Here's an excerpt from my upcoming book chapter on Media and GE14 (14th General Election). The gist of the chapter is basically in the final paragraph. -- GE14 was reportedly to have scored a series of records in the history of Malaysian election, such as the first ever electoral win by the opposition, the oldest Prime Minister elected – and re-elected – into office, the first woman Deputy Prime Minister and the youngest cabinet minister. Apart from that, the other record was the rise of opinion polling and political forecasting “industry”. Unlike the United States, where one can easily find dozens of opinion polling results and forecasts by the media and research institutions, the trend of conducting opinion polls during election picked up rather late in Malaysia or that some of the polling conducted were only meant for internal consumption, such as those prepared by government agencies and political parties. According to Malaysia’s leading scholar in public opin...

Perak Mentri Besar, Dato Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir has got a new blog. www.zambry.com In his first blog entry, Zambry took a swipe at Lim Kit Siang, where the DAP supremo called him a "caveman" Mentri Besar for banning alternative media from covering the upcoming Perak assembly. Kit Siang must have a short memory because it was barely a month or so ago when his son, Lim Guan Eng banned the News Straits Time (NST) from covering the Penang state government events. This is just pure and simple hypocrisy, isn't it? It's so damn bloody easy for one to talk about press freedom, democracy, rule of law and all other political jargons when one is not in power. But when the power is in their hand, they failed. Guan Eng's NST boycott is a clear testament to this. DAP talks so much about democracy, but look at their so-called "democratic" party. Kit Siang has been at the helm of party since the days of Tunku Abdul Rahman. Four Prime Ministers, from Tun Razak to Ab...

NST - Saturday, 11 April 2009 "Just because you're in the cabinet doesn't mean I'm going to keep quite, you know...?" Tun Dr. M to son, Mukhriz. Read between the lines. Hehe. Picture above is the latest cartoon by Lat in today's NST. Lat has never failed to disappoint me with his political cartoons long since I was in primary school. If there is one reason why I still read the NST, it must be because of Lat's cartoons, besides Johan Jaafar and Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Zaini Said's weekly column. Other than that, NST has nothing much great to offer.

As someone who belongs to the "Generation M" group - youths who grew up and spent their lives knowing only one Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad - this is what I wrote in this blog roughly six years ago; Sebak rasanya apabila sekali lagi menonton klip video pengumuman mengejut tentang persaraan semua jawatan dalam kerajaan dan parti, termasuklah jawatan Perdana Menteri oleh Dr. Mahathir ketika Perhimpunan Agung UMNO, Jun tahun lalu melalui sebuah rancangan 30 minit di Channel 9 . Dalam sedar tak sedar, masanya telah tiba. Masih semacam samar-samar lagi, masih semacam sukar hendak menerima kenyataan, atau mungkin memakan sedikit masa lagi untuk menerima kenyataan bahawa Dr. Mahathir bukan lagi Perdana Menteri Malaysia. Apa pun syabas kerana peralihan kuasa di negara kita berlangsung dengan penuh lancar, tiada kekecohan timbul. Back then, a website, ThanksMahathir.com was specially created to dedicate our respect and love to the Father of Modern Malaysia. I wonder whether ...

UCAPAN YBHG TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD DI PERHIMPUNAN DAN SIDANG KEMUNCAK PRIBUMI PERKASA NEGARA DI KOMPLEKS SUKAN TNB, JALAN BANGSAR, KUALA LUMPUR PADA HARI AHAD, 22 MAC 2009 1. Terlebih dahulu saya ucap terima kasih kepada penganjur perhimpunan ini kerana menjemput saya dan memberi peluang kepada saya untuk berucap kepada hadirin. 2. Saya yakin ramai daripada kita yang hadir, terutamanya orang Melayu dan bumiputra lain, hadir kerana kita berasa kita berada dalam keadaan cemas, keadaan yang merbahaya, keadaan terancam. 3. Kenapa tidak? Kita kini diserang berkali-kali oleh berbagai pihak. 4. Ramai daripada orang lain berkata Melayu adalah kaum pendatang. 5. Melayu mengamalkan apartheid ala kulit putih Afrika Selatan. 6. Melayu tidak adil, suka menidakkan hak kaum-kaum lain. 7. Melayu sudah cukup kaya dan tidak perlu dasar Ekonomi Baru lagi. 8. Semua peluang perniagaan dan pelajaran diberi hanya kepada orang Melayu. 9. Kuasa politik dibolot oleh orang Melayu dan lain-lain. 10. Berhadapan d...

FLIP (26 Feb 2009) TheStar: Works Minister announces toll hike KUALA LUMPUR: Road users will have to pay higher tolls for five major highways beginning March 1. The highways affected are the North-South Expressway (PLUS), Sprint/Kerinchi/Damansara Link highways, Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Expressway (AKLEH), Sungai Besi Highway and the New Pantai Expressway (NPE). FLOP (27 Feb 2009) Malaysiakini - Gov't U-turn: Toll hike put off In a dramatic reversal, the government has decided to suspend toll hike of up to 33 percent for five major highways in Klang Valley announced yesterday. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was also quoted in The Star saying "The situation is not right for a toll hike. I felt that this matter needed to be discussed again in the Cabinet." Now, the interesting question is, why is it that no proper study or consideration was made before announcing the toll hike? Sadly, it just shows how indecisive and weak the government is. The government should study all poss...

This is quite a long overdue blog post - all due to the Perak political crisis which dominated all media headlines for the past few days. Last Thursday I was fortunate to had the chance to hear former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir and other panel members speak at the forum for Palestine, organised by the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War at Crowne Plaza Hotel, KL. I don't have much time to blog about it though. You may head over to Tun's blog for his personal view on the forum. Here are some pictures. Apologize for the low quality pictures. :) Tun Dr. Mahathir giving the opening speech. His full speech is available at criminalisewar.org Prof. Michel Chossudovsky and former US Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party nominee for President of the United States, Cynthia McKinney (seated) Two Jordanian doctors spoke about their horror experience while treating patients at the Al-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza. Seated on the left is law expert, Prof. Gurdial Singh Nijar

Kuala Terengganu Crystal mosque. (source: The Star ) So, BN has lost yet another parliamentary seat in less than a year, plus the other two seats previously held by the Sabah based party, SAPP. BN and UMNO leaders should come to their senses and realize that after the 8 March political Tsunami, Permatang Pauh and now Kuala Terengganu, the widely perceived perception is that the people rejected them. After all, perception is more important than the real truth in politics. Personally, I do not think that Najib has the credibility or strong political will to carry out the necessary reforms for BN and UMNO. Even as Deputy PM, he has yet to prove that he is really up for the number one job. Politically, the best thing that I can foresee Najib can do is perhaps to be able to reunite the many factions within UMNO, especially those from the anti-Pak Lah group. UMNO is seriously in a total mess. There is also this huge generation gap between the old leaders and the younger generation and it...

The Star, 9th December 2008 Quoting Wong Chun Wai in his column above; ..What Clinton revealed about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was more interesting. He listed down the names of leaders he admired during his term as US president. They included South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Palestine’s Yasser Arafat and China’s Jiang Zemin. “And certainly, Dr Mahathir. He did the right thing (in pegging the ringgit) during the 1997 financial crisis. His model worked, not necessarily elsewhere, but certainly he did the right thing.” Clinton said he used to discuss about Dr Mahathir at the White House with his advisers and sometimes told them that they were not practical (when they touched on politics and economics) “because you guys have never run for office.” - The Star

..Dialogue session with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the Putrajaya Leadership Foundation. Seated from left were former UMNO Secretaries General, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and Tan Sri Sabaruddin Chik A quick check shows that TheStar , NST and MalaysianInsider have already carried out the news. NST: Dr Mahathir to submit reports on money politics to disciplinary committee TheStar: Dr M to name UMNO members involved in money politics TheMalaysianInsider: Dr M predicts rampant bribery will bring down Umno at next polls On top of money politics in UMNO which made the headlines, Tun actually talked for about an hour discussing other issues too, e.g. the recent media debate on 'social contract', Malay language and Malay special rights, on Pak Lah's leadership and the March 2009 transition, Pak Lah's judiciary and ACA reform, on the many faces of Anwar Ibrahim, BN's worst performance ever in the 12th general election, on American President-elect Barack Hussein Obama and so on so ...

I'd like to share an excerpt from an essay on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the Time magazine's Essay section in its November 3rd issue by Mark L. Clifford , Executive Director of the Asia Business Council . I think this is a nice piece of a fairly-well balance article. Reason why I say this is because, it is relatively hard to find any positive review by Western media or journalists on Mahathir, especially after the Anwar Ibrahim saga and his infamous "Jews rule the world by proxy" ( CNN ) remark made at the opening of the 2003 OIC Summit in Putrajaya, 5 years ago. Generally, the writer was trying to draw a parallel between the current global financial crisis with the economic crisis that hit several countries in Asia 10 years ago and on what can be learnt and what action should be considered for that matter. Also mentioned was the "unorthodox" measures by former premier, Mahathir Mohamad. "Another lesson: don't be afraid to experiment. Unorthodox mea...

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad Tun Dr Mahathir Has Locus Standi To Make Any Statement On Umno, Says Rais KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Jelebu Umno division chief Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim Monday lashed out at those who criticise former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making statements regarding Umno. "There are many who are blasting Tun Dr Mahathir for making statements about Umno. This should not be an issue," said Rais, who is Foreign Minister. " He has the locus standi (standing) to make any statement on Umno. He led the party for 23 years. "If they want to say something to him, look at him straight in the eye and tell him. Dr Mahathir has every right to say what he wants about Umno," he told reporters when met at the Foreign Ministry's friends of Malaysia cultural exchange programme here. Very well said, Datuk Seri.. ---------------------------- On another different issue, I recommend all to read Tun 's latest blog entry, ' The Financial...

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 13 ( Xinhua ) -- The United States is adopting similar measures as Malaysia did in 1997 to cope with the financial storm hitting Asia, a Malaysian senior official said here on Monday. In 1997, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United States criticized Malaysia for not practicing liberal capitalism, said Malaysia 's Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, adding that now the Unites States was assisting its banks and adopting similar measures as Malaysia did in 1997. Nor Mohamed was quoted by local newspaper The Star as saying that the frequency of financial global crises was caused by weaknesses in the system of liberal capitalism, led by the United States. Such a system has minimal supervision and the government role in the economic sector was reduced, where privatization was implemented on a large-scale, including selling national assets to outsiders, he said. The world needs to find a new alternative to create a fair and b...

This was the second time, I think, that I had the chance to visit Tun Dr Mahathir's Hari Raya open house. The first was the SAHOCA Raya gathering few years ago (mom is an alumni of Sultan Abdul Hamid college). The Mines Resort was nice but I think the food wasn't really that great even though it was prepared by Palace of the Golden Horses hotel, mind you. I didn't had the chance to snap Tun's picture as there were just too many people, so I just shooked his hand, wished Selamat Hari Raya and walked towards the dining hall. I really admire Tun's strength sitting there for hours (open house is from 10am - 1pm, 2.30 - 5pm) to shake hands with his visitors and repeating "Selamat Hari Raya, terima kasih.." for over thousands of time. He should've just put a tape recorder next to him, instead. hehe. Some of the VIP and other notable guest that I met there were, Foreign Minister, Dato Rais Yatim and wife, ex-Minister, Aziz Shamsuddin, former NST Group Editor ...

Anwar - Shabery live debate on Astro Awani channel 501 and TV9, organised by Agendadaily.com (image credit: Malaysiakini ) After watching the debate, "Hari ini membentuk kerajaan, esok turun harga minyak" , I think it was pretty obvious that Dato' Seri Anwar was the better person. Though Dato' Shabery did brought up some good points, it was no match to the points and details raised by Dato' Seri Anwar. I doubt any UMNO supporters would claim that Shabery 'won' the debate. I'd say Shabery has failed in his duty as a representative of the government to explain the rational and the reason of the government's policy to increase the price of petrol. By saying this I am not implying that I agree with the petrol increase. It is just that Shabery was not convincing enough. I shooked my head in disbelieve when he spoke again and again about the 1974 demonstrasi mahasiswa issue for the third time toward the ending speech. What has this got to do with the ...

SAPP No Confidence Vote and a by-election in Perlis . What an interesting political week it has been. First was the bombshell of No Confidence motion announcement by Sabah Progressive Party led by former Sabah Chief Minister, Yong Teck Lee and then a possible by-election in northern state of Perlis, which the election court in Kangar declared the BN state seat of Sanglang is invalid, hence paving the way for a by-election to be held. It is definitely not going to be an easy fight for Barisan. A heavy lose (I would be surprised if BN can pull out a win) in the by-election would further dampen BN-UMNO's popularity among the general public. The opposition will certainly have a lot of issues to raise in especially in the wake of the steep petrol hike, food prices and such. On another different issue, in yet another salvo fired against his critics, Tun Dr. Mahathir, in his harshest attack on MIC President Samy Vellu in his blog , says that, "His [Samy] arrogance was unbearable. ...

The time has finally come for me to say goodbye to New Straits Time (NST). Mom has decided to stop buying NST and has told the newspaper vendor to replace it with The Star . A bit of mixed feelings actually cos this is the paper that I grew up with. Lazarus Rokk, Khalid Redza and few other Sports editors are some of the names which I can still recall since my primary school days in the early 90s. NST today is no longer the same as during Dato' A. Kadir Jasin's era or the previous Group Editor in Chiefs before him. NST used to have a lot of good columns and articles to read, but not anymore. Save for Johan Jaafar's weekly Saturday column, I don't find any other column worth reading by the rest of the NST columnist, including the writings by the so-called Singaporean agent, Mr. Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan. The next main factor, is obviously due to their endless attack toward former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir. Never before in the history of NST, for as long as I can...

..the petrol price news dominated some of my friends' Yahoo status on the day Pak Lah announced the sharp petrol increase Many have commented, blogged and analysed this issue and my first reaction was - unbelievable. I was expecting the increase to be in August and was so shocked when I first read the news online and saw the 'RM2.70' on the headline. I sat in disbelief, thinking hard how could Pak Lah made such an unpopular decision? Especially after the humiliating election results for Barisan Nasional. It's like a political suicide. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, please remember that 'angry' and 'hungry' citizens are able to overthrow the government. I'm not an economist, but I think the government now has got no choice but to be more transparent in this issue by providing details of the subsidy money; i.e. where it goes to, how it is being spend, etc etc, as it would be meaningless to the rakyat if the so-called subsidy money which is suppose to subs...

So the great old Tun Dr. Mahathir has finally resigned. Sigh.. As a big fan of Tun ever since my school days, to read the news about him resigning from UMNO is just too sad. I've always held high respect for him, but I feel, resigning from the party won't solve anything. As much as I don't agree much with Mat Taib , I think he is right when he said that " history not on Mahathir's side .. ". “(Founder) Datuk Onn (Jaafar) left to start Parti Negara but the Malays stayed (with Umno). Tunku Abdul Rahman, (and) Tun Hussein (Onn) were not in Umno when they died." Tun's resignation will only benefit the opposition, especially Anwar Ibrahim. My only worry is the consequences of Tun's resignation to the grassroots leaders and members. I honestly don't see any benefit to UMNO when some division members in Kedah decided to quit UMNO, as it will only weaken the party if they believe in party reform, especially after the disastrous General Election resu...

“This site is dedicated to publishing my writings as and when I am able to pen my thoughts and opinion,” he says. Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has started his own blog ( Chedet.com ), using his old pen name, Che Det , when he wrote for the Straits Times newspaper in the 60s. This is definitely an interesting development in Malaysian blogosphere. To me, it didn't really came as a surprise, as I feel it is just a matter of time before Tun starts his own blog. Many people in the past have asked Tun about setting up a blog and now finally the time has come. Next in-waiting, is his yet to be published memoir! He started his first post by writing on the judicial reform issues by saying that there is no details mentioned on how the recently announced Judicial Appointments Commission will work. Touching on this subject, besides Tun's blog post, A. Kadir Jasin has also written a long thoughtful entry on his blog, entitled, ' Suruhanjaya Saingi Kuasa Raja dan PM ...