NAJIB U THE MAN

I think I am finally understanding the man. When Najib Tun Razak took over for Tun Abdullah Badawi as Malaysia's sixth Prime Minister, many including yours truly did not have much hope of him doing a better job than his immediate predecessor. During Abdullah's tenure, BN showed a poor performance - losing the two-third majority in Parliament and lost the States of Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah to Pakatan Rakyat. The growing support for the opposition in 2008 was seen as the start of BN downfall. The voters gave up on Pak Lah who came under barrage of fires not just from the Opposition but even BN leaders led by none other then his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Najib inherited a troubled government, infested with corruption, weak leadership and a weakening economy. The Chinese voters practically threw their support to the Opposition and has remained steadfast with DAP and other opposition parties when they saw BN was weakening. Najib knew all this. He also knew that the good old days style of running the Government like under the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir was over. The voters are now more sophisticated and unafraid. They know that racial riot like the May 1969 will not reoccur. People have grown wiser and more tolerant. Even the Malays admit that some of the privileges they enjoyed have to be shared by other races too. Hence, it came as no surprise when Najib started to make popular announcements, pleasing most quarters. Nevertheless, the hawkish members of UMNO are not happy. They prefer the status quo to remain. Quietly, they embarked on whispering campaigns to pressure Najib to stop making further changes that they perceived could erode their influence in the party and among the voters. So far, Najib has withstood the pressure and continued to make the changes necessary to ensure that BN remain relevant and can win the next general election. It is no easy task for the man. But, he must continue to make the changes. Also, he has to spread his influence further among party members who can determine that he continue to lead UMNO as its president. Although some UMNO leaders can be stubborn and unreasonable, most of the party members are rationale and will support him. He must continue to make tough decision, including removing cabinet members that have become liability to his leadership. He may lose some support, but he would gain a lot of support among voters.

Anything Goes As Long As You Can Score Brownie Points

While I support the need for a strong opposition in our august Parliament, I fail to appreciate the role it is currently playing. Hardly a day goes by where the Opposition leaders don't comment on everything the Government has done. All are wrong. Their supporters are no different, many just make nasty remarks. Sometimes it is so sickening.
Everything they did are right and what the Government did are wrong. Even if what the Government did helped the people, it is wrong. They have become so bold that they do not give a hoot towards the feeling of the ordinary people.
Why can't we focus on improving our lives, grow the economy and develop the nation. When it is time for the general election, then go to the people and seek the mandate to rule. But, once the voters have make the decision, please respect it. Do not continue to play politics.
However, there are issues that involved public interest that must be raised by the opposition. But please use the right platform. Be factual and questioned hard in Parliament and the State Assemblies. You are welcome to expose the wrongdoings. Criticize when you must. The Rakyat will support.

The Walk To No Where

Finally, the much awaited walk took place. But, I would describe it as a A Walk To No Where. There were thousands who walked - Bersih's and Perkasa's supporters, UMNO Youth members, curious onlookers, hundreds of reporters and photographers and security forces. But it was certainly a walk to no where. There was no place for them to assemble. For those who were told to assemble at Stadium Merdeka, they knew that the Bersih organisers did not get any police permit nor approval from the Stadium Board. Hence, everyone walked without really knowing where to go. So the moved everywhere. They went to Bukit Bintang, Kampung Baru, Masjid Negara, Pasar Seni, Stadium Negara, Stadium Merdeka, Petaling Street, Sogo, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Tun Perak, Pudu Raya and God knows where.
They chanted Bersih, Reformasi, Hidup, BN Zalim etc etc. And the world watched. The Arabs in Middle East probably wondered what they hell was going on in Malaysia. The Chinese in China, the Indian in India were all watching too. All confused.
The leaders of Bersih and supporters, including politicians who supported the move assembled themselves in the most luxurious hotel in Kuala Lumpur - KL Hilton. Most have rooms and probably spend the night there too. Perhaps, it is the nearest hotel to Stadium Merdeka. Their supporters, on the other, can sleep anywhere - in mosques, inside the transports they came, relatives and friends homes. So much for the struggle for the people.
Most of the leaders got arrested, including Umno Youth leader Khairy, Pas President Hadi and Ambiga. Ambiga was later released and quickly claimed that Bersih has successfully reached its objective.
But, Bersih supporters who walked were all Malays. What happened to the Chinese and Indians who were most vocal in their support for the walk. They chickened out as usual.

BERSIH WALK TO PROCEED

Some friends asked me whether the Bersih Walk will proceed as planned. And what were my thoughts about it. I replied then I do not know. However, the question triggered my curiousity and I now append my thoughts here.

"Yes, the Walk will take place. Why? Why not! Ambiga and whoever are behind her, including those providing the financial support, need to prove to the public that Bersih believes in upholding a clean general election process. The walk or march must go ahead so that they can convince the public that the present general election process is tainted and only favours the ruling party.

Just picture this. Despite the tainted Election process they won 80 over Parliamentary seats and formed four new State Governments in the 2008 general election, now imagine the "clean" 13th General Election....Why, Putrajaya is surely theirs!

One wonders why Ambiga decides to head Bersih? The answer is obvious. Pakatan Rakyat has to place her as the leader of Bersih to give an image that the movement is not politically driven. This so-called March is certainly not for the benefits of Malaysians but for the foreign market. She is seen not a member of any political party but just an ordinary person who cares and that the July 9 March is by the people for the people.

However, Malaysians recognised Ambiga as a former Bar Council chairperson who had been portrayed as a champion of justice, but she had been highly critical of the Government and the judiciary over many legal and social issues.

My best bet is Ambiga has fallen in love with politics and habours to be a full-time poltician. I am inclined to believe that Ambiga will be a candidate in this coming general election. However, I am almost certain she would not be contesting via the Barisan Nasional ticket, because there is no place for her there. On the other hand, she can easily represent PKR or DAP. And if she wins, and PR wins the general election, Ambiga stands a good chance to be the Law Minister. The post would have gone to Zaid Ibrahim, but he quit PKR to form his own party and now is at war with PKR, DAP and BN.

Has she no fear of police action against the Marchers and herself if the March proceed? My gut feeling is she is well-prepared for it. If anything happens to her, injury or arrested, she will be seen as hero to her supporters and the Government would look really bad. She could use those moments when campaigning in the general election.

Will this strategy work for Pakatan Rakyat to win the election? Maybe.

The Government vs Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat is adopting the 2008 general election build-up strategy once more to win voters' support for the next coming General Election. Clever! The last GE saw them winning over 80 parliamentary seats and formed four State Governments and retaining Kelantan.
This time around they want to occupy Putrajaya. By their own calculation, Pakatan Rakyat sees itself winning the 14th GE with a simple majority. They see them capturing most of the urban seats,including Chinese majority areas, PAS and PKR retaining most of them, if not all it's current seats.
And to "seal the victory", every attempt must be done to discredit the present Government and its leaders in all aspects. It does not matter if their accusations were wrong, they quickly move on. To them, the public is equally fed-up with the current Government and not bothered with the facts. The public blind support, as seen in most comments on blogs and forums, drive PR leaders to continue raining allegations on the Government.
Hence, we see PR leaders alleging Prime Minister and wife visit to Astana in Krgystan (?) to attend their daughter's wedding on the pretext of an official visit when they knew fully well that a Malay girl's wedding must alway be held at her parents' turf. Despite repeated calls for PR to apologize, they remained deadly silence. Now, another PR leader leader questioned whether the cost of hosting the prime minister's daughter engagement last Friday was paid using taxpayers' money.
The continued bombardment of allegations against the Government is a continued attempt to proof how corrupt and inefficient the BN leaders were. On the other hand, the Government leaders reacted slowly to deny the allegations, most of time after the allegations have set in or overtaken by other events. By then, the replies failed to make any significant impact.
We have come across situation where the Government's PR drives failed miserably because of insufficient information. PR leaders and it's machineries were quick to drive doubts on their viabilities. The Government, despite having all the funds to come up with excellent PR
campaigns, does not seem to come up with the right strategies. Sadly, most of the time the task is left to Prime Minister to spearhead. Whether this is by design or not, Prime Minister must review this and find a more effective strategy. Pakatan Rakyat will also not be taking any nap.

Social Media Fast Becoming Revenue Generator

Some politicians are like a bunch of hyenas. They are quick to pounce on almost anything that can provide them political mileage. Now the attack is on Tourism Malaysia facebook. For reasons unknown (yet), someone mentioned that the the Tourism Ministry spent RM1.8 million to manage six facebooks' sites for Tourism Malaysia. Then all hell broke lose and hyena like politicians started to condemned the Ministry for coughing up so much funds to manage facebooks. Facebook is, to many just a communication tool, for individuals to express their own opinions or to report their activities for the day. Some uploaded candid pictures and video clips. Perhaps, many have not realise that Facebook can be a revenue generating venture. Hence, many entreprises, especially on-line have started to use social media, including Facebooks and Twitters for business purposes. Corporations and Governments engaged online specialists to carry out their campaigns via social media. And trust me, they don't come cheap. The fees can be exhorbitant to some if they are clueless as to how these campaigns are carried out via social media. A lot of time, manpower and creative ideas are applied to ensure these campaigns are launched successfully.

That's The Answer Guan Eng

After days of bombardment by politicians and public, the Independepent Power Producers finally came up with a clarification that they do not benefit from gas subsidy. The reply was printed in the Sun in the letter to the editor (June 8, 2011). Please read:

IPP DO NOT BENEFIT FROM GAS SUBSIDY

PENJANABEBAS, the association of Independent Power Producers, wishes to clarify recent reports relating to the prevailing misconception that the gas subidy contributes to the overall profitablity of independent power producers.
The associaton wishes to reiterate that it is factually incorrect to portray our members as beneficiaries of the gas subsidy or that any of our members in any way profit from any fuel used in the generation of electricity.
Under the Malaysian IPP model, most of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) between our members and Tenaga Nasional Berhad operate on a fully despatchable basis (all capacity must be made available to the national grid at any time except during planned scheduled maintenance).
Payments to IPPs consists of two core components - Capacity Payments (fixed payments as specified under the resepective PPAs to recover the costs of developing power generating facitlies and fixed overheads), and Energy Payments for fuels consumed in generation and variable operating rates (to cover maintenance costs incurred during generation).
All IPPs only commence generation of electricity, and thereby incur fuel costs or variable operating expenses upon instruction from the off-taker (TNB).
Once instructed to despatch electricity by the off-taker, fuel consumed in generation by IPPs are quantified and billed back to the off-taker at pre-determined rates set by the government - in respect of gas, or at a rate dictated by TNB for coal, based upon the quantum of electricity generated and at agreed upon efficiency rates. In the event IPPs are unable to meet despatch as per TNB's instruction, penalities will be imposed.
As such the cost of gas as a fuel to generate electricty is a component that the IPP industry does not derive any benefit from. Instead, savings in gas costs (difference between international gas prices and a fixed price set by the Government) are passed on directly to consumers through lower tariffs.
Since 1997, the government has elected to shield electricity consumers from the volatility in gas pricing by setting a fixed cost for gas to electricity generators. Prior to this, TNB had been able to adjust its prices to consumer in response to market pricing, which in essence what is meant by the term a "fuel cost-pass-through to consumers" - the use of which is an international norm.
Moreover, it is important to note that IPPs are in no way involved in decisions relating to electricity tariffs as were are mere conract generators to TNB, whereby our generation facilities are contractually made available to TNB. Imporantly, the terms and rates contained within PPAs remined unchanged regardless of changes to electricity tariffs.
The association and our members would like to highlight that there is a need for rational and objective discussion on the Malaysian energy generation sector, and this must be undertaken froma balanced perspective to allow the public to make informed judgements on issues baced by the sectorl. Such understanding is important for engagements aimedat the development of a long_term sustainable national energy policy.
Our members would like to reiterate our commitment to engagiing in dialogue or discussions with members of the media and other stakeholders, with the aim of achieving understanding, support and commitment to meeting the nation's future energy needs.