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Important role for 'cyber-warriors' in final stretch

Apr 28th, 2013
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Important role for ‘cyber-warriors’ in final stretch

In an email to the Editor, Aidil Yunus wrote:

 

The election is a week away. Both sides have actually had five years to be prepared. In the last election, Facebook, Twitter etc. were nowhere in the picture. These days they are the ‘main campaigning tools’. 


The DAP is pretty much well prepared for cyber war. It is no secret that they have a dedicated team on a payroll to do just this. Their job is to harass, heckle, vilify and produce materials for propaganda to be circulated online. BN on the other side is not as prepared as PR. PR is lucky they have the DAP to rely on; an example is Wong Chen, who is riding on Hannah Yeoh’s cyber-machinery to win voters for the Kelana Jaya Parliamentary seat.

 

Forget about winning the hearts of those who have decided. The last-stage battle front is to help the undecided make a very much informed decision. This is what is needed. In the Batu Parliamentary seat, for example, many voters actually hate Tian Chua.  Many will not be voting for him again. However there are many first-time voters who are Internet-savvy and are unsure who to vote for. Is Dominic good enough? Yet there is not much we know about Dominic. Not everyone goes to ceramahs to get to know the candidates. Our best bet is the Internet where these undecided voters will likely go.

 

All of us need to play our part now. Just look at the opposing side: They have no qualms in sharing whatever provocative propaganda materials. They don’t care if they are working for the Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar group of companies yet they are spreading hatred towards him. They openly state their political affiliation. However, many of us are afraid to do so. Some of my Chinese friends wait until the last minute to ‘come out from the closet’ that they are playing for the Blue Team. They know the consequences of being cyber-bullied by a PR lackey.

 

We need to do the following: get into the Facebook pages of our BN candidates, especially those who are ethnic Chinese.  Help them. There are many nasty comments with no substance being posted by the opposing side to give the impression that they are not favoured to win. People like Rowena Yam in Pulau Tikus and Frankie Gan in Bukit Bintang are among those under attack. These candidates perhaps do not have enough campaigning manpower to help them with online media battles. Therefore we must help and cannot let PR win the war of creating the perception that the BN candidates are not worthy of our votes.  Defend them with the hospitality of Malaysians. No foul language. Tell them it is not okay to harass these candidates.  Campaigning online can be our contribution to the new dawn of Malaysia post-GE13. 

 

 

If you are reading this, get started now. If you are brave enough like some of us, your battlefront should be media like Free Malaysia Today.  Let’s create the perception that the support for BN is abundant.  Don’t let PR win this battlefront during this final week. Gather friends who are able to counter silly arguments put forth by the opposing side (believe me, they are not that smart) and have teh tarik sessions while campaigning together online.  Make a stand! Make it today! Be a cyber-warrior!

 

It seems like ethnic Chinese candidates are almost invisible in social media because they are wary of being harassed. Don’t be afraid! Get in touch with the administrators of pages supporting BN like http://www.facebook.com/LiesDapTold or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barisan-Nasional/219708793830?hc_location=stream to help them campaign for you.  If you decide not to care about your cyber front, you are as good as gone. 

Source: MOLE

A condescending attitude that is getting out of hand

Apr 25th, 2013
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A condescending attitude that is getting out of hand

In an email to the Editor, Aidil Yunus wrote: 

 

Hannah Yeoh has always been calling many politicians from the opposing side ‘low-class politicians’. She positions herself as the Queen of High Morality via her social media and somehow is able to get the Star to give her more coverage than other high-level MCA politicians. She preaches freedom of speech but it is no secret she will block those who highlight her flaws from interacting with her on Twitter.

 

Rafizi Ramli is another politician whose never-ending exposes rile up many Malaysians. He touches on issues such as corruption, morality and more. Rafizi couldn’t care less if he twists or misrepresents the facts. Malaysians with so much hatred will take his exposes bulat-bulat (as they are) without conducting their own fact-checking.

 

Both politicians are for sure urging everyone not to hit below the belt when campaigning. Both politicians are for sure asking everyone not to support politicians who are condescending towards other politicians, those resorting to personal attacks and those who ride on the politics of hate.  Both politicians will be quick to label everyone not in the same boat as ‘low-class’ human beings.

 

Frankie Gan has been dedicating himself to serving the Parlimentary seat of Bukit Bintang with a hope not only to make it a better place but also to wrest the seat from DAP incumbent Fong Kuan Lai.

 

On the day of nomination, I and bunch of friends decided to check out some of the ceramahs and we got wind that Frankie was doing his in Razak Mansion. We spoke to the residents just to check out how much they knew of him and many spoke highly of him. During his ceramah he spoke about his plans for Razak Mansion and they cheered.  It was a meaningful cheer because they all know Frankie will fulfil his promise based on his track record.  Apparently even the Persatuan Penduduk is endorsing him for his outstanding contribution to the community. Same goes for a few other resident associations in the BB area.  They have always been asking Frankie to resolve their problems. It is no secret that Fong Kuan Lai is facing an uphill battle to retain his seat.  Frankie’s campaign is all about what he can do for the constituents compared to what Fong can deliver. The MCA actually has a very winnable candidate for BB.

 

Frankie likes to sing. He sang for the crowd. We were quite impressed. Our only comment was that he should not be dragging the ceramah with too much of his singing. But the crowd seemed to enjoy it. He even gave his music video away so people could remember him.  That is his style of campaigning. No dirty talk, no four letter words unlike Mr. Superman from DAP.

 

Today Hannah Yeoh twitted twice specifically targeting Frankie while Rafizi also twitted about this, sarcastically saying Frankie’s MTV video is not a parody.

 

You see this is a personal attack aimed at ridiculing Frankie. I would rather hear them questioning his action plans for the community. This coming from the two persons who would for sure be quick to attack such a tweet if this were reversed. What is more worrying is these two politicians have been building ‘we are holier than thou’ images and worst still, they are being worshipped by many Malaysians who couldn’t care to check if they are right or wrong.  Many have said Hannah Yeoh is actually the Queen of Cyber Bullies – today she has proven that allegation to be true.

 

Hannah Yeoh, Ong Kian Min and more are actually dangerous young politicians who, if allowed to roam free and unchecked, have the potential to grow more damaging than the so-called low-class politicians from Barisan Nasional.

 

This is why my friends and I who voted for the opposition have started to have a change of heart since three years ago. We are getting disgusted by how these people grew to be hypocrites and hate mongers who lack substance in such a short time. 

Source: MOLE

China quake rescuers battle landslides, debris

Apr 22nd, 2013
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LUSHAN: Clogged roads, debris and landslides impeded rescuers Monday as they battled to find survivors of a powerful earthquake in mountainous southwest China that has left at least 188 dead.
Huge boulders blocked rescue vehicles along roads leading to some of the worst-hit areas, and some areas were only accessible by foot along broken passes through the rough terrain.
Survivors including the elderly were carried out on the backs of neighbours as well as by helicopter, as rescuers were also bolstered by thousands of civilian volunteers who rushed to the area to help.
State broadcaster CCTV showed orange-suited emergency workers making desperate dashes past cliff-edges, trying to avoid sudden landslides in a region weakened by more than 2,000 aftershocks.
Industrial diggers clawed through debris including the mangled remains of cars and motorbikes crushed by tumbling rocks, to clear roads also clogged by huge queues of traffic.
The 6.6-magnitude quake which hit Sichuan province Saturday has left another 25 missing and more than 11,000 injured, according to state media, while local authorities said some 17,000 families have lost their homes.
Forecasts of rain in the disaster area increased fears of deadly landslides.
"I dare not go anywhere near a mountainside," a woman named Zhu told AFP as she arrived from the devastated village of Baoxing into the centre of the county of Lushan.
"Many people are worried that the rain will bring more devastation," she added.
Another woman told AFP that she left her rural home for the busy town centre in Lushan because she was worried it was not strong enough to withstand more of the aftershocks that have shaken and terrified the region.
Premier Li Keqiang left the quake zone on Sunday, state media reported, after rushing to the area the day before to direct rescue efforts, in his first public test on disaster management since being appointed to the top post in March.
More than 17,000 Chinese soldiers and police have joined the rescue mission and five drones were sent to capture aerial images of the damage, state news agency Xinhua said.
The disaster comes five years after a massive quake in Sichuan which occurred just 200 kilometres from Lushan, and was one of the worst to strike China in decades, leaving 90,000 dead or missing.
The 2008 quake triggered an outpouring of public anger after the discovery that many schools collapsed while other buildings did not, creating suspicions of corruption and shoddy construction.
However, the response on China's Twitter-like weibo sites to Saturday's disaster has overwhelmingly been one of support, with thousands pledging to donate money and others mourning the victims.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences, saying he was deeply saddened by the loss of life, injuries and destruction caused by the earthquake and aftershocks.
Earthquakes frequently strike China's southwest. In April 2010, a 6.9 magnitude quake killed about 2,700 people and injured 12,000 in a remote area of Qinghai province bordering the northwest of Sichuan.

Psy's “Gentleman” video smashes YouTube records

Apr 16th, 2013
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SEOUL: "Gangnam Style" star Psy's new music video had received more than 50 million views on YouTube by Monday, re-writing the video-sharing site's records for single-day hits.
The dance video to "Gentleman", the South Korean singer's long-awaited follow up to "Gangnam Style, was only posted on YouTube at 9:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Saturday.
In the first 24 hours, it racked up around 20 million hits, destroying the previous record for single-day views of 8.0 million, set by Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" video in May 2012.
Now that record looks set to be stretched again, with the view count about 40 hours after release standing at 51 million.
"51million views in 40hours!! My God~!!!" the 35-year-old star exclaimed on his Twitter account.
The video shows Psy, wearing his signature sunglasses, dancing at various locations in and around this city including a high-end clothing store, restaurant, swimming pool and a library.
The storyline features the singer teasing and playing practical jokes on women, such as pulling their chairs away as they are about to sit or untying a woman's bikini top at a swimming pool, before meeting his match.
It was the video of "Gangnam Style", and in particular Psy's signature horse-riding dance, that pushed him to global stardom last year after it was posted on YouTube and turned into a viral sensation.
A satire on the luxury lifestyle of this city's upscale Gangnam district, it has become the most-watched YouTube video of all time, registering more than 1.5 billion views since it debuted last July.
"Gentleman" was ranked in the top 10 songs on iTunes stores in a number of countries Monday, including France, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. It also topped the chart in Finland.
Critical reactions to the song were mixed but the video -- showing the quirky singer's signature self-mocking humour as well as the new hip-swivelling dance -- left many fans satisfied.
"The song isn't all that great but let's face it. The video is actually hilarious," wrote one Youtube commentator.
"I just love the fact that neither he nor the dancers are taking themselves too serious, but seriously enough to pelvic sway with perfect synchronisation," wrote another.

BN prepared for multi-dimensional fights in GE13

Apr 16th, 2013
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BN prepared for multi-dimensional fights in GE13

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the alliance was ready to face multi-dimensional fights in the 13th general elections.
The prime minister noted that the polls would take place against a backdrop of non-conventional settings, given technological advances and the advent of new media such as Twitter.
"Cyberspace will be more important than before and the BN is ready for that," he told reporters after handing out nomination documents to BN component party chiefs and state chairmen here Monday.
Acknowleding the challenges ahead, Najib, nonetheless, expressed confidence the BN would be able to communicate their stories well to the people, starting with the alliance's election pledge.
"As you know, our manifesto has gone down well and has been received positively by the people," he said.
The BN's next challenge was to communicate with its candidates line-up, said Najib, who was equally confident that those picked by the party would be well received by the electorate.
"It will indicate our desire for transformation, combining experience and wisdom to run the government both at the federal and state levels," he added.

Source: MOLE

MB Khalid picked for Port Klang, says he’s keen

Apr 13th, 2013
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Selangor incumbent Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has been selected by PKR’s leadership to contest the Port Klang state seat.

Announcing this on Twitter today, the Ijok incumbent said he is keen to move to Port Klang, but it depends on whether the locals can accept him there.

azlan“The PKR leadership hopes that a heavyweight candidate can win the voters’ confidence and I have been given the responsibility to contest there.

“I will meet with supporters in Port Klang tomorrow and if they support my standing there, I will work towards an even bigger victory for Pakatan Rakyat,” he said.

As for his present seat, Abdul Khalid suggested that Ijok local Idris Ahmad and Reformasi stalwart contest instead.

“I hope Ijok supporters will continue to support the candidate chosen by the leadership. I thank them for all their support and assistance,” he said.

Abdul Khalid, who will also defend his Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat, said that Pakatan had made a mistake in the last outing in choosing someone for the Port Klangseat who would eventually defect.

“I hope to redeem Pakatan’s mistake by providing better service to Port Klang voters,” he said.

Cold shouldered in Ijok

Port Klang incumbent Badrul Hisham Abdullah, who won with a majority of 4,407 on the PKR ticket, defected to Umno in 2010.

Party sources told Malaysiakini last week that the leadership was mulling moving Abdul Khalid out of Ijok for fear that he might not retain the seat this time.

khalid ibrahim cny open house selangorThis is believed to be because his job as MB had made it difficult for him to frequently visit the rural constituency.

His constituents also appear to have given him the cold shoulder judging from the low turnout at his events during his sparse visits.

Party sources added that Abdul Khalid was even jeered by a crowd during a recent event, leading the party to really question the level of his support in the constituency.

Ijok is under the Kuala Selangor PKR division which has been known for in-fighting over the years.

For example, a division member last week lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission alleging misappropriation of the division’s funds by Abdul Khalid, who is division chief, and other committee members.

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A group trained to disrupt polling day

Apr 10th, 2013
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A group trained to disrupt polling day – Tunku Abdul Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR: Former DAP vice chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim today revealed that special training was conducted by an election watchdog to create chaos during polling day.

 

Claiming that he was reliably informed, Tunku Abdul Aziz revealed that a group of people was trained by Tindak Malaysia to disrupt the process by challenging the Election Commission’s (EC) presiding officer or Ketua Tempat Mengundi (KTM), a step he said was meant to tarnish the EC.

 

“They were trained to create chaos and dissatisfaction by raising repeated protests at the polling station, no matter how frivolous and unreasonable, so as to cause others waiting in the queue to be unhappy with the EC,” Tunku Aziz told a press conference

 

“It is also designed to delay the entire voting process thereby causing long queues and congestion at certain designated polling stations.”

 

Tunku Aziz said the plan is to cast a negative perception and aspersions and finally to stir public outrage against the EC and thus bring it into disrepute.

 

A quick check by The Mole at Tindak Malaysia’s official Facebook and Twitter pages and forum showed that the NGO is working closely with the Bersih movement to pressure the EC and the government.

 

Tunku Aziz later revealed that one particular aspect of the training session was related to teaching voters how to guard the secrecy of their votes.

 

“They were trained, encouraged and urged to demand for the randomisation of their ballot papers in order to guarantee secrecy of their votes,” he said.

 

“They are encouraged to be vocal and challenge the election clerks on duty as well as (accuse) the KTM of committing an electoral offence if they refuse to issue a random ballot to the voter.

 

“The polling agent on duty has also been trained to support such a ‘request’ by the voter where he will support the demand and object to the KTM in rejecting such a request. This will help pressure the KTM,” he said further.

 

Previously, it was reported that there was a letter, believed sent by the PKR deputy president’s office to a few of the party’s officers, providing strategies on how to create chaos at polling stations.

 

The letter, which was published by blog Gelagat Anwar, listed several steps to prevent Barisan Nasional from keeping its hold on the government, including how to create negative public perception against the EC.

 

“Fifty young lawyers, who have been mandated to be the party’s polling agents, were instructed to keep on protesting on any issue as an attempt to pressurise the EC,” the blogger wrote.

 

The letter also stated a few hot parliamentary seats could trigger the chaos, including Gombak, Lembah Pantai, Permatang Pauh, Setiawangsa and Wangsa Maju.

 

Blogger Syed Akbar Ali wrote in his blog OutSyed The Box that some voters had been told to bring their own ballpoint pens and rulers without really knowing why.

 

He also claimed there was information that churches are telling their congregations about voting procedures, which he thought quite out of the ordinary.

 

“Why do the Churches wish to play the role of self appointed election agents? And please do not poison the minds of your congregations to bring their own ballpoint pens or rulers,” he wrote.

 

“So do not let your hatred for a people of a different religion force you to commit injustices or worse to commit crimes.  Everyone has one vote only. So vote wisely.”

 

 

Source: MOLE

Social media has opened up government and politics

Feb 28th, 2013
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The internet is driving change in every part of our lives. It is a giant, ever-changing repository of information that anyone with a connection can access, enabling instant communication between individuals and groups across nations and continents. And it is unleashing creativity and collaboration in ways that have never before been possible.

Keeping on top of these trends is hugely important, so I was delighted to speak to the World Bloggers and Social Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. I also had the opportunity to speak with Rina Azmira, my one millionth Facebook follower and her parents, as well as unveil my new Instagram account, which you can follow here.

I may be biased but I truly believe Malaysia is a perfect place for conferences like this. The combination of a solid tech infrastructure with our naturally sociable personalities has put us amongst the most avid users of social media. A recent study even found that Malaysia, along with Brazil, has the highest Twitter penetration in the world.

With social media, everyone can be a publisher of content no matter how technically minded or wealthy they are. It is naturally very open and collaborative by nature, and people – especially ‘digital natives’ who have grown up with the internet – now have higher expectations for openness in all spheres of life.

Government and politics is no exception to this, which is why I have tried my best to communicate on the newest platforms and in the most relevant ways. And once you’ve opened up there’s no going back. That’s why I’ve asked all Cabinet Ministers to use social media, and made it a key expectation for all of my party’s candidates.

I have also made sure that as a Government we are working to help everyone to do the same in their own field of work, through initiatives like Digital Malaysia, smartphone vouchers for young people, and expanding broadband access.

In the new world of social media it’s a case of adapting or being left behind. That means people and organisations in positions of power must approach social media with an open mind. It also means the rakyat must be forward-looking in seizing the opportunities it provides – and the Government has a responsibility to help them to do so.

Chavez announces on Twitter he is back in Venezuela

Feb 18th, 2013
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Chavez announces on Twitter he is back in Venezuela

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced in a Twitter message early on Monday that he had returned home to Venezuela following his cancer surgery in Cuba.
"We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland," Chavez wrote. "Thank you God. Thank you my beloved people. We will continue my treatment here."
From the airport, he was taken to a military hospital in Caracas, said Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, who is the president's son-in-law.
Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in 2011. After surgery and treatment he declared himself free of the disease and went on to win another term in elections last October.
But he suffered a relapse, and after the latest surgery on December 11 in Havana he was still too sick to come back to Venezuela for his scheduled inauguration on January 10.
The inauguration has been postponed indefinitely, and Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has essentially been running Venezuela in Chavez's absence.

Source: MOLE

Meteor strike in Russia hurts 250

Feb 16th, 2013
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MOSCOW: A plunging meteor exploded with a blinding flash above central Russia on Friday, sowing panic as the hurtling space debris set off a shockwave that smashed windows and left over 250 people injured.
Morning traffic ground to a sudden halt in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk as the falling meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere above the city and lit up the morning sky, television footage showed.
The interior ministry said more than 250 people were wounded, three of them seriously, by the shockwave in Chelyabinsk and a half dozen other towns. The emergencies ministry said mobile communications were temporarily cut.
"At 0920 (0320 GMT) an object was observed above Chelyabinsk which flew by at great speed and left a trail behind. Within two minutes there were two bangs," regional emergencies official Yuri Burenko said in a statement.
"The shockwave broke glass in Chelyabinsk and a number of other towns in the region," he said.
Initial reports said a part of the meteorite fell 80 kilometres from the town of Satki, itself 100 kilometres west of the regional centre, but this has not been officially confirmed.
"There were thousands of phone calls that something was found and the forest is burning. But there is still no confirmed information that something fell" to the Earth's surface, said Burenko.
There were no reports that any locals had been hurt directly by a falling piece of meteorite. The defence ministry meanwhile said it had sent soldiers to the sites of impact, without giving further details.
It was not clear if the meteor was linked to the asteroid 2012 DA 14 which is expected to pass about 27,000 kilometres above the Earth later Friday in a unusually close approach to the Earth.
The meteor was quite a large object with a mass of several dozen tonnes, estimated Russian astronomer Sergei Smirnov of the Pulkovo observatory in an interview with the Rossia 24 channel.
Schools were closed for the day across the region after the shock wave blew out windows of buildings amid temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius (zero degrees Fahrenheit).
The local post service said several of its buildings had been damaged while the stadium of Chelyabinsk's Traktor ice hockey side was also hit, forcing the cancellation of a match.
State television showed a part of the roof and a wall shorn off a brick zinc factory in the city of Chelyabink, although officials said no one was injured in that case.
Other images showed people with bloodied faces and at least one child's back covered with blood.
Most of those injured were treated for minor cuts and bruises from shattered glass, the local police department told the RIA Novosti news agency.
"There was a very bright flash and then two or three minutes later, we were knocked back by a shock wave," a young man told Rossiya state television. Another man said "at first I thought it was a plane."
Another woman told the station "that only God saved me" from getting hurt when the windows of her bedroom blew out.
With the extraordinary event already becoming a leading trend on Twitter locals posted amateur footage posted on YouTube showed men swearing in surprise and fright, and others grinding their cars to a halt.
The Chelyabinsk region is Russia's industrial heartland, filled with smoke-chugging factories and other huge facilities that include a nuclear power plant and the massive Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
A spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy state corporation, said that its operations remained unaffected.
"All Rosatom enterprises located in the Urals region -- including the Mayak complex -- are working as normal," an unnamed Rosatom spokesman told Interfax.
The emergencies ministry said radiation levels in the region also did not change and that 20,000 rescue workers had been dispatched to help the injured and locate those requiring help.
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