Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- ABU: Rapat Rakyat pada 15hb Disember, 2011
- Of Traitors And The Great Siege On Islam
- Invitation to Attend The 3rd Civil Society Award Ceremony
- Government’s handout doesn’t mean freedom of religion
- Umno assembly ‘an insult’ to Malays
- Is the Deputy IGP whitewashing a misappropriation?
| ABU: Rapat Rakyat pada 15hb Disember, 2011 Posted: 11 Dec 2011 10:02 PM PST
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| Of Traitors And The Great Siege On Islam Posted: 11 Dec 2011 12:11 AM PST JAKIM would have us believe that standing up for non-Muslim causes is an act of betrayal to Islam. I suppose fighting corruption, asking for fair and just elections, and pursuing equality for all are 'non-Muslim" causes. By Mohd Ikhram Merican There is an assault on Islam, the religion. Surely and steadily, this siege is weakening the very foundations of its community. No more is Islam recognized for the enlightenment it brought to the Middle East and the world. The likes of al-Khwarizmi, Omar Khayyam, Ibnu Sina, Jalaluddin Rumi, and al-Farabi have been relegated to the dark recesses of history, while the likes of Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban flourish in the minds of the general population. The world views Islam as a religion of intolerance, incapable of adapting, breeding paranoid zealots who are in a state of perpetual fear. Fear that "infidels" are plotting and planning the destruction of Islam. In Malaysia, we have UMNO and JAKIM to perpetuate this fear indefinitely. Yes, there is an assault on Islam. The only problem is that the perpetrators are Muslims clothed in sheep's fur, cleverly concealing their wolf skin. Islam has no greater enemy than this pack of wolves within, claiming to be defenders of the religion. They howl and they bark, agitating and stirring, every day finding new ways to use Islam in their own interest. In our country, the attack on Islam is not coming from the non-Muslim opposition. It is coming from within the Muslim community. JAKIM would have us believe that standing up for non-Muslim causes is an act of betrayal to Islam. I suppose fighting corruption, asking for fair and just elections, and pursuing equality for all are 'non-Muslim" causes. It is common knowledge that corruption runs rampant in our largely Muslim civil service. Stories of politicians taking "cuts" on national projects riddle everyday conversation in Malaysia. Why doesn't this irk our Muslim clerics? The cost of corruption to us, the taxpayer (Muslims included) is immense. It stifles growth, innovation, and business. It raises the cost of doing business. It increases our national budget. It is weakening our defense. This is a matter of national security. Yet, we are made to believe that the threat is our non-Muslim brothers, fellow citizens of Malaysia with an equal vested interest in the development of this nation. My non-Muslim Chinese and Indian friends love this country. They are not scheming and conspiring to attack Islam. They're busy with their jobs. They're busy worrying about the economy. They're busy worrying about the education of their children. Attacking Islam does not fit into the agenda of the average non-Muslim living in Malaysia. But the upper echelons of our government would like us to believe that Muslim's who support "Non-Muslim" causes a.k.a causes not aligned to the expediency of the elite few, are traitors. Traitors are people who botch our national security with defense systems that do not work. Traitors are people who suck on our national coffers like vampires suck blood. Traitors are people who rape, pillage, and abuse the folk that they govern. Traitors are Muslims using religion, devoid of love for the god they profess faith in, for self-fulfilling interests. Traitors are Muslims who use fear like the Sword of Damocles, to keep the rest of us scared. Why should anyone have any respect for Muslims when Muslim leaders and organizations act like little children? They are unable to engage in intellectual discourse. Their conclusions are arbitrary and not necessarily in the spirit of Islam. They are incapable of maturity. They get angry and call for heads to roll every time they are offended. Everyone outside of Islam is the enemy. It has become a standard operating procedure; when in trouble, blame it on the non-Muslims. This is the way of an illiterate, uncouth rabble. In no way does it represent the sophisticated religion that took the Arabs from the dark ages to enlightenment. Should we direct our wrath at our non-Muslim brothers for the siege on Islam? Or should we train all our firepower on the intellectually bankrupt clergy and Muslim leadership? Perhaps we have no one but ourselves to blame. Plato wisely said, "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." This could be the crisis for us Muslims. |
| Invitation to Attend The 3rd Civil Society Award Ceremony Posted: 09 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST The KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) will be having its 3rd Civil Society Award ceremony on 12 December 2011. The NGOs, activists and the public are invited to attend in order to acknowledge individuals and organizations on their contributions to civil society and to open up the democratic space. The promotion and strengthening of freedom and democracy depend on the growth of civil society. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge individuals and organizations on their contributions to civil society and to open up the democratic space and at the same time encourage such participation by more individuals and organizations. This award also serves as an evaluation to the civil society organizations and even to the overall performance of civil societies. Besides, we should recognize the importance of civil societies as the third-sector and NGOs are moving our society to be more progressive. We hope that this would encourage the communal organizations to be more open and be more proactive in the public affairs. Individuals who are Malaysian citizens or organizations in Malaysia are eligible for nomination. The Award is given once a year, which can be conferred on up to three individuals or organizations in no particular order. The winner of the civil society award will be announced by the award committee. All nominees will be granted testimonials as recognition and encouragement of their contribution to the civil society while the winner will be awarded RM5000, trophy as well as testimonials. A thematic speech will be delivered at the ceremony as to analyze the concept of civil society and the current situation of the country.
Details of the event: Organizer : The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Date : 12 December 2011 (Monday) Time : 7.00 pm (Dinner provided) Venue : Auditorium of KLSCAH
Agenda: 07.00 pm Registration and dinner 08.00 pm Promulgation ceremony and speeches
1. Greetings by Ser Choon Ing, Chairman of the Civil Society Award Organizing Committee 2. Brief history of the Malaysian civil society 3. "My Consti and the challenges we face" by Edmund Bon, Human rights lawyer 4. Prize Ceremony and Judges' note 5. Q & A section 6. Closing
KLSCAH hopes that this initiative will encourage more individuals and organizations to participate in pushing for social progress and to establish a civil society. The growth of civil society requires participation of all ethnic groups and all segments of the society. We thus invite all to join us in this activity and welcome feedback so that we can move forward to a more open and progressive society. Should you have further enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact the assistant secretary of the KLSCAH, Chia Wei Loon , 03-22746645.
Thank you. Ser Choon Ing Chairman of the Civil Society Award Organizing Committee ____________________________________________________________ Appendix 1: The Award Committee A seven-member Selection Committee shall be formed by prominent scholars and community leaders. The committee will verify the eligibility of nominees and select recipients of the award.
Appendix 2: Criteria for Selection The committee will select recipients of the award according to the following criteria: (a) Playing an important role in defending freedom of political participation and fighting for greater space for social freedom and democracy; (b) Actively promoting the cooperation of civil groups from different background and areas; (c) Initiating and pioneering social reforms; (d) Promoting communications and interactions among different ethnic groups.
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| Government’s handout doesn’t mean freedom of religion Posted: 09 Dec 2011 08:30 AM PST I can't blame the head of the MIC in Sabah for heaping praises on the government for helping the Hindu temples in Kota Kinabalu with a gift of RM50,000. A thank you is only natural and expected for any gift but I feel he has gone overboard by saying it was a proof that there is freedom of religion in Malaysia! First of all, the gift was not meant by the government to prove that it is guaranteeing freedom of religion. It was simply a gift as one of many to help all religious bodies in Sabah. And I think all can see very well that the gift came in too much of a coincidence with the imminent arrival of the next general elections – just like the few "one-off" handouts allocated for in the last national budget. I can also understand that the MIC Sabah leader, being a leader of a BN component, needed to be politically correct by expressing political appreciation, but he must also understand that the money he is receiving is not money from the BN but money from the people! It was the people who voted the BN to become the steward for this money, i.e. to help them (the people), so the handing of the assistances to the religious bodies was in fact a matter of due process, something which should be given as a matter of course, which the BN had not fulfilled for so long. If the BN was more responsible, it would be handing out this assistance all the time on a regular basis! Why? Because the money belongs to the people of all religions in Malaysia and these people are paying their income taxes, and working day and night to produce the GDP to make their country a prosperous nation! It has been repeated time and time again that it is wrong for the BN to keep saying the people needs to be thankful to the BN government for doing this and that for the people, when in fact it is the government leaders who should be thankful to the people for giving them the opportunity to serve the people and enjoy all the salaries and perks, and get themselves rich in the process. But to take on the issue of religious freedom in the country, there is a lot of room for argument if we were to remind everyone how the government has been suppressing religious freedom of the Christians. There is still the unresolved issue of prohibition on the use of certain words especially "Allah," the intrusion into church functions, the burning of churches, the quarrel over dead bodies, the unpublicized bulldozing of Orang Asli churches, the control on the import and publication of Bibles, the marking and numbering of Bibles and so on and so on. In a truly religious society, no one is prohibited from practicing any religion or from switching from one religion to another. This freedom is not fully allowed in Malaysia where as there is no such problem in the world's largest Islamic country, Indonesia. The Hindus by the way is not free from religious pressure if we were to remember the case of cow head kicking and throwing, as well as the disputes about locations, shifting and demolition of temples in the Peninsula. But on the whole the Hindus are admittedly having greater religious freedom because they can even conduct sermons and religious ceremonies on some Astro channels, privileges will most likely be denied to Malaysian Christians. I believe this injustice will change only when the BN is replaced by a new just and open government. DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN Political Activist and Advisor, UK-based Human Rights Foundation Malaysia
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| Umno assembly ‘an insult’ to Malays Posted: 08 Dec 2011 08:29 AM PST Umno has shown not just the rakyat but also the whole world how low class its delegates are. By Walla, Free Malaysia Today In much the same way the Auditor-General's report has nuked Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's feel-good annual Budget 2012, the Umno general assembly 2011 has completely nuked and debunked Umno's standing before the eyes and ears of all sensible, moderate, thinking and upstanding rakyat of the country. We all know why Umno was shocked by the results of the last general election. It had been overweeningly confident that each race would only vote for its own party. Doesn't that mindset reflect racism in the first place? And what actually happened? The rakyat voted for other races. The Umno general assembly 2011 was spewing nonsense and hatred bereft of intelligence, integrity and standard. It was an insult to the Malays. If anything, Umno has shown not only our rakyat but also the whole world how low class its delegates are. Just wait for another set of WikiLeaks to reinforce the conclusion. Here we have the extremely well-fed and well-dressed talking nonsense and expecting the rakyat to agree with them just because they are on stage punching their fists, putting on their false show, and creating yet another bogeyman to channel attention away from their corruption and abuse of power that continue to form the bulwark of issues that is destroying the future of the young. Just think of it – 3,000 empty-headed and self-deluded hyenas and jokers wanting to run this country of 28 million for another five years in the same way they have been running it into the ground all the past years. They are asking to be trusted and supported again so that they can whip up another spin while ripping off the rakyat who will have to settle for an economy with a RM400-over-billion debt that will grow unabated because in (Prime Minister) Najib Tun Razak's calculations, (British economist John Maynard) Keynes couldn't imagine the rapaciousness and gross stupidity of an animal called Umno. Why didn't a single Umno delegate tell Najib that politics is not a game, so how can he talk about game-changer? And if, in responding to his call to Umno leaders to "do the right thing" by resigning as unwinnable candidates, they were to tell him "you first, show the way", will his answer be any different from that by (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) in the 22 years he had messed up the institutions while holding on to his seat and spinning about "Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah"? Why didn't a single Umno delegate ask (Deputy Prime Minister) Muhyiddin (Yassin) whether (de facto Law Minister) Nazri (Aziz) would have labelled his speech "racist" eight times and call for his immediate censure in Parliament?
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| Is the Deputy IGP whitewashing a misappropriation? Posted: 07 Dec 2011 10:19 PM PST When money meant for a specific project was channelled into a family firm that has nothing to do with the project, doesn't it constitute embezzlement? Isn't embezzlement akin to corruption? P Ramakrishnan, Executive committee member Thinking Malaysians are perturbed by the unbecoming conduct of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar. He was clearly trying to cover up for the Umno Wanita leader Shahrizat Jalil during the Umno General Assembly. Shahrizat is under intense scrutiny over the scandalous beef-breeding project, which was undertaken by her husband through their company, National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), with a soft-loan of RM250m from the government. Following the Auditor-General's damning disclosure that this project is in a "mess", many startling and disturbing 'fishy' details have been unearthed by the Opposition. All these allegations of impropriety involve funds meant for a national livestock project to provide a cheap supply of beef to Malaysians. From the allegations, it would appear that there has been blatant abuse and mismanagement of public funds suggesting corruption. This overwhelming and glaring evidence cannot be simply overlooked or covered-up or pushed under the carpet. Khalid's contention that "investigations have so far not revealed any element of corruption in the RM250m NFC" debacle is far-fetched, absolutely without merit and cannot be believed. It has been alleged in no uncertain terms with regard to the abuse of the funds:
The above stark allegations clearly establish that the money was not used for the purpose the loan was granted. That being the case, evidently the money was mismanaged and misappropriated, suggesting wrong-doing. Is it possible that this aspect of the abuse of the loan could have gone unnoticed and without being investigated? Didn't alarm bells ring while the investigation was ongoing? Didn't it strike the investigators that something was gravely wrong for the loan to have been released before the agreement was even signed? Who authorised this huge loan of RM250m to be released without the agreement duly signed and stamped? Was this line of investigation undertaken? When money meant for a specific project was channelled into a family firm that has nothing to do with the project, doesn't it constitute embezzlement? Isn't embezzlement akin to corruption? Under whose name(s) are the luxury condos, the land in Putrajaya and the car registered? Who went on the family holidays and who authorised the use of the loan, meant for a livestock project, for this private purpose? The timing and the attempt to clear Shahrizat in this debacle is suspect and cannot be explained away as coincidence. Why did the Deputy IGP choose to reveal this during the Umno General Assembly when the investigation is ongoing? It was clearly meant to 'save' Shahrizat from prying questions. Some would even argue that it was meant to pull wool over the Umno delegates' eyes. When an official from the highest echelon of the police force is perceived to be a functionary of a political party then what credibility is there for the police? The person in the street is thoroughly disappointed and disillusioned because the police are unable to discharge their duty and responsibility in an impartial and professional manner that would have brought respect and credit to the police force. |
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