Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air.. The weather is nicer, much warmer, flower buds are starting to grow, and birds are starting to appear again.. Plus, it's past spring break!

Let's spring into this wonderful weather!

The Slander in BH

A friend of mine via YM told me that a friend of hers told her that the newly elected Pas government of Kedah closed down 80 kindergartens in that state.

I took that news with a pinch of salt. I mean, for crying out loud, a newly elected government would have much higher priorities than to go close down kindergartens. 80 tuh, bukannye sikit (agaknye derang pikir memang dalam memoredum PAS kot nak tutupkan tadika tuh, tu pasal buat cepat2). Heck I don't even think that the government is even fully established yet there. I mean even the new MB, Ustaz Azizan Abdul Razak was just sworn into office yesterday. Why would it want to close down schools for helpless kids?

Than I opened Harakah daily and this is what I found. My gut feelings were right after all.

What Went Wrong

... Or right (depending on which side you're on).

One might wonder what caused the ruling party for 51 years, BN, suffer such a heavy defeat in this year's election. I mean, there weren't any grand case behind it, like the one in 1999. Takde pun rusuhan kaum ke, ulangan peristiwa berdarah Mamali ke (the closest was probably last year's incident in terengganu), or anything similar for that matter. So what stirred the Malaysians? What woke them up from their slumber?

I'm no professional political analyzer, nor am I trying to be one. But here, I'd like to share my opinions on what I think happened prior to the 12th General Election in Malaysia and how the all so mighty Barisan Nasional was proven not so mighty after all. Order these points however you want, I'm just jotting them down.

First of all, you can't deny the effects of the Internet. I say without the Internet, BA couldn't have achieved what it has achieved today. And with the internet, comes YouTube, the never ending provider of videos worldwide. One can now witness the true colors of Malaysian Parliament debates and many more with the click of a button. And then there's countless blogs, sharing and debating indefinite ideas and beliefs, some radical, while others rather mediocre. Other than that, online newspapers, most notably Malaysiakini, provide unbiased news to all it's subscribers, opening eyes to behind the scenes incidents of Malaysia's politic, which obviously won't be found in pro-government media. The internet has also actually made Harakah much easier to access than ever before with the existence of Harakahdaily.

Then there's Tun Mahathir, the highly outspoken ex-Prime Minister. His views, insults, and propagandas has taken it's toll on the perspective of Malaysians toward Pak Lah and indirectly the ruling party itself. Mahathir was the one electing Abdullah as TPM a few years back and singled him out as his eventual successor. Once he had doubt's and regrets of his past decision, the people under Mahathir, his followers and so on would have doubts also.

Overconfidence. Here, we could actually see history repeating itself. But 4 years ago, it was the opposition who suffered. Back than, Pas and the gang were overconfident in defending Terengganu and Kelantan, and even bragged about winning Kedah. Recall what happened then. Guess people just don't learn, do they?

The increase of oil prices and other daily goods. It shares an inversely proportional relationship with the government. If prices of everyday goods increase, hence votes would decrease.

The ever continuing corruption within the government which includes, bribery, money politics, lies, diversions from within, scandals (including sex too), involvement of cronies, discrimination and so on. When will all this come to a halt?

Then there's the downfall of moral fiber among youngsters. Malays, Chinese, Indians, no one is excepted. And Muslims, for that matter, uphold moral fibers dearly in our lives. But the existence of night clubs, for instance, which allows anyone to enter, doesn't help at all. One leads to another, and with alcohol, comes all those unhealthy social problems we read in our everyday newspapers. And without proper surveillance and law enforcements from the authorities in charge, minors would continue to be corrupted. Very bad idea, as even Umar Al-Khattab once said and I quote, "If you want to see the future of one nation; look at it's youth," I for one don't want my nation be ruled with people like that.

But then again, it's not only our youth thats being 'polluted'. The rate at which rape cases, robbery, murder, and etc are inclining is at a very worrying level. I know people might beg to differ, but Hudud anyone?

These are just some points that I can think of now. Are there more? Sure there are, countless to be exact. The ruling party has been in charge for 51 years. Isn't it time for a change?

It's Official

The 12 General Election was won by Barisan National, who won about 130 seats. However, a hectic price they paid for this victory, as Barisan Alternatif won up to 82 parliamentary seats to deny the governing body it's 2/3 majority (BA had to win at leat 72 seats to do so). A few seats are to be decided.

To top that up, Barisan Alternatif also gained 5 states, which are Kelantan, Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah respectively.

Among the huge casualties on Barisan National's half is the lost of Dato' Seri Sammy Vellu, Dato' Shahirzat Abdul Jalil, and Dato' Zainudin Maidin to name a few. Dato' Seri Sammy Vellu has been defending his seat for nine ters, since 1974.

Other than that, MIC was considered the loser of them all, as almost all of it's big guns lost their election. Dato' Sammy Vellu (president), G Palanivel (deputy president), Vigneswaran (youth leader), and Komala (wanita chief) all suffered loss at their respective seats.

More updates to follow

Perlis, Terengganu, Melaka, and Negeri Sembilan

All mentioned states above are officially won by BN.. huhuhu..

Tough luck there. I thougt and hoped for Terengganu to fall to BA. Probably all those so called 'development' and Islam Hadari bs worked well the the Terengganu people. Or maybe, just maybe....

Kekalahan lagi..

Zam zam ala Ka Zam, and you're gone, Dato' Zainuddin Maidin.

After all, "we're not Pakistan, we are not Burma."

Let's just say we want an Information Minister with better Enlish.

This 12th general election is surely full of surprises. The biggest ever set back for the ruling party in history. Let's make history people!

Kedah is down

And now Kedah is down. Not so sure with Perlis, but probably going down too. Perak 50-50. Selangor is as nearly about to fall too. Even Khir Toyo is out!