Parliament: Telecast all of it
‘Malaysians are denied the basic right to evaluate their own MPs while they are articulating issues of public importance . Thirty minutes for this is hardly enough. ’
On All smiles for first-time MPs
Shawn Morgan: It is time for the rules and regulations of Parliament to be changed in Malaysia, especially relating to media coverage. Malaysian citizens would like to see live television and radio coverage of the Parliament sessions. To date, the information minister allows providing live TV coverage of Parliament for only 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is hardly enough. How about full coverage in TV and radio as well?
Full live coverage of the proceedings could improve the decorum of parliamentarians. We have seen it in most of the countries and it worked well. I think the people have an opportunity to see the parliamentarians decorum and the manner in which they debate.
This issue is a very important issue as Malaysians are denied the basic right to see and evaluate their own MPs while they are articulating issues of public importance. What we all want is a First World Parliament and a First World mentality among our members of Parliament. Almost all parliaments in the world have live coverage but not in Malaysia. Why is this so?
On Calls made for Indian council in Penang
Wes: It’s sad to note that DAP Penang are demanding for this and that publicly. I'm sure not only are Indians being marginalised but also Malays, Chinese and other minority races in Penang.
Why is it that when BN was in power, no one was screaming loudly?
DAP or PKR or Pakatan Rakyat has just been in office for less then a month. Let them organise themselves first for after all, this is their first time running a state government. By shouting out loud publicly, you only give ammunition to the BN to find ways to make your party unstable.
When the party is unstable and it falls, then you as an Indian will have to wait and see if BN listens to you. Then you will be back to square one. Work for all the rakyat and not selectively for any single race.
EK Lim: Why should there be an Indian council? Next there will be requests for a Malay council, then a Chinese council and perhaps a council for Thais and others. Come on, we don’t need any more of such race-based thinking, We just need issue-based bodies to ensure all policies and their implementation benefit all Malaysians.
On Hisham not defending Umno Youth post
Derek: Hishammuddin had proclaimed that he will be Hang Tuah regardless of how the other communities feel and he knows that the heat is on him. If he goes Hang Tuah again this year, MCA and Gerakan will have to speak up against him and if he doesn’t, he will be seen as weak. It is hoped that with the exit of Hishammuddin, the era of Hang Tuahs in Umno Youth will come to an end.
Two potential candidates have announced their intention to contest for the post of Umno Youth Chief - former MB of Selangor Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and MP for Jerlun, Mukhriz Mahathir. It is unlikely that Khir Toyo will win, since he is the person responsible for delivering Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat. In the absence of another credible challenge, Mukhriz is likely to be Umno Youth Chief. Mukhriz will have big shoes to fill, living up to the name of his father, to unify Umno Youth and to champion the rights of the Malays.
Should Mukriz win, it is hoped that Mukriz will use a different approach from all his predecessors. Instead of accusing the other races of being pendatang and stealing the wealth of the Malays, Umno Youth must realise that the future of Malaysia and all her citizens lie in Malaysia being competitive. Umno Youth must come up with concrete ideas on how to uplift the economic status of the Malay community and to make them more competitive
On Samy tells BN: Ignore Indians at your peril
Mahendran Balakrishnan: I think Samy should realise by now why the ‘21 and 22-year-olds’ are fed-up with the MIC and Umno's Barisan. It’s because even though the party has been shouting and begging over certain issues way before they were born, the same issues are still plaguing the community even till now. As one of the ‘21 and 22 years old’, I am all grown up and yet am still hearing the same old excuses and problems that my parents used to hear decades ago.
By Samy's own admittance, the BN government has failed to look after the Indian Malaysian community's plight. So how can he still say that the future of the community is still with Barisan? How long more are we to be blindfolded and left licking our own wounds?
But on the positive note, it is good to see that the aging ex-minister is making more 'noise' and making more open demands than when he used to be a minister. Guess it's a trend in this country that when one retires only the can one make noise and be heard. Tun M is another example.
Gobie: Please request Samy to apologise to the Indian Malaysian community first. Then he should step down paving the way for young and vibrant ones to emerge and bring forward an MIC with a clean image. Just like how it started off first.
He has to realise that the damage he is has caused to the party is irreversible and un-repairable. I belief the Indians will find the heart to forgive him if carries out the two requests I have suggested.
A Chinese Malaysian: I agree that he NEP has to continue but not on the basis which the writer alludes to. The ambiguity of Ketuanan Melayu in article 153 can be interpreted as maintaining political hegemony by virtue of racial superiority hence the writer's feeling of the possibility of other races 'usurping their rightful position' and insecurity should Malay dominance be challenged.
I find talk of 'racial superiority' by any race morally objectionable in today’s age of human rights especially when the very idea of race itself could be a social construct. It justifies harmful rhetoric, bad policies and gives politicos an open ended mission. On the other hand, my opinion is that affirmative action and Malay special rights is reasonable and even necessary in Malaysia today and it does not present an ethical dilemma (or much less of one) if approached from the point of indigenous ethnic rights.
The problem with the NEP is that it does not resemble proper affirmative action (aside from the fact that affirmative action benefits minorities in other countries) in that some of the policies of NEP are designed to 'pull down' minorities rather than to 'push up' the Malays. While the NEP has helped to create a Malay middle-class, it has given rise to graft and the undeserving grabbing the lion’s share. Ethnocentric politics have institutionalised ‘client-alism’ and cronyism and deepened racial divisions - all this in addition to the moral cost of affirmative action which exists even if implemented correctly.
Its unfortunate that non-racial politics couldn't be worked out at the start of independence but this is certainly no excuse to keep bad policies going on and on. I feel that we are still living with colonial baggage with outdated ideas of racial/cultural superiority.
On A vote for opposition, a vote for 'hudud'
Ratormo: The writer is obviously taken in by BN media propaganda. Can he answer this:
- Was PAS responsible for non-Muslim body-snatching?
