Najib: Election 2013 first social media election

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Election 2013 will be Malaysia’s first “social media election”, Prime Minister Datuk Seri NajibRazak said today, echoing views that sites like Facebook and Twitter will be a key battlefront to BarisanNasional’s (BN) defence of Putrajaya.

“The coming months will be a fascinating period for people in both politics and the Internet.
“I can confidently predict that this will be Malaysia’s first ‘social media elections’,” the BN chairman (picture), who himself has more than 1 million followers on Twitter and some 1.2 million “likes” on Facebook, told the Malaysian Social Media Week event here.

The country’s sixth prime minister had recently admitted that social media could be a double-edged sword for his party Umno, conceding that the net was among the chief causes of BN’s record loses in the last polls.
In an interview with CNN anchor FareedZakaria at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland last month, Najib said that voters were getting more educated and critical, attributing this to the advent of information technology.

“I see the advent of ICT, social media as both something good, but also our bane… could be our Achilles’ heel as well,” he said.BN lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the historic 2008 general elections that saw four states — Perak, Penang, Kedah and Selangor — falling to the loose coalition of PAS, PKR and DAP, that later formed Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Political analysts have said that Malaysians are turning more to the Internet to get information, which has led to politicians setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts to reach out to voters, bypassing mainstream media that has seen lower newspaper circulation and smaller broadcasting audiences.
There are currently about 13.6 million Facebook users in Malaysia out of a 28.3 million-strong population, which is a 48 per cent penetration of the population, according to monitoring website socialbakers.com.
According to the Oxford Internet Institute, Malaysia along with Brazil, has the highest Twitter use in the world.

A total of 29 per cent of Facebook users in Malaysia are aged between 25 and 34 years.
Najib has about 1.3 million fans on his Facebook page, compared to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 428,371 Facebook fans.

Analysts said much of PR’s success came from its pivotal early recognition and exploitation of the Internet as an effective campaigning platform.To this day, the Internet is still seen an opposition-dominated domain.
But Najib said his coalition is fast catching up. Speaking at the forum, the BN chairman boasted about how his government had fully utilised social media to promote voter participation in policy-making.
He cited his use of social media through Google Moderator to seek public input on the 2013 Budget.
“Thousands of people took part, and a number of their ideas ultimately made it into the final Budget,” Najib told the forum.

Analysts said Najib’s savvy approach to social media, like inviting his Twitter followers to watch a live broadcast of his favourite football team, Manchester United, play at his official residence in Putrajaya, had charmed the younger demographic.A recent survey released shows this demographic forms the largest pool of fence-sitters with about 5 million of them now registered voters. This new tech-savvy group will be the new kingmakers at Election 2013.To tap into the numbers, both sides of the political divide have made it compulsory for their rank and file to set up Twitter accounts as a part of their campaigning key performing index.The 13th general elections, which is expected to be the fiercest in Malaysia’s political history, will be called within weeks.

Education should not be Politicized says Najib Tun Razak

Seri Najib Razak reminded all parties that education is too important and valuable to be politicized. He said the Federal Government had never politicized the sector despite Kelantan being under an opposition party for more than 20 years."We may have differences of opinion and political squabbles but the education sector is too important, too valuable, for anybody to make it a political pawn."That is why I give a guarantee that the Federal Government will continue to give attention to education in the state."Whatever is given to other states, we will always give consideration to Kelantan," he said at the presentation of early schooling aid at SK Seri Wakaf Baharu here yesterday.

Education will bring Success

Beliefs

The prime minister said the Federal Government, through the national education system, wanted to produce a generation of pious and knowledgeable students."Transformations are not based on slogans. If the slogan is developing with Islam but educational programmes are not held, then it will not become a reality."I want to stress this to the people of Kelantan so that they will understand our principles, direction and religious stand in fighting over an issue."

Najib Tun razak said God had promised that the pious and knowledgeable would be given a higher position to show that religion gave a special emphasis on knowledge."We were ordered to be His caliphs in this world but how can we bring prosperity on Earth if we do not have the knowledge. If we are pious but do not have the knowledge, then we will not be able to improve ourselves. However, if we have the knowledge but are not pious, then the knowledge may be misused."

Education will bring Transparency

Najib also said Kelantan had achieved several successes in the educational field, the latest being coming out second in last year's Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, behind the Federal Territories."The Federal Territories and Putrajaya are different as the pupils are children of officers and civil servants but in Kelantan, they are from various backgrounds. However, they still manage to come out second."I would like to congratulate all teachers who have worked hard and shown their dedication and parents who also have an important part to play in the achievement of their children." Transparency will promote growth.

Najib said the Federal Government had allocated RM201.5 million for various educational programmes in Kelantan this year. This, he said, included the students' educational trust fund (RM33 million), 1Malaysia school milk programme (RM1 million), scholarships (RM19 million) and book vouchers for Form Six students (RM5 million).

"We hope the assistance will be put to good use and we are certain that the students, who have been given a chance, will try to transform themselves."Later, Najib took part in an hour-long walkabout to the famous Siti Khadijah wet market.

The prime minister arrived at the market at 9.15am accompanied by several Barisan Nasional leaders, including state Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Kota Baru Umno division chief Datuk Mohd Fatmi Che Salleh and state MCA secretary Tan Ken Ten. Some 1,000 traders welcomed Najib on his arrival. He then met the traders operating at the ground and first floor of the market. Trader Abdul Rahman Yaakub, 65, said yesterday's visit was like a repeat of history for him."Forty years ago I had the chance to shake hands with Nagy’s father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who was prime minister at the time, when he had a walkabout programme here."

Malaysians should talk to sultan, says younger Kiram in Saba

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – If Malaysian officials want to end the stand-off in LahadDatu, they should talk directly to Sultan JamalulKiram III, the leader of Kiram’s “royal army” that has occupied a fishing  village in the east Malaysia state of Sabah since Feb. 9 said Thursday.

AgbimuddinKiram, who calls himself the crown prince of the ancient Sultanate of Sulu, said only his elder brother, the sultan, could order them to leave FeldaSahabat 17 in Tungku, a village in the Tanduo district of LahadDatu.

Speaking over a Sabah radio station, whose shortwave broadcast was monitored here, Agbimuddin said in a mixture of Melayu, Tausug and English that any negotiation “should be through the sultan.”
Agbimuddin’s group has been holed up in Tanduo, a sparsely populated fishing and farming area some 130 kilometers from the center of LahadDatu,  since Feb. 9 and has refused to leave even after Malaysian security forces surrounded them three days later.

The same line was used by Agbimuddin in a separate interview, The Star Malaysia reported.
“All negotiations have to go through my brother in Manila. The final line is my brother,” The Star quoted Agbimuddin as saying by phone.

In Thursday’s radio interview, Agbimuddin stressed the need for the Malaysian government to negotiate with his brother so the issue could be addressed.The Kirams had said that their “homecoming” in Sabah was aimed at advancing their claim over state, which was part of the now defunct Sultanate of Sulu. The sultanate became an obscure monarchy during the American and British occupations of the Philippines and the Malay peninsula and North Borneo.

Sabah Police Commissioner DatukHamzaTaib returned to LahadDatu on Thursday morning but he was mum on what the Malaysian government would do amid the defiance of AgbimuddinKiram’s group.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Deputy Police Inspector-General Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said Malaysian security forces might carry out the forced deportation procedure with 24 hours from Wednesday.
“We are set to end the stand-off,” he told the Malaysia Chronicle.

Agbimuddin said they were prepared for any eventuality as Malaysian security forces had made it clear that an attack was imminent.“We don’t want bloodshed but if the situation forces us, we will fight,” he said.
Agbimuddin said he anticipated a drastic move from Malaysian forces and cited the dropping of leaflets by a Malaysian aircraft, urging his men to surrender, and the advice given by Malaysian authorities to Tanduo residents to pack up and leave as indications that something was afoot.
Meanwhile, Brunei’s Sultan HassanalBolkiah continues to be mum over the Sabah stand-off and the revived issue of who owns the territory.

Historical accounts show that in 1658, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the northern and eastern portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu following the latter’s help in quashing an uprising.
In 1761, the British East India Co. signed a lease with the Sultan of Sulu for the establishment of a trading post on North Borneo, which later came under British protectorate.
When Malaysia was granted independence by Britain in 1963, Sabah was handed over to the new federated state.
JamalulKiram maintains to this day that the annexation of Sabah was illegal because even the Malaysian government had expressed early on that it recognizes the sultanate’s ownership of the resource-rich island.
“Our demand is unchanged. Malaysia should recognize that Sabah is owned by the Sultan of Sulu,” Agbimuddin said.

He said that unless JamalulKiram ordered him to return to Sulu, “I will stay here.”
Agbimuddin said they may be running low on food supply and other provisions but backing out of LahadDatu never entered their minds.Acting Gov. MujivHataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao told the Inquirer the Kirams “have all the right to assert their claim.”But he said President Aquino had wanted to avoid violence, which was why he sent a ship to fetch them from LahadDatu.

“The President said (Agbimuddin and his followers) should better come home, and their claim over Sabah and their grievances against Malaysia should be talked about here,” Hataman said.Meanwhile, Sultan BantilanEsmailKiram II said one of the followers of his younger brother Agbimuddin, fired a shot once on Wednesday when Malaysian security forces tried to sneak behind their lines.“It was not aimed at anybody, just to drive them away,” Esmail told the Inquirer by phone. He said six members of the Malaysian security forces had tried to breach the line of the “royal army.”
He said there was not intention to harm members of the Malaysian security forces, which was why only one shot was fired.

Esmail said as of Thursday, the Malaysian police have not moved to forcibly deport his brother or any member of the “royal army” even as the deadline for them to leave Tanduo had lapsed.
“The Malaysian police chief spoke over the radio that he has no standing order to arrest anybody there, including members of the sultanate’s royal army,” he said.

Cup full to the BR1M for 6,000

SITIAWAN: SOME 6,000 residents of the Manjung district flocked to the Astaka indoor basketball court, here, to collect their RM500 vouchers from the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M 2.0) fund.

The vouchers were dispensed over two days, from 9am to 5pm, at the event organised by the service centre of Lumut MP Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha, who is also the Transport Minister.

The team of seven from the centre was headed by Kong's special functions officer Ting Tai Fook.
Four counters were set up to handle the steady flow of recipients.Abu Bakar Ahmad, 80, a former police volunteer reservist from Lekir, said he would use part of the cash aid to perform the umrahkecil.
Odd-job worker Hassan Basri Abdullah, 67, from PasirPanjangLaut, said he was grateful to the Federal government's effort to ease the people's burden.

The vouchers are cashable at Bank SimpananNasional, Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB.
UmnoLumut division committee member Umar Alus, MIC Lumut division assistant secretary KathiravanSuppiah and IPFLumut division deputy chief V. Periasamy were present to provide assistance.

PM Najib Razak’s Gaza trip that brought Prosperity

Datuk Seri Najib Razak made history by becoming the first ever non-Arab leader to visit Gaza. Najib's trip was made possible by Egypt's decision to ease some of the travel restrictions through its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, despite reservations by Tel Aviv and probably Washington.Najib's diplomatic triumph did not go unnoticed. Ordinary Malaysians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, flocked to social media to applaud the PM over the historic visit which he described as a humanitarian mission. On the day when Israel's elections was supposed to hog the limelight in the Middle East, Najib, his wife and some ministers took a grueling 400-km road trip through Sinai to the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Cairo. Najib Razak trip symbolizes the prosperity and good health.

Najib Tun Razak believes in fair play

The story and pictures of Najib, wearing a light dark-colored jacket, and beige colored trousers but without a tie, and walking alongside Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, made headlines around the world. The New York Times and other major US newspapers also gave some prominence, not to mention the Israeli media. Najib Tun Razak has been the man of dignity and believes in fair play. This trip symbolizes his step towards bringing prosperity in both countries.

Haniyeh, who rolled out a red-carpet welcome for the prime minister, had arranged for a 30-car convoy to ferry the Malaysian delegation from Rafah to Gaza and back, all within the five-hour time limit given to the host. My colleagues covering the trip said the convoy had to make quick pit stops through the narrow and bumpy streets to allow Najib to see for himself the destruction caused by the recent eight-day Israeli aggression.

Haniyeh, seeking to create a huge diplomatic impact from the visit on his government, wanted to provide a first-hand look for Najib and Malaysia, a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause, the plight of his people.

Najib was visibly moved by what he saw and heard, prompting him to tweet a few times to share with the world his feelings and sentiments. But he was also keen to offer Malaysia's mediating experience to bring peace between the two Palestinian factions -- Hamas (which governs Gaza) and Fatah. The prime minister would have made a trip to the Fatah-controlled West Bank but that would not have been possible because of Israel's no-fly zone..

What is clear is that the visit has raised Najib's credentials as a moderate Islamic leader (his peace effort in southern Philippines is commendable) and a true champion of the Palestinian struggle.

Vote for Progress This Election 

Giving youth hope for better life

SAP Malaysia and HOPE Worldwide Malaysia (HOPE) recently announced a joint education and digital literacy initiative to help underprivileged youth in Malaysia acquire basic educational qualifications.

The initiative extends SAP’s relationship with HOPE to a third country in the Asia Pacific region, where both entities have collaborated on similar initiatives in India and Indonesia.

Children from low-income families face enormous pressure to leave school and join the workforce to reduce the family’s economic burden. Owing to a lack of educational qualifications, these youth are mostly confined to low-paying jobs with little or no career progression, thus trapping them in a vicious poverty cycle.
To help them, SAP will invest some RM120,000 this year in HOPE Malaysia’s ongoing supplementary education programme to provide beneficiaries aged eight to 18 with free or largely subsidised tuition and intensive coaching to ensure they successfully sit their PMR and SPM exams.

The funding will also go towards the set-up and support of One-Stop IT Resource Centres at HOPE’s Kuala Lumpur and Penang premises, providing access to computers and digital literacy training to improve employability and economic opportunities.

“Poverty is a crushing condition, but quality education, vocational training and skill acquisition can be the key to uplifting people from lifelong economic difficulties and despair,” said KowshikSriman, managing director of SAP Singapore and Malaysia. “With this programme, SAP hopes to help the underprivileged realise their potential and live better lives.”

HOPE Worldwide Kuala Lumpur executive director Katy Lee said: “We are thankful for SAP’s strong support, which will enable HOPE to serve more people in our community. This programme will go a long way in helping our youth overcome challenging economic circumstances and stressful home environments to complete school and change their lives for the better.”

Liberal Voices in Malaysia 

DPM: Cooperation between leaders and youths should be strengthened

UCHING: The Kuching Integrated Recreational Centre (KIRC), which is usually quiet on Monday, comes alive today with the presence of thousands of youths attending the 'Youth Gathering and 'Santai' Programme.

The programme became even merrier when Deputy Prime Minister, who is on a three-day working visit to Sarawak, made an appearance at the event and delivered a little message for the youths.

Also present were Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, as well as federal and state cabinet ministers.

Muhyiddin was met on arrival by youths clad in traditional attires of various ethnic groups and was entertained by IM4U songs, flash-mob dance and martial arts performance.

In his message, the deputy prime minister said the cooperation between leaders and youths in Sarawak should always be strengthened.

"That's why I want to ask all youths to be with (support) the leadership at the state and national levels because we (government) cannot do this alone without the strong support of the people.

"The BarisanNasional (BN) government has always given special attention to youths in the country. We also have policies and programes which focus on youth development and aim at nothing else but to create a successful young generation of the future," he said.

Muhyiddin also spent some time to mingle with youths involved in various activities held during the programme, including futsal, graffiti, X-games, autoshow, 3-on-3 basketball and cooking demonstrations.

Member of the organising committee, Syed Zyed Wan Asnawi, 33, said approximately 3,000 participants were involved in the programme today, comprising various youth associations and organisations in Kuching.

"We are also thankful and honoured to have Deputy Prime Minister spending his time to attend the programme, this is indeed a proof that the government supports youth activities in Malaysia," he told Bernama

Seremban to benefit from PR1MA

TWENTY-six-year-old teacher Erica Yoon was excited when I met her at the launch of 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA) in Seremban Utara last Saturday.

The BahasaMelayu primary school teacher in Seremban was looking forward to buying her dream home from one of the two types of houses offered by PR1MA (terrace and townhouse) there.

When asked why, Erica said it was hard for her to buy a house with her salary which is less than RM3,000 per month. Although single, she has multiple commitments.

The Sikamat-hailed lass is not alone, as she belongs to a group of trapped middle-income earners who are unable to buy low-cost houses or high-end homes.

This group's woes was addressed in the 2013 Budget when Prime Minister Datuk Seri NajibRazak announced that RM1.9 billion would be allocated to build 123,000 affordable houses in strategic locations across Malaysia under PR1MA.

A total of RM500 million would be spent by PR1MA to build 80,000 houses in major locations nationwide, sold at between RM100,000 and RM400,000 per unit. In addition, PR1MA will provide the Housing Facilitation Fund, totalling RM500 million, to build houses in collaboration with private developers.

"I always wanted to buy a house but never thought that I would be able to afford it, but now I can as the PR1MA Seremban Utara unit costs less than RM200,000 and its beautiful design bowled me over," said Erica.

Negri Sembilan has the honour of being the first state for a major launch for PR1MA projects when in September last year, Najib announced the PR1MA Seremban during his "JelajahJanjiDiTepati" tour to the state in Paroi.

Last Saturday this promise was kept when MenteriBesarDatuk Seri MohamadHasan launched the PR1MA Seremban Utara which offers about 6,000 units of affordable homes for people like Erica who earn a monthly income of between RM2,500 and RM7,500.

Would-be residents would not be caught in traffic jams as a RM158 million federal grant would be used to build a dedicated interchange to link the project to the Kajang-Seremban Highway (Lekas) and upgrade existing town roads to Seremban.

The value of the PR1MA houses there, which is the first to be fully developed by PRIMA instead of using private developers, is expected to rise as the project will be built in soon-to-be-developed RM5 billion township called Resort City by Lapangan Kota Sdn Bhd.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister launched another project, the PR1MA SerembanSentral, the first high-rise affordable homes in the country which will offer about 5,000 units of apartments between 500 and 1,250 sqft in size per unit.

The project will be built within the high-rise blocks of the RM2.5 billion SerembanSentral, touted to be the next KL Sentral which is an integrated hub for transportation, residental, commercial and retail activities.

It is estimated that over 90,000 Seremban residents commute on a daily basis to the Klang Valley via the KTMKomuter service and major highways, and the SerembanSentral is set to boost that volume even further to the point of it becoming the Southern transportation hub.

The announcement of the 11,000 units of PR1MA homes has already created a buzz in the state, with local youth already making enquiries on how to buy the houses.

Twenty-seven-year-old project engineer, SyahrilAmri Abdul Malek, from Bukit Chedang, is looking forward to buy the PR1MA SerembanSentral unit as he is interested in the "city living" lifestyle with a garden, mall, education campus, health and medical facilities, and a hotel right at his doorstep.

"PR1MA SerembanSentral is totally different as it is a project that you would expect to see in Kuala Lumpur or the Klang Valley but not in the sleepy hollow of Seremban. This project will make Seremban a vibrant, exciting, happening city and bring young professionals to live here," said Syahril who oversees a project site in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn at Cheras Selatan.

Aside from this two projects, PR1MA affordable homes would also be built at Seremban 2, Senawang and Rasah, and is set to help Mohamad's dream to turn the state capital of Negri Sembilan into the country's 12th city and the next "Klang Valley".

Mohamad'sall out effort to realise this dream even garnered recognition from the PR1MA chief executive officer who said the main reason they choose Seremban Utara as its first PR1MA-developed project is because of Mohamad's help to speed up all processes for the development.

With the two PR1MA projects launched and three more in the pipeline, it is just a matter of years before Seremban becomes the most-sought after township for middle income earners who work in the Klang Valley.

Speed Up Political Reform to Engage Youth, Urges Khairy

 Is it possible that Umno's rising star and likely future leader is getting restless? His speech to the Umno Youth Assembly Wednesday was as inspiring as we would expect from the youth leader but included a call to get a move on which was aimed at the Federal Government.

He focussed on training, youth jobs and financial assistance aimed at helping young people but then he told the Government it needs to pick up the pace of political reform to better engage with youth.

Addressing an audience containing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah he said: "UMNO Youth advocates that the government continue this political transformation so that the younger generation does not have to look elsewhere for political reform."

"When young people think of change, we want them to believe that BN (Barisan Nasional) is the ultimate choice," he said.

This was hardly a call for revolution within Umno but Khairy's sense of urgency should not be ignored. Umno has been in Government for five and a half decades and for most of the time it is fair to say reform has not been the top priority.

The Najib Government, shaped by GE12, has been different. Political reforms such as the scrapping of the ISA have been monumental but it could also be argued, a long time coming. For Khairy that is a perception Umno needs to deal with if it is to attract the next generation of voters.

The Bersih violence was youth impatience in action. By the time the rally arrived it had become such a broad cause that it is impossible to say what any particular individual was protesting. After all most taking part knew the lion's share of the voting reforms had by then been agreed to.

But the restlessness of the young was palpable, hence Khairy's call Wednesday to make his party synonymous with political (and therefore generational) change.

After his address it is unlikely that Najib would have taken Khairy to task for breaking ranks as the Umno President is one of the first to admit BN in Government has been too slow to change. Najib is actually often frustrated that he cannot push reforms even faster.

But with the seismic political transformation we have seen in 2012 and the success of the Economic Transformation Programme that has been praised by the World Bank and the IMF, few people can say that Malaysia at the end of 2012 is the same nation it was at GE12.

Khairy deserved his moment in the spotlight at the Umno General Assembly because this has been his year. When someone from BN was required to take Pakatan to task over its dribble of populist promises throughout 2012 such as its plan to scrap PTPTN, the Government didn't call upon a cabinet minister but Khairy. That way when he told PKR Strategic Director Rafizi Ramli that his promises would cost RM23 billion, the rakyat could see the youth leadership of both parties on show.

And what a contrast it has been. While Khairy has been getting on with making a name for himself in Umno, Rafizi has been a casualty of the PKR Selangor civil war and faces criminal charges for making public confidential financial records over the NFC affair.

Azmin Ali, the man Khairy debated live on television in May, has all but abandoned his national ambitions settling instead for a tilt at the Selangor Menteri Besar's job – even if he has to stage a coup to get it.

The third "bright spark" in PKR, Nurul Izzah Anwar, has dealt her ambitions a self-inflicted blow with her comments about Muslims choosing their religion.

PKR is a party that seems to have given up nurturing the next generation of leadership. The enthusiasm of the Umno Youth event here at the general assembly is a sign that Umno's next generation is energetic and if Khairy is anything to go by, ready for Najib to introduce more change after GE13.