Jed Yoong

A commenter ,Simple Sam, lamented: “As usual you have found an iota of good to write about the Toyol (instead of the usual compliments re Mahakutee) but nothing positive about PKR or Anwar.”

So, I shall humour you and list two positive things about each.

PKR

1. Its sky blue flag is probably the best looking of all.

2. Khalid Ibrahim’s ex-aide, who is now with Nurul, I believe, is quite good looking.

Anwar

1. His house is very nice and located at a very cooling hill.

2. His daughter, Nurul, is promising.

***UPDATE***TUE Apr 8

Inspired by a post by KTemoc:

Hujan lebat, kampung dibanjir
Katak melompat, khinzir berenang
Rampas kuasa, mungkin difikir
Wakil khuatir, harta terhilang

Hujan lebat, sungai mengalir
Katak hijrah, khinzir berpindah
Impian rakyat, jangan disindir
Nanti undi, senang berubah

BY Jed Yoong

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Anwar Ibrahim mungkin ada pelbagai kepincangan, tetapi kalau tidak licik berpolitik, tidak mungkin beliau dapat menghinggapi sebentar kedudukan Timbalan Presiden UMNO dahulu. Masuknya Kamaruddin Jaafar ke dalam PAS sebenarnya sebahagian dari usaha Anwar untuk memastikan pengaruh beliau tetap tegar dalam PAS mahupun UMNO selepas kejatuhannya.

Lihat sahaja betapa ramai kuncu-kuncu Anwar yang tidak lari dari UMNO, malah mengisytihar ‘taubat’ sekuat-kuatnya semata-mata untuk kekal menghendap di PWTC. Malah, ramai juga penyokong kuat dan ‘fan-club’ Anwar dari zaman reformasi yang kemudiannya menyertai UMNO, seperti Khairy Jamaluddin bersama-sama puak-puak yang kini dikenali sebagai penghuni Tingkat 4.

Read full post @ Tangents: Restless Musings Of A Malay Mind

Besides the drivel about uniting the Opposition, etc. What has he achieved before he was sacked in 1998?

Islamisation? Moral policing? Bahasa baku?

***UPDATE***10.07AM

Come on, Anwaristas. This post is dedicated to your “messiah” and “idola”…..

In The Sun today:

Anwar Interview by Nades - The Sun

Anwar Interview by Nades - The Sun - Part 2

One of the best interviews of him I’ve watched so far. He looks much more relaxed than he was on Hard Talk. He speaks really well and is a natural. Who else do we have now? Sigh. Realpolitik is so, erm, REAL….You gotta give it to him. He has created history, AGAIN. Yes, a host of other factors but undeniable that he was the catalyst.

OOOOPPPPssss. Please excuse the fitnah in the beginning. The video is made by kpmu.net. I really don’t see how this interview would work AGAINST Anwar…

Anwar (left) with Lim Guan Eng, Penang chief minister and DAP secretary-general, when they were still FULLY in the opposition. /JYPix

Malaysian blogosphere’s greatest anti-Anwarista, KTemoc, is huffing and puffing that his most hated one, Anwar Ibrahim, may become prime minister after all. This is no doubt giving poor Uncle Kaytee sleepless nights as he twists and turns the knife into our former deputy prime minister.

Alas to no avail. Those who disbelieved the political powers of Anwar Ibrahim, including me, are still coming to terms that the puny political party born in the aftermath of the UMNO political “bloodshed” in 1998, PKR, is now the parliamentary opposition leader with 31 Members of Parliaments (MPs).

Anwar has successfully engineered the Barisan Rakyat’s (BR) electoral victory. Make no mistake, is it possible that Hindraf, Bersih and Lingamgate came one after another and so close to the recent general election? Hindraf shook the Indian votes, once a safe vote bank for the Barisan Nasional (BN) while Bersih and Lingamgate brought to the public consciousness our far from free and fair elections and the rot in our judiciary respectively. All three also challenged prime minister Abdullah Badawi’s leadership as they suggested that he wasn’t quite holding the country and the warring factions in Barisan Nasional (BN) together.

The crux of disapproval of BN leaders crossing over is whether the ideals of BR will be sacrificed. Founded upon a “New Hope” for the country, the post-election horse trading reminds many of BN’s previous enticements to Opposition politicians who jumped ship. Some detractors also feel that such methods are dishonest as the candidates contested on a BN ticket. Others worry that BR will be contaminated by the tainted BN MPs.

For the first time in history, another coalition is just 30 parliamentary seats to taking over the federal government. After much thought, I’ve concluded that it’s more beneficial to the country to seize the moment and ride the momentum.

Is it ethical for East Malaysian MPs to cross over? I believe it depends on whether you feel the two states have been fairly represented over the years. They are among the richest in resources yet the poorest in the country. What has former and longest serving premier Mahathir Mohamed done in his 22 years to develop the states? From a glance, I see nothing much in my last visit to Sarawak two years ago. Under BN, the only party that benefited was UMNO and its cronies. Why does Sarawak have to pay so much in royalties to the federal administration? For the army? What else?

As a voter, I am realistic. I want a government that will bring changes. One is replacing the much abused New Economic Policy with a fairer poverty eradication programme. Another is restoring our democratic institutions like our judiciary and the media. Both have been promised by BR.

The status quo is likely to be preserved under BN. Hence, we can afford to take a chance with BR.

Politicians are politicians, they are not gods and are only human. The fact is many ex-BN types are already in PKR and more may cross over.

Although I would prefer the perfect transition of power in which the ideals of democratic election are upheld, we may have to compromise and keep the bigger picture in mind.

So far, Anwar and co have made the right noises and moves. Let’s see where we will be in four years.

Rumours are flying and intensifying that some kataks are going to jump. According to Anwar Ibrahim, they won’t be bought.

Questions.

1. If these politicians believed in BR, why didn’t they leap before the election?

2. What about those people who voted BN? The coalition still holds a majority and more importantly commands the popular vote of the Malays. Some people still vote for dacing blindly, regardless of the candidate.

3. What does BR stand for? To me, an ordinary rakyat, BR represents change — a “new hope” as PKR says. But this hope is slowly changing to the same-old-thing. Firstly, PKR is partly filled with ex-UMNO types. Secondly, more UMNO types will leapfrog aboard.

4. Isn’t Anwar the same Anwar of UMNO? Isn’t post-election wheelin’ and dealin’ something that Anwar is probably familiar with as it is well-known that non-BN elected representatives are invited to join the coalition if the need arises. It’s so bad that Pairin, according to Kalimullah Hassan, locked-up his state legislators and took away their mobile phones in a state election in the 90s till he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Sabah. This is to prevent the froggies from hopping over.

But it looks like Anwar has been endorsed by Lim Kit Siang, who is not DAP secretary-general anymore, and Hadi Awang, PAS president. I wonder what hardcore DAP and PAS supporters think of Anwar’s backdoor entry to government and the no.1 job. Well it doesn’t matter, ‘cos we can still vote him out. Lots of protest votes this time. And UMNO isn’t sleeping anymore.

Press Statement by Anwar Ibrahim (SAT - March 15, 200 :

I am therefore deeply concerned with the attempt being made by certain elements to stoke the flames of racial hatred in the aftermath of the March 8th Malaysian elections. We have reason to believe that this vicious campaign is being orchestrated by a small number of very wealthy Malays and UMNO leaders who are themselves guilty of squandering and abusing the NEP to enrich themselves and their cronies at the expense of the general public. These people are now using the UMNO and government controlled media to incite fears among the Malays and deflect attention away from their electoral defeat and from UMNO’s historic failures to address the needs of all Malaysians including the poor and marginalised Malays.

I ask my fellow Malaysians to reject the desperate attempts by some UMNO members to salvage the remnants of a broken party by pandering to people’s fears and sowing divisions and disunity among the people of our nation. 

JY: Hmmmmm. Good statement. I thought he was overseas…..

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Yes. Have arrived in Chinatown. And compared to Kelantan, Penang (mainland and island) is really developed materially. Lots of buildings, factories, malls, cars, and people per square feet. The dynamics are definitely different here.

Georgetown is littered with election posters. The grinning faces of Chia Kwang Chye and Koh Tsu Koon are probably relics of the past not too long ago.

But the air is strange. Almost tense. Yet, there is an underlying happiness that they’ve done it with the uncertainty of what next. I believe, it was very important for ethnic Chinese — of the passionate about Chinese culture, heritage, language and education sort — to have defended the island from UMNO. After the fall of Malacca, this former strait settlement may be seen as the last refuge of Chinese identity.

Maybe I am imagining things but there is something different when interacting with Malays here. Maybe ‘cos I’m from out of town. Maybe ‘cos I look so scruffy. Maybe ‘cos of the general mistrust among races here.

My good cyber fren, wits0, sent me an email about an article on a blog that the new Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is DAP secretary-general, has abandoned the pro-Malay affirmative action policy, the NEP which is “endearingly” known to non-Malays as the Never Ending Policy.

I think this is too drastic a move. Although promised by Anwar Ibrahim, the self-proclaimed leader of the “government in waiting”, I’m not sure if the people are ready for such a severe change without something in return. I’ve a feeling that Malays here still feel marginalised compared to the more affluent Chinese. But then that’s fallacious ‘cos the UMNOputeras are also very rich. But it’s the emotions that motivate…..

To digress, I note with interest that it was reported (can’t remember where) that Anwar is back to his “bangsa, agama, negara” ways by saying he will protect Malay rights, yadda, yadda. Can you blame the BN for saying that he says different things to different people? Anyway, we can just vote him out the next time.

It’s the fourth day of a new dawn. Yet in the coffee shops, people are still watching RTM1 or TV3. And one particular UMNO politician described the suasana yang berbeza (a different atmosphere).

Actually, I was quite scared. The Malays looked at me funny in Perak and Penang. It’s a creepy feeling. I don’t want to be alarmist. Maybe I am paranoid.

I hope DAP learns to work with PAS, who is the REAL alternative to UMNO. To me, PKR is just UMNO 2 although PAS also broke off from UMNO before. But PAS people are more into religion. PKR to me is just like UMNO. But on the wrong team. So it’s just another big UMNO squabble that somehow Anwar has gotten us non-Malays into.

I pray that the peace will remain. Also, I wait for Anwar to deliver his promises and be the multi-racial leader he claims to be. I don’t think he will ever be able to shake off “bangsa, agama, negara“.

I thank all the PAS supporters who voted DAP.

I just can’t shake off the creepy feeling that something bad might happen. Let’s pray nothing does. And maybe it’s just the years of MSM drilling that only BN can keep the peace. But don’t listen to me as I’m not clairvoyant . Check with the oracles in the MSM.

I miss Kelantan. It’s so peaceful there. And got nice beach with deep-fried squid and coconut water.

More later.

After reading various articles on Anwar’s great achievement. As if Uncle Kit and PAS didn’t do anything. Well, PKR did perform. But I still have my doubts about Anwar as our PM. Also remember DAP and PAS gave some traditional seats to PKR. At least one is in Kelantan. So that brings it down to 30 MPs from 31. Take another few more…So, clever2 lah. Also dun forget the anit-Pak Lah frustration, UMNO and MCA infighting, cost of living, crime…….. No doubt he is a good politician for sure. Nothing personal but let’s not get carried away.

I wonder if some will jump over from UMNO. Or will Anwar walk over to give BN the 2/3 majority….After all, we don’t know till Federal government is formed tomorrow.

Yes, I agree he has “done it”. But I still don’t think he is the great political “messiah” of Malaysia. I already have a “messiah”. His name is Jesus.

But the biggest winners are us, the rakyat. Who made history on March 8, 2008.

Hallelujah!

PREVIOUS GRAPHIC ART REMOVED ‘COS INVADED BY ANWARISTAS WHO READ TOO MUCH INTO IT.Here is a photo taken by me of your idol at a ceramah in the Machap by-election last year. So I hold the copyright……Don’t be so touchy just ‘cos I din put a flattering photo of your “saviour”. (This is in response to some comments that accused me of posting the original graphic art based on a photo from Anwar’s blog because I had “ulterior motives”. And said I infringed copyright laws.)

Anwar Ibrahim:

It is now time for Malaysia to tread the path towards a new future, armed with a New Hope, great and bright in its promise of glory. The choice is in your hands. And in God we trust.

I wish you all the best, in exercising your responsibility as a people of dignity and honour as Malaysians tomorrow.

Full statement inside.

(more…)

Anwar Ibrahim’s chief campaign photographer and videographer was killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking on a street near his home in Kuala Lumpur.

The former deputy prime minister and de facto leader of the PKR expressed his sadness over the death of 24-year-old Muhammad Salman Nasaruddin (photo) who died at 2.00pm today.

(more…)

I first came across this term this morning in a Malaysiakini article by Baradan Kuppusamy, a respected and senior political writer.

As far as I know and understand, there is no DAP-PKR-PAS Opposition Pact. They settled seat allocations. PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa told reporters on Tuesday in Kota Bahru that PAS and DAP were not working together.

(more…)

Malaysiakini reported:

PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim was at Lembah Pantai to support his daughter Nurul Izzah. He said that he would campaign to ensure his daughter’s victory.

JY: Mukhriz’s daddy isn’t campaigning for him. If you can’t even campaign on your own, why should we vote for you? Also, Anwar may be a liability. Minus 100 points.