In my very first post in this blog on 14/4/2007 entitled ‘About me and this blog’, I had written :
This blog, then, is about civil society reclaiming its power to determine who are the law-makers in Parliament today who are worthy of the trust reposed in them by the people and if, sadly, we discover there are none presently, to make an informed decision of who we will next install in the people’s parliament.
After the unanimous vote by the BN MPs on 11/12/2007 in favour of the ‘Rashid bill’, I ‘sacked’ Donald Lim.
Many other readers wrote in to ‘sack’ their respective MPs.
Since then the ‘PJ Selatan get an MP’ initiative has taken off the ground. This group will have its second meeting this weekend.
Similar initiatives have been launched for PJ Utara, Serdang, Selayang and Segambut.
What these initiatives have brought about immediately is putting like-minded people who, until now did not know each other, in touch.
Whether we can build on this is up to you.
I merely facilitate bringing the group together, share my ideas on how we can begin to have a say on who represents us in Parliament and try to get some focus on the work that needs to be done.
Yes, there is work to be done.
And if you get into this initiative, you will have to help carry the work.
So, yes, I will create the e-groups for the constituencies mentioned above. PJ Utara, Lembah Pantai, Setiawangsa, Puchong and Lumut. If you are registered to vote in any of these constituencies and want to work on this effort, send an e-mail to thepeoplesparliament@gmail.com
Karen
January 2, 2008
Happy new year to you Haris and your family. I pray that Almighty God will bless you with the strength, wisdom, perserverance and good health to carry on your good work.
Karen,
Happy new year to you.
I pray that we all have the strength and conviction to bring about change in the country.
Helen Ang
January 3, 2008
Haris,
To go off topic a bit … I’m curious about something.
I notice that “How low can the racists go? Say no to Pizza Hut!” is consistently among the Top Posts even tho’ the thread is a couple of months old. Ditto the Pizza Hut responses.
What’s your mechanism for ratings? Is People’s Parliament getting new or international readers on “Pizza Hut” because it’s a more timeless discussion compared to the rest of our domestic, topical threads?
Helen,
I do not check the ratings.
Helen Ang
January 3, 2008
Haris,
I’m referring to the Top Post list on the right hand of this page lah. It must be an internal (if automatic) WordPress ratings mechanism.
Yesterday, in my Labis comment, I’d referred to People’s Parliament (or more accurately Haris Ibrahim’s blog) as it was rated in Malaysiakini’s Top 5 blogroll. That one (i.e. mKini listing) is time specific and has running changes by the hour I should think.
The reason I bring this up is that PP seems to have entered into a shotgun cyber marriage with Pizza Hut if those posts remain prominently popular on our homepage.
But the real reason it interests me is from the advertisers’ angle. Does it mean that people (casual visitors, mebbe those abroad) are still reading all that we’ve argued over PH? If so, does it also indicate that cyber campaigns can impact a product image, much to the chagrin of its manufacturer or retailer?
Biggum Dogmannsteinberg
January 4, 2008
Are you sure people in Petaling Jaya Utara wants a new MP????
I live here right smack in PJ Utara. My father had been the democratically elected Residents Association Chairman, for many years. The RA have engaged and worked with City Hall and the elected reps, to get issues that matters most to us resolved. As far as the residents in this over 30 year old development estate, they are all for YB Chew Mei Fun, the MP for PJ Utara and especially YB C K Lim, the ADUN for Damansara Utama.
FYI, these are the Results of 2004 General Elections
P106 Petaling Jaya Utara
Chew Mei Fun (BN – MCA) 32422 Maj: 15043
Liu Tian Khiew (OPP – DAP) 17379
N35 Kampung Tunku
Wong Sai Hou (BN – MCA) 11979 Maj: 3612
Ean Yong Hian Wah (OPP – DAP) 8367
N36 Damansara Utama
Lim Choon Kin (BN – MCA) 19124 Maj: 6815
Yim Chee Pooi (OPP – DAP) 12309
These constituencies are Chinese majority areas (over 75% urban and educated Chinese voters). Considering the DAP National HQ is in here right smack in DUN Kampung Tunku, the vote Chew Mei Fun polled is almost doubled that of DAP’s.
Residents (and voters) are happy with CK Lim and the attention he provided us to our local problems and issues. Honestly, they are the least bothered with issues like the extension of the SPR Chairman’s tenureship!
Big Dog,
Time will tell.
hamzah
January 4, 2008
Bro, Subang needs new MP too
hamzah,
I take it you will help out in Subang, yes?
KancilPu
January 29, 2008
I wish to reiterate that the idea of ‘People Power’ is really a noble one requiring commitment, clear convictions, selflessness, etc. thinking about fellow human beings for the good of the people, country and the future.
It worked in the Phillipines when Aquino took power …. now it worked in Thailand when tghe People Power Party took office just a couple of days ago.
But people sometimes are hard to convince and many would want to just go along status quo, regardless.
For this kind of movement, more have to be done and all of us can do it, if each one of us can play a small part towards change. Change should be the order of the day now, because they say ‘you can bluff somebody some of the time, but you cannot bluff everybody all the time’. The mechanism of BN is now concentrating on this. One oculd observe the tone change in all BN MPs now, Ministers in particular, for now seldom or never touch on sensitive issues like race, religion or language. One wonders how long can turn-coats keep on lying ….
We need a change and all of us should realise now that any change should be better than all the bluffs.
Three cheers for change.
koolgeek
March 11, 2008
Haris, thanks for this.
I think this initiative deserves a ‘recap’ and ‘summary’ now that election is over.
Build on the momentum and set an example for more “people” initiatives in future.