Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

Apology sought over utterance (Star, 31.1.2008)

PENANG: A controversy is brewing over the use of the words “samy” and “sami” at a political cera-mah here last Saturday.

Sri Muniswaran Temple secretary S. Ragindra wants DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to apologise to the Indian community for uttering the words sami tipu.

Ragindran said “sami” in Tamil meant deity or a holy man and Lim’s use of the phrase sami tipu at a DAP ceramah in the Penang Chinese Town Hall was offensive to the Hindus.

“This is a very sensitive issue. Even if Lim had meant Samy, the name is a very common one as many Indians are named Samy and it is an insult to call them liars before a crowd of 2,000 people,” he said yesterday.

Ragindran said several of his friends who attended the ceramah on the Hindraf issue had complained to him about the matter.

On Tuesday, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lee Hack Teik called on Lim to apologise to the Indian community for making the offensive re-mark.

When contacted, Lim claimed that everyone in the hall knew who he was referring to.

“Everyone knew whom I was referring to, so why are they trying to put it out of context?” he questioned.

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow told a press conference yesterday that Lim was referring to Works Minister Samy Vellu and not the sami (priests) in temples.

“If the 2,000 Indians who attended the forum had found his words offensive, they would not have responded with loud cheers of support but would have instead booed Guan Eng,'’ Chow said.

He instead called Lee “li tua pao” (Hokkien for big cannon) for what he termed as a cheap publicity stunt to champion the In-dians.

DAP: Look at your own backyard (Star, 1.2.2008)

PENANG: Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik has been told to stop accusing DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng of trying to establish the “Lim Dynasty” in Penang and start looking at his “own backyard.”

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said Keng Yaik had said that in the Chinese newspapers on Wednesday that he would not allow the father-and-son team to run the Penang state “as though it’s Lim Kit Siang & Son.”

“Why is Keng Yaik so worried about Kit Siang or Guan Eng contesting in Penang? He should be more worried about the internal problems in his party such as the allegations of him practising nepotism,” Chow said.

He added that the state DAP received a faxed letter yesterday addressed to Gerakan secretary general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye, purportedly signed by KL Gerakan assistant secretary K.K. Supramaniam, accusing Keng Yaik of practising nepotism because his son Si Pin, who is the party’s national Deputy Youth chairman, had never contested for the post.

Chow quoted one part of the letter, which read: “It (the deputy youth chairman’s post) was negotiated and given to him on a silver platter.

“There were many capable and senior members who could have contested and won the post but the members did not resist and there was heavy grumbling behind closed doors.”

The letter also stated that Si Pin had only attended four out of the 15 state liaison committee meetings.

Chow said judging from the letter, Keng Yaik seemed to be making an attempt to create his own “Lim Dynasty” in the party.

Many Malaysians know fully well why Pak Lah had declared Thaipusam a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

MIC and Samy Vellu had been asking for Thaipusam to be declared a national holiday since1986 and that is 22 years , but to no avail.

Just two months after the Hindraf rally, the government finally took note.

It may be too late now to save the day for BN and MIC.

DAP objects to ‘cloned’ voters — Star 17.1.2008

THE state Election Commission office has been asked to explain why some postal voters are listed under constituencies where they are no longer living in.

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the supplementary electoral roll for the fourth quarter of 2007, which he received on Tuesday, showed that over 300 postal voters were still listed under the Second Division Army Base at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah.

“The base was relocated to Bukit Gedung in early 2007. So the postal voters should not be voting in Tanjong or Padang Kota anymore,” he said during a press conference outside the state Election Commission office at Komtar yesterday.

He said he first discovered the problem in November last year and had referred the matter to the Prime Minister’s Department minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz.

“The EC is aware of the problem in Tanjong and Padang Kota and has promised to look into it. But nothing has been done.

“I believe other DAP MPs are also having the same problem,” said Chow, who is also Tanjong Member of Parliament.

Chow also said after he studied the electoral roll, he learned that there were 334 new postal voters in Padang Kota while 350 had been transferred out.

“The figures are fine except 312 voters in the two groups are the same people. The EC needs to explain how it is possible for these 312 postal voters to be in and out of the constituency at the same time,” he said.

Chow said if the EC could not promise an untainted and fair election, it would lose credibility and the people’s confidence.

He added that he would be submitting his protest forms regarding the postal voters after studying the issue more closely.

Najib Tells Malaysia’s Ruling Party to Prepare for Elections

By Soraya Permatasari and Manirajan Ramasamy

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told the country’s ruling party to prepare for elections as he opened preliminary meetings to its annual assembly today.

“The political radar is getting clearer and the temperature is heating up,'’ he said, while noting that the exact timing of an election, which is not due until early 2009, would be decided by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. “Our confidence in repeating our victory in the coming elections is well-founded.'’

Abdullah, who won a landslide victory three years ago, has announced development projects this year amounting to 671 billion ringgit ($201 billion) over 20 years. He also announced 30 billion ringgit of spending on education, including tax exemptions for Chinese, Tamil and religious schools, in what analysts described as efforts to win back waning support. This week’s United Malays National Organisation meeting may see more.

“The complaint on the ground is that things are not being delivered,'’ said Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, a political analyst at the National University of Malaysia. “They are not happy at the local level. And an election is about these people.'’

Abdullah’s approval rating fell to 73 percent in June from 91 percent when he was elected in November 2004, according to the latest survey by the Merdeka Center, a Malaysian political, marketing and economic research company. While Abdullah may try to sell his economic plans to the party, analysts including Terence Chong say he needs to grapple with rising crime and failures such as overspending at his ministries.

`Absentee Landlord’

“He’s largely seen as an absentee landlord by many because of issues like corruption,'’ said Chong, a Singapore-based analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. “Many Malaysians are waiting for the prime minister to come out and state very clearly what he intends to do about them. This general assembly would be a great platform for that.'’

Abdullah’s UMNO has more than 3 million members out of Malaysia’s population of about 27 million. The party is the biggest political group in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Abdullah last month introduced a 112 billion-ringgit plan to boost growth in Malaysia’s less-developed eastern states. Two earlier projects aimed to generate 382 billion ringgit of funds to redevelop the southern state of Johor, and 177 billion ringgit to turn the northern states into a logistics, food and tourism center.

Some UMNO members want to know how the government will tackle rising living costs, said Abdul Karim Ali, head of its youth wing for Merbok, Kedah, who will be at the assembly.

Inflation Worries

Malaysia’s central bank expects inflation to rise to as high as 3 percent next year from between 2 percent and 2.5 percent in 2007. Crude oil reached a record $95.93 on Nov. 2 and a government pledge not to raise gas pieces at the pumps expires on Jan. 1, 2008.

“Several economic and implementation policies for the Malays are still not very clear,'’ Abdul Karim said. “We need to get this clarified.'’

Abdullah is hoping the investment in the three so-called economic corridors will trickle down to underdeveloped areas away from the capital of Kuala Lumpur, said Shamsul at the National University of Malaysia. The projects must “improve the quality of life'’ for them to be successful, he said.

According to the August Merdeka Center survey, Malaysians’ satisfaction with Abdullah’s handling of the economy dropped to 56 percent in June from 65 percent in April. Dissatisfaction with the cost of goods and services climbed to 76 percent from 69 percent.

Government Waste

A September report by the Auditor General showed government ministries overspent by millions of dollars on equipment ranging from patrol boats to pens. The same month, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim released a video recording purportedly showing a lawyer attempting to fix judiciary appointments.

Abdullah must call an election by early 2009 at the latest as the government must dissolve Parliament by May 17, 2009.

“If he really wants to boost his approval rating before the election he has to come up strongly and send a message that things are going well, that he’s still in charge,'’ said Chong at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Abdullah expects economic growth in Southeast Asia’s third- biggest economy to accelerate to as much as 6.5 percent in 2008 from 6 percent this year. The $149 billion economy expanded 5.9 percent in 2006.

With general election drawing nearer, politicians are often called upon to give comments to the media. This time, speculation for the date of the coming election started very early. Until now I still believe that election would not be held this year but next’s. There have been many write-ups on Penang as the state is going to see many changes. Some reporters from the Chinese newspapers are always looking for juicy items like candidate line-up. Well, just have to take this as occupational hazard and be helpful.Read the following report from Malaysiakini.

Penang: Will the opposition make an impact?
Wong Teck Chi and Ngu Ik Ying
Jun 13, 07 2:35pm Malaysiakini

With the next general election around the corner, there are signs that there could be a swing of votes for the opposition in Penang.

The opposition, namely DAP, is aware of this and are making the Gerakan-ruled Penang as one of its frontline states. There have also been calls for its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to contest there.

DAP is hoping to take at least 14 of the 40 state seats. (more…)

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin is unfazed by a PKR delegate’s threat to throw rotten eggs or tomatoes at him to prevent him from speaking at public events.

“My responsibility is to destroy the opposition. If they want to welcome me with an eggplant or rotten eggs and tomatoes… let them do it. I am not afraid,” he told reporters.

Khairy is always in the news for all sorts of reason and I think he enjoys it.

Tony Pua is not finished with him yet as Tony has organized a forum on Civil Services and has invited Khairy to come and discuss the matter in a serious manner.

But will Khairy come, that is the question.

Khairy was so arrogant in the controversy over the Manchester United’s match in Malaysia. He had used his father-in-law’s name and wants to humiliate the AFC president.

But Khairy has forgotten that we have to honour our contractual obligation. And we have one with AFC that does not allow a MU-Malaysia Selection match when the Asian Cup is on n July. But Khairy tried to arm-twist the AFC. He does not know Malaysia’s reputation is at stake.

Good sense finally prevails. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said yesterday the match had been called off.

Khairy may not get rotten eggs or tomatoes, but he has to eat humble pie this time.

It is good to be humble for your own good, Khairy.