vox populi small thumbnail 'Petrol prices, high tolls, creeping inflation, GST, wastage, corruption, injustices of the police, judiciary, etc. These, the BN has little or no defence against, and they are close to our hearts.'

Polls could be in March 2011, predicts PKR supremo

Ruben: PKR had the guts to hold their party elections and right down to the grassroots. Of course, there were problems but they faced them head-on.

Umno has buried its head and its election in the sand as usual, afraid that the bickering, and shouts of money politics as well as cronyism will surface. Moreover, Umno and BN have not changed after the 2008 general elections. In fact, they are getting to be worse.

I wonder if PM Najib really has control over his party and the government. For example, so many rakyat spoke against the Menara Warisan, but it took a statement from Dr Mahathir Mohamad for our PM to take notice.

It looks like a puppet government with Mahathir - who has all the files, information, evidence, photos, etc - pulling the strings. Najib, you can dance yourself into a twist.

Chipmunk: My guess is that the polls would be either on March 26 or April 9. This will coincide with the Sarawak elections and that way, BN will have better control of the election machineries, as they have enough money in their coffers to spend during the election period.

This will also force Pakatan Rakyat to use the minimum number of officials as they would not have enough manpower to support their cause.

Fair Mind: Why doesn't Pakatan Rakyat concentrate on bread and butter issues until the elections? Issues which affect the rakyat directly - like the increase in petrol prices, expensive cars, high tolls, creeping inflation on everyday items, GST, wastage, corruption, injustices of the police, judiciary, etc.

These, the BN has little or no defence against, and they are close to the heart of the rakyat. Avoid double-edged issues like Malay privileges, as it is already enshrined in the constitution and these issues can turn against you just as easily as it is for you.

David Yee: Anwar better clean up his party's dirty laundry as there are many frogs within PKR. We do not want to see unprincipled candidates and warlords contesting. I think Anwar is yet to be proven to be a good leader-in-waiting despite his rhetoric. Talk is free but action requires real drive and passion.

Tony K: Since we are talking about reforms and change, I want to suggest to PM Najib Razak to set the date now so that there will not be these childish ‘you guess, I guess' games. Let's focus on working to revive the economy and when the time comes for elections, then we can all focus on the elections.

I find the guessing as to when the elections will be to be very unproductive and saps the nation of its energy.

Justice Bao: Najib is scared of losing his PM-ship, that is why the Umno polls were postponed for 18 months. Do not forget the French submarine case as the French investigators are here again in Malaysia next April.

Now Najib and the past and present French presidents are all in hot soup. Abdul Razak Baginda thinks he can hide in UK, but the law will catch up with him.

Red and black shirts to flood palace on Sunday

Hidup Rakyats: I want to see if the same number of Special Branch and Federal Reserve Unit personnel will be deployed to the two groups of people. The ‘black shirt' group is ignorant and naive, "macam katak bawah tempurung".

I bet nine out of 10 of them will not really know what they are doing at the demonstration. All they know is no one will arrest them and at the end of the day, it's pay day.

Proarte: See how Islam is tainted by dirty politics? Why use mosques as venues for gathering people. Why not use a venue which is 'neutral' such as Dataran Merdeka or Lake Gardens? Why exclude non-Muslims? Isn't this a reflection of 'ketuanan Islam' which is the opposite of the same coin as 'ketuanan Melayu'?

Surely the organisers know that non-Malays will be wary of gathering in a mosque, mainly because of the recent synthetic controversy over non-Muslims entering Muslim places of worship. PKR as a multi-racial party is just sending the wrong message.

Ferdtan: It looks like a small group of people, the so-called 'black shirts', are out to disrupt and frustrate the peaceful march for 'Air Untuk Rakyat'. The date was fixed a long time ago by the pro-Selangor group and this anti-group deliberately set the same date, at almost the same time and going to the same destination - the palace.

I nearly cried, says Yen Yen of accusations

Imran: If Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen genuinely wanted more tourists to come to Malaysia, she would be looking inwards to improve the conditions inside the country and make it convenient for tourists to travel within the country. The bus stations in all the states, especially at Bukit Jalil and Duta are in deplorable conditions. The same with the ones in Johor Baru and Penang.

She is a pampered woman who only thinks tourists travel by air. Once inside the country, they use the public transport, which needless to say are deplorable - starting with the taxis. Tourists get a culture shock when they enter the country from Singapore. This is what happens when you put unqualified people as ministers. They should appoint a person with tourism and travel degree.

Cala: Judging from what I have read from several sources with respect to the Malaysian pavilion, the biggest draw back seemed to be its design. First, to be sure, the World Expo in Shanghai did have its theme: Better city, better life.

A simple question for Ng Yen Yen: in what ways the Malaysian pavillion had satisfied the stated theme?

Second, its internal layout left much to be desired. Instead of promoting Malaysia for its cultural heritage, and harmonious social setting, Yen Yen and her cohorts had reduced it into a supermarket selling daily items.

On the whole, besides the weaknesses identified by Anthony Loke, the Waterloo as encountered by Yen Yen points to her lack of leadership quality and competency as the key person in the entire episode.

By her choosing not to acknowledge these shortcomings, one may draw the conclusion that Malaysia will remain a backwater in the eyes of the international community, and thus incapable of making any progress. Where is ‘Malaysia Boleh'?

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