The Political Macha Comments

12/06/2024

Former teacher Haji Joohari Ariffin has been announced as the Pakatan Harapan’s candidate from PKR for the Sungai Bakap by-election that will be taking place on July 6.

Check out my news article on The Mutiara Sentinel blog :

NIBONG TEBAL: Former teacher Haji Joohari Ariffin has been announced as the Pakatan Harapan’s candidate from PKR for the Sungai Bakap by-election that will be taking place on July 6. Joohari was born in Permatang Pasir but lived and worked in Sungai Bakap for most of his life. He

02/06/2024

The upcoming Sungai Bakap by-election would be crucial for PKR as it would test the party's ability to woo the Malay voters and win back the seat from Perikatan Nasional.

As for Anwar, this by-election would be a personal battle for the PKR president since Sungai Bakap is his hometown, for a sitting prime minister simply could not afford to lose their hometown seats to opposition parties.

Check out my latest piece on The Mutiara Sentinel on the upcoming Sungai Bakap by-election here:

Sungai Bakap state constituency will be having a by-election soon, following the death of Perikatan Nasional (PN) assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS on May 24 at the age of 55 due to stomach inflammation. Nor Zamri, fondly known as "Abang Zam" by many, won the seat against Pakatan Harapan's

12/05/2024

DAP's Pang Sock Tao won the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election despite the odds stacked against her.

Check out The Mutiara Sentinel's latest entry on the by-election, which ended yesterday with Pakatan Harapan's victory here 👇👇

Pakatan Harapan candidate Pang Sock Tao of DAP has finally won the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, thus helping her party retain the seat it has represented for the past 11 years. She received 14,000 votes, while Perikatan Nasional candidate Khairul Azhari Saut received 10,131 votes, followed by inde...

30/04/2024

This Kuala Kubu Baharu election is not only important for DAP in retaining its seat, but also for PH and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

This is since the election results would indicate whether the coalition have the backing of the "kingmaker" Indian voters, who are increasingly upset with the prime minister for having taken the community for granted.

Check out The Mutiara Sentinel's latest entry on Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

The battle to win the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat in Selangor was kickstarted last Saturday with four candidates having nominated themselves to contest the seat: Perikatan Nasional Khairul Azhari Saut, Pakatan Harapan’s Pang Sock Tao, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Hafizah Zainuddin and independent ca...

30/03/2024

It is about time that the Madani government stopped living in a pretension that only the Sedition Act 1948 could tackle toxic rhetoric on race, religion and royalty (3R).

Check out the latest entry on my blog: The Mutiara Sentinel.

Bon appetite.

On March 8th 2018, exactly two months before the historic 14th general elections, Pakatan Harapan launched its election manifesto, where it promised to do away with tyrannical laws, among them the colonial-era law Sedition Act 1948. “Malaysia’s legal system is frequently abused by the leaders of...

24/03/2024

Dear friends,

I am pleased to announce that I have created my own blog - The Mutiara Sentinel (TMS).

https://www.mutiarasentinel.com/

TMS is a blog site where you guys will get to access opinion editorials as well as news pieces on happenings in Malaysian politics, social and cultural scenes.

Occasionally, you guys would get to enjoy written content on world politics as well, especially American politics as the 2024 US Presidential Election is nearing. You guys would get to read political analysis pieces on the elections - something that I enjoyed creating when I was with Free Malaysia Today.

I am excited about my new journey with The Mutiara Sentinel, as I believe that this blog will help me to keep my love for journalism intact and everlasting even though I am no longer a practicing journalist.

Things are just getting started, but do follow our page and our Twitter page https://twitter.com/MutiaraSentinel and get yourselves updated on new content on the blog

12/12/2023

ON AXING OF V. SIVAKUMAR

The axing of V Sivakumar from the cabinet is long overdue, in mu opinion

One would have to wonder what took Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim so long to axe this minister, who has proven himself to be incapable of resolving the migrant labour exploitation problem as well as hiring the best people as his aides, as several of his aides were arrested by MACC back few months ago.

The human resource ministry under Sivakumar's stewardship has failed to ensure that only legitimate companies get to recruit migrant workers, which caused thousands of Bangladeshi nationals to be left stranded in Malaysia without jobs after paying thousands of ringgit in recruitment fees.

In addition, the ministry has also failed to properly address the modern slavery practices by Malaysian companies against foreign workers, which were frequently highlighted by labour activists and groups such as North-South Initiative and Andy Hall.

Let us not forget the ministry's push for the controversial Labour Union Amendment Act, which would now allow multiple unions to be created in a company or in an industry, which would weaken labour solidarity as.

The day has come for the competent, non-controversial politician to steer the human resource ministry, and I hope that Steven Sim will do a good job in fixing the mistakes made by his predecessor.

The workers in the country need his leadership - especially the migrant workers.

I hope that Indian netizens, politicians and political commentators will not resort to racialise the axing of Sivakumar. Our community deserves better representation in the government.

02/12/2023

ON SAMSURI'S KEMAMAN VICTORY

Samsuri Mokhtar's victory at Kemaman by-election should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Any seasoned political observers would tell you that this results is confirmed the moment the by-election was announced - not when Samsuri was announced as the PAS' candidate.

Terengganu is now a reinforced fortress of PAS, and Umno and Pakatan Harapan have to live with the fact. The 32-0 results scored by PAS-dominated PN in the August state elections have proved it.

As for Umno, this election results would be seen by many observers as yet another sign of a weakening Umno under Zahid Hamidi.

To state it an an accurate manner, the party is "terminally ill" and would not make it in the 16th or 17th general elections as PN - which enjoys solid support of the Malays - would deliver the killing blow that would end Umno's presence in national politics.

TIME FOR NAJIB'S COMEBACK?

Of course Najib's sycophants in UMNO would look at this much-expected election results and think - "Bossku Najib" must return to make Umno great again.

Only Najib can fix Umno, they would think. We must intensify the push for the crook to be pardoned, they would think.

But the unpleasant truth that his sycophants need to embrace is that Najib will never ever bring back Umbo to it's heyday.

Has anyone forgotten how is BN lost Putrajaya, Terengganu, Melaka and Johor in GE14 under Najib. Perak and Kedah's houses were divided following GE14 results.

The party had already fell sick under Najib. It is just becoming terminally ill under Zahid.

Najib can never make Umno great again even if he makes a comeback.

Sure he did help BN regained Melaka and Johor. But one must remember and acknowledge the fact that those election victories were made possible due to low voter turnout, voter fatigue and the fact that both states have a long, recorded history of BN's dominance. That's all.

Najib can never pull a similar magic in Selangor, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and even in Kedah and Perak.

Remember when Najib thought that he could seize Penang from DAP with a Psy concert and a huge KFC feast back in 2013? The Pepperidge Farm remembers.

09/09/2023

The electoral battles in Pulai and Simpang Jeram has ended with Pakatan Harapan's Amanah successfully defending both the federal and the state seat.

There are many things that we can deduce from the polls results.

1. Zahid DNAA did not affect polls outcome.

Political commentators, PN politicians and even the tpublic have speculated that DNAA given to Zahid for his Yayasan Akalbudi-related graft charges would lead to PH losing seats to the opposition coalition.

Yet, the election results show that the voters in both seats were not swayed by the DNAA and decided to retain the status quo by voting for Amanah candidates.

It is evident that PN's capitalisation of Zahid's DNAA throughout the campaign trail this week has failed.

2. Voter fatigue is still there and shows no sign of ending.

3. Sympathy votes work, most of the time

Incumbent parties usually have a good chance of retaining seats in by-elections that are held after the death of former elected reps. (except in the case of Tanjung Piai)

4. Bangsa Johor rejects PN's backward politics.

A lot of Johoreans are working in Singapore, and they crave for the progress seen in the city-state to be emulated in their home state and the rest of the country.

They do not want to embrace the racial, fanatical and backward politics that PN represents which would be bad for Johor's economy.

5. The Green Wave stops at the Johor borders.

The by-elections' results have shown that the PN's green wave that has been swept over Perlis, Terengganu, Kelantan and some parts of other states stops at the borders of Johor.

Clearly PN could not dent the influence held by Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan over Johor for a long time

6. Amanah's decision of fielding local leaders as candidates was a wise one as it minimised chances of grassroots' boycott - which would have happened should the party fielded parachute candidates.

PKR should learn a thing or two from Amanah on this matter.

7. Non-Malays are still backing Anwar.

Despite the fact that Anwar has been failing them with his bid to win over the Malays by shifting towards the right, the non-Malays still felt that unity government should be given the chance.

However, I hope that these results would not give a false sense of confidence to Anwar and the unity goverment that the non-Malay votes is secured, and that they can take these votes for granted.

Anwar needs come to the realisation that while a majority of the Malays have rejected him, the majority of non-Malays are yet to do so.

So, don't chase after the conservative Malay votes to the point of abandoning non-Malay support base, Anwar.

Dont live up to the infamous Malay proverb - yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/09/09/ph-maintains-pulai/

30/04/2023

This latest development on the seat talks for the upcoming Penang legislative election is not surprising.

PH remains steadfast in its stance that the winner keeps the seats, and the incumbent should not be told to give away seats to BN. This is a fair move by PH for its elected reps and its grassroots supporters.

BN has no choice but to respect it since PH has pledged that it would not go after their seats.

Therefore, UMNO should forgo its intention to pursue a seat in Permatang Pauh.

Meanwhile, MCA and MIC should brace for the fact that they won't be getting any seats from PKR and DAP in Penang, and they should stop complaining about not being invited to any meetings on seat allocation.

Nobody owes these irrelevant token race parties any seats.

GEORGE TOWN: No state Pakatan Harapan incumbents are planning to give up their seats for the upcoming state elections, says Chow Kon Yeow.

21/11/2022

PH should remain as an opposition with a principle if it is a small bloc in the parliament.

But that is not the case at the moment. It is the largest bloc with 82 seats under it.

82 bloody seats.

It should have the right to reach out to other coalitions and form a government, as long as it does not cave in to the demands of the corrupt, problematic leaders in some of those parties.

We complain about the horse trading that is going in. But this is something that we should expect as our country's politics is evolving with more and more coalitions coming into the country's political fray.

This is what is happening in Germany, where you have right wing, centrist and centre left parties band up and form federal governments.

Malaysian politics has become fluid. Time for us to face the fact.

Image credit: MYKMU

07/10/2022

PKR WILL LOSE OUT IF MUDA JOINS PH

On Sept 6, MUDA announced its bid to join Pakatan Harapan, and at the same announced that they are eyeing for 15 seats to contest nationally for GE15.

The response from PH is mixed. Amanah and DAP leaders support the young party’s bid to join the opposition coalition, while PKR leaders oppose the party’s bid.

PKR leaders came up with various reasons.
- Muda dont add any value to PH
- Muda wants to ride on PH's coattails
- PH parties have the youth wings to reach out to the youths, therefore Muda is unnecessary
- Syed Saddiq is against Anwar, and he is secretly Mahathir’s henchman
- The Larkin episode

I don’t intend to delve into these reasons, as they have been explained to death by PKR leaders

Allow me to share my understanding of PKR’s opposition to MUDA’s bid to join PH based on my observation of how political parties work on the ground - here in my home state, Penang.

ON MUDA TARGETING BN AND PN-HELD SEATS

Muda stated that it is *only targeting* seats currently held by BN and PN.

On a glance from the surface, MUDA’s target may seem harmless for PKR. One would say “Ok lah they are only targeting seats held by PKR’s enemies. Shouldn’t be a problem right?”

However, the reality is that MUDA’s target would still put PKR at a loss. Here is the reason why.

In the seats controlled by BN and PN, you have PH folks who work on the ground to help the folks in these constituencies. We call them Penyelaras KADUN/Parlimen or constituency coordinators.
In Malay-majority seats, PKR and Amanah folks work as coordinators, while PKR and DAP folks do the same work in mixed-race constituencies. These coordinators would normally do the same works that ADUNs and MPs do for their constituents, but with limited resources.

However, they have party members to help them on the ground, as well as members from allied parties. And they are the ones who work really hard to build PH's presence in these constituencies.

Here in Penang, seats like Teluk Bahang, Sungai Acheh and Seberang Jaya have PKR fellas as their coordinators

Let me tell you something about these coordinators. They dream big, which is to contest these seats and thus become ADUNs and MPs. And they expect their respective parties to give them such opportunities.

When PH give these seats to MUDA, they are basically depriving their party men who have been working in these constituencies of the chance to contest. And we can expect them to speak up against their party leadership.

They will ask “How can you just simply give seats to MUDA when we have been working on the ground for so long?” And guess what, they are absolutely correct.

As a matter of fact, this is exactly what happened in the Johor state elections, where PH handed over the Puteri Wangsa seat to MUDA, which pi**ed off PKR members have working there for a long time. MUDA won that seats due to the strong PH presence established by PKR members, notably local PKR leader Napsiah Khamis.

This is why PKR folks, in my opinion, are justified in protesting against MUDA’s entry into PH. And I am willing to bet that grassroots members of Amanah and DAP share the same sentiments, despite the fact that their national leaders back MUDA’s bid to join PH.

On Sept 30, Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda told the press that PH’s decision on Muda’s bid will be known on Oct 5. However, on Oct 5, Anwar Ibrahim told the press that PH is yet to decide on the matter.

Therefore, I think it is safe to say that Muda is likely to fail in its bid to join PH, and those who are pushing for PH to embrace the party should brace themselves for disappointing news.

Collage credit: Free Malaysia Today

24/08/2022

The decision of the Federal Court to uphold the conviction against Najib is a wake-up call for Malaysians, who venerated him as some sort of a national hero.

I am reminded of his recent visit to Penang, where he was welcomed by a swath of supporters. It was a bewildering moment for me to witness Penang Chinese folks - who would overwhelmingly vote for DAP and PH - embrace him and take selfies with him.

It was a nauseating sight to behold.

Little did they realize that the man that they embraced and venerated would be jailed nearly five months later.

It is time for Malaysians to wake up and stop worshipping kleptocrats just because they have "rebranded" themselves through social media and become online trolls and " sh*tposters"

21/01/2022

May your souls rest in peace. This is truly horrible.

LGBT+ and feminist groups have taken to the streets of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in protest after a le***an couple were tortured and murdered.

01/10/2021

"My contention is that not only did he see it (Sheraton Move) coming, he organised it. He was the man behind the Sheraton Move, he was planning it.

“I mean if we look at the Malay Dignity Congress and the way it was going and the way he was talking about ‘the Malays are weak’, ‘they have lost power’, what does all that mean? He was instigating it.

Well that is one interesting theory.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Former Malaysian ambassador Datuk Dennis Ignatius has urged former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to step down and stay away from Malaysian politics. The author of Paradise Lost: Mahathir and the End of Hope claimed that if Malaysians keep trusting older leaders,...

16/09/2021

"State infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the project was for the state’s economic recovery post-Covid-19, and he hoped it could be implemented for the benefit of the people."

Nonsense, there are abundant of lands in Seberang Perai that can be developed to help the state economy to recover after Covid-19.

This state government is lying to the people.

Want to help the Penangites prosper economically? Develop Seberang Perai.

State exco member says the project is for the state's economic recovery post-Covid-19 and hopes it can be implemented for the benefit of the people.

13/09/2021

Thursday, 16 September
8.30pm to 10.30pm
LIVE: Facebook.com/AliranKesedaranNegara

*Panel members:*
* Dr Azmil Tayeb, Aliran hon secretary
* Dr Prema Devaraj, Aliran hon asst secretary
* Dr Terence Gomez, Aliran member
*Dr Khoo Ying Hooi, Aliran exco member
* Dr Andrew Aeria, Aliran member
Moderator: Zikri Rahman, Aliran member

Our five speakers will explore what might be the political, social and economic situation in Malaysia over the next five years. Will the new Umno-led government of Ismail Sabri be able to usher in a more democratic, inclusive and prosperous Malaysia for all?

*Come and join us for an exciting and important webinar!*
https://m.aliran.com/webinars/aliran-webinar-state-society-and-economy-in-transition-whither-malaysia/

13/09/2021

ZULKIFLEE ANWAR HAQUE, better known as ZUNAR to Malaysians, is a cartoonist who has been drawing editorial cartoons for the past 20 years in Malaysia. Zunar often likes to bring along a pen and notebook inside his travel bag during his drawing excursions, from which he will record ideas from all wal...

12/09/2021

On this day in 1973, Salvador Allende’s democratically-elected socialist government was overthrown in a military coup led by the US-backed fascist Augusto Pinochet.

Allende was elected Chile’s first socialist president in 1970 as the candidate of Popular Unity, a coalition of socialist, communist and other left political parties. He quickly went to work reorganising the society he inherited, one characterised by poverty and confined by the greed of international corporations.

During his three years in power, the Allende government nationalised Chile’s foreign-owned copper industry, which was responsible for 75% of the nation's exports. Rather than compensate the former owners, Allende sought payment for the unfairly extracted resource. He did not stop with copper.

In its first year, the government nationalised 91 basic industries, redistributed 5.5 million acres of land, granted considerable wage rises to the working class and built quality homes for the poor. Allende hoped to build a sovereign, developed, democratic, and humane nation — and one whose foreign policy was built on principles of friendship.

This was intolerable to the forces of empire. Fearing that Allende would set a good example for other nations to follow, US President Richard Nixon ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to “make the economy scream”. “We have to do everything we can to hurt [Allende] and bring him down,” the US secretary of war, Marvin Laird, said.

The US government shut down all investments into Chile. It organised protests, funding a mass strike of the truckers’ union which exacerbated the country’s difficult economic situation. And it deployed its sprawling propaganda machine to blame Allende for the fallout.

Popular support for Allende’s government weakened. But it was not broken. On 4 September 1973, Allende spoke to a one-million-strong rally that gathered around La Moneda, Chile’s Presidential palace. “Allende, Allende, el pueblo te defiende,” the people shouted — Allende, Allende, the people will defend you!

Four days later, as bombs fell on Santiago, Allende gave his final speech from La Moneda: “At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke their tradition… victims of the same social sector who today are hoping, with foreign assistance, to re-conquer the power to continue defending their profits and their privileges… Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!”

05/08/2021

In solidarity with Ain Husniza
Fight the r**e culture in our schools.

Thank you Ain Husniza for exposing r**e culture and inappropriate behaviour by a teacher in school, sharing experiences of bullying by peers, school administrators for speaking out.

Keep shining. We stand by you no matter what challenges are thrown your way.

04/08/2021

Press Statement from BERSIH 2.0
Date: 4 August 2021

MUHYIDDIN MUST PROVE HIS MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT IMMEDIATELY

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) calls on the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to call for an emergency sitting of Parliament immediately to prove that he has the support of the majority of MPs through the vote of confidence, and not wait till September.

A delay would prolong the political instability with parties vying for support from MPs through promises of lucrative appointments to Government-Linked Companies (GLC) or even Cabinet positions, or the use of enforcement bodies like the MACC, IRB, PDRM and AGC to investigate and bring charges to those who do not align themselves with the government. Such tactics have been witnessed since the Sheraton Move that installed the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

With the withdrawal of 8 MPs from UMNO, as admitted by Muhyiddin, it is inconceivable that he still commands majority support unless he already or plans to cause the defection of more MPs from the opposition. Such political scheming must not be allowed to take place.

Furthermore, the September sitting of Parliament was meant for the YDPA to give his address and it should not be distracted with a vote of confidence that might bring about the resignation of the PM and his Cabinet.

If the Muhyiddin government hopes to have the support of the Opposition without resorting to enticement of their MPs, he must with all sincerity reach out to the Opposition leader to negotiate a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) where the Opposition agree to support the PM in exchange for meaningful roles in taskforce to combat COVID-19 and to revive the economy.

The CSA must also include legislated reforms that would level the playing field for all parties like parliamentary reform with all MPs sitting in Select Committees, equal Constituency Development Fund (CDF), recall election to deal with party hopping, political financing reform and the separation of the Attorney-General role and that of the Public Prosecutor's.

The Rakyat expect political stability during this time of crisis so that their immediate health and economic concerns can be addressed.

Statement issued by:
The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0

04/08/2021

If Mahiaddin is convinced that he commands the majority support of Dewan Rakyat members, then he should immediately call for a special parliament sitting THIS WEEK and prove his majority.

Instead, he waits till September to do so, which led to tons of speculation from observant citizens that he is buying time to purchase MPs to create the supporting majority for him. We can expect a lot of horse-trading activities to be carried out throughout August. 11 UMNO MPs and problematic PH MPs (former allies of Azmin Ali and MPs facing court charges) will be targeted.

We are about to witness a massive corruption scandal throughout this month. Malaysia's parliamentary democracy would be more desecrated "thanks" to Mahiaddin and Co. We desperately need anti-hopping law and recall election to be introduced to protect the sanctity of our parliamentary democracy.

02/08/2021

Dear friends, A pro-CCP white YouTuber has painted the protest as a NED-sponsored colour revolution.

Go to this video and comment on the lies spread by this YouTuber. He thought since this failed government is friendly with China, then the protests against this government must be US-backed.

Lazy CCP bootlicking bastards.

Protests in Malaysia appear to be copy & pasted from Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar into the streets of KL. I discuss the US-backed opposition leading thes...

31/07/2021

The youths are doing all right.

30/07/2021

Dear DG Hisham, if you can't defend the contract healthcare workers, then just resign already. Plus, you are already becoming irrelevant in MOH. The Cabinet members are clearly stepping on your head.

So what is the point of serving in MOH?

Resign je lah.

26/07/2021

If you would like to run a Simulation Recall Election Campaign to your elected representative who has party-hopped, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/BQseUxQRsRtGGASK6
or reach out to [email protected] for further information.

Jika anda ingin memohon untuk memulakan Simulasi Pilihan Raya Pecat di kawasan anda untuk wakil rakyat anda yang lompat parti, sila isikan borang atas talian: https://forms.gle/BQseUxQRsRtGGASK6

24/07/2021

In solidarity with contract healthcare workers.

Offering us another years of contract is not a solution, it’s a sugarcoating statement to shut us up.

We know well how the system works, we are not buying it.
Nobody wise enough will accept it.
Stop giving us a half-baked solution given by people who are not even in this field, or dont even know how the system works, or maybe dont even bother to think thoroughly about it because the problem is not theirs.

Give us a clear planning, clear solution for our career. Could we afford to lose more and more people now?

HARTAL is definitely going on.
2 DAYS TO HARTAL!

24/07/2021

Dear friends,

The full clip of the Sesi Sembang Santai TPMC 2 - Isu Konflik Politik UMNO - PN is now available on the YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKJDKC-kxHM

Pada 17 Julai 2021, saya telah mengadakan Sesi Sembang Santai #2, yang merupakan sesi sembang "live" yang kedua untuk channel YouTube ini di laman Facebook c...

21/07/2021

This is actually a scene from Angie Tribeca 🤣🤣

17/07/2021

Saya ingin mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan yang telah menyertai Sesi Sembang Santai TPMC 2 yang diadakan sebentar tadi. Sokongan yang anda berikan amat saya hargai.

Saya akan berusaha untuk mengadakan lebih banyak sesi sembang santai di bawah Channel YouTube saya ini.

Sila "like" dan ikut Channel YouTube TPMC
http://bit.ly/PoliticalMachaComments

Stay Tuned For More.