13th April 2016
I am back in KL after spending 2 full days in Miri with Abun Sui. My maths guy, Wyhow and I have been providing data analytics and campaign training too. We also sat down to ponder the logistical challenges of campaigning in rural Sarawak. After 2 days of intense cerebral work, I am back in my office today to look at policy matters.
Today we are focusing on social policies after having crafted some economic policies last week.
16th April 2016
My office is now busy with policy writing. We will be doing this for months to come. We are taking an indefinite break from Sarawak campaigning after learning that Murum will most likely be going to DAP. Until a change to the current status, we are on stand-down mode. I feel deeply for Abun Sui on the matter. His office and my office have put a lot of work, money and time on the Murum campaign. My office however will adhere to the decision of the PKR leaders.
On a separate note, I am following the Clinton vs. Sanders debate very closely. Partly because of its impact on TPPA (if Sanders win, TPPA is finished; if Clinton wins, TPPA will continue) and partly because of the topic of “political corruption”.
I am pro-Sanders and see Clinton as everything that is wrong about politics today. The corruption of politics is usually linked to the Republican party but it is sad to see it is now firmly in the Democrats too. It is also a major problem in the UK, where former PM Tony Blair has emerged extremely wealthy after life in politics.
Bernie Sanders have just published a modest tax returns with a total income of USD 205,000 for 2015.
Hilary Clinton on the other hand, made a whopping USD675,000 from giving just three speeches to Goldman Sachs employees! This is the same Goldman Sachs that got USD500 million from 1MDB bonds.
The Clintons are also estimated to have a net worth of USD110 million! How did this come about? The Clintons are famous for being very cosy with corporate interests.
In very stark contrast, Sanders and his wife has a total net worth of USD300,000.
In a world of massive inequality, we have to stop electing people like the Clintons to come to power for they will only perpetuate the status quo. The lesson here is we have to be aware of all the wolves in sheep’s clothing, who claim to be democratic but are not. And these wolves are starting to dominate our politics.
17th April 2016
Thank you to my readers for your varied and critical comments on my last posting about the Murum seat.
My team and I went to Sarawak 5 times and for every trip we spent about RM2,000 to RM5,000 of my own money. I have spent around RM16,000 till date on the simple fact that Abun Sui is a good man. When Abun was short of funds, I stepped in time and time again to help. Abun himself is not a rich man, but he scrapped and saved RM100,000 to finance his visits to longhouses for a year.
My office also clocked in a few hundred man hours helping him. We took 200 photos and selected the very best to make Abun’s posters and banners. We did complete data analytics on his voters. We worked on his speeches. We printed stickers, supplied banners. We completed a carefully crafted election timetable. In fact, my office spent more time on his campaign than my own election in 2013.
So yes, it was a very hard blow to have been told that PKR negotiators had conceded the Murum seat to DAP. But I don’t blame DAP for this. DAP must have argued their case so it is the PKR negotiators who has to explain to Abun Sui why he lost what was clearly his seat to win.
However, I take the bigger picture view that once the parties have agreed and shook hands on it, nobody should renege on the agreement. To u-turn on what YAB Azmin Ali and YAB Lim Guan Eng agreed on behalf of PKR and DAP last Monday night, is tantamount to an attempt to sabotage Pakatan Harapan’s future as a coalition.
There is a bigger issue at stake here than who gets to contest what. At stake for PKR is that we must honour our promises, that our word is our bond.
So it’s time to move on from the issue of seat selection and focus on the battle ahead with BN in Sarawak.