DAP and Tony Pua: Showing Symptoms of Being Out-dated and Politically Sterile

Article by Dennis Madden: Read here

Excerpts: Read here for more

DAP and the Fuel Subsidy


"... DAP have come up with some wonderfully imaginative scheme to dump the mega projects and use the money to subsidise the cost of fuel.

Buying votes in the manner of BN is what I called that.

Can't you get it into your heads that the the subsidies are paid for by the people... so you have a situation where the rubber tapper in his kampong riding his small motorbike is subsidising the fat cat in his fuel guzzling Mercedes as he sits in the traffic jam of KL with his aircon going full blast.

The fact that most progressive governments have dumped the idea of subsidies should be a hint as to where you should be heading.

Basically you are playing the BN game under rules dictated by them.


Tony Pua's Whining on Islamisation of Malaysia

Then today I got a circular in the mail from Tony Pua bemoaning the Islamisation of Malaysia.

Once again you are playing BN's game.... this time its the game of divide and conquer.

Do you really think that you will sway any Malay voters away from BN using those sorts of tactics?

Anyway religion has no place in the governance any country and you would be doing Malaysia a great service by staying well away from that topic.

To put it mildly YOU are showing the SAME LACK of forward thinking, LACK of imagination and LACK of motivation that is the hallmark of the present government. ..."

Related Commentary

From Malaysian Unplug (Jan 17, 2008) : Read here for more

"...DAP is still perceived as a Chinese-based party and it is still harping on communal (read Chinese) issues. It has not been able to re-invent itself to be amenable to Malay voters. The core of its base is too Chinese to be attractive to the majority of liberal Malays and Indians.

DAP is strong in rhetoric, both in and out of Parliament; it is smart in organising seminars and workshops on national issues, but weak in effective delivery that bring benefits to its constituency of voters from its rhetorics.

Its refusal in the past to compromise and to work with other Malay-based opposition parties make itself a party that can NEVER be in Government, let alone a party that CAN win government. By default, DAP is essentially a party that REFUSE to be part of Government. A party that prefers to be in the Opposition, one that is remarkably good at making the right loud noises in Parliament and in the streets.

DAP politicians are engaged in feel-good therapy by harping on faults and weaknesses of Govt in Parliament, knowing full well that UMNO/BN politicians are too arrogant and too self-assured to bother about the criticisms and condemnation made by DAP in Parliament or in the streets.

Lim Kit Siang is seen by many voters as being fatigued and tired. There is no more "oomph" left in him compared to his early days.

And DAP's recent surge to bring in intellectuals and well-known personalities who appeal to a bigger spectrum of voters is yet to show any significant impact.