A crowd of 3,000 turned up at the BDC Everise Supermarket car-park to listen to Mahathir’s long-awaited ceramah in Kuching.
Pas in dreamland?
So Pas wants to contest in 100 seats, with the goal of winning 40 seats. Pas secretary general Takiyuddin Hassan says the party has a better chance in urban areas due to what he thinks is growing acceptance by urban residents.
Well, he is entitled to his opinion. But I think he is being overoptimistic or maybe even dreaming.
The main reason Pas did well in urban areas was that it was part of an opposition coalition at a time when many urban folk rejected the BN.
This time around, the party may say it is not tied to any coalition – which many will find hard to swallow. Certainly Pas has a perception problem: many already view the party as friendly with or aligned to the BN. If that is the case, three questions arise:
- Will urban voters really back them this times around – when many are already disgruntled with the BN and now wary of Pas’ conservative streak ie focusing on issues of personal morality while seemingly overlooking the critical issues facing the nation?
- If Pas is involved in three-cornered contests, how realistic is Takiyuddin’s goal of winning 40 seats, especially when many urban voter will see the as party as ‘spoilers’?
- Will it end up being a regional party again confined to the East Coast?
Perhaps the real Pas goal is what one of its leaders suggested – to win enough seats to be the ‘king-maker’ in the event Pakatan and BN both come close to winning without an overwhelming majority.
Has Pakatan done enough to persuade rural voters to ditch Umno?
Most people realise that the only way Pakatan Harapan can reach Putrajaya is if there is a swing among rural voters – and voters in Sabah and Sarawak – from Umno-BN-Pas to the opposition.
Make climate change the basis for Penang Structure Plan review
It seems that Penangites these days feel jittery every time it threatens to rain. Will there be floods and landslides this time, they wonder – as they did just yesterday.
Beer fest ban a stark contrast to free beers during 2013 election campaign in Penang
I was puzzled to read about the ban on the Better Beer Festival in KL next month, which has now become world news just a week after the prime minister urged Trump to support moderate and progressive governments around the world.
Pulau Jerejak, Sungai Buloh leprosy centre in joint proposal for Unesco listing?
The National Heritage Department (JWN) is understood to have proposed to the Penang state government that Pulau Jerejak be included with the National Leprosy Control Centre in Sungai Buloh, Selangor as joint candidates for Unesco world heritage site listing.
Pertimbangkan semula projek jalan berkembar persisir pantai utara Pulau Pinang
This statement has just been released by Penang Forum. It is especially relevant in the light of the widespread floods in Penang today, some of them having their origins in degraded hill slopes.
[ENGLISH VERSION BELOW] Pada 2 September 2017 Persatuan Penduduk Tanjung Bungah (TBRA) telah mengadakan sidang media untuk menyuarakan kebimbangan dan bantahan kepada cadangan Jalan Berkembar Persisir Pantai (NCPR) yang dianggarkan akan menelan jumlah RM1bn atau RM100 juta setiap kilometer.
Penang floods: Stop further hill and tree cutting and over development
The worst flood to hit Penang in recent years – and climate change means worse is yet to come. This statement by a couple of Penang NGOs:
Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Consumers’ Association of Penang are alarmed by the massive flash floods that hit Penang both on the island and the mainland following intense downpours throughout the early morning of Friday, 15 September 2017.
Penang floods: The price of out-of-control, irresponsible development
Penangites woke up this morning to a deluge of images of flash floods around the state which will surely haunt those who have approved developments projects that have concretised much of the state including its hill-slopes.
So Najib wants to help the US$19tn US economy with Malaysian funds?
It is ludicrous to hear that Prime Minister Najib Razak wants to pump more Malaysian money into US infrastructure and Boeing planes to boost the US economy, which has a GDP of US$19 trillion. He should first handle the serious structural problems facing the Malaysian economy (GDP US$296bn).
One of the major structural problems lies in the housing sector. Reports indicate the property market in Malaysia is slowing down. And yet many buyers are still unable to secure bank loans to buy homes, many of which are priced beyond their reach.
This has prompted Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar to come up with a ‘bright idea’. He reportedly announced that property developers could apply for moneylending licences! According to the Edge, the Moneylenders Act 1951 does not have any provision to restrict developers from applying for such licences.
But everyone knows that the real issue is not that the banks don’t want to approve housing loans.
There are two real and related problems.