Beacon of Hope – 4
Extract from: http://tunkuaisha.blogspot.com/2013/05/another-headache-for-anwar-as-pas.html
Another Headache For Anwar As PAS Accepts GE13 Outcome
With PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang now accepting BN’s electoral victory, more evidence is emerging that Anwar Ibrahim’s continuing refusal to accept the results of GE13 and his plans for a national tour of protest rallies has left him more and more isolated inside Pakatan Rakyat.
“Pakatan has failed to capture Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional,” said Hadi, who nonetheless praised the opposition’s own performance. Hadi’s conceding that the Opposition had lost GE13 is the latest blow for Anwar, who is still refusing to accept that Pakatan lost the election.
But while Hadi was commenting on the GE13 outcome, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali was more measured in his assessment, saying it was very much a mixed result. “Although we lost Kedah and failed to retake Perak, we retained Kelantan, Selangor and Penang, while gaining more ground in other states,” he said in his summation of his party’s fortunes.
The Umno vote held up well in the rural Malay heartlands, where PAS had expected to make most of its gains. In overall terms PAS lost two seats in GE 13. Any fair analysis of PAS’ fortunes at GE13 must conclude it was a bittersweet experience for the party. It failed to make the gains in line with its hopes and lost seats instead. It found itself diminished inside Pakatan while the DAP scored major gains.
Beacon of Hope – 3
Extract from: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/57142-it-was-anwar-who-pursued-deal
TRUE PICTURE: Pakatan leader wanted to ensure Najib accept GE13 results, says former Indonesian minister
(Bernama) – PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had pursued a deal to ensure that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak ceded power if Pakatan were to have won in the 13th General Election (GE13).
Hamid Awaludin, the former Indonesian minister of law and human rights who witnessed meetings between former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla and the two Malaysian leaders, said: “Nothing jeopardised the agreement in the run-up to the election or on election day but things changed after Najib was declared the winner.”
He said Anwar had sought the agreement of the GE13 results because Anwar had “convinced himself that he would win the election” in light of opinion polls that were often in his favour and crowd turnout at Pakatan rallies.
Hamid, who was also Indonesia’s ambassador to Russia and Belarus from 2008 to 2011, said Jusuf had accepted Anwar’s request to mediate.
“He (Jusuf) did not take the initiative and approach Anwar.”
Anwar, in media reports recently, denied that he reneged on a peace pact brokered by Jusuf and claimed that the former was the one who reached out to him to offer his assistance in ensuring an orderly outcome to the elections.
However, it was reported that Anwar acknowledged that he had made the agreement with Najib, with Jusuf as mediator, but claimed that Barisan Nasional had reneged on it by the way it ran its campaigns.
The GE13 saw the Najib-led BN return to power by winning 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats, resulting in Anwar and Pakatan staging rallies across the country since May 8 claiming electoral fraud.
Hamid also pointed out that Anwar knew that Najib did not sign the agreement, “but Najib gave his word that he would honour the agreement”.
“He consented to the agreement,” he said and added that Najib delivered on his promise and called for national reconciliation during his acceptance speech.
“Najib’s deeds matched his words,” Hamid said.
He said that even a day after Najib’s victory: “I was optimistic that a deal is a deal and both sides would abide by it. But Anwar broke the deal.
“I feel that Anwar still does not accept the political reality.”
The following is the full interview:
Question: Anwar Ibrahim claims it was Jusuf Kalla who approach- ed him whereas Jusuf said he was approached by Anwar. Which is true?
Answer: I was present during Jusuf Kalla’s discussions with both Anwar and Najib. It was Jusuf who accepted Anwar’s request to mediate. He did not take the initiative and approach Anwar. Jusuf does not have any political and economic interests in Malaysia. He is busy with his affairs in Indonesia. So why would he take the initiative and approach Anwar? It isn’t logical.
Jusuf considers both Anwar and Najib as good friends. He wanted to help because they were competing fiercely with one another. That is how he saw this.
Question: Anwar claims there were several “preconditions” in the agreement e.g. free elections, fair media, etc. Can you outline any preconditions?
Answer: I am very sure that there were no preconditions discussed between Jusuf and Anwar. For me, a deal is a deal. And there was a deal that both parties — Anwar and Najib — agreed to. Some people always try and find a loophole after the event, or an excuse not to deliver on their promise. Some people are different in character to others.
Question: Anwar now claims Najib didn’t sign the agreement and it was, therefore, not valid. Jusuf says Najib did give his verbal agreement and, therefore, the deal was agreed by both parties, and was valid. Is Anwar correct or is Jusuf?
Answer: Anwar knew that Najib did not sign the agreement. Najib had reasonable political reasons for not signing it and Anwar understood and accepted it.
But Najib gave his word that he would honour the agreement. He consented to the agreement. Basic morality teaches us that a man’s word is more important than his signature. And deeds are more important than any declaration. Najib delivered on his promise. He called for national reconciliation during his election result acceptance speech. Najib’s deeds matched his word.
Question: On election day, did you feel that the agreement was still in place? Had anything happened before election day to invalidate the agreement?
Answer: I am very sure that nothing jeopardised the agreement in the run-up to the election or on election day. The agreement still stood.
Things changed after Najib was declared the winner. Even the day after his victory, I was personally optimistic that a deal is a deal, and both sides would abide by it.
But Anwar broke the deal. Perhaps, he was unable to manage his followers, especially because DAP had won more seats than Anwar’s own party. Anwar found himself in a difficult position. But a leader must lead, not be led.
Question: Do you and Jusuf feel Anwar broke the deal? If so, how?
Answer: I feel that Anwar still does not accept political reality. Perhaps, he has things he will not say because he doesn’t want to hurt people. I don’t know.
Question: Do you feel Anwar is sincere in wanting national reconciliation in Malaysia?
Answer: I believed that Anwar had sincerity and I still hope he has.
Question: Why do you think Anwar is denying the agreement, refusing to accept defeat and organising protests across Malaysia?
Answer: From the beginning, Anwar had convinced himself that he would win the election. He had struggled for so long and he thought that this was the end of the struggle. He thought he would win the battle and defeat BN. His belief was strengthened by opinion polls that were often in his favour. And at each rally that Anwar held during the campaign period had attracted massive crowds.
But in the end, the people’s choice is the ultimate factor in a democracy.Anwar believed he would win the election but he was afraid Najib would resist and not hand over power. So Anwar wanted insurance against this scenario. That is why he came up with the idea of the deal.
Beacon of Hope – 2
Extract from: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local2/339851-ge13-results-credible-says-ideas-ceo-also-pas-lifetime-member
GE13 Results Credible, Says Ideas CEO and PAS Lifetime Member … said the results were legitimate and urged all parties to accept it.
KUALA LUMPUR: Independent observers debunked claims made by the Opposition that the 13th general election (GE13) was fraudulent and the results invalid.
Major dailies today reported that three organisations – Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), Centre for Public Police Studies (CPPS) and Asian Leadership and Strategic Institute (Asli) have all agreed that no wrong-doing was detected in the handling of GE13 and the results are trustworthy.
The Malay Mail cited the observers as saying that there was no evidence of cheating or fraud, unlike the claims made by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim upon learning that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) only managed to secure 89 parliamentary seats last Sunday.
GE13 saw the ruling government Barisan Nasional (BN) retaining power by a simple majority of 139 parliamentary seats.
However, Anwar, who was confident of making a clean sweep, had sent a message via his Twitter account @anwaribrahim before the results were announced, claiming that PR had already won the elections and asked for Umno and the Election Commission (EC) to not hijack the results.
He then issued a statement, rejecting the GE13 results after it was confirmed that Pakatan did not manage to take over Putrajaya as previously claimed. Last night, PR organised a ‘Suara Keramat Suara Rakyat’ rally at Stadium MBPJ in Kelana Jaya as a protest against the EC and GE13 results. In his speech, Anwar urged the rakyat to rise against the results, while referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Malaysia’s ‘temporary Prime Minister in an invalid regime’.
This morning, however, major newspapers in the country published news reports indicating that independent observers, in their interim reports submitted to the EC, found no evidence of cheating, fraud or irregularities, although they did list several points in which the elections could have been conducted better and more equitably.
The points mentioned include the heavy dominance of the mainstream media by the ruling coalition as well as the lack of transparency in political funding. Ideas CEO, Wan Saiful Wan Jan was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying, “I think the result is credible because we followed the process,” adding that to further improve the EC’s efficiency, it should be given the power to recruit and manage its own staff, independently from the civil service.
CPPS chairman and renowned economist, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said the results were legitimate and urged all parties to accept it. He was quoted in Utusan Malaysia, “The process on Sunday went on smoothly and was monitored by each party’s agents the whole time. “We were at Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Bangsar, and Segambut and honestly, we could not find any evidence of cheating.”
It should serve as a venerable mention that Wan Saiful is a lifetime PAS member and that he himself found no irregularities in the EC’s conduct of GE13. While Anwar has deemed the results invalid, he should also address why Kelantan and Penang, both won by the Opposition, have already taken to installing their respective leaders of the state.
Meanwhile, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof slammed those who refused to accept the GE13 results, saying they were using the EC as a mere scapegoat in their refusal to accept defeat.
Beacon of Hope – 1
Extract from: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/we-had-a-eurasian-kampung-and-sang-together-1.291579
Kampung Serani native Lt-Col (Rtd) Clifford Baptist recalls how life used to be in the enclave he calls “God’s Sweet Little Acres” in the 1950s, when the bond between the people in the community was strong. Baptist said the Eurasian environment underwent a drastic change when television was introduced in 1962.
“When the black and white television made its appearance, the whole community changed as each family withdrew inside their homes.” Baptist remembers people rushing back home to catch their favourite shows on TV and there was less interaction between the members of the community. “There was less social meetings, merry-making, greetings and gossiping. Blame it on the TV,” he lamented.
A father of seven children and 11 grandchildren, Baptist lived in the enclave until 1963. He then left for Kuala Lumpur to join the Royal Military College in Sungai Besi.
Baptist also recalled the “kampung gossip” sessions, with the ladies gathering outside the church compound. “Most exciting and memorable were when the older ladies in their kondeh (hair tied in a bun), sarongs and kebayas gathered to yak away while chewing their favourite sireh (betel) leaves complete with white kapur (lime) paste, red areca beetlenuts or puffing away on their self-rolled hand-filled tobacco (rokok daun).
“If anyone sat directly in front of them, he or she would be sprayed with red droplets, and with the occasional false teeth as well, when they burst into laughter,” he quipped.
La Salle Brothers director Brother Anthony Rogers remembers the role of Eurasians as educators and pioneer church elders in Penang in the early years. “The Eurasian community in Penang has been part of the Lasallian family for over 160 years, ever since we arrived in Penang in 1852.
“The community welcomed us and was part of the setting up of schools here. We continued what the Eurasians had already started, which was providing education to all,” he said. This year, the La Salle Brothers are opening one of their schools in Pulau Tikus to the Eurasian community for the second edition of the Eurasian Fiesta.
The first fiesta was introduced last year as part of the annual George Town Festival. The fiesta, according to its organisers, James Rozells and Kathleen Rodrigues, is meant to serve as a beacon of hope for the “forgotten” community and to promote awareness of the Eurasians.
Rozells and partner Rodrigues are both well known in Penang and possibly a dying breed of Eurasian artistes, who are intent on propelling the community to greater heights this year with a grander celebration than last year’s event, which was held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception’s hall.
This year, the fiesta is to be held on June 15 at Sekolah St Xavier’s branch in Jalan Brother James, Pulau Tikus. The venue will be a hive of activity from 5pm to midnight, and expected to see thousands of Eurasians coming from all over the world to renew ties with their lost relatives and weave new ones as well.
Rozells, 58, who is also a true-blue Pulau Tikus native, remembers the simple kampung life of his younger days. “Climbing up fruit trees, playing with friends, we were all so close together. We hope to relive that in the coming fiesta.” Artistes in the Penang musical fraternity include Jimmy Boyle, Joe Rozells, Larry Rodrigues, the Baum brothers Rudy and George, the Jeremiahs, Scullys, Colleen Read and Leo Aeria.
Equally integral to their culture is Eurasian food, which is a fusion of different cultures, such as the Dutch, English, Portuguese and local, combined into one, making it a unique gastronomical delight. Beef semur, chicken devil curry, stews and salted fish pickles, are some of the famous Eurasian staples Malaysians continue to love today.
The largest Eurasian community used to live in the suburb of Pulau Tikus and the inner city of George Town. The once famous Pulau Tikus Eurasian enclave, Kampung Serani, was the community’s pride and joy as many of them lived in the area bounded by Jalan Bagan Jermal, Jalan Burma and Jalan Kelawai.
In the mid-1990s, a large portion of the land, owned by the Catholic church and the neighbouring Church of the Immaculate Conception, was sold to a private developer. Things started to change, and what is left now is a Penang Eurasian Association clubhouse, built by the developer, in off Jalan Kelawai.
Malaysian Beacon of Hope 