Of simplicity, misconception, needs and...

Children make a quick getaway through a wall of BN and Umno flags after attending prayers yesterday at the mosque in Kampung Tok Gong Nasek, Kuala Terengganu. — Picture by Choo Choy May
The picture tells it all. The simplicity of Kuala Terengganu folks are easy to read. Despite the brouhaha of campaign workers and election fever, these kids just want to perform their responsibility to their One god ie to perform their weekly Jumaat prayers. However, the political animals just do not comprehend the needs of the simple headed Kuala Terengganu voters.

Children make a quick getaway through a wall of BN and Umno flags after attending prayers at the mosque in Kampung Tok Gong Nasek, Kuala Terengganu. — Picture by Choo Choy May.

This entrance will delve into the needs of simplicity versus the political conception of various political machineries of the contesting candidates to P36 - by election for Kuala Terengganu parliment seat.

The first and foremost issue is the selection of candidates. BN in its chase to regain lost glory of the past has make a fundamental mistake by selecting Wan Farid Wan Salleh as their choice of candidate. Being a former political secretary to the outgoing PM, Wan Farid has been deemed to be the proxy of PM and this, by itself is an unwanted baggage when the PM has been painted as a sleepyhead, out of touch with the daily needs of the masses. Further, being the younger brother of Wan Hisham, he carries an added baggage and difficulty to shake off the notion that they are in cahoots with one Patrick Badawi, skimming millions of dollars from the Wang Ehsan and later the oil royalty funds by running the Monsoon cup and building the now going to be forgotten Taman Tamaddun Islam. Further, his older brother's contest against the late Dato' Razali Ismail for the post of Vice chief KT UMNO division kills off the idea that UMNO appreciates what the late Dato' Razali has done to the KT constituents and Malaysia during his tenure as the Deputy Education Minister.

Malaysian Insider quoted Wan Farid as saying "It is not true to suggest in any way that Kuala Terengganu Umno had sidelined him (Dato' Razali). At the opening of the delegates' meeting I made it clear that it was a family contest," . Yes, it is a family contest, alright. The family contest to make the older brother wins the vice chief post.

And yet BN do not has the capability to choose other candidate as their option is next to zero. BN could not go for Mad Kerak, as the guy is not well educated. They could not gun for the Zubers' as one is an outdated and wasted lawyer whilst the other, although interested, does not carry the same aura as that of Dato' Razali. Thus, Najib and BN has to go for Wan Farid, even that is not their best option. Come to think about it, Why didn't BN parachute in one of the sons of Dato' Razali and hope that the legacy left by the late Dato' Razali can carry the son through the by election. Afterall, he is currently working in the PM's department (or somewhere close to Putrajaya).

PAS on the other hand has a deep pool of prospective people that can be candidates. T PAS is banking on the undisputed undefeated person in the form of Wahid Endut. Although the independent study indicated Dr Syed Azman, the Dr is already knee deep with responsibilty in PAS. Mustaffa Ali and Wan Mutallib, although capable, are right in making way for others to contest. Mustafa Ali should not feel slighted with PAS choice as he will definitely be needed in a bigger picture in Pakatan Rakyat with his vast experience. The same can be said with Wan Mutallib.

And what about the Kg China folks? The presence of MCA big guns as well as DAP supremo may not sway mush because their problem shall be the multi dialects. The chinese in Kg China feels more at home with thick Terengganu slang.

Although KT folks are simple in their approach, don't be fooled by their outside appearance. They talk in their own kopi tiams whilst playing checkers on the who, what, where, when and why's of KT happenings.

Never for once should anybody take for granted that miss to see the big houses adorning parts of Kuala Terengganu if the household income is not in tandem with the social status.

And the house shown is not the complete picture yet. See who is the owner of the house next door and also see who is the neighbour to this house. Maybe KT folks know better that 2 + 2 may not be necessarily equals to 4.

Rakyat Kuala Terengganu adalah lebih bijak kerana mereka memepunyai telahan sendiri tentang apa yang berlaku di sekeliling mereka. Dan apa yang tersirat mungkin membawa erti yang lebih mendalam dari apa yang tersurat....

Apakah kerajaan pusat berfikir rakyat KT dan Terengganu lupa tentang ketandusan pemimpin Terengganu yang dilantik untuk menerajui Kementerian di Putrajaya. Dengan kemenangan BN di Terengganu pada Mac 2008, BN masih lupa untuk membalas jasa dan pengorbanan rakyat Terengganu dalam menongkah arus tsunami dan masih memberi peluang dan ruang untuk PM kekal ditampuk pemerintahan.

Kerajaan pusat dan PR lupa bahwa rakyat Terengganu mempunyai pandangan yang lebih jauh dari yang lain apabila mereka sebulat hati memberi kepercayaan kepada PAS untuk memerintah Terengganu pada 1999 dulu. Rakyat Terengganu masih tidak lupa apabila pemimpin UMNO Terengganu bertemu muka dengan PM ketika itu sehingga wang royalti Terengganu telah diambil balik.


We have not indulge in the art of possiblity yet on who will be promoted to fill the quota in the cabinet. That will de done in due time...

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of blue, green and...

6th January 2009 was the nomination day for P36, Kuala Terengganu Parlimentary by election. The seat fell vacant with the death of the previous MP.

As expected, BN and PAS fielded their candidate for the by election. Unexpected, the AKIM (PAS splinter group) candidate did not submit his nomination papers and declare his support for PAS candidate whilst an unknown file in as an independent candidate.

The Election Officer, who is also the Mayor of Kuala Terengganu announce that the three are eligible to contest the by-election.

MSM estimated 10,000 strong BN supportes out of the estimated 25,000 supporters who turn up at the nomination centre, Simple arithmetics show that PAS (or rather the loosely knitted Pakatan Rakyat) has 15,000 supporters at the nomination centre.

There are images of the yawning Makcik UMNO during the nomination day and there are pictures of PR supporters with PAS headbands carrying DAP flag.

And the interesting part is the independent candidate happens to be the son of a close colleague of the late YB whilst the PAS candidate seconder is the brother in law of the former MP. And if this is not tasty enough, the BN candidate's brother defeated the late MP as the Deputy Divion head of Kuala Terengganu. Is something special brewing up here?

On the 3rd day, MSM reported the lack of enthuasism synonymous to the by election od , say Permatang Pauh or Ijok. Earlier, one blogger, a former political secretary noted the subdued mood of KT voters, which will play a crucial role in determining the 17th Jan 2009 outcome.

There are rumours circulating on the RM 500 handouts to the residents of Kg Cina to vote for certain political parties and there are also confirmed reports of Santa Claus in the form of Muhd Muhd Taib doing his rounds dishing promises to make good and upgrade old and dilipated houses in Kuala Terengganu. However, no one has come forward to file in police reports regarding this. Despite the huge police presence in Kuala Terengganu, with some coming from Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, it is uestionable and thought provoking then the police did not hear the rumours. Of course, unless the rumours are rumours with no concrete evidence that it is true.

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of 2008, 2009, local, international and...

Prior to this Dnightcaller ha sbeen lying low, because there are too much uncertainties and Dnighcaller is not too happy with the things going on and feels that it is best that Dnighcaller reserves his comments and his vision and analysis of what is happening....However, new year means new stance....

2008 has been a roller coaster year for Malaysia. It started with the former Health Minister scandal leading to his resignation from the cabinet. For that decision, salute to Dr Chua for his bravery to admit his mistakes and stand by his decision to quit his cabinet post. This is far cry from any other Ministers who may go all out to offer excuses and buy their way out from their own "social problems". And if one were to recall, one of them involves the now former Minister who cannot resist from grazing the waitress in his cigar smoking room, somewhere near Brickfields

March 2008 will be etched in the nation's history as the day where the rakyat turn their tables on the ruling BN. The aftermath of the election day shows that BN lost valuable states of Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and lost the majority parliment seats for Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. On top of that BN failed to secure 2/3 majority in the parliment. Despite fiery rhetpric from Anwar Ibrahim, the coalition od opposition failed to wrest control of the Federal government when the opposition failed to convince the ruling BN parlimentarians to jump ship and swim together with the loosely formed Pakatan Rakyat.

With growing voices of discontent, Abdullah Badawi decided to quit his PM's post come March 2009 and his choice of succession is Najib Tun Razak, who is his current deputy.

2008 also see changes for the police of the world USA. Barrack Hussein Obama won the presidential election against McCain of the Republican party. The President elect will take his oath in January 2009.

Along the way, Israel starts attacking aza during the last days of 2008, where death tolls are rising by the days with no sight of Israel going to stop the genocide against the Palestinian people. And as usual, USA is dead silent in condemning the acts of its ally in the middle east.

As 2008, 2009 also start with a bang. This time involving a pay Tv station newscaster with 25 party revellers in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Although they are fortunate to escape from being charged of participating in immoral acts, they will be further investigated by narcotics department on the positivedrug test result conducted on them.

Whilst Kuala Terengganu will be the focal points for politicians with the upcoming by election of Kuala Terengganu parlimentarian seat. BN is banking on Senator Wan Farid, an ally of KJ and former political secretary of PM whilst PAS will be fielding Wahid Endut, a formiable foe who never lost in elections,

The nomination date is set on 6th January 2009 but both sides are now busy campaigning and there are talks of sponsoring out of town voters to return to KT to cast their votes.

2009 will be interesting to watch and looking forward to follow on the Altantunya murder case, will Najib be PM by March 2009, the new DPM, will Wan Farid triumps over Wahid Endut in KT, the saga of Yang diPertuan Negeri Sembilan, will Pakatan Rakyat coalition hold?, Fuel price coming down further ? etc etc.

2009 will also be a year where dnightcaller will put up more postings...

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of ambition, reality, facts and...

8th March 2008 is a turning point to Malaysia. It will forver be etched as the day Malaysians, of all walks and life, rose together to send a strong signal to BN Government. Apart from losing 5 states to the loose coalition of Pakatan Rakyat, BN has also failed to secure an outright 2/3 majority in the Parliment - the first time in 50 years.

Normally, this is quite a normal things for a healthy Governance. However strange it sounds, most see the situation as a signal to BN's implosion with SAPP, a minor component party from Sabah voicing that they have lost confidence to Abdullah Badawi's leadership. The action by SAPP leads to "show cause" letter and subsequently, SAPP officially withdraws from BN on 17th Sept 2008.

Pakatan Rakyat, in their joy with the election results have maintain the pressure with their so called "leader" Anwar Ibrahim winning the by-election in Permatang Pauh with a resounding victory and openly predicted to take over the Government by 16th September 2008. 16th September comes and go without any change in Government although Anwar, in his usual rhetoric style, claims that the plan is still on and requested Abdullah to call for emergency Parliment seating on 23rd septemeber 2008. So far, Abdullah has refused to entertain Anwar's request.

With that, Anwar is seeking audience with the King to "prove" his numbers and to convince the King that he has the numbers to takeover the Government. It is a clear sign of "over ambition" in the part of Anwar. When he was the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1998, his fall from the corridors of power is due to his lack of patience and his prodding to unsettle the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, by claiming nepotism, cronyism. In return, he is slapped with sodomy charges and found guilty in the court of law and spent 6 years of his life in jail.

The persistent rhetoric and claims made by Anwar clearly demonstrate his "ambition" to be the Prime Minister and in doing so, he is willing to bend backwards to accomodate the differences of the other partners in his coalition - PAS and DAP.

What Anwar should understand and do is to live to his role as the opposition leader, for now and let BN runs the country and waits for his turn in the next General Election. What Anwar is doing now is to sweetalk the existing elected Parlimentarians to switch side and to support him to oust the BN government.

Meanwhile, BN still reeling from their unexpected losses is like a ship withput a reliabe Captain. Abdullah has managed to make wrong decisions at all turns of events, fuelling more and more pressure for him to quit. His indecissiveness and flip-flop is unbearable to common people an it is best fro him to let gothe reins to his second in command. However, Abdullah being Abdullah has shown his real self, that of arrogant and how he proves that he is out of touch with his own party members. The UMNO supreme council meeting on 18th September has given him a very strong and clear message that he must go now or latest by 9th October 2008.

The spinmasters in UMNO is trying to defuse the tense situation by potraying that Abdullah is still sticking to his trabsition plan of 2010. And that may be too late, not only for UMNO but to BN and the majority Malays as well...

The way things are going, Malaysia will still be unsettled until Anwar's ambition of seizing power through the "turnover" of rebellious parlimentarians is conclusively denied, and Abdullah should wake up to the reality that his poor leadership is having adverse affect to Malaysian economy with the facts be known that most of BN component parties as well as UMNO members prefer Abdullah to resign...then maybe only maybe Malaysian and Malaysia can work together for a better future and Anwar to plan for his "ascession" to the premiership after the next General Election.

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of desperate men, desperate measures and...

3 months out and Malaysia seems to be caught in the time warp, a space zone of sorts when March 8 2008 has opened doors of opportunity as well as exposing the ugly side the then ruling party.

With political gimmicks and the full force of MSM, the ruling party tries its utmost best to bare the shortcomings of the 5 Pakatan Rakyat led states, with daily dose of so called broken promises and unfulfilled pledges whilst remain conspicuously silent on their own ability to run the Government, although armed with 50 years of experience.

After attacking the opposition ruling party and parlimentarians, the political target has shifted to the current so called de factor leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, known as Anwar Ibrahim or Brother Anwar to some. The charges are the same but the actors and the places are new. The Ruling party enjoys the word sodomy and charges Anwar of sodomising his assisstant recently. Hey, I might be temped to hear how Anwar "perform" at the age of 61...and why were there no records of him being engaged in the activity when he was locked in the prison for six years? Unless, of course Anwar was locked together with the ladies and there were no behinds available.

With that, it seems clearer now that AAB is a desperate man. He is desperate enough to cling to his power that he is willing to offer his assisstant, NTR, his post comes 2010. And NTR is no stranger to controversy as he is being openly debated as the person that may be directly or indirectly involve with the murder case of a foreign translator.

How desperate is AAB? He is even more desperate when news of secret meetings between his party and PAS has recently surfaced. In one of those meeting, it is said that UMNO is even willing to be the no 2 man in Selangor, as long as they can stop Pakatan Rakyat from governing the state.

PAS, being PAS should realised that they were once kicked off Barisan Nasional and the experience should indicate how UMNO treats other parties...

Another blogger, Kickdefella has put in his blog on the possible reasons why the secret meetings were held...

How the people see the secret meeting is important. BN, in their rapid decline from the power grasp will be screeching for something to hold on to, and that includes PAS. Now, PAS must remember that they gain their support because people are fed up with the wead administrative values of AAB. PAS should not be seen to support the weak leadership qualities of AAB, who is more inclined to be lovey dovey to the Jin in Putrajaya.

And in the background, our southern friendly neighbour has issued a statement that may need urgent attention of all Malaysians especially those in Johore...

That should the fruit of thought for today...Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of political promises, gimmicks and ...

The present leader and the incoming were on stage yesterday announcing that AAB will be making way for Najib Tun Razak (NTR) to take over the UMNO Presidency come June 2010.

Malaysian Insider reported that the announcement was made in PWTC during the meeting with more than 700 UMNO division leaders from all over the country.

It may be smooth and easy flowing on the surface but the undercurrent is yet to be gauged. In an early response, Muhyiddin, who is currently in Japan on official duty commented that he will have to wait and see the response from the division based on their party elections starting 17th July 2008. He further commented that 2 years is a long time.

Tengku Razaleigh (TR) has openly criticised the announcement as unconstitutional. TR said "This handover thing is unconstitutional and it is not something that should be passed down from one leader to another.

"The matter of Umno's presidency and in turn, Malaysia's prime ministership, should be endorsed by the grassroots,"

Generally, 2 years in politics is a long time anfd anything can happen to either the President on the leader in waiting. Will there be ambush along the way? The next few weeks will be critical to the AAB - NTR pact.

Across the parliment, PKR has filed a no confidence motion on AAB. The motion was lodged with the Speaker's office on Thursday afternoon.



The early trading shows good impression on the announcement. Will it hold ? It's anybody's call.

Reality is the announcement is a political gimmick by AAB. Known for his flip flop decisions, the announcement may be retracted or a 180 turn may be coming soon.

As for PKR's motion, most probably it will be rejected by the speaker on technical grounds and the Pakatan Rakyat will need to think of new strategy to push their political agenda viz a viz to govern the country.

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Of political manouvers, rock and...

The circus is back in town. Similar to the events of 1998, the former deputy PM and de factor leader of PKR has been accussed of sodomy, again. This time the accuser is one of his volunteer worker.

However, Anwar claimed that the accussation is the workj of the current DPM. As it stands, Anwar is claiming that DPM is involved in the high profile murder case of one Alantuya Sharibuu who was blown to pieces by C4 explosive.

This turn of events mirrors the Bollywood epic story and the real losers to all this is definitely the Malaysian citizen.

How long will this goes on??? Looking back, it points out that all the interested parties has diverted from its main aim; Anwar forgets that his main aim is for the so called Pakatan Rakyat to take over the admininistration of Malaysia, the DPM thinks more of countering allegations of his so called involvement with the Mongolian interpreter than strengthening the BN coalition which he is about to inherit from the PM, the PM is still looking lost in his flip flop decisions....

Sometimes, politicians forget to realise the needs of the people when they are busy attending to their gloated self ego...

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More