Thursday, March 21, 2013

Opposition to Penang's traffic plans

  http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/224533

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Lately CM Lin Guan Eng has met with strong opposition from groups to the Penang state government's traffic decongestion projects of three highways and one under-seabed tunnel. The CM took great pains to reply in detail to CAP and others against his plans which is indeed a honorable act and we commend him for that. We also commend him for having numerous public forums on the issue  which shows he values and cares for public opinion which is badly lacking in our political system today.
I agree we need a well-planned and comprehensive public transport system for Penang to decongest the traffic situation especially on the island. The plan by the state government is a massive one involving 3 highways and a under-sea tunnel   costs  could go into much more later in the course of the construction. Land in Penang is very limited and precious and we must leave enough of it for the future generations. Today much of the land has been taken up by unnecessary and redundant structures built earlier that have now become neglected and an eye-sore.  
CAP and others who are against the mega projects for now are also equally interested in the well being of the state and its future. Yes, facts are sacred and must be preserved at all costs but opinion including dissenting ones although may be free but are most precious as they come from only those who are concerned and committed to improve what we already have.
While we all agree that we need a proper and well-thought of traffic plan but we are extremely anxious over the use of precious state land that are to valuable to be wasted on projects that will later become redundant in the near future.
The big question here is whether we are ready yet for such a mega projects all in one go? Don’t we have more pressing issues to attend to now? Shouldn't we be preoccupied with setting up of better system of governance, to improve the system that has become too rotten and put into effect practices that will change the mindset of Malaysians to think as Malaysians first?

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

LKS risks to initiate political tsunami

 


The decision by Lim Kit Siang, the DAP advisor and veteran opposition leader, comes as no surprise from a politician of his caliber. This is not the first time he has chosen to take such risks but this is the first time his risk is most significant in changing the political landscape of the country. His willingness to contest in the high risk Gelang Patah seat in Johor may well initiate a political tsunami from the south that could result in a win for Pakatan Rakyat for the first time in the history of the nation. We salute LKS  for his boldness to take that risk which not many politicians will be willing to undertake.

NONE
At 72years he knows very well that this may his last chance to serve the nation as an MP. He knows well too that a win in this crucial election could earn him the post of DPM. He could have chosen a much safer seat to ensure success but instead he has opted for the more difficult path to bring change to the whole nation.






In his words "This is not an easy battle... but it is worth (fighting for) as it is for our goal, as well as for the nation and people,” he admits the monumental task ahead and he is prepared to face the challenge. Yes, it is not easy but he has chosen the path that he believes will bring good to the nation and the people.

azlan
The Getang Patah seat in Johor is a stronghold of MCA and BN and Pakatan has lost it with comfortable majorities in 2004 and 2008.LKS is going to have a tough time against the might of the BN this time around as defeating him will be in their own home ground will be a big moral booster for MCA and BN.

We wish him every success and pray that the people of Gelang Patah, will rise above race and creed, put aside their differences and reward this exemplary Malaysian for all his sacrifices to the country for over 4 decades.

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Dr.Bari Musa speaks his mind

Longing For Enlightened Leaders
M. Bakri Musa
Before Malaysians grant Prime Minister Najib’s request for a mandate in the coming election, we should examine his performance during the past four years. It has been mediocre, satiated with slogans, and drifting amidst an abundance of acronyms.

If Malaysians are satisfied with KPI and PEMANDU, or One Malaysia This and Two Malaysia That, then expect more of the same, this time with ever incredulous inanity and flatulent fatuousness. Najib has not demonstrated any ability or inclination to clean up his administrative house. An early indication of his second term performance is this. Thus far no cabinet minister has voluntarily withdrawn from being an electoral candidate. As Najib will not drop them, if they win they will end up in his cabinet again. Nothing would have changed.

A wisecrack definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. That is true only if you let the same cast of incompetent characters carry out the task after they have clearly and repeatedly demonstrated their inability to do so.

Pick others more competent and diligent, and the result may well surprise you. It would be far from insanity. The best advice a science teacher could give a student who repeatedly fails to perform an experiment is to suggest that he pursues music instead, where “practice, practice, practice!” (doing the same thing over and over) may take him to Carnegie Hall.

Likewise, the kindest gesture to Najib after he has clearly demonstrated his inability to lead would be for Malaysians to force him into another line of work, by not voting him and his party in.

After over half of century in power, what has UMNO, a party that claims to champion Malays, achieved? Malays today are even more morally corrupt, deeply polarized, and economically disadvantaged than ever before. Those are not my observations. I am merely summarizing what Mamak, a man who led the country and UMNO for over two decades, said. Take any social indicator – rate of incarceration, drug abuse, families headed by single mothers – and our community is over represented.

Our educational and economic achievements are nothing to be proud of; they are an embarrassment. Yet UMNO Supreme Council members parade their ‘doctorates’ from degree mills as genuine intellectual achievements. The sorry part is that their colleagues believe them! Spouses and families of ministers brag that their luxurious condominiums are the fruits of their entrepreneurial flair where others see those as reflecting the corruption and cronyism of the system.

Current UMNO leaders are like that inept science student; it is time to force them to pursue other lines of work, anything other than leading us. Voters must be like the strict teacher; flunk the student who repeatedly fails to perform his assigned task. Letting him continue would not do that individual any service; it would only be detrimental to the rest of the class. Voters must flunk these corrupt and incompetent UMNO leaders by voting them out.

Not A Lost Cause
This does not mean that UMNO is a lost cause; nothing is. Even the most unseaworthy sloop could through imaginative and skilful craftsmanship be brought up to Bristol condition. The operative phrase or caveat is “imaginative and skilful craftsmanship.” Is Najib imaginative and skilful? I never underestimate the ability of an individual to learn or change.

The diminutive, uninspiring and uncharismatic Deng Xiaoping was well in his 70s when he assumed power. He then took his giant nation in a radically different and far better direction. Unlike Deng, Najib is far from being diminutive physically, but he exceeds Deng in being uninspiring and uncharismatic.

Again unlike Deng whose path to power was littered with the carcasses of personal and political tragedies (his son was paralyzed by Red Guard goons and Deng was once paraded in a dunce cap on the streets of Beijing ), Najib’s ascend to the top was well paved – by others.
Deng was tempered by life’s bitter lessons; Najib’s the beneficiary of its many blessings.

If Najib considers that a handicap and an excuse for his under performance, then he should look up to another transformative leader of modern times, Franklin D Roosevelt, for inspiration. Roosevelt , whose name means a field of roses in Dutch, was born into privilege. Yet he uplifted the lives of Americans especially the poor through his New Deal initiatives. His progressive redistributionist policies earned him the sobriquet, “traitor to his class.”
Najib’s name is equally rosy; it means wise, intelligent, or high birth in Arabic. Like Roosevelt , Najib was also born into privilege though not on the same scale as FDR or today. Corruption and cronyism were not yet the norms when Razak Hussein was Prime Minister.

Going back to Deng, Najib too spent his formative years as a young man abroad, in Britain , to Deng’s Europe . When Deng left, his father asked him what he hoped to learn. Deng replied, “To learn knowledge and the truth from the West in order to save China .” I do not know whether Najib had a similar conversation with his father, but one thing I do know. Razak Hussein sent all his children abroad to escape the very Malaysian system of education he was championing! Hypocrisy is a good word to describe such a stance. That is one trait Najib inherits from his father.

I risk flattering Najib by mentioning him in the same sentence with Deng and FDR. My doing so merely reflects a longing on my part for a leader who could inspire us. Najib could initiate change now to give us a hint that he is indeed capable of being a “transformative leader” as he so frequently bragged, and not be content with merely mouthing slogans. He could announce his “shadow” cabinet should Barisan be returned to power. Better yet, revamp his cabinet now and pick his new team to go into the election so citizens could have a reason to vote for Barisan and not merely against Pakatan.

Malaysians do not expect miracles or demand a super team, merely capable and honest ministers. It is not a tall order. Begin by getting rid of those stale politicians in his cabinet. If they haven’t yet made their mark, they are unlikely to do so in the next few years.
 
Characters like Nazri, Rais and Hishamuddin are like durians that have remained unsold for far too long. They are tak laku (unsellable), not even good for making tompoyak. All they do is stink the place up and lower the value of what few remaining good durians Najib has. Nor are his junior ministers, the next tier of leaders, any better, as exemplified by the recent idiotic utterances of one Dr. Mashitah. She is supposedly better educated, sporting a doctorate of some sort. I could add a few more names including that of Muhyyiddin, but that would only be divisive. After all he has as much claim and legitimacy to the top post as Najib. Instead why not join forces and together pick the new dream team. While he is at it, Najib should also pick a new Attorney General and anti-corruption chief.

If Najib were to name individuals with impeccable credentials and professionalism to those two offices, then those old tak laku durians he dropped from his cabinet would not dare create trouble for him. Najib’s address to the UMNO General Assembly later this month will reveal whether he is content with another session of sloganeering or serious about transforming his party and country. The greater significance is this. By indulging in the former and naming the same old nincompoops to his cabinet and top positions, Najib soils the reputation of our community. It gives the impression that the Nazris, Raises, Mashitahs and Hishamuddins represent the best our race is capable of producing or that we are bereft of talents. The shame reflects on all of us.

May Allah have mercy on the Malays.


Dear friends,

Dr Bakri Musa is a surgeon belonging to the seventies,an intellectual Malay sholar who had come up by merit.He should have been here to serve our people but decided to migrate to US due to unbearable racist policy of Umno-BN.
We had lost many such intellectuals due to the BN policies of suppressing those who can think wisely.

Many of us like Dr.Bakri,wanted a change but it was never possible for the last 55years.Today after all these years of racially divide and rule policy ,we see some light at the end of the tunnel - a flicker of hope is finally at hand which we must not allow to pass.Yes we must grasp this opportunity which we may never get again.

The time we have been waiting for is finally here.This 13GE is a good opportunity to finally make that change.Dear friends for once let us put aside our differences and unite as Malaysians to bring change peacefully and in accordance with the laws.Let's not be afraid or shy to do the right thing.Let's vote for change,let's vote for Pakatan.


God bless Malaysia

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