The magic of Malaysian politics

It is unbelieveable that the only person that has all the cards to play is someone that is not even an elected MP. Anwar is now calling the shots, manouvring and shuffling the cards. Abdullah the PM is the captain of a sinking ship and watching perilously at the possibility of his crews jumping over board. And it takes only one GE with the ruling party still the majority govt to shake the political landscape. It is simply amazing. Everyone gravitating towards Anwar and watching what he is going to do next and when he is going to be the next PM.

Increasing relevance of Cyberspace

The Malaysian GE has shot cyberspace into the limelight. Many claimed credit should go to cyberspace for breaking the govt's stranglehold on one sided reporting in favour of the BN. And cyberspace came to the rescue to provide an alternative view that the people had been deprived of. Below are some comments which I extracted from The Straits Times by Jeremy Au Yong. Said the site's owner Raja Petra Kamarudin: 'Traffic went up so high that I could not get on to update the site.' The massive visitor numbers put up by both websites, gave one of the clearest indications yet, of just how much the Malaysian public have been turning to alternative media for its political news. With opposition parties feeling shut out of traditional news media, they turned to the Internet to air their views. And it seems many Malaysians follow them there. Said Mr Premesh: 'The alternative media has broken the monopoly of the government on the media and provided a platform for information distribution. It gave a platform for people not in power.' And some now say, cyberspace was where the recent election was lost. Mr Tony Pua, a Democratic Action Party candidate who made his name as a blogger, said the Internet played a pivotal role in informing people about the issues. Although he admitted that he was surprised at how effective it turned out to be. 'The Internet may be more instrumental than people thought it would be. This was not expected by anyone,' he said. And no one was caught more off-guard than the government, said Mr Premesh: 'They thought it wouldn't reach beyond the segment of the community that had Internet access. They didn't consider the spillover effect. 'If you had gone to a rally, you would have seen that the people are well aware of the issues, issues that were only broadcast on alternative media. The Internet fed the information into a certain part of the community, and it spread from there.' He referred to stories like the alleged links between murdered Mongolian model Altantunya Shaariibuu and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, as well as the judiciary scandal involving Datuk VK Lingam. Raja Petra felt that the Internet's biggest contribution was in getting the middle class to the ballot booths. 'Alternative media cured the apathy the middle class has. They were no longer saying: 'Let's not bother.' Suddenly, it was let's go and give the opposition a chance,' he said.

The goodness coming from the GE

The Malaysians have two men to thank for the results of the GE and a new Malaysia. Credit must go to Anwar for bringing about two unlikely bedfellows together to share a common dream, a Malaysian Malaysia. And credit must also go to Abdullah for allowing this to happen. Today, Abdullah is talking about a Malaysia for all Malaysians, a fair and level playing field, uniting all Malaysians and prosperity for all. This is a stark contrast from the pre election days when he allowed UMNO to be more extremist than PAS. UMNO was then trying to be more Islamic and more Malay than whatever PAS stood for. UMNO was trying to outdo PAS! Now PAS has moderated its position, and this caught UMNO with its pants down. Now a new tune is being sung by all parties, in the govt and the alternative govt. Everyone is talking about a Malaysian Malaysia. The challenge to the future is whether Anwar is strong and dynamic enough to keep PAS under check and not going the extreme Islamic path. And on Abdullah's part, whether he can rein in the ultras in his party and return UMNO to be a party for all Malaysians. His problems are more difficult as there is also the big issue of corruption among his close aides and ministers. UMNO needs a thorough clean up and many of his corrupt gangs must go. To think that Samy Vello is still thinking of leading MIC as a component member of the BN speaks a lot about where UMNO is.

Of ethics, pride and shame

Singapore is the second least corrupt country in Asia after Hongkong. Not a bad medal to wear. But is this tooth or truth? A CEO running a huge organisation may be stripped of all his responsibilities and kicked upstair and given a grand title like Master CEO or Grand Master... and continue to receive his obscene pay. His new job description could be in charge of the welfare of the tea lady and the toilet cleaners. And he continues happily going to office looking after the tea lady and cleaners, and with great pride and a lot of pay. Is this corruption? A board director who does not do anything material, who may not even attend board meetings, and continues to collect his fat director's fee happily. Is this corruption? In the strict sense of the definition, these are not corruption. The things that border people are ethics, pride and shame. Do these people have any ethical values to talk about? Are they proud of what they are doing? Do they have any sense of guilt or shame? Are they the role models in our society?

No words from Mas Selamat's family

I have been trying to hear from Mas Selamat's family and see what they have to say on his escape. After two weeks, still nothing heard. Neither was there any report on them. I think they must have given up on Mas Selamat. Or the journalists have all given up on them too. They are not news worthy, falling in the same category like how Mas Selamat escape. There may be people who want to know. But no one thinks it is important to follow up and do a write up about them. Would the family want to know where Mas Selamat is, or is he dead or alive?