Mahathir Mohamad To Contest in GE14

Image credit: https://udaipurtimes.com/udaipur-gears-new-year-celebrations/ 

My best guess is that the 14th General Election is likely to be held in March-April. Or if that doesn't happen, then it's July-August. 

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad announced on Saturday that he will contest. And reportedly, in one of these three constituencies: Langkawi, Kubang Pasu and/or Putrajaya. 

“So, be ready for that, because I will be”, Mahathir said during a press conference at the end of Bersatu’s inaugural annual general meeting in Shah Alam, Selangor. 

Of course, he will be contesting – after all, he is being touted as Pakatan Harapan’s interim prime minister. Should the opposition win enough seats in the next election to form the government, that is. 

It seems that PKR have already set three conditions that must be met for Anwar Ibrahim’s party to consent to this game plan. 

First, de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim is to be immediately released from jail and installed as the prime minister within a year of the opposition coming into power. 

Second, PKR are allocated the most federal seats to contest in GE14. Sixty seats in Peninsular Malaysia was the figure bandied about. 

Third, Mahathir agrees to reform key institutions in the country. 

Fair, I say. Although I have my reservations if Mahathir will actually do all of the above.

Anyway, let’s see how Mahathir and Bersatu play this game out.

Unplugged Music: Datuk Yusni Hamid

On Friday, I was an accidental emcee for an Unplugged Music event that featured Yusni Hamid @ THE POD in Sunway Putra Mall, Kuala Lumpur. 

I had to do it in Malay and I can tell you I was nervy and on edge! Still, what a relief because I acquitted myself well enough. 

Indeed, Yusni sang very well – she has this talent to coax one enticing melody after another! 

Oh, it was a full house, by the way! 

If I have to choose one song as my favorite, it has to be this – yup, Kasih:

Here are some of the photos I captured that evening:

Invoke Offer Hope

An Invoke survey carried out to ascertain voter sentiments nationwide and involving 5,000 registered voters chosen randomly by a computer system showed Malay support slipping for UMNO and PAS. More so for PAS. In fact, there is a good chance PAS can even be wiped out.

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli said on December 19, 2017, only 41% of Malay voters nationwide would vote for UMNO if elections were called and three-cornered fights occurred. 

Rafizi said the poll found that voter support for PAS too dropped drastically in 12 months, with only 14% of Malay voters saying they would vote for the Islamist party in a three-cornered fight. This is an 11% drop compared to 25% of Malay voters who said they would vote for PAS in a similar survey carried out in January. 

The level of Malay voter support for PAS can be expected to plunge further in the months to come. From the 14% Malay voters who said they would support PAS, only 21% said they would not go out to vote if PAS did not contest. 

Rafizi also noted that the level of Chinese support for PH had returned to 2013 levels, surpassing 80% this month. Similarly, the level of Indian voter support returned to 2013 levels, with 60% towards BN and 40% towards PH. 

In the event of three-cornered fights, Invoke project BN to win 107 parliamentary seats, PH will win 115 and PAS will be looking at zero seats. 

In Peninsular Malaysia alone, PH are projected to win 102 out of 165 parliamentary seats, while BN will grab 63 seats. In Sabah and Sarawak, PH expect to take eight and five parliamentary seats respectively, while BN will be left with 14 and 26 seats respectively. 

Now I have hope. I can even be optimistic. Change will come. Change must come. 

Jurgen Klopp described his team as "a joy to watch" when the Reds hammered Swansea City 5-0 on Tuesday. 

Thankfully, Liverpool did not disappoint. 

Two goals from Roberto Firmino (52, 66) and one each from Philippe Coutinho (6), Trent Alexander-Arnold (65) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (82) helped Liverpool to this emphatic win at Anfield. 

The victory ensured Liverpool remain in the thick of the battle for the Champions League places in fourth spot – five points behind second-placed Manchester United.

24-hour Mamak Eateries May Have to Close at Midnight

Image credit: http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.my/2013/11/late-night-mamak-shop.html 

To justify why mamak eateries should stay open round the clock – the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) came up with two interesting explanations! 

Kimma's Syed Ibrahim Kader said 24-hour restaurants provide more than just food. In fact, they are safe spaces for young people to mingle and more so among Muslims, they help prevent acts of khalwat (close proximity). 

Then he voiced his concern that Malaysia’s attractiveness as a global food destination will likely suffer. Tourists come here and are amazed that food is available for 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and if this change, this would have an adverse impact on the tourism industry. 

The Kimma president was making these counter-arguments because Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam who is spearheading the campaign to promote healthy living among Malaysians had suggested eating places should close by midnight – implying that mamak food is either unhealthy or that Malaysians have bad eating habits – meaning they are unrestrained in their food intake, i.e. enjoying being on a food binge (Think obesity). 

Of course, mamak eateries are operated by Indian Muslims – so Kimma have an obligation to safeguard their interests. I suppose he does make sense.

Red Clementine

Red Clementine in Kajang, Selangor describes itself as offering modern Western cuisine. 

I was invited to its grand opening on Saturday and these photos show that this is the place to go to if you are in the neighborhood: 

Fellow Toastmasters from Speakers’ Dream were there too. 

The highlight, of course, was the food sampling! 

Smoked duck salad 

Chicken teriyaki  

Salmon don 

Beef satay RC style 

Pandan kaya matcha French toast 

Thank you, Vickey Chen!

I made a brief mention about a Philippine city under siege from IS militants in my blogpost “Intolerance Thrives in Malaysia” dated May 29, 2017. 

The story of Marawi – the capital and the only city in the province of Lanao del Sur on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines – is about the five-month-long armed conflict that started on May 23, 2017, between Philippine government security forces and militants.

Mindanao is so close to Malaysia. If we are not careful, this too can happen in our country.

A Christmas Medley

It’s Christmas! So please enjoy this Christmas car ride with Motoki: 



But since it is Christmas, I have just one wish!

.

Merry Christmas 2017

Pic credit: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oRb1J-_stHE/maxresdefault.jpg

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year everybody! 

It’s no mean feat to sell 400 tickets for the District 51 Annual Conference 2018. And at escalating prices at that.

But that is what the Organizing Committee are determined to do. 

We embraced the challenge and we rolled up our sleeves and started selling.

The elation, the excitement, the euphoria are building up as we inch closer to finish off ALL 400 tickets!

And when we did finally finish selling the 400 tickets – we had realized that we took just 151 days to achieve this target. 

Well done to the Organizing Committee of D51 AC2018! 

And thank you to all who registered for the Conference!

#d51ac2018.