A couple of weeks before this by-election, Tasik Gelugor Pas information chief Abdul Rahman Kasim did not sound confident at all.
Rahman, who is on the ground in Nenggiri in Kelantan, rated Perikatan Nasional’s chances in the by-election as 50:50 at best. He said Umno had a strong presence in the area, going by the number of operations stalls it had.
This is what the Taiping Lake Garden looks like these days. (Photo taken on Saturday.) It’s drying up.
Imagine this is happening in an area that has long been known as the wettest region in the country.
The most telling moment for the “unity government” came on Sunday night, when a crowd of a few thousand at a dinner banquet applauded DAP MP Lim Lip Eng’s announcement that Pakatan Harapan had lost the Sungai Bakap by-election.
Imagine that. If that is not writing on the wall for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, I don’t know what is.
Two years have flown and if Anwar does not buck up, he will lose the next general election. Look what just happened to Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron in the UK and France.
Clearly, many among the ethnic minorities are no longer willing to give PH their undivided support. But because many of them feel they do not have a political alternative they are comfortable with, they stayed out of the Sungai Bakap by-election.
Some of the ethnic majority, the Malays, have no such qualms about voting for the opposition, so they switched their support from Umno or PH to Perikatan Nasional. Full article on Aliran website
Watch the webinar!
Voters in the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang are heading for the polls tomorrow, but it has failed to capture the public interest.
It’s hardly the stuff of coffee-shop conversations here in Penang. Why? Perhaps its because it won’t change the balance of power in the state. But I suspect the real reason is that both sides have failed to articulate the People’s Agenda (structural reforms to the economy, healthcare, education and democratic change) endorsed by over 50 civil society groups.
By Rosli Khan and Anil Netto
So the piece “Penang LRT decision, the result of comprehensive evaluation“, published by a news portal on 11 June turns out to be only the personal view of the author.
Three hours later, the same new portal reported: “Putrajaya, not state, will decide on Penang LRT, says Loke“.
By Rosli Khan and Anil Netto
The population of Penang Island, standing at around 800,000, is simply too small to justify an elevated light rail transit (LRT) system, which is typically meant for cities with over three million people.
Not from the perspective of Malaysia, says investment analyst Tan Teng Boo.
Check out the video below.
Media reports are saying it is a close call. Unofficial results here
But what does the by-election even mean to the ordinary voters?
The sweeping protests in universities in the West shows that young people are waking up to the realities of the Empire. These protests are reminiscent of the student protests in the 1960s against the US war on Vietnam.
Former Penang state transport engineer Lim Thean Heng has written a piece asking why the Penang state government seems so obsessed with having an elevated LRT system.
Who says we haven’t made progress? Times have changed. Even Astro Awani has provided ‘live coverage ‘of the Bersih rally on its YouTube channel. And the police guided the rally participants.
Days after the Pardons Board decision on Najib was announced, a neighbour sent me a message that reeked of frustration:
“Top Members of Suaram, Bersih, LFL, Aliran etc, should form a 3rd Force party for next GE. Still have 4 years & there must be at least 200+ genuinely good people in the country.”
The news about the reduction in Najib Razak’s sentence has ingnited reactions in social media and messaging apps. Aliran released the following statement this morning:
Aliran is appalled and deeply disappointed by the Pardon’s Board’s decision to recommend a halving of corruption convict Najib Razak’s prison term from 12 years to six years and a reduction of his fine from RM210m to RM50m.
Sharing with you a reflection by Br Anthony Rogers:
I have recently been facing moments of mixed emotions to see many of my very, very dear friends “go away,” but they have all strangely come closer to me.
Is this water disruption in Penang (for up to four days from 10 January) for justified? Check out this article by Chuah Chong Lai in Aliran: Why cut water for up to four days in Penang?
The outcome of the 2022 general election held the promise of a new era for Malaysia.
A quarter of a century of Reformasi struggle culminated in the Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Harapan winning power in alliance with, surprise, surprise, the Umno-led Barisan Nasional and coalitions in Sarawak and Sabah.
It is hard to celebrate Christmas with the usual festive cheer this year when this is happening. Has the universal church done enough to call out the genocide that is taking place in Gaza? End the genocide in Gaza!
A stirring movie can be a powerful instrument to raise awareness of social issues that we are not usually attuned to. Here are two commendable Malaysian efforts – Abang Adik, a low-budget film focusing on the plight of the stateless, and Pendatang, a crowdfunded film touching on ethnic relations. Try and watch both if you can over Christmas and the New Year.
Members attending Aliran’s 47th hybrid annual general meeting [on 25 November] unanimously passed a resolution urging for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank to allow humanitarian aid to enter.
They also called for the release of all hostages and prisoners illegally or unjustly held captive on both sides and for the immediate withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem.