Malaysian Elections Produce more Losers than Winners

Published on May 17, 2013 by Luke Hunt

Note: This article first appeared in Spectrum.By Luke HuntMalaysia’s latest attempt at staging a clean and fair election again fell widely short of expectations but this time around the polls have laid bare the nation’s odious racial divisions and left an increasingly agitated electorate with little but political chaos to look forward to.Bitterly disappointed was Prime Minister Najib Razak. He did win the contest and ensured the 56-year unbeaten run by the Barison Nasional (BN) coalition as the nation’s leaders would continue.However, Chinese voters deserted the coalition in droves, reduced the ruling party’s majority and left Najib’s One Malaysia campaign – designed to show-off the country’s racial harmony — in tatters.Najib said he had been hit by a “Chinese tsunami”.....

Time for ASEAN Rethink on Burma

Published on May 10, 2013 by Luke Hunt

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has long been criticized as a toothless tiger for its inability to deal with controversial and often bloody issues.The Sabah Insurgency launched in March by Philippine-based mercenaries, the Cambodian-Thai dispute over territorial rights at Preah Vihear and overlapping sovereign claims in the South China Seas are among the nastiest and most recent examples.However, ethnic violence launched against Burma’s Rohingya population has repeatedly underscored the absence of a collective moral backbone among ASEAN’s 10 members and unraveled Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lauded role in promoting democracy and human rights.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Malaysians Rally Against Vote & Fraud

Published on May 9, 2013 by Luke Hunt

More than 50,000 black-clad supporters of Malaysia’s opposition defied a police threat they would be arrested to attend a rally to protest against the outcome of the country’s fraud-marred elections. The crowd roared with approval when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim told them he would expose the cheating that he said cost them an election win.Read more from Lindsay Murdoch at Fairfax Media.   .

Malaysians Braced for Election and its Aftermath

Published on May 2, 2013 by Luke Hunt

Malaysians are widely expected to elect Prime Minister Najib Razak to another term in office when they go to the polls on Sunday, but any victory will fall far short of a ringing endorsement and could herald trouble ahead.Najib’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) – the pro-Malay lead political party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition – has never been as unpopular as it is going into this election, according to analysts, who have pointed out that an absence of independent and reliable opinion polls makes forecasting difficult.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

US Soldier in Found in Vietnam

Published on May 1, 2013 by Luke Hunt

A new documentary called Unclaimed claims to introduce the world to former Army Sergeant John Robertson, lost over Vietnam in 1968 and left behind for over four decades.Read more in The Journal..