The Straits Times Blogs - Reme Ahmad

A sense of nostalgia

2009-11-05T22:41:00Z

Reme Ahmad walks down memory lane and says goodbye to an old friend.

SOME 20 years ago, there was a shop called Sembawang Music Centre at the now-demolished Sembawang Shopping Centre that I frequented.

I was living in Yishun then, and it was the nearest shopping centre for Yishuners. I cannot use the word "mall" to describe the place because that would sound perhaps too "modern" and "upmarket".

You see, Yishun's Northpoint mall with its supermarket, fast food restaurants and trendy shops had not yet been built, and Sembawang Shopping Centre was just a neighbourhood stopping point with more shops than the Yishun town centre.

At that time, music albums were sold as round vinyl records and the more popular spool-tapes. The Walkman and albums on CDs would come later.

There was no Internet (at least not in the way we know it now), and so one had to buy a full-album produced by Elton John or Abba or Lobo even if there were only a few songs that were actually worth listening to.

Or if one wanted to buy a mix of songs, we had to wait for a "Best of" album or those "Hits" compilations by Warner or EMI.

I later moved to Bishan and then lived in Kuala Lumpur for a dozen years. I forgot about Sembawang Music Centre.

But over the years, that small single music shop in Sembawang grew and grew. It had 26 shops at its zenith.

That itself was perhaps a reflection of how Singapore as a country, also grew and grew. And how Singaporeans also rode the economic crest.

And yes, I did visit several of Sembawang Music Centre's branches over the years whenever I came down to Singapore.

But it was not to buy music albums. They had by then begun selling film VCDs and later DVDs.

By then Mustafa's came along, and also dozens of other shops competing with Sembawang Music Centre selling movies.

And worse, I think, was the Internet that empowered people to download their favourite songs directly — legally or not. There is no need anymore to wait for a “Best of” or a “Hits” complations

There is, really, no need to visit a CD shop anymore for most people.

So it was with some nostalgia that I read about the closure of Sembawang Music Centre, last weekend.

I sighed to myself; "How far we all have gone in life."

So, with some sadness, I went to Plaza Singapura on Tuesday — it was only my second visit to this mall in about 12 years!

I went up to the third floor where Sembawang Music Centre is located; at least until it too closes down in a few weeks time.

What an irony I thought: The shop is closing down because there is not enough business, but it was packed with people because all items are up for sale — for up to 75 per cent discount.

But no, I did not buy a music CD. I bought four movies, all a few years old, on VCDs (DVDs are too pricey for me) for $14.90.

Silly me, but as I stepped out of the shop after paying up, I couldn't help wonder about the fragility of life itself.

Goodbye my old friend, Sembawang Music Centre. Thank you for the music and the movies.

Lessons from Padang

2009-10-08T05:28:00Z

Reme Ahmad learns some rules on living in an earthquake zone.

In Padang, West Sumatra

HERE are some rules when sleeping in an earthquake-prone area:

- Don't sleep naked. Or in some undergarments that will embarrass you if you're seen in public wearing them. This is because, when the earth suddenly trembles, there won't be time for to put on 'proper' clothes before running out.

- Sleep with your most important documents on your person or in a bag close to you. You don't want to grope in the dark looking for your passport, flight ticket or cash when you should be running out the door.

- Sleep with your shoes on, or beside your bed with toes pointing towards the exit for easy flight.

- Try to minimise the locks on your door. You don't want to be trying to unlock that door chain with shaky hands on shaky grounds.

- If you are on a high floor and the ground moves, run UP the staircase, not down. This will reduce your chance of being pancaked by the collapsed building. And for goodness sakes, don't take the lift!

These simple instructions were advice offered by friends and by people living in West Sumatra, one of the most quake-prone of Indonesia's 33 provinces.

The advice made sense and I have repeated these instructions in my mind nightly as I go about the rituals before retiring for the night.

Before taking a bath, I arranged my things to exit at the slightest tremor. Call me a coward, but my shoes are arranged outside the loo door.

I have been very lucky.

I arrived in Padang, the West Sumatra capital on Saturday, three days after the huge quake described by locals as the strongest to hit them in their lifetime.

The biggest hotels in town had collapsed or were badly damaged - Ambacang, Bumi Minang, Mariani and Rocky Plaza. Yet, another reporter and myself managed to find a room at a two-storey family run hotel.

Many other reporters had to bunk in tents of rescue teams, or in sleeping bags on the floor of the Governor's residence, the noisy epicentre of rescue operations.

In this hotel that both of us are staying in, the full-length windows of the rooms on the upper floor have a long shared balcony linked to the staircase.

And I got another lucky 'break' - literally.

Our room had full length windows which had been shattered by the quake.

When showing the room, the bellboy told us: 'To keep the aircon in, just pull the curtains together, sir.'

Of course, with no glass to keep out the noise, we could hear loud relief vehicles passing by in front of the room, all through the night.

But I thought of it this way: If there is another quake, I could just pull the curtains aside, run onto the balcony and jump down to the carpark below.

It might sound like paranoia, but we were frightened like everyone else because a major quake is often followed by several aftershocks.

Needless to say, we took the room.

The human family

2009-10-07T06:52:00Z

Reme Ahmad can't pretend not to care about the people of Padang.

IN PADANG, WEST SUMATRA

ON TUESDAY I saw an old woman rummaging through her collapsed house, looking for things to salvage.

I saw a young girl, joining her friends by the road, holding a donation box and begging for money, the pancaked family house behind her.

And I saw a mother crying and crying, her child missing under a rubble.

And I saw a man, trying to put up a tent which will become his home as his house is now a mangled heap of planks, bricks and glasses.

Seeing all these people reminded me of my family and friends back home, and how lucky we are.

Driving around the quake zone brought to me the harsh reality of the disaster. While the provincial capital Padang was hit badly, the scenes in Padangpariaman and Pariaman were much worse.

In Padang, maybe one building in 30 had collapsed or were badly damaged.

Outside the capital, it was two out of three village houses in many areas.

Seeing the tragedy first hand while trying to stay neutral is tough.

How do you feel if, after you lose everything, some foreign reporter poked his face in your life and asked: Uncle, how do you feel about this? Have aid agencies arrived? What are you going to do next? Have you eaten?

And how can we pretend not to care when we see young children stopping traffic every kilometre to ask for money, their collapsed houses behind them?

But every time I wanted to take out some cash to give these poor souls, I held back, muttering to myself over and over: There's too many of them to help. There's too many of them to help.

And then I thought of the Sichuan earthquake, the Aceh tsunami and the African famines. And what those reporters who covered those huge tragedies must have gone through.

At the back of our minds, we reporters and photographers often hope that after reading the sad stories about these disaster victims, and seeing the heartbreaking pictures, the relevant government and aid agencies will step up their work, and donors will come in fast.

If that were to happen, then the journalist will feel that he has done his part to help his family in humanity.

Read Reme Ahmad's first blog on the disaster in Padang, Mini-UN comes together.

Mini-UN comes together

2009-10-05T12:31:00Z

Reme Ahmad wonders why it's only disasters that bring us together in peace.

IN PADANG, WEST SUMATRA

THE tents they pitched in Padang were in blue, orange, grey, white and green.

The men and women who sleep in those tents speak in Bahasa Indonesia, different twangs of English, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Bahasa Malaysia and German among others. And yes, Singlish was there too.

And the dogs they brought were just as colourful — black, white, tan, brown and other beautiful shades.

Welcome to a mini gathering of the human race, some 500 of them from outside Indonesia, brought together by a major tragedy.

The last few days in the aftermath of a big earthquake in Sumbar or Sumatra Barat (West Sumatra) have indeed seen hundreds of death and many tears shed over dead relatives and toppled dreams.

But, as the colourful tents pitched on the expansive lawns of the Sumbar Governor showed, the frightful quake also showed the brotherhood of men.

Walk into one corner and listen to British men discussing rescue work with Indonesian officials.

Peer into one of the many offices of the Governor and one hears Swiss rescue team members talking to colleagues from Australia and Singapore.

And then there was the urban rescue team from the United Arab Emirates arriving in a giant white Hummer to discuss issues with friends from Japan, a translator in tow.

And several teams from the UK, speaking in distinctive English, to others from Australia.

Some visited the tents of others for chats and coffee, others to pat each other's rescue dogs.

An official from a United Nations agency said more than two dozen nations responded to the call for help by Indonesia.

Others sent doctor and nurses, blankets and tents.

The search and rescue teams brought along 48 rescue dogs.

Over maps and bottles of mineral water the men and women discussed strategies on alleviating the pain suffered by thousands of Padang and Sumbar residents due to the quake.

Seeing forlorn relatives of people still buried under the rubble did not make me cry.

Neither did the sight of collapsed schools or shops, nor seeing people collecting dirty water from drains because water pipes were broken.

But I was moved to ask this question when I walked among these colourful tents on Sunday: Why do we need a huge disaster in order to unite?

This sounds corny, I know, but: Why can't we all just get along?

Rest in peace, Yasmin

2009-07-26T09:55:00Z

Reme Ahmad remembers the legacy the late Malaysian director left behind.

I HAD never met or spoken with Yasmin Ahmad.

But her positive messages about life were present in my living room at least three times a year - always in the days leading to Hari Raya, Lunar New Year or Deepavali.

Working with national oil company Petronas, she produced these TV commercials that always tugged at my heart with its celebration of family life and multiracial living in Malaysia. These were aired before the major festivals to bring families and people together.

So when news spread on Thursday that she had a stroke, I was shocked. She died on Saturday evening at 51 without gaining consciousness.

Some of her best works are here on YouTube, and these commercials and movie trailers made me cry buckets. You see, Yasmin had these simple messages for viewers.

Like the commercial reminding a Malay engineer to chuck aside his laptop for a day to be with her mother at a remote village with no Internet connection for Hari Raya. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az_dnk_ix8E&feature=related)

Or one showing a group of old Chinese folks with a staid life in a small town, to remind their children in the big cities to visit their parents for Lunar New Year. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiDaPoFT6U)

And then there was the commercial about four Indian boys dressed up like Backstreet Boys cheering "party, party" downtown, near Deepavali. One of them suddenly went "pati, pati" (Tamil for grandma) as his grandmother walked up to remind them to be proud of their heritage. He gave the sheepish boys muruku to take home to their moms. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whiLwDoRk_o&feature=related)

And then there were the unforgettable clips on multiracial living.

One of these showed Atan, Lim and Param who lived in the same village and once jumped into a river together to escape angry bees. Param and Lim were with Atan when he was circumscised, a big event for Malay kampung boys. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7PotdHCUVQ&feature=related)

Many years later, an old Atan in crutches met by chance his old buddy Lim, now in a wheelchair, to talk about the old times. Atan said Param passed away just last month. Lim pointed at his teenager son who was listening to his Walkman nearby and at Atan's son who was playing with his handphone.

"Kids these days, only their hair look the same, but they are in their own world. They don't even know how to make friends," Lim lamented.

The message at the end: 'The bitter and the sweet together we taste. One direction, one country'.

That is the message that Malaysia sorely needs these days. And now, the magical Storyteller behind these messages is sadly gone.

SOURCE: BH

P.Ramlee, the actor and genius movie director of the 1960s, made Malay movies that reflected the easy-going way of life of the Malays then. Yasmin, the genius movie director of her time, was very good at highlighting the angsts of the Malays in the 2000s.

In several P.Ramlee movies, the Malays drank wine with other Malays in night clubs and cavorted with "perempuan cabaret" (cabaret women). They sometime got very drunk - like the famous, award-winning confrontation between a drunk son and his father in Anakku Sazali (My son Sazali).

There was a very diluted role for Islam and on being Muslims in the reel life portrayed by P.Ramlee, just like it was in real life then. And these Malays of the villages and towns of 30 to 40 years ago had easy-going Chinese and Indians as neighbours.

Fast forward today and Yasmin in her movies explored the Malays who seemed at times ill-at-ease with their Chinese and Indian neighbours, and vice versa.

And one can see the strong influence that Islam now play in the daily lives of the Malays, and the reaction from the non-Muslim friends. Strong identification with ethnicity has also entered the fray. These can be seen in Yasmin's movies such as Sepet (Chinese Eyes) and Talentime.

And just like in real life, some of her movies attracted the wrong attention from conservative Muslim authorities. Still, no one could take away the fact that she had managed to lift the veil over race and religion in Malaysia, and put them squarely in the centre of discussions in her commercials and movies.

While others saw doubts about the future because of these issues, she saw hope. Sadly she is not around anymore to show us more glimpses of what could be.

When a Muslim is told that someone has passed away, this is what we are taught to reply (in Arabic): From God we came, and unto Him shall we return. This is to say we accept what has happened, even as we mourn for the loss.

Rest in peace, sis.

Opinion polls suddenly hot in Malaysia

2009-07-14T09:05:00Z

Reme Ahmad mulls the relatively new phenomenon of using data to read polls.

THE first time I heard about Merdeka Center for Opinion Research was just after the 2004 elections. The then-Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had won big-time, and The Straits Times needed fresh analysts to give opinions rather than the same tired names.

A colleague found and began quoting the boss of Merdeka - Ibrahim Suffian, or Ben, as he is known to his friends and the media.

Since then, the name of the independent outfit based in Bangi, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, has kept growing with all manner of talked-about public polling. And while some may question how Merdeka could know the pulse of 27 million people by calling just 1,060 voters, or some such small sample size, most people accept the data as being unbiased and fair.

Last week, two events firmly brought polling and pollsters into the limelight of Malaysian politics - and possibly changed the way public policy issues might be decided in future.

It's becoming more likely that asking the public for its opinion on policy issues (referendum-like) will become a permanent feature of civil society in Malaysia.

I sure hope so.

This is because in the past, the government sometimes steamrolled public opinion by saying things like: "This is what the rakyat (people) wants!" Or worse: "I don't care whether the public likes it, I know this policy is good for them."

Indeed, Malaysia is not the only country in the region that is seeing the entry of pollsters and public polling. The result of the July 8 Indonesian presidential elections was made known very quickly with the help of exit polls carried out by these polling companies. No one would have paid any attention to them if they had provided poor, inaccurate data previously.

Anyway, back to the two major events in Malaysia last week.

Event Number One:
Prime Minister Najib Razak's popularity was measured by a poll carried out by Merdeka. He scored 65 per cent from the public, compared to 46 per cent just a month-and-a-half ago. The poll became page one news in both the mainstream media and on the internet, for days.

And since Merdeka would have used scientific methods (like random sampling) for its polls, the results have been accepted as the truth.

Event Number Two:
Dr Mahathir Mohamad used his website to poll the public on what is called in Malaysia as PPSMI - the Malay initials for the policy of teaching math and science in English.

The government decided to scrap this policy after just six years and Dr Mahathir, the man behind the PPSMI, said he wanted to ask the rakyat themselves what they thought. A huge majority, around 85 per cent of 75,000 visitors, is against scrapping the policy.

Of course, unlike Merdeka's survey, the polling on Mahathir's chedet.cc can be assumed to be less scientific. Why?

(a) His ardent supporters are the ones who visit his website, ie people who tend to agree with his views.

(b) The rule for this polling is one-man-one-vote. But even if there was an electronic block to prevent people from voting twice using the same machine, a person could actually vote at least three times. He can vote once in the office, another time using his home computer, and a third time using his laptop.

(c) Another reason why the voting could be considered un-scientific (ie random sampling): Only parents who are UNHAPPY with the government for scrapping PPSMI would most likely visit chedet.cc to register their anger. Those who are happy with PM Najib's decision may not or not bother to visit the site to click a vote.

(d) Additionally, only people with internet connections can vote. So people in the rural areas would be left out of this poll unlike the Merdeka polls which cover rural areas too.

This means that the results can be expected to be skewed towards those who wanted PPSMI to continue.

Still, for Malaysia, what was unearthed by the two polls was quite revolutionary.

The polls set off debate about the Najib and PPSMI issues in coffee shops, and the internet version of coffee shops called blogs and chat forums. The polls showed that the rakyat has suddenly been given its voice on two important matter - how the government and its PM is doing, and their views on a key tenet of education policy.

No, this was not the first time Merdeka has made public the results of its polling. And no, this was not the first time that a prominent website had asked for public opinion through mouse clicks.

Also, the Malaysian government uses its feedback unit JASA, plus police and military intelligence to gauge public opinions.

But the fact remains that both Merdeka's and Dr Mahathir's polls, both independent of the government, generated much, much discussion.

And so, I hope that public polling would soon be as regular as going to the ballot boxes to pick an MP and an assemblyman.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, this year's two elections have led to a boom for polling outfits too.

In the April 2009 legislative elections and July 2009 presidential polls, there was a big rise in the number of political consultants, pollsters, public-opinion gatherers and image-making companies.

Some of these pollsters were paid by the political parties, but still, the media has lapped up and legitimise the more independent-minded ones with reliable data.

For both the elections to pick their MPs and the President, a version of exit polls - called quick counts in Indonesia - were widely-used by the media and the political parties. The quick counts were carried out these pollsters and survey companies and they have often proven accurate.

Perhaps it is early days yet, but for sure sooner rather than later, the independent pollsters with regular accurate data will follow those in the US and Europe closely.

If so, then whether in Malaysia or Indonesia, the winner is surely civil society.

Another decade, another trial

2009-07-07T08:45:00Z

Reme Ahmad recalls the dreary task of covering Anwar's first sodomy trial.

THE second sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim will start tomorrow, July 8 Wednesday.

For weeks and weeks in 1999, I recall covering the first sodomy trial, and his earlier trial for corruption. Although the news which came out of the court room then rocked Malaysian politics, scandalised the public with lurid details and even caused violent street protests, the task of covering the trial was a dreary one.

This time round, Mr Anwar is accused of sodomising his former aide, a 23-year old male volunteer Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

In 1999, the former deputy prime minister was alleged to have sodomised his brother-in-law Sukma Dermawan, and his wife's driver, Azizan Abu Bakar.

The two trials are closely related in that the 'corruption case' was not about bribes, but abuse of power. He was accused of using his position as deputy premier to ask police to force some witnesses to retract allegations over his supposed secret sexual lifestyle.

As every one knows, Anwar was found guilty for both corruption and sodomy. He served six years in the corruption case (four years in jail, two years remitted for good behaviour). The court later reversed judgement on the sodomy case and set him free.

A typical day in 1999 covering the trials were often like this:

- Join the queue by 7.30am, and stand in line for an hour or else there may not be enough seats inside.

- Due to the limited seats, police will allow in only about 15 reporters (not photographers). And then there was space for some 20 Anwar family members AND members of the public. Once inside, one might have another one to two hours to wait before the judge, the Attorney-General and his lawyers, defence lawyers, Anwar and the judge arrived. The judge in the corruption case was Augustine Paul, and for the sodomy trial, Ariffin Jaka.

- And then the reporter must get ready for daily surprises like the trial being cancelled suddenly. This happened several times when Anwar did not turn up because he complained of toothache, or the judge had to attend a seminar at the last minute, or a close relative of a lawyer passed away somewhere.

- There is usually a break of about half an hour in late morning before an hour's worth of lunch. We all rushed out for teh tarik!

- And then it was more arguments by lawyers and dozens of witnesses took the stand.

The highlight must be when one day a mattress was brought into the court!

- The afternoon sessions were worse, as post-lunch sleepiness crept in.

Some of us actually fell asleep during this time but not before telling other colleagues to wake them up in case some "sexy" issues or quotes crop up.

Yes, you have guessed it. We got bored most of the time because some of the stuff got repeated dozens of times.

I must have heard Anwar and his lawyers shouting "political conspiracy" hundreds of times.

Judge Augustine Paul, of course, uttered the infamous words "Not relevant!", when some evidence were presented by the defence lawyers. The words became car bumper stickers!

- To keep alert levels high, some of the daily newspapers sent one reporter for the morning session and another for the afternoon one.

- I was quite lucky in that I didn't have to write everything myself. I was working for the Reuters wire agency then and called in all the important stuff that came out to my colleagues in the office, which they then wrote up.

Remember, this was before the days of the smartphones, Blackberries and Twitter. Even SMS texting was not that popular then.

- At the end of the court day (around 5pm), I would have to travel back to my office which is located about 1.5km away from the Kuala Lumpur court complex.

I cannot remember how long the two trials lasted, but I was lucky as that duty was rotated every two weeks between another colleague and myself.

This is not to say I did not learn anything from the court experience.

I learnt a lot about how the court system worked and the legalese that ding dongs between judges and lawyers.

Also, I got to know quite a few international authors who had since become my favourites like Wilbur Smith, Lincoln Preston, Stephen Frey and James Rollins. You see, I had the luck of sitting beside a reporter who was a big fan of fictional thrillers. (Up until then, I only read science fiction authors like Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg.)

Indeed, most of the reporters brought in books and magazines to read everyday, so we shared them in between the big yawns and the half-snores.

So now, another decade, another trial.

I am just glad I won't be covering it again.

Bored? Fly to Kota Baru

2009-06-25T09:31:00Z

Reme Ahmad is excited about Firefly's new routes to Malaysia.

FIREFLY has just announced new flights from Singapore to Kuala Terengganu, Alor Setar, Kota Baru, Ipoh, Malacca and, I must add, Kuantan. Wow!

As a Singaporean, I have no complaints.

But this does seem like an overly ambitious plan for Malaysia Airlines' budget carrier, Firefly, to introduce so many flights out of/and into Singapore all at the same time.

Using twin turboprops it wants to fly direct from the Singapore to these exotic state capitals.

Exotic because apart from Malacca, I daresay not that many Singaporeans (especially the non-Malays) visit Kota Baru and Kuala Terengganu.

Yes, Ipoh should be popular with the many Chinese Malaysians from Perak working in Singapore.

Two of my colleagues from Ipoh are very happy since they heard the news weeks ago. A one-way bus trip from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is five hours, to Ipoh it is EIGHT HOURS.

Even if you were to drive non-stop you can only do Singapore to Ipoh (minus immigration delays) in a minimum of 6 hours — if you bloody speed all the way. But if you fly direct to Ipoh, it'll be like 90 minutes maximum.

I applaud Firefly, although I don't know whether introducing everything at the same time (or nearly at the same time) will work.

Will they be able to make any money? I hope so.

But here is why I like the idea:

When I trailed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to Ipoh and Kota Baru just last week, it was a very tiring journey.

He went to other cities, but his visit was covered by another group of Singapore reporters. I only covered the Ipoh and Kota Baru legs.

To go to Ipoh from Singapore, a fellow had to fly to Penang, and then he had to take a cab for about 2.5 hours back south into Ipoh. Total: 4 hours.

Our group then had to go from Ipoh to Kota Baru to follow the Minister Mentor. We rented a Naza Ria MPV and took six hours via Cameron Highlands.

To fly back to Singapore from Kota Baru, I had to stop by at Kuala Lumpur Iinternational Airport. Sigh. With these newly planned flights, things will be easier.

A bored Singaporean might be expected to book a ticket to Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru, or Kuantan. But I am not sure about Alor Setar.

And unless you are from Kedah or Perlis, why would anyone from Singapore wants to fly there?

I can see that it is convenient for a Kedahan or a Perlisian if he wants to go to London or Sydney via Changi. But will there be enough weekly volumes?

But for consumers, all the connectivity is super.

Just like bored Singaporeans now fly to Siam Reap or Bangkok or Hanoi for the weekend, those poorer ones like me might just fly to Kota Baru direct.

I love shopping at the Kelantan-Thai border towns of Rantau Panjang and Pengkalan Kubor. The freshly-imported (some say freshly-smuggled) Thailand products — from t-shirts to toys, cashew nuts to pillow cases — are just so cheap.

Opposition shaken after PAS vote

2009-06-06T22:00:00Z

Reme Ahmad says the PR alliance will have to stick with the Islamist party.

THE results of the internal elections of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) have shaken up Malaysia's opposition politics.

It has also stirred keen interest from Umno and Barisan Nasional, which can now be expected to sniff out opportunities to break up, or at least weaken, the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance.

The members of PR are Anwar Ibrahim's multiracial Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Chinese-based Democratic Action Party and PAS, Islam-based Malay party.

The role of PAS is important as, with nearly 1 million members, it is the second biggest political organisation in Malaysia after Umno.

The opposition has been pushing Umno and BN to the wall since scoring big wins in general elections last year.

But now there is uncertainty in the opposition camp.

In the PAS elections held every two years, the conservative pro-ulama (Muslim cleric) faction has won.

On Saturday, the liberal-leaning, pro-PR faction suffered a big setback, after its candidate for the No. 2 post lost.

This means that both the posts of PAS president and deputy president remain in the hands of the clerics.

And the Youth wing is now dominated by many from the pro-cleric faction.

These leaders are wary of working with Anwar and PR, and are not averse to talking with Umno to strengthen Malay-Muslim political power.

This does not mean that PAS will leave the PR alliance. Or that it will suddenly run to Umno.

What it means is that PAS members have signalled to PR to slow down on issues that are seen as weakening Malay and Muslim rights in Malaysia.

While all PAS members hate Umno, there are also points where they can agree with one another.

These include in such issues as keeping Islam as the pre-eminent religion in Malaysia, on religious conversions, and protecting the institution of the Malay rulers,

There is also some uneasiness among a section of the Islamist party of the strong push by DAP for equal rights for everything - ie the dismantling of the Bumiputera policy.

PAS members of course loath the excesses of the policy as practiced by Umno, but there is support for some of the other parts of the policy - like reserving places in educational institutions for Bumis.

And many in PAS are unhappy that the biggest party, member-wise, it is being looked upon as a junior member of the three-party PR.

This situation arises because PAS has the least number of Parliament seats. PKR has the most, followed by the DAP.

PAS members have privately said that without its help in the last elections, in many districts the PKR and DAP did not have enough people to put up buntings and flags.

The party has of course heard of the threats that the Chinese and the Indians will not vote for PAS any more if it turns "more Islamic".

But this does not cut much ice with the Islamist party.

It has shown in recent years that with just its Malay base, it won Kelantan, Terengganu and made big gains in Kedah and Perlis.

And come the next general elections in 2013, PKR and DAP know that without PAS, the coalition will be much weaker.

A DAP-PKR combo would retain Penang, but would likely lose Perak and Selangor.

And PAS alone cannot hold onto Kedah, although it could expect to sail to an easy win in Kelantan, and maybe even retake Terengganu.

And threats that at the next elections that Chinese and Indian voters will not vote for PAS may not work either.

This is because if they abandoned PAS, then their choice is to vote for Umno and BN.

Or to stay out of the ballot box and allow Umno and BN to win.

From corporate chief to chief minister

2009-05-21T07:25:00Z

Reme Ahmad tracks how Selangor's chief minister's character has changed.

SELANGOR Menteri Besar (chief minister) Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was in Singapore was in Singapore on Monday to meet the Republic's water agency PUB, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana, and to deliver a talk at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on Malaysian politics.

At the Istana.
ST Photo: Desmond Lim

I had a short interview with him during lunch at a hotel and attended the ISEAS talk, and came away learning quite a few new things about him.

For one, he is not any more the Malaysian corporate tycoon that many people in his country knew him so well for.

For a long time, he was the friendly face of Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the Malaysian government's equity fund (1979 to 1994).

In 1981, he became a household name after leading the so-called "dawn raid" on the London Stock Exchange that led PNB to gain a 51 per cent stake in then-British plantation concern Guthrie - all within a matter of hours. The company became Kumpulan Guthrie.

He later became the much-reported CEO of Kumpulan Guthrie, the giant palm oil grower and property player (1995 to 2003). And his name was often bandied about as a poster boy of the Bumiputera policy.

Then, he retired after a big row with Guthrie over share allocations for him as "promised" by the government.

But he was out of the public eye for only a short while, as he was soon persuaded by opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim to jump into politics.

In the short two to three years that he had immersed himself fully into the rough and tumble of politics, he has morphed (though maybe not as fast as he would have liked) into a surefooted politician.

As he said, his wife told him there is an easy solution to all his current political woes. "You just resign and we enjoy ourselves," the 62-year-old said at ISEAS, to much laughter from the audience of some 100 people in the hall.

He didn't think that was a good solution and said he has to prove to the public that the Pakatan Rakyat government - formed by an alliance of three Federal opposition parties - "could perform better than Barisan Nasional".

It was not the first time that I had interviewed him.

The first time was in the early 2000s when he was chief executive of Guthrie (now merged with Sime Darby). At that time, Guthrie had just bought some 200,000 acres of palm oil land in Kalimantan and Sumatra and I was doing a story on companies spreading their wings abroad as growth in Malaysia slowed.

I also covered the April 2007 by-election in Ijok, Selangor, where Tan Sri - then the new secretary-general of PKR - was contesting as a candidate.

He lost narrowly even if he did lose a few kilos during the campaign walkabouts. One vivid memory of Ijok for me was seeing him walking with Anwar Ibrahim at an afternoon market, shaking hands and smiling with traders and residents, and later using a hanky to mop his forehead. He looked a bit bewildered by politics then.

Not anymore. Weeks after he was sworn into office as Selangor Menteri Besar, around April last year, I was at a big press conference when he spoke with some caution as the new CEO of Malaysia's most industrialised and richest state.

Then on Monday, when I interviewed him, and later watched his ISEAS appearance, I could see that a different man had been moulded over time.

He was much more confident delving into political issues, launched with gusto into his big plans for Selangor, and rattled off numbers quite easily.

Selangor wants to learn from Singapore experience in cleaning up the Singapore River and Kallang Basin in a RM10 billion project that will take 20 years.

And he wants to expand transportation system for Selangor including the extension of the LRT system.

Then there is the plan to upgrade and replace water assets. Another is urban renewal activities with focus on redevelopment of slum areas including in the Selangor townships of Petaling Jaya and Klang.

In other words, despite having done much in his 62 years, he wants to tackle more big-ticket issues.

As he said, the BN government would dearly love to see him fail, as he is a major opposition leader at the Federal level.

Yet, BN also knows that if he fails as Selangor Menteri Besar, the whole country will suffer. This is because Selangor provides the biggest chunk of the country's growth and revenues to Malaysia.

Talk about having his work cut out for him. At age 62.

Safer than driving

2009-05-06T08:41:00Z

Reme Ahmad says that Malacca’s airport expansion is designed for Singaporeans.

MALACCA'S new airport terminal has just been opened and it will soon be possible to fly from Singapore to Malaysia's famous Historic City.

The RM131.5 million project, which includes extending the runway to enable bigger airplanes like the Boeing A737 and Airbus 320 to land, is part of an ambitious plan by the Malacca government to get out of the shadow of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport nearby.

The expanded facility, which has been simply Malacca airport for years, has been renamed Malacca International Airport.

Malacca wants to pull tourists directly from Singapore and Indonesia, instead of having them fly through KLIA. KLIA is about an hour away from the Malacca city centre.

The first flight by Indonesia's Riau Airlines using a Fokker aircraft landed in Malacca International Airport on Monday morning. It flew in from Pekan Baru in Sumatra.

On Sept 1, Firefly - the budget wing of Malaysia Airlines - is scheduled to fly between Singapore and Malacca on a Fokker also.
Firefly, by the way, will also from next month be flying between Singapore and Ipoh, Perak.

Malacca’s Chief Minister Ali Rustam said he wants the state to be the choice destination for medical tourism - ie for people seeking specialised treatment from liposuction to heart treatment and breast enlargement.

And of course, there is the must-see tour of Old Malacca and its street food that the state is famous for.

All well and good, so far.

But the worry is whether Malacca International Airport would be able to pull in enough tourist volume to justify the spending to enlarge the airport.

Datuk Seri Ali said he expects 1.5 million tourists to fly through the state's airport within three years, according to The Star newspaper on Wednesday.

That is a very ambitious target. He did not say how many foreign tourists currently visit the state.

This is because for one, folks from KL - who make up the bulk of tourists to Malacca - will continue to drive to the state - just 1-1/2 hours away.

This means Malacca will have to bank on foreign tourists.

Are there enough Indonesians coming through? I don't think so.

The bulk of those who have been coming directly into Malacca from Sumatra are in fact low-spending tourists and those seeking work. Most have been coming by ferries for years to save on costs.

Some stay back illegally after managing to secure employment in KL and its surrounding Klang Valley.

The Indonesians who do fly into Malaysia, the higher-spending ones presumably, fly into KLIA for short holidays.

And those seeking medical treatment often fly to Penang - Malaysia's best known hub for medical tourism.

So that leaves the hope that the bulk of foreign tourists would come from Singapore.

We all know that many business people from Singapore land at KLIA daily. They cut deals, oversee projects or help in troubleshooting in ventures in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya for a day to a few weeks before flying back.

Those Singaporeans who do go to Malacca, often do so for holidays.

They often drive up in with their families for the weekend. Some drive up in convoys.

To make the airport viable, the Malaccan authorities will have to persuade these Singaporean tourists to start buying return tickets for all their family members. That is going to be more pricey than a driving holiday.

Still, it is not a lost cause because taking a flight from Changi airport right into Malacca is more convenient than the hassle of passing through the Causeway or Second Link.

It is also safer than driving a Singapore-plated car on a Malaysian highway.

Dr M will keep pushing

2009-04-21T07:02:00Z

Reme Ahmad says after sinking Abdullah, Dr Mahathir now rocks PM Najib's boat.

WHEN Datuk Seri Najib Razak was installed as Prime Minister just over two weeks ago, many people in Umno really hoped for a new beginning after the disastrous 5-1/2-year rule of his predecessor.

Part of the new hope was fired up by the return of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad into the Umno fold after years of bitter attacks against the government of Tun Abdullah Badawi.

Pictures of Dr Mahathir attending Mr Najib's installation and going around campaigning for Barisan Nasional in Bukit Gantang warmed many Umno hearts (although BN still lost badly).

The big hope was that the Old Man would now stop attacking the party and the coalition and help the government restore confidence in Umno and BN.

The big hope was also that Dr M (and perhaps a retired Daim Zainuddin) would be roped in to help steady the unsteady economy. Now, it seems those hopes are fast dissipating.

Guess who said these great sound bites in just one week:

1. The Malaysian Cabinet just appointed by Mr Najib has "unsavoury characters" as ministers.

2. BN should not be afraid to contest the Penanti by-election in Penang.

3. The Malaysian government should go ahead with the crooked bridge in Johor.

For No.1, it was PM Najib's big hope that Malaysians would accept his 28 ministers and 40 deputy ministers.

But no, Dr M is not pleased. A premier for 22 years, he seems to have forgotten that in appointing a new Cabinet, PM Najib had to make the 13 BN coalition partners happy and ensure that there is at least one Umno leader as minister or deputy minister from all the states (except Sarawak where Umno does not exist).

Do otherwise and the PM could face revolt within its ranks.

For issue No.2 - sure, BN and Umno will look like cowards if they say 'No' to Penanti: An unprecedented retreat by the Grand Ole Party of Malaysia's independence.

But the calculation of PM Najib could have been that better be called coward for a week, and then people will move on to other issues.

But to agree to a by-election would be worse. It is bad for his standing, as the opposition will keep up their attacks against him and the government for a week or more during the campaigning.

And then, after the expected win in Penanti, the opposition and the many blogs supportive of it will celebrate loudly for at least one more week.

The opposition will shout loudly from the rooftops that Umno-BN's loss of Penanti is another indication that the people have rejected the coalition.

A fresh rejection of him and his Cabinet too.

And this time there is no excuse to say - as Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin said after losing the recent by-elections - that the ‘fact of the new PM has not been absorbed by the rakyat yet’.

Issue No.3 is a hot potato for PM Najib. Should he agree to a crooked bridge, Singapore could be expected to once again raise its legal objections.

Meaning, he could be tied down with rhetoric within Malaysia (Umno leaders will line up to attack Singapore) and with the Republic over the issue.

Yes indeed, he could ignore the Singaporeans perhaps, but he would still be faced with a sceptical rakyat, because not everyone liked the idea of a crooked bridge - as opposed to a nice straight bridge.

The half-bridge, covering only Malaysia's side of the Causeway, would be a permanent ugly symbol of the type of relations Malaysia has with Singapore.

And since compensation has been paid out to developer Gerbang Perdana and others involved in the contract, does the government now ask for the money back? And then ask them to re-start the project? What if they don't want to and ask for more money?

But on the flip side, if PM Najib keeps quiet over the issue, he can be sure that Dr M will keep pushing and pushing.

A case of 'wait and watch'

2009-04-06T07:10:00Z

Reme Ahmad takes out his crystal-ball ahead of M'sia's by-elections.

MALAYSIAN voters will go to polling booths in one constituency each in Sarawak, Kedah and Perak on Tuesday but the results will not change the face of State Assemblies of the three states.

While the bets are on a 2-1 win for either the governing Barisan Nasional coalition or the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, things are still fluid on the ground, from my checks with players on both sides.

Let's do a short summary of the three constituencies.

1. Batang Ai, a state constituency in Sarawak

The by-election is being held here after its previous assemblyman passed away. BN is putting up a candidate from one of its Sarawak component parties, and PR has put up a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate. There is also an independent candidate. The general consensus seems to be - I say "seems to be" because there are voices who will loudly disagree - that BN will win in the constituency.

The roughly 8,000 voters are mostly from the ethnic Iban community. They are likely to vote for status quo and return a BN candidate to power.

If that is to happen, BN can shout from the rooftops that the people of Sarawak have rejected the opposition's plan to take over the timber-rich state.

But, if the Ibans and the smattering of Malays vote in a candidate from Datuk Seri Anwar's PKR, then it could spell trouble for BN. The opposition can claim that even the staunch BN state of Sarawak does not want the governing coalition any more.

2. Bukit Selambau, a state constituency in Kedah.

The by-election is being held after its ethnic Indian assemblyman quit his position following bigamy allegations.

Here, BN is represented by a candidate from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and PR has put up a PKR Indian candidate. There are also 13 independents - making it a 15-pronged contest, a record in Malaysian electoral history.

The 35,140 voters here are nearly 30 per cent Indians - one of the biggest in percentage terms in any constituency in Malaysia.

Another 50 per cent are Malays and 19 per cent are Chinese (1 per cent are Others, including Orang Asli aborigines).

In Malaysian politics where voting is often along racial lines, the Indians are thought to be against BN on complaints that the government has ignored their grouses. And many Indians are unhappy with the MIC led by former minister S. Samy Vellu, and over the detention of five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) - two of them have since been released.

The Chinese are expected to remain mostly behind PR.

Among the majority Malays are many supporters of very-Muslim Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) who will not vote for either the BN or PR candidate because both are not Muslim! But overall, the view seems to be that the PKR-PR candidate will win. This means the state seat will remain with the opposition.

But if the voters pick BN instead, it will be a (small) reversal for BN after the loss of Kedah state to PR in the GE last year. And may even point to people wanting to give new PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak a chance to prove his worth, despite the baggage he carries to office.

3. Bukit Gantang, a Parliament constituency in Perak.

The by-election is being held after the death of its MP, a PAS leader.

In Malaysia's two-level governance system, the State Assemblies (headed by Menteris Besar and Chief Ministers) control the state, while the federal Parliament runs the country as a whole.

The PAS candidate contesting this seat, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, is already an assemblyman in Perak. He was the menteri besar of Perak until BN ousted him and the PR government in February. An assemblyman is allowed to run for a Parliament seat, as he is doing.

More importantly, PR is asking voters to vote for him to show BN that they prefer him as Menteri Besar and not the BN man who has taken over.

Facing him is a local Perakian from Umno-BN. If the voters pick Datuk Seri Nizar, PR will shout that the "referendum" has shown that Perakians want the PR government back.

But among the 55,562 voters, nearly 64 per cent are Malay and many seem to be tilting towards Umno-BN. Another 27 per cent are Chinese who are thought to be solidly behind PR, although the candidate is from PAS. The 9 per cent of Indian voters are thought to be mostly for PR also.

If they pick the unknown Umno-BN candidate instead, BN can go to town saying PR has been rejected.

So, my crystal ball says, while the final score is difficult to determine, Batang Ai may go to BN, Bukit Selambau to PR and Bukit Gantang could swing either way.

However, if one side were to win 3-0, the political landscape could experience a mini-tsunami.

For BN, a 3-0 win will reenergise it. Things have not improved since BN's huge loss in the March 2008 general elections (GE) - it lost five states and its customary two-thirds majority federal Parliament. It has also lost the last two by-elections since. It lost a in Permatang Pauh (Penang) which brought opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim back to Parliament. It then lost another contest in Kuala Terengganu (capital of Terengganu).

A 3-0 win by BN will also weaken the opposition front, but I think such a win is highly unlikely.

On the other hand, a 3-0 win by PR will spell disaster for Datuk Seri Najib. But, it seems unlikely, as some of the magic of Datuk Seri Anwar has faded.

The only option now is to wait and watch.

Dear friends...

2009-04-03T06:44:00Z

Reme Ahmad gets an e-mail from Najib Razak. No, seriously!

I RECEIVED an email from the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, yesterday evening (which means he was still PM-designate then). I am not kidding.

In my Inbox was this:
"From - Najib Razak. Topic - 1Malaysia update".

When I opened the mail, it said:

"On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Najib Razak wrote:"

In the email, the PM-deignate wrote to, ahem, me that although a lot of attention had been focused on the Umno annual general assembly, he has been busy because he is now the party's president.

The mail gets personal, by taking on a conversational 'I am your buddy' tone - ie far and away from the usual "I am a politician, you people listen to me".

Look at this sentence: "The next few days will be no less busy for me, but I will share with you some exclusive content of coming events..."

Of course, it was no surprise that when I depressed the Reply button, the email address was press@1Malaysia.com.my.

1Malaysia.com.my is of course the website and blog of Mr Najib that he started some months ago. He can be expected to be active on this - speaking through his aides of course.

Well, I guess it's about time.

The government has learnt from last year's general elections when the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and Umno were thrashed because they failed to engage Netizens and the phletora of accusations in cyberspace.

I guess the new PM's people now realise that half the public relations battle, and the fight for the hearts of minds of Malaysians and the wired-up international community, is on the Internet.

Mr Najib had better get active real fast. Top opposition leaders Lim Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim have popular blogs that question almost every government move.

They have been joined by dozens of other opposition politicians.

There are the very popular blogs by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, of course - the duo that’s been busily attacking the government (of former PM Abdullah Badawi).

And the role played by opposition news website Harakahdaily.net (Harakah the newspaper is the organ of Parti Islam SeMalaysia). It is in Bahasa Malaysia and popular among pro-PAS netizens.

Then there are the major pro-opposition online newspapers like Malaysiakini and Siasahdaily (also in Bahasa). There is also the blog portal Malaysia Today organised by Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a wildly popular 'anti-government' figure.

The government has two websites seen to be alilgned to it - The Malaysian Insider and Agendadaily (in Bahasa).

But the rest of Malaysian so-po (social-political) blogs and websites seem to be full of writers who have, at minimum, a cynical view of all things government, and at worst, think the government is an uncontrollable lying rapist of public funds.

So it's about time that the new PM, filled with new energy and new officers, answers all the cynicism and the critics out there.

I include below the contents of the, ahem, personal mail from PM Najib to this lowly scribe:

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Najib Razak wrote:
Dear Friends,

As you know the country for the past week had been largely focused on the UMNO General Assembly and the outcome of the party elections. The next few days will be no less busy for me, but I will share with you some exclusive content of coming events, only on www.1Malaysia.com.my. Be sure to check in regularly to view them!
Thank you for your continuous support for 1Malaysia.

Najib

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Change was a running theme at the UMNO General Assembly, as I officially accepted the President post from YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi and was entrusted by the delegates with the new Supreme Council. This I hope will lead to greater and more positive transformations.

Read the speeches and watch the videos »

SOME WEBSITE DEVELOPMENTS
While I have been immersed in the UMNO General Assembly, I am also bringing in some fresh perspective to this website by introducing a new logo.

Read the full blog and comment »

RAHMAN Theory becomes fact?

2009-03-26T06:28:00Z

Reme Ahmad talks about a prophecy that has been making the rounds for years.

TODAY is a new day in Umno, with the rise of a new president who is slated to be the sixth Prime Minister next week.

And today too, a semi-mystical term often whispered within Malaysia's biggest political party is completed.

It has been called the RAHMAN Theory for a very long time. But today, we can perhaps elevate it to the RAHMAN Fact.

Well, almost.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak will still need to be officially appointed Prime Minister to complete this Nostradamus-like "prophecy". The appointment is expected to happen next week, on April 3.

For a long time, many in Umno believed that to become the party president - and thus by tradition the prime minister - your name must start with a letter from the name of the first prime minister.

See this list of Malaysian PMs in the last 52 years:
R = TA Rahman
A = Abdul Razak Hussein
H = Hussein Onn
M = Mahathir Mohamad
A = many thought it would be Anwar Ibrahim, then the fast-rising deputy premier. But Abdullah Badawi emerged instead.
And now, to complete it, there is:
N = Najib Razak.

Of course, we can quibble that Datuk Seri Najib's full name is Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, just like we can say that the whole thing is hocus-pocus because the full name of the first PM is actually Tunku Abdul Rahman, not just Rahman.

No matter. This is because the formula has become a "must-follow" magical prophecy in Umno circles.

That was why, when Anwar was pushing to change the govt by Sept 16 last year, many in Umno had said quietly that this would not happen, simply because after the "A" comes the "N".

Some supporters of Anwar argued jokingly then that RAHMAN could perhaps be stretched a little to become RAHMAAN - the extra "A" to slot in Anwar. And who knows, they argued jokingly, the N could then be filled up by Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah!

Today, some naughty voices are whispering that the whole RAHMAN thing remains a Theory still until April 3, when Mr Najib is expected to be sworn in as Prime Minister by the Malaysian King.

I say "expected" because both PM Abdullah and Mr Najib have not declared openly when exactly the handover will happen.

There are some in the party, including former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who have claimed that unless he is pushed out, Mr Abdullah wants to stay on as Prime Minister although he is no longer Umno president.

So now that the Theory is as good as Fact (well, almost), where do we go?

Must we now find another magical term and say that all future PM's must come from this lineage of letters?

Do we start a NAJIB Theory? Or do we stick with a New RAHMAN?

To the opposition, who thinks they will form the government after the next general elections - to be held by 2013 - this is irrelevant.

Speaking about the rise of Mr Najib, veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said in a speech this month (march): "This also raises the question whether the 'N' in the most famous political prophecy in the country, RAHMAN about the first six Prime Ministers in the country, has a double meaning. That it signifies Najib as Prime Minister after Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak, Hussein Onn, Mahathir and Abdullah, but it also marks the 'end' of the line of Umno Prime Ministers, UMNO hegemony and Umno government in the next 13th general election."

Mr Najib knows that he has a hard slog ahead to ensure that Mr Lim’s prophecy does not come true.