The poor and chaotic situations in Sabah are collective ‘efforts’ for both the federal and state governments for more than three decades.

The illegal immigration issue in Sabah is widespread, it’s a shame that the government are not doing much to coup with this… but is it fair for Badawi and Umno to shoulder all the blames? What were the likes of Yong Teck Lee doing all these years (including his Chief Minister terms) to deal with this issue?

Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz, and all the Kadazan-Dusun chieftains… what have they done for the past decade or two for the Sabahans? Nik Aziz never care, LKS only knows how to complain, and Anwar only started to care because he can become a PM. All these people (including some Sabahan leaders) are just as idiotic as everyone else when it comes to issues in Sabah, none of them are any better than Badawi when it comes to social welfare for Sabahans.

If the federal government is not doing well enough to help the state, by all means kick their ass… the only question is, why wait until now? The ass should have been kicked long time ago. So, if the BN government had won big again this term, SAPP and YTL would still remain silent and enjoy their honeymoon isn’t it?

Don’t just blame it on the federal leaders my fellow Malaysians, have a look at your local politicians as well. And if you think Badawi is idiot, think what Mahathir, Anwar and the local leaders had done for you.

Pakatan are talking as if all the Malaysians would like a new govenment, but fact is they are still the oppositions because half of the Malaysians were not voting in their favour. There are lots of calls for Badawi to step down, including from within Umno itself… but that doesn’t mean that these people would want a new government or to have Anwar as the new Prime Minister.

Anwar has been campaigning like crazy for the past three months in hope of becoming the new PM. I don’t want to question whether he is genuine in building Malaysia or more of a personal agenda… but what he did for the past 100 days are hampering the country’s stability. What is the use of a GE if the opposition would continue plotting to take over the government after an election?

Imagine if PR takes over the government with Anwar’s crossover talk being materialised; the PR government would only have a minor majority by then, and what would happen if the BN (as opposition) starting to plot their own crossover plans to take back the government instead? The country will be in a never-ending political turmoil… and that’s why, the results of the GE should be respected and never be exploited in any other ways, regardless of who is doing it.

The people have spoken, you all have spoken, and the BN continue to rules. So be it, and let them rule for another 4-5 years and show what they can do (or not)… we’ll settle the score again in the next election.

Besides, while having BN under the radar, do mind that the Pakatan Rakyat state governments are being watched too. They are given the chances to rule as well; instead of all the political agendas, how about focusing on showing what they can really do at governmental levels and win the next GE fair and square?

That is, if both Pak Lah and Najib are unchallenged in the next Umno election… or that they managed to fence off their challengers somehow.

Regardless, I don’t like the idea of unchallenged leadership transition at all… it violates the spirit of democracy and also encourages political corruption.

Why should racial issue came into questions when deciding who is more fitting to accept a government scholarship for further education? It should be based on their academic achievement, the economic background, and to some extend their co-curricular achievements.

Lots of fuss have been created since the government decided to increase the non-bumi quotas from 10% to 45%. The most recent argument came from Umno Youth Education Bureau that it’s not a good idea because increasing the quota for non-bumiputras without increasing the actual number of scholarships has drastically affected the bumiputras.

Their statement is going to be hit badly by fella bloggers, but I can see their point though… the JPA could have increase the overall allocation of sponsorship so that more non-bumis could get it while the amount of bumis benefited from the scholarships could stay unaffected. Although I’m calling for a fair for all system… realistically, it takes time to make it happen.

The bumis have to start adjusting the mindset of being protected by the government in every sector. Education is a different thing than economics… while we might need NEP and other policies to bridge the social-economic gap, we don’t need a policy in education because there is no gap to be bridged…

Having rich parents probably means that the particular people will have a head start with their economic status, but having rich parents doesn’t mean much when it comes to education… every Malaysians have to start from the same point with our studies, and every Malaysians have equal chances to excel in eduation.

Malaysia is facing tougher competition with globalisation these days, we need to compete with foreigners in every field… and isn’t it ridiculous that Malaysians are afraid to compete with fellow Malaysians? How are we supposed to compete with others when we can’t even compete fairly among ourselves?

PSD scholarships should be allocated to all Malaysians and evaluated by specific qualifications regardless of races. The real concern for PSD is that lots of Malaysians that went to study overseas have decided not to come back… and that include lots of bumis, mostly in fact since that we don’t have much non-bumi PSD scholars yet.

Meanwhile, if you have any confusions about the PSD scholarship, the JPA actually has a nice FAQ to cover the common questions.

Mokhzani, who quit Umno on May 21 following in his father and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s footsteps, had insisted he would hold on to the post as there was no directive from Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad or the Finance Ministry asking him to leave.

SIC is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, which is controlled by the government through Khazanah Holding. [Bernama]

Interesting call, Azalina and Ismail. So, what’s next? All the executive posts of GLCs, government offices, civil services, police force, armed forces blah blah must be hold by Umno members is it?

The reason why we started privatisation of companies is to separate those entities from political influences and to operate at their own in a corporate environment. What’s the point of operating SIC as a corporate if the politicians are going to interfere its operations for political reasons?

Besides, these two Umno fellas might be having their own agenda instead of political frenziness, read more from Rockybru.

Ezam was one of the iconic faces during the reformasi era a decade ago… but he has become pretty much irrelevant for the past year or two. His decision to quit PKR in June 2007 has left little impact to the party, and the anti-corruption NGO he formed is moving no way.

People are asking why he is joining back Umno… but where else could he go? Going back to PKR is obviously not an answer. If he is still interested in expanding his political influence, he would have to choose between PAS and Umno… not many choices actually.

Some people are claiming that Ezam is going back to Umno to help reforming the party, but frankly… this fella is way overrated by some folks. Besides his fame, he doesn’t seem to have much to offer… in fact, he might find himself having a hard time with his political struggle in Umno.

Badawi might like him though; they shared a similar thread of flip-flopping after all.

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post. However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership. [Thestar & Malaysiakini]

The impact of Mahathir’s resignation is still unclear, but I doubt it could lead to a mass exodus of Umno members.

This reminds me of another story though… a recent TV interview featuring Perak football coach Steve Darby. He said that Malaysians have an odd mentality of supporting their team only when they are winning but not otherwise.

Mr Darby was quite right obviously. If Umno and BN had won handsomely at the March election… all these crossover and exodus saga would not have surfaced. At this time of crisis, it’s the moment when all Umno members should join their hands together and rebuild their reputation.

Umno members should stop listening to oppositions’ propaganda to bring down Badawi but to use their own logical sense instead.

Would Umno be any better if they change the leadership at the moment? Do they have suitable candidates to replace Badawi? The only obvious winner if Umno got into turmoil is Pakatan Rakyat… Mahathir should know that, and all Umno supporters should know that too.

Backstabbing and holding your top leadership at ransom is not something politicians should do, it’s the act of gangsterism… and it’s kinda disappointing to see that some politicians are acting like gangsters in our political arena.

He apologised to the non-Malays that the keris wielding has caused unease, while apologised to Malays for failing to uphold the Malay emblem as their symbol of heritage (video below)…

Thing is, most of the non-Malays have never denied the importance of keris as a symbol of Malay heritage… the non-Malays are offended because it was used at the wrong place, wrong function, and wrong timing.

And to add fuel to the fire, Hishammudin has in numerous occasions ridiculed the non-Malays for being too sensitive towards the keris issue instead of looking into the responds seriously.

In fact in this so call apology, he is trying to say that the non-Malays are scared of the keris as a Malay symbol, and as if the non-Malays are trying to take away a Malay heritage. Yet again the non-Malays are being ridiculed while he is trying to make himself a Malay hero.

The next thing he would say is that he has apologised, but too bad some of the Malaysians are not that forgiving… yada.

Malaysiakini has apologised regarding this matter… [Malaysiakini]

On election night, we were informed by PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin that he was told by an EC official that there would be a recount.

Our story on that night reflected this. In addition, on March 11 Badrul repeated that there was a recount at a press conference and this was reported by not only Malaysiakini but also a number of other newspapers.

However, we have come to know now that such a recount did not take place. As such, we would like to apologise to Khairy Jamaluddin for publishing that assertion in our subsequent stories.

I wonder if Badrul is ready to apologise regarding this mistake too.

Well, he is the Umno information chief after all, he needs to lead the cyber-evolution for the party. However, a blog is just a medium to share thoughts and information; it doesn’t help if the politicians are not doing their best to make the country a better place.

For those who are cheering that the Palace has won the tug-of-war between the Umno central leadership… please think twice of the complications involved.

There are flaws when it comes to appointment of a new MB… it’s a regret that the people would have no final saying of who should be the MB.

Thing is, the people have voted for a particular party to take charge of the state government… and shouldn’t we let that ruling party to decide on who is the best candidate since that the people have given them the mandate?

How is it supposed to be a good thing when the Sultan has veto-like power to defy the governing party’s decision in appointing the MB? How is it supposed to be a good thing when the Sultan has the power to intervene the people’s chosen state government’s decision?

Yes, the Sultan probably doesn’t need to listen to Badawi and central government as long as the new MB is approved by majority of the state assemblymen… but if Pak Lah didn’t give the approval, would the majority Umno assemblymen dare (or want) to defy their political leader in this matter?

And what would happen if Pak Lah and the Umno leaders decided not to back off? Terengganu would have a non-functioning state government continuously isn’t so? And before people start laughing at Pak Lah and Umno, do mind that it’s not them who put up the fire from the very beginning… it’s the special someone.

I am not a big fan of royals, I would admit that. I won’t stop others from worshipping the royals though; it’s their rights, and it’s obvious that some Sultans are popular figures among the public… but when it comes to administrative matters, I am not going to give approval for any of the Sultans to intervene.

By all means, I would be glad if the royals are using their influence for other projects to improve the quality of life of the citizens… but when it comes to governing matters, leave it for democracy.

At the time of writing, non-BN parties (let’s drop the term ‘opposition’ shall we?) have officially claimed the states of Penang, Kedah and Kelantan. Selangor and Perak are also reported to have won by non-BN alliances, albeit unofficial.

It’s just the beginning though… set aside PAS that has been governing Kelantan for years, DAP and PKR are noobs when it comes to governing a state. I am not saying that they are not capable to do so, it’s however a fact that they are facing a new challenge that they had never faced before… governance.

First thing first, they need to do their best to maintain peace. I don’t think we will have any serious riots or demos following the victories in these states, but we do need to take extra safety precautions to maintain peace.

They need to form their state government ASAP. DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng has been announced as the next Penang Chief Minister, and will form the state government with allianced parties. Kelantan will obviously lead by PAS… I am not so sure about Kedah though, PAS and PKR will have to sort that out ASAP.

Selangor might be giving the real headache… if the non-BN parties do win the majority seats, PKR is the most likely party to lead the state government. Thing is, DAP has won more seats (unofficially) than PKR, but I think they should be able to sort it out rather peacefully as DAP has already have Penang in hand (maybe Perak as well).

So, what’s next? Time to fulfill their promises. All these parties have promised an awful lots of things… not only that they need to fulfill those, they also need to avoid doing things that they have been criticising the BN government of.

The first case that comes into my mind is the Motorola saga; the previous BN government was reported to have offered them a RM1 billion project so that they will stay in Penang… and the non-BN parties have strongly oppose to it. Thing is, if Motorola is deciding to leave just after the new government is formed, how would they respond to it?

Facing the risk of losing thousands of job opportunities (mind that the downstream industry might be affected too), the new DAP & PKR government might have to resort to something similar as well, which on short term is actually a right thing to do… but they can’t do that obviously, as they would be breaking the rare trust that the people have given them.

There are lots of other issues to think of… Penang Bridge, the Rapid buses, environmental issues, the sharing of wealth, and other social issues… and I am still not starting on Kedah and Selangor yet.

It’s going to be a long story, to cut it short… there’s a huge challenge ahead; and a precious opportunity on the other hand for the non-BN parties to show the people what they can do… not just for their supporters, but also showing to all Malaysians that it’s not really a bad thing to change.

For better or worse… we will be seeing a new Malaysia when we wake up the next morning.