Group deplores anti-Christian billboards in polls drive

Group deplores anti-Christian billboards in polls drive

12:22PM May 1, 2013

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is appalled at the putting up of two anti-Christian messages on election campaign billboards, and wants the Election Commission to pull them down.

Describing such acts as despicable, CFM chairperson Dr Eu Hon Seng said the message pits the Muslims against Christians by spreading fear and scare tactics over the issue of ‘Allah’ where the Kuala Lumpur High Court has allowed its usage as part of the right to freedom of religion.

“CFM and other Christian leaders have in the past said that bumiputera Christians whose only common language is Bahasa Malaysia had used the Bible in BM and the word ‘Allah’ for centuries without any resistance until recently.

“Hence, it is extremely mischievous and malicious to pit Muslims against Christians who have always enjoyed good relationships, to gain political points with such blatant misinformation,” Eu said in a statement.

“Christians and all right-thinking Malaysians should rightly condemn such inflammatory election campaign billboards and all such campaign materials. We strongly urge the EC to immediately remove such billboards and materials. The authorities should investigate and charge the persons responsible,” he said, urging Malaysians to also report such billboards or campaign materials to the police.

The billboards carry the message “Do you want to see your grandchildren praying in Allah’s house” and two pictures of churches with the cross and the words “Gereja Allah”. CFM does not however, state where the pictures were taken.

Nube threatens to defeat Subra in Segamat

P.140 Segamat (13^th General Election on May 5, 2013)

46,262 (20,093/43.43% Malays; 21,393/46.24% Chinese; 4,641/10.03% Indians)

Vote for Change, for our children’s future

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 Nube threatens to defeat Subra in Segamat

Nigel Aw 8:55AM May 1, 2013

JOHOR The National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) is planning on a sustained picket in Segamat against the BN incumbent, Dr S Subramaniam, who is defending his seat.

Subramaniam (right in photo), the caretaker human resources minister, is already having to deal with the rising momentum of campaigning by PKR rival Chua Jui Meng (left in photo).

Nube has vowed to hold three consecutive days of picketing from today - Labour Day - to ensure Subramaniam is defeated in Segamat.

"He has been the worst human resources minister ever. We will make sure he is no longer minister (after the 13th general election on Sunday)," Nube president Tan Eng Hong said when contacted.

Nube is upset that Subramaniam had supported the formation of an internal union in Maybank which has diluted its own influence over employee-related matters.

Met at a dinner in Segamat last night, Subramaniam hit out at Nube for playing politics.

"Of course it is political, it is definitely political as it is a union issue, but they are politicising it,” he said.

"It should be resolved within the union and the (Malaysian) Trades Union (Congress). I hope the people will understand.

"To me, what they are doing is wrong as it is already in court ... Why do you (Nube) have to bring it to an election, take it to the streets and picket? It is not a good culture.”

Subramaniam said he had proposed that Maybank employees should vote on whether they want an internal union or Nube, but that the latter had rejected it.

He also claimed that 3,000 of the employees were not in favour of Nube.

Asked if he feels this will affect his chances in the election, Subramaniam replied: "I don't know, we will explain to the people about the exact situation.”

Even though the number of bank workers in Segamat is not significant, the picket is expected to have some impact on Subramaniam’s campaign.

Chua powers on

This eleventh hour assault on Subramaniam comes as Chua's team gains a stronger footing after a 20,000-strong turnout at Pakatan Rakyat's ceramah in Segamat last Wednesday.

On Monday night, Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan’s star power was borrowed to reach out to the Indian Malaysian community.

About 400, the majority of who were from the community, were present.

Chua, who is Johor PKR chief, has been campaigning without fanfare in the Malay heartland of the constituency over the past few days.

It is learnt that he has strengthened PKR's machinery by drawing resources from neighbouring constituencies.

Anwar faces last, best shot in Malaysia vote

Wednesday, 01 May 2013 04:58

Anwar faces last, best shot in Malaysia vote

KUALA LUMPUR- Cast into the political wilderness 15 years ago by Malaysia's ruling party, Anwar Ibrahim faces his best and possibly last shot at vengeance in climactic elections on Sunday.
The former heir-apparent to the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) is today its most feared enemy, having galvanised a diverse opposition that now dreams of unseating one of the world's longest-serving governments.
"I can be crazy in some ways, partly because I have gone through a lot," Anwar, 65, told AFP in an interview.
"But I just want to prove that you can run the country with good governance, eliminate corruption... and make Malaysia a mature democracy."
UMNO has towered over the moderate Muslim country through a coalition government since independence from Britain in 1957, but faces rising pressure over corruption and authoritarian tactics.
Much of the credit for the changing landscape goes to the mercurial Anwar, whose charisma, oratorical skills and appeal across multi-ethnic Malaysia's racial lines breathed life into a once-hapless opposition.
His three-party Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact) faces a formidable, dug-in foe, yet many analysts say the result is too close to call.
An opposition victory would cap a remarkable journey for Anwar, whose chameleon career has transformed Malaysian politics.
He was an Islamic student leader whose natural political skills caught the eye of authoritarian former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who dominated Malaysia for 22 years and fast-tracked Anwar to the top.
Morphing into a reformist who was lionised in the West, Anwar looked set to succeed Mahathir.
But a 1998 power struggle between them, in which Anwar criticised cronyism and graft, saw him unceremoniously sacked and later jailed on sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.

His appearance in court with a black eye triggered global opprobrium and unprecedented anti-government protests in Malaysia, deeply polarising its politics.

"The groundswell in Malaysian society today is a direct result. Many people became disillusioned," said Ooi Kee Beng of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Anwar says he was kept in solitary confinement, singing 1960s pop tunes to stay sane and reading the Koran, the Bible, Shakespeare -- anything he could get.
Released in 2004 when the sodomy charge was overturned, he later led the opposition to its best showing ever in 2008 polls, taking more than a third of parliament.
His personal travails continued, however -- he was acquitted last year of new sodomy charges after a lengthy legal battle he condemned as another UMNO bid to wreck his comeback.
Now in the clear, Anwar predicts victory and sweeping change for Malaysia.
He has pledged to root out rampant graft, free government-controlled traditional media and reform policies that give advantages to Malays but are criticised as a drag on the economy and a source of racial resentment.
A former finance minister, he advocates populist social and economic policies savaged by UMNO as fiscally irresponsible.
He insists, however, that attacking corruption and curbing illicit money outflows from Malaysia -- which total billions of dollars a year, according to watchdog groups -- will fund its agenda.
"Just by being transparent, we can achieve our goals," he said.
But Anwar also vows to step aside as leader if the opposition fails to take power.
Pakatan includes Anwar's diverse party, a secular one led by ethnic Chinese, and a conservative Islamic party representing the largest demographic, Muslim Malays. The latter's support for Islamic law has caused frictions.
Anwar's departure would leave the alliance with no central unifying figure, but he says "there is no indispensable person".
"People have to accept that I have given all that I have. I have given a lot of my personal life and suffered immensely."
- AFP

Fighting against an Umno Election Commission

Fighting against an Umno Election Commission

Dear Friends,

Bersih is very concern about the deregistration and of voters as we are getting more and more complaints from the public that even though they have voted before, they are deregistered. Some found themselves sent to a very far place, even another state to vote.

We cannot be sure what is happening untill the public check thier status at http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/semakpru13.aspx.

If you have problem,please report it to Bersih at http://www.bersih.org/?p=6044

If the number of deregistration, relocation or fraudulent registration of voters are high, then we can expose what the EC is doing to help BN stay in power.

Please help to spread this, it is too important not to and it would be too late on May 5th.

Thank you. 

For a better Malaysia.