My volunteering at the 28th SEA Games at the OCBC Arena is finally over today. It has been interesting, fun and a learning experience working as Venue Protocol taking care of VIPs in a regional multi-sports event. Am thankful for the opportunity and to the Team I worked with - full time and fellow volunteers alike.
"Anwar's opposition alliance falls apart - AFP Jun 16, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian opposition political alliance that had threatened to unseat the country's long-ruling regime is no more, one of its three component parties declared Tuesday, following bitter disputes over policy.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Lim Guan Eng said his party would no longer work with its former partner, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), with whom the DAP has clashed over the latter's calls for strict Islamic law.
"Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact) therefore ceases to exist," Lim said in a statement.
Pakatan Rakyat was formed in 2008, uniting opposition parties that had long been pushed around by the governing coalition, dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since independence in 1957.
Pakatan won 52 per cent of the popular vote in 2013 elections, tapping into growing resentment of UMNO authoritarianism and recurring corruption scandals. It failed to take power due to UMNO gerrymandering, but its stunning performance under leader Anwar Ibrahim -- jailed earlier this year on sodomy charges widely seen as trumped up by the government -- had raised the spectre of a historic change of power.
Pakatan's break-up follows increasing rancour between the secular DAP, which represents mostly ethnic Chinese, and PAS, which represents Malay Muslims -- the majority group in the multiracial country.
Anwar's diverse People's Justice Party (PKR) was the other component. Lim said the DAP would continue to work with PKR and "all other forces who aspire to see the end" of the ruling regime.
The DAP holds 37 of 222 seats in Malaysia's parliament, the PKR 28, and PAS 21.
Tan Seng Keat, an analyst with the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, said the impact is difficult to predict.
UMNO and its coalition are racked by infighting of their own, as concerns over the economy and damaging financial scandals have further raised the possibility of defeat in the next polls, due by 2018.
Pakatan's apparent breakup could throw Malaysian politics wide open, Tan said. "The ripple effect of this is that there will be a political realignment in Malaysia over the next few years, with some in the (ruling coalition) defecting as well," he said.
The DAP-PAS divorce had long been viewed as inevitable by some political observers, given their ideological differences. Disputes over PAS's calls for Islamic criminal penalties such as the severing of limbs for theft had reached a boil in recent months. Earlier this month, a PAS party congress saw Islamic conservatives sweep its top leadership and approve a motion to sever ties with the DAP."
The writing was on the wall for a while now since the leader, Mr Anwar, was jailed again!
Lessons for me are:
1. 'marriage of convenience' CANNOT last. Period. No amount of wishful thinking can wish the eventual collapse away. This is especially through when it involves emotional and ideological ideas. Had it just involved money and physical assets and allocation or re-allocation of physical materials, it can be worked out using logical arguments and/or horse-trading. ONCE it involves EMOTIONAL issues, rationality has NO CHANCE to win!;
2. In this part of the world, the 'newly democratic' or the NOT-TOO-LONG practice of democratic election has been called into question by some powerful people who favoured one-party or a predominant party-led government IF the existing '1st past the pole of 50% majority' win should be tweaked! Maybe the incumbent should get double-the-count of the opposition parties. In this way, the incumbent, who, hopefully are doing a good job of governing, can be MORE secured in its position and can concentrate on achieving LONG TERM plan for the citizens!;
3. how does it looks for the opposition parties in Singapore even though there was NEVER a coalition of opposition parties that can remotely pose a threat to the PAP government? With the current AHPETC saga, the most dominate opposition MPs are under great pressure to convince the last voters that THEY CAN get their acts together and that those who last voted for them STILL have confidence in them!
With this news, maybe the incumbent government will hasten the calling of the next GE sooner?
"Anwar's opposition alliance falls apart - AFP Jun 16, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian opposition political alliance that had threatened to unseat the country's long-ruling regime is no more, one of its three component parties declared Tuesday, following bitter disputes over policy.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Lim Guan Eng said his party would no longer work with its former partner, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), with whom the DAP has clashed over the latter's calls for strict Islamic law.
"Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact) therefore ceases to exist," Lim said in a statement.
Pakatan Rakyat was formed in 2008, uniting opposition parties that had long been pushed around by the governing coalition, dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since independence in 1957.
Pakatan won 52 per cent of the popular vote in 2013 elections, tapping into growing resentment of UMNO authoritarianism and recurring corruption scandals. It failed to take power due to UMNO gerrymandering, but its stunning performance under leader Anwar Ibrahim -- jailed earlier this year on sodomy charges widely seen as trumped up by the government -- had raised the spectre of a historic change of power.
Pakatan's break-up follows increasing rancour between the secular DAP, which represents mostly ethnic Chinese, and PAS, which represents Malay Muslims -- the majority group in the multiracial country.
Anwar's diverse People's Justice Party (PKR) was the other component. Lim said the DAP would continue to work with PKR and "all other forces who aspire to see the end" of the ruling regime.
The DAP holds 37 of 222 seats in Malaysia's parliament, the PKR 28, and PAS 21.
Tan Seng Keat, an analyst with the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, said the impact is difficult to predict.
UMNO and its coalition are racked by infighting of their own, as concerns over the economy and damaging financial scandals have further raised the possibility of defeat in the next polls, due by 2018.
Pakatan's apparent breakup could throw Malaysian politics wide open, Tan said. "The ripple effect of this is that there will be a political realignment in Malaysia over the next few years, with some in the (ruling coalition) defecting as well," he said.
The DAP-PAS divorce had long been viewed as inevitable by some political observers, given their ideological differences. Disputes over PAS's calls for Islamic criminal penalties such as the severing of limbs for theft had reached a boil in recent months. Earlier this month, a PAS party congress saw Islamic conservatives sweep its top leadership and approve a motion to sever ties with the DAP."
The writing was on the wall for a while now since the leader, Mr Anwar, was jailed again!
Lessons for me are:
1. 'marriage of convenience' CANNOT last. Period. No amount of wishful thinking can wish the eventual collapse away. This is especially through when it involves emotional and ideological ideas. Had it just involved money and physical assets and allocation or re-allocation of physical materials, it can be worked out using logical arguments and/or horse-trading. ONCE it involves EMOTIONAL issues, rationality has NO CHANCE to win!;
2. In this part of the world, the 'newly democratic' or the NOT-TOO-LONG practice of democratic election has been called into question by some powerful people who favoured one-party or a predominant party-led government IF the existing '1st past the pole of 50% majority' win should be tweaked! Maybe the incumbent should get double-the-count of the opposition parties. In this way, the incumbent, who, hopefully are doing a good job of governing, can be MORE secured in its position and can concentrate on achieving LONG TERM plan for the citizens!;
3. how does it looks for the opposition parties in Singapore even though there was NEVER a coalition of opposition parties that can remotely pose a threat to the PAP government? With the current AHPETC saga, the most dominate opposition MPs are under great pressure to convince the last voters that THEY CAN get their acts together and that those who last voted for them STILL have confidence in them!
With this news, maybe the incumbent government will hasten the calling of the next GE sooner?
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