When former prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was asked if his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should quit, he says …

"It is up to him to decide. It’s also up to the people to decide. If the people want him to move on, if they think his administration is not benefiting them, they should make a decision."

This coming election, I’ll be voting in Kepala Batas constituency, which is held by Pak Lah.

As I’m fully convinced that his administration is not benefiting this country at all, I’m lucky to tell him off with my precious vote.

How about you? Do you think he is worthy of another 5 years? Do you believe that Pak Lah and his team are going to bring more development towards this country? Do you think Malaysia has a brighter future under the stewardship of Pak Lah?

These are the questions that you need to ask yourselves before you decide your vote.

The future is in your hands.

While Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Davos talking about snap election in an interview on CNN’s World News Asia, he might want to give a little bit of more serious consideration towards the latest poll revealed by the market research Merdeka Center.

As a result of voters who’re unhappy over rising prices, racial tensions and crime, PM approval rating plunges to all time low - 61% in December 2007, down by 10% from November, which is the lowest since he took over the premiership in 2004.

The centre, which randomly polled 1,026 voters by phone, found that their main concerns were the rising cost of living, followed by race issues and rising street crime. Among the key findings are:

1. Inflation and crime remain top issues of concern but dissatisfaction over treatment by government has come to the fore, especially among ethnic Indians.
2. Concerns over the economy remain high with sentiments mixed over prices, jobs and business opportunities. Economic optimism for 2008 shows some decline, Malay voters remain positive but less upbeat.
3. Confidence in the government in running the economy remains high among Malays but very low among Chinese.
4. Approval rating of the Prime Minister has decreased from 71% to 61%.
5. Overall, voters still see things as headed in the right direction in the country but context has significantly changed over the past month.
6. Indian voters sentiments have turned visibly more negative but non-Indian sentiments have improved probably due to calm after the recent spate of demonstrations and police action.

However, the chart that strike me the most is on how the BERSIH and HINDRAF really affected Pak Lah’s approval rating across races, notably among ethnic Indians, where the PM suffers a drop of over 30 points in a month.

(SOURCE: Merdeka Center - National Poll - Dec 2007)

Nevertheless, Pak Lah rubbished aside the possible involvement of PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim as the factor for the imminent GE, but really, if there is any fear, the above chart is more intriguing than Anwar’s factor alone.

Sometimes, you just can’t fault the Barisan Nasional camp in undermining the political pact among the opposition parties.

They say it’s a political gimmick, a pact which merely skims the surface and does not encompass the fundamentals which couldn’t reach a middle ground and all sort of talks about the pact.

Apparently, even Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang himself is so frustrated with the progress that he urged the DAP-PKR seats talk to be wrapped up by end of this month as polling is expected to be held in 40 days from now as forecasted.

He even made an offer to help expedite the negotiation by offering a 3 corner fight with PKR in his Parliamentary seat Ipoh Timur, where Perak PKR is said to be keen to contest there, in which it was later denied by Perak PKR state chief Lee Boon Chye as reported by Malaysiakini.

Let me try to resolve the DAP-PKR logjam in the electoral talks in Perak. If Perak PKR leaders are so insistent in wanting to contest in Ipoh Timur, let there be an agreement where a three-cornered fight is allowed for Ipoh Timur involving DAP: and PKR provided full agreement on a one-to-one fight against the Barisan Nasional for all other parliamentary and state assembly seats is immediately reached for Perak.

I believe it comes to a stage where both DAP-PKR must truly understand the meaning of compromise and concession, otherwise, it’s going to attract more derogatory remarks from the ruling camp, which is exactly what’s happening now - a laughing stock indeed.

Are we fighting a losing battle even before the GE? Where is the common sense of a "pact" formulation rather than a making of a huge stumbling block waiting to be exposed in a disgraceful manner?

Don’t wink and wail once the opportunity is gone, that would be another 5 years down the road and the similar laughing stock for many years to come.

Damn.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb).

The festival commemorates both the birthday of Lord Murugan (also Subramaniam) and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (lance) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

Here’s wishing all Malaysians Happy Thaipusam!

Take it as the first new year plus election titbits from the Government.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declared Thaipusam as a public holiday extended to Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur after a few hours of serious consideration.

Out of nowhere, you’ve an effective premiership who just woke up from his usual slumber dream, swift and immediate response.

Notwithstanding the announcement, I hope Malaysians being the mudah lupa group will not forget the fact that it’s not a holiday for the Hindraf-5 in Kamunting.

They don’t fight for nothing and definitely not fighting for the one day off.

Either if you’re yet to register as a voter or you’re already an eligible voter and yet undecided whether to appear at the polling station this coming GE, you bloody make sure you read this masterpiece (I think!) by Miss Polytikus.

So, you don’t wanna vote? Then you’ve just deprived yourself the chance to make the teensiest of change. You’ve also revoked your right to complain about the government or the opposition. Your decision not to vote, to me, is as good as a foot set in migration.

The only difference that sets you apart from those Nazri has labelled ‘kalau you tak suka, you boleh keluar dari negara’ is that somewhere deep down inside, you love the country but you’re not willing to bear the responsibility of actually DOING something. The responsibility is shared and not solely for the opposition to bear. Just as criticisms can come from you, so can ideas and positive suggestions. Of course everybody just LOVES being a critic. So much easier isn’t it? I’m not surprised. You lot ain’t got no more balls left, that’s why.

I’m sure everyone has better credential than Nazri Aziz, prove that you’re one of them.

Vote for change.

After 25 years of first Proton Saga, the new Proton BLM (Base Line Model), also known as the Proton Saga Replacement Model, is launched today.

TV Smith was there to witness the launching ceremony.

Rising Voices, a citizen media outreach initiative of Global Voices Online, proudly announces the first in a series of outreach guides meant to explain the fundamentals of citizen media to a NON-TECHNICAL readership.

Rising Voices is spearheaded by David Sasaki, in which recently, he was in Malaysia as a speaker for a public forum on Blogs and Digital Democracy, giving insights on how to maximize the power of internet, urging the public to reduce the fear factor and contribute each and everyone’s little bit in promoting more of tipping points.

The first guide, An Introduction to Citizen Media, offers context and case studies which show how everyday citizens across the world are increasingly using blogs, podcasts, online video, and digital photography to engage in an unmediated conversation which transcends borders, cultures, and differing languages.

The introduction:

A change is taking place in how we communicate.

Just ten years ago we all learned about the world around us from newspapers, the television, and radio. Professional journalists would go to faraway places and bring back stories, photographs and videos of the situations they witnessed and the people they met.

Sometimes at dinner we talk about these stories with our friends and family. But ten years ago we rarely, if ever, communicated directly with the journalists themselves. Leading members of society wrote editorials expressing their opinions about various issues, but the rest of us could only share our opinions and thoughts with a small group of friends.

Over the last few years everything has changed. Thanks to new tools like weblogs, it is now possible to easily publish to the Internet. From Turkey to Kenya to Bolivia, everyday people like you and me are starting to share their stories and opinions with the rest of the world.

While this new form of communication is now freely available to anyone, most of the people participating still live in the wealthy neighborhoods of urban cities.

The purpose of this guide is to show that anyone with an internet connection can participate in the emerging global conversation. Our understanding of the world is now shaped not just by the newspapers and television, but also by each other.

And the conclusion:

This exciting (and sometimes overwhelming) world of blogs, podcasts, and online video is often referred to as "citizen media". Most likely, it won’t replace traditional journalism — we still need the investigative reports of trained professionals. But online media, which allow anyone to take part and voice an opinion, might be the first step to a world which allows for more participation, more diversity, and more transparency.

You can download the PDF file here and please feel free to distribute among your circles of friends who’re yet to embrace the "citizen media" … :-)

IF and only IF V.K. Lingam has the balls (I doubt) to confess like a man, just like Chua Soi Lek,

1. Lawyers and concerned citizens wouldn’t have wasted their precious time to perform Putrajaya March

2. The "toothless" three-man independent panel which produce absolutely nothing wouldn’t be established and which of course, wasting taxpayers’ money!
3. This country wouldn’t need another Royal Commission (Another IPCMC? Never mind, Malaysians belong to the high-tolerance level group where accepting inefficiency in many aspects as part and parcel of life!) to probe one of the biggest judicial flaw revealed, which further expose the rotten and flip-flop administration led by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who initially rejected the idea of Royal Commission and later gave in due to the public pressure.

It’s amazing if such a little villain can ruin this country, what else is not possible (to be done and undone by the big fishes) in this country?

Malaysia is in crisis mode.

Five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar went missing. Tenggaroh assemlyman S. Krishnasamy was assassinated.

On the two separate incidents, Prime Minister cum Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made separate pleas.

"The abductor must repent amidst the public outrage and return Sharlinie to her parents," he said when asked by reporters on his personal appeal over the disappearance of the girl since Wednesday.

Next, he expressed shock over the murder of the assemblyman.

"I am shocked and saddened by the killing of Datuk Krishnasamy. This is a cruel and despicable act," he told Bernama.

Before that, Pak Lah’s dazed "What’s going on? Why is it so high?" reaction to the latest crime index, where blogger Rocky Bru’s calls upon Pak Lah to give up the Internal Security Ministry portfolio or it might endanger Malaysia’s public safety level in wake of rising crime rate.

Having said all these, The Star today reports that the PM went to Madrid to explain how Malaysia was able to bridge the religious and racial gaps among its people?

What a disgraceful leadership, if you ask me what’s the best sentence to describe the current situation in Malaysia.