Malaysiaku, Negaraku

          An independent candidate with Gerak Independent sent me a Whatsapp message soliciting for funds to contest in the next general election.          He claimed that he wants to " collaborate and work with PH in GE 15," but the seat that he is contesting in is currently held by a PH candidate.            The seat P105 which used to be PJ Utara and now renamed Damansara is held by Tony Pua. P106 is held by Maria Chin Abdullah.          Pua has already indicated that he will not be contesting. Although the PH coalition has not even announced its candidate for the coming general election, this gentleman already announced that he will "collaborate and work with PH."           How can he collaborate and work with PH if he does not even know who will be replacing Pua, or whether Maria Chin will remain as the candidate? To me, Maria Chin has done a better job than most BN politicians.           To be frank, I have no reason to vote for this Gerak Independent candidat

    By Stephen Ng   Comment: Universiti Utara Malaysia professor Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani may be right in that PAS is good only to spoil votes, but in a three-corner fight between Umno and Pakatan Harapan, I think Umno will lose. To qualify my statement, it depends on whether former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad can do a good job in reaching out to the rural Malays. He and former Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yasin should just focus on reaching the rural Malays, not the urban voters who have already made up their minds. Most rural Malays prefer peace to aggressive behaviours that they see in Umno, especially when it comes to the way Umno members react to the presence for Dr Mahathir in their villages. Changing Landscape The game plan has changed. The rural Malays, where both Umno and PAS had a strong grip in the past, now have to decide between Umno, PAS and Pakatan Harapan. Malay votes are split to three. Even with PAS entering into the Barisan Nasional fold,

By Stephen Ng            Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in an interview with Noel Lim of BFM, said that he did not care to leave behind a legacy.          I beg to differ with the former prime minister. His is a legacy of dictatorship during his first 22 years as premier and of betrayal, during his tenure as prime minister a second time.          When he joined Pakatan Harapan, he needed the coalition more than the coalition needed him. Against all analyses done, I think PH won mainly because of the shift in the voting pattern of East Malaysians.          We all knew that if not because of the seats won in both Sabah and Sarawak, PH would not have enough seats to form the federal government.          Dr Mahathir has forgotten that it is the people who voted for PH, not him. His own party, Bersatu only won a few seats. If he thinks that he can still win the next general election, I dare him to contest again.          Going back to 2016, although I was one of the first few who came forward to salu