areas. The only exception is the Malay heartland that is part of Perak, and Kedah. Even they must have had access to virtual information too.

Judging by the traffic report generated by this blog’s site traffic controller, lots of people accessed this site from lots of rural areas. Many are keyword search visitors while most, I have to admit, constitute cascade traffic from the more popular, high volume blogs.

Vive la Broadband! Vive la Internet! What IMHO is the greatest technological invention of the 20th century, has helped to make a move for change.

When I first heard Raja Petra Kamaruddin say at the Bloggers United Malaysia gathering last year, that there are more Malaysians online than there are Malaysian registered voters, I had a mild jolt as I considered the implications.

Less than a year after that, the old world politicians of Malaysia are forced to come to terms with a harsh truth. You can’t censor information on the Net.

Not that they didn’t try to. In the early days of Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today, the cops used to come and cart away the the hardware from the offices. The dimwits did not realise the virtual and viral quality of online information dissemination then. So they ran down all alternative media sources as “BAD”.

Zainuddin Maidin was certainly one of them. He paid dearly for his ignorance. In one month, he has gone from Information Minister to a nobody. That he was once a journalist makes me wonder, just how he managed to be so willfully ignorant.

Ahmad Shabery begins his tenure with some encouraging noises, but then, coming at this time, after the the near crippling of the Barisan Nasional government, it seems a little forced.

Indonesia has shown many that it is a superior nation and civilisation to us where talent, national pride, civil liberties and intelligence are concerned.

What Shabery said yesterday can hardly be construed as as you take into account the Indonesian government’s engagement of New Media and Blogs.

They went as far as to declare Oct 17 as National Bloggers Day last year, Unspun Malaysian blogger in Jakarta alerted us.

Elsewhere in the world, blogs have been well-recognised as valuable source of public feedback, engaging citizenry into participatory governance etc.

Last year I had the opportunity (thanks to taiko-blogger recently turned MP Jeff Ooi and the National Alliance of Bloggers) to meet David Sasaki of Global Voices Online, who related blog-related happenings around the world.

From then on I discovered that Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a blog.

This site has a list of soldiers who blog from all over the world, and some of them bringing first hand account of the battleground. Five of them were chosen by Time magazine as the Riveting Soldier Blogs .

In Argentina, blogs became a tool of communication between elected representatives and the public which again, invites the man in street into the process of governance.

These are simple ideas. They work because people recognise it to work and make it work to their purposes.

What stopped our politicians and government from doing the same? We Malaysians have brains too, don’t we?

I guess it was the arrogance of Ketuanan BN.

You reap what you sow.

Dah empat tahun baru nak cerita pasal hindarkan rasuah. Sounds such a buang tabiat statement.

Oops…I’m wrong. He started four years ago pledging to wipe out corruption. That verve petered out less than a year later.

Pak Lah, if you are serious about that statement, why did you take in Mat Tyson?

Ku Nan, who is the new UMNO sec gen, was a well known proxy with so many directorships under his belt when Dr M published his crony list in the 90s.

I could go on….but tak payah lah. The public has said what it thought of BN governance. Much of what I would say here would be like flogging a dead horse.

I’ve been postponing this post a bit, just to marshall my thoughts. However, the thoughts keep on nagging till I can’t sleep at night.

I was watching the live telecast of Pak Lah’s pared down Cabinet take oath of office today in front of the Yang Di Pertuan Agong and glimpsed the colourful Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu sitting in the front row of leaders, sans wife and looking very somber, yet with an unmistakable defiance still written on his face.

Politicians must certainly have tough hides. For a politician whose party was almost wiped out in the GE 2008, Samy, who lost his own Sungai Siput seat, held for decades, kept his composure.

 Yet in some corner, I was move . d to pity this man who cut a lonely figure amidst the already subdued multitude at the Balai Rong Seri, who were seated in front of the Agong who wore a stern face himself.

The pity didn’t last, once I started dwelling on the many questions that Samy as the ostensible leader of the Indian community must answer. Anger and more questions starter piling up. Read the rest of this entry »

The New Economic Policy, which had noble aims at the time of its conception by Tun Razak and Tun Dr Ismail, has deviated in a big way from its goals, thanks to greed for money and power.

The new Chief Minister from the Opposition-run Selangor, Khalid Ibrahim, must have himself been a beneficiary of this policy that among others aimed at getting Bumiputeras 30% equity in the whole of national wealth.

Today, he said NEP Execution Has Deviated. He is right. I still get this surreal feeling as I hear a Malay leader saying this. But then, the events of March 8 has changed the whole geopolitical structure of Malaysia.

The climate is right to make such statements. So far, except for some stupid remarks and actions on the part of some DAP/PAS/PKR people, the overtures have largely been a welcome one.

Perak now has a multi-lingual Mentri Besar. DAP and Gerakan showed some rare accord in the matter of Penang’s future. Selangor government pledges transparency in public administration.

All sounds nice. But remember guys. There is no such thing as a honeymoon for whoever rules the states. Because you guys know very well that it was an unpopular government that lost its mandate.

PKR/PAS/DAP have to deliver some results starting next year….at the very least. Or lose it for good.

Same goes for the Barisan Government. What Pak Lah said about declaration of assets is a positive development.

However, how do you account for proxies, Mr Prime Minister?

From 32 ministries to 27. This is a dieter’s Cabinet. Or should I say the Cabinet of Reduced Circumstances.

Curious additions and glaringly obvious omisions. Some observations

1. Zaid Ibrahim wasn’t even fielded as a BN candidate in Kota Bharu. Now he is in the Cabinet. Someone came to his senses perhaps.

2. Joseph Pairin Kitingan, a significant force in Sabah politics, not only won his seat, but his state, Sabah, together with Sarawak, made it possible for BN to form a government after the disastrous showing at the March 8 polls. He was not in the Cabinet. Sad dismissal, could prove disastrous for Pak Lah next elections.

3. Syed Hamid Albar and some of the Umno insiders tried to get rid of Rais Yatim by sending him as Malaysia’s nominee for Commonwealth Sec Gen’s post. Rais refused to play ball. He almost wasn’t named to defend his Jelebu Parliament seat. Finally named, he won his seat comfortably in a shaky state that lost much of its seats to the opposition. Now he got Syed Hamid’s job at Foreign Ministry. Heheh!

4. Wanita Umno tadak representation in Cabinet. Reprehensible considering Rafidah Aziz won her Kuala Kangsar seat. Quite apart from the shady AP scandals, this iron lady was once described by the foreign media as the “only person in the Malaysian Cabinet with balls” is conspicuously missing from the Cabinet. Pak Lah’s loss.

5. K. Devamany, the only Indian leader from MIC who came out in defense of the Hindraf rally in parliament, is one of the surviving MIC reps. He made it as a Deputy Minister.

6. The dark horse of MCA, Ong Tee Keat, long sidelined for various reasons including his Team B past, is one of the BN survivors from Selangor. Popular with his constituents, he finally makes Minister, taking Chan Kong Choy’s former portfolio.

7. Ong Ka Chuan takes brother Ka Ting’s portfolio. So, Ka Ting’s “noble” overtures in not accepting a ministership, looks to me like clearing the way for his brother. Heheh.

8. All those maneuverings and underground work paid off. The erstwhile pariah of Selangor makes a comeback to the mainstream politics big time. Muhamad son of Muhamad (also known as Mike Tyson or Mat Tyson for backhanding his then 2nd wife Ku Yah, in public) becomes a federal minister. Why? He didn’t do jack in Selangor did he?

9. Umno seg gen Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Azmi Khalid, from Perlis,(all were parties in the Perlis power struggle that saw Shahidan Kassim sidelined as well) were both dropped. So was Jamaluddin Jarjis who won his Rompin seat in Pahang. But then JJ is already kaya raya. Enuff with politics eh JJ?

10. The wildly popular MP of JB who won his seat despite quitting Umno after the Salleh Abbas debacle and standing as an independent candidate. A controversial that follows what is right more often than what the party thinks is right, can only bring credibility to this Cabinet. A much-appreciated addition.

11. Khairy Jamalludin wasn’t named. Thank God. I guess there would have been an open revolt in Umno ranks if he was. Earn your spurs KJ, maybe you can take over as Backbenchers Club Chairman. But then beware, Kak Pidah from Kuala Kangsar might join you, and you don’t play play ah!

Here is the Lineup proper.

ROFL!

According to Talking Cock, always a playful pain in the ass of the Singapore government,  it did.

Go read some COCK stuff here. It is good for you to laugh and relieve that post-election stress. Especially if you lost your deposit.

On another note (he sent a letter, I mean), Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Pak Lah on his “win” and the formation of a new government.

I guess, there was panic this morning in the financial market as trading opens after an eventful General Elections over the weekend.

However, statements from the Bursa Malaysia and Securities Commission assures that things would not get worse. It was just a circuit breaker mechanism to stop trading if volume loses 10% of total trade.

Read more here.

Market reaction to a drastically reduced political mandate for BN is only expected. However, it has been two days after GE 2008 and there has yet to be any reports of riots or politics-related fights and rallies.

That means we Malaysians can hold our peace. Stability is not an issue here.

For all we know, the results of this elections may be far-reaching. Who knows, pushing for greater accountability and less of needless bureaucracy may lead to a renewal of investor confidence.

Lim Guan Eng promised to address that part, in Penang. I hope he delivers.

There was no war cry, just the Malaysian voters’ simple exercising of their democratic right. And the good people of Malaysia said BALLS! to the Barisan Nasional behemoth.

Lest we forget the Silent Majority part, let me remind you of the BN government’s response to the Lawyers March on Sept 26, Bersih rally of Nov 5 and Hindraf’s Nov 25 rally (all in 2007).

Silent Majority has spoken on Dec 12 as reported in The Star.

Now I want to ask, where is DAMAI, the “umbrella body” representing 395 non-governmental organisations?

Living in denial, somnolence and plain ignorance of people’s aspirations is what brought Pak Lah’s government to its knees.

Humble old me, nothing more than a voter and citizen, has a piece of advice for Pak Lah.

Fire all your son-in-law’s sycophantic cronies in the 4th Floor. They are elitist as well as clueless on how to do their jobs, despite being educated young fellas.

Apart from leaning on the media to keep out all negative publicity, what have they done to ensure the good image of the Prime Minister.

Read this Wikipedia entry on Pak Lah. We all know that Wikipedia allows its entries to be edited, so, why have the PM’s image consultants not done anything to address the disparaging stuff written there?

Because they believe it’s true? Heheh. Or is it because Pak Lah’s aides and advisors are lousy at public relations?

I guess we can allow a couple of days for them to stand again after being sent reeling by the Malaysian electorate, but when they get to the business of governing now, they have to to actually do some work, not spout outdated rhetorics.

If they don’t, there are 82 voices in Parliament to question them.

The Cabinet pit bull Nazri Aziz (he really should do something about this nasty Wiki on him) won’t be able to say Bodoh Bodoh Bodoh, Duduk Duduk Duduk any more and get away with it.

Ku Li probably sums it up about BN

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said the results were “not just a blow to Barisan and Umno but to the nation as a whole.”  

“Alongside losing our two-thirds majority in Parliament, we have lost a record number of states to the Opposition, including the home state of the Prime Minister,” he said in a statement.  

“The honesty with which we interpret this result, and the decisiveness with which we act on it, will determine whether we still have a future with the people. 

“We must face it without further denial, self-deception or media spin.” - The Star

I dunno about the “blow to the nation as a whole” part, Ku Li. If it is a blow, then it is BN’s fault, isn’t it?

Felt like post-coital bliss. Really! And then some.

Hardly had any sleep. Got to bed at 8am and tried to catch some shuteye. But the calls and SMSes kept on coming, especially from those who slept through the whole night.

Some took a look at the Sunday newspaper, and dropped it in shock.

I call that Terkejut Badak. Heh! Non-Malay speakers, imagine a shocked rhino. Can you see it? No? I can’t either.

Anyway, I guess the national atmosphere right now is of Disbelief.

Stay there, get over the shock. Go get stoned (don’t stone others laa, Musa Hassan warned you to behave didn’t he?)

Tomorrow, we shall inspect the carnage. Lots of graves to dig.

For now, congratulate yourselves, you Malaysian voters. Because it is not Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang or Lim Kit Siang who made it happen.

It is YOU and me.

We made history.

We Malaysians gave you a mandate to represent us in the Parliament and the State Assemblies.

Now, the thing to do is reflect on your win, and get to work.

No celebrations, wild parties and stuff. The Opposition win this time around is due NOT to their popularity, but the estreme unpopularity of the erstwhile administration that was given a resounding mandate in 2004 and squandered it at our expense.

What we Malaysians don’t want to see now, is:

- Gloating, name calling and rubbing the losers’ noses in their defeat.

- Infighting among the Opposition parties as to who gets to be Perak and Selangor Mentris Besar.

- Following the footsteps of the complacent Barisan Nasional and become cocky and out of touch with the people’s needs.

Malaysian voters showed their relative maturity in this election. I applaud them. I feel finally that there is some hope for change and equitable socioeconomic solutions for us ordinary people.

We have showed that we are no longer afraid of the RACE and RELIGION bogeymen that had been used time and time again to stop us from voting our conscience.

Now let’s work together as not Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban, Dayak, Melanau, Kelabit, Nyonya, Peranakan…..but as Malaysians.

Today, it came to me, how this country and its people are worth fighting and suffering for.

Today, I’d proudly tell people I’m a Malaysian blogger.

Today, I’m proud to be a citizen of Malaysia.

God Bless This Country.

I can’t seem to access certain Blogspot blogs.

Neither can I see much of Malaysia Today or Malaysiakini.

There doesn’t seem to a problem with WordPress blogs though.

Can any of you tell me what’s going on? Can fellow WordPress bloggers in Malaysia fill the current blog blackout with some updates.

Sheih , Tok Mommy and Susan Loone is doing it already. So are Nathaniel and Bakaq, who is aggregating the updates.

Anyone else?

The mainstream media seem to be delaying some of the updates. Maybe they are waiting for confirmations and stuff.

After all, this is an unprecedented result in the history of Malaysian elections. After all, the public came out and decided what they want. Understandably the Barisan Nasional coalition is shocked out of its collective pants.

Whoa! Another one bites the dust. Check this out.  

 So that is Perak, Penang. Kelantan (retained by PAS) and Selangor that is in Opposition hands. 

 In Selangor, according to Malaysiakini,

Tony Pua goes to Parliament, beating MCA poster girl Chew Mei Fun in PJ Utara.

So does Charles Santiago in Klang, beating MCA’s Ch’ng Toh Eng in Klang.

Gobind Singh Deo (Karpal Singh’s son) makes it a family hattrick by winning Puchong over incumbent Lau Yeng Peng.

What a day! What a night!

On another note, Mukhriz Mahathir wins his Jerlun seat.

Terengganu retained by Barisan with a slim majority.

Datuk Shahrizat Jalil  lost to Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR) in Lembah Pantai. (KL)

Datuk S.Samy Vellu lost to Dr D. Jeyakumar (PKR) in Sungai Siput.(Perak)

Datuk Fu Ah Kiau lost to Fuziah Salleh in Kuantan (Pahang)

Datuk Dr Koh Tsu Koon lost to Dr P.Ramasamy (DAP) in Batu Kawan. (Penang)

Zainudin Maidin lost to Johari Abdul of PKR in Sungai Petani (Kedah)

Badruddin Amiruldin lost to Firdaus Jaafar in Jerai. (Kedah)

Datuk S.Sothinathan lost to Badrul Hisham (PKR) in Teluk Kemang. (N. Sembilan)

Datuk G.Palanivel lost to Zainal Abidin Ahmad in Hulu Selangor. (Selangor)

Datuk Tan Chai Ho lost to Khalid Ibralim in Bandar Tun Razak. (KL)

whew!!!

will be back with more updates!

Yeah. The unsinkable Selangor is sunk. The opposition parties DAP, PAS and PKR together has won 30 seats and is set to form the government.

And this just filtered in via some burung kecik. The Federal Reserve Unit has been deployed and they have cordoned off the Selangor State Secretariat building.

Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I believe though, that many many incriminating files are being removed even as we speak.

There is already speculation as to who will be the new Mentri Besar of Selangor. Early rumours suggest PKR’s Datuk Khalid Ibrahim (Ijok) but another contender emerges in the of PAS’ Dr Hassan Ali (Gombak Setia).

As I write this, TV coverage indicates that the Opposition has won 48 Parliament seats while BN has won 112. BN needs a total of 148 to form a new government.

I’m still kicking myself. Can’t believe this.

In my previous post I stated that Khairy Jamaluddin and the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Hasan lost their seats. Apparently after a recount, they both were declared winners.

Apologies!

 Another blogger brethren wins, headed for Selangor State Assembly.

Eli wins her state seat in Bukit Lanjan for PKR. Sivarasa Rasiah win the Subang Parliament seat also for PKR.

The results cascading in are really really unbelievable.

DAP’s M.Manoharan, one of the Hindraf five currently detained under Internal Security Act in Kamunting, has won by a 7,000 vote majority.

The Negri Sembilan MB has lost his seat. Word has it that Khairy Jamaludin lost his Rembau seat by a bit more than 100 votes, but has now demanded a recount.

I am bloody proud of my fellow Malaysians today!

Malaysia indeed Boleh!

Whoo Hoo!

 My tears are flowing freely as I write this.

Yang Berkhidmat…heheh…Jeff Ooi, the taiko blogger who’s contesting in Jelutong, is now headed for Parliament.

We bloggers now have Parliamentary representation. Now who called us liars, unemployed bunch of women, monkeys…n shit like that?

The rest of the Malaysians did NOT think so.

Seputeh voters returned Theresa Kok to her seat, and I believe this hardworking lady also won in Kinrara (can any readers confirm this).

After the juvenile electioneering by MCA in Seputeh, this win makes it all the more sweet.

You thought Makkal Sakthi (People Power)was a rhetoric? Well, you thought wrong. The people of Sungai Siput, Lembah Pantai and Teluk Kemang just decided to kick out these three Barisan big names.

The three Sses (pronounced ASSES) lost narrowly political lightweights and unknowns. This is not a joke. It is already in the media.

As I write this, I’m trembling with the anticipation and nervousness that I only remember happening to me during the World Cup Finals.

I had gone back to my hometown to vote today, full of hope that the voting population of Malaysia will wake up.

In Penang they certainly did. For the very first time in Malaysian electoral history, this Island state decides to give its mandate to the Opposition.

 The victory belongs to the people! Bravo My fellow Penangites!

To the DAP/PKR/PAS Alliance….the ball is now in your court.

Yeah, go exercise that voting arm of yours.

Vote for the next four years.

Vote with your conscience.

Vote for the right reasons.

Just vote.

I’m going back to my kampung to vote.

I just hope I make it safely there and back.

Good Luck!

Yup…I had been named the Parti Undi Rosak candidate for Teluk Kemang Parliamentary constituency.

Calon Teluk Kemang.

What are u staring at? You jealous you’re not named? Lu Suey maa.

I have much faith in the party and will not let it down. I’m running against MIC incumbent Datuk S.Sothinathan. You know the guy. The MIC fighter cock who was suspended from parliament for 3 months, almost two years ago, for speaking (or rather crowing) his mind. He is seeking reelection.

And of course that PKR guy…Whatshisface bin Whatshisname. I went over to visit the voters last weekend. and found lotsa disgruntled ones.

One apparently chased Sothinathan with this broom.

Why? Cos he apparently said “I don’t need Indian votes to win”. Heheh. Nice.

I thank Sothi for increasing my chances of winning. I promise the people of Port Dickson (old name for Teluk Kemang constituency) that president Pazuzu himself will come down and personally thank them for their support all these years.

Hidup Pundak!

So says an SMS that is going around. Did some checking with some burung kecik and found that….

This time around it is in Rantau, Negri Sembilan. Word has it that some clueless estate manager in Ladang Linsum, Rantau had the Hindu temple torn down.

I’m sure it was perfectly within their legal right to do so. Linsum Estate, if I’m not mistaken, belongs to Golden Hope Plantations. But such a demolition coming just a few days before general elections in an area where 24% of the voters are Indians is not a very smart move.

This fact was probably realised by the incumbent state assemblyman Datuk Mohamad Hassan, who is defending his seat. Mohamad, who is also the NS Mentri Besar, apparently went down for some damage control, and promised that the temple would be rebuilt.

He must be aware of the repercussions of this incident at a time when Hindraf is beating the Makkal Sakthi (People Power) drum.

Interestingly, DUN N25 Rantau is one of the four state constituencies to come under the Rembau parliamentary seat (P131). Rembau as we all know, is indeed one of the most watched contests as Malaysia votes in General Elections 2008.

This could mean less votes for Mohamad Hassan and Khairy Jamaluddin and a gain for blogger Chegubard who is challenging him under the PKR ticket.

Details of the Rembau constituency makeup is here, thanks to Utusan Online.

The fact that the younger voters (21-30) are more politically aware these days in Malaysia is a fact to be applauded.

The internet generation brings a certain youthfulness to the whole political landscape and also adds a techno dimension to politics that is long dominated by stale rhetorics.

Check out these cool videos.

Ubah Gaya Hidup

RomPakLah

YB and Stamps

YB vs Blogger

Hats off to Youth 4 Change

MCA must have run out of ideas to have stooped so low as to invest in character assasination of Theresa Kok, the incumbent MP of Seputeh.

This was shot at Taman Desa, off Old Klang Road. My neighbours who saw this billboard were angered by the cheap shot.

This is not going to endear her challenger Carol Chew (MCA) to the voters, even if I suspect Ms Chew has nothing to do with this.

The Elections Commission also announced that the indelible ink will not be used, citing security and public order reasons.

I’d like to think this measure is to facilitate the coming and going of phantom voters, who are even more necessary now that the ruling coalition begin feeling uneasy about public support in certain areas.

But then it wasn’t me who said this elections will be the dirtiest in Malaysian history. Ex-PM Tun Mahathir did. He should know. He was the country’s biggest practitioner of the Macchiavelian school of politics.