I mean, do you know of anyone who would willingly dump RM15,000 and who knows how much more into a by-election in which you know very well that you will lose and not even be able to get back the money at all?

Oh yeah, we have a live one this time. The third candidate of the Permatang Pauh by-election, Hanafi Hamat of Akim. (can someone please tell me where is Akim coming from anyway?)

Unless he was paid big bucks to woo away fence sitters from PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, I don’t see any point of him being there at all.

Amazingly, this fool is so confident that he is not wasting time and money.

“I am confident of winning because many voters are fed up with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat’s hostile politics and mud-slinging.

- Malaysiakini

Perhaps he is right. Many voters are quite fed up with the shenanigans and side shows put up by both the BN and the PKR. Heck, bystanders like me are getting quite sick and tired of all these unnecessary dirt being thrown everywhere.

And don’t forget the violence, the name calling and the numerous dubious moves, actions and promises by BOTH sides. BN is not running a clean campaign and well, too bad, neither is PKR or Pakatan Rakyat, whatever.

According to Mafrel, there are 20 complaints against BN, 4 against PKR, 6 against the police and ZERO against Akim.

Hmmm…looks like Hanafi is really not doing anything. I wonder if he is even campaigning! Or perhaps he is out of budget and decides not to do anything at all to save costs. Or maybe he thought winning an election means sitting around at home in Kelantan most of the time and only start campaigning in the last few days of the campaign period.

Or maybe, just maybe, he thought the people may think…

“Hey, here’s a non-controversial guy. He does not indulge in name-calling. He does not sling mud. He does not even attempt to ‘bribe’ voters in any way. Dang, he is so darn ‘clean’, I must simply vote for him”

Seriously. What’s the matter with this guy anyway?

I don’t know about you but I find this statement by him so darn hilarious that I think he should be crowned as joker of the year!

“I can beat both opponents,” said Hanafi, the president of the little known Islamic-based Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) or Malaysia People’s Justice Party.

- Malaysiakini

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I am sure by now, many people probably do not believe most of the news reports in the MSM and I don’t blame them. I don’t either. Many are biased and the few relatively unbiased one (like The Sun) do not have enough information, probably due to lack of pages or too many warnings from the powers that be.

Even the online media in the likes of Malaysiakini are sometimes biased as they too have their own agenda and yes, they are also known to skew their stories to a certain angle.

So, where do you turn to for a fair and unbiased view of what’s happening at the Permatang Pauh by-election?

Well, check out the Mafrel’s blog which will report any complaints, injustices or unfair practices in the by-election. Yep, including reports of buy-election.

Their blog is here (alternatively, the address is mafrel.wordpress.com).

Incidentally, they are also looking for volunteers to help them moderate the whole by-election process and check for any abuses of power, corruption and unfair practices during this 10-day by-election period. If you have the time to spare, sign up with them at Mafrel’s blog.

By the way, to the uninformed, Mafrel stands for Malaysian for Free and Fair Election.

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Now, the show is about to start with the nomination date coming up this Saturday. It will indeed be a very interesting 10 days leading up to the by-election date. Now, let’s take a look at the two contenders for the seat.

Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah

Now, this Seberang Jaya state assemblyman is a whole different kettle of fish compared to his fellow Umno members and leaders. For one thing, he speaks perfectly fluent Mandarin and has been known to intersperse his speeches with Mandarin and Hokkien. Yep, even at the state legislative assembly. This is due to the fact that he attended Chinese primary and secondary schools. He is called ‘peh moh’ for his full head of white hair and due to his fluent mandarin, he also won the moniker ACBC.

Now, this state assemblyman is far from arrogant as most of his counterparts tend to be. In fact, he is most known for his down-to-earth attitude and many of his constituents really do like him. I have many friends and some relatives who stays in Seberang Jaya who felt that he is really a good state assemblyman. Most of them have only praises for him because he really do go down to the ground to listen to their grouses and try to solve their problems. He is also one of the leaders to protest against the Sungai Nyior toll plaza.

All in all, he is really a likeable person. Like Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has said, he will prove a good adversary to Anwar but it is too bad that he belonged to a problematic party. So, yes, Datuk Arif Shah may have supporters but they may not all vote for him based on these two reasons:

1. He represents Umno – many people are still darn pissed with Umno and its top leadership so this may not work in his favour at all.

2. He is already the Seberang Jaya state assemblyman – there are many voters who likes to think that ’since he is already our assemblyman, why vote for him again? Might as well give the other fella a chance’.

Now, on to the supposed future PM that is

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

This PKR de facto leader has been eagerly waiting for the moment when he could return to power and go back into parliament. Known for his extremely polished orator skills, Datuk Seri Anwar has held many positions in government prior to his incarceration for sodomy and corruption charges back in the late 1990s.

He had been the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister before he was fired in 1998 due to the criminal charges. His rise through the ranks of Umno then was meteoric and it all fell apart in 1998 due to the sodomy and corruption charges. He was convicted of both charges but later, the sodomy charge was overturned and he was released in 2004.

Now, Anwar is called ‘Goliath’ in this upcoming by-election for a reason. He has a charisma that could draw supporters in when he spoke. In recent times, he was considered ‘incomparable’ and Deputy Chief Minister II Prof P. Ramasamy has said that there is nobody ‘bigger’ than Anwar that BN could field for the upcoming by-election.

This could prove to be quite true simply because Datuk Seri Anwar is far more well known and popular compared to Datuk Arif Shah. His name is known in every household in the country and he also has supporters overseas. Don’t also forget that Permatang Pauh is his home ground.

So, why this tremendous support for Datuk Seri Anwar? Why is Anwar so much ‘bigger’ than anyone else that BN could possibly field? And why is it considered a ’sure win’ for Anwar in the upcoming battle?

Again, I will list out two main reasons amongst others:

1. He is from PKR / PR- current sentiments are mostly negative against the BN so naturally, many have turned to support the PKR /PRin hopes that this party will fight for their causes instead.

2. He was subjected to alleged ‘character assassination’ through those criminal charges including the most recent one – many people do not believe in the fresh sodomy charge brought against him and he may just garner more sympathy and angry votes due to these charges.

So, there. We shall see if there will be plenty of name-calling and mud-slinging in the upcoming battle or if they, for once, will play fair and not hit below the belt. For once, I’d like to see serious issues such as rising costs of living, corruption and crime being discussed instead of personal attacks.

Oh, to all those punters out there, the word is that the bet is on Datuk Seri Anwar with a handicap of 10,000 votes. Not that I am condoning betting illegally through bookies but I think this is a really good indicator of who will win, don’t you think?

After all, bookies won’t be so stupid to set bets that they could lose.

Think about it.

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Everyone in politics, especially so in Penang, is focused on that tiny sleepy kampung.

Heck, they have even started paving the roads there, as is the usual practice during any elections or by-elections.

But, while all eyes are on that tiny spot, can someone please look into:

- the state of cleanliness in the whole state. We are still very much the Penang Darul Sampah and isn’t it time for them to do something about it?

- our horrendous traffic jams and irresponsible drivers double and triple parking along busy roads as mentioned by this darn famous blogger.

- the countless potholes and rollercoaster surfaces of roads all over Penang island and mainland except for Permatang Pauh now.

- the increasing costs of living where a single plate of char koay teow could cost up to RM7 for a mouthful only???

- the increasing crime rates and the police being too busy nanti-rasuah-ing or finding ways to penalise any PR politicians who had police reports lodged against them.

- the closing down of some factories and hundreds of people left without income

- the blatant open burning EVERYWHERE despite the thick haze enveloping the state for weeks already

Need I say more?

Yes, the CM has been spouting the 3Cs (cleanliness, crime and congestion) to focus on. Sure, I keep hearing him saying it but so far nothing has been done yet. If things could be done each time he repeated that phrase, I am sure Penang would be the cleanest, crime-free and un-congested state in the whole of Malaysia by now.

So, yeah, I am sure we are all ‘excited’ about the by-election but hey, life goes on for the rest of us, okay? Whoever wins in the by-election, well, good for him. Whatever.

What about the other more important things? Wake up, DAP and PKR! Will you start governing and start keeping your promises of improving this and that instead of harping on things long passed?

I remember DAP used to point at this and that and complain that the state government did not do anything about it. Well, hello, guess what? You are the state government now. Go do something about it NOW. And don’t give me the excuse that it’s only been five months. FFS. If you spent the last five months whining and complaining and blaming, where got time for you to govern?

And stop whining. It’s getting real irritating.

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Looks like Anwar wants to move fast and the best way to do it is to take over his wife’s seat which is probably waiting for him all these years. Hmm…I wonder if it’s the first step to more changes that will come in the next few months?

Will Anwar’s prophecy of PR taking over the federal government in September come true?

I don’t know but what I do know, we will have more interesting things to read everyday…(as if we didn’t get enough of all those political nonsense that has been going on…)

Here’s the latest from Malaysiakini:

Anwar to contest Permatang Pauh
Jul 31, 08 3:16pm

De facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim today announced that he will contest a by-election in Permatang Pauh, which will be vacated by his wife, party leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
MCPX

Anwar, who is seeking a parliamentary comeback after an absence of 10 years, has been shopping for a seat to contest after the expiry of a five-year ban from active politics.

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It was by far the most painful thing to watch of the whole three-hour session in the afternoon (ya, ya, ya, I wasted 3 hours on the state assembly). Danny was stammering and fumbling and made million mistakes like stating that there were 50 million people who turned up at the recent Bon Odori event last weekend.

The other excos carried themselves pretty well despite several attempts by the Opposition to create some unwanted tensions between them such as questioning why those who go to Korea on the working trip are all from DAP and none from PKR.

The PKR assemblyman with the squeeky voice and an exco, Abdul Malik, managed to take that quite well by stating that when it comes to the Pakatan Rakyat government, there are no such things as choosing people for certain duties based on party.

“If we find YB from Seberang Jaya (an Umno assemblyman) have the networks or abilities for certain things, we also will not hesitate to invite YB along,” he said, effectively shutting the YB in question up.

Of course, the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng played his part very well. In fact, I am very impressed with the way he handled the questions and how he deflected any attempts by the Opposition to make DAP look bad. Damn good, I tell you. My respect, Chief Minister.

Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon could not have held a candle to the performance you put up!

Well, Tuesday is another day and it will probably be another interesting session to follow. If you find yourself free with nothing better to do, go on over here to watch the live telecast of the Penang state assembly. You will get to see your elected representative at work and know who you have voted to represent you!

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So, back to the C word the Chief Minister is so obsessed with. Well, actually it is several C words…

The first one is…

CAT

Now, far from meaning the feline animal, Guan Eng actually meant another thing. The three little words are the Chief Minister’s promise to Penangites. It means:

Competency – for more competency in the state administration

Accountability – the state government will be accountable for all its actions

Transparency – the state government will ensure all that it does is transparent and above board

And then lately, Guan Eng is spouting three new Cs for:

Cleanliness – a vow to clean up the state

Congestion – a vow to reduce the traffic congestion on the road

Crime – a pledge to cut down crime rate in the state

So, looks like Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has promised Penang a whole load of Cs. Let’s just hope he keeps his promises but I daresay he has an uphill battle ahead of him because:

competency – is easier said than done when it involves a LOT of civil servants so used to the numerous coffee breaks and the ‘tai chi’ maneuvers of directing people to this department or that.

accountability – is a good thing but the state government is still not as accountable as it should have been yet

transparency – rrriiigggghhhtttt…well, er, what about the decision on the appointment of the MPPP and MPSP councillors? where’s the transparency there especially when it has drawn flak from certain quarters? Having a freedom of information policy and live ‘telecast’ of the state assembly is all very well and I applaud these moves… so what about other decisions that really matter?

And the promises on…

cleanliness – yeah, sure. Every single politician has used this ruse. Please, just get to work first.

congestion – again, another political card pulled by every single politician from any party. And again, please do something about it instead of merely talking about it.

crime – yeah, I know it is one of the main issue Guan Eng has been harping on way before the elections and judging from the extreme efficiency of the police force in certain matters involving sodomy and sedition and defamation, I wonder if the police even have time for the more ‘trivial’ crimes such as murder, rape, robberies, etc?

So, Guan Eng, please do fulfill your Cs and you may just get an A in your report card in a few years’ time.

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This Monday, the Penang state assembly will start its 10-day debate. So, this means all the DAP and PKR elected reps (and the sole PAS rep) will be there all dressed up and ready to start their real jobs as policy makers. (Yes, elected DUNs (state assemblymen) are SUPPOSED to be policy makers and not your neighbourhood handyman who could send for workmen to repair drains, faulty lamp posts, patch up uneven road surfaces and other piddly stuff that the councils should be in charge of and NOT the assemblyman)

So, these new batch of policy makers will be going face to face with the sore losers Umno reps who will be led by Opposition leader Azhar Ibrahim. You know, Azhar the guy-who-asked-for-all-major-projects-in-Penang-be-canceled and the guy-who-organised-the-street-demo-in-Komtar. Yeah, the former exco, the has-been who was sore about losing. The one who wants to punish Penangites for daring to vote for DAP or PKR or PAS on March 8.

Well, the 10-day session will definitely be interesting. It is a reversal of roles. Azhar and his gang of buffoons Umno reps will be putting on the role of the Opposition for the first time and the DAP-PKR leaders will be putting on the policy making role for the first time.

And for the first time, we mere mortals and commoners will get to watch them go at each other live over the internet! Seems like they can’t do a TV live telecast so they are doing it over the next best thing, the internet.

So, do remember to go here or here from 10am onwards on Monday.

* DAPtitis – an affliction that infects many Penangites since the avalanche of votes to the DAP on March 8. Symptoms of this affliction includes a burning desire to be near any DAP leader, but especially so the Penang top dog, Lim Guan Eng, frequent dreams of meeting the said DAP leader and a hefty crush (puppy-love sorta feelings) on DAP leader of choice.

This affliction is mostly incurable and the only way to ease its symptoms is to stalk the DAP leaders and be photographed with them at every opportunity and put up all these photos regularly in public spaces or stick it on an album mark ‘My Heroes’.

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Also, these must have been enough time for them to GET OUT of their Opposition mentality and start acting like the state government. Sure, they are still the Opposition at federal level but here in Penang, they ARE the state government. They ARE in power.

So, isn’t it time that they STOP pointing fingers, STOP blaming others, STOP complaining and whining over what the previous state government did or what the federal government is doing to Penang now?

Okay, so, they have the right to whine and complain and stand up and announce loudly what the previous state government did. And yes, they have the right to point out how the federal government is marginalising Penang just because the BN was voted out of power.

However, WE all know we are being marginalised. We can read the newspapers and online news. We can see for ourselves what the BN government is doing. I don’t mind Penang Outer Ring Road being canceled postponed. I don’t mind that much about the monorail being postponed either BUT I do mind that the federal government IS NOT keeping its promises of implementing an integrated public transportation system in Penang which they had promised AGAIN and AGAIN before and during the general elections.

And now, SUDDENLY there is nothing. No monorail, fine. But no other alternative proposals for public transportation too? This prove that the BN government DO NOT keep to their promises. Buruk siku is what Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been calling them. And I do agree.

But I digress.

Recently, I heard that the federal government has ‘postponed’ yet another project. This time, it is the RM40mil upgrading works for the Penang Hill funicular train. (YES, it is also ONE of those projects they PROMISED and never deliver) And the thing is, this upgrading works is really needed. URGENTLY. The cables are OLD and faulty. The service broke down numerous times due to this and now, they had to stop the service completely. Seems like the whole system needs to be upgraded as minor repairs are no longer able to keep the system working smoothly.

Yep. Here we are, George Town being listed as a Unesco’s World Heritage Site and one of our landmarks, Penang Hill, is now inaccessible to tourists. Unless, of course, they preferred to hike up. Although Penang Hill is not within the heritage zone, it is still a main tourist site. Tourists already in Penang would probably stop by there. Imagine, the tourists finding their way there after haggling with the cut-throat taxi drivers (that’s a whole another post) only to find that the funicular train service is temporarily stopped and they could not go up on the train.

Ya, ya, blame the federal government. But in the meantime, WHAT is the state government doing? I mean, other than blaming the federal government. Isn’t it time that they buck up and find a solution? Sure, sure, plead and urge and do whatever to push the federal government to hand over the RM40mil for the upgrading works.

While waiting for the federal government to even response, isn’t it time that the state government do something first? Don’t just point fingers.

Do something. Find a solution. It is really time that DAP-PKR start to govern the state. Preferably NOW.

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Rome was not built in a day so we should not expect the DAP-PKR Penang state government to work miracles in just three months.

Of course, this does not stop all the MSM from churning out 100-day reports on what the state government has achieved in this short period of time. It also did not stop the former state government leaders, namely Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon from pointing out at the ‘weaknesses’ of this new state government.

By now, I have learned to ignore most of what Gerakan has to say in the media because it is mostly crap resulting from sour grapes. Nothing profound can be seen in sour grapes comments, so why waste time, eh?

Anyway, what really caught my interest was that Koh Tsu Koon had termed the 100 days as the DAP-PKR state government’s ‘honeymoon’ period. If that is not sour grapes, I do not know what is!

Running a state government for the first time since all of the DAP and PKR wakil rakyat are relatively new is no easy task. Many of them never expected to win and now suddenly, they are part of the Penang state government. Grappling with new things to learn, heavier responsibilities and a change in role from being a noise-making Opposition to the state government is no simple, easy as A-B-C task.

The fact that they had to do it minus all the files thanks to the extremely clean offices, it is not easy at all. Of course, certain quarters have said that the new government could always get copies of the documents from the state secretary’s office.

Sure, the state secretary my have copies of the documents but would you know what document to ask for if you do not even know what document you are suppose to be looking for?

Just think. For example, an exco may have, lets say 20, open files of issues and problems not solved or in the process and hundreds others already solved and filed away for records. But with the change of state government, the 20 unsolved issues (files) disappeared into thin air. Sure, all the copies are with the state secretary’s office but so are the hundreds others kept there for records. So, how is the new exco to know which issue is unsolved, which issue is ongoing and which is already solved and dealt with? Yep, the new exco probably have to vet through hundreds of files and folders to find the 20 unsolved issues.

And that is easy, issit? On top of that, they have to meet with the people in their respective portfolios, they have to learn the ropes of their responsibilities, they have to meet with the reluctantly cooperative government departments, they have to also solve problems while still learning the ropes.

Then on top of that there is the huge big mess of scams and loose ends for them to clear up and tie up, again, no thanks to the previous state government.

So, what can the Penang state government do in 100 days?  Well, obviously, nothing much because they are too busy clearing up the mess by the previous state government while at the same time trying to make their own policies and decisions now.

In fact, my question to all those sour grapes out there, what DID the Gerakan state government achieve all this time? Oh, wait…I know the answers:

1. Unsustainable development by allowing developers to chop down trees, hills to build more high rise, more luxury buildings

2. Cutting down and destruction of our water catchment areas for decades before the remaining few areas were gazetted in 2003.

3. Land scams

4. Extremely efficient (NOT) public transportation

5. A million traffic lights which causes more traffic congestions that clearing traffic

6. Extremely well-planned out (NOT) traffic dispersal system

7. Safe City is just a concept, not a reality

8. Penang rubbish city is a reality, not a concept

9. Beautiful clean and safe (yeah, right) beaches

10. Growing number of investments (leaving the state)

So, what can a 100-day-old Penang state government do to undo what the previous state government did in all those years? A lot that can’t be done within three months!

Need I say more?

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