JD Lovrenciear

Bersih has just announced that Nov 19 is the date for Bersih 5. The very line-up of Malaysians of various ethnic origins at the press conference in the meaningful, striking but once outlawed yellow T-shirts is enough to charge up the rakyat’s hope for a better nation.

American daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claimed that the embattled Malaysian prime minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor, splashed a whopping "US$6 miĺlion on clothes, shoes and jewellery" between 2008 and 2015.

On a nice sunny, Sunday morning the relaxing long weekend break gets shattered with unimagined revelation, threat and arrogance of the higest degree from Najib Abdul Razak’s loyal minister.

Since the arrival of the Philippines’ new President, Rodrigo Duterte, the country’s hopes to stem the illicit drug menace are gaining tremendous support from that nation’s citizenry - except from within the power corridors of Duterte’s opponents in all likelihood.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s presence with Anwar Ibrahim ignites hope, nationwide.

The affirmation by the Malaysian Court of Appeal that a government and the police institution cannot institute any claim under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 in Malaysia slams the government and the police for their very intention.

The socio-political landscape of Malaysia is set to witness a colossal clash between the political parties in Malaysia. Whether the current prime minister calls an early general election or otherwise, this clash between the leading political party, Umno, led by Najib Abdul Razak versus the new party Bersatu, that is being hatched under the leadership of Najib’s fiercest critic, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is set for a titanic collision.

Come Aug 31 this year, the nation will mark another leaf in its long decades of independence.

The 1MDB debacles are now seemingly all set to rip a nation apart.

The 1MDB debacle is no more an internal concern. It has spilled suspicions, allegations and drastic actions across the world map from Singapore to Sweden to the Middle East to the USA and several other destinations where questionable money is suspected to have been laundered.

What has not gone spiraling cost-wise for consumers in Malaysia these days?

The horrible, totally unacceptable and horrendous murdering and maiming of hundreds of innocent humans in Nice, France has just crossed the line of all human sanity.

Sooner (if the rumours are proven), the country’s next general election is bound to take place. Otherwise it’s a good year plus more to go. But at the rate our politicians are spewing hate speeches and stunts, and included is the unending litany of police reports and counter-legal suits, citizens must now demand for sound leadership before we hit election fever.

It appears all set that Malaysia’s supposedly wealth-generating company in all likelihood may transform itself sooner or later into the nation’s political slaughterhouse.

Since the time that Anwar Ibrahim was sacked, disgustingly paraded in and out of court and jailed time and again, the Malaysian political sentiments have remained frayed.

Much has been written for and against these creatures - dogs, cats and crows that stray and crowd our Malaysian landscape.

There is a war building up momentum on the Umno political turf in Malaysia. And whether we admit it or otherwise, its ramifications are significantly spilling or discretely seeping into the frameworks of all political parties including Najib Abdul Razak’s coalition of so-called loyalist parties.

Wonder why the patriotic and seemingly self regulating media are not interested in doing a continuous blitz on how the ‘Mat Rempit’ are terrorising the streets in the federal capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

Several shocks are beginning to rattle Malaysians - provided they are not going to allow themselves to be distrated by all the ‘noise’ of race and religion and political party feuds.

Press freedom is sacrosanct especially in this new age world that we all journey today. The right to report the truth is a categorical imperative that responsible media newsrooms pursue in ensuring a balancing act in the face of the universal and demanding democratic right of humanity to know the truth at all costs.