While I was walking the market this morning, some people stopped me and expressed their disgust with Chandra Mustafa for what he said in the Star report today (March 4).
To me, Chandra’s attack on Anwar is nothing new. What he has done was not unexpected. The BN must be very desperately running out of ammunition, even Chandra is now their last cannon.
Chandra’s statement failed to harm the opposition or Anwar. Instead his integrity is publicly damaged.
I wonder Chandra was always conscious of Anwar’s ‘misdeed’ during his government days? Or this knowledge was an “after-thought” of his post-KeADILan days? If so, who could have imparted such privileged information onto him?
Chandra left the party when I was in ISA detention. His departure saddened me (and many party members), as Chandra was one of the persons who had persuaded me persistently to join the party.
Initially I was reluctant, my reason was that I preferred to stay as an NGO activist.
If Chandra had already known Anwar’s wrongdoings, he shouldn’t have recruited me into the party. He should have told me and warned me of the “danger” of associating with Anwar.
The logic of this is simple, either Chandra was dishonest to me at the time of the party foundation, or he is being dishonest now.
I wonder if Chandra knew then all Anwar’s flaws and mistakes (when he was in government), why was he so enthusiastically defending Anwar for many years.
Despite of his popularity as an NGO advocate, Chandra has behaved like lalang throughout his career. I used to look up to him in my university days. However in 1996 when Malaysian NGOs hosted the controversial “Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor” (APCET II), I was very disappointed when he refused to support the initiative. Worse, he condemned the human rights NGOs for defying Malaysian order and jeopardized our diplomatic relationship with Indonesia.
Chandra has just made another transformation, from ‘neutral’ NGO he is now an apologist for UMNO/BN.
Chandra ni macam lalang … I think he has gone senile. Sdr Tian, this bugger is not worth a sen, he would sell his soul to the devil for a few ringgit more.
Saya menyokong sapenuhnya pejuangan Sdr Tian …. semoga menang dan kalahkan dinasti Lim Keng Yaik…..
HIDUP TIAN CHUA
You are absolutely right. Orang itu tak guna langsung!
For me remarks/comments from a person of Chandra’s stature (no worry for his physical defects) suffices for us to believe in Gods will, so to Anwar, he should be grateful that Chandra has exposed his true nature so soon that we do not have to wait to know ny more about it. Tian, keep up your faith!
When I saw the headline ” Disaster if Anwar is the PM” in the Star today. It was opined by none otehr than the former KeADILan member, Dr. Chandra Mustaffa of JUST.
Now let us examine whether it would be a disaster or a blessing if Anwar is the PM of Malaysia. At the outset I must mention that I am NOT a member of KeAdilan or DAP or Pas.
Firstly, Anwar has advocated removing the NEP. His reason is that it has been used to enrich certain people in UMNO at the expense of t he Majority of Malays, not to mention the other component Parties of BN. Anwar says that NEP’s objective of helping the POOR Malays
has not been achieved . ERADICATION of POVERTY is one of the twin objectives; the other being the affirmative action to help the poor Malays. Anwar wants to replace the NEP with anoter Plan that helps ALL NEEDY Malaysians. It transcends race. It is for ALL Malaysiasn who NEED help. Is this a disaster or a blessing for Malaysians, if Anwar is the PM ?
Secondly, he wants the Public Universities to be manned by Vice-Chancellors of CALIBRE. If they cannot be found within the country, then head-hunt for them in foreign lands. This will enhance the prestige of local Universities in the world stage. In turn, foreign lecturers and students will flock in here because they have faith in the QUALITY of education. Is this a disaster or a blessing to the nation? Now Anwar wants this to be done. Will he bring disaster to the nation? The trouble with our present leaders is that their mindset has made them NARROW-minded in their thinking.
Thirdly, he wanst to bring back MERITOCRACY in the admission of students to Universities. As it is, there are two streams— Matriculation ( 1 - year Course ) and STPM ( 2 -year course ). How could 4 kg of langsat= 4 kg of D24 durian? And yet there are cock-eyed educationists who say that they are the same! It is tantamount to saying that 4 kg of stones = 4 kg of precious stones, because the weights are the same!
And what has happened over the years? Universities have produced UNEMPLOYABLE graduates who have to be RE-trained. Their English language is horrible and beyond comprehension. How could they impress interviewers in the private sector? And the private sector has no time to waste training staff. Their business must go on from day one of recruitment of staff.
So, will it be a disaster if Anwar is the PM and he implements what he says in the manifesto? I don’t think so, with due respect to Dr, Chandra Mustaffa.
Thirdly, Anwar mentioned that when he was Finance Minister for eight years, he never raised the price of petrol, which stood at RM1.10 per litre. Now, the price has skyrocketed to more than RM2.00 . Don’t forget that Malaysia is a net exporter of petroleum.
He wants to bring the price down! is this a disaster or a blessing to the people?
Human beings are sometimes very fickle
They can change their tunes in a twinkle
Faster than you can ever find a sickle
Never forget that everyone has his own Archilles’ ankle
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 040308
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
http://msi.Rocky101.com
Tue. 4th Mar. 2008.
They generally call this hitting below the belt……….the public knows of Anwar’s misdeeds……. but they are hoping six years in the slammer would have seen to it that he changed his ways……..and they are willing to give him another chance…….it is a gamble the general public has taken and only time will answer if they have made the right decision……as for Chandra……his fire and brimstone days at Aliran appear to be unduely subdued…..one must never bend one’s principles if they believe in righting wrongdoings….which the BN has abundantly proven it has many…….
so,
why are most of the founding members of KeAdilan, save for his family (wife), and you gone?
ppl like Ezam, Chandra, Johari, Rahman…
please read these lo…
http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/2008/03/dr-chandra-muzzafar-anwar-ibrahim-as-pm.html
”
he was accused by the MCA in an Election 2008 campaign leaflet of:
(1) Being against the Chinese cultural lion and dragon dances when he was then culture, youth and sports minister in 1982
(2) Decreeing that the teaching of Chinese and Indian studies in Universiti Malaya be in Bahasa Malaysia in 1987 when he was education minister
(3) placing non-Mandarin speaking administrators in government-run Chinese primary schools [which provoked an attempted meeting among the anxious MCA, Gerakan and DAP a la Shaolin Temple that led to Operation Lallang - Uncle Lim gained his LLB while eating nasi kandar or perhaps nasi kosong in Kem Kamunting]
Malaysiakini reported his response as: “Nothing I did and said in the language and cultural spheres were not standard BN-Umno policy.â€
– it’s always someone’s fault, with those ministerial policies of his being ’standard BN-UMNO polices’, not his as Culture and Education Ministers respectively, but someone’s, anyone’s, whoever in BN or UMNO’s.
Who developed policies then on culture/edu if not the Culture/Edu Minister?
If only he had said: “Yes, I did all those and regretted it. Being in prison and outside UMNO have made me see things differently†but alas, he has been too clever (or conceited) by half and lost a golden opportunity to show he has repented.
”
don’t get me wrong, i’m all for voting against BN this erection.
but not because anwar is good, only because he is the least/only choice we have left.
anwar still needs to prove his sincerity to every malaysian.
tian,
move on and forget about him. he is not even worth mentioning. let him enjoy his trappings of life now but just like judas, his conscience will eventually be his killer blow.
I guessed Chandra has just got his contract renewed and probably with a pay hike.
Chandra is out of touch with the reality. He should have a Reality Check.
Either Chandr should shape up or shake out of the ugly side of politics of the rich and powerful.
CHANDRA MUZAFFAR AND THE BN CONTROLLED MEDIA MAKES ME SICK. ARGH!!!!!!!!
I AM ALREADY READING MY 3RD EDITION OF HARAKAH.
Chandra: An Intellectual Fraud
Statement: Wee Choo Keong
Dr Chandra Muzaffar, a self-proclaimed intellectual and arm-chair critic of BN of yesteryears, suddenly saw it fit to allow himself to be manipulated by the Barang Naik party to cast malicious aspersion against Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and to indirectly influence Malaysians not to support the opposition.
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.
http://www.weechookeong.blogspot.com/
Chandra Criticising Anwar?
Aril Mikhail-Malaysiakini
Many years ago in the 1980s, then leader of the Labour Party in England, Denis Healey, was openly criticised for having been a member of an extreme Left political party in his younger days.
His simple response was that he also believed in Santa Claus in his younger days. Indeed, all of us – without exception – change as we age and as we learn more about life. Some more so thanothers, of course, but change we certainly do.
This, unfortunately, is something that seems to have been lost on Chandra Muzaffar in his widely – almost gleefully – published diatribe against Anwar Ibrahim in the mainstream newspapers today.
Like his equally disingenuous friends in the BN coalition who, perhaps unable to counter much of the opposition front’s critiques against the failure of BN rule, Chandra – out of the blue, after having been quiet for so long – suddenly decided to rip into Anwar.
‘He’s singing a different tune now’, asserted Chandra. Anwar ‘Deceiving Malaysians’ claimed another headline attributed to Chandra.
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.
It’s a trifle ironic 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.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/79148
Aliran founder a true disappointment.
Amar | Malaysiakini
For someone who heralded Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ascendancy to premiership in 2004 by stating something to the effect that it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for Malaysians to change leadership, it is sad to note that Chandra Muzaffar now appears deluded by the invidiousness of BN’s 50 years in power.
He castigates, in the mainstream papers today, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as being effectively anti non-Malay. The examples he 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?
Does not Chandra, being an eminent political scientist, realise that people do change their opinions and principles as a result of circumstances in life? Has not Mahathir changed his ‘tune’ since leaving office, a tune Malaysians would have loved to hear in his 22 years as prime minister?
It is said that no one is a permanent friend or enemy in politics. This is also applicable to a rational electorate where we, as citizens, should be prepared to dump a leader if need be and likewise embrace one when they appear to be talking sense; and Anwar is talking a lot of sense presently. Likewise, does Abdullah command the confidence of right-thinking Malaysians now vis-B-vis 2004?
For all that he accuses Anwar of, does Chandra want us to list down the anti non-Malay statements made by current Umno leaders? What alternative does Chandra have in mind? Perhaps another term and a two-thirds majority in the legislature for the BN which has proven itself to be a curse on nation-building?
Chandra has single-handedly, at the eleventh hour, thrown the spanner in the works for all Malaysians looking forward to mitigating the injustices of giving the BN a two-thirds majority. Truly disappointing for someone who was the founder of Aliran.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/79146
Chandra: Cheap Sell Out
Captain Yusof Ahmed
I was quite appalled to read Chandra Muzaffar’s very personal attack against Anwar Ibrahim (read today’s the Star’s report, here and also Aril Mikhail’s letter to Malaysiakini, here) when he said that it will be an “unmitigated disaster†for Malaysia if Anwar becomes prime minister. Since he was a former PKR man himself, it is rather daunting to imagine the sudden wave of disillusionment that must have swept over such a ‘brilliant’ man and cause him to utter such balls.
I first met Dr. Chandra Muzaffar (photo) sometime in early 1983. He was then riding high as an academic cum NGO human rights activist and had been invited to speak at an Asia Pacific Regional Conference of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in Kuala Lumpur, which I chaired as founder chairman of the ITF Malaysian Council. I cannot recall what he spoke about, something about union rights I think, but I remember the strike-happy Aussie dockers unions were full of praise of him and wanted cassette tape copies of his speech. I wasn’t very impressed and neither was the late Dr. V. David of the Transport Workers Union, who co-chaired the conference. We believed then that it was easy to be gung-ho and say a lot things when you are not carrying the baby or be responsible for the rights and livelihood of many member workers. Perhaps there is something to be said about the old adage “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach”. So perhaps also Chandra should just stick to teaching and not get involved in politics and the affairs of men. What a sell out, indeed.
http://cyusof.blogspot.com/
Chandra Muzaffar Lossen Tongue
Analysis:
Chandra is right on one point: Political leaders must be honest and consistent in their ideology and political philosophy. They must not be double-tongue and practice double standards.
But what Chandra revealed about Anwar were things and acts that Anwar had committed before 1999, that is, when Anwar is Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. But in 1999, Anwar was sacked and jailed.
So why is he saying and singing something which was his own as well as Anwars?
If Anwar’s ideology and philosophy are things that runs contrary to Chandra’s belief and the philosophy of multi-ethnicity, the most puzzling thing is that Chandra elected himself to form KeADILan together with Anwar and got himself appointed and elected as it’s deputy president for 6 long years until December 2005 when he was disgusted with certain matters and in-fightings within KeADILan, and decided to quit.
So, hypothetically, Chandra must have acknowledged Anwar’s acts and belief and had endorsed Anwar’s political philosophy. Otherwise he wouldn’t have stayed as deputy president of PKR for 6 years. He must have concurred with the education system, concurred with Kampung Jawa’s dictum of Anwar, and agreed on all these discriminatory system of Anwar.
Most puzzling is that he is saying he do not want the non-Malays in this country to be deceived by Anwar’s new political philosophy of multi-ethnic stand.
There are two paradoxes:
Firstly, if we accept the explanation and revelation of Chandra and his claim of altruism to prevent the non-Malays from being deceived by a Malay and to protect the multi-ethnic society, we must also accept that Chandra is a “Malay” (by constitutional definition) and to highlight something like “a ploy of a Malay” to deceive the non-Malays is by itself a betrayal of his own community. He should have openly called on Anwar and seek clarification as to why Anwar had decided to changed his political philosophy and dumped his bigotry. By being close friends and political allies and brotherhood, Chandra did not attempt to find out the new Anwar. If he had done a research on Anwar and discovered that Anwar had intended to deceive the non-Malays, then his statement of hypothesis is acceptable and credible. This he did not do.
Secondly, if we hold Anwar to his past philosophies and deny that he could adopt and adapt another philosophies which is part of human passage in life, that itself is flawed. For example, in 1987 Najib who was then the UMNO Youth president had said that he would bath the keris with Chinese blood; but today Najib is singing a new song of multi-racialism and equality and fairness of all races.
UMNO Youth information chief Datuk Azimi Daim said at the UMNO General Assembly: “When certain issues come up, it is natural for the warrior blood in the veins of the Malays to become heated.”
Razali Idris (Terengganu)at the UMNO General Assembly said: “This wide disparity will create unrest and an incident like May 13 might repeat but this time, the parang will not fly. An ants’ nest should not be disturbed.”
Hasnoor Sidang Hussein, (Malacca)Umno said: “UMNO is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood in defence of race and religion. Don’t play with fire. If they mess with our rights, we will mess with theirs.”
Tan Sri Mohamad Rahmat said: “Don’t test the Malays, they know ‘amok.”
Perlis UMNO Hashim Suboh said: “Datuk Hisham has unsheathed his keris, waved his keris, kissed his keris. We want to ask Datuk Hisham: when is he going to use it?
There are many others which will not be cited here, but it is clear that we only hear of these racial threats from UMNO; we have not heard of even one racial threats from PAS or KeADILan or DAP. PAS ruled Kelantan and Terengganu but they had never at their general assemblies threatened the other races. And Chandra was against PAS ultraconservative Islam which in itself did not discriminate against the non-Muslims.
The rational conclusion is to accept that people and politicians do change their political philosophy and adapt to the surrounding circumstances as and when they are in power; it’s about political reality within a multi-racial society. UMNO had being seditious throughout and this we can observed at every of their general assemblies. To conclude, we can say safely that PAS has proven to be the most consistent and honest and had never threatened the non-Malays. DAP is consistent too but the party is managed by the minority race and thus could not be defined in this aspect.
I would give Anwar the benefit of doubt for reason that he had gone to jail, suffered enough and had over these period learnt much about social integration and harmony. He has matured and grown wiser.
On another aspect, I do accept that BN is truly multi-racial but the majority within the coalition adopt a big-boy bullies attitude, ensuring equal amongst the unequal. And the worst of all is, corruption absolutism of the highest order. Thus we have the oligarchy empire and ruler within a democratic system of government.
http://maverickysm.blogspot.com/2008/03/chandra-muzaffar-lossen-tongue.html
Chandra is one snake with several heads or a biawak with several tongues.
This man has no more credibility. This man will see his soul for a pittance.
Chandra is irrelevant as he is a re-cycled politician. What he said and did can be classified as a shame to the learned society.
The current bully-tactic politic in the nation need to be stopped and the proponent of it such as Chandra should step aside. His political time has expired!
chandra muzaffar has betrayed thousands of people working for change thru the ballot this coming election
if there is any truth in his relevations
he has chosen the wrong time to say it
there is nothing current in what he said
he could have said it donkey years ago when he crapped out of keadilan
knowing him he is too clever to have got his timing wrong
he has kept it as his triump card to release it when it matter most
to destroy the ever gaining momentum of the opposition this round
and betray us
which then makes me wonder how much have been deposited into his swiss account
chandra
have told you many times not to screw girls and have it photographed
look at your pathetic self now
i am not with you this time