PAS – SeaDemon Says

September 24, 2020

Numbed Nought

We have all heard it before from the same person: “I have the numbers to become the next Prime Minister.” It was first uttered in April 2008, then again just before the Pakatan Harapan administration fell, and again yesterday. It has, thus far, come to a nought.

It may have come as a shocker for many. The KLCI fell 0.7 percent and closed nine points lower on Wednesday after the announcement was made. To be fair, the KLCI has been on bearish for almost a month now. It was at 1578.55 points on August 24th and is at 1496.48 points on September 23rd.

Other than that, Anwar’s claim has been met with scepticism. “We will have to wait to see if this is another episode of making claims that cannot be substantiated,” said Dr Mahathir over Zoom at Nutanix ASEAN CIO Virtual Summit about his former deputy who is famous for making repeated unsubstantiated claims of having support for the premiership. Many others think that it is just Anwar’s way to ensure that the voters in Sabah’s state elections will jump on the Pakatan Plus band wagon and support ‘the winning team.’

Numbed by Anwar’s occasional antics, I hardly find his announcement believable, let alone a shocker. However, a statement that followed and made by another politician got the ‘WTF’ reaction from me. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose court case against him is far more solid than the one against Najib Razak, announced that UMNO and BN cannot stop any of its Members of Parliament wanting to support Anwar to form a government with Pakatan Plus. As a matter of fact, Ahmad Zahid said that he ‘respects’ the decision made by the UMNO MPs wanting to jump to the other side.

For a few hours there was silence on the part of Zahid’s supporters. And then came the spin – the statement is a ploy by Zahid to pressure Muhyiddin’s ‘greedy’ PPBM into asking for a dissolution of Parliament and the calling of a general election. In other words, according to his supporters, Zahid is extorting Muhyiddin for a general election to be called.

For the life of me, I find that the lamest excuse that I have ever heard in wanting to dissolve a Parliament. In order to try get a general election going, all it needs for UMNO to do is to leave the PN government, or maybe Zahid has never read and understood the Federal Constitution. Once the sitting Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the Lower House, he shall tender the resignation of himself and that of his cabinet, or advice the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament. That is all it takes. No extortion needed, and UMNO does not have to be in an administration that DAP is member of. It is a bizarre statement coming from Zahid, the President of UMNO.

But Zahid, and his ill-read supporter should also remember this: Parliament can continue for five years from the date of its first meeting till its next dissolution, and in the meantime, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can appoint another member of Parliament whom, in His Majesty’s judgment, has the confidence of the majority of the House’s members. So, Zahid can threaten Muhyiddin but the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can still refuse to dissolve Parliament. That would be a double whammy for UMNO. And looking at how fluid things are, not one party would dare to go through a general election now until forced to in 2023. So, is UMNO ready to be partners with PKR, DAP and Amanah? I strongly doubt it.

UMNO’s No.2, Mohamad Hasan, said that UMNO is still part of the PN administration and shall continue to support it. “Any change in its stance must be decided by the party,” he said when commenting on the issue. Other UMNO MPs such as Nazri Aziz, Shahidan Kassim and Khairy Jamaluddin have all rubbished the claims.

A word of advice for UMNO. Winning seven by-elections does not mean that the whole country is now rooting for you. In a general election, the game is played differently. Majority of the urban voters are still against you. Sabah has not exactly accepted you. Sarawak still cannot trust your Muafakat Nasional partner, PAS. The nation only accepts Muhyiddin and his multi-party band of senior ministers. Not even the rest of Muhyiddin’s cabinet has the trust of the people. With Zahid trying to play big brother, the wounds of the last general election will bleed again, and people will remember the greedy UMNO that they brought down two years ago. You are now part of a government without having to wait another three years to go through an election – so be thankful.

As for Zahid, he should learn to behave more like a statesman than a numbnut. He often speaks before his brain could process the outcome. A party president is the person who sets the path on which the members in his party should follow. If he, as UMNO’s President, cannot control his MPs to form an administration with PKR and possibly DAP as he says, he has no business staying on as the party president claiming that he is looking after the interests of the Bumiputeras. Or is there a deal that he has made with Anwar for a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card? If that is true, then shame on him.

September 11, 2018

Lest We Forget The Alliance

I don’t know what prompted the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) to go it all alone in the recent Balakong by-election.

Perhaps, it did not want to be seen as an Umno lackey as it had always been labelled as. But this was the first time that it had contested under its own party logo since the first general election in 1955.

As we can now see, there is a general lethargy among the masses in respect of politics.

We have had three by-elections since the downfall of the Barisan Nasional government and the turnout during the by-elections have been rather poor.

On the 87th day, the Sungai Kandis by-election saw a drop of 18,476 voters compared to the numbers during the 14th general election.

Umno had initially wanted to contest using its own logo but changed its mind. Under the BN banner, the Barisan Nasional saw an 11.49 percent swing compared to 5.84 percent for Pakatan Harapan.

Umno was helped by Parti Islam Se Malaysia (Pas) although the latter still showed a certain amount of distrust towards the former.

There was very little or no involvement at all by MCA and MIC. The majority was reduced by 5,842 compared to 12,480 on May 9.

In the Seri Setia by-election which was held 22 days after Pakatan Harapan’s failure to fulfil its election manifesto promises, Pas saw a 31.01 percent swing for the party, helped by the fact that BN did not contest but assisted Pas during the campaign period.

Pakatan saw a swing 8.02 percent votes against it. The majority was reduced to 4,027 compared to 19,372 during the 14th general election.

MCA, which contested under its own banner against Pakatan, saw a swing of 4.11 percent for it compared to Pakatan’s 7.46 percent.

This means that even with a very much reduced turnout (49.16 percent of the total turnout during the 14th general election), MCA had failed to make a significant impact on the voters.

The philosopher, Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás or George Santayana, once said that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In this case, the MCA had forgotten its own history.

Before the independence of Malaya, both the MCA and Umno were political enemies. There was already a feeling of discontent among the Malays in the pre-war period over their poor economic position vis-à-vis the Chinese and Indians.

Professors T.H Silcock and Ungku Aziz noted in 1950 that the Malay peasants and fishermen were dependent on Chinese middlemen while Malays worked as messengers in offices where Chinese and Indians were clerks.

However, Umno knew that in order to achieve independence, a long-lasting relationship with other races needed to be forged. It was during the Umno general assembly of 1949 that Onn Jaafar said,

“It is absolutely important for the Malays to obtain closer ties with the other people in this country. It is time for us to take the wider view than the kampung view. I ask of you, which will you choose, peace or chaos, friendship or enmity?”

Although the grassroots of Umno was against Onn Jaafar’s idea that led him to leave the party two years later, it opened up a door for both the MCA Selangor Branch and Kuala Lumpur Umno branch to work together in the Federation’s first local elections.

Both Umno and MCA competed against each other and against other parties in Pulau Pinang in December 1951.

MCA had only managed to obtain the support from the Chinese while Umno the Malays. It was Datuk Yahya Abdul Razak from the Kuala Lumpur Umno branch who approached Selangor MCA branch chairman, H.S Lee to discuss the possibility of a cooperation of the two parties.

In January 1952, both branches of the two parties announced that they were jointly-contesting the Kuala Lumpur elections.

The Umno-MCA alliance won 10,340 votes while Onn Jaafar’s IMP won 6,641 votes. MIC joined the alliance in 1954.

This alliance went on to win all but one seats in the 1955 general election. The rest is history.

In the past, MCA relied on the English-speaking, urban-dwelling portion of the Chinese community who make up about 10 percent of the seven million Chinese people in this country.

That 10 percent is now drowned in smugness and disconnect as they now have the DAP to represent them in the Pakatan Harapan government despite how telling it is that the Pakatan Harapan government is not really interested in reforms.

MCA now needs to go down to the rural ground to try and win the voters back.

There is no way that the MCA can do this all alone by itself. It still needs Umno, MIC and even Pas to help it make a breakthrough.

This can only come about with a rebranding of the approach, and the fight for a common good, with the protection for all races remaining intact.

(This article first appeared on The Mole)

April 30, 2018April 30, 2018

Harapan Yang Berbahaya

rabiddog — Tian Chua memang tidak menghormati penjawat awam

Pakatan Orang-Orang Yang Tidak Menghormati Undang-Undang

Pada bulan Disember 2007, harapan Pakatan iaitu Tian Chua telah menggigit seorang konstabel polis Rosyaidi Anuar yang sedang melaksanakan tugas beliau di luar perkarangan bangunan Parlimen. Akibat perbuatan tersebut, Tian Chua telah dipenjarakan selama enam bulan dan denda RM3,000.00 pada tahun berikutnya.

Pada tahun 2017, Tian Chua telah menarik balik rayuannya di mahkamah terhadap hukuman penjara yang telah dikenakan terhadapnya kerana gagal mematuhi arahan polis untuk bersurai semasa perhimpunan BERSIH 3.0 pada tahun 2012.

Terkini, Tian Chua telah didapati tidak layak bertanding untuk Pilihanraya Umum Ke-14 kerana telah didenda sebanyak RM2,000.00.

Satu persoalan telah timbul kerana sebelum ini Tian Chua yang dikenakan hukuman denda RM3,000.00 pada tahun 2008 kerana menggigit seorang anggota polis seperti di atas, telah membuat rayuan dan mendapat pengurangan denda dari RM3,000.00 ke RM2,000.00.

Pada pendapat saya, Hakim Ghazali Cha telah membuat kesilapan dalam penghakimannya dengan mengulas bahawa hukuman denda tersebut dikurangkan dari RM3,000.00 ke RM2,000.00 untuk mengelakkan daripada perlunya mengadakan sebuah pilihanraya kecil yang akan memakan belanja yang amat besar untuk mencari seorang Ahli Parlimen yang baru.

Penghakiman tersebut berniat baik, namun tersilap dari segi Perlembagaan. Akibatnya, Tian Chua telah dibenarkan untuk kekal sebagai Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Batu, dan bertanding semula pada tahun 2013.

Terkini, Tian Chua telah dilucut kelayakan untuk bertanding dalam Pilihanraya Umum Ke-14 kerana telah dihukum denda sebanyak RM2,000.00. Pada asalnya, Tian Chua telah dihukum denda sebanyak RM3,000.00 kerana menghina seorang pegawai polis. Hukuman tersebut telah dikurangkan kepada RM2,000.00 kerana ianya tidak melibatkan perbuatan fizikal seperti…kegemaran Tian Chua…menggigit.

Namun, Artikel 48(1)(e) Perlembagaan Persekutuan jelas menyebut mana-mana orang yang dihukum dengan pemenjaraan selama tempoh tidak kurang daripada satu tahun atau denda tidak kurang daripada dua ribu ringgit dan dia tidak mendapat pengampunan bebas adalah tidak layak untuk menjadi seorang Ahli Parlimen.

Ini bermakna, Tian Chua telah dihalang oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan bukannya oleh SPR itu sendiri.

Bahayanya Harapan

Pada bulan Ogos 2012, saya telah berpeluang untuk berbuka puasa dengan 120 orang Islam bekas murtad dan mereka menceritakan kepada saya bagaimana liciknya taktik yang digunakan pihak-pihak evangelis untuk memurtadkan orang Islam di Malaysia.

Ramai dari kalangan para pemegang jawatan dalam DAP adalah mereka yang beragama Kristian dan agak fanatik. Di antara mereka yang tersenarai sebagai beragama Kristian dari kalangan pemegang jawatan dalam DAP termasuk Lim Guan Eng, Tony Pua, Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh, Ong Kian Ming, dan Yeo Bee Yin.

Saya juga pernah menulis betapa liciknya cara mereka memasukkan jarum evangelis di kalangan orang Melayu Islam hinggakan ada dari kalangan orang Melayu yang berjubah dan bertudung kini merupakan apa yang digelar oleh para pendakwah evangelis sebagai Messianic Muslims.

Sekarang kita lihat pula baju T yang dipakai oleh Tony Pua dalam satu videonya:

ponytua

Bermula dengan nama Barisan Alternatif, pakatan yang ada kini dikenali pula dengan nama Pakatan Rakyat yang juga mengandungi parti PAS, dan kemudiannya dinamakan Pakatan HARAPAN setelah PAS tidak lagi mahu menyertai Pakatan tersebut.

Saya ingin tumpu kepada perkataan HARAPAN itu sendiri.

HARAPAN adalah HOPE di dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Menurut John Piper, pengasas DesiringGod.org dan seorang Canselor di Bethlehem College and Seminary di Amerika Syarikat, makna HOPE (HARAPAN) dalam Bahasa Inggeris mungkin menjurus kepada menantikan sesuatu yang tidak pasti akan berlaku. Namun dalam pengajaran Kristian, HOPE atau HARAPAN adalah keyakinan/kepercayaan terhadap sesuatu yang telah dijanjikan oleh Tuhan, atau dalam bahasa mudahnya: AQIDAH (FAITH).

Menurut kitab Injil, “Kepercayaan datangnya dari mendengar, dan mendengar kata-kata Tuhan.” (Romans 10:17).

Lihat gambar di atas – perkataan yang tertera di bahagian depan baju beliau ialah HOPE. Adakah disebabkan pengaruh Islam dalam Pakatan telah dihapuskan dengan tidak termasuknya PAS di dalam Pakatan yang baharu maka Pakatan kini digelar Pakatan HARAPAN?

Adakah secara kebetulan juga Reverend Bernard Paul pernah mengutus jemputan kepada semua yang beragama Kristian untuk “menubuhkan kerajaan Tuhan di negara ini” dengan menolak kerajaan Barisan Nasional yang diketuai UMNO, sebuah parti Melayu yang memelihara Islam sebagai agama Persekutuan serta Raja-Raja Melayu sebagai payung agama Islam dan adat-istiadat orang Melayu?

revbernardpaul

Mungkin HARAPAN ini ada kena-mengena dengan apa yang disebut dalam Kitab Injil melalui Zechariah 14:9 iaitu:

“Tuhan akan menjadi raja atas seluruh bumi. Pada hari itu Tuhan akan menjadi satu dan namanya hanya satu.”

Memang bahaya siapa yang harapkan HARAPAN ini. Bahaya lagi Pakatan ini kepada aqidah orang Islam.

January 23, 2018January 23, 2018

Pakatan Hampas

Kerajaan Persekutuan berhasrat untuk membina sejuta rumah mampu milik di semua negeri di Malaysia, termasuk di negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh Pakatan Harapan. Namun, nilai hartanah yang tinggi, terutamanya di negeri-negeri di bawah pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan, menjadi batu penghalang hasrat tersebut.

Masalah Di Selangor

Semasa di bawah pentadbiran Barisan Nasional, rumah mampu milik merupakan tanggungjawab badan-badan kerajaan negeri seperti Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS). Namun, sejak pentadbiran diambil alih oleh Pakatan Rakyat pada tahun 2008, PKNS bertukar menjadi sebuah agensi yang mengejar keuntungan.

Pebangunan hartanah merupakan sumber hasil bagi kerajaan negeri dan pihak berkuasa tempatan melalui yuran tukar penggunaan tanah, pembahagian-pembahagian kecil dan lain-lain hal berkenaan dengan tanah. Kesemua kos-kos ini telah meningkat sejak pengambil alihan pentadbiran oleh Pakatan.

2d7f4cc5-07fa-4819-9022-91f68461288b — Kenaikan bayaran premium tanah di Selangor sahaja adalah sebanyak 299 peratus sejak 2008

Penjualan tanah di bawah harga pasaran adalah salah satu cara untuk mengadakan rumah kos murah. Namun, kebiasaan tersebut telah dihapuskan. Malah, PKNS sendiri kini terpaksa membida untuk tanah pada harga pasaran?

Kita perlu meneliti prosedur-prosedur yang dikenakan terhadap para pemaju oleh pelbagai jabatan kerajaan negeri dan pihak-pihak berkuasa tempatan.

Birokrasi dan sikap berdolak-dalik merupakan sebab-sebab lazim yang melambatkan proses dan ini menambahkan lagi kos. Perbelanjaan dan faedah pinjaman bank perlu dibayar walaupun projek belum dapat dimulakan. Kita belum lagi berbincang mengenai rasuah dan ini boleh memberi kesan besar terhadap kos kerana kadar yang diminta oleh ‘orang-orang tengah’ untuk ‘melicinkan proses’ boleh menjadi besar dan untuk setiap tandatangan yang diperlukan.

Tidak meghairankanlah jika sebahagian besar pemaju berpendapat bahawa pihak kerajaan negeri dan pihak berkuasa tempatan merupakan batu halangan terhadap rumah mampu milik kerana tanah merupakan hak dan kuasa kerajaan negeri dan bukan kerajaan persekutuan. Maka, kerajaan persekutuan tiada hak untuk memperbetulkan keadaan ini.

Masalah di Pulau Pinang

Kalau gambarajah di atas menunjukkan bayaran premium tanah yang meningkat di Selangor, kita lihat gambarajah seterusnya yang menunjukkan lonjakan caj cukai hartanah di Selangor dan Pulau Pinang sejak 2008:

03a7f838-0a50-4723-8078-47328d86f2c2 — Lonjakan caj cukai hartanah kepada penduduk tempatan sejak Pakatan mentadbir Selangor dan Pulau Pinang

Kerajaan negeri dan pihak berkuasa tempatan perlu serius dalam mengotakan janji mereka untuk mengadakan rumah-rumah kos rendah dan rumah mampu milik. Di penghujung penggal kedua berkuasa di Pulau Pinang, DAP masih belum menyerahkan rumah mampu miliknya yang pertama, malah menyalahkan kerajaan persekutuan di atas kegagalannya sendiri.

Kampung-kampung tradisi, terutamanya penempatan tradisi orang-orang Melayu, dirobohkan untuk memberi laluan kepada para pemaju membangunkan kondominium mampu tengok dan lain-lain pembangunan komersil. Kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang juga bersikap tidak bertanggung jawab menjual tanah-tanah milik kerajaan negeri kepada para pemaju hinggakan hanya tinggal baki tujuh peratus sahaja tanah kerajaan negeri di Pulau Pinang. Ini bermakna peuang untuk mendirikan rumah-rumah mampu milik di Pulau Pinang semakin halus.

Para pemaju kecil juga tidak berpeluang untuk mengambil bahagian dalam pembangunan di Pulau Pinang akibat caj-caj yang dikenakan terhadap para pemaju begitu tinggi. Kita lihat gambarajah seterusnya:

69d859e3-71eb-4371-8052-c3049c2fc1cb — Kenapa kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang begitu galak menaikkan kadar caj-caj? Siapa yang membuat untung sedangkan rakyat tidak lagi mampu memiliki sebarang hartanah di dalam negeri tersebut?

Dari gambarajah di atas kita dapat lihat kerakusan kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang di bawah pentadbiran DAP hanya mementingkan keuntungan dan membelakangkan keperluan rakyat.

Di bawah kerajaan DAP, sumbangan perumahan kos rendah dikenakan sebanyak RM150,000 bagi setiap unit. Di bawah BN tiada caj dikenakan. Setiap gerai penjaja dikenakan RM58,000 – kenaikan sebanyak RM55,000 berbanding dengan semasa di bawah pentadbiran BN. Untuk penyediaan kemudahan komuniti seperti padang, dewan serbaguna, masjid dan surau dan sebagainya, kerajaan DAP mengenakan caj sebanyak RM500 sekaki persegi berbanding RM25 sekaki persegi di bawah BN. Untuk infrastruktur seperti jalan dan saliran, kerajaan DAP mengenakan RM15 sekaki persegi berbanding tiada caj di bawah BN untuk jalan, dan RM50,000 seekar untuk saliran berbanding RM10,000 di bawah BN.

Satu lagi bukti kerajaan DAP tidak menghiraukan keperluan rakyat ialah mengenakan caj sebanyak RM500 sekaki persegi untuk setiap tadika yang disediakan. Tiada caj dikenakan oleh pentadbiran BN Pulau Pinang sebelum ini.

Berapa pula premium tanah yang dikenakan oleh kerajaan DAP Pulau Pinang? Kita telah melihat lonjakan dahsyat di negeri Selangor sejak 2008, kita lihat pula keadaannya di Pulau Pinang:

b391f7f7-5a7d-470a-b9d1-ec8da7aa38aa — 1,671 peratus kenaikan sejak 2008. Beginilah rakusnya DAP apabila berkuasa

Nampak gayanya premium tanah yang dikenakan oleh kerajaan DAP Pulau Pinang melonjak dengan begitu banyak sekali berbanding semasa di bawah pentadbiran BN pada tahun 2007. Pengurangan hanya berlaku dua kali iaitu pada tahun 2008 semasa mula-mula memegang pentadbiran negeri. Mungkin ketika ini mereka hendakkan maklumbalas positif mengenai cara DAP mentadbir negeri. Kemudian kenaikan dikenakan sedikit demi sedikit dan melonjak besar selepas memegang tampuk pentadbiran kerajaan negeri selepas 2013, kemudian turun sedikit pada tahun 2016 selepas Lim Guan Eng dihadapkan ke mahkamah di atas satu perbuatan rasuah – salahguna kuasa dan jawatan untuk kepentingan dirinya.

Ringkasannya

Caj-caj dan bayaran premium yang dikenakan terhadap para pemaju di Pulau Pinang menyebabkan rumah mampu milik di Pulau Pinang yang berkeluasan 1,000 kaki persegi menjadi RM120,000 seunit berbanding RM42,000 seunit semasa di bawah pentadbiran BN. Apabila dikenakan kadar faedah sebanyak 5 peratus setahun untuk tempoh pinjaman 30 tahun, bayaran faedah akan menjadi RM116,569.73 atau RM671.03 setiap bulan. Kos keseluruhan akan menjadi RM236,569.73 setiap unit. Adakah kadar bulanan ini mampu dibayar oleh mereka yang dari golongan berpendapatan rendah?

Keengganan kerajaan negeri Selangor di bawah PKR memberi kerjasama dengan agensi perumahan kerajaan pusat seperti PR1MA dan PPR mendatangkan masalah untuk kerajaan pusat membantu kerajaan negeri membina rumah-rumah kos rendah dan mampu milik. Setakat ini hanya 11,000 unit rumah sahaja yang daat didirikan berbanding sasaran 70,000.

Ini berbeza sekali dengan kerajaan negeri Kelantan di bawah PAS yang menerima bantuan kerajaan pusat dengan tangan terbuka. Setakat Ogos 2017, 418 unit PPR telah dibina di Machang manakala 1,000 unit telah dibina di Kota Bharu. Ini menunjukkan walaupun berlainan fahaman politik, kerajaan PAS sanggup mengenepikan perjuangan demi kesejahteraan rakyat, tidak seperti Pakatan Harapan yang tidak langsung memberi harapan kepada para pengundi.

Pandai-pandailah anda menilaikan sendiri siapa yang mendahulukan kepentingan rakyat dan siapa yang mendahulukan kepentingan keuntungan.

December 26, 2017

DAP Benefitted From Military Camps

Screen Shot 2017-12-25 at 23.48.38

Recently Kluang Member of Parliament Liew Chin Tong slammed Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein for denying that an army camp was being built in Paloh, a state seat in the latter’s constituency of Sembrong. Liew Chin Tong implied that the army camp is being built for political purposes.

“This proves that Barisan Nasional (BN) is using these army camps to increase voters in constituencies that it won with thin majorities in the 13th general election,” Liew told a press conference last week.

He said the inclusion of the army personnel in Paloh would increase the electorate by over 1,000 voters.

“In Paloh, DAP lost only by a few hundred votes and these new voters will result in another BN win,” he added.

The fact is that while members of the Malaysian Armed Forces swears its allegiance to the Yang DiPertuan Agong, His Majesty’s Government (the Government-of-the-Day), and the Country, each member of the Malaysian Armed Forces are free to vote for whom they are politically-inclined to support. Therefore, having a military camp/base does not guarantee you any solid support for votes. I had written at length on this issue of allegiance in a recent blog post.

Perhaps it would be good for Liew Chin Tong to admit that he won Kluang against the Barisan Nasional in 2013 because of the presence of a huge army camp, namely Kem Mahkota, that houses the 61st Royal Artillery Regiment as well as the 881st Regiment, Malaysian Army Aviation.

Come to think of it, out of the 89 Parliamentary seats won by the then-Pakatan Rakyat during the 13th General Elections four years ago, at least 18 parliamentary constituencies have major military camps/bases in them. That is 20 percent of the total of parliamentary consituencies held by the Pakatan candidates. Here is the list that I have compiled:

Senarai Kem Tentera Bawah PH 2013

Let us take for example the Lumut Naval Base which is under PKR. That base alone had 14,231 registered voters while PKR’s Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid won 40,308 votes. Why didn’t Barisan Nasional win there?

Perhaps Liew Chin Tong should also inform all Malaysians that out of the 18 constituencies with major military camps/bases that was won by the Pakatan back in 2013, eight seats were won by the DAP. That is 44 percent! Despite being the other “Malay” party within the Pakatan, PKR managed only seven seats or 38 percent. PAS could only get three then but one of those seats, Shah Alam, is now firmly under Khalid Samad of Amanah after he betrayed his oath to remain in PAS if nominated as a candidate and would divorce his wife if he jumps ship. Shah Alam is the home of a major Royal Malaysian Air Force base – Subang.

Pakatan and its supporters should just stop politicising the Malaysian Armed Forces. As towns and cities are developed, old camps and bases are no longer strategic nor conducive to be inhabited. How could Pakatan, advertising that it is all for rights and stuff, allow military personnel to live and work in deplorable and antiquated conditions? And as development creep into their surrounding areas, military bases are no longer of any strategic value. I have addressed this issue in a posting of mine and so has my friend Danny Liew in his recent posting.

So, wouldn’t DAP now like to offer a piece of land in constituencies held by it for Hishammuddin to build military bases or camps?

November 7, 2017

A Flood Of Incompetence

I am surprised that a former Brigadier General doesn’t know that you cannot simply deploy the military without explicit instructions

Former army Brigadier turned politician, Arshad Raji, seems to like the attention the electronic media has been according him lately, and he speaks about a wide spectrum of issues – from falling for Mahathir’s fake news of the so-called withdrawal of his close police protection, to the management of the floods in Pulau Pinang.

In the latter issue it was as if he was trying to downplay the Deputy Prime Minister and the BN-led Federal Government’s involvement in the management of the floods. He was right about some of it, though. Under the National Security Council Directive No.20, when a state emergency is declared following a disaster affecting two districts or more, the State Disaster Management Committee can call for assistance in the form of assets, finance, and other resources on the state level, and limited form of assistance from federal agencies within the state – the police, armed forces, civil defence etc. This does not require a call to the Deputy Prime Minister at all.

Look at Level II Disaster Management by the State

The State Disaster Management Committee is chaired by the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar while the Chief Executive is the State Secretary. But what Arshad Raji did not know, or chose to not reveal during his “press conference” was the fact that until now Lim Guan Eng has not declared a state of emergency in Pulau Pinang despite floods inundating four out of five districts in Pulau Pinang namely Seberang Prai Utara, Seberang Prai Selatan, Barat Daya and Timur Laut.

Don’t blame the Federal Government. Tokong himself did not declare a state of emergency

I lived in Pulau Pinang, on the pulau itself for three years and four months in the late 1980s and never once saw floods affecting the state on this level. The most I would see is pockets of areas in Datuk Keramat and the Green Lane (Jalan Masjid Negeri) – Jalan Air Itam junction near the State Mosque. Even then you could still pass the areas on your motorcycle. Having eight deaths because of floods in a year was unheard of (one died earlier in September while seven this time around).

“No rain, no floods” seems to be the best of Lim Guan Eng’s quotes pertaining to floods in Pulau Pinang. This time, the deluge is blamed on a tyhoon that is battering Vietnam, and rightfully so. Every time a typhoon hits Vietnam, the northern Peninsular states would receive an extra amount of rainfall. And since 1881, Vietnam has been battered by 68 typhoons excluding the one that has just hit them. However, the shocking bit is where 119 flash floods have hit Pulau Pinang since 2013! That is 2.5 flash floods per month for the last four years!

It does not take an engineer to tell you that when you do excessive hillside developments, the soil cannot absorb the rainwater as the oxidised topsoil would be transformed into a clay-like material. The run-offs would be washed into monsoon drains, clogging up the roadside gutters and making the storm sewers shallower as silt accumulates at the bottom. These drains flow out to sea along natural coastlines, which is why monsoon drains act as gravity sewers. In Pulau Pinang, you can hardly find a natural coastline as most beaches with gradient have been reclaimed, and the gradient tapers off, diminishing the gravity effect. Storm water therefore does not flow into the sea but accumulates and saturates the flatter grounds causing floods.

But who cares about eight deaths this year due to floods and one last year when you can make money selling condominium units to the rich? But it is this excessive development by the state government that was voted in by the Pulau Pinang people that is now killing the Pulau Pinang people and have caused untold miseries.

Everyone also knows that when it is the new moon or full moon, tides will be higher than usual, and that makes it harder for storm drains and rivers to flow water out to sea, what more when there is excessive water caused by the backlash of a typhoon.

You can see that from 1 November 2017 the moon was in an advanced waxing gibbous phase and full moon over Georgetown, Pulau Pinang occured at 12.40am on Saturday, 4 November 2017. The Malaysian Meteorological Department had issued a series of bad weather warnings for the northern Peninsular states from 31 October 2017, and every day from then on.

Met Department warning for the northern states on 31 October 2017

Met department warning the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least four days from 1 November 2017

Another Met department warning on 2 November 2017 reminding the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least four days until 4 November 2017

Another Met department warning issued on 3 November 2017 for the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least until 4 November 2017

You can see that there was ample warning by the Malaysian Meteorological Department that the weather was going to be bad for four days. What did Lim Guan Eng or his State Disaster Management Committee do? Nothing, until it got really bad. And at 3.00am, Lim Guan Eng became a cry baby and called the Deputy Prime Minister for help, without even declaring a state emergency.

Lim Guan Eng called the DPM for help at 3am on 5 November 2017, five days after the initial warning was issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department

Where was his State Disaster Management Committee? Why had they not sat down to make preparations to mitigate the situation?

Lim Guan Eng was quick to point fingers at Kelantan in the aftermath of the disastrous floods at the end of 2014. He pointing out that corruption and the incompetency of the Kelantan state government, as well as the rampant hillside clearing as the causes of the floods.

Well, we know that there is rampant hillside clearing in Pulau Pinang. We also know that the Chief Minister was charged on two accounts of corruption, and we also know now that it was the incompetency of the Pulau Pinang State Disaster Management Committee led by Lim Guan Eng himself as the Chairman that had caused the situation to be worse than it should be.

Lim Guan Eng’s government’s incompetence has killed one person in floods last year, 21 people in a landslide this year, and eight people in the recent floods. This is the government that the Pulau Pinang people have voted in, and the Chief Minister chosen by them.

119 flash floods have occured since the promises above was made. And Lim Guan Eng’s government is not worried. Going by the rate the floods are killing people, there won’t be that many people left to complain about the floods – problem solved.

October 16, 2017

Amanah But Lying

AMANAH blames the school holidays for the poor turnout

Last Saturday’s poor turnout at the Anti-Kleptocracy/Save Malaysia event organised by Pakatan Harapan is proof that the masses are already jaded with the style of politics that the Pakatan has to offer.

Despite lining up old dinosaurs like Emperor Lim Kit Siang and U-Turn Mahathir, Pakatan only got 8,000 attendees at the peak of the event according to a post by Malaysiakini made just after the event ended at 11pm that night.

As usual, Pakatan sought the help of DAP’s Excel experts to count the number of attendees but Malaysiakini was wiser

That makes the attendance at 8 percent of the intended target, and 0.027 percent of the total population – and yet they claim that they represent the rakyat.

Even former partner PAS took a swipe at the event noting just 1,500 attended.

This underscores the dwindling support as presented by me in my previous post NO HARAPAN.

Pakatan’s spin machinery, this time led by former PAS member Salahuddin Ayub, claims that the school holidays and Deepavali break had contributed to the extremely poor turnout at the event.

“The rally did not achieve the goal of gathering 100,000 people. Perhaps (this could be due to) the rally happening during the school holiday and Deepavali season. So many people would be on holiday,” he said.

This is despite having the champions of rallies, Ambiga and Maria “Isteri Nabi” Chin sitting on the stage alongside the Pakatan giants.

Back in those days not so long ago, Pakatan’s NGO BERSIH was able to muster 80,000 demonstrators for the BERSIH 3.0 rally which was held on 28 April 2017, a Saturday, and many even took the Monday off because Tuesday was Labour Day holiday – a definite long weekend for many.

BERSIH 4.0 which was held on the 29 and 30 August 2015, another long weekend Hari Kebangsaan holiday, saw 100,000 demonstrators attending. That number dropped to 40,000 during BERSIH 5.0.

However, there were three real winners during last Saturday’s event. The first winner being the LRT. Majority of the attendees arrived there by LRT, a small number were ferried into Petaling Jaya from other states by Pakatan in buses paid by them.

The second winners were the two A&W outlets there, one is the old Drive-In outlet, while the other is a smaller one located at Shah Motel or whatever that it is being called now.

The third winners are the kleptocrats themselves, led by KleptoKutty himself. While talking about the BN stealing money from the rakyat, the seasoned kleptocrats managed to con the rakyat by stealing a total of RM68,329 to finance their pockets.

Well done, kleptocrats! At least you can con people off their money without even getting into Putrajaya. God knows what you would do if you ever get there.

But, we haven’t forgotten what KleptoKutty did when he was there for 22 years.

August 22, 2017

Selangor Anggap Serbuan Memerangi Rasuah Menjejaskan Imejnya

Selangor masih belum tandatangani Ikrar Bebas Rasuah

Hari ini Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) telah membuat serbuan ke atas Universiti Selangor (UNISEL) dan Menteri Besar Diperbadankan (MBI) bagi menyiasat pertikaian kontrak membabitkan universiti itu dengan bekas kontraktor, Jana Niaga Sdn Bhd, dan dakwaan rasuah membabitkan RM10 juta.

Serbuan ini telah mendatangkan rasa tidak puas hati di pihak kerajaan negeri Selangor. Pengarah Komunikasi Strategik di pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor, Yin Shao Loong, menyifatkan serbuan tersebut sebagai usaha untuk menjejaskan imej kerajaan negeri Selangor.

“Ia secara terang-terangan menunjukkan tindakan terancang bertujuan menjejaskan imej kerajaan Selangor yang tuntas berpegang kepada prinsip ketelusan dan kebertanggungjawaban,” kata Shao Loong. “SPRM dituntut supaya menyiasat secara profesional dan tidak dipengaruhi oleh tekanan politik.”

Beliau menambah bahawa tekanan politik ke atas SRPM hanya akan mencalar persepsi dan menghakis keyakinan rakyat terhadap agensi anti-rasuah itu.

“Mana rasuah? Mana ada rasuah di Selangor?”

Persoalannya, adakah benar SPRM dikenakan tekanan politik untuk bertindak terhadap para pegawai kerajaan di negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh pihak pembangkang? Jikalau benar, siapa pula yang mengenakan tekanan politik supaya Exco Kerajaan Negeri Johor Latif Bandi dan Veteran UMNO Isa Samad ditangkap? Barisan Nasional atau Pakatan Harapan?

Ini memang lumrah pihak pembangkang menuding jari apabila mereka sendiri amalkan budaya hidup rasuah. Mereka akan mencari jalan keluar dengan menyalahkan orang lain.

Contoh terbaik adalah apabila beberapa orang Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor disiasat oleh SPRM setahun selepas mereka memegang kuasa pentadbiran di negeri tersebut – YA! BARU SETAHUN SUDAH ADA KES RASUAH! Malangnya, saksi yang disoalsiasat ketika itu, Teoh Beng Hock, mati semasa dalam tahanan SPRM. Namun, kematian tersebut dipertanggung jawabkan kepada pihak SPRM dan Barisan Nasional seolah-olah kematian Beng Hock memberi manfaat kepada BN dan bukannya mereka-mereka yang disyaki yang berada dalam kerajaan negeri Selangor yang diterajui mereka.

Minggu lepas, Nurul Izzah mengecam SPRM kerana menyerbu sebuah kilang haram dan juga pejabat Exco Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Phee Boon Poh. Kata Nurul Izzah lagi, keyakinan rakyat terhadap SPRM berada di tahap yang rendah. Beliau menuduh SPRM sengaja mengenakan ahli politik dari Pakatan dengan pertuduhan-pertuduhan yang remeh untuk menjejaskan pihak pembangkang.

Nurul Izzah berkata sentimen rakyat terhadap SPRM terjejas akibat serbuan di Pulau Pinang

Hari ini, Yin Shao Loong pula telah menggunakan ayat yang sama iaitu persepsi rakyat terhadap SPRM telah tercalar.

Selangor ialah satu-satunya negeri yang masih belum menandatangani ‘Ikrar Bebas Rasuah‘ yang disarankan oleh pihak SPRM. Walaupun Menteri Besar Selangor Azmin Ali tidak pernah mengeluarkan sebarang kenyataan mengenai perkara tersebut sendiri, beliau telah diwakili oleh jurucakap beliau iaitu Iskandar Abdul Samad dari parti PAS.

Iskandar Abdul Samad pernah berkata bahawa Selangor mempunyai caranya tersendiri yang lebih baik untuk menangani gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa

Yang menghairankan ialah kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui oleh PAS telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Malah, Pulau Pinang yang bergelumang dengan kes rasuah juga telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Kenapa Selangor yang setahun jagung sudah disiasat kerana gejala rasuah enggan menandatangani Ikrar tersebut?

PAS yang hampir tiada gejala rasuah pun tandatangan Ikrar Bebas Rasuah. Selangor yang disiasat pada tahun pertama berkuasa boleh tak nak tandatangan?

Adakah Iskandar membayangkan bahawa kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui rakan-rakannya dari PAS adalah kurang berakal berbanding beliau dalam usaha memerangi rasuah? Kenapa beliau sebagai seorang ahli PAS tidak berkongsi sebarang maklumat mengenai cara menangani gejala rasuah oleh Selangor dengan PAS Kelantan? Adakah sebab PAS Kelantan bukan sahabat beliau? Bukankah sebagai seorang ahli PAS beliau sepatutnya bantu memperkukuhkan parti seperti yang dituntut oleh Fasal 16 (3) (e) Perlembagaan Parti Islam SeMalaysia?

Sesungguhnya saya tidak faham dengan Yin Shao Loong, Nurul Izzah dan Iskandar Abdul Samad yang memperlekehkan usaha SPRM membanteras gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa. Iskandar Abdul Samad tidak berkongsi pengalaman Selangor membanteras rasuah; Nurul Izzah dan Shao Loong memperkecilkan usaha SPRM.

Sedangkan Ketua Umum Pakatan Harapan dan Presiden PKR pun sokong akan tindakan SPRM yang meletakkan kepentingan rakyat di atas kepentingan parti-parti politik.

Anwar dan Wan Azizah menyokong tindakan SPRM

Sepatutnya, sebagai sebuah negeri yang bangga dengan kaedahnya sendiri untuk menangani gejala rasuah, kerajaan negeri Selangor sepatutnya menyokong kuat usaha dan bantuan SPRM untuk menentukan bahawa Selangor benar-benar bebas dari budaya rasuah.

Rakyat tidak bodoh. Rakyat memerhati. Dan rakyat tahu segala usaha memperkecilkan usaha SPRM memerangi gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa bermakna there is SOMETHING FOR SELANGOR TO HIDE.

August 16, 2017

Let PAS Have Its RCI

If you notice the Pakatan parties, DAP in particular, has been crying foul every time things do not go their way. In the words of Parti Cinta Malaysia Deputy President Datuk Huan Cheng Guan, the DAP would “Kau Pek, Kau Bo” (Cry Father, Cry Mother) and seek cheap political mileage and sympathy.

When Teoh Beng Hock unfortunately fell and died at the MACC office in Shah Alam, they went to town blaming the MACC and Barisan Nasional for Beng Hock’s death, even though Beng Hock’s death puts both the MACC and the Barisan Nasional at a disadvantage because Beng Hock was being questioned over several corruption cases involving DAP officials.

But DAP’s cheap sympathy drive made twisted logic in the minds of its 16K-processor-brained supporters.

They even asked for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be formed to try link the BN with Beng Hock’s death.

In today’s papers, PAS Deputy President Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has asked the government to form a RCI to look into the deadly Memali siege where, U-Turn Mahathir recently said the 14 PAS supporters and 4 policemen killed deserved to die.

In the 19 November 1985 tragedy, 200 policemen laid siege on the village and an assault later resulted in those deaths. Many believe that Home Minister and U-Turn Mahathir’s Deputy musa Hitam was framed and made a scapegoat when Mahathir denied being in Malaysia at the time of the incident. Just like his relationship with Anwar a decade later, Mahathir’s relationship with Musa then was at the bottom of the barrel.

But in 2014, Musa told a forum that Mahathir was in Malaysia at the time of the tragedy. Something Mahathir conveniently cannot remember well, as with other issues related to him like in the case of Sabah’s “Project IC” or Selangor’s “PKFZ” scandal.

The Memali issue has long been a thorn in the Malay political scene. My take is if DAP can ask for a RCI to be convened for the death of just one person, why not convene one for 18 deaths?

Furthermore, many of the witnesses are still around so a RCI should be convened as soon as possible!

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017

Bila Rantai Dilepaskan

Selamat kita menjalani ibadah puasa selama sebulan di dalam bulan Ramadhan di mana syaitan-syaitan diikat dengan rantai.

Tatkala anak bulan Syawal kelihatan, maka berakhirlah bulan Ramadhan semasa masuknya waktu Maghrib, dan dengan itu syaitan-syaitan dilepaskan dari ikatan.

Dan dari sebelum kewujudan Adam itu lagi, hamba Allah yang digelar Iblis telah memohon kebenaran daripada Allah ‘Azza Wa Jalla untuk menyesatkan manusia dan didatangkan dalam berbagai rupa kepada manusia.

Seorang bekas menteri yang merupakan budak suruhan parti DAP yang juga bekas ahli parti PKR dan presiden parti KITA telah mengkritik tindakan juruterbang pesawat Air Asia X yang meminta para penumpang mendoakan keselamatan mereka apabila enjin sebelah kiri pesawat tersebut mengalami kerosakan 90 minit setelah berlepas dari Perth, Australia.

Kata beliau, sekiranya Kapten pesawat tersebut mahu berdoa, eloklah Air Asia menggajikan seorang Imam.

Dalam reaksi balas terhadap kenyataan Zaid Ibrahim itu, Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz menyelar Zaid.

“Saya cuba mengagak bila Datuk Zaid Ibrahim berdoa kepada tuhannya? Bila saatnya?”

Pesawat Airbus A330 tersebut telah mengalami kerosakan enjin di sebelah kiri (Enjin No.1) yang bukan sahaja telah mengakibatkan gegaran teruk kepada rangka pesawat malah mengakibatkan pesawat tersebut tidak dapat mengekalkan paras ketinggian penerbangannya.

Gegaran ini berterusan walaupun setelah enjin dipadamkan akibat fenomena yang digelar ‘windmill effect‘ di mana udara yang melalui bilah kipas turbin enjin yang dimatikan menyebabkan putaran kipas berterusan (free-wheeling) yang menghasilkan gegaran.

Gegaran berterusan ini boleh juga menyebabkan enjin tersebut tertanggal dari sayap, atau mengoyakkan hos minyak (fuel lines) atau merosakkan sistem elektrik yang kritikal.

Kehilangan enjin melalui tertanggalnya enjin tersebut dari sayap boleh mengakibatkan malapetaka yang amat sukar dielak dan menyebabkan kehilangan kesemua nyawa krew dan penumpang pesawat tersebut.

Kerosakan enjin tersebut dipercayai telah diakibat oleh kegagalan struktur salah satu bilah kipas turbin enjin tersebut yang telah tertanggal dan kemudiannya memusnahkan sebuah pam minyak (oil pump) dan sistem hidraulik sebelum ‘ditelan’ oleh enjin tersebut dan menyebabkan lain-lain kerosakan.

Kerosakan seumpama ini dikategorikan sebagai satu insiden yang amat serius kerana hampir mengakibatkan kehilangan pesawat serta nyawa krew dan penumpang.

Maka, adalah berpatutan Kapten pesawat, selain meminta para penumpang mematuhi arahan anak-anak kapal, juga meminta agar mereka mendoakan keselamatan mereka semua.

Inilah yang dipersoalkan oleh Zaid kerana bagi diri beliau, ianya seolah-olah Kapten pesawat telah pasrah dan tidak lagi mahu ambik tindakan kecemasan, dan berserah kepada tuhan untuk menentukan nasib mereka pada ketika itu.

Mungkin Zaid lebih cenderung kepada menyuruh mereka berbuat apa jua yang dapat menghiburkan hati mereka termasuk mungkin juga meminum sebanyak mungkin minuman beralkohol yang mungkin dijual di dalam pesawat tersebut.

Sekurang-kurangnya mereka akan mati dalam keadaan gembira seperti mereka di dalam gambar berikut ini.

Sebab itu saya katakan, syaitan akan menjelma dalam berbagai rupa. Dan mereka bebas kembali menghasut anak Adam dengan berakhirnya Ramadhan.