Posts Tagged ‘Protest’

in honor of David

May 4th, 2010
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There was a brouhaha last week as the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor proposed to rename Jalan Barat in PJ to Jalan V.David in honor of the statesman who fought for workers rights. David was also an MP for Bangsar, Puchong and Damansara.

Dr David, who died in July 2005 was a unionist and a former opposition DAP politician.

He won a seat in parliament representing the constituencies of Bangsar in 1959 and Damansara in 1978.

In parlaiment, he was known to be fearless and vocal in raising labour and Indian community issues.

He also served as MTUC secretary-general from 1976 to 1992. He was also the Transport Workers Union secretary-general from 1958 to 1995.

David was best known for setting up the Workers Institute of Technology (WIT) in Port Klang in the early 1970s, which provided education opportunities for thousands of workers’ children over the years.

At the international level, he served as the executive board member of the International Transport Federation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Union, and represented Malaysian workers at numerous International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conferences in Geneva, Switzerland.

He was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance in 1958 and then arrested again under the Internal Security Act 1964, 1969 (after May 13 racial riots) and 1987.

However, the proposal received opposition from some groups, and subsequently the plan was shelved. The Selangor MB said that PJ will be undergoing major redevelopment, and thus the renaming will be done later.

Meanwhile, members from four NGOs gathered near Jalan Barat in Petaling Jaya on Friday to protest the name change. Datin Paduka Norkhaila Jamaluddin, who is the chairman for Permuafakatan Petaling Jaya Selatan, Community Bestari Taman Medan and Kelab Kebajikan Wanita Petaling Jaya Selatan said the group was against the name change because they could not see the point.

“Why should we change the name because the (Malaysian Trades Union Congress) office is here? David did not contribute to the development of PJ,” she said.

“We have Jalan Barat, Jalan Timur and Jalan Utara, but you’re taking away one of them that is widely known among PJ folk?” she added.

She also said the change of name must have been politically motivated.

Kelab Rakan Muda Petaling Jaya Selatan chairman Jamaluddin Alias said the group wanted a convincing explanation.

“We never had to rename a road under the previous government, why are we doing this now while the person the road is going to be named after did not really contribute to this constituency?” he said.

Meanwhile, former MBPJ councillor Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou said Jalan Barat had its place in PJ history and thus should not be renamed.

“It has been and still is the policy of MBPJ to retain the name of the roads for historical significance. The exception in the case if the road is a numerical number. Thus Jalan 222 was renamed Jalan P.P. Narayan.

“Jalan Barat has been in existence these 50 odd years and all PJ residents know the locality,” he said, adding that the road was also the address for many famous landmarks in PJ.

He pointed out that changing the name to Jalan V. David would economically affect residents, offices, business centres as many would have to change their details on MyKad, bank accounts and others.

He added that PJ’s Jalan Barat, Jalan Utara and Jalan Timur served as directions leading to the administrative hub of the commercial part of “New Town.

“PJ is just 58 years old and all out effort must be taken to maintain all nooks and corners, and recognise them in history.

“If the Selangor Government wants to recognise the contribution of Dr V. David then replace one of the many roads with numbers such as Jalan 223 or in a new housing estate or even in Puchong where he was a MP,” he added.

According Selangor EXCO Ronnie Liu, there are plans to redevelop PJ (whatever that means):

Liu clarified the situation, saying there has yet to be a final word on which road will be renamed.

“Initially it was either Jalan Barat or Persiaran Barat, but because the whole area is to undergo extensive redevelopment we felt we should spend some time on planning… we will certainly go through with renaming (a road),” he said.

Meanwhile, MIBA president, Sivakumar had this to say:

I was annoyed when I saw a news broadcast recently on NTV 7 where a group of people were protesting against the re-naming of Jalan Barat to Jalan V David in Petaling Jaya.

Since independence, the government has been re-naming roads, particularly those with colonial names with that of prominent Malaysians to honour them for their contributions to society.

Dr V David was one such person. He was a well-known veteran politician who had done much for the cause of workers, particularly transport workers.

He was largely responsible for putting up the Transport Workers Union building in Jalan Barat of which he was the general secretary for a long time.

The Selangor government’s action in re-naming Jalan barat as Jalan V David is a fitting choice to honour this well-known personality since the Transport Workers Union building is located along that road.

After all, Jalan Barat is not anybody’s name but just an extract of a name and re-naming it as Jalan V David is not an obnoxious act as some make it out to be.

Even though the Selangor government’s action deserves praise, there are always people who are out to criticise or condemn such action.

However, to the Selangor government, I say Syabas! You have done a virtuous act to honour a fellow Malaysian whose contributions to society had remained unrecognised hitherto.

Readers may remember a similar scenario in Perak when a road (Jalan Silibin) was to be renamed after DAP stalwart P.Patto. Lots of protest and the family of late Patto was also unhappy over these complaints. In the end, the plan was shelved. So, I guess you can’t help comparing both cases.

I too think that instead of renaming a road, it would be better to allocate names to new roads or housing areas or buildings. This would be acceptable to all, except the few who have nothing better to do than oppose for sake of opposing. We also need to remember that some of the older generation may not be aware of iconic figures during their own time due to lack of education, exposure and/or awareness, while the younger generation won’t know most of the local multi-racial historical figures due to the way our school history books are written. So, better off to just give new road or facilities such names.

Kamalanathan says NO to Perkasa

April 28th, 2010
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Looks like campaign buddy no more buddy 🙂 Earlier, I wondered what would be the reaction of new MP Kamalanathan on Perkasa’s nonsense. He follows PM Najib’s views which is disagreement.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who was instrumental in helping newly-minted Hulu Selangor MP P. Kamalanathan(picture) clinch Sunday’s poll, seems to have lost a friend in the MIC leader.

Kamalanathan, who had earlier stood by Perkasa’s struggles, did an about-turn today and took pains to stress to The Malaysian Insider that Ibrahim calling on the government to punish Chinese voters for failing to support them, was his own personal view.

I do not share that view. It is his personal opinion. I do not condone anything that is extreme like this,” he firmly said when met at the Prime Minister’s office here today.

Kamalanathan also came to the defence of Barisan Nasional component parties MCA and Gerakan, which Ibrahim had taken to task for failing to garner Chinese support.

“It is not true what he said (about MCA and Gerakan). They worked very, very hard in the by-election. Very hard. I saw it with my own two eyes the amount of work and effort they put in.

“I have spoken with (MCA president Datuk Seri) Dr Chua (Soi Lek) and (MCA deputy president Datuk Seri) Liow (Tiong Lai) and they are extremely committed to the cause,” he said.

He pointed out that the prime minister himself had clearly said that the government would not ignore the needs of the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor just because they had not supported BN in the by-election.

“Today is proof of this. We will not deprive our citizens the right to have a good life in this country,” he said.

Kamalanathan was referring to the function at the Prime Minister’s office earlier this afternoon when Datuk Seri Najib Razak made good on his promise to help rebuild the SRJKC Rasa schoo by handing over RM3 million to the school board of representatives.

“We lost the Chinese votes because of something else… something was just not quite right and MCA and Gerakan should not be taken down for this.

“My responsibility now is to identify what happened and see what the real crux of the problem is,” said Kamalanathan.

He added that Najib was very sincere in his commitment to develop Hulu Selangor, and to deliver on all the pledges made by BN leaders during the campaign period for the by-election.

BN has made over RM70 million worth of pledges for allocations and development in the large constituency.

“Najib has also requested that (deputy election director) Datuk Nor Omar to list down all the promises made by our leaders so that we can deliver on them,” said Kamalanathan.

He assured the people of Hulu Selangor that the development process would be an ongoing one and that even those who had not voted for the BN would benefit from it.

“Yes, it is true that Ibrahim’s statement was irresponsible but Najib today proved that we will not be listening to those demands,” he said. Kamalanathan had secured a 1,725-vote majority victory over PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim during Sunday’s poll but had failed to recapture support from the Chinese community.

The poll results showed that less than 30 per cent of the community had chosen BN in the poll, down from the 35 per cent who voted for them in Election 2008.

Ibrahim had called the Chinese voters ungrateful and had urged the government not to fulfil its pledges for allocation and development in the Chinese areas of Hulu Selangor.

He had also asked the BN government to ignore the demands made by the MCA and Gerakan, claiming the two parties had failed to help BN wrest back Chinese support.

His statement has resulted in a mad scramble by BN leaders to explain to the people that Perkasa’s demands would not be met and that the Chinese voters would not be punished.

During the function earlier, Najib had also issued a clear warning to all parties never to dispute the promises made by BN.

Ibrahim Ali says give no aid for Chinese

April 26th, 2010
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I’m not sure what he had consumed recently, but this statement should be seeing him under ISA or at least charged for some sort of crime. But knowing Bolehland, he and some other monkeys get to say whatever they like. It will be considered as “voicing their displeasure” or some other nonsense according to the twisted logic of some politicians.  Just imagine other groups doing the same, and you can see the swift attack.

Well, this is what the trouble-maker said according to Malaysian Insider:

“Amat wajar kerajaan tangguh dulu apa jua peruntukan dan kelulusan kepada masyarakat kaum Cina, terutama desakan-desakan MCA dan Gerakan kerana jelas masyarakat Cina di Hulu Selangor serta India tidak menyokong BN.

Mereka langsung tidak hargai apa yang diberi oleh kerajaan BN walaupun kerajaan BN terpaksa mengguris hati orang Melayu dan Bumiputera,” kata Ibrahim yang juga Ahli Parlimen Bebas Pasir Mas mengulas keputusan malam tadi yang memihak BN tetapi majoriti cuma 1,725 undi.

Walaupun analisis menunjukkan sokongan pengundi Cina masih belum memihak kepada BN tetapi ia menerima peningkatan undi komuniti India hampir 10 peratus.

BN meletakkan sasaran majoriti 6,000 undi.

Dalam kenyataan kepada The Malaysian Insider awal minggu lalu Ibrahim sendiri meletakkan majoriti 3,000 kepada BN tetapi Khamis lalu menurunkannya kepada 1,500 undi.

Kata beliau, apa saja yang kaum Cina minta kerajaan sedia berikan tetapi mereka tidak berterima kasih.

“BN kena ambil hati orang Melayu yang tetap setia pada BN.

“Oleh itu dasar afirmatif untuk memperkasakan kaum Melayu dan Bumiputera mesti diterus dan dilaksanakan dengan tegas,” kata beliau dengan merujuk kepada Model Ekonomi Baru yang sedang dirangka.

Malam tadi, Setiausaha Agung BN, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor berkata walaupun menang dengan majoriti 1,725, tetapi pengundi Cina didapati tidak menyokong BN, bukan sahaja dalam pilihan raya kecil itu tetapi juga semasa pilihan raya umum 2008.

“Kita perlu melihat di mana silap kita. Saya akan berjumpa dengan parti-parti komponen untuk membincangkan perkara ini, tetapi kita gembira kerana pengundi India kembali menyokong BN. Begitu juga dengan pengundi Melayu.

“Kita hilang kerusi pada pilihan raya 2008 dengan majoriti kecil 198 undi tetapi kini mengekalkan kembali kerusi dengan majoriti yang lebih besar. Ini menunjukkan rakyat menyambut baik konsep yang diutarakan pucuk pimpinan seperti gagasan 1Malaysia dan Model Ekonomi Baru,” katanya.

Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek pula berkata, MCA memerlukan anjakan paradigma bagi mendekati masyarakat Cina yang dilihat tidak begitu memberi perhatian kepada soal kehendak dan keperluan asas.

Ibrahim berkata kemenangan BN membuktikan rakyat mahu ketenangan dan kesetabilan politik.

“Ia juga bukti rakyat menerima kepimpinan Datuk Seri Najib (Razak) sebagai perdana menteri. Ia juga membuktikan politik perkauman ditolak rakyat.

Cuma pengundi kaum Cina nampaknya tidak berterima kasih pada kerajaan BN. Jelas pengaruh MCA dan Gerakan ditolak masyarakat Cina.

Pelbagai tuntutan kaum Cina, kerajaan layan, tapi balasannya tidak seberapa,” katanya.

Katanya, usaha pihak tertentu untuk memburukkan nama Perkasa dalam pilihan raya Hulu Selangor juga tidak memberi kesan.

In English, it means something like this:

Malay rights group Perkasa wants the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to review election pledges made in Chinese areas in Hulu Selangor because of the community’s poor support for the coalition.

Its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali (picture)said despite BN’s success in winning the semi-rural seat from PKR, the Chinese voters had largely chosen to back the federal opposition.

“It is necessary for the government to delay any allocation and approval of projects for the Chinese community,” said Ibrahim in a statement responding to the by-election result.

Ibrahim added that the government should also ignore all the demands made by BN members, MCA and Gerakan, as the Chinese of Hulu Selangor had rejected the ruling coalition.

They show no appreciation to BN government’s efforts, even though the BN government had to hurt the feelings of the Malays and the natives,” said Ibrahim.

All their demands are fulfilled by the government but they do not know how to be grateful,” he added.

Ibrahim, an independent MP, had actively campaigned for BN during the campaign.

His Perkasa is fighting for affirmative action policies favouring Malays to be retained permanently.

In the by-election which saw BN’s P. Kamalanathan defeating former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim by 1,725 votes, the ruling coalition lost badly in Chinese dominated polling districts.

During the final campaigning days for the Hulu Selangor by-election Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised an allocation of RM3 million for a Chinese school near in new village.

The BN chairman also promised RM90,000 for the Ulu Yam Kwang Tung cemetery and more allocations for Hokkien and muhibbah associations in the area.

However the support level from the Chinese voters was reduced from about 35 per cent in Election 2008 to less than 30 per cent yesterday.

BN’s victory was guaranteed by strong support from the Malay-dominated Felda settlements and villagers in rural Hulu Selangor.

Ibrahim said the outcome showed that the pro-Malay affirmative action policies should be maintained.

“BN must now keep the Malay happy as they have been loyal to BN. Therefore the affirmative action policies to strengthen the Malays and the natives must be maintained and implemented thoroughly,” he said.

This is what the useless paper mentions:

Dalam pada itu Ibrahim berkata, pilihan raya kali ini juga memperlihatkan penolakan kaum Cina terhadap kerajaan.

‘‘Walaupun kerajaan telah memberi layanan kepada mereka, balasan yang diterima masih tidak seberapa.

‘‘Mereka masih belum berterima kasih kepada kerajaan BN dan ini jelas membuktikan bahawa pengaruh MCA dan Gerakan terus ditolak oleh masyarakat Cina,” katanya.

See??? Nothing at all about the issue of recalling back the aid. Another confirmation of the paper that is not even worth to be used in toilets.

What will newly elected YB Kamalanathan say about his buddy Ibrahim now since this affects his constituency directly? cannot say “no comments” or “i’ll answer later” any more” 🙂

At least this time, MCA did say something in reply:


He explained, “when you try to buy them at the last minute, telling them to vote for BN and they will get rewarded, some of them feel insulted.

It is like treating them like beggars. The Chinese will be your long term friend if you be fair and treat them well. But, they will turn away from you if not.

“It is not that they don’t like Najib, they adore Najib, but they do not support these few BN leaders who are ‘extremists’ like Ibrahim Ali.”

Sadly, he said, some of the BN leadership are emulating Ibrahim’s racist stance.

There are those who keep saying that Malays are first and the Chinese should be grateful,” he added. This is not the way to win the Chinese over,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Dong Jiao Zhong committee member Chow Siew Hon stressed that the money used for the allocations belongs to the government and not to any political party.

“The money ultimately belongs to the rakyat. We are all entitled to it. Nobody can say that you cannot get the funds just because you don’t support BN.

“The vote is your personal choice, whoever you want to support. I strongly disagree with that gentleman (Ibrahim),” said Chow.

MCA state assemblyperson for Kuala Kubu Baru Wong Koon Mun refused to comment on the issue of allocations but hit out at Ibrahim, saying that he is a “rotten apple” and a “party to the effort to topple BN.”

BN Secretary General’s response:

Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said today that the government will not neglect the Chinese voters in Hulu Selangor.

“We cannot take back the allocations for the Chinese. There are also Chinese who voted for BN in the by-election,” he explained when asked if the government would heed the suggestion of Perkasa chairman Ibrahim Ali.

The independent MP had suggested that the Chinese voters in Hulu Selangor should be punished by the government for not fully supporting MIC candidate P Kamalananthan.

Tengku (left) added that as BN is a multiracial party, they need to help the rakyat irrespective of their race or religion.

He then brought up Kelantan which is ruled by PAS.

“We give Kelantan a lot of money for its development even though BN is not the state government.”

Nevertheless, the Putrajaya MP said that Umno will work closely with MCA to understand why the Chinese voters are not supportive of BN and how they can overcome this problem.

“I believe that if we conduct a post mortem (on the Hulu Selangor by-election) we can get answers on how to regain the Chinese votes,” he told reporters in a press conference at the Umno headquarters.

He added that it is important for all the component parties to work together towards finding the root cause and not penalise MCA.

“We cannot punish a member of our component party if they don’t perform. What we can do now is to analyse what happened and what can be done to improve things,” he continued.

I like to quote Wong Chun Wai’s tweet:

Ibrahim Ali wants govt to ignore demands by MCA n Gerakan. Maybe he shd find out who r the largest tax payers in Msia.

Will these students be investigated for taking part in protest?

April 24th, 2010
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We always read about students hauled up for protests, be it in IPTA like UPM or some NGO-organised events.

Today, some Iraqi students protested at Sunway. Is this freedom of speech (as per Hishamuddin version) or does it violate AUKU? Can postgraduate students do this? Just curious, coz maybe in future, when Sri Lankan president visits Malaysian, some Malaysian Indians or Sri Lankan students may also do the same.

Amani Majid and Osama Abdul Karim are two names mentioned in the article below:

About 100 angry protesters stomped on and burnt pictures of Tony Blair today as the former British prime minister addressed a business gathering in Malaysia.
The anti-war campaigners shouted noisy slogans against Blair’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq and threatened to throw shoes at him – an action considered a grave insult in the Arab and Muslim world – if he came near them.

The demonstrators, including Iraqis living in Malaysia, described Blair as a war criminal and said that he should be hauled up before an international court for the death of innocent Iraqi people.

“We oppose Tony Blair’s presence in Malaysia. His hands are full of Iraqi blood. He must go to the grave,” Amani Majid, 44 a student at a local university, told AFP.

Despite the protest, Blair gave a 40-minute speech to more than 3,000 participants in Petaling Jaya.

Success Resources, a company founded in Singapore, brought Blair to Malaysia as a sponsored speaker at the National Achievers Congress.

‘He is a war criminal’

Police did not break up the protest as demonstrators held a few banners including: “Blair Murderer,” and “Get out of Malaysia.”

Blair, Britain’s prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was then US president George W Bush’s staunchest ally and sent British troops to Iraq in 2003.

Osama Abdul Karim, 30, an Iraqi student, said: “He is a war criminal. Blair should not come here to talk about business success.

“He destroyed the infrastructure in Iraq. He should be hit with a pair of shoes. What kind of democracy has he brought to Iraq?”

“I ran out of Iraq with my family in 2006. It is no longer a safe country to live,” he added.

Dilemma on coalition or seat in Hulu Selangor

April 15th, 2010
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Looks like comments from Khairy hoping for “youthful”  young candidate is not appreciated by MIC in Hulu Selangor.  As a public, I feel BN have a chance of winning the seat if BN leaders minus the PM put a lid on their talks. Nearly every other word mentioned end up creating more problem for everyone else.

Today MIC had their CWC meeting at night. Not sure what is the outcome. Earlier, a number of Hulu Selangor MIC branches said will quit or close shop. Even other division leaders in Selangor are unhappy with interference by UMNO.

So, what is the option here? Stick with Palanivel which was the only option given by MIC to BN? That would mean respecting coalition partner’s choice. Or put another candidate (Mugilan says he would quit if nominated) which will be an insult to MIC? What BN values more? Coalition partner’s decision, sentiment on the ground (which may be conflicting as no one has done a proper and thorough survey), or chance of winning? If BN can win the seat by putting someone else, would they do it?

I also wonder if this just some drama being played, so that later can “patch up” and show how strong the coalition is. I for one, don’t trust politicians, especially those who tend to speak half-truths and no-truths before GE12. Before election, everything have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

I think it will be Palanivel after all.