Written by Lim Shu Xian, 20 years old (Join us and apply to be a contributor now!) Hi everyone, just like any of you, I came across this site when I was surfing the net the other day and I decided to share some information that might help some of you readers out there! Just so you know, I am a University student, currently doing a degree at Help University, 20 years old this year. To others I

By Koh Jun Lin | May 2, 2012 Malaysiakini The police brutally beat up Bersih 3.0 rally protesters last Saturday after hearing rumours that one of their colleagues had been killed by the rally participants. “The policeman beat me endlessly and said, ‘Oh, so you are the gangsters… because of you one of my friends [...]

By Clarice CP The Malaysian Insider May 02, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — I have a confession to make. I wasn’t sure whether I should attend Bersih 3.0 Rally until the day itself. My stand for a clean election has never changed but I kept changing my mind over attending the rally itself due [...]

By Kow Gah Chie | May 2, 2012 Malaysiakini Coming out to admit that he is one of the four Bersih 3.0 rally protesters a police car crashed into outside the Sogo shopping complex on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman last Saturday, Su Kuang Hong said he was doing so to clear the air on the [...]

By Eddie Tuen The Malaysian Insider May 02, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 —”Jangan Lawan Polis!” I screamed out at the crowd as a Chinese polis officer flanked by two outriders rode down Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in front of Sogo. The time was close to 3:45pm. Moments before, I had watched in dismay as [...]

By Sean Chin The Malaysian Insider May 02, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Two friends and I arrived at Masjid Jamek around 11am on April 28. We, like hundreds of others already there, were there for the BERSIH 3.0 gathering scheduled at 2pm around Dataran Merdeka. The atmosphere at the time was relaxed, lively [...]

Press Statement by DAP Secretary-General and MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on 2.5.2012

BN Federal Government’s Minimum Monthly Wage Of RM 900 In Peninsular Malaysia And RM 800 In Sabah And Sarawak Is Insufficient As It Is Not Only Discriminatory Against Workers But Demonstrates A Glaring Lack Of Commitment By BN To Reduce Poverty When It Is Far Below The Poverty Line For East Malaysia.

Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement of a floor wage for the private sector at RM 900 per month for workers in the Peninsular and RM 800 per month for those in Sabah and Sarawak is grossly insufficient as it is lower than Pakatan Rakyat’s RM 1,100 minimum take-home pay every month. PR had proposed RM1,100 minimum monthly take home pay, inclusive of all fixed allowances, but excluding over-time payments.

BN Federal Government’s minimum monthly wage of RM 900 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM 800 in Sabah and Sarawak is insufficient as it is not only discriminatory against workers but demonstrates a glaring lack of commitment by BN to reduce poverty when it is far below the poverty line for East Malaysia. The reality of life in Malaysia is such that the quantum of RM900/RM800 is simply insufficient to cover the basic needs of a worker. While it will be marginal relief for the one third of workers in our country who currently earn below RM 700 per month, the fact is that RM 800 per month for Sabah and Sarawak will still mean that workers there will continue to live in poverty.

According to the 9th Malaysia Plan, the Poverty Line Indicator (PLI) is RM830 per month for Sarawak and RM960 per month for Sabah. This is becase the cost of living in those two states is much higher compared to the Peninsular, which has a PLI of RM720 per month. In other words, even if the RM800 per month minimum wage is implemented in Sabah and Sarawak, it will still be far below the PLI as defined by the Malaysian Government.

In addition to the proposed PR minimum wage of RM1,100 that will be able to meet the basic needs of workers across the country, we must also be aware that Malaysia is fast-becoming an indebted nation where families spend everything and beyond what they earn. For example, Bank Negara’s Annual Report 2010 revealed that Malaysia’s household debt at the end of 2010 was RM 581 billion or 76 per cent of GDP, thus giving us the dubious honour of having the second-highest level of household debt in Asia, after South Korea.

In addition, the Malaysian household debt service ratio stood at 47.8 per cent in 2010, meaning that nearly half of the average family’s income goes to repaying debts. As a rule, banks would not lend money to those whose total servicing of loans exceeded one third of their income. In other words, we are spiralling into an indebted nation.

Thus, even a minimum wage is not enough without two important considerations. Firstly, the minimum wage quantum must be indexed to the Consumer Price Index, so that it is adjusted with the rate of inflation. This will ensure that standard of living and quality of life will be protected and maintained.

Secondly, increasing the livelihood of Malaysians also requires an holistic economic strategy that is targetted at raising disposable income. In other words, we need to put more money into people’s pockets. However, this cannot be done just by setting a minimum wage. In the larger picture, we have to address the influx of unskilled foreign workers and their wage-suppressing effect, upgrade skills and productivity of our local workforce and also increase the participation of women in the workforce.

Besides that, the government must also invest in key sectors such as public transport, housing and healthcare. If cost of living is lower, disposable income will automatically increase. This concept is very simple – if it costs less to commute, buy a house and pay medical bills, then everyone will have more money. Imagine if every Malaysian had just RM10 extra every day, the economic multiplier effect will result in RM280 million extra circulating in the economy every day. That is no small amount. In other words, if we can increase the purchasing power of our people, especially amongst the lower-income groups, we will be able to increase domestic demand and create a healthier economy for all Malaysians.

Therefore, we are extremely disappointed with the minimum wage of RM900 in Peninsular and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak set by the Federal Government, which is not only insufficient to cover the basic needs of workers, but in fact below the poverty line indicator of RM830 per month in Sarawak and RM960 per month in Sabah.

As for the Penang State Government, we are committed to the PR-proposed figure of RM1,100 and in fact have already achieved the minimum monthly wage of RM1,100 (including allowances and cost of living) excluding overtime. In other words, all government servants in all state agencies and GLCs in Penang as well as the local councils MPPP and MPSP get much more than RM 1,100 monthly. Last year, the lowest paid road sweeper and drain cleaners at local authorities in Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang and Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai were given an extra monthly incentive of RM150.

Lim Guan Eng

—-BM Translation—

Kenyataan Akhbar oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP dan Ahli Parlimen Bagan Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 2.5.2012

Penetapan Gaji Minima RM900 Sebulan Di Semenanjung Malaysia Dan RM800 Di Sabah Dan Sarawak Oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan BN Tidak Mencukupi Dan Bukan Sahaja Mendiskriminasikan Pekerja Tetapi Menunjukkan Kekurangan Komitmen Oleh BN Untuk Membasmi Kemiskininan Kerana Ia Jauh Di Bawah Garis Kemiskinan Di Malaysia Timur.

Pengumuman Perdana Menteri Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak bahawa gaji minima bagi sektor swasta ditetapkan pada kadar RM900 sebulan untuk pekerja di Semenanjung dan RM800 sebulan di Sabah dan Sarawak adalah sangat tidak mencukupi kerana ia adalah lebih rendah daripada gaji minima yang disyorkan Pakatan Rakyat iaitu RM1,100 sebulan. PR telah mencadangkan RM1,100 sebagai gaji minima yang merangkumi semua elaun tetapi tidak termasuk bayaran lebih masa.

Penetapan gaji minima RM900 sebulan di Semenanjung Malaysia dan RM800 di Sabah dan Sarawak oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan BN tidak mencukupi dan bukan sahaja mendiskriminasikan pekerja tetapi menunjukkan kekurangan komitmen oleh BN untuk membasmi kemiskinan kerana ia jauh di bawah garis kemiskinan di Malaysia Timur. Hakikatnya, kuantum RM900/RM800 adalah terlalu rendah dan tidak mencukupi untuk menanggung kos sara hidup seorang pekerja. Walaupun ia akan membawa sedikit kelegaan kepada satu pertiga pekerja di negara kita yang kini berpendapatan kurang daripada RM700 sebulan, hakikatnya RM800 sebulan untuk Sabah dan Sarawak bermakna bahawa pekerja-pekerja di sana akan terus hidup dalam kemiskinan.

Mengikut Rancangan Malaysia Ke-9, garis kemiskinan (PLI) adalah RM830 sebulan bagi Sarawak dan RM960 di Sabah. Ini adalah kerana kos sara hidup di kedua-dua negeri itu adalah lebih tinggi berbanding di Semenanjung, yang mempunyai PLI RM720 sebulan. Dalam erti kata lain, meskipun gaji minima RM800 dilaksanakan di Sabah dan Sarawak, ia masih lagi jauh d bawah PLI yang ditetapkan oleh Kerajaan Malaysia.

Tambahan kepada gaji minima RM1,100 sebulan yang dicadangkan PR, dan yang berupaya untuk memenuhi keperluan asas pekerja-pekerja di serata negara, kita harus sedar bahawa Malaysia sedang menjadi negara penghutang di mana isi-isi rumah kita membelanjakan semua dan lebih daripada pendapatan mereka. Sebagai contoh, Laporan Tahunan Bank Negara 2010 telah mendedahkan bahawa hutang isi rumah Malaysia pada akhir 2010 berada di tahap RM581 bilion ataupun 76 peratus daripada Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK), lantas “menobatkan” Malaysia sebagai negara dengan hutang isi rumah yang tertinggi di Asia selepas Korea Selatan.

Tambahan pula, nisbah bayaran hutang isi rumah Malaysia berada di tahap 47.8 peratus pada tahun 2010, atau dalam erti kata lain, setengah daripada pendapatan isi rumah digunakan untuk pembayaran hutang. Biasanya, institusi kewangan tidak akan memberi pinjaman jika jumlah bayaran hutang melebihi satu pertiga pendapatan. Dengan kata lain, Malaysia kian menjadi negara penghutang.

Oleh itu, gaji minima tidak mencukupi tanpa dua pertimbangan yang mustahak. Pertama, kuantum gaji minima haruslah dikaitkan secara langsung kepada Indeks Harga Pengguna, supaya ia akan disesuaikan dengan kadar inflasi. Ini akan memastikan taraf dan kualiti kehidupan tidak terjejas dan akan dilindungi.

Kedua, usaha menaikkan taraf kehidupan rakyat Malaysia memerlukan strategi ekonomi yang tuntas dan disasarkan kepada kenaikan pendapatan boleh guna. Dalam erti kata lain, kita harus memastikan rakyat mempunyai lebih banyak wang dalam saku. Ini tidak boleh dilakukan hanya dengan menetapkan gaji minima. Dalam konteks yang lebih besar, kita harus menangani kemasukan buruh asing tidak mahir dan kesan tekanan gaji yang menyusul sebagai akibatnya, meningkatkan kemahiran dan produktiviti pekerja tempatan dan juga meningkatkan penyertaan wanita dalam tenaga kerja.

Selain itu, kerajaan harus melabur dalam sektor-sektor utama seperti pengangkutan awam, perumahan dan kesihatan. Jika kos sara hidup diturunkan, pendapatan boleh guna akan meningkat. Konsepnya adalah mudah – jika kos dikurangkan untuk perjalanan ulang-alik ke tempat kerja, membeli rumah dan membayar bil kesihatan, maka semua orang akan mempunyai lebih banyak wang. Bayangkan sekiranya setiap rakyat Malaysia mempunyai RM10 lebih setiap hari, kesan pengganda ekonomi adalah besar iaitu RM280 juta lebih akan diedarkan dalam ekonomi setiap hari. Ini bukan jumlah kecil. Dalam erti kata lain, jika kita boleh meningkatkan kuasa membeli rakyat kita terutamanya di kalangan golongan berpendapatan rendah, kita akan berjaya meningkatkan permintaan tempatan dan mewujudkan ekonomi yang lebih sihat di Malaysia.

Oleh itu, kita sangat kecewa dengan gaji minima RM900 sebulan di Semenanjung dan RM800 sebulan di Sabah dan Sarawak yang ditetapkan oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan, yang bukan hanya tidak mencukupi untuk menanggung keperluan asas pekerja-pekerja, tetapi juga jauh lebih rendah daripada garis kemiskinan RM830 sebulan di Sarawak dan RM960 sebulan di Sabah.

Bagi Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang pula, kita komited kepada cadangan PR iaitu RM1,100 sebulan dan sebenarnya sudah pun mencapai gaji minima RM1,100 (termasuk elaun dan COLA) tanpa mengira bayaran lebih masa. Dalam kata lain, semua kakitangan kerajaan di dalam semua agensi kerajaan negeri dan GLC di Pulau Pinang serta majlis-majlis perbandaran MPPP dan MPSP mempunyai pendapatan lebih daripada RM1,100 sebulan. Tahun lepas, penyapu jalan dan pencuci longkang di MPPP dan MPSP juga telah diberi insentif bulanan sebanyak RM150 sebulan.

Lim Guan Eng

—– Mandarin Translation —–

民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2012年5月2日在吉隆坡发表声明：

国阵联邦政府制定的马来半岛每月最低薪资900令吉以及沙巴、砂拉越两州每月最低薪资800令吉是不足够的，因为这不只是对工人的歧视，也显示国阵没有诚意扫除贫穷，因为这个最低薪资远远不及东马的贫穷水平线。

首相拿督斯里纳吉宣布私人界的最低薪资分别是马来半岛900令吉、沙砂两州800令吉，这是不足够的，它比民联的1100令吉扣税后实得工资还低。民联建议把最低薪资订在1100令吉（扣税后的实得工资），包括所有固定津贴，但是不包括超时工资。

国阵联邦政府制定的马来半岛每月最低薪资900令吉以及沙砂两州每月最低薪资800令吉是不足够的，因为这不只是对工人的歧视，也显示国阵没有诚意扫除贫穷，因为这个最低薪资远远不及东马的贫穷水平线。 在马来西亚的生活现实是，900令吉或800令吉根本不足以应付一名员工的基本生活需求。它对于我国三分之一每月赚取低于700令吉的工人来说，或许是一个小小的安慰，但事实上，沙砂两州每月最低800令吉意味着当地的工人还是继续生活在贫困当中。

根据第九大马计划，砂拉越州的贫穷水平线为每月830令吉，而沙巴为每月960令吉。这是因为这两个州属的生活水平比马来半岛还高，马来半岛的贫穷线为每月720令吉。换句话说，就算在沙砂两州推行每月800令吉最低薪资，它还是远远不及马来西亚政府订下的贫穷水平线。

除了民联所提议的最低薪资1100令吉能够满足全国工人的基本需求，我们也要了解到，马来西亚已经快速成为举债国，几乎每个家庭的花费都超出他们所赚的。例如，2010年国家银行年度报告指出，马来西亚的家庭债务在2010年底是5810亿令吉或占国民生产总值的76%，让我们成为亚洲继韩国之后，家庭债务第二高的国家。

此外，我国的家庭债务偿债比率在2010年为47.8%， 意味着每个家庭平均有一半的收入是用来还债的。一般上，银行不会借钱给那些债务超过收入三分之一的人士。换句话说，我们正渐渐成为过度举债的国家。

因此，如果不考虑两个要素，单单拥有最低薪资是不够的。第一、最低薪资必须能够反映消费人指数。因此它必须依据通膨率调整。这才能够确保这项政策有助于保障及维持人民的生活水平及素质。

第二，随着马来西亚人民生活的提升，我们必须推出全方位的经济政策，以提高可支配收入为目标。换句话说，我们需要把钱放入人民的口袋。但是，这不能只是单靠制定最低薪资。长远来说，我们必须解决无技能外劳涌入以及他们压低工资的影响。我们必须提升本地员工的技能及生产力、同时增加女性在工作的参与。

此外，政府也必须投资在关键领域如公共交通、房屋及保健。如果生活水平降低、可支配收入自然会增加。这个概念很简单，如果人民在交通、房屋及医药方面的花费减少，那么每个人自然会有多一点钱。让我们想像，如果每个马来西亚人每天都多花10令吉，每天将会有额外的2亿8000万令吉在流通，产生经济倍增效应。这不是一笔小数目。如果我们可以增加人民的购买能力，特别是低收入群，我们将能够创造内需，为全民打造更健康的经济。

因此，我们对于联邦政府制定的最低薪资（马来半岛900令吉及沙砂两州800令吉）感到极度失望，这不只不足以应付一名工人的基本消费，事实上还低于砂拉越及沙巴州的贫穷水平线，即830令吉及960令吉。

至于槟州政府，我们支持民联所制定的最低薪金1100令吉，在事实上也达致每月1100令吉最低薪资（包括生活津贴），不包括超时工资。换句话说，槟州政府已经达到最低薪资1100令吉（包括生活津贴），不包括超时工资。换句话说，所有政府机构及官联公司，包括槟岛市政局及威省市政局的公务员，每个月都会获得超过1100令吉。去年，最低收入的清道夫及清沟员工，每个月也额外获得150令吉的奖掖。

林冠英

Malaysiakini

Mursyidul Am PAS Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat mengutuk keras laporan muka depan akhbar Utusan Malaysia ini yang menyiarkan gambar aksi lucah didakwa memaparkan seorang lelaki yang mirip timbalan presiden PKR Azmin Ali.

“Apa yang mereka lakukan ini menjerumuskan generasi muda kepada keruntuhan akhlak dan budaya seks songsang.

“Kenapa isu-isu seperti ini yang diangkat untuk mendapat keuntungan politik?

“Saya lihat Umno sudah sangat terdesak sehingga tindakan menyiarkan gambar-gambar seperti ini pun sudah menjadi halal,” katanya di Facebook.

Keterangan untuk gambar disiarkan di muka depan itu antara lainnya disebut akhbar milik Umno itu sebagai “aksi panas dengan seorang wanita di dalam tandas.”

Laporan itu juga menyebut, gambar berkenaan merupakan sebahagian daripada sejumlah foto yang dikutip daripada blog pro-Umno 

Harakah

KUALA LUMPUR: Di sebalik keganasan yang berlaku, satu fakta yang tidak boleh dilupakan untuk Bersih 3.0 ialah 250,000 rakyat telah berani tampil untuk menuntut pilihanraya yang adil dan bebas, kata Pengerusi bersama Bersih 2.0 Datuk Ambiga Sreevenasan.

“Mereka adalah yang muda dan tua – rakyat Malaysia dari pelbagai latar belakang. Mereka datang daripada Lembah Klang, ada juga yang datang daripada Sabah dan Sarawak.

“Mereka hadir walaupun diberi amaran oleh kerajaan, pengangkutan yang serba kurang dan sekatan jalan raya untuk menghalang mereka,” kata Ambiga dalam satu kenyataan.

Selain itu, katanya beribu orang turut berhimpun di seluruh negara dan lebih daripada 80 bandar di seluruh dunia.

“Ini adalah gambaran benar rakyat Malaysia. Mereka adalah gambaran niat dan cita-cita rakyat Malaysia. Tiada manipulasi politik, penyelewengan fakta oleh media perdana atau dakwaan bahawa himpunan tersebut telah dirampas (hijack) akan mengubah hakikat tersebut. Ahli politik daripada kedua-dua belah boleh tidak mengendahkan hakikat ini atas risiko sendiri,” tambah beliau.

Di dalam demokrasi yang lebih maju di mana hak untuk berhimpun secara aman dihormati, kata Ambiga, tanggungjawab menjaga keamanan dan keselamatan adalah terletak di bahu penganjur dan penguatkuasa.

“Namun (di Bersih 3.0), pihak penguatkuasa meletakkan tanggungjawab ini sepenuhnya pada Bersih 2.0. Kita telah melaksanakan tanggungjawab ini sebaik mungkin sehinggalah polis menembak gas pemedih mata.

“Apabila itu berlaku, tanggungjawab itu beralih kepada polis untuk mengawal situasi yang mereka mulakan. Tanggungjawab itu adalah pada mereka. Ia adalah fakta segala keganasan hanya berlaku selepas gas pemedih mata ditembak,” kata Ambiga.

Unit Amal PAS

 
Ambiga turut memuji Unit Amal PAS dan agensi keselamatan lain atas kejayaan mereka untuk mengawal himpunan. Beliau turut memuji disiplin dan maruah rakyat yang ditunjukkan ketika perhimpunan.

“Saya turut menyatakan ada pihak polis yang telah melaksanakan tugas dengan berhati-hati dan amanah. Tapi ada sebilangan yang mendapat memo berlainan daripada pihak atasan. Mereka adalah kejam dan bertindak seperti samseng melakukan kecederaan maksimum pada para hadirin yang sudahpun berundur.

“Terdapat juga beberapa ketika yang mereka sengaja memprovokasi rakyat. Mereka bertindak tanpa undang-undang,” kata Ambiga.

Walaupun media perdana cuba menayangkan sebaliknya, Ambiga berkata kebenaran akan muncul kerana segala bukti akan timbul.

“Dan Suhakam mesti mengadakan satu inkuiri awam untuk menyiasat keganasan yang paling teruk dilakukan pihak berkuasa terhadap rakyat Malaysia,” kata beliau.

Ambiga turut menyenaraikan beberapa persoalan untuk dijawab pihak berkuasa.

1.     Siapa yang memberikan arahan untuk bertindak keras terhadap peserta demo sebegitu rupa?

2.     Siapakah pegawai dalam baju Bersih di dalam himpunan?

3.     Siapakah mereka yang berbaju biru tanpa nombor identiti dan nama pada uniform?

4.     Adakah benar ramai orang yang dibawa masuk ke himpunan untuk menimbulkan kekacauan. Jika benar, siapa bawa mereka?

5.     Bagaimana anda menerangkan sikap polis yang berbeza sebelum dan selepas gas pemedih mata dilepaskan. Apakah arahan yang diberi?

6.     Mengapakah kerajaan melalui media perdana tidak sanggup untuk memberikan gambaran menyeluruh insiden?

“Jika Bersih 2.0 perlu menjawab banyak persoalan, maka pihak kerajaan juga mempunyai banyak soalan yang perlu dijawab,” tegas Ambiga.

Membalas tuduhan perdana menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak bahawa Bersih 2.0 telah mungkir janji dalam memastikan perhimpunan awam, Ambiga menjawab tidak.

“Hari itu, polis yang ditugaskan dengan amanah untuk menjaga kita, mengkhianati kita dan kepercayaan yang diberikan oleh rakyat Malaysia yang sukakan keamanan,” tegas beliau.

Mengenai insiden benteng Dataran Merdeka diceroboh, Ambiga berkata walaupun Bersih 2.0 melihat perintah mahkamah tersebut tidak sah, tapi gabungan menuntut pilihanraya bersih dan adil telah menyatakan dengan jelas bahawa mereka tidak akan melepasi benteng polis Dataran Merdeka.

“Terlalu banyak perkara yang berlaku di insiden tersebut… kita akan memberikan komen selepas semua bukti dikemukakan,” kata beliau.

Isnin lali, Ketua umum PKR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan Azmin Ali menafikan tuduhan bahawa mereka memberikan isyarat kepada peserta demo untuk menceroboh benteng Dataran Merdeka.

At first I went for a road trip. But when I got back, I was busy doing other things. Later, I was too busy with creating books. Later I was too busy with commission works. And then I was too busy with votes collecting. And now, I have to finish a book before I can [...]

Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat welcomes the long overdue announcement of a minimum wage rate at RM900 for Peninsula Malaysia and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak yesterday.

However, Pakatan Rakyat is of the view that it is long overdue, the effective rate amounts to no change in reality and the policy is implemented in a piecemeal manner.

First, the announcement is long overdue.

The now discarded New Economic Model, which was prepared by the now defunct National Economic Advisory Council, stated that “Malaysia is stuck in a middle income trap. Malaysia briskly climbed the ladder to attain upper middle status by 1992, but its economy has become sluggish since then.”

The lack of a minimum wage policy, the dependence on foreign unskilled labour, and the resulting inability to automate and move up the technological ladder were the key contributing factors of a stagnated Malaysian economy since the 1990s.

With the passing of Minimum Wage Act by Parliament in June 2011, the Federal Government was scheduled to announce a minimum wage rate by December 2011. PM Najib’s statement yesterday came half a year late, and seems to be just another pre-election announcement.

Second, the announcement yesterday amounts to very little in reality.

The most important finding that eventually convinced the Najib administration to implement the minimum wage policy was a Human Resources Ministry study that found a third of the workers were living with a wage of about RM700, below the poverty line.

The announced minimum wage rate of RM900 for the Peninsula and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak is actually inclusive of allowances, which effectively means the basic wage is still between RM700 and RM800.

This means, the purported changes were almost no change at all. Pakatan Rakyat on the other hand proposed a minimum wage of RM1100 (total compensation).

Third, to be effective, minimum wage policy must not be implemented in isolation and in a piecemeal manner.

Pakatan Rakyat recognises that a minimum wage policy that is effective must be implemented in a package holistically.

Thus, already in October 2011, Pakatan Rakyat in our alternative national budget proposed that:

a) a clear and determined policy to stop dependence on foreign unskilled labour which results in a “race to the bottom” in terms of wage;

b) a Facilitation Fund to be set up to help employers including those in the manufacturing and services industry to automate and to improve on technologies, provide tax breaks as well as other financial assistance, shall also be considered;

c) to provide for child care and other facilities to facilitate female participation in the workforce to tap into the total strength of Malaysian workforce.

Pakatan Rakyat also acknowledges the reality that minimum wage is not the silver bullet to improve the wellbeing of the workers, otherwise the government is merely outsourcing its welfare role to the private sectors which eventually translates into additional cost for doing business.

The government has a role to improve public transport, public health care, public education and public housing. Failure in those areas resulted in the erosion of disposable income of the workers.

Finally, the government needs to remove the various monopolies that benefit only the cronies at the expense of the low-wage earners’ disposable income.

A holistic policy framework, as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat, will mean more income and more disposable income for Malaysian workers, which will in turn boost domestic consumption and drive the growth prospect of the economy.

Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad – PAS – MP for Kuala Selangor

Rafizi Ramli – PKR’s Strategic Director

Liew Chin Tong – DAP – MP for Bukit Bendera

on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto/Policy Committee

“428” will go down in Malaysian history as one of the national milestones in the long and arduous struggle of Malaysians to reclaim their democratic, constitutional and human rights promised them when the country achieved Merdeka 54 years ago. The other recent landmarks of this struggle are: Firstly, Bersih rally on November 10, 2007 (“1011”) [...]

HTC One X has a nice big 4.7″ 720p HD Super LCD2 IPS display. And HTC One X is powered by powerful NVIDIA quad-core Tegra 3 CPU and GPU. Both of them eat lot of battery. And 1800 mAh battery capacity in HTC One X is not enough for heavy usage. So how to improve [...]

Tak lengkap rasanya kalau tidak berkongsi gambar majlis pernikahan Fasha Sandha dan Jejai daripada lensa jurugambar rasmi mereka, Ryaniez Moments Photography. Abang Nara janji ini ialah set gambar terakhir yang akan Abang Nara kongsikan. Nanti tunggu majlis resepsi diorang pulak. … Continue reading →

Part 1: R.age Photowalk To Jalan Sultan
Part 2: Aunties & Uncles At The Wet Market
Part 3: R.age Photowalk To Land Of Dangling Coils!

So after exploring Petaling St., we finally walked back to Jalan Sultan.

The volunteers were already painting and drawing murals on the wall.

We all quickly took some group shots and that marked the end of the R.age photowalk for that day.

Then there was a quick photo sharing session whereby all the guys at the photowalk share and show some of their shots and I gave them some feedbacks and comments.

We then joined the volunteers and checked out the wall close up!

I also draw a bit a bit

Camho a bit..

Some paints they were using

Ok thats it! Had fun walking around Petaling Street with them and the rest of the guys. Hope to have another one soon. Thanks R.age!

dtsv.dtse_post_5729_permalink = 'http://www.smashpop.net/photo-sharing-painting-the-wall-at-jalan-sultan'; dtsv.dtse_post_5729_title = 'Photo Sharing + Painting The Wall At Jalan Sultan';

Facebook is now joining forces with organ donation networks in the US and UK to help the cause. I think it is a good idea which the local organ transplantation societies can adopt and hopefully work with social networking sites like Facebook.

Related links
BBC: Facebook in organ donation push
CNN: Facebook encouraging organ donations

Malaysian Society of Transplantation:
Organ Transplant Donor Registration
Organ Transplantation FAQ

Related MMR posts on Organ donation

from the Malaysian Medical Resources

Using Facebook for Organ Donation

Get your daily dose of Delirium via Reader or delivered via Email Have you ever had eggs’ at home for a while and not sure if you can consumer the egg or if its gone bad? This is a simple test...

Visit Delirium @ abinesh.com for the full story

A week ago, after having a rough cut of my latest short film shown to financiers and clients, I decided to take a sabbatical. (Usually, after a film shoot, I would immediately jump into putting the footage together, editing them, seeing whether what I got had been what I've envisioned, or, perhaps I got something better than I hoped. But once I'm done with a first rough cut, I would for myself to adhere to usual industry beliefs, and to take a break from the footage so that I could come back to it with fresh eyes, approaching the materials with much more objectivity and distance. Because of the freeform improvisational nature of my usual filmmaking methods, I tend to "make discoveries" of my films through post-production)

Therefore, during this break, I intended to just do some researching, finding inspiration from other films regarding the editing, finishing up a book that I was reading (currently reading: Italo Calvino's THE BARON IN THE TREES), follow the NBA Playoffs.

Oh, and maybe play a game...

So I installed SKYRIM.



It's the 5th installment of a role-playing video game series (I played the last two) because, well, role-playing games had always been my genre of choice. (I like being swept away by their epic scale and being immersed in these awesome, fantastical worlds. Do you know that I started playing my first Final Fantasy game when I was 11? I cannot believe that it had already been 17 years already when I was first exposed to this beauty below. The music still give me goosebumps.)



Anyway, after a week of SKYRIM. I was left in a daze, and a slight feeling of self-loathing. The game was indeed as awesome and ambitious as advertised, to be able to navigate in a world of such sheer scale, to explore dungeons filled with undead monsters, to fight against centuries-old evil entities trying to destroy the world, to become the head of a college of wizards, and then going around making lots of money by selling magical items, wow, they were the kind of things I imagined and dreamed as a fat nerdy kid long ago (which was why I loved reading fantasy books when growing up, but I was self-conscious about it when people in school didn't "get" my literary tastes, it's true, I wasn't reading highbrow literature that most loved, like Sweet Valley High, True Singaporean Ghost Stories or Chicken Soup For The Soul Stories.)

I spent so much time playing SKYRIM (okay, between that, I also took some time to watch Martin Scorsese's AGE OF INNOCENCE and CASINO for the very first time) that I began wondering why was I even doing it at all. I winced in sympathy whenever a guard told me he was an adventurer once before he took an arrow in the knee.

(By the way, the two films were great)










Yesterday I had such a conversation with Kong. (we were catching the new Hiroshi Abe film THERMAE ROMAE)

I said: "I felt like a protagonist in a musical icon's biopic, you know, like Ray Charles in RAY or Johnny Cash in WALK THE LINE, the ones that chronicle their rise to fame, fall from grace, and then their redemption. That "fall from grace" part is usually about their drug addiction, mine is kinda like a SKYRIM addiction."

Kong said: "Dude, just stop playing it. I played it for two weeks and then I stopped. I never looked back."

I said. "I can't! I need to perfect my smithing, enchanting and alchemy skills, they can all reach 100! And then I can fall a dragon with a single blow!"

(Yes, my line sounds even more ridiculous when spoken in real life)

Just now, I stumbled upon Patricia Hernandez's "I’m Sick of the Disturbingly Neat Lives Video Games Expect Us To Enjoy" article on Kotaku. It was a wondrous article, both insightful and personal. The lines in bold were what made me continue reading. And then, nodding with agreement.

I stopped playing (Skyrim) after losing a few largely pointless, unfulfilling—but addicting—days to the game. I told myself I probably just wasn't in the right mindset to find Skyrim meaningful, which was strange to think about since it's not as if it wasn't engrossing. It was difficult to explain, then.

My friend kept playing, though—almost every day, for months. Most people I knew did the same. I didn't get it, but I became determined to understand. I asked her why she kept playing despite most of it seeming like busywork, and this question was met with a shrug. I asked her why she spent hours crafting armor despite not actively working towards anything, and she had no idea. I would ask her why she was undertaking a quest that day, and there was never a particular reason.

I remarked that watching her play was like seeing her check things off a to-do list, taking cues from how organized she tended to be in real life. Suddenly the robotic gaze enveloped in the world of Skyrim broke free of the glow of the screen. "That's exactly it," she said. "I like feeling like I'm checking things off a to-do list. I feel like I can take charge of my responsibilities and that's comforting.

Yes. It made a lot of sense. I'm probably the most disorganized person ever, but I feel that as I grew older, I became increasingly anal with video games. I had to be a completionist, or a perfectionist.

As a child, it was merely the joy of seeing the game's ending that kept me playing ("just save the princess! What? She's in another castle?"). But now, I make sure that I "perfect" the bloody game via grinding, by trying to complete everything that can be done. When playing Japanese RPGs, I would never be happy until my character levels are all maxed up and I can destroy the final boss with a few blows. When playing Angry Birds, I had to get 3 stars for every single stage (which I did).

Later in Hernandez's article, she said this:

I want to make choices—what we do in life is always a choice—I want to live a life worth living, I want purpose. I figure these are some of the fundamental ingredients toward approaching happiness. This desire for a worthwhile, meaningful life bleeds into games.

This had been a suspicion of mine in the past few years, but reading her article confirmed it. And it feels wonderful to read an article that voices my own thoughts.

My approach in life does bleed into games.

It's the same as why I would want to go through entire oeuvres of directors or writers who interest me, taking the time to track down rare films, books and such, either online, or in shops. It's an adventure, a... treasure hunt. These are the things in life that kept me going.

(You see, contrary to popular belief, I actually demand quite a lot (from myself) when it comes to filmmaking. The shots, the acting, the execution, the editing, if my film is less than awesome, I have probably failed. In fact, I didn't just fail in making an awesome film, I feel as if I have failed IN LIFE.)

I also love competition. I hate losing. I enjoy winning. But these are quite fleeting. A few passing days and I don't even care anymore. It's not just about besting others but also to best myself as well. Maybe the true excitement had always merely been the competition itself. It drives me. (I also remember people who had, er, slighted me, just so that I would do whatever it takes to prove them wrong, it really fuels my motivation. I occasionally feel a little offended when I give someone a DVD of my films and they end up either not watching it or forgetting about it, the blood and tears of not just me but also my cast and crew do not deserve such treatment! Which leads to "I will make more great films in the future and make sure you regret, er, not watching them in the first place!")

But nevertheless, I am writing this blog post now, not sure how many people would actually read it. (... seriously, do people still come to my blog?) But mostly to remind myself that my one-week sabbatical is over. I'm getting back to my editing. Back to doing some writing. Video games are fun, but I think I still prefer making films.

Malaysiakini May 1, 2012 Putrajaya has moved to soothe relations with news organisations following the aftermath of the Bersih 3.0 rally, where the police were accused of injuring at least a dozen journalists. It is learned that Minister in the Prime Minister Department, Koh Tsu Koon, got the ball rolling during a meeting with editors [...]

— Malaysian in the US The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 MAY 1 — Bersih 3.0 has come and gone. The protests outside KL were peaceful — 11 other cities in Malaysia, 85 cities in 33 countries outside Malaysia, including hikers up Mount Everest and divers off Acheh. Numbers ranged from a handful of Malaysians [...]

— A Malaysian The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 MAY 1 — Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail, the Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur, failed us when he forgot that he was a public servant and instead, became a servant of the ruling party of the day. Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein failed us when, even after [...]

— Proud daughter The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 MAY 1 —I know there have been so many personal accounts of experiences from people present at the recent BERSIH 3.0 rally on 28 April. I’ve read many of them. But this could probably be the only account you read from someone who didn’t go, but [...]

blog -Welcome to my complicated world Monday, April 30, 2012 ”For you I’ll bleed myself dry” – Yellow by Coldplay Morning of 428. That was the song that was stuck in my head as I got ready to attend Bersih 3.0 rally. I put on my yellow t-shirt and sang ”oh yeah, they were all [...]

Nigel Aw | May 1, 2012 Malaysiakini The Malaysian Bar Council in its interim report today said police brutality against protesters during Bersih 3.0 last Saturday had worsened despite several police shortcomings that were highlighted during the last Bersih rally. “Of all the problems that were highlighted last year, as far as the use of [...]

Good day. I love the month of May and I can’t wait for June.What a disappointing day at the gym, only managed to do cardio because my lower back hurts. Gonna make sure I rest well tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be fit to get workin’ again on Thursday. I can’t stand the crappy weather but I’m trying to stay indoors as much as possible. Spent the entire afternoon reading up on books about strength training, good fat and bad fat etc. Sometimes having a little knowledge helps to boost your motivation when it comes to working out. It’s like you know why you’re doing it, how to do it right, and what to expect. I don’t like not knowing what I’m getting myself into. Getting fit and healthy is one of my main goal this year, so I’d better hit my 10kg target before the month of June ends. I’m not aiming to just lose weight, I want to feel strong with muscles to burn fat on its own even when I’m not working out. Pick something you can keep up with, and you might just fall in love with it.

Here’s a thing that made me wonder quite a bit when I started strength training. I just started exercising, why am I gaining weight? Instead of losing weight after all the hard work, it would’ve been extremely demotivating to see your weight go up right? Your first step is to determine if what you’re gaining is actually fat or muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, but it takes up less space. That means, if you gain muscle, your scale weight may go up even as you’re slimming down. It’s normal for many of us to lose inches, even if we’re not losing weight. Rather than just using a scale, which isn’t always the best way to measure progress, try other methods. Someone should have knocked some sense into me then. After a couple of weeks, you’ll start to see the difference. I’m gunning to lose fat, not weight.

To burn fat you need to :

Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts about how your body gets its energy:

• The body primarily uses fat and carbs for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but it’s mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.
• The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you’re doing.
• For higher intensity exercise, such as fast-paced running, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat. That’s because the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown.
• For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.
• When it comes to weight loss, it doesn’t matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

SUGAR.

Facts about CARBS.

For some reason, my chin, right hands up and left hand holding the camera made me look like I have a lot going on the upper half of my body. This stupid mirror is way too low and that explains why I had to bend my body in such an angle (have to be complementing duh) which was quite tiring. This is how you camwhore, with your body facing the side and then you turn to the front. I have a long way to go before reaching my target, well month of May is gonna be interesting.

The boyfriend insisted, you must camwhore with the flowersssssssssssss. Gotcha.

Okay this is not my first bouquet of flowers from Leon, but I was quite shock receiving it earlier today. It was surprising because I thought I already had my gift a month ago. I’m not complaining!

Two dozen of red roses. It was HUGEEEE. Well, as impractical as it may be, I’m gonna do something with the rose petals; something artsy since there are so many!

Twenty-four stalks of red roses.

Alrighty guys, have a great day ahead. Feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions!

Source

Related posts:

1. Girls & Thunder Thighs.
2. Burning Bridges.
3. Graffiti with Punctuation.

Ahh.. Serious terharu Abang Nara tengok video pernikahan Fasha dan Jejai daripada CST Production ini. Sungguh awesome mereka meng”edit”. Tak terasa langsung kepanjangan video yang berdurasi hampir 5 minit ini. Tahniah kepada CST Production atas video yang sangat cantik ini. … Continue reading →

Nampak seperti tiada kaitan di antara BeautifulNara dengan tourism Malaysia, namun BeautifulNara telah pun tercalon di dalam kategori Entertainment untuk Malaysia International Tourism Award. Di masa artikel ini ditulis, BeautifulNara berada di kedudukan kedua. Hanya tinggal setengah jam sahaja lagi … Continue reading →

Another field report, this time from Jonathan Hwa via Facebook

I heard someone shout ‘medical, medical’ and ran over. An old man had collapsed, but a few other medics got there before me. I still set up shop next to them to deal with other cases that were coming in. Almost all cases were tear gas related, a few had serious exposure, some had been hit by the canisters and were bruised / cut by them, a few more had been burnt when they tried to pick up the canisters to throw back. Note: The canisters are HOT, DO NOT touch them unless you’re wearing thick gloves. If you plan to handle canisters, you WILL be heavily exposed to the gas. It was the burn victims that worried me the most, their skin had turned white but hadn’t start to blister. I didn’t have any ice with me, and they sighed with relief when I sprayed ethyl chloride on their hands. The nozzles of my cans also decided to malfunction right then, refusing to spray. I sent a few people to the nearby Burger King to get ice, but all the shops had locked their doors after the police opened fire and refused to give them ice. All I could do was to advice them to ice their burns as quickly as they could. The old man next to me looked in pretty bad shape, but the other medics were working on him, and was trying to figure out how to get an ambulance over through the crowd. There was nothing else I could do, so I moved on.

I managed to persuade macD along Jalan Tun Perak to unlock their door and give me a bag of ice by pointing to my armband, but true to murphy’s law, I didn’t need ice again till it was long melted.

It was an interesting experience being part of the rally as a medic. I was always moving in the opposite direction of the crowd. When the police advanced with tear gas and water cannons, and everyone starts running, I would hold my ground to make sure no one was hurt and left behind before running myself. When the police retreated, and the crowd pushed forward, I would move back, to look for people who were nursing wounds. There was one moment were I hung around for too long when the water cannon was advancing, and the cannon started to track me. As I braced myself for the worst, a malay guy grabbed me and pulled me behind a wall before I got hit.

The water from the cannon was laced with chemicals. I think it was some form of pepper spray, skin felt like it was burning upon contact, and the water vapours caused my eyes to tear badly.

After another round of tear gassing, I heard shouts for a Medic and ran in to the alley where it originated from. Two guys were sitting against a wall, and when I asked what happened, the victim pointed to his leg. He was wearing a pair of long pants, but his white sock was soaked with blood. His friend looked at me and said ‘kena tembak, peluru besi’ (got shot, steel bullet). I immediately thought ‘Oh dear, please don’t give me a bullet wound. I’m not confident of dealing with one’. After cleaning some of the blood away, I saw that the gash was not caused by a bullet, but because he had been hit by a tear gas canister. I sighed with relief, this one I’m able to treat. While applying pressure to stop the bleeding, I learnt something. When you’re helping a victim, and the police decide to gas the area, you can’t run, nether can your victim.

The home minister might praise the police for acting in a professional manner, but from my perspective, they were anything but professional. Firstly, they kept taunting the crowd. Sure the crowd was shouting insults and taunting the police too (my malay is so bad, I could not really make out most of what either side was yelling at each other), but the police kept signaling to the crowd with the unmistakable ‘if you want us, come and get us’ signals.

Secondly, a lot of the police actions made no tactical sense. It wasn’t to hold a line, or secure a perimeter. They would push forward, chasing the crowd back, then retreat back to their original place, or even further back. When they retreated, the crowd would jeer them as they retreated, regroup, and push forward again. To me, it looked like the police were taunting the crowd, trying to get people to act in a rash manner, just to give an excuse for them to justify arrests. If arrests were what they wanted, they sure got it, because everytime the police retreated, the people felt like they had ‘won’ that round and got bold, increasing jeering and sometimes throwing stones and bottles after the police. At this, the police at times turn around chase and try to arrest people. However, each time someone threw something at the police, he would get reprimanded by another rakyat, telling him to chill or that throwing things at the police isn’t helping the Bersih cause.

Third was police brutality, you might see videos of police beating people up, I saw this happen the whole afternoon. It wasn’t violent protesters that were arrested, it was anybody the police could get their hands on. People sitting by the side of the road doing nothing were pounced on by the police. Police were chasing down two guys, both stumbled, the police pounced on one, kicked the other away from behind so he fell headfirst to the ground. Police arrested people, held them down while others rained blows on them before taking them away. I met another medic who told me he saw police beating a man, he ran forward to stop them and give aid to the man, but was chased away by the police with threats of arrest. At one point, a wave of police ran up to the group I was with and one tried to grab me in a headlock. I ducked under his arm, and when he turned back to come at me again, I pointed at my armband. He apologized to me, but other police behind him started yelling at me. I took the hint and quickly walked away. This happened around the Jalan Raja – Jalan Tun Perak intersection

Read the full account in Facebook

from the Malaysian Medical Resources

Bersih 3.0, a medical field report (II)

The Health Minister announced in the Star that Medical qualifying exam now available at 16 local varsities

KUCHING: Medical graduates from unrecognised universities overseas can now sit for the Medical Qualifying Examination (MQE) at all 16 medical schools in the country, including private universities.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said previously these graduates could only sit for the exam at three local universities – Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
“From now onwards they can sit for the exam in all medical schools in Malaysia. We have 16 medical schools offering 17 medical programmes.
“All students coming back from unrecognised universities overseas can sit for the exam in all these universities,” he told reporters after holding a dialogue with several Sarawakian medical graduates who earned their degrees in China here on Tuesday.
The 16 universities are UM, UKM, USM, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Penang Medical College, International Medical University, AIMST University, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Royal College of Medicine Perak, Monash University Sunway Campus, UCSI University, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, and Management and Science University.

What is not clear is that will there be a common MQE (at least if there is a written part) for all the Universities or Colleges concerned? How uniform will the examination standards be especially for the smaller colleges? What is the motivation behind this decision? Political?

Liow said this move would make it easier for medical graduates to sit for the MQE, particularly Sarawakian students who would no longer need to travel to Kuala Lumpur for it. “They prefer to take the exam here because the cost will be lower,” he said, adding that this was one of the problems brought up by the graduates during the dialogue session.

Come off it – how big is Malaysia that it is so difficult and expensive to travel to KL for the exam? After all these students went overseas to study medicine, right? Lame excuse.

Liow also announced that the medical graduates could now take the exam an unlimited number of times.
“In the past it was limited to three times. Now they can sit for it unlimited times to make sure they pass,” he said.

To make sure they pass? What about standards? So we pass everyone even the really rotten ones?

and lastly…

In addition, Liow said the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) was currently in the process of recognising medical programmes in China. He said MMC would focus on accrediting the 11 top universities in China first as many Malaysian students were studying there.

Previously we were told the list of recognised medical schools would be shortened, now it seems it will be lengthened further. Moral of the story – don’t trust what you read in the papers.

The profession is concerned about standards but the politicians seem to be concerned about numbers. If standards continue to go down the drain, then God help us all.

from the Malaysian Medical Resources

Major changes to the MQE

Saya mengecam sekeras-kerasnya fitnah yang ditohmah ke atas diri saya bertujuan untuk mengaibkan saya dan keluarga. Fitnah jelek ini disebarkan oleh media yang dikuasai UMNO yang memetik sumber blog pro UMNO. 

Fitnah ini memaparkan seorang lelaki yang mereka tohmah sebagai saya bersama seorang wanita di dalam tandas. Saya menafikan sekeras-kerasnya fitnah tersebut. Ianya adalah fitnah ulangan menggunakan modus operandi yang sama yang digunakan terhadap Dato? Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Saya amat kesal memandangkan tindakan ini adalah fitnah bersiri terhadap saya dan keluarga selepas fitnah jijik ke atas isteri dan anak saya, disusuli dengan dakwaan pemilikan saham kemudiannya saya dituduh menghina Raja-Raja Melayu dan baru-baru ini saya ditohmah mencetuskan provokasi dalam Himpunan Aman Bersih 3.0.

Sebelum ini saya dan isteri serta anak kecil saya telahpun melakukan ujian DNA sebanyak dua kali dalam bulan Julai 1998. Kedua-dua keputusan ujian tersebut menempelak fitnah ke atas saya, isteri dan keluarga. Hasil ujian jelas menyebut serta mengesahkan saya dan isteri merupakan ?biological parent? kepada anak kami. Ujian DNA tersebut sekaligus memelihara maruah saya dan keluarga.

?The results from all three genetic loci show that the donor of blood specimen marked ?X? (putative father) is the biological father of the donor of the blood specimen marked ?Y? (child). ?Namun UMNO masih mengulangi fitnah kejam tersebut sepanjang 14 tahun ini walaupun bukti sudah jelas lagi nyata bahawa tuduhan mereka terhadap saya dan keluarga merupakan pembohongan semata-mata.

Setelah kesemua fitnah tidak berjaya, mereka mengulangi skrip usang fitnah seks yang memualkan untuk mengaib dan mematahkan semangat saya. Fitnah jahat seperti ini diulang- ulang untuk membentuk persepsi rakyat terhadap maruah dan kredibiliti saya menjelang pilihan raya. 

Munculnya fitnah ini tatkala UMNO dihimpit krisis keyakinan dan menjadi sasaran kemarahan rakyat selepas perhimpunan BERSIH adalah untuk mengalih pandangan rakyat dari isu sebenar iaitu isu penipuan pilihan raya dan penyelewengan dana awam. Saya ingin menegaskan bahawa saya tetap tuntas dengan perjuangan membawa obor reformasi demi rakyat. Saya menyeru kepada pimpinan UMNO supaya menghentikan budaya politik fitnah yang boleh menghancurkan negara dan masyarakat. Saya akan terus bersama-sama pimpinan KEADILAN dan Pakatan Rakyat untuk menjana perubahan dan membawa kemenangan rakyat dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke 13.

Mohamed Azmin Bin Ali

Updates @ 9:00 pm 1-5-2012: TV3 Buletin Utama has made an informed speculation that the MAS-AirAsia share “Suap” will be reversed tomorrow. If it does happen tomorrow then those appointed after the said secret share suap must also be reversed or terminated. The appointment of ex-ArirAsia officers like En Rozman Omar, now CFO of MAS [...]

By Anisah Shukry The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — Putrajaya must form an independent panel to investigate claims that police manhandled journalists covering Saturday’s Bersih rally, journalist organisations said today. The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) maintained that the panel should comprise a retired judge, a former Bar Council [...]

继去年7月在台湾看了我人生中的最棒的演唱会－GLAY ROCK AROUND THE WORLD 2011 IN TAIPEI CITY之后， 就一直很期待再有机会感受那种激动（悸动）的心情！但是日本的摇滚乐队通常会去美国表演却很少会在亚洲各国巡回演出， 有的话也是在台湾，香港，中国和泰国等地，根本就不敢奢望他们会来马来西亚。 没想到今年4月， 日本的L'ARC-EN-CIEL（彩虹乐队）竟然会巡回到新加坡演出！而且我还是最后一个知道的人。 如果不是老公在演唱会前个星期突然问起我， 我就真的错过了！

Press Statement by DAP Secretary-General and MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on 1.5.2012.

All Malaysians Should Dress In Black And Pin A Yellow Ribbon On 3 May 2012 Not Only To Commemorate World Press Freedom Day But Also Stand In Solidarity With The Reporters And Photographers Who Either Beaten, Had Their Cameras Taken Away Or Smashed As Well As Were Victimised By Police Brutality During Bersih 3.0 Rally In Kuala Lumpur.

DAP fully supports and urges all Malaysians to dress in black and pin a yellow ribbon on 3 May 2012 not only to commemorate World Press Freedom day but also stand in solidarity with the reporters and photographers who either beaten, had their cameras taken away or smashed as well as were victimised by police brutality during Bersih 3.0 Rally in Kuala Lumpur

The public should stand in solidarity with media workers and reporters who became victims of police brutality during the peaceful Bersih 3.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday. That the police did indeed beat up members of the media is irrefutable when the Prime Minister himself whispered an apology to the Sun reporter Radzi Razak who was warded to hospital after the beating.

We strongly condemn the ugly scenes last Saturday at the Bersih 3.0 rally where many protesters, including media workers and reporters, were indiscriminately attacked and injured by police officers. Numerous reports have come in about incidents of police brutality, including Sun reporter Radzi Razak who was assaulted by up to 15 police officers, while a Malay Mail photographer was punched by the police and had his camera destroyed. A Malaysiakini reporter was arrested and his camera equipment confiscated. Even reporters from international agency Al-Jazeera were not spared, as they reported being roughed up while they tried to film an officer beating up a protester.

What has our country turned into when even the sacred rule of freedom of the press can be openly, publicly and blatantly violated. In the past, freedom of the press was curtailed secretly and not publicly with the BN imposing self-censorship by the editors. To make matters worse, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein had the audacity to brush the allegations away by claiming that it was Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the police to confiscate camera equipment. However, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar himself has now come out to contradict Hishamuddin by insisting that seizing camera equipment was not part of police SOP.

If the IGP is correct, then Hishamuddin must apologise to every reporter who was assaulted. He must also order an investigation into the misconduct of the police and bring those guilty to justice. There must be no cover up, or he will risk ruining what little reputation is left of the police.

Malaysians have great doubts as to whether a full and proper investigation will be fruitful and action taken against the perpetrators. We are reminded of similar police inaction in an incident at the First Penang Bridge on July last year when again pro-UMNO demonstrators disrupted traffic flow and beat up 2 reporters. To-date no one was arrested.

The second more serious accident happened again in an anti-Lynas rally in the Speaker’s Corner in Esplanade in Penang on 26 February, UMNO and Perkasa members behaved like thugs, violently attacking and injuring 2 reporters during an anti-Lynas rally. One of the reporters had to endure 8 stitches to close his injury.

The policemen present just stood by and did not act to stop or arrest those involved in the barbaric attacks of UMNO and Perkasa members attacking peaceful anti-Lynas demonstrators and physically force the anti-Lynas demonstrators to leave. Up to now not a single person has been either arrested or charged by Penang police.

If UMNO and Perkasa ordinary thugs can get away with assaulting reporters in Penang, with no action taken to date despite plenty of photo and video evidence, can we really expect any justice when it is the police themselves perpetrating the act this time? Only an independent inquiry comprising international experts can trusted with providing a credible report on how to apportion blame to the police so that we can find out the truth of what happened.

Lim Guan Eng

———- BM Translation———
Kenyataan Akhbar oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP dan Ahli Parlimen Bagan Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 1.5.2012

Semua Rakyat Malaysia Harus Memakai Hitam Dan Pin Reben Kuning Pada 3 Mei 2012 Bukan Sahaja Untuk Memperingati Hari Kebebasan Akhbar Sedunia Tetapi Juga Untuk Berdiri Dalam Solidariti Bersama Para Wartawan Dan Jurugambar Yang Telah Dipukul, Kamera Dirampas Atau Dipecah Serta Dimangsakan Oleh Keganasan Polis Semasa Perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 Di Kuala Lumpur.

DAP menyokong penuh dan menyeru agar semua rakyat Malaysia memakai hitam dan pin reben kuning pada 3 Mei 2012 bukan sahaja untuk memperingati Hari Kebebasan Akhbar Sedunia tetapi juga untuk berdiri dalam solidariti bersama para wartawan dan jurugambar yang telah dipukul, kamera dirampas atau dipecah serta dimangsakan oleh keganasan polis semasa perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 di Kuala Lumpur.

Pihak awam harus berdiri dalam solidariti bersama pekerja media dan wartawan yang telah menjadi mangsa keganasan polis semasa perhimpunan aman Bersih 3.0 di Kuala Lumpur Sabtu lepas. Memang sah bahawa pihak polis telah memukul para pekerja media apabila Perdana Menteri sendiri telah membisikkan maaf kepada wartawan The Sun Radzi Razak yang telah dimasukkan ke dalam wad hospital selepas dipukul.

Kami mengutuk hebat adegan-adegan ganas Sabtu lepas di perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 di mana ramai pemprotes termasuk pekerja media dan wartawan telah dipukul dan dicederakan oleh pegawai-pegawai polis. Banyak laporan yang menceritakan keganasan polis, termasuk wartawan The Sun Radzi Razak yang telah dipukul oleh sehingga 15 pegawai polis, sementara seorang jurugambar Malay Mail telah ditumbuk oleh polis dan kameranya dipecahkan. Seorang wartawan Malaysiakini pula telah ditahan dan peralatan kameranya telah dirampas. Malah wartawan antarabangsa daripada Al-Jazeera pun tidak terkecuali, apabila mereka telah dikasari semasa mengambil gambar polis sedang memukul pemprotes.

Apakah yang sudah terjadi apabila peraturan keramat kebebasan akhbar boleh dilanggar secara terbuka, umum dan terang-terangan? Dahulu, kebebasan akhbar telah disekat secara senyap dan bukan secara umum melalui penapisan sendiri oleh para pengarang. Yang lebih teruknya, Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein tergamak menyatakan bahawa tindakan untuk merampas peralatan kamera itu adalah “Standard Operating Procedure” (SOP) polis. Namun demikian, Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Ismail Omar sendiri telah menyatakan bahawa perampasan peralatan kamera itu bukanlah SOP polis, lantas bercanggah dengan Hishamuddin.

Sekiranya Ketua Polis Negara betul, maka Hishamuddin harus meminta maaf kepada setiap wartawan yang telah dipukul. Beliau harus juga memerintah agar siasatan dibuat untuk membawa pegawai-pegawai yang bersalah ke muka pengadilan. Jika ini tidak dibuat dengan terbuka dan tanpa mengaburi kebenaran, maka beliau akan lagi merosakkan reputasi polis yang sudah terhakis.

Rakyat Malaysia mempunyai keraguan sama ada siasatan yang penuh akan berhasil dan tindakan akan diambil ke atas pesalah. Kita teringat kepada tindakan pihak polis yang tidak membuat apa-apa dalam insiden Jambatan Pulau Pinang pada bulan Julai tahun lepas apabila pembantah pro-UMNO telah menggangu aliran trafik dan memukul 2 orang wartawan. Sehingga kini tidak ada sebarang penangkapan.

Insiden yang kedua pula adalah semasa perhimpunan anti-Lynas di Sudut Pidato di Padang Kota Lama, Pulau Pinang pada 26 Februari, apabila ahli-ahli UMNO dan Perkasa telah bertindak ganas dan mencederakan 2 orang wartawan. Seorang wartawan terpaksa menerima 8 jahitan kerana kecederaannya.

Pegawai-pegawai polis di sana hanya berdiri dan tidak menghentikan atau menangkap mereka yang terlibat dalam keganasan ahli-ahli UMNO dan Perkasa yang menyerang para pemprotes anti-Lynas yang aman. Sehingga sekarang, tidak ada seorang pun yang telah ditahan atau didakwa oleh polis Pulau Pinang.

Jika samseng UMNO dan Perkasa boleh bertindak ganas terhadap wartawan di Pulau Pinang tanpa sebarang tindakan diambil walaupun terdapat banyak bukti gambar dan video, bolehkah kita mengharapkan keadilan apabila pihak polis pula yang kali ini bertindak ganas? Hanya siasatan yang terdiri daripada pakar antarabangsa boleh memberi laporan yang boleh dipercayai supaya kita boleh mengetahui kebenaran apa sebenarnya yang berlaku.

Lim Guan Eng

——Mandarin Version—–

民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2012年5月1日在吉隆坡发表声明：

全体国人应该在2012年5月3日穿黑衣及配戴黄丝带，不只是纪念世界新闻自由日，同时也对那些在吉隆坡净选盟3.0大集会中，遭警方粗暴对待、殴打、相机被抢甚至摧毁的记者及摄影记者，表示团结支持。

民主行动党全力支持并促请全体马来西亚人，在2012年5月3日穿黑衣及配戴黄丝带，不只是纪念世界新闻自由日，同时也对那些在吉隆坡净选盟3.0大集会中，遭警方粗暴对待、殴打、相机被抢甚至摧毁的记者及摄影记者，表示团结支持。

公众应该与媒体工作者及记者站在同一阵线上， 他们在上周六净选盟3.0集会中，成了警方暴力的受害者。警员殴打媒体记者是不争的事实，在《太阳报》记者拉兹拉萨被打致入院后，首相也亲自在他的耳边道歉。

我们强烈谴责上个星期六净选盟3.0大集会的丑陋场面，很多示威者、包括媒体工作者及记者，都遭到警员的袭击而受伤。我们看到很多关于警方暴力的报道，包括《太阳报》记者拉兹拉萨被15名警员袭击，一名《马来邮报》记者被警员挥拳殴打、相机器材也被毁坏。一名《当今大马》记者被逮捕、相机被没收。就连国际通讯社半岛电视台也没有幸免，根据报道，他们在录取一名警员殴打示威者的片段时，遭到粗暴对待。

我们的国家什么时候变成这样？就连神圣的新闻自由也可以被公开地、粗暴地侵犯。过去，国阵静悄悄地打压新闻自由、新闻编辑也被逼自我审查。更糟的是，内政部长拿督斯里希山慕丁竟然胆敢说，警方没收相机是他们的标准作业程序（SOP）。不过，总警长丹斯里依斯迈奥玛已经站出来，与希山慕丁言论相反，说明没收相机器材不是警方的标准作业程序。

如果总警长没说错，那么，希山慕丁必须向每一名被袭击的记者道歉。他必须下令调查警方的错误行为、将这些人绳之以法。他不能掩盖事实，否则警队仅有的声誉就将被他摧毁。

马来西亚人对于当局是否能够进行全面及正式的调查、是否有结果、动粗者是否会遭对付感到怀疑。我们不禁想起，去年7月， 亲巫统示威者在槟城第一大桥示威、扰乱交通殴打两名记者时，警方当时也是袖手旁观。直到今天都没有人被逮捕。

第二宗比较严重的意外就是今年2月26日发生在槟州旧关仔角演说者角落的反莱纳斯大集会，巫统和土权组织的成员表现得像流氓那样、也反对莱纳斯大集会时致伤两名记者，其中一名受伤的记者还缝了八针。

当时值勤的警方也只是站在一旁，没有阻止他们或逮捕这些行为粗暴、攻击和平集会者、强行驱赶反莱纳斯集会者的巫统及土权组织的成员。到今天，槟州警方也还没有逮捕或提控任何人。

如果巫纺和土权的流氓在槟州攻击记者可以逍遥法外，甚至有许多图片、录像为 证，当局都没有采取行动，我们真的可以指望警方这次的粗暴行动，会有人伸张正义吗？唯有一个独立调查团（包括外国专家成员）才能提供有公信力的报告、追究警方的责任，让真相水落实出。

林冠英

28 April 2012 akan terpahat dalam sejarah negara sebagai Hari Merdeka Rakyat apabila 300,000 rakyat behimpun menuntut sebuah pilihanraya yang bebas dan adil. Wanita, anak muda serta rakyat Malaysia dari pelbagai peringkat umur hadir kerana cetusan kesedaran untuk menuntut keadilan dari penguasa yang bobrok. Mesej mereka tidak boleh disalahtafsir - mereka mahukan sebuah negara yang bebas tidak boleh diperhambakan lagi. BERSIH3.0 mewakili harapan dan impian semua rakyat Malaysia bahawa kesahehan politik mana-mana kerajaan pada masa hadapan hanya boleh dicapai melalui proses demokrasi yang tulen.

Oleh itu, tindakbalas pihak berkuasa terhadap perhimpunan tersebut, yang diwakili ratusan ribu orang dari seluruh negara sungguh mengecewakan. Ia adalah kaedah klasik sebuah rejim otoritarian menggunakan media kawalan mereka untuk melabelkan orang ramai yang menjadi mangsa penindasan serta kekejaman sebagai penjenayah.

Saya menjadi saksi kepada kebangkitan politik rakyat tatkala saya berarak bersama mereka dari Masjid Negara. Perhimpunan tersebut adalah zahir dari kesedaran, peremajaan dan harapan. Ia sebagai simbolik sebuah perhimpunan aman, sambutan kebebasan dan perpaduan dalam erti kata sebenar. Ini adalah satu pencapaian BERSIH3.0 yang akan kekal sepanjang zaman. 

Rakyat akan menyambut 28 April 2012 sebagai hari Malaysia bangkit dan berarak demi sebuah kebebasan.
Kami tidak akan gentar dengan pembohongan berterusan oleh media kawalan pemerintah. Kami punyai media yang lebih kuat dan efektif iaitu 300.000 rakyat membawa mesej BERSIH3.0 dan keadilan kepada seluruh pelusuk negara.
Biarlah rakyat bersuara dan keadilan ditegakkan.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
KETUA UMUM KeADILan
Ketua Pembangkang Dewan Rakyat
30 April 2012

2012 Penang May Day Speech by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng during the celebration of Labour Day at Dewan JKKK Taman Inderawasih Perai near Butterworth, Penang on 1 May 2012:

The Penang State Government regrets that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has set the minimum wage far below the level of RM1100 per month as suggested by PR at RM800 for Sabah, Sawarak and RM900 for Peninsular Malaysia.

Penang State Government has achieved the minimum monthly wage of RM 1,100(including allowances and cost of living) but excluding overtime. In other words all government servants in all state agencies and government GLCs as well as MPPP and MPSP get much more than RM 1100 monthly. Last year the lowest paid road sweeper and drain cleaner were given an extra monthly incentive of RM150.

However the minimum wage alone will not bring about a higher standard of living nor economic growth but may instead bring about inflation. To bring about economic prosperity and a higher standard of living requires a RM 1,100 minimum wage to be accompanied by the 3 measures of accelerated structural reforms in our economy, create more higher productivity jobs, and increasing women participation in the workforce.

Malaysian is in sore need of structural economic reforms to make our us more competitive, transparent, efficient as well as reduce leakages caused by wastage and corruption. Structural economic reforms such as open competitive tenders, full disclosure of contracts and personal assets of Ministers as well as a performance-based delivery system must carried out.

Creating more higher productivity jobs depends on how excellent our education system and its ability to build more human talents. The denial syndrome by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin that Malaysian education system is in crisis is only surpassed by his false sense of hubris that our education system is superior to Germany, United Kingdom and United States. Unless we can inject merit and performance back into our education system, Malaysia risks being left behind by neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam

Increasing women participation in the work force may be facilitated by a minimum wage. However, expanding and deepening women’s participation to higher levels of expertise can only be achieved when there is no gender discrimination in salaries and promotion opportunities.

Lim Guan Eng

—–Mandarin Version—–

槟州首席部长林冠英于2012年5月1日出席威省北海附近北赖Taman Inderawasih社区治安发展委员会的劳动节庆典，发表劳动节演讲：

每月1100令吉的最低工资（含津贴） ， 必须伴随经济结构改革加速、制造更高生产力的工作、并增加女性劳动力。

槟州政府对于首相拿督斯里纳吉宣布的最低薪资远远不及民联的1100令吉感到遗憾。沙巴及砂拉越两州的最低薪资为800令吉，而马来半岛的最低薪资为900令吉。

槟州政府已经达到最低薪资1100令吉（包括生活津贴），不包括超时工资。换句话说，所有政府机构及官联公司，包括槟岛市政局及威省市政局的公务员，每个月都会获得超过1100令吉。去年，最低收入的清道夫及清沟员工，每个月也额外获得150令吉的奖掖。

虽然单靠最低工资并不会提高生活水平或经济成长，反而可能带来通货膨胀。如果想要取得经济繁荣和更多的生活素质，每月1100令吉的最低工资（含津贴） ， 必须伴随经济结构改革加速、制造更高生产力的工作、并增加女性劳动力。

马来西亚亟需经济结构改革，以让我们更加具竞争力、透明及有效以及减少挥霍及贪污造成的浪费。经济结构改革如公开招标、公布合约内容、公布部长个人财产以及推行绩效制。

在制造高生产力的工作方面，取决于我们的教育制度和它是否能够栽培更多人才。教育部长丹斯里慕尤丁的鸵鸟心态，不仅不承认我国教育制度面临危机，还 错误傲慢地说我们的教育制度胜过德国、英国及美国。除非我们在教育制度重新贯彻绩效及表现，否则我们可能落后领国如：泰国、印尼及越南。

女性劳动力可能会随着最低工资政策而增加。但是，唯有在没有性别薪金歧视及升职机会差歧视的情况下，才能扩大及让更多女性晋身专业的领导高层。

林冠英

Yellow! (Hellow)

Before you go ahead and read the rest of this post… please read the disclaimer first :)

1. I can has bad english. :P
2. I’m not going to be very detail and skip the whole itinerary update.
3. I might be wrong. or right.
4. You are entitled to agree or disagree.

***

What is wrong with Malaysia?

1. Everything.
2. I highly suggest travelling for those of you who’ve not been outside of Malaysia.
   A simple visit to Singapore, might just open your eyes. The way our neighbors are governing their people and resources are highly intelligent. If you think Malaysia is perfect… ask yourself this question.
   a) Have you seen “Visit Malaysia” Ads in Overseas?
   b) Have you seen Ads promoting other countries in Malaysia? IE : Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Thailand… etc
3. Did you notice the cost of living is constantly increasing in Malaysia but our wages are not?
4. Are you aware that Malaysia is in 53% Debt and may go bankrupt in the next decade if the government continue to spend on unnecessary expenditure and do not curb wastage?
5. Are you one of the tax payers complaining about the 50M email project or even the cow herding drama… which is now a silent issue? Are you supportive of Lynas building a rare earth plant in Gebeng Pahang?
6. Have you heard of a ring that cost 24.4Million MYR that belongs to the first lady of Malaysia? What is your view of the FLOM?
7. Can you afford a property in Malaysia in the next 5 years down the road?
8. Have you ever bribed a police officer? :)
9. Do you think our country would have developed better in the hands of a better leader?
10. Do you know how the Electoral System works in Malaysia? (And how much money was spent on improving it?)

What is wrong with the people in Malaysia? (This is a general statement.. it doesn’t imply that im saying you are like that but you might be :P lalala)

1. IGNORANT. Do i need to elaborate further?
2. Scared/Afraid/Compliant. Most of us will do anything that will not cause us to go into any trouble; especially with PDRM. Once you’re behind bars, our voices are gone and our rights as well.
3. Brainwashed. Mostly by the mainstream media. People are fed with what the G wants you to hear and believe every day through the media we are so used and comfortable with. I shall not name them here.

But… above all… Malaysians are actually…

1. United. The people do not know of it’s power. We have been suppressed from this idea that we are living in a democratic country where the people’s rights are above anything else. When the right event happens, our true color shines. We stand united with a common goal and we achieve more than what we expect.
2. Harmonious. Malays, Indians, Chinese, and all the other races. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we belong in Malaysia. The only differences are our cultural background. Our blood is red, and our home is here.
3. Warm and peaceful. It is so easy to crack a chatter with anyone in Malaysia. We treat each other like family. And we care for our family members.

The reasons why I attend Bersih 3.0

1. The fact that Dataran Merdeka was locked down. 
Just look at all the other countries where bersih 3.0 happened. Was there any chaos? Any Riot?

The rally was meant to be peaceful and will be as such if DBKL have given their co-op to the organizers regarding this matter.

The permit wasn’t obtained to held Bersih 3.0 at DM… and the reason given was that it is not a national event. Bersih 3.0 is for a clean and fair elections in the next GE, in what degree is that not national?

3 layers of Razor Wires were deployed to barricade entrance to Dataran Merdeka. Are we some sort of criminals and is there a need to do so?

A permit to held bersih 3.0 will be given if the organizers agree to held this in Stadium Bukit Jalil. Can Bukit jalil stadium hold 300 000 people in the first place?

2. I am sick of tired of complaining in facebook. It is time to make a change.
Some argued, if you want to make a change… VOTE.

Well, hell yeah i will.

The question is… Is the Electoral System in Malaysia Clean and fair in the first place? And is it TOO much to ask for a clean and fair Electoral System?

Let me reiterate the 8 demands of Bersih 1, 2 and 3

1. Clean the electoral roll

The electoral roll is marred with irregularities such as deceased persons and multiple persons registered under a single address or non-existent addresses. The electoral roll must be revised and updated to wipe out these ‘phantom voters’. The rakyat have a right to an electoral roll that is an accurate reflection of the voting population.

 

2. Reform postal ballot

The current postal ballot system must be reformed to ensure that all citizens of Malaysia are able to exercise their right to vote. Postal ballot should not only be open for all Malaysian citizens living abroad, but also for those within the country who cannot be physically present in their voting constituency on polling day. Police, military and civil servants too must vote normally like other voters if not on duty on polling day.

The postal ballot system must be transparent. Party agents should be allowed to monitor the entire process of postal voting.

 

3. Use of indelible ink

Indelible ink must be used in all elections. It is a simple, affordable and effective solution in preventing voter fraud.

 

4. Minimum 21 days campaign period

The EC should stipulate a campaign period of not less than 21 days. A longer campaign period would allow voters more time to gather information and deliberate on their choices.

 

5. Free and fair access to media

It is no secret that the Malaysian mainstream media fails to practice proportionate, fair and objective reporting for political parties of all divide.

 

6. Strengthen public institutions

Public institutions must act independently and impartially in upholding the rule of law and democracy.

 

7. Stop corruption

Corruption is a disease that has infected every aspect of Malaysian life. We demand that serious action is taken against ALL allegations of corruption, including vote buying.

 

8. Stop dirty politics

Malaysians are tired of dirty politics that has been the main feature of the Malaysian political arena.

3. I have decided it’s time to see things with my own eyes, than to read and experience everything behind monitors (or TV/Newspapers)
To know that other fellow Malaysians were brave enough to fight for their future, i know that i can do it too.
Yes, i am afraid just like you, if i end up behind bars or something. Or if i die from suffocation or sudden violence from the police (from what i’ve read in Bersih 2.0).

But let me tell you something.

I am more afraid that my future and my children’s future will be non existent if the country continues to be lead by the wrong hands. I am afraid that we will no longer enjoy our current luxuries because the country’s economy will no longer prosper once it is in huge debt.

More importantly, I’m afraid, i no longer have a place to call home.

Bare in mind, i am not pro or against any political party.

***

I have plenty more reasonings and explanations to why i attended bersih 3.0. But i’ll leave that to our personal conversations over teh tarik or something. I have to say my eyes have not been functioning well after the rally thanks to the tear gas that caused me to have runny nose for 2 days straight. blergh.

I have been trying to construct this post in my mind for the past 2 days but i’ve decided to just keep it straight to the point. On Saturday itself, i saw a few comments posted on my social media feeds that really makes me sad, most of it commenting that they rather do something more beneficial than to attend a rally that jams up the entire KL. Someday my child, i hope you wake up, and see the truth.

Here’s signing off with a really inspirational speech by the Sydney Parliamentary on Bersih :) click HERE :)

-J

Malaysia Chronicle

It looks like Umno is finalizing its trap to nail Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Azmin Ali for the enormously successful Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections.

PKR Rasah division leader Thanggam Raju, who is now in the police lockup at the Balai Polis Jinjang, is due to be remanded. No details are available yet.

Thanggam is the ‘Indian man’ that Umno bloggers have accused of opening the barricade gates after receiving instructions from Azmin and Anwar.

“They are linking him with the breaking of the barricade and using him to get to Azmin,” PKR vice president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Thanggam’s arrest is a propaganda move by the BN to portray Pakatan Rakyat as the agressors at the Bersih 3.0 rally. I expect they may be more such unlawful propaganda arrests.

But why haven’t the police been made accountable and punished?

If true, then this is the umpteenth time Prime Minister Najib Razak and his administration have resorted to unscrupulous and strong-arm tactics to blame the Pakatan.

After all, whoever it was who opened the barricade’s gate, it still does not absolve the police from their excessive, dangerous and overly brutal response.

In the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally of 2011, there was a similar pattern of denial and obstruction. A classic case was the police firing tear gas into the grounds of the Tung Shin Hospital, but refusing to admit it.

MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, who also the Health minister, and Chua Soi Lek, the MCA president, were roped in to help in the charade to defend the police. Eventually, Liow was forced to apologize but the police were unpunished.

It looks like history is now repeating itself, with the drama and noise turned to the maximum to direct blame at Anwar and Azmin, while delecting attention that nearly 300,000 Malaysians had spoken up against Najib’s rule.

“Why has no policeman been arrested for the criminal attacks upon the public on April 28. Why no action on the arrests ad assaults of journalists. BN is acting like the Nazis,” said Surendran.

Making use of the press and City Hall

At their post-Bersih press conference held on Monday, Anwar and Azmin had condemned the police violence and rebutted accusations that they were the ones who gave the signal for the crowd to breach a police barricade.

One of the journalist present, however, stood up and said he heard Azmin say, “Dataran Merdeka…can enter..can enter”.

“Lies”, Azmin immediately refuted the allegation.

Some have called the current finger-pointing a ‘blame game’ but that might be a bit too naive.

During the height of the Datuk T sex DVD scandal against Anwar, it was found that top editors of the mainstream media were not only briefed about the scandal, but they had actually helped Najib’s media advisers concoct the conspiracy aimed to destroy Anwar’s credibility.

But the plot failed and Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition is now rated as being poised to wrest the federal government. As such, the likelihood is high that Najib has once again made full use of the mainstream media and its staff to pursue his political ambitions.

Indeed, just a day ago, Surendran revealed that Najib’s cousin – Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein – had called a meeting of top editors, waring them not to report on the police violence.

Nonetheless, Hisham’s order could not stop furious rally participants from bombarding You Tube and the Internet with thousands of photos and video clips that showed the police did really over-react. In many instances, the police were caught going after their quarry in groups of 7 to 8 – often versus only a solitary and unarmed victim.

Deflecting attention that 300,000 came to protest Najib’s rule

The press was also warned to downplay the size of the Bersih 3.0 turnout as this could affect voter confidence in Najib’s BN coalition, which is still trying to hold snap polls as early as possible. More than 250,000 people – i.e. hundreds of thousands – had come to the main rally centre in Dataran, five other states in the country, and 71 cities in 29 countries.

Yet, the national news agency reported only 25,000 had turned out, another news portal reported 50,000 while others conceded that ‘tens of thousands came’ which carries the implication that the turnout was less than 100,000.

In defending the police violence, Najib has insisted it was due to a group of overzealous participants breaking through a barricade that prompted the severe lash back. He accused Anwar, Azmin and PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua of giving the signal to the group and instigating the people to defy the police.

However, Najib was panned for his over-simplistic explanation that does not answer why then, was the violence not limited to that spot or section of the vast rally? There are news reports and hundreds of eye-witness that police had inexplicably chased participants for several kilometers all over Chinatown, creating some panic and confusion.

Najib was also ridiculed for his explanation that City Hall had refused to allow the rally to be held in the Dataran because it feared a long-term Occupy Wall Street-type of situation. But throughout the weeks of negotiation with Bersih’s Ambiga Sreenevasan and Samad Said, not once did Najib or City Hall mention this reason. Moreover, if long-term occupation was part of the Bersih 3.0 plan, their supporters could have sat and occupied the roads nearby to the Dataran instead. But the crowd dispersed and went home.

Preplanned attack: Demand for liberation heard loud and clear

In the aftermath of the police violence, the 58-year-old Najib has been fishing for excuses to wriggle out from a nasty and sensitive political situation. The police have always been subservient to his Umno party, and he cannot be seen to punish them without losing their support eventually.

Signs are indeed emerging his administration had pre-planned the police attack with the intention to turn the tables on Anwar and Pakatan even though such a ruthless move would have to come at the expense of public safety. True or not, Najib also received a helping hand from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the mainstream media.

However, against startling and horrific video and photographic evidence, public opinion is still with the Bersih 3.0 organizers, Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat.

While addicted to politics, Malaysians have tended to be timid, hardly daring to speak out against the establishment. But the April 28 rally appears to be a key turning point in the nation’s history, with Malaysians finally breaking out from their shell. If anything, they are now raring for more. Anwar himself has noticed this and said so.

“The rakyat (people) will commemorate 28 April 2012 as the day Malaysia woke up and marched for liberation in one voice,” said Anwar in a statement out on Monday.

“We shall not be intimidated by continuous lies spawned by the state media. We have a much potent and effective media in our hands as the 300,000 rakyat carry the messages of Bersih 3.0 and liberation to every corner of the nation.”

Boomeranging, Najib’s headache set to become a migraine

At the end of the day, it is hard to believe Najib expects Malaysians to believe in his ‘version’ of who and what instigated the reprehensible police crackdown.

Right from the moment Hisham said that Bersih was not a threat to national security, to City Hall immediately banning the use of the Dataran, suspicion had swirled. The 11th hour strong-arm tactics of getting a court order that effectively legitimizes police action if the crowd tried to get into the Dataran was taken as further confirmation that bad faith was in the air.

According to Tian, the attack was pre-planned. It was manipulated with the aim of smearing Anwar and Pakatan, and there was also conspiracy between Najib’s advisers, the City Hall, the police and the BN-linked media, the PKR vice president said

True or not, it is already boomeranging. Bersih supporters who were there are already gathering visual and audio evidence that prove there was indeed a heinous plot to create public disorder – the purpose of which appears to be to discredit Anwar and the Pakatan.

GE-13

If Najib succeeds in capitalising on the police attack to whittle down the Opposition Leader’s credibility, some say he might immediately dissolve Parliament and call for snap polls.

Pundits have warned, the longer Najib waits, the more likely he is to create even more blunders. Hence, it might be prudent to have the GE-13 sooner rather later while the BN can still hope to garner a simple if slim victory.

However, even that might be too late. Already, a video put out by the Najib administration claiming that it was Anwar who gave the green light has been found to have been ‘edited’ for the purpose of intentionally creating a false picture.

Additionally, as more whistle-blowers emerge, Najib will soon find his Bersih 3.0 headache becoming a roaring migraine.

But if he did indeed endanger the safety of people for his own vested interests, then he more than deserves it!

Malaysiakini

The state-owned media has once again moved to portray peaceful protesters who were victims during Bersih 3.0 as villains, says Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

This, he said in a statement today, is the typical characteristic of an authoritarian government.

“It is classic statecraft of authoritarian regimes using the state-controlled media to turn the masses who are victims of oppression and brutality into criminals,” said Anwar (right).

“I bear witness to the political awakening of the rakyat as I marched with them from Masjid Negara.

“The atmosphere was one of enlightenment, rejuvenation and hope. It was an exemplary conduct of a peaceful assembly; a celebration of freedom and unity in the truest sense.”

Describing the government’s crackdown on Bersih 3.0 as an “utter disappointment”, the de facto Pakatan leader said the rally was to sent a message that the political legitimacy of any government in future can only be attained through a genuine democratic process.

“The women, youth and men of all races and ages who came down in full force were encouraged by a sense of justice to demand liberation from usurpers.

“We shall not be intimidated by continuous lies spawned by the state media. We have a much more potent and effective media in our hands as the 300,000 rakyat carry the messages of Bersih 3.0 and liberation to every corner of the nation,” he added.

Malaysiakini Apr 30, 2012 Editors and journalists from major news outlets in Malaysia have issued a joint statement, the first of its kind in the nation’s history, blasting the government’s violence against journalists covering the Bersih 3.0 rally last Saturday. It alleged that the authorities had acted upon “orders from above” that resulted in members [...]

By Clara Chooi The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has “strongly condemned” Malaysian censors, claiming their coverage of Saturday’s Bersih 3.0 protest had been clipped on local operator Astro. “During the week of World Press Freedom Day, it would be deplorable if access to independent [...]

Ted Adnan Photography & Design salutes all “Workers of the World” on this Labour Day 2012 lah!

Lighting Info:

Nikon D3 and a couple of Nikon SB800 Speedlights with no light modifiers at all aka “Direct flash” (for that “industrial look”)

The above photo was from a self assignment done in 2009 with the original file in colour oso

 

Jeswan Kaur | May 1, 2012 Free Malaysia Today Fooling the rakyat is a trick the BN can no longer use, no thanks to its foolishness in abusing the powers of the police. COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has lauded the police for doing a fine job in handling last Saturday’s Bersih 3.0 rally. [...]

— Dahlia Martin The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 MAY 1 — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s popularity took a hit following a harsh crackdown on demonstrators at July’s 2011 Bersih rally. Looking to salvage his image as a reformer, Najib immediately set up a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to look into the issue of [...]

By Pang Teck Yaw The Malaysian Insider May 01, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — My name is Pang Teck Yaw. I am a student of law. I must admit reading law has been both a joyful and heartbreaking experience. During the course of my study, I read about the concept of separation of power, [...]

By Marcus van Geyzel | 30 April 2012 Marcus van Geyzel records what he personally witnessed at Bersih 3.0. There are so many stories and perspectives from Bersih 3.0 on 28 April 2012. Many first-hand accounts have already been published online, and I’m sure the coming days and weeks will see many more articles and [...]

When Nancy Lublin started texting teenagers to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was shocking — they started texting back about their own problems, from bullying to depression to abuse. So she’s setting up a text-only crisis line, and the results might be even more important than she expected.

Of course another way to save lives is to practice Safe Texting

from the Malaysian Medical Resources

Nancy Lublin: Texting that saves lives

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??????????????? Old Town Coffee ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Facebook ?????????????

?????????????????????????? (Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges) [via]????????????????????????????????????

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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Part 1: R.age Photowalk To Jalan Sultan
Part 2: Aunties & Uncles At The Wet Market

Last photo from the wet market

Uncle says Siu yok best!

We then walked to the temple. Always a good location to shoot as there are lot of dangling coils at the entrance.

Alose up from the bottom!

XingYi focus focus focus yo!

My fav shot

INCEPTI… i mean.. REFLECTION

The 4 of then kept snapping while I snapped them lol

MORE NEXT!

dtsv.dtse_post_5726_permalink = 'http://www.smashpop.net/r-age-photowalk-to-land-of-dangling-coils'; dtsv.dtse_post_5726_title = 'R.age Photowalk To Land Of Dangling Coils!';

Good day. I think I might have overexerted myself last weekend, and my whole body has been aching like a btch. It’s like having needles in the size of a thumb poking all over my back, and this time it’s my lower back. I really hope that I’ll feel better tomorrow because I don’t wanna break my routine. There’s news that I might be appearing in some morning talk show sometime this week, but nothing is confirmed yet so far. I have stopped shopping for two weeks, so that’s a mega achievement for me. Trying to save up to splurge when the time is right. Oh btw, I got my first salary last Friday. Gave them all away to my parents and two brothers. I wanted my parents to enjoy their first ‘reward’ and they looked really happy, so that’s all that matters.

The look on my dad’s face? It was priceless. I have an interesting theory about spending. Well I’m very very blessed to have everything I want, and spending power is always a blessing. Things has changed so much since I started working. Okay the whole theory that you only learn the value of money when you start working is not necessarily true cause I’ve been earning over the last couple of years through blogging; so I do feel the pinch whenever I spend. I wouldn’t consider myself a good example when it comes to living life sometimes because I like expensive things. Things that I don’t wear out, because I don’t want anyone’s first impression of me to be materialistic or that I’m some spoiled brat. I think expensive bags are highly affordable to be honest, but I want to get it with my own money. Heck, I’d rather spend on my dog. Brownthepom would probably have a happier month ahead with more dog snacks.

Luxury is a blessing. People who flaunt luxury, you’re technically flaunting your blessings from God. So “with a 9GAG Bitch Please” face, if you wanna be humble; be. If you wanna be a show off; be. Don’t try being humble and a show off at the same time. Hypocrites. But anyway that’s not what I’d like to stress out on today. I think that spending money on things helps to fill up the void we have inside. I only noticed this disorder over the last three months, where people who believe in shopping and filling their lives with things are statistically lonely or dissatisfied. Nothing is ever enough; nothing makes you happy.

Last year after moving to Melbourne away from my family, home and everything familiar; to be honest I felt so empty. My huge room with some things I brought from home felt like an empty room. Guess what I did? I’ve filled it up, so much that I’m kinda regretting it now. I have way too many clothes, my winter clothing is enough to last me for a year and let’s not talk about shoes. It’s crazy, and lesson number one; retail therapy is a bad idea when you’re lonely. Things obviously got better because Leon appeared and he filled up my room with his stuff; so you can imagine the amount of stuff. And soon enough, it felt a little more like home again.

My workstation;

Conceptual ideas in sketches.

I’m still keeping my sketch books, ahhh memories.

Once upon a time, this was home.

This was part of my shoes in Melbourne in August, funny thing was; I wore the same pair of flats to uni everyday. T_T

Late night laundry baby? HAHAHA

LOL my parcel has arrived.

Meet my love & passion.

All that feels so far away now. I look back at old photos from last year and it made me realize how things are so different now. I want different things now. I want to look smashing (getting there), make a great architect, make tonnes of money of spend on my face,hair and health, and save up to spend on my family. I feel like I already have everything. I’m happy and I found peace within. It’s something I can’t explain. It’s not like I’m settling down with what I have now, in terms of achievement; I want to be at my best. Working life has taught me the value of humility, and it has boosted up my confidence in my field of expertise. As much as blogging has done wonders for me, I think the hard work is finally paying off now. It’s a great feeling to not rely or depend on things to keep you readers hooked, and every penny I earn goes to my savings. So I have to thank you for staying strong with me over the years.

Blogging has kept me sane and grounded. It has opened up doors for me to new people, some perks of working closely with social media, and what I gain most from this; self discovery. I’ve got to admit that it’s fun to have a taste of fame, but it gets old. It gets boring when you find new a level of satisfaction in life. Like a career. I want more for myself. I want to make my dad proud, and give him a peace of mind. The daughter I raised has bloomed into that lady I’ve visioned her to be. That’s my main drive at the moment. The trouble with fame and popularity, you might end up being so caught up with it that you end up losing yourself. I still feel damnnnnnn shy when people give me the “yeah of course I know who you are, you’re _______ and “throws in a recent blog post content”. Being away in Melbourne has opened up my eyes that we should never stop striving to be better. The wants and needs of people are different elsewhere around the world.

Don’t get yourself trapped in a balloon, one day it might just pop.

It’s the First of May. It will always be special to me, it’s our day. So much has changed, seasons have come and gone; we’re still together in one piece. We’ve made music out of microphones and fights over the phone. I don’t know how the next year is gonna be, but it’s been a great one year of love & friendship. I used to be so afraid of losing what we have, but right now; I’ve found my answers. Whatever will be, will be. Relationship is about the fight to be together, and to bring out the best in one another. I’m really thankful with how things worked out. If it wasn’t for the hard fall, I wouldn’t have worked so hard for my finals. We wouldn’t have realized how much we’ve changed one another. So much that the people in our lives find it hard to believe. Over a short span of one year. I was literally depressed in 2010. I’m gonna make sure I achieve my resolutions in 2012.

Happy One Year Anniversary. You’d better treat me like a queen.

• We’re a team. So please, when we play games tomorrow; if we’re playing on an ambush on a hero, please watch my back. Don’t spend all your focus killing like today. You could have slowed him down, and saved me. Teamwork please.
• Please finish all your chocolates and get f*t. HAHAHA. I insist, demand and just eat on my behalf.
• Thanks for being so patient and focused on your studies. I love nerds and hardworking people. Dislike laziness.
• Lastly, despite all that we’ve been through; we came out as winners. Music comes to life with you.

 

The pause is as important as the note.

No related posts.

Read the Malay Mail, PM: Minimum wage to apply six months from gazette.

1. RM 4.33 per hour in Semenanjung, and RM 3.85 per hour in Sabah & Sarawak. Why are there disparities with Borneo people Najib? Different cost of living? Come on PM, that is the perks of working in rural areas.

2. All sectors excepts domestic worker e.g. maid, gardener and similar category. This is not minimum wage, this is the going rate for such job at the moment. However, Najib has noted that he is aware the desired salary would be RM 1.2k- 1.5k, but could not realised that as it may introduce chaos in job market.

3. 12 months exemption for micro entreprise, except professional firm like medical, legal, architect and engineering which have to roll out within 6 months. Makes sense.

For the rest of it, you can read it via the link above.

 

Malaysiakini Apr 30, 2012 Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should conduct a thorough and swift investigation on violent acts in Bersih 3.0, including those on journalists, and charge the perpetrators. A group of six journalism associations issued a joint statement requesting this yesterday. They are the Centre for Independent Journalism, Charter 2000 Aliran, Journalists Union [...]

“Imminent Forced Migration of 1,800 MAS employees from Subang to KLIA” Yours truly was prompted by an insider to surf the communication portal run by MESA at http://.mesaonline.net  A new posting in the portal’s home page, is reproduced below. Obviously the MESA Union had raised valid questions to MAS through the Human Capital Dept on [...]

Petang tadi telah berlangsungnya prosiding enceraian Rita Rudaini dan suaminya, Aidil Zafuan di Mahkamah Rendah Syariah Petaling Jaya. Ternyata Rita tidak bersetuju dengan permohonan penceraian yang dibuat oleh suaminya dan memohon Aidil memberikan alasan kukuh. Untuk makluman, Aidil dan Rita … Continue reading →

Nora Danish pernah menyatakan dia akan menunaikan umrah pada masa bekas suaminya, Rizal Ashram Ramli dan Fasha Sandha melangsungkan pernikahan. Nora dan Adi Putra yang merupakan duta untuk Triways Travel telah melangsungkan umrah sejak 27 April lepas. Ini ialah gambar-gambar … Continue reading →

Ein digitales Whiteboard wird auch als interaktives Board oder auch Smartboard bezeichnet. Dieses digitale Whiteboard wird an einen Beamer angeschlossen und an die Wand projiziert und ist an einen Computer angeschlossen. Durch diese Projektion kann man für alle sichtbar den Computer bedienen und eingaben machen. Dies geschieht durch Sensoren und man kann die Tasten entweder durch einen kabellosen Stift, der mit einer Batterie betrieben wird oder per Fingerdruck bedienen.

Digitales Whiteboard an verschiedenen deutschen Schulen
An verschiedenen deutschen Schulen wird schon so ein digitales Whiteboard eingesetzt, als Ersatz für die Schultafel. Dies hat der Vorteil, dass man komplette Tafelbilder speichern kann und zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt wieder in der Klasse verwenden kann. Oftmals wird so ein im Unterricht entwickeltes Tafelbild in Papierform an die Schüler verteilt, sodass es dann als Lernhilfe dient beziehungsweise als Gedankenstütze eingesetzt wird. Ein weiterer Pluspunkt gegenüber herkömmlichen Schultafeln sind die Sauberkeit und das Fehlen von Kreidestaub.

Heftige Diskussionen um die neuen Technologien
Wie bei allen neuen Technologien gibt es auch hier Menschen, die dem Whiteboard, vor allem in Schulen kritisch gegenüberstehen. So sehen sie auch den hohen Strombedarf und das des Öfteren die Birnen von den Beamern defekt sind. Vielleicht ist das auch der Grund, warum das Whiteboard hier in Deutschland, noch nicht an allen Schulen eingesetzt wird. Aber die Technologie wird immer besser und so ein Whiteboard ist auf jeden Fall praktisch und sollte mehr eingesetzt werden. Denn Firmen haben das Whiteboard schon lange als nützliches Werkzeug für ihre Firmen erkannt und nutzen diese moderne Präsentationstechnik.

去年709净选盟2.0集会的出席人数，净选盟声称有超过5万人，警方的数据则是5、6千人；近日的428净选盟3.0集会，净选盟号称有25万至30万人出席，警方的说法则是2万5千人左右。

到底净选盟有没有夸大出席人数，警方有没有报小数，以现今的高空摄影乃至卫星摄影技术，要计算出来并不是困难的事，所以无论是净选盟或警方，对本身发布的数据应该都心里有数。重点在于，出席集会的人数，不仅仅是一个数字游戏，而是具有关键的指标价值，此所以双方都要发布属于自己的统计，因为这组数字多少透露出了目前国阵政权的底气，究竟有多扎实。

如果参与428集会的人数，和709集会的人数不相上下，或仅仅增加少许，那么国阵政府大可松一口气。但是现在无论是根据净选盟或执政当局的统计，428人数确定比709人数多上许多，这就不能不使纳吉政府忧心忡忡。

在2010到2011年间席卷中东国家的“茉莉花革命”，相继下台或被推翻的独裁者如突尼斯的本阿里、埃及的穆巴拉克、也门的萨利赫、利比亚的卡达菲等，除了卡达菲是被群众虐死之外，本阿里、穆巴拉克和萨利赫都是被迫自动交出权力。四个独裁者下场的一个共同点是，他们并不是在选举中（如果他们的国家有选举或者有公平选举的话），被人民的选票所否决的，而是在绵延不绝、规模不断扩张的群众示威浪潮中，被逼得黯然下台。

这就是428集会出席人数具有指标价值的原因所在——民主选举固然是建立或否决一个政权统治合法性的最文明方式，但是群众走上街头的规模，从来都是决定一个政权认受性的最原始指标。因此本阿里、穆巴拉克、萨利赫和卡达菲，固然并不是被选票所推翻，事实上也无需被选票所推翻，因为只要看上街反政府的群众规模，立即就能检验出他们政权的底气。

国阵的情况，当然还不至于像那几个北非国家那么坏。问题是，在上届大选，国阵获得国会议席的总得票率是50.38%，只比反对党的46.63%高出一些，而在半岛，国阵的得票率却比反对党的50.23%低，即49.65%。虽然在较后的一系列补选中，各族选票都有程度不一的向国阵回流的趋势，尤其是在乡区或半城乡地区，此外，根据民调，首相纳吉的民意整体上也持续高企，但是国阵要夺回国会3分2议席优势，恐怕并不容易。

执政当局是选择接纳群众诉求，还是继续镇压群众抗争，这视乎群众上街的规模是否已到达足以威胁政权存续的临界点。中国广东乌坎村村民反抗官商勾结、私卖土地的运动，中共当局从开始时风声鹤唳的镇压，到后来几乎全盘接受村民诉求并圆满解决课题，其中情势的大转变，最能说明所谓临界点的存在。

428集会使国阵再次失分，成为这个老牌政治联盟的另一场公关灾难，但是危机总包含着转机，如果纳吉有诚意推动国家的真正改革转型，那么出席集会的人数，恰恰是他能够用以抗衡执政集团内阻挡改革的顽固分子的最强大后盾。


（本文刊登于4月30日《星洲日报》专栏）