vox populi big thumbnail Let’s not be fooled anymore by the threat of May 13 or the fear of the delicate balance between the races. It is not about race anymore but about the rich and corrupt versus the poor and marginalised.

YSM: There is no more need for a race-based political coalition like the BN. Malaysians are standing together as one to say we have had enough. The tension is there between the ruling elite, their barons and cronies versus the Malaysian peasants. The normal Malaysian who works hard for every ringgit and has to deal with the rising cost of living and succumb to the daily fear of crime is fed up with this government who rob sus of our money. As the rakyat, let’s not be fooled anymore by the threat of May 13 or the fear of the delicate balance between the races. It is not about race anymore but about the rich and corrupt versus the poor and marginalised. It is time, I believe, for us to give the BN and Pak Lah a wake-up call and to see that they are now irrelevant.

A Ray of Hope: I agree with YSM's 'Let's not be fooled any more by the threat of May 13'. This so-called 'May 13 threat' is an insult to the rakyat especially the Malays.

Fairminded: The younger generation of Malaysians, born here and who grew up here in Malaysia know of no other home than Malaysia. It is our country and our home. We are Malaysians first. Umno is just using the Malay card so that they can increase their wealth.

By right, they should all be put under the ISA for instigating racial hatred. Tell them that it is time to drop the racial card. This election is just the choice between a vote for corruption and a vote for a clean government for all Malaysians.

Chua CJ: All of the opposition should unite and have only one slogan. I suggest ‘Stop the rot. Vote for the opposition’.

On Not all Indians are professionals

Muhammad Ali: I wish to bring to your notice that I was in the public service from 1955 to 1977. I served in a number of departments in those days. All our departments were comprised Malays, Chinese and Indian - in that order. When you entered a government department in those days, you could see a good representation of all nationalities.

What is the position today? There are only people with the tudung - where once you only needed 10 clerks, there are now 100 clerks - a sheer waste of public funds. This is how they make them happy so that the BN can get the votes.

On If you don't vote MIC, 'prepare to pay price'

Threatened: The EC should initiate action against Samy Vellu for coming out with his press advertisement threatening the Indian voters. This is a democratic country and it is our right as citizens to vote for any one or any party of our choice as enshrined in our constitution.

Is Samy Vellu trying to live our lives.This is a blatant disrespect to the EC and our democracy. The EC, being an independent body should stop this advertisement immediately make sure that this coming election is a free and fair one.

In fairness to all Malaysians, the EC should immediately stop this kind of threatening advertisements and initiate drastic action against Samy Vellu for undermining the EC.

Samy Velu should not bring disrepute to this democratic country by his open threats vide advertisement in the Malaysian Press and the EC is therefore duty-bound to act immediately to safeguard its integrity. What will happen if other political parties also do likewise and issue threats?

On 'The Donald' booed at church forum

Cannot Pledge: This is what I mean. Even if our votes go to candidates from MCA, MIC, Gerakan who have integrity and are of good quality, they can't do much in parliament or state assemblies. They are unable to voice of views and concerns with conscience, so how to become our wakil rakyat ?

Lillian Danielle Khoo: I was there and I believe there were definitely more than 250 people that attended the event. There were several important and key questions from the floor which are definitely worth mentioning such as:

‘What is in the People's Declaration that BN finds it difficult to endorse when all the other political parties did?’ and;

‘The government has been taking away many of our rights. Would you (BN) expect me to continue to vote for you, so that my rights will continue to be taken away?’

Nevertheless, I sincerely thank Malaysiakini for giving us a chance to listen to the real truth that we can never get from mainstream government-controlled media. Please, please, please never succumb to the ‘bullies’ - we do not want to return to the Dark Ages.

On PM: Opposition jealous of BN

LOL: I laughed out loud when reading the above headline. I can't figure out why should the opposition be jealous of BN. Perhaps Pak Lah should have his own blog like Jeff Ooi’s, Tony Pua’s, Lim Kit Siang’s and Fong Po Kuan’s so that people can reach him easily. He cannot keep on pretending how fantastic Malaysia is.

On Najib: Coconut trees the limit for PAS

Jason Lai Kuan Han: Dear Najib, you must remember how we got into outer space – it is on account of the people who funded the project, not out of BN’s personal finance (if there was any to start with).

PAS aims for the moon, but BN is already contented with only outer space. A good advice for you, my dear DPM, if you scrape the bottom of the barrel so hard, you risk losing a fingernail or two!

On RM1m spent in poll ads first 3 days

Muhammad Ali: Action should be taken against BN for spending so much money. Where did they get money from - all the big corporations and tow kays no doubt. This should be investigated by the ACA and also brought to the notice of the UN agencies which deal with election-related corruption.

On Sivarasa: In politics, the dice is always rolling

A Ray of Hope: Elizabeth Wong has the best introduction to R Sivarasa . He is indeed a fighter with integrity. He has contested in previous general elections but lost. Perhaps it was due only to a few people knowing about him and his sacrifices for our communities. All Malaysians should get to know Sivarasa better. He is a great fighter. Let’s give our vote to him.

On Subra: There's a campaign to oust me

Krishnan: Well, this is not new. In fact, there have been factions in the MIC all along and often, the top echelon leaders are the ones who benefit the most from them. They keep their cronies close to their skin to swindle wealth.

Frankly, being a hero or not being a hero, is not important to the Indian community at large. By far, Subramaniam has failed to show his mettle and credibility. He is still in the background without ammunition. Is he still relevant to the community? I do not think so. Unless he stands up and cleans up the MIC.

So my advice for Subramaniam is that if you still have a desire to serve the community, then I think, sir, the time is right for you to expose all the wrongdoings in MIC and lead us as a leader and fight. We, the Indian community, have suffered enough by being taken for granted for years by the MIC. Honestly, if not, we don’t have the time to listen to your stories as they actually do not benefit the community.

On Jeff Ooi - from digital to political clout?

A Mere Voter: There are claims from both sides (Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Jeff Ooi) regarding the economic performance of Penang. Koh invited Ooi to visit some of the factories before running down the state government and accusing it of not doing anything to stop the MNCs from moving out of Penang.

I would suggest that Jeff invite Koh for a public debate during which both of them could argue out in a civil manner their respective claims with supporting evidence in order for the rakyat to judge.

On Economic growth beats forecasts, 6.3% in 2006

Yee: When a leader of a country tells you clearly that Parliament will not be dissolved tomorrow and then goes ahead the next day to dissolve Parliament; he is either a liar or a man who does not plan his weeks out properly. I do not think he thought of dissolving Parliament overnight.

When the government tells you that inflation rate is slightly above 2% but we see our food go up by 10% and toll by 50% and petrol by over 20% who are we to believe? We certainly do not experience a 2% inflationary rate in our lives.

Now when the government says that the economy grew by 7.3% in the last quarter of 2007 how are we to believe it? Am I better off than I was five years ago? Has my business expanded and do I feel the economy is as vibrant as it was five years ago? I think we all know the answer to this and it only boils down to one thing. We have a dishonest government who only wishes to massage figures and hoodwink the citizenry. It would do well for the prime minister as he reads a story to his grandchild, to read the story; ‘The boy who cried wolf’. And realise that you can only do this so many times before you lose your credibility.

On EC inaction, voter frustration

Daphne Oon: Taking this discussion to another level, why does this government take the constitutional rights of its rakyat so lightly? It is the working mandate of the EC to ensure that all registered citizens can vote, from the word ‘go’.

So, what happened? Pondering it over, several questions come to mind. By sharing, I hope others will also take the time to ponder: Was this an act of intentional obstruction of justice? If a basic right can be so easily denied, what more do we, the common rakyat , stand to lose?

For many of us who prioritise efforts elsewhere, perhaps, politics was the final frontier that was possibly never meant to be. But this continued destruction of justice must stop. Segregation and selective marginalisation must stop. Cronyism and corruption must stop. The systematic destruction of the future of all Malaysians must stop. It must BE stopped.

And if the only way is a tornado of change; then that is how it will be. A tornado of change.

On Proud to be Malay in a democracy

A True Malaysian: I agree with Umar Mukthar. It is a fact that Malay is the majority race in Malaysia, now and in future. Whether Malays supports goes to Umno, PKR or PAS, the Malays will still form the majority in the government. I believe what other races are asking for is only for the country to be run according to 'fair play' and be 'merit base' so that all can excel on equal term. Are they (minority races) asking too much on this?

I believe many right thinking Malays are ashamed when they see many of their friends who are much better academically being unable to get into local universities. In time to come, I predict PKR will gain more support from the rakyat of all races if they continue well with their 'multi- racial' ideology. Let's us all give our best to this country.