AZHAR, DREAM, DREAM DREAM AWAY!

From http://masterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot.com/2010/06/azhar-dream-dream-dream-away.html

Free Malaysia Today reported HERE http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/barisan-nasional/6689-barisan-nasional-can-regain-penang that UMNO secretary Azhar Ibrahim expressed his belief that the state Umno believes Barisan Nasional can win back the Penang government from Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election. He is confident that Umno in particular could win more than the current 11 seats it won in the 2008 general election because of grassroot strength and the return of many rural Malay and Indian voters to the BN fold. Azhar also emphasized that Umno is still going strong because he opines that many Malays are abandoning PKR and PAS and returning to Umno because they realised they have been deceived by the Pakatan state government.

The report said that internal problems in MCA and Gerakan were the main reason the parties lost all the seats they contested in 2008. Azhar said that "since both parties have put their houses in order, MCA and Gerakan should be able to carry out a stronger campaign to win back some seats in the next election."

While it is always good to have dreams that can propel us forward to achieve our ambition, sometimes, dreams can stem from delusional thinking whereby we blot out parts of reality to create a false sense of security.

Did you know that the Penang government has issued its 'report card' on work and initiatives carried out over the first two years of Pakatan Rakyat’s rule in the state? The report card is in the form of a foldable, 10-sided pamphlet can can be downloaded at THIS SITE. Copies of the pamphlet would be distributed to the public over the next year.

In two years, what has the PR ruled Penang state government achieved?

The state-wide WiFi initiative

The establishment of the Penang Science Council
The Senior Citizens’ Appreciation Programme where those who registered are given 100rm annually
The holding of open tenders for all government contracts
Initiatives towards making Penang a green state
The increase of the annual allocation for Islamic religious activities from RM12.5mil in 2008 to RM24.3mil in 2010

A huge amount of $ saved because the Penang govt now travel by Air Asia instead of other airlines

and other achievements...

I would encourage readers, especially Penangites to download the report or get your hands on a copy of the pamphlet so that we can see and feel the changes brought by the Pakatan government over the last two years. We do not need to wait till the campaign period of the next election to hear it from the PR government. Their development plan for Penang has been an ONGOING one from Day 1 when they took over. Of course, they are not perfect - who is? Also, they faced many obstacles in their path - some natural whilst others are man-made.

I have lived in Penang for a few decades now and never saw any such 'report card' from the BN ruled government in the past except for that of the record of individuals standing for the elections. That speaks a lot about the efficiency of the previous government.

What did the previous state government leave behind? Many problems that the PR led Penang state government has had to clean up, especially in the over-development of Tanjung Bungah and Batu Feringghi. (Are you reading this George Aeria?)

With the assistance of Ahmad Ismail and butt episode compliments of one person, I am sure PR will continue to rule Penang. How can Penangites forget the wonderful statements made by the other side? We cannot and will not.

This is what Penang CM Lim Guan Eng (note that he, his dad and Karpal Singh have no titles or datukship etc and it matters not) said HERE during The 15th DAP National Conference In Ipoh On 17 January 2010:

The political tsunami that was the 2008 general elections changed everything. No one expected change to happen so fast. The people have put their faith in us and we must repay their trust in us. Inexperienced though we were, we learned how to govern and we believe that Pakatan Rakyat has governed better in these two years than BN has in the last 20 years....

We know that state governments that we are in power will be the benchmark for our ability to deliver on our promises. We will strive to fulfil high expectations so that our comrades in other states have an opportunity to win power. But the biggest objective of all is still Putrajaya.

For what we are attempting to do is nothing short of historic – to establish the first people-oriented government that places its faith in our people, truly Malaysian in spirit where Malay leaders look after Chinese, Indian leaders look after Malays, Chinese leaders look after Ibans and Iban leaders look after Kadazan and Kadazans look after Indians, that the people can learn to trust that this PR government has not only their best interests at heart but also the future generation of born and unborn grandchildren.

Of course, it is not going to be an easy battle for PR to take Penang as BN has the advantage but then again, many Penangites are behind PR!!! I hope you are too! So in the mean time, Azhar, please dream, dream, dream away....

Admin Note:

You can bet the likes of AIDC, Parpukari, Big Dog Com, Unspinners, Ruang Bicara Faizal, Ti Lian Ker, Goh Wei Liang, Punithan Shan, Justice4OTK and not forgetting the likes of Gerakan K, Calvin Sankaran, Raman Nair, Joceline Tan, Baradan Kupusamy and Wong Chun Wai will give us their verbal diarrhea to dispute what's written above. By the way Azhar, you better take care of your BP and blood sugar because all the beef rendang and nasi kandar you have feasted on may just set you up with an appointment with Naqir and Mungkar. Azhar, bertaubatlah sebelum anda disembahyangkan.