On Pakatan is failing the rakyat

Alex C: With all due respect to the writer and all others who bash the opposition alliance, please think twice. Fifty-one years of wrongful deeds by the BN cannot be undone in just a few months, and maybe not even in five years.

Take all the promises by BN; did they ever deliver it on time (excluding the many that didn't even see the light of day)?

Take the many projects like the current Penang bridge upgrade, the second link, the Porr. Look at the signboards posted by the side on the completion date.

No prizes for guessing that they're many years due. With the federal government tying the oppositions hands down, what the opposition can deliver is limited to what they have already delivered.

Do you think it is easy for the opposition states to ask for funds from the federal government for anything at all? Take you the tourism ministry as a good example.

We have Nik Aziz and Lim Kit Siang fighting tooth and nails all their lives for the betterment of everyone of us. Some went through the ISA and prison just to uphold justice in this country.

All BN wrongdoings are brushed aside even in Parliament and you see double standards from top to bottom as seen in the latest Musa Hassan (IGP) issue.

Of course, the oppositions is not perfect. But With the BN having been rooted for five decades, changes will be slow. If you are frustrated you can’t see any improvement today, think then of your children's future and who you should support.


On Najib, police chief accused of 'statistical sleight-of-hand'

Kiv T: Is the IGP and our good old home minister is living in the same country as we are in Peninsula Malaysia? I sincerely think they are living on a different planet!

How can you say Malaysia is safer then Japan of all countries? Please walk the streets of KL alone and see if you feel safe. I can walk in a back alley in Tokyo with my wife and I feel totally safe but I will never do it in KL for sure.

Drive around the housing estates in Petaling Jaya and take a good look. The residents are hiring their own security guards to patrol their neighbourhood.

That is not enough to stop crime. Now they have the access road blocked at night so that access can only be done via one entrance which is guarded.

If Malaysia is so safe, do the citizens have to put up such measures? Indirectly, the citizens are paying the police salaries but now we have to pay more to get protection from private security firms.


On Council should counter media through media, not police

Mike Martin: This letter articulated something that I have felt many times recently.

As a foreigner, I have been slightly bemused by the penchant here for lodging police reports on just about everything that any particular citizen might have an objection to.

Is it any wonder that the police are not seen to be doing anything about the obvious and serious increase in crime? Why? Because they are spending hours recording statements – the majority of which are probably not acted upon as there is no criminal case to answer.

In most countries, as the writer points out, there are other ways of addressing a grievance without considering the matter a criminal one, when clearly most of these instances are not criminal in any way.

To immediately resort to lodging a police report, particularly against the press who (in this particular instance) are merely doing their job, just highlights a total lack of awareness or ignorance of public accountability.

It is difficult to understand the mentality of people who feel that their only recourse is to police action in what is clearly a civil matter.

Perhaps it is an indication of the lack of mature thinking and not knowing the meaning of good governance and transparency in a democracy.


On Mr MB, we don't want another blackout

HAL: Good job, Khalid! Keep it up! The issue with the transmission lines is secondary. I am sorry to say the blackout is also secondary. This is about the New Malaysia - the era of the raykat.

The old politics of steam-rolling and trampling over the raykat should be a thing of the past in the states governed by Pakatan Raykat.

It is about the rule of law and full implementation of democracy. The ultimate is respecting and honouring the rights of all Malaysians.

The villagers have lived there before TNB planned the route of the transmission lines. We should question TNB and the former state cabinet on why the villagers were not consulted during the planning stage of the project.

Had they done so, this problem would not have arose. Had both TNB and the former cabinet respected the rights of Malaysians, the project would not have ground to a halt.

The health concern of the villagers is real and valid. If it is not, how about getting the former state cabinet members and the senior management of TNB to take up residence in the village?

Did I hear a resounding ‘Why us? Anyone else but us, please’?


On Define Ketuanan Melayu very clearly

Kaisim: For fifty years, Umno has been toying around for a suitable policy for all Malaysians but without success. The reason being that there is big money in education.

The education ministry is a giant ministry with a big fund allocation after every budget session. There will be plenty of money to go around for the ‘supporters’, especially the cronies.

At every turn of events, our greedy politicians are out to enrich themselves.

We had a good education system in the 1960s when our children were educated in the SRJK (I) schools. They were good in English, BM and other languages. Why change a system which even others praised?

We had no racial problems then. We did not have politicians who talked like Mukhriz. The country needs sincere politicians who are colour-blind.

This is the way forward, not toying around with unfavorable policies in order to gain political mileage.


On Let's talk about 'Ketuanan Bukan Melayu' for a bit

Ratormo: For the non-Malay business person who worked hard to build his or her company (often without government help), he or she has the right to choose their own top management.

After all, his or her company is his own private asset and not a public one (which belongs to all the races).

So here's where comparing apples to oranges come to mind. One sector is based on skin colour or and the other is based on sweat or effort.


On Mutual respect key to religious harmony

Kg Tunku Makcik: I wish to share my experience at Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Headquarters (National Registration Department) in Putrajaya on Dec 4.

I arrived at 7.30 am and took my place in the queue. Sharp at 8 am there began a prayer recital on the public address system. The recital was in Arabic and it went on for a good five minutes.

At the end of it, there was an announcement that there was going to be a religious lecture by an ustaz so and so at 1 pm. For a moment I thought I was in a mosque.

I was so embarrassed because the authorities totally disregard the sensitivities of my fellow non- Muslim Malaysians sitting next to me. They looked uncomfortable.

We often hear government ministers saying non-Malays should be sensitive to the Malays in that certain things should not be talked about etc etc. In this instance did the JPN administration showed any sensitivity towards the non-Malays ?

The JPN is a civil authority like the hospitals and police stations. Why bring in the prayers and religious sermons of any particular religion? Religion should be kept private or in the confines of houses of God.

Personally I feel that there should be a separation of 'mosque' and the state. The ' Islam' inside of us is more important than the 'Islam' outside of us as shown by our dressing, behaviour and attitude.

I also cannot help thinking there must be peer pressure among the staff to attend the religious lectures. If a member of the staff does not conform, JPN must be a terrible place to work.