PAS thanks Chinese for support!!!

According to Malaysiakini reports, PAS has expressed gratitude to Chinese voters who backed Malay Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the recently concluded general election, even if it meant having to vote against a fellow Chinese.

PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the action of these voters proved the claim by Umno that the Chinese had rejected the Malays to be A BIG SLANDER!

“The Chinese voters were willing to vote for Malay candidates without any narrow racial sentiments, as claimed by Umno. There are tens of Parliament and state assembly seats that were contested by Malay candidates against candidates from the Tiong Hua (Chinese), in mixed constituencies, which were won by the Malays, proving that Chinese voters were willing to reject candidates of their own race,” Tuan Ibrahim said in a statement today.

Tuan Ibrahim has also reasoned that the Umno claim could also be part of an INTERGRATED efforts through the mainstream media to create a smokescreen to hide possible cheating in the election and for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to secure his position in Umno.

Umno, Tuan Ibrahim added, must cease “playing with fire” by using the results of the 13th general election to stoke flames of Chinese-versus-Malay sentiments, especially since this was not based on facts.

Indeed this is very true! Just like his late father, Najib Razak continuous effort to blame the Chinese for any problems faced by Umno should STOP if he is really serious about his job as Malaysian’s premier. DO NOT play the racial card and Blame Game everytime Umno is in crisis. Instead, please get your house in order before you want to blame any community for your headache!

You talk about ‘conciliation’ and ‘Prime Minister for all races’ but every time you are cornered like a poor puppy, you decided to ‘jump the wall’ and point out the blaming finger! Come on Jib… surely you can do better than that, can’t you??!!

Chinese Tsunami that benefited Malays? Possible??

Meanwhile, in another statement, Pahang PAS information chief Suhaimi Md Saad explained that DAP’s big win in the election did nothing to lessen the number of Malay MPs in Parliament.

In fact, Suhaimi said, the success of Pakatan’s candidates only served to increase that number by seven.

He citing various examples of Malay Pakatan parliamentary and state seat candidates from PKR, DAP and PAS defeating their BN challengers, including Chinese candidates.

Among the examples given are:

• Rafizi Ramli (PKR, right) who won against Gary Lim (BN) in Pandan;

• Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS), who won against S Murugesan (BN) in Kota Raja;

• Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (PKR) who won against Tan Kok Eng (BN) in Bandar Tun Razak;

• Imran Hamid (PKR) who won against Kong Cho Ha (BN) in Lumut;

• Mohd Ariss Sabri Abdul Aziz (DAP) who won against Hoh Khai Mun (BN) in Raub;

• Idris Ahmad (PKR) who won against K Parthiban (BN) in Ijok;

• Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji (DAP) who won against Chuah Boon Seong (BN) in Mentakab; and

• Mohd Rashid Hasnon (PKR) who won against Wong Mun Hoe (BN) in Pantai Jerejak.

As to how former Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman could to lose to DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (left) in Gelang Patah, Johor, Suhaimi said Ghani himself “looked for trouble”, by choosing to contest in a Chinese-majority seat within a constituency that used to be “owned” by MCA.

To further debunk Umno’s claim that non-Malays went against Malays in the ballot box, he further cited 13 examples of seats where non-Malay BN candidates won in Malay-majority constituencies.

GE13: We lost the Battle, but not the War…

Yup… that’s right! I think many of us will still be rather disappointed with what has actually taken place during the 13th General Election on May 5th and some even went to the extend to claim that Malaysia is ‘hopeless’ and beyond any ‘salvation’.

But after the dust settled, we find GREAT inspiratiosn when we analyse the entire election and found many interesting points which may not sound very nice to the ears of our Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Lost the Battle but NOT the War yet.

While many people (including myself) has this great confidence that we will manage to UBAH (change) the Federal government in this concluded general election, the moment when BN managed to hit the magic number of 112 did send great pain and hopelessness down my spine as if the world has finally come to an end!

Hope… Never Give Up!

I mean HOW on earth this could happen when some of Pakatan’s parliamentary candidates were way ahead in the vote count only to lose out due some ‘extra-time’ magic happened in the vote counting station. We were startled to find such things were still happening in our country as if we are still living in 3rd world countries where such evil acts of sabotage were considered rampant but normal.

But after the votes ended, there are many good points which we can savor and we believe that by continuously to work harder, we will definitely be able to UBAH our country for our future as well as our children’s.

We improved in overall Parliamentary seats

In 2008 political tsunami when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was still our PM, BN managed to capture 140 seats while Pakatan got 82. But in this 13th General Election under the premiership of Najib Razak, BN only managed to muster 133 while Pakatan improved to 89 seats. So considering the 2008 polls result as a big  tsunami for Malaysian politics, the 2013 results will be a BIGGER tsunami for Malaysia when we take into considerations of all the great effort mustered by BN to improve the election results.

This mean Najib Razak is a worse performer in comparison to the slumbering Ahmad Badawi when he lost a further 7 Parliamentary seats in view of him rolling out his BR1M, PR1MA & etc etc.

As he failed to regain the crucial 2/3 Parliament majority, it is interesting to see the undercurrent moving below Najib’s position as the head of his umno party where expected dissenting voices could be heard as his deputy is preparing to take over the rein from him – something similar happening to Ahmad Badawi when he was ‘crushed’ by the so-call 2008 political tsunami.

Perak & Terengganu in limbo.

In the last 13th General Election, BN and Pakatan were seen racing neck-to-neck over Perak and Terengganu. At last, BN emerged victorious in both states when BN took 31 against 28 of Pakatan in Perak and BN’s 17 against Pakatan’s 15 in Terengganu.

But in these 2 state’s assemblies, BN get to form the state government but then it will have to sacrifice 2 state ADUNS to be the House Speaker and Deputy House Speaker – effectively making the composition of the House members to be BN 29 vs Pakatan 28 in Perak and BN 15 against Pakatan 15 in Terengganu.

Basically it is a ‘hung’ state elections with no one having a clear majority in the house. The state will find itself in limbo over many things and major legislative procedures will not be able to be passed by the House as both sides need to be in ‘full attendance’ all the time!

Total Rejection of Perkasa.

1Malaysia bigot that instigated bible burning idea!

The Right-wing Perkasa or better known as ‘perkosa’ (rapist) has been championing the special rights of Malays at the expense of other races in the country. Such extremism actions often create tension in the society especially when its president hold a public office of being a MP for Pasir Mas in Kelantan. Supported by some bigots such as zulkifli nordin (independant MP from Kulim, Kedah), perkasa was getting bolder as they thought they were here to defend the interest of the Malays and Islam as well as receive good back up from the former premier Mahathir mohamed.

The great losses in this 13th General election suffered by perkasa candidate – namely ibrahim ali and zul nordin has proved to us a very assuring note that even our Malays comrades reject such extreme provocations that has often become the signature of perkasa even though they constantly claimed that they were defending the interest of the Malays. Ibrahim ali was ‘annihilated’ in his safe zone where he thought he would get re-elected again in the Malay-majority Pasir Mas while zulkifli nordin was sent packing with tail between his legs in the urban Malay majority area of Shah Alam.

Such result should be commended and the electorates in Pasir Mas and Shah Alam should be praised for their intelligence of their choice! Through such result able to let us know that the people has matured and no longer subject to this kind of racial extremism where we know will bring the nation to a different direction where nobody really wants.

Pakatan Rakyat maturing as a coalition able to challenge the hegemony of Barisan Nasional.

BN has often trying to paint a disarray Pakatan in their much controlled mass media to tell the people that Pakatan Rakyat is not ready to take over from BN and they will not be able to run the country as efficient as BN.

However, with CM Lim Guan Eng and MB Khalid Ibrahim proven them wrong in Penang and Selangor, it has opened up many eyes and ears of Malaysian asking the one and only question – WHY NOT – to allow the alternative government take over the Feds and see how they perform. If they are good, the people will continue to support like how they did in Selangor and Penang. If they are not good (maybe in Kedah?) then they are always free to change it back to BN!

So we can see that amidst ‘heavy’ defeat suffered during this 13th General Election, there are still alot of positives to take from this defeat. We should learn from our mistakes and UBAH ourselves for improvement so that when the fateful day comes, Pakatan Rakyat will be more than READY to take over Putrajaya!

We have lost the battle but the WAR goes on… Don’t give up my fellow Malaysians! They can take away our money, they can take away our votes but they shall never take away our HOPE! Let’s Fight On… Keep the UBAH Spirit flying HIGH!!!

 

 

Foreigners given IC to vote?

Dear ALL Malaysians,

Brave yourself against waves after waves of BN dirty tricks in this coming 13th General Election on 5th May 2013! Now, BN has taken the word ‘Dirty Election’ to newer heights when it was alleged that more than 100,000 foreign nationals were given Malaysian National Identity Card to allow them to vote!

Come out to VOTE Early! 

 

Voters are advised to come out to cast your vote as early as possible in order to ensure that you will be able to fulfill your obligation as a citizen of Malaysia! 

There are also reports that foreigners (like this one above) will be blended by the evil feds to create commotion among the voters as the ‘pemerhati’ or elections monitoring group will try to stop them from casting their votes. DO NOT fall into their trap even when you can 100% sure that these are phantom voters! They will try to delay the election process so that other legitimate voters will not get to vote in time! 

What TO DO when you detect a Phantom voter?

In the case that you see any foreigners voting in your polling stations, you are free to SMS the TAHAN Squad hotline @ 0165059065. They will know what to do next. Kindly use the number for SMS purpose only to avoid clogging and also will assist the TAHAN Squad to better co-ordinate among themselves on the ground.

Happy Voting my fellow Malaysians!!!

 

Himpunan Harapan Rakyat : The Galleria

Congratulations to ALL Penangites from all races as EVERYBODY converged to Han Chiang College ground to make HISTORY as the BIGGEST Political rally took place where more than 70,000 (or Kwang Wah Press reported 100,000) brave the heavy downpour to listen to the speeches of Pakatan candidates in PENANG!

For those who missed such great and wonderful moments, just take a few seconds to witness with us these great historic events through the lenses of those who have attended! We are waiting for YOU ALL to come onboard with us this coming 3rd and 4th of May 2013!!!

 

 

I was there! Though the crowd was pre-dominant Chinese, there are countless of Indians and Malays countrymen who were also there to share our same passion for a clean and just government. What’s most precious among this crowd of multi-ethic was everyone was there on their own will.

Caretaker CM Lim Guan Eng was spot on again in his speech. There is NO Free food, NO Free drinks, NO Free lucky draw prizes. The only things they got FREE on that night was FREE rain! But even though it rained cats and dogs (some said was the work of ‘bomoh team’ by Sarawak ‘jail-going’ CM Pekmoh ‘white hair’), the crowd just refused to be distracted and stood by Pakatan’s leaders to listen to their ceramah.

We DO NOT alter the pics as what was done by BN cybertroopers!

The crowd got even more motivated when the ‘evergreen’ Lim Kit Siang took the center stage to relay his stories about the on-going tsunami hitting the southern part of Malaysia where he is leading the Pakatan Rakyat’s onslaught on BN’s bastion- JOHOR!

Just take a look at this picture taken during a ceramah in Gelang Patah yesterday and you’ll sense that CHANGE IS REALLY IMMINENT when the once sleepy Parliamentary constituency suddenly find itself becoming the center spot of national politics when Kit Siang decided to sacrifice himself and initiate Pakatan’s attack.

Flanked by DAP strategists Liew Chin Tong and Teoh Nie Ching, Johor found itself NO LONGER the backwater of Malaysian politics as the southerners began to re-assert their share of participation in determining the future of the nation once again. Ghani Othman & co (inclusive of Mooooohidin) seems to be in disarray and panic situation where it prompted our ‘caretaker’ DPM Mooohidin to declare in national newspaper reminding Malaysians that losing Johor will be catastrophic for Malaysian collectively.

With Johorean joining the fray, this time UBAH will NO LONGER be a DREAM! UBAH can and will be a reality for all Malaysians who seek a just, fair and safe country so that our next next generations can live in peace with everyone from different race!

UBAH – Now it’s the TIME! Ini Kali-lah!!!

 

Himpunan Harapan Rakyat : 29 Apr 2013

 

To ALL Rakyat who hope for a Change (UBAH!), please reserve this date and time in your dairy. Spread the news, tell your friends and loved ones! Do what you think is LEGAL 🙂 & Get everyone to Han Chiang College this evening! It’s gonna be BIG!!!

See you TONIGHT 8PM @ Han Chiang College big field where our Pakatan Big Guns will be there for a “Meet the People” sessions!

Leaders such as CM Lim Guan Eng and the ‘Evergreen’ Lim Kit Siang will grace the event as VIP while all Pakatan candidates will be there to be introduced to the people of Penang as well.

So come over and get to know who will you be voting for come this General Election on 5th of May 2013!

Jom UBAH! Ini Kali-lah…!!!

 

Bankrupt MCA

Go on… flip through the Star paper today and you’ll know what I mean by declaring MCA as Bankrupt!

Seditious ADs by the Star

There are many ways for putting up your advertisements. But if you are towing a damned FINE line if your ads are hovering between sowing HATRED and FEAR! This is even more self-damaging when you blardy MCA posed up all these ads in a well-circulated newspaper like the STAR!

Yes Yes, we know that the Star need to lick the balls of their political master which turn up to be the MCA and chua the pornstar but to go the distance until they reach this milestone? Come on, there must be some reasonable mind among the editors, right? Nope, I was wrong! Everyone in the Star is good-at-nothing but ball lickers and shoe-carriers. That’s why it gives me good satisfaction every time I SHOOT the STAR!!! Hahaha…

Just take a look at these ads in the newspaper:

One Vote for DAP = One Vote for PAS = One Vote for Pakatan = One Vote for UBAH!

Poor Turnout in MCA Ceramahs.

Well… the MCA candidates may have given up convincing voters and constituents in their daily political ceramah due to poor turnouts in the whole country. Hence, MCA resorted to publishing printed ads in the newspaper companies which they own in their vain bid to shore up support for their candidate hopefuls.

Do you think such ‘short-cut’ actions will yield results? Indeed what goes around, comes around… MCA has been cutting away good people at the expense of political survival for their leaders and now, they found themselves being surrounded by ‘sharks’ and ‘crocs’ who are insincere to help the party when it is in disarray!

Weak & Timid MCA.

MCA building on Chinese FEAR on PAS Hudud Laws…

Instead of going to the ground to hear the grouses and curses of the people regarding their silent support to many of umno ill-treatment on the rakyat, instead of braving themselves to ‘bite-the-bullet’ like mr. Ong Tee Keat, these MCA people chose to bury their heads into the ground like ostriches!

Being led by a ‘leader’ who DARE NOT contest in this coming General Election, MCA has LOST the plot even before the first shot was fired! With further cessation of territories to Umno such as the one in Gelang Patah, MCA continue to slide deeper in the deep quagmire of Malaysian politics. Chua soilek refused to fight and sacrifice himself in Gelang Patah clearly thrown all the theories preached by MCA on self sacrifices and service to the people straight down into the monsoon drain!

MCA chose to build on FEAR.

MCA rebuttal & clear insult of Pakatan’s UBAH slogan!

Instead of everything which we mentioned earlier, MCA chose to build on the FEAR of Chinese on Hudud laws. Of course, all these were not helped by the continuous rattling of one part of PAS leaders on Hudud but we need to understand that it is NOT EASY to amend the country’s constitution given that both side DO NOT control 2/3 of the Parliament!

However, MCA continue to harp on this issue as they are indeed Bankrupt of any other constructive ideas. MCA has been feeding under the table of Umno for so long that it has forgotten how to bark when the master make mistakes. MCA has been Umno bedfellows in so many of their evil plans and corrupt practices that it has lost all ability to convince the rakyat that they will be the protector of our rights and justice!

MCA & Perkasa: Love Hate relationship?

1Malaysia bigot that instigated bible burning idea!

Will MCA dare to admit that 1 Vote for MCA = 1 Vote for Umno = 1 Vote for Perkasa? Where is MCA when Perkasa threatens to destabilize the country’s harmony? Where is MCA when Perkasa hold various and continuous illegal rally protesting against Pakatan Rakyat’s administrations in Penang and Selangor? Sadly, MCA DARE NOT voice out against Perkasa even though Perkasa is only a NGO supported by the evil mamakthir.

Who is this blardy frogy ibrahim ali that Chua soilek was so afraid of? Ooooo… who knows? Maybe ibrahim froggy ali is ranked higher in the ‘invisible’ hierarchy’ of umno priority so much so that chua & son dare not cross ibrahim ali too much.

Tsunami 2008 vs UBAH 2013.

Rakyat must rise up and UBAH on this coming 13th General Election!

MCA survived the onslaught of Tsunami 2008 where they are still able to field quite a number of MP to form Najib Razak cabinet. However, with so many incidents happening after the tsunami and with MCA cruising towards Bankruptcy  of ideals, it is not hard to see MCA being driven into political wilderness come UBAH 2013.

The TIME is at hand… Now it is! Jom UBAH – Ini Kali-lah!!! Salam UBAH to all my fighting comrades in this internet warfare.

Should we say ‘YES’ to BN Corruption Culture?

Everywhere we go, we can see Najib & gang is giving out money to the constituents. If by announcing this grants that grants is not enough, BN subcontracted the ‘rasuah’ (graft) culture to its crony infested group call ‘Kelab 1Malaysia Welfare’. This group has been giving out FREE dinners almost EVERY night to lure people out with free food while trying to discourage the people of Penang to attend ceramah held by Pakatan Rakyat in nearby areas.

A Culture of Corruption in Malaysia.

One of BN’s main sub-contractors to ‘bribe’ the rakyat…

These BN’s sub-contractors themselves were no angels. We have sources claimed that even though the upper echolans were initially paying these hard-working hawkers RM1,000 per night for serving free food to the constituents, not all of them received the full payment. Almost all of the hawkers could testify that they will only received payments ranging from RM500 – RM700 while the rest were paid to the ‘middle-man’ who organized the event.

“Wow”… Just imagine it… RM300 – RM500 per hawkers per night! How much would these ‘middle-men’ make when the entire election campaign period ends? I’m not good in maths but I know it’s gonna be a windfall when everything folds up irregardless whether BN going to win back Penang or not…

Of Lucky Draw, Free Food & Songs

In any BN ceramah you go, these sub-contractors will be providing endless of ‘entertainment’ to keep you around instead of allowing you to attend other party’s political gatherings. Instead of dishing out to the public how these BN ‘hopefuls’ going to serve the constituents in their respective areas, these youngsters or greenhorns were so BANKRUPT of ideas that they allow the paid emcees to do their jobs by keeping the crowd engaged with lucky draw prizes.

FREE Food for everybody! Eat ALL you can!!

These cameos are so laughable because they (BN candidates) DON’T even know what is the needs and plight of their constituents! These lucky draws, free food and karaoke sessions were there to COVER their ignorance on the ground! So are these your so-call ‘winnable’ candidates Najib? ARE YOU SO blardy SURE???

High Quality of Pakatan Rakyat’s Political Ceramah.

HUGE crowd converging the Esplanade on the pre Nomination day by Pakatan Rakyat Penang.

Just try and go to any one of the Pakatan Rakyat’s ceramah and you will sense the entire difference between the 2 camps. Not that I am flattering these Pakatan’s candidates, but the way and contents of their political ceramah will always keep you on your feet as they drove each points accurately and relevantly which affects our daily lives.

These Pakatan Rakyat’s candidates DO NOT give away lucky draw prizes. They don’t have free food for you. There won’t be any karaoke sessions! But everywhere they go, it was ‘jammed’ packed with people. Something must be so attractive in what they got to say or else the infamous practical Penangites won’t give a second to what you have to say!

Slow Down in Internet

According to the latest Malaysiakini reports, there are attempts to ‘sabotage’ the internet accessibility of DAP’s websites and facebook accounts. Such dirty tactics employed by their detractors are indeed despicable but in this age of high technology and information, anything is possible!

“At the same time, please don’t just rely on the Internet, come to our ceramahs, especially the one to be held at Han Chiang College field, where DAP senior leader Kit Siang will be present,” Lim Guan Eng was quoted as saying in their attempt to thwart the ‘Online Onslaught’ by detractors.

The Mega Ceramah mentioned here will be the one which will be held on 29th April 2013 (Monday night) at Han Chiang College. Big crowd will be expected and therefore, rakyat has been advised to come early and park your car properly in order not to create any traffic congestion in the area.

Indeed the TIME has come. SAY “NO” to BN’s Budaya Rasuah! Jom UBAH – Ini Kali-lah!!!

GE13: Indelible Ink & Casting Your Vote Correctly

This year, the Election Commission will be using a type of ‘INDELIBLE’ INK to mark your finger in order NOT to allow anyone who has voted to vote for a 2nd time! However, we have found some ‘discrepancies’ in this usually good practice that might ‘back-fire’ on us who DEMANDED for Free and Clean Elections!

Tricks to SPOIL your Vote!

Different from the practices of all other worldwide countries, this time round, the blardy SPR or Election Commission has decided to MARK your finger after you are given the ballot paper instead of MARKING you after you have cast your vote! Therefore lease read the information below carefully so that you do not spoil your vote.

This year the SPR is using the indelible ink to mark your fingers – so MAKE SURE the ink is DRY before you collect your ballot papers. This is to prevent the ink from staining the ballot paper and which will make your ballot invalid.

Somebody is on a Cheeky mood to spoil your vote! Be very CAREFUL!

In overseas countries,the practice is to ink the fingers after you have cast the ballot – this will prevent the ballot paper from being spoilt due to staining. However, over here the SPR is doing the opposite. We have strong reason to suspect that such practise has the intention to let voters spoil the ballot and to make the vote invalid.

REMINDER: IN ANY CASE YOU HAPPEN TO TAINT YOUR BALLOT PAPER WITH THE INK, DO NOT WORRY! JUST CALM DOWN AND DEMAND FOR A NEW PIECE OF BALLOT PAPER BEFORE YOU CAST YOUR VOTE! IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO ENSURE YOU CAST A VALID VOTE IN THIS COMING GENERAL ELECTION!

Please also inform your family members about this tricky practice of the Election Commission to possibly invalidate your precious VOTE! It is our DUTY to make sure you encourage all eligible voters to cast their votes and make all VOTES Count instead of casting an invalid vote! Every vote counts.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Jom UBAH! Ini Kali-lah…!!!!!

BR1M = Bangla Rakyat 1Msia???

In this coming elections, I would like to call upon EVERY Malaysians to exercise your voting rights WISELY less we allow our country goes to the dogs IF we failed to be united and set the future course of our beloved country!

BN using Banglas to pump up the attendance!

Can you believe this picture below:

We LOVE PM!!!!

The background was in NO DOUBT that this picture was taken in Penang’s Han Chiang College where the 1Malaysia Welfare Club was organizing their Super ‘Charity’ Concert featuring many famous celebs from US and Hong Kong last 2 weeks.

Visitors claimed that there was a sea of 1Malaysia Blue during the concert and the organizers even claimed that the event was well received by MALAYSIANS as there were at least 80,000 people attended the concert! However, from this picture alone, we know that the sub-contractors of BN is not only lying through their teeth, they have been using foreigners to pump up the attendance in order to paint a false picture for their political master – Ah Jib-gor! No wonder when Psy came to Penang during the Chinese New Year, Ah Jib-gor was so ‘ILL-informed’ that he was slapped right left center after asking the infamous question “Are you ready for BN???”

Vote Wisely in this coming GE13!

We do not know what kind of ‘dirty tricks’ BN will employ when the election day come on 5th May 2013 but we have to be prepared to counter all of them. The ONLY way to counter all these tactics is to COME OUT on that fateful day to exercise your voting rights by casting your vote WISELY!

You may be the fence-sitters until now. But time and again we have proven to you all Malaysians that this is NOT the time to be sitting on the fence anymore! The time is NOW and it is important for all Malaysians to be UNITED to steer the direction of our country before it is too late!

Do you really want to live in our OWN country with so many foreigners around???  YOU can ignite the UBAH power in your own family or offices. Jom UBAH – Ini Kali-lah!!!

Penang Pakatan’s Election Manifesto 2013

To counter fierce criticism of its housing policy, Penang Pakatan Rakyat today released a 12-point manifesto for the state, listing the building of 22,000 quality, affordable housing units in all the five districts of the state among its promises. Pakatan will also ensure that all districts have houses for the poor to rent and will establish a State Housing Board to ensure more effective management of housing.

It also plans to get control over Penang Port and the island-mainland ferry service returned to the state government, as a counter to the BN pledge to return the free port status to Penang.

Communities to benefit from the manifesto will include women, youth, fisherfolk and taxi drivers, who would be given an annual incentive of RM600, the manifesto states. There also are plans to start zones for aquaculture in Seberang Perai Utara and Seberang Perai Selatan, abolish boat and fishing licences and to annually provide fishing nets free to inshore fishermen.

Undersea tunnel to go ahead

Putting aside severe criticisms from NGOs, Pakatan insists in its manifesto that it will carry out the RM6.3 billion traffic dispersal project by way of three highways and an undersea tunnel linking Gurney Drive on the island with Bagan Ajam in Butterworth.

To prove that it is not anti-Islam or was marginalising the Malays, as touted by Umno, the DAP-led government promises to emphasise the elevation of Islam and welfare state status.

It promises to appeal to the federal government to establish Malay heritage zones in the state, such as in Tanjung Tokong and Batu Uban. An Islamic hospital based on the wakaf concept, land for the building of surau and setting up Islamic cemeteries, land worth RM50 million for a syariah complex in George Town and RM10 million for the Seberang Perai Tengah syariah court complex are other pledges in this area.

Additional land for non-Muslim places of worship in new areas, according to needs, and assistance for the Hindu Endowment Board are among pledges for minority communities.

CAT policy to continue

To continue with its competency, accountability and transparency (CAT) policy, Pakatan says it will comprehensively implement the Freedom of Information Enactment and ban family members of elected representatives from doing business with the government.

The manifesto also outlines Pakatan’s plan to empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the state by building a RM40 million centre and a RM15 SME village.

Other highlights in the manifesto:

• Emphasis on arts, culture and heritage and ensuring that Penang becomes cleaner, greener, healthier and safer;

• Further developing the tourism sector, expanding on science and technology and improving infrastructure;

• Setting up a global halal centre and a regional hub for the marketing and manufacturing supply chain in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle;

• Creating a high technology green industrial park in Batu Kawan and expanding the micro-credit financial assistance scheme with an additional RM5 million;

• Expanding the medical tourism sector and developing Balik Pulau and Batu Kawan as eco-heritage resorts;

• Establishing five centres for creative learning programmes for remedial teaching in the fields of reading, writing, mathematics, science, Malay and English;

• Developing a gender responsive policy to elevate the status of women and to eradicate discrimination against women;

• Providing free mammograms as well as child care centres in every district;

• Empowering the Hindu Endowment Board;

• Increasing CCTV cameras and street lamps to maintain Penang as the safest state in Malaysia;

• Retaining Balik Pulau as a green corridor;

• Making Penang a bicycle state by providing 200km of bicycle lanes throughout the state; and

• Returning the power to determine freehold land status to the state government.

The manifesto was read out by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in the presence of 1,000 people.

Accompanying him was state DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow, the party’s deputy P Ramasamy, senior leader Lim Kit Siang, state PKR chief Mansor Othman and election director Mustafa Kamal Mohd Yusoff.

During his speech, Kit Siang praised the manifesto, saying that it was a “success story” of the Pakatan government.

“Here’s a success story compared the failure story of (caretaker) Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s transformation for the past four years,” he said.

“That is why he was afraid of calling the general election and has delayed it. Malaysians have been on campaign mode for the last four years,” he added.

“If he is afraid, how can he be PM? That is why Malaysians need Ubah (change).