Malaysia - Snail of Asean

Guess who is one of the more sluggish economic growth of the Asean countries for the year 2010? Well... yes, Malaysia is one of the slowest growing economies in Asean, falling behind countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas and Myanmar.

The slowest growth as forecast for 2010 is Brunei at only 0.6% growth and next is Malaysia at 2 to 3 percent growth as recently announced in the Budget 2010 and they can't even get to the decimal point and looks like a guesstimate. And for the purpose of charting as above it is listed at 2.5% economic growth for next year, (taking the middle ground from the government projection of 2% to 3%).

But Malaysia can not be compared to Brunei as Brunei is a one of most wealthy country and the highest ranking in terms of per capita income of USD 36,681.00 (as at 2009 IMF forecast) where Malaysia has a meager USD 7,469.00 annual per capita income in Asean.

And as it was in the 70s and early 80s when we were one of the leading economically progressive countries and were up in front of countries like Singapore, Brunei, South Korea and even Taiwan but today....Sigh.

We are now way behind in the economic race of nations and almost last in Asean, ok lah... second last.

And credit must go to UMNO for continuing to screw up the political and economic landscape, scaring off both local and foreign investors with their domination of all the democratic institutions, making a mockery of our judicial system, creating fear and suppressing the growth of democracy and civil society. They control and dictate almost all business sectors and industries in the countries with their Cronies, GLCs (Government Link Companies) and Sovereign Funds taking it all away from the public and private sector. And their massive corruption growing like cancer eating away the wealth of the rakyat (people).

Perak is now Berak

 (Photo by Wan Imran)

The state of Perak is now the state of "Berak" (Shit). This is a real Fiasco caused  by UMNO. This illegitimate state government of UMNO which was rejected by the people of Perak is a real shame with their show of bullying tactics just because they have the police and the judges under their control goes on to show their arrogance by again getting the court order to ban the people from gathering within 50 meters of the state legislative assembly.

The State Legislative Assembly is a representation of the people and as such how can it be possible to obtain a court order to ban people from going near the people's assembly, this is beyond common logic, are they so afraid of the people of Perak? Even the state secretariat building will be off-limits to its staff and the people of Perak.

And this is further aggravated by the show of force with the police taking up position in and around the building. This is truly a government by force and they might as well declare Berak a police state.

This is an uncivilized government and goes about bullying and creating fear through the use of the courts and their police. This is their police and not the police that is suppose to protect and safeguard the people.

If you are so determined to govern than for goodness sake go get your mandate from the people of this state and is that so difficult? Get yourself elected and show that you have got real balls rather than hiding behind the skirts of the police and the courts!

UMNO is just showing that they are crooks and are robbing the people of their rights. Rule only if the people want you! Without an election mandate from the people You are now nothing but Gangsters!

Read Malaysiakini reports HERE
Read Malaysian Insider reports of the Chaotic Assembly Sitting HERE

Stop This Evil!

I read with grave concern of the article by Raja Petra in the website of Malaysia Today titled "Warning To The Malaysian Government", my concern is both for Raja Petra as well as for the reputation of our nation, Malaysia.

This is heartbreaking for any parents when your son is being tortured under detention and must not be taken lightly by fellows Malaysians, torture and brutality by the police is not an acceptable  practice in this modern age and is a serious violation of basic human rights.

RPK said "He (his son) is being subjected to daily beatings to force him to withdraw his not guilty plea and instead plead guilty because there is no evidence against him and the charges are merely trumped-up charges."

This is a very serious allegation and must immediately be investigated as such actions are viewed as a cruel violations of international laws of human rights.

The country of Malaysia is already being seen as an obstinate repeated offender of the International Human Rights Law and are repeatedly being reprimanded for human rights violations by the international community.  Such reputation does not attract Foreign Investors!

The Human Rights Commission must be alerted and investigate this matter with great urgency.


The Government must response and put a stop to these cruel, evil and inhumane actions! 

(Read HERE on Malaysia's human rights violations)

Budget and Corruption

Budget and Corruption

Woo..Budget! But than there is Corruption! Lets see how the Budget relates to Corruption as the common denominator here would be about Money.

There has been quite a few requests for me to express my views of the Budget 2010 and I was telling them that I am feeling lazy after watching the Budget presentation last Friday and that is how I felt after the budget speech and if you still don’t get my drift, it’s that the budget made me lethargic and that’s my view of the Budget 2010.

Yeah, there were some minor improvements and there were still inadequacies that are yet to be implemented, what was proposed on the incentives for tax reliefs and such are nothing much on an overview and all proposals must be viewed from the top so as to get a broadview or overview of the total objectives.

A government budget other than being a planned approach to the revenues and expenditure of the nation will also reflect the political and economic strategies and to address the existing problems and concerns of the government.

This budget rings hollow from ear to ear and other than the Public Relation’s input in the budget speech it lacks details. “1Malaysia, Together We Prosper” that is the slogan of the budget speech and I am already getting an overdose of this entire PR sloganeering.

Significance

Someone ask me what are the significance of this budget and that is a good question, first as I can see is that our economy is in contraction as from year 2008 when our Gross Domestic Product (at constant 2000 prices) was at Ringgit 528.3 billion and 2009 at Ringgit 512.4 billion and projected for 2010 at Ringgit 525.4 billion ringgit which is still lower than the 2008 figures. I would have preferred statistic based on GDP at nominal values but was unable to access the department of statistic website up till time of writing.

One annoying matter in Malaysia is the delay in the publication of statistics as when we are now already into the last quarter of the year but our figures are still at 2nd quarters when other nations have already announced their 3rd quarters performance, we probably have to wait until December before they give us the 3rd quarters statistics. How to be a developed nation with all this delay and inefficiency?

Back to the significance of this budget is that we are still in deficit and will be projecting a deficit of RM 40.5 billion adding up to the national debt which will come to about RM 430 billion bringing it close to 60% of the GDP at nominal values which is estimated at approximately RM720 billion and is not looking too healthy as the threshold for a nation like ours is about 50% of GDP. (This will affect the country’s rating.).

Throughout the history of the entire nation, Malaysia was able to record a surplus Budget from 1993 to 1997, isn’t that the time when Anwar Ibrahim was the Finance Minister? But the deficits kind of escalated and ran through the roof from 1998 onwards after Anwar was sacked.

Another significant change is the big drop in revenue by about 8.4% from RM162.1 billion in 2009 to RM 148.4 billion in 2010 and the government responded by cutting the operating expenditure by 13.7% from RM 160.17 billion in 2009 to RM 138.28 in 2010. This huge cut of about RM22 billion from the operating expenditure is quite drastic and the question arises in whether they are able to achieve this as it does not show how they went about just slashing off this figures.

Another thing noticeably annoying in this budget is the grouping of figures presented in this budget, like the revised economic forecast of (negative) – 4% to -5% negative growth for year 2009 and the forecast for 2010 to be from +2 to +3% growth. Governments are suppose to generate greater accuracy and are a reflection of their basis and methodology in their logics towards the economy and they are being lethargic or lazy by just grouping up the figures in this approach.

Strategies or Slogans?

As presented by the Prime Minister; “1Malaysia, Together We Prosper” Budget focuses on three strategies, namely:

First: Driving the Nation towards High-Income Economy

Second: Ensuring Holistic and Sustainable Development

Third: Focusing on Well Being of the Rakyat

How? The budget speech does not impress on the strategic approach other than by just saying so. No details provided, I see no strategic plan but just words. What and how are we to prosper together? How are you to double the per capita income in 10 years and what are your plans?

Some Points to Note (or to be Alarmed):

• The Private Sector was once the driver of economic growth with investments contributing to 30% of GDP, and has declined significantly to below 10% of GDP. Total Domestic Direct Investment slumped from RM 72 billion in 1997 to RM 56 billion in 2008.

• “A business friendly environment requires uninterrupted electricity supply to ensure smooth business operations.” says the Prime Minister who is also the Finance Minister. And so? Billions of ringgit will be thrown in to generate more electricity and includes Hydro Electric Project in Ulu Jelai, Pahang and Hulu Trengganu. And Sabah will also increase electricity generation.

Looks like our economy is in a Boom and we will require more power for all the new industries coming to Malaysia. And All this while I thought we had excess supplies from all the Independent Power Producers generating an over capacity.

• A Second Wave of Piratisation oops I mean Privatization of government companies and agencies to allow these companies to operate more efficiently and expand their activities and to reduce financial dependence on the government. And who are the lucky few who will benefit and get to be bosses of these multi billion ringgit companies.

• 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)??? Wow! This is fast! How did I miss this? Another government sovereign wealth fund? How many sovereign funds do we have today? Anyway this 1MDB had already invested USD 1 billion in collaboration with a company from Saudi Arabia in a high impact project. Don’t ask me where and why? As I don’t know, just heard this for the first time in the budget presentation.

• RM 30 billion allocation for primary and secondary education. This is huge! Better get into the education business fast and furious.

• Planned projects of the five development corridors are in according to schedule and todate, 126 out of 195 projects are in various stage of implementation. Planned investments totaling RM 221 billion have exceeded the 9 Malaysia Plan target of RM 145 billion.

Crime

And on ways in “Preventing Crime” the government will be making an allocation of RM 3.7 billion to increase the efficiency of the security force, including providing modern and sophisticated equipment. And adds that: “The government is serious in reducing the crime rate and will implement crime prevention measures. The government targets to reduce the crime index by 5%, including reducing street crimes, such as snatch thefts and robberies by 20% by end 2010. A total of RM 1 billion will be provided to further improve the services of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in 2010.”

Just wondering where and how they get the 5% and 20% figures from and why not wipe out crime completely and reduce to the barest minimum? There is only one method they know and that is to throw money.. they are outdated and i find them always at a loss as to the causes of crime, as if you don't know the cause you will never be able to find the antidote.

Corruption

The biggest laugh I had in the presentation was the part to “Combat Corruption” as how the heck do you combat corruption by enhancing the image of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and promoting better Public Relations? This PR thing is really overdone! Maybe the Prime Minister is very happy with their PR consultants and now we see PR in every corner.Let me give you guys a reminder for free.. No amount of PR can hide the Truth!

There are no short cuts to fight corruption and it has to be done through a system of complete autonomy of the Anti Corruption Commission from the government, it must be a fully transparent and independent institution free from the influence and control from politics and politicians.

All this budget strategies are only eyewash and propaganda if the will to fight corruption is not intact and falls on pretense. We could allocate and spend hundreds and thousands of billions but with the system we have in place there will be massive leakages of the Rakyat’s money through corruption and we will always fall short of our objective and the end result will be great defeat in the global economic race of nations and the people of our country deprived of the opportunity which otherwise would have been present and readily available.

As it is today we are already falling behind and lesser nations are fast catching up on us and if nothing short of an iron will to fight off graft or corruption, we will be dropping ranks further, it is not only about economic growth, it is all about clean and efficient holistic growth which can only be achieved when corruption is completely ridden off or kept to the very minimum.

Corruption is a crime worst than murder! It is worst than murder as corruption can create horrendous hardship to the common man and even lead to death as is so evidently obvious. Corruption robs the nation and its people of the wealth which otherwise would have been available.

Corruption kills by the thousands as governments pay for the construction of roads and highway and in returns gets lower quality and a lesser road, as in paying for four lanes of highways but getting two lanes instead and that because of this two lanes of road which increases the rate of accidents that kills which otherwise if there are the four lanes equivalent as being paid for, the traffic accident rates will have been much lower and fatality very much reduced. When there is corruption, as an example; the vehicles inspection unit of the Road Transport Department, because of certain payments (corruptions) the trucks or buses which otherwise is not road worthy gets to be on the road and while travelling that truck or bus gave way to inadequate maintenance or faulty mechanicals which was certified as being road worthy than rams into other private vehicles and caused deaths which is so commonly seen.

Due to corruption the monies are drained off which otherwise could have been available to improve on public safety and transportation and in doing so the government controls and restrict old vehicles and for the old vehicles to be properly maintained and inspected for road worthiness certification of which is not a necessity in this country and you will find very old and run down vehicles plying our roads and highways that are not road worthy and not properly maintained and such vehicles so often causes accidents with a high degree of fatality, and all this were evident in the recent “Raya Holidays” where we had record breaking traffic accidents and deaths on the road and these figures are ever increasing from year to year and our authorities seems at a loss as to the causes and blames it on drivers and speed limits. And this is not addressed in this budget.

Corruption Kills! And they can cause pain and hardship greater than any natural calamities and disasters as they kill on a constant basis, day in and day out.

And how do we stop this KILLER called corruption? The will to do so starts with the government of the day and I would doubt that this can happen with this present government who have developed a “silo mentality” and can only see from within their party politics that is narrow and closed in and their only concerned is their political climb to the top leadership or to be associated to the leadership and that is why you will only see the same old worn out faces hogging the political limelight and it would be these same old politicians that will shout their propagandist antics that will irritate, annoy and trouble the people and nation. And so I foresee the collapse of the corrupt regime which can only happen as proven throughout history and that is their fall brought about through the will of the people.

“Corruption is an all encompassing Evil because it is the common tool of all Evil activities” 

- Syed Hussein Alatas -

Read the Full Budget Speech HERE

Read Losses of RM28 billion a year through corruption in the Star HERE and other stories HERE and HERE

Auditor General's Report - Isn't That Corruption?

Year in, year out, every year we get reports from the Auditor General that highlights the misdemeanor from government departments, civil servants and government link companies. These reckless acts are deeds of corruptions and that is how it should be interpreted other than the excuse of "bad investment decisions" or "not in compliance of procedures" and etc.

These are criminal acts of corruption against the nation that steals millions and even billions of ringgit  and consistently being highlighted and reported in the annual Auditor General's Report and what actions are being taken? Every year we hear pretense of outcry and anger from the BN government but after a while it's all swept under the carpet.

The MACC (Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission) ask for more time so that it could prove its effectiveness and accuses individuals of dishonesty in discrediting the commission as reported on Oct19 HERE.

This MACC is a big joke, right from the onset it has shown to be a political extension of the BN and UMNO's dirty politics and what of the questionable interrogation and investigation tactics that resulted in the death of an innocent young Malaysian as in Teoh Beng Hock who was being investigated for alleged misuse and purchase of over two thousand ringgit of Malaysian flags?? What a Horror!

Tell UMNO this please you people of this country... that we do not believe that MACC is an independent institution as its appointment and selection of officers are all by and from the government and consist of mostly ex police officers. MACC must be again revamped for it to be truly transparent and independent.

What about the investigation of the former Chief Minister of Selangor who has blatantly flaunt his wealth in the building of his multi million ringgit palace. We have reach the pinnacle of a corrupt society as politicians flaunt their ill-gotten wealth in public without guilt or shame as one example of the recent show-off of a brand new Porsche, ( Edit: Its not a Porsche but a Toyota Alphaard , the Porsche was someone else) by the wife of Liow from MCA. So what has the MACC say to all this?? That they are forever being investigated? And that is just that, "under investigations" that has no conclusion.

My good friend the Admiral Tojo tells me that there are two races in Malaysia, one is of the human race and the other of the "Lizard Race", and than they will sing about unity when they are actually bringing to fore the make believe differences of the people and that in continuation of their division and segregation of the people as they go about their racial play from within their racist party. These are the Lizards.

Read the Sun Report of the Auditor General HERE.

Happy Deepavali

Rise of the Warlords

 "Democracy are Preach by Many but its Fundamental Principles are Seldom Followed and More Often Interpreted and than Imposed Upon."

The UMNO general Assembly has adopted the amendments to the constitution without much debate and the primary amendments will see an increase to the number of voting delegates from 2,510 to 146,500 delegates.

The major complaint in UMNO is corruption or as they would like to put it as "money politics" of which umno has claimed is not the same as corruption, and could even be referred to as a "technical matter" when referring to Isa Samad, the recent candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election who was convicted of money politics.

Increasing the delegates is only going to empower the warlords as the warlords power comes from the influence and control of their delegates, the delegates are nominated and pick by the warlords who have control of the divisions and branches from which the delegates will be chosen. The more delegates the more money and these warlords will now have an army of delegates which makes them even much more powerful.

There is no short cut to democracy and in a proper democracy the power is vested in the people or in this case the members of the party and every individual members must possess formal equality of right and privilege. Until and unless there is open, free and fair electoral process to be extended to every single member, there can be no democracy.

The problem in UMNO are the en block delegates votes that the warlords control and you can't curb their influence by giving them more delegates, it will be like giving them more ammunition for their weapons. Instead of just taking away the delegates system, they have extended it further. This is not problem solving but adding fuel to fire.

"So the Warlords will still Reign Supreme and are Powerful Brokers."

- Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin -

Zaid Ibrahim Press Conference (Updated)

Dato Zaid Ibrahim called for a press conference to announced that he is taking 6 months leave from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) with effect from today. PC still in progress. Will report further.

Update: Dato Zaid said that he will still be working to try and put together a common policy platform for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and this had been his primary objective when he joined PKR. He added that he is not interested in internal party politics of PKR nor any other parties of PR and that he had made it very clear to Dato Seri Anwar when he joined the party.

On taking this 6 months leave, he will not be attending the political bureau meeting of the party. This leave will give him more time to focus on matters of PR and its formation and to be above and out of internal politicking.

Dato Zaid said: "I only want to be a facilitator to bring about the realization of a strong, credible and united opposition - an opposition with a strong leadership, sound common policies and structures to be a meaningful alternative to Barisan National (BN) - Only a strong united opposition can restore democracy in this country and can provide good policies to the people."

There has been reports that Dato Zaid had in some way been involved in the politcal frictions of the PKR leadership with regards to Sabah and Sarawak and he said: "I wish to reiterate that i am not at all involved in this issue and that he had visited Sabah and Sarawak on invitations by the PKR leaders to attend Hari Raya function and gatherings and he sees no sinister motive in these invitations."

On another matter with regards to statements made by the Prime Minister on his involvement in money politics when he was in UMNO. And below are his response as per the press release:

"When i was made a Minister, one of the first things i did was to ask the then Anti Corruption Agency (ACA), to investigate findings of money politics against me by the UMNO Disciplinary Tribunal. I believe I was framed by UMNO and found the findings of the Tribunal flawed, where basic rules of evidence were ignored. I felt that a Minister should be free of such misconduct, especially when the Government had committed itself to rid of corruption in the country. I believe my request was acted upon by the ACA and they commenced investigations. I have not heard of the findings till today.

The Prime Minister should not take jibes at me when it suits him. He should be more interested in the truth I therefore wish to appeal to him, to instruct the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to complete its investigation and the findings disclosed to the public. I am prepared to face the charges if there is evidence of corrupt practice. But if I am innocent, then the Prime Minister should hold his peace and refrain from making such statements in the future."

Read zorro's take HERE
Read People Parliament HERE

China's Call for Internet Freedom

The call for freedom is getting ever louder as we advance through this cyber age of the internet, man were born to be free, free from oppression from men and history had repeatedly proven that oppression by rulers and governments will only eventually lead to destruction.

In this cyber age, governments and tyrants can no longer stupefy its populace in their quest for perpetual power, we have seen how autocratic governments through the process of long term psychotic indoctrination by suppressing the growth principles of the freedom in the attainment of knowledge and supplanting inferior quality into the system whilst segregating mental spheres of self perception generating racial and religious misconceptions and mistrust amongst its people so that they or their kind can rule forever. And when overdone, uncontrollable degeneration and confusion of thoughts spawn extremism and soon swamp the entire nation and region often creating much conflict and death which can take generations to repair and make good again.

Only freedom can prevent such from happening in this present age and freedom is about the respect for Human Rights, and the most basic of all Human Rights is the Freedom of Speech which is universally enshrined. How can you stop people from talking? And in certain countries they still have laws that put people in jail for just talking! This is primitive and of dinosaur mentality! This can only limit mental growth and stupefy its people.

But this day mark a milestone, this day the 8th of October 2009, in one of the fastest growing  and suppressive nation in this present time, that is China, the Internet Human Rights Declaration was launched, and most aptly called the "China Internet Human Rights Declaration". This document was jointly issued and drafted by 15 highly regarded intellectuals of  scholars, lawyers writers and etc as stated below.

This documents consist of 10 points and as listed herein:

Internet Human Rights Declaration

Those of us who are standing on the embankment overlooking the torrent of history have witnessed the potential of this new technology: the Internet. We understand how this new technological revolution has brought about progress and social changes. It has great potential to advance basic human rights and freedom for Chinese people. Its contribution to civilisation will be on a par with the discovery of iron and fire, or the invention of plough and wheel in ancient days.

We acknowledge the arrival of netizen activism and regard it as an irreversible trend. Citizen reporting, which involves the use of mobile phones and digital cameras for in-situ information dissemination, has become fashionable and trendy. The Internet has also provided netizens with unlimited space for creativity and for voicing opinions through weblogs, podcasts, BBS and online comments.

We believe it is a citizen’s responsibility to be concerned about public affairs, and a netizen’s responsibility to care about freedom of speech on the Internet. Netizens are exercising their civil rights when they legally express their opinions or when they report the truth of what has actually happened. The best way to rejuvenate an ancient civilisation is to inject it with new core values based on the advancement of happiness and of basic human rights for individuals. It is also the best way to improve well-being for everyone in China. For these reasons, freedom of speech on the Internet should be encouraged, nurtured and tolerated.

We therefore pledge for the following principles to be endorsed:

1. Freedom of speech on the Internet is a part of citizens’ rights to freedom of speech. It is the most basic human rights and the most fundamental value that should be pursued, treasured and protected.

2. Netizens who express their opinions on the Internet using words, sounds, pictures or videos, should be protected and encouraged, as long as such conduct is in accord with the constitution and local statutes.

3. The right to publish opinion is the most basic rights for netizens. This includes the right to publish through weblogs and podcasts, as well as online discussion forums. Netizens’ rights to publish should not be subjected to unlawful investigation and interference. They should be allowed freedom to hold and to express their views without feeling intimidated.

4. Netizens’ editorial rights should be respected. When they are exercising those rights, they should not be subjected to harassment by authorities who act outside of law.

5. It is the right of Netizens to conduct interviews and to report their findings. This right is protected as a part of their constitutional rights to freedom of speech. Netizens who excercise this right should endeavour to report the truth, and to avoid distortions, fabrications and malicious slander.

6. It is the right of netizens to make comments and to exchange opinion. This includes the right to ask questions, to monitor, to criticise and to boycott.

7. Netizens’ freedom of speech encompasses a right to express themselves anonymously. Anonymity enables some authors to express their opinions in ways that best suit their needs. This legal right should be respected as long as an anonymous author is expressing his views in accordance with legal and constitutional requirements.

8. The right to conduct information searches on the Internet is an integral part of netizens’ rights to express, to be informed and to monitor. It is our opinion that legal websites should not be filtered, and that netizens’ rights to conduct searches on public information for personal use should be respected and protected.

9. Online privacy should be respected and protected. Netizens’ real identities and personal information should not be disclosed unless the information is required for a transparent legal proceeding, or else if the disclosure is necessary under the rule of law.

10. The freedom of disseminating information should be respected and protected as long as it is conducted in line with legal and constitutional requirements. Website monitoring, filtering and blockades that go against the principle of freedom of speech should be condemned by public opinion. Netizens are entitled to seek freedom of expression and justice through judicial proceedings.

We call for the establishing of an Internet Human Rights Day, to remind everyone of the need to safeguard freedom of speech on the Internet. This is the only effective way to make sure all people in China enjoy human rights and happiness.

10 October 1911 was the day when a group of patriots staged an uprising to end the rule of a cruel and racist dynasty. They also put an end to a long imperialist history. As a way of commemorating their bravery and their spirit of freedom, we suggest to make every October 10th China’s Internet Human Rights Day.

Written by: Ling Cangzhou

On: 8 October 2009

Signed by:

Ling Cangzhou (Beijing, scholar, senior mass media worker)

Zhao Guojun (Beijing, Legal Scholar)

Ran Yunfei (Chengdu, writer, scholar, editor)

Beifeng (Guangzhou, senior Internet media worker)

Zan Aizong (Hangzhou, writer, reporter)

Zhang Hui (Beijing, scholar, officer-in-charge of Mr De Research Centre)

Tang Jitian (Beijing, lawyer)

Wei Ke (Beijing, poet, animator)

Jiang Tianyong (Beijing, lawyer)

Jin Guanghong (Beijing, lawyer)

Han Yicun (Beijing, lawyer)

Guo Yuju (Beijing, scholar)

Shi Yijun (Beijing, historian)

Ba Zhongwei (Henan, youth rights worker)

Zuo Qiao (Beijing, educator)

A Chinese version of the declaration can be found HERE.

Isa Won and UMNO Lost!

 (Lost Chicken by Wan Imran)

Isa Won and UMNO Lost!

We came and saw, we did and knew, that it was an uphill task with all the machinery and money that was thrown in. This election is a more aggressive stance taken by umno and we saw a bit of it in Manek Urai, Kelantan, remember? In Manek Urai PAS had only won by a slim majority of 65 votes in 2009 when they had a bigger majority of 1352 votes in 2008. PAS nearly lost it in Manek Urai and that was a close call.

What we saw here in Bagan Pinang was the power of money as in Manek Urai, however the win here is the additional money power of Isa Samad and all he had to do is to buy oops! I mean win over another 1000 voters or so, which is nothing as compared to the 2500 delegates from the umno election.

There were much more hooliganism and gangsterism this time around and much more intimidating than in Manek Urai, we had real experiences and witnessed many of such incidents. This was an UMNO stronghold and had held this seat with the added support of the huge army or postal votes, of which there had always been much irregularities and a lack of transparency in the voting process of these postal votes. PAS was denied access to campaign in the army camps whereas UMNO unfairly campaign through the Defence Ministry. And the postal voting process were not fairly quantified and verified by the oppositions and even the independent monitors were not allowed to witness the postal voting process.

Isa Samad won this buy-election with a greatly increased majority of 5435 votes but sadly, UMNO lost. There were much hype and justification on the selection of Isa Samad as a candidate and the media spin that he was a popular candidate much loved by the people of Bagan Pinang was just that, a media spin. In Bagan Pinang any other reasonably suitable candidate from UMNO would have won but in Isa, they had the advantage of additional fire power of his money and maybe his ground networking being a local of the constituency. There was a lot of talk in coffee shops that the local “Tai Kors” and “Penghulus” and “Big Mundehs” were all very happy with the sudden windfall coming about from this buy-election.

UMNO lost in the fight against corruption and with the return of Isa Samad, a politician previously found guilty of corrupt practices in the UMNO party election, UMNO will lose much with this win by Isa Samad, it will be much more difficult to cleanse or change the image of the party which is widely seen as a party of warlords and money, and this win by Isa will only endorsed the strength and power of the corrupt and as any right thinking individual will not seek to be elected after being dismissed for corrupt practices but than again it looks like “UMNO boleh” as in UMNO only the corrupt has the power and money to dictate and all else matters not.

This win by Isa Samad had reinforced the image of corruption of the political party of UMNO. UMNO had endorsed corrupt practices and will not change. Any attempt to change in UMNO will now be seen as purely cosmetic and an act of deception.

And this is not to say that Pakatan Rakyat did well as all the time Pakatan Rakyat is just the only convenient alternative, the battle is just UMNO and UMNO and that is all, if Pakatan wins its just that UMNO lost and not so much as a Pakatan winning. So for now it is still an UMNO's Lost.

In fact there were not much of Pakatan Rakyat to be seen in Bagan Pinang, there were only PAS and looks like PAS was like working alone and even the local PAS was not much of a presence. The only time there was Pakatan Rakyat was only in ceramahs when the stars visited and went entertaining the huge crowds of supporters that came to visit crowding out every star studded ceramahs of Pakatan Rakyat.

Nevertheless, the UMNO machinery was impressive working the grounds, quietly and silently behind the shadows under the moonlit nights of PD. Their crowd was not as visible as the PAS people or supporters but whatsoever, these UMNO people were in constant work all throughout. And even during polling day we noticed dozens of UMNO vehicle tirelessly ferrying voters to the polling booth and my partner Ee Chia constantly reminding me of these private vehicles running up and down the polling centres quietly and silently. And herein lays the difference in expertise and professional work.

Check Breakdown and Analysis of Election Results HERE

Bagan Pinang Official Results (Edited)

Bagan Pinang Election Results 2009 (Breakdown and Analysis)
	2009	2008
Total Registered Voters : 13,664
Total Voters Turnout	10,591 (77.51%)	10,527 (77.04%)
UMNO	8,013 (75.66%)	6,430 (61.08%)
PAS	2,578 (24.34%)	3,080 (38.92%)
Majority	5,435	2,333
Total Postal Voters : 4,604
Postal Voters Turnout	4,142 (89.97%)	4,269 (92.72%)
UMNO	3,521 (85.01%)	3,080 (72.15%)
PAS	621 (14.99%)	1,189 (27.85%)
Total Civilian Voters : 9,060
Civilian Voters Turnout	6,449 (71.18%)	6,258 (69.07%)
UMNO	4,492 (69.65%)	3,350 (53.53%)
PAS	1,957 (30.35%)	2,908 (46.47%)

There were 223 (2.11%) spoilt votes and not included in the above numbers but if you were to include the spoilt votes the total voters turnout (including postal votes) will be 10,814 or 79.14% of the total registered voters of 13,994.

UMNO regain an additional 1142 civilian votes and increased the postal votes by an additional 441 votes as compared to the 2008 election results.They won an additional 1583 votes in total.

PAS lose 951 civilian votes and 568 postal votes with a total of 1519 voters lost compared to 2008.

The voters turnout are about the sam as in 2008 and there was a small reduction in the postal voters turnout.

Note: Have redone the table for better clarity.

Update

Umno 7821 PAS 2490 majority of 5331.
INCREDIBLE! UNBELIEVABLE!
That's It!
I am going back. Catch some sleep. And I will be back.

Update Unofficial

Umno 6705 PAS 2003 majority of 4702 to umno.

Unofficial

Umno ontain 6368 wins by 4511 majority votes. PAS 1847 votes. Still counting but too big a majority.

Prelimary Vote Count

Not looking good. Umno leading by 4000 votes. About 70 % counted.

Final Voting Nos.

The final voter turnout for all voters including postal votes is 81.6% or a total of 11,157 votes. The earlier nos are for civilian votes only.

Polling End

That's it folks! Total voter turnout estimated about 70%. Counting will start soon.
Should get the results by 7.30 pm or so.

(photo of Ee Chia crossing)

Mat Rempit

Just saw another group of Ummo's Mat Rempit speeding out from the umno side at Sekolah Panglima Adman. This group is now all in Barisan National White tee shirt.
Just manage to snap a photo from theback. There were about 10bikes and speeding through the crowd.

Photo of Dr Hatta at Si Rusa

Si Rusa

The umno supporters only about 50 now here in Si Rusa but the PAS supporters are still energetic and hot with constant rhytmic chantings and led by Dr Hatta Ramli as photo above. There are still about 300 PAS people here.

Mat Rempit in Orange T shirt

Photo of the mat rempit amongst the umno supporters on the umno side at Teluk Kemang just after the fight incident.

We had saw them racing up and down in their bikes along Teluk Kemang road shouting and harassing PAS supporters.

UMNO's Supporters

UMNO problem in election campaigning is that they are paying monies for young and underaged boys to act as their supporters. And they are led by their youth members as to show a bigger crowd.

These young boys and "Mat Rempit" are difficult to control and gets out of hand as is shown here in Bagan Pinang.

We had our experience with them yesterday night when we were caught in a traffic jam, they were shouting at us in the van out of nowhere and seems to be provoking us into a quarrell or fight however we civilised people just ignored them. They were persistent and determined in their provocation.

There were two major incident today and all witnessed by the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers and in both instances there were injuries and even the police got hit. We were informed that 15 umno supporters were arrested.

Above are photos of the young umno supporters as taken in the Teluk Kemang incident as reported earlier. See for yourself these underage boys.

Fight in Teluk Kemang

There was a big commotion about 50 meters away from where I was waiting.

Than the Umno people started throwing bottles of water and the catapult went crazy as both sides were throwing at each other as sticks and stones were than thrown.

Later 2 boys were caught and were bleeding from the head. One of the boys were wearing an orange scarf and deem to be an umno boy.

The FRU and police are here and the problem contained but the supporters are still here on both sides. Umno has the orange mat rempit with them.

Telok Kemang Polling Centre

This beach side polling centre at the 8th mile port Dickson has about 400 over voters.

The photo shows suporters lining along the main road. The PAS supporters outnumber the umno supporters and are chanting "ISA RASUAH". Umno supporters are being drown out and pretty quiet.

Ee Chia is trying to get voters update from the election commission (SPR) officials.

Sek Panglima Adman

Photo of Zulkifli Mohd Omar at the Sek.Panglima Adman after voting at the PAS tent.

Bagan Pinang Polling

The PAS candidate Zulkifli Mohd Omar just voted at the Sek. Panglima Adman polling center.

Voter turnout here is about 30 percent.

Lots of supporters lining both side of the road and jeering and taunting each other but the police is at hand to control the situation.

Si Rusa Polling Station

Supporters of both sides lined the road cheering voters on to the Sekolah Si Rusa polling station.

Voters turnout here is already at 32 percent.

Rain in Bagan Pinang

First pit stop my partner enjoying her Teh tarik. We stop for breakfast and it started to rain again.

Nice and cool in this rain but we are on bike so need to take shelter.

Barisan Rakyat Ready to Roll

It's 8am and the special bunch are ready to roll.
They are seen here allotting polling station to be covered by different groups.
There are 3 bikes and a pick up and the blue blitz taking them to all the polling station.
Stay tuned for updates.

Anwar Ibrahim at Bagan Pinang

The huge crowd had overspilled on to the road and people were seen standing on chairs and cars as Anwar speaks.

Anwar gave a rousing speech to call on the people to unite against corruption and the deceptive and devious politician of Barisan National. The crowd responded to his every call with cheers of "reformasi".

His speech ended at 12 midnight sharp and thus bringing this by-election campaign to an end. Tomorrow will be polling day and the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers will be reporting from ground zero.

There are still the usual grouses as regards to postal voting by the servicemen and the election commission had yet to address the process and procedures of postal votes and PAS had threathen to bring this matter to the courts but we shall wait and see.

We were caught in a massive traffic jam and it to took us more than one and a half hours just to travel 4 miles from the ceramah venue to "Jom Makan" where we met up with Datuk Kamarul and Ronnie Liu for some light supper.

On our way there we saw an incident where there appears to be a standoff between umno and pas supporters adding to the already massive traffic jam. We saw the umno people taunting the PAS supporters and as we pass them these same people were shouting profanities at us in the blue blitz.

Well we shall leave it as such and tomorrow we shall see the results of this by election.

Last Rally at Bagan Pinang

Last call for Bagan Pinang.

We are at the 9th mile Port Dickson where a huge ceramah with the Pakatan leaders making their rounds all over the constituency.

This venue is the DAP Bagan Pinang coordination centre. There are at least 10,000 people already here awaiting for the leaders.

Ronnie Liu of DAP just took the stage and the first speaker for the night.

PS. Blogging from mobile phone. Can only attach one photo at a time.

Fakes in Bagan Pinang

Impersonators
10 Oct 2009 18:06


PAS press conference in progress now to warn the Bagan Pinang residence that there are incidents of PAS impersonators out in force to cause fear to the voters.

PAS has made a police report and hope the authorities will take action against such people in PAS shirts or attire and waving PAS flags out to create trouble and fear amongst voters. These people out to cause trouble are not Pas supporters or members.

Impersonators

PAS press conference in progress now to warn the Bagan Pinang residence that there are incidents of PAS impersonators out in force to cause fear to the voters.

PAS has made a police report and hope the authorities will take action against such people in PAS shirts or attire and waving PAS flags out to create trouble and fear amongst voters. These people out to cause trouble are not Pas supporters or members.

The Figures of Bagan Pinang

 (Photo from Wan Imran)

The Figures of Bagan Pinang

Let’s look at the figures of Bagan Pinang as from the last election of 2008, for this Bagan Pinang state seat will show that there was a voter turnout of 10,527 voters or 77.04% of the total registered voters amounting to 13,664.

Out of the total registered voters of 13,664, there are 4,604 postal votes of which 4,571 are voters from the soldiers in the army. The total postal votes make out 33.69% of the total registered voters of 13,664. The turnout for the total postal votes was at 4,269 votes or 92.72% of the total postal votes of 4,604.

Let us look at the civilian votes as follows; 13,664 total registered voters less postal voters at 4,604 equals to total civilian voters at 9,060. And in 2008 UMNO received 3,080 of postal votes and PAS obtained 1,189 postal votes of the total postal voters turnout of 4,269, that equates to only a total of civilian voters turnout at 6,258 voters or 69.07% of the total civilian voters (10,527 voters turnout – 4,269 postal votes turnout = 6,258 civilian voters turnout ).

Check out the real strength of the postal voters as follows; total postal voters of 4,604 and the turnout is at 4,269 or 92.72% of total postal voters of which UMNO obtained 3,080 votes or 72.15% and PAS has 1,189 or 27.85% of total postal votes.

Postal votes in Bagan Pinang, makes up a crucial 40.55% of the total voters turnout of 10,527 voters as in the 2008 general election and is a significant force and that the Election Commission must be seen to be independent, transparent and fair, and address any complaints or disputes and seen to be honest and of the highest integrity and be accountable to the people of this nation.

For PAS to win they will need to focus on increasing the civilian voters turnout and thus reducing the impact from postal votes, if the civilian turnout is 80% (80% X 9060 = 7248 civilian voters turnout), than they will have to capture around 60% (60% X 7248 = 4349 civilian votes) of that turnout of civilian voters. And to reinforced their support from the servicemen and maybe increased that support to about 35% from the 27.85% in the 2008 general election and than PAS might just edge out UMNO and win this election.

So how are PAS approaching this election as time is running out and what are they doing about reaching out and addressing the concern of the voting soldiers? Please note that the concern of the soldiers are that they can vote in secrecy against umno and as such if PAS can assure the soldiers that their vote will be in confidence than...

In this Bagan Pinang by-election the Election Commission is under the spotlight and will need to address the long time grouses and complaints from the people as to their independence and EC should open up and be transparent and truthful to the people and country.

"Should the postal votes be abolished as we are not at war or in emergency. It was meant for our servicemen in the jungles during the Emergency and the war against the communists."

R.Nadeswaran (The Sun)

Read "We Want A Clean and Fair Election" HERE