Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- DAP Perak’s Nga Kor Ming gets bullet in mail
- Anwar to tour M’sia ahead of sodomy verdict
- UBF ‘agrees’ to back ABU
- Ex-CID Chief urges police to zero In on Jamil Khir for ‘zakat abuse’
- No gag order, but no fodder for BN media
- MCA: Gag order reveals hypocrisy
- ‘Najib did not challenge my forecast’
- Chegubard: Enemies within PKR behind fake Twitter account
- ‘PKR will collapse under Azmin’
- DPM orders internal probe into aide
- DAP courts Umno veterans to blunt anti-Malay attacks
- Kit Siang has his hands full
- Ramasamy wants The Star to retract report
| DAP Perak’s Nga Kor Ming gets bullet in mail Posted: 27 Dec 2011 09:45 PM PST (The Star) - Controversial DAP Perak leader Nga Kor Ming has received a bullet in the mail. He tweeted Wednesday that the bullet was mailed to his mother's home together with a threatening note. "About 2pm today, my mum received letter containing bullet with a letter threatening to murder me. This is really a despicable and shameful act," he tweeted. The Taiping MP said he would lodge a police report over the matter soon. "This is too much," he said in his second tweet on the incident.
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| Anwar to tour M’sia ahead of sodomy verdict Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:59 PM PST While optimistic of walking free, Anwar says that he is ready to accept the worst. (AFP) - Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today said he will tour the country to declare his innocence ahead of the verdict in a sodomy trial he says was cooked up to bar him from coming polls. Anwar, who heads the PKR and is the figurehead for a strengthening opposition alliance, will visit nine states in the whirlwind six-day tour beginning Jan 3, he said. The verdict is set for Jan 9. "A lot of people pray that I should be acquitted. I will reiterate my innocence during the tour," Anwar, 64, told AFP. Anwar, who was once heir-apparent to former strongman prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has been fighting charges that he sodomised a former political aide in June 2008. The accusations emerged shortly after Anwar led the opposition to unprecedented gains in parliamentary polls against the ruling coalition that has governed the country for five decades. Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Anwar faces up to 20 years in prison. Anwar added the timing of the trip was motivated in part by concerns that he would be found guilty and jailed after a trial he slams as a smear campaign aimed at ruining his political career. While "optimistic" of walking free, Anwar added that he was "a political realist" and "ready to accept the worst." "These are trumped-up charges. It is another coincidence that the verdict comes so close to elections. The aim is to deny me the chance to participate in the elections," he said. Fresh elections are due next year but Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has hinted he may call them sooner. Najib denies any involvement in the case. |
| Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:41 PM PST The Borneo Alliance (UBA) is unlikely to support Pakatan Rakyat, prefering to throw its support behind Sabah based parties (Free Malaysia Today) - The organisors and sponsors of peninsular-based the 'Anything But Umno' (ABU) movement, which is calling for the removal of Umno in the next election, are seeking partners in East Malaysia. Leading civil advocate, Haris Ibrahim, yesterday flew to the Federal Territory of Labuan, defying the Sabah government's "persona non grata" order slapped on him recently, to hold talks with Sabah political activists led by Daniel John Jambun. Jambun said they held a series of talks with Haris and that he (Jambun) would report back to two major stakeholders in Sabah's current opposition front – the United Borneo Front (UBF) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) – on what transpired at the meeting. "We agreed in principle to support this ABU campaign because Umno has shown that it has been making decisions and policies against Sabahans and Sarawakians in the past 48 years we are in this Federation. "The very fact that both Sabah and Sarawak are the poorest states now speak volumes of what (the) Umno-led Barisan Nasional had done to our gas and oil resources. "So we agree that Umno must go in this coming general election," said Jambun who is considered among the most senior leaders in UBF, and possibly also in the reactivated State Reform Party (Star). Also at the meeting were Sabah activists Michael Liew and famed local rap singer turned activist, Atama. Haris, who was barred from entering Sabah as well as Sarawak after he was deemed a "threat to security", beat the order by entering Labuan, a former Sabah free port that was ceded by Sabah to the federal government and made a federal territory in 1984. He said that though he faced no problem disembarking, police officers took photographs of him when he arrived. The ABU campaign in East Malaysia will be known as UBA or United Borneo Alliance. While ABU organisors in the peninsular are set to back Pakatan Rakyat, state opposition leaders in East Malaysia, especially Sabah, are however backing state-based parties. Jambun said Haris understood the Borneo Agenda sensitivities and acknowledged that Pakatan in Sabah would face an uphill task to ensure a one-to-one fight with BN in all state seats.
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| Ex-CID Chief urges police to zero In on Jamil Khir for ‘zakat abuse’ Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:20 PM PST (Malaysian Digest) - Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim today called on his former police colleagues to be consistent by investigating Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and two others for allegedly abusing zakat funds. In a letter written to the Inspector-General of Police, Mat Zain had asked the police force to conduct the investigation on the alleged misappropriation of zakat funds with the same vigor they had shown in pursuing a tithe collector for the same offence recently. The letter also said that Johor police had taken pains to investigate and locate Reduan Mohd Said including publishing his photograph in newspapers for misappropriating RM19,510 in zakat money. "Kuala Lumpur Police should also take the same action in the misappropriation of RM32,150 in zakat money by Jamil, Datuk Che Mat Che Ali and Shamsuddin Hussain," he wrote, referring to the minister in the prime minister's department, the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) director and chief prosecutor respectively.
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| No gag order, but no fodder for BN media Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:14 PM PST DAP rejects MCA's allegations as it tries to contain the damage from the Karpal-Ramasamy spat. (Free Malaysia Today) - DAP has denied that it has issued a gag order on members or that it is trying to cover up malpractices, as alleged by MCA figures in their comments on the current quarrel between party chairman Karpal Singh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy. DAP information chief Tony Pua said today that members had merely been advised against making public comments on the spat, adding that this was to prevent the pro-BN media from blowing it out of proportion. The allegation about a gag order and a cover-up attempt has come mainly from Penang MCA Secretary Lau Chiek Tuan and the party's national organising secretary, Tee Siew Kiong. They said it was typical of the opposition parties to resort to those measures when negative developments surfaced. The Karpal-Ramasamy spat took a new turn on Thursday when the Star, which is owned by MCA, quoted Ramasamy as saying that there was a plot to topple him. According to the paper, Ramasamy, referring to DAP grassroots leaders and hinting at corrupt practices, said: "I think you would be astounded if I relate to you some of their demands." Zeroing on this, MCA said it was possible the spat involved graft and other criminal offences. DAP has not announced a gag order, but the panel it has formed to resolve the spat has said the party would solve internal problems using internal channels.
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| MCA: Gag order reveals hypocrisy Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:04 PM PST When taxpayer's money are at stake, Perak MCA leader Tan Chin Meng says Pakatan will impose another gag order. (Free Malaysia Today) - The gag order imposed by DAP on its internal squabbles reveals the party's hypocrisy, said Perak MCA secretary Tan Chin Meng. He cited the gag order issued by party stalwart Lim Kit Siang on DAP vice chairman M Kulasegaran after he gave the party's Perak secretary Nga Kor Ming a dressing down over his alleged abuse of power. Nga, who is MP for Taiping, came under fire when an Umno blog claimed his wife's company, Ethan and Elton Sdn Bhd, was awarded the tender to tailor lounge suits for Ipoh city councillors when Pakatan Rakyat was in power in Perak. The award was given despite the company having charged the highest price for the suits. Rivals also pointed to the fact that the company was registered with the Companies Commission Malaysia barely 42 days after Pakatan formed the state government. Nga, who is considered one of Lim's blue-eyed boys, denied any wrongdoing and said the contract was awarded via an open tender process. Lim was forced to intervene when Kulasegaran, who openly rebuked and demanded en explanation from the Taiping MP, saying the matter was internal. "When taxpayers funds are at stake, another gag order is the standard order of the day from Pakatan," commented Tan on the matter. The MCA leader also pointed to the ongoing public spat between DAP chairman Karpal Singh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy. While the differences between the two were purportedly resolved, Tan said the three-men panel comprising DAP life adviser Dr Chen Man Hin, advisor Lim and his son, secretary general Guan Eng, failed to launch an internal probe the into allegations of cronyism against Ramasamy.
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| ‘Najib did not challenge my forecast’ Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:01 PM PST An economic programme that fails to substantially improve the income of the majority while actually increasing the number of the poorest citizens is scandalous, says Anwar Ibrahim. (Free Malaysia Today) - Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim shrugged off the Najib administration's criticism of his income gap forecast. The former deputy prime minister and finance minister had warned that the Najib's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) would widen the income gap and benefit only the rich at the expense of the poor. Come 2020, he noted, seven to 8.3 million Malaysian citizens would be earning less than RM1,500 monthly and would be consigned to the urban poor category. This represented 51% of the nation's workforce in 2020, as compared to 56% for 2009 which is a dismal increase of 5%, he added. "For all the fanfare and self-serving publicity extravaganza that came with the ETP unveiling, this indeed is a serious let down for the people. "Prime Minister Najib (Tun Razak) has failed to challenge my analysis that the ratio of wages to the Gross National Income will shrink," said Anwar in a statement. Anwar also questioned the Najib government's projected annual income growth of 3.6% from 2010 to 2020. Based on his research, the income growth in the said period would only increase by 2.6%, a depressing figure considering the rate of increasing cost of living would "far exceed" the wage increment percentage. He added that a Labour Market Survey of 2009 involving 24,000 employers and 1.3 million workers showed that 33.8% of these workers earned less than RM700 monthly. Extrapolated against the nation's entire workforce, it would tantamount to 34% being below the poverty line, argued the Permatang Pauh MP. "The projected figure of 3.6% is therefore not only marginal but misleading in that it fails to show the increase in real wages which is a standard indicator of economic growth. "Additionally, the projection that inflation will be around 2.8% annually till 2020 is also unrealistic considering that the inflation rate for the last 12 months has been constantly above 3%," he said.
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| Chegubard: Enemies within PKR behind fake Twitter account Posted: 27 Dec 2011 03:35 PM PST (Malaysian Digest) - PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shahrin who was detained by police yesterday over allegedly seditious posts on what he claims is a "fake" Twitter account suspects that the act was the work of his adversaries from within the party. "This AMK Rembau account existed since the party polls, and is managed by those who want to malign me. This is the type of nasty political strategy which exists within PKR," he said. There is no Twitter account by the name AMK Rembau, reportedly, although a search for the account on Twitter returned one result – an account called Umno Baru.
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| ‘PKR will collapse under Azmin’ Posted: 27 Dec 2011 12:11 PM PST A pro-Umno blogger predicts doomsday for the opposition party if Azmin Ali becomes the president. (Free Malaysia Today) - PKR will be doomed once its deputy president Azmin Ali takes over the top post, predicted pro-Umno blogger Anuar Mohd Nor. In a posting on his blog umno-reform2.com, Anuar said Azmin controlled party supremo Anwar Ibrahim and the latter controlled the former, "so PKR is controlled by Anwar and Azmin". He advised Umno not to make any mistakes with regard to attacking PKR or engineering its downfall as the party would self-destruct when Azmin is given the reins. Citing Batu MP and PKR vice-president Tian Chua, he said: "Once branded as a great reformist who stuck to his principles, he now prostrates before Azmin in worship." Anuar also blamed Azmin for Badrul Hisham Shaharin's defeat for the PKR Youth chief post and the wing's weakness. He also claimed that Azmin's hold on the party was growing and Anwar silences the issue by playing up the reformasi agenda among PKR members to retain their support.
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| DPM orders internal probe into aide Posted: 27 Dec 2011 10:35 AM PST (The Star) - Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has ordered his office to probe allegations that one of his aides received bribes. Muhyiddin said he had read about the allegation on a blog, adding he would let his office investigate the matter first. "No, I am not aware, except what I read in the blog. I will look into this and whatever is said to be linked to me, I will look into. "Until then I will will not comment further," he said, when asked by reporters about the matter during an event at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) at Puncak Alam here yesterday. The posting on the blog had alleged that one of his aides had received bribes of more than RM100,000. The blog had also alleged that aides to the Prime Minister and a deputy minister had also received bribes. The allegations, posted by the blogger on Dec 15, suggested that one of Muhyiddin's aides had been receiving "a steady contribution" from a company amounting to about RM160,000 since early last year. In the same blog post, which is the second part of a series titled Corruption within Corruption, the blogger also alleged that an aide to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had also been receiving such "contributions". Last month, the blogger also claimed that a deputy minister had been receiving bribes. The anonymous blogger describes himself as "an ordinary Joe, with flaws of a human being" and interested in reading, researching and travelling.
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| DAP courts Umno veterans to blunt anti-Malay attacks Posted: 27 Dec 2011 10:31 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - DAP has approached several Malay figures including at least two Umno veterans in a bid to reverse eroding support from the community after repeated accusations of being anti-Malay from the ruling party. The Malaysian Insider understands that influential bloggers Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, who is also former Pulau Manis assemblyman and Aspan Alias, a Negri Sembilan Umno veteran, have been invited by DAP to join its ranks, with a view to contest in the next general elections. Mohd Ariff's blogging pseudonym is Sakmongkol AK47. DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke, who is informally tasked with increasing Malay support along with strategists Liew Chin Tong and Zairil Khir Johari, confirmed the duo have been approached to join the party. "We approached them but no decision has been made. But there is no condition that they must run in elections. That is a secondary concern," the Rasah MP said when contacted. Loke added that for now, the party was happy that both veterans have been publicly critical of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) in their blog postings. Both attended a social media convention called "Friends of Penang" organised by Zairil two weekends ago. "We want to reach out to influential people on social media. But we are not building a cybertrooper army. Unlike Umno, we can't pay and friends can't be bought," he said but refused to comment on whether the two would be joining the party. Zairil, son of Umno's former Education Minister Tan Sri Khir Johari, was himself recruited as secretary general Lim Guan Eng's political secretary early this year in what was widely seen as a move to burnish the mainly Chinese DAP's multiracial credentials. But DAP and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders admitted in a recent report by The Malaysian Insider that Umno's attacks have hurt the opposition's Malay support base. The Malaysian Insider also reported in October that a survey commissioned by DAP showed Malay support in Penang, where it leads the state government, has dipped to 30 per cent, down from nearly 50 per cent just a few months after Lim took office as chief minister in 2008. Umno has repeatedly accused PR, especially DAP, of being anti-Malay, most recently when at its general assembly where several delegates and leaders including deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin said the opposition was anti-Malay, anti-Islam, agents of Christianisation and disrespectful to Malay rulers. Umno's newspaper Utusan Malaysia also claimed earlier this year that DAP had conspired with the Church to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.
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| Posted: 27 Dec 2011 07:49 AM PST (The Star) - While the feud in Penang DAP continues between national chairman Karpal Singh and Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy, party adviser Lim Kit Siang has his hands full with another squabble blowing up in Perak. This follows the war of words between party vice-chairman M. Kulasegaran and Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming over the latter's alleged involvement in a tailoring contract awarded to his wife during Pakatan Rakyat's brief rule in the state in 2008. Stepping in to calm the simmering quarrel, the veteran Lim issued a gag order on the issue. In his tweet yesterday, Lim wrote: "Both Kula n Nga agree int. party channels x BN msm 1st resort 4 thrashing out matters affecting party leaders. Nga 2 explain 2 party leadership." The message said Kulasegaran and Nga both agreed it was an internal matter and party channels, not the Barisan Nasional mainstream media, should be used to thrash out matters affecting party leaders. Lim also asked Nga to give an explanation to the party leadership. Nga, who is Taiping MP and Pantai Remis state assemblyman, is alleged to have given a lounge suit sewing contract to Ipoh company Ethan & Elton, of which his wife Wong Seow Ching is said to be a director. Allegations on the Internet said the company was formed 42 days after Pakatan took over the Perak government in 2008. While several groups took Nga to task over the issue, Kulasegaran, who is Ipoh Barat MP, also asked him to come clean over the matter. Contacted by The Star yesterday, Kulasegaran confirmed Lim had contacted him. He declined to comment on what transpired in their conversation. In his tweet, however, Kulasegaran defended his action of calling Nga to come clean on the tailoring contract. He claimed he had not made any allegation or accusation and that his comments had been misinterpreted as an internal problem and bad blood between him and Nga. Meanwhile, Nga said in his blog he respected the party's directive and was therefore refraining from commenting on the issue. "I shall leave it to the party leaders and members to judge his (Kulasegaran's) conduct," he said. He had earlier accused bloggers of smearing his reputation, saying the accusations were slanderous, defamatory and irresponsible. Meanwhile, MCA Youth vice-chairman Yit Lee Kok said the DAP should not turn a blind eye to the claims that Nga had awarded a tailoring contract to his wife's company.
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| Ramasamy wants The Star to retract report Posted: 27 Dec 2011 07:38 AM PST (The Star) - Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P Ramasamy wants The Star to retract and apologise for a report on Dec 23, headlined Distress in DAP continues' quoting him. If the paper failed to do so, he said Tuesday he would file a lawsuit against the daily. He said he would send a letter of demand Wednesday, insisting he had never said there was corruption among DAP party leaders nor uttered the words "grand design" to oust him. "I deny categorically having said that," he told a press conference at his lawyer's office here on Tuesday. Continuing his salvo against the paper, he accused it of practising unethical journalism.
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