The Latest from TunMahathir-Warisan Negara,Malaysia's opposition mounts campaign in CYBERSPACE.

The Latest from Tun Mahathir, Warisan Negara Election 2008: Malaysia's opposition mounts campaign in cyberspace Posted: 19 Feb 2008 10:31 PM CSTThe power of Internet.
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia goes to the polls next month and this time the campaign is going online, as opposition parties turn to blogs, SMS and YouTube to dodge a virtual blackout on mainstream media.
Major newspapers and television stations -- many partly owned by parties in the ruling coalition -- are awash with flattering stories on the government and its achievements ahead of March 8 general elections.
The opposition parties rate barely a mention, but thanks to the Internet they have begun campaigning feverishly in cyberspace with the aim of reaching young, urban, educated voters.
"They control the television but we've got YouTube now," said 31-year-old Lee Sean Li, an accountant who avidly surfs the Net for alternative news and complains there are only negative glimpses of the opposition in the main media.
Lee was delighted to see parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang post a speech on the upcoming elections, just minutes after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dissolved parliament earlier this month.
"I was impressed at how professional he was and it is a clever use of technology," Lee said, adding that 67-year-old Lim is one of the most "wired" politicians in the country.
While many of his generation may struggle to send an email, Lim runs three blogs which are meticulously updated with multiple posts every day, and many of the party's other leaders follow suit.
"Blogging is one way to get word out and an opportunity to circumvent media control," said Lim from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is aiming to dent the government's thumping majority in the upcoming vote.
"We cannot neutralise the state-controlled media," he told AFP.
"But Internet pick-up rates will keep getting higher. We will not be blacked out forever."
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index, and says the main media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down the many events organised by the opposition".
One of the alternative pioneers is Malaysiakini.com, an online news journal which since it began operating in 1999 has been raided by police and denied media passes for its reporters to cover government events.
Co-founder Steven Gan said the use of the Internet as a campaign tool was hampered by penetration rates which remain low in rural areas where the government enjoys strong support.
"But in urban areas, it is significant. They now have this alternative access to news and other views," he said.
The Malaysiakini website receives about 100,000 daily hits and has struggled to cope with the volume since an unprecedented series of public protests against the government broke out in recent months.
"During this election period, I expect it to increase by tenfold and we are preparing for that kind of explosion in the coming weeks. We have upgraded the bandwidth for better access," Gan said.
Malaysia's Islamic opposition party PAS runs its own online journal HarakahDaily.net which features six different online television channels and original reporting on the election.
And political dissident and ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim also writes his own blog which has news links and videos of his Keadilan party's campaign activities.
Anwar last year used the site to release a video clip which allegedly showed a high-profile lawyer brokering top judicial appointments -- a scandal which triggered a full royal commission of inquiry.
Well-known blogger Jeff Ooi, who is standing as a DAP candidate in the elections, said news and views on blogs appealed to a cross-section of people and was not limited to urban youth alone.
"It is not really restricted by age. We are attracting many concerned citizens who are above 45 years old and these are the people who are more interested in politics and the oppositions' viewpoint," he said.
"Our campaign videos will be transmitted through YouTube because it is unlikely for television stations to broadcast them, of course," said Ooi, who is facing a defamation suit by the government-linked New Straits

TheLatest from Tun Mahathir,Warisan Negara.

pic by a blogger who requests anonymity from rocky's bru blog. TUN WILL REMAIN A THORN TO THE CYRRENT GOVERNMENT:

Tun Mahathir will remain a thorn to the current government Posted: 30 Jan 2008 12:08 AM CSTTun Mahathir says the current PM Abdullah Badawi government of lacking "guts" and selling out Malaysian sovereignty. When asked whether PM Abdullah Badawi should quit his post as PM, Tun Mahathir replied - "It is up to him to decide. It's also up to the people to decide. If the people want him to move on, if they think his administration is not benefiting them, they should make a decision.".
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday he would remain a thorn in the side of his successor in the run-up to elections, and would continue to speak his mind.
Until subdued by heart problems last year, the outspoken Mahathir was the most vocal critic of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, accusing his government of lacking "guts" and selling out Malaysian sovereignty.
"I still disagree on several of his policies, mainly allowing Malaysians to be subject to Singapore's wishes," the 82-year-old told select foreign media in an interview ahead of Wednesday's launch of his new book.
The book published for the first time his personal correspondence with world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, on issues ranging from terrorism to Islam and Myanmar.
"We are not as independent as before in terms of our attitude towards international affairs," said Mahathir, who ruled the nation for 22 years with an iron grip. "We tend to be very accommodative."
DEAD WOOD
In the interview, he took Abdullah to task for "wasting (public) money", dismissed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as a "daydreamer" and asserted that the domestic economy was in "bad shape" without a rally in commodity prices.
Mahathir said Abdullah's ruling front would be returned with a strong majority in the polls, widely expected by March, but said voters must get rid of dead wood in the coalition.
"But there are certain people whose contribution is negative. These people should not be chosen as candidates," Mahathir, wearing a collarless Nehru suit, said at his office in the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.
"I still support the party and I still believe the party will win with a good majority but one must not confuse support for the party with support for the individual," he said.
On Anwar, Mahathir said his political enemy would not be a major factor in the coming elections.
"He's not a real factor," he said. "There's no more political future for him. If he thinks he's going to be the prime minister, it's daydreaming of the worst kind."
A charismatic speaker, Anwar was sacked from government in 1998 after falling out with Mahathir. Anwar then led street protests before he was arrested and later jailed on what he called trumped-up charges of graft and sodomy.
Released in 2004, his corruption conviction means he cannot stand for elected office or hold political office until April this year.
Mahathir, who has a history of heart problem, underwent a heart bypass in September and doctors have advised him to cut down on travel and other activities, including horse-riding.
The operation was Mahathir's second such surgery since 1989 and followed two heart attacks over the past 13 months.
His quarrel with Abdullah came to the fore after the government scrapped Mahathir's idea to replace a causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore with a bridge.
Asked if Abdullah should quit, he replied: "It is up to him to decide. It's also up to the people to decide. If the people want him to move on, if they think his administration is not benefiting them, they should make a decision.