vox populi small thumbnail'Just because some moderates won the PAS elections and many non-Malays lauded the outcome, you think you can win the whole of Malaysia?'

Mat Sabu quips he can win Bukit Bintang

TKC: PAS is getting carried away with the adulations in the recent party polls. It should focus on winning back the rural Malay voters that Umno is trying to poison via a series of disgusting and pathetic topics revolving around religion and sex.

If PAS can hold its own in the rural constituencies, regime change might become reality. Otherwise, tough luck.

AnakBangsaMalaysia: Bang Mat (Mohamad Sabu), if you stood today you could win in a 100 percent Chinese constituency, no doubt about it. We are very encouraged by the new progressive direction and energy of PAS following the muktamar.

With outstanding progressive leaders like yourself, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Khalid Samad, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Husam Musa, Mahfuz Omar, Salahuddin Ayub, Hatta Ramli and many others, PAS has proven that it can pursue a progressive and inclusive agenda for all Malaysians while holding true to the core principles of Islam.

The noises coming from Umno and BN are merely little squeaks of terror emitted by the henchmen of a corrupt regime who have just seen their last hope of survival swept away.

Anonymous: Mat Sabu, don't be so cock-sure of winning in Bukit Bintang. Even if you win, it is because of the rakyat's love for DAP, not because the constituents don't mind PAS' Islamic orientation. Get that?

Stay humble. Don't rock the boat. Why change a winning horse? Go and contest in Johor and Malacca, Terengganu or Kedah to prove your mettle.

Ferdtan: I have been following the political career of Mat Sabu, and this is Mat Sabu's style. He is witty and the mere fact that the heading of the article says he 'quips' means he makes a witty comment. Many didn't take too kindly of his remark.

What I guess he is trying to say is that PAS is now popular with the Chinese, and even if he were to contest in Bukit Bintang, he can still win. Also it is aimed at the Pakatan Rakyat partners that they have to relook into the distribution of seats among them; not the usual criterial way as before.

A bit of warning to him: since he is in such a high-profile position as a deputy president of PAS he has to be careful with what he says. A small slip from him can be blown up by the mainstream media to cause friction among partners.

Obviously, he is posturing to put his party in a better position for negotiation of seats to contest. He is a strategist that Umno most feared. Be humble - the perception may backfire on you and PAS.

KSN: Candidates selected must be vetted with the very highest criteria. For example, integrity, competency, qualifications, national outlook in vision and direction, devoid of racial and religious leanings, that sort of positive characteristics necessary, no essential, for nation building.

The men and women chosen by one party must be acceptable to the other two partners. Yes, I also agree that PAS should lead the coalition and not PKR for obvious reasons.

Disgusted: PAS, don't be so big-headed. Just because some moderates won the PAS elections and many non-Malays lauded the outcome, you think you can win the whole of Malaysia?

What happened in the last couple of by-elections? It failed miserably to win more seats and even lost one of its own. How do you expect DAP to contest in one of the rural predominantly Malay constituencies which Umno has made them out to be devils?

4EverMalaysian: I beg to disagree with Mat Sabu. As of now, PAS must focus on Malay-majority areas, especially where Umno supporters are stronger. Focus on taking Terengganu, Perlis and Pahang.

Let PKR handle the mixed areas and let DAP focus on the Chinese-majority seats. PAS has so much to do in Malay-majority areas. You don't even have enough resources to cover all of them. So don't over-stretch your resources.

PAS has talked a little too much. Let do more work and talk less. Results will eventually prove your worth later.

Anonymous_5fb: I agree with Mat Sabu - he can win in Bukit Bintang if he is assigned to contest the seat. But the same cannot be said if, say, Lim Kit Siang is to contest in a rural Malay-majority seat.

I am not trying to say PAS is more multiracial than DAP but that urban voters, where coincidentally Chinese is the majority, are more informed (or should I say more matured) as compared to their counterparts in rural seats where Malay are the majority.

But I believe it's still not the time for Pakatan to allocate the seats in such way as this will affect Pakatan's chances in defeating Umno/BN in the 13th GE. What PAS needs to work on is to educate the rural Malays that DAP in essence, is not a Chinese racist party but a party that fight for everyone's rights, so that in the long run, a Chinese leader will be more acceptable to the rural Malays.

Fifty-over years of 'indoctrination' by Umno cannot be undone so easily. This 'indoctrination' is equally applied to non-Umno BN leaders.


Lawyers: Youths kneeling when shot by cops

Joker: The post-mortem results do not contradict the police's version of the story. Our police officers are all tall men while those 'criminals' were still teens and therefore, short fellows. Plus, those kids were charging up at the police from lower ground. So when the police shot them, of course they were 45-degrees angle shots.

Pepper Spray: Because there is a 45-degree entry wound, N Surendran's conclusion is that the boys were kneeling? Yes, because the human neck cannot turn or tilt. What a load of rubbish!

If your politics requires making the police look like criminals, then you're no different from the criminals you defend. Lawyers are the worst kind of people.

Mangodurian: Pepper Spray, if we collaborate that with the police testimony, you will have to imagine three nutcases charging towards the police with parangs, but with their heads bowing at a 45-degree angle down.

Will you charge at someone like that? The other way would be that the police are on top of a steep hill and the three nutcases are charging up the hill - and even then would you look at the target while charging or look down at the ground?

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The police in Malaysia have been a law unto themselves now for many years. Since they are licensed to kill, they just kill with impunity and then concoct stories about self-defence and provocation.

They believe in summary executions just because a person may be a suspect or has a criminal record. Even the most hardcore criminal deserves his day in court.

If the police have nothing to hide, why the constant delays or tampering with post-mortems with the help of sympathetic or fearful pathologists? Why the aversion to any independent inquiry or inquest and a great reluctance to be open and transparent with their investigations?

Unless the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is set up soon, the police will remain above the law. The people are running out of patience with the force, either they change or the people ought to be allowed to carry arms in self-defence.

Enough of lies and cover-ups from the police. Only Umno/BN people are firm supporters of the police because they prop up the regime and are a certain vote bank.

David Dass: Our criminal justice system is based on the concept of the presumption of innocence. An accused person is entitled as a matter of law to the due process of law.

The police are not entitled to act as vigilantes dispensing summary justice on the basis of their suspicions however convinced they may be of the guilt of the suspects. This is one of the cornerstones of civilised society. Our police should not be allowed to act as death squads as in Brazil and elsewhere.

Furthermore, one of these suspects was a minor. The law prescribes a different process and different penalties for minors. When the police act like vigilantes, we introduce a climate that can lead to a downward spiral of violence.

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