Beware Pakatan of 'thy enemies in the Blanket'

Events of the past week and month have revealed one undeniable fact. The whole present government apparatus from the police, judiciary, attorney-general’s chambers and the civil service to the whole gamut of all BN government-appointed bodies are all infiltrated with their supporters and cronies.

Although Pakatan Rakyat may have taken over the five states, many of BN appointed people are still comfortably embedded in the government machineries. Many of them are lying low and waiting for just the right opportune moment to betray their newly-elected masters.

When Perak fell on Feb 5 as a result of the betrayal of the three Pakataan assembly persons, we saw the state secretary arrogantly chasing out the previously elected government from the state secretariat building when they were holding a press conference.

His rudeness and lack of respect for the deposed menteri besar was something we would least expect from a civil servant. But it typifies the behaviour of all those civil servants who were appointed by the previous BN government

.Further, when Pakatan Rakyat speaker of the Perak state assembly V Sivakumar called for an emergency state assembly meeting, the state legal advisor, Ahmad Kamal Mohd Shahid, immediately directed the house secretary not to send out notices for the emergency sitting.

This was obviously an attempt to block state representatives from being notified of the emergency sitting of the state assembly tomorrow. DAP Perak chairperson, Ngeh Koo Ham was correct to comment that, 'The legal advisor has no business to intervene in the process of the house' and that he has no authority to stop the notices being sent out.

In tandem with the legal adviser, the house secretary, Abdullah Antong Sabri, said that the calling of the emergency sitting was ‘illegal ‘because it did not obtain the consent of the sultan.

What transpires from these events remain very clear. The state secretary, the legal advisor and the house secretary are all Umno appointees and they will do all in their power to frustrate Pakatan’s recourse to seek a return of the Perak government.

And from this lesson learnt, Pakatan Rakyat in the remaining four states must cleanse their governments of all Umno appointees in the civil service and from all bodies associated with the previous regime.

It must be clear by now that the Umno appointees serving in the respective Pakatan state govermnents are waiting for an opportune time to betray their new masters. If the Pakatan state governments continue to place their trust in these Umno appointees, they will be doing it at their own peril.

Are Our Monarchs Immune from criticisms?

Why would honest abiding citizens suddenly revert to insulting a monarch who was once upon a time being revered as a model for the royal institution.?Instead of charging ordinary citizens for venting their anger at the sultans, which in their minds and perception had erred in his decision not to dissolve the State assembly, the Govt in particular should look into the cause for the sudden act of impropriety against the royal monarchs. Perhaps it would also be appropriate for the sultan in the light of this event to examine his role as to why his decision had elicited such a response from his erthswhile loyal subjects. To charge and punish citizens for venting their anger at the source of the ire is merely to suppress their right to express their frustration and anger.Whereas in Thailand there is such a law as leste Majesty, can we also assume that there are also such laws preventing Malaysians from insulting our royalty?Is insulting the royalty tantamount to being seditious? As citizens of the country are we to remain mute even though a wrong has been committed by the Sultan?Is there no avenue that citizens can ventilate their opinions and anger knowing fully well that the sultan had not acted in conformity with the express will of the people? History is replete with examples how ordinary people have risen to dispose of their royalty who have acted contrary to the interest of its citizens.Queen Marie Antoinetee was guillotined during the French revolution, the Last czar of Russia and his family was executed and in more recent times, the shah of Iran had to go in exile to America when his regime was deposed by Ayatollah khomeini.Surely our royalty should acquaint themselves with these examples so that they will be wiser in their reign.

Who was the Pathologist who had certified that Kugan had died of Fluid in his Lungs.

Now that the second post-mortem conducted by a pathologist from the Universiti Malaya Medical centre has shown that the victim died after being repeatedly beaten , surely the family and the public deseve to know why the initial post-mortem revealed that he had died due to fluid in his lungs.

The pathologist who conducted the initial post-mortem must be called to explain why his examiniation did not uncovered what was obviously a case of a man being held in custody and beaten to death.Certainly we would also like to know how he arrived at the conclusion that the man had died as a result of fluid in the lungs and not mentioning in his report that the man was repeatedly beaten to death .

Was the pathologist acting in concert with the police to conceal evidence of a felony being committed?If so then the pathologist can be charged with being an accessory to the commisiion of a murder. Further investigation should be conducted to see if there were any previous incidents of such cases where the same pathologist had given a misleading account of a post-mortem report.If he had done one misleading report it is most likely that he could be involved in a series of other fallacious reports on deaths in custody cases.

If at all he is found to have tampered evidence in order to help the police avoid any criminal prosecution for the custodial deaths, then he should be charged for abetment and accessory to murder.

What remains a mystery is why is there no attempt by the relevant authorities to seek an explanation from the first pathologist to explain his derecliction of duty which totally gave a misleading account as to the cause of death of Kugan.

Emergency Sitting a Threat to Zambry and company.

The Emergency sitting of the State assembly on the 3rd of march should not be viewed as a threat to national security but it is more likely a threat to M.B Zambry and his band of illegal Exco members. Zambry should realised that his position as M.B was as a result of the betrayal of three Pakatan rakyat state assemblymen and not based on the legitimate democratic will of the people.If ever there is a threat to National Security then Zambry's illegal takeover of the Perak state govt could be viewed as a serious threat to the peace and stabilty of the silver state.

Zambry has been going round to tell Perakians that he is the legitimate M.B of the state.If that is so then he should have no fear to call for a snap election so that his position can be legitimately determine by the democratic will of the Perak people. His reluctance to let his fate be determined by democratic election by calling for a snap election only serves to confirm the widespread belief that he is an illegitimate M.B installed through dubious means.

According to the Doctrine of separation of powers, the executive, the judiciary and the legislature are three separate independent branches of Govt.,each having its role in their own domain.Therefore it stands to reason that the Speaker in the Legislature has wide ranging powers to interpret the rules and standing orders as he deemed fit and his decision on such matters cannot be questioned in any court of law which has no jurisdiction to trespass in the Legislature proceedings.

It is totally shocking that the House secretary whose duty is to take orders from the Speaker deemed it fit to attempt to interpret the instructions of the speaker and concluded that the speaker had no authority to call for the emergency sitting.So under what authority is the House speaker acting and under whose instructions was he taking orders from when rightly and legally he should be taking instructions from his immediate boss who was the speaker.

Zambry and his illegal band of UMNO exco members should not pretend that they are the legitimate govt of the state and using the royal Institution to support their unpopular cause.Their hypocritical stance of respecting and protecting the royal institution when their true aim was to use the royal influence to perpetuate their agenda of ruling the state by illegitimate means.

UMNO Youth Police Report is Legal whereas Indian Police report is illegal

Can the Home Minister explain why 100 police reports made by UMNO Youth against KarpalSingh did not meet with any chemical laced water cannon whereas a handful of Indian reports were brutally met with baton carrying police and a chemical laced water cannon?

The Home Minister has once again shown it is incapable of meting justice equally to all Malaysians.UMNO youth and its members seemed to be given preferential treatment in whatever they do and there appears to be one separate set of law for them.

We have seen UMNO youth members holding demonstration without any permits, barging into the August Parliament to manhandle Parliamentarians and uttering seditious words with impunity. While others would be immediately punished for any such infringement of the law, we see police and authorities indifference to UMNO members breached of any laws.

Pakatan Rakyat will continue to benefit from the Home minister partial treatment of Malaysians.As long as Home Minister , Syed Hamid Albar is at the helm of this ministry Pakatan Rakyat will have an ally who will ensure the reign of Najib will be a short and undistinguish one.

Najib: You Lie , You Pay

Najib should be the last person to offer the threat that any one making a false report would be prosecuted. Can he tell us why till today,Bala the private Investigator who made two contradictory Statutory Declarations implicating him has never been brought to account for his purportedly false declarations? Is Najib implying that as long as the false report does not concern him then one could be prosecuted.

The Malaysian public deserves to know why no action was taken against Bala, the P.I who made the two Statutory Declarations implicating Najib?And perhaps he should also ask the police to investigate why Bala was not questioned as to the authencity of the two S.Ds. Surely in this case a false declaration has been made since two declarations were made and only one of them can only be the truth.

What is even more astonishing is that the S.Ds implicated the DPM, Najib.Any innocent person implicated in the S.D would be furious and would take stringent measures to clear his name.But instead there is a deafening silence from Najib who seems to treat the unfolding drama with disinterest. His action of swearing on the Koran that he was innocent only seem to convince the public that there is more to it than he would care to admit.

What even makes the whole unsavoury episode more interesting is the nonchalant manner in which the police is treating the disappearance of Bala, the private Investigator.No one seems to care and no one seems interested in finding out the truth as to the truth or falsity of either of his statutory Declarations.

Pakatan Rakyat should Field a malay candidate for Bkt. Selambau.

Pakatan Rakyat's leader should not follow B.N's selection of an Indian candidate for the Bukit Selambau state seat.Pakatan Rakyat will easily win this seat if it chooses a malay candidate by virtue of the 51% malay majority area.

B.N is likely to field an indian candidate from MIC and PKR should select a malay candidate to contest against him.As long as the malay candidate can look after the interest of all the races in the constitutuency I see no reason why we should follow B.N's quota of indian candidates to contest in certain areas.The political reality of the constituency dictate that a malay candidate stands a good chance of winning the seat and I am sure the majority of the chinese and Indian voters will support the PKR malay candidate.

PKR must moved away from B.N's race based ideology.It must demonstrate to Malaysians that a malay candidate from PKR can and without any problems look after the interest of chinese and indian welfare.This will be a refreshing departure from B.N's race based politics in particular and UMNO's race based allocation of seats to its miniority partners , MIC. in general.

If PKR is looking forward to that change then there is no other option but to have a malay candidate for the Bukit Selambau state seat.

MACC is Acting On Behalf of the B.N Govt.

When the B.N govt spend millions to send a spaceman to space using taxpayers money why was there no outcry that it was corruption?Now that the Pakatan Rakyat Govt is spending a fraction of the money to buy 46 cows that were slaughtered and distributed in his constituency during the Eid-Al-Adha muslim festival december the MACC has deemed the act as corruption.

MACC should first investigate those responsible for using taxpayers money to send a man to space before even to investigate why money was spent to buy 46 cows for the muslim religious festival.MACC 's action can only be construed as acting on behalf of the govt to cast aspersion on the Pakatan Rakyat's Menteri Besar.What was even more shocking was for the MACC leader's statement on the Selangor MB. Why did he not give a statement when the IGP and the A.G was being investigated?

The perception by the rakyat is that the MACC at the behest of the govt is merely targetting Pakatan Rakyat's politician.In Ipoh, the two state assemblyman who subsequently hopped to B.N was also investigated for corruption.Is it a mere coincident that the B.N politicians are not being investigated for any corrupt act while it seems the Pakatan Rakyat's are the only ones indulging in corrupt acts.?As suggested in the article in Malaysiakini, the MACC chief should perhaps join a political party so that it can further vocalised its support for the B.N govt.

Sultan Has Ruined His Impeccable reputation.

For someone whose past tenure as Lord President was outstanding, the decision of Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak to allow B.N to be installed as the govt of Perak would return to haunt him.His past credentials was impeccable and his son , the Raja Muda and his own frequent speeches was always about being neutral and bipartisan in their decision less as warned by them it will spell the doom of the monarchy.How prophetic it would become because after a few days of this speech it seems the royal monarch had failed to heed the very words it had espoused.

The backlash of anger by the Sultan's decision was obvious. Overnite the sultan was the subject of disdain and ridicule. Even his web site was deactivated because of the avalanche of criticsms and ridicule that had smeared his once revered blog. Not many people expected the once loved ruler to bow to the demands of the UMNO leaders when it was quite obvious that the rakyat wanted a snap election to give a new mandate to a legitimate govt.

The act of refusal to grant the M.B Nijar to dissolve the state assembly and call for fresh election was a betrayal of the people's trust that the ruler would protect. Instead, the ruler bowed to the wishes of the corrupt regime to usurp a rightful Govt elected by the people.The words that a ruler misdeed would cause the downfall of the monarchy has certainly being so prophetic.

Maybe there is still some modicum of hope that the sultan could salvage some of his previous pristine reputation if he could now dissolve the state assembly and call for a fresh state election to determine the mandate of the Perakians.

The Corrupt politicians.

Can anyone believe when DPM Najib said that no money was involved?If that is true then the three who hopped over to B.N must be so impressed with UMNO's leadership to abandon Pakatan Rakyat. Clearly there was some incentive to lure the three assemblyman and woman to the B.N's fold. History has always shown us that politicians has a tendency to compromise on principles they professed when offered reward of power and money.

When you elect postman, clerks and retired penshioners to be their wakil Rakyat that is what you will likely end up with.Being offered $15million to change one's allegiance is alot of money and admittedly, not many can resist such a lucrative offer.Many opportunists are in politics not because they want to serve the people but because of what it can offer in terms of money and power.The moment they are not offered lucrative positions they start showing their true colours and the first opportunity they get they will abandon their principles and party's allegiance.

It was no coincidence that the two state assemblyman targeted to change their allegiance were going to face a corruption trial on 10th February. So it does not take a genius to reason why the two was easily persuaded to hop over to B.N.

However , the will of the people must be respected and cannot be thawarted merely because there were politicians who betrayed the trust of the people.

The only resolution to this dilemma is for the Perak sultan to dissolved the state assembly and order fresh election to determine the people's mandate to govern the state. Taking over the govt through the backdoor using dubious means is unacceptable and will not contribute to good governance.Let us hope and pray the sultan will do the right thing.

B.N's Power grab has Frustrate the will of the people.

Its sickening.Once again the will of the people has been frustrated by the B.N govt which has used their power and money to lure the numbers to take over the Perak Govt.

It does not take a genius to know where the Pakatan Rakyat weakness was centred.The Behrang Assemblyman,Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and the Changkat Jering assemblyman, Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu were involved in a corruption case which was scheduled for hearing on the 10th of february.

What was offered to them is a matter of conjecture but their disappearance during the first few days of the Chinese new Year holidays indicated some kind of deal was struck and the two PKR member was going to hop over to B.N in order to save their skin in the corruption case.With the deal now struck, it would be interesting to see how the corruption case will proceed.Most likely the powers behind the B.N govt will arrange some kind of trial which will eventually exonerate them of any guilt.

The only way for Perak to have a govt of the people and for the people is to have a snap election which will finally decide which party should have the mandate to form the govt.This can only happen if the Perak Sultan play a pivotal role by being non partisan in his decision to call for a snap election.

For a democracy to survive and flourish the sultan must pay heed to the wishes of its people. The march 8th Election of 2008 which swept Pakatan Rakyat to power was no accident. It was the wish of the people who were bent on seeing a change and if B.N was allowed to frustrate the will of the people then that change will not happen because the powers behind the govt which used their influence of power and money have deemed it fit to cast aside the aspiration of the people.This is a testing time for our democracy and the Perak sultan's decision will no doubt indicate which direction our fledgeling democracy will be heading.

Wishing All My Chinese Readers, Gong Xi Fa Chai and a Prosperous New Year.

B.N Cannot Change

I refer to the article 'change or be voted out' where the DPM pleaded with his component party to change or be voted out.

The sad part about his statement is that it is not B.N that needs to change but tragically it is UMNO which helms the B.N and the govt that needs to change.For the DPM to say that B.N needs to change reflects his ignorance why B.N had suffered two consecutive defeats in the last two By-election.For the last 50 years UMNO has been the mainstay of first the Alliance Party and the now Barisan National Party.Other component race based parties like MCA,MIC , Gerakan and a host of other mosquito parties are merely passengers in the B.N party.They exercise very little influence in the direction and policy of the govt which principally is constituted by UMNO's dominance.

Mahathir left a legacy of political patronage which till today is strongly embedded in the UMNO members psche.This political patronage have now seeped into the party't election where party's position can be bought by the highest bidder.This practice have been so prevalent and widely accepted but done with utmost secrecy that it is unlikely it can be stopped by the top party leader.Most of the top UMNO echelon leaders are too comfortable with the old practice of accumulating wealth and political patronage that it is highly unlikely that they will be prepared to abandon it.

Therefore the writing is already on the wall. The demise of B.N constituting UMNO, MCA, MIC and all the other component parties is inevitable.With the arrogant and mindless Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar at the helm of the Home minister, the opposition has a strong ally.His boorish behaviour and authoritarian attitude has virtually alienated the population against the govt.With such Ministers at the helm of the current administration the opposition merely have to just sit back and see B.N self destruct.

The DPM's brazen and corrupt practice of doling out contracts to UMNO cronies during the Trengganu By-election was not only revolting but a sad statement that he himself was not even aware that such buying of votes was no longer acceptable in our society.So how could the B.N party in general and UMNO in particular reform when its leader who was suppose to take over from Abdullah Badawi does not even know what the people expect of its leaders.?

The only beacon of hope that Malaysians have is the death of UMNO, MCA , MIC , Gerakan and all the other small component parties that constitute the Barisan National Party.They have been too long entrenched in the Malaysian political landscape and for a change to take place, we need to sever the old appendages that have festered and corrupt our malaysian system.We need to bring in fresh blood without the old baggages and try to reform the machinery that has been corrupted by the ersthwhile B.N leaders.We need to start a new page in our country's history and transform our multi racial society to one that is united to face the globalised world of today.

PKR should Just Sack Manikavasagam.

I wish to refer to your article 'Will Mike make good on his threat'.

The member of Parliament of Kapar should not only quit his PKR post but should also relinquish his Parliament seat. His antics and threats to the PKR party is a disgrace and such behaviour should not even be tolerated by the party hierachy. For one man to hold the party to ransom is a sad reflection of poor management of the party. If he does not quit the party then he should be sacked.We dont need M.Ps who constantly issue threats in order to get their way.This member of parliament must be taught a lesson that he did not win the election on the basis of his personality.He won the seat because people wanted a change . If PKR had put a dog or a pig in his place they would also would have won with a handsome majority. Manikavasagam should not be imbued with his own pride that he won the seat on his own ability.

Its about time that Manikavasagam and many of his indian colleagues who have been too concern about their self importance should re-examine their contribution in the march 8th election.In all the seats that they contested they could not have won a single seat without the support of the chinese and malay voters.The indians votes alone could not have elected them as member of parliament.That reality should be evident to the most optimistic candidate and it would do alot of justice if Manikavasagam realises this equation. It was not the indian voters that put him there and if he was to be arrogant in saying that they will form an independent party for the indian PKR M.Ps then it is likely that all of them will only serve one term as Parliamentarians.

For 50 years, the MIC represented the Indian community and all they have to show was a Minister and a few Parliamentary Secretary in the govt to represent them. When the opposition won in Penang and Perak, a Deputy Chief Minister Post was given to an Indian and in the Perak Legislature the Speaker Post was similarly allocated to an Indian.All this was accomplished in a space of few weeks after the election which put the opposition in power in the two States.Manikavasagam should realise that this are giants strides accomplished for the indian community and if he is still bent on biting the hands that feed him I suggest he should leave the position he was elected and let there be a by-election for the people to decide who should represent them.

This time if Manikavasagam does not resign from the party then the leadership should just sack him. The party would be better off without him in the long run. After his latest episode I doubt the voters in his constituency would ever elect him again.There will not be any solidarity in the Pakataan Rakyat if such maverick politicians are constantly allowed to threaten the party leadership.

Perak Mufti does nto Deserve the Tokoh Maal Hijrah Award.

How extraordinary that someone with a blemish record of inciting a riot against a christian church could be rewarded with a Tokoh Maal Hijrah award.This Perak Mufti also made an unsubstantiated statement that there were 100,000 apostates in the country. Where he obtained this figure is only left to conjecture.Therefore one would question those who are responsible for awarding the Tokoh why was this controversial character given such a distingush title when he hardly deserve it in the first place. In fact his appointment has only make a mockery of the occassion.

A person more worthy of the accolade should have been the Perlis Mufti whose many statements regarding religious matters have been an enlightenment.So can the authorities responsible for bestowing the title please justify how a least deserved person could have won the title of the Tokoh Maal Hijrah award?

Merry Christmas

Wishing All My Christian Readers, Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Penang To keep Bumiputra Quota

Now that Penang has decided to follow Kedah in retaining the bumiputra quota in housing, we are beginning to see the retention of the old B.N practice of perpetuating the race based policy in Housing.Selangor too has remained mute regarding the abolishment of the Housing policy based on race.Prior to the march 8th election it was advocating a policy that if they win they would introduce a housing policy which was based on poverty and need and not on race where rich bumiputras were able to enjoy subsidise houses when poor indians and chinese had to pay the full price.This practice tantamount to poor non malays subsidising rich Bumis in the purchase of houses.

What perhaps anger me and most fair minded malaysians is why is it so difficult to abolish a perverted policy and substitute one that is fair.?And why is the Pakatan Rakyat governed states finding it so difficult to change B.N's race based policy when it was clearly evident that it was discriminatory and racist in nature.?Is not the result of the march 8th election an indication of the people's fervent desire for a change?Then why is Pakatan Rakyat states dancing to the same tune of the B.N old policies?

If DAP, PKR and PAS cannot fulfil what it has promised in its manifesto then maybe all those who voted for them believing there would be a change would have to reconsider their support in the next election.The people voted for a change and if the Pakatan Rakyat governed states cannot provide the impetus for that change then its time we look elsewhere for another party that can initiate that change.If need be maybe we should even revert back to B.N's rule and hope that they have learn their lesson in the last election.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha

Najib:Razak Baginda is not involved.

The whole picture in the Altantuya saga would be more complete if Najib, the DPM should now come out and state irrevocably that Razak Baginda was not at all involved in the murder of the mongolian model.Yes, then it would be a classic case of you scratch my back and I scratch yours.Razak must be naive to think that people is going to believe his self confessed version of events when so many unresolve issues remained unresolved.

Hello, what happened to the Statutory Declaration of private Investigator, Balasubramanian, who in his first S.D made an unequivocal statement that Najib was acquainted with the murdered model and that their relationship was more than plutonic.Not only was it more than plutonic, their sexual tryst was luridly described in detail.And just as quickly as the first S.D appeared a second S.D was hastily authored by the private investigator to dismiss the first S.D on the grounds that it was made under duress.It was never made clear where that duress originated from.And after having made the second S.D to deny the authencity of the first S.D he made a disappearing act worthy of David Copperfield .And till today, the David copperfield protege has simply vanished without trace and the police acting with indifference over the two contradictory S.D's which would have thrown the Altantuya case wide open.

And what about blogger Raja Petra Kamarrudin's Statutory Declaration linking the wife of Najib to be present at the murder scene ?These three S.Ds should have been compelling evidence to implicate the personalities mentioned in the S.Ds and yet for some mysterious reasons were never exhaustively investigated by the police and pursued by the public prosecutor.

And the most shocking turn of events was the acquittal of Razak Baginda , the central figure in the murder case , without his defence being called.The acquittal has made the case virtually 'floating' with two protagonists involved in a murder without any motives or connection whatsoever .And quite expectantly, the prosecutor did not even attempt to appeal the decision of the acquittal with the lame excuse that the Judge made a finding of fact that according to them was indisputable.

Without further investigation of the role of the DPM and the subsequent acquittal of Razak Baginda in the Altantuya murder case, the whole case crumble for want of a motive by the two body guards of the DPM who had no rhyme or reason to execute the murder of the Mongolian beauty.

An even in the unlikely event that both the body guards were to be convicted for the murder of the mongolian woman, there is every likelihood that both will not serve any prison term.Has any one ever wondered why the identity of the two police personal has been zealously guarded to the extent that there is no media publication of photos of the two men?And is it not possible that even after conviction the two men could be surreptiously released without the knowledge of any one other than those who had planned to protect the identity of the two men?

The Altantuya murder case becomes even more perplexing when two men who are strangers to the murder victim are being charged with a violent crime that was designed to totally obliterate any evidence and trace of the Mongolian woman.And why would any one attempt to eradicate immigration records of the mongolian entry into the country?All these purported act to manipulate evidence lend further credence that unseen hands and unseen actors play a crucial role in the murder of the mongolian beauty.

It is a farcical attempt for the court to try and convict two men who at best would be scapegoats for the real perpetrators.

P.M's "Anyone can Be P.M' is an outright lie.

Our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi never ceases to amaze me. Even in the last leg of his tenure, he is still telling lies which any one listening to would know is an outright lie.
His recent statement that ‘anyone can be prime minister' in Malaysia really tops the mother of all his lies.

How could anyone from a minority race - either an Indian, Chinese, Iban or Kadazan etc, - be accepted as a PM when the simple appointment of a Chinese woman to be the acting general manager of PKNS could create such a ruckus?

Where was our PM when the hue and cry over that appointment took place? Not even a whimper from him and yet he has the gall to tell his audience that 'anyone can be PM’.

What about in Perak after the recent general election when DAP won the majority of the state seats?
Instead of a Chinese assembly person from the major winning party being given the Menteri Besar’s post (which by convention should have gone to the party winning the most seats) it was instead given to Malay assembly person whose party only won a few seats.

Malaysia has a long way to go before it can emulate what Barack Obama has achieved in America.

Umno and our present Malay leaders are too deeply entrenched in their Ketuanan Melayu policy that it is unlikely they will ever discard this race-based ideology that has served them so well for the last 50 years.

Even the mere mention of the weaknesses of this policy has brought the wrath of the Umno leadership on the erstwhile former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.
What more if there is any concerted attempt to abandon this policy in favour of one that does not discriminate against race, colour , creed or religion?

Americans have the shown to the world that they have moved beyond politics based on race and that even a miniority race member can become the president of the world's most powerful nation .

Unfortunately, in Malaysia we are still mired in racial and religious bigotry. Instead of uniting the various races with a multi-racial policy, they have instead embraced a divide-and-rule policy.
This is a policy which emphasises the bumiputera and non-bumiputera dichotomy. And after 50 years of BN rule, our nation has never been more vulnerable.