Show Hindraf 5 our gratitude

Before you lay yourself down to sleep tonight, take a moment to think of the Hindraf 5 currently being detained under the ISA in Kamunting. Just wonder what must be going through their minds, as they lie on their beds. Without doubt, they must be missing their wives and children. Take a moment to think of their children who cannot see, hug or play with their fathers.

The Hindraf 5 must be wondering how to support their families since they are out of work. They must be thinking how to continue the struggle for the Indians in this country since their freedom has been so unjustly taken away from them. They may even wonder if the Indian Malaysians have forgotten them.

Now, take a moment to think of our prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Think of him lying on his comfortable bed in Putrajaya. Do you think he feels an iota of guilt, since he was the one who signed the ISA instructions to wrongfully separate these men from their wives and children? Think of MIC President S Samy Vellu lying on his bed after a good dinner with his family.

Do you think he feels sorry for the plight of these men, since he was the one who boldly declared to the international media that they were detained under the ISA on mere suspicions that they had terrorist links? Both of them know in their hearts that these men are innocent, but they had to selfishly put them away to safeguard their political futures.

How can we continue to allow these kinds of men to be our leaders?

The MIC was supposed to take care of the Indian community’s interests all these years, but only after the Nov 25 Hindraf rally do you see the government taking such a keen interest in this deprived community. Million of dollars have been ‘promised’ for Tamil schools. The chief secretary to the government has been instructed to ‘look into’ hiring more Indians for the civil service. An Indian boy falls to his death at a school in Puchong, and Umno Youth now sends an officer to visit the family and investigate!

Would all this have taken place if not for Hindraf? If your answer is ‘no,’ take a moment to think about where their struggles and sacrifices have landed them.

How do we repay these men who put the interests of their community above themselves and their families? How do we give back for the sacrifices they have made?

The best thing we can do is to free them. How do we do it? The ISA is the tool of this government. If this government is replaced in the next elections, the ISA will fall, and the Hindraf heroes will be freed. Therefore, if you value the sacrifices these men, their wives and their young children have made for your interests, then all you registered voters should make a commitment to vote against the Barisan Nasional on March 8, election day.

Go out in force and urge your families and friends to go with you. Just remember that every vote counts. The government has taken us for fools by promising a lot of last-minute goodies and last-minute development plans. Let us show them that we are not fools.

Most importantly, come election day, let us show Uthayakumar, Manoharan, Kenghadharan, Ganabatirau, Vasantakumar and their families that we have not, and will never forget them.

Malaysian bloggers warned being monitored

KUALA LUMPUR - AFP : A Malaysian government minister has accused bloggers, who have been writing avidly on upcoming elections, of being cowards and warned they are being monitored, a report said Friday.

Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman said opposition parties were using blogs to get their message out because they believed the Home Affairs Ministry was busy monitoring reports in the mainstream media, the Star daily said.

"They think they can get away with it but it is not the case as they too are being monitored," she reportedly said, adding that bloggers were cowards and a nuisance to the ruling party.

Opposition parties have resorted to blogs, SMS messaging and YouTube in their campaign for the March 8 polls, to dodge a virtual blackout on mainstream media.

Major newspapers and television stations -- many partly owned by parties in the ruling coalition -- have given blanket coverage to the government and its achievements since the election was called.

The opposition parties rate barely a mention, but thanks to the Internet they have begun campaigning feverishly in cyberspace with the aim of reaching young, urban, educated voters.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index, and says the main media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down the many events organised by the opposition".

The government has previously threatened that bloggers could be punished under draconian internal security laws which provide for detention without trial. - Channel NewsAsia

Malaysian Election For Idiots

The list is not exhaustive, please continue.

1. Election Commission of Malaysia is an unofficial component of Barisan Nasional .

2.The chairman of Election Commission of Malaysia is an UMNO member .

3. The current chairmanship of Election Commission of Malaysia had expired but was extended under Constitutional Amendment Bill. It was so obviously being rushed through to keep him the job as to insult to both the Constitution and Parliament.

4. The main functions of Election Commission are to follow any orders from Barisan Nasional chairman and to ensure Barisan Nasional win by hook or by crook.

5. The policy of the Election Commission is to safeguard, supervise and maintain the undemocratic process of the country through not free and unfair elections .

6. Election Commission will spend RM200 million for the election, deploying 149,000 staff and 50,000 casual staff including helicopter pilots and boat navigators on behalf of Barisan Nasional.

7. The election date is always based on feng shui and wet dreams of Prime Minister.

8. Malaysia’s population is now around 26 million. About 15 million Malaysians are eligible to vote but only 10,701,054 voters are registered either by themselves or somebody else.

9. Not all of these 10,701,054 registered voters will cast their votes on polling day.

10. Not all of these 10,701,054 registered voters are alive any time on polling day.

11. The electoral rolls is deliberately contaminated by Election Commission with the names of the dead, non-citizens, multiple registrations and the under-aged, to ensure election outcomes are determined by phantoms rather than citizens as per instructions of Barisan Nasional.

12. Most of the deads among 10,701,054 registered voters will return from their graves to cast their votes to the ruling party on polling day.

13. Phantom voters are people with fake ICs and identities but can never be caught as long as they are voting for Barisan Nasional on polling day.

14. The phantom voters are here to stay as the government responded to the Likas verdict by changing the Election Act so that election outcome can no longer be challenged on the grounds of electoral roll validity.

15. The extent of irregularities and fraudulent registrations is part of the chairman's KPIs and quantum of bonus.

16. For years, elections have seen high number of missing ballots in many constituencies but Election Commission chairman always closes both eyes .

17. Spoilt votes are counted to spoil the results.

18. Mal-apportionment and gerrymandering of constituencies have gone from bad to worse with the 2002 constituency re-delineation exercise but who cares as long as Barisan Nasional is the government.

19. There are 221,085 postal voters mainly military personnel whose votes normally casted by their superiors.

20. Only 4 categories of Malaysian Citizens who are overseas qualify to register as postal voters under Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulation, 2002 and they are all Barisan Nasional supporters only .

21. Postal voters are not necessarily casting their ballots by post or even exist at all .

22. Indelible Ink is not necessarily indelible for phantom voters.

23. Transparent ballot boxes are implemented to enrich certain cronies of Barisan Nasional.

24. Ballot papers without serial numbers would be used in this election but not necessarily your
votes are secret.

25. Oppostion parties can have access to the Government controlled print and broadcast media as long as they make fool of themselves.

26. There will be thousands of opposition supporters joining Barisan Nasional and all over the media before polling day.

27. Thousands of people will attend opposition rallies but they are not registered voters.

28. The opposition parties will be bickering and quarelling all over the media even before nomination days .

29. Nomination days are like festivals with a lot of drama and actions before both supporters kick each other.

30. There are a lot of cash, kain pelikat, kain batiks with Barisan Nasional stamp available for free during campaign period and on polling day than any other days of the year.

31. Mat Rempits with Barisan Nasional t-shirts and flags will be kings of the roads.

32. Barisan Nasional will return to power with more than 2/3 majority even with only 40 percent overall votes.

You know but who cares that:-

* It is an offence to provide food, drinks or refreshments with a view to induce voters to either vote for a particular candidate or not vote at all.

* It is illegal to provide monetary rewards for voting for a certain candidate.

* It is an offence to threaten a person to vote for a candidate or not to vote. In 2004 this was extended to include "spiritual threats".

* It is an offence to obstruct passage to and from a voting centre. Setting up a location for any candidate within 50 yards (50 m) of the voting centre is an offence. Similarly, loitering in this zone is also an offence. Only voters are allowed in this zone on voting day.

* It is technically an offence to provide transportation to a voting centre. However, this is not normally enforced as all parties do this to some degree. It is a further offence to use a vehicle that is normally rented out (such as a taxi or hired bus) to provide such transportation. The only exception to this is that it is allowed to provide for the crossing of rivers. No passengers of any vehicle can be forced to alight within 50 yards of a candidate's booth on voting day.

* Each candidate is not allowed to spend more than RM 200,000 (parliamentary) or RM 100,000 (state) for campaigning under Section 19 of the Elections Offences Act, 1954. It has been alleged, however, that the governing Barisan Nasional coalition spent around RM1.5 billion in the 2004 general election, far more than the RM94,300,000 permitted under the regulations.[4]

Radio TV Malaysia TIDAK LAGI PROFESIONAL DAN BERETIKA

Bermula dari isu kekecohan Batu Burok, perarakan aman peguam, hingga ke perarakan aman Bersih dan Hindraf, RTM telah menunjukkan belangnya untuk mengampu dan membodek kerajaan sekaligus meminggirkan rintihan dan rayuan rakyat marhaen.

Kempen TV yang menunjukkan rusuhan rakyat jelata negara asing menentang kerajaan mereka kemudian diselitkan dengan protes rakyat marhaen dengan ungkapan " ini bukan budaya kita". Yang lebih menyakitkan hati adalah kempen propaganda terbaru sempena 'pancing undi' iaitu " mereka berpakat" RTM cuba memberikan mesej kepada rakyat marhaen bahwa ada suatu muslihat di sebalik pakatan parti pembangkang. Ya kah? Apa dia pakatan tu?

Di sini saya ingin huraikan apa sebenarnya yang harus ditekankan oleh RTM dalam usaha mengwar-warkan kempen " ini bukan budaya kita" dan " mereka berpakat". Sila ikuti pemerhatian saya dalam usaha RTM ingin mengajar rakyat marhean antara apa sebenarnya budaya kita dan apa yang bukan. Sepatutnya kempen RTM harus berbunyi " ini kah budaya kita?" dengan mengutarakan isu-isu berikut;

INIKAH BUDAYA KITA?;
1- rakyat majmuk yg bersatu membantah/ protes dihalang, dipukul dan dimasukkan dalam lokap oleh kerajan - INIKAH BUDAYA KITA?

2- ketua SPR, Rashid aka Ra-shit , dipanjangkan tempuh perkhidmatan untuk meneruskan agenda penipuan dalam pilihan raya akan datang - INIKAH BUDAYA KITA?

3- RTM TIDAK pernah menemuramah mereka-mereka yang turun protes di jalanan dalam APA JUA protes sekalipun untuk mendapatkan gambaran sebenar kenapa rakyat marhean sanggup melanggar perintah kera-jaan untuk mara menyokong perhimpunan yang kononnya haram - inikah budaya RTM? Yang sepatutnya profesional dan beretika?

M- menteri penerangan yang PALING memalukan yang pernah saya lihat sejak kita merdeka! Menteri Penerangan yang TIDAK fasih bahasa global iaitu Bahasa Inggeris masih disanjung sebagai menteri penerangan! Beliau TIDAK mampu memberi penerangan yang jelas kepada dunia, keadaan ini amat memalukan sekali. Ini jelas dibuktikan dalam video klip Al-Jazeera
semasa beliau disoal mengenai perarakan aman BERSIH yang berlangsung dalam Bahasa Inggeris! Bagi saya, taraf beliau adalah lebih kurang taraf budak melayu sekolah kebangsaan tahun 3, yang tidak pernah bertutur Bahasa Inggeris di luar kelas. INIKAH BUDAYA KITA?

Saya ingin akhiri surat ini di sini kerana saya telah muak dengan pendirian RTM dewasa ini. Yang terbaru, perhimpunan aman bunga mawar anjuran Hindraf juga tidak mendapat liputan dari RTM yang sentiasa war-warkan kononnya memberikan maklumat terkini. Saya tidak faham kenapa RTM setelah sekian lama tidak turun padang untuk mendapatkan pendapat dan pandangan sebenar dari rakyat yang menyertai pelbagai perhimpunan aman?

Samy Vellu a liability?

Several leaders of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) are quietly worried that party president Samy Vellu has become a liability and think he should be replaced soon, Malaysiakini reported yesterday.

But they are reportedly clueless on how to convince him to give up his posts within the party and the government.

Mr Vellu, who is also the Works Minister, is set to contest in the March 8 general election his parliamentary seat in Perak state, which he has held since 1974. For the last 29 years, he has been president of the MIC, a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

"Recently, we see that many members of the community have been publicly vocal in blaming Samy Vellu for the failures of the community," an MIC party veteran was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying. The community's anger has been escalating since the Nov 25 Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) rally.

"First, it was against the government, and then it was against MIC, but now it is increasingly against Samy Vellu," he added.

He cited the incident in Penang on Sunday when a group of Indians confronted Mr Vellu, demanding the release of Hindraf protesters detained at an illegal rally in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The authorities used water cannons and tear gas to contain the demonstration by some 300 ethnic Indians, who were calling for justice and an end to alleged discrimination against their community.

According to local media, Mr Vellu's car was blocked by the angry group from leaving Sunday's function and he was jeered for being unable to help Malaysia's Indians. Mr Vellu was stuck in his car for more than 30 minutes and had to wait for the police to clear the way.

Last Wednesday, Mr Vellu was surrounded and heckled by young people at a ceremony for a Tamil school in Selangor.

"The anger on the ground is not going away. In fact, it is increasing. We realise this but the party can only put on a brave face and claim we can counter them," Malaysiakini quoted another MIC leader who witnessed the Butterworth incident.

According to Malaysiakini, other MIC leaders they contacted refused to publicly comment on the mounting criticism against their party's boss. They are standing behind Mr Vellu, saying that only he can ensure that the government fulfills demands made through the MIC, the sole Indian representative in the government. - TodayOnline

How to stop cars and win enemies

When it comes to dealing with the grouses of the Malaysian public – many of which happen to be legitimate, mind you – it would seem that the benighted leaders of our blessed country have read every single page of the stupid book.

We recall the period when we, the Malaysian public were told by our – Malaysian – government that we had the right to speak up and that our voices would be heard. We were assured that we had the right to speak, to raise our concerns, to voice our opinions and to even state our differences and disagreements in this new Utopian, idyllic public space that had appeared out of nowhere. But no sooner than had we opened our mouths to utter the first sentence beginning with “But…”, the tear gas canisters were shot in our faces, the batons were raised, the water cannons were put to work. It is hard, as I wrote not too long ago, ‘to listen to the people while you gas them in the face’.

The latest (of many) instances of back-tracking came with the defensive posture taken by the senior leadership of this country in the face of the demands voiced by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) of Malaysia. I write this as someone who is concerned about the poverty and growing income gap among all Malaysians, and not Hindus solely. And while I cannot lend my support to any grouping that is sectarian and exclusive by nature, neither can I deny the fact that many of the complaints raised by Hindraf happen to be real – or at least really felt – by the members and supporters of the movement itself.

As an analyst however my own take on what has happened with the Hindraf issue is one that is coloured by the concerns of a political scientist: Seen purely from an objective point of view, the academic in me is boggled and dumfounded by the response of the Malaysian government to date; the latest being the tear-gassing of Hindraf protesters before the very gates of the Parliament building. One wonders how and why the plethora of other alternatives were not – apparently – given serious consideration at all. Has it come to the point where calling out the riot police is the first response that the government can give to any demand emanating from civil society?

But the list of blunders does not end there: Coming back to Kuala Lumpur by bus the day before the recent Hindraf ‘roses’ protest, I – along with thousands of others – was stuck in an infernal traffic jam of Kafkaesque proportions. Many of us in the bus assumed that a major pile-up was up ahead, and expected to find a mass of mangled cars and bodies at the head of the jam.

But instead it was one – of many – road blocks set up to monitor the traffic heading towards the capital the day before the Hindraf demonstration. As we stopped for a pause and the smokers among us kissed our cancer sticks with relish, I could not help but notice that the cars and vans that were being stopped were those with Malaysians of Indian ancestry in them. Why?
That was precisely the question asked by an irate Malaysian driver whose van was stopped and who was asked to step out of the vehicle with his entire family. Before my very eyes every single one of these Malaysian-Indians – our fellow Malaysian citizens – was asked to produce his or her identity card and to explain why they were driving up to Kuala Lumpur. It struck me as odd that any Malaysian should have to explain why he or she should want to travel in her or her own country – unless of course, we are not even free to do that any longer.

A second car was stopped and three Malaysian-Indian men were asked to step out. They looked as if they were on a fishing trip as fishing rods and nets were in the boot of the car. But likewise they too were asked to walk to the desk, hand over their IDs to the policemen, give their personal details and asked what they were doing on the road that day and why.

Though none of the authority figures present at the road block made specific mention of Hindraf, I was not the only one who noticed that most of the vehicles stopped then were those with Malaysian-Indians in them. It was too glaring, too obvious to avoid and we were all embarrassed by what was happening before us, in broad daylight.

Bumming a kretek from an Indonesian worker who stepped out of his lorry and watching the scene together, my Indonesian fellow-nicotine addict quipped: “Waduh, jelas di Malaysia juga ada rasial profiling ya! Lucu sekali. Seakan Indonesia pada zaman Pak Harto…”

I replied, with more a touch of shame than humour: “Ia, mas- walaupun Suharto meninggal di Indonesia, roh-nya datang ke Malaysia!”

Now here comes the obvious question that begs to be answered: Had no-one, along the entire chain of command and responsibility, thought of the consequences of such actions? By stopping and questioning the passengers of Malaysian-Indian background on the suspicion that some of them might be attending the Hindraf rally the day after, was there not the blatant risk that the authorities would be offending many more ordinary Malaysians who felt that once again, as Malaysian-Indians, they were being singled out for unfair treatment? And if so, what have these road blocks and checks achieved, save to alienate even more Malaysian-Indians and lend weight to the claims of Hindraf? In the book of “A Hundred and One Easy Blunders for Governments to Make”, this case comes under the chapter “How to Stop Cars and Win Enemies”.

In the weeks ahead as election fever sweeps across the country, we will undoubtedly hear more of such stories of road blocks, profiling of suspected dissidents and opponents, traffic redirected, speeches disrupted, permits for assembly denied, etc. And with every single one of these calculated blunders, the critical mass of resentment, alienation, marginalisation piles up and grows higher and bigger. Political analysts are meant to make sense of politics even in the most troubled and complex of contexts, but here I am left with no compass or map to make sense of the situation: Ours has become the reactionary politics of irrationality instead.

Dr. Farish (Badrol Hisham) Ahmad-Noor

How to be a candidate

WHAT do you have to do to get elected? Well, if you're a party man, you must have your party's endorsement letter first. If you're an independent, you must have the dough for the deposits. Only then can you make your way to the nomination centre.

But hold your horses ... You must be over 21 and of sound mind, not an un-discharged bankrupt, and not have been convicted of an offence by court and jailed for more than a year or fined more than RM2,000 and have not received a free pardon (invalid after five years).

Wait, there's more.

A person who is a citizen of a country outside Malaysia, and a person convicted of offences in connection with the elections is not eligible. Anyone in the public service sector - namely, civil service, armed forces, police, judicial and legal service, railway service and the education service - is disqualified. Those in any of these categories will have to resign first in order to be eligible.

Fit the bill so far? Next thing is that you need to be a resident of Malaysia if you are seeking a parliamentary seat. For state seats, you must reside in the state where you are contesting.

Here's where you need others' help. You need a proposer and a seconder; they must reside in the constituency where you are contesting. To find out, check the electoral rolls (the list of registered voters) and it has to be the final version. You can do so by either going to the nearest Election Commission (EC) office or checking their website (www.spr.gov.my).

Next, you have to obtain the nomination forms from the EC. This is a set of forms which consists of the nomination form proper, a statutory declaration form, an elections secrecy form and a deposit form - all to be filled out in triplicate.

On nomination day, the candidate may skip going to the centre (but lose the chance to have 15 minutes of fame) and instead send his/her proposer or seconder, or both. There's nothing to stop you from making it a crowd and you are actually encouraged to do so. Remember, you have to get it done between 9am and 10am.

If for some reason you decide to withdraw at the last moment, then you have to be there in person before 10am to do so if you want to keep your deposit. You can now withdraw within three days after nomination, but you lose your deposit.

If by 11am the returning officer has approved your nominationand there is no challenge on technical or legal grounds, then you have become an official candidate. If you're an independent, you get to pick your symbol from a list of 20 approved ones. Sorry, you can't come up with your own symbol.

Well, if you're a fan of Ramlah Ram's Kau Kunci Cintaku dalam Hatimu or Alicia Keys, then there's a set of keys for you, or if you're a traveller at heart, then go for the plane logo.

Now, it is all systems go for you to put up your campaign material and start campaigning (that is, if you want to). Go shake all the hands and kiss all the babies you want. You may need some help at this stage, too.

You can appoint an election agent (one), who is like your chief of staff, who must maintain an office in the constituency; canvassers (more than one); polling agents (who will help observe whether voting goes according to the rules on polling day at each polling station); and counting agents (who must verify the votes cast for spoilt ones) at the counting centres.

Again, the pre-qualifications for being a candidate apply to both the election agent and the canvasser. If you are quite the lonely independent soul and have no one to help you out, you can do all the work. But on polling day the votes must be initialled by you or your representative; since there could be more than one counting centre, you will need help.

If you are planning on campaigning, then come up with some manifestos or issues that make up your platform, something to win over the voters. The campaign period is from nomination day to polling day, and requires a minimum of seven days.

Be careful of what you say, too, as there is a sedition clause in the Election Offences Act 1954 that carries a heavy penalty if you or your agents are guilty of saying seditious things.

On polling day, you will have a counter set aside for you outside the polling centres (that caters to about 700 voters each) to attract voters. You are not permitted to influence voters through corrupt and other illegal means as defined in the Election Offences Act. And that stand-50m-away-from-the-polling-station clause is also in effect.

The EC can form enforcement units to be deployed at all parliamentary constituencies. So, Big Brother is watching.

Polling starts at 8am and ends at 5pm. In some rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak, it might start later and end earlier. After voting ends, the ballot boxes are sealed and transported to counting centres where you or your agents can monitor the counting.

The result will then be sent to the tally centre and the EC will certify it before the returning officer announces the winner. If there are any disputes, the affected party can then file an election petition with the High Court not later than 21 days after the results are gazetted.

So if you're a winner by now, congratulations and keep your promises and get ready to do your job as an elected representative of the people. The question is - is the country ready for you?

ROSES CAMPAIGN IN MALAYSIA-Chronological order

Campaign of Roses Updates - 8.45am Update

The Campaign have started - Just received a Mobile update, people are now gathering in front of DBKL Building…. , no roadblocks inside KL and it’s quiet there. People show our Unity and fight for your Right that will secure your coming generations….

Campaign of Roses Updates - 9.00am Update

Just received another update…between 3 - 4 people was arrested by our POLICE (grounds of arrest still unknown). The Roses will now be sent to SUHAKAM Office instead of the Parliment due to heavy roadblocks by Police to stop Our Little Angels and fellow Malaysians from exercising their rights…

Campaign of Roses Updates - 9.30am Update

Update at 9.30AM ..chemical laced water sprayed and tear gas fired in front of DBKL, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman was closed, the crowd is now heading towards Dataran Merdeka.

Campaign of Roses Updates - 10.00am Update

Update at 10.00AM - Ground crew reported that riot Police is arresting everyone at random including few KIDS. Crowd is now scattered into smaller groups…second round of tear gas and chemical laced water being sprayed at the peaceful crowd.

Campaign of Roses Updates - 10.30am Update

Update at 10.30AM - It was reported that the crowd has now dispersed and Hindraf coordinators are also asking the crowd to disperse since the FRU are being very agrresive. It was reported that over 450 people were arrested so far.

Campaign of Roses Updates - 11.30am Update

Update at 11.30AM - It was reported that the crowd has now dispersed and gathered around Court Malai Pillayar Temple. It is estimated around 10,000 people around the temple area. There was few stand off between FRU and the Campaigners. Apprently the FRU being very aggresive and even chasing people out of coffee shops.

I was reported the arrested campaigners were taken to Pulapol.

Crowds are now slowly dispersing…

Campaign of Roses Updates - 12.00pm Update

Update at 12.00PM - The crowd is moving towards Pudu Jail…apparently few of the Hindraf committee members were arrested last night itself. Fair amount of people from different directions are heading towards Pudu Jail.

Campaign of Roses Updates - 12.30PM Update

Update at 12.30PM - FRU has cordoned off PUDU Jail area. The Campaigners are now heading towards PULAPOL, JALAN SEMARAK where the arrested Campaigners were taken. Please gather at PULAPOL, JALAN SEMARAK…

Campaign of Roses Updates -5.30PM Update

Those who were arrested are released after their statements are taken.

CAMPAIGN OF ROSES FROM BBC

Hindraf and the Pluralisation of the Malaysian-Indian Community

Many of the accusations levelled by the leaders of Hindraf towards the leadership of the MIC and its President Samy Vellu in particular were based on long-held grouses that were nurtured over Samy Vellu’s long stewardship of the party:


Since it came to the public stage of Malaysian politics the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) of Malaysia has been cast as a troubling phenomenon, but to whom?Predictably the reaction of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and its leadership has been to respond to Hindraf’s demands by stating that it is a troublesome organisation that is bent on dividing (and consequently weakening) the Indian community. Hindraf however has defended its actions on the basis that the MIC has singularly failed to defend the interests of the Hindus of Malaysia, and that the leadership of the MIC is entirely beholden to the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition instead. The vernacular Malay press in turn has attacked Hindraf on the grounds that it was seen and cast as being ‘anti-Malay’; though Hindraf in turn has proclaimed its loyalty to the concept of Malaysia as a universal idea while rejecting the notion of Malay cultural and ethnic supremacy.

Needless to say, these manifold configurations and postures has made it difficult to locate Hindraf on the Malaysian political landscape; but it has also expanded that very same political landscape to include a new range of disaffected and marginalised political actors. What many critics have failed to recognise is that despite the verbal pyrotechnics employed by Hindraf, it has actually contributed to the pluralisation and complexification of the Indian minority, and by doing so has rendered the simplistic mode of race-based politics in Malaysia more and more difficult.

While Hindraf’s appeal to the Indian minority in Malaysia is primarily communal and sectarian it has also introduce a cleavage – both political and ontological – in the Malaysian-Indian community itself. Hindraf’s sustained efforts to highlight the marginalisation, alienation and discrimination in all walks of life did not merely challenge the staid rhetoric of the Malaysian state whose brand of multiculturalism dates back to the mode of race-relations first developed during the colonial era, but more importantly rendered hollow the MIC’s claim to be the main representative, patron and protector of the Malaysian-Indian community.

Many of the accusations levelled by the leaders of Hindraf towards the leadership of the MIC and its President Samy Vellu in particular were based on long-held grouses that were nurtured over Samy Vellu’s long stewardship of the party: During the time of Samy Vellu the MIC expanded its patronage machinery and used its educational outreach unit, the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) to sponsor the education of more than 10,000 Tamil schoolchildren. In 1982 Maika Holdings was created by the MIC to help pool together the economic resources of the Indian minority so that they could collectively invest in Malaysia’s economic development. Maika however was criticised by some as a patronage arm of the MIC, despite the fact that it was built from the collected sum of RM 106 million that was raised by many poor Tamil families. Following a succession of mismanagement scandals, Maika faced serious losses and many of the Tamil families could not recover their investments. In the face of growing criticism of his leadership Samy Vellu maintained a strong grip on the MIC: S. Subramaniam, who was brought into the MIC during the time of former MIC President Manickavasagam, was one of the strongest opponents of Samy Vellu, and accused the latter of mismanagement of the party. Nonetheless Subramaniam was defeated at the MIC Annual General Meeting of 2006, shoring up Samy Vellu’s position in the party even further.

When Hindraf began mobilising its supporters in 2006 in defence of the Hindu temples that were being demolished all over the country, much of its criticism was directed towards Samy Vellu and the senior leadership of the MIC who they accused of betraying the Indian minority and not being able to stand up to the demands of the UMNO party that leads the ruling BN coalition. Linked to the Hindu temples issue were other complaints related to the MIC’s finances, its alleged failure to uplift the economic condition of the Hindus; its failure to defend Hindu culture, language and identity, etc.

As a result of these complaints being aired in public, Hindraf had inadvertently exposed the class divisions that now exist within the membership of the MIC and the gulf of power, wealth and influence between the MIC leadership and the rest of the Indian minority community. This is ironic considering the fact that the MIC was originally set up by Indian activists like John Thivy, K. Ramanathan and Budh Singh in 1946 to defend the interests of the Indian working class and to struggle for economic and social equality in the first place. By emphasising the weakness and marginalisation of ordinary Malaysian-Indians and contrasting their lot to the opulence and luxury of those who claimed to be their leaders and spokesmen, Hindraf has actually introduced the fault-line of class difference within the Indian community itself, thereby rendering any simplistic attempts to homogenise the Malaysian-Indians as a singular political constituency more problematic.

Here lies the paradox that Hindraf itself has introduced into the equation of Malaysian politics: On the one hand it is a communitarian and sectarian organisation that seeks to mobilise and consolidate the Indian minority in Malaysia on the basis of an exclusive racial and religious identity; but on the other hand it has succeeded in doing so by adopting the rhetoric and discourse of betrayal and neglect of the community by some of its own; namely the leaders of the MIC. Hindraf has therefore contributed to the problematisation of the category of ‘Indian-ness’ itself, making it consequently more difficult for both the MIC and the ruling National Front to maintain its divisive form of communal sectarian politics that has always relied upon the instrumental fiction of neatly divided and compartmentalised racial groupings. What Hindraf has done via its street demonstrations and campaigns to discredit the MIC leadership is to demonstrate that the Indian community is not a singular bloc that can be reduced to one essentialised stereotype or compartmentalised within neatly-defined and hermetically sealed borders.

The responsibility, therefore, falls on the shoulders of the parties of the ruling National Front that have for so long maintained the culture and norms of divisive race and religion-based politics in the country. Malaysia is in need of a new politics that transcends racial and ethnic divisions, or at least one that recognises the complexity of the plural communities that reside in this country. One thing however is certain for now: Hindraf’s very presence on the political stage signals that some sections of the Malaysian-Indian community no longer see the MIC as the sole patron and protector of the Malaysian-Indians of Malaysia.

Non-Malays the main problem

Basically, the Malay's are generally upset with the ruling administration and this was depicted by the swing during the 1990 elections with the birth of Semangat 46 challenging Dr Mahathir Mohamad and then1999 with PKR challenging Mahathir again. If one closely monitored both these instances, the Malay votes was divided. Nonetheless, it was the non-Malay that kept the ruling administration in power with their votes.

The Malay, in general, has a proven track record as far as the general elections are concerned. So how long can you ostracise the Malay masses under the pretext of ‘special rights’ and ‘Ketuanan Melayu’? We all know that this is a game ploy of the chosen few. The Bersih rally had a considerable impact because there is genuine dissatisfaction. Who were the majority participants?

The real issue is probably the non-Malays support for the BN and they comprising almost 40 percent of society. This group continues to support the ruling administration due to fear whereas the Malays themselves are ready to face any repercussions. The non-Malay continues with his belief that ‘all is lost’ if we don't re-elect for the ruling alliance.

The non-Malays have had their problems but when push comes to shove, they turn away and continues live by the deteriorating system while engineering their own escape options. This is core of the problem amongst the non-Malays.

A non-Malay will continue to say that all are racists, all are prejudiced and what not but will continue to support the same administration while creating their own options. The intrinsic motives of the non-Malay prevails and it lacks the altruism needed for the society.

To create a true Bangsa Malaysia, the non-Malay needs to understand what one's own priority is. Are you there for your individual needs or for a collective need that requires your wholehearted effort to achieve rather than being a turncoat for Bangsa Malaysia?

The Hindraf rally was a wake-up call for us irrespective of our colour, race and religion. When do we, the non-Malays, along with the steadfast Malays unite to actually fulfill our will to create a Bangsa Malaysia rather than crusading on a fault finding mission on how it should be.

If I and other non- Malays need to vote for PAS, there should be no qualms as long as our move serves Bangsa Malaysia. After 50 years under the same administration, how different can it be for non-Malays?

Let us, the non-Malays, together with the Malays make a change for the betterment of our future generations.

Malaysia’s Coming Elections: Between Change and Inertia

Four years on, there seems to be the widespread perception that the Badawi administration has failed to deliver. Despite earlier promises that the long-standing cases of alleged corruption and nepotism between government and the corporate sector were to be resolved, no major cases have been dealt with until now. Instead the Malaysian public has been witness to a number of embarrassing revelations about the murky dealings within the governmental system instead.

By Farish A. Noor

And so, with the dissolution of the Malaysian Parliament on Wednesday, Malaysia is heading to the elections once again. The precise date of the 12th General Elections of Malaysia is yet to be known, but it is clear that this will be one of the more hotly contested elections that Malaysia has witnessed.

Over the past two years alone a string of controversies have stirred the Malaysian public’s interest in the goings-on in the corridors of power in the country: The highly publicised case of the murder of a Mongolian model has dragged many a famous name (including that of politicians) into the limelight; the revelation of irregularities in the appointment of senior judges has brought the judiciary into close focus; the destruction of a number of Hindu temples has aroused the anger of many Malaysian Hindus; while the plethora of on-going marriage and divorce cases between Muslims and non-Muslims has added to the widening of the gulf between the religious and ethnic communities in the country.

What is more, the spate of public demonstrations – many of which took place in the capital Kuala Lumpur – would suggest that sections of the Malaysian public are more politically aware and politically literate than before. The BERSIH campaign calling for free and fair elections, for instance, was a movement that is rooted in Malaysia’s civil society and which cut across the racial, ethnic and religious divides which have always been the salient markers of the Malaysian political landscape. Conversely the demonstrations organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) would suggest that communitarian and sectarian political remains a defining factor of Malaysian politics until today.

All eyes will now be on the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who faces the tough prospect of retaining the public’s support for a second term.

Badawi came to power following the resignation of former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, who led – and in many ways transformed – Malaysia for more than two decades. In the immediate aftermath of Mahathir’s unannounced resignation that stunned the nation, Badawi was chosen as his successor. Yet when Badawi came to power with an enormous mandate in the elections of 2004 (with one of the highest approval ratings ever given to any Malaysian leader) he promised a wide range of reforms that included the promise of greater accountability, transparency and a thorough overhaul of some of the key institutions of government including the civil service, judiciary and police force.

Four years on, there seems to be the widespread perception that the Badawi administration has failed to deliver. Despite earlier promises that the long-standing cases of alleged corruption and nepotism between government and the corporate sector were to be resolved, no major cases have been dealt with until now. Instead the Malaysian public has been witness to a number of embarrassing revelations about the murky dealings within the governmental system instead.

Another area where Badawi seems weak is his stand on Islam, which was encapsulated in his vision of a modern, progressive, ‘Islam Hadari’. While admittedly Badawi has expressed the keen desire to see Islam understood and practiced in a universal, inclusive and tolerant manner, the realities on the ground would suggest that the religious authorities in the country have not taken heed of any of the universal principles he has espoused all along: The seizure of Bibles by Malaysian customs officers, the activities of the morality police that spy on the private lives of Malaysians, the banning of books that are deemed ‘a threat’ to Islam and Muslims, etc. have all prompted Malaysians to ask: ‘What sort of modern, progressive Islam is this?’

But Badawi’s greatest challenge to date has been the pervading presence of his former mentor Tun Mahathir himself. More than the danger of increased communitarian and sectarian politics, more than the challenge of a resurgent Islamic party (PAS) waiting to regain control of the Muslim-majority states, more than the challenge posed by the new generation of politically-conscious urban civil society activists and dedicated professional classes; it is the dominating presence of Tun Mahathir that looms over the Badawi government at the moment.

When Badawi promised a new era of transparency and openness, many observers of Malaysian politics noted that this was a departure from the ways of the Mahathir administration. To some extent it has to be said that Malaysia’s civil society and media have indeed opened up, with issues being discussed in the public domain as never before. But this has also incurred a cost to the Badawi government, and it has irked those who were more comfortable with the ways of the Mahathir era when governance was strictly a top-down unilateral process with less public participation.

The down-sizing of several mammoth projects that were initiated during the Mahathir period, the revelation of corruption and abuse of power dating back to the 1980s, the attempt to introduce some degree of accountability to the workings of the police and security forces; etc have been seen as a means of overturning many of the developments made during Mahathir’s time. The former Prime Minister has further upped the stakes by publicly stating that Badawi was perhaps not the best man to replace him, and to suggest that Badawi may eventually be a ‘one-term’ Prime Minister.

This, then, is one of the core issues that is really being fought out in the coming elections of Malaysia. While the Badawi government is pressed to take on the opposition parties and to address a host of demands from a wide section of Malaysia’s now vocal civil society, the real – and perhaps only – threat to Badawi’s position in power comes from the old guard of the ruling elite and governmental system itself, who do not relish the prospect of real, long term institutional change, reform and modernisation. The 12th General Elections of Malaysia will therefore determine whether the reform process continues, or whether institutional inertia will win the day.

Dr. Farish A. Noor is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.

Election 2008: What really matters in an election

SO, at last, parliament has been dissolved and the general election will be held on March 8.

What do we have now that the "when" question has been answered?

Remove the rhetoric and like always, the general election is pared down to two questions: what have you done for me over the past four years and what are your future plans for me and my family?

Little else matters, really.

Not the bunting. Not the slogans. Put simply, most of the time, success or failure at the polls is about the track record and the roadmap for the future.

That is why Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has sprinkled the words "report card" quite liberally in his speech for the past few days. When asked about possible candidates for the coming elections, he said that he would study the report cards of each elected representative before deciding.

When asked about his confidence level going into the polls, he said that most policies of the Barisan Nasional government had been implemented and projects were on track.

"We have carried out our duties and responsibilities on many things desired by the people," he said, noting that the government had managed to reduce poverty, transformed government-linked companies and launched the corridor development strategy to bring growth to different parts of the country.

The corridor development, probably, is one of the most far-sighted programmes ever introduced by the government since the time of Tun Abdul Razak.

In past years, development had been Klang Valley-centric. Now, if implemented and executed well, the heartland, the rural and semi-urban enclaves where the large majority of Malaysians live, will get a greater share of their country's wealth.

From the statements by Abdullah, it appears that he will make his administration's track record over the past four years the BN's main campaign weapon. He knows that the opposition has been flaying the government for allegedly not keeping to promises made in the manifesto in 2004. He knows that the opposition will try and capitalise on concerns about inflation and law and order.

He knows that there will be an attempt to draw the Barisan Nasional into a debate on marginalisation of races. He knows that the opposition may try and draw BN politicians outside their comfort zone and discuss issues of race and human rights.

But in all likelihood, Abdullah and his colleagues in BN will stay clear of getting tangled in verbiage, and stay focused on what they have delivered since March 2004. Several surveys commissioned by various political parties and news organisations show that bread and butter issues and the economy feature high on the minds of the Malaysian electorate.

It seems clear that the BN will point to the fact that economic growth in Malaysia has been steady under its stewardship and that the country's fundamentals are the strongest they have been for a long time.

The country's reserves are at their highest; the stock market has breached historical highs and the budget deficit has been slashed considerably to a manageable and internationally acceptable level.

Abdullah is also likely to focus on the gains made in the rural economy where robust commodity prices have pushed the average monthly income of rubber smallholders from RM760 to RM1,500 and the earnings of oil palm smallholders to above RM5,000 a month.

Judging by several advertorials that have appeared in newspapers in the last few weeks, the coalition will also make a case that it has made significant inroads in improving the public delivery system.

The BN's ability to keep the economy growing, bridge the rural-urban divide, improve the public delivery system and bring equitable growth to different parts of the country will form the foundation in the coalition's effort to answer the "What have you done for me in the last four years?" question.

More challenging will be the second question: "What are you going to do for me and my family next?" This is not about announcing an increased allocation or making trite statements.

Underlying this question is the ability of a political party or a leader to inspire hope in the government and country. This is a tricky question because politicians are hesitant to make any promises that could be difficult to implement after the euphoria of victory has died down. But arguably, BN will have to get over this mental block if it wants the support of fence-sitters, the middle-class and business elite. Surveys show that the number of undecided or fence-sitter voters varies between 20 and 40 per cent from state to state. For this category of voters, the quality of candidates is important as is the ability to capture the imagination with sound policies and ideas.

For a start, the prime minister should make clear that he will be fielding a new slate of candidates to refresh the cabinet and senior leadership positions in the government. This policy of renewal is long overdue. While there is a need to blend age, experience and youth, at the same time, to serve a majority young population, the country needs leaders with whom they can relate and sync. Also needed are clear plans to make sure that Malaysians of every race and religion feel that they have a stake in this country.

The BN has a proven track record in its successes in the last 50 years. It also has shortcomings that have made people unhappy with it.

But, on the other hand, the alternative is a hodge-podge loose coalition of three political parties -- the Chinese-based DAP, the Islamic-centric Pas and the smallest, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), whose main objectives -- apart from attacking their de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's former colleagues in Umno and dwelling on his sacking from government in 1998 -- seem to be unclear.

The only way the opposition will make headway will be if the level of unhappiness with the BN is so high that voters are willing to show their protest through the ballot box.

That will happen, certainly. And the BN cannot expect to get the same spectacular results it did in 2004. But overall, most Malaysians are pragmatic. If the BN can address their grouses, then the majority will not risk their future by going for a roomful of Kit Siangs, Hadi Awangs and Anwar Ibrahims, all of whom have different dreams and different ideologies and beliefs.

Malaysia's ethnic Indians to vent anger at the polls

On Malaysia's lush green rubber estates, Indian laborers whose ancestors were brought by British colonial rulers in the 19th century to work in tin mines and on plantations, complain of being marginalized.

Indians, one of the smallest ethnic groups in Malaysia making up just seven percent of the population, say they have been left behind as the country's Muslim majority and ethnic Chinese population reap the rewards of economic prosperity.

Race relations, a sensitive subject in Malaysia since race riots in 1969 underscored the fragility of its fragmented ethnic makeup, have become tense recently as non-Muslims fear their freedom of worship is being infringed upon and complain of government favoritism towards the majority Malay community.

With a snap election expected to be held early next month, ethnic Indians are threatening to use the ballot box to vent frustration over the failure of government policies to improve their living standards and incomes.

"In the papers every now and then, the government says it is going to do things for us, but nothing happens here," said Anand, the third generation of his family to work on a palm oil plantation at Tangkak, about 200 km from Kuala Lumpur.

"So the government doesn't do anything for estate workers, being Indians. If they were not Indians, maybe Malays or Chinese, the government would have done something for them."

The Muslim-majority Malays make up about 60 percent of the population, while ethnic Chinese, who dominate the business sector, account for about 25 percent.

An examination of monthly household income of all three ethnic groups shows Indians are lagging behind, with average annual growth of just 3.5 percent over the five years from 2000, compared to 3.6 percent for Chinese, and 4.9 percent for Malays.

Issues that have grated on the community include a string of temple demolitions that aggrieved many Indians who felt civic authorities rode roughshod over their sentiments, and squabbles over Hindus' rights to bury relatives who converted to Islam.

Analysts say Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's ruling coalition is certain to win re-election with a healthy majority, but the growing unhappiness among the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities is worrying the political parties in the grouping.

The Indian community has usually voted for Abdullah's Barisan Nasional coalition as the best guardian of its interests.

But that feeling has changed after the government cracked down hard on a demonstration by more than 10,000 ethnic Indians in November, using tear gas, water cannon and police batons to break up the protest, which aired charges of race discrimination.

The demonstrators complained of being deprived of education and employment opportunities.

The government used a harsh internal security law to detain five protest leaders without trial, further fuelling Indians' anger at the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a party in Abdullah's coalition, for what they saw as its failure to protect them.

The outrage has continued to simmer, with Indians meeting at "People Power" gatherings in temples to fast and pray for the release of the prisoners, who belong to a group called the Hindu Rights Action Force, or HindRAF.

"OUT OF TOUCH"

In Tangkak, one rubber tapper said she would vote against the MIC to help dislodge its leader, Works Minister Samy Vellu, calling him out of touch with poor Indians. Vellu has been a cabinet minister since 1979.

"We will make a difference not by approaching people personally, or doing a protest, but by quietly giving the vote to the right people so it shows up in the numbers," said Ayamma, 48, who wakes up at 4 a.m. each day to spend seven hours collecting about 80 litres of rubber sap from trees on a leased plot.

The MIC, with 620,000 members, says the criticism that it has done little to improve the job and educational prospects of Indians is baseless but has vowed to reshape itself to serve the community better.

Even if the entire Indian community chose to vote for the opposition, the government would still maintain a majority.

"Their number is too small to make a significant difference," political analyst Zainon Ahmad told Reuters.

Opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim said opposition parties stood to gain by tapping into the Indian voters' discontent.

"The minorities are really, really angry, and in the case of Indians that will certainly translate into votes," Anwar told Reuters, adding that the opposition would do its best to woo them with an attractive line up of candidates and election agenda.

Abdullah's government has sought to calm ruffled feelings by boosting funds for Tamil schools and agreeing to a long-standing request for a public holiday on the key Hindu festival of Thaipusam.

But ethnic issues are certain to be at the heart of the election as both ethnic Chinese and Indians complain of discrimination and favoritism towards the Malay majority.

The workers in Tangkak are particularly bitter as they see others enjoying the trappings of wealth from a burgeoning economy and soaring prices of palm oil, which is in demand as a biofuel.

"There are many Indians among the plantation workers who have helped to make the sector a success," said Anand, the plantation worker, adding that his salary had grown to 13.50 ringgit ($4) a day from 6.50 ringgit when he first began work in 1980.

"So why have they not been given a share of the remarkable achievements of all these years?"

One Race, One Country!! We are Malaysians!!

Are we INDIANs or MALAYSIANs?

If we are Indians, then why are we staying in malaysia?? Indian refers to the people who born in India.

If we are Malaysians, then why we couldn't unite as one ethnic, one race in one country??

Why can't a multiracial party rules the country?

Why can't a multiracial party solve all the problems?

Why can't we develop our malaysian community under one roof and not by ethnic group?

Why can't we give equal rights to all the people?

Why can't we sit together and discuss all community problems as a national problem?

Why can't "anybody" be the leader of the country?

Why are we talking about racial integration, religous tolerance, since we are still staying apart from each other as a different ethnic group?

Why can't we be Malaysians first and then practice our religion individually and freely?

Why "Malaysian" culture are not being emphasised and excercised?

Why are we talking about economic progress based on races? Aren't we Malaysians? Can't we share, care and grow together?

Why every development plans has to be based on races?

Why the ruling party couldn't change this trend?

Why we keep on emphasising the word "Malaysia Boleh" and "Malaysiaku Gemilang", theoritically, but we didn't do any changes practically..

It's not impossible as what some are saying. They just scared to face the risk and the consequences.

Whatever i've spoken up there was in the perspective of a Malaysian.. Don't wrongly interprate it. Don't have to feel offended. If you are a malaysian, you'll feel the same..

Frustration, engrieveness, unsatisfactory will arise if you feel neglected and ignored.

So, everyone will try to develop their own community. That's good. But not as a Malaysians. This will prolong until the real "Malaysian" concept being practiced. It's not practical until you put it into practice.

Dear Malaysia's Current Ruling Government.. Open- up ur eyes..

CHANGES COMES ONLY IF YOU WILLING TO ACCEPT IT!!

Young and restless? A snapshot of Malaysia's voters

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi called a snap election on Wednesday, at a date to be fixed by electoral authorities.

Here are some key facts on Malaysia's voting public:

* Who?: Relatively young, and mostly Malay. Voting age is 21 and the median age in Malaysia is 25 years. The ethnic makeup of the country of 26 million is Malay 50.4 per cent, Chinese 23.7 per cent, indigenous 11.0 per cent, Indian 7.1 per cent.

* What?: Some 222 federal parliamentary seats in 13 states are up for grabs, as well as seats in each state legislature except for Sarawak which held its state election in 2006. Under the winner-takes-all system, voters choose one candidate for parliament and one for the state assembly, with the majority-winning party forming the federal or state government.

* How many?: Around 10.3 million voters registered for the 2004 polls. The electoral commission said in January it wanted to sign up 4.5 million eligible voters, mostly youths, before the next polls. At the same time it is purging about half a million 'phantom voters' - who use the details of dead or double-counted voters to vote outside their constituency - from its rolls, the election chief said.

* Where?: Twenty-one million of the country's 26 million people live in peninsular, or West, Malaysia's 11 states and three federal territories, and the rest on the Malaysian portion of Borneo island, in East Malaysia's two states - Sabah and Sarawak. Critics accuse the government of gerrymandering through contentious constituency redelineations, which saw Barisan Nasional strongholds such as Johor and Sabah gain extra seats, while opposition controlled areas did not.

* Fair?: Opposition parties complain that the electorate is gerrymandered in favour of mainly rural Malays, who have limited access to independent sources of information and tend to support the main ruling party. In the 2004 election, the governing coalition won 90 per cent of parliamentary seats with 64 per cent of the vote. The mainstream press is also pro-government and gives opposition statements relatively thin coverage.

* How enthusiastic?: Voting is not compulsory, and turnout fluctuates. Holidays are declared when the election day does not fall on a weekend to encourage participation.

Anwar's party condemns M'sia polls timing

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN political dissident Anwar Ibrahim's party on Wednesday condemned the government's decision to hold snap polls before he is eligible to stand for office in April.

Mr Anwar was sacked and jailed in 1998 on corruption and sodomy charges which have been widely condemned as politically motivated.

The sodomy charge was quashed but the corruption count bars him from politics until this year.

'I think this is clearly the reason why the government is in such a rush to have elections at such short notice,' said Tian Chua, information chief of Anwar's Keadilan party.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dissolved parliament on Wednesday and the Election Commission will soon name a polling date - expected to be in March after a brief campaign.

'Whatever the government says about Mr Anwar not being a factor in setting the election date... that is clearly not true as the announcement today shows,' Mr Tian told a press conference.

'Anwar has been persecuted by a corrupt judicial system and we urge the public to vote and give (Keadilan) and the opposition support.'

Mr Anwar was a star in the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno), serving as a talented finance minister and heir apparent to then-premier Mahathir Mohamad before his spectacular fall from grace.

He stormed back into the headlines last September, releasing a secretly filmed video which apparently shows a high-profile lawyer telling a judge he can secure him a top job with the help of a politician and a business tycoon.

The government was pushed to hold a royal commission of inquiry into the tape, which observers say has smeared the reputation of the judiciary and cast doubt over a number of high-profile legal decisions.

Government leaders have insisted the Anwar factor is irrelevant, but Mohammad Agus Yusoff, a political analyst from the National University of Malaysia, said it 'definitely' influenced the timing of the polls.

'He has to be kept out of Malaysian politics. He has the oratory skills to appeal to the voters,' he told reporters, adding that he remained a thorn in the side of the ruling party which has dominated politics for half a century.

'He knows Umno after being in Umno for so long, and he knows how to overcome Umno's strategies,' he said.

Mr Tian Chua said Keadilan would meet with the other opposition parties - the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party and the fundamentalist Islamic party PAS - to forge an election strategy.

The three have formed a loose coalition and agreed to stand just one opposition candidate against the government in each seat, to prevent three-cornered contests that have split their support in previous elections.

'Guns and roses' in Parliament?

Source:MalaysiaKini



The police have denied a permit for the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) to hold a gathering outside the Parliament building this Saturday, paving the way for a possible standoff should the movement decide to press on.



Sentul police chief ACP Ahmad Sofian Md Yassin told reporters today that the permit was denied on grounds of ‘security and public order’.



Hindraf supporters planned to gather 200 children and their parents to carry roses meant for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a symbolic Valentine’s Day gesture to call for the release of five Hindraf leaders held under the Internal Security Act (ISA).



"My advice to those invited to attend, is to stay away from the gathering," warned Ahmad Sofian who stressed that the planned gathering was illegal since no police permit was granted.



In a letter addressed to PKR supreme council member S Manickavasagam, who applied for the permit on Hindraf’s behalf, Ahmad Sofian stated four grounds for rejecting the permit:



*Hindraf is not a registered body

*Intelligence suggest that there would be groups that would disrupt the planned gathering

*The gathering can cause disturbance of peace and public order

*The gathering would cause traffic congestion



Tourist attractions

Ahmad Sofian said Manickavasagam still had time to appeal against the decision with the Kuala Lumpur police chief within 48 hours.



Asked if roadblocks would be mounted on roads leading to the Parliament building and if a court order would be sought to bar people from gathering at the site, Ahmad Sofian said: "We will take action based on the law to ensure that the illegal gathering does not take place".



Asked why the gathering could disrupt public order, considering that there would be no parliamentary sitting on Saturday, Ahmad Sofian said there were many tourist attractions in the area and the gathering could cause traffic problems.



However, he added that nearby tourist attractions such as Tugu Negara (National Monument) and Lake Gardens would still be open to public.



If the organiser proceeded with the gathering, Ahmad Sofian said special care would be taken by the police to ensure the safety of the children but warned that their parents could be charged for compromising the safety of their children.



Hindraf leader-in-exile P Waythamoorthy’s five-year old daughter Vwaishhnnavi is expected to be among the children in the event.



Other than the planned parade of flower bearing children, Hindraf hopes to hand over to Abdullah an 18-point memorandum on the needs of the Indian Malaysian community.



'We'll appeal'

Meanwhile, Manickagasagam expressed disappointment with the permit rejection and vowed to file an appeal tomorrow.



He said the police had no reason to deny the permit as Hindraf had arranged for 100 marshals to maintain order during the event and that there would be less traffic on Saturday.



"We’re only asking for two hours (to gather). There would be no banners, no speeches, only roses. There is no reason for them to deny our right to assemble," he said.



He also expressed hope that the premier, or at least a representative, would be at Parliament this Saturday to receive the roses.



He added that he believes that the police would obtain a court order barring people from gathering, but stressed that Hindraf was prepared for any eventuality.



Manickavasagam also did not discount the possibility of switching venue at the eleventh hour if necessary.

Evolving from "bullshit to truth"

Source:Malaysia Today

For the last 50 years, we have failed to educate our children on the importance of democracy and elections.
A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE

Dr Azly Rahman


Each candidate behaved well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the city had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election, and the weak, even if virtuous, were too frightened to run for office. - Niccolo Machiavelli

It's exciting; I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes. - George W Bush, 43rd President of the United States

Elections are supposed to be an educational process - not a time when propaganda rules the airwaves and cyberspace, and indoctrination rules the minds of those playing the game of choosing a new government.

It is a time when, borrowing the words of Princeton professor Harold Frankfurt, one sees the evolution of "bullshit to truth" in the continuum of "truthiness or truthism".

But one wonders how much understanding of the election process the Malaysian voters have. We seem to rush through elections and have become good at being indecisive, secretive and calculative about the date of the general election. We should instead be preparing the minds of voters with a sense of predictability and basic understanding of what is involved in electing a government.

We must treat an election as something more that a Geertzian 'Balinese cockfight'; a time of high stakes in a game of shame and blame. We must make our voters more intelligent so that they may in turn choose intelligent governments that respect human rights and freedom of speech, and will work for all.

As voters, we have to ask ourselves many questions.

Are we voting on issues or are we voting for individuals with unresolved issues? What are the election issues that we have understood and are ready to take a stand on? What is the character of the individual we are voting for? Is he/she a good person for all seasons and all races? Or a racist and a bigot who is out of sync with a cosmopolitan world?

What is the platform of each political party? What are they fighting for? Which one is more credible than the others and which one will deliver the promises better? Which political party or a coalition of many will do a better job given the circumstances of changing times in changing realities and the shifting of the definition of freedom in this age of globalisation?

Within each political party, what criteria are set for each candidate? What is the track record of each candidate? Have they amassed millions of Ringgit during their tenure as elected representatives? Who will finance their stay in power? How have they performed and where can the public access data on their failures and accomplishments?

Who owns the media and what impact will this have on the process of indoctrination and the dissemination of propaganda as election approaches? Will the media give each candidate equal access during campaigning?

How dynastic should politics be? Can anybody's sister-in-law become the prime minister? Why shouldn't a non-Malay with excellent values become the prime minister?

How do we better prepare the public psychologically and educationally for the election process?

What do the people want? Do they understand what the government is doing to ensure that tolerance and social justice become the guiding principles of national development? How ready are they to choose the next regime?

Cure voter-apathy

For the last 50 years, we have failed to educate our children on the importance of democracy and elections.

Our textbooks on civics education are perhaps written from the point of view of telling the citizens what a government is, based on selected history packaged as official knowledge, to be memorised as facts and to be regurgitated when the time comes for teachers to demand for the right answers from our children.

We have failed to ask them what it means to be a Malaysian, how to think like a Malaysian, and how to elect governments that will serve the interest of all Malaysians. There is no debate in schools on the merit of what our various political parties stand for.

We therefore cannot blame voters for this disease called 'voter apathy'. Children's understanding of politics has become truncated and limited to the idea that politics is only about political parties, dying dictators, and deadwood wakil rakyat; politics is not to be discussed in schools let alone be used as a platform of learning about good citizenship.

We therefore cannot blame university students for being more interested in passing exams, acquiring the latest electronic gadgets, idolising gangsta rappers and Death Metallists, or chanting slogans during rallies.

They are not able to articulate diverse viewpoints, let alone define a just society or conjure up the essence of a Malaysian-inspired 'republic of virtue'. Ironically, the moment they are interested in politics and the fate of the nation, they get hunted down by university authorities!

We have only ourselves to blame. We deserve the government we elect because we have been conditioned to believe that one race is superior to others. The false sense of superiority demands, by any means necessary, that a fresh mandate be given in this ritual called election.

Education is a tedious process, a long haul, and an enterprise in which one makes one step ahead and perhaps go back three steps backwards. Education for democracy in a country such as Malaysia is going to be a tedious process not only because he have failed to prepare our citizens with the concepts and skills necessary to become informed voters, but also because we have successfully instill the fear of change in them.

It is ironic that we often talk about critical thinking and creativity in schools and structure these concepts into the curriculum and the learning process across all disciplines, but we have not seen the manifestations of this idea of education for social imagination.

What we have successfully done is to instill fear of each other based on the racial construct or religious constructs and economic condition we are born into. We not only have race-based political parties in fact playing their role in dividing and conquering the people, but also powerful related agencies working closely with structures of race-based ideology. These institutions are employed to turn our citizens into what American sociologist Herbert Marcuse call "one-dimensional beings".

However, all is not lost. Let us at least hold the election next year. Let all the information be out in the open, so that we will have all the facts and informed opinions before each one of us votes. There is still time to educate, not aggravate. In education, there will always be hope.

As for our elections, let us set it for May 13, 2009 - a symbolic date of building bridges in a new era of change. It will be a more predictable date.

We can then open a new peaceful chapter of our epic story on race relations in a country of broken promises run by politicians demanding a fresh mandate.

16th Feb 2008 call for the Roses Rally.

'The Star' bullshitting the numbers

Source:Malaysia Today
by Little Bird

Kawan-kawan, the General Elections are definitely near. Today, The Star newspaper did a first class screw up job of spinning the facts and numbers.

In its front page today, The Star says it hired one Dr Syed Arabia from the International Islamic University to conduct a survey. On the front page of today's Star paper, there is a huge bar chart which says the following:

Economy 24%, Crime 22%, Social 16%, Foreign Immigrants 10%, Politics 9%, Unity 6%, Environment 3%, Internal/External Threats 2%, Traffic 2% and Leadership 1%.

The Star's headlines these numbers as 'Bread and butter matters'. The first paragraph says the following:

PETALING JAYA: The cost of living, social issues, the crime rate and illegal immigrants - these are the issues that matter most to Malaysian voters, according to a survey conducted ahead of the general election. These bread and butter issues are the prime concern of voters now.

From this opening paragraph above we would assume that the numbers above represent the number of respondents who are worried about those things. In fact this is what The Star says:

"Prof Dr Syed Arabia said 2% of respondents expressed concern over internal and external threats and considered the rising number of vehicles as a bane, while only 1% said leaders must be proven to be capable".

These numbers tally exactly with the bar chart numbers on the first page. The bar chart does show that only 2% of respondents are worried about internal and external threats and traffic as a problem and only 1% are worried about the quality of the leadership. But this is as far as the similarity goes. After this it is bullshit by The Star all the way.

In the very next paragraph The Star says "The survey revealed that 96% of respondents were concerned with the current economic situation such as the rising cost of consumer goods".

But the bar chart on the front page says only 24% of respondents are concerned with the economy. Obviously The Star is burying the real results of the survey (the more embarrassing bigger numbers) in fine print inside the story and highlighting cooked up smaller numbers on the front page. This is called bullshitting, trying to make the BN look good.

The Star's bar chart on the front page says 22% of respondents are concerned about crime. But inside the story the real results of the survey are as follows: "88% said they were worried about the incidents of crime in the country."

The bar chart on page one says only 10% of respondents were concerned about foreign immigrants. They are downplaying the security threat posed by the foreign immigrants. On the inside pages however, the story says something else about foreigners: "The third main concern of the respondents was the influx of foreigners into the country, with 40% regarding it as a problem." There is a huge difference between 10% and 40%. Who is The Star trying to bullshit with this type of Darjah Dua arithmetic manipulation?

Then all of a sudden, Dr Syed Arabia the man who conducted the survey for The Star starts talking like a Government spokesman:

"However, Dr Syed Arabia said the Government did respond to these concerns.

He cited the National Price Council as one of the measures taken to tackle the rising prices of consumer items and cost of living."

This is really strange. In most cases professional pollsters only conduct polls honestly and present the results objectively. They do not try to justify or defend the results of the polls they conduct. But here Dr Syed Arabia, The Star's pollster from the Islamic University has become the Government's spokesman instead. “The prime minister himself has gone to the ground to initiate measures to beef up security, such as rehiring capable retired police officers,” said Dr Syed Arabia.

Just to comment on Dr Syed Arabia's last point above, the Prime Minister's decision to hire retired policemen has become a sore joke among the Police. In Kuala Lumpur alone, 3,200 retired policemen were called up to Bukit Aman. Only 1,200 showed up. This included pensioners up to 70 years old who have no more teeth. Against much protest, they were forcefully conscripted to return to work. They were told that 'Ini perintah Perdana Menteri'.

Retired policemen with ranks of sergeant and below had to be 65 years old or less. Sergeant-majors and above could be up to 70 years old. The oldest retired policeman conscripted back into service was 70 years old. Many are in poor health and out of shape. They can hardly handle firearms or undertake eight hour shift duties standing and patrolling around the country. But this is what is happening. Bullshit does not just happen. The Star promotes it.

HINDRAF.... The Truth

1st.. HINDRAFis not a political party...

2nd The objective of HINDRAF formed few years back is not to conduct peaceful gathering or exploit the racial integration as wat Gov polishing up.

It wuz formed by HUMAN RIGHTS lawyers to bring up issues which public not satisfied wif the way it wuz handled.

Example:

1. Murder of a pregnant indian woman saying that she wuz a suspect.

2. Death of few indian youngsters under police custody while being investigated.

3. Demolishment of temples. and few others. Basically it's all has something to do with rights.

When temple demolishmnet issue become massive, HINDRAF become more active and bring up the issue nationwide.

LEGALLY!!

None of the BN and itz component parties's ministers has answered our questions. They even ignored us. BUT opposition parties has turned up their ears and listen to our problems.But unfortunately they couldn't do anyting coz they are not in power. SO, IS TAT MEAN THAT what ever we do has political background?? They juz support us.. Coz, they noe tat we are not doing anything wrong.

There are so many news and stories out there in multi resources media.. But most are not true..

You noe why?? Coz there'z no freedom for media to write what they think is right!! They have to boast the gov to stay operated. Not all. But most.

Are we terrorist??

Greatest ever joke that i ever heard..

1st they called us HINDRAF assemblers, then illegal assemblers, protesters, murderers and finally gov address us as terrorist... If there's any better name, they would give us also. Cause, they are ignorant.

They really don't know:

Why we gathered??

What we want??

So, simply accusing to cover up their mistakes.

Accusitions as MURDERERs or TERRORISTs are ridiculous, since we didn't carry any weapons, even a single 0.01g stones!! hehe..

Peaceful gathering turned up havoc when Federal Reserve Unit(FRU) attacks us with tear gases and chemical(pepper n ..)water..

UNNECESSARILY!!

DO u think 50000-100000pple who came for the gathering are immatured, uncivilized and uneducated people as what gov saying?? Come on la..

"Professionals always like themselves!! Not others!! "

Indians will trust BN better without Samy

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak recently called on MIC to reengineer itself to remain relevant to the Indian community. It is a sign that the BN is beginning to realise that the MIC is becoming a liability rather than as asset. He rightly pointed out that Indian community, like the others, is more educated now and their expectations from the leadership are higher than ever before.

The MIC must heed Najib’s call to re-examine and revamp its leadership at all levels and act to regain the confidence of the Indian community. Otherwise there is a real danger that the MIC, which has been the sole representative of the Indians in the government, will soon become irrelevant to them.

Najib has outlined steps the government would take to uplift the socio-economic standing of the Indians. These include increasing the intake of Indians into the civil service; providing more scholarships to Indians entering public universities; sending qualified Indians to foreign universities for tertiary education; increasing the microcredit loans for Indian businessmen; improving the quality of education at Tamil schools and the orderly relocation of Hindu temples. But are these measures genuine or just election promises?

While it is encouraging that the government has suddenly recognised the plight of the Indians in particular, it is lamentable that these problems have been neglected for far too long. The restructuring of society and eradication of poverty did not bring the intended benefits to all communities although the policy was tailored for that.

It is imperative that the government ensure that policies formulated at the highest level are translated into realities on the ground and not sabotaged by the ‘little Napoleons’ at various levels of the administration. Why did the government fail to reprimand these ‘little Napoleans’ who did not toe the line in implementing national policies which were meant to benefit all communities?

The contribution of all communities, however small, is vital to the overall development of the nation. No effort must be spared to tap the potential of all communities to the fullest. No community, however small, should be neglected as the ailments in one will rapidly spread to adversely affect all.

It is election time and the PM and DPM and others top leaders of the BN have promised many goodies for all including for the Indian community. The question in the minds of Indians is, ‘Will the BN keep its promises after 50 years of failing to do so?’

Many believe that to a certain extent, it can be made to honour its promises to the Indian community if there is a change in the leadership of the MIC. The Indians are convinced beyond doubt that as long as the present leaders of the MIC remain at the helm, there can never be any change in the attitude of the BN and the government towards the plight of the Indians.

Unfortunately the leadership of the MIC, under S Samy Vellu, prefers to be blind to the dilemma of community it claims to represents. Unless the MIC leaders come out their denial syndrome, the future of the Indians does not look too bright.

Little Velerie needs $211,000 for life-saving ops

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: When his baby girl was born last November, first-time father Jonathan Pillai Arul Jaga Nathan was overjoyed, but now he needs half a million ringgit for her to survive.

Jonathan needs this hefty amount to pay for surgery in Singapore for two-month-old Velerie Ann, who suffers from complex heart disease.

All appeared well when they took Velerie home from Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) here.

The couple's nightmare began four days later when Velerie's lips and skin turned blue. She was not feeding well and her cries were weak, said Tio Minar Tobing, 23, Velerie's mother.

Velerie was rushed to HSA, where she was placed in intensive care and treated for a viral infection and swollen heart and lungs. Her medical reports were sent to the National Heart Institute (IJN), where she was diagnosed with cyanotic heart disease.

The condition is a congenital heart defect that results in low oxygen levels in the blood and causes the child's lips, fingers, and toes to look blue.

Jonathan said IJN told him that surgery would give his baby just a 30% chance of survival. But even then, no relevant specialist was available in the country.

Shocked, the couple went to Singapore's Gleneagles Hospital for a second opinion where they were told that Velerie would have a 70% chance of survival if three surgeries were done. However, the cost would be S$211,000 (RM481,000), which Jonathan said he did not have.

"I emptied my life savings to pay the deposit of RM23,000 for Velerie's first surgery and I need to pay the hospital another RM342,479 before they perform the second surgery.

"Every month, I'm only left with about RM200 after paying for house and car loans," said the sole breadwinner, who works as an assistant manager in a Singapore restaurant.

Meanwhile, state DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau said he hoped the country would have enough specialists in future so that such surgeries could be done locally.

Donations can be sent by cheque to Skudai Catholic Centre Johor Baru, Parish Office for Human Development, or banked into Public Bank account 314 628 5324.

For more information, contact Jonathan at 012-751 6843.

Pak Lah a sad ending to new beginning

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Tearing up Rashid’s photo: PM mulls action.

The latest incident involving several Bersih leaders tearing up pictures of Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman signal a very worrying scenario in anticipating a fair and free election.

My concern is not over the incident because it was obvious that such an act represented a sense of dissatisfaction with Rashid's response to the electoral reform. But what really worries me most is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s reaction to this act, since it clearly indicates the government's stone-cold attitude towards the bigger issue at stake.

The PM should resort to the ‘attributive theory’ notion by asking himself, sincerely, why the act took place and for what reasons. Would sound people at a serious, objective occasion entertain such behavior? Surely they must have a good reason for doing so.

As if the act of tearing is not enough, what about the Bersih gathering that took place in November? Didn't it send some serious messages to the PM? A strange reaction, isn't it? The more pressure a civilised group puts on the government, the more stone-hearted the government gets.

My worry is that the upcoming general elections will still remain unfair and, as a result, the outcome of the election will be deemed questionable. Who will be blamed if the situation gets out of hand because more educated voters feel that their votes were being rigged and robbed?

If even before the election the EC cannot be trusted, how on earth are we going to believe in the chairperson during the process of an election and after it? It bewilders me that the PM of Islam Hadhari (Arabic, meaning civilised) did not understand the signal? As a Hadhari PM, the message should have been clearly heard since the mammoth Bersih gathering. But what was the PM's response?

As usual, we heard the famous quotation of the BN leaders: ‘Work within the system, don't go out of the system’. Our response to this is: ‘How can a system work if it is corrupted and dysfunctional? Get out and create a new system!’

As if the signal is not strong enough, our friends in Kenya are now suffering from anarchy and chaos. Does it not bother the PM to know that the current situation in Kenya is due to voter dissatisfaction with an election that was rigged and robbed by the Kenyan EC?

So please, my dear PM, I still hope your future responses will be appropriate because, if not, I shall consider your premiership and your party in the government to be down the drain – a sad ending for the beginning of the new system.

The writer is chairperson, PAS National Unity Committee.

Malaysia's holiday bonanza no fun for business

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10, 2008 (AFP) - It's Chinese New Year and Malaysia's capital is deserted once again as citizens enjoy one of the many holidays observed by a nation with an array of races and religions.

But the nonstop stream of festivals, which began last October when Muslims celebrated the end of the fasting month, is being met with grumbles from business and industry who say the nation cannot afford all the merry-making.

After Malaysia's majority Malays celebrated Eid al-Fitr, it was the Hindus' turn with the Diwali festival of lights, then Christmas, followed by traditional New Year and now Lunar New Year.

"I can't get anything done!" laments lawyer Karen Lynn Johnson, who is frantically preparing for her upcoming nuptials. "Every supplier I call comes back to me with the same reply: wait until after Chinese New Year."

Malaysia's ethnic Chinese community dominates business and the long holiday weekend saw a lull at construction sites, shopping malls and restaurants as city-dwellers flooded the highways to return to their home villages.

"For business people it is never in their interests as it affects sales and trading," said M. Vivekananda from the Malaysian Employers' Federation.

"Our stand has always been that public holidays should not inhibit business activities. The markets should be kept open."

Business people complain that sales figures drop, trading on the bourse is halted and manufacturers who need to keep their factories open have to pay hefty overtime and triple holiday rates.

"Not only is it expensive, it disrupts the production of goods and sometimes deadlines cannot be met because there is not enough manpower," Vivekananda said.

Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy, has 16 national holidays when the stock market, banks, schools and businesses are closed.

In addition, each state has its own set of holidays, so residents of central Selangor state which governs much of the capital Kuala Lumpur are generally entitled to four or five additional holidays.

As if that weren't enough, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last month declared the colourful Hindu festival of Thaipusam a public holiday just a few days beforehand, sending people scrambling to shift functions and events.

There are no figures on the costs involved, but in February last year exports shrank 14.41 percent to 41.1 billion ringgit (4.24 billion dollars) compared with the previous month due to "shorter working days and festivities", according to government data.

"On the stock market millions of ringgit in business transactions are lost and we miss the opportunity to make money. This could affect our market's performance," said businessman Michael Chiam.

"But this is how it is here, everyone gladly celebrates every festival together," said Chiam, a shipping merchant who chairs the Commercial Employers' Association of Peninsular Malaysia.

Singapore, the rich neighbouring city-state which has the same racial mix as Malaysia, has a modest 11 public holidays, in line with the norm in many developed nations like the United States and Britain which both have 10.

On the other end of the scale, impoverished Cambodia has the region's highest number of holidays at 26. Indonesia meanwhile cut three of its 23 holidays this year to boost the economy amid fears of a global slowdown.

However, Malaysian political economist Charles Santiago argues that holidays are an important stress buster for the overworked.

"Private businesses feel there are too many holidays and therefore not helpful but rested workers can also provide better productivity and benefit the economy in the long term," he said.

ivy/sls/tha

A list of regional nations' public holidays for 2008

Bangladesh: 18

Cambodia: 26

China: 11 public holidays and 16 bank holidays

India: 10

Indonesia: 20

Japan: 15

Malaysia: 17

Pakistan: 15

Philippines: 15

Singapore: 11

South Korea: 15

Taiwan: 9 public holidays and 11 bank holidays

Thailand: 16 public holidays and 15 bank holidays