Sejarah memang sudah pun tercipta di Kuala Terengganu

Ahmad Lutfi Othman

Thu Jan 15, 09 3:28:22 pm MYT

Keputusan pilihan raya kecil Kuala Terengganu dijangka bakal melakar sejarah tersendiri. Namun, sebelum lebih 80,000 pengundi mencipta rekod, banyak perkembangan menarik ditunjukkan semasa berkempen, yang mempunyai impak besar terhadap lanskap politik negara di masa depan.

Misalnya, kesepakatan parti-parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat, terutama kerjasama antara DAP dan PAS, begitu mengkagumkan. Bagi saya, hubungan baik kedua-dua parti ini juga menempasatu sejarah baru, apatah lagi ia ditunjukkan di Terengganu, sebuah negeri yang menghimpunkan ramai pemimpin berpengaruh PAS.

Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng, dengan gaya santai dan low profile, datang berkempen untuk memenangkan calon PAS, yang disebut Setiausaha Agung DAP itu sebagai MAWE (Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut), selepas bapanya, Lim Kit Siang ikut serta pada hari penamaan calon.

Rombongan Guan Eng turut membawa skrin layar besar yang dipasang di atas sebuah lori panjang, yang menayangkan bahan-bahan kempen dengan persembahan cukup kreatif, bergerak dari satu tempat ke lokasi yang lain.

Dalam satu sidang akhbar di markas besar PAS di Kuala Ibai, walaupun ada wartawan akhbar Cina menimbulkan isu Hudud, mungkin untuk memaksa Presiden PAS, Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang dan Guan Eng berbeda pendapat secara terbuka, tetapi kebijaksanaan kedua-duanya terserlah.

"Kita masuk pilihan raya ini sebagai satu pakatan, dan kita juga akan keluar nanti, sama adakalah atau menang, sebagai satu pasukan. Isu lebih besar bukan Hudud tetapi soal ekonomi, peluang pekerjaan juga mengapa kos barang tetap tinggi walaupun harga minyak turun," tegas Guan Eng.

Dengan nada sama, Ustaz Hadi menekankan bahawa banyak isu-isu tempatan dan penyalahgunaan wang negeri yang wajar dibahaskan kerana ia membabitkan kepentingan rakyat.

Hubungan erat bukan sahaja ditunjukkan oleh pemimpin atasan PAS, DAP dan KeADILan di pentas pidato, malah dijelmakan melalui kerjasama tulus ahli-ahli di peringkat akar umbi.

Mereka saling membantu menaikkan poster, berkempen dari rumah ke rumah, mengedar risalah, menyediakan pelbagai kemudahan dan mendermakan wang. Dokongan itu nampak ikhlas, bagi memastikan era baru politik Malaysia, dengan nilai-nilai kudus-tulus dapat menggantikan suasana siasah yang sarat dengan kepentingan diri, bersendikan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa.

Bibit-bibit kemunculan sistem dua parti dilihat sedang mekar mewangi bagi menamatkan hegemoni Perikatan-BN yang berkuku sejak negara merdeka. Ramai mengharapkan tsunami politik yang melanda Pantai Barat, Mac 2008 bakal menggegarkan Kuala Terengganu malam 18 Januari nanti.

Kempen juga menyaksikan betapa isu-isu utama dan konflik yang dihadapi rakyat dapat dibentangkan secara terbuka dan mendapat perhatian luar biasa audien.

Kehadiran tokoh-tokohbesar negara, dari BN dan Pakatan, memudahkan rakyat membuat penilaian terhadap keupayaan pemimpin mereka. Hendaknya dengan itu kesedaran berpolitik masyarakat awam juga ditingkatkan.

Umno-BN mudah memanipulasi sentimen perkauman bagi mengekalkan kuasa apabila rakyat senang diusik emosi dengan provokasi terancang.

Dan hubungan parti-parti pembangkang mudah terlerai jika pemimpin PAS dan DAP terus berada di kutub bertentangan.

Pengundi KT kini bagaikan raja. Mereka boleh menentukan haluan besar politik negara, mempengaruhi dasar dan sikap kerajaan. Maknanya, mereka turun mengundi bukan hanya untuk memilih wakil rakyat terbaik - yang prihatin, berakhlak, tidak sombong dan mesra-rakyat - tetapi mereka juga memikul amanah membetulkan keadaan yang pincang, selepas kerajaan BN gagal memahami mesej yang cuba disampaikan majoriti rakyat 10 bulan lalu.

Kesempatan berharga ini tidak wajar dipersiakan. Sokonglah calon PAS yang bersedia berkhidmat untuk anda dan berupaya memberi tekanan kepada kerajaan - negeri dan pusat - agar lebih menghormati suara dan aspirasi rakyat.

Saya yakin isu-isu yang didebatkan di Kuala Terengganu, misalnya royalti dan PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris), akan mendapat reaksi positif kerajaan jika anda berjaya memenangkan Abdul Wahid Endut. Undilah calon PAS!

To KT voters, it’s the candidate, not the issues, who count

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 14 — After the Election Commission announced the date for the Kuala Terengganu by-election, Pas leaders were still finding it hard to name a suitable candidate for the parliamentary seat, resulting in the party commissioning two surveys. In both surveys, Batu Burok assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Nawawi was seen as the best man to run for the seat, which fell vacant following the death of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Razali Ismail. The decision to select Wakaf Mempelam assemblyman Abdul Wahid Endut was only arrived at on New Year’s Eve.

But BN had already decided on its candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh ten days earlier, believing that the Kuala Terengganu Umno chief is the best man to represent the constituency and that he was the least likely to cause a split in the party machinery as he has led the party division for two consecutive terms.

However the independent Merdeka Centre yesterday released the result of its survey on Kuala Terengganu voters, which revealed that 77 per cent of Malay voters would consider the quality of the candidate when casting their ballots on Jan 17.

“I have said this before, that is the reason why the issue of Wan Farid’s image came out prominently throughout the campaign,” Pas election director Datuk Mustafa Ali told The Malaysian Insider when asked to comment on the Merdeka Centre survey.

Since his name was announced as the BN candidate, the former deputy home minister has been busy shedding his elitist image and proving that he could relate to the largely rural Malays in Kuala Terengganu.

For some of the voters, their support for Pas is mainly due to the party’s candidate and not because of their dislike for Wan Farid’s perceived image.

“I don’t know both of them, but I prefer Wahid, he looks like a decent man,” said a villager, who only wished to be known as Rahman from Wakaf Mempelam, who admitted he was not aware of the personal attacks against Wan Farid.

“I just like Wahid, I heard he has been doing a good job,” he added.

Another villager, Mazlan Mamat who works in Kerteh about 100 km south of the constituency said his decision to choose Wahid was based on the Kuala Terengganu Pas chief’s service. He also said that BN’s attack against the Perak state government’s decision to award freehold land titles would not anger the Malay electorates.

“The land is theirs, they have lived there for a very long time, so what’s wrong with that. I don’t see this as an issue,” said Mazlan. On Wan Farid, he said that he did not know much about him.

“He is not from this village, so I don’t know his personality, I only heard what the people have been talking, but I really don’t know,' he told Malaysian Insider.

BATU BURUK DAN BATU-BATU NYA

Tuesday, 13 January 2009 12:44

Hishamuddin Rais

Ketika di sekolah menengah dahulu saya selalu membaca sajak sajak J.M Aziz. Bait-bait tentang laut, kolek, penyu dan ikan menjadikan saya asyik untuk tahu tentang Kuala Terengganu. Sajak-sajak dari Seberang Takir ini menjadikan saya ngelamun memikirkan tentang Pulau Duyung dan Kuala Ibai.

Pertama kali saya sampai ke Kuala Terengganu pada tahun 1975 – ketika hendak melarikan diri dari di tangkap sesudah Peristiwa Baling 1974. Saya ditumpangkan di sebuah rumah di Pekan Cina.

Kali ke dua, tiga tahu dahulu saya datang untuk menemu bual pelajar-pelajar yang bakal memasuki ASWARA. Dua tahun dahulu saya datang sekali lagi untuk tujuan yang sama. Setiap kali saya datang ada sahaja perubahan di kota indah ini.

Sehari sebelum penamaan calon PRK P36 ini saya sampai sekali lagi ke Kuala Terengganu. Kali ini saya datang dengan penuh kesedaran untuk membaca perubahan politik besar yang akan berlaku.

Ada banyak pekara yang amat menarik dalam PRK P36 ini. Beberapa hari sesudah YB Razali Ismail yang mewakili P36 meninggal dunia – saya mendengar khabar bahawa Mat Sabu adalah bekas calon terakhir dari Pakatan Rakyat. Pada PRU ke 13 yang lalu Naib Presiden Pas ini hanya di kalahkan dengan 628 undi sahaja. Kemudian saya juga difahamkan bahawa kawasan ini pernah di wakili oleh Pas pada satu ketika dahulu. Ini bererti P36 ini satu wilayah yang lincah politik pengundinya.

Kelincahan politik pengundi ini memungkinkan P36 ini kembali ke tangan Pas. Kemungkinan ini cukup menjanjikan.

Lihatlah betapa indahnya kocakan politik Kuala Terengganu. Ini sama indahnya dengan pesisir pantainya yang landai dan sungainya yang luas. Sesekali terfikir juga – kenapa kota Kuala Terengganu ini tidak menjadi ibu kota Malaysia. Alangkah indahnya sebuah kota di tepi sungai dan di pagari oleh Laut Cina Selatan.

Di Kuala Terengganu juga – lebih tepat lagi di Pantai Batu Buruk - untuk pertama kalinya peluru hidup telah digunakan oleh pihak polis untuk menembak para penyokong BERSIH pada malam 8hb September 2007 dahulu. Dari apa yang saya difahamkan penembakan dengan peluru hidup ini atas arahan pihak diatas. Pihak diatas dalam istilah Malaysia bermakna Kementerian Dalam Negeri.

Dan jangan terperanjat - pada ketika itu yang menjadi Menteri Dalam Negeri ialah Abdullah Badawi dan yang menjadi Setiausaha Politik kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri ialah Wan Farid Salleh. Wan Farid yang sama inilah juga yang sedang bertanding untuk melawan calon Pas – Abdul Wahid Endut di P36. Lihat betapa lincahnya politik Kuala Terengganu.

Susuk calon Barisan Nasional ini cukup menarik. Beberapa hari sebelum penamaan calon, Khir Toyo bekas Menteri Besar Selangor telah berkata bahawa ' Wan Farid adalah pilihan yang salah'. Ini di ikuti pula oleh kenyataan Mahathir Muhamad yang memperlekeh Wan Farid. Mahathir Muhamad melihat Wan Farid hanyalah seorang 'macai' kepada Abdullah Badawi.

Tidak cukup dengan kenyataan yang memperlekehkan Wan Farid , tiba-tiba Najib Razak yang mengepalai kempen di PRK P36 berkata bahawa pertandingan kali ini bukan satu 'referendum' untuk dirinya. Hujan tidak ribut pun tidak tetapi Najib Razak telah merasakan bahang ombak panas dari Batu Buruk.

Najib Razak memaksa dirinya membuat kenyataan sedemikian untuk melindungi dirinya dari terkena balingan-balingan batu. Batu-batu semakin banyak bertaburan di baling oleh ahli-ahli parti Najib sendiri. Ada yang membaling ke muka Wan Farid dan tidak kurang juga yang membaling ke rusuk Najib sendiri.

Kenyataan dari Najib ini memperlihatkan bahawa Barisan Nasional sebelum masuk gelanggang telah mula gulung tikar. Semua kenyataan-kenyatan ini adalah 'peluru-peluru hidup' yang wajib digunakan oleh Pas dan Pakatan Rakyat untuk 'menembak' jatuh calon yang dianggap kewibawaanya hanya bertaraf ' macai' tidak lebih dari itu.

Untuk sesiapa yang pertama kali sampai ke Kuala Terangganu pasti akan kagum melihat kota kecil yang indah ini. Tetapai awas – di belakang keindahan alam semula jadi ini ada 'bangkai-bangkai penyu' yang tidak mahu hanyut-hanyut ke Laut Cina Selatan. Bau busuk bangkai-bangkai penyu inilah yang patut kita sesama hidukan bukan sahaja kepada bakal pengundi di P36 tetapi kepada seluruh warga negara.

Perhatikan dengan mata yang rapi apabila memandang ke Seberang Takir. Pulau-pulau yang merah itu adalah percubaan manusia yang ingin melawan alam. Perhatikan tembok-tembok batu di tengah laut – itu juga adalah tanda keangkuhan manusia yang cuba megalih perjalanan air agar berderu masuk seperti masuknya Wang Ikhsan ke dalam kantong mereka. Semua ini adalah 'projek tipu helah' dari para penyokong Abdullah Badawi termasuk macainya Wan Farid.

Projek tipu helah ini mereka panggil Monsoon Cup. Sebenarnya tidak ada yang Monsoon dan tidak ada yang Cup. Apa yang wujud hanyalah satu cara yang dipanggil projek - hakikat tujuan asalnya hanyalah untuk menyalorkan berjuta-juta duit ke dalam saku tuan empunya projek.

Saya cukup yakin projek Monsoon Cup ini pasti akan 'meninggal dunia' sama seperti Le Tour de Langkawi, F1, South South Dialog dan beratus lagi projek di zaman Mahathir. Semua projek berbentuk ini tujuan asalnya bukan untuk kebajikan penduduk tempatan tetapi untuk merembat duit negara.

Sila pandang dan teliti Perkampongan Hadari. Di kampong ini dikatakan ada Masjid Kristal, ada replika masjid-masjid bersejarah dan entah apa lagi bangunan hinggakan belanjanya sampai 250 juta ringgit. Kononya untuk menjadikan Kampong Hadari sebagai tarikan pelancung. Sedarlah, hanya pelancung yang bodoh sahaja yang datang untuk melihat barang 'tiruan dari plastik'.

Para pelancung lebih senang melihat pantai yang landai, pulau yang hijau dari melihat sungai dan pantai yang berselirat dengan plastik. Atau pesisir pantai yang telah ditimbun tambah dengan batu-batu yang hodoh. Pelancung yang berilmu akan pergi ke tempat yang asli. Kalau kita hendak makan keropok lekor kita tidak akan pergi ke Paris tetapi kita pergi ke Lesong.

Saya sendiri amat teringin, tetapi belum sempat untuk datang melihat Perkampongan Hadari. Niat saya bukan untuk melihat keindahan Masjid Kristal tetapi saya hendak terperanjat melihat bagaimana projek tipu rakyat 250 juta ringgit ini dapat dilakukan atas nama agama Islam. Nilai 250 juta ringgit ini angka resmi. Berapa agaknya angka yang tidak resmi?

Justeru, saya cukup yakin kemenangan ada di dalam tangan Pakatan Rakyat. Jika Pakatan Rakyat dapat mengambil kembali kerusi P36 ini maka ini bermakna ombak tsunami PRU 13 belum reda.

Tidak dapat tidak kemenangan di P36 ini akan memastikan langkah ke hadapan untuk Pakatan Rakyat sampai ke Putrajaya. Kemenangan Pakatan Rakyat ini juga akan membuktikan bahawa kepimpinan Najib Razak sebagai ketua kempen Barisan Nasional tidaklah se gah mana.

Saya cukup yakin warga Kuala Terangganu tidak akan melupakan peristiwa Batu Buruk di mana peluru hidup telah digunakan untuk menembak orang ramai. Pada 17 Januari ini warga Kuala Terangganu tidak perlu membaling-baling batu lagi. Apa yang wajib mereka lakukan hanyalah memangkah calon Pakatan Rakyat.

Kemenangan Pakatan Rakyat di Kuala Terangganu adalah batu buruk yang akan menghempap United Malays National Organisation untuk selama-lamanya.

( Tulisan ini keluar dalam akhbar Harakah Jumaat yang lalu )

Whom can we trust, PAS or Umno?

Tuesday, 13 January 2009 11:06

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When asked about his stand on Hudud, Wan Farid Wan Salleh, Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election, replied, “I don't think it's an issue.” He did not say whether he supports Hudud or opposes it. He just refused to commit himself to the issue.As I had written over the last few days, while UMNO and MCA have challenged PKR and DAP to state their stands on the Islamic State and Hudud, Umno itself will not commit itself to the issue. PAS can’t change Malaysia from a Secular State to an Islamic State.

It can’t abrogate our common laws and replace them with Islamic laws. It can’t do that now or even in the future. As has been pointed out many times, the arithmetic just does not allow PAS to do that. It’s as simple as that. It’s all about the arithmetic. And PAS has said so many times that anything it does will be according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and not in violation of it.Umno, however, can.

This is because, through the Barisan Nasional coalition, they have the majority in Parliament, although no longer a two-thirds majority since the 8 March 2008 general election. So we need to ask Umno, not PAS, the question. Would we ask a person who has never bought a lottery in his life what he would do with his millions if he won first prize? He may reply he would marry a second wife, go to Mekah to perform the Haj, build a school, set up an orphanage, etc.

But his reply would be purely academic since he has never bought, and will never buy, a lottery in his entire life. In fact, he considers lotteries as haram and that is why he does not want to gamble. So why ask him what he would do with his winnings if that is something that is never going to happen?But Umno is in power. They are the federal government. They are the ones, not PAS, who has the power to abrogate our laws, amend the laws, change the laws, and turn Malaysia from a Secular State into an Islamic State. So Umno must be asked this question.

And when asked, Wan Farid very deviously replies, “I don't think it's an issue.” But it is an issue. And it is an issue because UMNO and MCA have challenged PKR and DAP to state their stands on the issue. And PKR and DAP have, time and again, said they are opposed to the issue. And, to demonstrate this, two days ago they got PAS to agree to an agreement that any and all policy matters must be based on consensus. All three partners within Pakatan Rakyat must unanimously agree to any policy matters. A simple majority is not enough. It must be either all or nothing.

The ball is now at Umno’s feet. Umno claims to be the largest Islamic party in the world. This is what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared when he was the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And it is Umno that keeps raising the issue of the Islamic State and Hudud. Khairy Jamaluddin, the Prime Minister’s son-in-law, has been going around Kuala Terengganu proudly claiming that it was he who very cleverly trapped Husam Musa into making his slip-of-the-lips in the debate they engaged in.Pakatan Rakyat has laid the matter to rest. The issue is no longer an issue. It is now a non-issue. So what is Umno’s stand on the Islamic State and Islamic laws? That is what the voters, in particular the non-Malay voters, would like to know. Is Umno ferociously opposed to the Islamic State and Hudud? Or does it not dare state its stand, one way or the other?Umno does not dare state its stand.

Umno would rather say: "I don't think it's an issue." But, to many, they do think it is an issue. The temples being demolished are in Umno-run states. The churches being denied permission to be set up are in Umno-run states. The Malay language Bible is being denied permission the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the Umno-led federal government. Those being detained by the religious authorities for ‘immoral conduct’ are in Umno-run states and they are being detained by federal agencies.Where is PAS’s hand in all these? All we see is the hand of Umno. PAS is said to be an extremist party. But it is the Umno-run states and the Umno-led federal government that appears to be doing all these extremist acts, in the name of Islam. PAS, on the other hand, approves churches and temples in the states it runs -- while the many years the state was under Umno control the non-Muslims failed to get permission.

There is currently an ongoing court case in Sabah. Chong Kah Kiat, the 13th Chief Minister of Sabah, the former president of the Liberal Democratic Party (a member of Barisan Nasional), is taking the Umno state government to court for not allowing a Buddhist statue to be built in the state. Chong, who was the Deputy Chief Minister, also resigned his post in protest. It is not PAS but Umno that is blocking the Ma Tzu or Goddess of The Sea statue in Kudat, Sabah.

Stop asking PAS, DAP or PKR their stands. Their stands are clear. Their stands are: no changes without consensus. And all changes must be according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and not in violation of it. And that goes for the internal Security Act as well. PAS, DAP or PKR are opposed to the Internal Security Act.

When asked about his stand on the Internal Security Act, this was what Wan Farid replied: “In government, we cannot have individual [positions] on policies.”When asked whether the Internal Security Act should at least be reviewed, Wan Farid replied: “My stand is parallel with the government's. It is good as it is.” Read his lips, very slowly. He does not have an individual opinion. His stand is parallel with the government. The ISA is good and will remain. The fact that the ISA is unconstitutional does not matter. Umno is prepared to violate the Constitution. PAS said it would not do anything that goes against the Constitution. Wan Farid says the Constitution does not matter.

The Constitution says no one can be detained without being told of his/her crime and must be produced in front of a magistrate within 24 hours. The Internal Security Act allows one to be detained without being told of his/her crime and they can be held without being brought in front of a magistrate for the rest of his/her life.

According to the Constitution, a person is innocent until proven guilty. And the onus is on the Prosecution to prove guilt. The Accused needs not prove innocence. All he or she has to do is to raise reasonable doubt and the benefit of the doubt must be given to the Accused. Under the Internal Security Act, the government needs not prove guilt and the Accused has to instead justify that his or her detention is invalid. But the detained person will not be allowed a trial. Instead, a panel will hear the arguments of the Accused in secret, behind closed doors. And, in all cases, the panel will reject the arguments of the Accused.

And that is why PAS opposes the ISA, because it violates the Constitution. PAS respects the Constitution. And PAS respects the Constitution not only with regards to the right of an accused to a fair and open trial but also with regards to converting Malaysia into an Islamic State and the implementation of Islamic laws. Umno, however, according to Wan Farid, says: “In government, we cannot have individual [positions] on policies.” So, whom can we trust? A party that respects and will comply to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia or one that violates the Constitution every step of the way? That is the fundamental issue in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. PAS has spoken. Umno too has spoken.

And both voices are loud and clear. The issue is not just about the Internal Security Act or Hudud. It is about laws that are implemented which do not violate the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Umno does not care about the Constitution. PAS does. So who makes a better government?

You, the voters of Kuala Terengganu, can decide this on Saturday, 17 January 2009. And you need not be a rocket scientist to figure out which of the two makes a better government.

The hearts and minds of the voters

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Thursday, 08 January 2009 12:59

The Chinese in Terengganu have a love-hate relationship with PAS. Okay, maybe it’s not quite a love-hate relationship as such. But it would certainly qualify as a love-not love relationship. To sum up what one local-born Chinese said: we love PAS Kelantan and wish PAS Terengganu would be just like them.

Well, PAS Kelantan is PAS Kelantan and PAS Terengganu is PAS Terengganu. And for that matter PAS Kedah, PAS Perak and PAS Selangor are separate entities in their own right as well. Many people make the mistake of looking at PAS as one party. However, as I have said before, PAS is actually not one party but a collection of many PASess, each state being independent of each other and of the centre as well.

The message PAS needs to send to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu is that they are not being asked to choose a new government or to change the government. They are just being asked to elect a new Member of Parliament for Kuala Terengganu -- which is a vacant seat anyway, so no one is being replaced or changed. Therefore, there is not going to be any change of government either at state or federal level.

The issue of Hudud is not really that serious an issue except to those weak in arithmetic. These weaklings do not appear to understand, or pretend to not understand, that Malaysia has 222 Parliament constituencies and two-thirds of 222 is 148. This means PAS will need to win 148 Parliament seats to form the federal government with a two-thirds majority and with the required majority to amend the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

This has been explained so many times in the past. And it has also been explained that PAS contests only 60 seats, far short of the 148, and they win less than half the seats they contest. In 1999 they won 27 seats. In 2004 they won 9. And in 2008 they won 23. How in heaven’s name can PAS amend the Constitution when this is all it can win?

I have said this before, many times, and I will say it again. PAS can never in 100 years win more than 35 Parliament seats, never mind how many seats they contest. They can contest all 222 Parliament seats and they will still win, at best, 35 seats. Most likely, though, PAS will win less than 30 seats.

Now, some are arguing that PAS can always team up with Umno to get their two-thirds majority. Aiyah, Umno has only 78 seats in Parliament. Combined with PAS it would be only 101 seats. Did I not say they need 148 seats to have a two-thirds majority? Even then you are assuming that the 13 Umno Parliamentarians in Sabah will follow the 65 in Peninsular Malaysia. I dare take on any bet that if Umno decides to merge with PAS to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State, at least 10 of the Umno Sabah Parliamentarians will jump ship.

Sigh……it is most tiring having to keep repeating this same issue and present the arithmetic for all to see. Yet, many still repeat the same questions in spite of this repeated explanation and even with the arithmetic glaring you in the face. I am sure many readers are as tired of reading this explanation as I am of repeating it to those thick heads who still don’t get it.

On the positive side though, many Chinese have said they find PAS a better government in some respects compared to Umno. They took me to their building built on a piece of land that the PAS government gave them. Under Umno the Chinese were not able to get any land.

The Kuala Terengganu Chinese are also aware that the Perak government is trying to convert at least 150,000 pieces of land from TOL to freehold but the federal government is blocking the move. The reason the federal government is blocking the effort by the Perak government is simple: the beneficiaries are mostly all Chinese.

Don’t think the Kuala Terengganu Chinese do not know that the move to block the conversion of TOL land to freehold in Perak is mainly because the Chinese -- who will end up owning this land -- will become richer by RM1.5 billion, overnight. In fact, the Kuala Terengganu Chinese too are facing the same problem. They have been residing in Terengganu for more than 200 years and yet they can’t get land and the only land they own is TOL.Now, even that is going to be taken away from them. After the Kuala Terengganu by-election on 17 January 2009, the state government is going to acquire quite a bit of Chinese land for development and beautification purposes. The state government is not making too much noise about the matter but the Chinese already know about the plan. Even their temple that goes back centuries is not going to be spared.

Yes, the Chinese are most unhappy and would like to see Umno given a kick in the teeth. However, in the same breath, they do not want to ‘rock the boat’. How can they have it both ways? You can’t fry the egg unless you break the shell. And more than mere shells need to be broken if you want to send Umno a message. And we hope to see this message delivered on 17 January 2009. That is all for now from Ground Zero in Kuala Terengganu. The rest of my report will be in pictorial form.

Jika BN kalah…

Thursday, 15 January 2009 00:27

Wan Hamidi Hamid, The Malaysian Insider

Jika Barisan Nasional tewas dalam pilihan raya kecil bagi Parlimen Kuala Terengganu, ia bukan sahaja akan menjadi tamparan hebat buat Umno tetapi juga memberi kesan buruk kepada bakal Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Kekalahan BN akan dilihat sebagai kelemahan Najib buat kali kedua selepas gagal memenangkan kerusi Parlimen Permatang Pauh untuk BN dalam PRK pada Ogos tahun lalu.

Lebih buruk kali ini, jika BN kalah, ia bererti tumpas di kubu kuat sendiri kerana kerusi Kuala Terengganu adalah milik Umno sejak 50 tahun lalu (kecuali dalam pilihan raya umum 1999).

Dengan itu, kesan psikologi mendalam akan melukakan Umno yang selama ini masih tercari-cari jalan untuk kembali popular bersama rakyat setelah kehilangan lima negeri dan dinafikan majoriti dua pertiga di parlimen dalam pilihan raya umum Mac tahun lalu.

Walaupun keputusan PRK ini tidak akan mengubah kedudukan kerajaan pusat atau kerajaan negeri, tidak ada sesiapa dari Umno dan BN mahu menanggung malu besar jika kecundang di kubu yang dianggap selamat di Pantai Timur Semenanjung.

Minggu lalu, Ahli Majlis Tertinggi Umno Tan Sri Annuar Musa menjelaskan bahawa PRK ini bukan untuk membentuk kerajaan negeri atau Pusat tetapi untuk menilai pengiktirafan kepada BN.

“Kita sedang melakukan penambahbaikan dan memberi respons terhadap apa yang rakyat isyaratkan. Rakyat sudah tentu hendak tengok penambahbaikan selepas pilihan raya lalu dan saya percaya BN akan menjadi parti yang lebih baik untuk semua.

“Pas sudah menjenamakan diri sebagai parti untuk semua. Tetapi kita harus menjadi parti untuk memberi kebaikan kepada semua, bukan setakat menjadi parti untuk semua tetapi tidak memberi kebaikan,” kata Pengerusi Perhubungan Umno Kelantan itu kepada pemberita baru-baru ini.

Harapan Annuar akan berkecai jika pengundi Kuala Terengganu memilih Pas sebagai wakil Pakatan Rakyat untuk dihantar ke Parlimen. Apa yang beliau katakan sebagai penambahbaikan BN akan dianggap ditolak oleh rakyat jika calon Umno Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh gagal mencapai kemenangan.

Pandangan penganalisis setakat ini menunjukkan BN dan Pas mempunyai peluang yang sama walau pun tinjauan di kalangan pengundi Cina – mewakili 11 peratus jumlah pengundi – mendapati kemungkinan mereka beralih kepada Pas.

Inilah yang dibimbangi Najib. Bagi beliau, ia bukan sekadar soal menang kalah BN atau Umno tetapi reputasi beliau sebagai pemulih semangat parti yang belum menunjukkan apa-apa kesan sejak tsunami politik 8 Mac tahun lalu.

Najib telah pun mengingatkan semua pihak bahawa PRK Kuala Terengganu bukan satu pungutan suara atau referendum untuk mengukur populariti BN dan pemimpin-pemimpinnya.
“(PRK ini) bukan referendum untuk saya atau Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi atau Menteri Besar Terengganu Datuk Ahmad Said,” katanya.

Namun, ramai yang melihatnya sebagai referendum, bukan sahaja terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin Umno dan BN tetapi juga di kalangan Pakatan Rakyat yang diwakili Pas, Parti Keadilan Rakyat dan DAP.

BN yang amat sangat memerlukan kemenangan dalam PRK ini. Jika ia berjaya mempertahankan kerusi, ini akan dijadikan tapak untuk mematahkan semangat Pakatan Rakyat yang semakin meluap dalam mempersiapkan diri untuk PRU akan datang.

Sudah banyak di kalangan Pakatan, terutama Pas dan DAP, untuk melupakan cubaan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim memujuk Ahli-ahli Parliamen BN supaya melompat masuk ke dalam parti-parti komponen Pakatan. Mereka kini lebih berminat untuk mencari jalan mengambil alih kuasa melalui PRU akan datang.

Jika kerusi Kuala Terengganu dimenangi calon Pas Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut, ia akan memberi suntikan semangat baru untuk kepimpinan Pakatan, terutamanya dalam mengembalikan keyakinan pengundi terhadap gabungan mereka.

Tetapi, jika Pas sekali lagi tewas di Kuala Terengganu, ia mungkin dianggap kurang mengejutkan kerana kawasan itu sememangnya kubu kuat Umno.

Namun, walaupun itu akan menjadi alasan Pas jika kalah, ia tetap memberi kesan besar terutama kepada presidennya Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang dan orang kanannya Datuk Mustafa Ali – kedua-duanya adalah orang kuat Pas di Terengganu. Apatah lagi Mohd Abdul Wahid sebagai calon adalah anak didik Mustafa.

Lebih meninggalkan kesan pahit bagi Pakatan Rakyat adalah di peringkat nasional kerana kekalahan Pas akan dilihat sebagai keputusan rakyat menolak gabungan alternatif. Kemeriahan Permatang Pauh akan menjadi suram jika pengundi Kuala Terengganu sekali lagi memilih BN pada Sabtu ini.

Jika Pas kalah dalam PRK, suasana malap akan melanda Pakatan Rakyat. Sebaliknya, jika kemenangan berpihak kepada Umno ia akan dicanangkan melalui media arus perdana yang dikawal pemerintah sebagai petanda bahawa BN kini kembali relevan di kalangan rakyat.

Keadaan sebegini pastinya akan melonjakkan populariti Najib dalam persiapannya untuk mengambil alih pentadbiran kerajaan pusat dari Abdullah pada Mac ini.

A reversal of roles?

By Baradan Kuppusamy (Malaysia Insider)

JAN 14 - As the battle for Kuala Terengganu enters its final lap, indications are the Pas candidate may end up winning the minority Chinese support but losing the majority Malay votes. It would be both significant and hilarious if this happens.

The DAP's top leaders – adviser Lim Kit Siang, Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok – and along with influential blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, appear to have eased Chinese fears of Pas's fanaticism that they had witnessed during the 1999 to 2004 period when PAS ruled Terengganu and enacted into law the Hudud and Qisas laws.

Four years later, it is the reverse. Chinese voters, who number about 11 per cent of the 80,000 electorate, are enthusiastic about Pas and its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners the DAP and PKR.
Large numbers of Chinese voters have lost their fear of Pas and hudud and now pack the DAP rallies and dinners. They are also donating enthusiastically to the PR cause – all signs of how the Chinese vote will go.

A big crowd puller is the DAP's Kok. After her ISA ordeal, she was successfully packaged and sold as a heroine – a Joan of Arc of Malaysian politics.

She is hugely popular and is a fantastic vote puller and, by most counts, is significantly influencing Chinese voters in favour of Pas.

Ironically, Pas appears to be trailing behind Umno in winning over the majority of Malays who form 88 per cent of the voters and whose final preferences will decide the outcome of the by-election.

Umno is attracting larger than the usual number of Malays to its rallies compared with the Permatang Pauh by-election, where it lost miserably.

Although its election machinery was hit by infighting, Umno leaders have managed to patch up differences and are able to show a united front, led by Prime Minister-designate Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Umno is also showing humility, besides dishing out development money and promising more, including oil royalties of up to RM3 billion annually.

In addition, the ghost of Altantuya and alleged defence contract kickbacks that dominated the Ijok and Permatang Pauh by-election are not an issue in this campaign.

Here, Pas is relying on more traditional themes – Islam, Umno corruption and arrogance – all time tested and calculated to delivered.

But voters have heard it all before. With a recession on the horizon and the cost of living rising, voters are focusing on bread and butter issues and here Umno/BN have an edge.

Rightly or wrongly, it is fixed in the minds of people that Pas equals economic stagnation and Umno/BN, warts and all, stands for economic development.

A recent assessment by Umno officials also found that more Malay voters were leaning towards Umno not just in Kuala Terengganu but also nationally, and are beginning to see the party in its traditional role as 'protector' of Malays, especially with the national political scene in a flux.

In a recent poll, the independent Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research confirmed that more Chinese are likely to swing to Pas as they feel a stronger opposition in Parliament was very much needed but the majority of Malays polled had disagreed.

About 37 per cent of Chinese polled also said PR, of which PAS is a member, could take care of their interests, but only 19 per cent of Malays shared that sentiment.

In fact, 60 per cent of the Malays surveyed felt Barisan Nasional was a better choice with only 26 per cent of Chinese agreeing with them.

In the survey, 94 per cent of the Chinese also supported a political system based on the supremacy of the people with only 38 per cent of Malays agreeing. Over half of Malays preferred a system giving preeminence to Malays.

In the 2008 election that was won by BN, 53 per cent of Malays had voted for PAS while 64 per cent of the Chinese voted for Umno/BN. The voter turnout then was 87 per cent.

If Malay voters are not really evenly split between Umno and PAS as earlier election statistics suggested, but are now favouring Umno, then the importance of Chinese voter support for BN would recede.