Malaysiaku, Negaraku

  Before assigning blame, we should first be honest about the historical record. The Pakatan Harapan manifesto (Buku Harapan) was launched on 8 March 2018, when Anwar Ibrahim was still incarcerated. He only received a royal pardon and returned to active politics on 16 May 2018, after GE14 had already been won.  Certainly, one can argue that as the current chairman and leading figure of Pakatan Harapan, Anwar should ultimately bear responsibility for the coalition's successes and failures. Leadership carries accountability. I have no quarrel with that. However, there is a significant difference between holding a leader accountable for the performance of his government and attributing personal authorship to promises that were conceived, drafted, and launched while he was still behind bars. To conflate the two is to blur the distinction between responsibility and authorship. It is like what I pointed out before this about Jalan Palestine , which was launched by Muhyiddin Yasin as...

  I like the way how our Johor voters sent an unmistakable wake up call to Pakatan Harapan (PH) before it is too late.  If divine hands were indeed involved, I would say the Almighty has a good sense of humour,  indeed! In the morning of the state election, a few politicians including Hannah Yeoh and Michele Ng were appealing to voters to go to the polls, as the turnout was very lethargic.  Yet, towards the late afternoon, despite the heavy rain, Malaysians being Malysians braved the heavy downpour just to cast their votes.  For PH, this would have been a clear sign that they would have won many seats, but no, they only won a disappointingly number of seats — eight out of 56 seats! Sabahans have already sent a strong message to DAP yet the party fails to take heed.  Unless the leaders in PH come to terms with reality, and if they still  choose to be indifferent towards ordinary citizens, the outcome will be obvious come the next general election. ...

As I noted in my previous article , voter turnout this time around is highly likely to surpass the 45.39% recorded in the 2022 state election.  The moment it hits their target (in fact, it hit 67.44% of the electorate at 5pm), chances are, whatever effort I put into writing this article  will no longer be considered a warning in the coming general election.  A former DAP Member of Parliament posed a poignant question to me: “ Do you think they (his own leaders) will listen?” He knows the answer. I know the answer. To put it plainly: the political elites may not even be bothered to read this blog , but the fact remains that it  is  already being read by a few thousand ordinary citizens who are also watching the political developments.  But at least when I posted my blog in an Umno chat group, the response from the incumbent Menteri Besar of Johor was so much better:  Ultimately, the proof of the pudding is in the pie. If UMNO is able to genuinely refor...

It looks like even the afternoon will not be spared of rain which will further dampen voters turnout in Johor At 11:58 AM on a state election polling day, a message popped up on my phone from an unknown person from Sarawak: “Until 11:00 AM, only 26.43% have turned out to vote. That is dangerously low.” Though he isn't a voter in this election, his anxiety was palpable. He couldn't understand why the electorate seemed so entirely disconnected. But as an observer who has watched Malaysian politics evolve for decades, I wasn’t surprised at all. I have grown cold, too. The fire that drove us in 2013—when everyday citizens stood guard at polling stations, ready to protect ballot boxes with their own lives—has flickered out. Since I first cast my vote in 1990, I have never seen apathy run this deep. Politicians are misreading this silence as peace. It isn't peace; it is disillusionment: The Illusion of Invincibility in Selangor The Illusion of Invincibility in Selangor Let’s ...

The _Machiavellian Corrupting Contemptible destroyer of a dynamic progressive harmonious Malaysia_, *Dr Mahathir* - _very well analysed indeed by_ *Dr Betty Teh* _of Alor Setar, Kedah_ (a KLumpur *Specialist Doctor Consultant*) ..... 🙃😤🤢🤮😡👎🏿 ..... _(ChaiHB)_ ..... 👇 #  *"THE DISEASE MAHATHIR LEFT Behind"* _(By Betty Teh)_ At a hundred, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad still insists on speaking as though Malaysia owes him a hearing. She does not. The nation he once led has spent two decades cleaning up the debris of his legacy, and the least he could offer now is silence dignified, if not contrite. Yes, his 22 year rule is often called Malaysia’s golden era. *But the glitter masked corrosion. Beneath the skyscrapers and slogans, Mahathir planted the idea that political power could be sustained through patronage that corruption was not deviance but method.* From that seed grew an entire *culture of entitlement, where loyalty could be bought and moral authority sold.* What b...

  Petang semalam, saya menerima gambar di atas yang sangat menyentuh hati. Lebih-lebih lagi apabila melihat ibu dan anak ini akhirnya dipertemukan semula—sebuah momen penuh kasih yang sukar digambarkan dengan kata-kata. Ibunya hidup dalam kegelisahan apabila anaknya menghilangkan diri selama beberapa bulan tanpa sebarang khabar. Tiada berita, tiada hubungan—hanya kerisauan yang berpanjangan. Namun, selepas tentera Myanmar menyerbu sebuah pusat penipuan di Tachileik, sinar harapan akhirnya muncul. Seramai 37 rakyat Malaysia telah diselamatkan dalam operasi tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, sepanjang tempoh sebulan, Kedutaan Malaysia di Yangon hanya berjaya mengenal pasti tidak lebih daripada 17 orang yang benar-benar warganegara Malaysia. Yang lain masih menunggu keluarga dan sanak saudara mereka menghubungi pejabat kementerian luar negeri untuk memberi butir-butir yang dapat disahkan sahih.  Harizz Amirul Ahmad Fazir Selama dua bulan sejak saya dimaklumkan mengenai seorang anak mu...