Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Foreigners, shut up: Assembly bill outlaws protests by exiles, dissidents and migrant workers
- Najib has taken the rakyat for a ride!
- Menyokong UMNO : ibarat menanam pohon yang condong
- Muhyiddin's uphill battle. the UMNO vice presidents say no
- More On Daya Syukra – The Samling Connection!
- Sabahans gather to say “No to the Peaceful Assembly Act”
- What now Anwar?
- Politics - play safe, play the race
- Dissolution of Parliament in March
- Untuk mengelak Bill Perhimpunan Aman terus dilaksanakan - jangan beri lagi mandat kepada UMNO
- Contact your MP now!
- BREAKING NEWS: Two Black Eyes for AG and MACC!
- Going Shopping: Lawyers on the march
- Government Screwing Up Durians As Well
- Malaysia – Defending the Constitution
- Tengku Razaleigh As Interim Prime Minister
- The 13th GE: Its an open field
- Isu Royalty minyak : Muhyiddin cuba memulas tangan rakyat Kelantan
- The Ups and Downs of Harvest Court
| Foreigners, shut up: Assembly bill outlaws protests by exiles, dissidents and migrant workers Posted: 27 Nov 2011 09:17 PM PST So if you're a political exile or dissident from another country (Burma, Mongolia, Tibet, Falun Gong, Timor, Papua, Mindanao, etc), this Bill is for your repressive government and Malaysian politicians' noted friendliness with tyrants and dictators. (Kazakhstan, anyone?).
Cultural Learnings of Malaysia For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of… fill in the blanks. This bill should be also known as the Freedom of Foreign Dictators (Tell Malaysia To Shut Up) Bill. Or maybe we should name it the Peaceful Assembly (Keep Robert Mugabe Free) Bill. So, get the message, political exiles and dissidents from Iran, Burma, Tibet, China, Timor, Papua, Zimbabwe… this Bill is keep your horrible governments in power.
Foreigners shut up. Just give us your moneyRead more at: https://uppercaise.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/foreigners-shut-up-malaysia-says-keep-your-arab-spring-at-home/
|
| Najib has taken the rakyat for a ride! Posted: 27 Nov 2011 11:56 AM PST We were promised that the ISA would be revoked – and the rakyat rejoiced prematurely. The joy was short-lived when it was revealed that two other laws would replace the ISA, retaining the obnoxious detention without trial. The same undemocratic features of the ISA will now come under a new name, gravely disappointing the rakyat. We were promised easier democratic freedom of assembly without the need for police permit. The rakyat applauded this sensible approach, which seemed to guarantee the right of assembly as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. With the presentation of the Peaceful Assembly Bill, now they realise that they have been deluded once again.The Barisan Nasional is not capable of respecting the peoples' human rights or honouring its solemn word. The BN is only used to restricting our rights, denying our freedom, controlling our space, destroying our faith in the electoral process, trampling upon our judiciary and completing ignoring what is fair and just. Old habits die hard and that is the reason it is unwilling to surrender those rights that are justly due to the rakyat. It may proclaim that it is prepared to revoke restrictive laws but in reality it is incapable of returning these rights to the people. It can only rule forcefully; it cannot govern according to the rule of law. We cannot and should not expect the BN to return our rights. It is not a realistic expectation. We have to take possession of our rights. We have to claim our democratic space; we have to defend our freedom. It is in this spirit that the lawyers have decided to march on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 from the Lake Gardens to the Parliament in protest against the sham Peaceful Assembly Bill, which has made a mockery of our right to assemble peacefully and spontaneously. This Bill imposes many unjust restrictions and conditions and subjects organisers and all participants to heavy penalties. It is clearly meant to discourage and stop peaceful protests from ever taking place. We cannot tolerate this. We cannot condone this undemocratic Bill. READ MORE HERE. |
| Menyokong UMNO : ibarat menanam pohon yang condong Posted: 27 Nov 2011 06:03 AM PST Cerita momokan dari UMNO sahaja yang gila-gila menggunakan isu yang jika PR memerintah dan jika PR di domonasi oleh DAP maka ditakuti jawatan PM itu akan menjadi milik orang cina DAP. Momokan ini telah menjadi kempen orang-orang UMNO sekarang ini di bawah-bawah dengan tujuan menakut-nakutkan orang Melayu supaya tidak menyokong DAP.
|
| Muhyiddin's uphill battle. the UMNO vice presidents say no Posted: 26 Nov 2011 04:41 PM PST I have written an earlier article giving out what I thought some warnings to UMNO and BN. This time I didn't write on how I think UMNO and BN can lose. I wrote instead the other way round - how Pakatan can win. As expected, it didn't go down well with UMNO people. That's of no importance to me. UMNO thinks it can corner the rural votes. Maybe they can and do, but every time Anwar Ibrahim who is bombarded with sexual allegations at every waking hour wants to hold a ceramah umum in rural areas, UMNO goes on super panic mode. It uses all the repressive instruments of the state- the police, army, Rela people to prevent Anwar speaking. Apa pasal? I say, let the damaged good do his thing. People are intelligent enough- they read newspapers and other media instruments to be able to make proper judgment. And you have all the UMNO cybertroopers around to make sure Anwar is crucified with new information about his sexual trysts and China doll and what not. And you have Quiet Despair to anchor a more cerebral and spirited rendition of Anwar's persecution. Don't worry; we will give him as much space as possible here. I think Muhyidin this time around speaks with a touch of realism. Maybe he refuses to be bamboozled with over optimistic JASA reports – I saw some of them especially on Pahang and I was laughing. Were they written while drinking kopi tiam or eating keropok lekor? Or were they written while sitting on the bed at home? Those suckers at HQ won't be able to tell the difference. Muhyidin must be thinking about his home state too. Ong Kah Ting is not going to contest. His seat may go. Hishamudin is retreating to Kota Tinggi. That means Syed Hamid Albar isn't contesting anymore as he is no longer winnable. Sembrong is gone. Bakri seat is another area that's losable. Subramaniam can say bye bye to Segamat. Pasir Gudang is another parliamentary seat that looks shaky. Johore will remain a bastion for UMNO still, but a few more parliamentary seats are gone. The labis seat, Pulai seat, Gelang Patah seat, are all at risks. If Shahrir does not stand in JB, that seat will migrate too. These may not all go to PKR but DAP is set to take over some of these seats. The opposition may increase their parliamentary presence from the current 1 to 7 seats. There's one commentator (Quiet Despair) who thinks PKR cannot win any parliamentary sets in Sarawak. The SUPP seats will all go to DAP. As to PKR, allow me to cite one observation passed to me by the Oracle of Syed Putera. He was commenting on the Sarawak state elections then. The victory of 100% by PBB candidates (its record is thus anytime better than UMNO's) wasn't unexpected. The Oracle wasn't interested to speak on what the mainstream newspapers were screaming haughtily regarding the victory. He was more concerned about the victory by PKR in the Sarawak state elections. Anwar Ibrahim with all the assassinations carried out on a daily basis, managed to assist Baru Bian get 3 seats! What do the wins represent? Unless UMNO people are sleeping or are busy shashaying in the lobby of Concorde Hotel and cockily holding fort in the coffee house, the wins tell us, the opposition can win. PKR made inroads in Dayak grounds. And Oracle must be mimicking Daim Zainudin. Then the news about the sacking of one ADUN from SPDP came. SPDP has 4 parliamentary seats. The sacking shows there are dissension with the SPDP and may result in election losses. With the SUPP gone, PBB is banking on SPDP and PRS which has 6 seats. The two have 10 seats between them; a number of these will fall to PKR. The Oracle was even saying, at this moment, Daim thinks, the Opposition has 16 seats in the bag from Sarawak. This thing about saying that someone is over the hill and past the time, is haunting the UMNO people. Yet they forget repeatedly to shut their mouth. Before 2008 Daim Zainudin was saying that BN will lose 5 states. Everyone was saying he's past his prime and over the hill and other unmentionables. This time he's more or less saying the same thing. That's why the Oracle says, the UMNO people are sleeping when they dismissed the few seats won by Baru Bian in the Sarawak state elections. That's just a precursor of worse things to come. That's how I see the GE13. Now, let's get back to what Rahim Tamby Chik said in an UMNO forum. Rahim Tamby Chik (RTC) has now achieved political significance that he couldn't achieved before- being mentioned in the same bandwidth as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Otherwise, as we know, hehe, Rahim is mentioned and associated more with less than regal extra-political pursuits. He is deep and down you know. We now come to the most interesting bit about Rahim's political imagination- Tengku Razaleigh being invited to become the PM. In order for that to take place, TRH must have standing. He has standing by the following manner; (1) He heads a political party. That party then can become the negotiating entity sought after by the people who want to form a government. He has none at the moment. AMANAH is an NGO which he heads is not a political party and so, he has no standing to be called in should there be a hung parliament. (2) He could have a standing on the other hand, if he heads a faction in UMNO with enough numbers to go along with him should he decide to part ways with mother ship UMNO. Right now, I don't see any number of MPs being with Tengku Razaleigh. Some may agree with his stand and ideas but are always mindful to stay on the side on which the bread is buttered. None are brave enough to be with him while serving as UMNO MPs. Just look as some of the erstwhile comrades who were with Razaleigh before- Shabery Chik for example- who served as TRH's personal assistant and speech writer sometimes is touching TRH with a 10 foot pole. The minister of Information who used to be the number 2 man in Semangat 46 and who burnt his bridges to cinders is working overtime to make sure everyone knows he has nothing to do with Tengku. So we can rule out the formation of another political party by Tengku Razaleigh or Tengku having the standing by heading a faction within UMNO. So why should Tengku Razaleigh be invited at all? In what capacity? The answer is the hard realities of Malaysian politics. Let us assume a hung parliament. It can take place when not one single party has the majority in parliament. Any one party can have the largest number of seats which if it less than 112, can never go on to form the government. Let's say UMNO comes out with the most seats- 70 from its current 79. It is the party with the largest number. What happens when the results of the elections come out? The first person or persons to see the Agong will be the chief secretary and possibly the AG because of the constitutional implications. He will look around and inform the Agong, the party that has the largest number is UMNO. The Agong then summons UMNO to inquire whether it can form the government. UMNO looks around; it sees its traditional partners decimated. It casts its eyes, and sees possibly PBB which probably retains 12 seats. But what if 16 seats are won by the opposition there? PBB has only 3 more seats friendly to offer. Taib Mahmud says, boss I can only offer 15 seats. The other 16 have gone to DAP and PKR and to those who don't want BN anymore. I can't gawai and ngajat anymore. It makes me dizzy. UMNO plus the Sarawak party now has 85 seats. If we are kind enough, let's say MCA managed to wriggle through with 3 seats- UMNO/BN has 88. MIC delivers 1 seat. Now it has 89. Out of the 25 seats in Sabah, after excluding UMNO, BN takes another 8. In total now, UMNO and BN have 97 seats. Still not enough ma….
|
| More On Daya Syukra – The Samling Connection! Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:37 PM PST The first thing it shows is how dangerous he knows such questions are. To sell a huge area of valuable state land worth RM225 million to a company owned by his own kids for just RM2 million is plain, dirty corruption for all to see. This is exactly what YB Wong King Wei most recently revealed in the State Assembly with his question about the scandal of Shoreline Development Sdn Bhd. As we know, there have been plenty of similar thefts linked to other scandals, such as Monarda Sd Bhd and the land round Kuching airport; the handouts to Naim Cendara; the World Heritage site of Borsamulu given to his sister and of course the scandal of the contracts and plantation licences given to Taib's son Abu Bekir's Titanium Management, which YB Chong also drew attention to in a series of separate parliamentary questions last week. The Chief Minister is already suffering the indignity of a public investigation by the MACC, as well as questions over money laundering in Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Canada. Those investigators are not going to have to work very hard with such evidence as the Shoreline Development deal revealed in broad daylight! Voter power
And what are voters to think with an election just round the corner? Remember, it has just been announced that Taib's administration has only been able to allocate a tiny RM3.47 million to help alleviate the hard core rural poverty that afflicts so many Dayaks in Malaysia's richest state. It is now easy to see why there is no money to help the starving poor, since Taib has just stolen land that could have raised RM222 million and given it to his own mega-rich children instead! The second great weakness that Taib's behaviour reveals is that he clearly has not realised how times have changed. He now faces a real and strong opposition in the State Assembly and in his appearances there he is looking increasingly like an old man in the dock! He can no longer control the opposition by simply trying to silence it. Furthermore, his old tactics for suppressing embarrassing information can no longer work. Because, whatever the tame Speaker tries to do in the way of altering parliamentary records and shutting up speakers, the Chief Minister and his cronies can not wipe this information off the internet! The Samling connection YB Wong pointed out that the lucky owners of Shoreline Development Sdn Bhd, who were able to walk off with a RM 225 million plot of 90 acres for just RM 2 million, were two companies, Plieran Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Land Sdn Bhd.
Company information plainly shows that Plieran Sdn Bhd is fully owned by KBE Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is 60% owned by Daya Syukra Sdn Bhd, which in turn is owned by Taib's kids Jamilah, Abu Bekir, Sulaiman and Hanifah! So, who are the other shareholders of KBE Malaysia Sdn Bhd? They turn out to be the logging tycoon Yaw Teck Seng of Samling and Wan Morshidi bin Tuanku Abdul Rahman, a close proxy for Taib's own uncle and predecessor, Abdul Rahman Ya'kub.
|
| Sabahans gather to say “No to the Peaceful Assembly Act” Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:34 PM PST Date : 29th November, 2011 Time : 11.30am Venue : The square behind the Long Mall, around the monument, in Doggongon. Wear yellow if you can. If you don't have yellow, just be there. Good people of Sabah, will you allow UMNO and BN to continue to rob you of your rights and your dignity? Is it not enough that they have taken your land and your wealth?
|
| Posted: 25 Nov 2011 04:16 PM PST No it is not me going PKR bashing again! Be rest assured that my bashing of UMNO and Barisan Nasional is more relentless and sustained. What I do not want PKR to be are the debris of history - leaving nothing tangible that could help our people and our nation to survive UMNO and Barisan Nasional. This is what I wrote of Anwar on the 22nd of February in 2009 – almost three years ago. Nothing much has change – not Anwar and certainly not my opinion of him! But what will haunt Anwar will be this: Too many friends and allies have now become his nemesis. Anwar listens but does not hear. He looks but does not see. What now Anwar?
|
| Politics - play safe, play the race Posted: 25 Nov 2011 02:12 PM PST For a start, I am troubled by many factors – UMNO's advantage of incumbency, our remarkable EC and other state apparatus (which performance had been amply demonstrated in Perak, Selangor and during the earlier days of the Pakatan-governed Penang), increasingly royal political activitism, the judiciary, etc.
|
| Dissolution of Parliament in March Posted: 25 Nov 2011 02:08 PM PST There will be a motion to repeal the ISA in March and depending on the outcome of the elections the new government if it is led by the BN will reinstate the ISA if they win with a clear majority, or the bill may be held in ambiance as it will then be awaiting Royal consent and accordingly it will either receive or not receive Royal consent. This is the game being played and a plan of this government, fearing that they might be ousted in the next General Elections they are taking all measures to protect themselves. They fear that the armed forces and the police may break ranks and follow the orders of the government of the day, and so in order to ensure that they can use whatever means within their power they may try and retake Parliament by foul means, and if they fail take flight from the country, to do this safely they'll have to revoke the ISA lest they become victims of their own folly. An UMNO source says this was the brain child of the Attorney General who himself is afraid of being held accountable should the Barisan lose the next General Elections. It has received the tacit approval of Mahathir and Najib and the possibility of the formation of another National Operations Council (NOC) is very real, the irony is it is being put in place by Najib Tun Razak – like father like son. The NOC idea is to be the first option should they lose the General Elections. Huge sums of money are being transferred out of Malaysia on a daily basis, it is worst than the Indian Black market, and the only person capable of making such transactions is none other than an Indian who masquerades as a Malay, he has a an entire brigade of money changers working for him, he does not need sophisticated banking systems to take that money out. The situation is rife the man who said what is happening in Syria, and Egypt cannot happen in Malaysia is now rather quiet, he sees the possibility that it will happen here, the people are fed up, and they want their dignity back. The people of Malaysia want their country back and in that process there will be assemblies, peaceful or otherwise, no Malaysian rally has been violent, it only became violent because the government made it violent by use of brutal police force, and the people who participated in those rallies were victims of violence. It has been proven in the Tung Shin Hospital incident. It happened time and time again in Malaysia. Malaysian football crowds were never violent, they shouted they jeered, they cheered but they were never violent, violence is not our way of life and many a foreigner will attest to that. But his government in pursuit of its own agenda are and have proven to be capable of turning rallies violent if it suits them, safety and human life seems to take a back seat when their own interests are involved. Elections are due after the March sitting of Parliament, a lot of issues need to be ironed out and as Mahathir put it, Najib has done nothing since he came to office, he has been more preoccupied with his foreign travel, his shopping trips for Rosmah, his promotion of Rosmah to first lady and the immense importance he has given her in Malaysian politics that she is sometimes made to look as the defacto minister of foreign affairs. Whilst Rosmah basks in her popularity, and her ability to appear daily in the press, more often than the Deputy PM and even the PM, in fact more often than any minister and members of Parliament, the Malaysian community and more particularly the Malays are angry at her arrogance, and her lavishness and though many may not be familiar with the famed Maria Antoinette, they are with Imelda Marcos and have drawn a parallel between the two. |
| Untuk mengelak Bill Perhimpunan Aman terus dilaksanakan - jangan beri lagi mandat kepada UMNO Posted: 25 Nov 2011 06:59 AM PST Cadangan ini adalah bercanggah dengan kehendak perlembagaan yang membenarkan rakyat menyuarakan pandangan dan pendapat mereka melalui perhimpunan secara aman. Demokrasi hanyalah dalam bentuk packagingnya sahaja tetapi sebenarnya di alam packaging itu penuh dengan elemen dictatorship dan jika BN mengambil kesempatan untuk mendapatkan kelulusan dengan sokongan 'simple majority' di parlimen ia tidak lain dari tindakan menekan terhadap gerakan fikiran rakyat untuk melakukan perubahan.
|
| Posted: 24 Nov 2011 07:10 PM PST This Bill is scheduled to for its second reading and debates in Parliament this coming Tuesday (29 Nov) and it only requires a simple majority of votes from the MPs who are present, before it is passed. Out of the 222 MPs in the Dewan, there are 137 from BN, 75 from PR and 10 others.
2) Visit the Parlimen website to get your MP's name and contact details.
3) Now you know who your MP is! You can: a. Email (cc us: hellomp.2011[at]gmail.com) or Fax the following text:
|
| BREAKING NEWS: Two Black Eyes for AG and MACC! Posted: 24 Nov 2011 06:50 PM PST At that time, Dato Ramli was about to expose the connection of then IGP Musa Hassan with the loan shark Along syndicates in the case of Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku Goh whom Dato Ramli had arrested when the country was facing the Along menace. Goh had specifically named Musa Hassan in his affidavits. To cover up for Musa Hassan, AG Gani Patail refused to prepare affidavits for the Police. In the end, the CCID asked for help from lawyer Rosli Dahlan. That landed the poor lawyer into trouble.  Goh had specifically named Musa Hassan in his affidavits At the same time, Dato Ramli had also recommended to then Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi that Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli should be charged for various offences in regard to the MAS Scandal. The MAS Scandal came to the surface recently when Minister Dato Seri Nazri Aziz tried to force several GLCs to accept a Global Settlement that would allow Tajudin to be freee from all civil liabilities and indebtedness. Nazri has since said that was just an advice to settle.  Dato Ramli had also recommended to then Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi that Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli should be charged for various offences in regard to the MAS Scandal. In the end, Goh Cheng Poh was released and Tajudin remained a free rich man, but Dato Ramli Yusuff and Lawyer Rosli Dahlan were charged for doing their jobs in preventing abuses, corruption and crimes amongst the highest echelons of the country. The Courts have since acquitted both of them from all the charges. But AG Gani Patail was not satisfied and directed the MACC to appeal against all these acquittals. So, this morning two of the AG/MACC appeals came up before two different High Courts. AG Gani Patail's oppresiveness can be seen in the manner that both the cases are being called at the same time. This was what AG Gani Patail did when he charged Dato Ramli in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu both at the same. How did he expect Dato Ramli to be in two different courts more than 1623 km apart separated by the South China Sea?!  AG Gani Patail's oppresiveness can be seen in the manner that both the cases are being called at the same time. This was what AG Gani Patail did when he charged Dato Ramli in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu both at the same. How did he expect Dato Ramli to be in two different courts more than 1623 km apart separated by the South China Sea?! That was what AG Gani Patail did to Dato Ramli Yusuff. That was how cruel he behaved. Rosli Dahlan was not spared and was given an even more as cruel treatment. He was assaulted, dragged from his office and paraded in the courts' corridors [see previous posting] At 10 am this morning, the first case was that called . This was the MACC'S appeal aganst the acquittal by Sessions Judge M Komathy. High Court Judge Dato Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah was very clear when he said that there was no basis to charge Dato Ramli and to then appeal against the acquittal granted by Judge M Komathy. He chided DPP Ahmad Bache for the appeal.
|
| Going Shopping: Lawyers on the march Posted: 24 Nov 2011 03:32 PM PST Shopping promotion
In order to meet the statutory requirement — to uphold the cause of justice without fear or favour — lawyers have decided a peaceful assembly to challenge the Peaceful Assembly Bill brought before Parliament this week, which is scheduled for speedy passage through the house. Malaysia's lawyers will thus "Go Shopping", an activity first popularised by journalist and wildlife activist Sabry Zain in the late 1990s, when enthusiastic crowds thronged Batu Road, the old shopping district of Kuala Lumpur, in a spontaneous procession filling up the streets for hundreds of metres, playing hide-and-seek with happy blue-uniformed government supporters earning double time with batons, truncheons and tear gas.
Go Shopping with Aunty at KLCCOther civil society organisations are also rallying support for the right of the people to "Go Shopping". Auntie Bersih (Annie Ooi), a recognised expert in the art of taking long walks through the city centre in a yellow T-shirt, has promised to turn up at Kuala Lumpur City Centre on Saturday for a public protest organised by academic activist Wong Chin Huat. Chin Huat, a political scientist, is one of many people dissatisfied with amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act under the federal government's reform programme, in which simple-minded university students unable to think for themselves will be protected from thinking about politics and encouraged to concentrate on studies that do not require any thinking. Freedom Not To Think BillFederal government officials, compliant university academics and the mass media are united in seeing the virtues of reforms that do not require thinking on the part of university administrations or their students. Academics such as Wong Chin Huat, however, firmly believe that students who practise some thinking by doing so may protect federal government officials from thinking about sex and other acts. Freedom From Your Politics on Campus BillThe Universities and University Colleges Act (often shortened to UUCA) may now be cited as the Freedom From Your Kind of Politics in Campus Act. It may also be shortened to the U Just Don't C Act. Freedom of Shopping (Tourism) (Non-Traffic Jams) BillThe draft legislation on peaceful non-public non-protests may now also be cited as the Freedom To Keep Shops Open Bill, or alternatively the Freedom Of Foreign Tourists Frightened By Coloured People Bill, and also as the Freedom Of Retired Army Generals Not To Get Stuck In Traffic Jams After Golf Bill. The federal government's frantic race to reform, however, suffered a minor setback in public relations when Malaysia was beaten to it by Burma, the military-run leper state of Asean which has not had a Parliament in 50 years let alone the right to protest.
|
| Government Screwing Up Durians As Well Posted: 24 Nov 2011 03:18 PM PST First of all, a little recap. As we all know, many stage bus operators in the smaller towns have stopped their services or are stoppinmg their services. They have been running at losses and they cannot survive anymore. Is that so? Is that really the case? What happened to Sri Jaya Bus, Uttam Singh Bus, Yellow Bus, Patt Hup Bus, Len Seng Bus, Foh Hup Bus, Selangor Omnibus, and so on? These are well known stage bus operators who operated stage buses in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Tampin, Selangor and other places. But most importantly, for decades, they had been providing fairly good services to the rural people. People could go from A to B. What happened to all these bus operators? Many of them are coming to a stop. The bottom line is, you can think you are being very clever, but if you mess with the market, this is what will happen - the bus services come to a stop. You think you are being clever, you mess with the fish wholesalers and what happens? You make their operating costs too high. They make losses. So they will not sell fish anymore. Fish prices skyrocket, siapa jadi miskin dulu? Takkan kita nak makan babi? So the Government flip flopped. The fish wholesalers went back to work. Dont impose ridiculous rules on the fish wholesalers. You mess with the Hire Purchase Act (HPA), the used car dealers' cost of doing business went up. The risk borne by the used car dealers also went up. Then what happened? The used car dealers stopped buying used cars. If people cannot sell their old cars to the used car dealers, the people will not buy a new car. So new car sales died. This happened just a few months ago. Dah lupa ke. Then the Government flip flopped, amended or did not implement the HPA amendments - and things have returned back to normal. And it goes on and on. Yes 30 year old school buses must get off the road. But give them enough licenses, give them cheaper buses (without AP). Only then you can put a gun to their head and say 'Change your buses'. But when nothing much has been done to improve their cost structure, and you still put a gun to their head and say 'change your buses' the guy simply will not run his school bus anymore. He does not have money to change his bus according to your timetable. So he has to pull his bus off the road. Bottom line : no school buses. The school children and their parents suffer. Parents have to become chaueffeurs. Menyusahkan orang saja. So the Government flip flopped. The Government postponed the requirement to change the 30 year buses. It will not make any difference. There are reasons (in this country many of them are artificial) that determine the cost of running any bus. As long as these costs are artificially high, the bus operators will operate at very thin margins. Putting more pressure on their margins will result in buses being pulled off the road. Bas tak ada. Siapa jadi miskin dulu? SPAD has become quite a spud over the stage buses. They dont know what to do. (Read on - the solution is simple). SPAD is gearing itself up to oversee the RM26.0 billion MRT project instead. Not drive down to some local bus station in Tampin or Alor Gajah and sort out the problems being faced by the stage bus operators. Someone came up with an idea that teachers should work 9 am - 5am. Why? Sakit hati ke tengok cikgu sekolah balik rumah pukul 1 tengah hari? I guess the cikgu threatened to vote for the Opposition. This idea too was dropped. Another flip flop. To solve the stage bus operators' problem first of all it is important to just understand this part - Bas dah tak jalan dah. Boleh faham ke?
|
| Malaysia – Defending the Constitution Posted: 24 Nov 2011 06:47 AM PST The Prime Minister announced that the ruling coalition will abolish the Internal Security Act. This has been met with cynicism by many – understandably. In the months since the announcement, there has been much backtracking. But the announcement itself was remarkable. A Prime Minister from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party which has held power since Independence, announced the repeal of the ISA. And this was a direct result of public pressure – a public that overwhelmingly supported the law and its use less than a decade ago. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had also announced that he will be ending the numerous states of emergency in force in Malaysia for over three decades. This will automatically signal the end of the other major piece of legislation that allows for detention without trial, the Emergency Ordinance. There should have been mass jubilation on the part of those who participated in the Bersih rallies, those who have been pushing for the repeal of this legislation for decades, but there wasn't. The government acted just as the cynics predicted. The repeal of the ISA, the ending of the emergencies, are now being supplemented by a raft of legislation that will ironically strip Malaysians further of their fundamental liberties enshrined in the Constitution. And the Government has also promised that it will be drafting and putting before Parliament new 'anti-terror' legislation that will bring back detention without trial. The Orwellian titled Peaceful Assembly Bill is a bill that bans street protests – marching from one place to another in support of (or objecting to) a cause. So the Terry Fox run is out. It also bans non-citizens and children from taking part in any assemblies. Children are allowed to take part in four types of assembly – religious, funerals, assemblies related to custom or those approved by the Minister. Nature walks, trips to a science museum, even a school assembly must all fall under one of these categories, or the organisers, children and parents face hefty fines or other legal action. Organisers of an assembly must be over the age of 21. I would have been in big trouble – as a child I organised activities to raise money for various charities. Some of these included assemblies of various kinds. Non-citizens are not allowed to organise or participate in assemblies – and given that around twenty five percent of Malaysian workforce is estimated to comprise migrant workers, this has huge implications for labour relations. The Third Schedule of the Bill outlines the type of activities that do not require notification. It includes wedding parties, but not birthday parties, anniversary celebrations or other private functions. It includes family days held by employers for their employees, but not trainings, talks or lectures. The Bill outlines the role of the police, which says nothing about respecting the rights of citizens to gather – it says the policy may arrest, may detain, and must be listened to.
|
| Tengku Razaleigh As Interim Prime Minister Posted: 24 Nov 2011 12:34 AM PST Yesterday evening I attended a seminar where the closing session discussed Malaysia's politics in 2012. Upon request by the organiser (a dear friend) I cannot say which seminar. Some of you folks were there as well - I am sure. The topic was the 13th General Elections. When will the 13th General Elections be held? One speaker pointed out that the GE is not due until 28 April 2013. And Constitutionally it can even be postponed by another two months. Lim Guan Eng has said that if the GE is called before June 2012, then the Pakatan held States will not dissolve their State assemblies. Karpal Singh is not in agreement. Some other folks I met say that the 13th GE will be held about six months after that Parliamentary subcommittee to study the Electoral reforms has been appointed. The subcommittee has just been appointed in November. Six months hence is therefore April 2012 - still a year before the full term ends. My view is it depends on whether the Crown Prince of Sungei Buloh is sent back to sit on his throne in Sungei Buloh. If he is sentenced to sing-sing, there will be some outcry and some sympathy. It will take about six months before the sympathy dies down. His backaches will also start again within about six months of being put in sing-sing. I can already imagine all those pictures of him - wearing braces and sitting in a wheel chair - being smuggled out of sing-sing. (All this is based on whether he is found guilty or not ok). Anyway one of the speakers said (to my surprise) that he had spoken to the Crown Prince's lawyers who do not feel confident that their client will be found innocent. In other words they also feel he will be found guilty of the charges. So six months from a guilty verdict will be about just right to have the Elections. My own view is that lets have the elections in 2013. We need more time to put things right. The time is not right yet. And the PM needs to really revamp the Cabinet. No revamp - can get mauled in the General Elections. Two other things were mentioned yesterday. One speaker said that possibly 70% of voters have already made up their minds who they want to vote. It will be very difficult to change their minds. The battle is actually (or always has been) for that remaining 30% fence sitters. I think there is some truth in this. At the last General Elections, many people decided to vote for the Opposition - no matter what you said or did, they were going to vote Opposition. Post 2008, I once embarrased (just pulling their leg) a group of hard core UMNO supporters at a dinner by asking 'Whoever DID NOT vote for the Opposition please raise your hands'. No one raised their hands. I think had voted for the Opposition in 2008. Everyone just wanted to be rid of Slumberjack and the corrupt SIL. Anyway, the clever lady who spoke yesterday said something else which I feel is extremely important. And for this round, the Prime Minister better take note of this point extremely very well. She said that the last 10 - 14 days before the General Elections are very crucial to help people make up their minds. Since most General Elections only have about two weeks campaigning period, this means a sizeable number of people (possibly that 30% of undecided voters) will actually make up their minds within 10 - 14 days before Polling Day. By that time, all the candidates representing all the parties will be known to everyone. This time around if folks like the "Lembu Condo" people appear on the ballot, there will be a price to pay. If the Mat Rempit fellow appears on the ballot, or the SIL, there will be a price to pay. Times have changed.
|
| The 13th GE: Its an open field Posted: 23 Nov 2011 03:56 PM PST Those were the observations and musings by (RTC) on the political possibilities after the GE13. What is intriguing was his warning that a hung parliament will create instability. I hope we will not be in such a situation. Malaysians would prefer a clear cut victory one way or the other. I am not going to respond to his nervous prognosis; being more interested on how such a scenario can possibly happen and what are the implications if it does. I don't think we are going to have a hung parliament. It will be clear cut either way. I am also bemused at his attempt to involve Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in such a scenario. To qualify as a participant in any future negotiations should a hung parliament comes into being, TRH must be head of a political party. Right now, TRH is in UMNO and doesn't head a party nor is he a leader of any faction in UMNO. Could Rahim's advice be another attempt to isolate TRH from UMNO? TRH is far too principled to agree being appointed as leader of government on a personal to holder basis. He will be a figurehead. Oh, because Tengku has never disowned the ambitions to become PM, comes the answer from UMNO people. So my answer is- why should he not have that ambition? He was cheated to becoming one before. He has all the credentials to become one. Here is an interesting piece of information. When certain UMNO people wanted to kick out Abdullah Badawi , they approached Tengku Razaleigh for a solution. Their agenda was only one- because of Najib's hesitation they went to see Razaleigh asking him to stand as UMNO president and Muhyidin as Deputy President. This group was made up of powerful people, united at that time, by their intense disapproval and loathing of Dollah Badawi. My point is this- at that time, they didn't think it was inappropriate for Tengku Razaleigh to become UMNO president and if he had won, go on to become PM. Tengku's ambition wasn't an issue. His age wasn't an issue. The fundamental objective was to remove Pak Lah. Why should the opposition parties invite Tengku Razaleigh to become PM, if they could win the elections on their own? PAS has Haji Hadi, DAP has Lim Guan Eng and PKR has Anwar Ibrahim? This assessment presupposes that between the 3, neither one accepts the leader of each party as a future PM. It also assumes further, that Tengku Razaleigh commands a number of elected MPs to give him standing in future negotiations. Where will he get the MPs? Rahim says 20-30 people are being lined up to stand as MPs who are aligned to Tengku Razaleigh. Where are these people? In UMNO? Within the opposition camp? So now, let us build up a case, why a hung parliament cannot happen. Just for the moment, let's not talk about how UMNO and BN can lose. Let's talk about HOW the opposition- DAP, PAS, PKR can WIN. Let's begin by asking, will the PR lose its current 82 seats? Possible, but very unlikely. The seats which they lost when some people jumped ship, will become theirs again. We won't see the likes of Zahrain and his types in parliament again.
|
| Isu Royalty minyak : Muhyiddin cuba memulas tangan rakyat Kelantan Posted: 23 Nov 2011 03:23 PM PST Pertamanya UMNO dan kerajaan persekutuan mengakui yang kerajaan negeri Kelantan ada hak ke atas royalty minyak seperti yang termaktub di dalam perjanjian yang ditanda tangani di antara pertronas dan rakyat negeri Kelantan pada bulan mei 1975 dahulu.
|
| The Ups and Downs of Harvest Court Posted: 23 Nov 2011 03:44 AM PST Nazifuddin is the chairman of 1Green Enviro Sdn Bhd, Magna Healthcare Sdn Bhd, Cahaya Pedoman Sdn Bhd, Tribus Sdn Bhd and Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd. He also the director of Kingtime International Ltd and Dynac Sdn Bhd. Shares in designated counter Harvest Court Industries Bhd nose-dived yesterday in an apparent reaction to the resignation of former director Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib on Monday, barely a month after his entry helped spark a massive surge in the stock.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan