Mega Pakatan rallies shake Johor BN bastion

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng and Lee Way Loon 9:35AM May 2, 2013

JOHOR Yesterday's public holiday opened up for Pakatan Rakyat's top leaders a golden opportunity to hold several mammoth ceramah in Johor, attracting tens of thousands and taking its momentum to new heights in the southern BN fortress.

The ceramah at an outdoor car park of a shopping mall at Gelang Patah pulled in some 70,000 Chinese-majority crowd, breaking the attendance of 60,000 people recorded the previous night at the same venue.

Besides the unprecedented attendance, the total donation raised for the day reached a whopping RM263,328.80, comprising RM173,328.80 collected from the ceramah alone and RM90,000 from the series of events held throughout the day at the car park.

It was a clear sign of the overwhelming support of the Chinese electorate in southern Johor as many came from neighbouring constituencies such as Kulai, Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang and Pulai, which Pakatan aims to wrest from the BN in this general election.

Another ceramah targeting the Malay crowd was held simultaneously at the outdoor car park of Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos stadium in Johor Bahru downtown, attracting some 10,000 people, making it the largest Malay-majority ceramah in the state since nomination day on April 20.

Pakatan has been struggling to garner the support of Malay voters in the BN stronghold state to meet its target of 38 percent, and this ceramah showed that still much work needs to be done in the last three days of the campaign.
Anti-establishment phenomenon
Two earlier ceramah in the town of Batu Pahat, located in central Johor, and Muar, in northern Johor, also recorded attendance of about 10,000 and 15,000 respectively with most present being Chinese.

Those were further indicators that the anti-establishment sentiment among Chinese is a statewide phenomenon.

From the plate number of cars parked around the ceramah venues, it is believed that a significant number of participants were outstation voters who had returned home to vote on Sunday.

Yesterday was Labour Day, a national holiday, and this allowed outstation voters to enjoy a five-day break until Sunday by taking an additional two-day leave.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub took turns to address the crowd in most of the ceramah, projecting an united multiracial front.

During the ceramah in Johor Bahru, it was clear that Anwar attempted to use his spectacular oratory skill to allay the fear of Malays harboured about the DAP, particularly Kit Siang.
Opposition's 1M'sia show 

Describing the DAP supremo as "the people's fighter", Anwar stressed that there is no reason to fear Kit Siang simply because he is assertive in pursuing his political principles. 

"Some civil servants told me they are worried because Chinese now are more persistent in politics... Why are you afraid of him? Because he is smart? Because he is brave? Because he is assertive? Or because he works hard?

"(And because of that) you don't elect such a person but Malay leaders who are stupid?" he asked.

Anwar stressed that Pakatan needs all capable leaders to form a team to rule the nation regardless of race.

Anti-corruption and fair treatment to all ethnic communities based on provisions enshrined in the federal constitution were highlighted by all the top leaders in their speeches.

Another favourite topic among them was former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Speaking to the crowd in Gelang Patah, Anwar urged them to prove Mahathir wrong by voting for Kit Siang.

"Mahathir said let's bury him (Kit Siang) in Gelang Patah and bury Anwar in Permatang Pauh. But Mahathir, I'm not (caretaker prime minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) who has no courage to rebut you."

He continued to lambast his former boss at the ceramah at Johor Bahru.

"I ask Mahathir, you are 87 years old already. You want to bury Anwar and bury Kit Siang, what about your own grave?"

But he was quick to stress that he never says he wants Mahathir to die as reported by the BN-controlled media.

"I want him to live. I want him to watch TV3 on May 6 (to see the results of GE13)," he said and hoops of laughter rolled across the floor.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/228751

林吉祥振林山开讲，5万人捧埸

2013-05-01 10:48

（柔佛‧新山30日讯）行动党顾问兼民联振林山国席候选人林吉祥趁著五一劳动节假日前夕，在五福城户外停车场空地举办大型政治讲座，吸引数万人到场。

他认为今晚有5万人到埸，並说振林山人民也不输给檳城人民，支持者与昨晚檳城韩江中学的7万人民联讲座人数差距不远。

林吉祥表示，首相拿督斯里纳吉昨日前来新山批准宽中设立分校，可是为甚么选在大选期间宣佈？且为何是分校，而不是一所全新的独立中学？

“我们要的是母语教育纳入国家的教育体系，有需要政府就应该立刻批准，而不是趁著大选的时候，才来宣佈批准。＂

林吉祥也谴责昨晚发生在南方大学学院发生的女学生疑被非礼事件，並指纳吉截至目前为止未出面，反而是柔州务大臣兼国阵振林山国席候选人拿督阿都干尼促请当事人去报警。

“虽然这起事件並不是纳吉叫人去做，但却是他的手下作出的事情，纳吉有必要揪出元凶，给柔州及大马人一个清清楚楚的交代。＂

讲座今晚8时45分在五福城户外停车场空地举行，现场號角声、欢呼声及“UBAH＂声不绝於耳，民眾全情投入的聆听民联领袖及候选人演讲。

来源：http://news.sinchew.com.my/node/293607?tid=1

Explain your role in May 13, Kit Siang to Dr M

K Pragalath

 | April 30, 2013

Picking on Thamrin Ghaffar's allegation, the DAP stalwart tells the former premier to clear the air.

KUALA LUMPUR:  DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang today alluded that former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad is one of those behind the May 13 racial riots.

“Yesterday during two ceramah in Johor, former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba’s son Thamrin revealed that the May 13 was due to a mini-coup by a group of men in Umno to topple Tunku [Abdul Rahman]. Former foreign minister Ghazali Shafie in the 1980s said that Mahathir was involved.

“This shows that I am not involved in the May 13 incident. I was not even in KL from May 11 to 13, 1969. I was in Sabah,” he said during a press conference at the DAP headquarters.

Lim also urged Mahathir to clear the air on Thamrin’s revelation.

On the same note, the DAP leader took a swipe at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for reminding the people of this lie – Lim’s involvement.

“They even have a candidate who keeps saying this lie in and out of Parliament – Zulkifli Noordin. Najib is saying 1Malaysia but he is dividing the people,” he said.

Lim is also disappointed that BN is playing the race and religion cards against him.

“There are rumours that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay monarchs. These are all lies. This shows Najib’s insincerity in signing the Transparency International – Malaysia’s integrity pledge,” he said.

Najib had signed an election integrity pledge with the NGO two months ago and the move was aimed at showing the ruling coalition’s seriousness in fair game in GE13.

Lim also urged his BN opponent and Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman to ensure a level playing field while campaigning in Gelang Patah.

Both Lim and Ghani would be facing off each other on May 5 for the Gelang Patah seat.

“Let’s begin by ensuring that the Battle for Gelang Patah is clean, fair and done in a gentlemanly style. It does not matter who wins or loses,” said Lim.

He revealed that during his campaign rounds he was well received by the people in Gelang Patah. However there were BN campaigners distributing a 28-page booklet that claimed that Lim was anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay monarchs.

“It is despicable acts by wretched people,” he said.

Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/04/30/explain-your-role-in-may-13-kit-siang-to-dr-m/

Ex-Umno man defends DAP against May 13 charge

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Kuek Ser Kuang Keng 9:58AM Apr 30, 2013

JOHOR Ex-Umno strongman Mohd Tamrin Abdul Ghafar has become an unexpected ally in Pakatan Rakyat’s bid to counter the claim that DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang was behind the May 13 riots in 1969.

The former Batu Berendam MP, who is also the second son of former deputy premier Abdul Ghafar Baba, has claimed that the incident was the outcome of a “mini coup” orchestrated by Umno leaders including Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“What (then home minister Muhammad) Ghazali (Shafie, left) told (PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) and me, when we were in Umno Youth, was that the incident was a mini coup planned by Umno men, and that Mahathir was involved,” Tamrin said during two Pakatan ceramahs in Gelang Patah last night.

“(First prime minister) Tunku (Abdul Rahman) wrote in his column 'As I See It' in The Star two years before he passed away, that the incident was a deliberate seizure of power by Umno leaders who then blamed it on DAP and the Chinese.”

Lim Kit Siang is running in Gelang Patah, against incumbent Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman, in the hope of extending Pakatan’s 2008 ‘political tsunami’ to Johor.

Tamrin’s disclosure supports the argument of academician Kua Kia Soong that the racial clash in 1969 was the result of a coup d'état by then deputy premier Abdul Razak Hussein against the Tunku, and that Mahathir supported it.

Tamrin recalled that the Tunku had expelled Mahathir from Umno after the latter wrote an open letter calling for the Tunku's resignation after the riots.

“After the Tunku stepped down and Razak took over the premiership, he took Mahathir back into Umno and appointed him as education minister.

“This shows that Razak was grateful to Mahathir (for pressuring the Tunku to step down),” he explained, adding that Kit Siang (left) was not in Kuala Lumpur during the clashes.

He said the continued reference to the incident by Umno, in order to frighten Malay voters, indicates that the BN is desperate.

With anti-establishment sentiment growing rapidly among Chinese Johoreans to Pakatan’s apparent advantage, Umno has flashed the race card to consolidate its support among the Malay electorate in Johor.

Its campaigners have been found distributing publicity material to Malay voters accusing DAP and Kit Siang of causing the May 13 riots.

To counter the charge, Pakatan has brought in several former Umno leaders including ex-law minister Zaid Ibrahim and former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib to defend DAP and Kit Siang.

‘Which is the racist party?’

Speaking at his first ceramah in Taman Skudai Indah, to a mixed crowd of 300, Tamrin contrasted the track record of DAP and MCA to prove that DAP is “not a racist party”.

“Since its formation in 1966, DAP has had more than 10,000 Malay, Indian and Punjabi members. During its first party polls, Daeng Ibrahim, a Malay leader, was elected as vice-chairperson.

“Since the formation of the party up to the last general election, a total of 55 Malay candidates have contested parliamentary or state constituencies on the DAP ticket.”

However, Tamrin (left) noted, MCA has never allowed a single Malay or Indian to become its member since its formation in 1951.

“So which is the racist party?” he asked.

“I have known Kit Siang since I became a MP in 1986 ... he has never gone against the rights of Malays. He has fought for the principle of a Malaysian Malaysia. How is that different from 1Malaysia? What is the difference? The difference is that Kit Siang is not corrupted.”

Tamrin urged the Malays to thank DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng(right), who had been jailed for three years after speaking out for a Malay minor who was allegedly raped by an Umno leader.

He claimed that both former MCA president Ong Ka Ting and former deputy president Lim Ah Lek, who he had met recently, are anticipating that MCA will win a maximum of five parliamentary seats in the 13th general election.

“How to win? (MCA president Dr) Chua Soi Lek is the first general since the Ming dynasty who has not gone to war.

“Chua only won one war - the battle of Katerina Hotel, right?” he said, referring to the hotel in Batu Pahat where Chua was recorded on video, having sex with a companion.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/228497

In Kit Siang, Pakatan gets unexpected boost to leap over Johor’s Malay wall

BY DEBRA CHONG
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
APRIL 21, 2013

A couple waving the DAP flag at last night’s ceramah in the Sutera Mall open-air car park in Skudai, Johor. — Picture by Saw Show Feng

JOHOR BARU, April 21 — As Lim Kit Siang captured the imagination of Johor’s Chinese at last night’s rally here, it was also clear that he meant to help warm the Umno birthplace’s Malay population towards Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Election 2013.

Unlike some states to the north, the opposition parties have been repeatedly thwarted from gaining more than a toehold in Malaysia’s southernmost state.

“The Malay parties in the opposition have a tougher time trying to get support from the Malay community in Johor, so Kit Siang’s presence in southern Johor especially has tilted the situation,” said Ibrahim Suffian, the executive director of political research house Merdeka Center.

Johor’s resistance towards PAS and PKR, Ibrahim said, was historical. The highly-independent state had been used to running things its own way for a long time as it was among the last to be incorporated into colonial British rule. 

It had built up a strong religious wall that did not give room for PR’s Islamist partner, PAS, to grow since Johor’s Islamic schools are well-funded and are state-run. In addition, PAS was seen as a northern influence, Ibrahim said.

But in the five years since Election 2008, a perceptible change has been felt in Johor. 

The issues that have been raised by PR in the last few years have resonated with the younger people judging from the reactions of the thousands that gathered at the Sutera Mall open air carpark to listen to Kit Siang, state DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau and PAS vice-president and Nusajaya hopeful, Salahuddin Ayub, speak.

The DAP advisor’s son and caretaker Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, was given a roaring welcome complete with a fireworks display when he arrived shortly after 11pm, from stumping in Kluang.

The 2,000 plastic red chairs set up near the giant outdoor stage were fully occupied and thousands more stood throughout the entire four hours.

Lim Kit Siang greets the crowd as he arrives on stage for the ceramah. — Picture by Saw Show Feng

In contrast, Kit Siang’s BN contender for Gelang Patah, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, experienced a very low-key start to his campaign at an Indian temple where some 400 people reportedly turned out for his programme in neighbouring Kangkar Pulai last night.

What stood out in that overwhelmingly Chinese crowd were the number of families, featuring three generations, in attendance. 

Many boldly donned hats in the shape of the the DAP hornbill mascot nicknamed “Ubah.” These were sold at the marquees fringing the square and partisan T-shirts of all colours and bearing various messages: Ubah Bersama Kit Siang 2.0 [Change with Kit Siang 2.0] and Ini Kalilah [This time-lah] among them. 

A young woman volunteer manning one of tables under the white marquees there, Jenni Sin, said many Johor Chinese held jobs in Singapore and made the daily commute across the Causeway not because they were enamoured with the republic, but because they could earn better wages. 

They were unhappy with Singapore’s politics and yearned to be able to work in Malaysia and raise their families, the 27-year-old whose four siblings were among the daily commuters to the Lion City said, and added that all four of her sisters were resisting opting for Singaporean citizenship.

The Johor Chinese were waking up to the possibility of a change that could answer their dreams for a better future, not only for their generation, but for their children, said the businesswoman who unlike her siblings, worked locally.

“For Du Du, her mummy will fight,” Sin said, and pointed to her special printed T-shirt featuring her toddler daughter holding up a card that read, in Chinese “Come back home to vote.”

Pollster Ibrahim said the DAP’s move into Johor has roused the Chinese.

“Kit Siang contesting Gelang Patah and leading the DAP campaign in Johor have excited the Chinese community and shown it is serious about expanding and reaching out to them,” Ibrahim said.

“Kit Siang’s presence in boosting Chinese support for Pakatan has helped narrow the gap for the opposition parties to reach their goal,” he added.

Ibrahim added the Malays in Johor live side-by-side with the Chinese but the racial sentiment has been exploited by those in power to plant fears.

The enthusiastic crowd that attended the ceramah last night. — Picture by Saw Show Feng

But it was the perceived crisis sparked by the Registrar of Societies’ refusal to recognise the opposition party’s elected office bearers in the last 48 hours before nomination day yesterday that inadvertently boosted PR’s campaigning in Johor for the May 5 polls.

The DAP leaders’ public declaration that they were willing to run under the PAS’s moon banner — despite their ideological differences — helped persuade Johor’s Malays that the DAP was not “chauvinist”, Ibrahim said.

Zulkifli Mat Isa, 48, who was among the handful of Malays spotted in the sea of Chinese faces at last night’s ceramah, was testament to the Kuala Lumpur-based political analyst’s observation.

The Penang-born man who is now a Pasir Gudang voter told The Malaysian Insider that even Johor Malays were now shifting their views.

“Because of Lim Kit Siang. He’s the father of the Penang chief minister,” Zulkifli said, in Malay.

“Previously, people thought of the DAP as chauvinist. Now, they know. In Penang, there is no chaos even,” he said, of the racial clashes that BN politicians and their newspapers have been forecasting in the event of a PR victory at the 13th general election.

An interior designer, Zulkifli said that Johor Malays were also rising, even though they may not be as visible as the Chinese; they kept a tight lip even as they opened their eyes and ears to information obtained online.

“Now things have changed. Because people are aware. Anything but Umno,” he said.

Apart from Zukifli, who admitted to being a PKR member alongside two other friends at Sutera Harbour, there were pockets of Malays here and there in the crowd last night, including four youngsters huddling in the shadow of a lorry parked beside the main stage and who looked nervously around them.

One or two others who looked to still be in their teens were seen weaving in and out of the throng, dressed in DAP merchandise.

“Malays also know. Previously, they dare not wear even this,” Zulkifli said, and gestured to his red DAP baseball cap.

Johorean Jenni Sin says she will fight for change to safeguard her daughter's future. — Picture by Debra Chong
Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/in-kit-siang-pakatan-gets-unexpected-boost-to-leap-over-johors-malay-wall/

林吉祥：攻振林山落实“2050年宏愿”

2013-04-12 09:56

（柔佛‧新山11日讯）行动党顾问兼振林山国席候选人林吉祥表示，发动振林山之役，主要是为了落实“2050年宏愿＂计划，以带领柔州及全国人民迎向更美好及光明的未来。

他说，前首相敦马哈迪倡议“2020年宏愿＂，其用意是为了消除种族隔阂，可是马哈迪近期所发表的言论却充满种族色彩，这是否意味著马哈迪已经將“2020年宏愿＂遗弃？

“我挑战他针对此举办一场公开辩论，如果他不能提出论点支持自己的宏愿计划，多说也没用，且让我们看他对此如何回应。＂

林吉祥表示，相信很多人和他一样看不到“2050年宏愿＂全面实现，可是此憧憬却是为了大家的子子孙孙。

他说，就让我们新的愿景从2013年开始，从1千330万名选民手中的选票来决定，让大家的子子孙孙迎向更美好及光明的未来。

“虽然目前只是我个人提出振林山之役的宏愿计划，可是之后我也会与民联友党商討，將此宏愿作为未来政府的宣言。＂

他今早走访士姑来皇后花园巴剎后，在行动党柔州大选行动室总部召开新闻发佈会时，如是指出。

出席者包括行动党宣传主任潘俭伟、副宣传秘书张念群、柔州联委会主席巫程豪、竞选主任黄祥鑾和霹雳州社青团团长黄家和等。

巫程豪：与林合作打贏振林山

巫程豪表示，全力支持林吉祥提出的“2050年宏愿＂，並强调將与林吉祥一同打贏振林山之役。

张念群表示，女选民比新选民还多，可是国阵政府却缺乏提供给在职双亲及年轻妈妈的福利，教育方面也不全面，造成我国学生的英文、科学及数学科水平差。

她说，在“2050年宏愿＂下，可改善大家子孙的未来。

林吉祥的"2050年宏愿"计划10大论点

1一个繁荣蓬勃的民主国家。
2一个凝聚全民的国家。
3一个创新与具有创造力的国家。
4一个教育体系进步的国家。
5一个高度竞爭力、富有活力和多元的经济体的国家。
6一个具有广大与公平社会保障网的国家。
7一个反应敏捷与负责任的国家。
8一个重视和保护天然资源与环境的国家。
9一个具包容和伸展性的国家。
10一个在区域与全球事务上具有影响力的强大国家。

国阵已属“看守政府＂
不能滥用国家资源拉票

另一方面，针对新闻、通讯及文化部长拿督斯里莱士雅丁指只有在4月20日提名日后，国阵才不算是执政政府，因此目前首相及部长使用政府资源出席活动並没有错一事，林吉祥对此指出，自国会在4月3日解散后，国阵已属於“看守政府＂，因此不能滥用国家资源，就好比檳州政府將官车等归还政府一样，因此莱士雅丁的说法是错误的。

促设委会稽查“看守政府＂

他说，如果首相及部长出席正式的官方活动使用政府资源无妨，可是为了自己的政党而坐直升机或官车到处拉票，则属滥权及贪污的一种。

“我要求政府首席秘书对此成立一个委员会，来检討及稽查“看守政府＂是否能使用政府资源来进行私人政党宣传用途。＂

林吉祥表示，选委会已经宣佈15天的竞选期，虽然不是净选盟提出理想中的21天，但至少比1999年马哈迪时代的8天竞选期来得好。

他说，行动党是个负责任的政党，並称民联执政后，任何有利人民的发展计划將会持续进行，外资无需担心大马依斯干达特区计划会因为政党轮替而受影响。

来源：http://news.sinchew.com.my/node/288564?tid=1