Shadow Policy Committee

We would like to urge members and leaders of the Bagan Parliamentary Liaison Committee to stop their internal bickering on the JKKK appointment issues which had long underway until it resulted to an attempted resignation of a senior party leader. Why all this internal politicking by stabbing one's back and another? What benefit does all this have to do in our contribution to the party's stability? Why after gaining power after the last general elections, every party branch leaders are afraid of each others, watching over each other and be vary of each other? Why can't we work together and stand as one like we have been when we were in the Oppostion. We wish to remind all party members to refrain from making any speculations to the press by saying there will be resignations, by-elections and so on. We are also gravely disappointed with one of our parliamentary committee member (who is also a former election candidate in Seberang Perai Tengah previously) who has been identifi...

Penang should be granted equal treatment in preferential airport charges and benefits as enjoyed by the Malacca Airport, said Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng. "Penang as a Unesco World Heritage Site just like Malacca should also be given such incentives,” he said during the Penang Development Corporation and InvestPenang appreciation dinner at Bukit Jambul Country Club yesterday. Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had earlier said he received a letter from Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for the Malacca Airport to enjoy benefits under the Government’s incentive schemes to promote tourism in Malaysia. This includes a RM25 incentive for each incoming passenger for the first 12 months for new airlines flying to new routes or increasing flight frequency. Another benefit is the RM10 to RM15 incentive for each incoming passenger after the period, depending on the performances of the air carriers. Also included is a deferment of landing cha...

The Penang state government and Gerakan continued bickering over the decision to turn down a US$3bil (RM10.1bil) investment deal because the state government could not guarantee 1,000 electric and electronic (E&E) engineers required by the company. In a statement yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s special investment officer Jeffrey Chew lashed out at Gerakan for using hit-and-run tactics and practising a “promise first hope later” attitude. "The Penang state government is not as irresponsible as Gerakan in making empty promises that would jeopardise our credibility,” he said, adding that the state government could incur loses as much as US$3bil to compensate the investors should it be unable to fulfill its own guarantees. Chew said this in response to criticism from Penang Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan who said the state could not afford to turn away investors. Chew said the Malaysian Employers Federation, among other bodies, had detailed the shortage of E...

By Viktor Wong In the prime minister’s speech at the recently concluded Gerakan national delegates conference which he officiated, Datuk Najib Razak told the Gerakan delegates and the people that racist comments from one or two Umno leaders should be ignored, Umno is not a racist party and don’t listen to one or two leaders’ talk. Does Najib think that by ignoring these “one or two racist Umno leaders” would be enough? Or why does he think that by ignoring these racist would be effective to curb them out of political influence? And are there really only “one or two” racist Umno leaders as he claimed? Since from the beginning of Umno’s inception till today, we had seen more than just “one or two” racist Umno leader wielding and yielding racist and supremacist jargons as well as threatened the lives of other communities. So, we want to correct Najib’s error, it is actually between “one to two thousand”. And we hope he does acknowledge his error. By just ignoring these racist Umno leaders...

By Viktor Wong Since Datuk Najib Razak took over as prime minister, he introduced the 1Malaysia concept which is to be undertaken by his administration. But does he realize that, if he is serious about racial integration, it must be first by revamping the entire educational system? Has Najib ever looked into this first prior to his commencement of 1Malaysia? Almost all of us agreed that in order to foster greater racial integration today, it must be start from school with its educational system first. However, today we still hear reasons given by non-Malay parents for not wanting to send their children to national schools. Their core concern is the overly emphasizing of Islam in national schools and due to this the national schools has been increasingly dominated by Malay students which by now had turned these national schools into “Malay schools” or “Islamic schools” instead of its origin position as national schools. In the past and present, the federal government and its education m...

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police to investigate former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka OC Phang for criminal breach of trust over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. The committee, which is investigating the scandal-ridden PKFZ, has found both Chan and Phang to have breached Section 14 (1) of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 by issuing three letters of support and three letters of undertaking without the approval of the Finance Ministry. PAC said the Attorney-General revealed that the three letters of support issued by Chan and three undertaking letters issued by Phang had implicitly placed responsibility on the Government to ensure there is allocation for PKA to fulfil its obligation under the development agreement. “Hence, thorough investigation by the MACC or police on these matters were required as the letters were i...

政治人物的身上多是带有不同的话题，尤其凯里更为精彩。当初夹带着前首相敦阿都拉的女婿身份，以“驸马爷”姿态在政坛上风头一时无俩。拥有英国牛津大学学士身分的凯里，却常发表带有强烈种族主义的言论，挑动大马华人的敏感神经。当然，这样的言论自然成为箭靶，甚至前前首相敦马也毫不客气的将308政治海啸，归咎于凯里，直呼伯拉是被他女婿害惨的。 巫青团团长凯里在上周三的巫青团大会演词，以推动巫裔摒除狭隘思想为演讲主轴，许多人（包括媒体与华社）都引颈等待，都想看看凯里会不会再上演前任希山慕丁举剑亲吻的戏码。等啊等，还好，凯里最终选择了抛弃高举短剑这敏感动作。仅仅手握拳头，带动全场高喊“巫统万岁”，过后甚至还亲吻到场支持的母亲。 说回巫青大会，各位看官会如此注目凯里是否会有举剑这个传统动作，主要也是想看清，说改变、谈一个马来西亚的巫统，是否真的变了？翻了翻资料，在2007年的巫青大会的总结辩论时，当时还是副团长的凯里，原来曾说过那么一句“经典”的话：““巫青永远拔剑出鞘，宣誓巫青团将永远拔剑、举剑，同时不敢拔剑者是民族叛徒，不敢拔剑者就不是男人。 ”搞到之后巫统大会期间，华社就会“紧张”一些。 国阵在308的失意后，无可否认的确在政策上有所改变，先不论这些政策是否又是一项项“很理想，但只是想”或只是“糖果”政策。但我们小老百姓其实也只求生活安逸这简单的要求而已。一项项的利民政策，或多或少打动选民的认同。首相纳吉上任后，以“一个马来西亚”为目标，一步步的改革。而相信许多关心政治的人民，一直都在冷眼旁观，国阵（尤其是巫统）到底改了多少，变了多少？ 如今，凯里令期待他举剑的人“失望”了，但却为他赢回部分之前被他“伤害”过的人的心。整场大会里，只强调马来自强论，没听到他一贯的种族输赢论。言谈中，也以全民利益摆在民族之前。但是，讲词始终只是得个讲字，毕竟时间才能证明一切。 巫青团“马来人遭围剿”的思维已根深蒂固，是否能真正走出与剔除，还是一个未知数。但是，相信大马人民，无论任何族群，都希望执政政府施政公平透明，以民为先，对于巫青释放的善意改革，人民一定支持与谅解。但，要消除已有的刻板印象，并非朝夕的事。一个政党迈向改革之路，不仅漫长，同时还要兼顾与避免故态重萌等问题，也要防止口不对心的事件发生。唯有这样，才能恢复人民的信心与信任，美丽的理念才不会沦为空洞的口号！ 还记得黄明志“改国歌风波”吗？当初...