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Tag: UMNO

  • Najib Razak Risks Backlash In Malaysia Following Deals With PRC

    Najib Razak Risks Backlash In Malaysia Following Deals With PRC

    KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is facing grumblings back home that he is “selling off” his country after returning from China with about US$34 billion worth of deals, which could help lift the economy ahead of elections.

    The concerns emerge from a deep-seated distrust of the Chinese among Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority, who form the support base for the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO).

    Najib was quick to dismiss the concerns after concluding his six-day visit to China.

    “Some have scaremongered that Malaysia is being sold off. This is absurd and absolutely false,” Najib said in a statement on Friday (Nov 4), insisting the projects will be owned and run by Malaysians.

    The deals include Malaysia’s first significant defence deal with China, an agreement to buy four Chinese naval vessels.

    Najib’s visit followed that of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who announced his country’s “separation” from the United States and signed agreements and loan pledges worth an estimated US$24 billion with Beijing.

    Malaysia’s Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai also defended the deals with China, dismissing fears of overt Chinese influence in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing between Malaysia’s Tunku Abdul Rahman University College and China’s Tsinghua University, he told Channel NewsAsia that “we actually attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from any countries who want to invest in Malaysia”.

    “At the same time, we buy anything also from those countries who can give us the best offer and that is natural,” he said. “So I think if we buy ships from China, it’s because China offered us the better deal. If it’s any other country, we can buy from France or we can buy from the US.”

    The minister was also asked to respond to criticism from Malaysian opposition MP Tony Pua, who referenced a media report that suggested Malaysia had spent a “ridiculous price” on the “most expensive rail infrastructure project in the world in its class” – the East Coast Rail Link project.

    Pua had questioned why Malaysia had borrowed RM55b (US$13b) from China, given that Liow had said that was not the cost of construction, but only the value of the Financing Framework Agreement.

    Liow reiterated that the price was for the “framework of cooperation”, and that it was an outline. He added that the cost was not finalised.

    UMNO leaders expect Najib to brief them soon so the party can start allaying any fears about China’s rising influence in Malaysia, said Shahidan Kassim, a senior member of the party’s supreme council and a federal minister.

    “All of this has its pros and cons, but in UMNO we must have a policy statement on this,” he told Reuters.

    ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

    Ethnicity and religion are sensitive issues in Malaysia, where Muslim Malays form a little over 50 per cent of the population of 31 million. Ethnic Chinese make up about 25 per cent and ethnic Indians about 7 per cent.

    Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese have long been a scapegoat for the Malay community, with UMNO leaders pointing to ethnic Chinese economic dominance to unite Malays and keep a firm grip on political power.

    Last year, ethnic ties became strained under the weight of two opposing demonstrations largely split along racial lines. A ‘Malay pride’ rally blocked off Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur in a show of strength following an anti-government rally dominated by Malaysian-Chinese. Najib’s government summoned China’s ambassador over his remarks ahead of the “Malay pride’ rally.

    Clashes are expected again this year as thousands of anti-government demonstrators plan to protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 19, calling for Najib to resign over the money-laundering scandal linked to Malaysian state investment fund, One Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

    A member of UMNO’s policy-making Supreme Council, Irmohizam Ibrahim, said Najib’s deals with China have stoked concerns among party leaders.

    “We’re expecting the prime minister to address these issues at our next Supreme Council meeting,” Irmohizam told Reuters.

    “We will then need to go down and explain to the grassroots that … the deals are purely for the economy and trade,” said Irmohizam, who also serves as Najib’s strategic director in the party.

    Malaysia’s opposition is questioning the China agreements but for different reasons, saying it is tilting the country toward Beijing.

    “Malaysia’s economic dependence on any single nation is unreasonable and will affect the country’s freedom and geo-political strategy and foreign policy,” jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement issued from prison.

    “GOLDEN JEWELRY”

    Najib is planning elections in the second half of 2017, a government source has told Reuters.

    The investments from China could help the prime minister pump-prime Malaysia’s economy before then. A 2017 national budget Najib announced last month calls for only a modest spending rise, amid a continuing slump in commodity prices.

    Senior UMNO leaders and urban Malays, however, are uncomfortable that Chinese money will drive the development of strategic assets, according to James Chin, director at the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute.

    Chin says the Malay elite welcomes Chinese investment in purely commercial deals such as property purchases, but are more wary about agreements such as a 55 billion ringgit (US$13.11 billion) deal for the Chinese to develop a rail network.

    “The problem with these deals is that they are seen as selling the country’s golden jewelry,” Chin said.

    Ties between Malaysia and China reached a high point last December when Beijing came to Najib’s rescue with a US$2.3 billion deal to buy 1MDB assets, helping ease concerns over its mounting debt.

    Relations with Washington became strained after the U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits in July implicating the prime minister in the money-laundering probe at 1MDB, the advisory board of which Najib chaired until recently.

    SHIFTING POSITIONS

    China and Malaysia agreed to enhance naval cooperation, after sealing the deal to buy four Littoral Mission ships, fast patrol vessels that can be equipped with a helicopter flight deck and carry missiles.

    Malaysia, along with three other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei – are among the countries contesting territorial claims with China over the South China Sea. China claims nearly the entire body of water as its territory.

    Najib said last month the disputes should be resolved through dialogue with Beijing.

    Duterte during his visit persuaded the Chinese to let Philippine fishermen operate around a disputed shoal, before declaring his unhappiness with Washington over its criticism of his lethal antidrug campaign.

    ASEAN, meanwhile, has struggled to come up with a unified position on the South China Sea disputes at its meetings.

    “ASEAN will not go away… but increasingly the idea of the multilateral track will be downgraded as now we see a swing from two key claimants to a more bilateral approach,” said Euan Graham, director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think-tank.

    (US$1 = 4.1950 ringgit)

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • DAP MP Nga Kor Ming Investigated For Insulting Post On Aidilfitri

    DAP MP Nga Kor Ming Investigated For Insulting Post On Aidilfitri

    KEPALA BATAS, July 8 — Two NGOs today lodged four police reports against Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming of the DAP over what they claimed to be a Facebook post that insulted Aidilfitri.

    The Malaysia Heritage Club (Keris) and Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs Penang made the reports at the police station here through Keris Secretary-General Azman Hassan and MAYC Penang Chairman Saiful Anuar.

    Azman claimed that Nga’s Facebook post carried a caricature of children and guests receiving Aidilfitri ‘duit raya’ cash packets and likened it to bribery.

    “Nga’s action is clearly an insult demeaning a noble deed at a time when Muslims are celebrating Aidilfitri,” he told reporters after lodging the reports at the police station.

    He said it was hoped that the police would investigate the person who drew the caricature as well as the owner and administrator of the Facebook account.

    Azman said Nga, as an elected representative, should have been more sensitive and not link the Aidilfitri celebration to political elements.

    “We ask Nga to withdraw the post and make an open apology in the same Facebook account,” he said. — Bernama

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • The Malays Love To Self-Destruct, And Then Blame The Chinese

    The Malays Love To Self-Destruct, And Then Blame The Chinese

    Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.

    NO HOLDS BARRED

    Raja Petra Kamarudin

    I was already 18 going on 19 in 1969 when the race riot (and not the first race riot, mind you) erupted on 13th May, three days after the Saturday, 10th May, general election.

    Much has been said and written about one of these dark periods in Malaysian history (oh yes, we have had many dark periods in Malaysian history). Nevertheless I was there, so I can tell you what happened (or partly about what happened) from an eyewitness’s account.

    It is true that on the 11th and the 12th of May the non-Malays were parading (at least from what I witnessed in Bangsar and Brickfields where I lived) and were shouting insults at the Malays and telling the Malays to leave Kuala Lumpur and balek kampung because the Chinese now own the town(s), etc. However, that was not why ‘May 13’ started. That was the excuse they used to start ‘May 13’.

    In fact, I was not only a witness to the events in early 1969, I was also at the anti-government demonstration in front of Pudu Jail earlier (where we got shot with tear gas) and I attended all the opposition ceramahs in Brickfields, which were very inflammatory and racial in tone.

    So, yes, there was a build-up to the 13th May 1969 race riot and it was built up over a period of time. But then this was intentionally allowed to happen. And as much as Tunku Abdul Rahman tried to curtail all this and he issued instructions to the police to clamp down on the racial rhetoric, there were others in Umno and in the government who countermanded the Tunku’s orders and undermined Tunku so that the racial heat can build up even higher.

    And this was why the Tunku stepped down one year later in 1970. The Tunku did not step down because of May 13 or because he failed to stop May 13. He stepped down because of a broken heart. His heart was broken by the fact that so many Malaysians had to die unnecessarily (some estimates put it at 600 and others at thousands, although ‘officially’ it is less than 200) just because some people in Umno were trying to oust him from power.

    Even decades later the Tunku would still break down and cry whenever he talked about this. You can see he was still upset until the day he went to his grave and one of the people he blamed for ‘May 13’ was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The Tunku even went so far as to say that Malaysia would be cursed if Mahathir ever took over as Prime Minister.

    Over the last ten years since 2006 (when Mahathir first launched his campaign to oust Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) Mahathir has travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia to talk about how Malays lost power. Yes, that is the gist of Mahathir’s lectures — about how Malays lost political power and now have to share power with the non-Malays.

    Mahathir starts with the story of Melaka and about how some Malays collaborated with the Portuguese, which resulted in the collapse of the Sultanate in 1511 and which resulted in Melaka and eventually the rest of Malaya getting colonised for hundreds of years (and for Penang and Singapore becoming Chinese-owned).

    Anwar Ibrahim, however, has a slightly different version of that same story. Anwar says it was because of the treachery of the Mamak that Melaka fell. And that is why ‘Mamak Bendahara’ (meaning Mahathir, the then Prime Minister) must be ousted. It is actually quite hilarious considering that Anwar himself is Mamak so it was actually a battle of the Mamaks but using the Malays to fight this battle.

    Anyway, the point that Mahathir was making (at least in his lectures over the last ten years since 2006) is that the Malays perpetually fight amongst themselves and in the end the foreigners take over the country. And Mahathir is also telling us that unless the Malays unite then Malaysia will always be in danger of getting colonised or the non-Malays would be able to grab political power.

    This was what Mahathir told the Malays in 2006-2008 when he wanted to oust Abdullah and this is what Mahathir is telling us now when he wants to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. The Malays fight with the Malays and the non-Malays or foreigners end up taking over the country.

    In 1969, Mahathir told the Tunku that the reason the Malays were very angry (and did not vote Umno) was because he (the Tunku) gave too much face to the Chinese. In 2013, Mahathir told Najib the same thing: that he (Najib) was giving too much face to the Chinese (who do not support the government anyway) and was neglecting the Malay voters (who are actually Umno’s support base).

    As Mahathir is so fond of telling us, the Malays love to self-destruct. The Malays love fighting each other. Malays suffer from a syndrome called PHD (perangai hasad dengki). They can’t stand seeing someone have more than them so if you spend RM1,000,000 on your daughter’s wedding then I must spend RM1,500,000 and if you invite Mahathir as your VIP guest then I must invite Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin.

    Yes, the Malays first became divided in 1951 when PAS was created (by Umno people themselves). Then, in 1987, the Malays further became divided due to a power struggle within Umno (that involved Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah) and which resulted in the creation of Semangat 46. In 1998, the Malays became divided, yet again, due to, yet again, another power struggle in Umno and Parti Keadilan Nasional was created followed by an opposition coalition.

    So the history of the Malays is that every few years they will fight and they will get divided and they will become a little bit weaker because of it. And the non-Malays will take advantage of this (as they should) and unite while the Malays divide.

    Over the last two years the Malays have become divided even more, the worst ever in history. Umno is divided with the Mahathir faction leading the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign). PAS is divided with the creation of PAN a.k.a. Amanah as the breakaway party. PKR, a Malay-based multi-racial party, is also divided with the Anwar and family faction on one side and the Azmin Ali faction on the other.

    Yes, and while the Malays are divided into six, or maybe even seven or eight, the Chinese are united under Pakatan Harapan. And because the Malays now see how weak they have become and now that they realise they no longer have bargaining power like they used to (and that even MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc., now dare challenge Umno when in the past they would not dare squeak) the Malays need to find someone to blame. And the most convenient scapegoat would be to blame the Chinese for this.

    This is a typical Malay attitude. When they are lazy and they fail, they will say this is God’s will (so they blame God for their failure). When they fight amongst themselves and become weak, they will blame the Chinese for uniting and for splitting the Malays. When they are bankrupt of ideas, they will use Islam as the political weapon or political platform and then will blame the non-Muslims for insulting Islam or for not respecting Islam.

    Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.

     

     Source: www.malaysia-today.net

  • Malaysia Says “Controversial Preacher” Zakir Naik Is Moderate Islamic Voice

    Malaysia Says “Controversial Preacher” Zakir Naik Is Moderate Islamic Voice

    KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian Deputy Minister in charge of Islamic Affairs on Tuesday (April 19) defended the country’s decision to allow controversial Islamic scholar Zakir Naik (picture) to conduct his recent week-long lecture series on religion following an uproar from various quarters, including the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, because Dr Zakir is a “voice of moderation” for Islam.

    Analysts, however, told TODAY the Malaysian government’s endorsement of Dr Zakir — including a meeting between the preacher and Prime Minister Najib Razak — was aimed at appealing to the Malay voter base, marking another level at which the country’s main ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), is using religion to shore up its political position.

    In an interview with business radio station BFM on Tuesday morning, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the India-born preacher was needed in Malaysia to counter the rising extremist voices in Islam. “Islam is a misunderstood religion, and there are many voices that are perceived as being extremist. We need a voice of moderation,” said Mr Asyraf . “He could represent a voice of moderation, not only among Muslims, but especially non-Muslims.” Mr Asyraf said Dr Zakir was capable of convincing non-

    Muslims that Islam is a “religion of moderation”. “We are facing plenty of problems right now with extremist groups. This is why we need iconic personalities to change this perception,” he added.

    Mr Asyraf was among those who lobbied for Dr Zakir to be allowed to speak in Malaysia, despite objections from BN’s senior partners, Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), as well as from numerous non-governmental organisations.

    NGO Hindu Rights Action Force had accused Dr Zakir of encouraging discord by allegedly promoting terrorism and criticising the various faiths practised in Malaysia. The preacher is controversial for his views, among them his support for Al Qaeda jihadists and Osama bin Laden, after, in a 2006 lecture, he called for “every Muslim to be a terrorist”. However, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has defended the Islamic televangelist and even described the latter as a “very wise man”. During his week-long tour, Dr Zakir spoke in Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu and Malacca, after being given permission to do so by the police and the government.

    Dr Lim Teck Ghee, director of the Centre for Policy Initiatives in Kuala Lumpur, told TODAY that the government’s move in greenlighting Dr Zakir’s speaking engagements was to appeal to the Malay-Muslim support base. “It is to make sure this audience continues to see the government as protecting Muslim and Malay dominance and hegemony,” said Dr Lim.

    “The past two elections have shown that UMNO’s hold on power is precarious. Distracting the Malay Muslim audience with religious issues, which make it appear as if UMNO is the champion of Islam, is a straightforward and sure-to-win method to retain Malay votes; perhaps even a majority.”

    Political analyst Wong Chin Huat noted the issue is about domestic positioning, to “lock in” Muslim voters who are eager to see Islam or Muslims emerging triumphant in any zero-sum game with other faiths or religious communities. “It’s a sign that the government is using the religious card to shore up its political position,” the head of political and social analysis at Penang Institute told TODAY.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Najib Razak: Islam Doesn’t Allow Alliance With Anti-Islamic Groups, Even For ‘Noble’ Causes

    Najib Razak: Islam Doesn’t Allow Alliance With Anti-Islamic Groups, Even For ‘Noble’ Causes

    PUTRAJAYA, March 21 — Islam frowns on Muslims who will ally themselves with their religion’s critics to achieve their goals no matter how “noble”, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.

    He said that the means to achieve a noble aim must be equally noble.

    “That means, Islam not only requires that a purpose must be noble, but the method to achieve the purpose must also be correct and noble.

    “For example, if we have a good objective or purpose, but we collaborate with those who are anti-Islam or uneasy with Islam, that means that method is not correct and forbidden by Islam,” he said in a speech when launching the 59th national recital of the al-Quran here.

    He did not give further examples to illustrate his point.

    Earlier, he urged Muslims to be broad-minded when faced with differences of opinion.

    “Don’t because of small matters or contentious issues, or being too obsessed with groups or a leader, until we quarrel, leading to enmity, hatred or casting aspersions or inappropriate labels by a Muslim against other fellow Muslims.

    “In other words, Islam allows differences in opinion, the voicing of views and objections, but it should be courteous and should be consistent,” he said.

    Earlier, he had also stressed the importance of unity within the Muslim community, after quoting a verse in the Quran.

    “This verse clearly shows the issue of unity is not a choice, but an obligation to Muslims. This is the command of Allah to us,” he said, before going on to say that Malaysia was lucky as it was an Islamic country based on Sunni Islam.

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com