A cyber war in Malaysian politics?

FEB 19 — Once upon a time, before the Internet became as common as the television in Malaysian homes, public figures made local speeches that were tailored to suit the audience that was physically present.

This worked well for politicians wishing to entertain the parochial tendencies of the audience of the day without jeopardising their prospects of becoming nationally relevant.

Today, however, such speeches quickly leak into the wired world of the Internet, putting things into a different context, and revealing the speakers' supposed real values to the world.

Playing local politics with the awareness that the audience is always the whole wide world is no easy task, especially for those who have been in politics and in power long before the Internet changed everything.

The dominant Umno learned this the hard way three years ago when it decided to telecast "live" its national assembly. The parochialism and racism expressed by its candidates on that occasion for the nation to hear soon forced it to backtrack.

Defensive arrogance does grow out of the inability to evolve.

The attempt to block access to Raja Petra Kamarudin's controversial Malaysia Today website last year managed to stop traffic going to that site, but did not stop access to its contents. Mirror sites sprung up immediately to nullify the censorship.

The police decision in September 2008 to use the Internal Security Act to jail Raja Petra, along with prominent opposition politician Teresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, merely backfired. The de facto minister of law, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, soon resigned in protest.

Publicly calling female bloggers liars, as then Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor did in March 2007, is also not a very smart thing to do. The negative reaction on the web on that occasion was tremendous.

Opinions expressed for local consumption becoming national news is part and parcel of a revolution in information technology which carries enormous consequences for the near future. Some are positive, and some will certainly not be.

Through the Net, you can sell old useless books you have under the stairs on the world market; you can get to know strangers on the other half of the world merely by being on chat sites; and you can arrange an entire holiday to the south of France without talking to any salesperson at all.

In Malaysian politics, we have witnessed how SMSes, videos and phone cameras have come into play. While these can uncover abuse of power, as in the case of the woman forced to do ear-squats naked while detained by the police in December 2005; reveal dubious practices, as in the case of the Lingam Tapes released in 2007 showing a prominent lawyer boasting about his ability to fix top judge appointments through political connections; and contribute to court cases, as in SMSes supposedly sent by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to a lawyer, discussing the detention of a close associate then charged with involvement in the murder of a Mongolian woman.

The latest political incident involving IT innovations concerns the circulation of nude pictures of prominent opposition politician Elizabeth Wong, secretly taken on a phone camera.

The case of Wong (also a blogger), who has offered to resign from her position as state assemblywoman for the opposition-held Selangor, adds worrying dimensions to the political use of modern IT.

First, it is not only the line between the local and the national that is being erased. The line between the private and the public is fading fast as well.

That is worrying indeed. Most urbanites in Malaysia of all races, especially in the Klang Valley where Wong lives, would undoubtedly consider Wong the victim. Mass media attempts to class the case as a "sex scandal" — and this happened on both sides of the Causeway — smack of shameless sensationalism, journalistic amateurism and political opportunism.

In the sanctity of her home, surely she is allowed to walk scantily dressed, sleep half-naked, even shower nude, and yes, have sex without clothes on. The culprits deserving punishment are those who facilitated the publicising of those pictures, regardless of whether they were taken with her permission or not.

The fact that she is an unmarried woman, and not a man, has had a serious impact on how the incident is being interpreted. Should a male politician, married or not, such as former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo, for example, have been photographed in the nude while asleep, the fallout would have been minimal, even comical.

The Wong case also shows the disturbing shrinkage of moral space when the private and the local are technologically subsumed under the public and the national.

Moral values do differ geographically, individually, culturally and according to lifestyle. This diversity is denied when such a case gets politicised, and here, the supposed sensitivities of the vocally most religious, most parochial, most traditional and most rural are allowed to define the national public norm. Wong is being sacrificed to appease illiberal elements within the opposition. Surely, this is not what the Pakatan Rakyat is fighting for.

A political cyber war has started in Malaysia. While we thought that the old would be at the mercy of the new in such a showdown, it is time to realise that, in truth, the more desperate and more immoral has the edge.

The writer is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. His latest book is "March 8: Eclipsing May 13" (with Johan Saravanamuttu and Lee Hock Guan, ISEAS).

Elizabeth Wong and partisan politics

FEB 18 — Elizabeth Wong has been asked to go on leave and PKR will only make a decision whether to accept her resignation when she returns.

The fact that she has not done anything wrong and yet offered to resign her positions in order not to bring problems to her own party is most honourable.

The support shown to her has been tremendous, as can be seen from the 400-odd comments (and still counting) in her blog supporting her and urging her not to resign.

I regret that certain politicians from BN have prejudged her based on the photographs alone (fortunately, there are others who have stood up for her) and have compared this to CSL video, which is totally unfair. That video shows someone “caught” in the act of cheating his wife and family whereas the Eli Wong pictures do not show any wrongdoing.

Just because she is from another party does not mean that she should be attacked and put down.

In life, and in politics, there must be certain sense of decency and conscience.

Sometimes we must not be too caught up in partisanship. You can be a member of a certain political party, but please note that not everything from another party is wrong and must be criticised. Not everything from your own party is right and beyond criticism.

Political parties are just tools to achieve certain aims. Just because we are members of Party A do not mean that we must go all out to put down members of Party B. If certain policies of Party B are good for the people, support those policies. If certain policies of Party A are not good, criticise them as hard as you can.

If our children are in the wrong, we must let them know that what they did was wrong; only then can they grow up to be good people.

Why must politics be dragged to such low levels?

As in boxing,one must not hit below the belt. In life, there are certain acts that are taboo, such as adultery, murder and rape, character assassination, etc. In politics, we are supposed to support what is right and good, and reject what is bad and wrong; it does not matter whether these come from your own party or from the other side.

The great Deng Xiao Peng was a communist, but when he realised that not everything about capitalism is bad, he started to adopt certain free market policies and the result is rapid boom in the economy of China, and a rise in the standard of living of millions of people.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the people. Politics must be about people’s interest, and not self or even party interest.

In this case, if we do some soul searching (and based on the photographs alone), has Eli Wong done anything wrong? Most people will say no. I believe that anyone can do a random survey in his community and the answer will still be no.

So if she has done nothing wrong, then the logical thing for all of us, who claim to have a conscience, is to rise and stand behind her or any other person caught in a similar situation.

I appeal to leaders who are on the opposing side of Eli Wong: before you condemn her, search your own conscience first.

The writer is a central committee member of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.

A year shaped by politics

By Shannon Teoh

DEC 30 — It does not take a genius to guess that for most Malaysians, 2008 was all about the 12th general election.

It marked such a huge political change that it became politically correct again to use the word "tsunami" after grieving for the millions of victims in 2004.

But with the new year looming, and both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat settling into their new roles, will 2009 simply see a consolidation of these lines or yet more changes afoot?

It will depend, of course, on how events pan out, and how Malaysians themselves act and react.

While most will have clear memories of March 8, just as many will probably have forgotten what it was like in the two months of the year prior to the polls. How long ago it seems now, when there was no such thing as Pakatan Rakyat.

There was only Barisan Nasional. Powerful, unchallenged, its domination was absolute for the past four years after claiming over 90 per cent of the seats in Parliament in the previous general election.

The opposition parties were scattered, each pursuing their own agenda. But when an energy and economic crisis loomed, everyone could smell a change in the air. Malaysians were ready to make their mark.

Talk of the opposition doubling its meagre 21-seat haul from the 11th GE slowly grew to tripling it as time went by.

Realising that the bread-and-butter issues of income and cost of living would only get worse, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called a snap election, realising that an imminent price hike in fuel prices would only damage BN more.

Few can honestly say they predicted such a blow for BN, ceding 82 parliamentary seats, the heaviest defeat for the ruling coalition in the nation's electoral history.

Even members of the opposition were caught unprepared. Who was going to be the menteris besar and chief minister? As it turned out, the fledgling opposition coalition, soon to be announced as Pakatan Rakyat, was nearly undone before it could take off, by the squabbles over control of state governments.

Yet the irony is that despite the defeat, Abdullah was probably right. He may indeed have overseen a worse performance for BN had he not decided to call elections then.

The next six months saw the momentum rushing in favour of PR, with opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the economy consistently rocking BN's boat. The former deputy prime minister showed his ability to make people sit up and pay attention.

He sent tremors through the political sphere by proclaiming that he would take over the federal government by convincing at least 30 BN MPs to join PR on the symbolic date of Sept 16, Malaysia Day, a statement so bold that it saw his colleagues once again being caught unawares.

It set him up as prime minister-elect. Every time he spoke, lodged a report, got arrested, accused of sodomy or appeared in court, it scored points for his strengthening coalition and chipped away at the wobbly BN.

After losing five states including the economic engines of Selangor and Penang plus its two-thirds hold of Parliament for the first time in nearly four decades, knives were being sharpened for Abdullah.

Chief among those calling for his blood was the man who had appointed him as his successor, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Slowly but surely, Dr Mahathir got his way. Abdullah agreed to a 2010 transition plan, handing the reins over to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

But even this failed to galvanise BN, who meekly handed Anwar an increased majority in the Permatang Pauh by-election, allowing him easy entry back into Parliament as opposition leader at the end of August.

By Anwar's own admission, this was supposed to begin the countdown to Putrajaya for PR. He had now fulfilled his own constitutional obligation to be the new PM. All he needed were the numbers.

For all his claims that he indeed had the numbers, Sept 16 never materialised amid excuses of security concerns by the opposition.

Seeing an opening, Umno pressed on towards putting an end to Anwar's threat. By pushing the transition plan to March 2009, it effectively made Najib the No. 1 man there and then.

They were giving Malaysians a new PM and as predictable as ever, the country seems willing to give him a chance.

The rest of BN might still be a shambles today, but belief is there among the Umno ranks that the ship would be steadied and indeed returned to its former glory under the reign of the son of the acclaimed Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second Prime Minister.

And so the tide has changed again. As 2008 turns to 2009, the buzz is now all about feuds within the opposition. Pas and DAP still argue over hudud, while PKR and DAP are facing infighting within their own parties due to a relatively small matter of the relocation of a bus station in Selangor.

Meanwhile, Najib gears up his troops for the Jan 17 Kuala Terengganu by-election. A win here, which BN claimed by just 600 votes on March 8, would be the perfect fillip for Najib as he seeks to banish any more talk of advancements by PR and rebuild BN through 2009 and beyond.

With Umno's own party polls looking more like a case of musical chairs now, the Pas and PKR elections may turn out to be the real political events of 2009.

It will decide how united the nascent PR is behind Anwar's ambitions and whether it can pull through a much-hyped genesis and become a serious alternative to the five-decade-long rule by Umno and its partners.

As such, there will be no let up in the politically-charged atmosphere Malaysians now live in. Change, it seems, is somewhat infectious.

Money politics: ACA report lodged over divisional polls

By SARBAN SINGH

SEREMBAN: Seremban Umno division chief Datuk Ishak Ismail lodged a report against a state exco member Thursday for allegedly bribing a branch chairman in the recent divisional elections.

Ishak claimed the state committee chairman had given the branch chief RM1,000 in September to nominate the former for the post of division head.

“I was told that the state committee chairman gave the branch chairman a cheque and I have a photocopy of this,” he said when met at the state Anti-Corruption Agency office here.

Ishak said a friend of the branch chief had made a photocopy of the cheque and handed it to him as he was afraid to pursue the matter.

“When I did my own investigations, it was confirmed that the cheque was made out for the branch chief. I hope the ACA can investigate this as there had been claims of corruption involved in this particular divisional elections,” he claimed.

Elect Leaders The Old Ways To Prevent Money Politics - Mat Taib

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- Umno deputy presidential candidate Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib has suggested that the party return to the old ways of electing leaders to prevent money politics.

"Let's do away with the practice which encourages money politics. For instance the quota system... it encourages money politics," he said when asked to comment on a statement by deputy Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that the party would take additional measures to check money politics.

Speaking to reporters after opening the 2008 International Contemporary Art Exhibition here, Muhammad said, it was important that the party address the problem.

On reports that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would reveal names of those involved in money politics, Muhammad said, it would be up to the party's disciplinary board to decide.

A total of 910 artworks from Malaysia, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Mauritius, France and Singapore are on display at the four-day exhibition, starting today, at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre.

-- BERNAMA

Najib: We will take steps to end money politics

By : Mustapha Kamil and Sajahan Abdul Waheed

LIMA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said money politics in Umno cannot be eradicated overnight but the party will come up with measures to stop the menace.

Speaking after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting here on Sunday, the deputy prime minister and Umno deputy president said vote-buying in the party had to be fought with commitment and political will.

He was responding to criticism, including by former prime miniser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said even Najib would find it difficult to stop money politics in Umno when the latter became prime minister.

Najib said: "During Tun's time, he did introduce steps to eradicate money politics in Umno. It is not easy but there must be the will and commitment to do so.

"The fight against money politics must be comprehensive and it is a process that will involve time."
In Kuala Lumpur, Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen Tengku Ismail said proposals for additional initiatives to curb corruption in the run-up to the March elections were being studied.

He said these included cooperation with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

"We have to find new ways to reduce money politics in the party. We cannot allow this disease to spread as it would have negative implications on the party."

However, he declined to elaborate on the measures.

The disciplinary board was established when Dr Mahathir was party president. In 2000, Umno held an extraordinary meeting to discuss amendments to its constitution.

These included the formation of the disciplinary board. Tengku Rithaudeen was appointed its first chairman in 2001.

The board, however, has had little effect on the reportedly widespread buying of votes at Umno elections.

Tengku Rithaudeen said Umno members had to be continually educated on the ills of money politics.

"Some members take it lightly and do not see the need to lodge reports. These are the things which we must correct."

On cooperation with the ACA, Tengku Rithaudeen said a few meetings had been held.

"Things are progressing smoothly. We are looking into how the disciplinary board and ACA can work together to overcome money politics."

Earlier this month, he met ACA investigations director Datuk Shukri Abdull about battling corruption in the party.

Meanwhile, sources said some divisional leaders who were elected during the divisional meeting recently were expected to be called up by the board.

They are said to have corruptly secured their positions during the divisional meetings which began on Oct 9.

As of Friday, the board has received 837 complaints, including reports of money politics.

So far, 181 cases have been investigated, 31 of which were called to show cause and 18 people found guilty.