YESTERDAY, WE READ THAT THIS MAN BARED HIS SOUL TO THE BN.
AT LEAST NOW, WE KNOW WHO THE TRUE DR CHANDRA MUZAFFAR IS.
SURE, EVERY DAY GOT ITS DOG.
WEE CHOO KEONG, PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE FOR WANGSA MAJU SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON CHANDRA.I PRODUCE HIS MEDIA RELEASE IN ITS ENTIRETY.
04 March 2008
Dr Chandra Muzaffar is a fraud trying to prop up the ailing BN
Media statement released by
Wee Choo Keong,
This is, for all intent and purpose, an affront to basic freedom and democracy.
For a start, Chandra is just an intellectual fraud. He only pays lip-service to words like freedom and democracy.
In 1998/99 I was sacked from the DAP under strange circumstances and many other DAP leaders throughout the nation resigned from the DAP. At the same time, we were thinking of joining PKR in order to carry on our struggles against injustices, corruptions and abuses of power. During that period, Chandra was the Deputy President of PKR and he, as unreasonable as it was, saw it fit to make a unilateral declaration that all former DAP leaders were banned from joining PKR.
To say the least, this behaviour of his was absolutely bizarre and mind-boggling.
We were extremely shocked and disappointed with Chandra, whom we thought was a real democrat and a great defender of freedom and injustice. After the said infamous declaration of his putting a blanket-ban on former DAP leaders from joining PKR, we knew then that Chandra was merely an arm-chair critic and intellectual fraud when it comes to freedom and democracy.
Whatever Chandra had uttered last night at the forum organised by The Star was not unexpected given his past record. And those utterances should be consigned to the foul-smelling garbage bins much like his mouth at the time surely.
Moreover, Chandran’s vile gibberish of last night was also verbiage and an obvious act of sabotage against the people of this country.
We call upon Chandra to carry on being an arm-chair critic in his academic ‘prison’ and to immediately stop insulting the intelligence of the public.
Chandra would also do well to go back to school to re-learn the basic principles of freedom and democracy.
What one other person has to say about Chandra way back in 2000: here
Chandra is typically politician frog...
ReplyDeleteSHAME ON YOU CHANDRA MUZZAFAR,
ReplyDeleteYOU CLAIM YOURSELF INTELECTUAL,
I CALL YOU SHIT.
YOU MAKE YOURSELF LACKEY TO UMNO,
YOU ALSO MAKE YOURSELF LOWEST GRADE PARIAH.
AND YOU BRING SHAME TO YOUR RELIGION.
Chandrapariah...scum of the earth..and how much were you paid to speak rubbish..did the words come out easy..or you just regurgitate your speech as prepared by UMNO. As an intellect..did your brain stop functioning just for the forum where you aired UMNO view? Can you sleep easy? How much money did you get to go on stage?
ReplyDeleteA CLASSIC CHANDRA-WARA !
ReplyDeleteby Martin Jalleh
It is simply amazing how someone who was deemed “irrelevant” by the caretaker PM and of whom the mainstream media (MSM) chose to send into oblivion has now become the cover story of the MSM – for very obvious reasons of course!
“Who is Anwar? ” the PM had asked sarcastically. He is finished. His political career has folded up. But now, almost every other day Pak Lah answers his own question! Anwar’s “spirit” haunts, hounds and heckles him – even though Anwar is not eligible to stand!
Very evidently the script and sandiwara for the General Elections by the boys on the Fourth Floor have spun out of control. The sycophants surrounding the PM have been caught with their pants down.
In comes an eminent human rights advocate who would spew out an “intellectual” diatribe – Chandra Muzaffar – a man whom in elections of recent times (except when he was in the Opposition) the BN would unleash before the final curtain.
“If Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim becomes Prime Minister, it will be an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Malaysia. . . he is not the sort of leader the country needs as he is now singing a different tune from when he was in the Government, ” charged Chandra, the former deputy president of PKR.
Chandra changed?
A member of the public named “Amar” who wrote to the editor of Malaysiakini pointed out that the “examples he (Chandra) quotes in the report were events that happened way before Anwar lost Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s patronage and interestingly, these were events that took place before Anwar’s reformasi movement commenced. ”
“On what basis did Chandra join PKR as deputy president given that he had reservations over Anwar’s past decisions? ” he quite appropriately asked.
In a similar vein respected journalist and former MP James Wong Wing On quotes a retired academician who attended the forum during which “Chandra Muzaffar had ‘really succeeded’ in damaging or even destroying his own credibility by re-launching ‘a very bitter and vindictive’ attack on Anwar Ibrahim’s ‘past records’ in the BN government”:
“If Chandra Muzaffar had always known Anwar’s "past records" in BN…why did he continue to support Anwar in the period from 1998 to 1999 and also became Parti Keadilan Nasional’s deputy president and its parliamentary candidate in the 1999 general election? ”
A “Aril Mikhail” wrote to Malaysiakini highlighting the irony that “Chandra is ‘coming clean’ and saying all this of Anwar now, when he himself appears to be doing the exact opposite of what he was doing when in Aliran and PKR. Before, he consistently argued against the BN having a two-thirds majority and the need for a strong opposition. ”
“Now, on the eve of the elections, he seemingly dismisses the opposition and asserts that, despite its flaws, there is no other viable coalition beyond the BN. How fortuitous. I guess when you’ve been offered a cushy position in a state university for two years, you tend to ‘change’ somewhat.
“Dear Chandra, selling out is fine. But becoming a willing tool of a corrupt, arrogant and racist regime at this critical juncture devalues, indeed destroys, whatever good work you may have done thus far. May God guide you, ” was Mikhail’s parting blessing!
In other words, it appears Chandra is also singing a different tune?
Chandra Confused?
In their response to Chandra’s cutting criticism of Anwar, the Malaysian Media Monitors’ Diary, a joint project of Charter 2000-Aliran, the Centre for Independent Journalism and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence, along with independent volunteers, showed how confused Chandra was:
“Chandra also expressed his fear of serious polarisation in the country: ‘My fear is that this coming election will reinforce and aggravate the ethnic polarisation if a large number of non-Malays vote for the Opposition, and worse if a large percentage of Malays vote for the Opposition. This will cause Umno to be very cautious in making any changes to the ethnic question and addressing issues related to religion. ’
“Such an argument only raises further questions: in the first place, isn’t the increase in polarisation due to ethnic-based policies and practices of the past Umno-led administrations, as alluded to by Chandra himself? If so, how on earth could Umno be relied upon to make meaningful changes that could redress problems related to ethnicity and religion?
“And why was there an emergence of amorphous groups such as Hindraf that articulate legitimate grievances (to a large extent) from a particular ethnic community?
“Secondly, how can ethnic polarisation worsen if both the non-Malays and the Malays vote for the Opposition? If anything, a multi-ethnic ruling coalition and a multi-ethnic opposition would lessen polarisation and ensure that issues raised are debated in the interests of all Malaysians. Is it the only the Barisan Nasional that can resolve ethnic issues and polarisation. The record indicates otherwise. ”
Chandra Consistent?
Chandra also said “the most important quality of a leader in a multi-ethnic country was honesty and when a leader spoke on sensitive ethnic issues, he must say the same thing to non-Malays as to the Malays…You cannot play games because it is very dangerous. "
There could be no better response to this than that provided by the Malaysian Media Monitors’ Diary: ”If, as rightly pointed out by Chandra, the issue of trust and honesty is vital, then shouldn’t we, or rather forum moderator Wong Chun Wai, also ask whether leaders such as keris-wielding Hishamuddin can be trusted to be one of the country’s leaders.
“After all, didn’t Hishamuddin change his political stance pertaining to the issue of Chinese and Tamil schools in the country in the run-up to the general election? Isn’t that political expedience of the highest degree?
“Hasn’t his tune changed? Wasn’t it in Umno that you had a few politicians talking of unsheathing the keris and threatening to bathe it with Chinese blood? Did this escape Wong’s (or Chandra’s) memory? ”
Yes, what about the “honesty” of caretaker deputy prime minister Najib Tun Razak who in 1987, as UMNO Youth Chief, vowed to bathe the keris with Chinese blood, and who now never fails to spew out a verbal diarrhea of multi-racial mutterings?
As for consistency, did the caretaker PM not preach to the gathering of Christians at the Plenary Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches at the beginning of his premiership on “Dialogue The Key To Unity Of Multireligious, Multiethnic And Multicultural Societies” and yet, four years later ban the Building Bridges Conference, a inter-religious seminar meant to bring together Christian and Muslim scholars of international repute?
Alas, Chandra seems so out of tune! Even the Aliran Executive Committee feels so. In a statement today they provide two examples: “It is odd, (therefore, ) that Chandra should be so concerned about the problem of money politics in PKR per se. At the same time, he has not said much of late about the money politics which has always been associated with the BN. ”
”Chandra also has highlighted the supposedly racial scare tactics used by PKR during the Lunas by-election. For us, such dirty tricks have been resorted to by all parties especially the BN. Again, all forms of racial baiting by all parties should be condemned. ”
Chandra’s chicanery?
In recent years, Anwar has in fact addressed what Chandra has accused him off. As Aril Mikhail has put it quite succinctly: “The gist of Chandra’s personal attack is that Anwar is saying things now that are the opposite of what he said and did when he was high up in Umno. This, of course, is nothing new and Anwar himself has addressed these criticisms often enough. ”
Indeed quite recently Anwar has met head-on criticisms and the portrayal of him as a political chameleon (especially by the MCA). When asked to respond to a 4-page leaflet by the MCA entitled “Disclosing the true face of Anwar”, Anwar said:
“The notion that I’m a political chameleon misses things by a mile…Nothing I did and said in the language and cultural spheres were not standard BN-Umno policy and nowhere did I take my championing of any issue to the extent that I waved a keris and called for bloodletting, stirring crowds to emotive outbursts”
(Malaysiakini).
Anwar was referring to the October 1987 Umno Youth-led demonstration in Kuala Lumpur where a band of Malay leaders, including present Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, harangued the crowd with inflammatory rhetoric.
At that time, the posting of non-Mandarin speaking administrators to government-aided Chinese schools ratcheted up racial tension in the country: “Those were fraught times and I hold that the distinction one ought to make between a responsible and a chauvinistic leader in that context lay in how you argued your point without inflaming public sentiment.
“I stood on the sane side of that divide while there were others in power today who breached that line with impunity, ” he said.
In early February this year, Anwar subjected himself to a rigorous examination of his stances on religious issues in the presence of about 200 Christian clerics and lay activists and appeared to have emerged intact (Malaysiakini).
There was no variance between his public pronouncements and his private assurances to his inquisitors, said an observer at the closed-door dialogue held in Petaling Jaya, organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia.
Chandra’s Condemnation
There also remains the hopeful reality that politicians do and can change for the better through time and circumstance. James Wong quotes a good Christian friend who also attended the forum wherein Chandra spoke:
“…whatever his "past records" in the BN government, Anwar has ‘cleansed’ himself by his willingness to suffer grave injustices and tortures from 1998 to 2004, and also by working hard now to oppose BN’s unjust policies. Seen in this light, Anwar is definitely a better person than those in the BN who still refuse to make amends for the better. ”
“Has Dr. Chandra Muzaafar himself changed for the better or worse? ” asked James Wong
By portraying Anwar as untrustworthy and unprincipled Chandra is pronouncing the “death sentence” on the man who has already paid a very costly price for challenging the head of a hegemony who was capable of the most heinous!
Chandra also confounded the whole country when he said that although BN was “flawed”, there was no other coalition in the country. In its statement Aliran stated that it “does not share Chandra’s recent remarks vis-à-vis Anwar Ibrahim and PKR. Neither do we share his views that the BN despite its flaws is a better choice. Indeed, we are rather perturbed by his apparently emotional outburst. ”
Asked why he was breaking his silence now, Chandra said it appeared that people were being deceived by Anwar and (i)t is something for which I am prepared to go on record now so that people will not be deceived".
Chandra should keep in mind what he had once declared: “Malaysians are not idiots or imbeciles. ”
Apparently Aliran was not satisfied with the answer given by its former president and so it stated and asked: “The most disturbing aspect of this episode is how Dr Chandra Muzaffar has wittingly or unwittingly lent himself to be a part of the BN propaganda machine. It is sad that a prominent intellectual and long-time activist of his standing has such a blinkered view of the issue at hand. We wonder why he did not make these alleged goings-on public earlier and follow up on them conclusively given his public stance on integrity and accountability. Why only now? "
Alas, Chandra should not allow himself to be a hydra of the BN!
Martin Jalleh
5 March 2008
He has stated open support for the BN , quote " “My fear is that this coming election will reinforce and aggravate the ethnic polarisation if a large number of non-Malays vote for the Opposition, and worse if a large percentage of Malays vote for the Opposition"
ReplyDeleteA complete reversal of his previous stands. One wonders as to the reasons why. Is he parlaying his credibility for personal gain? What's really revolting about his statement is the fact that it is a veiled threat that if the status quo is not maintained things will get worse. It turns my stomach.
Chandra Mud (that's the abreviation I shall use henceforth in reference to you), the polarisation was and is created by the BN. The opposition is trying to restore some semblance of decency which has been taken from civil society here in Malaysia and the hope of all decent Malaysians is that they will somehow, against insurmountable odds, prevail. My thanks to you though for allowing Malaysians to see the wolves from the sheep.
The frantic smear campaign by the Barisan leaders against Anwar, repeated and amplified by the UMNO controlled TV stations, is evidence of the effectiveness of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteThey deny him an opportunity to refute their allegations and have resurrected the failed, egoistic and discredited politician “scholar” Chandra Muzaffar and hired scribes to defame Anwar in the media.
Chandra now claims that if Anwar, who is now out of power, becomes Prime Minister it would be an unmitigated disaster for Malaysia but he was singing a different tune when Anwar was in power as Deputy Prime Minister.
He was, then, promoting Anwar as the successor to Dr Mahathir. In a piece he wrote in The Star he eulogized Anwar as the leader who is concerned about, and looking after, the welfare of the poor and the lower income group. With a forked tongue, he now accuses Anwar of dishonesty and singing a different tune from when he was in government.
I f we examine Chandra’s history of political involvement we can see his disillusionment with trying to become a self proclaimed reformer and a desire to attach himself to those in power. He was once a bitter critic of Dr Mahathir and an ardent supporter of Tengku Razaleigh and his Semangat 46. His object was to weaken UMNO but when it became clear that Tengku had no chance of assuming power Chandra abandoned him and Semangat 46.
He was then jobless when Anwar picked him up and gave him a job in the University Science Malaysia. Then he became a confidante and trusted adviser of Anwar. Using Anwar he managed to get close to Mahathir. He organized an international human rights conference and got Mahathir to declare it open. Many human rights groups criticized him for inviting Mahathir who they considered responsible for the destruction of the independence of our judiciary and violation of human rights. Chandra was seen by them as an opportunist sucking up to power instead of speaking truth to power.
After Mahathir sacked Anwar, Chandra became the de facto leader of Keadilan and contested the elections and lost. Also Anwar was convicted by the courts on criminal charges and there was no hope of him coming out of prison for more than 10 years if Mahathir continued to be in power. With a lot of infighting in Keadilan and Anwar in prison, Keadilan had no hope of denting Mahathir’s power.
It is at this stage that he decided to abandon Anwar and Keadilan which he regarded as a sinking ship. He then cultivated the friendship of Khairy Jamaluddin and got close to his father-in-law Datuk Abdullah Badawi, the then Deputy Prime Minister. He started praising Mahathir, who had been the target of his venomous attacks just months ago, including labelling him Mahafiraun. To curry favour with the government he began attacking Anwar.
He is now very comfortable running an NGO with the support of those in power and preaching morality and ethics to the world at large. His morality includes supporting a party that has an uninterrupted record of violation human rights, abuse of power, and corruption.
Whether Anwar will be an unmitigated disaster to Malaysia is academic and has yet to be seen. But Chandra has proved to be an unmitigated disaster to Keadilan, Anwar, and those who are seduced by his rhetoric without substance.
Mahfuz Omar
PAS, Information Chief
Well said Mahfuz.....
ReplyDelete