Here a a piece: No reason to tick off voters by Wong Chun Wai to share with you.

Below is the full text.

STAND-UP comic Harith Iskandar is the product of Malay-English parentage. He has acted in plays and movies speaking in Bahasa Malaysia and earns a living telling jokes, mostly in English with some Malay and Chinese words thrown in.

He has been telling his audiences that he plans to get married soon with a woman of Chinese-Indian parentage. “I do not know how our children will fill up those forms. I think they will have to tick every box – Malay, Chinese, Indian and lain-lain.”

The predominantly Chinese crowd in Petaling Jaya roared when he asked when Malaysians could stop having to state their racial background. Then he delivered his punch line: “But I am a Malaysian first.” His listeners were on their feet by then, which goes to show how much the issue had struck a chord with urban Malay­sia.

With certain politicians asking the Chinese community to be “grateful” for getting their citizenship and Perkasa asking the community to “repent”, it does not need a political scientist or a sociologist to explain why many Chinese voters have refused to vote for the Barisan Nasional.

Yet, the Chinese electorate has often been pro-establishment, except for 1969 and then in 2008. In 1999, when Umno suffered badly in the hands of PAS, it was the Chinese voters who came to the rescue of Umno candidates.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak retained his Pekan seat with a 241-vote majority against unknown PAS challenger Ramli Mohamed.

Ibrahim Ali, who was then a deputy minister, lost his Pasir Mas parliamentary seat and certainly his predominantly Malay voters rejected him. We don’t recall him telling off the mostly Malay voters for being ungrateful despite being benefactors of the New Econo­mic Policy.

The Chinese voters backed the Barisan so strongly that even the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh lost their parliamentary and state seats in Penang. The Chinese voters were angry at the DAP-PAS electoral pact and wanted to send a strong message of disapproval.

The irony was that then PAS Youth chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar – now a vice-president – said Umno was increasingly dependent on Chinese votes.

“This would be very dangerous to the Malay sovereignty,” he said.

Fast forward 2010, we are hearing such similar statements from the likes of Ibrahim Ali, who have forgotten or chosen to forget that the Chinese votes can help Umno.

When the MCA and Gerakan were weak, it would be the Umno votes that helped these two parties. That has been the way since the Alliance under Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was aware that the inclusion of non-Malays in the government would be crucial to its legitimacy as well as to keep intact the politics of consensus and accommodation.

The power-sharing concept has worked so well that now the Pakatan Rakyat has adopted it via a PKR, DAP and PAS coalition.

Immediately after the 1999 electoral bashing, Najib, who was an Umno vice-president, said the voting trend of Malays – who favoured the opposition – was a signal for Umno to work harder in ensuring the party and Barisan success in future.

Umno, he added, must correct its mistakes and look at itself before pointing fingers at others for the defeat. That, however, seems to be the pattern of some politicians after the Hulu Selangor by-election which the Barisan won. Imagine how these politicians would have reacted had the PKR won the seat.

But it is encouraging for Najib to ignore these hollow calls by going to the Chinese school in Rasa with a RM3mil cheque to construct a building.

Najib is obviously looking further ahead. The RM3mil is a political investment for the next general election, not just for Rasa but for every Chinese majority constituency, as his gesture went down strongly.

There is no need to tell the community to be grateful. After all, the Chinese and Indian communities helped build the nation and the bulk of income tax is said to be from the Chinese community.

A political party is just like any company. It has to sell its product by convincing its customers why it is better than its rivals. In meeting sales targets, no company picks its customers according to their race. Every customer should be treated like a king and every effort should be made to win his heart and mind. So it is incredulous that one would ask his customers to be “grateful” and to “repent” or, worse still, even ask what more the customers want.

The electorate, like the customers, expect their sales persons to be nice to them if they still want to do business. If these salesmen disappear when their services are needed or act arrogantly, then we can expect the company to be out of business.

All is not lost for the Barisan because the scenario has improved. Besides, Najib’s increasing favourable ratings and the economy – a crucial key indicator for the Chinese – has seen some positive outlook starting with a stronger ringgit.

The feel good factor seems to be coming around and while the government’s expectations for the GDP growth is between 4.5% and 5.5%, others believe that 6.6% is possible.

Local companies have reported better market confidence in the first quarter results. In fact, monthly car sales reportedly recovered from a low of 33,000 in October 2008 to an average of 42,000 per month over the last six months.

The transformation plans would certainly have an impact on the country’s economy and the political scenario.

There is no need for anyone to play the racial card and Umno should distance itself from groups or individuals fanning communal sentiments. The fact that the MCA and the MIC put the word “Malaysian” first when they were formed is sufficient proof of their allegiance to this country.

Strangely, comedians like Harith are making sense while our politicians have become comics instead, often with their foot in their mouth.

Answer and Report from Pahang State Authority on Gold Mining Activities in Bukit Koman

Below is a news report from NST Online on a question answered by the Pahang State Government on 20/11/2009. The DAP wakil rakyat from Kawasan Tras thanked me for posting the question during the tea break so that he was able to seek further clarifications on the issue. We all believe and agree that the safety of the people is always our concerns, whether from the government or the opposition.

No threat from gold mining ops

2009/11/21

SEVERAL extra safety measures have been taken to ensure gold mining activities in Bukit Koman, Raub, will not harm the people in the area, the House was told yesterday.

State Environment Committee chairman Datuk Hoh Khai Mun said measures included 10-metre holes at 20 locations to monitor the quality of underground water near the tailing pond and the installation of two units of an alarm system to check the existence of hydrogen cyanide gas in the area.

"We also check the discarded water everyday to trace the existence of cyanide and arsenic and its pH (acidity)," he said in reply to Datuk Chuah Boon Seong (BN-Mentakab).

"Raub Australia Gold Mining Sdn Bhd had also employed staff to check the piping system which transferred waste water to the tailing pond. Also, the Mineral and Geoscience Department will be conducting fortnightly inspections."

Here is a piece, it's hard to bite, and don't get choked...

From: waytha@hotmail.com
To: namnaadu@yahoo.com
Subject: PRESS STATEMENT
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 17:41:02 +0800
LIM GUAN ENG IS A BLATANT LIAR

I refer to the Statement of Penang Chief Minister on Malaysiakini today throwing various wild allegations against Hindraf .

I wish to reply as follows:

He has lied and mislead the Malaysian public that Hindraf had "lied"that acquiring Kg.Buah Pala would cost the State Government RM 30 Million.

He further misleads in his statement implying that Hindraf had represented that the State Government could acquire the Kg below the market value.

The above statements by Lim Guan Eng is an absolute and blatant lie deliberately calculated to mislead the Malaysian public and divert from the real issue staring at him.

It was his own Political Secretary that had issued a statement yesterday (malaysiakini) that it would cost the state RM30 million to compensate the developers.

However we are aware of his posting on a blog and widely circulated in the emails that it costs more than tens of millions to do so.

My point is simple- where did Guan Eng get this ridiculus sum from? Why is he putting the cart before the horse? Perhaps he is not getting proper advise from his State Legal Adviser or perhaps his arrogance has cloded his mind. The necessary procedures which are lenghty and elaborate are clearly provided for in Section 18-35 Land Acquisation Act. The amount of compensation to be paid are to be assessed by the Land administrator after valuations and survey. If the amount of compensation awarded by the Land administor is not acceptable by the Developer then he would have to rely on provisions of Section 36-51 of the Land Acquisation Act where the Court would determine the appropriate compensation with the assistance of assessors.

So why is he now blaming HINDRAF for his ignorance of the Law. He has to justify how his Political Secretary came up with RM30 million or even his own Statement that it would cost more than "tens of Millions". Instead he is trying to divert from the real issue.

He further states " the forcible acquisation of Kg Buah Pala involving developed land would be of frightening magnitute and the State Government did not have the financial capability to do so".

Guan Eng is definately a liar and hoodwinking the public. Kg Buah Pala is not a developed land in the first place. I may be thousands of miles away but i will vouch it is a yet to be developed land and the developers had done nothing on the piece of land as yet. So WHAT IS HE FRIGHTENED ABOUT. The villagers have been occupying the land for 200 years and the land is developed in this modern day as a cultural village by the poor and defenceless people of Penang with their own sweat and blood. If the land is worth hundreds of millions of Ringgit because it is developed then the compensation should be to the owners as they are the real developers of the land at the present moment.

Guan Eng claims that the land which is believed to be transfered under dubious manner by the previous BN Government is the fault of the previous Government. But he must remember that the actual transfer of the said land had occured during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

If the previous Government had made a fraudulent deal then he is part of the fraudulent transaction for having sanctioned the transfer after he became the Chief Minister.

The need of a roof over one's head is a basic neccessity just like food and clothing. These poor people have been there with a little space/compound (for their children to play) and a safe roof for 200 years in a piece of land given to them on trust by the Brown family. So why now rob them of the basic necessity? Guan Eng had also lied that the people was offered compensation of RM200,000 and that many had accepted the offer and moved.But in actual fact they were offered RM90,000 by developers far below market value and which is insuffient for them to buy a new property in any part of Penang and the actual number of houseowners who accepted the shortchanged deal were 7 and not many as claimed by Guan Eng ( 5 Malay families and 2 Indian families). As far as i am concerned he is a heartless man for lying and colluding with the developers in uprooting these people with a peanut offer of RM90,000. The villagers had clearly stated that it is not an issue of compensation but a matter of preserving their peaceful existence in their hereditary cultural living over a safe roof. The basic need of a safe roof is a fundamental Human Right. As a responsible Chief Minister and a man who claims to lead the Democratic Party he should be the first to protect and preserve their homes but instead robbing them of thier basic necessity and Human dignity. HINDRAF would vigourously resist any attempt to take away this fundamental right and dignity even if it means ending our friendship with DAP.

Yes I agree HINDRAF has been infiltrated by BN stooges and Police Special Branch which is trying hard to break the Movement. But i will not sit idle and see him destroy the fundamental right in the name of development of not only Indian Community but of any community for the matter.

HINDRAF calls upon other Pakatan Coalition leaders to advice this heartless Chief Minister.

P.Waytha Moorthy
Chairman
HINDRAF