Singapore takes a dig at Malaysia again – Jason Chin
A lengthy, well-analysed and descriptive article was published recently in Singapore’s The Straits Times title “Singapore is not an island” by Bilahari Kausikan. Bilahari expressed his opinion on the current political climate in Malaysia and related on Singapore-Malaysia ties.
As expected, DAP’s Tony Pua got irked and responded faster than the time it takes for tears to roll down Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s eyes. The opposition coalition is a perfect coalition you see. Nobody can speak negative about them.
When the late Lee Kuan Yew criticised Umno he was applauded by DAPsters. But when he questioned Pakatan Rakyat, his views were deemed outdated and wrong.
Earlier this year Dr Bridget Welsh, a world-renowned political analyst who is a senior research associate at the Centre for East Asia Democratic Studies of National Taiwan University, said that the opposition coalition in Malaysia is starting to become irrelevant due to its internal quarrels. She added that the crux of the problem is not only PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang but also DAP’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Bilahari was spot-on when he said “Pakatan Rakyat was always a motley crew. Although its component parties are in theory multi-racial, they have nothing in common except the ambition to displace BN"
He added that in his opinion the new coalition of Pakatan Harapan would also fail, as it’s a "forlorn hope".
In Pua’s response, he said that Bilahari’s views shows how Singapore, despite all its wealth and developed nation status, lacks a moral compass.
Dear Tony, how morally encompassing it is that DAP is now in alliance with the guy who is solely responsible for the destruction of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad?
How morally perfect were you when you ardently denied ever knowing Sarawak Report’s Clare Rewcastle Brown, but when there was no escape you finally admitted you met her?
How righteous was DAP when places of worship in Selangor and historical villages in Penang were destroyed for sky-rise condominiums?
How ethical was it when Lim Kit Siang spoke ill about Islamic law to the Kelantanese?
Malaysia does not need moral lessons by Tony Pua the DAP way. You are in no position to speak about lack of moral compass about anyone. In case you forgot Tony, please allow me to remind you, "Whoever is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone at her".
In 2010, Australia’s Fairfax media group revealed that Singapore’s intelligent services and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew told the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in Australia that then opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim "did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted (act of sodomy)".
Singaporean counterparts concurred that “it was a set-up job and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway". As they say, lust is dangerous as it overpowers mindfulness.
When these revelations were made five years ago, PKR’s Tian Chua jumped to Anwar’s defence and said that the allegations were just “hearsay” and we cannot depend on what foreign intelligence officials say.
Fast-forward five years to 2015, and the same bunch of opposition people are heavily relying on what foreign reports publish. Double-standards, nay?
An online petition to the United States government was made to pressure President Barack Obama to prioritise the release of Anwar in the superpower’s policy towards Malaysia. The White House ultimately removed the petition from their site and that invoked Nurul Izzah Anwar to lodge a complaint to the US embassy.
Pua even wrote an open letter to Obama venting his frustration.
When the British Prime Minister was due to come to Malaysia, the opposition tried hard to get him to cancel his trip. When that failed, DAP’s Petaling Jaya Utara MP once again wrote an open letter to the British PM to not support Najib’s administration.
However, when the Chinese ambassador came to Petaling Street and made inference to the government’s administration, the opposition remained zipped.
Despite all the opposition’s efforts of calling for a boycott to Najib’s administration internationally, Malaysia is still one of the selected countries negotiating on an international agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) involving 11 Asian and Pacific-rim countries, including the USA.
So far, the opposition’s efforts of calling for a cut in international ties with Najib’s government have been in vain.
In his article, Bilahari made inference to religion and globalisation consequences that lead to rigid and exclusive interpretations. He exemplified the emergence of Evangelical Christianity in Singapore. I wonder if that is the segment of Bilahari’s article that ticked Pua off.
In Stephen Covey’s top-selling book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", he said most people seek first to be understood; to get their point across. In doing so, they ignore the other person completely, selectively concentrating on certain aspects and attentively focus only on the words, missing the meaning entirely.
The highly ineffective Pua is exactly that. Instead of digesting and properly deciphering Bilahari’s opinionated article, he knee-jerked into defence mode.
This is exactly why most world leaders do not see any prospect in the opposition pact in Malaysia.
After all, a leader who does nothing else but shed tears in public is leading them. – October 11, 2015.
* Jason Chin reads The Malaysian Insider.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
Source : tmi
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