What makes the so-called BR so different from BN now? Before we can even savour the victory of unseating the BN, we see you guys all acting like partisan mavericks.
On PKR threatens to pull out of Perak state gov't
Latestarter: For God’s sake, stop all this bickering! What makes the so called Barisan Rakyat so different from the Barisan Nasional now? DSAI and LKS, please get your act together, and quickly rein in your men to discipline them. Stop shooting yourselves in the foot. Before we can even savour the victory of unseating the BN, we see you guys all acting like partisan mavericks. What happened to your promises to work in consensus, cooperation and all that bullshit? Why the need for all this partisan outbursts?
Is the Barisan Rakyat a reality or not? Or is it just a dream? If this is going to carry on, all the goodwill gained from our Malay, Chinese and Indian friends is just going to be lost. If this bickering is going to go on, we might as well just surrender Perak to the BN. Grow up you nitwits. The voters have placed their trust in you. So please get off your backsides, stop all the in-fighting, and get on with the business of governing. Don’t blame the voters if they lose faith in you. Your antics are just providing more ammo to the BN who will not hesitate to exploit the racial issue to bring you down.
CH Siew: I am feeling really disgusted with the action taken by all three parties who not only can't get their act together but have started the grab for power. This is especially so for the state of Perak. Evidently this bunch of people forgot that there is still a big wolf at their door waiting for its opportunity.
Come on! Umno, MCA, Gerakan and MIC can survive together for 50 years (well, Gerakan joined in later in 1969 or so), and the opposition can't even stay together for four days?
Further more, what is with this brawl over the seat allocation? Do you need compensation if you don't get the MB seat? Honestly I find that all these struggles between parties shows the lack of professionalism, especially on DAP’s part. Have they forgotten their manifestos already? How would the people dare to trust them any more in the future?
The behaviour of these people have not grown beyond their ‘opposition’ days. Sometimes, there is always a reason why they have been where they were all these while. The people may already be feeling the slap on their face for choosing such monkeys for the job. BN may just call for a snap election within a month or so if you continue to act on in such manner.
Disgusted Indian: Don’t let the people down. If you do you will be brought down not in five years time but within five months. The people will be very disappointed if you guys play this kind of dirty politics. Let there be proper representation from all the races and get down to work.
The rakyat are not stupid. This is the first time the people have voted not as Chinese, Indian or Malay but as Malaysians supporting each other. Let’s us just fight and eradicate all forms of corruption and all things will fall into their places.
HL Ooi: Why don’t the parties in the BR alliance just stick to the original exco arrangement of DAP-PAS- PKR 6-2-2 as originally agreed by everyone? I believe the people who voted in Barisan Rakyat were not buying tickets to a cliffhanger movie. We want a BR government that can function harmoniously together without racial, religious or inter-party friction and bring improvement to the people as promised in the election manifestos of the component parties.
The people of different races and religions got together and voted harmoniously to put these people in place, trusting in their ability to show better governance, so they jolly well better reflect harmony and honour the trust that has been bestowed upon them.
Del Capo: DAP and PRK, be very, very aware that BN & Umno are in the background trying to stir trouble to break up the DAP-PKR-PAS pact and to make you look bad. Don’t fall into their trap. Hang in there and work with what you have. You have just started to gain ground. Don’t shoot yourselves just yet.
Wendy: This a real shame for the newly-elected coalition government in Perak. Once and for all, please stop behaving like a child. With the confidence gained from the three races, prove to BN that BR can do equally well if not better. Prove to BN what you have promised in your election manifesto. Prove to the rakyat that you are capable leaders who can look after the rakyat irrespective of their race.
To do this, please put aside your personal interest, respect every race, give and take and please, please, get down to work. We have voted you in, we want to see your performance, not your bickering. Do not let us down.You may never get this chance again.
SAN: All parties must respect the Sultan’s selection. That is the understanding that they have given to the sultan. In fact, DAP has a better case for the MB’s post but in the interest of the state and respect for the sultan, they accept his decision. The exco allocation must be on the basis of seats won and all parties must conform to this.
Zoe Sam: If this chaos is true, then those parties in BR should be ashamed of themselves. Talking about unity and work for the public, but it seems that they all have their hidden agendas. What kind of example they are showing to us? If you really want us to believe your manifestos, prove to us, show us the rakyat some good examples instead of thinking for your ownselves or your own party. Remember, you are supposed to work for the rakyat. We do not want another bunch of selfish, arrogant cronies.
Daniel Lazaroo: I, too, hope that the bickering between these parties stop. But then again, I suppose it is not surprising after all. There is a reason why the opposition has not been able to gain much ground over the last 4-5 elections - it is essentially because of their disunity. Each party has its own agendas to push, and that sentiment is even stronger now, given that they finally have attained enough level ground to push their agendas!
Their cooperation can be seen as a 'last-resort' kind in the last elections - if they didn't they'd have been completely wiped out. But they must now see that their ability to cooperate for the next four years is essential to the future of Malaysian politics. So yes, dear PKR, PAS and DAP: get your act together. What is at stake is more than the present, but the future of Malaysian politics.
The ‘New Dawn’ will only begin when you can convince the people that you can do what you have said that you can do - rule this country cooperatively, with transparency, and equality.
VL: believe HRH Raja Nazrin has made a very wise decision. His decision reveals his foresight for the future of the people of Perak (all races). It's not an easy task, but I respect him for that. Not forgetting the fact that without either coalition party' s contribution, none of these candidates would even be given a chance to hold such a post. I don't think this is the time for debates on who should be the MB but more on what should the MB do for the people of Perak.
YJ: DAP, PAS and PKS have wasted the golden and perhaps the only opportunity given to them by the rakyat . The mentality of the opposition looks no different from the BN - narrow minded with racial issues and not able to treasure the importance of a harmonious Malaysia.
If this is the way they would rule just one state, why should the rakyat have sacrificed BN?
On Lim apologises, DAP reps to attend ceremony
Michael Sun: If Kit Siang can recall, that the national papers featured Fong Po Kuan on their front pages when she said she did not want to stand for elections and when she stood again, the news was buried in the tons of BN propaganda. So will your ‘apology’ and the chances are that the His Royal Highnesses would not even know that you have apologised.
Being a long time opposition leader, you should use your brain rather than your heart. Now the BN-controlled media will just send you to the cleaners. You are still behaving like an oppositionist rather than a statesman. In Perak, Selangor and Penang, you are NOT the opposition. Please behave like a statesman. Sometimes we need to move one step backwards to go two steps forward.
I hope Kit Siang learn from this. You asked the voters to ‘Just Change It’, maybe it is appropriate for you to change your 1970s style of politicking which does not jell well with the X and Y generations. May God continue to bless and protect you and give you wisdom. "
Allan Tham: Mr Lim Kiat Siang has done the right thing. DAP should be more patient and place trust on PAS as the political landscape is very much different compared to that in 1999.All opposition parties should work on a common ground to establish a capable opposition force in time to come.
Jo-han: Good on you YB, we were all worried there for awhile. Let's not give anymore fodder for the rogue mainstream papers.Your reversal and apology shows great leadership and humility, qualities we would never expect from any of the top BN leaders (until maybe a disastrous event like say losing 80 seats in a national election).
Thank you for looking at the bigger picture. It really does not matter which party holds the Perak’s MB post. What's important is you work together as a team. Let's not squabble over details and technicalities when there is so much more to do, and so much to look forward to.
Frankie Ch'ng: I think it is so unbecoming of LKS for showing much disrespect to the Sultan of Perak. I am so disappointed, even though LKS did apologise. I think DAP should be free from LKS and it is time LKS loosen his grip on DAP. Politics today has changed, the voters today are not stupid. Should LKS keep on harping on this matter, we the voters will bring the Rocket down, this I promise you.
Hami: Mr Lim Kit Siang, you and DAP surely blundered for your disrespect and greed. This showed how faithful you are and that the DAP in the BA coalition is opportunistic. Your party’s attitude not to work with PAS is just arrogance. It is time for you and DAP to review this course, before there is any change in attitude among those who supported you.
A Rational Thinker: Lim Kit Siang did the right thing to apologise and I believe he was sincere for doing that. When he was first rejected a member from PAS to be appointed Perak MB, he was just concerned for the Chinese Malaysians as the Chinese Malaysians still have fear of PAS's brand of Islam.
I believe PAS will live up to expectation of all races, especially the Chinese Malaysians in that it will be fair in their policies to all races, irrespective of their culture and religion. PAS should take this opportunity to prove that they are a party worth supporting. Likewise, DAP would gain support of the Malays.
On Samy-Subra alliance: Trouble brewing?
Jayanthi M: The era of the likes of Samy Vellu may be over but one hopes their legacies don't live on in the heart of Malaysians. Over the decades, people have placed blind faith in politicians simply because they were of the same race or, even more dangerously, because these politicians were people in and of power. Many who now vilify Samy actually helped keep him in power for decades and allowed him to wreck havoc..
The dawning of the new era must alert people to the fact that their own mentality and attitudes need changing. The masses, the voting public, the citizens are the main stakeholders in this new power balance. We need to sanction politician's actions based on evidence-backed policy and decisions. A position of power does not equal acts of integrity. Blind faith is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Santhi: AS MIC president, Samy Vellu was expected to speak up for the community. This is the minimum any party leader should do. One has to acknowledge that very serious issues exist in the Indian community and unless the leadership accepts these issues as real and works to solve them, the people’s confidence in MIC will erode further.
Concerned Citizen: I don't know how relevant the MIC is anymore. One thing I do know is that Samy and Subra are surely not the light at the end of the tunnel. We Indians have stood at a distance and watched for some years now and finally the people have spoken. So to Samy and Subra, please listen as the message is loud and clear.
Wai Kah Lam: Wake up, Indians! If the MIC is no good for you people, then fight for those rights that you deserve through a another party. The MIC is similar to Umno and MCA. They are decaying and will continue to rot. We must save our nation and country with new leader that brings in new strategies.
Even if you join MIC after Samy steps away, it won't make any difference as it will still be part of BN and will only become another corrupted ‘yes man’ party. So what good will it do to join MIC again?
PDD: Bury the hatchet they may but don't become traitors in accomplice. I truly believe, this get-together is a bitter trick on the Indians again. If we (Indians) believe in this, then let me predict, the two (Samy & Subra) will use the hatchet on us. Yes, Samy should put his hatchet away, but you, Subra should hold on to yours and ask him to settle the Maika Holdings issue. Subra, don’t be a traitor like MG Pandithan.
The MIC need a change is leadership, yes, but by leaders I don’t mean either Samy or Subra.
S Muniandy: MIC has lost due to its poor performance and Samy Vellu has no future in Malaysia. MIC is dead as far as Malaysians of Indian origin are concerned. Let Subramaniam form a new party known as Malaysian Indians People’s Party (Mipp) for the future of the Indian Malaysians.
PM Abdullah should consider seriously appointing Subramaniam as a senator for him to be appointed as a minister in the Cabinet. He has more than enough experience. Let the voice of the Indian Malaysian be heard in the corridors of Parliament.
On Penang CM slams PM, denies stoking racial tension
Ravindran Mailvaganam: The PM has maliciously accused newly appointed CM of Penang, Lim Guan Eng of making incendiary statements which could trigger off racial riots. Nothing can be further from the truth. If Pak Lah or his handlers could have read the many letters published in Malaysiakini complaining of the flagrant discrimination (some readers have termed it apartheid ) and of the colossal waste of public funds through corruption and cronyism which have occurred under the NEP, they might understand something of the frustration and anger minorities feel.
I suspect that Pak Lah is worried that Guan Eng, without unctuously preaching any kind civilisational religion will helm a clean, lean, efficient and transparent administration something which the BN has not able to do in the past 50 years, and thereby show up the hypocrisy which BN leaders are notorious for.
Adam Ali: I'm an apolitical Malay; I have Ah Chong and Ramasamy (not their real names) as my good neighbours; Being an anak Malaysia , I now feel obliged to give my views. Pak Lah is the one who incited racial sentiments in this case, just like in the many other cases where he and his extremist gang (Hishamuddin, Khairy, Nazri, etc) twisted and turned facts to create tense situation.
Ghifari Al Mukhtar: Lim Guan Eng, get out of your dreams and face the true pragmatism. For everyone and every society there are limits and we must all be willing to work within the limits. You are a newcomer without the knowledge of your environment. Malaysia will never be like Singapore for any of us. I voted for the opposition understanding the need for change and that’s where it stops. Every society, every nation, every country has its own unique situation and historical settings - something the DAP seems to want to counter with an attitude that borders on anarchy.
It isn't that we are slaves serving an ungracious elite. Perhaps you are willing to sacrifice DAP’s PKR’s and PAS’ gains in the recent election but rest assured you will never destroy this country's benevolent foundations. What we have voted and campaigned for are the same and Joe Public is well aware of this and that there was never a hidden agenda. Respect our sovereignty and get on with the BA's national agenda.
Joe Fernandez: Umno and the BN were not willing to consider even one Indian in the past for an exco post in the Penang government. Today, after March 8, there’s an Indian holding a deputy chief minister’s post. Symbolic maybe, but it is the thought that counts. So, it can be expected that when the opposition forms the federal government after the next general election, come 2012 or 2013, there will be an Indian deputy prime minister and four other deputy prime ministers from the Chinese, Malay, Dayak and KadazanDusunMurut communities.
This DPM pledge itself will swing the Sabah and Sarawak votes to the opposition the next round. Umno and BN will never make such a pledge.
MV: Pak Lah, you have asked Guan Eng which community has been made poorer because of the NEP? The NEP is no longer playing its role to assist the poor and distribute the wealth equally anymore. Before you criticise the removal of NEP and slam Guan Eng with your statement, you should think about what you have done for other minority groups in the past.
We are no longer uneducated. Penang voters have voiced up. Penang people should give full support to their new state government who has dared to make a change for a better tomorrow.
Guan Eng, you have showed a great example as an anak Malaysia . This is the time for reinventing.
Chua Tong Ka: For the good of DAP and Malaysia, I think Guan Eng needs to be more circumspect when making policy pronouncements. He is too gung-ho and populist, behaving like a typical leftist of the 60s. We don’t run a modern government by shooting from the hip. All policy pronouncements should be made only after careful study and consideration and whenever necessary. some exceptions and extenuating factors should be allowed to cater to unforeseen circumstances. I am speaking from my heart with the best of intention and based on my many years of experience.
Penang is already ‘garbage of the orient’ with its haphazard traffic and parking system as well as disorderly and filthy hawkers. What is needed is to discipline and manage the people, and not by being populist to announce forgiveness of summons and compounds.
Another issue is related to procurement. When a policy is made, it is best to have some escape clause. What if, with the open tender system, the state government awards 20 contracts but they all go to Chinese companies (I am a Chiniese Malaysian)? Can he then explain himself he is the CM of all races and people of Penang? It is not so simple.
The government may have to provide some preferences again to see that overall fairness prevails. More often than not, running a government is managing the ‘trade-off’ arising from conflicting demands from varied constituents.
Edmond Wee: I admit that CM Lim has a good plan which is to hold open tenders. I would agree that NEP has created many problems which the Umno and BN have either denied or ignored.
However, it would be a grave mistake for CM Lim to ignore public sentiment and especially Umno. PM Abdullah, for all his warts, is still the biggest boss of all in Malaysia. PM Abdullah is like the elephant and CM Lim the antelope, there is no way CM Lim can bulldoze his way. The CM and Penang stand to lose more if they antagonise the PM/Umno/BN.
It might be a better idea to tweak his open tender idea by doing the following:
1) educate the public on how it works, how to prepare for a tender bid and how to be a successful applicant regardless of background and political affiliation. Have a campaign to ensure everybody understands it and also to resolve all issues. Listen to all complaints, doubts and concerns.
2) ensure the process/system is beyond reproach, no breakdown/server-hang; it would be the last thing CM Lim wants.
3) Perhaps ensure Penang government projects are open only to Penang and Seberang Prai residents.
4) Perhaps, for the time being, ensure that 50% of all projects are reserved for bumiputera and another 50% reserved for non-bumis. This would be the best of both worlds whereby the bumis don't feel left out and the Penang government gets to implement the open tender process.
Fairplay: Malaysians are surprised at the remarks made by the Prime Minister on the NEP. What I understand is that the good part of the NEP has been explained by the new Menteri Besar of Selangor (YB Tan Sri Khalid - PKR) in that it will see that the poor of all races would be cared for. So why simply hit out at the new Chief Minister of Penang (YB Lim Guan Eng-DAP)?
The rakyat of Penang (Malays, Chinese and Indians)have unanimously elected their new government so lets give them a chance to prove themselves. Malaysians throughout the country are watching the latest political developments and they will show even more vehemently vide their votes in the 13th.General Election.
Sudhaka: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should keep quiet and start cleaning up his own backyard first. He is the one stoking racial tension over the issue of dismantling the New Economy Policy (NEP). If it is dismantled, then his Umno cronies tak boleh cari makan.
Kdchia47: PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s warning to Lim Guan Eng smacks of stirring up racial tensions again which is actually the hallmark of Umno-BN style of government. The DAP -PKR set-up has hardly started to rule Penang and here the PM is already on the warpath firing the first shot.
It is Abdullah and his party that is practising systematic legalised marginalisation of other minority races throughout the country and he thinks that others will do the same thing. Well, let us see for ourselves if the five opposition-ruled states practice marginalisation.
The PM is a big joke. He thinks all political parties in Malaysia practise a policy of marginalisation. He is actually insulting my intelligence.
Stephen Yap: Our PM should first ask CM Lim Guan Eng to meet him and clarify whether he wants to nullify the NEP for Penang befiore making any statements. Instead, the PM relied on the media to be his guiding star and started firing all over the place and make a mockery out of the whole issue.
I feel our PM is the one who is inciting racial unrest. Umno is always using this NEP issue to promote fear among the Malays ie, you will loose everything if the NEP is not in place. The NEP has been in place for more then 30 years now. What has it done? Yes, it did a lot for a handful of Umno honchos who built huge mansions and bought a lot of properties overseas.
Umno wants the Malays to be dependent on the NEP as it is the only way to get their support. Without the NEP, Umno has nothing to sell. Mr Prime Minister, please check your information before you make any comment next time. The mainstream media, of course, has gleefully seized the chance to blow everything out of proportion.
Post Merdeka Malaysian: Umno and BN are now the opposition in Penang. I believe that the people want a clean government, a government which will give them development without sidelining any race and an education system that gives all a chance to have tertiary education. Take the bad portion out of the NEP or to remove it and to replace it by a more equitable system.
The alternative coalition can get its working mechanism right and show Malaysia they are a workable alternative. Malaysia must continue to improve and move ahead.
On DAP, PKR stumbles to be expected
FJ Loong: Abdullah Junid's puts it very succinctly that in governing - as opposed to opposition - days, it is vital especially in the initial period, to avoid controversial actions or speeches. These will simply be free bullets for the BN who are just waiting to fire away.
When in the opposition, it was necessary to make loud speeches to get significant support. In state governments, they now have the opportunity to prove themselves, not just to their supporters but also to the unconverted. Not through more loud noises, but through quiet determination to do the job. Save the noises for occasions when BN's actions or speeches are detrimental to the well-being of the country. Like they say: ‘Softly, softly, catch the monkey’.
CSF: I totally agree with Abdullah Junid. DAP, PKR need to read your message. PKR-DAP-PAS need to change their mindsets now. You all no longer in the opposition, you are the state governments for Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah.
My personal opinion is that in order to become a successful Barisan Rakyat, a change of certain outdated individual ideologies and philosophy is imperative. Unite as one or you will not rule the federal government after the next general election.
