Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Anwar strengthens grip in PKR reshuffle

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made sweeping changes to PKR today, as he appeared to take firm control of his troubled party, and indicated Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail, his wife and party president, would play a more prominent leadership role.

Azmin Ali, a protégé of Anwar, and Tian Chua, the often-controversial information director, also appear to have been sidelined in the changes announced by the de facto party leader.

Azmin will no longer be elections campaign director. He will be replaced by Saiffudin Nasution. Azmin will now head a task force to strengthen party leadership at the state and division levels.

Tian Chua has been re-designated to strategic director while his place has been taken over by Latheefa Koya.

“Wan Azizah will give statements on emerging issues and her presence should be further highlighted,” Anwar wrote on his blog today.

Wan Azizah is seen as someone that Anwar can trust and as a leader, she is someone who is relatively immune from negative attacks from the Barisan Nasional.

The de factor PKR leader also said that deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali will focus on policy and Malay and Bumiputra issues.

Vice presidents Dr Lee Boon Chye, Sivarasa, Mustafa Kamil Ayob and Dr Jeffrey Kitingan together with Youth Chief Shamsul Iskandar and Women’s chief Zuraidah Kamaruddin will be part of Azmin’s task force.

Other changes announced by Anwar today:

Training committee chairman: Fauziah Saleh.

New membership committee chairman: Johari Abdul.

International relations committee chairman: Mustafa Kamil Ayob.

Deputy chairman: Dr Tan Kee Kwong.

Communication chief: Johnson Chong.

Discipline committee chairman: Datuk Yeop Adlan Che Rose.

Deputy secretary generals: Abdul Halim Yusof, Paul Kadang, Raveentharan and Sharifah Shahidah

Monday, April 27, 2009

Bloggers

Someone mentioned blogging is not only hobby but therapy…I could not agree more with this observation……….but some bloggers think otherwise. They thinks so highly of their hobby that they want to change the people, the rules& regulations, the system, the government, the world…ect. etc.ohhooooho..what a tall order. Being a fisherman naturally fishing is my number one hobby while yours is blogging …so what????

The words blogs, blogging, bloggered, bloggers or blogotician are all “computer rejected” words, hence conspicuously missing from some records & they are no where to be found in any dictionaries. Not even in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary that began in 1898 which were known to offer a good deal of historical information about words. As there is no one acceptable meanings, interpretation or definition of the words, Bloggers came out with their own version henceforth causing some confusion.

In the words of NST Official, he sees Blogging as a mere hobby and to some it can be a form of therapy. Uchu Keling once said he decided to continue blogging as it was (and still is) his number one hobby, a very fair and sensible comment indeed.

So if blogging is hobby or leisure activities why do some bloggers made a big fuss out of it? Why complaining that the authorities, Ministers & government are too restrictive? Who are you to enforce your line of thinking upon others?
When bloggers think too highly of themselves they tend to go overboard with their net writing. They refused to draw the line and more often step over the boundary of their intended hobby. Bear in mind bloggers has no locus standi or business to enforce their views/opinion onto others let alone the democratic elected government.
I am no fan of Jabu but come to think of it he is not far from being correct when he said some bloggers are “specialist instigator”.

A particular Blogger wrote in his blog that through blogging he hopes to make the world a better place for his kids& grandsons to live.
A young lady blogger who claimed to be residing in Australia says, “I'm an angel, but I've lost my way back to heaven”. Until someone shows me the map, I've taken it upon myself to rescue the oppressed Sarawakians from the dictatorship of Taib Mahmud and his cronies while trying to halt the ever expanding empire of the Taib Mahmud dynasty. This is nothing but an outright blasphemy. Besides, what on earth is she doing in Australia if she cares to rescue the oppressed Sarawakians. Perhaps she is too scared to face Taib and chose to escape from the state and that is an act of being coward.

Another blogger claimed that he is gathering intelligence information to track down Osama Bin Laden.

There is one, who is able to accurately foretell/predict the world future through a mere microscope. One local blogger said he would try his level best as a net writer to give the NCR taken illegally by the authorities back to the landowners.
Yet there is this new kid in town (new web site) who declared “fishing in the moon” is his occupation.

These soft of characters suggest that some (not all) bloggers are day dreamers or jokers of highest level and also a great pretender. Why I said great pretender? I ve not heard any blogger/s who dared to sacrifice their life for just cause. If from dust till dawn you are harping on ways to help others but when people looked around and found out that you cannot even helped yourselves, how would others believed in you? Besides, with these weird characters in the blogsphere, turning the blogs into a serious business or discussion is an impossible task. Just gorgeous, they are competing for an ambitious plan, interesting and catchy phrase in display.

So Bloggers, who & what do you think you are? Are you sure you chose the right hobby? Do you think readers, authorities and our society at large would agree with you or listen to you all the times? If you think so you are bound to be frustrated & disappointed.

Bloggers may not like it but to me they are bunch of “emotional wishful thinkers”. Using remote control, PC/laptop, keyboard, SMSees, e-mail addresses and other IT apparatus they hope to create impact or shape public opinion. The intention I must say is a noble one but the problem is if people won’t listen or agree they start the cursing games. They started spitting, screaming, shouting, and put the blame on their PC. That’s okay, coz in a worst case scenario they may just get a new PC or get the damaged one fixed/repaired.
More often that not, these bloggers started writing defamatory remarks/article, instigate or incite hatred and that where it becomes problematic.

There are bloggers who wish to see things happened rather than waiting for the things to happen. That’s well and fine. There are others who wish things to happen their way, not too bad. If however bloggers gatecrash or forced their way through then they are inviting trouble and become a menace to the society. Yet believed me they are those serve-centered who refused to accept the choice of majority and instead chose to use rhetoric rather than facts.

My advice to bloggers is, if you are not prepared for disappointment or frustration; why not take the cue from me. Try taking fishing as a number one hobby. All we need is a fishing rod and some baits. There is no limitation to the number of fish one care to catch. There is no restriction as rivers are long and the seas wide. If I don’t catch anything I only blamed myself and not others. Besides all catches are tax exempted. If the fish “refused to be caught” or eat the baits I just stop by at the fish market for a kilo or two.
When I am not fishing I can also discuss about promoting 1Malaysia concept after all the subject is not only confined to bloggers.


NB: The above article is not meant to be commented on, it’s just my personal views.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Taib in quandary over Larry S'ng's cabinet position


Taib in a quandary over Sng's cabinet position


With Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s cabinet reshuffle imminent, focus is on Larry Sng, an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department and assistant minister of industrial development, who has been ‘party-less’ since April last year.
Is Taib going to retain or drop him? That is the question many people, especially members of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), are pondering.
Sng was expelled from PRS after a leadership crisis which began in May 2006 and which led to the election of two presidents in the party with two sets of supreme councils and two headquarters.
While Sng was ‘elected’ to be president of one faction, James Masing, on the other hand, was ‘elected’ to head the other faction by his own supporters.

Sng (pic above) had a promising career with PRS, holding a senior post in the party when it was formed following the de-registration of the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2004.
Elected at the Iban-majority Pelagus constituency on a PBDS ticket on his first electoral outing in 2002, Sng was then appointed assistant minister two years later at the tender age of 25 in a cabinet reshuffle.
It is known that he was strongly recommended to the chief minister by Masing in order to show his (Masing’s) gratitude to Larry’s father Sng Chee Hua, who together with Masing successfully de-registered PBDS to form PRS.
Sng’s appointment as assistant minister by-passed some of the most senior state assembly persons in the party.
Will Taib entertain Masing’s request?
But the fall-out began when the young and ambitious Sng challenged Masing for the top post of the Dayak-based PRS, a move considered by observers to be Sng’s biggest mistake.
Sensing a threat to his leadership, Masing then expelled Sng’s men from the party in order to curtail his influence.
The expulsion of party secretary-general Sidi Munan, deputy publicity chief Earnest Chua and supreme council member Sng Chee Beng, plus the ‘reassignment’ of Sng himself from deputy secretary-general to publicity chief triggered the protracted leadership crisis in the party.
One effect of the expulsions was that the party split down the middle with each faction ‘electing’ their own presidents both with their own supreme councils and party headquarters. The two protagonists proceeded to accuse each other of conducting party affairs illegally.
The problem was more or less solved when the Registrar of Societies on April 1 last year recognised Masing’s power under the party’s constitution to hire and fire officials and office -bearers. Sng and members of his faction were then expelled.
In the latest development, Masing (pic below) yesterday wrote to the chief minister to officially inform him that Sng was no longer a PRS member and that he should be replaced by another state assemblyperson from the party in the cabinet.
Masing’s request has placed Taib in a quandary although it is the chief minister’s prerogative to select any one to be in his cabinet.
Will Taib entertain Masing’s request? To not do so would mean that Taib does not regard PRS as an important partner in the state BN coalition and already there are grumbles in PRS that Taib is ‘bullying’ the party.
Drop Sng, and Taib will have to incur the wrath of Sng’s rich and famous father-in-law, Ting Phek Khiing, who is also Taib’s close ally.
Keeping a low profile
But nobody knows what game is Taib is playing. Seemingly, Masing has an advantage as he has seven state assembly persons and six parliamentarians with him.
Looking at the matter from this perspective explains why the promised cabinet reshuffle has been delayed a number of times, generating more interest along the way not only in PRS, but also among the Dayak community as they speculate on Taib’s next move.
Many think that Taib may not carry out the reshuffle although there are a number of vacancies which have yet to be filled especially after Sarawak United People’s Party’s (Supp) two assistant ministers were defeated in the 2006 state election.
The best solution for Taib, observers say, would be to carry on as usual until the next state election due in mid- 2011 or earlier. This way, he neither pleases nor incurs the wrath of anyone.
Sng, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile and concentrating on discharging his duties. He refuses to comment on rumours that he may join Supp soon.
On his political future, he will leave it to the chief minister. “I am not a fortune-teller so I don’t think I have business telling the future,” he said.
“There are a lot of things to do and serving the people is my priority now. I intend to continue serving the people until the people think that there are better people to serve them and their interests.”
With Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s cabinet reshuffle imminent, focus is on Larry Sng, an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department and assistant minister of industrial development, who has been ‘party-less’ since April last year.
Is Taib going to retain or drop him? That is the question many people, especially members of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), are pondering.
Sng was expelled from PRS after a leadership crisis which began in May 2006 and which led to the election of two presidents in the party with two sets of supreme councils and two headquarters.
While Sng was ‘elected’ to be president of one faction, James Masing, on the other hand, was ‘elected’ to head the other faction by his own supporters.

Sng (pic above) had a promising career with PRS, holding a senior post in the party when it was formed following the de-registration of the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2004.
Elected at the Iban-majority Pelagus constituency on a PBDS ticket on his first electoral outing in 2002, Sng was then appointed assistant minister two years later at the tender age of 25 in a cabinet reshuffle.
It is known that he was strongly recommended to the chief minister by Masing in order to show his (Masing’s) gratitude to Larry’s father Sng Chee Hua, who together with Masing successfully de-registered PBDS to form PRS.
Sng’s appointment as assistant minister by-passed some of the most senior state assembly persons in the party.
Will Taib entertain Masing’s request?
But the fall-out began when the young and ambitious Sng challenged Masing for the top post of the Dayak-based PRS, a move considered by observers to be Sng’s biggest mistake.
Sensing a threat to his leadership, Masing then expelled Sng’s men from the party in order to curtail his influence.
The expulsion of party secretary-general Sidi Munan, deputy publicity chief Earnest Chua and supreme council member Sng Chee Beng, plus the ‘reassignment’ of Sng himself from deputy secretary-general to publicity chief triggered the protracted leadership crisis in the party.
One effect of the expulsions was that the party split down the middle with each faction ‘electing’ their own presidents both with their own supreme councils and party headquarters. The two protagonists proceeded to accuse each other of conducting party affairs illegally.
The problem was more or less solved when the Registrar of Societies on April 1 last year recognised Masing’s power under the party’s constitution to hire and fire officials and office -bearers. Sng and members of his faction were then expelled.
In the latest development, Masing (pic below) yesterday wrote to the chief minister to officially inform him that Sng was no longer a PRS member and that he should be replaced by another state assemblyperson from the party in the cabinet.
Masing’s request has placed Taib in a quandary although it is the chief minister’s prerogative to select any one to be in his cabinet.
Will Taib entertain Masing’s request? To not do so would mean that Taib does not regard PRS as an important partner in the state BN coalition and already there are grumbles in PRS that Taib is ‘bullying’ the party.
Drop Sng, and Taib will have to incur the wrath of Sng’s rich and famous father-in-law, Ting Phek Khiing, who is also Taib’s close ally.
Keeping a low profile
But nobody knows what game is Taib is playing. Seemingly, Masing has an advantage as he has seven state assembly persons and six parliamentarians with him.
Looking at the matter from this perspective explains why the promised cabinet reshuffle has been delayed a number of times, generating more interest along the way not only in PRS, but also among the Dayak community as they speculate on Taib’s next move.
Many think that Taib may not carry out the reshuffle although there are a number of vacancies which have yet to be filled especially after Sarawak United People’s Party’s (Supp) two assistant ministers were defeated in the 2006 state election.
The best solution for Taib, observers say, would be to carry on as usual until the next state election due in mid- 2011 or earlier. This way, he neither pleases nor incurs the wrath of anyone.
Sng, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile and concentrating on discharging his duties. He refuses to comment on rumours that he may join Supp soon.
On his political future, he will leave it to the chief minister. “I am not a fortune-teller so I don’t think I have business telling the future,” he said.
“There are a lot of things to do and serving the people is my priority now. I intend to continue serving the people until the people think that there are better people to serve them and their interests.”

Mindraf: Does Malaysia need another sectarian political party?

As if the political landscape of Malaysia wasn’t overcrowded already, there has come into the fray yet another sectarian community-based party, Mindraf (Malaysian Indian Democratic Action Front). Ostensibly set up by “good samaritans” concerned about the plight of their community, Mindraf has announced its political ambitions with the aim of representing Malaysian citizens of South Asian origin.
Now allow me to be blunt here: Malaysia does not need another communitarian party that caters to the primary concerns of a particular ethnic or religious community.
We are already forced to work on a contested landscape where there are too many parties that are based on ethnic and religious loyalties, and yet another sectarian party will hardly bring us any closer to realising the notion of a Malaysia where identity is based on universal citizenship and equal rights.
If anything, the tendency of such sectarian parties is to further add to the process of divide and rule and to further entrench sedimented notions of ethnic-racial differences.
This comes at a time when a younger generation of Malaysians have demonstrated their ability to transcend the ethnic divisions that once haunted the generation of their parents. So while we hope and pray for a better, more united and colour-blind Malaysia, whose idea was it to create another ethnic-based party?
The momentum for Mindraf was quite probably generated by the Hindraf movement, which had managed to challenge the hegemony of the MIC over the Malaysian Indian community for decades. But even then, Hindraf’s appeal — as suggested by its name — was limited to Malaysians of the Hindu faith primarily.
But some of us have maintained all along that the issues related to the Malaysian Indian community were issues that also affected Malaysians in general as well. The destruction of Hindu temples during the Badawi period was a loss for all Malaysians, and not Hindus only.
Over the past four years, we have see how some parties have gone out of their way to accommodate the concerns and needs of others: PAS, for instance, has stood up for the rights of non-Muslims to build temples and churches and has defended the right for non-Muslims to practice their faith.
It is clear that for some leaders of PAS like Nik Aziz, it is better for PAS to be allied to PKR, PSM and DAP rather than Umno. So how much more accommodation does it take before the communitarians in our midst realise that we have to build a new non-racist Malaysia on the common platform of a universal citizenship?
The other worry is that Mindraf may yet drain support and members from the other parties of the Pakatan, notably PKR and DAP. At a time when we need to create an alternative mode of Malaysian politics that transcends the narrow, parochial and primordial sentiments of racial and religious solidarity, a party like Mindraf merely goes against the grain — and in fact confirms and further sediments the hegemony of divisive communitarian politics in Malaysia.
It is also during times like this that I feel that all our efforts (not mine alone) to promote a new de-racialised non-communitarian politics in Malaysia have achieved so little, despite the energy and time invested.
Honestly, we are not going to have a new Malaysian politics unless and until we think, live and behave like Malaysian-minded Malaysians. And that day has yet to come, my friends. Sadly. — Aliran