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1 Muharram Posted: 04 Nov 2013 08:17 PM PST Its Maal Hijrah, 1 Muharram, the new Islamic year. I had celebrated some Maal Hijrah in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya and the Palestine, became a witness to their sufferings, fear and alarm. I watched how the Phalangist butchered the Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps, and how Muslim Iraqis and Iranians fought the eight-year war. And recently, I observed the worst of Syrian civil war. We Malaysians are fortunate, very, very fortunate to be blessed with level-headed leaders and a tolerant society. Irrespective of the religious, race and political divide, we should keep the country as resilient as it could by enhancing our mutual respect, improving interfaith cooperation and sharing what we should and could. Don't spoil it. Whether we are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists or Hindus, we are all MALAYSIANS!

Umno 'mandi limau' Posted: 04 Nov 2013 06:50 AM PST The winner takes it all, the loser standing small. Despite staging one of the strongest by-election wars, BN and Umno failed to wrest the Sungai Limau state seat since losing it to the opposition in 1995. Umno lost it during Tun Dr Mahathir's era as prime minister. They lost again during Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and PM Najib Tun Razak. And this time around, Dr Mahathir's son, Mukhriz is the Kedah Mentri Besar, a young and upcoming national leader whom many hoped would be able to change Sungai Limau's politics. Despite Umno's purported rain of cash and show of political might, PAS has managed to retain the Sungai Limau state seat with a majority of 1,084 votes or about double the 500 it had set as its minimum target. PAS candidate Mohd Azam Abd Samat polled 12,096 votes while Umno's Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim obtained 10,985. And what is Mukhriz complaining about? I believe the police were doing their job well in supervising all polling stations from any untoward incidents. YAN — Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir appeared today to accuse the opposition of orchestrating crowds of supporters to block voters from casting their ballots in Sungai Limau, even suggesting that traffic snarl could cost Barisan Nasional (BN) the state seat. The first-term Kedah mentri besar who was part of the BN team that culled Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the rice bowl state during Election 2013, alleged that the crowds, some of which had reportedly turned rowdy, were frightening away Sungai Limau voters from casting their ballots. "I've heard reports of fights outside some polling centres earlier and that the roads to all polling centres are jammed, both of which are tactics used by the opposition to deter voters from casting their votes," he said in a brief press conference when he visited the BN Simpang Tiga operations centre here, just opposite the SJKC Aik Min polling centre. He added that it was not surprising for the opposition to use such tactics to scare away voters, pointing out that if more were to turn up to vote, BN would have a higher chance of wresting the seat from PAS. My simple analysis - Umno should take that 'mandi limau' or 'mandi bunga' to become more appealing to voters, especially the Malays. Tonnes of money and projects promised to the constituents will not change their perception on Umno. No need to boast on the increased votes from some PAS areas. Nothing to shout about. A PAS' win is still a win. Since 1995, PAS' majority went up and down but they still won. Have we adopted to a 'not right' approach again? We brought them goodies, projects and monies. They were happy and that gave us the impression that Umno could have easily won. But it fizzled out. Why? Think of this! Over the last 13 years, the opposition had easily penetrated and won many of BN and Umno's fortresses. However at the same time, BN and Umno are finding it more difficult to have a footing in the opposition's strongholds. So, don't boast about reduced majority registered by PAS and other opposition component parties. Umno, especially must look into its weaknesses, correct and admit all mistakes. This is not the eras of 70s or 80s where baskets of goodies were enough to win the general election. There must be something 'not very right' about Umno and BN. Even having Mukhriz as the mentri besar failed to convinced the voters that Umno is now in the best position to lead the state and the country. Even the presence of Umno big shots failed to bring about the result we had hoped for. So, what could possibly had gone wrong? Umno needs to change some people who manage its strategy and tactical warfare, notably its information arm, Information Dept and JASA. Some who are also in-charge of the social media and UMB (Unit Media Baru) should also be shown the exit for they are useless lots! The answers also lie with our Umno leaders. Mirror yourself, and if there is a need, go for 'mandi limau'!

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