Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Posted: 27 Oct 2011 07:50 PM PDT Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (October 2008) There was infrastructure failure in this hospital which was caused by poor maintenance and planning, which led to the intensive care unit (ICU) and surgical units being shut down. A few hundred of the hospital's patients were transferred after three blocks were declared unsafe by structural engineers. The hospital's management had reported the deteriorating conditions as early as 2000. The Health Ministry was supposed to have carried out maintenance and repair work on the hospital from time to time through its concession company, Syarikat Faber Mediserve Sdn Bhd.Pekan Hospital, Pahang (March 2007) This hospital located in the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was scheduled for completion in 2003 but was only finally handed over to the Health Ministry in March 2007. Among the defects were leaking pipes, collapsed ceilings and problems with the main water tank. Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor (April 2007) In September 2004, the hospital which cost RM550 million was shut down for 17 months due to a fungus problem. Two years later, large sections of the ceiling had to be removed due to structural problems. The company responsible for maintenance work was Pantai Medivest. Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar, Kedah (March 2007) Built at a cost of RM550 milion, the hospital was opened four years after its scheduled completion date. The then health minister, Dr Chua Soi Lek, stated that the contractors lacked the necessary expertise. Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Sungai Petani (February 2007) Human faeces was found to be overflowing from a toilet and this forced an ICU unit to be closed temporarily. This hospital, built at a cost of RM450 million, was hailed as a state-of-the-art hospital. Another leakage had also occurred in the hospital cafeteria due to a defective sewerage pipe and there were also collapsed ceilings. Ampang Hospital, Kuala Lumpur (March 2007) This hospital was scheduled for completion in 2004 but it only opened its doors in 2007. The pediatric ward was ridden with fungus and the ceiling was similarly infected besides having the usual problem of leaking sewerage pipes. Then health minister Dr Chua Soi Lek commented that teething problems were to be expected in new buildings! Despite the existence of such problematic hospital projects, the government is still awarding the construction of public infrastructure projects and building contracts of hospitals via direct negotiations, often to obscure and inexperienced companies. This practice is absolutely unacceptable and has resulted in losses amounting to billions. None of the above contracts was awarded based on open competitive tenders and the cost of these "rent-seeking and patronage" is now taking a heavy toll on the nation's economy. And what is worse is that the government still has the audacity to expect the rakyat to pay for its faults, follies and foibles by introducing new and higher types of taxes such as the credit card tax, the real property gains tax and the soon-to-be implemented goods and services tax (GST). One special hospital project that should be mentioned here is the Shah Alam Hospital that has an "Ali Baba" twist, where the main contractor for the RM482-million project did not even lift a finger to do any work at all and yet made a bountiful profit.
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| Two views on BN's premature optimism Posted: 27 Oct 2011 07:40 PM PDT Assuming that if 18( out of 20) of the seats now held by MIC, MCA and Gerakan fall to non BN parties, the BN's position does indeed rely on the BN partners in Sabah and Sarawak. Sarawak has 30 parliamentary seats while Sabah has 11. As the writer observed, the Sarawak strongman doesn't seem to give two hoots what Najib and Muhyidin want. Indeed he was sworn in the very night BN Sarawak was announced the winner fearing that delays would invite intrigues and machinations from national leaders. So, before the federal leaders can do him in, he thumped their noses. The message is clear. He doesn't trust our federal leaders. Maybe it's time for him to make deals with other leaders and then agree on a timetable where he can exit with dignity and not unceremoniously evicted as he nearly was after the recent Sarawak elections. PBB and its partners in Sarawak are friends under the same banner with BN leaders in Peninsula. Can the Sarawak people trust their partner in Semanjung who seemed willing to abandon its own partner in Sarawak just to retain power? With that kind of partner, they don't need enemies. Indeed Taib Mahumud who must have felt humiliated by the treatment he got from federal leaders during Sarawak elections recently, now holds the trump card. He is said to have control over 23 of the 30 MPs. He must have felt immensely chagrined as Najib repeatedly told audiences that Taib Mahmud will retire. Taib Mahmud did not say anything about retiring. He said he will retire by a schedule of his own choosing. He is not an UMNO member and therefore doesn't have someone to watch over him. His party delivered 100 per cent results while UMNO in the Peninsula couldn't hold a candle to his track record. In short UMNO has no influence at all over Taib Mahmud. He can do very well as he damn pleases. I have not said anything about Sabah and Sarawak. If the lifeline needed isn't extended to UMNO and BN in Semanjung, UMNO and BN will find themselves on the opposition benches. That would usher in the much needed cleansing process and the weak in constitution will be weeded out. It's a common anecdotal observation that should there be a hung government or BN and UMNO loses in the GE, its MPs can be induced and encouraged to cross over while just having teh tarik. Its that simple.
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| Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:12 PM PDT At around the 9th minute of the video, Dr Ridhuan strongly asserted that Islamic law has to be implemented by force and there is no other way to educate the non-Muslims on Islamic laws than by force. Dr Ridhuan added that the most opportune time for "us" to do so was after the 13th May 1969 incident and lamented the fact that "we" had let that opportunity gone. During the speech, Dr Ridhuan lamented the fact that non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, have a negative view of Islamic state and hudud generally. Speaking from experience, as a Chinese, Dr Ridhuan insisted that he knows the Chinese's attitude towards Islam and that that attitude has not changed. Firstly, I must confess that I am more than a little bit perplexed by Dr Ridhuan's attempt to connect the racial riot of 13th May 1969 with the idea of an Islamic state and the implementation of hudud or Islamic laws in Malaysia. The riot of 13th May 1969, as far as I know, had nothing to do with the desire by any particular section of our society, including the Muslims/Malays, for an Islamic state or for the implementation of Islamic laws in Malaysia. If the mainstream version of the riot were to be believed, that riot was caused by the economic imbalances between the Malays and the non-Malays, giving rise to a deep and seething anger between the two sections of the society culminating in racial hatred. This was sparked by the unprecedented victory of the DAP in the general election immediately preceding the riot and the subsequent victory march by the DAP. The whole situation was worsen by the election campaigns which were full of racial rhetoric and overtone and the killing of some Chinese suspected to be communists. Never have I read about the riot being anything about Islam, Islamic state or the implementation of Islamic laws. Even the non-mainstream version of the riot has omitted mentioning anything about those issues being the possible cause of the riot. As neither Islam, Islamic state nor Islamic laws was part of the catalyst or cause of the riot, how could Dr Ridhuan surmise that the most "opportune of time" to implement Islamic laws in Malaysia was after the riot? There is an obvious lack of cause, causation and result here. I mean, Dr Ridhuan may very well say that 31st August 1957 would be the most opportune time for all of us to choose Islamic state as the governing model of our nation. I would certainly understand that remark because that was the starting point of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu as an independent state. But to relate the choice of an Islamic state as a model "after" the riot of 13th May 1969 is as perplexing as any suggestion that the most opportune time to implement Islamic laws in Malaysia would be just after the Bersih rally, for example. Regardless of the lack of any tangible connection between the May 13th riot and the issue of Islamic state, Dr Ridhuan had, by his remark, obviously – or even perhaps, inadvertently – exposed the notion, which could be popular among the neo-right winged-nationalist in contemporary Malaysia that the May 13th riot was "won" by the Malays or Muslims. Premised on this notion of a "victory" being achieved by the Malays/Muslims during the May 13th riot, Dr Ridhuan quite obviously thought that the Malays/Muslims, as the victors, could have imposed an Islamic state model on Malaysia or implement hudud/Islamic laws as the laws of Malaysia after the said "victory." Conversely, the non-Muslims, particularly the Chinese, as the "vanquished", would not have been able to resist such forceful imposition of Islam on them at that point of time. That, to my mind, would have been the natural conclusion of Dr Ridhuan's remark. With all due respect to Dr Ridhuan's scholarly position, I view that with sadness. The May 13th riot has no victors. Malaysia as a nation, society and people were all losers on that fateful day and from that dark blot on our history. May 13th 1969 was an absolute failure of all of us as a people. It was a day when we had left our power to reason and rationalise and let our primordial kinship and tribalistic emotions to take over. It was a day when we discarded civility and civilisation and opted for barbarism. Victory on the May 13th riot and its aftermath, in my opinion, could only be measured by our collective ability and willingness, as a people and a nation, to learn the lessons brought about by the riot and to take measures to address the causes which sparked the riot. Anything else is a failure. The notion that the Malays/Muslims could have done anything, including imposing an Islamic state model during its aftermath, is a perversion and represents an almost nihilistic view of the riot, its causes and consequences. It is yet another unwelcome addition to the plethora of abuses to which the Malay psyche has been subjected all this while. As a Malay Muslim, I find it absolutely objectionable. Dr Ridhuan's lamentation that the Chinese, particularly, has a negative view of Islam and that their negative attitude towards Islam has not changed while at the same time asserting that hudud or Islamic laws must be implemented by force is, with respect, the peak of irony. It is an irony because one of the main reason why the non-Muslims throughout the world have such a dim view of Islam is answered by Dr Ridhuan himself in his statement that Islamic laws should be implemented by force, regardless of any party's objection to it. To many, the attitude of some of our ulamaks and mullahs are reflective of Islam's supposed intolerance of others, most particularly other faiths and not to mention cultures, breed and creed. If Dr Ridhuan would stop and think at the repercussion of his assertion as such, he would realise that by making that assertion, he had managed to isolate millions of non-Muslims from the beauty of Islam, a faith that was premised on absolute respect for each other. Dr Ridhuan would do well to realise that the Kharijite-ist approach towards maintaining Islam as the one and only faith does not bode well with Islam's core teaching of mutual existence, respect and co-operation. If we were to force the implementation of Islamic laws in Malaysia, by extension, why don't we, as Muslims, force everyone to convert to Islam then, if I may ask? The answer is provided by God Himself, when in the Quran He says:- "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And God hears and knows all things." (Quran 2:256) Then He says again: "If it had been your Lord's will, all of the people on Earth would have believed. Would you then compel the people so to have them believe?" (Quran 10:99) Dr Ridhuan insisted that as a Chinese coming from a family who are staunch non-believers of Islam, he knew how the Chinese feel about Islam. His disdain for the parties whom he always describes as "ultra-kiasu" is well known. Dr Ridhuan may have his own deeply personal reason for that. It is not for me, or for anybody else, to judge him for that. But surely Dr Ridhuan should not let his disdain prevent him from being just. The Quran says: "O you who believe! Be upright for Allah, bearers of witness with justice, and let not hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably; act equitably, that is nearer to piety, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is Aware of what you do." Quran 5:8) Muslims and non-Muslims must be made to know and realise that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a "mercy for all the world" (Quran 21:107). He was not sent to force or compel anybody towards Islam or Allah. God says: "Nothing is (incumbent) on the Messenger but to deliver (the message), and Allah knows what you do openly and what you hide." (Quran 5:99) "So if they dispute with you, say 'I have submitted my whole self to God, and so have those who follow me.' And say to the People of the Scripture and to the unlearned: 'Do you also submit yourselves?' If they do, then they are on right guidance. But if they turn away, your duty is only to convey the Message. And in God's sight are all of His servants." (Quran 3:20) Why then do we want to force Islam on anybody? Isn't that un-Islamic?
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