Nov 132009
Here’s something I wrote for Aliran Monthly on Pakatan’s economic orientation and the challenges it faces. Can Pakatan make a difference especially in the economy?
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Will Pakatan remain a leftist party or once they grab federal power, become a rightist party. All over the world, you see these type of political party….a left leaning or right leaning. Sometimes they can both interchangeable. The most important, the hardcore poor or the oppressed must be represented in the party. NGO will still play a crucial role, and its important they must have the ear of the political party in power. Well, NGO always have the chance to stand to be elected using the party ticket, provided they are well known in the area. Rather then criticising from the outside, why not join them and correct it from the inside.
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NGOs are takuts. Why hide behind the veil of social activists? Knows how to bark here and there as they need to to do the actual work of performing.
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Some people still regard PR as angel despite their failure to govern 5 states. PR is clueless and has to copy from BN methods. PR = BN, but BN is more experience
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Yes BN is certainly more experience :: Here are some examples (of their administration):
1. Getting corruptible people to their rank
2. Choosing someone who misappropriate 161,000/=
3. (People) stealing millions for their cronies as in the Port Klang scandal
4. Cheating the people by their UMNO cronies through closed tender that resulted in a screwdriver for 50.00 or a packet of maggi mee for 12.00
5. (A perceived) cover up for their former Selangor MB on his (alleged) 24 million dollars mansion.
6. Allowing someone guilty of money politics (CORRUPTION) to be a candidate or CM
So many many that there is …………HOW SOME PEOPLE ARE SO BLIND….. NO WONDER THEIR PARTY AND LEADER GERAKAN & KTK HAS NO KPI AT ALL……….
So PR fail to govern 5 states.Penang, Kelantan, Kedah & Selangor is still standing STRONG despite the low down tactic by BN & UMNO (which) STOOP SO LOW as to entice 3 CORRUPTIBLE TO CHANGE A GOVERNMENT WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE RULE OF LAW…
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Of course they are still angels as comapre the Gerakan/UMNO still using the Polis/Judical, government organisations and even withheld the taxpayers’ money. Gerakan ADUNS knows how to spent all the allocation when then lost the seats. Do we expect Gerakan to be angels then?
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Neither is BN angel. What the people want is a 2-coalition system. Leaders come and go. The people will live to see new leaders.The future of the country is important, not BN or PR. Both BN and PR should exist and let the people choose. PR has not failed governing the states. They have done well despite not getting the cooperation from the central government. PR has capable leaders in Lim, Azizan, Nizar, Khalid and Nik. We don’t want leaders who are corrupted to run the country. Neither do we want wolves in “sheep’s clothing” to be our leaders. Malaysia Today has something interesting to offer the people now. Don’t miss watching or reading the news.
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well said. BN is more experience in corruption not in thousands or hudreds but on billions, experience in robbing innocent people lands, experience in marginalised Indians.
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If a snap election is held, DAP will win 80% of chinese votes. If the Indian votes go below 30% and Malay votes drop to 35%. Penang Pakatan state government might still survive with a slim majority. If Najib play dirty again, the state government will collapse immediately just like what happened to Perak. Today Pakatan supporters as well as their leaders have become so complacent, thinking that they are invincible. Instead of putting up a good show, they now rely on cybertroopers to shoot down any critic critical of Pakatan. Once Gerakan relaunch the strategy they employed in Tanjong 2; Try 5 years Die 5 years. The kaisu Penangites will just throw LGE back to Melaka.
LGE’s craze for DEVELOPMENT making him one of the worst capitalist in town, this will scare off the voters who voted for change.
LGE has failed in the following:
1) Reckless hill slopes development
2) Wanton hill cutting
3) Illegal sea front land conversion
4) A soon depleted landfill space that will turn Penang to become Darul Sampah. LGE has no plan or what so ever except waiting for Najib to show his mercy.
5) LGE’s conflicting stand on Penang heritage conservation
6) LGE’s tendency of using OSA negating the promises of freedom of infomation
7) The serious resources constrains compounded by LGE’s lip service on public consultation and participation.
9) The overzealous LGE apologists in the cyber space is making turning away the voters who voted for change.
10) LGE’s so called congestion elimination plan,.i.e. PORR, a disaster waiting to happen
11) LGE’s flash flood mitigation effort will fail as the current river deppening and widening exercise is too costly and cannot last
12) LGE’s serious lack of vision for Penang. The inability to make Penang a more livable place by pursuing Low Impact Development and his agreement with developers to turn Penang into an overcrowded ghetto like slums.
13) LGE’s odd ideas of DEVELOPMENT and prosperity will make him the worst CM Penang ever has….
15) LGE’s inconsideration for green development and lack of safeguard for agriculture activities will make him the worst enemy of farmers.
16) LGE’s tendency of showing his arrogant will (put) off quite a number of voters who doubt his ability to govern
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Eng Soon,
And Bringing back UMNO into the picture…….Hahahaha!Well, nobody can predict what would happen during GE13, I am absolutely sure that the situation would remain in favour of LGE for a long long time
Settling the stomachs are far more important. BN has been kept in power for 50 years because of the settling stomach’s issue
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Precisely because I don’t want UMNO or Gerakan to be back into power, that is why I pressure LGE to do the right thing. What are you doing to reverse the trend? Just being LGE apologist to make thing become more worst!
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Gerakan has been in power for 50 years and have access to all the Petronas Funds with UMNO. But what you mentioned are all the amde when Gerakan is in power and now expect the other party to wash Gerakn’s dirty laundry clean within 2 years. To be fair, let PR be the Government for 50 years and compare the results. What Visions Gerakan had. Wawasan Uni does not address the human resources just like UTAR. Gerakan Wawasan UNi is just another mill factor
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Of course Pakatan can make a difference.
IT HAS ALREADY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE STYLE OF GOVERNMENT WITHOUT ANY COALITION PARTY HAVING TO BOW TO ANY ONE. UNLIKE BN WHERE ALL OTHER COALITION PARTIES HAS TO BOW TO UMNO ESPECIALLY GERAKAN, MCA & mic…..
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Ong Eu Soon, your comments always come with half true data and unfounded accusation. for example, pls explain number #13:
odd ideas of DEVELOPMENT and prosperity
appreciate if you can provide some concrete examples of ODD ideas???
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What about Penang Second Bridge, you seriously think that you will use the bridge? You willing to pay higher toll? Go to Batu Kawan for what? May be I will use to return home to Nibong Tebal provided I no need to pay toll. People will still choose to pay the lesser toll and may be use the second bridge for free. How to sustain? Johor have a second link to Singapore which is a big failure. Will Penang Second Bridge survive without facing the same problem of Johor’s second link? Why from Batu Maung to Batu Kawan? Why LGE is so blind? Can LGE see the potential problem of the survival of Penang Second Bridge? Any thing called PROJECT or DEVELOPMENT is welcomed by LGE disregard whether it will cost us our money or not? Isn’t that an ODD ideas about DEVELOPMENT and PROSPERITY?
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Ong – you are a professional Engineer? What is your Reg No? What a shame that as a Engineer you are giving a false info to the public. The penang bridge is by GERAKAN/UMNO Federal Government. So you are actually balming GERAKAN which is part of BN Government for doing the wrong thing. Please don’t blind other and insult the Professional Engineers. Same with the double tracking. LEG made the the Perak unhappy and Gerakan/UMNO sucessful scheme to bring down the PR Perak Government.
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What about landfill? Penang’s landfill space only have a few more years to go. What is LGE doing about it? LGE is expecting Najib to give him another landfill. LGE has no alternative nothing at all! Do you seriously think Najib is so generous to give LGE another landfill? … Facing such a serious challenge what is LGE’s plan? Waiting? Where is his advisers? Sleeping? LGE is so blind he can’t see anything disastrous going to happen. Still no ODD?
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What about the Penang wireless? Where is it? Talk only? Such a big hu ha and nothing happened? Feel like a fool now? Stupidly believe the strange ideas of some bizmen giving free internet service all over Penang? No consideration for the bandwidth? No consideration of limit of access? Stupid is the only word that you can use to summarize the whole Penang Wireless Project!
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Ethan,
Eng Soon and Anil Netto are naturalists and anarchist (politically) but looking at political scenario in Penang
Penangites ain’t stupid! Why Koh Tsu Koon kept in power for 18 years? Eng Soon does not belong to Gerakan. UMNO can’t snatch Penang away by itself. Gerakan can only has faint hope in snatching Penang only if Gerakan contested 100% in Penang.
Wait a minute! That means Gerakan got to give up the rest……So the Gerakan future in Penang is pretty bleak
Koh Tsu Koon would be akin to Chiang Kai Shek’s dream of retaking China…..Guess what happen after that……It’s only a dream
China has constructed 3 Groges Dam. Collapse of Communist China?
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While no one is perfect and LGE certainly has got alot to learn to carry himself as a Chief Minister and not an opposition member of Parliament and the State Assembly, we have to admit that PR had done well in all states it won, despite the worst type of sabotages and destabilising efforts ever seen. Perak is an example of how “experienced” BN is. Is that the kind of experience you are talking of, Gerakan K?
Certainly, PR would not stoop so low like what BN did. Mind you, because of its refusal to respect the rule of law, today, Perak has got 2 CM, two speakers, two governments etc etc. It is the laughing stock of the democratic world, but earn the praise of our dear Gerakan K. Please put on your thinking cap, and think hard for the future generations, unless of course, you are someone with vested interests here and your children are overseas?
Let us be fair that PR had been in power for only 20 months, and considering the all out efforts at every front to run it down, it has done good. Corruption is definitely minimized, not so easy for the connected to become overnight millionaires. Every action taken by the PR is scrutinized to the most minute, sometimes outrageous detail, simply because the BN is more experienced! Yes, agree with Gerakan K, that BN is “more experienced” in discovering all shady deals because … like Gerakan K said, (they are) more “experienced”. That makes them good watchdogs and we need some experience leaders from BN currently in opposition to do the check and balance. They are certainly more effective than the PR that way. Together we will ensure they stay as opposition watchdogs for as many GE as possible, simply because they are experienced and we need to use their knowledge to watch every move of the PR.
Whatever the shortcomings, all PR supporters should park their votes for at least another two GE with the PR. At least we can make those in Putrajaya, know that they cannot treat our lives as and how they like it. We are not going to be cowed by those in power to hold back allocations, etc, etc. All the dirty, bullying tactics employed against the PR will only backfire and make the people more resolute and determined than ever, to send a correct message to those in Government that the votes and wishes of the rakyat is sovereign must be respected.
The people in PR held state are generally happy with their administration, despite some flaws in governance, but as I mentioned earlier, no one is perfect.
Cannot agree more with Yang that it is better to rule honestly, with integrity, rather than to be dependent on federal aid. Exactly like the poor Gerakan, MCA and MIC. Yes, all in the coalition Government are equals unlike those in the BN where everything has got to get the nod from their big brother. PR Government is already in place and its caring policy is definitely much more better than what BN had offered to the Rakyat for the decades they had been in power. Five years on, you will ask for five more years and more and more.
Together we can make a difference.
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Makes me wonder why people like Gerakan K, is so biased against the PR Government? Honestly, they are trying their absolute best to run the state the best it can, despite all the sabotages etc.
One question, how and in what way was the Gerakan led Government better than the PR led Government? What had BN contributed to make Penang a more livable place the past two decades? Please kindly highlight and enlighten us dear Gerakan K? It amused me to think why are you so very against change in Penang? What had Penang benefitted from the Federal Government in the past twenty years? We have to be absolutely clear, that Penang had always been left to rot and all its “developments” are mainly contributed by the private sector? Do not agree? Ask Tun Lim Keng Yaik. He said it.
Please let the Government run, if we are unhappy with the Government, we discard them the next election. And by the looks of things, it is soon, as everytime a Chinese President visits, election looms. Very correctly, President Hu only stayed for less than 20 hours as he does not want to be manipulated by BN for their benefits! All the MOUs signed does not alter their decision one bit, as they are chicken feed to the Chinese Government today.
And the fact that they correctly presented Singapore, a pair of pandas said very much of what they their thoughts are. Pandas are their national treasure and they (seem to) treasure and value Singapore more than they do us.
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Eu Soon,
The list that you provided, are all these illegally being carried out by the PR governement? You always thing that you are the only one that is not stupid. To you LGE lack of vision, KSK also lack of vision. Like I said before you yourself and your thinking will only be a perfert CM.
And what logic is that when you mentioned that by putting your full name here will make other thinks that you (are braver)?
I am wondering have you raise enough fund to take legal action against the government for the sea front land convertion?
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Lim,
Mine even better. Mine too is a full name plus the year I was born
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Come on la OES, do not be so reactive and so destructive. Your comments on the location of the 2nd bridge, come on, it was on the map way before GE 12 ok? Enough of your spin la. Even, NT fell to the DAP, ok? Parliamentary and all neighbouring state seats too.
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What did Anwar say about it? Even Anwar is unhappy about the location of the second bridge! Read about Anwar: Build second Penang bridge on shorter route
http://www.sun2surf.com/articlePrint.cfm?id=35190
Confusion in PR over second Penang bridge
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31047-confusion-in-pr-over-second-penang-bridge
The only problem is Anwar has no choice but to stick with the decision of LGE when LGE remain adamant. The second bridge may be way before 308 election, LGE can reject it but he refuse to do so. LGE just want any project regardless of whether it will work or not.
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Actually I was pretty surprised that the WiFi project in Penang is covering a pretty wide area in that many eateries (esp. Mamak eateries) are already covered by this free Wifi service where you can surf free and you need only to register once. Kudos to the PR government. Just because it did not reach your house to give you free Wifi doesn’t mean it does not exist.
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On land fills, please remember that a lot of those lands/coast lines were signed off to developers by the previous government in exchange for (i) a toll free Jelutong expressway to IJM (ii) PORR (which may not materialise). I don’t think the present state government had initiated the signing off of any coast line for land filling.
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There is nothing wrong with the previous state government alignment of the bridge from Batu Maung to Batu Kawan. When the first bridge was built, short sighted critics were everywhere. Even Samy Vellu thought that he was being short changed by the people of Penang when the bridge carried very little traffic initially. Every Penangite knows that without the bridge Tun Lim initiated, the development of Penang would have dropped more than a few notches.
Batu Kawan and its vicinity is to be the new industrial base of Penang. Even the new state stadium was built there. The new bridge will serve the state the next 20 years, just as the first bridge had served us well the past 20 years and will still be serving us.
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Dear Anil
Your question is like the following:
“Can the Democrats make a difference?” (in the USA)
“Can the Labour Party make a difference?” (in the UK)
“Can the Australian Labour Party make a difference?”
Looking at recent history – of the lesser evil against the greater evil – I think the answer is an unequivocal “Yes”! (Obama versus George W. Bush, Tony Blair versus Margaret Thatcher, Kevin Rudd versus John Howard). We just need to elect the lesser evil into political office and then maintain pressure on them to stay the progressive course.
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Nobody makes a difference only this makes a difference if you understand the gist of it, see
Dr Lim Hock Siew an ex-political prisoner speaks out in Singapore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqhr4wxUFws
Maybe we will learn a lesson or two from him or just ignore him with the typical blah!,Blah!Blah!
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Can PR makes a difference ? Sure, they can.
1. Wanton destruction of heritage, culture and green & open spaces
2. Margainalisation of minorities
3. Lack of vision and strategy
4. Clueless administration
5. Naked power struggle
6. Cronyism and nepotism
7. Mismanagement and lack of leadership
8. Obession with Opposition-mindset
9. No action, Talk Only
10. Pro Big Business, Anti-people policies
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K,
… IDIOT…. For 52 years the Indian have been more marginalised than even. After 52 years the BUMI & Malay ecocnmic cake grew from less than than 3% to about 30% while the Indian stays stagnant at less than 5%… What a moron you are…
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Yang…
I think you are missing the point…I am not pro-BN just that I want Pakatan to deliver their electoral promises. The reason why I voted for Pakatan in GE is to make sea changes in policies and governance and not to make the situation worse. If Pakatan is only going to be Old BN then there is no point for me to vote for them again.
I see that BN at least has started to reform under Najib (though they have a long way), but Pakatan has been resting on their laurels contending to please the Big Business and jockeying for power and money than serving the rakyat.
I don’t know whom I will vote for in GE13 but at this rate it won’t be PR.
And as I had observed, the DAP cybertroopers mindless attack on politically nuetrals like me will have a negative repercussion for sure. DAP which stood for democracy now does not brook even the slightest dissent, as evident from their cybertroopers misbehaviour and the leaders’ (like LGE) intolerance.
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Vast different in Selangor.
1. No chance of corruption in Selangor for lobbying projects.
2. Water bill rebates of RM11 or so.
3. People can challenge the State Government openly and publicly.
4. University fresh student get RM1000 or so
5. The State Government has started collecting the data for senior citizen for allowance at the later stage.
Overall, generally people are much happier with the little helps.
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daniel
I will admit that Khalid Ibrahim has done a far better job in Selangor than any other Pakatan leaders. In fact he’s miles ahead of the bumbling clown of a CM we have in Penang.
However, I think almost all your points are wrong.
1. Corruption has gotten worse
2. Water rebate is nothing to be happy about when considered the billions that Selangor will spend to buy the water assets.
3. This is no different in other states
4. This is in practice in other states too and in Selangor was implemented before PR
5.This is not a new idea. However the entire process has been heavily policiticised according to my relatives in Selangor.
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K – you are a bigger clown for saying that
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