Comments on General Election

To all my readers, I would like to assure that I'm not just keeping quiet because I want to avoid answering your feedback and comments. Thanks for the comments. I have been working very long hours, and hence, I haven't been able to squeeze in time to respond to the comments. I would do so definitely.

I would like to state that my support for MCA and BN, not because of I got a scholarship to study in US. Definitely not. I would say that my main arguments of support include:-

The consistent service provided by MCA representatives throughout the years. I'm sure that for those of you, especially those who read Chinese Newspapers know that whenever you face any problem, you can always contact your MCA reps (I'm not saying that reps from other parties are not doing so. There are some who do so too), and they will help. It is service throughout the many years, and not just appear during election only. I'm sure you can see the long list of actual statistic done by them, rather than mere calling for changes, with no concrete prove.

Another main aspect is the sincerity to serve. I would say that we can all see Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting is very sincere in serving the public. He is not a leader, who is just "gila kuasa". When he first became MCA President, he set himself a 9-year term, and this is not just for him, but for long term of MCA. He willingly offered not to be a minister, to clean up MCA, despite him being an elected MP this time around, to bring back the lustre of MCA.

To the reply on whether I want to be a politician, no I'm not a politician, and I will not be a politician in any foreseeable future. I won't discount the possibility when I grow much older, but at presently, I know that I am not qualified to be one. There is still a lot for me to learn, to try and solve the grassroot problem, to learn about all the issues around, before I can be a suitable MP or State Assemblymen. Of course, the journey towards it would be a long and steep one. So, as of now, no, I am not going into politics.

All my opinion is purely mine, and not representing any political party or any leader.

I won't say that JPA Scholarships is the only thing that MCA has helped. Many other aspects that MCA has done quietly, behind the scene. For example, increasing the number of Chinese in IPTAs, providing quality education through UTAR and KTAR, providing education loan through Kojadi, building 15 new Chinese schools and relocate 75 Chinese schools (which essentially are new schools), supporting NGOs etc.

I know that many are now excited about the change, and seem to be taken into believe that the current alliance of DAP-PKR-PAS can bring change. I would say lets wait for the next few years, and time will tell, whether they are able to bring positive change.

As of now, DAP-PKR-PAS are still bickering over the Menteri Besar position in Perak. It is a pact of convenience, and not a strong alliance that would serve the people in the long run. While I won't say that BN alliance is perfect, it is more solid that the loose alliance that DAP-PKR-PAS is having.

DAP has always say that MCA kowtow to UMNO. I would like to ask all readers to say whehter DAP is now kowtowing to PAS. In Perak, DAP has 18 representatives, vs 6 by PKR and 5 by PAS. And with that solid number of reps, DAP can't even to stake huge control.

I will not comment further, but will let time to tell us.

Penang state government by DAP-PKR seems to start quite well. I have to give credit to them. The CM and DCM1 and DCM2 consists of all 3 races seem to be a good start. But lets watch and see.

Again, I thank all my readers who post comments in my blog. My blog is mainly to cater to sharing on educational and beneficial events happening in Malaysia, and I would say that this General Election has swayed it a little, but I hope to focus on helping to spread on those events more.


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12th General Election

It's just half a day after the results are out.

BN lost its 2/3 majority, and lost an additional of 4 states (Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor), besides continue to lose Kelantan. That is definitely the biggest lost for Barisan National in the history of Malaysia.

In this tough time, I would like to reiterate my loyalty to Barisan National and MCA. I agree with many BN and MCA leaders that we need to really get down to work and really analyze how we can salvage from this. Perhaps, a thorough reform needs to be done on how BN is operated, and how all the component parties work together with each other.

On the comments on Malaysians to work with one another, transcend the racial divide, I would like to say that as of now, we still have a long way to go. This General Election is not a statement of showing that we, Malaysians transcend races. Not so, unfortunately, although I definitely hope to see a day, that we Malaysians will no longer see each other by their racial line.

In this General Election, lets analyze based on inter-race contest within Parliament Seats in Peninsular Malaysia. (I know that I am utilizing the name difference to make my following analysis, to illustrate the point. Sorry for any error.).

Lets take Perlis, none of the Parliament seat sees any inter-race contest.

For Kedah, we see at:-
P17 Padang Serai (N Gobalakrishnan from PKR defeated Boey Chin Gan from BN).

For Penang, we see at:-
P46 Batu Kawan (Prof P. Ramasamy from DAP defeated Koh Tsu Koon from BN).
P47 Nibong Tebal (Tan Tee Beng from PKR defeated Zainal Abidin Osman from BN).
P51 Bukit Gelugor (Karpal Singh from DAP defeated Koay Kar Huah from BN).
P52 Bayan Baru (Zahrain Mohamed Hashim from PKR defeated Ooi Siew Kim from BN).

From Perak, we see:-
P54 Gerik (Tan Lian Hoe from BN defeated Mohd Noor Abdul Rahman from PAS).
P60 Taiping (Nga Kor Ming from DAP defeated M. Kayveas from BN).
P65 Ipoh Barat (M. Kulasegaran from DAP defeated Yik Phooi Hong from BN).
P72 Tapah (M. Saravanan from BN defeated Tan Seng Toh from PKR).
P74 Lumut (Kong Cho Ha from BN defeated Suwardi Sapuan from PKR).
P76 Teluk Intan (M. Manogaran from DAP defeated Mah Siew Keong from BN).
P77 Tanjong Malim (Ong Ka Chuan from BN defeated Mohamad Azman Marjohan from PKR).

From Pahang, we see:-
P80 Raub (Ng Yen Yen from BN defeated Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin from DAP).
P83 Kuantan (Fuziah Salleh from PKR defeated Fu Ah Kiow from BN).
P89 Bentong (Liow Tiong Lai from BN defeated Ponusamy Govindasamy from PKR).

From Selangor, we see:-
P94 Hulu Selangor (Zainal Abidin Ahmad from PKR defeated G. Palanivel from BN).
P100 Pandan (Ong Tee Keat from BN defeated Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud from PKR).
P103 Puchong (Gobind Singh Deo from DAP defeated Lau Yeng Peng from BN).
P110 Klang (Charles Santiago from DAP defeated Ch'ng Toh Eng from BN).

From Federal Territory, we see:-
P124 Bandar Tun Razak (Khalid Ibrahim from PKR defeated Tan Chai Ho from BN).

From Negeri Sembilan, we see:-
P128 Seremban (John Fernandez from DAP defeated Yu Chok Tow from BN).
P132 Telok Kemang (Kamarul Bahrin Abbas from PKR defeatd G. Sothinathan from BN).

From Johor, we see:-
P140 Segamat (S. Subramaniam from BN defeated Pang Hok Liong from DAP).
P144 Ledang (Hamim Samuri from BN defeated Lau Tek Hai from PKR).
P148 Ayer Hitam (Wee Ka Siong from BN defeated Hussin Sujak from PAS).
P151 Simpang Renggam (Liang Teck Meng from BN defeated Atan Gombang from PAS).
P158 Tebrau (Ling Ban San @ Teng Boon Soon from BN defeated Roslani Sharif from PAS).
P162 Gelang Patah (Tan Ah Eng from BN defeated Zaliha Mustafa from PKR).
P165 Tanjong Piai (Wee Jeck Seng from BN defeated Ahmad Ton from DAP).

So, as of now, out of 165 Parliament Seats in Peninsular Malaysia, only 29 are contested inter-races, and of which BN won 14 and DAP-PKR-PAS won 15.

So, in terms of race being an outcome of this General Election, I would say no.

However, I do hope that one day, we Malaysians would be able to see Malaysians irrespective of race would be able to contest in any seat in Malaysia, and Malaysians would vote not along racial line, but based on their performance and track record.



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12th General Election

The 12th General Election is now over. Voting is over, and at each center, votes are now being counted in all constituents in Malaysia.

Lets hope that we would be able to hear what fellow Malaysians have decided through the ballot box by later tonight!

As of now, I haven't heard any final total voting rate yet.

As of noon, it was 32%.
As of 3pm, it was 58%.

What would be the % in the total?

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PKR RM1,500 Monthly Wage Ridiculous Idea

With the 12th General Election coming up, I would like to share some of my opinion/thoughts about some of the issues brought up!

One of it is the suggestion to provide a RM1,500 minimum wage for all jobs in Malaysia, suggested by Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Lets try to put on our thinking cap. Would this RM1,500 minimum wage makes sense? I'm sure they think long before coming out with this figure. So, it must be solid.

But, lets think about it. Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians do hire maid. And I am very sure that majority, perhaps more than 90% of the maids are being paid less than RM1,500 per month. If this minimum wage applies, it means that all of them have to be paid RM1,500. Would fellow Malaysians, especially the middle class who have maid too, can afford it? Maybe yes, but that also means that their monthly expenditure would go up by a lot, perhaps even by more than RM1,000 a month. That's worse than any form of inflation.

Bad idea.

Lets look at other sectors. There are many other sectors, whose current wage is less than RM1,500. Just to name a few, petrol stations attendants, construction workers, waiters and waitresses etc. Especially foreign workers, most of them are not paid RM1,500. So, if everyone is made to pay RM1,500, would our economy be stable? Can Malaysia continues to be competitive?

I definitely don't think so.

To put it in a nutshell, the idea of RM1,500 per month is ridiculously stupid. Ideally, yes, it sounds good. But, would it work? No! That is just kind of idea that the party, who has no ambition of ruling the country. They are just intending to grab a few seats and fill up some spots in parliaments. So, they have nothing to lose to come out with such ridiculous manifesto. After all, they know that they won't be held accountable. They are not going to win the election. So, they are just trying to gain some votes from those who are blinded by their ridiculous idea.





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theCICAK YouTube Challenge

Below is a challenge by theCICAK at here

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Challenge politicians to respond to YouTube videos!
About COMPETITION | February 25, 2008

We at theCICAK want to conduct an experiment in bridging the gap between Malaysian politicians and youth.

And we're making a RM100 bet.

Post up a video of yourself on youtube.com - with a short message for any local politician. Ask a question. Raise an idea.

Don't just say your piece - Seek a RESPONSE.

We'll give you RM100 if your video is the first YouTube video to get a YouTube recorded response from a local politician.

Let's find out if a local politician responds before the general election and you'll know who's really listening to the youth of Malaysia and engaging us on OUR terms.

To take up the bet, email us the YouTube video you created. If you get a video response, email to us as well… thecicak (at) gmail (dot) com

NOTE:You must be a Malaysian 35 and under, based in Malaysia or even out of the country. theCICAK will not be held responsible for any content hosted on the youtube.com network. The bet expires after elections.




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MCA's Report Card

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) has announced its Report Card to showcase what are the achievements that MCA has done over the past 4 years since the last General Election.

Quek Ngee Meng, Acting Director of Lifelong Learning has scanned all those 9 Report Cards of 9 Point Party Platform in his blog. Please kindly refer to the links below:-

Platform 1: A Healthy Political Culture
Platform 2: Lifelong Learning Campaign
Platform 3: Revitalising Education
Platform 4: Chinese Language Education
Platform 5: Economic Competitiveness
Platform 6: Development and Promotion of Culture
Platform 7: New Villages Development
Platform 8: A Just and Caring Society
Platform 9: Rakyat Malaysia

Do help share the links of these MCA Report Cards of its performance.

To all voters out there, do go in and read through the report cards and decide for yourself, on whether MCA, and Barisan Nasional, has played its parts in fulfilling its responsibilities.


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Check for Election Registration

For all Malaysians to check on your registered election areas, please go to here .

Lets all fulfill our responsibility as a citizen of Malaysia to vote in the upcoming 12th General Election.

Personally, I would persuade you to vote for Barisan Nasional for this upcoming election for the stability of our nation.

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12th General Election - MCA Parliament Seats

For this upcoming 12th General Election, Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) under the leadership of YB Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting would be fielding 40 candidates for Parliamentary Seats. This is 18% of total 222 Parliament seats available in this upcoming election.

Below are the list of MCA Candidates. Hopefully, MCA , with its fantastic track record of servicing the public, would be able to garner more than 31 Parliament Seats this time around.

Of those 31 existing MCA MPs, only 16 would be contesting in Parliament Seats again this time around. This is part of MCA process to provide fresher and newer blood, to ensure that it has a good continuation of new leaders.

Out of those 4 MCA Ministers, 2 would be contesting in Parliament Seats this upcoming election -
1. YB Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting (P163 - Kulai)
2. YB Dato' Seri Fong Chan Onn (P135 - Alor Gajah) .

Out of 9 MCA Deputy Ministers, 7 would be contesting in Parliament Seats this upcoming election. -
1. YB Dato' Kong Cho Ha (P074 - Lumut)
2. YB Dato' Dr. Ng Yen Yen (P080 - Raub)
3. YB Dato' Fu Ah Kiow (P083 - Kuantan)
4. YB Datuk Liow Tiong Lai (P089 - Bentong)
5. YB Datuk Ong Tee Keat (P100 - Pandan)
6. YB Dato' Donald Lim Siang Chai (P105 - Petaling Jaya Selatan)
7. YB Datuk Tan Chai Ho (P124 - Bandar Tun Razak) .

Out of 4 MCA Parliamentary Secretaries, 2 would be contesting in Parliament Seats this upcoming election. -
1. YB Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (P106 - Petaling Jaya Utara)
2. YB Yew Teong Look (P116 - Wangsa Maju)

Lets hope that all these candidates would be able to win their elections convincingly. In any case, if MCA obtains back its allocation of 4 Ministers, 9 Deputy Ministers and 4 Parliamentary Secretaries positions (assume no addition or no reduction), then we would see at least 2 new Ministers, at least 4 new Deputy Ministers (assuming that the new Ministers are from the Deputy Ministers), and perhaps 4 new Parliament Secretaries (assuming that both the Parliament Secretaries get to move up to Deputy Ministers or even Ministers position).

We would be seeing a new Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat as well, as YB Datuk Lim Si Cheng did not seek re-election this time around.

There are a number of ex-state exco or ex-ADUN who would be contesting in Parliament Seats this time around, including several very senior politicians. So, it won't be a surprise if some of them made it to be Ministers/Deputy Ministers/Parliament Secretaries/Deputy Speaker.

There are 3 former MCA State EXCO who would now be contesting in Parliament Seats.
1. YB Dato' Koay Kar Huah (P051 - Bukit Gelugor)
2. YB Dato' Ch'ng Toh Eng (P110 - Klang)
3. YB Datuk Yu Chok Tow (P128 - Seremban)

There are 7 former MCA State Assemblymen who would now be contesting in Parliament Seats.
1. YB Boey Chin Gan (P017 - Padang Serai)
2. YB Dato' Yik Phooi Hong (P065 - Ipoh Barat)
3. YB Datuk Lee Chee Leong (P070 - Kampar)
4. YB Dato' Hoh Hee Lee (P102 - Serdang)
5. YB Datuk Lee Hwa Beng (P104 - Kelana Jaya)
6. YB Dato' Dr. Yeow Chai Thiam (P130 - Rasah)
7. YB Wee Jeck Seng (P165 - Tanjong Piai)

There are 5 existing MCA Parliament Seat holders who would continue contesting in Parliament Seats.
1. YB Dato' Chor Chee Heung (P009 - Alor Setar)
2. YB Wong Nai Chee (P138 - Kota Melaka)
3. YB Dr. Wee Ka Siong (P148 - Air Hitam)
4. YB Ling Ban San @ Teng Boon Soon (P158 - Tebrau)
5. YB Tan Ah Eng (P162 - Gelang Patah)

Above are those 26 existing MCA YBs who would be recontesting in Parliament Seats.

MCA Secretary General Datuk Ong Ka Chuan, who has significant experience in being in Perak State EXCO for several terms earlier would contest in (P077 - Tanjung Malim).

YB Senator Datuk Dr. Lee Chong Meng would give it another try at (P120 - Bukit Bintang).

The other 12 MCA new candidates for Parliament Seats are -
1. Sharon Song Choy Ling (P043 - Bagan)
2. Ong Tang Chuan (P045 - Bukit Mertajam)
3. Ooi Siew Kim (P052 - Bayan Baru)
4. Liew Mun Hon (P064 - Ipoh Timur)
5. Cheah Yoke Can (P066 - Batu Gajah)
6. Ling Hee Leong (P071 - Gopeng)
7. Lee Li Yew (P097 - Selayang)
8. Carol Chew Chee Lin (P122 - Seputeh)
9. Jeffrey Goh Sim Ik (P123 - Cheras)
10. Chua Tee Yong (P142 - Labis)
11. YB Senator Tay Puay Chuan (P145 - Bakri)
12. Dr. Hou Kok Chung (P152 - Kluang)

It looks refreshing of this great list of MCA candidates. I would say that MCA Leadership should be given credits for preparing a very solid list of candidates.

Out of the 40 candidates,
2 of them age 30 or less (5%)
9 of them age 40 or less (22.5%)
16 of them age 45 or less (40%)
18 of them age 50 or less (45%)
31 of them age 55 or less (77.5%)
36 of them age 60 or less (90%)
The oldest among them is Ling Ban San @ Teng Boon Soon, who is 67 years old.

This shows that MCA is really prepared to send in young candidates to stand in the 12th General Election.

Mean Age of the MCA candidates of Parliament Seats are 48.6 years old.

I sincerely urge all readers of my blog to vote during this 12th General Election! And do hope that you would support MCA Candidates, as well as BN Candidates, to ensure that Malaysia would continue to grow steadily towards Vision 2020.


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General Election - PAS and its empty promise

As General Elections come nearer, I would include some selections of articles related to this 12th General Election.

Quoting from Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)'s website for this article of empty promises by PAS.

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As usual, another empty promise by PAS to the voters


It was reported in Utusan Malaysia dated 21 February 2008 that PAS themselves admitted openly that they are unable to fulfill their promise to set up a welfare state in the country if they come into power come election on 8 March 2008. This just shows how unrealistic the party can be in giving out promises which they are incapable to deliver in the end.

PAS Vice-President Datuk Husam Musa himself admitted openly that they could never form a government with the party contesting in only 60 Parliamentary seats in the 12th General Elections, far fewer than the 84 seats it contested in the last polls. This figure is a far cry from needing to secure at least 112 out of the 222 Parliamentary seats being contested to garner a simple majority in Dewan Rakyat.

According to Husam, the welfare state which was championed by them earlier in their election manifesto is only aimed to persuade the voters to accept the party. He added that as a start, PAS does not have the intention to rule the country and their main goal is to reduce the 2/3 majority which was garnered by BN during the 2004 General Elections.

We could see clearly that PAS is trying to dupe voters into thinking that they have their welfare and interest at heart, whilst their ultimate aim is to garner their votes for the coming election to achieve an Islamic state in the country. Husam even has the cheek to say that the welfare state concept was offered to the voters to enable them to make a choice.

We firmly remind PAS to set their foot on the ground and feel what voters really want this coming election for a better Malaysia. They should follow BN which comes out with a clear set of election manifesto and plans to be offered to the voters. BN always places the voters’ interest and welfare at heart and will continue to outline specific mechanism on their policy implementation.

Voters should question PAS and other Opposition parties that ‘Talking is one thing, but how to implement the promises is another’. PAS must make known to the voters how they are going to implement all their unrealistic plans which were offered as part of their election promises.

Nowadays, even BN is well aware that voters are more informed on current issues due to the increasing number of people resorting to the Internet to obtain the latest news and information especially in urban areas. At the end of the day, voters must not be emotional and be swayed by the Opposition rhetoric election promises which they know that they are not able to deliver. Voters must make an informed decision before casting their vote to only capable ‘wakil rakyat’s who will serve them whole-heartedly in their constituencies.

- MCA Online -


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Fong Po Kuan quits Batu Gajah

Fong Po Kuan, MP of Batu Gajah has announced that she would not be standing there as a candidate for the upcoming 12th General Election.

This definitely showcases even more internal problems among DAP. Earlier, DAP has been having internal problems with a lot of "parachutes" from other states going to be selected as their candidates in Penang for the upcoming General Election.

I guess voters would know better which party has been consistently able to deliver. Lets select based on the track record of the service of the party that has delivered.

For more info on Fong Po Kuan's quitting, go to Malaysiakini

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Past Election Results

For past year's Malaysia's General Election Results (in particular 1999 10th General Election and 2004 11th General Election), the results can be obtained from Pilihanraya.com.my

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Election on 8th March

Nomination date for the 12th Malaysia General Election falls on 24th Feb 2008 (Sunday).

The 12th General Election falls on 8th March 2008 (Saturday).

Check on latest list of Malaysian Voters

The new list of Malaysian voters have been gazetted on 5th February 2008. This would most likely be the final list that would be used in the upcoming 12th General Election, if the election is going to be held within the next 3 months.

Do go to Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) or Election Commissioner (EC) Website to check and make sure you are a valid voter at the right voting parliament and state seat.

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Election Commission (EC) Chairman to continue for another year

Tan Sri Abdul Rashid, the current chairman of Election Commission (EC) has just signed another year of contract to stay as the Chairman of EC, to be the man-in-charge for our General Election, which should happen in 2008.

Tan Sri Abdul Rashid has been the person in charge for 6 past General Elections.

This election has been in the forefront of everyone's attention, as we are going to see the mandate of Pak Lah, since he became Prime Minister in 2003. Barison Nasional won an unprecendented 90% of seats in the last general election and it would be interesting to see whether this alliance would be able to deliver similar results for next year.