Screenshots

Dear YB Ooi,

Permit me to reproduce an open letter I wrote in my blog addressed to Anwar Ibrahim.

Dear Yang Berhormat,

Let me start off by congratulating you on your magnificent victory in the by-election and also your return to parliament on Thursday as leader of the opposition benches.

I know its only been a day since the by-election and you deserve a rest but unfortunately YB, you're no ordinary man. Since the rakyat placed so much trust and hope in you, we expect you to start working for us immediately, unfair as it may seem.

What we would like to know is what do you intend to do next, now that you are a member of parliament and leader of the opposition?

Will you now use the august house as a platform to further your stated intention of toppling the BN federal government by further politicking?

If you will permit me, may I remind you of what most Malaysians, who supported you recently hope that you will do instead.

YB, when the ordinary rakyat supported you, it was because we recognized that you are the 'glue' that is holding the Pakatan Rakyat together. And we wanted the PR to remain together so as to provide the other half of a 2-party system.

With great humility, we would like to suggest that top on your priority list should be to consolidate and strengthen the PR. Get DAP and PAS to really sit down and discuss to see if there can be common ground to work together all of the time rather than some of the time, with you as the mediator.

If you can achieve this then it is a step forward to a formal political coalition of parties known as the Pakatan Rakyat. In essence we are urging you to turn the present cooperation between PKR, DAP and PAS into a formal institution of a permanent political entity.

I hope you can appreciate our worries that since the existence of PR now largely hinge on you, we worry what will happen to the PR should you be unable to provide the 'glue' in the future. We would rest easier if we know that the PR can still continue to function, with or without you, to provide the check and balance to BN, a necessary component in a 2-party system.

Again with humility, may we suggest that YB, now as leader of the opposition, work towards forming a shadow cabinet. This is necessary because we the rakyat are not so interested in politicking along partisan lines per se, but would be more interested in issues that affect the nation and in turn us.

With a shadow cabinet, we will have the opportunity to see for ourselves what to expect if and when we put the PR in government. We appreciate that right now, the PR opposes whatever unfair and unjust policies of BN but in an ad hoc and individual manner. Wouldn't it be more helpful to the watching rakyat if we can see your opposition in a cohesive and unified manner?

YB, please do not be so obsessed with the idea of attracting 30 BN MPs to crossover in order for you to topple the government before 16 September. Let me assure you that it will happen naturally if you work on achieving the above 2 suggestions from us.

Without taking away any of the enormity of your recent victory, there are still many of us who wonder if you are really for us or for yourself. Do not make the same mistake your BN opponents did when they underestimated the intelligence of the ordinary Malaysian.

Do the right thing that we are all crying out for and we will put you in Putrajaya one day soon enough. Engage in too much politicking for personal aims and we may reconsider our support.

In closing, I would like to humbly remind you that, we the ordinary rakyat, want a truly democratic Malaysia where each and everyone of us is treasured and allowed to do our part for the country we live in. Trust us that if this is allowed, our compassion for fellow Malaysians regardless of race or religion will not allow us to leave ANYONE behind in our quest to go forward as a nation.

Thank you for giving us hope again and may we wish you all the best for keeping alive our dreams.

Yours sincerely,

An ordinary Malaysian

I just reproduce this piece by a certain 'walla', posted in crankshafted:

walla said...

All the rakyat want is clean and fair governance. Simple things. Yet Umno has gone and complicated things until they have made inclusiveness a rarity in order to hide the reality that they are neither clean nor fair.

Meanwhile this Pakatan comes up from nowhere as the alternative. It rode to success on the calculated sentiments of the rakyat. But it must remember one thing - the rakyat had voted less for it and more for their rejection of BN, especially Umno, in the same way the rakyat had once voted for BN only because it wanted to vote against PAS.

So Pakatan will have to prove itself. In those states where it helms, it has shown some progress, albeit by exposing how the previous Umno-run administrations had botched up against "clean and fair", and it could not do more because federal funds are held up by BN as opposition.

All this will show the rakyat in the remaining states still under BN that they can't keep their eyes closed any longer, for if things are not opened up, they will end up losing even more than they can by now suspect. In fact by holding up federal funds for the states led by Pakatan, BN is showing its trait of ruthless denial against citizens who also pay taxes, and raising the stake to all-or-nothing in the battle for political supremacy.

So the momentum is with Pakatan. Umno is not going to sit still. In all the things it has done todate since GE12, it has tried to trip and fix Pakatan. The rakyat can see this for themselves and should not be expected not to be very angry at such travesties against fairness. In fact, it shows to them that Umno is desperate. Why should they fear Anwar and Pakatan so much unless they have much to lose and hide? And what does one have which calls for such actions unless that which is owned has been taken by foul means, if in the first place public service is not just to deliver good service but also to accumulate power and personal goods.

The same should also be reminded to Pakatan if and when it knocks out BN. In the end, Pakatan is just a joint-venture. By themselves, each partner cannot lead the whole country. Yet, together in the JV, the whole has become bigger than the sum of the parts. One acts as a symbiotic agent to the others. Forces are combined, strengths augmented, and weaknesses counteracted. BN doesn't have this symbiotic arrangement. BN's components have been neutered until they are just eunuchs so much so the check-and-balance, critically important in this multiracial nation, has been completely compromised.

This joint-venture is held together by Anwar. He has a past. People remember him for being an Umno ultra. Even if he makes PM, this will continue to stick in the minds of half the population of this country - unless he comes out to make a clear apology for his past actions and make amends by fullsome deeds for the neglected nonmalays. If Hishamuddin of Umno could make a grudging, halfbaked, and semiinsulting apology to the nonmalays for unsheathing the keris, would Anwar stand up and make his own apology? The probability is low because he would fear that it would be taken against him. He would also fear that the malay segment of Pakatan would equally fear the same.

But there comes a day in nation-building when a man must do what is right. Politics in this country should not be about which banner, what manifesto. It's not about Umno, or PKR or DAP or MCA or PAS or whatever. It should be about principles. The best political leader in the world is he who will bravely shun realpolitik, even at risk of losing everything in the end. And the time which stands before us today, now, is just ripe for such a paradox to be applied. Because the rakyat, especially the silent malay moderate majority, have made a tectonic shift to end race-based politics and move towards a more balanced way of life for all.

If Anwar and Pakatan fail, Umno and BN will be emboldened to tighten their noose around the necks of all, and make sure such a revolution, call it that, will never see the light again in Malaysia. Were this not so, they would have reformed and changed in the last few critical months. Instead, they intensified their racial overtones until the rakyat are pushed to the corner. That includes the malays.

Yasmin Ahmad mentioned today that statistically in the race riots, for every one killed, ten others were given refuge and protection by other races.

There is a lot of goodwill between our races. Only unreasonable tribalism has stoppered it from manifesting more to all. People like Mahathir can talk down the rakyat by saying they only care about their food plates when they vote and things like accountability and transparency don't mean a thing. Yet, if the election results have shown anything, the rakyat have connected the dots and seen for themselves how a more transparent and accountable government, such as one has seen in other more successful countries, is in fact the main factor for putting more food on their plates. After all, if wealth is stolen for a few, how can it be distributed through the economy to the many?

Permatang Pauh was said to be a defining moment for this nation. One hopes Anwar realizes how defining it was. Because what is at stake is not just the resurgence of a new reality but the last sentence passed on all the long-suffering rakyat of this country. If the dark side of the force gets to him in the same way it got to every tom, dick and harry in Umno and its slaves, then woe betide the future of all malaysians. He would then be delivering the final death blow on the hope for our young ones to have a clean and fair country. Because when you kill the last hope, there's nothing left to believe in after that. You will only reap permanent cynicism. Think what that will do to young, earnest and hardworking people. If he makes it to the top, he will have to fight himself and stop those who have been supporting him to hand out by the same methods the goodies that Umno had squandered on their cronies. Being a better man shouldn't be difficult. After all, when one is in the sixties, what else matters than being truly relevant to the Almighty?

It remains to say one should be thankful for Badawi being weak. Not that his flipflop, narrow and unmitigatable approach to internet analysis can stop the virtualisation of the peoples' voice. One should also thank Najib for being such a character. May the truth come out soon on what he really is.

hi, i am wall-e.

29 August 2008 13:39

Hi Jeff, your site used to be so hot with expose after expose of the corruption in the BN government. Could you still blog freely even when the fault lies with Pakatan and DAP?

JEFF OOI says: Yes, I will.

I know it is pointless to try and defend wrong-doers. We are not asking for that. But could you explain in your capacity why certain people choose to disrupt public forums and what kind of measures are taken to discipline errant members and promise that it would never happen again?

Amen. This 'walla' voices our thoughts out loud.

Sorry, ooi, but I need to give it to you straight. Your ego is increasing by the no. of articles written about you.

JEFF OOI says: Talk is always cheap. I will just get on with my political belief and yes, work on hard.

Dear YB Jeff,

August 29, 2008
Jeff Ooi in Christian Science Monitor
A blogger takes office in Malaysia, screams the headline in Christian Science Monitor, the Boston-based newspaper that has won seven Pulitzer prizes.

Quote: "A Blogger takes office in Malaysia - Jeff ooi joins activist and NGO workers as opposition members of parliament demanding rfeforms" unquote.

In the story, I was quoted as saying that I am uninterested in climbing the party hierarchy. Quote:

"What I find exciting is to experiment with political thinking,” he says. [...]
“The keyboard is mightier than the sword…. Even a blogger can no longer tolerate the quality of governance that the country is having now,” he says. unquote.

YB Jeff, I had said it earlier & I will say it again :

Congratulations to you once again & you rightly so deserve the accolade - a force to be reckoned with, not just in Penang but Regionally & now Internationally - as another International True Blue "Anak Bangsa Malaysia" icon !

As I had also said "Ultimately, God will anoint the True Leaders of this great nation Malaysia for Malaysians" - there will be many, not necessarily from any one party, but also from the ranks of the downtrodden rayaat.

Your intellectual, academic, professional, political right down to grassroots exposure & your focused determination to be the "Best" at whatever you aspire to do speak for itself.

With you being a Penangite, the "Pioneer Blogger", your "Broad Spectrum" knowledge, experience & exposure - you have achieved and rightfully earned the distinction of being a "Neutral" Regional & International Personality from Malaysia - another International True Blue "Anak Bangsa Malaysia" icon !

Yes, even the Singapore PM has acknowledged & respected your achievement - The Prime Minister talked about preparing Singapore society in New Media, citing several countries, US, Korea, Malaysia, China and Singapore.

"This blogger was aligned in the league of Barack Obama, who campaigns online, and Hu Jin-tao, who held his first webchat recently."

"... you have heard about Jeff Ooi, famous blogger, stood for election... elected!"

PM Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally Speech 2008 (English, Malay, Mandarin)
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/nationalday

Syabas Jeff, have Faith in God & keep up your good, honest, dedicated & sincere efforts to bring about "Truth" to restore "Justice & Freedom" to this great nation and its rayaat.

May God continue to Bless and Protect you & your family always.

I do think that your blog has lost a little bit of credibility here and there...

every blog entry of you will now have a DAP tag on it... people see them as... DAP people think or say this...

JEFF OOI says" DAP gave me the platform, and voters sent me through to the Parliament through the rocket. I need to be sure of my political conviction or else how do I lead?

People now think that your criticism over something now comes from beecause you are DAP ppl... which means you are "obliged" and "by partisan nature" to criticise... No longer a "citizen's rant" that connects more with normal people...

and the fact that you are not updating the screenshots regularly anymore... :P

JEFF OOI says: I am now a Parliamentarian and a blogger. I have moved on, and that's precisely the sequence of my my priority in life, and my responsibility to the people who voted me in. There are many bloggers, but there aren't bloggers who are Parliamentarians. Hopefully, there will be more Jeff Ooi's in GE2012. Then I can retire so that Malaysia can carry on even without the small me.

congrats bro, and i don't think your popularity will diminish just because you choosed to uphold what you truly believe.

hey people, why is Jeff name not placed in Malaysia Guiness Book of Records for being the FIRST blogger to go to parliament? Even some very minor things gets put in. But not this blogger name, why?