by Joe Fernandez @ Fernz
COMMENT Akhirnya sia sia sahaja (In the end, it was all in vain). Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim yet again proved himself his own worst enemy in Hulu Selangor and led his people to a humiliating defeat. It was so very unnecessary for them. Indeed, it would not be too far-fetched to say, in the words of Winston Churchill, that he has an uncanny ability to wrest defeat from the jaws of victory. He proved it in Batang Ai despite the best advice, in Bagan Pinang, and again in Hulu Selangor.
If this keeps up at this rate, he can kiss his chances of entering Putra Jaya in triumph goodbye. Even most of the gains brought by the political tsunami of Sat March 8, 2008 – the result of him jumping on Hindraf’s makkal sakthi (people power) bandwagon — will evaporate into thin air. There must be a price to pay for political opportunism.
Hindraf Makkal Sakthi and HRPM (Human Rights Party Malaysia) must be laughing their heads off to death. This was virtually conceded in an email last night from Ganesan Naragan, the advisor to both outfits. But more on that later because it’s turning out to be really very boring stuff. Both Hindraf and HRPM sound like a musical record stuck in the groove.
Patently, the post-mortem will blame the Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) loss of the parliamentary seat in its own heartland on any number of known external reasons. These include as well the en bloc transfer of voters by the Election Commission, preventing certain Orang Asli villages from casting their votes until very late in the day or not at all, police roadblocks to discourage young Malay voters – think motorcycle licenses – from voting and outright buying of votes etc. These could be the subject of an election petition.
All the Election Court has to consider is whether the commission of election offences and fraud, overtly and covertly, were of sufficient seriousness and magnitude to deny PR (Pakatan Rakyat) pro-tem chair Zaid Ibrahim another 863 vote shift which would have handed him victory in Hulu Selangor, albeit by a magical one-vote margin. Indeed they were!
Anwar himself claims in an email that he’s frantically sending around cyberspace that Umno spent RM 100 million or RM 65, 000 per person in Hulu Selangor for a thin victory. As if this is supposed to absolve him or the other Ibrahim – Zaid — of any blame. What does Anwar expect of Umno? That they would not pull out every dirty trick in the book to win Hulu Selangor? What a naive fellow! He was with Umno before and employed dirty tricks as well especially in Sabah. He should come down from his pompous high horse and see that he’s now the proverbial Emperor with No Clothes.
Anwar’s email to his equally gullible people – “a diarrhoea of words” — is the beginning of his usual blame game and finger-pointing. Does he conveniently forget that he recently dismissed Hindraf as a racist organisation twice within the same week i.e. the second time in London and earlier in an interview in Kuala Lumpur with Tamil Nanban. Words cannot describe the uproar this created among the Indian underclass. This made them realise that PR was another dead-end for them like the MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress).
Did he ever pause for even a moment to consider the consequences of such a political statement, so rash and so untrue!
To add insult to injury, fugitive self-proclaimed royal blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin hyped Anwar’s racist take for all and sundry within days. Why shouldn’t he when he’s in refuge in London under the protection of Anwar’s financial well-wishers.
These are two political rascals who don’t know which side their bread is buttered. Where’s the realpolitik? Instead, they keep up some pompous high horse stuff that the Orang Asli, Sabah, Sarawak and the Indian underclass cannot relate to in their politics.
Why doesn’t Anwar mention the 4,000 votes of the Indian underclass in Hulu Selangor which Hindraf and HRPM offered on a silver platter to Zaid Ibrahim, if not PR and PKR, but provided the Selangor government comes through with state land for all the 98 Tamil schools in the state?
Instead, he broke a solemn promise to PKR vice president Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan in Sibu that he will impress upon Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim the urgency of getting the Tamil school land deal out of the way before April 25. Back in KL, Anwar didn’t lift a finger on the Tamil school land deal. Instead, he was muttering to everyone within earshot the tired old phrase that Hindraf and HRPM were racist organisations always making racist demands. Hindraf and HRPM had 300 committed cadres waiting and willing to go all out in Hulu Selangor for the opposition. These are people money would not buy and they work without a sen for the two outfits. Alas, they waited in vain.
Why is it okay for everyone to ask for something from the government but not the Indians or the Tamils?
Why is it okay for Chinese, Malay, national, religious and mission schools to sit on their own land but not the Tamil schools?
HRPM, by their own estimate, has over 100 “Indian” issues to bring up with the government, both Pakatan and BN, but they were willing to settle for the resolution of just the Tamil school land issue in time for Hulu Selangor. If Anwar can’t make good even this one promise, what good is he for the Indian community, especially the underclass?
Indeed, what good is Anwar even for the people of Sabah and Sarawak where he has left a trail of broken promises?
Meanwhile, Anwar’s people are putting it out, in the wake of Hulu Selangor, that “it’s more imperative than ever that Pakatan forges an election pact with Hindraf”. Ha ha ha. It’s really amazing that there’s this sudden realization as if some are beginning to see the light. That’s a good one. This will go down as the best joke during the next 50 years that BN, or a variation of it if Tengku Razaleigh comes through, will rule Malaysia.
Why don’t they also talk about Dap stalwart Lim Kit Siang taking leave of his senses and going for 85 per cent of the Chinese votes cast in Hulu Selangor?
These are the very same Anwar people, with a few little Napoleons in tow, who sabotaged Jeffrey’s mission to the Orang Asli areas, his plan to have a walkabout with HRPM pro-ten secretary-general UthayaKumar PonnuSamy in Hulu Selangor and earlier his trip to London to present a paper on the Malaysia Agreement at the British Parliament. Jeffrey even had RM 11, 000 tickets, including for an aide, booked and paid for London by PKR but cancelled at the very last minute and the non-refundable money flushed down the drain.
PKR picked up Zaid’s tab for his trip to Singapore on Mar 29 to meet with Hindraf chair WaythaMoorthy PonnuSamy to get a carte blanc on Hulu Selangor. Zaid didn’t off anything in return except for vague assurances while more pre-occupied with chomping on his expensive cigars.
A day later, PKR refused to pick up the tab for Jeffrey on a similar mission to Singapore but he went anyway at his own expense for Zaid’s sake. Jeffrey was referred by Waytha to his elder brother UthayaKumar.
Back in Hulu Selangor, a Sabah PKR man supposedly with the party funds for the Jeffrey mission to Hulu Selangor, went missing in action for over a week before the by-election. The excuse later for cutting off the funds was that Jeffrey was using it to promote CigMa, his ad hoc apolitical Common Interest Group Malaysia, among the Orang Asli.
It was bad enough that PKR Headquarters actively dissuaded Jeffrey from entering the Orang Asli areas – “under control” according to them – and advised him to stay away from Uthaya if not Waytha. It is against party policy, whispered some reliable sources, for the Indians to be seen getting together with the Orang Asli, Sabah and Sarawak. They suspected some emerging “Third Force” mischief afoot fomented by Jeffrey’s CigMA. Jeffrey has never denied the Third Force plan endorsed by all his allies.
All this meant that Zaid Ibrahim lost in Hulu Selangor. Had 863 of BN’s 1,725 votes shifted his way, he would have won by a one-vote margin. Alternatively, the 4,000 Indian underclass votes offered by Hindraf and HRPM was sufficient to give victory to Zaid by a margin of 2,725 votes.
Unfortunately, Anwar suffers from the delusion that he was single-handedly responsible for the political tsunami of 2008 and that Hindraf had no part to play in it. His delusion extends further to the theory that the strong Chinese opposition vote and the splintering of Malay votes are sufficient to bring him victory at the ballot box.
True, Chinese and Malay votes are important to the opposition but these are in any case assured up to a point. But will they give the opposition the winning edge at the ballot box? Only the Indian underclass, the Orang Asli and Sabah and Sarawak can give the opposition Putra Jaya. This is where Umno “plays its cards right”, albeit by indulging in outright bribery of the vulnerable, and not the fancy words associated with Anwar Ibrahim who conveniently forgets that he has the reputation of being a noted racist in Umno.
All Anwar has to do is to include the marginalized groups in his politics and not pawn them off with empty promises while calling them and their leaders names – he’s noted for this — behind their backs. Anwar needs the Indian underclass in particular, not all Indians, if he’s to have sustaining power.
Anwar wrests defeat from the jaws of victory Thurs 29, April 2010
COMMENT Akhirnya sia sia sahaja (In the end, it was all in vain). Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim yet again proved himself his own worst enemy in Hulu Selangor and led his people to a humiliating defeat. It was so very unnecessary for them. Indeed, it would not be too far-fetched to say, in the words of Winston Churchill, that he has an uncanny ability to wrest defeat from the jaws of victory. He proved it in Batang Ai despite the best advice, in Bagan Pinang, and again in Hulu Selangor.
If this keeps up at this rate, he can kiss his chances of entering Putra Jaya in triumph goodbye. Even most of the gains brought by the political tsunami of Sat March 8, 2008 – the result of him jumping on Hindraf’s makkal sakthi (people power) bandwagon — will evaporate into thin air. There must be a price to pay for political opportunism.
Hindraf Makkal Sakthi and HRPM (Human Rights Party Malaysia) must be laughing their heads off to death. This was virtually conceded in an email last night from Ganesan Naragan, the advisor to both outfits. But more on that later because it’s turning out to be really very boring stuff. Both Hindraf and HRPM sound like a musical record stuck in the groove.
Patently, the post-mortem will blame the Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) loss of the parliamentary seat in its own heartland on any number of known external reasons. These include as well the en bloc transfer of voters by the Election Commission, preventing certain Orang Asli villages from casting their votes until very late in the day or not at all, police roadblocks to discourage young Malay voters – think motorcycle licenses – from voting and outright buying of votes etc. These could be the subject of an election petition.
All the Election Court has to consider is whether the commission of election offences and fraud, overtly and covertly, were of sufficient seriousness and magnitude to deny PR (Pakatan Rakyat) pro-tem chair Zaid Ibrahim another 863 vote shift which would have handed him victory in Hulu Selangor, albeit by a magical one-vote margin. Indeed they were!
Anwar himself claims in an email that he’s frantically sending around cyberspace that Umno spent RM 100 million or RM 65, 000 per person in Hulu Selangor for a thin victory. As if this is supposed to absolve him or the other Ibrahim – Zaid — of any blame. What does Anwar expect of Umno? That they would not pull out every dirty trick in the book to win Hulu Selangor? What a naive fellow! He was with Umno before and employed dirty tricks as well especially in Sabah. He should come down from his pompous high horse and see that he’s now the proverbial Emperor with No Clothes.
Anwar’s email to his equally gullible people – “a diarrhoea of words” — is the beginning of his usual blame game and finger-pointing. Does he conveniently forget that he recently dismissed Hindraf as a racist organisation twice within the same week i.e. the second time in London and earlier in an interview in Kuala Lumpur with Tamil Nanban. Words cannot describe the uproar this created among the Indian underclass. This made them realise that PR was another dead-end for them like the MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress).
Did he ever pause for even a moment to consider the consequences of such a political statement, so rash and so untrue!
To add insult to injury, fugitive self-proclaimed royal blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin hyped Anwar’s racist take for all and sundry within days. Why shouldn’t he when he’s in refuge in London under the protection of Anwar’s financial well-wishers.
These are two political rascals who don’t know which side their bread is buttered. Where’s the realpolitik? Instead, they keep up some pompous high horse stuff that the Orang Asli, Sabah, Sarawak and the Indian underclass cannot relate to in their politics.
Why doesn’t Anwar mention the 4,000 votes of the Indian underclass in Hulu Selangor which Hindraf and HRPM offered on a silver platter to Zaid Ibrahim, if not PR and PKR, but provided the Selangor government comes through with state land for all the 98 Tamil schools in the state?
Instead, he broke a solemn promise to PKR vice president Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan in Sibu that he will impress upon Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim the urgency of getting the Tamil school land deal out of the way before April 25. Back in KL, Anwar didn’t lift a finger on the Tamil school land deal. Instead, he was muttering to everyone within earshot the tired old phrase that Hindraf and HRPM were racist organisations always making racist demands. Hindraf and HRPM had 300 committed cadres waiting and willing to go all out in Hulu Selangor for the opposition. These are people money would not buy and they work without a sen for the two outfits. Alas, they waited in vain.
Why is it okay for everyone to ask for something from the government but not the Indians or the Tamils?
Why is it okay for Chinese, Malay, national, religious and mission schools to sit on their own land but not the Tamil schools?
HRPM, by their own estimate, has over 100 “Indian” issues to bring up with the government, both Pakatan and BN, but they were willing to settle for the resolution of just the Tamil school land issue in time for Hulu Selangor. If Anwar can’t make good even this one promise, what good is he for the Indian community, especially the underclass?
Indeed, what good is Anwar even for the people of Sabah and Sarawak where he has left a trail of broken promises?
Meanwhile, Anwar’s people are putting it out, in the wake of Hulu Selangor, that “it’s more imperative than ever that Pakatan forges an election pact with Hindraf”. Ha ha ha. It’s really amazing that there’s this sudden realization as if some are beginning to see the light. That’s a good one. This will go down as the best joke during the next 50 years that BN, or a variation of it if Tengku Razaleigh comes through, will rule Malaysia.
Why don’t they also talk about Dap stalwart Lim Kit Siang taking leave of his senses and going for 85 per cent of the Chinese votes cast in Hulu Selangor?
These are the very same Anwar people, with a few little Napoleons in tow, who sabotaged Jeffrey’s mission to the Orang Asli areas, his plan to have a walkabout with HRPM pro-ten secretary-general UthayaKumar PonnuSamy in Hulu Selangor and earlier his trip to London to present a paper on the Malaysia Agreement at the British Parliament. Jeffrey even had RM 11, 000 tickets, including for an aide, booked and paid for London by PKR but cancelled at the very last minute and the non-refundable money flushed down the drain.
PKR picked up Zaid’s tab for his trip to Singapore on Mar 29 to meet with Hindraf chair WaythaMoorthy PonnuSamy to get a carte blanc on Hulu Selangor. Zaid didn’t off anything in return except for vague assurances while more pre-occupied with chomping on his expensive cigars.
A day later, PKR refused to pick up the tab for Jeffrey on a similar mission to Singapore but he went anyway at his own expense for Zaid’s sake. Jeffrey was referred by Waytha to his elder brother UthayaKumar.
Back in Hulu Selangor, a Sabah PKR man supposedly with the party funds for the Jeffrey mission to Hulu Selangor, went missing in action for over a week before the by-election. The excuse later for cutting off the funds was that Jeffrey was using it to promote CigMa, his ad hoc apolitical Common Interest Group Malaysia, among the Orang Asli.
It was bad enough that PKR Headquarters actively dissuaded Jeffrey from entering the Orang Asli areas – “under control” according to them – and advised him to stay away from Uthaya if not Waytha. It is against party policy, whispered some reliable sources, for the Indians to be seen getting together with the Orang Asli, Sabah and Sarawak. They suspected some emerging “Third Force” mischief afoot fomented by Jeffrey’s CigMA. Jeffrey has never denied the Third Force plan endorsed by all his allies.
All this meant that Zaid Ibrahim lost in Hulu Selangor. Had 863 of BN’s 1,725 votes shifted his way, he would have won by a one-vote margin. Alternatively, the 4,000 Indian underclass votes offered by Hindraf and HRPM was sufficient to give victory to Zaid by a margin of 2,725 votes.
Unfortunately, Anwar suffers from the delusion that he was single-handedly responsible for the political tsunami of 2008 and that Hindraf had no part to play in it. His delusion extends further to the theory that the strong Chinese opposition vote and the splintering of Malay votes are sufficient to bring him victory at the ballot box.
True, Chinese and Malay votes are important to the opposition but these are in any case assured up to a point. But will they give the opposition the winning edge at the ballot box? Only the Indian underclass, the Orang Asli and Sabah and Sarawak can give the opposition Putra Jaya. This is where Umno “plays its cards right”, albeit by indulging in outright bribery of the vulnerable, and not the fancy words associated with Anwar Ibrahim who conveniently forgets that he has the reputation of being a noted racist in Umno.
All Anwar has to do is to include the marginalized groups in his politics and not pawn them off with empty promises while calling them and their leaders names – he’s noted for this — behind their backs. Anwar needs the Indian underclass in particular, not all Indians, if he’s to have sustaining power.
Anwar wrests defeat from the jaws of victory Thurs 29, April 2010
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