GE15 Malaysia Votes: Update 10

Malaysia faces the prospect of a hung Parliament even after the 15th general election that saw encouraging voter turnout, with both Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional claiming to possess the numbers to form a federal government.   

 

Announcing to the media early this morning at 3 AM, PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin claimed he has received a letter from Istana Negara informing him of the prerequisites that need to be fulfilled to form the next federal government. 

 

However, just half an hour later, PH held a press conference where Anwar Ibrahim cryptically declared that the pact are ready to form the federal government and had already crossed the 112 simple majority line – without revealing his exact numbers, or from where. 

 

[Methinks, Anwar is on the verge of making a deal with BN. Malaysians shouldn't be surprised. That's the only way PH can form a government].

 

According to Malay Mail, PH could only win 82 seats, down from the 91 they held prior to the Parliament’s dissolution – and a far cry from the 121 they won with Bersatu as their component and ally in the historic 14th general election.

GE15 Malaysia Votes: Update 9

Based on official results at 4:30 AM today, Pakatan Harapan won 76 seats, with coalition member DAP in Sarawak winning another five seats and Muda one seat, for a total of 82 seats. 

 

Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PAS won 51 and 22 seats respectively, for a combined total of 73 seats. 

 

Other parties that won seats are Barisan Nasional with 30 seats, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (six), Warisan (three), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (one) along with two independents. 

 

There are still 3 more seats to be decided. Kota Marudu in Sabah and Baram in Sarawak are pending due to weather issues. Also, the election for Padang Serai seat in Kedah has been postponed due to the death of PH candidate M Karupaiya on Wednesday.

 

PN created major upsets to clinch three parliamentary seats in Penang – Permatang Pauh, Tasek Gelugor and Kepala Batas – in the 15th general election. PH won the other 10 parliamentary seats in Penang – Bagan, Bukit Mertajam, Batu Kawan, Nibong Tebal, Bukit Bendera, Tanjong, Jelutong, Bukit Gelugor, Bayan Baru and Balik Pulau. 

 

Incumbent P Prabakaran won handsomely with a majority of 22,241 in a ten-cornered fight, after collecting a total of 45,716 votes, ahead of Azhar Yahya (Perikatan Nasional-PAS), who obtained 23,475 votes and MIC vice-president A Kohilan Pillay (Barisan Nasional-MIC) with 10,398 votes. 

 

His predecessor in the seat, former PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who ran as an Independent could only garner 4,603 votes. The other five challengers were lawyer Wan Azliana Wan Adnan of Pejuang (849 votes), Naganathan Pillai of Warisan (575 votes) and Zulkifli Abdul Fattah of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (137 votes). Three other Independent candidates were lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim or better known as Siti Kasim with 653 votes, social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharudin @ Cleo (628) and Too Cheng Huat (112).  

 

And Warisan’s attempt to spread their wings to Peninsular Malaysia failed when their candidates failed to win any of the 25 seats they contested as of 2 AM.   

 

The party have not fared well in this 15th general election, having just secured three seats so far, out of the 25 seats they contested in Sabah as well as the Labuan seat, a far cry from the eight seats they won in GE14. 

 

Warisan president Shafie Apdal defended his Semporna seat, while his brother Yusof Apdal triumphed in Lahad Datu with a majority of 6,401 votes. Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis won Warisan’s third seat, winning in Kota Belud with a majority of 4,582 votes.   

 

BN have returned to dominance in Negeri Sembilan after they regained two parliamentary seats from their rivals and defended three others in the general election. 

 

BN’s Adnan Abu Hassan won the Kuala Pilah seat previously held by PN, while Esam Mohd Isa wrested the Tampin seat back from PH, Berita Harian reported.Both seats had been long-time BN fixed deposits until the last general election (GE14).

GE15 Malaysia Votes: Update 8

Pakatan Harapan are currently the coalition with the most seats, 56, after the results of 166 were released officially. 

 

In second place are Perikatan Nasional that have 52 seats, well clear of Barisan Nasional who are in third with just 23 seats or just one more than the Gabungan Parti Sarawak parties. In Sabah, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah have six seats while other parties have four.  

 

The results increasingly indicate that a government comprising two or more separate coalitions will be unavoidable.

KTHXBYE Is Improper Language

A Mamee Double-Decker billboard that popularly features their blue mascot 

I didn’t know that Melaka officialdom can be so archaic in their ways. 

A gigantic advertisement on a pedestrian bridge featuring Mamee Monster was instructed to be taken down by the city’s mayor, Mansur Sudin.

Malay daily Sinar Harian reported that the hoarding located near to the Al-Azim state mosque in Bukit Peringgit, had to be withdrawn because it had used improper language. 

Picture of the Mamee billboard that has been widely shared on social media. Malay Mail Online, May 10, 2019

It carried a picture of the snack brand mascot wishing drivers using the Internet slang “kthxbye” instead of “okay, thank you, goodbye”. 

FYI, the blue character frequently uses the phrase in social media posts on Mamee’s accounts. 

On Thursday, Chief Minister Adly Zahari said the authorities will review the applications for the state’s billboards, especially those that use short forms as mainly only millennials would understand their meaning.

So what's wrong lah?!?!

On May 9, 2018, the people of Malaysia, tired of a decade of unsurpassed greed and unprecedented corruption by their then Barisan Nasional government, decided to make their voices heard. Led by an unlikely coalition of former political rivals headed by nonagenarian Mahathir Mohamad, the Pakatan Harapan carried out an extraordinary campaign for change. 

Check out the trailer for M for Malaysia and when you get the chance, go watch the documentary that bears witness to the historic 2018 Malaysian General Elections:

 

Our first change of government since independence!

Mahathir Mohamad's Report Card

May 09, 2019 marked the first full year of Pakatan Harapan in power. 

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (left) is upbeat about Malaysia, despite setbacks stemming from legacy issues from the previous BN administration. 

On that day, he presented his report card on his administration, informing Malaysians that the government’s performance was based on 464 initiatives, which are policies and specific actions that are stated in each election pledge – as written in PH’s GE14 manifesto. 

He then announced that 39% of the pledges made during GE14 had already been fulfilled. 

To be honest, given the massive challenges faced by the government – it is a more than decent achievement. 

Former minister Rafidah Aziz added that the report card on PH’s first anniversary only reflects 20 percent of their term. 

“We must allow the full run of the five years before coming to any judgement and evaluation of the Pakatan Government. God willing, PH will be able to meet the expectations of the rakyat before they come out again in four years’ time in PRU 15 (next general election)”, she said matter-of-factly. 

Even Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown had called on Malaysians to be patient as PH work to make the nation better. 

It is pertinent to point out that grave damage from the previous Najib Razak’s government had affected national recovery – so, to be fair, PH will need more time. 

When all’s said and done, at least Mahathir’s PH Cabinet has one year's experience now. So, things can only get better.

This photo of my Competent Communication manual was taken on Thursday – one of 5 copies I am left with. This is copy No. 59.

Once I am done with all five manuals, I will have completed 60 CC manuals or 600 CC speeches todate. This should be a record-breaking achievement, I think.

That was the day I attended the OneWorld Toastmasters meeting – where I had been given a speaking slot. 

Of course, I took the opportunity to deliver a speech and it was for a CC #2 Organize your Speech titled The Clock is Ticking. 

And I am planning to secure another twenty-five speaking slots in the next 4 months (May-August) to ensure I stay on track with my 800-speech KPI.

Photos of the said meeting:

The Clamour for House Ownership

Image credit: New Straits Times, Malaysia, October 11, 2018

On Sunday, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said out loud what we Malaysians already know: “Thousands want to buy a house, but thousands of houses cannot be bought. They are empty because house buyers cannot afford, and banks do not easily lend to people who cannot pay back”. 

And so, he expressed confidence that the property crowdfunding solution announced in Budget 2019 can indeed drive the building of one million houses in 10 years – as promised by Pakatan Harapan in their GE14 election manifesto. 

This was supposedly the FundMyHome scheme – the first of its kind in the world – that brings together first-time homebuyers and participating institutions in a mutually supportive relationship. 

Here, buyers pay only 20% of the property price to "own" a home, choosing from a wide array of high-rise and landed properties of different prices and locations. The balance 80% of the property cost is borne by investors via a peer-to-peer financing framework. The said institutions share the returns from changes in the future value of the homes. 

Now, if I understand the above correctly, what it means is that purchasing 20% gives you the option to buy the abode in five years. After five years, if you want to fully own the dwelling, you need to fork out the remaining 80%.

Meaning, there is no monthly repayment for the first five years. After that, a buyer can sell the house or pay for the remaining portion at market price or refinance the property entirely. 

Anyway, this FundMyHome scheme is just another option in the market. I think, the more options we have the better.

Mahathir acknowledged that even as he believed that it is a “fantastic scheme” – he found it hard to believe. He wants to see real solid evidence that it can work! 

In any case, it represents a bold initiative to enable more Malaysians to own houses.

On Thursday, I was at Wisma Mont’ Kiara in KL’s Mont’ Kiara – where I attended the Ireka Toastmasters meeting. I was the General Evaluator at the said meeting. 

Performing this meeting role means I can tick another box in my CL manual – leaving me with just two more tasks before I earn my twenty-second Competent Leader award. 

Plus, I presented a CC #6 speech on Vocal Variety titled I Can’t Scream. Likewise, two more CC speeches and another Competent Communication manual will have been completed – my fiftieth round. 

It is good to know that Ireka’s Ella Yiek delivered her CC graduating speech – and I must say she did well! 

I’m happy to have gone through two practice sessions with her – they boosted her confidence and she should take pride that she is now a Competent Communicator, a well-deserved achievement.

Sound and Prudent Financial Management

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (left) said Saturday that Pakatan Harapan have managed to boost government coffers by seven times in only 4 months after taking over from the Najib Razak administration that had just RM450 million of ready funds for spending. 

He noted that the PH federal administration saw their four-month revenue during the May-August 2018 period growing to RM73.58 billion as compared to the slightly lower RM71.88 billion during the January-April 2018 period, while at the same time substantially reducing its operational expenditure by RM12.96 billion from the previous four-month period’s RM83.29 billion to RM70.33 billion. 

He duly reminded us that the BN government splurged a startling RM83.29 billion on operating expenditure in the four months leading up to GE14, leaving the country high and dry with an account deficit of RM11.41 billion. 

Lim had shown us the sums – the Treasury had RM11.86 billion as at January this year but by the time, PH took over Putrajaya, the Consolidated Revenue Account was left with RM450 million. 

Of course, Lim chalked the PH Government's success down to their “sound and prudent financial management practises”. But of course! 

Yesterday, I was at the Hall of Sri Sakthi Easwari Temple in Jalan SS3/39, Sungai Way in Petaling Jaya, Selangor for the wedding of Suresh Mohan and Anuradha Raghu: 

BTW, both are Toastmasters and the bridegroom is the son of Dr Devikamani Menon (of Sai Masters and Taman Indrahana Toastmasters Clubs).