When The Carpetbagger Came-A-Begging, The Church Played Politics.

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House of God. Every religion has this inviolable place where worshippers of the faith visit and pray to their God every now and then, a sacred place where one communicates with the Almighty.

Anwar has done what many others would have shied away from.

Was it desperation on the use of the name Allah that brought the church to its knees to one man whom they see as a saviour, allowing him to desecrate the sacred ground to hold his political campaign?

One should not trust someone proven unworthy of trust. True to his chameleonic character his response to the Allah issue is at best lukewarm.

This man of many faces, sly and manipulative as usual, when asked by a churchgoer about his opinion on the Allah issue told the congregation that even international Muslim scholars thought it was a subject unworthy of debate.

Anyone with enough intelligence can see through that thin sheet and know that was no positive response, giving not his own but third party opinion. What surprises me is the report by Malaysian Insider here that the congregation was impressed and happy with his ambiguity and ambivalence.

He, like most UMNO politicians is still afraid of losing the Muslims support.

Churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and any other holy places are not appropriate places for politics and Anwar had shown great disrespect to the Christian community for abusing his welcome. It goes to show his greed for power has no bound. He should have just visited the church without giving any political talk. 

He has tried many times to hold his ceramas in mosques but was not allowed to do so. Sadly, there are Malaysians who think he should be allowed to soil holy places to deliver his political platitudes. Father George Harrison is one. Christians should take Father George Harrison to task for his "angkat kaki" attitude.

Many Christians have taken to social media to express their disgust and disappointment with Father George and Anwar Ibrahim for tarnishing the sanctity of the church for politics.

His greed for power knows no bound, he is now on a political flight to oust one of his most trusted lieutenants and to take over as menteri besar of Selangor. He is going to play out Khalid as he had done to many of his friends and party officials before because he couldn't handle and control Azmin Ali.I wish Khalid Ibrahim do not give in easily.

It would also be interesting to watch whether DAP and PAS would sacrifice Khalid for Anwar? They rejected Azmin Ali and reappoint ed Khalid as MB. 

A loophole in the state constitution can allow the Sultan of Selangor to nominate his own choice as MB, as what happened in Trengganu during Pak Lah's time. Khalid seems to have the sultan as his ally. It won't be smooth sailing for Anwar, a crisis is in the offing.

Should he become menteri besar of Selangor, would he dare repel the state law that prohibits Christians from using Allah and tell the Sultan of Selangor to fly kite with his fatwa?

Wake up people, if you are so desperate to kick BN/UMNO out, please do so by all means, but don't allow this man to pull a wool over your eyes and lead you down the garden path.

Malaysia’s Anwar Takes a New Dare

Ousting a popular chief minister in his own party risks trouble but repositions him nationally

The surprise decision last month by Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to push aside Khalid Ibrahim, the respected chief minister of Selangor, one of the country’s two biggest states, and try to take the post himself is a complex gamble.

Among other things, it is designed to preserve or enhance Anwar’s standing as a national figure, according to political analysts in Kuala Lumpur, by giving him a state to run. Should he lose the March 23 state by-election that would give him the job – considered unlikely – it would consign him to political oblivion and make his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) appear riven with factionalism.

Former state Assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh raised the curtain on the drama last month by resigning his seat in a Kuala Lumpur suburban district that would allow Anwar to stand for the state seat. That has upset many within the party who view it as an opportunistic move by Anwar and who have applauded Khalid’s stewardship of the state.

One think tank head joked that watching the opposition crack heads also gives Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak a respite from the barrage of personal attacks he has been under from the ruling Barisan Nasional’s right wing.

Helpful moveWhatever issues Anwar’s decision raises, strategically it settles the problem of a nagging internal party dispute, repositions him politically and resolves the issue of a popular but tight-fisted chief minister who has come under fire for refusing to spend money on infrastructure projects.

“Anwar will tackle national issues using a state platform,” said a longtime United Malays National Organization political operative. “I think he is going to give UMNO real trouble. It is a good move for the opposition, but it has put UMNO on the back foot. I think as Selangor chief minister he will give Najib a tougher fight.”

Although the decision was a surprise, it has been percolating since before last May’s general election, when some elements of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition were already pushing to replace Khalid, who has clashed with PKR party chief, Azman Ali, over a number of issues, including state contracting.

Khalid responded to the brewing challenge by leading the opposition coalition to a smashing victory based on his corruption-free stewardship of the state; the Pakatan Rakyat took 77 percent of the vote while the BN got just 23 percent.

Anwar, despite his leadership of the PR coalition, is said to have been frustrated because he lacks a platform to influence national politics and leading the coalition in parliament was not a sufficiently commanding arena. As chief minister, he would attend the Malaysia Conference of Rulers, where he can interact with the country’s nine sultans, who play a role in amending the constitution.

It would also give him a forum at the National Land Council, Finance Ministry and other key meetings with the federal government chaired by the prime minister. In the past, Anwar has shined in such gatherings, in contrast to Najib’s performance in front of key civil servants and ministers.

How do we spell G-O-D?In any case, the decision to push Khalid aside was triggered in early January when religious authorities in Selangor seized hundreds of Malay-language bibles using the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God. The issue has been boiling for months if not years, and appears to have been manufactured entirely by UMNO strategists, since Christians in the east Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak have been using the word to denote God for more than a century, as have Christians across the Middle East and Indonesia.

Read more.

Thither Malaysia's Costliest Buy-Election

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Though, traditionally, has always been an UMNO keep, he is not taking any chances, must win this insignificant by-election at all cost.

Losing it may have serious repercussion on his political future.

Prime Minister Najib knew the backwaters of this country like the back of his hand. No need for too many long pedantic speeches, he knew what the people want, what they expect him to bring and what he should leave behind after his departure.

.....but as Mahathir implied 'the people knew it's not his money'

Nevertheless, if the end justifies the means ?

Why not?

Money, money, money. The oppositions averaged the cost at RM19,000. per voter!.....and still counting.

Read:

Malaysia's Crucial By-Election

It may look like an obscure election in an obscure state, but nobody else thinks so

Read more.

Najib's Perverse Incentive

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Two more days to Kuala Besut by-election. What are the chances of PAS winning this one?

It is almost certain that BN will win this by-election, but like in all election there are elements of surprise and a PAS win will be Najib's big loss. A loss that may eventually lead to his removal.

At the moment he has no rival that can match him for the UMNO presidency, but things can change very quickly as there are barbarians at the gate waiting for the gate to open.

Najib is already the weakest prime minister after failing to improve on BN worst performance in 2008 that eventually brought down his predecessor Abdulah Ahmad Badawi. He fared worse than Badawi in total number of seat for BN, but improved on the Malays votes, which will be the bulwark of Malay political power.

BN can only stay in power if it can preserve the rural Malays, Sabah and Sarawak natives votes. The 13th GE has shown that BN can go without Chinese votes. However, getting two-thirds will be a long distance call.

One can't blame Najib for not trying. He tried his best to woo the Chinese with his offering of magnanimity, but was completely forsaken by the Chinese community. 

The Chinese can live in a state of denial that it was not a Chinese tsunami, in reality it was, with a little help from the urban Malays, who rightly or wrongly think they do not need the stale and outdated UMNO anymore. 

To the urban Malays UMNO has failed and corruptions had become so entrenched it is almost impossible to change the mindset of the leaders. UMNO will only change after they have tasted defeat.

The Chinese are completely disillusioned with the Chinese parties in BN considered as lapdogs of UMNO and saw in DAP the rise of Chinese political power. Almost 8 out of every 10 Chinese voters voted for DAP. Without the massive support DAP would not have been able to to garner 38 parliamentary seats and was leader of the pack.

PAS lamented that Najib is again pumping too much taxpayers money into the by-election, which they reckoned has reached RM377 million. A princely sum for such a small district.

Will the money and promises of developmental projects ensure a BN win?

Najib did the same at the 13th GE offering donations to Chinese schools and other give aways to the community. He used billion of ringgits for his BRIM payout. 

As Mahathir says there was no effect on the people of his benevolence because the rakyat knew it was not his money, it's the rakyat's money.

I agree with Mahathir, it's perverse incentive or a cobra effect. Read what cobra effect here.

One Swallow Does Not Make A Summer

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The double win at Batu Sapi and Galas should not be reason enough for the Najib's administration to rush to the polls.There are still lots of ground work to do particularly in urban and semi-urban areas where the main oppositions are concentrated and where political awareness are far greater than the rural areas.

It is not yet a turning point to rejoice on these small windfalls not forgetting that the BN lost 9 out of 10 by-elections in Peninsula Malaysia and 1 out of 2 in Sarawak in spite of massive donations and promises of projects by Najib.

The opposition Pakatan Rakyat may look disarryed by the results of these two by-elections but support in urban and semi-urban areas are still something to be reckoned with.Diehard supporters hard to convince to change their minds that the BN has turned a new leaf.

The win at Galas and Batu Sapi are both unique and not so much that the BN has fully recovered but more the human factor and strategy employed by leaders given the task of heading the operation, namely Tungku Razaleigh and Musa Aman.Credit should be given to these two men for the astounding work, they are good political strategists.

Many self-styled political analysts had given Musa Aman little chance of winning the Batu Sapi by-elections, including some leaders, particularly in UMNO and LDP, secretly wishing Batu Sapi to fall to the opposition that would bring about the political demise of Musa Aman, which have been predicted umpteen times in the past in various political blogs and coffee-shop talks.He probably has a cat nine lives giving his detractors and those vying for his CM post severe indigestion.

He turned around the precarious state financial position and now having one of the largest financial reserves in spite of his detractors calling him a 'vacuum cleaner'.Obviously, he is a good vacuum cleaner, cleaning up the mess left by his predecessors.

Lest, they forget, he delivered almost all seats to BN in the 12th General Elections that saved the BN from becoming the opposition.Even then the political soothsayers predicted massive defeat in Sabah.

Unfortunately, princely Razaleigh was unable to do the same in Kelantan which showed his sphere of influence was only in his own constituency.It's rather strange that you thank one and not the other.

Najib has certainly done better than Pak Lah politically but is still a long way from being satisfactory to the rakyat overall.His only hope of retaining the rein of power is to make sure he doesn't lose big in Sabah and Sarawak.The situation in Peninsula Malaysia is expected to remain the same.

Galas and Batu Sapi, not by any note, that summer is on the way and Najib should not throw the baby and the bathwater out and call for snap elections.

He has already made one unnecessary mistake, probably on wrong advice of his people at the Finance Ministry, to include the 100-storey building (although to be built by GLC) and eco-resort in Karambunai, Sabah which has absolutely nothing to do with government budget as they were considered private sector projects.

The mistake brought him strong opposition and slide in popularity.To date, there were almost 240,000 against the idea on Facebook.

The Prime Minister needs to take note that many of them are voters and scattered all over the country.

Analyse:Yong Done In By DAP ?

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It would have been a fight between BN and SAPP without any doubt.PKR was in obscurity before DAP took to the campaign trail.

Obviously,DAP has strong influence over Chinese voters which they managed to convince to swing to PKR's Ansari who would not have done better than Yong without the Chinese votes split between him and Yong.

The Prime Minister may want to take note that in majority Chinese areas in Sabah swing votes to Pakatan particularly towards DAP is very possible.This victory and that of Galas are not indications that the ground swell is massively moving in BN direction. Calling a snap election may be prematured and risky.The BN needs to do more to recapture the people's imagination.

Ansari's bumiputra votes is dismal.Without the swing Chinese votes he would not have done that well.

BN, is advantaged by the three-cornered fight and right choice of candidate.A straight fight would have the BN walking the tightrope.Yong and Ansari shared what the lone independent candidate got in 2008 against the late Edmund Chong.

UMNO and its Director of Operation Musa Aman was the prime mover without which PBS would not have the capacity and will to ensure victory.The same man who delivered almost all the seats in the 2008 General Elections and whose political demises have been predicted countless times by those opposed to him and those who didn't get what they asked for, has against all predictions, delivered victory to the BN.

The big win for Linda is a combination of sympathy votes mainly from female voters, unfettered support for the BN by the bumiputra Muslim community and good campaign strategy.

Yong took a big gamble and lost.He needlessly used too many political bankrupts and losers to help him campaign in the bumiputra areas.These are political mercenaries discarded by other political parties that came for short term gains...to collect money.

With his tattered image Yong would find it hard going from now on.

Batu Sapi Turnout Low:Trouble for BN?

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Batu Sapi turnout low.At 4 p.m there were less than 60% turnout.The low turnout is not good for BN.

If the bumiputra turnout is low than BN would likely be in trouble. Internal sabotage likely.

More to come.

Inside Malaysian Insider's Yellow Journalism

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Sabah MCA chief, Edward Khoo said MCA's operation room at Jalan Buli Sim Sim was flooded with people who were told to come by certain opposition leaders that MCA was giving out money to voters.

He said this a very dirty tactic of the opposition to paralyse our operations on the last day of campaigning.

He said it was the last day of campaigning and they were actually paying campaign workers their allowances and didn't suspect that the opposition would take advantage of it and used dirty tactic to spreads rumours that MCA is buying votes and asking Chinese voters to go there.

Khoo, who is Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister said he is disgusted and lamented that "We are not so stupid to do something like this"

Malaysian Insider, a pro-opposition news portal should have checked with MCA before rushing to publish something that is untrue.

What can you expect from a news portal with countless pejorative " 'I' Columnists" and an 'X' to grind.

Voting in Batu Sapi starts today.

Also read: Can Chinese Voters Be Bought?

Can Chinese Voters Be Bought?

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A Malaysian Insider's report here has angered the Chinese community.This report which was obviously manufactured was a last minute desperate attempt by the oppositions to turn Chinese voters against the BN.

"Chinese voters in general find it degrading to take money in an election" said one highly irritated Chinese voter when shown the Malaysian Insider report. He said this could backfire on the oppositions.

Batu Sapi:Desperately Seeking Political Integrity

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Been busy and away in Brunei for the past few days and were unable to keep track with the progress of the by- election in Batu Sapi.

Obviously, there have not been much changes in poll forecast of the ground swell.All three parties claimed they are ahead of each other but most political pundits gave BN the edge over its rivals.

There have been rumours and speculations that Yong Teck Lee is a BN's plant and that he would be returning to the BN's fold if he won the election. This whispering campaign spreading in mostly Chinese areas were rumoured to be the product of DAP.

Both DAP and PKR are eyeing the seat for the 13th General Elections and if Yong came second in the race than DAP could claim the seat in the next general elections using the Chinese factor as justification of its demand.Even if PKR came second DAP would still demand for the seat as without swing votes of the Chinese engineered by DAP Ansari Abdullah is not likely to take second spot. Either way PKR is at the losing end.

PKR is fighting and uphill battle. In some bumiputra areas they were even asked to leave and never to come back again so much so that Ansari, for better or for worse, has to revealed his two broken ribs and excruciating pain he has to endure due to the falls he had from the rickety kampong jetties built by the BN government.

Batu Sapi could be a pointer of what in store for the next general elections in Sabah.It could be a death knell for the loser.

Linda Tsen, with her clean sheet has got everything going for her.

Batu Sapi has almost 50 percent female voters which majority is expected to give her the emotional votes.Her husband's untainted background would be another plus factor.The BN huge machinery and majority bumiputra voters would give her added weight to win Batu Sapi.

Can she outshines the other two contenders? In this political game anything can happen, it's like a mind game.

The same cannot be said of Yong and Ansari who both were veteran politicians with past history.

Both are desperately seeking their political integrity and both are not likely to find it here but than in Malaysian politics who cares about integrity, the constituents always the losers and deservingly.

A BN sympathiser whom I met said "If the BN wins this election the credit should go to Musa Aman, he worked his guts out as if he is the one standing for the by-election"

For Musa's sake I hope he is right.

Yong is using both the Chinese and Suluk cards for his "Sabah for Sabahans" using many relatives including sons of former Sabah Chief Minister the late Tun Mustapha Harun to campaign in the immigrant constituent areas.

BN might just scrap through.

More to follow.

The Carpetbaggars Of Batu Sapi:Deafening Silence On Illegal Immigrants

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Why aren't SAPP's Yong and PKR's Ansari not promise the voters of Batu Sapi to send back all illegal immigrants if they are elected?Why are there deafening silence on the issue that was close to the hearts of these two carpetbaggars particularly Yong who has been very vocal about the issue in the past?

Joe Fernandez has his take on this contentious issue.

Candidates Silent On Issue On Illegal Immigrants

By Joe Fernandez

COMMENT Interestingly, none of the three candidates in the fray for Batu Sapi – Linda Tsen, Yong Teck Lee and Ansari Abdullah – have so far raised the issue of illegal immigrants in their various political ceramah on the campaign trail. Otherwise, this is a hot issue in Sabah.

They are unlikely to do so, and with good reasons, too.

Sabah Umno veteran Karim Ghani, who recently left his party in a huff over the continuing disenfranchisement of local Muslims given the influx of illegal immigrants, thinks that “no politician in Sabah can afford to touch on the issue (illegal immigrants) during elections in more than half the state seats”. Karim hopes to garner at least 1,000 votes from ex-United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) members for Ansari. Usno was deregistered when Umno entered Sabah.

About 5,000 of the Muslim voters in Batu Sapi are in fact illegal immigrants placed on the electoral rolls with MyKads issued via the back door. This is an open secret in the parliamentary constituency.

However, no one is really sure how many of these illegal immigrants still remain in Batu Sapi. The illegal immigrants are not settled communities but forever restive and on the move. Some sources say that many of the illegal immigrants have moved on to other parts of Sabah, sneaked into Peninsular Malaysia or even returned home.

Not all illegal immigrants have the kind of MyKads which permit them to leave the state. There are those with MyKads which are only good for voting, and nothing else. Such MyKad holders have been routinely turned back at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport whenever they tried to board a plane for Kuala Lumpur or even Miri in Sarawak. The stock answer they receive from the airport authorities: “Your MyKad is only good for voting.” This causes no end of frustration among the illegal immigrants affected and this could be one reason why they eventually return home by the same routes they used to enter the state illegally.

In reviewing the track record of the various candidates on the issue of illegal immigrants, it can be noted that Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee was disqualified in the 1999 Likas election petition after the court ruled that the electoral rolls were riddled with illegal immigrants. Ironically, by that time, Yong had served as chief minister of Sabah for two years, that is, 1996 to 1998.

Batu Sapi PKR division chief, Hassnar Ebrahim, was once held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), followed by two years of house arrest in Sandakan for placing, by his admission, 15,000 illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls with MyKads issued via the backdoor.

Main worry

Hassnar subsequently told the national news agency Bernama in an interview on Jan 19, 2007, that he was prepared to tell all to the authorities, the police and the courts about the Project IC. There were no takers. He alleged that the other operatives he knows had earlier placed 135,000 illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls.

Hassnar claims that his main worry is that local Sabah Muslims were being systematically disenfranchised by the entry of illegal immigrants and their placement on the electoral rolls with MyKads issued via the backdoor. He has expressed regrets several times in public for his role in the issue of the 15,000 illegal immigrants which has tainted him for life.

Still, de facto party chief Anwar Ibrahim cited Hassnar’s involvement in the MyKads scandal as the main reason why he could not risk fielding him in Batu Sapi. It’s poetic justice that Hassnar, as PKR Batu Sapi division chief, has been found wanting. Any other Batu Sapi division chief would have been the automatic choice to be the Pakatan Rakyat candidate in the parliamentary by-election.

In any case, raising the issue of illegal immigrants in public over the years has not been entirely an exercise in futility for Hassnar. He has grown fabulously wealthy over the years as the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) has been forced to buy periodic bouts of silence from him on the issue. He cannot be said to be on the take but he has certainly had more than his fair share of business opportunities thrown at him since his ISA days. No one is that lucky in business and all the time.

PKR has also other reasons for raising the issue of illegal immigrants in Batu Sapi.

Forced to keep mum

Anwar himself has been accused of being involved in the Project IC scam, also known more notoriously as Project IC Mahathir, when he headed Sabah Umno before he was sacked in mid-1998 from the federal Cabinet and the party amidst the economic downturn brought about by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, however, did not publicly refer to the economic downturn but instead accused him of being “morally unfit” to be in government.

Linda Tsen of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), like the other two candidates, has been forced to remain silent on the issue of illegal immigrants. Any hint from her on this issue risks the certain electoral victory that awaits her on Nov 4. The bookies are already predicting a 3,500-vote majority for her. Yong will come in second, according to them, and Ansari is expected to get less than 2,000 votes.

PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan has put the federal government on notice since late last year that he wants the issue of illegal immigrants resolved by the end of 2012. Pairin’s concern is the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sabah. His younger brother, Jeffrey Kitingan, is equally concerned about the disenfranchisement of Sabahans through the continuing influx of illegal immigrants who enter the electoral rolls. He sees his people as eventually becoming internally displaced persons or refugees in their own land.

But SAPP and PKR can raise Pairin’s demand during the campaign but to what purpose? Will it dent Tsen’s chances and better their own? How will it look to Sabahans if both Yong and Ansari suddenly try to appear as great heroes of the illegal immigrants just to garner their votes? They will certainly lose the majority of the votes in the constituency.

DAP, which is eyeing Batu Sapi for the general election, can cause problems for Yong by reminding Sabahans of Likas 1999. This is likely to anger the illegal immigrants who are likely to vent their fury on PKR, the DAP’s Pakatan partner in the fray. This is not likely to bother DAP one bit since it’s no secret that the party wants the BN, through PBS, to win the seat this time. This would make it easier for DAP to claim the seat the next time from PKR...Free Malaysia Today

Ansari's Double Dip

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Are you superstitious? If you are not, you would be by now, if you are Ansari Abdullah.

Within less than two days Ansari has tumbled into murky water twice. This carpetbagger must have the unluckiest of luck, a bad omen some would say.

Just a thought, was he unlucky or was it sabotage?

Maybe, PKR should investigate before more serious accident planned by those within PKR who were against his candidacy inflict serious injury on him.

Or was it PKR trickery to show the nation that BN did not look after the welfare of the people?

BN Riding The Ghost Train ?

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It appears that BN may be in for a rough ride dogged by component parties unwilling to give their utmost to help in the campaign.

LDP,MCA,Gerakan, the three Chinese based party only made dim appearances.UMNO seemed the only party working hard to ensure victory.PBS, not here, nor there.

Unless, UMNO can protect majority of the bumiputra votes and garner at least 20% of the Chinese votes the end result may not be very pretty.

Yong Teck Lee seemed to have big war chest rumoured to be bankrolled by some Foo Chow towkays from Sarawak.

Pigs with wings always fly around during election times, can't really tell the truth from the lies, but it is a well known fact that Malaysian Chinese businessmen always put their bets on both sides of the coin, just in case.

PKR is a non starter. Some, predicted bad omen for Ansari after taking a dip in the sea.

Yong Teck Lee showed his arrogance by belittling Ansari saying he is not fit to debate with him, he wants nothing less than Anwar Ibrahim.

A Sabah politician who refused to be named said "If BN loses it's most likely by unseen hands of one or two of its own component party and Prime Minister Najib knew who they are"

New and untainted, the lady should still have a chance.

The opposition PKR taking issue with her poor Bahasa is absolute rubbish.She has enough intelligence to polish her Bahasa in the next six months and they would be surprised that she probably speaks better Bahasa than Lim Kit Siang by then.

Also read:

Sabah rights a SAPP afterthought in Batu Sapi Yong was also instrumental in Umno seizing control of Sabah in 1994 from PBS after the latter had successfully fought the state election for an unprecedented fourth term. This was despite Yong deserting the party on the eve of the state election and getting the registration of SAPP approved within 24 hours. Yong formed SAPP and aligned himself with Umno in the state election after Pairin rejected his demand that he (Yong) be given the exclusive right to name all the Chinese PBS candidates.

Yong Teck Lee, You Cannot Fool All The People All The Time!

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How do the people particularly the Chinese community believe in this man.He joined the very same devil that made him chief minister and never for a moment dared face up to Mahathir and tell him how badly he treated Sabah and Sabahans then.

Now, he is trying to fool Sabahans with his "Sabah for Sabahans" bullshit which he dared not whisper let alone mentioned when he was chief minister while enjoying all the privileges and sharing the bounty of the BN government he forgot Sabahans ever existed then.

What the point of a debate with Chief Minister Musa Aman.There are enough skeletons of his in the closet to strip him naked and shame him to the bone without going for a debate.It's obvious, the party he called upon to debate knows he is playing the devil's advocate.

There is no need to say in too many words for this 'old wine in new bottle' as Lincoln would have said "you can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time,but you cannot fool all the people all the time"

It just too bad if the people of Batu Sapi is taken in by his rhetoric.

If BN wins the 13th General Elections, I bet he will rejoin the devil again.

PKR, " a dog in the manger"

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Politicians, if I may say, make monkey of themselves when it comes to facing reality, unable to think clearly,sensibly and logically and...... all for selfish reason.

By their own undoing, the Batu Sapi by-election is a case of selfishness and greed which has spelled disaster for both the opposition candidates.

The chances of SAPP's Yong winning has now disappeared into the thick cumulus cloud all for the irrational greed of one man.... Anwar Ibrahim.

PKR knew of its poor chance of winning yet deprived Yong of a good fight against the BN.

Anwar has taken a 'dog in the manger' attitude and worse still fielded the most unlikely candidate.He is sending a message to Yong " if we can't have it, you can't have it too".

Ansari Abdullah will be vanquished not because of his own fault but the stupidity of PKR not giving way to Yong, who has far greater chance of taking on the BN. The voters will show their unhappiness in the ballot boxes.

PKR, will never be a force to be reckoned with in Sabah and I find it hard to believe that the leaders are still living in a state of denial. There is no credible leader in Sabah PKR that can garner massive support for the party.

Anwar may be big name in the Peninsula but in Sabah he has still a long way to go.Sabahans still remember the coup of 1994.

Yong is not my favoured candidate, as far as I am concerned he is no different from other shameless politicians, but the fact is, Anwar Ibrahim has ruined his chance of giving the BN a run for its money.

A ploy of last minute withdrawal by PKR to give Yong a chance will be too late and will not work.

There was a dog lying in a manger who did not eat the grain but who nevertheless prevented the horse from being able to eat anything either. (from an old Greek fable)

Will Batu Sapi Be Yong's Waterloo ?

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Yong Teck Lee's candidacy for the Batu Sapi by-election defy description.It's a big surprise for everyone that he would stake his political career on a whim.

Yong is no different from other politicians that the people might want to throw out.He has been in PBS and stayed while the going was good.In 1994 at the behest of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim he with other PBS leaders deserted the party and formed their own parties to topple the duly elected PBS government.

Soon after, his party joined the BN where he was given position and later made the chief minister on Mahathir's rotation system.He is no different from other shameful politicians that betrayed the people's trust whenever it suits them.

This is the same man who wooed the illegals voters when he was in the BN and did absolutely nothing when he was the CM but wailed and hailed about the presence of illegal immigrants the moment he is out of the BN.

For the same reason what he did to Joseph Pairin he did again with Pak Lah when he couldn't get what he wanted.Sabahans are fools if they think he cares for them.

His stratergy is to start a spat with Pak Lah making Pak Lah looked bad in the eyes of Sabahans and him a hero, leave BN, and contest the 13th General Elections under his own flag and win a few seats.He would than keep his option open, to join whoever the victor is, BN or PR.

Sabahans, are simple folks, they keep believing in the same old politicians and keep recycling them when new and younger faces should be given the chance to change the politics of this country irrespective which party he or she represents.

In the fore front with Yong are other political has-beens, ex-Berjaya Deputy CM Mohd Noor Mansoor of the famous I borrowed my mother's RM5 million for political funds when he sold the Berjaya building and the X-Man, ex-USNO,ex-PBS,ex-UMNO Nahalan Damsal.

Batu Sapi has significant number of immigrants voters and Yong would close his eyes once again and canvass for votes from the very same people he wanted to kick out of the state.Are these the kind of politicians worthy of the people's trust? The hypocrisy of 'do as I say, not as what I do' and yet Sabahans are fooled to vote for them.

One of the most controversial deals during his tenure as chief minister was the exchange of blue chip MISC shares with junk NBT and Sugarbun shares of his closed friend, a lawyer turned businessman Joseph Ambrose Lee.

Today, MISC shares are still in blue chip category and paying dividends while NBT and Sugarbuns shares are worthless, a fate worse than a toilet paper.His excuse that the collapse was due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 is constructively untrue.MISC shares have recovered and are still trading on the KLSE while NBT and Sugarbun shares have been relegated to the rubbish bins.Both companies have been de-listed from the KLSE.

Yong denied he has anything to do with it and the collapse of the Saham Amanah Sabah which happened during his tenure.

It is common knowledge that he is a buddy of Ambrose Lee which used the relationship to transact business with the government, from exchange of shares to the award of FMU (Forest Management Unit).

Most of Ambrose Lee's businesses failed.Today, his assets are under receiving order (RO) but he is still a very rich man and free to travel overseas, courtesy of banks and financial institutions who care not about their fiduciary duties.After few years of RO the banks should know whether they can recover those assets or not and should adjudicate the process whereby a public examination of the debtor could be carried out to determine that there were no fraudulent transactions.

The share swaps incurred the state government agency to lose huge sums which shortfalls were supposedly guaranteed by Ambrose's company.Being insolvent the company was unable to make good the guarantee.Ambrose offered the state government another losing concern of his to take care of the shortfall.

Borneo Marble was offered with highly inflated price which was said to have been accepted by the idiot savants at Warisan but eventually rejected by Chief Minister Musa Aman who has better business sense than his boys at Warisan.

Sometimes, in making decision, dishonesty precedes logic. I have done and seen umpteen valuation of properties during my business days and most, more often than not, were overstated in value and valuers cannot be taken to court for their opinion.It's up to the interested parties to attache their own value.

Here, to confuse the audience, Mr Lee feigned not to know the reason of Musa's refusal. The state has the right to refuse not withstanding whatever the valuation is.

The Chinese voters in Sandakan may want to show they are kingmakers but I hope they vote sensibly.

It's time to kick out all these political donkeys and put new faces that can serve the people better.

Botak Yong Going For Batu Sapi

Hantu Laut

Yong Teck Lee just announced his candidacy for Batu Sapi. Yong is going for broke and will put up a good fight against the BN if it is a straight fight.

PKR, will nominate its candidate but is likely to withdraw the last minute to give Yong better chance of winning.

BN may still have the edge, depending on the candidate they choose.

More to come.

Who In Batu Sapi ?

Hantu Laut

What's in store for the Batu Sapi by-election?

In all likelihood, it would be a three-cornered fight as SAPP and Pakatan Rakyat would want to prove their political prowess to gauge their popularity for the next general elections. Both are unlikely to give way to each other.

This dichotomy would continue until the 13th General Elections which is expected to be called before the term expired.

It would give the BN the edge if a right candidate is chosen.

SAPP's Yong Teck Lee suspension has ended and he is now eligible to stand in an election.Yong is unlikely to stand in this by-election but would field a candidate from his party. Karamunting central liaision committee member Poon Kee Yang sits top of the list.

Yong would not stand as the support for the opposition in this area is still unclear and if he stood as candidate and lost than his party would suffer the consequence in the next general elections.Batu Sapi has 60 % bumiputera voters.

As usual, PKR is troubled by infighting among who should be selected as candidate.The contenders are, its Batu Sapi division chief Hasnar Ibrahim,Tuaran PKR division chief Ansari Abdullah and Sabah PKR chief Thamrin Jaini.

Hasnar Ibrahim is most likely to rock the boat if not selected and PKR leaderships are in a quandary as to him or Thamrin Jaini. Hasnar is a local and has affinity with the bumiputra community.He is an ex ISA detainee and has track record of dirty underhand tactics.The leadership may decide on Thamrin which will send Hasnar and his followers to rebel against the party.

The BN may field the spouse of the late Edmund Chong to attract sympathy votes.

The fight really would be between BN and SAPP.

Galas:A Long Shot For UMNO,Passing The Buck To Ku Li

Hantu Laut

There is much talk about Ku Li as candidate for Galas.

Tungku Razaleigh shouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.He should not be inticed by the overture from the DPM whom I dread to think of as our next PM. It wouldn't be a feather in his cap for UMNO's new breed.He will be disappointed and hurt after the show ended.

Najib had acted as a true deputy when he was deputy to Pak Lah even under pressure from Mahathir to push Pak Lah out he has behaved nobly which I can't visualise the same with our current DPM.Political doublespeak and body language can tell a lot about a person.Muhyiddin's mixed signal does not bode well with Najib's 1 Malaysia.

Tengku should be beyond this meagre offering.The choice, off course, is his but I believe he wouldn't fall for it.

It is a thankless job. If UMNO loses he gets the blame and a bad name and if they win someone else gets the credit.

Galas, will be a testing ground whether UMNO has regained the Malay supports.It could be a long shot for the party.

If they have high regard for the Tungku than they should give him a high ministerial post as a show of appreciation and source of wisdom, not ask him, mind you he is not young anymore, to be the workhorse in an election.

Other than Najib, most of UMNO leaders are not the thinking lot, they only show their cleverness by being combative.

Tian Chua A Goner

Hantu Laut

Fine reduced from RM3000 to RM2000 for Tian Chua.Is that the minimum the judge can impose on the criminal act of Tian Chua?

The law says fine of no less than RM2000 or not less than a year's jail will disqualify an elected representative from his post.

I agree with Karpal Singh that Tian Chua is doomed as an MP unless of course the Election Commission construe it differently to avoid another by-election.

Looks like Tian Chua jumped the gun by agreeing to transfer the bail money as payment of the fine.Whether he still can appeal after paying the fine I am not sure as Article 48 is silent.

The law is very clear RM2000 or not less than a year's jail.If you are fined RM500 and given a year's jail you are still a goner.Either way you are a goner.

I'll be most surprise if the Election Commission does not call for a by-election.

PR may not be worried of not winning in the area.