Yesterday morning, I had a telephone conversation with someone from Gwo Burne’s campaign team.
‘Would I speak at his ceramah?’, I was asked.
I said I would revert to him.
This morning I called this individual and asked to meet Gwo Burne first to put to rest some nagging questions I and many have about his candidacy, as has been borne out by the numerous comments to related posts on this blog.
Gwo Burne and I met and chatted this morning. I asked the questions I wanted answered, and he obliged. The nagging questions and the answers thereto appear below. The chit-chat was for my own consumption.
In the next post, I will share with you my thoughts on why I have agreed to speak at his ceramah this Wednesday and Friday, in support of his candidacy.
______________________________
Q1. There is speculation that you have been offered as a candidate for the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat as aplant in the hope that if you do win, you will in a very short period of time create the need for a by-election to pave the way for DSAI or your father or someone else to contest. If this is so, I think you and the party are obliged to inform the voters of this plan. Otherwise, it would, in my view, amount to perpetrating a moral fraud or deception on the voters. How would you respond to this speculation?
Haris, there is no truth to this. I am contesting because I believe I can make a difference. I came back to testify at theVK Lingam Commission hoping to make a difference for my country. I am now offering myself as a candidate for the same reason. To try and make a difference. No, there is no truth to this.
Q2. You’re presently based in Shanghai, yet offering to represent the people of Kelana Jaya in Parliament. Would you be relocating back to Malaysia if you are elected and if so, when do you expect that this will happen?
If the people vote me into Parliament, I will definitely be relocating. I will need a bit of time to go back and make the necessary arrangements. 1 – 1 1/2 months and I should have completely relocated.
Q3. It has been said that your command of Bahasa Malaysia is so woefully inadequate that you would not be able to be effective in Parliament. Do you agree? And if you do agree, and do get elected, would you be prepared to enrol in a Bahasa Malaysia course to improve your command of BM?
The criticism is true. Haris, I will do what I need to do to improve my BM, whether I am elected or not.
Q4. The People’s Parliament is looking into the possibility of initiating a ‘How to be a good MP/ADUN’ course for some of the young candidates who get elected. In fact, I think this course should be made available to some of the seniors in Parliament as well. Are you prepared to give an undertaking to the voters that if you’re elected, you will avail yourself of such an initiative?
I think this is a very good initiative. I want to serve the people. And I am ready to learn. Yes, I certainly would attend to learn.
Q5. The People’s Parliament will shortly be making a pledge to the rakyat that for every Barisan Rakyat candidate that is successfully voted into Parliament or any state assembly, we will endeavour to form a ‘Representative Watch Committee’. The idea is that the elected representative concerned is to work hand-in-hand with this committee which will report every quarterly to the constituents on the work of that representative. A term report card, if you will. Will you undertake with the voters that if you’re elected to Parliament, you will co-operate fully with such a committee, keep the committee informed of any pending bills in Parliament or any national policy matters which ought to be brought to the attention of the electorate?
I think this is another good effort. I really hope you will be able to get it going. Yes, I will certainly work with the electorate or such a committee as you have proposed.
The People's Parliament 
seanang
March 3, 2008
Haris,
I wouldn’t bet on Gwo Burne. As far as I am concerned, Gow Burne entry into politics is a last minute decision by PKR based on the assumption that they can leverage on his so-called “popularity”. Is PKR assuming popularity is more important than quality?
As I can see from your posting above, Gwo Burne infact admitted that he can’t speak Malay properly. How can he even raise issues brought up by his constituent in Parliament when he cant even speak proper Malay.
I have spoken to Billi Lim this morning and asked him about his opinion on Gwo Burne, and he told me that Gwo Burne is infact a nice person. Instead of talking about the negative points of other candidates, he opted to draw out his vision, that of creating a new culture of independent candidatures. The vehicle is via the United National Independent Front to consolidate the independent candidates. Now that is out-of-the-box thinking!
Besides that he also felt strongly about racial polarization and have proposed a solution, inter-racial marriages which requires some legislative changes. He is able to pint point some local problems such as those related to structural plan in Kelana Jaya and issues such as illegal factories.
OK. Now, many of you may not agree with his hairstyle, but his fighting spirit definitely inspires many. As for overall quality, Billi Lim is definitely better than Gwo Burne.
Perhaps Gwo Burne can be a good candidate in the 13th Election, but now I would encourage Kelana Jaya residents to vote for Billi Lim.
SV Singam
March 3, 2008
seanang wrote – “Perhaps Gwo Burne can be a good candidate in the 13th Election, but now I would encourage Kelana Jaya residents to vote for Billi Lim.”
So it looks like the non-BN votes are going to be split, handing Kelana Jaya on a silver platter to BN.
Great going, guys!
Act Now
March 3, 2008
That guy came back to testify before the Royal Commission. Not many guys have the guts to do that. Give that guy a chance and give him your support for what he has done.
farida
March 3, 2008
Seanang,
Inter-racial marriages are not the solution to racial polarization! You make it sound as if that is a new phenomenon! Inter-racial marriages happen all the time in our society, from before the 1940s, when my parents got married, to now.
What on earth is Billi talking about????
As an independent, can Billi bring about legislative changes? Or am I missing out something here?
Paul Warren
March 3, 2008
All I want to know is if Gwo Burne will vote along with the rest of his political allies in parliament when the time comes? I am sure his other colleagues in opposition would only be too happy to do all the talking.
Problem is, what happens if BN loses the simple majority and Barisan Rakyat rules! Gwo Burne, this is when your oratory skills will be most needed in Bahasa.
Ah, but then again, since now you guys rule the roost, you can change policies and allow English to be spoken once again in the august house. Anyway, its a much more purer language than the rubbish spoken most of the time by guys like Badaruddin, Nazri, Zam and a whole cohort of idiots whose parents probably did not teach them well.
toyolbuster
March 3, 2008
I would definitely bet on GB. Yes he is young and inexperience. But would you honestly think that any of the BN buggers are better candidates than GB or Nurul or Hannah or Eli? Just imagine Zam ass, Nazi, One eye porky,Hishame, Abdullah Badawi? Are they any better for you, you tell me. Billy, be good to your countrymen, go get your marketing mileage elsewhere and don’t spoil it all for the rakyat.
myop101
March 3, 2008
Nnnnoooooooo….
Not Billi!
People of Kelana Jaya! Wake up! Billi maybe an eccentric but MP he is not! Voting him in is to literally add to the clowns already crowding the Parliament.
Billi offers little workable solutions and neither is he here nor there. If Barisan Rakyat wins only 74 parliamentary seats, do you expect Billi, the dark horse, to go with Barisan Rakyat to deny BN the 2/3 majority? I cringe in fear for this nation.
johnleemk
March 4, 2008
I think either Gwo Burne or Billi Lim would probably make decent MPs, but really, let’s avoid the spoiler effect and vote for the candidate with a party mechanism behind him. Besides the obvious benefit of Gwo Burne having a voice in the party as well as Parliament, once Lim retires, the open seat will be harder for the opposition to capture, rather than if the opposition were defending it.
politikus
March 4, 2008
lol. interracial marriages bring about nothing really. don’t think we’ve reached national unity after dollah married jeanne nor when raja nazrin wedded zara! 🙂
Anak Bapa
March 4, 2008
I am the operation manager for DUN Seri Setia which happens to be part of Kelana Jaya. I’ve had many opportunities to meet and discuss with Gwo Burne and I can assure you he is a sincere and dedicated person. He has shown he got guts by exposing the VK Lingam video clip. He could have kept it a secret and avoid all the troubles but he didn’t. I salute him for that, and the rest he can learn. Remember all our votes are for PKR, DAP, PAS etc (BR).
BTW I’m Malay and always have been an active PAS member.
Sivin
March 4, 2008
The ‘How to be a good MP/ADUN’ is a great idea! This would be great follow up after the elections.I’m sure the course is open not just for BR MPs and ADUNs .. BN should send a big delegation too!
jason m
March 4, 2008
your questions were long but he replied so little.
Robert Ng
March 4, 2008
I do not know how many of you out there would agree with me that “most” candidates that have the ready mechanism behind them will turn out to be power-crazy in the long run. Look at UMNO, MCA, MIC, DAP maybe not yet PKR but all tese parties are more interested in “passing” the baton to their own family members.
Look at all the internal squabbles for candidacy in this election in UMNO, DAP… Need I say more? An independent candidate will definitely field some changes without having to answer to any parties except the people he/she serves.
My recommendation is to elect any Independent Candidates in this election. There will not be many but we can see what changes they can make if they are elected. Don’t you think so?
Peter
March 5, 2008
My fellow rakyat,
At this crucial moment all questioning on the capabilities of BR candidates should stop and instead we should stay focused and support all BR candidates as we have a tough battle ahead of us on March 8, one that can shaped our nation for better or worse. We all should stay united and spread the news to our fellow anak bangsa Malaysia to vote all the BR candidates in ie DAP,PKR and PAS and create a historical moment in our 50 years of history after Independence. Remember UNITED WE STAND AND DIVIDED WE FALL.Come March 8 we shall fight them at the ballot boxes and now with the reversal decision on the use of indelible ink we shall gather evidence and fight them phantom votes at the courts.Spread the word and stop creating disunity and be positive. Good shall overcome evil.The rakyat is the boss.
Joe Gomez
March 5, 2008
seanang wrote …..
………….. Billi Lim is definitely better than Gwo Burne.
********
Yikes !!! Till you said the above, I understood you ……..
Jumping rat tails !!!!
BILLI ??? For pete’s sake.
One does have an inalienable right to support any candidate one chooses. But one shd not forget that the choice of candidate also mirrors ones own thinking and, in this case, the presence or absence of rational thinking.
Lee Hwa Beng seems to me almost angelic in comparison to this rat tailed individual. GOD FORBID !!
A chap who can bring a punching bag ( with his image emblazoned on it ) to the nomination center and somehow miss the connotation is, IMHO, not playing with a full deck of cards.
God Save Malaysia from the likes of Billi and LHB!
gc
March 7, 2008
Let’s keep focused, folks.
Vote BN = they interpret as blanket mandate to keep doing what they like, and they will say that we voted them in, they have people’s support, no accountability, bla bla
Split the votes = BN wins = same as above
Vote Billi = no check and balance, same like those one-man show churches (I am a Christian, by the way)
What else? Vote GB = what if cheap publicity, no substance behind the guy?
Well settle that later through the report card and the get-an-mp type public pressure. People, we make sure that the MP will listen to us. If not ship him out next round. BUT
We want to be in a position to do that to GB (if worse case happens and we really need to), and certainly NOT have another 4-5 years of the same crap. By that time, all laws would have been further amended, constituencies redrawn and it would really be too late (in fact, I am not sure if it is indeed already too late now).
Choice is obvious, isn’t it?