Small town, big names in Bentong war part 2, Malaysian election fever

Felda scheme with a potent voice

Meeting the people: Liow speaking during an NGO dinner in Bentong.

 

Lurah Bilut stands tall as the nation’s first Felda scheme, pioneered by settlers from all races from different parts of the country.

LURAH BILUT is just about 19km away from Bentong. It is a huge piece of fertile land located near Sungai Bilut and the Kelau forest reserve.

It is safe to say that most Malaysians, especially those staying in the cities, have never heard of this place and have no reason to come here.

But Lurah Bilut is not only the first Felda scheme in the country but one that was pioneered by settlers from all races after independence.

In this 12,920-acre (5,228ha) enclave, located within the Bentong parliamentary constituency, there are Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Orang Asli, and their children can go to either the national school or the national-type schools where the medium is in Chinese or Tamil.

The scheme was opened in 1957 and each settler was given 10 acres (4ha) of land. According to records, the first batch of settlers who entered the scheme on Aug 2, 1959, was from Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur. They were brought into the area by bus and were shocked to find themselves in a jungle.

One Chinese settler, who arrived here in 1959 from Negri Sembilan with just his clothes on his back, was given tools to hack away at the dense growth, according to one report. There is one road here called Jalan Pulau Pinang, because the settlers came from Penang.

As with everything that is new and untested, the settlers had to be imbued with a sense of adventure. Certainly they could not foresee the success that Felda would turn out to be eventually. Thus these early settlers in Lurah Bilut came to be known as the Pioneering Bulls and have become some kind of a legend in this Felda scheme.

Felda was set up to eradicate rural poverty through the use of effective agricultural methods to cultivate cash crops such as rubber and oil palm. In recent years, there has also been special emphasis on diversification to deal with the fluctuations in commodity prices.

On my visit to this Felda scheme, it was clear that many were eager to share their experiences with me. There is a sense of pride over what has taken place here.

Strategising: Wong meeting with his team of campaigners at his service centre in Bentong.
 

I am sitting at a restaurant opposite the Lurah Bilut Chinese school where the Barisan Nasional campaigners are having their lunch break.

A vegetarian meal has been prepared for incumbent MP Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and as he sat down at the table, the MCA deputy president invited those at the table to share his vegetarian dishes.

But many jokingly told him that they would take his share of meat instead, a joke which he has heard many times.

The Bentong parliamentary seat which Liow won with a 12,585 majority when he polled 51,340 votes against his PKR opponent R. Ponusamy’s 12,585 votes is regarded as a safe seat for the Barisan Nasional.

The current electorate of 62,400 voters comprise 43.9% Chinese, 44.6% Malays, 9.4% Indians, 0.5% Orang Asl and the rest, others.

Liow is expected to deliver this seat to the BN but no one is taking any chances this time because of the perception that the Chinese sentiments against the BN are very strong, even in Bentong where they have always been traditionally pro-BN.

Even the Bilut state seat, held by the MCA, is under threat from the Pakatan Rakyat. Liow has to work extra hard to campaign for 36-year-old Leong Kim Soon, who is contesting this seat. Leong’s grand uncle is the late Tan Sri Chan Siang Sun, who was the legendary MP for Bentong.

Leong, who is the political secretary to Liow, is facing DAP’s Chow Yu Hui.

In this rural setting, the two have gone from door to door, under the hot afternoon sun, to shake the hands of every voter.

Said a campaigner: “This is a crucial area as it is racially mixed and we want to cover as much ground as possible.”

Unlike the Felda schemes in Johor, especially, where Pakatan Rakyat candidates are literally chased away by the settlers, the PR workers have been able to put up their flags and banners, an indication that a fight is at hand.

In the Bentong town centre, Liow’s challenger is Wong Tack, who made a name for himself as the anti-Lynas campaigner. In his green T-shirt, Wong was raising environment issues but his credentials have taken a knock after he was exposed as the owner of a 1,000-acre (404ha) oil palm estate in Sabah.



Wong also had to fend off the revelation that he held Canadian permanent residence status, explaining that it was cancelled by the Canadian authorities because he did not go back to the country.

But the BN campaigners have been hammering on that issue, questioning why there was a need for him to collect donations at every ceramah when he is pretty well off financially.

They asked how many of the voters, especially settlers, could even dream of owning 1,000 acres of land and if they knew how much money had been collected so far.

But Wong seems undeterred by these issues, saying he was well-prepared to challenge Liow for Bentong,

and also Mentri Besar Datuk Adnan Yaacob, who is contesting in the Pelangai state seat, under Bentong.
Wong’s campaigners, mostly youngsters, are visibly seen in town, especially at the market, where they aggressively tell voters to go for change.

One Universiti Malaya student said she had volunteered to canvass votes for Wong because she had been actively involved in the anti-Lynas campaign.

“My belief in him remains the same. I will still support him and the DAP, nothing will change my stand,’’ the third-year student said. She said her parents knew that she was campaigning and wholeheartedly supported her.

Her friends, many eager to express their views, said they were using their own expenses to stay in Bentong.

At the Bentong Jaya coffeeshop, the discussions focus on the sentiments of the Chinese, swayed by DAP’s talk that Pakatan Rakyat would take over the Federal Government. Only a few were cautiously warning about the implications of the Chinese voting themselves out of the government.

A businessman from Kuala Lumpur said he had been trying to explain to some Chinese voters that while their sentiments are pro-Pakatan, the majority of Malays would be backing Barisan.

“The huge crowd at DAP ceramah can be deceiving because the Malay style of campaigning, in Felda areas, is to have small get-together sessions, prayers at the suraus and house to house visits. As these are not visible, the Chinese think the huge crowd means PR would take over,” he said.

In Bentong, the local dialect is Kwong Sai, which originates from Guangxi province in southern China. As we continued with our drinks, the locals at the neighbouring tables were listening attentively.

The politicians and campaigners have been doing all the talking so far but come May 5, the voters will be doing the talking via the ballot box. The stand of the majority in Bentong would be known then.

On the GE13 Beat
By WONG CHUN WAI

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Small town, big names in Bentong war, Malaysian election fever 

Small town, big names in Bentong war, Malaysian election fever

Politics up close and personal in a small town is different even if the candidates are major players at the national stage.

TIADA tingkap RM57.25, ada tingkap RM76.35 (without window it is RM57.25, with window it is RM76.35),” said a Hotel Kristal receptionist over the phone.

The difference was RM19.10. I decided to splurge and go for “ada tingkap”.

I wanted a room with a view for my quick stay at Bentong town in Pahang on Friday. The eve of a weekend presented a window of opportunity for me to get out of Greater Kuala Lumpur.

Since nomination day I’ve attended poli­ti­­­cal activities in the MP seats of Lembah Pantai, Serdang and Putrajaya and I wanted a change in political scenery.

Bentong was tempting as it is a hot seat. Incumbent MP and MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is facing fiery environmentalist Wong Tack of the DAP, who had threatened to burn the Lynas plant.

I also wanted a taste of politics in a sm­­all town and the famous ABC (ais batu campur) in Kow Po Coffee Shop.

Plus, I wanted to contribute to Star Online’s Storify timeline. (Storify users, in the words of Storify.com, tell stories by collecting updates from social networks, amplifying the voices that matter to create a new story format that is interactive, dynamic and social.)

On that day, The Star was covering the campaign trail of Liow and Wong via Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

After an 80-minute, 85km-drive from Subang Jaya, I arrived in the quaint town of Bentong, once a mining town, at around 3.30pm.

Here’s how I judge a town. “Wah, got KFC! Wah, got 7-Eleven! Wah, got Secret Recipe! Wah, got HSBC!,” I told my wife as I drove around the town which was like a big roundabout.

“Wah, no McDonalds!,” I told her. It seemed if you lived in Bentong, you had to drive 37km to Genting Sempat, on the foothill of Genting Highlands (and also part of the Bentong parliamentary constituency), if you had a McAttack.

One of the best hotels in town is Hotel Kristal. I checked in and quickly checked out my “ada tingkap” room. The view was that of a rather narrow Bentong River, the back of KFC and Barisan Nasional flags. It was worth the extra RM19.10.

Across the Bentong River and about a few kilometres from Hotel Kristal is Kampung Baru Perting, a Chinese new village, which is a DAP stronghold. I drove there as a candidate running for the Bentong seat was campaigning door-to-door.

It was drizzling. After a five-minute drive around the village, I spotted two dozen people carrying blue Barisan umbrellas. Must be Liow Tiong Lai, I told myself.



The 52-year-old politician has been the Bentong MP since 1999. Liow was working his way through a row of wooden and concrete houses together with his mentor Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, a former Bentong MP and MCA deputy president.

I took their photograph and tweeted (when the Internet signal was strong enough) it.

The silver-haired 70-year-old retired politician, according to my colleague T. Avinesh­waran, was amazing as he remembered almost all of the residents’ names.

Earlier, at 11am, Liow’s opponent Wong Tack had a press conference at the DAP office in Bentong town. At that time I was still in Petaling Jaya. But, via the Storify time­­line curated by Michelle Tam, I felt as if I was in Bentong town covering it.

One of the questions asked of the politi­cian, who made a name for the anti-Lynas campaign, was on the revelation over the Inter­­­­­­­­­­­­­­net that he owned large tract of oil palm plantation in Sabah.



In a video uploaded by Avineshwaran on YouTube immediately after his press conference, Wong said those who questioned his environmental credentials should call Datuk Masidi Manjun, Sabah’s Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, to ask about his contribution to environmental conservation in Sabah.

Tashny Sukumaran, my colleague, tweeted: “@wong_tack asked that @liowtionglai call @MasidiM to ask about his contributions to environmental conservation in Sabah. #bentong #ge13” and Masidi replied on Twitter: “let them fight their own battle like a gentleman #ge13”.

That’s the beauty of social media. The response is immediate and public.

Done with the Liow door-to-door campaigning, I decided to follow my rule #72 of covering a campaign trail – patronise a famous eatery in the town you are in.

I drove to Kow Po Coffee Shop. I managed to chat with the 80-year-old Tan Kow Po and his 48-year-old son, Michael. In 1969, Kow Po established the ABC and ice cream parlour at the same premises which it still occupies now.

Kow Po gave me the low-down on the political scenario in his hometown, Bentong.

At first I could not understand which party he was referring to as he used gestures to describe them.

Finally, I understood that when he made a quick stab with his index finger it meant DAP’s rocket and an O-sign repre­­sen­­­­­­­ted PAS’ moon.

If I was to understand the nuances of the ice cream maker’s political observations, I think he meant: be careful of voting based on the flavour of the month.

 One Man’s Meat by PHILIP GOLINGAI

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Growing trees with deep roots, rightways to Malaysian election

To make things happen for the betterment of our society, we should look into long-term goals instead of short-term achievements. It’s like planting a tree in your garden with a seedling. The tree planted the right way will take time to grow, but its roots will run deep and strong, providing shade for the generations to come. 

ONE of the experiments I remember to this day from primary school is the one where we placed green peas on cotton wool in a container and created a number of conditions to observe how plants grow.

The container kept under the most ideal conditions – enough water and exposure to sunlight – had the little bean sprouts shooting up in a matter of days.

I was more amazed at the fact that a little seed could transform into a seedling right before my very eyes.

In my innocence, I even suggested to my father that we should plant a durian seed in our garden and wait for the tree to grow so we do not have to buy durians anymore.

Of course, as we all know, in life, many things do not just happen overnight.

As a dear friend from Ipoh puts it, “the people who labour, whether sowing, planting or tending, rarely get to see the fruits of their own labour.”

All too often, others will be the beneficiaries, just as we too benefit from the labour of others.

Another dear friend, probably one of the longest surviving leukaemia patients in the country, has subjected herself to many clinical trials, both in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

She is told, at the very beginning, that there are no guarantees, but she takes everything in stride in the belief that even if the drug does not work for her now, it may work for others in the future once the shortcomings are put right.

What about us in our daily lives? Don’t you agree that we are sometimes just too impatient with wanting instant results even when we know that we are asking for the impossible?

I believe that the only constant in life is change, but what do we do to make change happen?

I know of many people who quietly labour to make changes, one step at a time, even when they have to go through the despair of wondering if all the hard work put in will ever bear fruit.

They are not the people who are vocal, and are able to articulate their viewpoints through a wide variety of platforms. Instead they are too busy just getting the work done.

The advocates for the disabled, for example, have many battles to fight. I know they cringe in despair each time a step forward is followed by two steps backwards.

But those who stay on are the ones who believe that it is good enough to be faithful to one’s own conscience and convictions, and eventually things do happen. They do not march to the applause of men, but are guided by doing what is right.

Sometimes, I think our politicians have much to learn about long-term goals as compared to short-term achievements. I have been to a number of ceramah already and I do wonder if those seeking to be elected truly understand what the future is really all about.

How do they see this nation of ours move forward? How do they help us become better people, so that together, we become a better nation?

No doubt, those who eventually come to power have the means to make certain things happen for the betterment of our society.

But it is the people themselves who truly make the difference. Our involvement goes beyond the vote. It must be translated into day-to-day action, oftentimes by being sensitive to the needs of others more than our own.

It’s like planting a tree in your garden with a seedling that you can pick up from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) in Kepong rather than just buying a ready tree to place in the garden.

The tree planted the right way will take time to grow, but its roots will run deep and strong. The instant tree will give you instant gratification but it will be the first to collapse in a thunderstorm. But the tree that you gently nurture will surely provide shade for the generations to come.

Sunday Starters
By SOO EWE JIN

> Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin (ewejin@thestar.com.my) is waiting to join his friend at his durian orchard, a labour of love that is bearing fruit after many years.

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Malaysian election time: swinging change towards transformation?

The political choice for Malaysians is not whether to embrace change, but which kind of change they prefer.

IN life, change is said to be the only constant. In politics change is a given, even mandatory.

If a governing system does not change its style or policies the way people want, then the system itself may be changed. Such change may be democratic or autocratic, evolutionary or revolutionary, peaceful or violent.

Much will depend on the type and degree of change. Who will be affected by that change, and in what ways?

Will the promised changes be what people had been led to expect? What other changes are likely as a consequence?

Will the pros outweigh the cons of those changes? And if the people find the actual changes not to their liking, will those changes be reversible?

Such questions often arise at general elections. Malaysia’s coming 13th general election seems to have unearthed more of these questions than any other election in the country’s history.

This comes partly as a residue of the 2008 general election. In that “political tsunami”, more seats in the Federal Parliament changed over into Opposition hands than ever before.

At the time, many voters who opted for the Opposition had not actually wanted to change the Federal Government. They merely wanted to teach Barisan Nasional a lesson for non-delivery and general indifference since 2004.

Voters did so by clearly denying Barisan its two-thirds majority. This had come right after the 2004 general election, which had won Barisan 63.9% of the popular vote (more, if Barisan had contested all constituencies).

So in 2008, Barisan scored only 50.3%, an all-time low. The previous low count was in 1999, which saw Barisan win only 56.5% of the popular vote.

Will the general election this year see a swing of support back to Barisan as it hopes, or a further boost for the Opposition as it imagines? Will there be a pendulum effect in favour of Barisan, or a slide favouring Pakatan Rakyat?

As soon as Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak assumed the premiership in April 2009, he had seen the writing on the wall.

He opted for a major overhaul of policy and mindsets with the emphasis on transformation (change).

This spanned an Economic Transformation Programme that aimed for merit over entitlement, the Performance and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) within the Prime Minister’s Department introducing Key Performance Indicators, a change in national attitudes with 1Malaysia, focused aspirations towards a high-income nation and even abolition of repressive laws like the ISA.

The changes came thick and fast, including some that none had thought possible. The pace of changes exceeded anything that any Federal or State Government had seen before.

Even a movement like Hindraf, born in the crucible of street protests and energised by hunger strikes, came to deal with Najib’s Barisan.

Hindraf leaders P. Waythamoorthy and N. Ganesan had discussed their concerns and bargained with Pakatan and Barisan leaders, and opted to work with Najib.

Najib himself, coming into office in his mid-50s and the son of a former prime minister, personified change. One after another, Barisan stalwarts like Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz quit the scene, following Tun Dr Mahathir’s lead.

Unlike this older generation, Najib engaged openly and repeatedly with the younger generation. Young adults are typically seen as energetic, idealistic and hungry for change.

The obvious subtext was that voters need not opt for a change in government, since the government itself had already launched a comprehensive programme of change. This approach seemed to coincide with the mood of the time.

The 13th general election will see 2.9 million new voters, out of a grand total of 13.1 million nationwide. That represents just over 22% of the country’s electorate.

Some of those new, mostly younger voters may not seek that much change. Many will want more of the changes they have seen, sticking with Barisan, while others may still want a change in the system itself by opting for Pakatan.

A divided Hindraf embodies this difference in approach. In seeking change, should one ride the wave of change in securing more changes, or switch to a competing outfit atop a platform of change?

Which is more important, adding to the momentum of change that had already begun, or opting for the promise of change? Each individual and group will have to make that crucial choice come next Sunday.

On nomination day, Barisan unveiled another surprise: the high proportion of fresh young candidates. In states like Penang, the percentage of new faces reached 70%.

In contrast, Pakatan parties are still led mostly by older people: Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Nik Aziz and Hadi Awang, with Anwar himself six years older than Najib.

Will the many young voters, seeking change, end up voting for the oldest political leaders in the country?

COMMENT
By BUNN NAGARA

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I am the most winnable candidate in Malaysian election

PETALING JAYA: Sacked DAP leader Jenice Lee who is defending her Teratai state seat as an Independent claimed that she is the most “winnable” candidate in the contest.

Despite going up against four others as well as one DAP comrade, she claimed that the support from those who showed up to cheer her on during Nomination Day was a lot more than the DAP candidate.

“Show me which DAP branch here does not support me. All of them proposed my name for candidacy to the party. This only shows that the leadership refuses to listen to the grassroots,” she said in an emotionally-charged interview on Switchup.tv's GE13: The Showdown with journalist Regina Lee.

She said that she was not sorry about contesting as an Independent, citing a conspiracy and tales of sabotage by her own party.

Hitting out at “certain quarters” which included a top party leader, Lee claimed that her popularity triggered the “conspiracy” to sideline her.

She also claimed that her party members made all sorts of allegations against her.

Fighting spirit: Lee (right) answering a question during the interview at Menara Star in Petaling Jaya.
 

“They claimed that I abused funds and even resorted to personal attacks, claiming that I was having affairs with many men,” she said.

If the party was serious about investigating those allegations, she said they should have acted when the rumours surfaced in 2011.

She also claimed that she was sidelined due to “jealousy”.

“In the Selangor party elections in 2010, I received the highest number of votes and I'm one of the most popular faces in the party,” she said.

Despite her “popularity”, she lost in the race for the Selangor DAP Socialist Youth chief post to her former assistant last year.

Despite the claims of sabotage, she said she would attempt to rejoin the DAP if she wins the elections and even if she does not, she considers herself to be Pakatan Rakyat-friendly.

“My heart and soul is still with DAP and it is a good party, but there is just this small group of leaders practising cronyism.

“I think I have what it takes to fix this,” she said.

 - The Star/Asia News Network

GE13: DAP, a clever ruse to kill two birds with one stone? Naughty, dishonest ROS?

A decision by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) not to recognise the DAP's central executive committee due to its controversial party elections held in December last year has kicked up a storm within the party's top brass. 

Lim Kit Siang in tears

A LETTER from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on Wednesday has become a bone of contention with DAP leaders, who now want to contest the general election using the PAS and PKR symbols.

At an EGM at the party headquarters on Thursday night, the leaders debated the letter from ROS and at a press conference afterwards they slammed the ROS and its “despicable act” to stop the DAP from contesting in the elections.

The ROS letter, DAP claimed, means that its central executive committee (CEC) is now powerless, that its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng cannot sign any letter of authorisation for election candidates and that the DAP can no longer use its cherished Rocket symbol.

The letter, however, merely states that the ROS is studying the party's registration following a dispute among DAP members over the Dec 15 elections.

The letter also says, pending the final disposal of the dispute, the CEC that came into power after the elections is not recognised.

But the DAP seized the letter as an opportunity to grandstand and turn the blade against the Barisan Nasional, claiming that they have been made powerless and unfit to contest in the elections.

Guan Eng was visibly angry and his father, party adviser Lim Kit Siang, was in tears as they announced, with great emotional effect, the alleged import of the letter a day before nominations.

They also issued an ultimatum that the ROS must withdraw its letter by 3pm yesterday or the DAP will contest under the banner of its allies.

Any verbal reassurances by the Election Commission or ROS that the DAP could continue to use its Rocket banner and issue authorisation letters were not good enough.The ROS letter must be withdrawn.

With an eye on the Chinese voters, the DAP has interpreted the ROS letter as it wants and is laying down impossible conditions that government agencies cannot adhere to.

The ROS has been probing a dispute over the Dec 15 CEC elections after several DAP members lodged complaints with the ROS and demanded action.

Their complaints centred on a rectification of the results announced by the party, nearly a month after the party elections, that an error had occurred in the counting of votes using a spreadsheet software.

In the rectification, Guan Eng's political secretary Zairil Khir Johari, who initially lost in the election of 20 CEC members, had actually won the 20th spot.

The party claimed the delay in announcing the new results was because of the holiday season and on learning the mistake, the DAP had bravely faced it and rectified it.

But members cried foul and started going to the ROS, complaining about various shortcomings in the election, including alleging that there was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the results.

They alleged that no Malay candidates had won and that the party leaders saw fit to “elect” one after the elections were long over.

They also alleged that over 700 party members were not notified of the AGM and had not participated and had they voted, the results would have been different.

The DAP members from Sepang, Seremban and Johor have been persistent in their complaints, even bringing their own counsels to the ROS.

Zairil, after his election as a CEC member, was named as candidate for the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat, vacated by Liew Chin Tong who has moved to contest the Kluang parliamentary seat.

Whether intentionally or not, the ill-timed letter from the ROS has been seized by the DAP for its own grand theatre ahead of nominations today.

Inevitably, the Barisan is on the receiving end of a drama that is played before the Malaysian public, as a case of outright repression of the DAP.

This despite a statement by ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman, issued late yesterday, that the DAP is not de-registered and that the party can use the Rocket symbol.

Deregistration is not a new thing in our politics and has happened many times before, including to Umno in 1988, and if any such calamities were to fall on the DAP, it is not an exception but the rule. It is how the ROS keeps political parties in check.

But for now, the fact remains that the ROS letter does not even mention deregistration but the DAP leaders are stretching it, for their own political purposes, to read what they want into it an act of repression against the DAP.

As such, they say they have no choice but to use the PAS and PKR symbols.

DAP has been grandstanding on using the PAS symbol since last month and PAS has been reciprocating that the DAP is free to use the party's moon symbol.

The political implications of this are obvious the DAP using the PAS symbol will force Chinese voters to view PAS favourably while at the same time dispelling the notion, held among many Malays, that the DAP is Chinese-centric, anti-Islam and anti-Malay.

It's a clever ruse by the DAP, helped along by PAS, to kill two birds with one stone.

COMMENT
By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naughty, dishonest ROS

QUESTION TIME  It looks like other Malaysian bodies besides those responsible for curbing corruption are being “naughty and dishonest”, the latest being the Registrar of Societies (ROS) which has draconian powers to oversee societies, including political parties.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud famously (notoriously?) labelled the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation of himself for graft as “victimisation”, and reserved his cooperation because he believed that they have been “naughty and dishonest”.

"They (MACC) don't deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty... and they have not been honest," he said recently.

Change some names, and the DAP is now a victim of “naughty and dishonest” investigation by the ROS. This is likely closer to the truth than the MACC allegations by Taib who continues unscathed despite everything. What’s more, delve deeper into the latest issue and you will wade deep into a conspiracy theory to rival any book by Jeffrey Archer.

The DAP - yes, to its discredit then - had a “technical glitch” during its December elections for the central executive committee (CEC) which resulted in a minor revision to its election results. The studious ROS began investigations, but only decided not to recognise DAP’s CEC several months later, yesterday - just two days before nomination day. How convenient.

According to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, the letter was faxed to the DAP headquarters at 5.45pm yesterday in very questionable circumstances.

In a report by Malaysiakini, Lim (above) told reporters that ROS director-general Abdul Rahman Othman had personally met him in his office in Penang on April 5, where the latter agreed to postpone the ‘routine’ investigations in view of the looming elections to May 9, four days after the elections.

“Abdul Rahman personally guaranteed to me that he would not make any decision until investigations are complete, and until he obtains a full report from his investigator.”

But then the letter not to recognise the DAP’s CEC still came.

Lim has cried foul, and indeed that is what it is, coming so late in the day when the ROS has had many months to investigate the “technical glitch”.

Meantime, the Election Commission said that the DAP will be able to field candidates as usual on nomination day, regardless of the Registrar of Societies' decision to suspend the party's central committee.

'No comfort at all for DAP'

Should that not give some comfort to DAP that it can contest under its own banner and put up its own slate? Apparently not, and here is where the conspiracy and plot thickens and links up with the other ingredients for a good, juicy stew.

What gives? If the ROS does not recognise the DAP’s CEC and has given notice to the DAP that it does not recognise the CEC before nomination day, how can the CEC make any legally binding decision on its slate of candidates? There is the possibility that its entire slate of candidates can be disqualified on nomination day itself.

Even if they are not on nomination day tomorrow, post-elections, it is possible to challenge the legality of DAP’s candidates. A compliant judiciary could negate the results of elections where DAP candidates stood. And if DAP MPs and state assemblypersons are suspended on Monday May 6 - the day after the elections - via court injunction, power can’t be handed over.

Thus far, three agencies are implicated in this conspiracy: The ROS with its draconian powers granted during ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s (right) dictatorial grip on the country when he tightened laws for societies to bring them under control; the supposedly independent, but not so independent Election Commission and its assurance which may lull DAP into complacency; and a compliant judiciary, courtesy again of Mahathir, which may be willing to play ball.

The bigger question is, who is the puppeteer pulling the strings behind the curtains? And are they actually so desperate and so fearful of losing as to resort to such measures to deny free and fair elections to remain in power? Indeed, is there such a plot in the first place?

Obviously, the DAP cannot and will not take chances, and unless it has iron-clad assurances that it can use its own logo and put up its own candidates, it will go ahead with its plans of standing under the PAS banner in the peninsular, and PKR for Sabah and Sarawak.

If they have to, it will be a major challenge, but the plot will backfire for those who may have engineered this whole thing. It will only help to push the somewhat disparate partners in Pakatan Rakyat even closer together and hasten the day when they will all stand under one banner.

And it is going to sicken further all right-thinking, reasonable and responsible Malaysians who badly - very badly - want to see elections fought on even terrain with everyone given equal opportunity to express their views and get their message across. So no one has an unfair advantage or obstacle.

Any measure which further enhances Pakatan Rakyat’s image as the underdog will help the coalition more than it harms.

BY P Gunasegaram
P GUNASEGARAM is founding editor of KiniBiz. He enjoyed reading Jeffrey Archer’s “First Among Equals”, especially the final twist about who would become prime minister.

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DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang's biggest political gamble

A Malaysia Dream Lim Kit Siang #1-4 

DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang's biggest political gamble

A victory against Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman would mean the first time in the DAP veteran’s 50-year political career that he has defeated a major Malay challenger. A loss would see him packing out of Johor and, probably, out of politics as well.



DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, who is contesting in Gelang Patah, is not as invincible as he might seem. He has been defeated before – not once but five times in a career that spans nearly five decades.

Besides, Kit Siang and his junior – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng – have upset the apple cart in Johor and sparked the sudden disbanding of the three-man state DAP candidate selection committee.

State DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau, one of the panel members, has told friends he had invited Kit Siang in good faith to fight in Gelang Patah, which he had earlier been eyeing.

The veteran politician accepted but he is bringing along his “cronies” and this has caused bitter in-fighting and dissension among state leaders.

Kit Siang would need all the support and help he can get from Dr Boo, the current assemblyman for Skudai, one of the two state seats in the parliamentary constituency. (The other is Nusajaya.)

If he crosses the Johor chief, as he and Guan Eng had done, Kit Siang could hurt his chances in Gelang Patah.

The Lims, who control the party, are also bringing Liew Chin Tong from Bukit Bendera in Penang to Kulai and fielding “Superman” Hew Kuan Yaw in Labis.

Kit Siang and son, who is the Penang Chief Minister, had also used their “central power” to move current elected representatives from one seat to another in Johor.

All these moves, insiders say, is to cut Dr Boo down to size, as he seldom sees eye to eye with Guan Eng.

Besides, if Barisan Nasional fields Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah, as is widely speculated, Kit Siang will probably face the toughest political fight of his life.

A victory would see him make history by defeating a Malay candidate and capturing a constituency that is synonymous with the ambitions of Umno.

On the other hand, a defeat would send the DAP stalwart packing – not only out of Johor but, probably, also out of politics.

Kit Siang is pushing 72 and a defeat may well sound the death knell of his long and illustrious career.

He has contested in 10 parliamentary and eight state seats, the first in a by-election in Serdang, Selangor in 1968.

He moved to Malacca, then back to Selangor, and, after that, to a disastrous showing in Penang with his failed Tanjung projects to wrest the state from the Barisan.

After his defeat in 1999, he emerged in Ipoh Timur in the 2004 general election and remained there for another term.

He is trying out Johor, as he did in Penang and Perak – a tried and tested strategy to expand the DAP’s reach, to find new territories for the party and to help the opposition front capture Putrajaya.

His nomadic political lifestyle is part of a strategy to also centralise national attention on himself and to make the state he migrates to the focal point of his party’s national election battle.

He never contested to serve as MP but, always, to expand the party among mostly Chinese voters.

While his political enemies have coined for him the phrase “touch and go politician” to describe his migratory practices, Kit Siang remains confident of his politics.

He hopes his venture into Johor, designed to take the Barisan by surprise, would have the “awe and wow” effect for the upcoming “mother of all battles”.

By his calculation, Kit Siang is sure of the Chinese voters, who form a slight majority in Gelang Patah. But he had not banked on the Barisan pulling a surprise of its own.

Ghani entering the fray, if it indeed happens, is wholly unexpected and is fraught with danger for Kit Siang.

This would make it a “Malay vs Chinese” electoral fight, the first time in Lim’s 50-year political life that he would be facing a major Malay challenger.

Besides, Ghani is mild-mannered, soft-spoken and enjoys a special relationship with the Chinese in Johor who, unlike their cousins elsewhere, did not wholly contribute to the 2008 political tsunami.

Kit Siang’s confidence is drawn from the party’s performance in Sarawak in the 2006 state polls, where it contested in 15 state seats and won 12, 10 of them with big majorities.

The DAP also won the Sibu seat by a slim majority in a hard-fought battle with the Barisan in a by-election.

With such a performance behind him, the hardcore politician is tuned to the possible – confident and willing to bet everything in one throw of the dice.

But the Lim dynasty, in their over-confidence, has upset the apple cart that had been carefully nurtured by Dr Boo in Johor.

Not only is the Gelang Patah contest much in doubt now, the party’s entire foray into Johor is being questioned by state DAP leaders.

Comment By Baradan Kuppusamy

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Malaysia's future lies in Malaysian hands! Electoral system for GE13 ready now?

FINALLY, the curtain has been drawn and the ball is at our feet to decide the destiny of our nation over the next five years.

 The much-awaited announcement on the dissolution of Parliament was made at 11.30am yesterday, exactly four years after Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took office as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Although everyone waited for the dissolution for quite some time, I think the Prime Minister waited till this day to complete his four years of premiership. And of course, he had a lot on his agenda to be completed especially the Janji Ditepati tour and all his other innovative and transformative plans.

Whether the polls were called last year or not, it’s the prerogative of the PM of the day to call the shots and he had done it well within the stipulated period. He had until April 28 to do so.

Polling should be held within 60 days and my guess is it will be held within 30 days and let’s hope the voters will make good use of this opportunity to elect the right people to run the country.

Our future lies in the hands of 13 million voters and everyone should exercise their vote with utmost sincerity. Whichever divide we support, let’s be rational and civil about it.

At the end of the day, we are talking about our nation, our beloved Malaysia.

I am not propagating whom you should vote for but vote you must, professionally and wisely.

Do not be misled and succumb to empty promises.

We need a leader who is truly a Malaysian at heart, one who cares for the rakyat. Reject the extremists.

As the Prime Minister has said, do not derail Vision 2020. Whoever comes to power should focus their attention on achieving the developed status of our country.

Vision 2020 is not only Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s dream but the dream of all Malaysians.

Policies and plans laid out for the betterment of the country should be complemented. One should always put the nation above self.

To all the parties, especially Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, I hope that common sense will prevail before, during and after the polls.

Let’s hope and pray the run-up to the elections will be fair and clean and at the same time the parties concerned will act maturely and ethically.

At the end of the day, common sense should prevail and chaos after the elections should not be an option.

All parties should accept the decision of the voters and the verdict gracefully.

To the winners, syabas and to those who failed, I wish you the best the next time around.

Do not underestimate the intelligence of the voters. We are no more the katak di bawah tempurung - simply put, naive.

We, the rakyat, are very well-informed and would not be easily swayed by sweet talk or fiery speeches. We only want the truth and the best from our elected representatives.

JAYARAJ KGS Sitiawan - The Star

Is Malaysia’s electoral system ready for GE13? 

One of the special features in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society is the still predominantly race-based party system. UMNO, the long term dominant ruling party was founded in 1946 as a reaction against the granting of citizenship to Chinese and Indian immigrants upon independence. 

With a possible, some say probable, watershed and regime change for Malaysia’s increasingly competitive political system in the pipeline, it is useful to look into the election system and its mechanisms. The media, fascinated with personality clashes, campaign highlights and the outcome of elections, don’t look too often into details of the electoral law. And most voters don’t care much whether the ruling governments tweak the rules in their own favour, most often by changing the boundaries of precincts more or less unnoticed – the old, widespread, and popular gerrymandering. Malaysia is not alone here, but the discrepancies in the electoral size of constituencies in favour of Malay and against Chinese areas have been “adjusted” frequently and helped the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to safeguard its dominance over the last decades.

One of the special features in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society is the still predominantly race-based party system. UMNO, the long term dominant ruling party was founded in 1946 as a reaction against the granting of citizenship to Chinese and Indian immigrants upon independence. The defensive attitude of the Malay (then shaky) majority, understandably insisting on political dominance in their own homeland, led to the formation of other ethnic-based political parties. UMNO, in a successful move to broaden its support base since 1974, managed to co-opt the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC),  the Malaysian People’s Movement Party (GERAKAN) and a number of parties in Sabah and Sarawak into the National Front (Barisan Nasional / BN) coalition (now altogether 13 parties), which enjoyed a huge majority in Parliament until 2008.

Irregularities in most general elections until now have been reported quite regularly. The long list reaches from vote buying, stuffing of ballot boxes, bussing of voters to other constituencies and multiple voting, “phantom voters”, “imported voters”, “missing voters”, manipulated voters lists, to granting citizenship to illegal immigrants (mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines). The latter is now one of the major arguments to attack UMNO and Prime Minister Najib Razak for this citizenship for votes trick. Najib, who has promised his followers to win back the coalition’s two-thirds majority, seems to struggle for political survival now, if rumours and polls are a reliable indicator.

The Barisan Nasional has been only nominally multi-racial but cemented in reality the Malay dominance and privileges (with quite a number of affirmative action measures), which nearly guaranteed so called “safe deposit” constituencies especially in rural areas. Pretending that the Malay political dominance was under threat has always rallied Malay voters behind the ruling coalition. And to make things even more difficult, the competition of the Islamic Party PAS often forced UMNO to demonstrate its religious credentials. With the resentment against this concept among non-Malay minorities (at least about 30%) growing with the frustration about strings of prominent corruption-scandals, it was a logical strategic move for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to form a multi-racial party, the Peoples’ Justice Party or Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2003. Anwar, after being sacked from UMNO and his post as Deputy Prime Minister in 1998, accused under dubious circumstances of corruption and sodomy and imprisoned, is back on the political scene since 2008 and the probable Prime Minister if his opposition “Peoples’ Pact” (Pakatan Rakyat / PR) wins the upcoming election. The Pakatan Rakyat is not without internal problems given the diversity of its members, namely the Malay Islamic rival of UMNO, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and the Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP). However, given the erosion of the Barisan Nasional component parties Gerakan (officially multi-racial but predominantly Chinese and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Pakatan Rakyat seems to be a very strong challenger to the ruling coalition.

Inherited from the British colonial master, Malaysia has adopted a clear-cut first-past-the-post majoritarian election system which has helped to keep UMNO and its BN component parties in power so far. The Barisan-coalition contesting the elections practically as one single party gave few choices to the voters and made it more than difficult for opposition parties to make inroads… until 2008 when more voters were fed up with arrogance of power and all too visible corruption. The majority of the BN in 2008 was clear, with 140 seats against 82 for the opposition, which is four times their previous share. But in relative vote shares it was as narrow as 50.27% against 46.75%. And nota bene: in the first-past-the-post electoral system relatively small changes in voter preferences can change the outcome dramatically.

By Wolfgang Sachsenroeder, New Mandala  

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26 Mar 2013

Malaysian race/religion based politics is dangerous!

Generation Election 13: ‘Victory’ at any cost? 


 

Pilihanraya Umum 13 PRU 13 General Election 13 

The DAP strategy of targeting MCA candidates could make the Chinese community the unwitting victim.

THE 2008 general election was significant as a “political tsunami” – the Opposition achieved its best ever gains, with the promise of an emerging two-coalition system.

That election would have been even more historic had it also achieved what many thought it would: end communal politics for good.

But it failed miserably, with no political party blameless. Perhaps it was too much to expect qualitative change in addition to quantitative change (seat numbers in state assemblies and Parliament).

Communal politics has been a bane of this country for as long as there have been elections.

That remains a fundamental reality into the foreseeable future.

For Barisan Nasional (and its predecessor the Alliance) as well as the Op­­p­o­sition, race-based politics is practised if not always acknowledged. It takes far more to turn that around than many have imagined.
Whether party membership is defined by ethnicity or not, one race or another dominates and characterises each party.

Parties that are multiracial in theory are just less transparent in their ethnic politics.

However, what turns an unfortunate situation tragic is when those parties most vehement about having “turned the corner” of communal politics are also doing the most to perpetuate it.

PAS as the Islamist party has set new standards in trying to ram Islamist-style restrictions down the throats of all Malaysians – Muslim and non-Muslim. It now does so with more gusto and less hesitation.

PKR as another Muslim and Malay-majority party chooses indifference and complacency in the face of the PAS onslaught.

It has even supported the idea of turning Kelantan into an Islamic state.

The DAP prefers silence and inaction amid PAS’ swagger. Elsewhere it would wield its non-Muslim credentials, sometimes to the point of playing the Christian card.

None of this helps to tone down Malaysia’s sweltering communal politics. And since this reinforces the problem in Pakatan itself, it could prompt more of the same in Barisan as well.

The DAP’s latest move sees party adviser Lim Kit Siang contesting the Gelang Patah seat in Johor. It would be the latest “stop” in a long and roving parliamentary career.

MCA, which has half (seven out of 15) of its parliamentary seats in the state, sees Johor as its stronghold.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek condemned this as DAP’s strategy of “Chinese killing off the Chinese”.

Both Chinese-based parties are natural rivals whose mutual rivalry has now reached a new high.

DAP leaders may dismiss this alarm as predictable melodrama, but it contains a hard kernel of truth.

The DAP’s drive for power is not above pitting Chinese candidates against other Chinese candidates, which is likely to reduce further the number of ethnic minority MPs.

Johor is also Umno’s home state. There is virtually no prospect of the DAP snatching the state from Barisan.

However, DAP efforts to unseat MCA parliamentarians in Johor could produce a strong Malay-based Umno in the state government contending with a Chinese-based DAP in the Opposition.

That would be bad and dangerous for politics, race relations and the Chinese community’s representation in governance. It would be a regression, precariously setting an unhealthy precedent.

In recent years Malaysian political discourse became more multiracial as both Government and Opposition coalitions became more racially mixed.

With both Barisan and Pakatan led by Malay-majority parties, political differences were distanced from racial differences.

In the absence of thoroughly multiracial politics, that seems the next best option. The prospect of political fault lines coinciding with ethnic fault lines, raising the possibility of an ethnic conflagration as in 1969, has thus become more remote.

But the risk of returning to such political volatility remains. Respon­sible leaders of every party need to be cognizant of these realities.

Besides, the cause of shedding the racial element in party politics cannot be furthered by recourse to more racial politics.

Under a veneer of multiracial rhetoric, the DAP has been known to practise communal politics in its seat choices and allocations.

Lim’s foray into Gelang Patah to battle the MCA incumbent there is the latest example of this approach. Instead of creating a more multiracial two-coalition system, this communal cannibalism could promote an unhealthy and perilous two-race system.

Apparently, the DAP’s objective is simply to unseat MCA candidates, seen as soft targets since 2008, regardless of the cost to the people. That can only come at the expense of deepening racial politics in electoral outcomes.

Perhaps the DAP’s Chinese candidates are thought to have better chances in challenging MCA’s Chinese candidates than Umno’s Malay candidates. But that is still a tricky calculation depending on the circumstances at the time.

Thoughtful and responsible leaders may not consider that a risk worth taking, much less a cost worth paying.
 

BEHIND THE HEADLINES  By BUNN NAGARA

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Political parties banking on votes from the civil servants, the sacrosanct!

The civil service is sacrosanct, politically speaking. If you are a politician, you better think twice before speaking up against it.

ALTHOUGH more non-Malays are beginning to join the civil service, the fact that Malays make up the overwhelming majority of the 1.4 million-strong public sector remains.(The highest ratio of civil servants in the world)

It is said that nearly every Malay family has someone either in the civil service or the uniformed services.

Thus, the civil service is home to a sizeable percentage of voters. Therefore, their welfare and livelihood is a key priority of the Barisan Nasional Government which likes to project itself as its protector and benefactor.

On the other hand, the Chinese and Indians predominate in the private sector as small businessmen, professionals and wage earners.

They are largely cut off from the civil service. They have little clue how the civil servants, as a unified special interest group, think and respond in a crisis.

This is the reason why some Chinese and Indian politicians and even some thoughtless Malays make insensitive remarks about the civil service and pay a price for their faux pas.

The more seasoned politicians in Umno and other Barisan component parties managed to avoid making insensitive remarks, preferring to work with the civil service rather than against them.

When civil servants die in the line of duty, Barisan gets all worked up. It immediately moves in to comfort and reassure them as it is mindful of the civil services' vote bank.

When security personnel were killed by Sulu insurgents, the Government's game plan changed as well.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ordered an all-out assault by a combined force of army and police personnel.

Resources were rapidly mobilised, villagers told to move out and security forces encircled the red zone and the shooting war started in earnest.

When Najib announced the decision to attack on March 5 at a gathering of religious leaders at Putra Stadium, he was given a standing ovation.

The civil servants had rejoiced that the initial decision to negotiate was over and that the army and police were on attack mode.

The Opposition, on the other hand, had fallen flat. They had failed to connect with the powerful emotional impact the crisis had on civil servants and the Malay voters.

In fact, they committed a faux pas of the worst kind imaginable when PKR vice-president Tian Chua remarked that the Lahad Datu crisis was a sandiwara by Umno and Barisan Nasional.

His remarks, published in Keadilan Daily on March 1, had riled up the Malay groups, including former servicemen, who vented their anger and demanded an apology and retraction.

Not a day passes by without someone burning or stomping on pictures of Tian Chua and lodging a police report and urging stern action.

At one anti-Tian Chua session, even former IGPs and former deputy IGPs were out condemning Tian Chua and rooting for the Malaysian security forces.

The message out there is simple while the armed forces are risking their lives in protecting the country, Opposition politicians are playing politics.

The civil service is sacrosanct, politically speaking. If you are a politician, you better think twice before speaking up against it.

Former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had angered civil servants when he gave out a broom as an “award” to two underperforming local councils in Novem-ber 2007.

While he wanted to improve the service, the civil servants saw it as demeaning and felt slighted. They took it out by spoiling their votes when the general election came, contributing to the fall of Barisan in Selangor.

In more recent times December 2011 Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua was forced to eat humble pie after he announced that Pakatan Rakyat would slash the civil service by half, if it takes power.

Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had to step in and assure the civil servants that Pakatan would do no such thing if it is in power.

Even Pua, who stands in an overwhelmingly Chinese seat, was forced to clarify that he did not mean “slash by half” but reduce its numbers through synergies.

The civil service is overwhelmingly Malay and largely pro-Barisan, who is their protector and benefactor; although PAS and, to a lesser extent, PKR are making a dent.

However, it is not big enough a dent for the supposedly neutral civil servants to change direction as yet.

Comment by BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

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How are Malaysia ever to match South Korean Psy's Gangnam Style?

MP SPEAKS On the occasion of South Korean pop superstar Psy's Gangnam Style performance at the Prime Minister's CNY Open House in Penang today, will Najib Abdul Razak make a statement whether Malaysia can ever catch up with South Korea or at least begin to close the yawning chasm between the two countries?

A cabinet minister said Psy's appearance will make Penang world-famous but it is more important that Penang and Malaysia become world-famous because of our own achievements in all fields of human endeavour.

Sixteen years ago, when we proclaimed the Multimedia Super Corridor as "a gift to the world", Malaysia and South Korea were on the same level embarking on the IT journey.

Today, MSC and Malaysia have faded away from the world radar screen as an international IT hot spot, while South Korea has powered ahead to become the first country in the world to become a broadband society as well as the land of fastest internet in the world - with an average internet speed in 2012 of 14.7 Mpbs, 650 percent higher than the average 2.2 Mpbs registered in Malaysia.

Among the worst 

In fact, Malaysia is ranked among the world's worst nations in internet speed - even slower than Thailand's average internet speed of 2.9 Mpbs for 2012.

In good governance, Malaysia trails behind South Korea especially in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index in the past five years, where Malaysia is perceived as more corrupt, ranging No. 47 to 60 in world ranking in contrast to South Korea's ranking from 39 to 45.

In the latest 2002 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders), Malaysia hit a historic low in ranking at No 145 while South Korea is ranked No 50.

Recently, the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) highlights that Malaysia is the country which suffered the biggest drop in scores among all participating countries for both mathematics and science, while confirming the continuing domination by a group of Asian education systems - South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong - in these two critical subjects.

Malaysia woefully lags behind South Korea in educational excellence. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013, four South Korean universities are listed among the World Top 200 universities while six in the World Top 400 universities - but not a single one from Malaysia.

Has Najib any answer to the question why Malaysia is lagging so far behind South Korea in all fields of human endeavour, when 56 years ago when Malaysia achieved Merdeka, South Korea was poorer and more backward but is now two or three times richer than Malaysia?

By Lim Kit Siang

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PAS messes up religion and politics again: Making one's hair stand!

  In a difficult position: Shoppers walking outside one of the unisex salons in KB Mall.

Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan's recent remarks about salons make us wonder if he has anything between the ears'. How then can he not know that PAS is messing things up in a respectable industry. 

DATUK Takiyuddin Hassan should be invited by hair stylists for a visit to their shops the Kelantan state executive councillor has no idea what he is talking about. To put it bluntly, he is talking rubbish.

He doesn't need to have a hair cut or a hair wash but simply observe the operations at a hair salon.

And sir, it is hair salon and not hair saloon. There is no drinking or entertainment of any kind.

A hair salon is different from a girlie barber shop, that's another point you should be aware of.

On Sunday, the PAS assistant secretary-general defended the PAS state government's decision to enforce gender-segregation rules on unisex salons, prohibiting women from cutting the hair of men, and vice-versa.

He said: “It is a well-known fact that hair salons and unisex establishments are the most convenient places for immoral activities.

“They provide a cover for men and women to engage in illicit activities. If I were a Chinese, I will never allow my wife to patronise such salons or even consider allowing my children to work in such places because of their reputation as a hotbed for immoral activities.

“And even a Chinese wife will feel uneasy to allow her husband to go to such places. Frequently such places will always lead to scandals.”

Like many Malaysians who read these remarks yesterday, I really didn't know whether to cry or to burst out laughing.

Many of us go to hair salons for hair cuts simply because, unlike barbers, these hair stylists are properly trained.

Many invested in diploma courses in famous training schools in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

We don't expect Takiyuddin to know what “a layer cut” is.

Huge sums of capital have been invested into their hair salons and many well-known hair stylists have turned entrepreneurs by setting up chains of hair salons nationwide.

These hair stylists work hard on their reputation, of which PAS may not be aware of, but clients are selective in their choice of hair salons.

Takiyuddin has no idea what he is talking about. We wouldn't blink an eye if our family members have their hair cut at hair salons - by a male or a female stylist.

And most of us have family members or friends who work at hair salons and we are proud of their skills and creativity. They make many Malaysians look good with their professionalism and abilities.

It is even more humorous when Takiyuddin said that “when a woman worker gives upper body massages to a male customer, one thing will eventually lead to another, ending with illicit activities”.

Hello, the nearest massage one gets at a hair salon is a neck-and-shoulder massage.

And from where Takiyuddin is coming from, he and his party leaders will surely shut down spas when they come to power.

Since male stylists cannot cut the hair of females and vice-versa, will we see PAS banning women doctors from treating male patients?

So if Takiyuddin suffers a heart attack while he is giving a press conference, will he wait for a male doctor to come, even if there is a female doctor nearby?

Next, women flight attendants won't be serving Takiyudidin when he is flying because it can lead to many things, what with their smiles and the uniforms they wear.

The hair on my hands are already standing on end just reading what Takiyuddin has reportedly said.

COMMENT By WONG CHUN WAI

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Leading hairstylist slams ‘Jurassic’ rule

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