So, there was an UMNO protest in Penang

About noon, Lawrence phoned me and asked if I am around town. He told me he just passed by and there were lots of FRU (Federal Reserve Unit or what we Penangites call Ang Thau Peng, red head army because they wear red protective helmet) in the area. I was home.

Then, later on, another person told us, don’t go to KOMTAR because there is really a lot of people there. He was stuck in SOCSO office.

I don’t quite believe both of them even though they are trusted and reliable people I know because it just doesn’t make sense. I heard UMNO is protesting that there are not enough Malay Excos in the Penang State Exco line-up. Helllooooo…..dah nyanyuk kah? Now Penang has a Malay deputy CM, Penang has Malay PKR Exco members, Penang has a Malay speaker, Penang will appoint one PAS ADUN as well. Mau apa lagi? Ok, correction, they protested about the NEP.

penang_protest.jpg
(photo from http://khankhai.blogspot.com)

Penang is now under PKR coalition with PAS and DAP. These are people we Penang people voted into office. So, what are you UMNO people protesting lah? Tengah-tengah panas tu dok buat apa?

Gimme a break. The CM is in office for like four days and you guys already started protesting. You guys get away with it. The Hindraf march, which is the result of 50 years of the Hindus sufferings and they get tear gas and masuk ISA. You guys suka-suka sumbat the whole Penang island, causing chaos, tak kena. Why? Lucky today is a school holiday. What if our school children were in school and chaos broke out?

Take a look at this post with the photos. It wasn’t just a small group but a damn big group of people protesting. I wonder if they even know what exactly are they protesting?

The irony is today’s Friday sermon is about patience. The ulama told the congregation that one must be patient because the Nabi Mohamed was very patient. He said Nabi Mohamed was pelted with stones until he bled and he never retaliated. Didn’t these people listen to sermons? Doh….. (eheh, I listen to sermons every day)

Added : Below is the video of Lim Guan Eng ceramah held at Taman Lumba Kuda, Penang before the Malaysia General Election 2008. Lim Guan Eng touched on Patrick Lim aka Patrick Badawi on PGCC.

LOL, pardon the wrong orientation of the video and also the pink frame.

Added : 6.45pm A post from Anil Netto with a first hand account of the protest which is said to have 1,000 to 2,000 people. This interesting quote caught my eyes :

One thing though – there was a slight awkwardness in the marchers… and unfamiliarity… as if they were not from Penang, at least not from the island. They looked a little out of their familiar territory – just an observation.

50 thoughts on “So, there was an UMNO protest in Penang

  1. i read from mkini that it’s a protest on the abolishment of the NEP. from now on, i think the opposition in penang (that’s BN) will use this as its main ammo to create racial tensions in penang (and elsewhere in malaysia). good luck to CM lim guan eng. he’s got his hands full.

  2. The 22 Muslim NGO sudah jumpa LGE in the morning and they support him after the meeting lah. This fellas from UMNO have a different agenda, obviously.

  3. pablo – Yalor, these are all Penang UMNO mia kerja. It looks foolish that laymen get so involved in NEP like they know what it does to them. Zilch.

    ann – This is just one of the many they are going to create simply because they are so used to being spoon-fed. These people don’t get it in their thick skulls that in place of the NEP, there is the MEP which DSAI has mentioned along with LGE. It is not like it is a CEP or IEP (lol, c=chinese)

  4. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Everytime the sermon starts, I’d doze off…with my eyes open!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

    They want to maintain the NEP lah!!! But like doting mothers (and fathers) who end up with totally useless, spineless, over-pampered, over-dependent kids, they may not realise that it may be doing them more harm than good when they just wait for things to be handed to them on a silver platter instead of them struggling and working hard for them!!!

  5. hei…where is the permit needed for this type of gathering….PM said NEP is for all malaysians regardless of race….so why i see only Malays on the streets….protesting against the the dropping of their…’tongkat’?

  6. Pablo – They were not informed mah. They dunno how to use the internet. They have to wait for it to be published in the papers tomorrow. Bwahahaha!!!

    Theses buggers are clowns lah. One shit stirrer asked them to protest, they follow lor. Prolly don’t even know what they are protesting about.

  7. I am very sad to see this ppl act like budak budak. Woi!!! Sudah tua tua liau lar. Ada yang dah jadi bapa and ada pulak dah jadi datuk. Be mature lar!!!!! Why pak lah did not say anything on this????

  8. You have to take note that some of the kampung makciks and pakciks of Penang see the NEP abolishment as an attack to the Malay race (what they don’t know is that NEP only benefitted UMNO-Putra). You know the Sekolah Berasrama Penuh that were supposed to be filled with anak petani, penoreh getah and nelayan were filled with anak DO, anak ahli korporat, anak EXCO Umno etc. Where got fairness?

    Anyway, I hope the Penang gov. will take good care of our brothers and sisters in Penang.

    My dad told me that when his dad took him to an ‘ustaz’s (religious teacher) house to ask the ustaz to teach my dad how to read the Holy Quran, my grandpa also gave the ustaz a rotan . Grandpa said to ustaz, “You are allowed to hit him with this rotan if he’s naughty, but just don’t injure him. All I know, I want my son to be able to read the Holy Quran fluently”.

    Suffice to say, my dad is an excellent Quran reader, thanks to that rotan.

    The situation in Penang is kindda like this also.. what doesn’t kill you make you stronger. Please make our brothers and sisters there stronger 🙁

  9. Sweet Jasmine, agreed with u. where is the permit? This is illegal gathering, where is FRU and POLICE. Why not shower them with water as BERSIH and HINDEF? NEP will be used again n again by UMNO to discredit BA

  10. read on another site tomorrow oso got another one but dunno Penang involved or not… this one asking for Bodohwi to resign….

  11. I am off to church for stations of the cross. But I just can’t help and wonder if they are hiring protesters? How much per hour and is lodging, food and transportation included. Who else want to apply for a job as protesters ah? I heard UMNO is hiring. LOL. Terence, go get a tan first.

  12. when bersih and hindraf protest, the PM says:ini bukan budaya kita…

    So when Mr.Son in Law go protest..then it is called”Ini budaya kita..”

    so..I was thinking…does this mean they’re slapping their own face again and again?

    In Bersih & hindraf, they kena water canon and tear gases, but why when son in law protest, dun have?hmm???

  13. if they were water-cannoned and tear gassed, it would make DAP no less different than BN. and im sure it would garner bad publicity. they should all be arrested however. no permit. lol

  14. wonder how much they get paid to protest. wouldn’t mind doing that part-time if i can get good money just standing around pretending to care. 🙂

  15. it really sad to see that….
    it not worth to do that and it make other people more scare and worry, din’t bring any benefit also.

  16. ya lor, when I heard, I wanted to call you… to confirm weather it was true… since you live close to town and all… but I didn’t have your phone la.. haha

  17. I drove pass that exact spot at about 4.15 pm. I did not even realized that there was a demonstration earlier because everything seemed to be very normal. I only got to know about it from here. When I was there, no unusual crowd, no heavy police presence, no FRU in sight and no traffic jam. Hmmm…they appeared as fast as they disappeared. I was surprised to see those photos….or am I living in a different dimension?

  18. You guys suka-suka sumbat the whole Penang island…

    That has got to be the funniest line I’ve read all day.

  19. Ah Lian, celaka lu, why you always must include me. I still need tan meh? I rusty colour already what.

  20. Huh…so protesting on the NEP issue, another prove that they can only survive on government support, cronies and corruptions. Lim Guan Eng going to have open tender, transparency, not abolishing NEP, and they can’t live with this. What a shame to their own people…they are the one that is driving big cars, living in their own istana/palaces, having numerous overseas bank account.

    They should be shameful on their act, telling the world they can only survive if they were involved in all the dirty tricks.

    Yeah, go ahead and cancel all Penang’s Mega Projects, the next election, I think we can guarantee the opposition will have clean sweep victory across the country. They are just not using their brain (maybe do not have any).

  21. I think this is good. We want transparent Governance. We want to be tolerant. Let’s prove to BN that we are different. We will not use water canon nor ISA. You want to do a peaceful protest, we can tolerate a little inconvenience.

    In Western Countries, also like that mah. This is democracy. Everyone has their say. Once the novelty is gone, people malas nak protest lagi lah.

  22. Tim – LOL, I listen sermon five times a day wan, don’t pway-pway with me. In fact, I think I hear it clearer than those in the mosque cos my apartment is the same level as the speakers.

  23. I was actually informed about this protest the day before it happened and few hrs before it too.. and best part, i am in KL..
    I think everything is going on ok in Penang, however our Pm is the one who initiated it by warning LGE not to create racial tension in Penang (13th March 2008, Star Online), when there was none..
    UMNO is basically trying to create unnecessary tension in order to gain power and control..

  24. The protest just clearly show that they couldn’t live without NEP. I bet we should throw them to Singapore. There is no NEP. Not even hak istimewa to enjoy there. Everybody live on their own merit. Only the fittest survive.

    I’d welcome if Lim Guan Eng can create another Singapore in Malaysia. His policy will increase our competitiveness both regionally and internationally.

    Pulau Pinang Dinamik, Pulau Pinang Maju!

  25. Hello Every body! You have written a very insightful article arising from the Sub-prime mortgage problem, of which I was not too clear about. After reading your article I can see that it looks very much the 1997 problem that got Asia undone by the same people from the US and I suppose from EU.

    I believe in one wise and ancient saying that nothing comes from nothing; and no matter how clever you are you just cannot pump up hot air and expect it to remain the same all the time, what goes up must eventually come down. The BN government have for the last 50 years been about shaving off a percentage of all government generated contracts and franchises for their own selfish benefit; I would go as far as to say that about 25% of all government contracts have been shaved off and pass on as waste due to corruption. Grandiose projects are thought up that are not of any urgency or requirement are implemented merely because the bigger they are the more the politicians can shave off for themselves. Looking at the second bridge project for Penang I can only say that this is another white elephant that will costs the state several billion ringgit and the shave off will make another crony very rich.

    I have been back to KL and the huge highway that runs through KL to Penang must have costs several billions, and from my observation there is no urgency for such a huge project, Penang is a sea port and Penang could have a first class air-port to improve much needed infrastructure, but instead you plan to put in a billion dollar second bridge project; where is the need for such a project ?

    In KL the hugely expensive FREEWAY does not merit the expenditure because it has not loosened up traffic at all, there are still very long traffic chock points that were there before the highway was put in use as it is now when it is in use. These projects were built merely to benefit those in power. To give them the opportunity to collect toll and to shave off a percentage of the contract sum. The BN government has wasted billions upon billions over the past 50 years. Compare the returns on investment between Singapore and Malaysia and you can see what they have and how they have put their investment dollars to good use. Malaysia wasted their billions upon billions of their ringgit merely to profit a few in the government. While Singapore has invested billions of dollars towards building up one of the world’s finest educational system and a world renown R & D facilities, Malaysia is still “clomping” along at bullock-cart speed; there is just no comparison, a case of cheese and chalk. Singapore has catapulted into the front ranks of a 21st century economy, while Malaysia is still chugging along at a leisurely “kampong” pace.

    I have forever said that Malaysia had the good fortune to discover oil at the time that I left Malaysia, and that discovery of oil saved Malaysia from becoming a case of a SUDAN OR AFGHANISTAN. Malaysia has no manufacturing to speak off. What is passed off as manufacturing in Malaysia is nothing more than mere assembly of discarded Japanese technology as eg. The assembly of the Mitsubishi that passes for the Proton. Yes Malaysia bought the British Lotus and what profitability has it generated ? Look at the Malaysian icon of cheap flights, like Asia Airlines a success story, but it was bought by Fernandes for 1 ringgit and turned around. The Malaysian government lost billions in that project only to be turned around by a non Malay. There are hundreds of other similar examples, that proves the rule that AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS A WASTE OF SCARCE RESOURCES; it did not really benefit the Malays because all the projects that were supported by Affirmative action went into huge losses and they did not benefit Malaysia in any meaningful way.

    The Malays ought to by now at least by trial and error, realize that it takes a certain type of individual to become an entrepreneur and one can say by a rule of thump that a Malay is not likely to be one.

    Penang is an excellent test bed for Malaysia (and by that I mean the BN government) to find a more effective model for development than just sticking to a failed model that is hooked on affirmative action that has gone on for the last 50 years. I agree with DAP that the NEP needs to be scraped because Penang is mainly Chinese, may I guess about 75% Chinese ? Therefore, 75% of the population will not need affirmative action (are there 25% Malays in Penang ? ) In the case of Penang therefore, may I suggest that CM Lim Guan Eng need not take any step back from what he has declared, that he will scrap the NEP(I think he will scrap it too ). My suggestion is for the CM to implement a public announcement of all the good stuff eg. Government contracts up for tender and scholarships and jobs in government.
    My suggestion is that if qualified Malays win any government contracts by fair tender then government assistance may be available to the successful Malay contractor to complete the project. This model is built on the foundation that merit is the basis of success and that if the Malay candidate has merit but not sufficient means to complete his project, the government will render assistance to him. This system will therefore remove the “Malay Sultan syndrome”; the Chinese dubbed this the Malai Wong system, whereby the China-man enlist a Malay as the chairman and under his name takes on a government contract and pays off the Malay chairman a percentage of the contract but the whole project is managed by the Chinese. This system has gone on ever since the first days of Merdeka and it is the greatest indictment of the failure of Malaysia’s failed affirmative action. Let us be blunt about it, if the Malay is not able or qualified to take the job then where is the common sense for taking him on ? His inadequacy only blow up the costs of the project and this has gone on forever.

    I can say that I speak for most Chinese that we do not object and for that matter we had never ever objected to a fair and equitably administered affirmative action, meaning that this assistance are given justly to deserving cases of Malays who need assistances to progress. We Chinese only object to the wastage brought on by nepotism and corruption. If affirmative action only benefits an elite then the Malays will never progress to the point when they will not need any assistance. This is our objection. That being the case CM Lim can experiment with a system that will ultimately create a class of Malay entrepreneurs that will draw level with the other races. What CM Lim has said is just common sense and good thinking. We Chinese do not need any affirmative action.

    On the issue of the award of scholarships and government jobs, if I remember rightly, there is provision in the original Malaysian Constitution that mandates a ratio of 3 : 1 in other words, a 25% places reserved for non-Malays; but this provision had been perverted by those administer the government to give ALL THE PLACES to the Malays. All we need do is to revert to the original Malaysian Constitution and enforce that provision according to the law. We need to name the successful candidates in the press, like the publication of the HSC results. Who are the Malays and who are the non-Malays to show transparency and just administration of the required affirmative action. I believe that transparency is the key and it applies even in the case of the Malays.

  26. I quote from an earlier comment: “Looking at the second bridge project for Penang I can only say that this is another white elephant that will costs the state several billion ringgit and the shave off will make another crony very rich…Penang is a sea port and Penang could have a first class air-port to improve much needed infrastructure, but instead you plan to put in a billion dollar second bridge project; where is the need for such a project?”

    Where you say? My daughter reached Bayan Lepas around 6 p.m. after over an hour delay (which seems to be the norm where flights to Penang are concerned…around 8/9 out of 10 times!!)and by then, the bridge was jammed!!! The nice regular taxi driver suggested letting her spend the nite at his place with his family and proceeding to SP in the morning! But later, the jam cleared and he was able to send her back to the institute in the middle of the night.

    Well, if there is not going to be a second bridge (and I heard Mr Toupee has a lion’s share in the approved tender?), then something MUST be done about the jam. I have made some suggestions in one of my previous comments. Maybe Mr Lim has better ideas???

  27. suituapui…If u look closely, there’ll be sure a 2nd Penang bridge one..dun worry, because hor…the guy by the name of Pateric Balaweee hor..hmm..bought and invest so much money on buying land near the area that they’re suppose to built the 2nd bridge..so I was wondering, would they stop leh?

    I dun think so lor, if they stop, tht means the land become rotten d wor..

  28. Fellas, this is not about Malay rights protest. This is about the fear of UMNOputras being deprived of their lubang and rice bowl if a more transparent way of governance is implemented in Penang (and other opposition led states). The Penang UMNO fellas are now jobless because they don’t have anymore clout to “get things going”. Previously, they probably have a lot of say on how projects are to be implemented and give approval based on connections. Now, they are not needed anymore. So, this so-called demonstrations (and at other places) are nothing more but to use “Ketuanan Melayu” to incite the Malays to hatred.

    How can Malays be so stupid as to think that their whole world has collapsed and that they will be discriminated when the new Penang govt has barely warmed their seats or implement anything directly against their interests? I am sure they are not stupid enough to believe these racists from UMNO who are sore-losers. The very fact that Malays voted for the opposition coalition is because they feel that the opp coalition will be fairer in their implementation of policies for all Malaysians. They are sick of BN’s politics and governance. Kalau tidak, if they are still so wrapped up in racist ideologies, they would have voted overwhelmingly for BN after all the advertisements and propaganda during the election campaign.

  29. From what I can see, this whole demo-emo ala UMNO thingy is stirred up by BN! Yup, sore losers will do anything to gain some attention. Anyway, I am wondering….

    Number 1, how come all TV stations and Mainstream Media carried this demo-emo ala UMNO show when these supposely reporting facts and truth organisation did not even as much as mention anything during BERSIH or HINDRAF? Hmm.. so, does this mean, if UMNO demo, it is OK to spread the word around ah?

    Number 2, (sorry, blog owner censored to save her butt)

  30. they are paid RM80 by UMNO to join the protest, most of them are from Kedah

    this is UMNO tricks to create a tension among the many races in Malaysia, to hide away their own problems !

    UMNO is cracking now, even the Sultan is not happy with them …

  31. All those didnt turn up to work after Friday prayers should be questioned by their repective employers.

  32. wow RM80 just to protest… I also want 😀

    Excuse to tell boss : stuck in traffic jam after lunch hour.

    With main paper putting it as headlines… no need further excuse.

  33. I was there at the demo and the things they were shouting there were way more seditious than any other Hindraf or Bersih fella could say but they got away scot-free. But we all know it is not about the NEP or their so-called ‘rights’, it is more like they can’t accept being losers!

    The FRU were there but merely for show. Ironically (or again, for more ‘wayang’) the water cannons arrive when the crowds had dispersed following an announcement by Azhar telling them to disperse purportedly after instructions from Pak Lah.

    This is what we call the double standard of the BN government! FRU, police and all the TV news stations are all under the BN.

  34. Foong – Thanks for telling us that. If Pak Lah didn’t call that moron and yet, that moron used Pak Lah’s name, he should be hang for smearing the name of the PM. Because that makes like it is the PM who ordered it. Really lah, I don’t know what Pak Lah is doing, condoning such acts. If any sane PM, he will publicy condemn the act and whack Azhar.

    Peoples….you say correct or not?

  35. When indian do a peacefull rally, umno said that is not our culture… But now umno doing protest.. Wut should we call it..
    Better go and do Protest Sounds “We want project” “We want project”

    People can c that UMNO is making racial problems in Malaysia..
    By gud racial leeders:-
    Kai..
    Hish..
    n more..

    Why malaysian media is publishing crap stories..
    I hope opposition party will have their own TV station..

  36. These stupid polis. They are only good getting bribes from Massagr parlour and SPA centers. I am a frequent customer who goes for massage regularly and sometimes the massage parlours in cheras and pudu got raided when i am sitting there. I got some opportunity to video tape the polis taking some bribes during the massage parlour raids and will be posting it on the web soon. Those who wants to download the video clips and photos – pls call me directly at 012-3691850

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