Malaysia's Elections 2008 (Before, During & After)

[goldfries]

hehe, it can be said that Malaysia is The Land of the Dead. Only during General Election period.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by karhoe

What about the enormous amount they spent on TVC and internet ads? I thought they have budget?

Obviously, they are spending a lot of money on those. But I think that's what the party spends. Each BN candidate was given at least RM 2 million to spend on their local campaigns, or so the report states.

[Falcone]

kennysia.com: kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-This-Election Decision Generator



DEMOCRATIC ACTION PARTY!

[jasperchc]

OMG, the kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-For-This-Election Decision Generator™ says that i should vote for Keadilan, now i am totally lost as to who to vote, DAP or Keadilan????

[Chai]

Originally Posted by Falcone

kennysia.com: kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-This-Election Decision Generator



DEMOCRATIC ACTION PARTY!

LMAO! Same here!!!

[PsYkHoTiK]

LMAO Same...

[bslee]

To all GE2008 voters, lets deny 2/3 majority for a better future. Please think again for everyone's future and NOT allow another 5 years of crooks and scoundrels to run amok.

[Dashken]

Originally Posted by jasperchc

OMG, the kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-For-This-Election Decision Generator™ says that i should vote for Keadilan, now i am totally lost as to who to vote, DAP or Keadilan????

Huh? Your place got 3-corner fight is it? Aiya... any opposition also can la, as long as it's not dacing.

I also got Keadilan but my place only DAP.

[Dashken]

Woohoo... spread the news!!!

Malaysiakini goes free for one week

In view of the country is going to the polls on Saturday, Malaysiakini has decided to make its website free beginning today.

From 3pm today, readers will be able to access all Malaysiakini reports and articles without having to log in. The site will be locked again on March 10, two days after the general election.

As compensation to Malaysiakini’s existing subscribers, one additional week will be added to their subscription periods.

"We hope that voters will be able to access independent news so that they can make an informed decision on polling day," said Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran in announcing the decision.

malaysiakini versi bahasa malaysia"Our Bahasa Malaysia section went free last week, and now with campaigning into its final lap, we’ve decided to make our articles in the English and Chinese language sections free as well."

Chandran said the move is in line with Malaysiakini’s vision, which among others include the support for ‘the development of freedom of speech, social justice and democracy in Malaysia’.

"Democracy is about voters acquiring sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice. By making Malaysiakini available to all, we want to play our part in helping Malaysians exercise their democratic right," added editor-in-chief Steven Gan.

During this free period, Malaysiakini will allow its ‘news and views’ to be re-posted in blogs and other websites as well as to be printed and photocopied for distribution.

Reaching out to all

Malaysiakini was launched on Nov 20, 1999 - the nomination day for the 1999 general elections.

The site reached 100,000 unique visitors per day within eight months. However, with the ‘dotcom’ bust in 2000 and Internet advertising rapidly drying up, Malaysiakini was forced to make the drastic choice of charging our readers in 2002.

"Going subscription-based has been a very tough sell, but it has paid off over the long term," said Chandran.

Malaysiakini earned just under RM1 million in subscription revenues in 2007, which helped towards meeting the website’s operational expenses.

"It is this income from our subscribers that allows Malaysiakini to be independent," stressed Chandran.

In 2003, Malaysiakini launched its Malay section which is followed by its Chinese version two years later. Last year, Malaysiakini.tv went live.

Last month, Malaysiakini went Tamil through MalaysiaIndru - the result of a partnership with magazine publisher Semparuthi Publications.

Growth in visitors

Gan said Malaysiakini would be focusing its efforts on developing the website further to incorporate the latest innovations in connectivity and features besides strengthening its news section.

"We are aggressively reinvesting all our income into expanding Malaysiakini so as to better serve our readers," said Gan.

Malaysiakini’s readership has grown rapidly in recent months on the back of public protests and the VK Lingam video scandal.

Since the general election was announced, Malaysiakini is being read by an average of 180,000 unique readers and over 30,000 video downloads per day.

"We hope that our readers will continue to support Malaysiakini in the years to come. Apart from subscriptions, we will continue to welcome donations from our supporters," said Chandran.

For readers who are new to Malaysiakini, they may want to visit WayBackMachine for a sample of the online website’s stories over the past eight years.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79127

[Dashken]

Pui... wa tak caya sama lu liao!!!

Opposition parties today slammed the Election Commission for the last-minute reversal of its plan to use the indelible ink in the coming general election, which they claimed could have stopped the menace of phantom voters.

may 13 forum 140507 syed husin aliIn an immediate reaction, PKR’s deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali did not mince his words when he charged that the cancellation of the use of indelible ink was clear proof that the “EC is colluding with BN to allow cheating in the coming general elections”.

“Despite all assurances and false gestures, it is now clear the (EC chairperson) Abdul Rashid (Abdul Rahman) is content to conduct the 12th general election in an atmosphere completely bereft of integrity,” he said in a statement.

“Citing 'public order' and 'security' is also nonsensical reasoning that is perfectly consistent with the language of forces around the world who seek to supress democratic freedoms,” he added.

Syed Husin said that polls reform group Bersih, which represents not just political parties but a wide swathe of civil society, has campaigned tirelessly for indelible ink to be used to battle the scourge of phantom voters.

He also said that candidates have observed irregularities in postal voting, and revealed "hundreds and thousands" of false addresses, dead individuals and voters over 100 years old in the electoral rolls.

“At a moment where the eyes of the entire world are upon us, the EC has now conclusively and irrevocably shown that any overtures towards reform that it had made previously were in bad faith, and that in decisive moments, the EC will yield to every demand of its political masters,” Syed Husin decried.

He however said that the PKR noted one positive outcome of this development - that the BN intelligence must clearly be showing a swing towards the opposition, thus forcing them to resort once again to phantom voters and other forms of cheating.

Under protest

Meanwhile PAS leader and member of Bersih's steering committee Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad also similarly expressed his outraged with EC's stunning reversal today.

bersih gathering press conference 110108 dzulkifli ahmad"This means that none of our demands are getting through. We thought it would at least go through with (using indelible ink)," said the director of PAS Research Centre.

"We want to make it clear that we are entering this election under protest," he said.

"We could foresee this coming. Now, our concerns and anxieties are immensely vindicated."

Despite his outrage with the EC's move, Dzulkifli urged opposition candidates and sympathisers to remain calm and focus on the task at hand - winning the upcoming polls.

"We will not be provoked. We will remain resilient, calm and relentless. We will maintain the due process of the elections. We will not destroy our chances of victory and will not do anything untoward."

After the polls, however, Bersih would "surely" file a petition on this matter, Dzulkifli said.

DAP looking at legal avenues

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also said that the decision today would only benefit BN as it amounted to the EC sanctioning the ruling party’s "cheating and abuses" in the election.

He said that the EC must also explain as to how the use of indelible ink can threaten public order and security issues.

“It is ridiculous that the use of indelible ink can put the whole country into chaos and ruination,” he said.

He also said that the decision to cancel the use of indelible ink meant that the EC was wasting the RM2 million spent on buying 47,000 bottles of indelible ink.

“The EC has also destroyed its credibility, integrity and independence by cancelling the use at the last minute when it had earlier touted the use of indelible ink as a sign of its commitment towards ensuring free, fair, clean elections,” he said.

He warned that the people might not accept the results of the election on March 8 if it was tainted by abuses, cheating and vote rigging.

Lim also said that DAP was exploring legal avenues to see how it can prevent the EC from abandoning the use of indelible ink.

Mafrel PC tomorrow

gmi election demands 270208 sivarasa rasiahPKR vice-president R Sivarasa, who is also the candidate for Selangor's Subang parliamentary seat, matched the indignation unleashed by Dzulkifli.

"I am completely shocked by this decision. It is tantamount to perpetuating a fraud on the elections," he said.

"From last July to just recently they told the Malaysian public that they were using indelible ink. And the reasons they give for cancelling the ink are nonsensical. How can marking someone's finger have anything to do with national security?" he asked.

Election watchdog Mafrel, when contacted, said that it would be commenting on the matter through a press conference tomorrow.

Earlier today, EC chairperson Abdul Rashid announced the cancellation of the use of the indelible ink for this general election, citing public order and security issues.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79162