Remember our first and primary objective.

Sakmongkol AK 47

Allow me to repeat this again. This coming election is not about making Anwar Ibrahim, the next PM of Malaysia. That’s a secondary issue. When the time comes, we know who to place as PM. In the end, it’s the person who commands the respect and support of the majority of parliamentarians. Most important, we do not have to explain ourselves to UMNO. If Anwar is believed by more persons than those who doubt him, there is nothing to prevent Anwar winning the most number of seats. Then there is nothing to prevent him from claiming the PMship.

We can watch as many videos we want, and we can summon our personal knowledge about Anwar since his MCKK days and all that- IF more people believed in him, there is nothing, you, I or Dr Mahathir can do about it.

It’s also not about extending Najib’s tenure as PM. By now, everyone should realize that Najib is a media-made character. The people of Pekan, the Malays elsewhere, and Malaysians in general are not going to die if Najib is not PM. We have to remind ourselves these things. Certainly it’s not about extending the supremacy of good feudal genes in the country. Being the issues of great men do not mean you inherit their greatness.

We chose people on the basis of what they can contribute to this country, never on the basis of inherited status. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak , Hussein Onn, even Mahathir, Ahmad Badawi  may be exemplary, but their offspring may not be that great. The son of Ahmad Badawi, Abdullah proved to be the most inept PM we have even had. Remember this- we cannot automatically ascribe good qualities on the progeny of good leaders of the past.

The primary purpose of this coming election is about establishing a good government. A good government founded on the principles of democracy, rule of law and justice. To uphold these principles we find good people, men and women who are selfless, disciplined, dedicated and committed to the principles we mentioned. We want people who can maintain their composure even when placed under the most stressful of conditions.

The values system in UMNO is not capable of producing these types any longer. We now know that.Thats why the party is full of rednecks throwing missiles and objects, and hurting people all over the place. A party full of such characters cannot possibly rule this country.

How so? Because quite different from the times when leaders emerged naturally because of personal motivations and social and political conditioning, we must now install a deliberate system to fish out people most capable of leading the country. UMNO on the other hand lives in the past where it relies on perchance emergence of good leadership- believing that willy-nilly, come what may, a good leader will emerge. Certainly  good leaders will emerge but not from UMNO. It will come from those groupings that endure a process of struggle under oppressive conditions.

Or we choose people who operate under conditions of continued struggles and operate under suppressive and oppressive conditions. In Malaysia, such talents can only be found among the opposition parties.

DAP has struggled for 47 years to pursue a dream of a country based on equality, justice and democracy. PAS has struggled much longer to establish a government that operates under the consciousness that there is a higher power that we must account to. Now let’s not be carried with the idea of an absolute theocratic state, or a Islamic Republic type under PAS. That’s the fear UMNO and BN want us to believe.

Why does PAS collaborate with DAP and PKR and others wanting to oust UMNO? The principles are- PAS works along DAP and PKR to establish the greater good all-around and a fear of God. When you fear God, you will not do what God does not want you to. The Muslims want to ingratiate themselves to God. UMNO does not want people to.They want people to declare 'We love PM'.

UMNO operates with no fear of God inside them- that is why there is rampant corruption, abuse of power, oppressive policies. The fear of God can be re-introduced into UMNO people, when the bulk of them are sent to Sungai Buloh Prison after the 13^th GE.

Malaysian Malays must first realized that it is the rule of law, established by a good government, respecting the rule of law which protects them. Not UMNO, not any government that do not respect the rule of law.

I go to ceramahs all over the country; the first issue I will address is the simmering fear of the Malays. Who will protect them?  Answer: The rule of law. The constitution. The position of Malays? The constitution. Who will protect Islam? Islam will succumb to natural death if Muslims continue  to be ruled by UMNO. Islam is protected not by UMNO but by the guarantee in the constitution and by Muslims themselves. Who will protect the Malay rulers? Certainly not by UMNO because in the Constitutional crisis in the 1980s, UMNO were the people going around exposing the dirty linen of the royalty, putting them down and humiliating the Monarchy. And to add further insult, it was led by an UMNO president whose own Malay-ness is suspect.

The Malays must put faith in the rule of law and in the hands of a good government and a responsible government. That is what we want. This election isn’t about Anwar becoming PM and never about extending the tenure of the so called good genes. If the latter is so, then we, the people with the common genes, are forever confined to be coolies and slaves?We must dethrone all these pseudo-aristocrats.

Will BN get the Indian swing?

Selena Tay

Knowing that many Chinese are aiming to vote for Pakatan Rakyat, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has tripled his efforts in wooing the Indian voters. And on March 17, he was in Meru, Klang, exhorting the Indians to stay loyal to BN.
As usual, he has promised the Indians citizenship, scholarship, business entrepreneurship, schools, jobs: the whole works.
This columnist spoke to a friend in Kapar, Klang, and asked him why he supports PKR and not MIC.
He is a dental surgeon and his name is Nedunchelian Vengu. Currently, he is the deputy director for the P109 Kapar Committee for GE13. Below are his reasons why he is for PKR.
These are his exact comments:
1. PKR is pro-rakyat while MIC is pro-master (Umno) so rakyat will not benefit from its (MIC’s) existence.
2. Past record of MIC: corruption, cronyism, money allocated to the Indians was swindled and pocketed into the family coffers by the previous leaders.
3. I don’t subscribe to race-based politics and MIC is race-based.
4. MIC is a directionless party with self-centred leaders.
5. MIC and its master (Umno-BN) forgot the original struggle based on democracy. Rakyat is being treated like slaves under this regime.
6. MIC is a bankrupt party with no navigation, we are just counting its last days.
Going by his above comments which are sound and logical, it is hoped that many Indians will wake up to the fact that although MIC has tried to help the Indians, MIC cannot do much.
This is because MIC is in BN and it always has to toe the line and obey Umno, the big brother.
Rarely do MIC leaders speak out against Umno leaders. It is as if there is an inherent fear of Umno. The same also goes for MCA leaders: all kowtow to Umno.
Therefore with 100% obedience to Umno, the voices of MIC leaders are muffled and muzzled. Only in recent times has MIC strategy director S Vell Paari spoken up but president G Palanivel continues to remain silent.
MIC voiceless
During the pre-Merdeka days, the Indians were vocal in fighting for Independence as they were known for being active trade unionists and also in organising “hartal” (general strike).
But over the years, Indian voices have gradually toned down. Last year, Indians have demonstrated in front of Parliament and in front of the National Registration Office in Putrajaya in regard to citizenship issues.
This issue is problematic as there are still very many Indians without citizenship since Aug 31, 1957.
Compared this to the fact that some recent latecomers (read: foreign workers) have obtained their citizenship for the much shorter duration of their stay in Malaysia and you will know the scale of injustice experienced by the Indians.
Usually after these protests, some Indians will get their citizenship and this news will be splashed in the mainstream papers, but after a short time the situation will be back to square one.
Concerning Indian education, many of those who are poor have dropped out from school and engage in criminal activities due to lack of opportunities.
Many people always say that Malaysia is a land of opportunities and even the less-skilled can obtain a job. This is not so true these days as many unskilled or low-skilled jobs have already been taken up by foreign workers. So where does the Indian school dropout turn to?
That is the reason why if Pakatan becomes the federal government, Indians will have more job opportunities as Pakatan intends to gradually cut down the number of foreign workers.
It is only with Pakatan that Indians have managed to obtain a larger representation in Parliament and this made the BN leaders wake up to take some notice of the issues facing the Indians.
With a stronger voice in Parliament, Indians have managed to obtain modifications to the novel “Interlok”. It is only with a stronger opposition in Parliament that one gets things done.
As MIC has become voiceless, no amount of pressure exerted by the Indians on MIC can amount to anything. It is always back to the status quo.
With Pakatan, Indians can ask for more and get more benefits. Although some Indians claim that they have been sidelined in the recent Pakatan manifesto launched on Feb 25, that is not true at all.
Brave role models
Pakatan’s manifesto outlines plans to help those who are poor and marginalised regardless of race and anyone who is poor will be helped. Thus if the Indian is poor, he or she too will receive aid from the Pakatan government.
Pakatan’s manifesto is not race-based but needs-based. Therefore anyone who needs help will be helped.
Issues and problems facing the Indians are many as these have accummulated since Merdeka days.
No one can solve these problems overnight and it is hoped that Indians who have been so instrumental in helping the opposition in 2008 will soon rise again to pursue the same course of action in the 13th general election.
Everyone must work together to put in a better government so that we can get long-term benefits and not just ad-hoc painkillers which do not solve the problem in the long-run.
Let us follow the examples shown by the brave Indian role models, S Ambiga (Bersih co-chairperson), KS Bawani (second-year law student) and the late private investigator P Balasubramaniam in speaking up for our rights in the face of great odds.