Anwar Ibrahim

Siri Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim Ke Selangor & Labuan 21 & 22 Februari 2013 (Khamis & Jumaat)
Launch of Institut Rakyat: Towards a New Malaysia
PELANCARAN INSTITUT RAKYAT: KE ARAH MALAYSIA BARU
Pakatan to Kick-Start GE Campaign Next Week
Bully-boy Malaysia immature and Australia’s reaction so limp
[VIDEO] Leakages, Waste, Excessive Charge & Corruption Cost Us RM20 Billion A Year
[VIDEO] Najib, Mahu Tegur Mahathir, Biar Abang Anwar Buat
[VIDEO] Ceramah Bersama Barisan Jeneral (B) Angkatan Tentera

Siri Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim Ke Selangor & Labuan 21 & 22 Februari 2013 (Khamis & Jumaat)

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:45 AM PST

21 Februari 2013 (Khamis) – Selangor

1) 7.30 – 12.00 mlm – Jamuan Tahun Baru Cina DUN Sri Muda

Lokasi: Tapak Pakir MBSA, Seksyen 33, Syah Alam
(Sebelah Giant Kemuning Utama)
2) 9.00 – 12.00 mlm – Ceramah Perdana Merdeka Rakyat

Lokasi: Taman Rakyat, Taman Sri Andalas
3) Barisan Penceramah:

i. YB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

ii. YB Dr Xavier Jayakumar

iii. YB Dr Abdul Rani Osman

iv. YB Shuhaimi Shafei

v. YB Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud

vi. YB Ee Au Yong

vii. YB Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad

viii. YB Ng Swee Lin

22 Februari 2013 (Jumaat) – WP – Labuan

1) 7.00 – 11.00 mlm – Sambutan Gong Xi Fa Cai & Ceramah Perdana

2) Lokasi: Dewan SJK (C ) Chi Wen, Jln OKK Abdullah, Bandar Labuan

3) Barisan Penceramah:

i. YB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

ii. YB Dato' Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin

iii. YB Dato' Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing

iv. YB Jimmy Wong Sze Phin

v. YBhg Tamrin Jailani

vi. YBhg Tan Sri Ibrahim Menuddin

Launch of Institut Rakyat: Towards a New Malaysia

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:35 AM PST

KEADILAN (Parti Keadilan Rakyat), Malaysia's multi-ethnic reformist party is establishing a party- affiliated think tank, named Institut Rakyat. While affiliated to the party, Institut Rakyat is an independent policy institute – both in finance and in work – to complement and provide a balanced perspective to the party's administrative wing.

The Institute is to offer independent advice or policy recommendations to the party, in line with a vision of a Malaysia that flourishes under sustainable economic growth and development matched with social, environmental, ethnic, and religious harmony.

It must be noted that the Institute is a culmination of the efforts of many in policy research, position papers and even speech writing done by countless volunteers, interns and party workers over the years. This latest initiative is aimed towards cementing a solid leadership base premised on concrete policies.

We are motivated by the need for policies that are guided by a comprehensive understanding of human development, social justice, fundamental rights and equal opportunity.

We initiated this endeavour in recognition of the necessity to:

Improve public confidence (especially the middle-class, business and diplomatic communities) in policy-making abilities of political parties.

Consolidate a shift in Malaysian politics from fear, threat & personality-cult to a focus on policy competition and debates.

Provide well-researched papers/briefings with options and implications for leaders to make political and policy choices.

Ensure an entity that provides for check and balance in the running of policies.

Malaysia is at a crossroads – facing mounting challenges across the political, social, to the economic spectrum. The lack of institutional independence, a failing justice system, socio economic policy that is lacking in the effort to eliminate hardcore and urban poverty, and a flawed policy direction which is exacerbating the major indices in the country today -press freedom, competitive ranking, to the ever increasing crime rate. Fundamental to addressing these is the need for serious public policy debate and discussion.

As such, we are pleased to announce the launch of a public policy think tank to meet these demands. The launch is themed "Towards a New Malaysia", as we hope to present public policy alternatives for a better Malaysia, for its future generations to come. Its first policy paper on "Increasing Disposable Incomes" will also be presented.

The launch, slated to take place this Thursday, 21st February 2013, at 3pm at the Empire Hotel, Subang Jaya will feature Keynote Speaker Opposition Leader, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, followed by a special guest speaker.

Institut Rakyat envisions a Malaysia that flourishes under sustainable economic growth and development matched with social, environmental, ethnic and religious harmony. We subscribe to the philosophy that no Malaysian must be left behind on account of their ethnicity, region, political affiliation, gender, and religion.

INSTITUT RAKYAT

19 February 2013

PELANCARAN INSTITUT RAKYAT: KE ARAH MALAYSIA BARU

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:29 AM PST

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KEADILAN), sebuah parti yang memperjuangkan islah dan keadilan untuk semua, akan melancarkan Institut Rakyat – sebuah badan penyelidikan yang independen. Walau diwujudkan oleh KEADILAN, Institut Rakyat (IR) adalah independen berdasarkan punca kewangan dan juga hasil penyelidikan yang dijana. Objektif utama IR adalah untuk memberikan perspektif yang seimbang kepada badan eksekutif parti.

Institut Rakyat akan menawarkan pandangan serta saranan dasar-dasar kepada KEADILAN. Hal ini seiring dengan visi sebuah Malaysia yang mekar di dalam suasana pertumbuhan ekonomi mapan serta perkembangan sosial, alam sekitar dan perhubungan kaum dan agama yang harmoni.

Institut ini merupakan hasil usaha pelbagai individu dan orang ramai yang terlibat di dalam kajian dasar, kertas kerja, dan juga penulisan-penulisan yang dihasilkan oleh ramai sukarelawan, pelajar-pelajar praktikal, dan pekerja-pekerja parti dalam beberapa tahun. Inisiatif terbaru ini berfokuskan kepada memperkuatkan asas kepimpinan yang berdasarkan dasar-dasar yang kukuh.

Kami didorong oleh keperluan untuk adanya dasar-dasar yang berpandukan kefahaman yang mendalam dari segi pembangunan manusia, keadilan sosial, hak-hak asasi dan peluang yang sama.

Kami menubuhkan IR untuk mengiktiraf keperluan untuk:

Menaikkan tahap keyakinan awam (terutamanya kelas menengah, ahli perniagaan dan diplomatik) di dalam pembuatan dasar oleh parti-parti politik.

Mengubah senario politik di Malaysia dari ketakutan, ugutan, dan personaliti ke arah persaingan dasar kompetitif dan perdebatan.

Menyediakan kertas kerja dan kajian selidik yang menyeluruh bersama dengan pilihan dan implikasi untuk ahli pimpinan eksekutif agar dapat membuat pilihan dasar yang paling baik.
Memastikan timbang tara di dalam perlaksanaan dasar.

Malaysia sekarang berada di sebuah persimpangan jalan – untuk menghadapi pelbagai cabaran dari spektrum politik, sosial, dan juga ekonomi. Kami sedar bahawa terdapat kekurangan kebebasan institusi, sistem keadilan yang semakin gagal, dasar ekonomi-sosial yang tidak memberi tumpuan yang penuh untuk menghapuskan kemiskinan tegar dan juga kemiskinan di kawasan bandar, dan kelemahan hala tuju dasar yang memburukkan lagi index-index utama di negara kita hari ini – kebebasan media, kedudukan kompetitif, dan kadar jenayah yang semakin meningkat. Perdebatan dan perbincangan yang serius amatlah penting untuk memastikan objektif-objektif dasar dapat dilaksanakan.

Oleh itu, kami dengan sukacita ingin mengumumkan pelancaran sebuah pusat penyelidikan dasar untuk memenuhi keperluan-keperluan ini. Tema pelancaran "Ke Arah Malaysia Baru" adalah amat sesuai, sepertimana yang kami harapkan untuk adanya dasar-dasar alternatif ke arah Malaysia yang lebih baik, untuk generasi masa depan yang akan datang. Kertas kerja pertama yang akan dibentangkan adalah bertajuk "Meningkatkan Pendapatan Boleh Guna."

Majlis pelancaran ini akan diadakan pada Khamis, 21 Februari 2013, 3 petang di Hotel Empire, Subang Jaya. Sesi ucaptama akan disampaikan oleh Ketua Pembangkang, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, dan diikuti oleh seorang penceramah jemputan.

Institut Rakyat mempunyai visi untuk merealisasikan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara berkembang dengan pembangunan ekonomi yang mampan dan seimbang dengan pembangunan sosial, alam sekitar, dan keharmonian bangsa dan agama. Kami percaya kepada sebuah falsafah di mana semua rakyat Malaysia tidak boleh ditinggalkan, tidak mengira bangsa, perbezaan kawasan, fahaman politik, gender, dan juga agama.

INSTITUT RAKYAT

19 February 2013

Pakatan to Kick-Start GE Campaign Next Week

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:09 AM PST

Malaysiakini

With the launch of their joint manifesto due next week, opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat is set to kick-start its campaign for the general election (GE) which is imminent.

"The launch of the manifesto marks the start of our GE13 campaign…

"This is the first time in history that a federal opposition coalition is leading the way," said PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli (left).

Speaking to reporters in a press conference at party headquarters in Petaling Jaya today, he explained that their intention is to direct election campaign and debates into policy matters and more mature discussions.

"We want to ensure this GE campaign will focus on people's issues and policies against the usual racist slander brought by the BN," reasoned Rafizi.

As had been previously reported, Pakatan will launch their manifesto next Monday (Feb 25) at its national convention in Shah Alam.

In line with Pakatan's new policy-based campaign strategy, PKR is set to formalise its various policy support groups under the umbrella of its party think-tank dubbed Institut Rakyat or the People's Institute.

Announced by veep Nurul Izzah Anwar at the same press conference, the institute will join the ranks of DAP's Penang Institute and PAS' research unit. PKR was the only member of the coalition without a formal think-tank prior to this, though it had various groups tasked with policy formulation and outreach.

Nurul Izzah added that the think-tank, whilst affiliated to the party, will also have a check and balance role not only to backstop government decisions but also to advise PKR leaders on how to use an issue-based approach as opposed to rhetoric common in the current political debate.

'A shift in Malaysian politics'

This, she said, will represent "a shift in Malaysian politics from fear, threats and personality cults to a focus on policy competition and debates".

Institut Rakyat will be pioneered by former adviser to the Selangor MB Tricia Yeoh, who will be research director, artist-activist Wong Hoy Cheong as board member and economic adviser Yin Shao Loong as the second research director.

Yin said that the institute will endeavour to be independent despite being party-affiliated, to fulfill a check and balance role to the government, whether BN or Pakatan-controlled.

Wong explained that the organisation will have two core functions, one as a policy research arm and the second as a knowledge and training centre for youths on activism and civic movements.

The institute proper will be launched next week where more team members will be announced and it will table its maiden policy white paper on raising disposable income.

Bully-boy Malaysia immature and Australia’s reaction so limp

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 01:44 AM PST

By Peter Hartcher | The Age

Malaysia’s decision to ban an Australian independent senator, Nick Xenophon, tells us a good deal about the state of its government, the world’s longest-ruling outside the communist world, as it heads to an election. Australia’s response tells us a few things about ourselves, too.

Before critiquing the ruling party, the party of Mahathir, now the party of Prime Minister Najib Razak, we should acknowledge that it knows a thing or two.

First, it’s worked out how to hold power continuously for 56 years, ever since Britain granted Malaysia independence. That’s a serious accomplishment.

Second, it hasn’t done a bad job of running the economy. Malaysia’s sharemarket was one of the best-performing in the world last year and the economy is growing about 4 to 5 per cent annually.

Malaysia is a pleasant, multi-racial country with the middle-income living standards that an average per capita GDP of $10,000 delivers, about the same as Turkey or Mexico.

So why is the government so afraid of Nick Xenophon? Why stop him at the airport with the confected explanation that he represents a threat to national security?

The reason is that he is an international observer campaigning in favour of a free and fair election. This is not a threat to Malaysia’s national security, but it is a threat to the ruling party’s grip on power. As the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, told me some time ago: ”In a fair and free election, I am absolutely sure we will win.”

Xenophon says that his detention and deportation shows ”a high level of paranoia”. But is it paranoia, or does the ruling party really have something to fear at the election it must call by the end of April?

At the centre of the long success of the ruling party is racial politics.

The county had a history of communal violence; the coalition National Front or Barisan Nasional (BN) party addressed that problem because it was founded on the principle of power-sharing between racial groups, the Malay majority with the Chinese and Indian minorities.

This balance held in check the fear of racial violence on a communal scale. But another key concept in the long years of BN rule was that the native Malays were inferior. They may be numerically dominant, but they lacked the skills and abilities of the other races. ”Deep within them,” wrote Mahathir in his 1970 book The Malay Dilemma, ”there is a conviction that no matter what they decide or do, things will continue to slip beyond their control; that slowly but surely they are becoming dispossessed in their own land. This is the Malay Dilemma.”

How to address it? By granting the Malays special privileges, including guaranteed dominance of the public sector and automatic, unearned shares of national wealth. In short, affirmative action. ”It should not be wrong,” wrote Mahathir, ”for the Malays to cling to a system which can elevate them to the status of other races, thus creating a more equitable society.”

The system kept the peace, but one side-effect of such a long stasis was that the government’s monopoly on power allowed it to wield a near-absolute control over the other arms of the state, including the courts.

Mahathir shocked the world when he demonstrated the way that he’d managed to compromise all parts of the system when he moved against his deputy and potential nominated successor, Anwar, by trumping up charges that he’d sodomised his aide and speechwriter. Anwar went to jail for six years.

This was supposed to discredit Anwar permanently. But after moving to the US, the aide who testified against him recanted. In the police cells he had been ”brutalised to make a totally false confession”, he said.

Anwar, freed, led a barnstorming campaign as the leader of the opposition. He delivered the BN government a terrible shock at the 2008 election – it lost its customary two-thirds majority of parliament.

And while the BN retained a big majority in the parliament, the actual voting figures show that the contest was much closer than it appeared. BN won 51.4 per cent of the votes while the greater opposition gained 48.6 per cent.

The BN is protected by a gerrymander which means that while some electorates have more than 100,000 voters, others have as few as 7000. It’s also protected by other systemic factors including a restricted press – the opposition parties need government permission just to print their own newsletters.

These are some of the awkward facts that Xenophon, as part of a wider international observer group, pointed out in a report last year. That group reported that in its discussions with the secretary-general of BN, Adnan Mansor, he’d stressed the importance of ”avoiding racial strife” in Malaysia. He had posed this question to the group: ”Are our people mature for freedom?”

The Malaysian government is afraid not of an Australian senator but of this question. In particular, the Najib government is frightened that the answer might be ”yes.”

”The status quo message,” says one of Anwar’s MPs, Liew Chin-Tong, is ”unlikely to have an impact on an almost Arab-spring demography: 48 per cent of Malaysia’s population are below 25 years old and 70 per cent are below 40 years old.”

Mahathir anticipated in The Malay Dilemma a day when Malaysia’s race-based construct would be obsolete, when the people would assert that they were no longer primarily Malays or Chinese or Indians but Malaysians. But he is not ready for the possibility that today could be the day, or that the people are the ones who have to make that decision.

The very tame reaction of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, to Xenophon’s detention that it was ”sad” and ”disappointing,” displays the usual limpness of Australian governments in defending their citizens abroad.

But, above all, Malaysia’s overreaction to Xenophon simply validates his point that it is not a mature democracy. This has been Carr’s fig leaf to justify Australia’s silence at Malaysia’s lack of democratic freedom – that we have no place in criticising a mature democracy. The deportation of Xenophon is an implicit confession by the Najib government that Xenophon is right and Carr is wrong.

Malaysia’s people deserve a free vote, and Australia should stand with them in calling for one.

[VIDEO] Leakages, Waste, Excessive Charge & Corruption Cost Us RM20 Billion A Year

Posted: 18 Feb 2013 07:16 PM PST