How Barisan National Cheats Their Way To Victory

March 6th, 2008

i’m sure many people are already in the know of the many shrewd ways our government cheats and cons their way to a victory, but i thought i’d compile a simple and hopefully educational list for the benefit of my peers and any readers who aren’t aware, and would like to know, of the foul play and deception that goes on during the elections.

so! how our elections are rigged to unfairly benefit the government:

1. GERRYMANDERING

in our last election in 2004, Barisan Nasional won only 60% of the total votes cast, but had a whopping 91% representation in Parliament. that’s 198 out of 219 Parliamentary seats, with only 21 seats going to the Opposition despite them having an extremely significant 40% of the popular vote. heck, that’s almost half of the total votes given to the Opposition, but somehow in some weird way that only garners 9% of the seats in parliament.

so how is this done? the Elections Commission (EC) manipulates the borders of each constituency. let me make this elementary - say you have Taman A that is traditionally a BN stronghold. Taman B next to it may potentially fall to the Opposition because during the last election, the victory margin was very very small. you’re scared of losing Taman B, so what do you do?

you take voters from Taman A, and tell them they are now part of Taman B and have to vote there now. basically you’re spreading your surplus over to your weak side. in the end? Barisan Nasional has strong wins for both Taman A and Taman B. sweet.

and of course, they lump all the strong Opposition constituencies together to make sure the Opposition has less seats. in the eyes of the government, 1 Lim Kit Siang in Parliament is better than 5; so if the EC can help it, and of course they can, they gerrymander opposition strongholds as well. ah. it used to be in the constitution that the total voters of each constituency cannot differ by more than 15%. well surprise surprise, this has since been abolished :) wonder why.

here’s an example of gerrymandering. in 2004 elections, the Jerai constituency in Kedah had 21,600 new voters shifted in from neighboring constituencies. the result? BN won by a 10,000 margin - a victory they would not have had without gerrymandering - and that racist, sexist Badruddin got to retain his Jerai seat in Parliament. btw this is the douchebag who single-handedly immortalized the statement, “this is a Malay country; if you don’t like it, get out!”.

2. BUYING OUT OPPONENTS

if you’ve been reading the newspapers during the week of nomination, you would have read all the happy stories of how Barisan Nasional has won several state and parliamentary seats ‘uncontested’. my brother went, ‘wahhh! Opposition scared to fight BN ah!’

at first i didn’t understand what that meant; why would the Opposition allow seats to go uncontested? just throw in somebody to make sure people like Azalina ‘i am watching you’ Othman don’t win their seats uncontested again, right!!!

but then i came across this story. what it reports is that two PKR candidates have come forward to say they have been propositioned with money to withdraw from the elections.

“”They have been chasing me since nomination day. At first, they went around my kampung seeking the would-be candidate, proposer and seconder. Now they go one step further - offering me RM300,000 cash to withdraw,” Idil said over breakfast near PKR headquarters in Matang, Kuching. … “I have been telling them RM300,000 is too little … not enough to go around, and jokingly said they should offer me RM3 million. They took it seriously and said they would discuss the matter with their superiors,” Idil quipped.
(Source: Malaysiakini.com)

yeah now you know what happens when Barisan Nasional wins seats ‘uncontested’. this is where all your hard-earned tax money goes to - buying out opponents so that a corrupt government can stay in power.

3. BRIBING VOTERS

so these people go around to poor rural villages, and give people money to ensure they vote for BN. i hear rumours like this all the time, but i’ve never actually heard of an actual case where someone reported this bribery. but the other day Kezanne just told me that her schoolmate’s family back in Perlis has been offered RM 1,000 to vote government. they are poor and RM 1,000 is a lot of money to them. Kezanne’s schoolmate is a JPA scholar; more reason to feel compelled to vote government.

4. PHANTOM VOTERS

this means unidentified voters contributing votes to the elections. a big accusation of phantom voting was when PKR stopped two buses of what were allegedly BN phantom voters in the recent Ijok by-election, which BN won.

there have been evidence of dead people (or really young children) registered on the electoral rolls for numerous elections and by-elections.

and there are people who find themselves miraculously registered at two different constituencies (there was a KL-based woman who reported this to Malaysiakini; i cant find the report now. anyone have the URL?).

and then there are voters registered to an address where they do not live. read this to see how Teratai state seat candidate Jenice Lee found 26 voters registered at her house. those people have never even lived there nor does she know who they are. the EC has dismissed her report as ‘a small matter’.

and then there are voters registered to abandoned sites. read this, a report of 500 voters registered to an abandoned army camp in Penang. ooooh Penang ;) looks like a certain coalition feels threatened!

5. CONTROLLING THE MEDIA

just about every newspaper, tv station and radio station you can think of is owned by the government and its comprising political parties. The Star, Sin Chew and China Press are owned by MCA. The New Straits Times, The Malay Mail, NTV7, 8TV, TV3, Hot FM, Fly FM and all other Media Prima subsidiaries are UMNO-owned. RTM 1 and RTM 2 are state-owned.

this means that everything you read in the newspapers and watch on TV is government propaganda. any voice of the opposition is totally blacked out. not only do they not give the opposition a voice, they also trump up all the Opposition’s flaws. simply because they can. simply because you and i and everyone else keep buying their papers and keep tuning into channels.

i have a friend who works with one of the Media Prima TV stations. so far they’ve been allowed to give the Opposition candidates a liiiiiittle bit of airtime every now and then… but yesterday a memo was released saying that no more coverage is to be given to the Opposition AT ALL. how nice eh :) like the indelible ink, this is another pushing of the panic button by BN.

when i was young (and always encouraged by my school and my government), i read the papers quite diligently. at the time, it was always beyond me how anyone would ever vote Opposition, when our Barisan Nasional was such a gleaming, glorious, corruption-free, caring alliance who sincerely wanted our country to prosper!!!!! Barisan Nasional had UMNO, MCA and MIC… that means they’re taking care of all the races!!! so why would ANYBODY vote DAP who only cares about the Chinese, or PAS, this kolot party who comes up with all sorts of archaic rules like boy-girl separation and condones such radical Islamization!!!

and if i had a huge problem i needed help with? i would go to Michael Chong of MCA right away, obviously. because he’s always helping people some way or other. rape cases, money woes, the handicapped, snatch theft… Michael Chong is always there to save the day. MCA truly cares. the newspapers never directly say it, but it’s all i ever freaking read about. the Opposition were mudslingers and liars in comparison.

but now that i’m older and i know more stuff and i have the internet at my fingertips… the one question i have is, how do these reporters sleep at night, knowing that they are contributing to this cruel and tyrannical blacking out of knowledge and information among Malaysians both young and old?

6. HOLDING PEOPLE AT RANSOM

when people like UMNO’s Azalina Othman tell bloggers that they are ‘being watched’, and people like MCA’s Chew Mei Fun tell people to vote for BN otherwise ‘May 13 will happen again’, and people like Hishamuddin wave the keris at non-Malays, how can you not feel like you are being threatened in a country that is supposed to be your own? (Mell, this is why i don’t agree with that BN ad on how people are allowed to be themselves here in Malaysia.)

i know many bloggers who refrain from putting the slightest iota of politics in their blogs because they’re afraid of being ISAed or Sedition Acted.

i know many people who vote government because they’re afraid the votes can somehow be traced back to their identities and this may compromise their businesses or their jobs or even their LIVES.

i know many JPA and BNM scholars who are practically muzzled when it comes to politics for fear of losing their scholarships.

i know many people who vote government because they’re afraid May 13 will happen again.

i’m very sad and angry that these things happen. we should NEVER EVER allow our government - an entity that is supposed to PROTECT us - to put us through this kind of fear.

7. HAVING THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION UNDER THEIR INFLUENCE

so the latest elections fracas is about the indelible ink that cost RM 2.4 million that will now no longer be used in the elections, because, oh!, the Elections Commission terdengar some desas-desus about how certain parties have evil plans to mark their opponents’ supporters’ fingers with ink even before they get to register.

Dear Elections Commission,

first of all, why dont you expose whatever evidence you have of these rumours, instead of keeping it to yourself, and allow the people of Malaysia to judge for themselves? we don’t even know if you’re making up these stories or if these featherweight stories warrant such a huge regression. don’t punish an entire nation for some silly rumours that you heard through the grapevine.

second of all, SHOW US all these jars of ink that you supposedly already imported from India for 2.4 million of OUR MONEY.

thirdly, if this rumoured evil plan of these certain parties can cause such a big reversal in decision, surely then there is a problem with your education of using indelible ink in the first place. you have not done your job of educating people well enough on the electoral process if they can be tricked into applying the ink before they even vote.

fourthly, instead of taking this totally moronic step of not using indelible ink when Bersih and other people who CARE have fought SO HARD to have this ink finally used in our elections, why don’t you go out there and teach people how to use indelible ink!!!! be pro-active and combat the problem, for goodness’ sake, instead of this knee-jerk reaction of removing the indelible ink altogether. if the rumour is true, surely the small number of unsuspectingly-painted people can be contained by the almighty EC, since you all have such a great track record of weeding out phantom voters by none other than the amazing Identity Card teamed with the equally amazing Electoral Roll -____-

i really didn’t think it was possible to think any lower of the EC, but whaddya know, we learn something new every day.

DAP’s Lim Guan Eng put it quite nicely; “The Election Commission is working hand in hand with the Barisan Nasional to cheat in the elections.”

this is a very interesting interview with the current EC chairman Abdul Rashid, conducted 4 years ago :) read read.

—————–

a good government thinks for its people, instead of stubbornly refusing to move from power. they think about what their people want and need, and concede, instead of doggedly taking measures to ensure that they will always remain in their corrupt rule, even though the people no longer want them.

so. yes. vote for change. you know how it goes :)

Entry Filed under: Rants

179 Comments Add your own

  • 1. aud  |  March 6th, 2008 at 7:40 am

    can i use your blog post as part of my research wtf. *nags su ann wtf :D

  • 2. SilentReaderMiko  |  March 6th, 2008 at 7:43 am

    did you hear about the latest cheating tactic? the abolishment of indelible ink, so that the government can propagate their cheating even further. i guess what they lack in substance, they make up for in bullying and underhandedness. makes me SO angry!

  • 3. WristBandMan  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:25 am

    you rock! you roX0R!!!!

    about DAP — Lim Guan Eng went to jail for defending the Malay girl statutory rape victim of Rahim Tambichik…

    about PAS — Kelantan allows porks to be sold in open, BN Melaka wants to close down pig farms, Kelantan has the biggest reclining Buddha statue in SEA, BN Sabah halted the building of Mazu statue in Kudat, PAS admitted it has not build a single mosque during the last term, BN? demolishing temples everywhere… and does body-snatching happen in Kelantan?

    Seriously Malay people need to know more about the real DAP, and Chinese people need to know more about the real PAS.
    Most importantly, everybody needs to know more about Barisan Najis

  • 4. johnleemk  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    These underhanded tactics really call to mind the situation in Suharto’s Indonesia or Marcos’s Philippines. I’m taking a class on Southeast Asian history now, and I tell you, it is shit scary how much we resemble these countries in the 70s or thereabouts. Political prisoners, crack downs on public demonstrations, massive corruption, government domination of the economy stifling private enterprise (except for the government’s cronies), practically rigged elections. Hell, even commie Vietnam is more democratic than us in some ways - you can actually have public demonstrations, and the government takes corruption seriously enough to sack high-ranking public officials.

    I’m probably gonna write more about comparisons between us and our Southeast Asian peers, but for now if anyone’s interested, I have something on how we resemble Indonesia under Suharto:

    http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Politics/715/

  • 5. sep  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:19 am

    I love Su Ann :) !

  • 6. Adrian C  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:23 am

    Gryphon: They come, your highness, in numbers and weapons far greater than our own.
    Oreius: Numbers do not win a battle.
    Peter Pevensie: No… but I bet they help.

    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

    Let’s ALL vote wisely this Saturday. Malaysia is our home, we stand or fall together.

  • 7. Dylan Lim  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:27 am

    “People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments. Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People.”

    From one of my favourite film poster: V For Vendetta
    http://www.impawards.com/2006/v_for_vendetta.html

  • 8. Cher Wee  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:34 am

    you r cool. I totally agree with you.

  • 9. Cher Wee  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am

    I totally agree with you. Let’s vote wisely

  • 10. SPR  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:40 am

    Written like an OLd woman with years of experience in this area.

    Well done!

    p/s: Oh yes, didnt we see the TV ad where 2 old folks praised MCA/BN like nobody’s business cos their kid got JPA scholarship? BIg ad in star papers also.

    Yea the truth is out of how many deserving students actually got it? Those who got it must really thank their lucky stars but dont forget many who deserved it were sidelined becos of some ketuanan thingy. SO u still think that BN / MCA is doing such a great job becos 1chinese dude got his JPA?

  • 11. YennaMike  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Nice write up - it is true on the points raised…just remember this my fellow friends…

    “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men…” by Lyndon B. Johnson

    I’m flying back to Malaysia to cast my one Vote because…EVERY VOTE COUNTS, EVEN IF IT’S FOR A LOSING CANDIDATE…

    Unity is Strength…

  • 12. Yong Ee  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am

    Is there any way to STOP them from misusing
    their powers to win votes?
    Won’t the British or US step in and supervise
    the voting proccess on the 8th?
    Kindly tell me our position

  • 13. luvangel  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    i’m actually leaving my comment here for the first time. anyhow, i salute u girl. u’ve always amazed me. Malaysian should always use their right to vote when they can. every single one of it count. BN has always been buying vote and even creating invisible voters especially through the ‘undi pos’. not only that, there are cases when a person do not go to vote, somehow or rather, that vote ended up for BN. so do go to vote. practise our rights. show to the world that we’re no longer as naive as before even if BN might be winning this time. not only that, even the government officers are afraid to vote for opposition. they are not given a choice. i have friends that are helping out in the election polls that told me there are no actual democracy in our country. the government can actually trace back every single vote are from who actually and who did not voted for them. btw, i’ve been talking too much i guess. hope i did not bored u, dear..great post though..my dad has contested in the past few elections too but anyhow, he lost. kinda sad though..ehe..but he’s still helping out the rest of them this time. so fight till the end! go gurlz! Malaysia needs more people like u

  • 14. reallybites  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:20 am

    tonight dap’s ceramah at han chiang. i duwan wear red. i wear black!

  • 15. LionCity  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:20 am

    What you have described is about the same as what is happening in my country. We are such a good neighbour and our govt learn from each other in one way or another. Pitiful and Pathetic.

  • 16. Sharon  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:26 am

    this is a very good piece :) i enjoyed and feel proud reading it.
    i’m spreading the word to have ppl i know to read this.
    kudos!

  • 17. ShaolinTiger  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:50 am

    You forgot that First Past the Post voting also favours the incumbent party and leads to a lot of wasted votes.

    I heard the average this time for buying a vote is about RM130.

    I’m surprised you didn’t mention the 2.4 million spent on useless ink too :D

  • 18. VoteForAChange!  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    also, on top of the 2.4mil ink, the Motorola case:

    “giving away RM1 billion of taxpayers’ money, and in return, to get an American company to stay put in Penang, packaged in a RM350 million “reinvestment”"

    http://www.jeffooi.com/2008/03/my_worthy_opponent_in_jelutong_2.php

    oh come on, these are only the cases that were found out.. what about other uses of taxpayers money would be spent on?

  • 19. aimee  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am

    well said.

  • 20. benjamin lee meng chuin  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am

    this is the way the cookie crumbles
    this is not right man.
    time for a change.
    The change could be bad or could be good.
    but if we dont choose then we wont know.

  • 21. David  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:30 am

    I have been an opposition (DAP) supporter since the last 2 elections (state of Sarawak & national level).

    I sincerely hope that more rakyat & new voters can see the truth & vote wisely. We just don want our rights & country be ruined by bunch of idiotic racist morons.

    My hometown, Kuching, is currently held by DAP & the BN is trying all the dirty tricks to get it back…including using mega-rich corporation/individuals who only interested in securing ‘business deals fr BN’ to buy out votes. Millions have been splashed out & ‘gamblings’ syndicate created to buy votes to ensure DAP lose out. As usual, new postal votes were created out from nowhere. There are so many dirty tactics been used by BN to ensure oppositions & the rakyat voices are silenced. Words just cannot described how angry we common people are of BN.
    Lets pray & hope the RAKYAT RULES this time!

  • 22. KY  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:32 am

    I’m asking Kim to read this post

  • 23. thiamhin  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:59 am

    su ann, i will be voting for a second time…
    most probably i will vote for a change…
    barisan nasional have known to be cheat in each election…
    but every empire will fall…that day will be on 8th march..

  • 24. Nicholas Chhan  |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Excellent post Su Ann, your critical understanding is admirable for someone so young.

    Su Ann for Prime Minister!

  • 25. Anonymous  |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    This message was forwarded to me, juz to share with y’all.

    This message is to provoke your mind to think whether you want the status quo to be perpetuated. If you want to do your bit to effect a chan ge for the better, think well before you vote at the next general election.

    Chances are that the B N will still win but we need to send the proper signal to Pak Lah that enough is enough….
     
    Below is the result of extreme discriminations and marginalization by the BN govt for too many years. Let’s keep circulating this esp before the next election.

    And today this is what happened in Malaysia racism..

    These lists cover a period of about 49 years since Independence Day in Malaysia (1957):

    ( 1) Out of all the 5 major banks in Malaysia, only one bank is own by multi-racial, the rest are controlled by Malays.

    (2) 99% of Petronas (the only one petroleum company) directors are Malays, and the former Prime Minister work as Consultant in Petronas.
     
    (3) 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese.
     
    (4) 99% of 2000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by Malays.

    (5) 100% all contractors working under Petronas projects must be “bumi’s status” (Malay).
     
    (6) 0% of non-Malays staffs are legally required in Malay’s companies. But there must be 30% Malays staffs in Chinese companies and shareholder. Which this mean non-Malays own company needs to give their property to Malays. An d n on-Malays citizen can’t really own their business.

    (7) 5% of all new intake for government police, nurses, army, is non-Malays.

    (8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960.
     
    (9) 2% is the percentage of non-Malays government servants in Putrajaya ( Malaysia main government office). But Malays make up 98%.
     
    (10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960. Only 2 position for non-Malays in political status.

    (11) 95% of government contracts are given to Malays; even it is an open tender. Non-Malays contractors tender the lower price and use better materials can’t get the contract that government given.

    (12) 100% all business licenses are controlled by Malay government e.g . Taxi permits, Approved permits, etc. and all the license are given to government officer families.
     
    (13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah (north of peninsularMalaysia had to be sold to Malay and controlled by Bernas (Government Org.) since 1980s. Otherwise, life is make difficult for Chinese rice millers.

    (14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by Malays since 1970’s e.g. UTC, UMBC, MISC, etc. This company now is the sole company.
     
    (15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia,throughout 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other Malay transport  companies due to rejection by Malay authority to Chinese application for bus routes and rejection for their application for new buses.

    (16) 2 Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor (South of Peninsular Malaysia ) Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and 3 are Chinese in October 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given.

    (17) 0 non-Malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar (city in south peninsular Malaysia ) bus station (November 2004).
     
    (18) 8000 billions ringgit is the total amount the government chan neled to Malays pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatization of government agencies like Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over 34 years periods.

    (19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down since 1968 ⤔ 2000

    (20) 144 Tamil primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000
     
    (21) 2637 Malay primary schools built since 1968 - 2000

    (22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Tamil schools got only 1%, Malay schools got 96.5%

    (23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school-text-book-loan, and a Malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible.
     
    (24) 10 all public universities vice chan cellors are Malays. And politics in universities are held by Malays. If non-Malays want to form a politics parties, there is no way to get approved. (25) 5% - the government universities lecturers of non-Malay origins had been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004 with the reason Malaysia Education Ministry give full support for Malays only.

    (26) Only 5% is given to non-Malays for government scholarships over 40 years.

    (27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under “Look East Policy”.
     
    (28) 128 STPM (High Study / A Level) Chinese top students coul d n ot get into the course that they aspired i.e. Medicine and doctors (in 2004). Malays with not qualify result can get into the course.

    (29) 10% place for non-bumi students for MARA science schools beginning from year 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% Malays.
     
    (30) 50 cases whereby Chinese and Indian Malaysians, are beaten up in the National Service program since 2003.
     
    (31) 25% is Malaysian Chinese population in 2004, drop from 45% since 1957 because government are not support non-Malays like government support Malays.

    (32) 7% is the present Malaysian Indians population (2004), a drop from 12% since 1957.

    (33) 2 millions Chinese Malaysians had emigrated to overseas since 40 years ago due to unfair politics.

    (34) 0.5 million Indians Malaysians had emigrated to overseas.

    (35) 3 millions Indonesians had migrated into Malaysia and became malaysian citizens with bumi’s status.  
     
    (36) 600000 are the Chinese and Indians Malaysians with “red I/C” (a temporary identity card) and were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship for 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism of how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compare with the Chinese and Indians

    (37) 5% - 15% discount for a Malay to buy a house, regardless whether the Malay is rich or poor

    (38) 2% is what Chinese new villages get compare with 98% of what Malays villages got for rural development budget..

    (39) 50 roa d n ames (at least) had been chan ge from Chinese names to other names.

    (40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Le ong (in Malacca) was altered to other name ( e.g.Dewan Serbaguna or sort) when it was being officially used for a few days. Government tries to shun Chinese names. This racism happened in around year 2000 or sort.

    (41) 0 temples/churches were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate MUST got at least one mosque/surau built.

    (42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughoutMalaysia since 1970 with full government support. No temples, no churches are built in housing estates that supported by government.

    (43) 1 Catholic Church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed. But told by Malay authority that it must look like a factory and can’t look like a church. Still not yet approved since 2004.

    (44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002)

    (45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, and TV3) have directors of non-Malays origin.

    (46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese face, and the good guys had Malay face. You can check it out since 1970s. Recent years, this tendency becomes less.

    (47) 10 times, at least, Malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13 since 1969.
     
    (48) 20 constituencies won by DAP woul d n ot get funds from the government to develop. Or these Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be developed

    (49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racist re-delineated so Chinese voters were diluted that Chinese candidates, particularly DAP candidates lost in election since 1970s
     
    (50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by Malaysia government since 1960

    (51) 0 elimination of, all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights)is not ratified by Malaysia government since 1960s
     
    (52) 20 reported cases whereby Malay ambulance attendance treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and Malay government hospital staffs purposely delay attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200

    (53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by Malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record

    (54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down Malays were seriously assaulted or killed by Malays
     
    (55) 12% is what ASB/ASN (Malays Own banks) got per annum while banks fixed deposit is only about 3.5% per annum.

    And more cases haven’t been discovered.

    So, if any Malaysian read this mail and got extra opinion please add into this mail and forward to everyone who feel this is unfair to other race in Malaysia .

    Your forward mail will be much appreciated.

    FIGHT FOR YOUR OWN RACE….

    Thank you,

    From,
    Malaysian Race Humanity 2006

  • 26. povege  |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

    *applause!*
    I’m finally a voter this year and yes, I’m voting the Opposition. My policy is ABBN: Anything But BN!
    I understand the government (BN) has multiple tactics to win this elections again but my aim is just simple. If my/our vote can bring ONE extra opposition into the Parliament, I’m happy.
    Vote smart people.
    It’s time for us to be united. As long as it’s oppositions, vote.

  • 27. Je'Dakota  |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    Hey Su Ann…

    Hope you don’t mind that I sticked you at the top of my linked list.

    xo

  • 28. Yappy  |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    Anonymous: Wow, that’s a very long comment, but a very enlightening one. :)

    Su Ann, your eloquence and bravery in discussing these issues never cease to amaze me. Young adults who think that their votes won’t matter should see how Obama won in several primaries thanks to the huge turnout of youth voters. I hope that this can happen in Malaysia too for this year’s general election. It really is too bad that I haven’t reach 21 and therefore can’t vote for the 2008 general election. :(

  • 29. pinkshirtz  |  March 6th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    Good article there. Indeed everything is rigged before even the campaign started. heck, eveyone can already guess the result for each of their district. its no suprise there…. rockets will never win because of their little number of nominees …. Sadly the opposition will not have a say anytime soon.

    … BN have not fulfilled all of their proposal from the last election. In fact, less than 30% of it was actually fulfilled. What the heck are they doing?

  • 30. percy  |  March 6th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    i cant believe that all the tax i pay montly are gone just like that beside wondering how much did the contractor and minister get for the ink deal, maybe now its time for me to think moving oversea to avoid paying taxes…

  • 31. pinkpau  |  March 6th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    aud : yesyes you may. eh yalar i havent done your interview yet. got deadline wan ah :(

    silentreadermiko : yes! have edited my post with my opinion about the indelible ink :)

    wristbandman : HAHA your last sentence is so hilarious

    johnleemk : oh but Donald Lim thinks ‘at least we are better than Burma, so dont complain’… :)

    sep : thank you!! :D it’s good to be loved

    adrian c : haha! this is the first time anyone has quoted narnia to me. thank you.

    dylan lim : a saying we should all uphold and that our government should always remember.

    cher wee : thank you :) yes, lets vote wisely.

    SPR : old woman!??! hahahaha. yesyes i saw those ads. laughed at the end of it and switched the channel

    yennamike : your enthusiasm is so amazing. i am proud of you for flying back to vote, despite knowing that it’s for a losing candidate. that said, i hope your candidate wins, with someone as cool as you in their constituency :)

    yong ee : the british and the US? they’re not really in any position to intervene like that. the opposition parties have their volunteers circling each polling station, but this isnt enough to stop the crimes that occur alot of the time

    luvangel : thank you luvangel :) that was a very inspiring comment, and i’m glad you took the time to write it.

    reallybites : dont be such a rebel !!!

    lion city : oh but our government thinks that we shouldn’t be compared to Singapore :P apparently it’s like comparing apples and oranges. haha some of them even think that we’re doing better than you. now isn’t that silly!

    sharon : thank you so much :)

    shaolintiger : hmm from what little i know, i actually think that the FPTP is a system that suits our electoral knowhow and habits. anything else would be just too cerebral for a lot of rural folk. yesyes have edited my post with a note on the indelible ink :)

    voteforachange : that motorola case makes me want to scream

    aimee : thank you my dear :)

    benjamin lee : time to choose then, yes?

    david : ahh you are a voter in bandar kuching! have you read Kennysia’s interview with both the BN and DAP candidates?

    ky : :P

    thiamhin : lets hope so. lets also hope there will be peace following such a result.

    nicholas chhan : would you really vote me if i ran for PM!! :D

    anonymous : thank you for sharing that information with us! :) some of those stats are new to me.

    povege : ABBN! hahaha! i have a friend whose dad said even if the opposition fielded a dog to run against BN, he would vote for the dog. damn cute

    je dakota : oh thank you so much!!! :D ah this is the first and probably the only time i’m being ranked higher than kenny. i’m going to enjoy this :P

    yappy : i think with this obvious shift in awareness and mindset, the next election, not this one, is the one to watch :) will you be able to vote then? i will!

    pinkshirtz : oh i wouldnt be so pessimistic about the opposition having no voice.. :)

    percy : yes you are spot on about the commission from the ink. no, dont move overseas just yet.. :) there is always hope.

  • 32. mamapeace  |  March 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    the thing we should d is to spread the news to ALL our frens,papa,mama,uncle,aunty who have no access to internet to lobby them to vote any opposition and to share truth to open their eyes..

  • 33. davidlian  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Good post. Well-researched and well thought out. Would just like to add my two sens that while I am in no way a BN supporter, I find that the opposition has equally not made its case as to why it should govern our country. Rather, they have been making very simple, surface promises of lowering fuel prices etc etc. without a well-debated or publicised plan.

    It saddens me that politics become more about race than actually discussing what’s good for the country. Still, I’m willing to give change a chance. Who knows?

  • 34. Life  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    God has eyes and this greedy government will soon have their day.They better watch out and better not sleep like Bodowi.And better not feed her Ah Jeanne Jie so much or else she would lose her attractiveness and her ‘nice’ husband would not be attracted to her during the night.

    So everyone please register yourselves as soon as you turn 21.Your votes are very important to the future of we Malaysians.Be like PinkPau and if everyone is like PinkPau then i’m sure we will have a better future.

  • 35. Justice  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    I can’t believe a young, pretty girl like Su Ann shows much concern of our country and suprise that she was much updated with current country affairs.

    ….I love u Su Ann, keep it up! U are indeed a shininng star as not many people dare to speak/shout out the TRUTH like u!!

    And I totally agreed with the FACTS in your write up, well done Su Ann!

    Actually, we somehow know very well Barisan is playing dirty tricks for years to win. But what can we do?
    Nothing much can be done to stop this?

    Hey, people there, I am not blaming you, you know they play dirty & u keep quiet but why are you still supporting them, why, why, why?

    All of us know that Barisan MCA supportor are those who are SELFISH, they choose to ignore, close their eyes, continue to support just for the sake of their own benefit regardless of others future.

    Corruption? Don’t care la..as long as my business get done, running well….it’s ok la..in fact I am one of them…
    Racist problem, don’t care la as long as I still live in my big house, drive sport car…that doesn’t matter..who care?
    Unfair distribution of scholarship? nevermind la I have enoguh money to send my children oversea..why worry?
    Price increase? This is not an issue cos if my business is doing well, I have extra money to cope this….etc…

    Barisan won tremendously, thanks to these people..They play an important part.

    Guys, we can’t do much to stop their dirty tricks, but we can do our part. Even if it is a small part. Exercise your vote!

    For those who are doing well, please also think of others,
    For those who are struggling for living, Listen, open your eye, don’t get cheated anymore..

    Give a chance to those who are willing to change to better, let them speak for us! At least once?

    ….We need a clean government, vote opposition is the best thing that we can help, to change the history and to move forward!

    Hence, DAP, this is your mission, go for it!!!

    YennaMike, I admired your spirit……

  • 36. johnleemk  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    pinkpau:

    Burma is an international pariah and its own people don’t support the government. WE’RE DOING SO WELL AREN’T WE??? Really, every year it gets worse. When we’re the worst country in all international rankings, BN will probably be saying “We are the best country in the category of ‘Countries that are worst in the world’”.

    davidlian:

    *facepalm*

    Um…you do realise that the DAP released an alternative budget, and that PKR has a relatively detailed manifesto? And if you want to be fair lah, compare these manifestos with BN’s. BN makes as many vague promises as the opposition, if not more - and BN doesn’t even explain how they’ll achieve these things. If you read the PKR and DAP manifestos you’ll find they’ve generally thought many of their policies through.

    I’m not a fan of the “subsidise the hell out of petrol” idea, but that’s just one of many proposals they bring up - and most of the rest are extremely sound. If you want to see true incompetence and lack of ideas, look no further than an LSE-educated Minister who doesn’t even know how much his own ministry spends, how to perform basic arithmetic, let alone his own government’s policies, and yet feels free to criticise others’ ideas without doing any thinking:

    http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Education/717/

  • 37. SPR  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    EC withdrew the decision to use indelible ink becos of some “fake ones” in the market. BAnk NEgara will soon stop using RM becos there are also lots of fake ones in the market.

    Might as well NIke, Adidas, NOkia, etc all close shops since there are so many fakes ones in the market.

  • 38. grace  |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    ** sigh…i know something will go wrong with that ink issue..=.= Rm2.4 freaking millions!

    It is so not fair that only the Barisan can advertise, and this year, counting the number of ads they have on tv, newspaper, INTERNET, radio…oh my god, they are burning our money again~

    Yet also, many people hate the government and they just vote for the opposition, no matter who it is, asalkan it is NOT BN.

    I think that is a misconception too, as actually they are real people working in BN

    And what if everybody vote for opposition? Will BN become more religion based?

    I have alot of frenz who just dont give a damn about what politics are, because they are dirty, its never fair, its full of corruption and they are planning to go overseas ASAP.
    sigh..

  • 39. CSV  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    su ann, you just voiced out everyone’s unhappiness in that blog post alone.

    kudos to you!

    the main thing is, i seriously believe, that BN is still going to control the cabinet even if they lose the elections. the constitution was amended by them to be that way.

    so, the main thing right now, is to let people know of the dirty tactics and inhumane acts the BN has employed to strengthen their choke on this country.

    as long as more people know of this unfairness, revolution will come. albeit slowly.

    disgusting thinking, trying to insult us threatening about may 13, and sidelining other races.

    now do you know why many chinese singers in malaysia travel overseas to develop themselves? cause the current government stinks.

    only going to secluded villages to get people to vote for them, then after all is over, forget about them and let them lie dead.

    we need a miracle and a revolution, or else, we’re gonna decay with the current government.

  • 40. takemoto  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Hats off to you pinkpau!!

    Recently knew your blog through nuffnang from the featured blogger list…and your blog has become a permanent read since then…

    In fact, u have spoken exactly what i have tried to point out to alot of people around me about the need to exercise the right to vote.
    Not to mention the problems that occur within our appaling EC…

    I mean, we are also born and bred of this land as well, why should we be treated as 2nd or 3rd class citizens? NEP has become more than a welfare security for the bumis…it’s now more of an apartheid ruling than anything else…it’s not benefitting anybody except the umnoputras…sometimes i feel sick reading the newpapers about them crapping about how noble and good their adminstration are…and how stupid the people are in believing that BN is their answer to everything.

    I hate it when they bring up May 13th to intimidate us…i myself feel disgusted by the government’s arrogance that their actions during that time were justified…if anybody has a right to go off chopping others…it would be those who are oppressed…but we don’t see that happening here…bcoz we use other means to do so…and they say the we are monopolizing the economy and bullying them…

    Btw…i’m supposedly 21 this year and i would’ve been able to vote had it not been held months earlier…on the other hand…i would’ve not been able to do so as well…according to my friend who recently turned 21, she said overseas students are not able to vote as well…and no surprises why that happned…obviously the postal votes from overseas students would add to the oppositions favour…so it’s obious to deny that adv rite? Sick government…

    Being helpless is unnerving…seeing people who have the power to change showing the “tidakapa” atitdue makes it even worse…all i could do was to convince those who are able to do so to vote wisely by showing them various sources…both opposition and neutral ones as well…hopefully those that i showed to would have more information to decipher compared to the crap BN shoves at us all the time…

    Lastly…i hope everyone should take note that u should vote for your future…not your present…u have the power to affect the future and well being of the next generation…do u want to create a society has equal rights too all of its citizens? Or do u want to form a government who does nothing but guzzle down your taxes, sets double standards and go on chopping off ppl when they are not happy…u have the power to change the future…please, vote for your future, and for those like us who can’t do so…we are trying our best to fight for it as well…it’s up to u guys to change it…

    Hopefully this gets through to everyone…

  • 41. mIcheLLe  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Actually PAS is not as bad as the papers claim them to be. I have lived in Kelantan my whole life and I have never experienced anything close to being oppressed and stuff.

    In fact they just leave us alone and let the chinese sell pork openly and practice our own beliefs. It’s only that we don’t have cinemas and K-boxes because Nik Aziz is apparently afraid of the maksiat thingy.

    The last time BN won in terengganu, they forced all the pork sellers (whatchiucallem) to sell pork at the back of shops like selling dadah lidat. Hmph. The pork market in Kelantan has Malay stalls on the side.

  • 42. sheon  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    i recommend your article for a pulitzer…….. bravo pinks.

  • 43. sheryl  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Another well written article on the General Election. Thanks for the effort! And Yes i am v pissed off about the INK issue! What were they thinking of when they order those inks from India? Did the legal advisers never advise them properly and since when they care about the so called Constitution Right of people?!

  • 44. Not Waffle  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    I like RPK’s take on the ink also, only the people supporting BN are exactly the type of people gullible enough to mark their fingers BEFORE voting.

    Actually I am not sure how polling agents can stop phantom voters, apparently if someone walks in and they are a different gender from their IC, you can’t object and stop them from voting there and then.

  • 45. Slinky  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    Wahhhhhhhh now THAT is one lengthly post but hey, I ain’t complaining! Not many have actually come up and lay all these on the table so publicly.

    Thank you so much for keeping those abroad updated on the current issues happening back at home!

  • 46. roger  |  March 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    The tactic of controlling the media to leave people in the darkness of ignorance is primarily a tactic used by…

    …communists and dictators -__-

    Looks like our great war with the communist guerillas back in the 60’s was all for naught since we are in the end.. Soviet Mother Malaysia.

    But the thing that irks me is the division of constituencies.

    In particular the Putrajaya constituency.

    Who works and lives in Putrajaya?
    Government people.

    Do you think they will ALL vote for the current government?
    No, they will all pack their bums up and go to America to vote for Ron Paul. Oh and of course their trip to America will be funded by taxpayers’ money with some extra costs thrown in so some idiots can scrape a little off the top.

    Another example is that of Bukit Bintang. BB has a population of over 400,000 people. They get one representative.

    Then you have some ulu-ulu kampung areas with a population of 40,000. They too get one representative.

    Looks like a cheat, sounds like a cheat, even fucks you from behind like a cheat, but I won’t say for sure who’s going to benefit from this cheating…

    Equal representation my yeast infection! Who do you think pays more tax to the government? The 400,000 urbanites or the 40,000 village people?

    “No taxation without equal representation!”

    Move to the kampungs if you’re in the urban areas, people! Our great gah-ment will care more for you, even if sometimes they don’t build necessary roads, you don’t get electricity…

    Democracy is like a bad joke in Malaysia - the kind that makes you cringe and sorely tempted to sock the joker in the face.

  • 47. chris  |  March 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    i could never had done in better even if i were to be given an entire lifetime to write about this. bravo, you solid pink of pau.

  • 48. curryegg  |  March 6th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

    Ohhh… pinkpau… you’re really ROCK and most of the points are true… I should shout this: Vote for the country…. :)

  • 49. tom  |  March 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    TOTALLY AGREE!!!

  • 50. Michael  |  March 6th, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    just vote and change. thats simple enough and effective to me.

  • 51. Liz  |  March 6th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    pinkpau, who would u vote for if you could? =)

  • 52. johnny ong  |  March 6th, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    great post entry here….nicely written and let’s hope all this will change people’s mindset to vote instead of sitting at home only

    had written blog entries relating to some of yr sub-topics:-
    http://johnny-ong.blogspot.com/2008/02/oldest-man-still-alive-and-kicking-in.html

    http://johnny-ong.blogspot.com/2008/03/personall-details-available-to-barisan.html

    http://johnny-ong.blogspot.com/2008/02/most-oldest-people-on-earth.html

  • 53. Je'Dakota  |  March 6th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

    Ha ha !!! Well, you are one of my favorite reads. I must say.
    Did you see my photos of NZ? You and Martian should visit one day and I’ll be your tour guide!!!

  • 54. veekay  |  March 6th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

    cool blog you have there, although i think this has been said thousands of times before.

    Malaysia has been in this situation for awhile already and people are saying it is impossible for BN to lose in any situation but I just feel there is this possibility of oppositions coming out triumphant like other countries out there.

    BN also stands for Barang Naik hahahaha but Barisan Najis is kinda spectacular too. Anyway I wish your plea all the best!

  • 55. Dan-yel  |  March 6th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

    http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79281

    If it’s any comfort check out the report about the Rashid’s house being painted red by some vandals.

    The Opposition candidates are facing serious shortage of volunteers including polling agents on March 8, unlike the BN ones who could easily hire as many as they want, remember free nasi lemak and T-shirts at Lembah Pantai?

    Anyway, I hope everybody try to volunteer themselves at the nearest polling stations. Polling agents for those who don’t know are representatives from each political party that observe and confirms to which party the ballots belong before they are counted. So in fear of an abuse, I believe everybody should try get in touch with local opposition team to ask if they need any help.

  • 56. umami  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    are you a DAP supporter? or the PKR? it is undeniable that your arguments are well articulated. i would say every government has its flaws, and yes what has happened recently is a shame to our country. but that doesn’t mean you guyz should vent it all out and vote for the opposition. PAS/DAP is no better than BN.

    have u read their manifestos? do you really want Anwar to be PM? Are you 100% sure that the promises made by the opposition will be fulfilled? look back and have a look on the decisions made by Anwar when he was the Education MInister/Financial Minister.

    Anwar was the person who changed Bahasa Malaysia to Bahasa Melayu. Bahasa Malaysia was used by our former PM Tunku Abdul Rahman as one of the tools to unite this multi racial country. Hence Malaysia is used and not Melayu! Why must he change it to Melayu? Is it necessary? or that by changing it to bahasa melayu reflects that Melayu are the dominant race in this country?

    When Anwar was the Finance Minister, it was true that he managed to kept the oil price at a constant level of RM 1.10. How long ago was that? The world is constantly evolving, it’s so different now compared to the year 1991 to 1998 when Anwar was Finance Minister. Oil per barrel has shot up to USD102. And Malaysia is not a country with abundance of oil, it will exhaust one day, it was scheduled to be exhausted in the year 2011. So how can Anwar fulfill his promises of reducing oil price?

    Every government would do the same to woo voters; ferry them from another states etc etc. I believe if our ruling govt now were to be PKR, they would do the same. politicians are dirty. how positive are you that they won’t? can’t bet your life with it?

    Indelible ink? it was against the law. “The use of indelible ink is yet to be legislated while, under Section 119 of the Federal Constitution, all eligible citizens are entitled to vote in a general election. Unless the Election Regulations 1981 are amended, the right to vote cannot be made conditional on the marking of voters’ fingers.” have you ever heard of the supremacy of law? if they do not conform to the law who will? yes you would say they wasted whole lot of money to buy the ink. if the money used concerns you, i’m sure they can always resell it. how difficult it is to sell back the inks to other countries? So by withdrawing the policy, does it justify the people to ‘paint his house with red paint?’

    Think deeper, than looking at the outset of it only. I would say both PKR/BN are corrupted, both are rotten eggs. it’s now a matter of choosing the best amongst the worst. don’t level your arguments against BN only and led your readers to believe that by letting the opposition wins, our country will be a better place.

    Human beings are not perfect, that’s why the govt will not be perfect. if you publicly announce that you are a DAP supporter, then i apologise for this long comment of mine but if you are not, do think about my comments above.

    Cheers. =)

  • 57. umami  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    Sorry in para 2 is finance minister*

    i forgot to add in the fact that when our country suffered recession in 1991, Anwar was the one who wanted to borrow from the World Bank. Economic students would aware of what the consequences would be if he do so. is he a better PM then?

  • 58. entwined  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:26 pm

    i just read part 3 of the interview with the EC chairman and already i’m disgusted. i don’t even want to know what stupid BS he’s spouting in part 1 and 2. so full of himself and so full of shit. urgh. i thought EC is supposed to be independent and politically neutral? apparently not in malaysia. whoopee.

  • 59. ceres  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    This is my 1st time leaving a comment here. I’ll have to say that i agree with umami. It’s not that i don’t think BN is a corrupted and racist and cheating scam, but in what way r the oppositions any different? i think this is going to be my utmost dilemma when i’m of age to vote. which party shoud i vote for, which will bring, like u said, a ‘change’ to our country? Is DAP going to do any better? It’s true that our newspaper is biased and trying to fool us into voting for the gov, but i agree with one thing they say tho, the oppositions r making empty promises. But well, i guess this is how politic works, so su ann, which party do u believe in that will bring a positive change to our country comparing to BN??

  • 60. LLK  |  March 6th, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    Hey how old are you ah (Am not sure whether I’ve left the same comment in your Bersih coverage lastime)? BUT YOU’re EXTREMELY politically aware for your age (assuming you’re 19 la)!! I love you! You’re my hero…!

  • 61. Fu Han  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    Ok, I’m still pretty undecided about who I’d probably vote in years to come, but I don’t think it’s fair for the reades to judge if you’re voting for an opposition party. I think Su Ann’s merely implying that there should be fairer elections, less manipulated.

    *feels smart for ending dispute*

    ok, wth I don’t think I did anything wth. Eeeeeee.

    PS - I agree that it isn’t fair to go on endlessly on the flaws of our current government. This reminds me of the incident when Obama was accused of plagiarizing a portion of a speech. I liked Obama’s response to that. :)

  • 62. ColorBlind  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:07 pm

    How many of us do write with facts? Most of the time you, him/her & I merely rant about things from hearsay. How true is the article above? Also some comments are plain rubbish.

  • 63. Laksarian  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    umami + ceres = FEAR

  • 64. jml  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    Wake up Malaysia!
    Well written for what ever age you are…it matters not. What matters is truth, transparency and justice.
    Out with cronyism..greed and lies.
    VOTE FOR CHANGE!!

  • 65. boob_omatic  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    Su Ann + this post = so sexy!!!

  • 66. Alfred  |  March 6th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    I think you are very right and you have said it all. You have voiced out what I am feeling deep inside…

  • 67. Dan-yel  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    To umami and ceres

    I hope you get to read this, if you don’t I hope our adamant Pinkpau here email it to you.

    First of all, about your point that no government is perfect, well that’s why we have democracy dear. It’s for the Rakyat to check on them. And I don’t agree with you saying that since the Opposition is no better than the government then we should abstain from voting for the Opp or not at all. Isn’t that perpetuating the already nonchalantness on the part of the Government in taking our rights in the Constitution for granted.

    It’s naive to expect and wait for a good opposition and a good government. You’ll never get the one you’re happy with period. I emphasised never. But note this, what you can get (and might lose in future) is your freedom to influence how this country is run. If you’re not happy with BN, i suggest you to make your choice. You’re going to make a point to not just BN, but also opposition parties, that they can lie and cheat us all they want, but the people will eventually have the final say.

    About the indelible ink, I agree somewhat it may affect our constitutional right to vote. But really, who in their right mind would be so unreasonable for just a slight mark of Indian ink? I mean you go to nightclubs and parties don’t you, don’t you ever get that silly cute awesome mark on your forearm? And even if it’s really an issue, why didn’t they scrap it up earlier? It’s just plain irresponsible to have spent millions of Rakyats money you know and it surely doesn’t go well with the Opposition parties who also has stake in the election.

    About Bahasa Malaysia (Melayu)? What has that got to do with Anwar Ibrahim’s credibility? If I’m the education minister, I’ll be the first in line to propose in favour of Bahasa Melayu name. You speak English right, you don’t speak Americanish or United Kingdomese do you? Kidding….

    About the oil price, true that Malaysians are spoilt, but are they prepared for it? Have you checked how much Petronas earn? It’s like, “Hey Pak Lah, I’m pretty darn literate enough to know that the Americans might attack Iraq for a reason (chill dude, no speculation here), but you might at least give us a raise and stop bullshitting about how low our inflation is” You get where I’m going kid, man, woman, ma’am? The Australians got the among the highest income tax in the world, but they have enough to live a decent lifestyle (or rather fatty be the correct adjective, can someone cite the latest statistics on Australian health, will ya?). It’s not about reducing oil price my friend (sorry if I’m being rude here, pretty excited here about the election), it’s about whether we are ready. Plus if we can impose higher price on Pinkpau’s rich boyfriend or give incentives to Pinkpau’s poor friends like me, and the rest of us here, so be it. Don’t listen to Najib, it’s just plain cruel for someone who earn RM150 a day to see the oil price skyrocket like what 150% the next day.

    In the end of the day, not voting at all means that you are also voting for BN in our system, in the end of the day, what really matters here is whether you like how’s the country being run or not. You may well remember about the lesson BN had in the 1990s when they had the shock of their lives when mommy give them a smaller slice of the pie. There was strong political pressure even within BN itself, and guess what you’ve got. Wawasan 2020 (when’s that going to happen again, 2051?) and Cyberjaya, and many more. But what’ve you got with Pak Dollah’s apparently 90%majority (only 60%of the total Rakyat’s votes), Hindraf detention, ZamZam outstanding performance on Al-Jazeera, erection erection? Hishammudin Hussein keris?

    Think about it ya mate….

  • 68. Dan-yel  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    sorry it’s RM150 a month not RM150 a day, oops

  • 69. foreverjas  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    wah. u’re really mature girl!!!!! love u lots!!!! u’re my idol!!!

  • 70. miss.cc  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:37 pm

    THEY HAVE PHANTOM VOTERS WHO ARE REGISTERED TO PPL’S HOUSE?!!?? please lah, even if they wanted to cheat they have no right to register under ACTUAL ppl’s addresses. Why this stupid EC dismiss it as small matter! Kinda wish I have superpowers so I can put phantom voters for the Opposition in courtesy of BN candidates. mwahaahahahaha. In their name. =P ok la, don’t be so bad. I’ll be the angel and they be the evil ones. =)

    omg, i didn’t know they were THAT bad. =S
    they really stay true to the slogan “Malaysia Boleh” ; yeah Malaysia boleh korupt. =.=”"

    insane narcissists who thinks the world revolves around them. i’m so disgusted of reading the newspapers and all i mostly see are ads of BN, BN and BN. I was also thinking to myself “Why no ads for Opposition?” then I knew why. =.= Really!!! Using “psychology” to hammer supposedly “BN macam bagus sangat stuff” in ppl’s heads so ppl might get confused and think BN is so great and all that. =.=

    when i was younger or more like slightly younger, i thought BN was this super force coming so the country will have a realy bright future with Pak Lah around. I was soo wrong. Sure, we hv new buildings, mostly contributing to the economy but when it came to the community/the system, it was different. So corrupt! =.=

    and kononnya for pendidikan moral there are all those supposedly ‘lets all be good’ nilai-nilai. The government don’t even possess any of these moral values! maybe yes, in their own narcissistic sense. Like Cinta akan Negara- being a complete racist to protect the country’s “rights”, i.e. THEIR rights. wtf. =P

    Sadly, I can’t vote yet. Still underage. sighh….. maybe i should disguise as a phantom voter, curi-curi vote and let BN get back what they deserve. xD

  • 71. me  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    good write! educate the people !
    there are so many who doesnt know who to vote.. i’m sure u helped to open some eyes

  • 72. fern  |  March 6th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    geram geram. grr!

    and i hate how their spending So much of the rakyat’s money on their campaigning! There’s so many little blue flags everywhere it’s ridiculous!

    my high school will be used as a voting centre this saturday, and the front gate is littered with BN flags, posters and banners.

    seriously, after saturday imma gonna burn the next blue flag i see

  • 73. Kevin Chan  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:09 pm

    Go PINKPAU! I’m blogging along similar lines too. Barisan is just TOO much this time. They think that they can do as they please and we’re like totally oblivious to all their dirty tricks. Its just SO sickening.

    SOMEBODY VOTE THEM OUT!

  • 74. johnleemk  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    umami:

    The question is, Have *YOU* read the opposition manifestos, as well as BN’s? Compare the two objectively lah. Then come back and talk. The fact is, BN makes as many “empty promises” as the opposition, and they don’t have any plan to fulfill them. If you actually bothered to read the opposition manifestos, you would realise that they actually outline how they will govern the country - they make promises, but at least they have an inkling of how they want to go about fulfilling them.

    And please lah, if you want to talk about empty promises, it was this stupid BN government that promised to tackle corruption in the last election - and we all know how successful they were. Even communist Vietnam is more successful at addressing corruption than we are.

  • 75. D_T  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    To Umami
    Just wanted to point out the misconception that the EC is stopped by section 119 of the Federal Constitution from using indelible ink. It is an interesting argument but completely wrong.

    It is true that “all eligible citizens are entitled to vote in a general election.” Everyone is entitled to vote: that does not mean you can vote in any way you want. There are rules even now, e.g. getting yourself registered, which is not mentioned in the Constitution.

    In any case, section 119 says that a person can be disqualified from voting by “any other law relating to offences committed in connection with elections”: all the government needs to do is to pass a bill through Parliament to make it illegal NOT to use indelible ink, and this problem would have been solved.

    I really hate to say this, but the EC’s attempt at using the Constitution to halt the use of indelible ink is laughable.. if it weren’t so real.

    For interest, the full constitution is here:
    http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Malaysia

  • 76. anonymous coward  |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

    what assurances do i have that once the NEP is stopped there will not be discrimination against malays? once the NEP goes every private sector company will suddenly have “must speak mandarin” requirement, or blatantly “chinese only”

    once the quotas are gone, and the malays all fall back to lower income and lower middle class, the new DAP-ruling class will go “but thats your fault you stupid lazy malays, work hard or starve?”

    fuck that noise.

    no, i think i’ll defend my quotas. it’s the only thing protecting me from reverse-racism.

  • 77. silentobserver  |  March 7th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    Edited from the previous post of my reply to johnleemk:

    It is hard to see the logic in just voting for the candidate and not the party. But for me, I’m not “pro-govt” or “anti-govt”. Because honestly and realistically, I think BN will still win. So the most we can do is do our best to put up more useful people who will fight to make those changes. Because yes, I still believe that those dissenters did make a difference somehow, no matter how minute as we see them to be.

    I also have a problem with the logic of having another party as the government because at this point in time, is there any potential one? Can we realistically say that we can see DAP, PKR, or PAS as the ruling party? If I’m not mistaken they tried forming BA in the past but had problems themselves. Having opposition parties in a democratic country is absolutely necessary, but do the current ones really have a vision or a REALISTIC one for the country as a whole? They have brilliant-looking manifestos but the question is how realistic are they? Or do they exist just to oppose the government?

    Anyway, the fact that popular bloggers are bothering to blog about our country’s wellbeing is really gratifying. The awareness created is overwhelming. Really, excellent job guys. Because despite my seemingly over-passionate ramblings, I still have to admit I’m no maestro in this politics business. I just hope people will make that sincere decision for the best of our country as a whole.

    and may the people who can, make that choice I can’t, wisely.

  • 78. Juju  |  March 7th, 2008 at 12:40 am

    great post there! i absolutely agree with u 100% on this!

  • 79. usws  |  March 7th, 2008 at 12:50 am

    Wow, kudos to you for saying everything we always knew (well, mostly) but never dared say in the open. I have been wondering myself, how journalists etc. who work for those newspaper do what they do eventhough they know it’s untrue.

    A very good answer would be that they’re afraid that they’d be shut down or worse, indicted for a crime they never committed. And the ‘best’ part is, you’ll never know that these things happened all because you put up opposition ads. They might say you’re gay for all i cared. Scary stuff!

    And the part about dividing up constituencies strategically and allowing the opposition to ‘win’ but yet further reducing the number of seats they have is so so true. I’m like.. OMG, why isn’t anyone doing anything?

    BYE!

    p.s. I should come here more often from now on. There’s a very good reason why you’re so well known. :)

  • 80. Nicholas Chhan  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:15 am

    @PinkPau Vote you as PM? Hmm… depends what kind of a person you turn out to be a decade from now :) Perhaps as strong as Nurul Izzah but with more sincerity and integrity? Hmm…

  • 81. alea  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:19 am

    we need more teenagers like you in Malaysia.

    rock on, Su ann. Rock on.

  • 82. cyan  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:19 am

    Dear anonymous coward,
    I can see that you are a coward and selfish person. We just want to be treated equally and not that we are asking for any special privilage.
    As for you, start growing up! stop hiding under the goverment ass! Stand on your own, how you are going to compete with the rest of the world. If not you really are a stupid lazy malays.

  • 83. pamsong  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:24 am

    Wow. Lotsa stuff I wasn’t aware of. Terrible times, these are, eh? Honestly though… I wish this weekend would be over sooner.

  • 84. anonymous coward  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:35 am

    we are all selfish. i am under no illusion that once the tables turn, “equal treatment” will mean “all those people who aren’t already well off can die” and “i dont care if you could benefit from getting uni place, as long as i got more spm credits than you, which i do cause my parents can afford private school for me and send me to america if i want to, it’s mine mine mine”

    some people can get along just fine with no aid, that’s good, but some people have to be helped. even babies hold on to something when they learn to walk.

    And this, is why BN will win even if they don’t cheat… DAP just wants to take away, BN at least distribute the patronage..

  • 85. chang  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:58 am

    I totally disagree with you…

    Do you have any prove of EVERYTHING u said and accuse of?

    MEDIA?? Since when did the media give 100% reliable or take the candidates comments and words..properly….!! ACCURATELY!!??
    sum have been misrepresented..twist n turned…not helping the candidates or whoever convey wat they are trying to shout out properly and accurately but causing more havoc!!

    dirty tactics?? does DAP play clean now?? haha… same thing wert…

    they have nth to say abt the BN candidates in certain states..n wat do they resort to?? digging their unrelated past….their family…their background?? how fair is tat?? twist n turn n provoking society to hate the government??

    everyone pls think properly…pls vote bcos u think they can do a better job from the opposing party…not merely to give pressure to BN…cos if thats the aim….its naive…!!!
    think of a bungalow…to avoid thieves..u buy n train more dogs….uu think its going to scare the thieves away?? u think the house will then be safe??no…all they do is bark…the thieves will still b able to get in…mayb harder or mayb not even so….
    so y not try tackling the thieves instead…

    ask yourself…wat do u not like abt BN?? so u hate BN as a whole?? or is it just UMNO?? or MCA?? or other parties within?? if so…
    try to make a change within rather than quashing n making the helpful n useful party within suffer!!!

    yla i cant c my comment… :S second try here…

  • 86. johnleemk  |  March 7th, 2008 at 2:34 am

    anonymous coward:

    You are aware that the NEP doesn’t prevent private sector racism, right? It just allows the public sector to practice racism. You also seem blissfully unaware that both the DAP and PKR have concrete and specific proposals (for the love of God, will nobody read their manifestos?) to address poverty and inequality of opportunity, regardless of race.

  • 87. pinkpau  |  March 7th, 2008 at 2:48 am

    chang : wow. i am rendered speechless by your comment.

    “Do you have any prove of EVERYTHING u said and accuse of?”
    yes. i even researched and provided you examples of gerrymandering in the 2004 elections and links to articles regarding phantom voters. as for bribing voters, i know people who have been bribed and take these bribes. the media thing, even a fool can see for himself how obviously biased the govt-owned media is :) as for holding people at ransom… like i said, i know people who are held at ransom at their own will. geez did you not read my post.

    “MEDIA?? Since when did the media give 100% reliable or take the candidates comments and words..properly….!! ACCURATELY!!??”
    yes that is precisely my point. o_O

    “dirty tactics?? does DAP play clean now?? haha… same thing wert…”
    can you accuse DAP of doing any of the above 7 things that BN has been proven to do? politics is not clean, but it should be fair.

    they have nth to say abt the BN candidates in certain states..n wat do they resort to?? digging their unrelated past….their family…their background?? how fair is tat?? twist n turn n provoking society to hate the government??
    hahaha please do give me a good and concrete example. quote from a ceramah if you must. BN are no angels when it comes to mudslinging, btw :) Khairy called indians ‘beruks’ and used homo slurs on Anwar. how like this? okay ah?

    everyone pls think properly…pls vote bcos u think they can do a better job from the opposing party…not merely to give pressure to BN…cos if thats the aim….its naive…!!!
    what is so naive about giving them pressure? that is PRECISELY the point of having an opposition, to give the government pressure so that they do not become complacent, so that they listen to people and dissenting viewpoints, so that they learn to improve. Barisan Nasional can afford to be lazy and corrupted because they cheat their way through elections time after time, yet there are still people like you think that it’s naive to give pressure to the govt. i am beginning to seriously question if you know what you are even talking about.

    think of a bungalow…to avoid thieves..u buy n train more dogs….uu think its going to scare the thieves away?? u think the house will then be safe??no…all they do is bark…the thieves will still b able to get in…mayb harder or mayb not even so….
    hahahahahahahahaha cmon you can do better than this totally weird analogy :)

    so y not try tackling the thieves instead… ask yourself…wat do u not like abt BN?? so u hate BN as a whole?? or is it just UMNO?? or MCA?? or other parties within??
    yes i dont like BN as a whole and even as separate component parties. i have good reasons, that an entire nation of people share (or at least, half of us). i just wrote 7 of them for you.

    itry to make a change within rather than quashing n making the helpful n useful party within suffer!!!
    11 terms of BN politicians have had the chance to ‘change’ BN from within. i have no faith in a government that takes this long to do anything useful or even ‘change’ from within. take a good look around you; with all their stubborn policies and this race-based party system, we are not going anywhere. sorry, Malaysians have had enough of waiting and we’ve had enough of our money and rights and effort and opportunities being squandered while our politicians get richer and fatter. time to change :)

  • 88. Mc_Bone  |  March 7th, 2008 at 3:17 am

    Su Ann
    You are SCARY!!!
    but in a VERY GOOD way!
    kudos!

  • 89. tze  |  March 7th, 2008 at 3:21 am

    su ann you are so clever /boo

    ya i use paypal u want my account? wtf

  • 90. carol  |  March 7th, 2008 at 4:49 am

    Isn’t it TOTALLY ironic, how when a whole VIDEO on the fixing of judges surfaces on the internet, the government sets up a panel to prove the authenticity of the video… instead of finding out whether or not what the video claims is true.

    Yet, when RUMORS of this “security” issue arises, what do they do? (Taking into account the fact I totally consider the EC as another slaveboy of the BN)

    They totally scrap the use of the ink! Wow! Instead of finding out whether those rumors are true - which is the right action when it comes to rumors!

    I am totally blown away by the intelligence of these people. And to think the country is most probably going to vote 2/3 of these buffoons right back into power.

    Can’t wait to exercise my right in the future! Until then, I’ll keep myself educated..and educate others as well.

    Su Ann, you rock! :)

  • 91. carol  |  March 7th, 2008 at 4:54 am

    umami

    “ndelible ink? it was against the law. “The use of indelible ink is yet to be legislated while, under Section 119 of the Federal Constitution, all eligible citizens are entitled to vote in a general election. Unless the Election Regulations 1981 are amended, the right to vote cannot be made conditional on the marking of voters’ fingers.” have you ever heard of the supremacy of law? if they do not conform to the law who will? yes you would say they wasted whole lot of money to buy the ink. if the money used concerns you, i’m sure they can always resell it. how difficult it is to sell back the inks to other countries? So by withdrawing the policy, does it justify the people to ‘paint his house with red paint?’”

    And do you know how quickly the government has changed the law before? E.g. the one the modified last year to allow the EC chairman to stay on? Please. We all know changing the law - especially when it comes to something as crucial as indelible ink - is not that difficult.

    Apparently, you are still living in the BNmatrix :) Wake up!

  • 92. hanna  |  March 7th, 2008 at 5:26 am

    a couple of points:

    a) media - agreed; local media is almost completely oppressed, which is why i worry about what part i can play when i eventually come home.

    b) i’ve read a couple of comments saying things like “BN is corrupt, but how do we know other parties will do better?” the answer is that you don’t. but no party, especially in a country that calls itself a democracy, should be allowed to have such uncontested power for such a long period of time. no government can rule fairly without checks and balances, and that is what our country is missing. of course we don’t know this person will make a better PM than that person, but neither is it fair to point to decisions made in totally separate circumstances and judge how they will do now based on how they did then. hindsight is, after all, 20/20.

    the point of su ann’s post, as i see it, was that not only are PAS, DAP, etc. not even being given a fair chance in these elections, but neither are we, the people of malaysia. we’re not being given a chance to voice our opinions (dissenting ones, that is), and we’re not being given the chance to effect the change that we want to see.

    c) don’t accuse su ann of not doing her research. i’ve found few people around our age more aware of the way the world works. ;)

  • 93. pinkpau  |  March 7th, 2008 at 6:07 am

    oh carol ! (hahaha :P my fav song when i was a kid) thank you for pointing out the inconsistency re the ink and lingam video. ah isn’t it so like our government… when they’re at fault, slowly delay the heck out of everything. but when they’re even the slightest bit threatened, it is knee-jerk reactions aplenty.

  • 94. pinkpau  |  March 7th, 2008 at 6:25 am

    to umami : thank you for your very polite comment :) lemme try to answer your questions best i can.

    about your following questions: ‘how am i 100% sure that the opposition will fulfill their promises’, ‘how am i 100% sure the the opposition wont play dirty’, ‘can i bet my life on it’.
    the truth is, no, i can’t be a 100% sure. but i am taking this leap of faith because i believe in the opposition, i believe in their cause, i happen to LIKE their manifesto and proposed budget, and i have the highest respect for many of their candidates.

    yes, the thing about promises is that they are very easy to make. but i like to see and hear promises that are well thought out, substantial and put foremost the interests of the people. have you read the opposition party’s manifestos? it’s got some very very good stuff in there, promises that i would LOVE to see implemented. these are policies, actions, abolitions, reductions, reforms that are sincerely what the people want. BN knows what people want.. but they still refuse to budge from their corrupt and self-righteous high horses. everything to them is ’sensitive’, everything to them is done to ‘prevent racial tension and may 13 incidents’, everything to them is ‘our budaya’.

    i think DAP has a better clue of how to manage funds than BN does. just look at the ideas on their proposed alternative budget - they’re absolutely brilliant. why cant a government of 50 years experience come up with stuff like that? put both manifestos side by side and you’ll see how truly mistaken the country is to put their trust in the hands of barisan nasional.

    from a purely historical extrapolation - put your trust in BN and the promises you hear are NOT going to be fulfilled. no, we dont know if the opposition will fulfill THEIR promises, but i would most definitely want to give them a chance to. their promises are better than BN’s anyway :) i like and fully support the public tender idea and the fair wage policy and the independent police complaints commission. good stuff.

    as for your doubt on Anwar’s capability and your uncertainty that he would make a good PM:

    i may be going out on a limb here, but i believe that 6 years in jail and public humiliation has brought Anwar to a level of humility that would be necessary for someone of his track record to assume a position of power. he is watched by the public eye and his own people very warily now, and there is a lot of precious and almost personal trust bestowed upon him at this point. this is something that he cannot afford to jeopardize; the moment he reverts back to his old giddy UMNO self, people would vote him out immediately. and this can be done in one election. once bitten, twice shy after all. or in this case - twice bitten, no third time ever again.

    regarding the indelible ink issue and your supremacy of law argument:

    i find it quite funny that you buy BN’s and EC’s spin on this issue. do you really think that BN and the EC are beneath the constitution? Abdul Rashid is chairing the EC at this very minute simply because BN is above the law :) they are making a mountain out of a molehill with their reaction to these ‘rumours’ that we dont know even exist.

    even if the rumours were true, they would have affected a very small portion of the elections, and because A Rashid has such faith in the IDENTITY CARD, it is an issue easily handled. yet, simply because of these rumours, they went and reversed a decision that would have ensured the fairness of the other 99.9 (my humble estimation) votes. the EC is silly. who do they think they’re trying to kid, bringing out big words like constitution and supremacy of law… :) laughable.

    yea that’s about all i want to say. thank you umami for voicing your dissent so politely. i really appreciate it.

  • 95. Michelle  |  March 7th, 2008 at 8:22 am

    I know this is not related but:

    DO YOU LIKE GELATO AT GELATOSIMMO, IL DOLCE FREDDO OR BRUNETTI?

    Oh, I live very near to Lygon Street. =D

  • 96. Melanau_girl  |  March 7th, 2008 at 9:01 am

    You know, in Sarawak.. BN is the strongest…. BUt it is weakening. And I am (I mean all damn normal Sarawakian who are not related to him by blood or money!!) definitely not happy the way CM choose contractor to do some of biggest project in Sarawak. He simply choose his son company. Ironically, the company does not perform and we have to suffer because of the delay!!!! Our bosses simply just “Aiyooo rambut putih sudah pilih anak dia”. Blardyy hell!

  • 97. Snow white  |  March 7th, 2008 at 9:05 am

    Bloody irritated reading today chinese paper, almost half the paper occupied with big and small of Barisan’s advertisements….These people are too much, they wasted hundred and million of dollars for this election campaign on TV, Radio, newspaper, freebie and to make their stupid blue flags flying all over…Come on!! THESE ARE OUR $$, the taxpayer’s $$…..

    Enough, enough, they have damn lousy financial planning, why should I vote them?

  • 98. fed up  |  March 7th, 2008 at 9:22 am

    a leopard never changes his spots thus, be it Anwar or BN, the Malaysian political climate will never change. Not until Malays stop hiding behind UMNO and Chinese hide behind DAP. Lets face it, both are just as bad. Its a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. Personally, I think that BN has had a great track record thus far in developing the country. I would not trust a rookie, DAP, to run Malaysia. The current economic state we are in is a blip. Its not just Malaysia thats feeling the pinch. Huge banks like UBS, Barclays, JP Morgan all had to make write backs in the wake of subprime. The US Fed had to cut back its rate to stimulate the economy. Oil price is approaching 110 USD per barrel for the 1st time ever. What makes us think that Malaysia will not feel the aftershock too?
    My vote will go to BN. Come 8th March, BN will win again. Lets face the facts. This was never in doubt. Perhaps the margin will be less that the last election, but still, hey, to put it in EPL terms, to win 1-0 or 5-0 will still mean 3 points rite?

  • 99. silentobserver  |  March 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am

    johnleemk:

    sorry i’m replying to you again here from the previous post, but I didn’t really mean “BN will win, so therefore we should vote BN.” I actually meant to say we should put useful ppl who keep to their words whether or not they are the opposition or the government because i believe, as many (or as little.. :)) as they are dissenters, there are quite a few great candidates from the opposition, too… i really do understand the logic of pressuring the government as well because that’ll keep them on their toes… just that we need ppl with substance to do that, if not there’ll not be much point either…

    maybe my logic is flawed with the whole seemingly “atas-pagar” approach, but i just really hope for the best for our country… as much nonsense that is going on behind the scenes in the government, i hope they’ll put away their own agendas and do something right this time.. some might say this is naivety and all that jazz, but at this point, we are already gambling quite a bit with our faith and our trust… i’m just taking it to another level with hope.. :P

    and yet again, cheers.

  • 100. fireangel  |  March 7th, 2008 at 10:28 am

    You go girl!

  • 101. silentobserver  |  March 7th, 2008 at 10:46 am

    ok my name is really an irony because i’m nowhere near silent.. :)

    http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/5/election2008/20543387&sec=election2008

    since i’m not in malaysia, i’m not sure how big of an issue this was. but for me personally, i was very upset when i saw the video at first… it actually launched my outraged passionate comments on kennysia and pinkpau’s blog. i really respected this man, for the many things he did for our country but the way he reacted after he stepped down really disappointed me…

    anyway, back on track… so basically there was all the hoo-haa about the government using tricks to get votes… firstly, every party definitely wants to win… being the government, you have certain advantages… don’t get me wrong, splashing money on campaigns is bad, but they really are doing what think can garner votes… (which is not really working right, with ppl wanting to burn the flags and everything…)… ok but admittedly, the phantom voters thing is totally out of this world…

    but this article also proves something. that the opposition is no angel either? because from what we can gather from the article,

    1) drM is telling the truth
    2) drM is lying
    3) drM is for his own just wants to create havoc in the country and he wants to save his back

    every reason works against the opposition party that used this to garner votes… because if it was number 1, if drM is telling the truth, the reasoning is blatant.. they manipulated an extremely respected figure of the country to gain supporters, this is self-explanatory…

    if it was number 2, it still works against them, because if he was lying and was with the opposition, him coming out like that and accusing the opposition isn’t going to work for the opposition either? having a respected man accuse you in that way isn’t going to get you much support.

    in the case of number 3 (to which if it were true i’ll be terribly speechless), the opposition is still manipulating a respected figure of this country for their own personal gain…

    basically what i’m trying to say is, politics is dirty… for those who are using this as a basis for choosing who to vote, try thinking again… if we say we have to fight fire with fire, how can we say that that party is any better? however, if we really think that a party deserves our faith with much research and thinking gone into it (which clearly, some of the people who comment here have and it is great to know that :)), vote for whomever you choose.. my comments are just some food for thought…

    but yes, elections are all about taking risks… again, may we make the choice with our country’s wellbeing in mind. cheers

  • 102. johnleemk  |  March 7th, 2008 at 10:48 am

    silentobserver:

    I understand why you feel this way - until not too long ago I thought the same way. I’m just saying that there’s no way any good person can pressure BN from the inside - the vast majority of their candidates will toe the BN line, and so the dissenting minority will be easily crushed. In most other countries, coalition governments experience open dissent and the problem has to be resolved either in Parliament or by meetings between the various component parties. In Malaysia, all dissent is just quashed - even Ministers can’t submit a memorandum to the PM about religious freedom. I have lost all faith in any attempt to change BN from the inside, or even moderate their poor governance.

    As for those who think the opposition is unqualified to form a government, call me an optimist, but having worked with them, I believe they deserve to form the next government of Malaysia (warning, longass article - longer than Su Ann’s I think):

    http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Politics/719/

  • 103. johnleemk  |  March 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am

    Oh, and about that video (which I never really cared about in the first place), I can’t think of any opposition party which actually lent credence to rumours that Mahathir admitted framing Anwar. I follow several blogs written by candidates for election, as well as other opposition leaders at all levels, and practically all of them haven’t even linked to the video, let alone endorsed the conclusion that it proves Mahathir framed Anwar. The Star is setting up a strawman to knock down - some overspeculative bloggers in the vein of Raja Petra have made this claim, but hardly any serious opposition leader actually supports it. Look at Anwar’s blog for yourself lah - he himself doesn’t even say a thing!

    I think you’re also assuming way too much - it could very well be a sincere mistake on the part of the bloggers. The only person who has deceived anybody is the fella who edited the video, who is certainly not acting on authority from the opposition leaders. (If he is, the opposition leaders are either way too stupid for not publicising the video, or way too smart for not publicising the video. Unless there is evidence to the contrary, The Star is flat out lying in its claims that the opposition parties have been actually claiming Mahathir said he framed Anwar.)

  • 104. silentobserver  |  March 7th, 2008 at 11:21 am

    johnleemk:

    alrighty then… haha my comment on the video made me look like an idiot to you people who were more aware than me then… :) i was directing them to mainly some people who were possibly as ignorant as me… but thank you, i really appreciate your clarification on this matter…

    trusting you have made up your mind based on loads of thinking, rationalising and personal experience (as with my mom who told me she is voting for the opposition), i’m rest assured that you will make a wise choice for the betterment of our country…

    pinkpau:

    again, i commend you for your posts on politics… erm i’ll really really try to shut up now… :)

  • 105. WaiNam Ng  |  March 7th, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Some of them sing this ~
    ” Mari lah, mari, ”
    ” Mari lah undi, ”
    ” Lama-lama, semua babi pun mati. “

  • 106. Snow white  |  March 7th, 2008 at 11:56 am

    I have some highlight for “Fed up” on his/her post above.

    1…..the Malaysian political climate will never change. Not until Malays stop hiding behind UMNO and Chinese hide behind DAP.

    Correction - Chinese hide behind MCA not DAP….

    2….I would not trust a rookie, DAP, to run Malaysia.

    My view - Even all of us cast our vote for DAP, they will not able to make it to run the country, so basically we vote them is to help them to get more seat in the Parliment to speak out our problems in future…so why worry?

    3….The current economic state we are in is a blip. Its not just Malaysia thats feeling the pinch…

    My Q: Yes, no doubt…but please explain where have the $ gone if Bodohwi kept telling us that our economy is booming up excellent….but lower level like us are suffering day and night of price hike?…Corruption is the answer.

    “Fed up”, you are too naive, pls study more before you go for BN…. but I don’t blame you, cos you are just one of the many out there who’s still sleeping…you might continue to sleep for another 5 years….

  • 107. Anonymous  |  March 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    This is one vote BN cannot buy.

    http://www.skthew.com/2008/02/18/one-vote-bn-will-not-be-able-to-buy/

  • 108. Eric  |  March 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    I’ve been following your blog for quite some time now and I must say, what you’ve wrote is nice put. I wonder each day if Pak Helah and gang will stop treating us like a bunch of idiots with all their feel-good news everyday.

    I once was like you too, thinking that we’re all living in paradise-land while the evil oppositions scheme to do evil. The internet is really an eye-opener don’t u agree? Hmm come to think of it, perhaps that’s why the goverment isn’t doing much to promote the Internet penetration rate eh?

  • 109. bn  |  March 7th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    if im forced to vote bn , i would rather vote my dog

  • 110. thiamhin  |  March 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    su ann, well done on your piece of post on election, here i only wanted to share my view in this election. I am writing this comment for everyone here.
    i think we should choose a credible candidate to speak on behalf of me rather than a party. my constituency, Rasah often switch hand between BN, MCA and DAP. but both of them have something in common. they only talk and not action.
    my place have not been visited our MP for more than 3 decade except when my home is flooded, a MCA state assemblymen drop by and solved the problem. but too bad because he has differences with the party, the party, MCA have kill his political career.
    here i appeal to the eligible voter to vote the choice of your candidate and not the party. this is something i have been done during the last election. please don’t afraid for change if you wish to.

  • 111. Kevin  |  March 7th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    I vote for your la ah paus, you go run as independent candidate.. settle everything no need toh toh lan yeh ahhaha

  • 112. Nick  |  March 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    How the BN has managed to stay in power for so long was because they instill the following into the mindsets of Malaysians:

    a) Fear - threats of May 13, cheap defamation of the opposition, fear of “hand-chopping” PAS regimes, etc.
    b) Greed - promises of development, bribery, etc.
    c) Ignorance - completely erasing the existence of the opposition in the media, spin-doctoring of stories, inaccurate portrayal of events in history textbooks, etc.

    Apart from playing dirty, they don’t even play fair - I was hearing all sorts of stories from the way they rig elections during a PA training which includes things like waxing ballot papers and smuggling ballot papers out to be sold. Najib claims the opposition is getting desperate? Look who’s talking!

    Kudos to you Su Ann, I highly applaud your political awareness, sense of justice and bravery in putting up this article.

  • 113. naeboo  |  March 7th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7274476.stm

    u forgot inciting jealousy between races

  • 114. Eelaine Boo  |  March 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

    I agree with this post, totally. One regret I have is not registering. I was procrastinating you see. I’ll make sure I register for the next one!

    And I think this ‘clamping down bloggers’ thing really got most bloggers afraid of voicing out what they think about the government. I’ve got numerous emails saying how I should think before I blogged about the elections and the government and their attitudes.

    I think it’s time we speak up. This is our country and we should feel we belong and we matter. All we get is, “If you do this, we’ll detain you” yadda yadda. Hmph.

  • 115. dGurl  |  March 7th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    shytt…how i wish i could vote as well!!
    bravo pinkpau!!

  • 116. yh  |  March 7th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Hm.. i definitely agree with you on the points above.. but the thing is.. what makes everyone think that DAP/ PAS/ PKR can do a better job?

  • 117. sheon  |  March 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    many people are brainwashed to believe that “Opposition” means anti government, non patriotic..and everything bad.

    this is a very very common misconception!! and BN want to instil this into every citizen’s mind.

    having voices representing boths sides of the argument heard is the VERY FUNDAMENTAL BASIC of the system of DEMOCRACY!

    BN have their version of how this country shuold go about, and so does Barisan Alternatif. BN will advocate for their manifesto saying that this is the best for the country, and so will BA.

    i must say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with BN’s manifesto. in fact, i think if they implemented their policies with 100% effiency, i dont think there is a need for any other parties to exist at all.
    however, it is to my conclusion, and my 99% of my friends, and colleagues and cyber frens,…that BN did not carry out their duty to implement their manifesto….for the 50th year since indepence.

    enough has been said and argued……..but if BN really want to destroy DAP/PAS/PKR……..just do as they promised with effiency and transparency (just half of singapore’s level of effiency will do..really)….and DAP/PAS/PKR will be wiped out of the map.

  • 118. As Suanie Sees It »&hellip  |  March 7th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    [...] How Barisan National Cheats Their Way To Victory by Su Ann * Why we are voting tomorrow by [...]

  • 119. amy  |  March 7th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

    when i was younger, i never bothered much about politics. it all seemed so unreal and faraway from me.
    but in recent years, awareness has punched me in the gut. our country is not as idyllic