Najib: No community is neglected by BN

The government had channelled RM21 million in funds to NGOs representing Sikhs nationwide from 2008 until now, says the BN chief.

PETALING JAYA: Najib Tun Razak said the Barisan Nasional government has ensured that no community, including minority groups, had been neglected.

The prime minister said the government under his administration continued to give equal opportunities to the people to succeed regardless of race or creed.

“Since being appointed as prime minister, I have tried to make sure no community, big or small, is neglected and my presence at this Gurdwara Sahib here today shows that I walk the talk,” he said when attending a Vaisakhi Day celebration at the Sikh temple here.

Accompanying him were his wife Rosmah Mansor, ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon and G Palanivel as well as the temple’s president, Harbhajan Kaur.

Najib said the success of several individuals from the Sikh community in holding important post in the government, such as Works Ministry secretary-general Himmat Singh, Securities Commission chairman Ranjit Ajit Singh and Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh was proof that the government did not neglect any race.

The prime minister also said the government had channelled RM21 million in funds to non-governmental organisations (NGO) representing Sikhs nationwide from 2008 until now.

Najib said since he took charge of the government, he and his cabinet members had strived to meet the needs of the community and earn their trust to work together in ensuring the success of national transformation programmes.

“We have established confidence among the Sikh community and I am confident the trust will continue,” he said.

He added the progress and development that the government had brought to the Sikh community had given the community confidence to continue supporting the government.

Najib said this support will result in the strengthening of a plural society as well as the wellbeing of each race.

At the ceremony, Najib also announced an allocation of RM3.8 million to 10 Sikh NGOs including the Malaysian Gurdwara Council, Malaysian Sikh Youth Organisation and the Malaysian Sikh Women Awareness Network Association as well as the Gurdwara Sahibs in Petaling Jaya, Subang and Shah Alam in Selangor and also Bayan Baru in , Penang.

Earlier, Najib, who was attired in in a white and a black songkok, was given a grand welcome upon his arrival. He and wife then were feted to a breakfast of various Sikh traditional delicacies such as samosa, jalebi and barfi.

This is the fifth time Najib celebrated Vaisakhi with the Sikh community.

The first was at the Gurdwara in Kampung Baharu in 2009, followed by Ipoh and Dataran Merdeka last year and the year before.

Bernama

Don't make it a lose-lose situation, PSM tells Pakatan

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has warned Pakatan Rakyat that unilaterally naming its candidates in Selangor seats that PSM contested in the 2008 election will lead to a breakdown of negotiations and make three-cornered fights imminent.

This comes as Pakatan Rakyat prepares to announce its candidates for Selangor in a high-profile event at Hulu Kelang tonight, featuring opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

"It will be a sad end if it goes that way. I really hope we can resolve it.

"I hope they don't announce anything (on PSM-contested seats) tonight to make things complicated, or it will be a breakdown of negotiations," PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan (left) said this afternoon.

PSM candidates contested the 12th general election contested under the PKR banner, but want to use their own logo for May 5. After a 10-year struggle, PSM was finally registered as a political party in July 2008.

PKR has demanded that PSM contest under its banner again, on the grounds that the socialist party's clenched fist logo is not well known and may confuse voters.

If it does not, PKR will field its own candidates in the seats PSM intends to contest, leading to three-cornered fights.

‘Last-ditch effort'

Malaysiakini understands that a last-minute attempt to solve the deadlock was made at a high-powered meeting yesterday between between PKR's Anwar Ibrahim, Tian Chua and Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, and PSM's Nasir Hashim (left), Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj and Arutchelvan.

A source told Malaysiakini that leaders from both sides left the hour-long meeting looking grim.

"There was no progress, everything is back to status quo (with three-cornered fights), said the source.

When contacted, Arutchelvan said PSM had offered PKR a compromise where PSM would only use its own logo for its incumbents and use PKR's logo in seats it lost in 2008.

"PSM spent 10 years fighting BN to get the party registered. Our members will not accept if we do not use our own logo at all in any of the seats in this election... preventing us is tantamount to bullying and humiliating us.

"We have already offered to use the PKR logo in some seats and even have offered to join Pakatan. We have gone a step down and we hope Pakatan will give and take," Arutchelvan said.

Following the meeting, PSM is now consulting its members on a compromise situation, while PKR is consulting the Pakatan leadership council, he added.

‘PSM has to decide today'

PKR's Xavier when contacted said his party was firm that PSM must use the PKR logo in the coming election.

"We have given our views to PSM and we told them to get back to us by today because we are going to announce our candidates tonight.

"We have yet to receive anything from PSM and if we do not receive a notice by today, we will have to go ahead and name our candidates," Xavier (right) said.

However, Arutchelvan insisted that no deadline was given to PSM.

"That was not what Anwar said. He did tell us to get back to them, but they did not say it has to be today," he said.

Aurtchelvan said that PSM was only gunning for the same four seats it contested in the last general election but if three-cornered fights were forced on the party, then the same could take place in other seats where PSM has a presence.

"Even now our members in Cameron Highlands are lobbying us to put our candidate there but we told them 'no', for the goal is to defeat BN.

"But if Pakatan forces three-cornered fights in our seats, then it will make no difference if there are more three-cornered fights elsewhere, including in Cameron Highlands," Arutchelvan said.

‘Own logo in Sungai Siput okay'

PSM's Nasir is the incumbent in the Kota Damansara state seat while Arutchelvan, who lost Semenyih in the last general election, is expected to contest there again.

Malaysiakini understands that if PKR announces its own candidates, it will name lawyer Mohd Razlan Jalaluddin for Kota Damansara and bank officer Hamidi A Hassan in Semenyih.

Other than these two Selangor state seats, PSM has an incumbent in the parliamentary seat of Sungai Siput, Perak, under Jeyakumar, who also used the PKR banner in the last general election.

However, it is understood that PKR is agreeable to PSM using its own logo there, albeit with some opposition from the other Pakatan parties.

PSM's fourth seat is in Jelapang, which it contested in a three-cornered fight against DAP and BN in 2008, and lost. Its candidate, M Saraswathy (right) is expected to contest there again.

The incumbent in Jelapang, Hee Yit Foong, defected from DAP to BN and was appointed Perak's deputy house speaker.

PSM is still in talks with DAP to resolve the Jelapang seat.

Hindraf under Star symbol and flag in Malaya!

By Joe Fernandez

It’s confirmed! Hindraf Makkal Sakthi will be fielding candidates in Malaya under the Borneo-based State Reform Party’s (Star) symbol and flag in the forthcoming 13th General Election on May 5. Star is a national party.

Star chairman Jeffrey Kitingan, in a text message a little while ago said: “Let Hindraf be a big surprise.”

Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy in a text message confirmed: “We are still finalizing the list.”
Star Secretary Guandee Kohoi confirmed in a text message: “We agreed to it. Letter of authorization to use symbol with me. We only need full name as per IC.”

This is the culmination of a process which began quite some time ago to get the ten million Christians in Malaysia on board with Hindraf as 3rd Force allies. At present, the Christians in Malaya don’t have any political vehicle. Star has answered that need. There are many Sabahans and Sarawakians in Malaya.

Hindraf Star alliance in Malaya mooted quite some time ago

When Waytha was still in involuntary political asylum in London, I casually suggested to him and Jeffrey that Hindraf field candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya to help forge 3rd Force unity in Parliament. That was well before Waytha re-filed the Hindraf class action suit in London in early July last year.

Incidentally, I am not a member of Hindraf or Star. Neither am I a self-appointed Advisor to anyone. I am more for embedded reporting, albeit with a difference.

It’s not about scooping anyone.

There’s a difference between merely following the news and watching history on the one hand and giving a Hearing to All.

First, a little more digression.

The fact that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) approved Hindraf last month after earlier lifting the ban on the unregistered organisation is beside the point. The ROS himself said that Hindraf could apply for registration after the ban was ended. Hindraf still remains an NGO. It’s not a political party. Obviously, the Barisan Nasional (BN) hopes that Hindraf would be a BN-friendly NGO. Hence, no doubt the approval. However, Hindraf’s support for anyone would not be free.

The registration of Hindraf was filed at the same time as the appeal for the ban on it to be lifted. Nothing was done discreetly, according to a text message a while ago from Waytha. Supporters of former Legal Advisor and co-Founder P. Uthayakumar in PKR – the man himself is not involved -- were also at the same time trying to hijack ownership of the NGO.

Away from that little digression, I felt that no useful purpose would be served by Waytha continuing to stay in London once the suit had been re-filed.

No mystery in Waythamoorthy’s return to Malaysia

He was worried that his return would be seen as a sellout to the BN, the same worry plaguing Royal Fugitive Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin who had met up with Waytha to exchange notes. The latter had put me in Skype contact with Petra.

Initially, Waytha did not know what to say about the Star proposal. I suggested subsequently that he head a Star chapter in Malaya, an idea which came from Jeffrey. Waytha appeared to agree somewhat and I even mentioned this in a story on his return from political exile. No one followed up the story as the media on both sides of the political divide, especially the Opposition, is anti-3rd Force.

Waytha himself, before the Star idea came up, toyed with the idea of standing on a Dap ticket, or even a Pas ticket. He was also for meeting Nurul Izzah and her mother Wan Azizah in Singapore to discuss patching up between Hindraf and PKR.

However, doing business with PKR was difficult since relations between Anwar and Hindraf were strained to the breaking point after the former tried to discredit the NGO as a racist organisation and kept claiming that it had nothing to do with the makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil -- wave which unleashed the political tsunami of Sat 8 Mar, 2008. Anwar had shamelessly jumped on the Hindraf bandwagon but now he was like the lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama. The people did not vote for PR in 2008. They voted against BN.

Waytha decided to return via Singapore without his Malaysian passport. He had a UN Travel Document issued to him, as a political exile, by the British Government. He could travel to any country in the world except Malaysia and should he infringe the condition, his political asylum status would be immediately revoked.

People of Borneo should get a proper hearing in Parliament

The Malaysian High Commission in Singapore quickly re-issued a Malaysian passport to Waytha as otherwise he would have to be deported, as is the norm in Government agreements with carrier airlines, and this would have been politically and diplomatically embarrassing to both Singapore and Malaysia especially if Waytha refused to leave the city state and made repeated attempts to enter his country. The British Government and the UN would then enter the picture. Waytha’s idea was to cross over from Singapore to Johore on foot. He was prepared to be arrested and charged with terrorism, sedition and treason as the Government had earlier indicated.

Jeffrey was initially hesitant about Hindraf fielding candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya.

He feared that Star crossing the South China Sea to Malaya may perhaps contradict his own battle cry that Malayan parties should keep out of Borneo. Hence, we have Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo, a Star version of a one-to-one fight in Sabah.

(Kepayan Star Chief Phillip Among, a young Turk, is the Architect of the Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo theme. He sold me the idea one day over tea at McDonald’s in Kota Kinabalu. I wrote about it, to gather public feedback, even before Jeffrey entered the picture and quickly endorsed it. Star is a young Turk party.)

I pointed out to Jeffrey that under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, and related constitutional documents on Malaysia, Malaya was supposed to have one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. Given the present 222 seats in Parliament, that means no more than 147 seats. Malaya has 165 seats in Parliament. This is a theft of 18 seats which should be with Borneo, a heinous crime against the people, the result of the Registrar of Societies, the Election Commission and the Attorney General looking the other way to diminish the voice of the people in Parliament.

By the same token, there’s no reason why Borneo cannot have the same one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. In order to achieve this, a Borneo-based national party or coalition would have to field candidates under its symbol and flag in Malaya. It’s not tit-for-tat! It should not be tit for tat!

Nur Misuari can’t help Anwar against Star/Usno in Sabah east coast
It’s not possible for Borneo to achieve the same maximum in Parliament given its paltry 57 seats including Labuan. Even if Malaya had not stolen the 18 seats, Borneo would have only 75 seats in Parliament, far short of the 147 seats.

Jeffrey was finally sold on the idea of Hindraf using the Star symbol and flag in Malaya.

Also, the mood in his party was, Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – a variation of Caretaker Unelected Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s infamous Lu Tolong Gua, Gua Tolong Lu declaration in Sibu during a parliamentary by-election -- given the stubborn refusal of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to make way for local parties in Sabah.

Anwar is being politically suicidal in Sabah. Although he may not have been a party to placing illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls, he certainly knew about it, did nothing to stop the treasonous activities, and now wants to benefit from it, as he did when he headed Sabah Umno.

He wants to ensure that Muslim, whether local or illegal, political domination of Sabah continues so that he can “inherit” the system in tact through cross-overs en bloc. This is why he’s having problems with his own Sabah PKR leaders who are up in arms against his nefarious plans in their country.

Anwar is pledged towards continued disunity among the Orang Asal, including the Muslim, in Sabah and Sarawak.

If possible, he wants to see the political destruction of the mainly Christian Orang Asal in Sabah and Sarawak in pursuit of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political domination and supremacy).

His attempts to get Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari to throw a spanner in the Star-United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) alliance has not worked. Usno, now protem after deregistration, was founded by legendary Suluk Chief Mustapha Harun, a previous Governor and then Chief Minister of Sabah. Nur Misuari pledged he could do more than what Anwar wants according to Sabah PKR sources now with Star, and either known or unknown to him (Anwar), was behind the Lahad Datu intrusion. His latest ploy has been to try and wreck the possibility of a truce between Star and Sapp.

Anwar should make way for the sake of greater Opposition Unity

If Hindraf and Star maintain their position that the former fields candidates under the latter’s symbol and flag in Malaya, it will be a whole new ball game.

Some will say that it will be BN that would benefit.

The jury is still out on the issue.

We need to watch where Hindraf will be fielding candidates and then work out the possible trends that could emerge.

It will be prudent if both BN and PR can give way to Star/Hindraf in Malaya instead of continuing to promote their political mandores.

Both should accept the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) if the Hindraf Blueprint proper sticks in their throats. The Ministry can implement the Hindraf Blueprint.

Ideally, Indians should put off the inevitable destruction of Umno/BN, and help maintain the status quo in Malaya for now except for removing MIC from the scene and making place for Hindraf/Star. Indians have more than an axe to grind with Umno/BN for the 56 years of internal colonisation they suffered under the ruling coalition’s bangsa, agama, negara (race, religion, country) policy of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political dominance and supremacy), a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, Political Islam, terrorism, militancy, “ethnic cleansing”, and the caste system to prevent upward social mobility among the 45 per cent non-Malay minorities.

It would not be in the interest of Indians to see the destruction of PR. The PR is needed to destroy Umno/BN, if not now, later. In any case, the writing is on the wall for Umno/BN after 56 years. Its days are numbered. BN, outside Umno, is likely to be history this time in Malaya.

If there’s going to greater opposition unity, come the 13th GE, Anwar has to step aside and let Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng, Chua Jui Meng, Hadi Awang, Nik Aziz and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have a greater say.

Anwar has become a divisive figure, partly the result of Azmin Ali & Co, on both sides of the South China Sea. He cannot continue to take Azmin’s side against his own wife, the party president, and his daughter Nurul Izzah. It’s the party president who should run the party, not the de facto whatever by using the fig leaf of being the Opposition Leader in Parliament.

Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner in Sarawak

If the Opposition in Malaya and Sabah fails to measure up to public expectations, come the 13th GE, blame it on Anwar for not being able to rise to the occasion. His political impotence would be complete.

In Sarawak, the people have put the Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner for the moment, given the destruction of local political parties by the Taib regime.

They are banking on PR to help bring about a change of government in their country.

However, PR component parties in Sarawak would have to incorporate locally and be autonomous and independent of Malaya, or they risk Jeffery entering the picture again in that nation to haunt them all over again.