I think sometimes it is good that Malaysians be less partisan. This is especially so in by-elections, when Malaysians should vote for the candidate of calibre and not on party symbols.
Unlike General elections, when voting along party symbols is important since that is the time the voters can decide whether to keep the government or change a new one, by elections do not have the power to make or break a government. So by election is the time to show the whole country that people do indeed want good people to represent them. Party line is not so important.
You get what I mean?
Dr. Hsu's forum 
Apr 15, 2010 @ 16:41:19
Hi Doc, looks like we may get another backdoor-entry-minister.
Word is that Palanivel will get a senatorship and a deputy minister post to bow out of Hulu Selangor.
MIC sold their dignity to get a backdoor-ministership.
Just disgust me that our ministership is something that can be horse-traded in exchange for political favours.
When will it be possible for us to get the best person based on his merit into position to run the country ?
Now it remains to be seen those Hulu Selangor MIC branches who threaten to close the branches if Palanivel is not nominated, will do so based on principle.
My prediction, none of them will do so, because they are spineless party without any remnant of dignity.
Please… please… ensure that Gerakan does not go down this path… it will but erase all the historical good that Gerakan has done for Penang specifically and Malaysia in general.
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Apr 15, 2010 @ 16:47:12
Vote Zaid Ibrahim. period.
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Apr 15, 2010 @ 21:44:25
Dr Hsu,
Greetings. Chuckles, are you sure you batting for the right team? Just teasing. We geddit, but its more important that the HU voters send THAT message and send it loud.
Cheers,
Mike
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Apr 15, 2010 @ 22:53:42
I partly agree with you, but I feel there are a number of other attitudes to take when it comes to by-elections that may have equal merit, e.g. a by-election may serve as a mid-term trial exam for the parties to give them a general sense of whether to change things up or stay the course. Alternatively, it can serve as a referendum for a particular “hot” topic. For the greater good of the country, it may make sense to vote like that even if you get a clown as an MP.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 04:51:30
I do get it doc.
Much like when your colleagues from Penang told me that they would rather pay UMNO/BN RM500/- for not going to campaign against DSAI at Permatang Pauh than be “ordered” by party top brass to show up and receive the RM100/- daily allowance.
They were mostly ashamed because they understood the bigger picture but when can Gerakan translate this shame into the bigger needs of the nation?
I would be most interested to know the threshold of tolerance by those “squeezed from both sides”.
Doc, remember Jay and the Lib-Dems? They will be having their moment soon come 7 May when the horse trading begins.
Take care doc and keep up the good fight!
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 10:38:32
Samy Vellu had setup his excuse when BN looses Hulu Selangor. He can turn around to say, that fella was not MIC preferred choice. MIC fought but lose its selection. The burden had been taken from him. Win he claim credit. Loose, he will blame who know who. I like that guy. He thinks two step ahead.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 11:28:17
“”Win he claim credit. Loose, he will blame who know who.””
I would rather say he is a snake. We do not know what has been promised to him backdoor.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 11:58:17
The original MIC candidate was not well liked in the area especially Serendah and Serendah New Village, since there are apparently some unfulfilled promises. If P is chosen, BN stands no chance at all given the sentiments of the Chinese and probably the Indians too.
To put a younger candidate from the youth, UMNO faces the prospect of MIC threatening to quit the coalition. So it is a case of Hobson’s choice.
I have never believed for a moment that Samy would pull MIC out , after being at the side watching the politicians for so long now. His threat is mainly to trade. UMNO has to give in to his demand that P be made somebody, otherwise P with the tacit support of Samy, would probably do some leg pulling and sabotage the youth candidate.
So a compromise candidate is chosen, and this is also Samy’s man, and with that too, Samy succeeded in getting P to be appointed senator and deputy minister. P gladly takes it since all the tirade is for trading for a position. Everyone is happy. UMNO is happy that P is not candidate, MIC is happy that whether they win the seat or not, they have got an extra deputy minister’s post, P is happy since he is now again a deputy minister with all the trappings of power, the candidate is happy since he is the candidate, Samy is happy that he had succeeded in showing his members that he is still powerful.
This is the story behind.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 12:18:19
Dr. Hsu.
Since everyone is happy, does it mean that BN is not interested in winning Hulu Selangor.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 12:34:26
klm,
against a big name like Zaid, and with a relatively unknown name K…., you are fighting an uphill battle. The people in US especially those around Serendah and ULU Yam think like KL folks, since many of them work in KL. I have many patients around Cheras and Pudu from there.
I did a straw poll among some of my patients, asking them who you will vote if you are now in Ulu S, and the reply is shocking. Unlike 2006 and before 308, when I posed the same questions and I got about 80 percent against the establishment, this time it is almost completely for Zaid. They said parliament needs good people in there ( read my last post, it is non specific, but do you all get it? Romerz has got it. So i think going by the sentiment, the ‘good person’ should win. After all, they say politics is all about perception.
So it is an uphill battle, and i hope not dirty tactic will be used by anyone. The sentiment now in Klang valley , and Ulu S is just outside Klang valley, is very much worse than 308.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 15:51:58
Dr. Hsu,
You are right, perception is everything in politics! Who in BN has ever resigned as a Minister based on principles?
I have followed Zaid from his early days as an Umno MP for Kota Baru and how he ruffled the feathers of the higher ups in Umno. He tried his best to change Umno from within, just as you are doing now in Gerakan, but he had to admit defeat because Umno was too far gone. Wonder if Gerakan is also in the same boat?
Zaid has walked the talk and is still doing it now. Although, my money is on Zaid, PR must not be complacent as “anything” can happen.
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 21:53:19
Doc you got spot on for Ulu Yam. I was there visiting relatives and all for Zaid. They are now trying to buy them????
DVD presence there will be a joke??
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Apr 16, 2010 @ 22:53:52
Zaid Ibrahim is a good man, Hulu Selangor folks will benefit from him being elected to parliament.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 01:27:07
Ha, ha how can no dirty tactics.
U must not object.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 09:20:10
You asked “You get what I mean?” Sorry, I don’t.
A good person, or even a great person in the wrong party is effectively a useless politician. Take Zaid as an example. He is great, both as a politician and as a person. Did he attempt to do great and decent deeds in UMNO? Yes, he sure did, in fact more than any other BN politician. But TRYING is DIFFERENT from ACHIEVING. Others may not know this difference. But being the great person that he is, Zaid knows. More than that he knows that the difference is very important. He knew that as an UMNO member, even as a minister, he was useless to society. Spent a lot of time and energy achieving nothing. And that’s why he’s out of UMNO. He does not want people to vote for him in future as an UMNO candidate.
Take Ong Tee Keat. He was not even the one who exposed the PKFZ scam. He only allowed and initiated the investigations into the scam due to continuous pressure and agitation by others outside of BN. He was expected to follow Chan Kong Choy’s example, which was to be deaf and blind to all allegations and just do nothing. He didn’t and instead tried to a hero. See what happened to him?
Take UMNO’s Shahrir Samad, a very impressive and highly respected politician. He sure did try. Even made some waves. But try listing out his real and concrete achievements, and I see an almost blank paper.
Now let’s take you Dr. Hsu. From all the comments at your blog it is abundantly clear that many, myself included, have a great deal of respect for you. But if tomorrow you get selected as a BN-Gerakan candidate, be it a GE or a by-election, I still will not vote for you because if you win, it will be a wasted seat either in Parliament or a State Assembly.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 09:36:53
Ong
what you have articulated is very true. But for this U S by-election, let the people choose the good person, or shall i say better person. Read between the lines, even though it is supposed to be a general statement, the article written at this time, is meant to remind the people there (in Ulu S)who they should vote. The voters have brains and they will know who is the good person.
As regards myself, i have uttered many times that i would not stand for election under BN’s symbol, and anyway, no UMNO politicians would allow a person who has always been criticising them to stand. i have said many times that if Gerakan becomes independent, out of BN as a third force, I will quit my job and help the party full time on a vouluntary basis, and under that circumstances, things might be a bit different…So far, I am not helping because whatever help I give is to help the ‘evil’ empire. I see my sole purpose now is to continue to harp on the party leaving BN, the role of a thorn.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 10:28:45
Dr Hsu,
I presume that when you wrote “The voters have brains”, you meant that the voters are intelligent enough. My life experience tells me that many intelligent people can at the same time be naive and also illogical in certain aspects of life. Until 2008 many intelligent people I know personally and who privately condemned BN actually ended up voting for BN.
I understand and respect those who voted for BN because they support and are happy with BN’s performance. But then there were also so many intelligent people who were not happy with BN and yet voted for BN. Who knows if if there are substantial numbers of such voters in US.
Besides, if we scrutinise the behaviour patterns of the different racial groups, Malays are more likely than others to vote along racial lines, and they do form the majority in US.
I am actually aware that you will not stand for election under the BN banner, even if selected. But I did use the word “if”. Sorry for using you as an example in my comments, but I think you are an excellent subject for illustrating my point. You being one of those rare good ones still left in the wrong party.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 10:57:13
In my previous statement that “Malays are more likely than others to vote along racial lines”, I missed out stating that in this US election we have a paradox where Zaid the Malay candidate is being portrayed as an anti-Malay candidate, whereas the MIC candidate is a pro-UMNO and therefore pro-Malay candidate. Therefore the Malays who vote for an Indian will actually be voting for a Malay. Even I am getting confused by our Malaysian politics.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 12:58:31
Dr. Hsu. The Rebellion must continue fighting. The Death Star must be attacked and destroyed. The evil emperor must be vanquished. Only then can there be a new dawn.
For Ulu Selangor. May the force be with us.
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 22:12:50
Friends, it’s Hulu Selangor, not Ulu Selangor. Actually it’s a semi-urban constituency so I expect the voters will have some grasp of national issues such as obscene commission for submarines, APCO’s RM77m fiasco, Anwar’s sodomy trial, etc.
A local boy is not important in this contest. An MP is elected to articulate macro issues of national interest in parliament, not take care of roads and drains. Voters usually prefer to vote in opposition MPs to parliament to give them a stronger voice.
I believe the majority of Chinese and Indians will vote for Zaid. I would be surprised if the orang asli vote doesn’t swing to PR considering how BN treats them. The Malays there are harder to convince as they are traditionally pro-Umno but Felda settlers aren’t a happy lot these days.
If PR can get 45% of the Malay vote, it will be a home run for Zaid. 40% and it will be a close contest but still winnable on non-Malay votes. In this case the Indian vote will be crucial. Zaid must get at least 50% of the Indian vote.
My prediction is a win for Zaid with a majority of about 3000. Anybody else like to venture a guess?
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Apr 17, 2010 @ 22:45:33
The sheer size of the Death Star is huge, can’t destroy it with one blow, it will take many blows unless of course, there is a mutiny in the bounty within. Then it will explode, meaning, die faster.
The new dawn will be thousand years away, life is tough. There will be just too many unsung heroes to bring this evil emperor to his knees.
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Apr 18, 2010 @ 09:12:02
ken
you are right. It is Hulu and not Ulu and there is a difference bewteen the 2. Ulu means outback, Hulu means upstream. Hulu Selangor is not ulu at all and most of them is semi urban people , on the border of klang valley.
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Apr 18, 2010 @ 16:02:21
In Malaysia, a by-election is not an ordinary election, but is intrinsically linked to the GE. It is like differentiating the wood from the trees, and the trees from the forests. The wood determines the forests we have, and the forests consist of quality wood.
Zaid is good wood and has the qualification, quality and quest for this by-election. The outcome of the final GE will be affected by this. It is of general public opinion that the Malaysian forest products are of good quality wood.
Zaid has the potential for good quality local administrative skills and the broader nation wide political acumen and integrity. Giving him a chance is like investing in the quality of future Malaysian politics, which has worldwide connectivity. Zaid is a man of potentials.
The tree that the present Selangor Gov has planted since 2008 is starting to grow and Zaid is quality wood. Therefore, the people of Hulu Selangor must think globally and act locally.
Do you want quality wood?
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