Malays, Indians trickle back, Chinese stay away from BN

While any win above 3,000 votes for Pakatan Rakyat would have meant gains in non-Malay votes while preserving their slim Malay popularity. Instead, the 1,725 majority picked up by MIC’s compromise candidate P Kamalanathan neither proves that BN is back in favour nor PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was soundly rejected.
By Chan Kok Leong, The Edge
By-elections are very different from a general election.

Although it is sometimes indicative of the sentiments, by-elections bear their own histories, with wants and needs that differ from place to place. It is not an accurate premonition of the general election to come.

In fact, it can be totally opposite of the local sentiments.

The Ijok by-election in April 2007 was a good example of how local needs took precedence and portrayed a warped view of what was in store in the next general election.

After picking a relative unknown from MIC K Parthiban by giving him a 1,850-vote majority, the same voters returned the favour to PKR candidate, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who lost 11 months earlier, with a 1,920-vote majority in the 12th general election (GE).

Practicality ruled the day in Ijok as voters decided to accept any goodies that Barisan Nasional (BN) could dish out or promised to give for the remaining electoral months before shutting off Parthiban’s replacement from Umno Datuk Mohamed Sayuti Said in favour of Khalid.

With a little more than two years to go before the 13th GE, it looks like Hulu Selangor also chose to settle local governance issues and collect on old debts before deciding again on April 25.

Barring huge majorities for either coalition, it is hard to say that the popularity of either BN or Pakatan Rakyat has improved by much ever since the last general election.

For BN, a huge majority means a return to the 10,000-vote margins it used to enjoy prior to the 2008 GE. In 2004, MIC deputy president Datuk G Palanivel beat PAS’ Datuk Ismail Kamus by 14,483 votes.

While any win above 3,000 votes for Pakatan Rakyat would have meant gains in non-Malay votes while preserving their slim Malay popularity. Instead, the 1,725 majority picked up by MIC’s compromise candidate P Kamalanathan neither proves that BN is back in favour nor PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was soundly rejected.

In the last GE, the combined majority enjoyed by BN in the three state seats — Hulu Bernam, Kuala Kubu Baru and Batang Kali — was 6,176 votes while parliamentary seat incumbent Datuk G Palanivel lost by 198 votes to PKR’s Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

Nevertheless, a string of by-election trends put together paint a very different picture.

Notwithstanding Permatang Pauh, Batang Ai and Bagan Pinang, where the presence of a local hero or postal votes overwhelmed the results, the other six by-elections showed a trend among non-Malay voters.

Other than in Kuala Terengganu, where the local MCA was helmed by the state’s sole Chinese assemblyman and executive councillor Toh Chin Yaw, the other five by-elections saw a continuing flight of non-Malay voters to the opposition. The biggest jump was among the Chinese, which saw at least 15% improvements for Pakatan Rakyat.

On the other hand, since the by-election in Bukit Gantang and Manek Urai, Malay voters have slowly begun to shift back to BN by around 3%-5%.

Using samplings from four Malay, Chinese and Indian-majority polling stations, Hulu Selangor backed the trend of Chinese voters pulling further away from BN while Malay voters are returning to the fold. Indian voters, however, showed a shift back to BN albeit slowly.

Malays back with BN
Malay voters from high-majority seats such as Gedangsa, Kg Gesir, Kg Sg Dusun and Kg Desa Maju showed much stronger performances compared to 2008’s results.

In all four polling stations, Kamalanathan improved on Palanivel’s showing. The highest percentage of improvement was in Kg Gesir which has 842 Malay voters. While Palanivel only had 246 votes, his successor picked up 607 tickets, a 146% improvement.

The other three polling stations showed smaller improvements — Gedangsa (865 to 957 votes), Kg Sg Dusun (987 to 1,115) and Kg Desa Maju (943 to 1,043).

The improvement could be due to the absence of swing voting which took place in 2008 and contributed to Palanivel’s defeat.

But without polling station data from 2008 GE, this cannot be confirmed.

What the four stations do show, is that BN continues to improve among Malay voters whether it is due to the new Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak or pressure group Perkasa’s emergence.

Promises made by the prime minister to partially settle some of their outstanding debts due to a botched development problem is another strong reason for voters here to pick BN.

Another reason for the Malay return to BN could be due to the fact that PKR and PAS are not held to be strong in Hulu Selangor. And the sluggishness of the PAS election machinery did not help PR.

Continuing flight of the Chinese
The trend among the Chinese continues from Bukit Gantang and PR has continued its improvement here.

In Kg Baru Kalumpang, Kg Baru Cina KKB, Kg Baru Rasa and Ulu Yam Lama, Zaid earned more votes with the highest improvement coming from 95%-Chinese Kg Baru Rasa.

Here, Zaid almost doubled his predecessor’s gains from 560 to 1,154 votes. Other polling stations showed improvements albeit smaller gains.

Despite the prime minister making his rounds around Ulu Yam, Assam Kumbang and the Rasa areas, his walkabouts did not help much.

The Chinese here, which are involved in the agriculture and small-medium-enterprises do not seem taken by his 1Malaysia or the New Economic Model (NEM). While the jury is still out about the NEM, the Chinese here are probably disinterested in the liberalisation of sectors which do not concern them.

Instead national issues concerning integrity and corruption coupled by the years of neglect under the previous BN governments are still issues they feel strong enough to continue to “punish” BN.

Indian coming home slowly
The biggest cheer of Hulu Selangor for BN comes from the Indians as despite the compromise candidacy of Kamalanathan, he has managed to improved on Palanivel’s performance.

One of the biggest factors for BN’s poor performance in the 12th GE was the sudden and drastic drop of Indian votes — culminating in many MIC leaders losing their seats.

But a little after two years, the Indians are either less angry with their old party or they have become disenchanted with PR’s overtures.

By-election Defeat for Malaysia’s Opposition

(Asia Sentinel) Najib's policies appear to be ratified by Malay voters 

Malaysia's opposition Pakatan Rakyat has been defeated in a northeastern Selangor by-election that had been billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's economic and social policies.

Zaid Ibrahim, a one-time justice minister turned possible successor to the embattled Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, lost the seat to P Kalamanathan, a Malaysian Indian Congress functionary by a relatively healthy 1,725 votes.

The Hulu Selangor race appears to have been the hardest fought and perhaps most significant of the 10 by-elections since the opposition Pakatan Rakyat broke the national coalition's two-thirds hold on the Dewan Rakyat, or parliament in March 2008 national elections and it has raised speculation that Najib believes his strengthening coalition will be able to call national elections in 2011. Most of the previous by-elections took place in safe constituencies where the incumbent had either died or resigned. In Hulu Selangor, Zainal Abidin Ahmad, a Parti Keadilan Rakyat member of parliament, had died on March 25. 

While Kalamanathan's 1,725 margin reversed the previous defeat, however, UMNO officials predicted a 6,000 vote margin, perhaps out of bravado. In previous elections, the Barisan pulled victory margins of as much as 10,000 in the constituency. But a win is a win and probably an indication of a rising trend.

Kalamanathan, who was personally selected by Najib against the wishes of MIC head S. Samy Vellu, won 24,997 votes against Zaid's 23,272. The result reduces the opposition's membership in the Dewan Rakyat to 76 against the Barisan Nasional's 138. It was the second straight by-election win for the Barisan.

Voting was heavy early in the Hulu Selangor constituency, a variegated district to the northeast of Kuala Lumpur, with an eventual turnout of 75.8 percent, election officials said.  The contest for the seat, in which both sides have spent state funds heavily and often, and each accused the other of such offences as drinking beer and faking college credentials, was also viewed by analysts as a test of whether Najib has been able to rebuild the scandal-wracked Barisan and whether the Pakatan Rakyat's ability to rule the populous state it won in 2008 had found resonance with the voters.  Najib appeared three times in the constituency to urge voters to return to the Barisan.

The central lesson of the race appears to have been the division of the electorate along ethnic lines, with the Chinese, who make up 26 percent of the electorate, going solidly for the opposition and Malays and Indians swinging back to the Barisan Nasional, the national ruling coalition.  Zaid appeared to be leading initially as votes in the urban areas -- Chinese strongholds -- were counted first. However, as the ballots started to trickle in from rural Malay voters, the count swung back to Kalamanathan.

Najib, who came into the premiership a year ago dogged by scandal and with only a 44 percent approval rating, has now improved his numbers to 68 percent across the country. He has worked assiduously to heal the fractured racial divisions in Malaysia, especially with the Indian population, who make up about 8 percent of the electorate.  His 1Malaysia campaign, as it is known, is aided by a US$23 million contract with US public relations giant APCO.  The Chinese remain largely disaffected, turned off by factional political infighting and scandal in the Malaysian Chinese Association.

Najib has been aided by a recovering economy, with rising exports expected to push gross domestic product back to 4.5-5 percent in 2010. Some analysts express concern that employment is rising only marginally.  However,  his so-called New Economic Model, designed to replace the 40-year-old New Economic Policy of affirmative action for ethnic Malays, has stirred concern in the Malay community that they will be forced to give up subsidies and other privileges to the wealthier Chinese.

With Anwar caught in the coils of a long-drawn-out sexual abuse trial that has been nicknamed Sodomy II, Zaid, a highly respected lawyer who was appointed by former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a minister in the prime minister's office to attempt to clean out Malaysia's scandal-wracked judiciary, was perhaps the opposition's best hope to lead if Anwar is convicted. As an UMNO cabinet official, Zaid stirred the outrage of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad by saying the government should apologize for his firing of the Lord President of the Supreme Court, Tun Salleh Abbas, in 1988.  After criticizing the arrests of three individuals - Democratic Action Party MP Teresa Kok, editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng under the Internal Security Act in September of 2008, Zaid was forced to resign and he left the party soon after.

Lim Kit Siang, the head of the DAP, sought to put the best face on the defeat, telling his supporters that the loss was narrower than expected and that Zaid will live to fight again another day.  Nonetheless, the defeat still leaves the Pakatan Rakyat struggling to find a leader with the charisma to replace Anwar if he goes to jail in the long-drawn-out sexual abuse trial. Anwar spent six years in prison on similar charges after a 1998 trial that was universally condemned as concocted to drive him out of politics. 

Would MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers resign if Najib does not honour his Hulu Selangor by-election promise to issue RM3 million cheque today for building of new Rasa Chinese primary school?

By Lim Kit Siang,

The 1,725-vote majority victory of the Barisan Nasional in the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election yesterday is a pyrrhic victory for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak – so devastatingly costly both in political and monetary terms that they lay the seeds for the forthcoming defeat of the Barisan Nasional.

The Barisan Nasional has a bill of over RM100 million for its Hulu Selangor by-election campaign – RM60 million for various infrastructure projects and easily more than RM40 million for the Barisan Nasional election campaigners and the many rent-a-crowd outings for the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers.

After such outpourings of money politics, the 1,725-vote majority is actually more a defeat than a victory for Najib and the Barisan Nasional.

The UMNO target was to win Hulu Selangor with at least 6,000-vote majority and the Umno leadership was so confident of this huge victory that the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin went public on this Umno objective mid-day during Hulu Selangor polling yesterday.

The Umno leadership thought that it should not have any big problem, with the RM100 million war chest and the big guns led by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and former Prime Minister, spearheading the charge in the campaign in Hulu Selangor.

Umno leaders regarded the PKR win of the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat in the 2008 general election as a fluke-shot, which was why Najib talked about the Hulu Selangor seat being on “loan” to PKR.

In 2008, the three Barisan Nasional candidates in the three constituent State Assembly seats of Hulu Bernam, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Baru had polled a total majority of 6,176 votes, but at the Hulu Selangor parliamentary level, the BN candidate G. Palanivel lost the seat to the PKR candidate Datuk Zainal Abidin in a wafer-thin majority of 198 votes.

Palanivel secured 22,979 votes for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, which is 3,285 votes less than the total of 26,264 votes cast for the three BN state assembly seats in 2008.

Najib and Muhyiddin calculated that they should be able to restore this 6,176-vote majority BN won at the level of the three state assembly seats in 2008, but the Hulu Selangor by-election results proved them wrong.

In the event, BN’s P. Kamalanathan secured 24,997 votes which is 1,267 votes less than the total of 26,264 votes collectively polled by the three winning BN State Assembly candidates in 2008.

On the other hand, Pakatan Rakyat’s Zaid Ibrahim polled 23,272 votes yesterday which is more than the vote polled by PKR parliamentary candidate in 2008, i.e. 23,177.

Despite all the odds, PR is making headway while BN is clearly losing ground. The future belongs to Pakatan Rakyat.

Najib said the Hulu Selangor by-election is a test for the MCA leadership, which clearly had failed the test as MCA is the biggest loser in the Barisan Nasional in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

In the 2008 “political tsunami”, MCA secured some 37% of the Chinese votes cast in Hulu Selangor but this has fallen to 25 – 28% in the by-election yesterday.

The immediate question facing the MCA is whether the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers would resign if Najib does not honour his Hulu Selangor by-election promise to issue a RM3 million cheque today for the building of new Rasa Chinese primary school?

On the eve of the Hulu Selangor by-election, Najib made the campaign promise in Rasa on a RM3 million approval for rebuilding Rasa Chinese Primary School declaring:

“If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.”

I commend the voters of Rasa for turning in a 82.4% support for Zaid Ibrahim.

Malaysians are waiting to see whether Najib would honour his pledge to sign the RM3 million approval allocation to Rasa Chinese primary school today and if not, what would be the response of the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers as well as the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek.

Genuine Obsessions With Fake Qualifications

By M. Bakri Musa

The kerfuffle over the college credentials of Kamalanathan a/l P. Pancanathan, the Barisan candidate in the recent Ulu Selangor by-election, reveals less of the man but more on our fascination with paper qualifications. This obsession with credentialism is an intellectually lazy way to judge someone; you let those papers and certificates do it for you.

Who cares if you have a doctorate from Oxford, for if you cannot speak and read our national language then you have no business to be in Parliament or the state Assembly, where bills are debated and businesses conducted in Malay. You cannot possibly be effective if you are not fluent in that language.

At the same time with Malaysia inextricably linked with the greater world and English being the global language, our legislators and others who presume to lead us should be equally facile in that language. Anything less and they would not be serving us – their clients – honestly and honorably.

I do not expect average citizens, least of all potential political candidates, to appreciate or acknowledge this reality. However, I do expect party leaders, both in Barisan and Pakatan, to be fully cognizant of this and to factor it heavily in their selection of candidates.

At one level it is amusing that we should still be obsessed with college degrees. With higher education now available to an increasingly larger segment of society, declaring that you are a college graduate would today elicit at best feigned interest, expressed in between yawns. The exception would be if you were to graduate from Oxbridge or an Ivy League. That would definitely draw some attention, at least initially, even in the most sophisticated circles.

If after a few minutes of conversation it turns out that your association with those august colleges was merely attending one of their culup (“quickie”) courses, then whatever impression you may have created initially would rapidly vanish. Actually you need not reveal whether you are a genuine product or not, the content of your conversation would be a sufficient differentiator. Less than a minute into Barack Obama’s and Sarah Palin’s speeches and you could readily tell who is the product of an Ivy League and who is from the local community college.

Both Obama and Palin attract huge crowds with their captivating oratory. In deciding who to vote for however, we should go beyond their academic pedigrees and flourishes of their speeches to seeing the clarity of their vision, weighing the substance of their ideas, and judging the effectiveness of their leadership.

At another level, despite our unabashed nationalism and pride in everything local as expressed in such jingoism as “Malaysia boleh!” there is still this obsession with everything foreign, especially university parchment papers. Again here, that says more on the state of our local universities than the regards we have of foreign ones.

I was not surprised that Kamalanathan could earn his Australian degree without ever setting foot on that continent, let alone on the campus. In these days of on-line courses and “distance learning,” there is nothing unusual about that. If anything those are significant improvements over the old correspondent courses.

The more significant – and disturbing – revelation is this. Although he attended the local Olympia College (its academic director confirmed that) to get his Australian degree via “twinning,” the college no longer has his academic records. I graduated over four decades ago, despite that I could still retrieve (if I am so inclined) from my alma mater my transcript, including my freshman English grades. Kamalanathan had his degree barely six years ago, and already his college has purged his academic records.

As mentioned, this controversy reveals more about local institutions than it does of foreign colleges.

Vetting Candidates

Higher education has not been spared the invasion and innovation of modern technology. At the criminal plane, with digital technology I could easily reproduce those impressive diplomas, complete with original signatures, intricate seals, and those fancy Latin phrases and dates. That makes it even more difficult to ascertain the veracity let alone quality behind those certificates.

At the legitimate level, modern technology has radically altered the manner of teaching and delivery of instructional materials. Today I can in the comfort of my living room listen to the same lectures given to those undergraduates at MIT. My continuing professional education is increasingly being delivered through “webinars,” CDs, and other multimedia modules.

With the greater appreciation and subsequent growth of “non-traditional learning,” the task of evaluating the quality of college credentials becomes even more complicated. The boundaries between blatant degree mills, virtual colleges, on-line courses, “external” degrees, and the traditional “board and mortar” campuses are becoming more difficult to ascertain.

In my profession where such decisions could have literally life and death consequences, we have gone beyond merely ascertaining the validity of those pieces of papers to contacting directly the issuing institutions and getting attestations on what those certificates actually signify. Failure to truthfully disclose could expose those institutions to both civil and criminal liabilities.

The problem with Kamalanathan could have been resolved had a non-governmental organization concerned with the conduct of honest election for example, queried that Australian university on whether he was a legitimate student. Indeed the problem would not have arisen at all had Barisan leaders verified the matter before selecting him. Had those leaders institutionalized the practice, they would have been spared the embarrassment of picking a disbarred lawyer as their election candidate, as had happened recently.

This vetting of candidates is tough and tricky. Even when everything seems clear and legitimate, we could still have difficulty detecting fraudulent applicants.

I was on the selection committee to fill a senior position at our hospital. On perusing the resumes of the short-listed applicants, one stood out – impressive undergraduate degree from a leading university and a prestigious MBA. She also stood out in the interview; articulate and well informed. When my turn came, I congratulated her on her MBA and then innocently inquired whether she had taken any classes from a certain star professor at her school, and if so, could she share her experience. I must have hit something for she became flustered and began fanning her suddenly reddened face with her hand.

“I… I,” she stuttered, “did not get my MBA from that Columbia!”

Her interview went rapidly downhill from there. At the end of the session, the committee went over her application carefully to see where we had slipped. Indeed her resume clearly stated, “1997 – MBA (Columbia),” and she had duly submitted a copy of her diploma in which it was equally clear that her Columbia was not the one in New York City. The mistake was obviously ours, in making the leap in assumption after perusing only her resume.

The sad part was that her undergraduate degree and her experiences were impressive enough and would have been sufficient for her to be the top choice. By needlessly embellishing her qualifications, she doomed her prospects. As can be further noted, this urge to inflate one’s resume is not confined only to the academically unsophisticated.

Then there is the other end of the spectrum. A while back an accomplished young Malaysian returned from an interview in Malaysia for a position with one of the GLCs without bothering to wait for the results. He decided after the encounter that he did not wish to risk his future to a company whose CEO and Board Chair could not tell the difference between the Stanford of Palo Alto and the local Stamford College.

I am less concerned with a two-bit politician trying to hoodwink simple villagers with his inflated resume. I am more perturbed that our top leaders too could easily be taken in. Within UMNO alone, there are quite a few senior leaders including chief ministers sporting the title “Dr.” They are not physicians, dentists or veterinarians, because for those professionals there are statutes governing the use of that title so as not to confuse the public. Not so for those with other doctorates, legitimate or otherwise.

There are many foreign degree mills, with three or four focusing almost exclusively to aspiring Malaysian politicians and corporate figures. The recipients are not even embarrassed; on the contrary they go out of their way to showcase their ‘achievements’ through paid self-congratulatory messages to celebrate their ‘graduation.’

One UMNO leader publicly bragged about having a doctorate from Preston University. When he pronounced it, he made sure that it sounded like Princeton, the Ivy League university in New Jersey, the academic home for Einstein and other luminaries. Meanwhile Preston, whose mailing address was somewhere in the prairies, offered degrees based on your “life experiences.” That ‘university’ had since left the Midwest after the state had a crackdown on diploma mills.

I would not have cared if this slimy character had managed to convince only the Mat Rempits and UMNO Putras of his pseudo academic prowess, but judging from the high praises he has been receiving from other top UMNO leaders, he has them duped too. That is the disturbing part.

Again as with the Kamalanathan controversy, this one tells us less of the “Preston PhD” character and more on our top UMNO leaders, and their genuine obsessions with fake qualifications.

Iran reportedly tests five new missiles

 
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard practice attacking a naval vessel during military exercises in the Persian Gulf

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran said Sunday it fired five new types of locally-made coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles in the last stage of its "Great Prophet 5" military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.

The missiles were fired simultaneously and struck a single target at the same time -- a feat the Revolutionary Guard Corps described to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as "very important."

The military exercises on Sunday also included high-speed boats waging a "war" against a warship.

The maneuvers fell on the 31st anniversary of the elite force and were designed to demonstrate new weapons systems.

Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guard told Iranian media that the exercises were aimed at demonstrating Iran's "strength, will and national resolve to defend independence and territorial integrity."

The U.S. military official noted there have been several Iranian exercises in the past, but this one received attention because the Revolutionary Guard Corps discussed it publicly in advance.

The U.S. Navy currently is operating several warships in the region, and commanders are often reminded not to let any encounters with Iranians inadvertently escalate.

Iran's missile development is being watched closely by the United States, which is pressing for tougher sanctions against the Islamic republic for its controversial nuclear program.

A swing in support of BN, says Najib

Free WiFi if PR takes Putrajaya promises Lim

Felda scenes Felda scenes

Hulu Selangor : Final Countdown and D- day lessons. What choice do we have ? Indian political empowerment strategy the way forward SOS.

As voters go to the polls in Hulu Selangor today the question the Indians yet again ask in the 53^rd year of independence is “what choice do we have?”
Who do you vote for? You have the option of voting for the devil or the deep blue sea.
While in UMNO / B.N the Indians get a raw deal it is no deal in PKR, DAP and PAS / P.R. Even the odd Hulu Selangor seat that UMNO throws to the Indians is grabbed and snatched away by the PKR Malay again in the fourth by elections after Teluk Kemang, Ijok, and Lunas. All what both UMNO and also PKR, DAP and PAS wants from the Indians is their votes, not their problems or well being.
There is no other way. The Indian political empowerment strategy, the way forward is the one and only way forward. http://www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com/books/TheWayForwardEnglishversion.pdf
The Indians faithfully voted for UMNO for 50 long years until the 25^th November 2007 Hindraf Rally. UMNO is a forgone conclusion.
But neither PKR, Dap and PAS are not going to save the Indians and neither are they going to change. We have to save ourselves (SOS) and for our future generations to come. We will leave our mark behind for a better tomorrow and better future generation.
P.Uthayakumar

Hulu Selangor: 43 years wait for 19 Indian families land applications denied by UMNO and PKR.

Only a mere 0.4 hectres ( about just over one acre ) each was applied to be made into a farm house and a farm by these poor and uneducated Indians in Kerling, Hulu Selangor.
Felda, Felcra, Risda, Fama, Mardi, Agropoliton is 99 % given to malay muslim in the 442,000 ten acre land ownership programmes (BH 25/2/2010 at page 4). But this had been excluded to 99 % of the poor, landless and working class Indians.
But even a Temporary Occupation License (TOL) was denied by even the now Hindraf people power supported and voted PKR led Selangor state government.
A piece of 0.8 hectre land that was divided for 19 individuals suddenly is now given away to one single individual by the PKR led Selangor state government
All what they want is a part of the land that their ancestors had worked on
( SH 14/4/2010 at page S 25 ).
P.Uthayakumar

US firms and investors no to Malaysia if NEM excludes Indians ?

With HRP’s letter to U.S President Barack Obama dated 7/4/10 and published herein in this website on that very same day, we believe that the US firms and investments in Malaysia will be affected if UMNO continues to exclude the ethnic minority Malaysian Indians from the national mainstream development of Malaysia vis a vis the NEM.
Najib: NEM the way forward ( THE Star 16/4/2010 at page N4 ).
The US government will have it’s very own behind closed door ways of helping the Indians and we will keep working at lobbying the U.S government’s help to end UMNOs’ racism, religious extremism and supremacy in Malaysia.
Malaysia is for all Malaysians. And we the fourth, fifth and sixth generation Indians will continue asserting our rights as is enshrined in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution. ( Equality before the law ) and so as not to be excluded from the national mainstream development of Malaysia.
P.Uthayakumar

“ Multi Racial” PKR ? Focus on Malay votes. Racial UMNO files Indian candidate!

Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s main focus in Hulu Selangor is reaching out to the 35,200 Malay voters. ( NST 18/4/2010 at page 14 ). P.K.R. a multi racial party?
As per our commentary yesterday,( 17/4/2010 ) all eleven traditional Malay seats in all by elections since 2000 were given to Malay PKR and PAS candidates. Similarly all three traditional Chinese seats were given to DAP and PKR Chinese candidates. But when it comes to traditional Indian seats PKR grabs and snatches the same away from the Indians. But when we question these injustices PKR Supremo Anwar Ibrahim calls it the Hindraf racist agenda.
And all this in the name of PKR’s “ multi racialism ” !
Karunai Nithi @ Compassionate Justice.

Giant killer reclaims 'safe seat' for BN

By FMT Team
FULL REPORT KUALA KUBU BARU: Barisan Nasional has managed to reclaim the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat after its candidate P Kamalanathan defeated PKR's Zaid Ibrahim.
The Election Commission announced that Kamalanathan had won the seat with a 1,725 vote-majority.
Kamalanathan garnered 24,997 votes while Zaid polled 23,272.
The victory will provide a boost for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who described the election as a referendum on his leadership and policies.

Najib, who is also the Selangor Umno chief, is bent on recapturing the state in the next general election. Selangor fell into the hands of Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 polls.

However, the Hulu Selangor seat fell short of BN's targeted 6,000 vote-majority, indicating that the ruling coalition and its chairperson cannot rest on their laurels just as yet.

Prior to losing the “safe seat” in 2008, BN's then four-term MP and MIC deputy president G Palanivel had emerged victorious with thumping victories, surpassing the 10,000 mark.

In his last outing, Palanivel was defeated by PKR's Zainal Ahmad Abidin by a mere 198 votes, which also witnessed the number of protest votes greatly outnumbering the majority.
A by-election was called for the Hulu Selangor seat following Zainal's death on March 25.

Battle for Malay votes
Since the onset, observers had pointed out that BN's "morality" campaign against Zaid, branding him an alcoholic and gambler, would have an impact on Malay voters, who form the majority.

Kamalanathan was also portrayed as a down-to-earth candidate, with the media highlighting his proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia, whereas Zaid, a former law minister, was described as too high profile for the semi-urban constituency, littered with villages and estates.

More than an MIC man, the BN campaign promoted Kamalanathan as a 1Malaysia candidate and the underdog in what some observers had described as a battle between David and Goliath.

While Zaid managed to pull in a significant number of Chinese votes, it was not enough to offset the losses in the Malay-majority areas. Indian votes also appeared to be in favour of BN this time around.

On the other hand, Kamalanathan's victory would see MIC having an additional MP after the party was nearly annihilated in the 2008 general election.

Currently, MIC is represented by Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam (Segamat) and two deputy ministers SK Devamany (Cameron Highlands) and M Saravanan (Tapah).

In the run-up to the Hulu Selangor by-election, the BN leadership and MIC were embroiled in a tussle over who to field.

While MIC wanted Palanivel to run again, the BN leadership, however, insisted that a fresh face stood a better chance.

Following this, a consensus was reached on fielding Kamalanathan at the eleventh hour.

Meanwhile, Pakatan Rakyat supporters were in high spirits in the early stages of the vote count when Zaid was ahead by nearly 2,000 votes.

PAS operations director Jamaliddin Elias had predicted that the PKR candidate would win by more than 500 votes based on the turnout.

Whereas think-tank Zantrum Future Studies expected PKR to garner more than 52.3% support while BN will get 47.7%.

Zaid accepts verdict, blames 'vote buying'

By Stephanie Sta Maria and Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today

FULL REPORT KUALA KUBU BARU: Addressing some 500 supporters at the mini stadium here, PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim said he was defeated because “vote-buying was halal” in this country.
“This is a problem we need to overcome. (Prime Minister) Najib (Tun Razak) spent RM64 million to win this election and the EC (Election Commission) turned a blind eye,” he said.

The 56-year-old former law minister stressed that Malaysia has a political system which does not respect clean elections.

“In 2008, we made headway because Pak Lah (former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) allowed the opposition to win seats.

“But then they (Umno) kicked him out and now we are back at square one,” he said.

Stressing that he was not making excuses for his defeat, Zaid underscored the importance of pressing for clean and fair elections.

“I can accept my loss, but we were not given the satisfaction of knowing that it was a fair fight, and the rakyat has no confidence (in the system),” he said.

'Najib, think of your legacy'
The PKR supreme council member said the Hulu Selangor contest was the most “dirtiest and corrupt” by-election so far.

“I call on Najib to think about the legacy he is leaving behind,” he said, adding that BN cannot employ the same underhand tactics for long.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Zaid said the high number of votes for PKR signalled the fact that "we are getting there."
Asked if he felt dejected, he replied:"Of course, when you lose you cannot be happy, but the manner in which you lose is also important. I am okay."
On whether he expected to be defeated, the PKR candidate said: "Of course. In a contest, you would expect to win or lose."
Although the mood in the stadium was sombre, with some supporters even shedding tears, they nevertheless chanted their traditional "Reformasi" battle cries.

Meanwhile, PKR's Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah, who termed the contest as a “buy election”, said that she was proud of the party's accomplishment in the face of “misplaced voters and police hostility”.

“We have succeeded in embarrassing BN by denying (Deputy Prime Minister) Muhyiddin (Yassin) his 6,000 vote victory,” she said, referring to the deputy premier's statement this morning.

Nurul, who is the daughter of PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim, said the by-election has given the opposition party a good foundation for the next general election.

Next battle in Sibu
Earlier, PKR election director Fuziah Salleh pledged that the opposition party would continue its struggle.

“Just because we lost today, it does not mean that we would lose all the time. What is important is that we fight with dignity,” she said, appearing upset.

“We would continue fighting to show BN that this (setback) would not cripple us. We would give our best in the Sibu (by-election in Sarawak),” she added.

Meanwhile, PKR's director of strategies Tian Chua said losing in an election was nothing new for those who champion justice and reform.

“This is not the first time that we have lost. We would not give up the fight,” he added.

Among the Pakatan stalwarts present at the stadium are Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.

'We have learnt a lesson'
The Selangor MB thanked Pakatan supporters for their courage in facing up to the ruling coalition.

“I have faced a defeat before in the Ijok (by-election) but it never killed my spirit, and I kept on  fighting.

“Now in Hulu Selangor, I have learnt a lesson -- it is very hard to fight against abuse of power and corruption. But we have to keep fighting,” he said.

Despite the defeat, Khalid pledged that the state government would ensure that the Felda settlers get their rights.

“They may have voted for BN out of fear, but when we deliver their rights, they would be with us. Hulu Selangor would not be abandoned, it would become the basis of our struggle,” he said.

Kamalanathan: Victory belongs to Najib and Co

By FMT Staff
FULL REPORT KUALA KUBU BARU: Barisan Nasional candidate P Kamalanathan has dedicated his victory in the Hulu Selangor by-election to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the coalition's top leaders.
Speaking to reporters after the result was announced, the MIC information chief also vowed not to let down the voters.

“This victory is not mine. It belongs to Najib, (deputy prime minister) Muhyiddin Yassin, (MIC president S) Samy Vellu, MCA, Gerakan and all the friends of BN,” he said.

An elated Kamalanathan, 44, also said that he was touched that the people of Hulu Selangor had placed their faith in him.

“I would fulfill my responsibilities and all the election promises,” he added, pledging to work hard in order to serve his constituents.

Kamalanathan also said that he would make good on his promise to move to Hulu Selangor should he win.

“I would look into it as soon as I can. I would also meet all the voters whether they voted for me or not," he added.

The BN candidate said that he would work towards winning Chinese support, which favoured PKR, and those of the other races.

Najib: This means a lot to us
Meanwhile, Najib said Kamalanathan's victory meant a lot to the ruling coalition, especially since it signalled a shift in people's support compared to the 2008 general election.

“This shift has a great meaning because we were contesting in a state controlled by the opposition but we were able to recapture the constituency.

“With this win, we would work hard to fulfil the people's faith in us and meet their hopes and expectations,” he added.

The premier said the outcome also showed that the voters rejected the opposition's style of politics, which is riddled with “lies and slander”.

“The voters cannot accept these things. They can judge what is true,” he said.

Najib was also confident that Kamalanathan, whom he described as a credible individual, would be able to capture the hearts of the people here and execute his duties well.

Chinese votes for PKR
On the Chinese votes which favoured PKR, the BN chairman said the coalition would analyse this.

“I don't want to make quick conclusions even though we lost most ballot boxes in Chinese areas,” he said, adding that there was an increase in support from the community for BN.

“I believe there is a change but not completely. What is important is to ensure that this area remains with BN,” he said.

Asked if the by-election result was an endorsement of his leadership and reforms, Najib declined to take full credit, saying that it was too early to determine such factors.

“It is too early to say, but obviously, it is a combination of national and local factors. The victory is signifcant in the sense that it gives us a lot of encouragement.

“It's a good beginning for BN, a good beginning for the new direction and agenda we have for this nation and this means we are on the right track, the right trajectory,” he added.

When quizzed on Muhyiddin's 6,000 vote-majority target, Najib said he was confident that if BN kept its word, the majority would increase in the next general election.

“We realise this is an opposition state. In the past we controlled the state, we had two strengths, federal and state governments.

“So in this context, I'm satisfied with the results. I believe that if we can fulfil all the promises and solve the rakyat's problems, our majority would increase,” he added.

Sweet triumph for PM's charm offensive

By Zainal Epi - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA KUBU BARU: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak led BN to a convincing victory in the crucial Hulu Selangor by-election deemed as a referendum on his government.

His presence in the sprawling constituency the last three days before polling gave the BN election machinery a badly-needed boost after the party was trailing PKR in the early rounds of the campaign.

Najib waded into the crowd and his personal charm and PR skills won them over. This is the first by-election where the prime minister led the charge.

The victory meant that Najib has regained the trust and confidence of the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Najib had practically “camped” himself in the constituency, and went on his walkabout to hear the grouses and problems of the local people.

He showed his mettle when he led MCA leaders into Chinese areas where MCA campaigners had been “blocked” from entering. He convinced the largely sceptical voters of the sincerity of his government to help all races in line with his 1Malaysia concept.

At first, it was a downhill fight for BN when PKR went on the attack targeting local and federal issues.

Panic button

BN went into a defensive mode and was seen to be vulnerable. But it soon launched a furious personal attack on PKR’s candidate Zaid Ibrahim.

However, the character assassination tactic did not go down well with the voters, especially the Malays, and BN’s hope of winning dimmed considerably.

Some BN campaigners said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the election director, had pressed the panic button too soon.

Just when spirits were flagging, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad entered the fray, and together with Najib, went on to demolish the PKR defences.

On the eve of election, both Najib and Mahathir made a final pitch in Bukit Sentosa, with some 10,000 people in attendance. Nearby in Kuala Kubu Baru, PKR de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim pulled in about 20,000 spectators.

But unfortunately, Anwar's impressive show of force did not translate into votes.

For Najib, it was indeed a sweet victory and a recognition of his leadership since he took over in April last year.

I was wrong. Need I say more?

I predicted many days ago that Pakatan Rakyat would win the Hulu Selangor by-election with a majority of 1,500 to 2,500 votes. Well, the results are now in and the winner is Barisan Nasional with a majority of 1,700 votes. I suppose I will have to admit that I was wrong. Or maybe I was a victim of wishful thinking.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
A few days ago, I said, considering the millions that Barisan Nasional poured into Hulu Selangor, the MIC candidate has no reason not to win with a majority of not less than 5,000 votes. In fact, I added, a majority of 8,000 would be more like it.
This morning, it was revealed that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak wants Barisan Nasional to win with a majority of at least 8,000 votes. Anything less would be a poor show. His Deputy, however, announced that they are confident of winning with a majority of 6,000.
I predicted many days ago that Pakatan Rakyat would win the Hulu Selangor by-election with a majority of 1,500 to 2,500 votes. Well, the results are now in and the winner is Barisan Nasional with a majority of 1,700 votes. I suppose I will have to admit that I was wrong. Or maybe I was a victim of wishful thinking.
Anyhow, it appears that a high percentage of the outstation voters went home to Hulu Selangor to vote. We have to thank them for their effort. We will have to wait a day or two, though, to see the detail analysis of whom voted for whom before we can do a post-mortem of the results.
Umno is crying foul. They accuse PKR of 'playing dirty'. Look at the picture below to see what I mean. Umno says PKR made these fake certificates and distributed them to the Malay voters.

Actually, it was the Umno people who did this. There are some in Umno who are unhappy that MIC was given the Hulu Selangor seat. They wanted Umno to contest this seat. So they tried to sabotage the MIC candidate so that in the next general election this seat can go to Umno.
Umno, however, did distribute this fake photograph to the Malay voters. And it looks like it had the desired effect, as the results today has shown.

And this was the actual photograph before it was doctored.

At least we did not distribute the following photograph to the Malay voters, which is not a fake. The other man toasting ‘Chinese tea’ in the photograph is Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s golf partner. And remember, last month Malaysia Today revealed that Kay Hock’s company, George Kent, was given a RM100 million hospital contract in Pekan, Najib’s constituency, although the company does not have any prior experience in hospital projects.
I suppose a RM100 million negotiated-without-tender contract is reason enough to toast with ‘Chinese tea’.

Crowds don’t translate to votes (rehash of a March 2004 article)

In March 2004, I wrote an article called 'Crowds don't translate to votes', which was published in Harakah, the party newspaper for PAS. I also published it in the Free Anwar Campaign website (here). Maybe it is time to recap what I said then considering we 'won' the ceramah circuit but lost the Hulu Selangor by-election.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Crowds don’t translate to votes

In the Indera Kayangan state seat (Perlis State) by-election in which Parti Keadilan Nasional’s Cikgu Khoo contested that seat, the crowds at the nightly ceramahs (public rallies/speeches) were phenomenal. In one ceramah that I attended, I had to park my car about three or four kilometres away and walk the distance to the ceramah site. I then drove around to have a look at the Barisan Nasional (BN) markas (operations centers) and found that most of them were empty. There were hardly any people other than the handful of party officials.

Where were the BN supporters? By the looks of it, BN had absolutely no supporters and there was no way they were going to win the Indera Kayangan by-election.

Judging by the crowds at the keADILan ceramahs, and the lack of it at the BN ceramahs -- so much so that some BN ceramahs had to be cancelled due to the sorry crowd turnout -- Cikgu Khoo had already won the by-election hands down. In fact, Cikgu Khoo could end his campaigning and go out and celebrate his apparent win.

However, when the results came in, Cikgu Khoo was defeated by more than 2,500 votes. How could this be so? The crowd turnout gave no inkling this would be what would happen. Pemuda Keadilan was so confident Cikgu Khoo had already won even before the votes were cast that there was a celebrative mood in its ranks. One Pemuda leader said we had already won. Okay, even if we will lose, he said, at the most it will be by a mere 500 votes, which can also be considered a ‘victory’.

But there was no victory celebration that night in Indera Kayangan. We did not lose, we were massacred. And we all put out tails between our legs and went home. We did not even have an appetite for dinner.

And Indera Kayangan was not the first and only incident where crowds did not translate to votes. The Democratic Action Party (DAP) ‘giants’, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh, attracted enormous crowds wherever they went, and still do. But, in 1999, they were defeated.

In 1986, Mustapha Ali lost his Dungun seat and Abdul Hadi Awang his Marang seat though these two can also be considered Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) ‘giants’. And they too attracted, and still do, huge crowds. Marang was so congested with supporters that the main road from Kuantan to Kota Bharu was practically closed to all traffic whenever Hadi spoke in his home base. However, though the crowds were large enough to delay traffic up to three hours, Hadi still failed to retain his Marang seat.

The opposition should realise by now that large crowds do not translate to votes. History, time and time again, has proven this point. And why is this?

People, mostly Malays mind you, attend ceramahs to be entertained. Malays like to hear the maki and caci (verbal abuse) from the penceramah, and the more the better. Speakers like PAS’ Mat Sabu and keADILan’s Gobalakrishnan are the favourites.

Gobalakrishnan would stand up on stage and call Dr Mahathir Mohamad “an Indian just like me”.

“He came from the same kampong in India that I came from,” Gobalakrishnan would shout to the crowd roaring with laughter. They just love what Gobalakrishnan has to say and they cannot get enough of it. They clap and shout and urge him on. And Gobalakrishnan willingly obliges them.

But, when the votes are counted, Gobalakrishnan loses.

It does not mean if the crowd enjoys your ceramah it will vote for you. In fact, how many of those in the crowd are voting in that area you are contesting? For that matter, how many in the crowd are even registered voters in the first place?

Don’t be surprised if many in the crowd are actually BN supporters. They attend opposition ceramahs not because they no longer support BN and will now vote for the opposition. They attend opposition ceramahs to be entertained, especially when the opposition heavyweights are talking; and entertained they are. Then they go home and vote for the BN.

The opposition can continue organising ceramahs to show it is still around. It can continue organising ceramahs to entertain the crowd. But don’t expect to win the election just by ceramahs alone.

Furthermore, if those who attend the ceramahs are the opposition diehard supporters (who will vote for the opposition nevertheless, whether there are any ceramahs or not), BN diehards who just come for the entertainment value (and will vote for the BN nevertheless, whether there are any ceramahs or not), and people who are not registered voters (who cannot vote for the opposition even if they believe what they hear at the ceramahs), then what have we achieved?

It is no use trying to convert the already converted -- who are already our supporters anyway. It is no use trying to convert the BN diehards -- who will never vote opposition. And it is no use trying to covert the unregistered voters who cannot vote for us even if they wanted to. What we must do is covert the fence sitters -- those who are not with the BN but are not yet with us either.

The only problem is, these fence-sitters will never be caught dead at an opposition ceramah so how do you convert them if they do not come to you? The English have a saying for this. “If Muhammad will not come to the mountain, then the mountain must go to Muhammad”.

In short, the opposition must go to the voters, in particular the fence sitters, and woo them over.

Take note that a rule-of-thumb to use (though not always accurate) would be 35% of the voters support the ruling party, 35% the opposition, while the balance 30% are fence-sitters. In the short 8-day campaign period between Nomination Day and Polling Day, there is too little time to work on the ruling party diehards. It is an exercise of futility. It is also no point working on your own supporters. You have had four or five years to work on retaining their loyalty. Eight days is only enough time to work on the 30% fence sitters.

30% is no small figure. Considering that a seat can be won or lost by a mere single digit percentage, 30% could make a difference between winning, or losing, an entire state.

So go door-to-door. Go meet those ‘uncommitted’ voters. Go talk to those voters who have never attended a ceramah in their life. Do not talk bad about the present government. That is too negative. These people probably know more than us anyway about what is wrong with this country and the government that is running it. Talk about how we can be a BETTER government, which does not mean you are saying the present government is no good (it is just that we can do better).

Explain the present government’s policies on education, the economy, corruption, health, religion, the judiciary, and so on. Then explain the opposition’s policies and ask the voter to compare the two. Then ask the voter to give the opposition a chance to prove itself in implementing its better policies, for at least five years. Explain that, if the opposition fails to deliver its promises, the voters can always give the country back to the present party in power.

Whatever it may be, go meet them and talk to them, and don’t expect them to come to you, especially to your ceramahs. And please talk sense when you go meet them. Leave all your rhetoric at home and do not insult them with ‘ceramah talk’.

Without Hindraf PKR is dead

Dear Editors, 

Could you please publish the article below.

Thank You very much.

We have not obtained the complete details of the results but from what we have heard a majority of the Indian voters of Hulu Selangor had cast their votes for BN.. HRP and Hindraf had stayed completely neutral in this election and this is entirely the people's decision.The people of Hulu Selangor have spoken.

Our political analyst Subramaniam Bharathy, at the outset of this election, had said that two clear conditions had to be met for PKR to win. They needed to field a credible Malay candidate and they needed to get endorsement from a strong Indian grassroots organization like HRP for a clear win. PKR met one condition, but not the other. The results prove the veracity of that prediction.

Endorsement from HRP would have come had the leadership of the PKR heeded HRP's request on the allocation of land to all the Tamil Schools in Selangor that did not sit on their own land. PKR decided it was not worth the prize requested. That probably cost them this seat.

1725 votes majority means a swing of 865 votes the other way and Zaid  would have won instead. This would have been more than achieved had Uthaykumar  gone in with the troops for one day.. But PKR probably thought the price of that was too high.

PKR now needs to keep in mind they are not going to get to Putrajaya without paying the due price. That much is clear from these elections. The ball has been in PKR's court for some time now.

We definitely want to see UMNO go, but not to be replaced by a clone.

Regards
N.Ganesan
National Advisor
Hindraf/HRP

Winning Hulu Selangor

thenutgraph.com
 

A victorious Kamalanathan with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (left)
and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak

THE Barisan Nasional (BN) has wrested back Hulu Selangor from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), but who is the real winner — MIC candidate P Kamalanathan, or Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak?
Kamalanathan polled 24,997 votes against Datuk Zaid Ibrahim's 23,272 in a closely fought race. There were 731 spoilt ballots. Voter turnout was 75.87%, compared with 75.24% in the 2008 general election. In the 2008 polls, PKR won the federal seat by a slim 198-vote margin. This time round, it lost by 1,725 votes.
Kamalanathan's campaign was run not on what his principles would be as a parliamentarian, but on what the Najib administration wanted to sell. Hence, the MIC information chief was labelled a "1Malaysia candidate". Indeed, even his name was adapted to suit his audience — Kamal to Malay Malaysians, Nathan to Indian Malaysians, and Alan to Chinese Malaysians.
For certain, the results reflect some degree of support for Najib's initiatives. Beyond that, however, what do the results mean for both the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR)?
How they voted
A quick count of votes in Malay Malaysian-dominated polling districts like the Felda settlement Sungai Tengi showed that Kamalanthan polled 66% of the votes. Other villages like Gedangsa, Sungai Dusun and Kampung Gesir also showed improvements over the BN's results in 2008.
These polling stations are all in the Hulu Bernam state seat, where the BN reaped an almost 1,700 majority.
In the Chinese Malaysian-dominated state seat of Kuala Kubu Baru, Zaid obtained a majority of about 1,400 votes, also a marked increase from PKR's share of votes here in 2008.

Zaid, accompanied by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah
Wan Ismail and Nasharuddin Mat Isa (far right), on nomination day on 17 April

Both rivals were neck-to-neck in the Batang Kali state seat, where voters' racial categorisations are more mixed. The BN polled just over 50% of votes here.
Meanwhile, Indian Malaysian votes in estate areas like Changkat Asa, Ladang Kerling, Ladang Nigel Gardner, and even the semi-urban area of Taman Bukit Teratai, showed improvement for the BN candidate from MIC.
Impact of results
Possibly, the most pertinent impact on the country as a result of stronger Malay Malaysian support for the BN in this by-election is the shape of Najib's future decision-making.
If Malay Malaysians, but not Chinese Malaysians, are endorsing the BN, will Najib come under greater right-wing pressure to slow down on liberalisation, including readjusting affirmative action policies, and increasing Islamisation? Conservative groups could easily argue that since Chinese Malaysians have not appreciated the government's efforts, there is no further need to fulfil their demands.
On the other hand, continuing pro-bumiputera policies and greater Islamic fervour may not necessarily be priorities for Malay Malaysian voters in Hulu Selangor, especially those concerned with bread-and-butter issues.
For local grassroots politicians, returning the seat to the BN could simply have been the desire for a return to the patronage system. By having a BN-elected representative, Umno and MIC division leaders would once again enjoy the spread of federal constituency allocations received by a BN Member of Parliament (MP).
The BN should also not be too quick to claim the win as an endorsement of Najib's government. Disgruntled Malay Malaysian voters here, especially Felda settlers who still have not obtained their land titles, may have decided to enjoy the promised campaign benefits for the next two years or less, before deciding again in the 13th general election.
This would be a similar phenomenon to the Ijok state by-election in 2007, where the BN poured millions of development ringgit into the contest. Voters picked the MIC candidate then, only to turn around and vote for PKR in 2008.

Kamalanathan with his wife Shobana Subramaniam,
after the polling results were announced

Political observer Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, Universiti Sains Malaysia deputy dean of the School of Social Sciences, says the by-election was a "test to see whether the BN has changed". But given the above scenarios, the coalition's win is unlikely motivation for change from the old school of race-based, patronage-driven politics.
Component parties
The declining Chinese Malaysian support for the BN — a consistent trend in the past nine by-elections — continues to raise questions about the role of some of the BN's component parties.
If — after 10 by-elections and a seemingly reform-minded prime minister — the Chinese Malaysian vote continues to side with the PR, the MCA and Gerakan ought to be assessing their game plan. A possible worst-case scenario within the ruling coalition is that Umno could start pressing for the return of seats "given" to component parties.
As for the Indian Malaysian vote, which showed improvements in areas where this racial group was dominant, support for the BN may have been out of practicality.

Ibrahim Suffian (File pic
courtesy of Merdeka Center) "The campaign issues about personal morality, although sensational, are less important than the development, economic as well as practical needs of the electorate," notes Merdeka Center for Opinion Research director Ibrahim Suffian.
The earlier influence of groups like Hindraf has also lessened over the past two years, more so with Najib's populist move as prime minister to release the group's activists from Internal Security Act detention. Hence, the theory that Najib's move to woo Indian Malaysians without waiting for MIC to resolve its internal problems seems to have borne fruit in Hulu Selangor.
"It seems that the momentum of the opposition has been blunted for now, and that the public has agreed to give the PM the benefit of the doubt. Najib will have to deliver on his promises," Ibrahim tells The Nut Graph.
The new MP
If Kamalanathan wants to shine, he will now have to prove his mettle in Parliament against a more popular opposition. Public relations skills may carry him only so far. To gain the respect of his peers across the floor and a more sophisticated public, he'll have to showcase his own capabilities or risk being known as Umno's lackey. He is now the fourth MIC MP.
"The fight all along was between Umno and PKR, even though he was an MIC candidate. It was a Najib versus (Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) fight. It's going to be tough for the MIC [to assert itself in the BN], even with Kamalanathan's win. If he swung the Malay [Malaysian] votes, it was because they saw him as a proxy to Umno," political analyst Khoo Kay Peng tells The Nut Graph.
Khoo also feels that in this day and age, Kamalanathan cannot afford to function solely as a problem-solving MP. Khoo refers to Ijok, where PKR's Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who lost the by-election, was "resurrected" on the back of public desire for reform.

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim greeting supporters in Kuala Kubu Baru town earlier on polling day

Lesson for PR
For PKR, the loss is a good lesson ahead of the next general election, USM's Sivamurugan says. It needs to urgently address internal problems and the loss of confidence among its members, as noted by the rise in party defections.
"There is a gap in PKR between top leaders and the grassroots, and between those who joined the party in its formative days in 1999 and newer members. The old guard was cast aside and left to feel threatened by newcomers who were in a hurry for power and position.
"Anwar has to balance and synthesise between the old guard and the new," Sivamurugan says in a phone interview.
Indeed, the PR as a whole has so far been riding high as the underdog. Its popularity is fuelled by external crises such as the BN's takeover of Perak, and, of course, the second round of sodomy charges against Anwar.
In Selangor where Hulu Selangor is, however, PR was the state government. National issues of corruption and injustice, too, had little traction among the more rural electorate.
PKR's challenge in the remaining two years before the next general election is to lead an effective state government in Selangor. As for the BN, without having suffered a resounding loss in Hulu Selangor, change might still be a long way off.

MACC should investigate whether Najib had committed at least two election bribery offences under Election Offences Act 1957 in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign yesterday

by Lim Kit Siang,


It has been brought to my attention that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should investigate whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had committed at least two election bribery offences under the Election Offences Act 1957 in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign for the Barisan Nasional candidate yesterday.

The first incident was his blatant disregard of the Election Offences Act against bribery when he tried to induce the 1,500 voters of Rasa to vote for the BN candidate by announcing the approval of RM3 million for rebuilding Rasa Chinese Primary School but with one big condition.

Najib publicly declared: “If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.”

The second incident was during his visit to Kampong Hassan where he promised the Chinese-majority voters in the area that the Barisan Nasional government would build 200 low-cost housing for them if the BN candidate wins the by-election.

Najib is doing what no other previous five Prime Ministers had done – promising to issue a RM3 million approval for the Rasa Chinese primary school and building 200 low-cost houses for the Kg Hassan predominantly-Chinese voters – both on the condition that BN wins the Ulu Selangor by-election today.

Has election of an elected representative, whether MP or State Assembly person, been reduced to buy-and-sell by BN leaders like in the marketplace under Najib as Prime Minister with the Election Offences Act to prevent electoral abuses and offences becoming a dead letter?
What has the MACC Chief Commissioner got to say?

BN Recaptures Hulu Selangor Seat, With Bigger Majority

HULU SELANGOR, April 25 (Bernama) -- The Barisan Nasional (BN) recaptured the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat Sunday night after its candidate P. Kamalanathan of the MIC beat prominent lawyer and ex-minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) with a 1,725-vote majority in one of the toughest by-elections since the 2008 general election.

Public Relations Officer Kamalanathan, who is MIC information chief, polled 24,997 votes to beat Zaid, who had joined PKR after he was expelled from Umno in December 2008. Zaid, who is the former Kota Baharu MP, polled 23,272 votes.

There were 731 spoilt votes in the by-election which saw a total of 48,935 voters or 75.87 per cent of the electorate cast their votes today. The constituency, which is as big as Melaka, has 64,500 voters.

In the 2008 general election that was deemed a political "tsunami" for the BN, MIC deputy president and four-term MP Datuk G. Palanivel failed to retain the Hulu Selangor seat, losing by a 198-majority to PKR's Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad. Dr Zainal Abidin died on March 25 this year, necessitating the by-election.

Almost the entire BN leadership, led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, was at the Multipurpose Hall and District Office Sports Complex in Kuala Kubu Baharu town tonight to celebrate the coalition's victory as thousands of BN supporters cheered outside.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, Gerakan President Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon and People's Progressive Party (PPP) president Datuk M. Kayveas.

Since the 2008 general election, there have been 10 by-elections, with the BN winning three, including tonight's victory which is regarded as crucial in its efforts to regain the confidence of the people and its two-third majority in parliament.

It was also a sweet victory for the BN, especially Najib, who had declared during the campaign trail that the by-election was not merely the election of a member of parliament but also a referendum on the new direction of the country.

Najib personally led the BN onslaught immediately after returning from an overseas trip, going into new villages, towns, Felda settlements and traditional villages while Muhyiddin almost camped in the constituency since nomination day on April 17.

Next month, the country will see the 11th by-election since the 2008 general election, in Sibu, Sarawak.

It was not all smooth sailing for the BN as it was involved in a bitter tussle to pick the right candidate at the outset, with Samy Vellu insisting on Palanivel while the BN top guns wanted a new face as demanded by the grassroots.

Finally, they agreed on Kamalanathan, a compromise candidate.

The BN also faced the opposition pact's top guns, led by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but the huge crowds at their "ceramah" (talks) failed to put the brakes on the coalition which went to the ground to solve the more pressing local problems, including the bread-and-butter issues.

Morning scenes on polling day

Orang Asli villages 'barricaded', police report lodged

Live – Hulu Selangor polling day and results - By Anil Netto

Who’s it going to be – Zaid or Kamalanatha, PKR or BN? All the action from polling day at Hulu Selangor and live coverage and discussion of the results.

Orang Asli Mykads snatched, fuels fear of phantom voters

By Muda Mohd Noor - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA KUBU BARU: A PKR official has lodged a police report alleging that a group had intimidated the Orang Asli from the Peretak village and snatched the identity card.
Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong who lodged the report at 12.30am last night said she had received a report from the frightened community.
Elizabet, who was accompanied to the Kuala Kubu Baru police station by by PKR information chief Latheffa Koya and supporters, said a group, believed to be Barisan Nasional supporters, had blocked the Orang Asli settlement with cars, motorbikes and a human barricade.
“I received a report last night from the Orang Asli who said the entrance of their village was blocked by cars, motorbikes and people.
“They said they were stopped from leaving the village and had their identity cards taken away from them, “ said the Selangro state executive councillor.
Elizabeth said an Orang Asli representative had asked her to lodge a police report.
“I believe phantom voters will use the identity cards of the Orang Aslis to cast their votes tomorrow, “ said the Selangor state councillor.
Elizabeth also said that she had been informed that a bus had arrived at the Peretak national service training camp.
She urged the police to investigate the matter.
There are 3,000 Orang Aslis spread over 16 villagers in the Hulu Selangor. One thousand of them are registered voters and kept under the watchful eye of the Orang Asli Affairs Department.
Pakatan Rakyat supporters have been barred from entering the villages to campaign.
Police outposts have also sprung up, overnight, in these settlements causing opposition to allege intimidation by BN.

PKR Youth catches 'phantom voters'

By FMT Staff

KUALA KUBU BARU: Several buses allegedly ferrying “phantom voters” were seen leaving the Institute Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) building here at 3am this morning.
The buses, which were partially full, were believed to have been ferrying the “phantom voters” to several districts in time for polling which began at 8am.

However, PKR Youth deputy chief Fariz Musa said they managed to stop the buses before they left the parking bay just outside the camp.

‘When we got there, there were also 15 cars waiting outside. Each car had between five and six people.

“We don’t know what time they began their operation to ferry the 'phantom voters' but we believe many have already been shuttled by the time we arrived,” he claimed.

Fariz said when they tried to stop the cars, a scuffle broke-out which almost ended in a fist fight when the Umno-BN supporters arrived followed by the police.

At 6am, the busses left the area escorted by the police to an unknown destination.   

Polling for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat began this morning.

The battle to wrest the seat, which fell vacant following PKR MP Zainal Abidin Ahmad’s death in March, is between BN’s P Kamalanathan and PKR’s Zaid Ibrahim.

Police keep watch over taunting supporters

By Stephanie Sta Maria and FMT Staff

KUALA KUBU BARU: Pockets of reports of skirmishes among supporters of both Barisan Nasional and PKR have been popping up throughout the day.

In Pekan Rasa earlier this morning a fist fight almost broke out but police quickly controlled situation.
Police says things have cooled down a little but supporters on both sides are “now getting hungry.”
In the Pekan Rasa incident BN supporters were seen dangling a beer bottle in front of Pakatan supporters across the road while shouting 'kaki botol' , in reference to allegations that PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim was an ‘alcoholic.’
Over in the Sekolah Menengah Ampang Pecah polling centre, two Election Commissioners were allegedly seen campaigning for BN.
Supporters who caught the duo in the act, incurred their wrath which was further compounded by the fact that a car bearing BN sticker was allowed into the neutral polling zone.
Here in Kuala Kubu Baru bikers bearing BN flags are zipping around town taunting supporters and passers-by.
Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar meanwhile has said the situation in the constituency is under control with policemen stationed at all polling stations to maintain order and ensure a smooth election process.
"There is no complaints or report of any disturbance since the polling centres were opened two hours ago," he told Bernama here.
Hulu Selangor 63,701 voters are polling today to decide on theirelected parlaimentary representative.
In the run are BN’s P Kamalanathan, from MIC and PKR’s Zaid Ibrahim.
Polling began at 8am in 48 stations throughout the constituency

Death sentences sparks protests in Kashmir

 

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir (CNN) -- Anti-India protesters clashed with Indian security forces Friday in Indian-administered Kashmir after a New Delhi, India-court handed down death sentences to two Kashmiris convicted of a 1966 bombing in a Delhi market that killed 13 people.

Another Kashmiri was sentenced to life in prison in the case.

The separatist group All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a general strike that shut down city shops and businesses and and threw everyday life out of gear.

Indian paramilitary, central reserve police force (CRPF) troopers opened fire in the Nowshehra area of the capital city, wounding Manzoor Ahmad, 48, who was leaving of a mosque after offering Friday prayers, according to police.

"Manzoor was immediately evacuated to hospital where a team of doctors operated upon him," city police chief Javed Riyaz told CNN.

"The area had earlier witnessed a stone pelting incident," he added.

Indian police used batons and teargas to disperse stone pelting mobs shouting anti-India slogans in various parts of the capital city.

The mobs protesting the sentences took to streets despite severe security restrictions curbing pedestrian and vehicular movement in several sections of the city.

Indian police and paramilitary troops were deployed early in the morning in the old city areas to maintain law and order and prevent outbreak of violence.

Reports from Baramulla and Sopore in northern Kashmir and from the south Kashmir town of Anantnag said police there also used batons and teargas to quell violence as protests erupted.

Police detained Mohammad Yasin Malik, a senior separatist leader and chairman of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and placed another separatist leader and chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference under house arrest.