Cheap tactics?

Oh My Gosh.


I cannot claim to be fully in the know about the Machap by-election, but from
what I've read online so far, I am certainly not impressed.


I usually like starting my media exposure with the mainstream media, and I start by reading thestar.com.my. And, as usual, BN gets all the publicity, while opposition parties get none. Big shots are called in. Our Deputy Prime Minister calls for voters to think about their future and not use emotions to vote, and at the same time, offers 50 chinese families land titles in a Felda land. Our MCA president goes to Machap to listen to the people's woes (wonder why they don't publicize this sort of news when no election is near), whereas our deputy MCA president claims that "the most important thing that Barisan had brought to the people was the fact that they could live peacefully without fear and helped solve any problem they had".


Sounds impressive? Obviously.



But wait.


I noticed that when TheStar reported on Najib giving the 50 chinese families Felda land, it said that these families, together with the Malay settlers there, would form the BARISAN NATIONAL KAMPUNG. Didn't sound right to me, phishy stuff.



At the same time, I saw pictures of the BN election candidate, together with UMNO Youth Chief and Deputy Chief (remember the keris wielding guy and PLah's son-in-law?), and MCA Youth Chief handing over free food to Machap residents. More phishy stuff!! In that link, I also found out that it was illegal under the Election Offenses Act 1954 "food, drink, refreshment or provision, or any money or ticket or other means or device for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to give or refrain from giving his vote ".

Shortly after, BERSIH, a coalition set up to campaign for clean and fair elections in Malaysia (as opposed to the Election Committee which is viewed by many to have failed to be impartial) lodged a police report against those BN leaders claiming foul play and corrupt practices in the Machap election campaign. In this linked article, it was written that our deputy Prime Minister Najib had told the crowd “Ada ubi ada batas, ada budi boleh balas. Kalau nak
balas, balas pada April 12 dan undilah Barisan Nasional (One should repay or return favours when the time is right and the favour should be repaid by voting BN on April 12).” after announcing the allocation of the Felda land to the 50 chinese families.


Cheap tactis man!



BN, surely you don't need to hit under the belt to secure your votes?



Sigh.

Anwar Ibrahim and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)

Stumbled upon a recent speech Anwar Ibrahim gave at Keadilan Night, actually listened to the whole 40 minutes of it. He's a very persuasive speaker!!

Once again was feeling very "politically-minded" (wonder what's wrong with me recently), so did some interest reading in Wikipedia on the topics below:

• Anwar Ibrahim. I used to only know him as 'an ex-deputy prime minister of Malaysia who got jailed for corruption and sodomy(!!!), who is now a sour plum trying to regain what he lost in Malaysian politics. Reading about his political history really changed my perception about him.


• Party Keadilan Rakyat. Didn't really know how this party came about. Didn't even know that it was a merger between 2 parties!


• Elections in Malaysia. If you click on some links you can actually see the results of past general elections. OMG had no idea the Barisan Alternatif had such high percentage of votes in 1999! Didn't translate into number of winning seats though. Makes you wonder whether the government did some gerrymandering or malaportionment to kill off the opposition. In fact, Party Keadilan Rakyat actually released internatinoally a 'Sham Democracy' Report last year condeming the practices in Malaysia when it comes to the general elections. Hm..interesting.


• Parliament of Malaysia. Felt quite embarassed that I did not know how Parliament worked in Malaysia, including the roles of Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara. Must've fallen asleep numerous times during Sejarah periods in high school....owel, it's never too late! A must read too! You have no idea how unfair the voting process in there is... =(

About time you too brushed up on general knowledge! =).

Yes, I mean YOU.