TUN DR MAHATHIR IN BBC HARD TALK

BBC HARDTALK INTERVIEW WITH FORMER PRIME MINISTER TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD
ON 18 APRIL 2008

Stephen Sackur Introduction:

Last month marked a watershed in the politics of Malaysia. The ruling national front recorded its worst election results in five decades. It’s still in power but seriously weakened. My guest today personifies the power of the ruling party for 22 years.

He was Malaysia’s PM and one of the most outspoken leaders in the Muslim world. His critics called him a racist and a dictator. Has retirement mellowed Dr.Mahathir Mohamed?

Stephen Sackur: Dr Mohamad welcome to Hardtalk. Let’s start with that election result last month, has it marked the beginning of the end for Malaysia’s ruling party?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Not necessarily, unless no action is taken, of course it may result in that. But if proper action is taken, including of course the present Prime Minister leaving his seat of power, it may be possible to bring back the Barisan Nasional Front in order to become again a very strong ruling party.

Stephen Sackur: You’re saying that PM Abdullah Badawi has to be kicked out for the ruling party to recover?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well not so strong as that. He can step down. I stepped down in my time. It’s about time that he steps down because the result of the election shows clearly that many of the former followers, supporters of the Nasional Front had decided that they would work, vote for the Opposition even if they didn’t like the Opposition. They voted for the Opposition to send a message to the present government.

Stephen Sackur: Prime Minister Abdullah says that you have been one of the curses that have brought him down, because you’ve been sniping from the sidelines for the last two or three years.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: That may be so. I don’t see why I should not criticise wrongdoings by him.

Stephen Sackur: What wrongdoings?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well in the first place, the government promises to remove corruption and things like that, but the government is found to be corrupt.

Stephen Sackur: You are tearing your own party apart though, that is the problem. And that is what many people inside your party believe.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well sometimes it may be necessary. I told people that I’m a doctor. If I find one leg becoming gangrenous I remove it.

Stephen Sackur: Now he has said Prime Minister Abdullah, that he will go eventually, but is your message to him that he has no time, he must go now?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: He must go now, because he will take time to revive the party for the next election.

Stephen Sackur: Isn’t the truth of what we see in Malaysia today that the real discontent isn’t so much with Prime Minister Abdullah, it is with the system and the ideology that you bequeathed to your country?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well the system and the ideology have been there for the last 50 years. It’s worked very well we had always won elections, people always supported us and the country has done very well during that 50 years with that system.

Stephen Sackur : But the indications are and the opposition succeeded by saying to the public, we no longer want this racially defined system inside Malaysia. And it was the racial defined system that was the platform upon which you succeeded in running Malaysia for 22 years.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I think that’s wishful thinking on the part of foreign critics. But the fact is that this election result was due to disaffection on the part of the ruling party’s supporters, with the present leadership.

Stephen Sackur : Well let me just quote you the words of the new head of Penang State and let’s not forget that these results saw five very big and wealthy states go to the Opposition. The new head of Penang State Mr Lim Guan Eng, he says ‘we want a new state administration that is free from corruption and cronyism, we are here to build a Penang State for all.’ You didn’t build a Malaysia for all did you?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I did. If you look at Malaysia today. Everybody is enjoying, has enjoyed, a very good life. They have become very prosperous. Malaysia was one of the fastest growing countries in the world. If you look at the different races, you can find that they all benefited from that government. So it is of course, necessary for Opposition parties to make remarks like that.

Stephen Sackur : But they are not making it up are they? Let’s look at your new economic policy which you pursued for so long. It favours ethnic Malays, in so many different ways, from public sector appointments to university places, to advantageous acquisition of stocks, discounts on housing, I don’t know where to stop. There are so many different ways in which you ran an unequal system.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No this was a policy which was initiated by my predecessors, it was necessary to...

Stephen Sackur : But you ran it for 22 years, you had ample opportunity to change it.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Yes I had ample opportunity to implement in a way that will correct imbalances that existed in Malaysia since the British days. And unless these imbalances are corrected there’s bound to be another race riot, as happened in 1969.

Stephen Sackur : But the point is that 80 thousand Indians for example, were on the streets protesting long and loud last November, because they are no longer prepared to live with the racial division that you set in the stone.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Why now? Why not during my time? They were quite free to demonstrate. Many of the people who disagreed with me demonstrated...

Stephen Sackur : But many of the people who disagreed with you, I’m afraid ended up in prison.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Who?

Stephen Sackur : Hundreds of them, read every Amnesty international and human rights watch report for the years in which you were in power..

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: The western press, the problem is that you make up these stories and then you take this as the truth, it’s not the truth. Tell me who are the hundreds of people who ended up in prison.

Stephen Sackur: I’ll discuss human rights a little bit later. I just want before we get distracted from this question of racism in Malaysia, I just want to put to you this final point: Anwar Ibrahim says that he is going to push and of course he your long time friend who became, your political enemy, he is going to push for a colour blind Malaysia where affirmative action is open to all who need help.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well this opportunism for him, now that he is out of the government, he was in the government for a long time, he never made any complaints, he never did anything to.

Stephen ackur : He certainly made a complaint when you locked him up.
Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well that was not the reason why he was locked up, he was accused of sodomy, he was accused of abuse of power, he was tried in court, nine months and he was defended by nine lawyers and he was found guilty...

Stephen Sackur : Trumped up charges.. trumped up charges.. says not just Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International but I’ve been looking through the record, the Canadian government, the White House, the International Commission of Jurists, all of them expressed grave and deep concern with the way in which your judicial system treated Anwar Ibrahim.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Yes you’re free to say so but...

Stephen Sackur : I’m not saying it, I’m just quoting to you all the people who did say it.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: But what is the record of these countries? These people, these same countries arrested people without the law, and detained them in Guantanamo Bay and even in Britain here, you arrest people and detain them without any sanction by law.

Stephen Sackur : So does that make it okay that you did it for 22 years?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: We did it under the laws of the country, but it is not the way...

Stephen Sackur : You used the laws which went back to colonial times, the internal security act, emergency procedures, you feel satisfied to tell me that that was entirely legitimate?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No we find that the situation in the country is very very fluid and it is very likely that there will be racial riots, unless we prevent precise people who are promoting racial hatred from talking about it.

Stephen Sackur : Put it this way, Dr Mahathir, you’ve had several years out of power now to consider your record and what you did, I wonder whether you are now ready to say that you regret what you did to Anwar Ibrahim?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Why should I regret? He was arrested under the laws of the country, he was tried in the courts of the country and he was sentenced by the court. If he was not wrong, I don’t think, no matter what you think about our judiciary, I don’t think he would have been sentenced to prison.

Stephen Sackur : It damaged your reputation though didn’t it?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well that’s something I have to accept.

Stephen Sackur : You may also find it comes back to haunt you? Anwar Ibrahim is now leading the opposition coalition. We are led to believe that there are certain MPs in the ruling party who may defect to him, in which case he could very soon be running the government. And he’s made it plain that he wants to have you answer for all of the things you do while you were in power.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well he’s welcome to do that if he becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia, but if he wins over members of the ruling party to his side, it is the prime minister, the present leader who should be blamed, because he couldn’t even get the loyalty of his own members.

Stephen Sackur : It wasn’t the current prime minister who was in power when Anwar Ibrahim was savagely beaten during his time in detention?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Savagely beaten? I know he was slapped and he had a black eye which was very useful for election purpose...

Stephen Sackur : Why you think he hit himself maybe?
Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well I don’t know what happened..but the police the IGP admitted that he assaulted Anwar, but that wasn’t me that was the IGP.

Stephen Sackur : But how do you respond, if Anwar comes to power and he as he said on this programme and elsewhere, that he wants a full and thorough public inquiry into all of your, Dr Mahathir’s misdeeds, how will you respond to that?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: He is welcome to do so, but I hope that he finds people who are neutral, who are impartial, probably foreigners, because I don’t trust the people that they put after people they don’t like.

Stephen Sackur : Interesting that you say you don’t trust people who are currently or maybe in charge of any inquiry, do you trust the integrity of the Malaysian judiciary?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I do, at times I do but...

Stephen Sackur : Is that because you appointed the judges?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I didn’t appoint the judges, the judges were recommended by the Chief Justice and my duty is to check whether he has any records or not and after that he is presented to the king who will then appoint the judge...

Stephen Sackur : Dr Mahathir, you know as well as I do, that the hottest political topic in Malaysia today, is the state of the judiciary, the integrity of the judiciary and that a video has been playing in Malaysia for a long time now which shows a top lawyer talking to a top judge going back to 2001, in which the lawyer says to the judge ‘believe me in the end all of the positions going all the way to the supreme court are fixed by the politicians’, i.e. by you who were the prime minister at the time Dr Mahathir?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Did he say that? Did he mention my name?

Stephen Sackur : He didn’t mention your name he said this will be fixed, this goes through the political system. You ran the political system.

Mahathir Mohamad: I’m not so sure about that. But the fact is that this man had his video taken because they intended to blackmail him. He happens to be my lawyer, defending me at this moment for libel against Anwar and this tape came from Anwar. Anwar had these things recorded in order to blackmail the lawyer.

Stephen Sackur : But the point is the current government led by Prime Minister Abdullah who is nominally or despite what you have said on this programme, is of your party. Prime Minister Abdullah has now essentially apologised, he said both to the supreme court justice that you removed and to other judges that were suspended or removed during your time in power, he’s said sorry to them. He’s said that he wants to offer them monetary compensation

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Fine but it’s a political move. Something a man who is very unpopular at the moment, wanting to show that he’s going to do something right.

Stephen Sackur: And that Dr Mahathir is my point. The Malaysian people no longer want to live with the system you created. That’s why Prime Minister Abdullah is essentially dismantling the system that you created.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No no no he’s not dismantling the system, he is making use of the system in a worse way. Nobody can say anything against him, he has newspapers which only reports about him and how great he is. And he was mislead by his own supporters, into believing that if he holds the election now, this is one and half years before the end of the term, he would win, he would have a clean sweep.
If you look at the records, he made statements that he would win the election, with zero for the Opposition.

Stephen Sackur: The more I listen to you talking about Prime Minister Abdullah, the more I wonder why did you choose him to be your successor?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well these people are very smart in hiding their true character. He was known as Mr Clean and I thought I would appoint a clean person to succeed me. Although he was not the one with the highest votes in my party. But I thought that he was older and I appointed him thinking that he’s not going to do anything very wrong. But this man gives priority to his family rather than to the country.

Stephen Sackur: So it was a fundamental lack of judgement on your part?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Yes I’ll admit that. But we all make mistakes. The British people voted in people like Blair, who told lies, so did the Americans. Lots of people make mistakes.

Stephen Sackur: We all make mistakes you say, was it also a mistake for you to define yourself so clearly, as anti-western and anti-democratic, in the sense that the West understands democracy?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No that’s the problem, I am not anti-Western, I am against the bad things that were done by the Western countries.

Stephen Sackur: You’re not anti-western and yet in June 2003 before you left office, you said anglo-Saxon Europeans are essentially proponents and I’m quoting here: ‘proponents of war, sodomy and genocide.’

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Which is true, you must admit.

Stephen Sackur: But you’re not anti-western?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I’m stating the fact. This is their character and I will continue to say so.

Stephen Sackur: So when you come here, you sit in the Hardtalk studio, in the heart of London, you regard yourself do you, as in one of the Headquarters of war, sodomy and genocide?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well I come here of course expecting to be lambasted by you, because that is the way you work.

Stephen Sackur: Well I’m not lambasting you at all. I’m trying to tease out whether you believe it was a mistake for you to use this sort of language. Because you clearly cut yourself off, from any sort of meaningful dialogue with the West when you use these words.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well the Europeans used to call us the lazy Malays, incompetent Malays, untrustworthy Malays, we couldn’t say a thing about you. So when I was in a position to say what we think about you, and I did and you don’t like it. When you said it to us you expect us to like it. We didn’t like it, but we had no way of making our voices heard.

Stephen Sackur: I am just wondering how you feel about democracy. Of course in the world since 9/11, the United States and the coalition of partners led by the United Kingdom, have talked a lot about spreading democracy, do you believe in democracy?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: If you look at the history of the west, they come up with all kinds of ideologies, they use it for sometime and then they found it defective and they dropped it and start on another. One day they are going to forget about democracy because in some countries democracy actually ended up with anarchy. And there were practically no governments. It’s not a system that can feed everybody. You must have a certain understanding of the limitations of democracy, in order to make it work.

Stephen Sackur: Is that why you were not a democrat, why you in the end did behave like a dictator?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well that is something that the West would like to say about me, I am a dictator.

Stephen Sackur: Well I’m just quoting your own words from 2002. You said it’s good governance people need, you said, feudal kings even dictators have provided and can provide good governments.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Well that’s very true, that is very true. The great civilisations of the past did not have democracies. And yet they became great. It’s not necessary that the system will work for everybody. But if we have a bad leader, even the democratic system will fail.
We must remember that it is a democratic country which dropped atomic bombs, killing 200 thousand people.

Stephen Sackur: How do you think the Malaysian public will respond to you saying, look you know what democracy isn’t the best system and in fact dictatorship can often work better.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I went through five elections and I won all the elections with a majority...

Stephen Sackur: Without a free press, locking up many of your opponents

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: There you go again about locking up many of my opponents, who are they?
Stephen Sackur: I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, that I’ve studied the human rights watch reports, the Amnesty International reports, studies from the state department, from the Canadian government.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: These are biased reports, the first thing I did on becoming the prime minister in 1981, was to release political prisoners who were detained by my predecessors, 22 or them, including many members of the Opposition.

Stephen Sackur: Under the 1984 Press law which required newspapers to get a new licence every single year. It made it very easy for you to quieten them down, didn’t it?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No it has always been there, the press law has been there...I didn’t do that...but the fact is that we have a multi-racial country and if we are not careful, there will be racial flare-ups. And you look at most of the countries with multi-racial population, they are never peaceful, even Northern Ireland, it took you such a long to stop the war in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Sackur: Talking of peace, you did worry about the stability of your country, didn’t you? That’s why you were very strong, very tough with Islamist extremism inside Malaysia.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Yes it is necessary.

Stephen Sackur: Well I just wonder in that case then why just before you left office, in October 2003, why did you tell the Islamic Summit Conference that and I’m quoting again a very famous speech, it’s a little bit long but “1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews,” you said. “We’re actually very strong. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million but today Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.” You went on to say: “But the Jews have become arrogant. And arrogant people like angry people will make mistakes and there may be a window of opportunity for us.”

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I’m stating facts, I am willing to say that again and again that this is what has happened.

Stephen Sackur: Anti-Semitic and racist that was called by many governments and people around the world.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Anti-Semitism is created by the Jews themselves. We cannot say anything. In fact journalists have been arrested for saying something against the holocaust and jailed for three years. Where is the freedom of press?

Stephen Sackur: So those words I quoted in your view, are not anti-Semitic?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: No they are not anti-Semitic? I am just quoting facts. The fact is that the United States obeys what Israel wants it to do.

Stephen Sackur: You call them facts, let’s leave that aside for the moment. I am trying to understand your logic. Here you are a man who says that your own country is potentially destabilised by Islamic extremism and then you go out in an Islamic Conference and you use words which could have been used by Osama bin Laden.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: There’s no contradiction, no contradiction at all. I don’t want Islamic terrorism any more than I want Jewish attacks against Israel, or American bombs on Baghdad. It is not incompatible.

Stephen Sackur: Do you feel confident that people still listen to your message?

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: I wouldn’t be able to say. Why should people worry about me?

Stephen Sackur: In Malaysia people say, and I’m talking about the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition: it’s time for you to be quiet.

Dr.Mahathir Mohamad: Why should I be quiet? You mean to say when they are doing something wrong, to my country and I should not say anything? I would be irresponsible if I were to do that.

Stephen Sackur: Dr Mahathir Mohamad thank you very much for being on Hardtalk.

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad: You’re welcome.

I'M SUFFERING...MIND YOU!!

Salam…

To all my fellow bloggers and loyal readers of my blog, Bacalah..(Jose, itupun kalau ada!)

If you can notice the absence of my latest writing in this blog for quite some time, this is due to a problem that I’m suffering. The mental block syndrome!

I hope I would be able to continue to write to this blog and to complete my script “Beruang Hitam”, God willing.

Hope to see you soon.

p.s – Kalau ada sapa-sapa ada petua untuk mengatasi masalah mental block nih, please do contact me.. I’m really desperately seeking for a cure for this problem!!

HESMEL FAZNEE FAISAL

PETISYEN UNTUK DOLAH "BAJU MERAH"

PETISYEN:
Keputusan Pilihan raya umum 2008 menyaksikan Barisan Nasional menerima kekalahan teruk. Tidak pernah dalam sejarah BN menerima kekalahan begitu besar iaitu hilang lima buah negeri dan hilang majoriti 2/3 di Parlimen.

Kekalahan ini sungguhpun mempunyai 1001 sebab, namun sebab-sebab utama jelas menjurus kepada kelemahan kepimpinan dan dasar Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Seperti kata Perdana Menteri Keempat Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, “Sekiranya kemenangan besar 2004 diuar-uarkan sebagai kemenangan Abdullah, maka Abdullah juga harus bertanggungjawab dalam kekalahan ini.”

Menurut kaji selidik laman web penyokong UMNO www.mykmu.net, antara punca utama kekalahan Barisan Nasional akibat secara langsung daripada Abdullah. 10 sebab utama ialah:

1. Kegagalan melaksanakan ekonomi secara makro bagi kesejahteraan masyarakat. Tiada hala tuju jelas ekonomi negara kecuali slogan dan Dalam tempoh empat tahun kepimpinan Abdullah telah berlaku:
a. Kenaikan harga petrol yang terlalu tinggi
b. Kenaikan tol yang sangat drastik,
c. Kenaikan kadar faedah asas (BLR),
d. kenaikan kos sara hidup - elektrik, cukai pintu dan air.
e. Kenaikan harga barang

2. Dasar Luar yang mengelirukan dan pro-Singapura seperti:
a. Mengakui Tambak Johor sebagai hak bersama Malaysia-Singapura tanpa kira sempadan, tanpa mendapat keputusan Mahkamah Antarabangsa.
b. Membatalkan pembinaan jambatan bengkok kerana ugutan Singapura
c. Masih gagal menyelesaikan isu harga air mentah ke Singapura
d. Gagal memimpin OIC

3. Promosi Islam Hadhari yang keterlaluan: a. Membimbangkan masyarakat bukan Islam.
b. Tidak diterima oleh sebahagian besar orang Islam di Malaysia kerana dianggap mengelirukan dan memberi imej tidak baik kepada Islam sebelum munculnya istilah Hadhari ini di Malaysia.

4. Pentadbiran negara yang tunggang langgang:
a. Tindakan menghantar Menteri ke negara China bagi memohon maaf atas isu ketuk ketampi bogel dalam lokap tanpa menyiasat terlebih dahulu identiti wanita terbabit.
b. membenarkan "media bashing" terhadap pasukan polis, cuba mewujudkan badan pemantau polis (IPCMC) tetapi menarik balik. Moral pasukan polis amat lemah sehingga menyebabkan Polis sudah kurang berkesan dan kadar jenayah kian bertambah tanpa penyelesaian.
c. Keputusan berubah-ubah dalam kes Jambatan Bengkok, Landasan Keretapi Berkembar, Jambatan Pulau Pinang Kedua menyebabkan negara kerugian berbilion ringgit
d. Kenyataan-kenyataan biadap dan tidak bertanggungjawab Abdullah seperti “I dont Know, i’m not involved” dalam kes ECM Libra dan memanggil pengkritik beliau sebagai Iblis.
e. Banyak menubuhkan suruhanjaya tanpa mengambil langkah sewajarnya menyebabkan suruhanjaya sendiri sudah menjadi lawak jenaka.
f. Pertelingkahan dan pertikaian antara Menteri sudah menjadi lumrah sehingga kabinet menjadi bahan jenaka masyarakat umum.

5. Pentadbiran yang kurang ajar dan biadap terhadap Perdana Menteri Keempat Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad menyebabkan ramai penyokong UMNO dan rakyat Malaysia berketurunan cina tidak berpuas hati dan melalukan undi protes.

6. Isu korupsi dan kronisme yang melampau dalam kes ECM Libra, Scomi dan Myteam menyebabkan hilang kepercayaan.

7. Memecah-belahkan UMNO
a. Membenarkan mereka yang dipersoal kesetiaan terhadap UMNO dan negara menguasai media yang UMNO mempunyai kepentingan telah menimbulkan keadaan tidak senang dalam UMNO.
b. Menggugurkan Ketua Bahagian dalam persempadanan semula kawasan pilihan raya lalu memberi isyarat jelas Abdullah tidak menghormati hak demokrasi parti.
c. Keputusan yang berbeza dalam isu politik wang antara Ahmad Zaki Zahid (Pembantu Khas Perdana Menteri) dengan Zaid Ibrahim yang menang tanpa bertanding mencerminkan penyalahgunaan Majlis Disiplin UMNO. Ahmad Zaki hanya diberi amaran kerana terbabit politik wang dalam pertandingan Ketua Pemuda UMNO Bahagian Putrajaya. Manakala Zaid Ibrahim digantung atas dakwaan politik wang sungguhpun tidak terbabit dalam sebarang pertandingan. Zaid menang tanpa bertanding Ketua UMNO Kota Bharu.
d. Tidak mengendahkan persepsi umum bahawa Khairy Jamaluddin begitu berkuasa dalam UMNO dan kerajaan. Malahan tindakan membenarkan Khairy menggunakan pengaruhnya dalam pertandingan Naib Ketua Pemuda UMNO menyebabkan beliau diejek (boo) selepas diumumkan menang tanpa bertanding. Keadaan ini dikukuhkan lagi dengan pemilihan Khairy sebagai calon Parlimen Rembau.
e. Tidak mengambil sebarang tindakan ke atas penyokong-penyokongnya seperti Datuk Kamarulzaman (TV3) dan Datuk Kalimullah (NSTP) menggunakan media mereka untuk menghentam pemimpin UMNO yang dilihat boleh memberi cabaran kepada Khairy Jamaluddin.
f. Hanya menurunkan peruntukan dan projek kepada kontraktor kelas F setelah menghadapi kritikan keras Tun Dr. Mahathir dan khuatir akan berlaku kritikan keras dalam perhimpunan agung UMNO. Rasuah terangan-terangan dengan mengumumkan peruntukan RM 3 juta setiap bahagian sehingga menjejaskan imej UMNO.
g. Kempen keterlaluan untuk mengalahkan Tun Dr. Mahathir dalam pemilihan perwakilan UMNO Kubang Pasu 2006 menyebabkan ramai ahli UMNO “berjauh hati.”
h. Membiarkan Setiausaha Agung UMNO, Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad yang tidak dipilih secara demokrasi dalam UMNO memporak- perandakan UMNO Perlis menjelang pilihan raya umum 2008.

8. Gagal mengawal isu Hindraf sehingga menjadi begitu besar dan MIC hilang sokongan orang India.

9. Tidak mempunyai strategi yang jelas apabila menerima kekalahan dalam pilihan raya umum 2008. Kata-kata seperti itu “pilihan rakyat”, “rakyat sudah buat keputusan, kita terima” bukanlah cerminan pemimpin yang mampu bangun memimpin BN untuk menang semula.

10. Akhir sekali, wajah kepimpinan Abdullah sudah ditolak oleh kaum Cina dan India serta tidak lagi disenangi oleh sebahagian besar orang Melayu dan UMNO. Isu ini bukan isu perebutan kepimpinan atau pertukaran pemimpin, tetapi ia merupakan isu dasar dan polisi Abdullah yang ditolak rakyat.

Justeru UMNO dan Barisan Nasional memerlukan kepimpinan baru bagi memberi nafas baru menjelang pilihan raya akan datang. Lebih penting, negara Malaysia memerlukan polis dan dasar baru yang lebih segar dan berwibawa bagi menjamin kemakmuran kepada rakyat.
Sehubungan itu, kami sebagai ahli-ahli UMNO dibawah dengan ini memohon agar:

1. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi meletak jawatan secara sukarela sebagai Perdana Menteri dan Presiden UMNO.
ATAU
2. Sekiranya, Datuk Seri Abdullah dan Ahli Majlis Tertinggi UMNO berpendapat Presiden parti masih mendapat sokongan ahli UMNO, maka sewajarnya, satu Perhimpunan Agung Khas UMNO dipanggil dan satu undi sulit mengenai kedudukan Presiden UMNO diadakan.
Sekian, terima kasih.

Note:
Atas permintaan dan cadangan ramai berikut ialah draf petisyen yang akan diedarkan kepada Ahli UMNO secara online dan bercetak. Sebarang cadangan dan pertanyaan boleh hubungi demokrasimalaysia@yahoo.com atau para pentadir laman ini. Dicadangan juga petisyen ini hanya terbuka kepada Ahli UMNO. Nama sebenar dan nombor keahlian serta nombor telefon akan diperlukan bagi membolehkan petisyen ini dianggap sah dan relevan. (Tidak perlu tulis butiran di dalam komen ini kerana ia hanya diperlukan setelah dilancarkan secara rasmi.) VERSI KEMASKINI 12/03/08:1.28PM)

Lah, Lah, Lah...

Oleh - Hesmel Faznee Faisal

Aku dengar macam-macam,
Aku nampak pelbagai ragam,

Aku sentuh seluruh alam,
Namun kesal tiada resam,

Pergilah,
Jauhilah,
Undurlah,
Jalanlah..

Lah, Lah, Lah....

Kau tentu fahamkan?

Siapalah?
Merekalah?
Itulah,
Dialah,

Rasalah,
Tiada lagilah kekesalan,

Seandai kau pergilah....

14 Mac 2008

TEMUBUAL BERSAMA TUN DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD

Khairy punca BN tewas mengejut?
Mar 9, 08 10:12pm

Najib menang dengan 26,000 undi dan jumlah ini lebih banyak daripada 2004 ketika BN sangat, sangat popular. Sebaliknya, Pak Lah - yang mempunyai majoriti 18,000 undi sebelumnya - kini hanya berjaya mendapat 11,000. Kenyataannya, dia telah hilang banyak undi. Dan tidak banyak pemimpin yang berjaya meningkatkan majoriti sejak 2004.

Transkrip sidang media Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pagi tadi:

Adakah Tun terperanjat dengan keputusan (pilihanraya semalam)?

Mahathir: Saya rasa ia memang menggemparkan. Walaupun saya menjangkakan BN akan kalah tetapi saya tidak fikir mereka boleh tumbang di lima negeri.
Saya minta maaf, saya salah pilih Pak Lah. Saya tidak sangka seseorang Perdana Menteri boleh menukar semua dasar sebuah kerajaan. Jadi saya fikir masyarakat seluruhnya mesti rasa sangat-sangat marah. Ketiga-tiga kaum, Cina, Melayu dan India semuanya memberi reaksi.

Apakah Tun akan menekan Pak Lah agar meletakkan jawatan?

Saya rasa dia patut memikul tanggungjawab (atas kekalahan) ini. Macam tahun 2004, ketika mendapat majoriti besar, kemenangan itu digambarkan kerana dirinya 100 peratus. Sekarang dia harus terima 100 peratus tanggungjawab itu.

Apa maksud Tun mengambil tanggungjawab?

Dia telah memusnahkan Umno, merosakkan BN. Dan dia harus bertanggungjawab atas kekalahan teruk ini. Jika dia enggan mengambil tanggungjawab, apakah anda fikir Umno akan memastikan dia melepaskan jawatan? Saya fikir orang Umno di peringkat akar umbi sangat takut pada lelaki ini. Ketika saya (memimpin) dulu, mereka boleh mencabar saya. Tapi kali ini saya sendiri tidak dibenarkan bercakap. Saya diundang berucap di depan ahli-ahli Umno tetapi semuanya terpaksa dibatalkan. Mereka kata, polis meminta mereka membatalkannya.

Apabila anda kata (dia harus) 'meletakkan jawatan', apakah anda maksudkan (presiden) Umno atau Perdana Menteri?

Saya fikir dia patut (letak jawatan). Kalau orang Jepun, dia sudah lakukan 'hara-kiri'. Saya fikir pencapaian Najib (Razak) bagus. Dia telah menang dengan menakjubkan, lebih baik berbanding 2004.

Apakah yang anda fikir penyebab kekalahan ini?

Saya fikir menantunya (Khairy Jamaluddin) ada peranan besar.
Anak muda ini yang tidak pernah mencapai apa-apa sebelumnya tetapi jelas Perdana Menteri lebih bersedia mendengar daripadanya berbanding polis, anggota Cawangan Khas dan angkatan tentera, yang lebih dekat dengan masyarakat akar umbi.
Mereka terlalu percaya pada laporan akhbar mereka sendiri sehingga mereka tidak dapat mendengar (sumber-sumber) yang lain. Mereka membuang apa sahaja yang mereka tidak gemar.

Apakah anda fikir masa untuk mengadakan pilihanraya ini tidak sesuai, salah perhitungan?

Ia bolehlah disebut salah perhitungan tetapi saya ragu-ragu jika mereka menangguhkan tahun depan, keputusannya akan berlainan.

Apakah isu-isu yang mendorong tumbangnya negeri-negeri itu?

Banyak isu yang menyebabkan perasaan orang ramai, walaupun ada pertumbuhan ekonomi, mereka tidak rasa apa-apa (nikmat). Mereka rasa kenaikan kos sara hidup satu faktor besar. Mereka juga nampak bahawa kerajaan kini ditadbir oleh satu keluarga sahaja. Apabila keutamaan keluarga melebihi kabinet, kerajaan, maka orang akan menentangnya.
Apakah anda fikir kerosakan ini akan kekal bersama BN? Semuanya boleh diubah jika anda buat sesuatu dengan baik. Mereka menjadi begitu bongkak sehingga mereka menutup semua pandangan lain yang mereka tidak suka dan percaya pada laporan mereka sendiri yang tidak sejajar dengan apa yang sebenarnya terjadi dalam negara.

Dengan kejayaan pembangkang menembusi banyak lagi negeri-negeri, apakah yang akan terjadi?

Akan wujud ketidakstabilan untuk seketika. Jika pembangkang pandai, mereka boleh memperbaiki keadaan itu.

Apakah anda fikir Anwar Ibrahim masih lagi relevan?

Saya fikir dia masih lagi relevan tetapi dia tidak akan menjadi perdana menteri di negara ini.

Jika anda berada di tempat Pak Lah, apakah anda akan tergesa-gesa untuk menubuhkan kerajaan?

Saya akan mengambil tanggungjawab. Jika orang minta saya meletakkan jawatan, saya akan letak.

Selepas ketewasan teruk ini, apakah anda fikir BN masih mampu memperbaiki keadaan ini?

Masih ada harapan. Tetapi sama ada pemimpin-pemimpin bertekad untuk memperbaiki BN adalah persoalan lain.

Siapakah yang patut menggantikan Pak Lah?

Najib menang dengan 26,000 undi dan jumlah ini lebih banyak daripada 2004 ketika BN sangat, sangat popular. Sebaliknya, Pak Lah - yang mempunyai majoriti 18,000 undi sebelumnya - kini hanya berjaya mendapat 11,000. Kenyataannya, dia telah hilang banyak undi. Dan tidak banyak pemimpin yang berjaya meningkatkan majoriti sejak 2004.
Benar, menantunya menang (di Rembau) tetapi dia hanya menang dengan majoriti kecil, lebih rendah daripada sebelumnya. Dia juga bertanding di kerusi yang selamat.
Bagaimana memperbaiki Umno?

Orang yang bertanggungjawab harus undur.

Jika orang Melayu tidak mengundi pembangkang, kekalahan teruk ini tidak akan terjadi. Kenapa boleh wujud gejala penyokong Umno memilih pembangkang kali ini?
Mereka fikir mereka kini dalam tekanan. Inflasi meningkat. Kehidupan mereka ala kadar. Semua tahu bahawa anda boleh cakap (bahawa) pertumbuhan (ekonomi) kini 6 peratus tetapi di mana 6 peratus ini di badan mereka? Mereka terpaksa membayar lagi.
Saya telah cakapkan perkara ini kepada Malaysiakini. Apabila anda berkata 6 peratus, ia hanya ukuran purata. Ia boleh dicapai apabila seseorang memiliki peratusan yang tinggi tetapi orang lain tidak mendapat apa-apa. Anda tidak boleh menunjukkan perangkaan jenis ini dan kemudian berharap orang ramai akan mengundi anda.
Seseorang yang cerdik akan tahu bahawa ia (statistik) tidak betul. Mereka yang tidak faham semua perangkaan ini, akan berpandukan apa yang sebenarnya dialami mereka. Apa yang mereka hadapi ialah kos sara hidup yang semakin tinggi dan tingkat kehidupan mereka makin rendah.

Jika kita tengok (sejarah) pilihanraya umum 1969, selepas Perikatan (kini BN) tewas, anda termasuk dalam golongan yang mendesak Perdana Menter (Tunku Abdul Rahman) melepaskan jawatannya kepada timbalannya (Tun Abdul Razak Hussein) ...
Saya dalam keadaan dilema kerana saya masih lagi ahli Umno.

Apakah anda akan menjadi pendesak lagi?

Saya akan terus bercakap. Jika orang tanya, saya akan berikan pendapat saya. Dan pandangan saya dalam perkara ini ialah orang yang bertanggungjawab harus berundur.

Melihat barisan pemimpin BN sekarang, apakah anda fikir kerajaan BN boleh mengurus ekonomi?

Tidak, saya tidak fikir mereka boleh mengurusnya. Walaupun mereka mempunyai ramai orang dan banyak wang, mereka tidak dapat berbuat apa-apa.

Kenapa?

Anda kena tanya pemimpin-pemimpin di negeri.

Pulau Pinang telah jatuh ke tangan DAP, bagaimanakah keadaan ini memberi kesan kepada Melayu?

Ia bukan hanya di Pulau Pinang. Jika kita hendak membaikinya, kita mesti mempunyai pemimpin-pemimpin Melayu, kita memang ada kerajaan Melayu dan warga Melayu mestilah tahu bagaimana mengatasi masalah mereka.

Apakah yang pemimpin veteran seperti Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) boleh buat untuk membantu Umno, setakat kini?
Mereka boleh memberi idea.

Apakah ia untuk melawan dan memaksa Pak Lah meletakkan jawatan?

Saya tidak bercakap soal pemberontakan tetapi (kita) mesti beri tekanan. Dan jika tekanan itu diabaikan oleh Pak Lah, maka ia akan menjadikan perkara ini suatu ketegangan.

Apakah anda fikir kemenangan besar itu akibat dorongan Anwar?

Saya tidak fikir kerana dia. Saya fikir keinginan (mereka) menentang BN lebih kuat daripada (mereka) menyokong pembangkang.Mereka (pengundi) tiada pilihan. Jika adan tidak memilih BN, siapa lagi yang anda pilih? Hanya ada dua calon. Jadi anda memangkah calon pembangkang atau anda langsung tidak membuang undi. Kedua-duanya menyebabkan BN hilang banyak sokongan.

Orang kata Umno masih takutkan Pak Lah. Jadi bagaimana mereka boleh menekan Pak Lah agar berundur?

Saya yakin akan ada beberapa anggota yang berani di luar sana.

Apakah ada pilihan lain bagi Pak Lah selain melepaskan jawatan?

Saya tidak fikir ada pilihan lain. Seseorang yang bertanggungjawab 100 peratus harus menunjukkan bahawa dia sedia bertanggungjawab.

Ada orang kata jika majoriti dua pertiga BN dinafikan, peristiwa 13 Mei akan berulang. Kenapa ia tidak terjadi sekarang?

Tidak, saya tidak fikir ia akan berulang. Polis juga sangat berhati-hati, melarang orang berdemonstrasi dan jangan berarak.Pada 1969, polis memberi keizinan kepada pembangkang menganjurkan perarakan kemenangan. Dan mereka bergerak ke Kampung Baru dan mula menghina orang-orang di situ, yang tentunya akan dibalas. Ia berakhir dengan rusuhan.Jika polis terus bertegas dengan demonstrasi dan perarakan, saya tidak fikir akan wujud apa-apa masalah.

Apakah ini waktunya menghapuskan politik perkauman?

Saya katakan, ini (penolakan pada BN) melibatkan semua kaum. Bukan Cina sahaja tolak BN atau semua India tolak BN. Dalam kes ini, anda lihat Cina, India dan Melayu menolak BN kecuali di Sabah dan Sarawak. Umno masih mengekalkan banyak kerusi berbanding parti-parti komponen seperti MIC dan MCA.

Apakah mereka sanggup mendesak Pak Lah meletakkan jawatan?

Itu terpulang pada mereka sama ada mahu menekan atau tidak tetapi konsep BN masih relevan. Jika tidak ada (presiden MIC) Samy Vellu, maka cari seorang lagi Vellu.

Boleh ulas tentang Zam (Zainuddin Maidin)?

Dia menang atau kalah? [ada orang jawab "kalah"] Oh, dia kalah. Cara dia berkempen sangat kelakar, memberitahu orang supaya tengok muka dia dan menunjukkan pada mereka bagaimana ia (muka Zam) tidak pernah berubah-ubah. Tetapi saya fikir, muka yang tidak berubah-ubah akan menyebabkan orang jemu. Kadang-kadang anda mesti ketawa, kadang-kadang anda kena menangis. Dia beritahu semua orang "Ini muka tak bertukar, tak bertukar" [Zainuddin berkempen dengan menyindir politik Anwar yang sering berubah-ubah]. Siapa yang berminat tengok muka diah? Jika dia Britney Spears, lainlah ...

Jika anda mengalami ketewasan yang sama, apakah anda juga letak jawatan?

Ya, saya akan undur jika itulah kehendak orang ramai. Saya selalu tunduk pada hasrat orang ramai, sehinggakan ramai yang pernah menentang saya dimasukkan semula sebagai anggota kabinet, dan mereka itu termasuklah Pak Lah, Syed Hamid (Syed Albar), Rais Yatim dan (Abdul) Kadir Sheikh Fadzil. Ini semua (pemimpin) pernah menentang saya.
Tetapi apabila Pak Lah dipilih sebagai naib presiden, saya tidak boleh (melantiknya) seperti yang dikehendaki Umno. Jadi, saya lantiknya kembali dalam kabinet.

Tetapi anda tidak meletakkan jawatan pada 1999?

Saya tidak letak jawatan sebab kita menang dua pertiga. Kita menang dengan sokongan penuh Cina. Ya, kita tewas di Terengganu dan Kelantan tetapi kita selalu kalah di Kelantan, dan (kita tewas) Terengganu kerana sebab-sebab khusus.

Apakah BN tewas kerana ramai pemimpin seperti Samy Vellu yang bergayut pada kuasa terlalu lama?

Saya fikir Samy Vellu turut menjadi penyebab utama ketewasan itu. Ketika dia dalam BN, dia tidak benarkan orang MIC sampai ke peringkat setinggi dia. Jika mereka menang sebagai timbalan atau naib presiden, mereka akan disingkirkan dan malah dibuang dari parti.Dan dia tidak benarkan parti-parti lain kaum India menyertai BN. (MG) Pandithan cuba sertai, merayu pada saya untuk membenarkannya dan saya bersetuju tetapi kita dalam BN ada kata sepakat bahawa jika ada satu parti tidak bersetuju, kita tidak boleh menerimanya.

Apakah anda terkejut dengan kemenangan (tahanan ISA) M Manoharan?

Ia pernah berlaku pada 1959 atau apakah itu tahun 1964, apabila PAS masuk ke kampung-kampung dengan membawa kasut calon dan dia boleh menang.

Apakah pandangan anda tentang peranan media, khususnya media arus perdana, dalam kempen (BN) ini? Apakah anda fikir ia patut diubah?

Memang patut diubah. Mereka patut melaporkan apa yang sebenarnya berlaku dan melakukan analisis yang betul. Dulu, media berupaya memberikan maklum balas kepada saya tentang apa yang berlaku di bawah. Mungkin apabila mereka bercakap tentang isu kaum dan seumpamanya, saya akan menutup (media), seperti saya buat pada 1987.
Patutkah semua ketua atasan akhbar-akhbar ini meletakkan jawatan?
Mereka sendiri ada batasannya. Sebahagiannya kawan saya dan penyokong saya juga dan mereka memohon maaf kerana tidak mampu membantu. "Ini semua angkara Kali. Kali ini," cerita mereka pada saya.

Apakah Umno makin tidak relevan?

Untuk masa ini, ya. Ia tidak selalunya begitu. Jika Umno memberikan khidmatnya pada negara, dan menjaga semua kaum, maka Umno akan menjadi relevan semula.
Apakah ulasan Tun tentang calon-calon muda BN yang tewas?
Memang ada khabar-khabar angin bahawa sebahagian calon-calon ini (orang) Khairy dan bahawa dia mahu menjadi perdana menteri.

Apakah anda fikir pemimpin-pemimpin komponen BN yang lain patut meletakkan jawatan?

Saya rasa sudah ada seorang pemimpin yang tewas. Untuk kes (presiden MCA) Ong Ka Ting, terpulang kepadanya. Keputusan itu terlalu teruk padanya dan MCA dan ia tidak pernah seburuk ini.

Semua orang kata PAS dan DAP tidak boleh bekerjasama tetapi jika mereka gagal bekerjasama di Selangor dan Perak, mereka tidak boleh membentuk kerajaan negeri. Apakah komen anda?

Jika mereka kerja bersama, mereka boleh membentuk kerajaan negeri. Jika tidak, maka wakil-wakil Umno - jika mereka cukup - boleh membentuk kerajaan minoriti. Tetapi ia akan menjadi kerajaan yang goyang.

Apakah anda sedih melihat keputusan itu?

Ya, walaupun saya sangat berharap satu mesej telah disampaikan kepada kerajaan.
Apakah anda berminat aktif kembali dalam politik?

Saya tidak akan kembali bergiat dalam politik tetapi jika mereka meminta nasihat, saya boleh beri. Bagaimana saya hendak kembali kerana apabila saya melepaskan jawatan, mereka layan saya seperti seorang pariah.

UNDURLAH PAK LAH!!!!!! (PART II)

By Bakri Musa, M.D

The academics will no doubt have their own voluminous analyses of this election, the most significant turning point in Malaysian politics. I wish only to highlight one positive and refreshing trend. This election saw all parties fielding many new and young candidates.

Any other political leader whose party had been so humiliated as UMNO was at this election would by now have tendered his or her resignation. Abdullah Badawi however, is slow on the uptake. He does not respond to subtle signals, even though there was nothing subtle about voters’ rejection of his leadership. The only way to get his attention would be to hit his thick skull with a two-by-four lumber, metaphorically speaking of course.

At a press conference early this morning he declared, “I don’t know who is being pressured (to step down), I’m not resigning.” At best, that reflects a leader totally out of touch with the harsh reality; at worse, the bravado of an idiot. With Abdullah, it is both.

If UMNO members do not complete what the voters had set out to do in this election – that is, get rid of Abdullah – then the next elections would be even uglier. If former UMNO leader and Prime Minister Mahathir was accurate in his assessment that the party can no longer be reformed from within ( a sentiment I share), then we are indeed watching the beginning of the end for UMNO. The implosion has begun.

Nothing is inevitable, however. This once proud party could indeed regain its luster and the citizens’ confidence if it were to thoroughly cleanse itself. As with a fish, the rot begins at the head. Chopped off the head, and unlike a fish, with a viable organization a fresh, unblemished head will emerge ready to take over, as with a hydra.

Fortunately the party has a chance to do this soon. Its Supreme Council members must move forward the party’s leadership conference that was postponed to this August. The council should also rescind its earlier “tradition” of there being no contest for its top posts. It should open up the process and loosen the rules. There is no need for a prospective candidate to line up support from umpteen divisions. To discourage frivolous candidates, institute the payment of deposits, as with the general elections.

Those two initiatives would immediately open up the field. UMNO could then preview more candidates instead of restricting itself to the same tired old faces. New faces of course would not guarantee change. We have already seen many young leaders in UMNO who are only too quick to learn and too eager to acquire the unsavory traits of their elders.

A New Dawn for Malaysia
As Anwar Ibrahim rightly observes, this election marks “a defining moment” in the history of the nation and the opening of “a new chapter.” It is indeed a new dawn for Malaysia, a pivotal point in its politics. He can say that with considerable authority. More than any other person, Anwar was responsible this remarkable reshaping of the Malaysian political landscape. Even though he was not allowed to contest this election, he campaigned actively.

He was also instrumental in aligning the opposition parties. Those parties also worked closely together in 1999 and 2004 elections, but without Anwar’s personal involvement they did not achieve much. Clearly the Anwar factor is real and remains formidable.

The academics will no doubt have their own voluminous analyses of this election, the most significant turning point in Malaysian politics. I wish only to highlight one positive and refreshing trend. This election saw all parties fielding many new and young candidates. Two young fresh talents deserve scrutiny for different reasons, but both reflect the greater political dynamics.
One is Nurrul Izzah, Anwar’s daughter who defeated Welfare Minister Shahrizat Jalil in the Lembah Pantai constituency which included the upscale community of Bangsar and the University of Malaya campus. Unlike many of her cabinet colleagues, Shahrizat was a competent minister. She also treated her novice political opponent civilly and with respect, rare among UMNO politicians. They have a penchant for demonizing their opponents.

Nurrul Izzah’s considerable talent (she after all has a graduate degree from Hopkins) and appeal aside, her victory reflects the waning support of UMNO among urban sophisticated voters.

On the other hand, the fate of another young candidate, Abdullah’ son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, provides an amusing contrast. A year or two earlier Khairy, using the “protection” of his father-in-law, managed to ascend to the number two position in UMNO Youth san a contest or election. This time he was catapulted to contest the hitherto safe rural parliamentary seat of Rembau. Despite being challenged by an unknown school teacher, Khairy managed only to squeak through. UMNO has problems even in the Malay heartland.

Obviously this Oxford graduate was attempting to ride on his father-in-law’s coattail, except that Khairy made the mistake of not recognizing that his father-in-law had no coattails; he was naked!

Non-Political Lessons From This Election
For Malaysians who rely on the mainstream media or who are guided by their opinion shapers, the results of this election would be a shocker. For those who follow the Internet however, this was exactly what we had expected.

While the pundits in the mainstream media were all wet in their prognostications – they all confidently predicted a return of Barisan’s supra-majority – Raja Petra of Malaysia-Today was spot on in his overall predictions. He also predicted a significantly reduced majority for Abdullah and a greatly enhanced one for Najib.

Mainstream media readers may not have heard of “Chegubard” Badrul Hisham Shaharin, Khairy’s political opponent in Rembau, but ‘Netizens are very familiar with him. They also contributed substantially towards his campaign. Had indelible ink been used on voters to prevent repeat voting and had the Elections Commission not have spare postal votes handy, Chegubard would have handily crushed Khairy.

Equally telling was that I had difficulty assessing both Malaysiakini and Malaysia-Today; their websites were swamped despite having multiple mirror sites. Even when the authorities suspended Malaysiakini’s website, it could still be accessed via its mirror sites elsewhere.

For another telling contrast, I had no problem at all downloading the mainstream media’s websites. In my hunger for news however, I readily settled for second best! This election is more than a repudiation of Abdullah Badawi. It is also a repudiation of the mainstream media and their pundits and journalists.

Doing away with Abdullah is much more doable task, not so with our incompetent sycophantic media. UMNO members must not shy away from doing the necessarily dirty task at hand, getting rid of its leader Abdullah Badawi. If they fail to do that, then Malays would not hesitate in getting rid of UMNO.

taken

from - Dr. Bakri Musa's blog http://www.bakrimusa.com/

I hope we would learn a lesson from what had happened to that idiot...It is sad to note that the bugger hasn't learned anything from BN's major defeat in some states...Orang Melayu panggil "bodoh sombong"..

YANG PERGI MENGADAP DIA...

Oleh - Hesmel Faznee Faisal

Kata-kata itu adalah penyambung maksud,
Pada ungkapan hati yang sering disalahertikan.,
Namun ada yang tersalah erti..

Bukan salah manusia itu punyai nafsu,
Kerna nafsu adalah penyedar kehidupan,
Bukan jua salah insan itu bermusuh,

Kerana ia akan mempelbagaikan ragam,
Namun kita sering tersilap,
Andai kita mengatakan bahawa kita itu penyambung iman,
Dan bukan calang iman itu disambungkan,

Pabila kita berkata-kata,
Kata-kata itu bisa memamah diri,
Maka berhatilah tika berbicara,

Namun bagai apa yang telah diperkatakan,
Kata-kata hanyalah butiran bicara,
Yang sering disalahertikan,

Kepada mereka,
Yang akalnya sejengkal sahaja..

30/01/08 – KTMB Headquarters, sempena mengingati perginya seorang insan penulis kata-kata, Loloq

BERUANG HITAM 9

Pendita : Tapi, janganlah sekali dilupakan, asal usul. Jangan lupa kejadian manusia, asalnya dari air, berlandaskan kasih sayang, berteraskan kepercayaan. Semuanya dilakukan di atas mimpi yang indah. Di dalam pelukan erat bantal dan gebar mimpi yang ….

Beruang hitam : Opp…!! Cukup, cukup! Bantal-bantal jangan lu sebut.. Karang gua lesing lu kang.

Pendita : (Tertawa) Mengapa nak sensitif? Mengapa nak terasa?

Beruang hitam : Sebab ada orang dapat bantal peluk sebagai hadiah. Gua terasa la!

Pendita : Apa kena mengenanya dengan kau, beruang hitam?

Beruang hitam : Sebab? Sebabnya manusia yang bernama hamba tu patriach gua..Patutnya hadiah tu kasi kat gua!

Pendita : Bantal tu kan pengiktirafan? Kenapa nak terasa?

Beruang hitam : Sebab dah tak buleh tidur lenalah! Semut-semut hitam dah mula menggigit. Dulu, sapa yang rasa pedih gigitan tu?

Pendita : Kau tanya diri kau, kau tanyalah…Kau yang menggigit atau digigit?

Beruang hitam : Kalau gua menggigit, hmm…gua gigit satu badan!

Pendita : Dulu kau gigit-gigit pontianak rimba, bukan? Tapi macam…

Beruang hitam : Gua punya habitat brader, bukan dalam hutan ok? Tolong sikit. Walaupun gua ni beruang, tapi gua tinggal di atas pokok-pokok tinggi. Itu, lu kena ingat..

Pendita : Tapi bila sampai masa, (beraksi seperti seorang pendekar Shaolin) pokok dicantas dan beruang pun akhirnya, jatuh merudum ke bumi. Gegaran jatuh itu boleh membuatkan beruang-beruang lain pun terasa ….Jangan lupa ya.

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BERUANG HITAM 8

Pendita : Terlupa atau buat-buat lupa? Kalau kau terlupa, memang kau dari golongan orang alpa. Kalau kau alpa, memang kau terlalu alpa dalam lupa..

Beruang hitam : (mengajuk gaya seorang lelaki Barat) Eh...Berapa banyak alpa eh? Berapa banyak lupa?

Pendita : Maka tidak hairanlah, orang itu mudah lupa..

Beruang hitam : Eh? (Berjalan mundar mandir seperti sedang cuba untuk mengingati sesuatu) Macam pernah dengar. Alah, gua lupa sapa yang cakap macam tu eh? Lupa gua..Orang itu, orang...

Pendita : (Mencelah) Bukankah aku katakan dari awal, orang itu mudah lupa!

Beruang hitam : Alpa, ya..Lupa, gua rasa lu yang lupa! Lu lupa pada sejarah jalan..Sejarah perjalanan. Jalan itu jalan yang cukup jauh. Jauh tapi dekat, dekat tapi jauh! Lu tau kenapa jauh? Sebab lu dah jarakkan jalan ni dengan macam-macam halangan. Akhir sekali, lu kecundang! Kecundang..Gua tau, lu alergik dengan perkataan kecundang! Tapi lu lupa! kecundang tu adalah kebangkitan pada kejayaan!

Pendita : (Tertawa) Tapi kalau setiap zaman asyik kecundang? Setiap detik asyik merancang tapi akhirnya tetapi kecundang?

Beruang hitam : Lu, bukan salah ibu mengandung!

Pendita : Dia ubah nasib kita atau kita ubah nasib kita?

Beruang hitam : Tilik nasib? Apalah nasib, kau jadi assistant director!

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BERUANG HITAM 7

Pendita : (Meninggikan suara) Ada dua pendekar yang bertempur, satu...kerisnya semakin tumpul, yang lagi satu, dua, keluarganya makin hancur (kepada penonton) yang mana menyedihkan? Anda sebagai penonton, tilik dan nilailah yang mana satu kerugian yang teramat.

Muzik fade out. Beruang hitam berhenti menjerit lalu berjalan ke atas pentas. Lampu follow spot. Beruang hitam berdiri di atas platform.

Beruang hitam : (Kepada audiens) Murid-murid. Satu campur satu, satu. Betul? Salah? Kenapa salah? Dulu, satu itu kuat, kemudian di dalam satu itu wujud satu yang lagi satu. Satu ini bergerak, jauh lagi jauh. Jauh tu! Meninggalkan satu ini. Satu masa kemudian, satu ini mula fikir balik. Katanya, satu yang lagi satu itu, perlu disatukan. Dalam satu itu, ada yang kata satu yang lagi satu itu sasau, nyanyuk. Gila..Tapi sekarang, tengok? Siapa yang gila?

Pendita : Lupa itukan adalah nama kedua manusia? Bukankah dulu, satu itu adalah segalanya? Langit dan bumi itu satu, nyawa dan badan itu satu, sebelum datangnya nafsu, nafsu menjadi satu dengan badan.

Beruang hitam : Ah...Itu, gua lupa nak sentuh.

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BERUANG HITAM 6

Beruang Hitam : Aik? Orang tua ni dah lebih....Lu pun tahu kan, nowadays semua nak erotik. Cakap kena erotik, makan kena erotik, even, babe...Jumpa Tuhan pun kena erotik! Baru...Cantik...Since you mentioned, gua nak ceritakan sikit pasal satu kisah. (Kepada audiens. Lampu fade out. Spotlight.) I hope, you guys don't mind me if I dragged a bit! Ceritanya gini.. Dulu ada sorang mamat, budak Segamat, dia fikir otak dia ligat, habis semua tanah kat kampung dia, dia kasi sorang apek jual sayur, tangkap muat. Lama-lama, apek sayur ni dah rasa tanah tu tanah dia dan bukan tanah budak Segamat. Habis budak ni, apek tua ni libas, berpusing ligat! Wait, I haven't finish yet! Ni baru gua nak start cerita ajer ni. Remember gua cerita pasal singa kecil telan naga besar? Singa tu memang perut besar, walau pun giginya kecil jika dibandingkan dengan naga tu...Tapi, as what people said, shit happens!

Muzik. Lagu metal rock memenuhi ruang auditorium. Follow spot. Beruang hitam menghayun-hayunkan kepalanya sambil menjerit dan berlari di atas pentas dan kemudian ke arah audiens.

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