Arising from the ashes of defeat of the 2008 General Elections, many politicians from the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat divide have ventured into blogging - an effective tool which many found to have made considerable impact in the run-up to the General Elections. From a reading of the MyMP and MyADUN feature columns in The Star newspaper, it is quite obvious that some who do not blog are now seriously considering blogging to reach out to the people.

I was reading one of the newbie's today:- son of Lim Keng Yaik's blog and his first "meaty" post was a tirade of criticisms levelled at his ex-comrade-now-DAP-MP of Jelutong, Jeff Ooi. What triggered this post was Jeff's response to a news piece in the Sun which quoted Si Pin as saying that Jeff's blog was only established about 3 years ago. Jeff was quick to point out that he had been blogging far longer than that and whilst he had given a historical account of his blog, he also went one step further to make a personal attack on Si Pin's smartness by saying:-

"Just a wild thought. Perhaps, one way to make this son-of-an-ex-minister look smart is to, as soon as possible, get someone throw him a 20% shareholding in one wireless WiMAX company, and another 30% in another wireless WiMAX company, plus perhaps a business radio license to boot. Then we talk blogs."

Personally, I think that is uncalled for. There is no need for Jeff to insinuate Si Pin's lack of credibility in that manner. But that is not the end as far as this post is concerned. Si Pin's response was as brutal with name-calling and personal attacks on Jeff's apparent lack of contribution when Jeff was a Gerakan member. I am rather appalled. As far as I am concerned, that kind of personal attacks do not demonstrate a matureness in political or even simple debates. You don't go into personal attacks. You attack the facts. By name-calling and insinuations (without facts to prove), that makes one no different than children in their pre-school years with their ejek-ejek taunts.

For Jeff, yes, he is a blogger but he is also now a Member of Parliament and holds a prominent post in the Penang State Government. I would prefer that he concentrates with issues which touch the lives of the citizens, which I know he is well capable of. I am not saying he should not defend himself against misrepresentations levelled at him. On the contrary, he should but minus personal attacks and insinuations which can get him into trouble (legal suits) if he is not careful enough. People look up to him now as a Statesman and he should demonstrate that he is up to that calling.

For Si Pin, frankly, when I stepped into his blog, I was impressed with the overall look of the blog as it is up-to-date and shows that he is willing to invest in a professional looking site. Unfortunately, his post did not impress me a bit. The introduction to his site reads:-

limsipin.com is an open forum where the young and the old, and the people of all races who make up this beautiful country known as Malaysia, can have an open-heart discussion on topics that is dear to them. It is also a meeting of minds and a platform where information, ideas and learnings are shared, in order to push ourselves into the forefront, becoming an excellent nation in deed and in creed. The ultimate aim of which is that, in the end, we can truly see the emergence of a harmonious and united Bangsa Malaysia.

With that, I expect discussions on topics which are dear to citizens of Malaysia. In 4 posts, he has yet to touch on national issues which are aplenty. As the MP-candidate for Batu in the recent elections, I would expect him to deal with national issues just like how an MP would. So get cracking! By the way - please remove the registration function for people to leave comments. It's a turn-off unless that's what you intend it to be.

When we have draconian laws like the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 which requires all print media in Malaysia to obtain a licence and abide by its strict regulations (read : Home Affairs Minister), we get instances of newspapers being refused a permit to publish.

Today, Makkal Osai has been issued a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs which informed them that their publication permit will not be considered without giving any reasons for the same. Speculation is rife that this could be due to Makkal Osai's generous coverage on Pakatan Rakyat's political news.

I have asked around some friends of mine from the Indian community and they have expressed their support of Makkal Osai as compared to the other mainstream Tamil newspapers as they are of the view that Makkal Osai is more transparent in its reporting and gives good coverage to news which otherwise would not make it to the other papers. This latest move would definitely anger the community even more towards the Federal Government which is currently led by Barisan Nasional. Attempts to curtail the people's paper (Makkal Osai) from being published further would be deemed as a further slap to the people's wishes for more freedom of expression and transparency to take place in this country.

Not only has the Barisan Nasional lost further points amongst their supporters who have left them during the recent elections to vote for Pakatan Rakyat candidates with this latest indefinite "gag order", they truly have shown to the world how lost they are in governing this country. Let's just see how they face the 100 or so employees of Makkal Osai who have now lost their jobs with a letter which needs no explanation.

There is a new blogger in town and he is the pot calling the kettle black. This blogger is non other than Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, Chief Minister of Melaka and Vice-President of UMNO. Go dig for his url as I am not generous with linking to a pot who calls the kettle black.

In his posting of the 2nd April, 2008 with the title : Pakatan Rakyat...Untuk Apa?, he claims that Pakatan Rakyat is a political gimmick formed by PKR, DAP dan Pas to hoodwink the public because they wish to copy BN's concept. Here is an excerpt:-

PAKATAN Rakyat yang dibentuk oleh PKR, DAP dan Pas hanyalah satu gimik politik untuk mengaburi mata rakyat kerana mereka cuba meniru konsep BN. Mereka sebenarnya tidak berkeupayaan untuk mentadbir negeri apatah lagi negara. Oleh itu rakyat jangan mudah terpengaruh dengan tipu helah permainan politik mereka.

Pembangkang dilihat terdesak untuk menunaikan janji-janji manis mereka ketika berkempen pada pilihan raya umum lalu. Dengan ini jelas membuktikan pembangkang ketandusan idea untuk mentadbir dan memimpin rakyat dan negara.

Mereka juga seolah-olah tidak percaya dengan pakatan Barisan Alternatif yang dibentuk sebelum ini. Mereka juga tidak yakin dengan apa yang telah diputuskan masa lalu tentang BA.

Kalau betul-betul mereka sepakat, bentuklah dan daftarlah sebagai satu parti yang menggabungkan ketiga-tiga parti ini. Saya cabar mereka! Kita lihat sama ada mereka boleh bekerja sama atau tidak.

Such brave words indeed. On the one hand, he claims that Pakatan is copying BN's concept (of alliance). Quite obviously, this can only mean that he believes that the BN alliance is the best way of governing the country and that because this is the best way, DAP, PKR and PAS are imitating them. If so, why is he so gung-ho about challenging the three parties in Pakatan to merge as a single entity? He should look into his own backyard and realise that even the members of UMNO are unable to cooperate with each other, let alone BN component parties which are all fighting for each other's rights. Even Gerakan Youth made a call for BN component parties to merge as a single party.

The election propaganda served by BN prior to the elections show that the component parties of BN had to fight with one another to preserve the rights of the members and people whom they represent respectively. UMNO fought for Malay rights, MCA for Chinese rights, MIC for Indian rights so on and so forth. Why weren't they merged into a single entity to work for all Malaysians regardless of each community or group's rights? And now the Sabah and Sarawak BN component parties have voiced their disappointment and displeasure over how their securing of a great number of seats in the Parliament have not been reciprocated with representation in the Cabinet and other Federal appointments.

Who are you to challenge DAP, PKR and PAS to merge as a single party when your own party UMNO is not willing to merge with the co-partners in BN? Right thinking members of the public who put Pakatan Rakyat politicians into power would assess their performance come the next General Elections. Right thinking members of the public would know and can understand that for every new alliance, much adjustment and understanding needs to be fostered. Right thinking members of the public would appreciate that to take over a culture of governance which has been in existence for 50 years would take time and cannot be changed simply in a matter of days, weeks or even months. It may take years but the signs of a new way of governance has emerged as seen especially in the states of Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Please don't insult the public's intelligence with your spin. The public is smarter than you think.

Update :
The pot felt the heat and has disabled comments on his blog. I would suggest that you go read the mirror site for Mohd Ali Rustam blog which is set up by a kind soul to enable the good people to respond and leave a comment on the pot's spew.