Nizar's belated remorse

Nizar's belated remorse

Just saw a report by Bernama that Pas' fomer Perak MB DS Nizar Jamaluddin is now seeking an audience to apologise to Sultan of Johor. He also said he wanted to explain to the Sultan about his offending twitter posting about the Sultan's WWW1 car plate number.

Well, on Sunday, when told that more than 30,000 Johoreans gathered in support of the Sultan at Istana Pasir Pelangi, Nizar was quoted by NST as bravely saying that he will continue to speak up against anyone, including the royal families on issues which affect public interests.

Here are Nizar's quote in verbatim -

"If it is an issue which is totally unimaginable, like irrational spending or behaviour, I will continue to speak up...but I will do it in the most polite manner."

Hmmm...I wonder what makes him want to apologise now.

Personally, I think it's a bit late now for him to say sorry.

The Sultan of Johor was clearly offended, judging by what he said to NST on Sunday. Here is the Sultan's statement about Nizar's initial apology via twitter -

"If he really wants to apologise, he must seek an apology from my people first because he was disrespectful to them.

"He should engage his brain before he shoot off his mouth."

I'm not sure where Nizar got the idea that he can apologise to a Sultan by merely twitting it, but I suspect he may be following the lead of DAP's Penang chief minister Guan Eng who simply issued a statement of apology last year when Sultan of Johor remarked that he was offended when Guan Eng told foreign journalists while in Singapore that Johor is not a safe place.

Guess, only now that these Pakatan leaders are learning that their 2008 electoral gains do not give them the licence to be kurang ajar with just anybody.

A pledge of loyalty

A pledge of loyalty

Over 30,000 people turned up at Istana Pasir Pelangi today to pledge support for Sultan of Johor. The organiser had initially expected about 6,000 people.

Personally, I never expected so many to turned up myself. Guess, the Johor royalty still command a huge support from the rakyat.

 This is something people like Nizar Jamaluddin never expect when he tweeted that disrespectful remark about the way the Sultan uses his money. Anyway, I don't think it's so much as about the Sultan's spending which prompted Nizar's remark but rather the opportunity for him to run down the institution itself.

People like Nizar seems to think that the institution of Malay Rulers is a stumbling block to their attempt to change the status quo which prevented them from obtaining power. That is why they deem it necessary to incite the people against the Rulers by way of highlighting what little perceived faults of the royalty.

 I'm not saying the people should not questioned the conducts of the Rulers at all, but they should do so with due respect for the institution which serves as the protector of the people.

I had myself posted in this blog some reminders to members of the royal institution on what they need to avoid in order to maintain the people's respect. I had done so subtly and with due respect for the Rulers. I came to understand that my effort had not been in vain. The Rulers do appreciate feedbacks from the rakyat as they are not the arrogant creatures that people such as Nizar tried to portray.

As a Johorean, I would like to record my pledge of loyalty here today for my Sultan, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar. May Allah bless him with the wisdom and good qualities of a Ruler. Daulat Tuanku.

The need to win the cyberwar

The need to win the cyberwar

The biggest problem with Johor BN's campaign to win the hearts and minds of the people is that they simply do not have enough resources. I know, you all think I'm bullshitting, but this is the truth.

Never mind, I know that most of you all will still never believe me, so I'm just putting it here for the record.

On the cyberwar front for instance, Johor BN were mostly dependent on volunteers to provide the coalition's arguments with some semblance of credibility in the cyberspace. They have no specific allocation to wage war on the cyber-front. Yup, you may not want to believe it, but its true, Johor BN do not hire cybertroopers.

As for pro-Umno Johor-based bloggers you saw roaming around the cyberspace, they were mostly those aligned to certain divisional warlords and not the party itself per se. As far as I know, the State liasion committee and the MB do not bankroll specific bloggers to do their biddings. I did asked Johor Umno media handlers why this was so, and the simple reply was that they do not have any allocation for such things.

It's a direct contrast to the Penang DAP which employ a squad of cybertroopers based at the Komtar. They were well funded, trained and coordinated. You can see them in action at any credible pro-BN blog which post anything against DAP. They would hog the comment space to neutralise or divert the readers to other issues favouring DAP.

Maybe Johor Umno/BN should seriously consider this weakness of theirs and do something about it. I'm not suggesting them to hire cybertroopers like Guan Eng did, but at least do something la to encourage pro-Umno/BN bloggers to be more prolific and provide them with the necessary equipments and a common platform for better coordination. Its something if done is going to be all win and no lose. Afterall, almost everyone goes to the cyberworld for information these days.

I hope this humble suggestion of mine could be seriously considered, and considered fast. The general election could be held within the next few months and Johor BN/Umno will need all the help it could muster.

 I'm not hoping much for BN/Umno people in KL to understand why I need to do this posting as I know they were flush with fund for cyberwarfare. But hopefully, if someone at PMO is reading this, he/she will deem it necessary to suggest to the PM for an additional allocation to be channeled to Johor and other States for this purpose.

Pas' Monkey Blur and black magic

Pas' Monkey Blur and black magic

Being not well for the past few days. Too sickly to do any postings.

Today feeling better. Need to restart the engine of thoughts...man man liao.

Seems that Nizar the laser mouth really got Johor Pas in trouble. Simply simply insult the Sultan for what. Even Salahuddin Ayub know this. Well, Salahuddin actually should thanked Nizar. At least now he has an excuse when Johor Pas fail to deliver in the coming general election. In all probability, Johor Pas is going to fail anyway as support for Umno and BN among the Malays is on the rise of late, according to the Merdeka Center poll.

Actually, Johor Pas should not be too disheartened. I think they are better being losers than being mere stooge of Johor DAP which is the real king of Pakatan in the state. I don't think Salahuddin wants to be the puppet MB to DAP like Nizar was. He may not want to say it, but being a Johorean Malay, I believe he does have some amount of dignity left in him. Nizar's MB title back then actually stands for Monkey Blur...as far as I'm concerned la.

Anyway, Johor Pas campaign here are really going nowhere. This was evident when they started to come up with perposterous excuses, the latest beng the claim by their youth chief Suhaizan Kayat that Umno people are using black magic to sabotage Pas. Really, I'm not kidding you. He made the claim during the recent Johor Pas meeting at a hotel in Skudai. He said Pas leaders tend to get sick when they were about to go for their ceramah rounds and he blamed it all on Umno's doing black magic stuff. Well, really fancy excuse isn't it?

In another news, my favourite chief executive in Johor, Encik Ismail Ibrahim is now Datuk Ismail Ibrahim. Congratulations. Surely Irda will be a better organisation with a Datuk at its helm...I think...

Err...that day also someone asked me whether its true that Datuk Lim Kang Hoo aka Datuk Ghost is now a Tan Sri. Since I'm not that close to him, I can't say for sure. Anyone knows?

Nizar's little barking at Sultan of Johor

Nizar's little barking at Sultan of Johor

So, the Pakatan's former Perak MB Nizar Jamaluddin said it's ok to tell Sultan of Johor what to do and what not to do with his royal highness' money. He seems to think that the Sultan should not spend the half a million ringgit on a car number plate. He said he will only apologise if the Sultan makes it known that he was offended by what he said.

Well Nizar, first of all, the money belong to the Sultan.  So whatever he do with his money is his own business. The Johor royal family is rich. So if the Sultan want some luxury items using his own money, who are we to say he shouldn't. Since your are not a Johorean, then let me tell you Nizar that the Johor royal family have done good for the people of Johor. They do not live on the stipend paid by the State government. That money actually go to royal foundations and to be benefited by the rakyat.

Secondly, the money paid by the Sultan for the plate number go to the government's coffer. The money is for the government to use for the benefit of the people. So, what's wrong with that? It's not like the Sultan was paying for some foreign stuff causing an outflow of our money.

Nizar, being a former MB should know all these. But why does he deem it necessary to make such noises about the Sultan of Johor? Would he made noise if it was a Chinese tycoon who bought thar WWW1 plate number?

The last time he made his complaints known against the royalty was against his own Sultan of Perak, That I can understand lah, as he was pissed because he lost his MB seat and need to lash out at something. Having seen Nizar in action during one of those Pas' ceramah, I know he is very capable of going rabid at those he doesn't like.

But why does he want to bite the Sultan of Johor this time?

The only answer to that question I can think of was that Nizar was actually unhappy with the Sultan of Johor because of his highness' habit of supporting development projects in Johor being attacked by Pas and its Pakatan allies.

The latest being Petronas'   RAPID petroleum hub project in Pengerang. The Sultan, while launching the project earlier this month delivered a strongly worded speech, admonishing those who were opposing the project, describing them as "anti-development instigators".

It was really a royal slap across the face of Johor Pakatan leaders who were opposing the project and trying to turn it into another Lynas issue for the coming general election. From what I understand, the Sultan had went out of his way to deliver that message across, not because he wanted to dwell in politics but rather he was angry that there are those who are out to deny the benefits of development for the rakyat of Johor.

Well, I don't think the Sultan of Johor will lower himself to demand an apology from some biadap Melayu like Nizar.

 So, Nizar in his infinite stupidity may think he won this one just because the Sultan is not saying anything. But just wait and see how Johoreans will punish Johor Pas in the coming general election because of this. I know, not all Johoreans are pro-royalty, but I am quite certain the overwhelming majority of them are also not pro-kurang ajar outsiders who think they can spit at a Johor institution...the Sultan of Johor, of all institutions at that.

Note: Seditious comments are not allowed here. Thank you,

Giving way from Johor Umno

Giving way from Johor Umno

As preparations for the coming general election are now entering the last lap, Johor Umno are in the process of vetting their list of potential candidates.

I was made to understand that a lot of new faces will be introduced based on the need for winnable candidates to represent the party.

The big question now is, who among the current Johor Umno wakil rakyat will make way for the fresh faces.

Who among these wakil rakyat are willing to give way for the sake of Umno and Johor's future?

Who among them will be willing to not only give way but help the new Umno candidate to retain the constituency? Are they willing to let go of their seat without causing problems to the party?

These are questions which need to be considered by Johor Umno chief Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman before making the necessary recommendations to party president DS Najib Razak.

My personal opinion on who among Johor Umno wakil rakyat who should gracefully give way to new candidates are as follows -

1. Buloh Kasap (Segamat) - Osman Jais. He has been there forever and rakyat in Segamat were said to be getting tired of him.

2. Sekijang (Sekijang) - Baharum Mohamed. Said to be spending more time in public conflict with his division deputy than looking after the interest of his constituents.

3. Bukit Serampang (Pagoh) - Tahir Taat. Should consider making way for a younger, more energetic candidate.

4. Serom (Ledang) - Abdul Ghani Othman. He wants to retire peacefully...but I heard the PM has other plans for him..

5. Bukit Naning (Bakri) - Abdullah Ali. His performance is simply not up to expectation.

6. Sungai Balang (Muar) - Robiah Kosai. Not a winnable candidate. Sure kalah if fielded again.

7. Semerah (Parit Sulong) - Ariss Shamsuddin. Failed to add value to his constituency. I had to google to get his full name.

8. Sri Gading (Sri Gading) - Mohammad Aziz. Errr....how many terms already aaaa? Lost count leh.

9. Senggarang (Batu Pahat) - Jaafar Hashim. Not performing. Promises not delivered.

10. Layang-Layang (Simpang Renggam) - Onn Mohd Yassin. Also failed to add value to his constituency. I don't even know what he looks like.

11. Kukup (Tanjung Piai) - Md Othman Yusof. A good businessman but a poor leader in politics.

12. Bukit Permai (Kulai) - Kamaruzaman Ali. No charisma and not performing as a wakil rakyat. Simply cannot handle the Kulai division warlords.

13. Nusajaya (Gelang Patah) - Aziz Sapian. Not good in handling issues of his constituency. Too confrontational.

14. Kempas (Pulai) - Osman Sapian. He is under too much pressure from within his own Pulai division.

15. Johor Bahru (Johor Bahru) - Shahrir Samad - Like Ghani, he wants to retire peacefully (but I don't think there is anyone to replace him in JB for now).

16. Endau (Mersing) - Zainal Abidin Osman. Has been a wakil rakyat for too long and need to give way to new face.

17. Kota Tinggi (Kota Tinggi) - Syed Hamid Albar. Been around too long. Should play the role of mentor to younger leaders.

18, 19, 20. (Pengerang) - Azalina Othman of Pengerang, Hamimah Mansor of Penawar, and Harun Abdullah of Tanjong Surat. All three should be replaced. They can't seem to work together as a team. For the interest of Johor Umno, Pengerang constituents and divisional unity, a new united team should helm Pengerang.

Idiots from Selangor and Dr Boo's troubles

Idiots from Selangor and Dr Boo's troubles

Earlier today, JB mayor issued a statement saying that an application by a group of people to hold a rally at Dataran Bandaraya here on Saturday had been rejected.

The group had meant to have the rally here in support of the one to be held on the same day at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.

The mayor said the place will be unavailable on that day because it is going to be used for a futsal and netball tournament which had been planned since earlier this year.

He suggested for the group to apply instead to the management of Larkin Stadium to have their fun time there.

Personally, I think Mr Mayor was being super polite. I would not have even bothered to reply to a bunch of funny people.

These people are funny because they are actually from an association named Persatuan Masyarakat Perihatin Selangor.

Why they need to come all the way from Selangor to demo here? Not enough space over there ka?

Go join the crowd in KL cannot ka? Sibuk here in JB for what?

I suspect that this got something to do with the attempt by Kit Siang and son to crowd out Johor DAP chief, the handsome Dr Boo Cheng Hau and his Indian tonto Norman Fernandez.

I think you all know already about Kit Siang's slick move to bring his cronies to contest in Johor in the coming election. It was actually an opening gambit to sideline the popular Dr Boo who may become a threat to Guan Eng if possible major gain by DAP is made in Johor under his leadership.

Seriously, who else in the DAP rank who is young, smart, capable, a proven leader, hard working and got the gut to stand up to Guan Eng and his father? You tell me lar? Let's not even mention the handsomeness of Dr Boo, ok?

Oh please don't even try to mention that sniveling spineless Tony Pua as a comparison to Dr Boo. For all I care, it was him who send those idiotic Selangorians here to demo.

Dr Boo, being a sensible Johorean may had defied orders from party leaders in KL  to organise the rally here causing them to send their own team down here.

Why Dr Boo and not Johor PKR or Pas leaders? Because Dr Boo is the sole Johor Pakatan leader who have real clout, ok? What? That pathetic MCA reject Jui Meng? Come on la, the washed out man got nothing la compared to Dr Boo. It's a fact that Johor PKR are beholden to their DAP counterpart. Pas leaders? That Sallahudin fella just come back to Johor and yet to know nuts about this place. The rest of Johor Pas leaders are simply cartoonish, ok?

So, all things considered, Dr Boo may likely shine and this the Lim family simply cannot take. That's why we end up almost having a bunch of funny Selangor people taking over our padang at Dataran Bandaraya. Semak only.

DAP will win more seats in Johor

DAP will win more seats in Johor

I had written several times on the foolish notion that Pakatan stand a chance to capture Johor in the coming general election.

My contention is simple - you can do whatever you want with Johor, turn it upside down, this way or that way, and still the State will be ruled by BN after the next general election.

It is just a matter of whether BN will win big or small, or whether Pakatan will win more seats or be totally wiped out.

Even the most hardcore Pakatan people in Johor know that this is true.  


Pakatan currently have one parliament and six State seats in Johor.  The parliament seat is DAP's Bakri while the State seats are DAP's Skudai, Senai, Mengkibol and Bentayan as well as Pas' Maharani and Sungai Abong. BN have 25 parliament  and 50 State seats.

At the rate they are going now, my bet is that in the next general election, Pakatan will win one parliament seat and not more than 10 State seats.

Ok, let me explain later why Pakatan will get more State seats.

Firstly, these are the seats I expect to fall to them - for Parliament, it will be Kulai; for State seats, they will be Skudai, Senai, Bukit Batu, Penggaram, Pekan Nenas, Bentayan, Jementah, Bekok, Mengkibol and Yong Peng.

Do take note that Pas' Maharani and Sungai Abong are not in my list of Pakatan's probable dominions. Bakri is also not in it.

Yes, except for maybe one or two of those seats going to PKR as tokens, the rest will be DAP's. Pas will totally be wiped out. They are just there to break up the Malay votes.

 Why?

It's because these constituencies in my list are those with clear cut Chinese majority and Umno there are having problem keeping things together. Kulai for instance got almost 60 per cent Chinese voters and the Umno division there are in serious trouble

I had repeatedly written in this blog that the only real problem faced by Johor BN is the perceived unhappiness of the Chinese community with the ruling coalition. Nothing else for the Pakatan people in Johor to really make noise. Case in point, is the fact that Johor PKR even have to appoint MCA reject Chua Jui Meng as their chief to pander to the Chinese community. It's the Chinese votes they are banking on. Nothing else.


It's also the only basis behind Pakatan's claim that they can achieve something in the State in the next general election.

But of course they cannot openly admit that. They still need as many non-Chinese votes as they can get to break the especially united Malay vote bank in the State which is still more or less solidly behind Umno.

So, they have to come up with something like this Cooking Lynas-style nonsense for Pengerang

Apparently The Mole had pick up the drift here

Southern discomfort

And today a group of Pakatan-backed people filed a case at the court to stop the petroleum hub project.

No need for me to write more about it here as you all can go to those links to understand better about those Pakatan engineered Pengerang issue..

These sorts of  Pakatan bullshits will go on until the next general election as a camouflage for their real agenda. Protests against Lynas, support for Chinese schools, demo for electoral reform etc etc. All the same. It will go on and on and on. All just bullshit, ok? The real issue is just about politics and Pakatan taking over Putrajaya. Nothing else.

Petronas PR in Pengerang must learn from Iskandar

Petronas PR in Pengerang must learn from Iskandar

Sometimes I don't understand why people need to be so arrogant just because they are working for some big organisations.

This is especially true among those who are from KL, placed in "small towns" like JB.

Several years back, a friend who is a journalist told me about his constant struggles with PR people of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) and Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB).

He told me of how these PR people do not seem to really care to engage the local Press nor do they seem to care about the Iskandar Malaysia's main stakeholders - the local people.

My friend said these PR people rather deal with the "higher class" media people such as big time editors and top journalists in KL. They also hardly care to meet the local stakeholders among the orang-orang kampung. They always feel that if they want something done, they can always get their friends among the Press bosses in KL to squeeze their subordinates in JB to do it.

At that time, I thought my friend was exaggerating. Well. this friend of mine is a bit of a diva and has a knack of being over dramatic from time to time.

But later on, I found out that he was actually telling the truth (eerrr, with slight kuah tambah la, of course). The ding dong battle between the JB Press and these PR people went on for quite sometime until things started to improve after direct intervention from none other than Khazanah boss Azman Mokhtar and Johor MB themselves.

My friend had then stopped bitching about the Irda and IIB PR people for quite awhile.  In fact, he became good friends with some of them and started writing glowing reports about the two organisations. The Irda and IIB PR people also improved a lot by making lots of engagements not only with the local Press but more importantly with the local people through their CSR programme and development briefings.

The honeymoon  lasted for quite a while until around the end of 2010 when Irda and IIB overhauled their PR teams. My friend said things are now back to square one. The new PR boys and girls are mostly from KL and quite snotty, he said. They simply refuse to learn from their predecessors.

Looks like they have to learn it the hard way.

The new IIB Comms team recently made a major blunder by getting the Star's "top editor" BK Shiddhu to interview their boss instead of giving such a privilege to the newspaper's highly experienced JB-based business writer Zazali Musa. The outcome of the disastrous interview I heard could be quite severe for the IIB CEO.

You cannot offend the Arabs like that la. That's what happen if you get a 'top editor' who are out of touch with sensitive issues to write for you.

Well, I don't even want to bitch about the even worse new Irda Comms team, as I may end up not addressing the real issue I want to bring up, which is the attitude of the Petronas PR team handling the petroleum hub project in Pengerang.

I heard they are even worse than their peers in Irda and IIB.

Well, they better change their attitude, and they better do so NOW.

GET OFF YOUR KL HIGH HORSES AND ENGAGE THE LOCALS.

The Pengerang project will come under attack as the general election draws near. I had written about it here
Cooking Lynas-style nonsense for Pengerang 

These Petronas PR people better have a plan not only to counter but also pre-empt the coming attacks. Win over the locals. Get down and dirty. You all are no longer high up in the cloud at the glittering twin towers in KL, ok?

And don't send some lowly lackeys, who can talk endlessly but can't decide without management say so, to do the work down here. Decisions on what needs to be done must be made fast, so if your decision making process takes days if not weeks, die la for sure.

Johor BN battle ready

Johor BN battle ready

Johor BN's preparations for the coming general election are going smoothly. This was acknowledged by both PM and DPM when they were in the State last week.

Najib seems to be satisfied with Johor's BN efforts after briefed on the situation on the ground during his meeting with the State Umno leaders at Tanjong Puteri Resort, Pasir Gudang on Saturday.

Muhyiddin had several days earlier said Johor BN chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman is doing the right   thing with his overall strategy and personal visits to the peti-peti undi areas. Such an endorsement from his old Muar High School classmate should mean a lot to Ghani. Muhyiddin made the statement while visiting Kulai is black area.

Kulai Umno division chief Datuk Adam Hamid, who is a close ally of Muhyiddin, should get the message, I guess. From what I heard, Adam does not think too highly of Ghani's strategy. Hopefully, he will change his mind after what Muhyiddin said that day.

As it is should be with everyone else in the party, the main thing now is for BN to win the election. The internal struggle and huge egos should be set aside for now. All the ships must sail in the same direction. Otherwise they will be picked off one by one by the enemies.

For those who wants so much to become the next Johor Menteri Besar, there is no need to be over enthusiastic about it. Work to win the election first. Rest assured that Ghani is retiring. He had repeatedly made his intention known to everyone, including Najib himself. I personally wish that he gets to retire.

The MB's job is definitely not easy if it is to be done properly with integrity and sincerity. It is not a lubok of riches where one and one's cronies could use the power to get what ever they want. It's a job where the rakyat's interests need to be protected from all those hungry wolves who don't care about anything but their own tembolok. I pray that the next Johor MB is not one of those wolves himself.

 BTW, Ghani's visits to the peti undi areas is at its final lap. Of all the critical areas, Tanjong Piai is the only one to be completed. Nonetheless, I heard a lot more works were to be done such as follow-ups of those visits and continous monitoring and adjustments on the ground.

Whatever it is, I think Johor BN will be ready once Najib set the date of the general election.

My perdiction of the outcome is that except for DAP which may win a few seats in areas such as the Chinese-majority Kulai, the rest of the Pakatan people in Johor will be wiped out....that is if everyone in Johor BN could from now on concentrate their energy on winning the election instead of trying to kill each other off to further their personal interests.

One last thing, feedbacks from the ground indicate that BN stands a good chance to get back the only parliamentary seat in Johor currently in Pakatan/DAP's hand - Bakri.