DAP to use jobs, not race, to challenge PAS rule in Hulu Langat

Young Syefura Othman urged voters to consider the repercussions of the goods and services tax and the country’s financial scandals, such as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, on their livelihood, at a ceramah in Hulu Langat yesterday. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, September 26, 2017.

FEMALE and Malay, Young Syefura Othman believes that the issues of unemployment and rising cost of living – and not race – are DAP’s best hopes of wresting control of Dusun Tua in Hulu Langat from PAS in the next general election.

The 27-year-old Syefura, more popularly known as Rara, is DAP’s state assembly coordinator and most likely candidate to challenge Dusun Tua’s incumbent Razaly Hassan of PAS, who won the seat in 2013.

The state constituency consists of 53% Malay voters, 38% Chinese and 7% Indians.

Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said earlier this month that PAS won many seats in the last general election because of the support from non-Malays, a situation that will likely not repeat itself with the Islamist party cutting off ties with the opposition pact.


However, Syefura, a former nurse, admitted it would be a challenge for her team to reach out to isolated pockets of Malay voters living in areas just within the fringes of Kuala Lumpur.

In the traditional kampung, Syefura said she has been actively organising job training programmes, such as sewing and cooking classes, and has received positive response from many younger voters.

“There are young people who have trouble looking for jobs.

“The trouble is that they keep to themselves. They stay in their own place and even in Facebook, they have their own circle. They don’t look outside.”

She said the issue of race still inevitably crops up, but her team will continue to divert the focus to issues affecting the people’s quality of life and their ability to provide for their families.

“Undeniably, there’s been some stigma at first due to me being in DAP. So, we focus on things that they can relate to and would help them. The younger generation is more receptive to this.

“We want to show that DAP is concerned about people living in the rural areas. We want to remove race-based sentiments.”

At a ceramah last night in Hulu Langat, Syefura also urged voters to consider the repercussions of the goods and services tax (GST) and the country’s financial scandals, such as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), on their livelihood.

“The cost of everything has increased,” she told an audience of mostly Malay villagers and Chinese traders.

“This is our country. We have a right to ask where our money went to. We need to ask why the billions have gone missing and now our country has to pay for it. Where does the money come from? From people like us.” – September 26, 2017.

What’s at stake at PAS’ big beach ‘uprising’ this weekend

PAS is leading a bloc called Gagasan Sejahtera Rakyat that rivals Pakatan Harapan and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional. It aims to attract 200,000 supporters at its gathering in Terengganu on Friday and Saturday. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, September 27, 2017.

AFTER months of mixed signals, PAS will finally state its plans to capture Putrajaya in the 14th general election by leading the country’s second opposition bloc.

This weekend, the country’s second largest party by membership, will hold a gathering dubbed fastaqim 2.0, a rally that is meant to both unite PAS and prove that it is a formidable political player.

PAS leads a bloc called Gagasan Sejahtera Rakyat that rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH), and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

But more than the gathering, which PAS hopes to attract 200,000 supporters, will be the announcement from party leaders on two prominent national figures who will be joining the Islamist party.


PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said this will be the biggest surprise at the fastaqim.

“Who are those people? It’s not appropriate for me to reveal it right now. Wait until for the highlight of the fastaqim. God willing, these leaders will declare their intention to join us,”  he said.

This echoed a similar announcement by Umno two weeks ago when it was rumoured that it will get several lawmakers from the opposition to switch sides to BN.

However, the only switchover was by former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who left PKR to re-join Umno.

Analysts and PH leaders doubt that PAS and its coalition can muster enough support from the wider Malaysian public to capture the more than 100 parliamentary seats to form the federal government.

PAS leaders believe that the fastaqim, which translates to “uprising”, is a first step to proving those sceptics wrong.

The rally will also signal whether PAS and Gagasan will cooperate with PH to minimise three-cornered fights – which analysts have said historically benefitted BN.

PAS boasts that the rally will see more than 200,000 supporters converging at Pantai Teluk Jembal, Kuala Terengganu, on Friday and Saturday.

PAS will also officially launch its election machinery at the gathering, said the Temerloh MP.

PAS held its first fastaqim in October 2015 in Kota Baru, Kelantan, just shortly after 18 leaders left to form Amanah. Some 60,000 people turned up at that event.

This year’s gathering will be joined by Gagasan component members Parti Ikatan Malaysia (Ikatan), Berjasa and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM).

GE14 goals

Political analyst Hisomuddin Bakar believes that the gathering will give a clear indication as to PAS’ stand when it comes to PH.

“Presently, there some unresolved issues, as there are certain quarters who are still open to the idea of cooperating with Pakatan Harapan,” said Hisomuddin of the Ilham Centre.

“The talk is that the doors to (PH component member) PKR may be closed, but they’re not locked.”

A high-level retreat in Perak recently gave the green light to PAS grassroots leaders to continue talks with rival opposition parties, PKR and Bersatu.

But PH decided on August 28 to end talks with PAS.

Nasrudin said PAS will contest more than 100 parliamentary seats compared with 66 when it was allied with DAP and PKR in GE13.

“So far, it’s not finalised but the figure can rise above 100 seats and it’s possible to put candidates all over the country.

“Maybe 130 or 140 seats. We shall see how far PAS goes. There is no way to rule a country if your party only contests 60 to 70 seats.” 

Nasrudin said the two-day gathering would be akin a “big family day” at the beach for the party’s supporters and sympathisers.

Wong Chin Huat, political scientist with the Penang Institute, said it was “detrimental to PAS” to declare any intention to work with Umno.

“It will drive away the hardcore anti-establishment Malay votes and also confirm Amanah’s and Pakatan Harapan’s allegation that PAS has been bought over by Umno,” he said.

At this weekend’s gathering, Wong believes PAS will announce that it will contest 83, or half of the peninsula’s parliamentary seats.

“The party’s leadership will also likely stress that Muslims are under attack both at home, such as the beer and gay festivals, and globally, by referring to the Rohingya situation.

“The call will be that Muslims must unite to defend Islam and Muslim dominance in Malaysia.”

Wong also believes that the grassroots would be called to come out to vote for PAS “or at the least they must not vote for kafir harbi (non-Muslim infidel) parties and their Muslim collaborators”.

A strategy might be to accuse DAP or non-Muslims of hypocrisy, said Wong, for rejecting the ban on the beer festival and claiming that is their cultural right, but at the same time object to Act 355 (to amend the shariah court bill), which concerns Muslims.

On the 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Prime Minister Najib Razak will likely be “indirectly excused”, Wong said.

“They’ll say the evidence is not conclusive and that we must be wary of foreign intervention.

“The two-day event seems to rival Bersih 4. Many people like to claim that Bersih could not get Malays to turn out after PAS left. I’m curious to see how many they will bring.” 

PAS expanded its territories to Kedah in 1999 and Selangor and Perak only in 2008. In three-cornered fights, some of its candidates may even lose deposits, such as in 1986, when 20 candidates lost their deposits.

PAS might stand a better chance in Selangor compared with other states but its hard-line position on the beer fest will likely push some non-Muslim voters to even vote for Umno, Wong said.

Wong believes PAS’ biggest rival is Bersatu.

“I don’t think Bersatu’s real strength is in rural areas, although it is working hard there. Bersatu’s real function basically is to replace PAS as the guarantor of Malay interests within Pakatan Harapan.” – September 27, 2017.

HOW CRAZY IS THIS? MALAY MAN WEARING SHORTS TO PLAY FUTSAL FINED RM1,000 IN KELANTAN FOR EXPOSING HIS KNEES

A MUSLIM man is facing a RM1,000 fine by Kelantan religious authorities for wearing shorts to play futsal, reported The Star.

Wan Khairul Hayyee Wali was given a notice at 10.45pm yesterday and ordered to attend counselling next month, failing which he would be called to the shariah court and risked being fined if found guilty.

The 30-year-old, who has been wearing shorts to play futsal since he was in school, said he was unaware of a ruling against it.

"It came as a shock to me when a religious department enforcement officer gave me a notice, saying I had flouted the Syariah Criminal Enactment for exposing my knees.


"Seriously, they can't expect me to wear a sarong to play futsal  ," said the general worker at a wholesale store.

In yesterday's incident, he said he had tried explaining to the officer that he was on his way to play futsal and had gotten out of his car momentarily to buy a burger for his wife.

"If I did not stop to buy the burger, I would never have known that it is an offence to wear shorts even when we are on the way to play sports.

"If it is an offence, they have to make it clear to the public. How are we supposed to know that it is an offence when even football players wear shorts?  ”

Wan Khairul said he would attend the counselling session.

A state Islamic Religious Affairs Department officer said the dress code was strictly applicable to Muslims only.

"We do not take action against non-Muslims, not even even against a female non-Muslim who wears shorts in public.” – September 26, 2017.

Report: Rohingya issue shows Malaysia’s biased refugee policy

An opinion piece in the Asia Times says Putrajaya champions Muslim refugees but has failed to speak up for non-Muslim’s facing persecution, and that it is ‘a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home’.

The way Malaysia is handling the Rohingya refugees issue reflects the inconsistencies, and the bias, inherent in its refugee policy, according to an opinion piece in Asia Times.

Malaysians, especially non-Muslims, see Prime Minister Najib Razak’s championing of the Rohingya as self-serving, as he has failed to show a similar atitude towards non-Muslims who were or are being persecuted worldwide.

The comment, written by Josh Hong, says Malaysia is also showing it is “a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home” due to actions seemingly depriving non-Muslim Malaysians of their rights.

Hong, who has spent 12 years working among refugees including Rohingya in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, says although not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Malaysia hosts around 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers, more than a third of whom are Rohingya from Myanmar.

In addition, there are about 50,000 Rohingya who have yet to register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

About a year ago, Prime Minister Najib Razak, began to champion the Rohingya cause in an attempt to shore up his support among Muslim Malaysians, Hong says.

“Najib has so far organised at least one massive rally to highlight the plight of the severely persecuted Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and allowed two street protests to take place in the heart of Kuala Lumpur without the organisers having to notify the police as would otherwise be required under the much criticised Peaceful Assembly Act of 2012.”

Hong says: “To the non-Muslims in Malaysia, Najib’s pledge to help the Rohingya is widely perceived to be self-serving, given the fact that his United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the linchpin of Barisan Nasional, the multinational ruling coalition, has failed to speak up for non-Muslim refugees facing persecution worldwide, such as the religious minorities in Iraq and Pakistan.”
Giving examples, Hong says in 2015, the Najib administration deported three Tamil Sri Lankans “with the full knowledge that they could be at risk of physical abuse amounting to torture upon return, much to the chagrin of the Tamil community in Malaysia”.

Back in 1979, he says, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then deputy prime minister, had told the media that the government would not hesitate to shoot on sight boat people from Vietnam.

In 1996, Umno’s youth wing stormed a public forum in a Kuala Lumpur hotel on largely Catholic East Timor, then under Indonesian occupation, forcing it to be aborted and resulting in the arrest and detention of organisers and attendants.

The Asia Times opinion piece says one former Umno youth leader later confessed he had done it with Mahathir’s blessing.

“It is thus clear to all that while Malaysia has demonstrated solidarity with Muslim Palestinian and Bosnian refugees over the years, the same cannot be said of non-Muslim refugees worldwide.
“All this, coupled with the fact that decades of Umno dominance and state policies that favour Muslims in general and Malays in particular, has generated considerable antagonism on the part of non-Muslims.”

Just last week, Hong notes, Kuala Lumpur City Hall revoked a permit for an Oktoberfest celebration at a shopping mall following pressure from Islamic conservative forces, despite the fact that only non-Muslims would have been allowed to attend the event.

“It is seemingly trivial issues and overzealousness like this that make non-Muslim Malaysians increasingly cynical towards the effort by the state to launch a crusade on behalf of ‘downtrodden’ Muslims around the world.

“In short, a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home.”
Hong says ever since the latest crisis in Rakhine state broke out, non-Muslim netizens in Malaysia have been “highly critical of the announcement by their government to take in more Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar, as reflected in their virulent Facebook comments”.
“Many see it as a double standard par excellence, while others are deeply concerned Muslim Rohingya would be used as phantom voters in the general election to be held in less than a year from now, to the detriment of the opposition parties.

“Such fears are not without basis, for Mahathir as prime minister once wrested the East Malaysian state of Sabah back from the opposition in the 1990s through what is now infamously known as Project IC, the provision of Sabah identity cards to foreign residents of the state.”
Paradoxically, Hong says, Najib’s Rohingya initiative does not appear to have worked even among the Malays.

While the Palestinian cause and the Bosnian Muslim issue in the 1990s aroused enormous sympathies within the country’s Malay community, Hong says, the Muslim response towards the Rohingya seems to be lukewarm at best.

He suggests several reasons for this: the rising cost of living and a lackluster economy have dampened the zeal for indiscriminate Islamic unity among the Malays; and the potential number of Rohingya refugees is huge, as compared with the few hundreds of Palestinians, Bosnians and Syrians.
He also suggests that it may have also to do with the fact that the Rohingya, “being poorly educated, destitute and dark-skinned, simply do not appeal to Malaysian society at large, unlike Palestinians, Bosnians and, in recent years, Syrians, who have a European-like appearance.”
Hong also says the government’s “ad hoc and inchoate approach” to the refugee issue needs a complete rethink, with a view to signing up to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Convention and Protocol on the Status Relating to Refugees.

“Only then would justice be seen to be done for all who seek refuge in Malaysia, regardless of race, creed, faith and political persuasion.”

PAS IS IN A MESS: ‘DO IT & WE WILL WALK’ – BEHIND THE ‘FAKE RESPECT’ SHOWN TO HADI, SENIOR LEADERS ARE WARNING HIM & SON TO STOP TIES WITH UMNO

A senior PAS leader had written to the entire PAS leadership in the syura council and central committee, including to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, in a bid to stop the party’s possible cooperation with BN.

This was according to former PAS vice-president Husam Musa, who now serves as vice-president of the splinter party Amanah.


Husam claimed the letter was discussed during a PAS leadership retreat in Pulau Pangkor, Perak earlier this month, and prompted PAS to hold back any decisions on cooperating with BN.

“Based on my information about the PAS retreat in Pangkor, PAS dare not make any decision on joining forces with Umno-BN due to objections from certain quarters.

“A senior PAS leader had written to all syura council and central committee members, including the president, to object PAS from joining forces with BN,” he told a function in Kota Bharu today.

Husam did not name the senior PAS leader who wrote the letter.

The retreat in Pangkor, attended by top leaders from the syura council, central committee as well as the party’s advisory board, was intended to chart PAS’ direction in the 14th General Election.

Husam, who is also Salor state assemblyperson, claimed that PAS’ advisory board, comprising party veterans, also objected to cooperation with BN.

He claimed his former party was in a dilemma now, as there were different groups objecting to working with either BN or Pakatan Harapan.

PAS advisor Mustafa Ali, when contacted, declined to comment.

“At the moment, I am abstaining from issuing statements to the media, I’m sorry,” he said.

Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man denied PAS had discussed the matter of cooperation with Umno and BN.

“Husam does not need to be a fortune-teller, because there is no political cooperation with PAS,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Tuan Ibrahim added that Husam would do better to focus on BN instead of PAS.

– M’kini

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Zaid: Government scared of speakers, writers who ask people to think

Zaid: Government scared of speakers, writers who ask people to think

FMT Reporters | September 27, 2017

Zaid Ibrahim says that is the reason Turkish author Mustafa Akyol was detained overnight by the Islamic religious authorities, adding the authorities should differentiate between the Akyols and the Naiks of the Islamic world.
Zaid-Ibrahim-mustafa-akyol-turkish-1PETALING JAYA: DAP’s Zaid Ibrahim has condemned the detention of Turkish author Mustafa Akyol on Monday night at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
The former minister said this was a sign that the “Umno government” did not know how to differentiate between intellectual Muslim preachers and those like Zakir Naik, who only knew how to raise hatred.
“They are scared of the author who demands us to think. Those of the same religion can have different views. The excuse about credentials is just to restrict different viewpoints,” he told FMT.
Akyol was detained at the KLIA on Monday as he was preparing to board a flight to Rome on his way back to the United States.
This came after he was served a summons to appear before the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) for teaching religion without official credentials, an offence under the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act.
Akyol was released yesterday afternoon after being questioned by Jawi.
He had often spoken out against both Islamists and secularists in his home country, and is a staunch advocate of free speech in Muslim countries.


He has also criticised Muslim governments for using undemocratic laws in the name of religion.
Meanwhile, the Muslim NGO, Sisters in Islam (SIS), welcomed the news that Akyol had been released.
The NGO condemned the detention as a grave abuse of power by Jawi in its attempt to limit and monopolise the discourse on Islam in Malaysia to only those who subscribed to one particular point of view in Islam.
SIS said Malaysia was a country that continuously promoted itself as a moderate Islamic nation.
As such, SIS said it was perplexing to see that a religious authority could use and abuse its power to clamp down on individuals it deemed “unfit” or “unqualified”.
“A line should be drawn to end this absurdity in suppressing and oppressing voices that may differ from the popular narrative on the grounds that certification by a state religious authority is required for a person to speak on and share their knowledge on Islam.
“It is essential for us to provide a space, especially within the public sphere, to allow for discourse and debates, especially in regard to religion.
“If we could allow for individuals to recite hate, prejudice and racism under the name of religion, why is a man like Mustafa Akyol, who is known to advocate moderate and peaceful Islam, under scrutiny?” said SIS in an email reply to FMT.
The Muslimah NGO called on the government to take this issue seriously and stop the abuse of power by religious authorities.

NAJIB HAS BEEN PM FOR 9 YEARS, IN THE CABINET FROM AGE 25 – WHY DIDN’T HE RIGHT HIS FATHER & KU LI’S WRONG TOWARDS THE PEOPLE OF SARAWAK

Former premier Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was recently feted to a welcoming party by Sarawakians. How is it that a man once reviled for contributing to the underdevelopment of the Hornbill state now be so well-received? Sarawak’s Pakatan Harapan has of course deflected any blame towards the former strongman.

It was quick to point out that the erosion of Sarawak rights enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 occurred under the leadership of then prime minister Tun Hussein Onn while the ability to control its own natural resources diminished with the passing of the Petroleum Resource & Petroleum Development Act 1974 happened during Tun Abdul Razak Hussein’s tenure.


Tun Mahathir’s visit to Sarawak is timely as the political parties all gear up ahead of the next general elections, which must be held by August of next year. As chairman of the opposition coalition Tun Mahathir has been hitting the campaign trail steadfastly promoting Pakatan Harapan as an alternative to the incumbent government.

Yet his speech had failed to deliver anything concrete for the people of Sarawak. Vague assurances and equally unconvincing promises were all that Pakatan Harapan had to offer. Political rhetoric was certainly the order of the day.



What is truly disappointing is that Tun Dr. Mahathir has refused to acknowledge his role in the lack of development in East Malaysia. It is one thing to easily shift the blame to the late prime ministers but it is an entirely different thing when a leader does not owns up to his lack of action. Tun Dr. Mahathir was in power for 22 years. He had over two decades to undo what the former leaders had done. He could have restored Sarawak rights as envisioned under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Likewise Tun Dr. Mahathir should have amended the Petroleum Resources & Petroleum Development Act 1974 so the state would receive a bigger amount of oil earnings. But neither materialized simply because he benefitted from the status quo. Tun Dr. Mahathir lacked the political will to act in the interest of Sarawak.

It will be the first time in Malaysia’s history the upcoming polls will be fiercely fought by all parties. As a seasoned politician Tun Dr. Mahathir has honed his skills to perfection. The electorate should be wary of his false pretenses.

– Malaysian Access