Whither Penang Gerakan?

Leadership crisis continues to haunt Penang Gerakan

Sep 22, 10 12:14pm

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The move by a group of Gerakan grassroots members, identifying themselves as "voices of the grassroots" and calling for an EGM on Oct 10 to remove Gerakan's elected state chairperson Teng Hock Nan, does not really come as a surprise.

To many political watchers in Penang, this is the first EGM in Gerakan's history to remove an elected leader, a result of the accumulation of unresolved issues and frustrations that can be traced back to events just before the 2008 general election. 

It all started with who was supposed to be the next chief minister of Penang after Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon left his state government position to contest a parliamentary seat.

As the party supremo, it was only natural for Koh to move up to the national political scene. 

But the tussle over who was supposed to succeed him from among three potential candidates – Teng Hock Nan (right), Chia Kwang Chye and Teng Chang Yeow – and the lack of a decisive solution on the matter subsequently brought about disastrous results for the party when it lost its Penang power base in the general election. 

Referring to the proposed EGM, a party insider said the long-drawn issue involving the two Tengs and Chia, also nicknamed the "three musketeers", has re-surfaced.

He said Gerakan's top leadership had the opportunity to resolve the matter during the party's state election in September 2008 when Chang Yeow and other leaders supported Chia to be the Gerakan state chairperson for Penang.

"At that time, the national leaders should have stepped in and worked out a amicable solution by persuading Teng (Hock Nan) to allow Chia (left) to be the state chairperson instead of allowing him to contest the post.

“Moreover, the other leader Chang Yeow had already agreed to Chia's leadership. They should have convinced Teng to move on to national politics. However, this was not done," explained the party insider.

Hock Nan triumphed at the bitterly contested Penang Gerakan election, narrowly defeating Chia by 10 votes. 

For a while, things seemed to have settled down after the party polls. But the situation took a turn for the worse again when Hock Nan was accused of placing his supporters as constituency coordinators in the state and parliamentary seats where Gerakan had lost to the opposition in 2008. 

This particularly bristled those in constituencies controlled by some Gerakan leaders on the mainland side of Penang, with some divisional and state leaders claiming that they were not consulted. 

"The mainland side was mostly controlled by the then Gerakan vice-chairperson Huan Cheng Guan, but Teng (Hock Nan) decided to put his people (as coordinators) without consulting him on the choice and this angered Huan. This eventually led to a confrontation between the two," said a Penang-based grassroots leader who did not wish to be identified. 

Huan to oust Hock Nan?

The height of the confrontation was when Gerakan decided to suspend Huan for three years following his strong criticism of Hock Nan.

Huan quit the party a month later despite the fact that he was one of the three elected vice-chairpersons in the national leadership. 

There has been talk that Huan (far right), who is now Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) vice-president, has been working behind the scenes with some leaders in Gerakan to oust Hock Nan. 

"If you look at the list of 67 requisitionists for the EGM, most of them are known to be Huan's men. It didn't come as a surprise as Huan is known to have a score to settle with Dr Teng. Don't underestimate his influence in the party even when he is not in Gerakan anymore," warned another Penang-based grassroots leader. 

However, Huan has strongly denied any involvement. 

Some party members also said that Chang Yeow's relationship with Hock Nan was not so smooth after the general election in 2008 as both of them were said to have differed over the direction of the state Gerakan. 

They said that Chang Yeow believed that as a leader, he (Chang Yeow) should be given a safe seat to contest in the next general election but Hock Nan argued that whoever wanted to be a leader, should take a tough seat instead. 

"Both of them always clashed in the CWC (Central Working Committee) or even CC (Central Committee) meetings. It's an open secret," said a party leader. 

Both Chia and Chang Yeow had also denied that they were behind moves to oust Hock Nan via the EGM. 

Sivamurugan Pandian, a political analyst at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), said that between the 2008 general election and now, Gerakan had not been performing its role as the opposition in Penang as it had been bogged down by internal strife.

"It's a wake-up call for all in the party who are still embroiled in the infighting. They need to re-strategise how to be the opposition and not quarrel about who should lead the fight," he said. 

He attributed the persistent infighting in Penang Gerakan to the lack of attention given by the national party leadership following the dismal performance in the last general election.

"Gerakan's base is still in Penang. You cannot move out from Penang even when the party seems to be better off in Johor and Sabah lately," Sivamurugan (above) said, adding that Gerakan's national leaders had no choice but to intervene in Penang.

Suspending the entire state committee

He felt that if the EGM was allowed to convene, it could push the party towards a situation worse than that immediately following the 2008 general election. 

"Koh has to solve it. If the EGM is carried out and Teng ousted, how are you going to reconcile the party? If the requisitionists fail, are they going to stay in the party?

“The power struggle in Penang Gerakan needs to be solved as soon as possible," he said, adding that one of the reasons why the party lost in March 2008 was because of the infighting over who should be the next chief minister. 

Some party insiders argued that Koh should have acted fast to suspend the entire state committee before the situation got worse. 

"The problem is that he (Koh) is too careful," said a former CC member, adding that under Lim Keng Yaik's leadership, the entire Penang state Gerakan committee would have been suspended by now and put under a caretaker until all issues were resolved like what Keng Yaik did in Johor and Melaka. 

Veteran political analyst Cheah See Kian countered that the move to oust Hock Nan only started a few months ago and was not related to the ongoing party infighting since 2008.

He believed that the tussle was between Gerakan members on the island and the mainland. The mainlanders are unhappy with Hock Nan as they claim that most of the party's activities in the state are concentrated on the island. 

They also claim that they have no clue as to Hock Nan's game plan to recapture Penang although he had been the Penang Gerakan boss for two years. 

Hock Nan, often described as Koh's proxy and who was recently reported to have said that Gerakan had no chance of capturing Penang in next general election, had not only incensed the mainlanders but also other BN component parties.

If Hock Nan goes, will Chia, Gerakan's former party secretary-general, make a comeback? Chia is said to have many supporters in Penang. The requisitionists have so far not mentioned whom they want. 

"If Chia declines, Chang Yeow may take over. But Chang Yeow is also the party secretary-general. He can't hold two posts unless he wants to let go of the secretary-general's position," said Cheah. 

The party's national leadership has set up a team of mediators consisting of vice-chairperson Mah Siew Keong and A Kohilan, Youth chief Lim Si Pin and CC member Gooi Hoe Hin to work out an amicable solution in Penang. 

If the mediators fail, the EGM will take place on Oct 10, exactly one year after the MCA also held its own EGM which saw its previous president, Ong Tee Keat, losing a no-confidence vote.

- Bernama

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Comments 1 to 11 of 11

Voice In order to ensure a safe, smooth and non bumpy journey, this young Gerakan chaps trying to kick out a senior leader from the party. The reason is one person died better than all person died. Instead of looking for a win win way they resort to use hostile manner on their own party comrade. Is this doing a correct and acceptable way of life in politic? Can we see any ethic from this act? Can we see any future of Penang from this young Gerakan chaps if they are in their party top leadership one day ?

2 hours ago · Report

libra At least Gerakan members has the privilage to exercise their rights when their leaders cannot perform. In the DAP, the father and son teams will never give you a chance. Just look what happen to Fong Po Kuan,Teng Chang Kim and Ker Kim Hock. Inspite of the negative comments on Gerakan, it is funny to note that Gerakan attracted new members including some state assemblymen like YB HO from cameron highland and two from Sabah.

3 hours ago · Report

DontPlayGod Why bother with the power struggle? Gerakan is finished as a party, especially the party leaders acting as lackeys to UMNO. I repeat my earlier predictions, that come next G.E. both Gerakan and MCA will not win a single seat.

3 hours ago · Report

Andrew Yong Like bald men fighting over a comb ... Gerakan has failed to achieve anything joining BN and thinking it could influence the government from within. It is probably too late for it to regenerate - its place has been taken by DAP and PKR, whose ideology more closely resembles what Gerakan used to stand for. What exactly does Gerakan have to offer the people of Penang? Why vote for Opposition Lite when we can have the real thing? On the other hand, if we want federal projects we might as well vote MCA, who at least control the Transport Ministry.

7 hours ago · Report

Multi Racial I don't quite understand why are they quarreling about the position of a party which is dying. Does not matter what position you held in Gerakan. As far as I am concern, Gerakan is as good as dead following the 2008 general election.

9 hours ago · Report

Chris Anderson: How web video powers global innovation

Penang can be turned into this if we have the will power to do it.

Chicago Skyscrapers (Day)

Chicago Skyline (Night)

The imminent collapse of a "marriage of convenience"

Pakatan staring at massive loss in next election

FRI, 27 AUG 2010 14:22

By Athi Shankar

GEORGE TOWN: If April's Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election results were to be applied across the Peninsula, Pakatan Rakyat would lose Selangor and Kedah in the 13th general election.

The coalition, however, could retain Penang, albeit with reduced state seats.

At federal level, Barisan Nasional may regain its parliamentary two-thirds majority, which the Umno-controlled coalition lost in the 2008 general election.

In short, a snap national polls now would reduce Pakatan's political strength considerably, mainly due to loss of ethnic Malay and Indian votes.

The staggering electoral projection was Pakatan’s final analysis from its Hulu Selangor by-election post-mortem findings, which was compiled in a report dated May 5.

Compared with DAP, PAS and PKR would suffer more electoral heartbreaks in the next general election if the Hulu Selangor momentum stays through the next general election.

The DAP would be able to retain its political footing due to an overwhelming ethnic Chinese backing for Pakatan.

According to the report -- a copy was made available to FMT by a party source -- Pakatan would only be able to win 18 of 56 state seats in Selangor and meekly surrender the state government to the Barisan Nasional.

DAP is projected to win the same number of 14 state seats as in 2008.

But PKR's state seats would drop from the current 18 to a mere four, while PAS could be wiped out in Selangor, losing all its six state seats.

Bad show in Kedah

The findings projected Pakatan to lose badly in Kedah, winning only four from 36 state seats. It now governs the state with 20 seats.

Contrary to popular belief, the post-Hulu Selangor analysis projected Pakatan to lose in Perak, winning only 21 of the state's 59 assembly seats.

In 2008, Pakatan captured 31 seats.

The only positive aspect of the findings was that the coalition would be able to retain Penang, winning 28 from 40 state seats. Currently, Pakatan has 29 in the island-state.

At parliamentary level, PKR is projected to win between 30 and 33 seats, while DAP may be able to secure 30 to 31 seats.

PAS, on the other hand, could perform badly by winning only 11 seats, 12 less than 2008.

Overall, the Pakatan coalition would only win 70 to 75 federal seats, compared with 80 won in 2008, thus virtually giving BN the two-thirds majority.

The findings also revealed that the (Hulu Selangor) campaign carried out by Pakatan, especially by PKR, was “loose, poorly coordinated, without any theme, except for a smearing campaign and counter-defensive actions, and crippled by a weak machinery”.

In the by-election polls on April 25, BN candidate from MIC P Kamalanathan scored an upset win over PKR supreme council member and former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim by a 1,725-vote majority.

Kamalanathan polled 24,997 votes against Zaid’s 23,272 votes. PKR won the seat in the 2008 general election.

Zaid's loss was the second successive by-election defeat suffered by Pakatan following the Bagan Pinang state by-election defeat last October.

In Bagan Pinang, BN’s Mohd Isa Samad triumphed with a landslide 5,435 majority, garnering 8,013 votes against PAS' Negri Sembilan commissioner Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, who polled only 2,578.

Significantly, both the Malay-majority constituencies have decisive numbers of Indian voters.

Equally significant was that Indian votes have shifted by 8% to 10% from Pakatan to BN.

Indian voters comprised 20.7% or 13,664 of Bagan Pinang eligible voters. They formed 19.3% or 12,453 of Hulu Selangor's 64,500 registered voters.

Mid-term review

Both Bagan Pinang and Hulu Selangor are considered to be majority constituencies in the country, in which the Malays form the majority with significant population of Chinese and Indians.

“Pakatan would have suffered severe electoral reverses if the Hulu Selangor by-election was actually a snap general election,” said a Pakatan insider.

The report stated that Pakatan saw Hulu Selangor by-election as a mid-term review on the performance of the PKR-led Selangor government in a “neglected” parliamentary seat.

Much to Pakatan's chagrin, the post-election study disclosed that Khalid Ibrahim's administration “just passed the litmus test without any credits”.

Hulu Selangor also revealed a swing of 8% to 10% among Malays towards BN, while Pakatan has become over-dependent on Chinese votes for its political survival.

Overall, Pakatan secured 36% Malay votes, 41% Indians and 77% Chinese, which was comparatively better than 2004 but marginally poorer than 2008.

Pakatan held out in semi-urban areas despite BN's fierce onslaught, but lost out in rural estates and villages.

According to several Pakatan campaigners, the current nationwide swing of Indian voters towards BN after voting en bloc in 2008 for Pakatan was triggered by the ruthless demolition of Penang Indian traditional village, Kampung Buah Pala last year.
“Pakatan state governments in Penang, Kedah and Selangor must act fast to stop the rot,” they concluded.

A BN official said that following Hulu Selangor and Bagan Pinang victories, BN has now conceded that Indians, not ethnic Chinese, are its second largest vote bank after the ethnic Malays.

“That can be decisive in the next general election,” he told FMT recently.

PM speaks to CNBC Asia

Dr M, Perkasa not against us: PM

Sep 11, 10 6:51pm

The following is the transcript of an interview by Martin Soong of CNBC Asia with Prime Minister Najib Razak aired today.


Soong: Let's start first by talking about Malaysia's economy, update us if you could. It started out the year 2010 very strongly, 10 percent in excess of that growth first half. Second half though, fairly obviously things are going to have to slow down because of the external environment in the west is still looking fragile and Malaysia is still quite dependent on exports. Six percent GDP growth this year, can Malaysia achieve it?

Najib: Yes, I believe we can achieve quite a robust growth this year. As you know, first quarter we achieved 10.1, second quarter 8.9. Going forward, second half, yes you are right, we expect growth to taper down.

But there is enough momentum domestically, I think domestic demand, domestic consumption is high and I think it will continue to be relatively high this year. And external demand, although there will be some sort of dampening effect, but we do expect it to be fairly strong so we should end up with at least 6 percent growth.

At least 6 percent growth?

Yes

This is what I find interesting, export growth is also decelerating as you would expect, as external demand slows down. The ringgit though, is trading at about the highest it has been in 13 years. Are you comfortable with the ringgit at these levels?

Yes we are, but we are monitoring it in terms of both our fiscal and monetary policy to make sure that the ringgit reflects the fundamentals of the economy and at the moment, we believe it does and the stronger ringgit doesn't seem to have a negative impact on our exports.

The ringgit is still not fully tradable offshore though and for several years already, one of the two key things foreign investors wanted to see happen, to see change in Malaysia, in order to make it more attractive for them to invest in the country was one; let's see the ringgit tradable offshore again.

Recently, Malaysia has made changes so the ringgit is a little bit more moveable on the capital account. In this kind of environment, economic environment, are any further changes on the ringgit? Do you foresee them?

We are monitoring the situation all the time, very closely. Most investors feel that this is not the key determinant in terms of their investment decisions. Most importantly, there is no restriction in terms of repatriation of dividends and profits, for example, and bringing in currency through the banking system.

So it's not really a major factor, but we are open to it. As you know, we are quite adaptive, and if we think that it's going to help the economy, certainly we will review the situation.

I'm gonna ask you another unfair question. But because you are the prime minister, I'm almost obliged to. We talked about the ringgit. Let's talk about interest rates. In this kind of environment, will it slow down, what economist call "normalisation of rates", that is, raising them.

This is basically the purview of the central bank, and I would like it to be in that context, but we do make adjustments, in terms of interest rates to make sure that the economy is not overheated, for example. Particularly, we don't want a bubble, for example, but we want a steady robust growth.

Let me ask you about Malaysia's balance sheet. Debt is running at about 50 percent of GDP, high but not worrisome and certainly manageable. Several of your own economists based here though had been warning that the situation cannot be allowed to continue lest down the road, 10, 15 years, Malaysia becomes another Greece. What is your priority in terms of reining in that deficit?

We have some options, in the short term and further down the road. For example, we have given this commitment to the market that will bring down our deficit to around 5.6 percent of GDP this year. And I believe we are still on track. And we have also made an indication that by the end of the 10th (Malaysia) Plan, we hope to bring it down even further to say, around three percent.

There are various options available, one of which is of course to rein in expenditure, which we have done, we have cut back on development and on operating expenditure.

So we have a few options, but going forward, I'm talking about maybe several years down the road, we have to look in terms of our tax base because Malaysia's tax base is rather narrow with one per cent growth in GDP, our tax revenue only increases by about 0.8 per cent, or 0.85 per cent. So there is that limited elasticity in terms of tax returns. So some of the structural problems have to be addressed.

We'll return to some of these issues in just a bit. But in terms of fund raising, because of still lingering worries about the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, it has made it very difficult for a lot of other countries, which are in nowhere near as bad shape fiscally as many in Europe, to raise funds. It has made it more expensive for one thing. In Malaysia's case?

In Malaysia's case, not the case. We have global issue recently and it was oversubscribed and we have got good rates for it. I think the market has a positive view of Malaysia, provided we deliver with respect to our promises.

Prime minister, earlier on, you made reference to Malaysia's latest five-year plan, this would be the 10th. One of the cornerstones of that is what a lot of economists are calling a rebalancing of our economy, to be less dependent on exports, more on domestic consumption and the local economy. How are things proceeding?

We have done our strategy, basically that is predicated on the New Economic Model and what is exciting about the New Economic Model is that we have identified where the new sources of growth are going to come from, including how do we resuscitate the domestic private economy, the private sector.

The private sector has been taking a backstage vis-a-vis the public sector ever since the financial crisis of 1997. So we want the private sector to play a more dominant role. In fact, we have stated very clearly that to achieve our lofty targets, we have to raise RM150 billion per year in terms of total investment. So that's a huge undertaking.

We have to address some of our concerns with respect to skills, for example. We must make sure we move up the value chain in terms of skills level, so we have to prime up the human capital development. We have to look at new sources of growth, and the growth can come from consumption, growth can come from demand, but growth can also come from innovation. If you want to get to 6 percent, 7 percent, then innovation will be the key enabler to achieve that.

If the private sector is going to play a leading role in this, if services are going to play a leading role on this, one of the thoughts that struck me when I was doing a little bit of research on the controversy over when, how, how much to reduce subsidies, and therefore, help your fiscal position, the government's fiscal position, is the company, corporate Malaysia has benefited predominantly from subsidies, not so much individuals, so if you remove the subsidies from them, will they become potentially less competitive? Would that hobble their ability to be a driver of growth for Malaysia to 2020?

I don't think so. The message, the key message we are delivering to the private sector is that relying on subsidy gives you a false sense of being competitive. You must be competitive because you are more productive. You must be competitive because you are more innovative. You must be competitive because you made the right kind of investment. You have developed the right kind of talent.

And those are the key factors, which will enable us to compete globally, not relying on subsidies because relying on subsidies gives you a false sense of security because the day of reckoning will come when subsidies will be removed eventually.

So you are saying, force companies to become competitive.

Exactly, that's what they have to do.

At the same time though, a very fine balancing act and you referred to this earlier on, politically sensitive, because you do not want, you want to encourage the private sector to become more competitive, but you do not want to disadvantage the poor who probably need the subsidies a lot more.

Yes, that's why part of our New Economic Model, we are focusing on not just eradicating not just absolute poverty, but we are looking at 40 percent of the population, the more vulnerable group, the groups that are financially stressed at the end of each month and we have to do something for them, for these people.

So when we remove subsidies gradually, we have to look in terms of increasing the income level. We have to look in terms of ensuring a wider social safety net, and so forth. So there are measures, which must be put into place. But where there has been a misallocation of resources, for example, people who own luxury cars should not enjoy subsidies. So those are in a way, reducing subsidies must also be a targeted way of doing it.

Let's pull back and look at your 18, coming to 19 months in office. Three months in, you already started making major changes, making Malaysia more open to foreign investment, foreign ownership, etc, fund management companies, 100 percent foreign owned, that's fine.

There are still a number of people who look at the changes that you've made, or are trying to make, and are saying that is not enough. And they are voting with their feet. Your balance of payments in the 4th quarter, and the 3rd quarter, is negative, and it seems to be growing.

How do you intend to stop this outflow of your talent as well as your money? Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, I think, was quoted saying not too long ago that there need to be fundamental changes otherwise Malaysia will continue to hemorrhage wealth as well as talent.

Well, there are some early positive indications. The 1st quarter this year, we are seeing more or less even in terms of the wealth flow. So that's a good sign. Probably there is a greater sense of confidence, greater clarity in terms of the direction that the country is heading towards.

There is also an attempt now to attract the Malaysia diaspora. I have announced the creation of a talent cooperation. In fact, we will make some important announcements shortly,
with respect to the establishment of the talent cooperation and they would be going around and engaging Malaysians abroad, persuading them to return home.

Secondly, we would have to look at the wage structure in Malaysia. I think we have undervalued human talent in Malaysia. I think human talent has been somewhat undervalued, so we do need to find a mechanism so that we can raise wage levels in Malaysia. Commensurate wage with their true value. And of course stressing on productivity. So these are some of the measures we will do.

Prime minister, since you've taken office one of the biggest initiatives has been to roll back more than 20 years of affirmative action, what used to be known as the New Economic Policy, NEP.

The stock market in 18 months since you've been in power has been up about 60 percent. That's positive, it says something. At home though, I want to ask you, get your reaction to this, there are a number of your citizens, not just the Chinese and Indians, also the Malays who are very nervous about these changes. They are used to this status quo.

The opposition is also skeptical, as you would probably expect. But even within the party that seems to be not total agreement. Then again we have got this right-wing splinter group from (former) prime minister Mahathir that has come up with Perkasa and they are attacking you from their front as well. How are you dealing with all of this?

Well, first of all, let me explain to you that we are still committed in terms of balancing the society, to get a more equitable society, which will lead to our long-term stability. What I am saying now is that what has worked in the past may not work today. So we are going to review the way we implement affirmative action, not the overall objective but the way we implement it, so that it would be seen to be fairer, should be more transparent, should be
market-friendly.

So the whole essence of the New Economic Model is not about changing the macro targets but to make sure that how we do it, ensures greater success. And by doing that, I think it would be more acceptable across the board. And it would be seen to be fairer as well.

Obviously some people are concerned and maybe fear of change as well, but that's nothing new. The other option is to remain status quo, to do business as usual. And we've looked at the numbers, we've looked at the statistics, that is not an option. If we don't make
changes, we don't reform, Malaysia would slide backwards. We are convinced about that.

Malaysia would lose our competitive edge and we are doing all this because we are committed to Vision 2020, which was started by Tun Mahathir Mohammad back in 1990. And we want to see that happen. We want to realise Vision 2020.

Why is former frime minister Mahathir Mohamad, and now Perkasa, why are they so upset though?

They are not against us. They are talking more about bumiputera rights. But actually we are not taking anything away from the bumiputera, but we are saying that let us do it differently. Let us get better results. Let us achieve a more equitable society. But at the same time, being fair to the non-bumiputeras as well. Because we want to build a 1Malaysia.

Equity, fairness, redistribution of wealth. We've talked about some of the dissent within the party, the right-wing splinter group, Tun and Perkasa, the opposition. NGOs as well, civil society are saying one of the key elements that may be missing in your reform is Malaysian institution themselves, in terms of making them more efficient, less graft-proned, where there are, let's say, perhaps, unintended misallocation of resources.

Former Prime Minister (Abdullah Ahmad) Badawi, his big plan was fighting corruption. How's that going? There doesn't seem to be that much emphasis on it anymore or am I wrong?

No, this is very much a part of our national agenda because as you know, as part of our government transformation programme, reducing corruption is part of the 6 NKRAs, so it is a key result area, one of the key result areas, which we intend to do. So we are committed, we have strengthened MACC, but we need to produce, you know, more results, and more conviction, but it is a process, it is a journey, we are committed to it, we certainly will be focused about how we should go about it.

We have also done other things like reducing government expenditure, most of our procurement now is based on open tender or restricted tender. There is less direct, very much reduced direct negotiation, so these are a broad range of measures we have instituted.

Very quickly before we let you go. I want to talk to you about politics and elections. You have a window before elections need to be called again. There has been increasing attention on Sabah. Not a lot of people think about it or talk about it, in the foreign investment community.

But in terms of votes, in terms of seats, that Sabah represents, it's immensely important for the party. There has been increasing negativity and bad press to do with the way that Sabah has been left to run. What are you doing to address these issues ahead of polls? I mean here there are environmental concerns woven in as well.

Actually, if you see the resources we are going to allocate under 10th plan, especially with respect to the government transformation programme, quite a large chunk of our resources will be channelled into Sarawak and Sabah. You know, take for example infrastructure development, rural roads, electricity, water supply, the bulk of the resources will be spent in Sarawak and Sabah.

And we are seeing results because I monitor this on a regular basis, so things are actually happening on the ground and we will see the achievements to be much higher as we move forward because we are gaining momentum. So our commitment is to actually bring a more equitable development, which includes Sabah and Sarawak because one of the cornerstones of our New Economic Model is to be inclusive.

- Bernama

PERJASA v PERKASA

Press statement by Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) Vice-President Major (Hon) Huan Cheng Guan


I believe every right-minded person or NGO should distance themselves from Perkasa. And I believe that UMNO is making the right move in distancing itself from Perkasa, as what was voiced out by UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

The Barisan Nasional (BN), especially the UMNO leasdership have to make it clear that Perkasa and Dato' Ibrahim Ali do not have the backing of UMNO, if they want the support of the Chinese and other communities in Malaysia. The UMNO leadership have to also direct its ADUNs, MPs and Division Committee members not to participate in activities organised by Perkasa or sit in the committees set up by Perkasa.

There must be a direct order from the UMNO top management to the grassroot pertaining to their involvement in Perkasa. This will prove that UMNO is sincere and have nothing to do with Perkasa.

My feedback from the ground is that the rakyat want to see something concrete. The BN have nothing to worry about Perkasa. Let Perkasa recruit Malay members from PKR and PAS if they want. The BN are the government, and what is there to worry about if they are doing something right in the eyes of the public. Like it or not, UMNO would have to make a firm decision. You cannot be neither here nor there.

Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) supports the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia concept. Hence, PCM will go all out against all elements of chauvinism, extremism and racism as espoused by Perkasa or any other radical group which are diametrically-opposed to the philosophy of 1Malaysia.

Last but not least, I urge all parties in Malaysia to really be concerned about our dip in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness ranking released recently. Instead of spending too much time politicking, we should come out with solutions and plans to improve our economy so that our ranking keeps going up, instead of deteriorating year by year.


Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Malaysians.


Thank you.


HUAN CHENG GUAN
VICE-PRESIDENT
PARTI CINTA MALAYSIA
10 SEPTEMBER 2010

The truth behind DAP's political circles

By DEEP THROAT in DAP

Apanama - What a fantastic title to sum up the Lim & Karpal Dynasty in the Daddy Anak Party (DAP). Both of them are bent to promote their respective family members and at the same time to suppress other good DAP leaders.

Karpal Singh is the head crony of the Lim and son. He just dance to the tune of both Lims. He had not much choice because he has been relying on Lim and son to survive in the DAP all these years. He has no branch or service centre. He has not provided service for the voters. He is a well known press statement MP with zero service record. However, he has extremely good credentials for sucking up to Lim and son to do the dirty job and killing the good DAP leaders so that his sons like Gobind and Jagdeep can rise from nowhere. He is just a fraud.

I am now ashamed to be a member of this Daddy Anak Party dominated by self serving leaders like Kit Siang and son, and Karpal and sons. They are just protecting and promoting their children and cronies in order to survive politically.

Good leaders like Kua Kia Soong, Lee Ban Chien, Fung Ket Wing, S K Song (ex-Johor state chairman), Teoh Teik Huat, Gooi Hock Seng, Chua Kow Eng, Liew Ah Kim, Kerk Kim Hock, Wee Choo Keong, Fazlan Yahya, Foo Piew Kok, Sim Tong Hin, Goh Lian Sun, Teng Chang Khim, Chan Teik Chan, Goh Hock Guan, Fan Yew Teng, Dr Boo of Johor and many others have been either sidelined or forced out or sacked under dubious circumstances.

Well, Wee Choo Keong was sacked on the charge of not "Showing ENOUGH affection to party leaders". How pariah can a party be. Even the communist party does not demand its leaders to show "ENOUGH AFFECTIONS". So this fact confirmed beyond doubt that the "Daddy Anak Party" leaders (Kit, Karpal and sons Sdn Bhd) are promoting a cult in Malaysia.

No wonder YB Sim Tong Hin and Goh Liang Sun were instrumental in teaching Lim Kit Siang a lesson. Remember Lim Guan Eng and wife (Betty Chew) were thrown out from the Malacca DAP state committee. Both could not even garner enough votes to be ordinary committee members. But Kit Siang saved Guan Eng and wife from political wilderness. Guan Eng was elevated to be the Secretary General. What a joke!

Kit Siang and Karpal are only interested in protecting and promoting their family members and cronies at the expense of the country. Forget about the party. They are abusing the party funds for their own interests.

Kit Siang should clarify whether public donations received through "Milo tins" have been properly accounted for.

Tee Boon Hock's sacking was a clear case of protecting their cronies like Ronnie Liu, Tony Pua and the likes. Kit Siang and Karpal knew very well that Tee Boon Hock was controlling the grass root leaders in Selangor and they had to remove Tee so that Ronnie Liu and Tony Pua can survive. Ultimately, they promote the DYNASTY.

How about Tony Pua? The financial genius like Tan Koon Swan of the MCA!

Tony Pua is another fraud. He had lied in the 2008 GE. Look at his blog profile:

"Before joining politics full-time in January 2007, I was the CEO and founder of a Malaysian IT company, publicly listed in Singapore. I divested all my shares in the company to be able to serve the community and take part in socio-political affairs of Malaysia."

From the profile, Tony Pua was ashamed to publish the name of the listed company by the name of Cyber Village Holding Ltd. He didn't state that he was running a loss-making company.

Pua didn't say which company he had "divested" his share in Cyber Village. Cyber Village was quickly changed name in 2008 to Koyo International to mislead Malaysian and, of course, to avoid detection.

Pua did not state that Cyber village was taken over by Brightsphere Sdn Bhd (co No: 804460). Brightsphere is a RM2 company. Shareholders are the ex-staff of Cyber Village (Sua Shii Huey and Shieh Yee Bing). To top it all, the company's secretary is Pua's wife, Yow Ting Fong. Brightsphere's registered address is only next door to Pua's wife's law firm, Chris Lim Ting and Partners, T-109, 3rd Floor, CentrePoint, Bandar Utama.

In 2004, Pua and his Cyber Village were in the shit hole and needed financial help. Who came to his assistance then?? Justin Leong Ming Loong, the grandson of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong of Genting. Justin Leong pumped in S$3 million into Cyber Village to help Pua to breathe. For the information of the readers and Inland Revenue, Justin Leong and his business partner (Gau Xiang Jun) used Treasure Valley International Limited (incorporated in Virgin Islands) to save Pua's company. This is the true Tony Pua, the self-professed millionaire in Singapore before he joined DAP in 2008.

The Daddy Anak Party disciplinary Committee should take action against Tony Pua for his lies during the 2008 GE. By the way, Tony Pua is very close to Khairy Jamaluddin, son-in-law of Abdullah Badawi. You will observe that in most talk shows or interviews where Tony Pua is there, Khairy will also be there. They are closed buddies. Tony Pua, as the Information Chief of DAP, had never criticise Khairy and vice versa. I hope that UMNO leaders will also take note of this close relationship.

Ronnie Liu did sign support letters 4 months before Tee Boon Hock did but only reprimanded. An obvious covering up the corruptions of Ronnie Liu. He was a known figure with the underground in Selangor associated with prostitution, gambling, sports betting especially football betting, Ah Long activities etc.

Ronnie Liu is surrounded by 3 underground right hand men namely Tan Yeong Meng, Tan Pek Chuan and Tan Peck Kong aka "Tua Pek Kong". These are also the famous 3 Tans, who were guarding the 15-floor exco office of Ronnie Liu. Wee Choo Keong was right when he exposed Ronnie Liu's underground connections in 2009. The DAP selangor members knew all about this. Of course, Lim Kit Siang and his son pretended not to have any knowledge about this because both may be beneficiaries to the loots from the sand mining scandals, letter of support scandals and underground sport bettings.

So now you know why Lim Guan Eng and father were so against legalising sports betting a few months ago. To protect their supporters and also the "jalan" for themselves through Ronnie Liu, the No. 2 crony to Karpal.

Genuine DAP members must beware of Kit Siang and son, Karpal Singh and sons, Ronnie Liu, Tony Pua and a few others to be exposed at a later date.

Enough for now. Good night.

Deep Throat in DAP