PETALING JAYA, 12 Feb 2010: The Nut Graph‘s MP Watch: Eye on Parliament project is similar to a German web-based initiative where people can pose questions to their elected representatives in the national parliament or Bundestag. Abgeordnetenwatch.de, which literally means “watching Members of Parliament”, was a grassroots effort started in Hamburg in 2004. The […]
voters
Understanding GST
By Deborah LohMalaysia is among the last in the region to impose goods and services tax (© Sanja Gjenero / sxc.hu) MALAYSIA is among the last in the region to impose goods and services tax (GST) but it still shelved its original implementation in 2007. It was only after spending the last two years in consultation with […]
BTN’s flaws beyond racism
By Wong Chin HuatTHE Biro Tata Negara (BTN) saga has taken yet another twist. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has called former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad “bloody racist” for defending the BTN training modules. Most right-thinking members of the public would agree with Nazri that the BTN is ethnic-centric. However, would […]
Time for recall elections, Selangor
By Wong Chin HuatCorrected at 4:25pm, 4 Nov 2009 THERE are those who cheered for Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s now infamous 16 September 2008 plot to take over the federal government by defections. There are also those who initially cheered the 10-day defection of Datuk Nasarudin Hashim (state assemblyperson for Bota, Perak) from Umno to Parti […]
A bizarre week in Bagan Pinang
By Shanon ShahWorshippers at Masjid Qariah MASJID Qariah Bagan Pinang, Port Dickson, is sandwiched between a major Barisan Nasional (BN) operations centre and PAS’s main by-election headquarters along Jalan Pantai. On Friday, 9 Oct 2009, the mosque was bursting at the seams with worshippers. In his khutbah, the imam said Islam is a religion of unity and […]
Campaigning in Bagan Pinang
By Shanon Shah
FROM day one, the Barisan Nasional (BN) has been pulling out all the stops in its Bagan Pinang by-election campaign. Sure, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) managed to muster more than 4,000 supporters — more than double the BN’s — on nomination day. But since nominations closed, it is clear that the PR is struggling to […]
Zulkefly Omar’s dilemma
By Shanon ShahJOURNALISTS have been warning each other that Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, PAS’s Bagan Pinang by-election candidate, is not the world’s best orator. Unfortunately, this is true. At a PAS-organised ceramah in Taman Eastern on 5 Oct 2009, The Nut Graph observes that Zulkefly is ponderous in his speech. The chants of “Allahu akbar” that greet him […]
“Jalan-jalan cari undi”
By Shanon ShahIsa Samad poses at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri event in Bagan Pinang “THIS is part of my programme for the Bagan Pinang by-election: jalan-jalan cari undi,” says Tan Sri Isa Samad, 60, riffing off the popular TV3 food travelogue, Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan. The 3,000-strong crowd here in Taman PD Utama initially looks more interested in […]
The mystery of postal votes
by Deborah LohVoters queueing up to vote in the Kuala Terengganu by-election (file pic) POSTAL votes in electoral contests have traditionally been accompanied by allegations of fraud and intimidation of uniformed personnel. Will they again become a contentious issue in the Bagan Pinang by-election on 11 Oct? Postal votes make up 33.7% or 4,604 of the state […]
When the by-election dust settles”¦
By Deborah LohRANDOM, general observations about covering by-elections since March 2008: There has been a lack of substantive campaign issues. Umno always plays the race and religion card, and thinks prosperity and development are the only things that will make everyone happy. Of the eight by-elections in the past 18 months, I think the Kuala Terengganu by-election […]
