Columns

Sorry Najib, I can’t vote for you…

On

 

DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng addresses current issues and allegations by the less and less relevant Barisan Nasional and its dominant partner UMNO as well as its other servile followers

 

What they did

  • Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s recent vile actions and malicious remarks at the launch of the Bersih 2.0 counter-protest at Kampung Baru are nothing short of seditious. Not only were pictures of Bersih chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan burned and stomped upon, flyers were distributed describing her as a ‘dangerous Hindu woman’.
  • Ibrahim Ali also then raised the threat of another May 13, by proclaiming himself a ‘war general’ and warning of severe repercussion for the Chinese community if they proceed with the Bersih march. He also suggested that the Chinese community may have to stock up on food should anything happen.

What must be done

“In its refusal to take action (against Ibrahim Ali), UMNO is therefore guilty of supporting Perkasa and its stand. In fact, this has been obvious for quite some time, as demonstrated by UMNO’s lack of will in taking action in numerous cases such as the cow’s head protest in 2009 and various remarks by their leaders equating Indians to beggars and Chinese women to prostitutes.

“This clearly proves that 1 Malaysia is nothing more than an exercise in self-delusion and mass deception.

“UMNO must stop fanning racial and religious sentiments, as it is extremely dangerous and will lead to unrest. The fact of the matter is that Malaysians all live peacefully and have no problem with each other”.

 

What they did

  • MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was reported as saying that DAP may fail to repeat its Sarawak polls success in peninsular Malaysia as the Chinese vote swing there was based on dissatisfaction against cronyism and an allegedly corrupt state administration.

What must be done

“Instead of attacking corruption, Dr Chua has chosen to attack the Chinese voters for voting against BN by threatening to withdraw from government if MCA loses again in the next general elections.

“Clearly, Dr Chua’s was only forced to this tacit admission of the stench of corruption hanging over (Sarawak Chief Minister) Tan Sri Abdul Taib after Switzerland President Micheline Calmy-Rey ordered a full investigation of money laundering against Abdul Taib to demonstrate the Swiss government’s commitment to fighting against corruption and the restitution of embezzled funds to respective countries.

“Dr Chua’s desperate attempt at damage control is no different from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). MACC only confirmed its investigation into Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud over allegations of timber corruption only after the Swiss’ investigation.

“This is a shameful example of trying to `bolt the stable doors after the horses have bolted’”.

 

What they did

  • Gerakan President and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon claimed that he played a major role as an adviser to an American company in making its decision to invest RM4 billion to set up a Global Excellence Centre in Penang.

What must be done

“To-date there is no news and concrete evidence of this new RM4 billion investment in a Global Excellence Center by the American company.

“The Penang state government would appreciate Koh’s efforts to deliver on this important RM 4 billion promise, which would spur innovation and the growth of Penang as a hub of research and development.

“Instead of delivering on his RM4 billion promise, Koh has launched an attack against the State government for not delivering our Penang Blueprint.

“I had explained that the Penang state government had completed our preparation for our Penang Blueprint but had decided to shelve it to work together with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala on the GPM. The GPM is an initiative by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to make Penang the third megapolis in Malaysia”.

 

What they did

  • Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that DAP “won” in the recent PAS leadership elections because of PAS’ emphasis on a negara berkebajikan or welfare state/nation of care.

What must be done

“The Prime Minister claims that subsidies are akin to ‘opium’, then why not first remove the ‘Big Opium’ like corruption that costs RM 28 billion yearly or gas mega subsidies to independent power producers (IPPs) that would cost RM25 billion this year?

“Any people-centric government would do that first before removing the ‘Small Opium’ of subsidies in sugar, diesel and petrol which hurt directly the masses, 10 million Malaysians who does not even earn enough to pay taxes.

“BN appears to be more interested in helping IPPs. Up to end 2010, Petronas has extended about RM131.3 billion in gas subsidy to both the power and non-power sectors. The greatest beneficiaries of the RM131.3 billion gas subsidies are IPPs who also benefit from a guranteed buyer through the compulsory Power Purchase Agreement signed by Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

“A minimum wage and increasing real wages is necessary towards a fairer and more prosperous society. Najib’s admission that less than two million of the 12 million workers pay taxes demonstrates the severity of wage disparities and caused by the lack of minimum wage and rising real wages.

“There is a need to develop the services sector and a consumption-based economy to graduate to a high-income economy, therefore requiring economic policies that leads to job creation, wage increases, sustainable industries and innovation is essential”.

 

What they did

  • Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz announced that 500 special education grants would be disbursed by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to the rejected SPM top scorer applicants. The scholarships to public universities would be worth RM7,500 a year and scholarships for study of critical courses in private universities would be worth RM15,000 a year while grants for non-critical courses would be worth RM7,500.

What must be done

“DAP insists that all top SPM scorers should get an overseas Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships and not 1MDB grants to study in local public and private universities in the interests of fairplay, reward performance based on excellence not mediocrity and demonstrate the country’s commitment to retain our human talent.

“At the same time, DAP condemns the BN government for failing to uphold transparency and accountability by making public the detailed results of all those who were awarded overseas scholarships”.