MALAYSIA - April 2014

MH 370 - A shocking Malaysian experience. Like 911, the plight of MH370 shocked Malaysians in many complex ways. The ongoing search has baffled the public and professionals alike. Was the flight path mechanical in nature or man made. Of course we have many other theories, ludicrous as some may sound, needs a sound rebuttal. Lets start with the first week of the flight's plight.The search in the south china sea and a Malaysian general in somewhat broken English say about a ping heard near ButterWorth-Penang. Well no one believed him, and search went on near s.china sea with picture from china's radar; further complicated the search. Only after a week with radar reading from other countries were put together by immarsat and of course from spy satellites;did search change to indian ocean. Malaysia was not prepared because we did not have the technology nor felt the need in investing in national security issues. Its not about submarines that cant float :). But it was sad that countries who had the technology to scientifically figure this out; were stuck in trust issues. It took time and we are there with Australia leading the direct search. Perhaps its our attitude, a traditionally friendly nation. We don't need hardware but software - people. Need basic sea controls/etc..if we can't handle the pirates in the straits of Melaka. wtf Lets talk about some theories;

Malaysia - Post 2013 Election - Update

Malaysians should be proud that their election, although free but unfair, processed peacefully. Now the post elections politicking albeit DSAI and DNR actions - see RPK's blog -  http://www.malaysia-today.net/

More Malaysian women voted than men! WTF. More Malays - 56% voted UMNO-BN (update..46% only??), Indians perhaps 50-50 (update 65-35??) and Chinese about 90% maybe. Unsure about numbers - as these are based on unverified information.

Wondering if the ABU campaign somewhat scared Malays into backing UMNO. You can't only blame UMNO, and not MCA and MIC. Guess the acronym ABB or ABM didn't rhyme :).

But Harris must be congratulated for his efforts for Bangsa  Malaysia, and plea for the 40% poor. Heard him say his not against the average UMNO voter; but not often enough. I think he played some significant role in turnout of Chinese voter; and even Indian voters.

Too many uninformed voters in Sarawak; It seems people aged 21-29 have voted more in west than east malaysia.

Need study of undi tolak - spoit vote - see Kuala Selangor - 1.68% - 934 votes with majority of only 46%, btw average undi tolak 1.52%. Sungai Besar is even worse -BN majority of 399 - undi tolak is 1.82% or 690 votes.

Political Analysis - Malaysia - April 2013

Malaysia is undergoing an interesting political experience due to the rise of the opposition, political parties and individuals via the information revolution. Political maturity is growing among the young and older malaise Malaysians.

The ruling party(s) BN - UMNO, MCA, MIC etc is trying its best to change, and it appears the PM has a major hurdle in trying to convince the electorate. It is possible but difficult. How badly does he win? Can BN lose?

The Malaysian opposition come in many shades of colors, and I mean many; and that is why it is perhaps one of the most interesting political untold stories.

DAP's LGE is doing a good job in Penang, his economic and social policies are working; but the party public policies are unstructured and lack diversity. Their recent party election recount was unprofessional; but credit to DAP for promoting good governance policies.


While PKR is the main opposition and a more diverse party than DAP and PAS, its leadership structure is less understandable or clear. But the party is resilient, with younger leaders emerging. This maybe the last election for DSAI and he deserves the opportunity.


PAS is perhaps the most interesting party, especially among non Malays. Although politically PAS is viewed as the most ethical party, sometimes its social policies lack detailed explanations and a modern understanding of the public versus private sphere. Despite this scenario, non-Muslims openly support Mat Sabu from PAS. I think Indians in a 'quiet way' welcome PAS style social policies due to the discouraging statistics of Indians in alcoholism and illegal activities. I am unsure but PAS appears to be more reasonable in dealing with Hindus. 

Since 2008, disparate Indian parties emerged, but lacked political savvy and seem to stick to one issue, one race based public policy - which is not sustainable, like the arguments about the bumi policy. Income based entitlement reform will address all poor people; especially the Malays and Indians. Its reasonable to call it bumi policy if its income based, and its equally reasonable to fund estate workers education and housing reform policies, if its income based.

Immigration reform is another vital policy that should start with red IC Malaysians, of Indians origin as well as other recent immigrants. Unless we can learn to treat our servants, tourists and immigrants decently, we can't implement effective public policy.

Remember the most important rule in public policy is enforcement. Are you listening BN!