How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Monday, July 08, 2013

Getting to know Barisan Nasional

Sometimes, I was asked by friends at breakfast, questions like:

How many seats did MCA/MIC/Gerakan get in GE13?
Did MCA/MIC/Gerakan win any in ____ (name of state) in GE13?

Hello? You think I'm a walking wikipedia on Malaysian politics?

30 years ago, when my memory was still sharp, I could have remembered most of the information gleaned from newspapers or other reports. But now, I cannot even remember song lyrics, let alone which party wins what.

I wish getting facts from newspapers could be more straightforward. I found mistakes in many of the reports, which required further searching for information.

I had been using an old copy of The Sun dated May 7, as a source of information. Believe me, though it was a good guide, the information was incomplete, even though it was published two days after May 5 (date of GE13).  For eg., results for P 170 and P175 were unknown at time of printing. So you can imagine my frustration, when faced with unknown facts.

As for Googling for information, on the one hand I am often impressed with the ease at getting information by keying in the right words, but on the other hand, if you tried getting information for Malaysian results, you are likely to be disappointed.

For my own reference as well as for others in search of similar information, I have included links to Malaysia Today which provide results for GE 13, according to parliamentary and state seats, state by state. But try looking for details of results by BN component parties, and you need to look elsewhere.

I had just visited BN's website, but this information is not readily available or could even be unavailable. I had to resort to Wikipedia and other sources instead.

I don't know about others, but I am blur as far as BN component parties in Sabah and Sarawak are concerned.

For my own future reference, I am pleased to gather the following information:

West Malaysia:
Umno 74, MCA 7, MIC 4 and Gerakan 1 (total 86);

East Malaysia:
Sarawak: PBB 14, PRS 6, SPDP 4, and SUPP 1 (total 25);
Sabah: Umno 14, PBS 4, Upko 3, and PBRS 1 (total 22);

Total for BN: 133 parliamentary seats out of a total of 222.

Sarawak state was excluded from GE 13 because it had its state elections in 2011.
Umno is not involved in Sarawak politics, but its anchor coalition partner PBB is in firm control.
Under BN, PBB has 35, PRS 8, SPDP 6 and SUPP 6 (total 55 seats, out of a total of 71).
The remaining 16 comprise DAP 12, PKR 3 and Independent 1.

Excluding Sarawak, BN won 275 out of 505 state seats. Including Sarawak, BN won 330 out of 576 state seats.

For 57% of total seats, BN is in control of 10 out of 13 state seats! This excludes the biggest anamoly of all: FT Kuala Lumpur!  - where despite winning only 2 out of 11 parliamentary seats, BN through FT Ministry, is also in control.

To familiar myself with BN component parties, particularly those in Sarawak and Sabah:

West Malaysia:
United Malays National Organization (UMNO)
Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
Malaysian People's Movement Party (GERAKAN)
People's Progressive Party (PPP)
Sarawak:
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB)
Sarawak People's Party (PRS)
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP)
Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP)
Sabah:
UMNO
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS)
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO)
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Looking at the results of GE13, former significant partners of Alliance, then Barisan Nasional, like MCA, MIC and Gerakan, have lost their former glories and significance. They are becoming irrelevant.

MCA's VP, Donald Lim appears to be singing 'Only you?... and you only?' and pleaded to voters in Selangor not to give them a duck egg...


Umno has to rely increasingly on PBB in Sarawak and to a lesser extent, PBS, PBRS and UPKO in Sabah, to have majority in Parliament. Umno had done its dubious groundwork in Sabah over the years and its presence there overshadows PBS!

Recently, an Umno politician boasted about his party's 88 parliamentary seats by itself, as compared with Pakatan Rakyat's total of 89! Of course, if he wants to rest on his laurels and disregard his party-led coalition's 47% popular votes (yet won 133 seats), as compared with PR's 51%, then he can bask in his own glory while he still can.

A bit more details on MCA, MIC and Gerakan representatives:

MCA 7 MPs in 4 states  : Perak 1 : Tg Malim (Ong Ka Chuan); Pahang 1 : Bentong (Liow Tiong Lai); Malacca 1 : Alor Gajah (Koh Nai Kwong); and Johor 4 : Labis (Chua Tee Yong), Ayer Hitam (Dr Wee Ka Siong), Tebrau (Khoo Soo Seang) and Tanjong Piai (Wee Jeck Seng).

MIC 4 MPs in 4 states : Perak 1 : Tapah (M Saravanan); Pahang 1 : Cameron Highlands (G Palanivel); Selangor  1 : Hulu Selangor (P Kamalanathan); and Johor 1 : Segamat ( S Subramaniam).

Gerakan 1 MP : Johor : Simpang Rengam (Liang Teck Meng).

MCA 11 ADUNs in 6 states : Perlis 1 : Titi Tinggi (Khaw Hock Kong); Kedah 2 : Gurun (Dr Leong Yong Kong) and Kulim (Chua Thiong Gee); Perak 1 : Chenderiang (Dr Mah Hang Soon); Pahang 2 : Cheka (Fong Koong Fuee) and Teruntum (Chang Hong Seong); Melaka 3 : Machap (Lai Meng Chong), Kelebang (Lim Ban Hong) and Bemban (Ng Choon Koon); and Johor 2 : Pengkalan Rinting (Chang Mei Kee) and Pulai Sebatang (Tee Siew Kiong).  
  
MIC 5 ADUNs in 3 states : Negeri Sembilan 1 : Jeram Padang (L Manickam); Melaka 1 : Gadek (MS Mahadevan); and Johor 3 : Gambir (M Asojan Muniyandy), Kahang (R Vidyananthan) and Tenggaroh (Raven Kumar Krishnasamy).

Link

No comments: