Jumaat, 19 Ogos 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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Malaysia, in reflection

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 06:12 PM PDT

Yes, it is quite difficult to understand, I know, how someone can love the Malays and yet be its biggest critic. I not only criticise the Malays but also whack them on how they deviate from true Islam and distort the teachings of Islam. It is as if I look down on Islam, say some who are uncomfortable with my constant whacking of Malay-Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was once asked, soon after he retired on 1st November 2003, how he would like to be remembered. He replied he does not really care how he is remembered. Actually, that is a lie. He cares about how he is remembered and no one would like to be remembered as the blight to society. 

Anyway, if I were asked that same question -- how I would like to be remembered -- I would reply that I would like to be remembered as the Malay (or half-Malay/chap chai, if you wish) who was cruel and brutal towards the Malays because he loved the Malays.

Yes, it is quite difficult to understand, I know, how someone can love the Malays and yet be its biggest critic. I not only criticise the Malays but also whack them on how they deviate from true Islam and distort the teachings of Islam. It is as if I look down on Islam, say some who are uncomfortable with my constant whacking of Malay-Muslims.

Wong Sai Wan wrote an article called 'London Bridge is falling down' in The Star today. This piece is about the recent UK riots and Wong talks about the dark side of Manchester, the city I now call home.

The decay in the UK started about 30 or 40 years ago. British society already showed signs of breaking down but the government did nothing. Today, we are seeing the result of that neglect. The English youth are probably amongst the worst in the world. They have no ambition, they are uncouth and uncivilised, they are arrogant and inconsiderate -- in short the English youth is an example of everything that is wrong with society.

Okay, what has this got to do with how I would like to be remembered? Well, I would like to be remembered as the Malay who has been warning society that that this is what the Malays are going to be like in time to come, maybe by 2030 or so.

Malaysia, today, is what the UK was 30 or 40 years ago. By 2030 or so, Malaysia is going to be what the UK is today.

I am not saying this just today because of the UK riots. I have been saying this for more than 25 years since the 1980s.

Back in the 1980s, the Terengganu Education Department did a poll and the results showed that more than 90% of the school kids hated school and would rather be somewhere else rather than in the classroom.

And remember, 97%-98% of the Terengganu population is Malay, so we are talking about Malay kids here.

Anwar Ibrahim was the Minister of Education then and this was one of the reasons I was 'anti-Anwar'. I felt he was failing in his duty to properly educate and motivate the Malays. I felt that if this was not addressed then the Malay kids were going to become just like the English kids.

Around that same era, in the 1980s, I arranged a MCOBA Terengganu talk by the Terengganu family planning department and we were told that 70% of the AIDS sufferers were Malays and 90% got AIDS because of their drug habit.

Twenty years later, I would discover this firsthand when I spent some time in the lock-ups because of my anti-government activities. Most of the detainees are Malays and they are in the lockup because of drugs or drug-related crimes.

And now we also have the Mat Rempit and Bohsia problem, which is basically a Malay problem, again.

Today, we are seeing in Malaysia what the UK saw 30 or 40 years ago. Tomorrow, what today we are seeing in the UK we are going to see in Malaysia. The Malay kids are also not ambitious or motivated, just like the English kids. The Malay kids also expect the government to look after their welfare, just like the English kids do.

Everything that is wrong with Malaysia, today, was what was wrong with the UK 30 or 40 years ago. Everything that is happening in the UK, today, is going to happen in Malaysia in time to come, maybe as early as 2030.

Will I still be around to see this happen? Well, if the government continues with the neglect, like what the British government is guilty of, then this is going to happen. But whether I will still be around to see it happen, I don't know, unless I live to be 80 -- because in 2030 I will be 80.

Anyway, chances are I will be long gone by 2030. Nevertheless, when Kuala Lumpur burns, just like London did recently, I want those of you who are still around to remember me and say:

"Raja Petra said this would happen back in 2011. In fact, he had been saying this since the 1980s. And for 20 or 30 years he kept warning us that Malaysia was going the way of the UK and that if the government continued neglecting the matter then the Malays were going to become just like the English kids." 

And as you watch the Malay kids burn Kuala Lumpur to the ground and as you remember me saying that this would happen, light a candle for me and tell everyone that this is how Raja Petra said he would like to be remembered and we light this candle to remember him by. 

*****************************************

London Bridge is falling down

By Wong Sai Wan, The Star

The recent riots in Britain have given this nursery rhyme new significance about all that is wrong, but sadly it is nothing new.

THE world was shocked to see thugs, many barely in their teens, rioting and looting in various cities in England, which many Malaysians consider a heaven, with some unabashedly saying that going there is "balik kampung" (going back to the hometown).

The horror of the whole thing was brought even closer to home by the video clip of Malaysian student Mohd Asyraf Rafiq Rosli being robbed by the rioters after he had been assaulted. It was uploaded onto YouTube for the world to see, and then picked up by all TV stations.

The assault and robbery of Asyraf and the burning of a century-old furniture shop in Hackney were the main haunting images of the riot.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was quick to recall Parliament for an emergency session, where he condemned the rioters and at the same time dismissed the mid-summer nightmare as greed and thuggery.

He rejected any suggestion that his government's budgetary cuts was the cause of the riots, and declared "all-out war" on gangs, which he blamed for fuelling four nights of frenzied looting, saying they were "a major criminal disease that has infected streets and estates across our country".

"This has been a wake-up call for our country. Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face," he said, adding that a redoubling of efforts to tackle broken families, welfare dependence and educational failure was needed.

"Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?"

But has this come a little too late?

Well-known London social worker Sheldon Thomas, an ex-gang member who runs a mentoring programme, pointed out that British society is "broken" and the government action may be too late.

"People like me have been saying this for decades," he said. "People are angry, people are frustrated. There are no jobs, there is no aspiration."

Thomas and many of his fellow youth leaders said Cameron's government was only reacting to the visuals that were seen all over the world, especially when the rioting and looting affected the wealthier part of the cities.

Youth and social workers have been sounding the warning for years but successive British governments were more interested in projecting the growing materialistic part of Britain while the inner city problems were swept underneath the proverbial carpet.

People like Thomas are right. Go to YouTube and type "Moss Side" to see hundreds of CCTV video clips by the Greater Manchester Police on gang problems there.

National Geographic produced an excellent series on Manchester's underworld, titled Gunchester. It seems there are more guns in this former industrial centre than in any other city in Britain.

Moss Side, the centre of these violent gangs, is one of many inner city projects started in the 1950s after World War II that have turned into a social mess. There used to be thousands of council flats in Moss Side and neighbouring Hulme, where hundreds of Malaysian students stayed in their student days.

Among these, almost 30 years ago, was yours truly. Moss Side then was filled with blacks from the Caribbean and Africa. And they still form the majority today.

It was here in 1985 that the first race riots occurred, and spread to the rest of Britain. As a consequence, the British government decided to do away with the flats, blaming them for the inner city problems.

The truth was that Moss Side and many such inner city areas were a different country from the rest of Britain. They were improvised areas with many unemployed. Moss Side was – and still is, I am told – a bastion of drugs, vice and gangsterism.

A colleague, a fanatical Manchester United supporter, said he had been to the city many times, but he never ventured into Moss Side.

"Be careful when you see a boy wearing a hoodie (a sweatshirt with a hood) walking towards you. I will normally cross the street when I see one," he said.

I don't blame him because records show there had been more than 800 gang-related murders in Manchester in the past decade.

About five years ago, a 14-year-old boy was killed by a rival gang in Manchester.

His was not an isolated incident. There have been scores of teenage murders up and down England, especially in the inner cities, like Moss Side.

But to blame the gangs alone for the recent riots is a convenient excuse at best, or political naivete at worst.

Morality is not a word with any meaning in places like Moss Side, where the social structure has broken down. In this kind of place, one competes to be the youngest mother or grandmother.

Most parents do not know where their kids are at any time of the day. Anyway, most fathers and mothers have criminal records or had served time at the nearby city prison.

I recall being in a newspaper shop in Moss Side and the local postman strolled in and greeted the woman shopkeeper, who replied: "What can I do for you today, Mick?"

He said: "Can I have a 12-year-old virgin, please?"

To this, the elderly woman replied: "There are no such thing as 12-year-old virgins here. This is Moss Side." 

This conversation has stayed in my mind for the past 30 years and, of course, it was an exaggeration by the shopkeeper and the postman, but not by much.

We in Malaysia must be aware that we are also building inner city estates all over Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. Tall council or public housing flats are a sure-fire formula for such problems as in Moss Side.

The Women's and Family Development Ministry must study these areas carefully to ensure that social problems are solved before they become tinder to a highly inflammable situation.

Executive editor Wong Sai Wan was kept awake for three days in Moss Side by Bob Marley's No Women No Cry when he died on May 11, 1981.

 
Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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KONGRES INDIA MUSLIM MALAYSIA (KIMMA)

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 12:40 PM PDT

KIMMA adalah merupakan satu satunya parti politik mewakili kaum India Muslim di negara ini.

Alternate title: Cawangan Kalimuthuform Batang Kali.
OBJEKTIF
KIMMA adalah merupakan satu satunya parti politik mewakili kaum India Muslim di negara ini.

Sejak awal penubuhan hingga kini KIMMA berjaya membawa kepada kerajaan pelbagai permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh masyarakat India Muslim di negara ini dan penyelesaian juga dapat dicapai hasil kerjasama agensi kerajaan pusat dan negeri.

Pengiktirafan sebagai Ahli Gabungan UMNO juga telah memberi satu anjakan paradigm kepada parti dimana sejak pengumuman dibuat hampir 400 cawangan baru telah tubuhkan sehingga hari ini.

Ini amat signifikan dimana masyarakat India Muslim di negara ini amat menghargai pengiktirafan kerajaan Barisan Nasional terhdap KIMMA.Dalam arus pembangunan globalisasi negara yang kian maju dan dinamik, masyarakat India Muslim juga tidak ketinggalan dalam mencapai kemajuan dalam semua sector pembangunan standing dengan kaum lain di negara.


KIMMA PERKUKUH KEDUDUKAN DI JOHOR


Presidennya, Datuk Syed Ibrahim Kader berkata, beliau dipilih sebagai Pengerusi Kimma Johor selepas pemilihan pada 19 Disember lalu. Katanya, beliau sudah membuat tindakan drastik apabila merombak semua jawatankuasa Kimma negeri itu bagi membolehkannya bergerak dengan lebih tersusun.


"Saya menggantikan jawatankuasa itu dengan barisan baru yang lebih berkaliber dan boleh bekerja untuk membentuk pasukan kuat. "Barisan baru ini menunjukkan komitmen baik dan saya anggap sudah melepasi ujian pertama di DUN Tenang. "Saya jangka memerlukan enam bulan saja untuk menyusun pasukan baru itu dan apabila selesai, saya akan menyerahkan tugas kepada Timbalan Pengerusi Kimma Johor, Mohd Rafie Hussein untuk memimpin pentadbiran peringkat negeri itu.

"Saya berharap jawatankuasa baru itu bergerak baik kerana mereka berpengalaman termasuk Penasihat Badan Perhubungan Kimma Johor, Sahul Hamid Abdul Kadir.

 

READ MORE HERE.

DAPSY Kuching Voters Registration

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 12:20 PM PDT

Dear friends,

Please be informed that the below are DAPSY  Kuching Voters Registration event for this weekend:

1, 19/08/11(FRI) - Matang E-Mart night Market (7:30pm - 9:30pm)
Meeting Point: J&J Cafeteria @ 6:30pm
Activity:mobile Voter Registration & giving out of Roketkini.

2, (a) 20/08/11 (SAT) - Semarak Ramadhan Bazaar (4:30pm - 6pm)
Meeting Point: Kubahria Food Ctr @ 3pm
Activity:give out Roketkini & do mobile Voter Registration.


(b) 20/08/11 (SAT) - Kuching Fest (7:30pm - 9:30pm)
Meeting Point: Middle Stall @ 6:30pm
Activity: ONLY moblie Voter Registration


3, 21/08/11 (SUN) - Stutong Ramadhan Bazaar (4:30pm - 6pm)
Meeting Point: in front of C121 Cafe @ 3:30pm
Activity: Mobile Vote  Registration and giving out of Roketkini

For more information, please contact Andrew at 016-87099606 or Awang at 0168899149

Of people, the choices we make, and our ability to affect the future.

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 12:14 PM PDT

By My Thoughts
 
We read and hear news everyday of rallies, protests, riots, and wars and conflicts all over the world. We are told that we may be targets of terrorists who must be destroyed at all cost and hear the leaders and politicians who tells us that they go to war on humanitarian grounds, to bring democracy to the people who are being oppressed.
They spend millions in military spending, go into war frequently and all the while, the economy is in dire straits, needing infusions, and the stock markets and banks are having multiple crisis one after another, in a race to the bottom and decimating the savings and living standards of ordinary people all over the world.

We may live in different countries, with different cultures. But doesn't everyone wants a better living standards, to enjoy life and hopes for a bright future for our family and friends? We can all learn lessons in the happenings around the world because we live in a connected world. What happens in another country and place can happen right here in front of our eyes and at our doorsteps. 

Many in the society thinks that it does not matter. As long as it does not affect their earning and spending power, many would happily leave the politicians and leaders to their antics and treat them as mere theatrics. The majority of the people couldn't care less. "It's politics! I don't want anything to do with it". We can practically smell the fear, disgusts and indifference in the reply.

But when hardship falls upon the people, it is natural that everything is government's fault. It is they who steers the country, we say.

Wait a minute. Who gave them the mandate? Yes. It is you. Me. Every single eligible voter (yes, it includes each and everyone that did not vote, you were given a say in the future and you chose to ignore it. By letting others make a choice for you, you made your choice too. So if things go wrong, blame yourself). 

It is politics. And it matters. It matters because the government we elect will set economic policies, pass laws, design the education systems for our children, and provide public services for us while we, in turn pay taxes to the government. As the government is appointed and paid for by the people, it is thus, accountable to the people in all it's actions.

Everything the government touches affects us. The economic policy will determine whether we are resilient and can withstand economic crises, whether our laws will encourage business friendly environment to encourage entrepreneurship and investors to come and invest here to create a vibrant economy and improve the earnings and living standards of the people. Bad policy will results in our being left behind as the world progress, brain drain as our people seeks greener pastures elsewhere and lower living standards as our purchasing power erodes. 

'But i did not vote for the government!' we say. Well, majority wins. Try harder the next round. 

'It is unfair! They cheat! They lie! We are being oppressed! We will never win!'. Yes, it may be so. We read the details being exposed by concerned and responsible citizens with evidence to boot. We get angry. We get upset. We vent our frustration and anger in the blogsphere. And we try every election to vote in our representative of choice. Our passion and fervour in pursuing accountability, justice, and our constitutional rights are misconstrued as being extreme by the main stream media and a majority of people who has yet to hear both sides of the story to make an opinion.

Swap plan undermined

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:48 AM PDT

 

By Michael Gordon and Kirsty Needham, The Age

 

THE Gillard government's Malaysian "people-swap" agreement has been undermined by the arrests and likely deportation to China of a group of asylum seekers registered with the United Nations in Kuala Lumpur.

 

 

Migration agent Libby Hogarth has written to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen expressing alarm over the arrests of around 18 members of the Uighur ethnic minority and seeking assurances on their plight. She says three of those arrested have immediate family in Australia.

''If we have had people registered with the UN and deported to a country with an appalling human rights record, what hope is there for those we send to Malaysia?'' Ms Hogarth told The Saturday Age.

 

 

If the arrests and deportations are confirmed, it will undermine one of the government's central claims - that Malaysia is a suitably safe place to send asylum seekers - when the full High Court hears a challenge to the people-swap deal on Monday.

Amnesty International last night claimed ''grave fears'' were held for the safety of the Uighurs and said the arrests cast doubt on a cornerstone of the people-swap deal - that those sent to Malaysia would not be refouled (sent back) to the countries from which they had fled.

Amnesty's Graham Thom said the reports also raised doubts about the Gillard government's assertions that the deal would be a step towards a regional agreement and result in better treatment of other asylum seekers in Malaysia.

Concerns about the plight of the Uighurs come as the federal government and Papua New Guinea yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen an asylum seeker assessment centre on Manus Island. The centre and the transfer of boat arrivals from Australia will be a ''visible deterrent to people smugglers'', the document says. Australia will meet ''all costs'' for the deal, which the Refugee Council of Australia described as a return to the Howard government's 2001 Pacific Solution.

Should the High Court further delay or strike out the transfers to Malaysia, Papua New Guinea now stands as an ''extra deterrent'', government sources said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday the government was ''determined to implement'' the Malaysian people-swap deal.

Critical to the legality of the deal is the question of whether Australia is bound to ensure that protections afforded to those registered with the UN in Malaysia are real and enforceable. If this cannot be demonstrated, Australia is potentially in breach of its obligations under international and domestic law.

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said there was some confusion concerning the situation of the Uighurs arrested and that the agency was making inquiries with the Malaysian government.

''We have strongly urged the Malaysian government to allow UNHCR's refugee status determination process to run its full course,'' the spokesman said. ''We have especially urged the Malaysian government not to deport any Uighurs to a country where their human rights might be at risk.''

One well-placed source claimed the deportations had proceeded despite objections from Australian and United States officials. Australian officials said details were sketchy and declined to comment.

Ms Hogarth said that if the Uighurs were accused of breaking Malaysian laws that warranted deportation, they should be tried in Malaysia and given legal assistance.

Under the agreement struck with the Malaysian government, those who are sent to Malaysia ''will be provided with the opportunity to have their asylum claims considered and those in need of international protection will not be refouled''. They will also be afforded human rights.

Mr Bowen has expressed confidence that the court will uphold the legality of the agreement. Under it, Australia will send 800 unauthorised boat arrivals and, in return, accept an additional 4000 refugees over four years.

A boat carrying 71 suspected asylum seekers was intercepted off Christmas Island yesterday. The passengers will be taken to the island to be assessed for transfer to another country.

This brings to more than 330 the number of asylum seekers who have arrived on Christmas Island since the Malaysia agreement was finalised on July 25. The government had planned to send the first group to Malaysia when the legal action began.

It was not clear yesterday when the Manus Island centre would be open or whether asylum seekers would be confined behind razor wire.

Mr Bowen said the centre ''will complement the Malaysia transfer arrangement''.


 

Gillard firm on Malaysia deal for asylum seekers

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:36 AM PDT

 

By Michelle Grattan, The Age

JULIA Gillard has declared the controversial Malaysian people swap is ''a very important innovation'' in Australia's asylum seeker approach and the government is '' determined to implement it''.

With the future of the deal hanging on next week's High Court full bench hearing that will focus on human rights, Ms Gillard remains confident Australia can guarantee the rights of asylum seekers sent to Malaysia.

In an interview with The Age marking tomorrow's anniversary of the 2010 election, Ms Gillard was not troubled by the recent criticisms of the government's detention policy. Labor was the party that first created mandatory detention, in the 1990s, and ''I'm absolutely satisfied that mandatory detention is the right policy''. But the government's emphasis was on stopping people coming ''so we are trying to smash that [people smugglers'] business model through the Malaysia arrangement''.
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As the government's attention centres strongly on economic management in uncertain times, Ms Gillard would not be drawn on whether she would be willing to contemplate fresh stimulus if needed. The important thing now ''is to be explaining to people what is going on in our economy''. Asked whether a 2012-13 surplus was an objective or a guarantee, she put the tough position: ''We're determined to deliver the surplus.'' Government sources yesterday discounted reports that a fresh round of savings was being pursued to try to achieve a surplus on time despite a hit to revenue from the economic problems. The sources said savings were always being sought but there was not a special push.

Ms Gillard bluntly told those who will attend the October tax forum to come with ''realistic ideas that are properly thought through, costed and capable of being offset. We are in a rigorous fiscal climate and there's no point bringing pie-in-the-sky ideas that are not capable of being implemented and being properly offset in the government's budget.''

She noted that her own focus in tax, as the budget showed, had been on measures to encourage participation in the workforce.

Ms Gillard said she understood many people compared Australia's strong economy with their own financial problems and felt a ''sense of disconnect'' because of cost-of-living pressures. ''I think it's also there for parts of the economy where people feel at risk of being left behind.'' The government would be focused on ''social risk'', not allowing people to fall through cracks without a sense that there was a helping hand.

Criticising Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, Ms Gillard said she was increasingly concerned at the ''knee-jerk, populist approach in our national debate'' on various issues.

Though Not a 'Malaysian Spring,' Bersih Shakes Up Local Politics

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:31 AM PDT

 

By Fabio Scarpello, World Politics Review

To dismiss Berish, however, would be a mistake. In fact, despite its contradictions, the movement may have a considerable impact on local politics. 

Weeks after the Malaysian government cracked down on pro-reform protesters gathered under the banner of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, or Bersih, uncertainty is still thick in Kuala Lumpur.

Bersih, which literally means "clean" in Malay, estimates that 50,000 people showed up at the July 9 rally to protest in favor of electoral reforms, clean politics and anti-corruption measures as stated in an 8-point manifesto. The police, who fired tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators, claim that only a few thousand were present. In the end, some 1,700 people were arrested, while several were injured, and one died.

The rally was the second organized by Bersih. The first, held in November 2007, was also met with a heavy-handed response, although to a lesser degree. Bersih has now demanded that Malaysia's election commission complies with its demands or face a new rally.

In the meantime, it is worth examining what Bersih signifies in a country where politics has always been an elite-only game monopolized, until recently, by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.

Some observers agree with the NGOs, civil society groups and citizens that took part in the rally, who see Bersih as the beginning of a Malay Spring, a moderate version of the mostly people-driven uprisings reverberating in the Middle East. According to this view, Bersih is a pro-democracy, grassroots movement uniting the country's notoriously divided ethnic groups.

Conversely, the Malaysian government and its supporters contend that Bersih is a movement manipulated by the political opposition to overthrow the government. As such, they argue, Bersih is a threat to public order that needs to be dealt with severely.

Bersih's future impact is likely to be determined by a number of uncertain variables, making any political forecast fraught with a sizeable margin of error. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that neither of the above-noted positions is fully substantiated.

Bersih was established in July 2005 as a Joint Action Committee for Electoral Reform. It took on a more permanent shape in November 2006, with several NGOs and civil society groups playing a key role in determining its programs, tactics and dynamics.

However, it is undeniable that members of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition have also been involved and played an important role. While it is unfair to label Bersih a tool of the opposition, it is reasonable to acknowledge that its close ties with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters have weakened Bersih's claim to be a genuine grassroots movement.

Understandably, Bersih and Pakatan Rakyat share the objective of reforming Malaysian politics to allow for a more level playing field. With its flawed electoral laws and biased national media helping to perpetuate the UMNO's hegemony, Malaysia traditionally scores low in democratic assessments, with Freedom House scoring it as "partly free" in 2010. Yet, Bersih would enjoy more credibility had it maintained a clearer distance from Pakatan Rakyat.

Also, Bersih claims to represent all the different ethnic groups that constitute the Malaysian nation. However, although the movement is indeed supported by ethnic Malays, Indians and Chinese, they predominantly share a similar socio-economic profile -- namely urban, educated and young.

Outside this socio-economic circle, the ethnic divisions associated with the UMNO-perpetuated pro-Malay system are still very prominent. Ethnic Malays at the top and bottom of the social ladder -- the latter found especially in rural areas -- enjoy the patronage benefits this system grants them and have no intention of foregoing them any time soon. Likewise, some ethnic Indians and Chinese, associated with ethnic parties included in the UMNO-dominated Barisan Nasional coalition, also benefit from the status quo and therefore view it favorably.

Lastly, Malaysia's socio-political landscape seems unlikely to offer the groundswell of discontent needed to fuel movements like those on display in the Arab world. It has been argued that the Arab Spring was driven by the confluence of a number of factors, including economic stagnation, high unemployment, widespread poverty, corruption and human rights abuses. Malaysia has its share of problems, but it is by no means in the same league as Egypt or Syria. Given the not-insignificant support for the current system, Bersih will struggle to ignite a nationwide, pro-democracy movement.

To dismiss Berish, however, would be a mistake. In fact, despite its contradictions, the movement may have a considerable impact on local politics.

The 2007 Bersih protest was widely credited with spurring on Malaysia's opposition movement, which won its best-ever electoral results in 2008. In the short term, the ripple effects of the latest protest could again galvanize the Anwar-led coalition, which has partly lost steam since the 2008 vote. This may be insufficient to dethrone the UMNO, but could be enough to keep it on its toes.

However, if Bersih establishes itself as a durable structure, its main impact could be in the mid-to-long term. The segment of society supporting Berish is influential. Their age means that they are likely to be politically active for decades, and their educated, middle class background raises the possibility that they may one day occupy powerful roles in the country's financial, cultural and educational sectors, to name a few. The injection of reform-minded executives into a stagnant system could result in progressive ideas slowly becoming more acceptable to the mainstream.

Bersih may also force Malaysia's international partners to take a closer look at what is happening in and around Kuala Lumpur. The July 9 crackdown was condemned internationally and focused a critical spotlight back on Prime Minister Najib Razak, who had lately enjoyed positive press treatment.

Moreover, small-scale Bersih protests staged in 38 cities worldwide -- including Washington, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco in the U.S. - serve as a reminder that in a globalized world, the dividing line between national and international politics is often porous. Bersih supporters have since kept the pressure up via Facebook and blogs.

Hence, although spring as a season does not exist in near-equatorial Malaysia, democracy could still blossom if monsoonal downpours manage to nurture the terrain.

Fabio Scarpello is a journalist, analyst and consultant covering Southeast Asia. He has a master's degree in Globalization and Governance and will pursue a doctoral degree on Security Sector Reform and Conflict Management at Murdoch University in Australia.

Malaysia Looks West for Investments

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:22 AM PDT

By Mattew Saltmarsh, New York Times

With Europe's economy mired in a debt crisis, governments in the region have been looking east for a helping hand, tapping the likes of China and Japan to buy their bonds and step up investments.

But at least one Asian country — Malaysia — still sees value in turning the opposite way, to enhance opportunities for its more assertive multinationals as well as bolstering investments from the West.

The Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, led a large official delegation last month to Britain via Turkmenistan, to capitalize on his country's strong economy and investment inflows and assuage concerns about political agitation in the multicultural Southeast Asian country.

In past years, "it was just 'please come to Malaysia,' " the trade minister, Mustapa Mohamed, said during an interview on the trip. "Now we are going to foreign countries to help provide access to Malaysian companies."

Part of the sales pitch is selling the economic recovery story. The economy grew by 7.2 percent last year after shrinking 1.7 percent in 2009, and the government anticipates expansion of about 5 percent this year and next. The Malaysian inflation rate has been creeping up, though it remains moderate by global standards, at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in June.

But officials were also eager to ease potential concerns about the Malaysian political challenges.

"I think many investors have been to Malaysia, they understand the complications in Malaysia — multiracial, multireligious," Mr. Mohamed said. "We need to have laws in place to ensure that things don't get out of hand."

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, or Bersih, an amalgam of nongovernmental and activist groups, has pushed for changes in electoral law from the coalition government led by the United Malays National Organization, which has dominated politics since independence from Britain in 1957.

Bersih was declared illegal July 1, after which hundreds of activists were rounded up. Most of them were quickly released, but some were held longer. On July 9, thousands of protesters defied a government ban and held a large street protest, during which the police fired tear gas and water cannons and arrested about 1,700.

"We have to engage," Mr. Mohamed said, "we have to continue changing, reform."

Underneath the political tension is an economy that has proved increasingly attractive to overseas capital.

Nonequity foreign direct investment inflows in 2010 were $9.1 billion, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier. The government is confident that it can retain that momentum.

"It's not having an impact on investor confidence," Mr. Mohamed said of the recent disturbances.

Ian Bryson, an analyst in Singapore at Control Risks, a consulting firm, said that there was less political risk in Malaysia than most of its regional peers and that the country benefited from relatively low corruption and a fairly dependable judiciary.

"I don't think the current political agitation is pivotal or that the country is at a tipping point," he said. "Malaysians are not interested in a full-scale upheaval."

"The opposition is factious but vociferous," he said, adding that splinter, conservative groups from the United Malays group still had the potential to destabilize the governing coalition in the next election, which is expected to be called in 2013.

On the economic front, Mr. Bryson cited concerns about limits on equity ownership in certain sectors — favoring ethnic Malays known as Bumiputera — and the employment of foreigners. He also noted broader skills shortages and restrictive local hiring and firing rules. "It's generally very open to business, but with some cultural and sociopolitical limitations," he said.

A report from the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, ranked Malaysia 21st out of 183 economies globally for the ease of doing business. The country scored lower for starting businesses and enforcing contracts.

Among Malaysian companies seeking global opportunities is the energy group Petronas, which announced last month that it had drawn its first natural gas from a field in Turkmenistan, where it has invested $5 billion. Others include the automaker Proton, which controls Lotus, a maker of sports cars; and the utilities conglomerate YTL, which owns Wessex Water in Britain.

At home, the government has used its $25 billion sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional, to take strategic stakes in businesses, including the energy group Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia Airlines System and Bank Lippo. More recently, the fund has been making tentative forays into Singapore and Indonesia. It opened its first overseas office in Beijing in 2008.

Speaking in London, Mr. Najib, the prime minister, sought to address potential concerns like those highlighted by Mr. Bryson. The government, he said, is "committed toward divesting government holdings," citing the sale of post office assets, two Petronas subsidies and a sugar business. "There will be quite a few more holdings that we will divest," he added.

He said there had been a "policy of gradual liberalization" of Bumiputera quotas, and "in the forthcoming budget we are expected to make further announcements."

European companies that have invested in the country include BP and Royal Dutch Shell in energy, HSBC and Standard Chartered in banking, the vacuum cleaner maker Dyson and the retailer Tesco.

Tesco has invested more than $1.5 billion in Malaysia and employs about 14,000 people in the country. In a report in April, marking 10 years in the country, the chief executive of Tesco Malaysia, Tjeerd Jegen, said that he was "as bullish as ever on the prospects of the Malaysian retail sector."

He cited "continued economic growth and prosperity, buoyed by sound economic reforms, robust consumer confidence and political stability."

Perhaps mindful of recent unrest in the Middle East and rising inflation in Asian economies like India and China, Malaysia has been quick to express its desire to stay on a steady course.

Mr. Najib said there was a "huge commitment by the government to keep prices as low as possible," and there would be only a "gradual" easing of subsidies on food and fuel.

Appointed in 2009, Mr. Najib has initiated several economic plans to draw investment and address the lack of skilled workers in Malaysia, focusing on bolstering productivity and research, easing red tape for investors and improving inclusiveness.

The government is also seeking to fill its labor shortage by biometrically registering all workers and offering permits of a maximum 10 years for illegal workers.

"We'll legalize them as workers, not as citizens; that would be a disaster," Mr. Najib said. "If all those things are executed, God willing, we will be a fully developed nation. It will give us 6 percent growth that we need for the next 10 years."

According to the government, one million Malaysians live abroad, a sizable proportion of the country's population of 28.7 million. Some estimates peg the number of Malaysian nationals based overseas much higher. Singapore has been the biggest beneficiary of the outflow, attracting more than half of those who have emigrated.

Mr. Najib also said rising wages in China could present an opportunity for Malaysia.

"More and more people are beginning to realize they need a 'China plus one' policy," he said, "They don't want to put all their eggs in one basket."

As a result, he said, "we're seeing companies seriously looking at Malaysia."

 

The Fearless Deputy

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:15 AM PDT

By Zaid Ibrahim

Someone asked me if there is a power struggle going on in UMNO right now. I said no, only in the Cabinet. This poser was perhaps brought about by the way Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has skilfully contradicted Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak on several important issues. When the PM promoted the idea of 1Malaysia, the DPM countered with his now notorious statement: "I am Malay first". It seems the PM didn't know what to say in reply. Many people know that the PM would have liked Science and Mathematicsto continue to be taught in English (as it should be), but his Deputy, who is also Education Minister, decided otherwise.

Najib recently made another sensible decision to accommodate – or at least to recognise – some of the concerns raised by Bersih. He has decided that a Parliamentary Select Committee should look into the many complaints in the way elections are being conducted in our country. Not surprisingly, his Deputy quickly reminded him that very little was wrong with the process. It just needed a little "tweaking", Muhyiddin said.

Now this is not the first time that a Minister in the Cabinet has openly challenged a PM in Malaysia. It happened even in the most recent administration before this one: when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was PM (this was soon after the 2008 General Election), Muhyiddin called on him to step down. He used the phrase "peralihan kepimpinan" — change of leadership. And he did so not once but many times. It was a sorry sight to hear Pak Lah telling Muhyiddin "sabar lah". Be patient.

Muhyiddin was probably emboldened by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, who joined the fray and openly discredited and ridiculed the man he himself had endorsed to lead the country. I believe had Pak Lah reshuffled his cabinet post 2008 to show that the Cabinet was his, he would still be PM today. Sure enough, they took him out soon after.

In the Westminster system of Government, the PM is always the real power. The Cabinet are his advisors. This is why it's normal for Prime Ministers in other Westminster-based countries to reshuffle their Cabinets whenever they feel that effective government will be compromised without such a change. The Prime Minister is responsible, as head of the ruling party, to make sure that the right policies are implemented. In an ideal situation, the Ministers serve to advise the PM on how these policies should be executed, and they bear responsibility for this.

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

Malaysia's 'Silent' Awakening

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:09 AM PDT

 

By Natasja Sheriff, The Nation

"In spite of all the attacks, the intimidation, the fear, that the government has put in, from race to violence to chaos and all that, the people have actually decided that they want to come forward to join this rally," Chin Abdullah continues. "No more being the silent majority. We are hoping that from here it will be a stepping stone towards a formation in the future of a more democratic movement in Malaysia."

In early July, while eyes were on the unrest in the Middle East, another democratic movement was gathering momentum in Southeast Asia. Borne out of growing discontent with the ruling government, the people of Malaysia were experiencing their own awakening. Their movement for electoral reform, known as "Bersih" (meaning "clean" in the Malay language), reached critical mass on July 9, when an estimated 47,000 people took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, demanding action against voter fraud, press freedom and an end to "dirty politics"—slander and incessant claims and counterclaims of supposed sexual misconduct. The rally provoked an unprecedented government crackdown, widely condemned by international human rights agencies, leading to the arrests of more than 1,600 people. Police action has continued, with people frequently detained for as little as wearing a yellow T-shirt—a symbol of support for the outlawed Bersih movement.

The reform movement has been growing since 2005, when a group of politicians and non-governmental organizations, dismayed at the level of fraud and corruption in the Malaysian political system, came together to form the Joint Action Committee for Electoral Reform. When the movement was revived in 2010 as the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, or Bersih 2.0—the now familiar moniker of the reform movement—the organizers made a strategic decision to exclude all political parties, including members of the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat. Bersih 2.0 emerged as nonpartisan, civil society movement to monitor progress towards electoral reform.

Without the involvement of political parties, organizers had to find other means to reach out to mobilize their supporters. "We planned all these roadshows at the nationwide level," says Maria Chin Abdullah, whose organization EMPOWER serves as the secretariat for the Bersih 2.0 Coalition, which would "entail us going to various states to explain the fifteen demands we had and why we prioritized eight of them." But the police took a harsh position against protestors. "Before we could even start our roadshow, they already arrested about thirty people," Chin Abdullah explains.

With direct attempts to reach out to the public thwarted by the police, the movement took to social media. Facebook became the main source of information about the July 9 rally in Kuala Lumpur, and the Twitterverse lit up. A new generation, well-versed in the advantages of online activism and emboldened by the relative anonymity of social media, took courage from protestors across the Middle East and came forward to support the movement. On July 9, the number of Twitter users talking about the Bersih rally reached 19,188, according to the website Politweet. Both online and offline, many thousands of supporters wanted to make their voices heard despite the threat of the government's harsh preventative laws like the notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), frequently and arbitrarily applied to suppress dissent.

Many Malaysians feel they are powerless to change their government, yet the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, which has held power since the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, is clearly uneasy. The Minister of Home Affairs, Hishammuddin Hussein, outlawed Bersih for spreading seditious propaganda and for "affecting the harmony of a multicultural society." The police refused to grant a permit for the "Bersih 2.0" rally, and government ministers denounced the rally and its organizers.

The government has also attempted to discredit the rally and its organizers by suggesting that the movement's real goal is to cause disharmony and racial strife. Fear of igniting racial tensions among the country's three dominant ethnic groups—Malay, Chinese and Indian—frequently colors the political rhetoric of Malaysia. References to the race riots that swept across Malaysia in 1969, leaving an estimated 169 people dead, are often cited as a warning to Malaysians who threaten the status quo, and are used to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Anil Netto, a Malaysian journalist who frequently writes on behalf of the reform group Aliran, explains that the government's tactics are erratic, and increasingly ineffective. "Initially they were speaking of foreign powers, the next day about communism, another day that Christian groups were getting involved. Many can by now see through these tactics and they are not carrying as much weight as they might have in the past." And attempts by the government to frame the rally as a threat to racial harmony appear to be unfounded—the movement cuts across racial and religious groups.

"What was good about Bersih 2.0 rally, as everyone now knows, is that it brought out a more multi-racial component," says Chin Abdullah. "It's actually a Malaysian rally." It's also a movement in which women have played a leading role: Ambiga Sreenevasan, a lawyer and former chairwoman of the Malaysian Bar Council, is the leader of the Bersih movement, and a recipient of the US State Department International Women of Courage award in 2009; and Maria Chin Abdullah, a central figure in the Malaysian women's rights movement, is head of the Bersih Secretariat. Support also came from an unexpected quarter when Marina Mahathir, daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, attended the rally.

The government likely fears that the movement will result in electoral gains by the opposition in the 2012 election. After Bersih's first rally, in 2007, the opposition coalition gained control of five of Malaysia's thirteen states in the 2008 general election, a victory commonly dubbed a "political tsunami." "The government probably knows that these kind of reforms will strike at the heart of the current electoral process which has returned them to power since independence," says Netto.

Ironically, the government has only served to fuel public anger and provided the Bersih movement with all the publicity they could need. "To be honest, we didn't even need the roadshows to raise the publicity of Bersih 2.0, the government did the publicity for us," says Chin Abdullah. "In spite of all the attacks, the intimidation, the fear, that the government has put in, from race to violence to chaos and all that, the people have actually decided that they want to come forward to join this rally," Chin Abdullah continues. "No more being the silent majority. We are hoping that from here it will be a stepping stone towards a formation in the future of a more democratic movement in Malaysia."


 

The “Third Force” In Malaysia: Finding Relevance In An Emerging Duopoly

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 11:00 AM PDT

By Afif Pasuni, Eurasia Review

The "third force" in Malaysian politics continues to progress with Tengku Razaleigh's new NGO Amanah. With the general election looming, the "third force" will face an uphill task to make gains if it does not ally with one or more established political entities in Malaysia.

EARLY THIS year, the former UMNO and PKR politician Zaid Ibrahim founded a new party, the Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA). It was formed supposedly to act as a "third force" between the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions, to provide checks and balances between the two dominant political entities in the country.

Recently, the veteran UMNO politician, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah founded Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah), which is also touted as a "third force". Formed as an NGO, the goal of Amanah is "to represent the middle and moderate voice" of Malaysia. However the group has not ruled out being political, opening the way for a more political role in the run up to the looming 13th general election. These two entities raise the question of the relevance of the third force in the emerging duopoly of Malaysian politics.

Formation Of The "Third Force"

Malaysia
The idea of a "third force" is not new, having being proposed by lawyer-activist Haris Ibrahim and influential blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin. In fact, some have argued that such a "force" has always been a feature of Malaysian politics, be it in the form of NGOs, civil and religious movements, and even individuals who seek political reforms.

The "third force" term was coined against the backdrop of the political opposition's success against the incumbents in the 2008 elections, giving rise to hope for a two-party system in Malaysia. The division between the two groupings was sharpened by the subsequent politicking between them. To understand the "third force" rationale, one has to look at events after the 2008 elections, where no party has been spared from criticisms amidst the country's tumultuous political scene. For example, both the ruling and opposition parties were criticised for their role in the recent Bersih rally; while one was blamed for unleashing police brutality, the other was accused of playing agent provocateur.

The country has also witnessed the controversial long-drawn court case involving the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and the constant PAS-DAP disagreements over religious issues. In addition, there were also criticisms against aspects of the government's Economic Transformation Programme, and the seemingly free rein given to Utusan Malaysia, UMNO's Malay language newspaper, and the NGO PERKASA in raising racial issues.

Therefore some have seen the need for a "third force" to balance the political polemics as well as filling the void in the so-called middle ground.

Relevance To Be Seen


To assess the potential relevance of the "third force" in Malaysian politics, the following features of the recent political developments in the country need to be addressed:

Firstly, for the "third force" to play a part in deciding on Malaysia's direction, a main challenge is getting enough members to support them. In order to initiate political change, the party needs to have very strong grassroots support, which they are trying to garner by attracting prominent names into their fold. However the effectiveness of such a move is in question, as very few Malaysian politicians are able to sway the masses solely with their personality, and who can dissociate themselves from party associations.

Secondly, the inter-dependence of civil society groups and NGOs with the political coalitions in Malaysia should be scrutinised more closely. The recent Bersih rally, though touted as apolitical and representative of the civil society, was nonetheless very closely associated with the opposition PR coalition. On the other side the Malay rights NGO PERKASA is led by the UMNO-friendly Ibrahim Ali and enjoys the patronage of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. While the political coalitions are continuing to become the major galvanising forces in politics, the civil society groups and NGOs are seen to be affiliated, closely or tenuously, to either one of these two political groupings.

Furthermore, given that the alternative media are also regarded as strongly partisan in some of their coverage and commentaries, it is doubtful that any new entity which strives to be relevant in the political discourse is able to remain neutral always.

Thirdly, the Malaysian electoral landscape is too big for any one political group. While this may benefit new parties, to achieve political dominance they pragmatically require alliances. For example, Malaysia's oldest opposition party PAS recently held its 57th AGM. But it was only recently that they managed to be a part of a more effective force in parliament as a component of the PR coalition after the 2008 elections.

Sarawak's state elections in April this year also serve to illustrate the dominance of BN and to a lesser extent the PR. The PR arguably made significant inroads, while BN's number of seats dipped slightly. However the biggest losers of the election were the independents and new parties such as Parti Cinta Malaysia, which lost its only seat in the state assembly.

Between Principle And Political Survival


All these lead to one point which is, if the "third force" is to become relevant in Malaysian politics in the near future – specifically the 13th general election – it is imperative that its component groups ally themselves with more established political entities. Although to succumb to that is antithetical to their founding motive, it will be difficult to be purposeful in Malaysia's political development without losing political independence.

Whether the "third force" remains truly independent or otherwise, it will have to choose between principle and political survival. While its inception is based on the former, it is likely the latter will dictate their strategy in the virulent political landscape of Malaysia.

Afif Pasuni is an Associate Research Fellow with the Malaysia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

Malaysia’s government wants to tear down heritage attraction, Petaling Street

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 10:55 AM PDT

 

By Luc Citrinot, E-Turbo News

The plan happens to come at a very unfavorable time. In recent years, Malaysia's social fabric has turned more and more fragile due to growing tensions among its various ethnic groups. More and more citizens put into question today the fundamentals of the government's Bumiputra policy – a 40-year-old program, which provides preferential treatment to the Malay community, asking for a review, as many look at it as ethnic discrimination. The partial destruction of Petaling Street would then deprive the Chinese community from one of its most sentimental heritage areas. The government's decision might then be considered as more than politically incorrect.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (eTN) - No one would generally disagree with a government looking at improving public transport for the sake of commuters. Malaysia government's latest MTR expansion is the Sg Buloh-Kalang 51 km line – to date, Malaysia's most extensive public infrastructure with 27 elevated and 7 underground stations. It is, however, facing strong protests from residents of the areas concerned by the project. The line will connect Kuala Lumpur's city center, passing under some of the capital city's oldest areas, among them, Petaling Street and part of Sultan Street, two popular streets frequented by both locals and tourists. Petaling Street remains a favorite among visitors to the Malaysian capital, as it welcomes every night Kuala Lumpur's only night market. It is also a popular place for Malaysian Chinese, especially prior to the Chinese New Year, when the community gathers to eat together and do some shopping. Petaling Street was consequently thoroughly renovated a decade ago.

The area also has a deeply historical value for the Malaysian capital. Petaling Street was, in fact, one of the first settlements for Chinese arriving into Malaya at the end of the XVIII century. The area has a high number of beautiful heritage buildings as old as 100 years. The MRT project foresees the destruction of 20 to 30 buildings, including some structures considered landmarks for Chinatown. Among them are Yook Woo Hin restaurant mentioned in many travel guides and famed for its mooncakes, as well as the Lok Ann Hotel and the Yan Keng Benevolent Dramatic Association Building. The latest is considered as the birth place to Cantonese Opera in former Malaya.

Over the last three decades, successive Malaysian government has systematically erased from Kuala Lumpur's urban landscape any references to the city's colonial heritage, except for a few symbolic buildings. But according to local newspapers, most shop owners were surprised to abruptly learn about the need to destroy the area to give way to the MRT. In Kuala Lumpur's 2020 masterplan, Petaling Street has been indeed named a heritage area. But so far it has not been officially registered as such, exposing the historical district to any wild redevelopment. The surprise has even been bigger as MRT tunnels will be located 30 meters under the street and would consequently not threaten the stability of the buildings. Shop owners want now to take legal action and will ask the government to review the project to protect the area. Construction for the MRT is due to start by year-end for a projected completion in 2015.

The plan happens to come at a very unfavorable time. In recent years, Malaysia's social fabric has turned more and more fragile due to growing tensions among its various ethnic groups. More and more citizens put into question today the fundamentals of the government's Bumiputra policy – a 40-year-old program, which provides preferential treatment to the Malay community, asking for a review, as many look at it as ethnic discrimination. The partial destruction of Petaling Street would then deprive the Chinese community from one of its most sentimental heritage areas. The government's decision might then be considered as more than politically incorrect.

Sabah BN forced to return NCR land

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 10:48 AM PDT

By Michael Kaung, FMT

MARUDU: A protracted native customary rights (NCR) land dispute between a private company and 1,000 villagers from 48 kampungs has finally been resolved.

The natives have waited almost 14 years for a solution to their battle to wrest back thousands of acres of land from Safoda and Begaraya Sdn Bhd.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Maximus Ongkili, who is also the district MP, said each family will receive 20 acres of land.

The state Barisan Nasional (BN) government, after suffering a series of humiliating defeats in the courts over native title rights, had decided to grant each family 20 acres of land in what is seen as a "win-win solution" to the longstanding issue.

Ongkili said the issue had finally been resolved with the agreement of the Land Office and Safoda and Begaraya.

"The decision made in a meeting on Monday is a win-win situation for all parties.

"The state government has agreed to give each of the 1,000-odd affected families 20 acres of land comprising 15 acres of communal titled land and five acres of land declared as village reserve land," he said when opening a briefing on the cultivation of cocoa, rubber and pepper for 300 Kota Marudu folk at the Dewan Komuniti here yesterday.

Safoda had applied for 4,793.9ha in the Kota Marudu district which were disputed by the people of 18 villages who claimed customary rights to the land.

Begaraya had been approved 40,000ha in Kota Marudu in 1997, in which 30 villages had made overlapping claims.

Issue resolved

Ongkili said the perimeter survey for the communal titles would begin next month and he hoped that by December two village communal titles would be issued.

"With the land titles, villagers are protected of their right to their native customary land including from being invaded by companies.

"The villagers can also start developing their land including in partnership with the land developers," he said.

Ongkili also thanked the state government and Land Office for resolving the problem which had caused unhappiness among the villagers.

He, together with Tandek assemblywoman Anita Baranting and Matunggong assemblyman Sarapin Magana, had been making great efforts to negotiate a solution that would protect the people's rights and welfare in the matter.

Both the state seats of Tandek and Matunggong come under the Kota Marudu parliamentary constituency.


READ MORE HERE.

General election can go ahead without full reforms, says PM

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 10:40 AM PDT

 

By Mazwin Nik Anis and Martin Carvarlho, The Star

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak says the general election can be held without full electoral reforms having to be implemented.

The Prime Minister said this was because some reforms could be executed immediately while others needed time to be introduced.

"The parliamentary select committee has nothing to do with the (general) election. We will try to do some (reforms) immediately.

"What can be done immediately, we will do it," he told a press conference after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting here yesterday.

The Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman said the party supreme council fully supported the setting up of the parliamentary committee and the Government's efforts at electoral reform.

"Umno has always upheld the importance of parliamentary democracy. The credibility of our elections cannot be questioned and we have proved that there is no manipulation in votes and the electoral roll," he stressed.

On the Opposition's insistence to lead the parliamentary committee, Najib said the party with the majority should lead but assured the participation of Opposition members.

"That is the tradition of Westminster parliamentary democracy which they (Opposition) don't understand.

"The number of representation in the committee is also based on the strength of the party," he explained, referring to Pakatan Rakyat's demand that it be represented by the same number of MPs as the Barisan.

On Pakatan's statement that it had yet to decide whether to participate in the committee, Najib said it was a sincere effort on the part of the Government.

"We want to reach a consensus on the type of (electoral) reforms that we should do," he said.

Asked whether the committee would convene even without the Opposition on board, Najib said the matter would be decided at the appropriate time.

"But we want to show the people that there is nothing for us to be worried about or hide as far as the transparency of our electoral process is concerned," he said.

 

Hi-tech electricity poachers cause TNB to lose RM500m yearly

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 10:38 AM PDT

By Wani Mutiah, The Star

Power thieves are employing elaborate measures and using high-tech equipment to siphon off electricity worth hundreds of millions of ringgit from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

In one case, a commercial property owner went to great lengths by building a secret access tunnel to the meter room so his workers could quickly remove electricity siphoning gadgets whenever a raid was conducted.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said these thieves were mostly in commercial and industrial premises.

"The manner in which meters are tampered with is becoming more and more sophisticated with various electronic gadgets used to register low readings," said Che Khalib, adding that this resulted in TNB incurring an estimated RM500mil losses annually.

He added there were even cases when remote control devices were used to switch off electricity siphoning devices whenever meters were being monitored by TNB.

Che Khalib, who visited The Star with TNB chief operating officer and executive director Datuk Ir. Azman Mohd, said the secret tunnel was found at a hotel in a northern state.

"When our officers went to the premises for inspection, someone went into the meter room through the passage to remove the gadgets used to tamper with the meters," revealed Che Khalib.

He said the construction of a secret tunnel to siphon off electricity gave an indication about the extent to wich the thieves would go.

However, said Che Khalib, meter tampering in private residences were not as sophisticated and in some cases were made-up of crudely concealed by-pass wires.

He said there were also instances whereby homeowners fixed power saving devices which they believed would reduce the amount of electricity being used.

Che Khalib said there was a probability the installers of the devices tampered with the electricity meters.

"But people think its the power saving device that is reducing electricity usage," he explained.

Meanwhile, Azman said TNB also had sophisticated equipment to detect meters that were tampered with to register lower reading than actual consumption.

"No matter how it is done, all we have to do is to just go to the meter and measure the accuracy of its reading with our equipment," he explained.

The difficulty faced by TNB, said Azman, was the fact that those stealing electricity were able to do it in a manner that could not be detected by the naked eye.

"Our meter readers would not be able to detect any irregularities when sophisticated methods, such as remote control devices, are used,'' said Azman.

According to Che Khalib, electricity theft had many repercussions besides loss of revenue for TNB.

"It also decreases the electricity supply to the area in which the theft is taking place because the actual consumption is not registered," he said.

As a result, TNB may be under supplying electricity there and this causes various other problems such as the lighting being dim due to low voltage.

He added tampering with electricity meters was also unsafe and could cause fires.

Che Khalib said the amount of electricity that was being stolen was huge with one factory being back billed RM10mil.

Che Khalib called on consumers not to entertain anyone offering to tamper with their electricity meters as TNB would detect it eventually.

"Previously, we did not have enough personnel to carry out regular inspection but now we have a dedicated recovery team," said Che Khalib, who also did not discount the possibility of TNB staff offering such illegal services.

However, he said TNB was also serious in countering graft within its company as it was working closely with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

 

‘MCMC officers behaved like thugs’ (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 10:36 PM PDT

LFL lawyer is outraged over MCMC's insinuation that it is above the law.

(Free Malaysia Today) - The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today questioned a journalist over a picture she had taken during the Bersih 2.0 rally.

But according to Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) coordinator, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, the officials had behaved like thugs in their intimidation and harassment of both her and her client.

Fadiah had accompanied her client, Yusriah Yusof, a photographer with opposition mouthpiece Suara Keadilan, to the MCMC headquarters earlier this afternoon.

Yusriah was being questioned over her picture of Anwar Ibrahim's bodyguard, Fayyadh Afiq Albakqry, taken after he was hit in the face with a tear gas canister while shielding Anwar.

The picture of his bloodied face were among the many circulated online in the aftermath of the rally as evidence of police brutality.

When the investigating officer (IO) met them at the entrance, Fadiah introduced herself and said that she was accompanying her client into the investigation room. The IO denied her entry and an argument ensued.

"He said that lawyers were not allowed to be present during the questioning," she told FMT. "I told him that under the Federal Constitution my client had the right to have her lawyer present and asked him what his basis was in disallowing that right."

"I even asked him why she was being questioned and whether there was a report made against her. The IO said of course there is a report but he wasn't going to divulge it to me."

When Fadiah pointed out that even the police released reports to lawyers, the IO apparently shot back, "That is the police, we are MCMC."

Shouting match

He, however, eventually reluctantly allowed Fadiah into the investigation room but then told her that he wanted to take her statement too.

"I refused and told him that I am merely accompanying my client and I'm not the party under investigation," she said. "We continued arguing until he shouted 'you're a Malay, right? you're a Muslim, right?… stop asking questions!'"

"I told him not to bring religion into this and to respect the law. He shouted back that if I wanted to talk about the law then I should go to the court because this was his office and he didn't want to talk about it."

Before a stunned Fadiah could respond, two more officers entered the room and shouted to her to leave. While she argued with them, the IO began taking Yusriah's statement, disregarding the photographer's obvious distress.

"I turned my back on the two and focus on my client," Fadiah said. "These men were in the baju Melayu complete with the sampin and they were behaving like thugs. They were talking like the law didn't apply to them."

"I am shocked by MCMC's arrogance and ignorance. Even when they called my client in for questioning they never sent her an official notice. Just a casual phone call."

READ MORE HERE

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Sabah-based BN components should call Umno’s bluff and join UBF

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 07:02 PM PDT

The problem is that the BN components claim to be fighting for the people while they know they can no longer achieve this objective within the BN! The people see them as fighting only for their own interests, for their positions and pecuniary benefits. They stay in the BN while at the same time fighting with Umno. They don't know if Umno is good or bad for them.

DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN

What is happening to the BN in Sabah? If one were to make a simple observation, it would be obvious that all is not well, and it has been so for a long time now. While Umno is having its own internal strife, it is also embroiled in clashes with the other component parties, which Umno treats with contempt.

We can go back to 2008 when the then president of LDP resigned his post as Deputy Chief Minister suddenly without stating any reason, and causing a lot of speculation. Since then Umno leaders had antagonized LDP at various levels, including demanding for seats currently held by LDP. Then it demanded seats held by Upko, causing an Upko leader to retort sarcastically, "Go ahead and take it!"

PBRS had clashed with Umno as well with regard to its right to continue to hold on to the Pensiangan seat, causing the PBRS President to warn that PBRS would have to review its position in the BN if Umno takes the seat currently held by him. And then an Umno leader replied arrogantly that PBRS's departure would make no difference to BN's position in Sabah. PBRS was simply shown the door and thus ended the argument.

PBS had its own way in showing its fangs by giving an ultimatum with regards to the solution of the problem of the illegal immigrants by a certain year. But it was more of a shadow play, trying to show the KDM voters that PBS was still relevant rather than an honest effort at solving the problem.

What happened to that ultimatum now? Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan has been accused of having betrayed his own people by SBS, a local group, for not defending the opponents of the construction of the Koiduan dam.

Most memorably was Datuk Salleh's remark to a BN component that "Without us (Umno) you are nothing, and without you we (Umno) are still who we are," which implied that "You can go ahead and leave, and it will not affect Umno in any way." But of late LDP's President had taken on a daring front and made a statement to say that the seats they now hold are "non-negotiable." 

In the same day the Secretary General of LDP said his party "is not opposing the BN despite being seen as the opposition party in BN." But he called for a stop to the "rot" in race relations in Malaysia, referring to various negative developments such as the promotion of the idea of 1Bumiputera, the antagonistic media attacks on Christians, the lukewarm action by the KDN against Utusan Malaysia despite the paper's action in instigating interracial and interreligious conflicts, the finding of Merdeka Centre that Malaysians now have less confidence in ethnic relations in Malaysia (now 66% compared to 85% in 2006).

In the same day as well, the LDP Deputy President, Datuk Chin Su Phin vowed that LDP will continue to voice out the people's needs, pledging that LDP is willing to sacrifice to fight for the people. Note that before Chin had urged for the completion of the investigation of the money laundering case in Hong Kong involving the Chief Minister. 

Also on the same day LDP Luyang Division Chairman, Datuk Lee Chuen Wan, said BN must walk the talk to gain the people's confidence, and that BN also has to change its policy in order to stand a good chance of winning the general elections. "If we cannot convince the people, we will have a big problem (in the next general election)," he said very pointedly.

In the same day also, the Sandakan LDP made a joint statement urging the government to handle the inflationary problem of the nation's economy, saying that "The general Malaysians are the biggest group that has been seriously hit by the hike of commodities prices. The spending power of the people has dropped tremendously since the past two years. Life has become more and more difficult."

All these statements came at the same day that the Chief Minister said the state Barisan Nasional, "especially Umno Sabah," is ready for the 13th general election, while the LDP President urged his leaders to prepare for the general elections, but with a warning that "The battlefield has now changed and the mindset of the people is also changing."

The overall tone form LDP is that it is not confident that the current trends in BN Sabah is conducive enough for a victory in the coming general election, with BN needing to "walk the talk" to gain the people's confidence, with inflationary trends in commodities prices, with the mindset of the people changing. As much as the leaders of LDP and other BN components want to say how confident they are about winning in the GE13, they just cannot stop themselves from saying how dangerous the situation is for the BN because of internal and external problems affecting the Sabah BN at the moment.

From their statements it is very clear the BN is facing a crisis of confidence from the people. And from their own surveys, they can see clearly that all is not well for the BN. They are not dumb. They can sense that the electorate is now more enlightened and are aware of the many problems, and that they can see when a party or a leader is trying to hoodwink them.

The problem is that the BN components claim to be fighting for the people while they know they can no longer achieve this objective within the BN! The people see them as fighting only for their own interests, for their positions and pecuniary benefits. They stay in the BN while at the same time fighting with Umno. They don't know if Umno is good or bad for them.

But now the time has come for them to realize that there is only one way out of their dilemma. If they are really fighting for the people, they must make a very firm stand now, to fully side with the people by leaving the BN before the general election! They should join under the UBF to fight for the Borneo Agenda.

The LDP says it is willing to sacrifice for the people, and what better way to do that than sacrificing their positions now and joining the opposition? If the KDM parties also take the same step, the state BN, and most importantly Umno, will be severely crippled. This is the only way to kill Sabah Umno and to get the party packing up and go back to the Peninsular! Umno has been telling the other components that it can stand on its own ("Without you we are still who we are"), so call this bluff, take their challenge and leave Umno en bloc, and see what happens to Umno.

Ask yourselves, will the KDM still vote for BN if the PBS is no longer in BN? Will the Chinese still vote for the BN if the LDP has left it? Umno may then decide to stand in all the 60 seats because this is what it had been wanting to do all these years. Salleh had said Sabah will continue to be a fixed deposit for the BN, but see if this is true if only Umno is left alone in the Sabah BN. 

By leaving Umno now, the Sabah BN components can create what we can call a reverse takeover of another sort. The present Sabah-based BN components can group together on the other side of the political divide now, stand for the Borneo Agenda, and deliver the coup de grace that will kill Umno and change the political history in Sabah. This way they will still be the government at the end of the day, and in tune with the aspiration of the people. 

They must ask themselves if the current arrangement will benefit them in the longer run. The people have lost respect for them, and they are seen as puppets trying to be heroes in a situation where they are being bullied into submission all the time.  And then there is another huge problem that they may have not seen yet. Even if the state BN can muster a victory in GE13 (with a lot 'magic' tricks with money and cheating), the real possibility of the Peninsular going into the opposition's hands is looming like a dark cloud above their heads.

The anti-BN sentiment in the Peninsular has reached a crescendo, has peaked, so much that even the Sabahan youths working there are calling their parents in Sabah to say their parents need to realize that the tsunami of change has enveloped the whole of the Peninsular "while you people are still blindly supporting the BN in Sabah!"

This is the biggest threat to the Sabah BN components. Even if Sabah BN wins in the GE13, Sabah will most likely become an opposition state, in which case their victory will be hollow, and we Sabahans will stand to lose in the process. They need to wise up and see that the best approach in any political manoeuvring is to side with the winner before the battle. Let's create a bigger window of opportunity with courage, which will be remembered forever.

 

Malaysia, in reflection

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 06:12 PM PDT

Yes, it is quite difficult to understand, I know, how someone can love the Malays and yet be its biggest critic. I not only criticise the Malays but also whack them on how they deviate from true Islam and distort the teachings of Islam. It is as if I look down on Islam, say some who are uncomfortable with my constant whacking of Malay-Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was once asked, soon after he retired on 1st November 2003, how he would like to be remembered. He replied he does not really care how he is remembered. Actually, that is a lie. He cares about how he is remembered and no one would like to be remembered as the blight to society. 

Anyway, if I were asked that same question -- how I would like to be remembered -- I would reply that I would like to be remembered as the Malay (or half-Malay/chap chai, if you wish) who was cruel and brutal towards the Malays because he loved the Malays.

Yes, it is quite difficult to understand, I know, how someone can love the Malays and yet be its biggest critic. I not only criticise the Malays but also whack them on how they deviate from true Islam and distort the teachings of Islam. It is as if I look down on Islam, say some who are uncomfortable with my constant whacking of Malay-Muslims.

Wong Sai Wan wrote an article called 'London Bridge is falling down' in The Star today. This piece is about the recent UK riots and Wong talks about the dark side of Manchester, the city I now call home.

The decay in the UK started about 30 or 40 years ago. British society already showed signs of breaking down but the government did nothing. Today, we are seeing the result of that neglect. The English youth are probably amongst the worst in the world. They have no ambition, they are uncouth and uncivilised, they are arrogant and inconsiderate -- in short the English youth is an example of everything that is wrong with society.

Okay, what has this got to do with how I would like to be remembered? Well, I would like to be remembered as the Malay who has been warning society that that this is what the Malays are going to be like in time to come, maybe by 2030 or so.

Malaysia, today, is what the UK was 30 or 40 years ago. By 2030 or so, Malaysia is going to be what the UK is today.

I am not saying this just today because of the UK riots. I have been saying this for more than 25 years since the 1980s.

Back in the 1980s, the Terengganu Education Department did a poll and the results showed that more than 90% of the school kids hated school and would rather be somewhere else rather than in the classroom.

And remember, 97%-98% of the Terengganu population is Malay, so we are talking about Malay kids here.

Anwar Ibrahim was the Minister of Education then and this was one of the reasons I was 'anti-Anwar'. I felt he was failing in his duty to properly educate and motivate the Malays. I felt that if this was not addressed then the Malay kids were going to become just like the English kids.

Around that same era, in the 1980s, I arranged a MCOBA Terengganu talk by the Terengganu family planning department and we were told that 70% of the AIDS sufferers were Malays and 90% got AIDS because of their drug habit.

Twenty years later, I would discover this firsthand when I spent some time in the lock-ups because of my anti-government activities. Most of the detainees are Malays and they are in the lockup because of drugs or drug-related crimes.

And now we also have the Mat Rempit and Bohsia problem, which is basically a Malay problem, again.

Today, we are seeing in Malaysia what the UK saw 30 or 40 years ago. Tomorrow, what today we are seeing in the UK we are going to see in Malaysia. The Malay kids are also not ambitious or motivated, just like the English kids. The Malay kids also expect the government to look after their welfare, just like the English kids do.

Everything that is wrong with Malaysia, today, was what was wrong with the UK 30 or 40 years ago. Everything that is happening in the UK, today, is going to happen in Malaysia in time to come, maybe as early as 2030.

Will I still be around to see this happen? Well, if the government continues with the neglect, like what the British government is guilty of, then this is going to happen. But whether I will still be around to see it happen, I don't know, unless I live to be 80 -- because in 2030 I will be 80.

Anyway, chances are I will be long gone by 2030. Nevertheless, when Kuala Lumpur burns, just like London did recently, I want those of you who are still around to remember me and say:

"Raja Petra said this would happen back in 2011. In fact, he had been saying this since the 1980s. And for 20 or 30 years he kept warning us that Malaysia was going the way of the UK and that if the government continued neglecting the matter then the Malays were going to become just like the English kids." 

And as you watch the Malay kids burn Kuala Lumpur to the ground and as you remember me saying that this would happen, light a candle for me and tell everyone that this is how Raja Petra said he would like to be remembered and we light this candle to remember him by. 

*****************************************

London Bridge is falling down

By Wong Sai Wan, The Star

The recent riots in Britain have given this nursery rhyme new significance about all that is wrong, but sadly it is nothing new.

THE world was shocked to see thugs, many barely in their teens, rioting and looting in various cities in England, which many Malaysians consider a heaven, with some unabashedly saying that going there is "balik kampung" (going back to the hometown).

The horror of the whole thing was brought even closer to home by the video clip of Malaysian student Mohd Asyraf Rafiq Rosli being robbed by the rioters after he had been assaulted. It was uploaded onto YouTube for the world to see, and then picked up by all TV stations.

The assault and robbery of Asyraf and the burning of a century-old furniture shop in Hackney were the main haunting images of the riot.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was quick to recall Parliament for an emergency session, where he condemned the rioters and at the same time dismissed the mid-summer nightmare as greed and thuggery.

He rejected any suggestion that his government's budgetary cuts was the cause of the riots, and declared "all-out war" on gangs, which he blamed for fuelling four nights of frenzied looting, saying they were "a major criminal disease that has infected streets and estates across our country".

"This has been a wake-up call for our country. Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face," he said, adding that a redoubling of efforts to tackle broken families, welfare dependence and educational failure was needed.

"Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?"

But has this come a little too late?

Well-known London social worker Sheldon Thomas, an ex-gang member who runs a mentoring programme, pointed out that British society is "broken" and the government action may be too late.

"People like me have been saying this for decades," he said. "People are angry, people are frustrated. There are no jobs, there is no aspiration."

Thomas and many of his fellow youth leaders said Cameron's government was only reacting to the visuals that were seen all over the world, especially when the rioting and looting affected the wealthier part of the cities.

Youth and social workers have been sounding the warning for years but successive British governments were more interested in projecting the growing materialistic part of Britain while the inner city problems were swept underneath the proverbial carpet.

People like Thomas are right. Go to YouTube and type "Moss Side" to see hundreds of CCTV video clips by the Greater Manchester Police on gang problems there.

National Geographic produced an excellent series on Manchester's underworld, titled Gunchester. It seems there are more guns in this former industrial centre than in any other city in Britain.

Moss Side, the centre of these violent gangs, is one of many inner city projects started in the 1950s after World War II that have turned into a social mess. There used to be thousands of council flats in Moss Side and neighbouring Hulme, where hundreds of Malaysian students stayed in their student days.

Among these, almost 30 years ago, was yours truly. Moss Side then was filled with blacks from the Caribbean and Africa. And they still form the majority today.

It was here in 1985 that the first race riots occurred, and spread to the rest of Britain. As a consequence, the British government decided to do away with the flats, blaming them for the inner city problems.

The truth was that Moss Side and many such inner city areas were a different country from the rest of Britain. They were improvised areas with many unemployed. Moss Side was – and still is, I am told – a bastion of drugs, vice and gangsterism.

A colleague, a fanatical Manchester United supporter, said he had been to the city many times, but he never ventured into Moss Side.

"Be careful when you see a boy wearing a hoodie (a sweatshirt with a hood) walking towards you. I will normally cross the street when I see one," he said.

I don't blame him because records show there had been more than 800 gang-related murders in Manchester in the past decade.

About five years ago, a 14-year-old boy was killed by a rival gang in Manchester.

His was not an isolated incident. There have been scores of teenage murders up and down England, especially in the inner cities, like Moss Side.

But to blame the gangs alone for the recent riots is a convenient excuse at best, or political naivete at worst.

Morality is not a word with any meaning in places like Moss Side, where the social structure has broken down. In this kind of place, one competes to be the youngest mother or grandmother.

Most parents do not know where their kids are at any time of the day. Anyway, most fathers and mothers have criminal records or had served time at the nearby city prison.

I recall being in a newspaper shop in Moss Side and the local postman strolled in and greeted the woman shopkeeper, who replied: "What can I do for you today, Mick?"

He said: "Can I have a 12-year-old virgin, please?"

To this, the elderly woman replied: "There are no such thing as 12-year-old virgins here. This is Moss Side." 

This conversation has stayed in my mind for the past 30 years and, of course, it was an exaggeration by the shopkeeper and the postman, but not by much.

We in Malaysia must be aware that we are also building inner city estates all over Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. Tall council or public housing flats are a sure-fire formula for such problems as in Moss Side.

The Women's and Family Development Ministry must study these areas carefully to ensure that social problems are solved before they become tinder to a highly inflammable situation.

Executive editor Wong Sai Wan was kept awake for three days in Moss Side by Bob Marley's No Women No Cry when he died on May 11, 1981.

 

WikiLeak: Ong Tee Keat admits Chinese marginalised

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 05:01 PM PDT

UPPERCAISE

There was once a day in Malaysia when MCA would get the left-overs, but now we are just hoping to get some crumbs from the Umno table
Ong Tee Keat, then MCA vice-president
quoted in a US diplomatic cable in 2006

Ong Tee Keat was one of the few high-level Chinese politicians who agreed that Malaysian Chinese are marginalised by Umno, according to a secret US diplomatic cable in 2006 published today at Malaysia Today through WikiLeaks.

The US Embassy's political officer, Mark Clark, noted that Ong, then MCA vice-president, was one of the few ministerial level Chinese politicians who refused to deny publicly or privately the fact that Chinese Malaysians are marginalised.

Ong commented to Clark in a private meeting that although Chinese leaders from MCA and Gerakan were bound to support government (i.e. Umno) positions, their Chinese constituents were not satisfied with their responses.

In cases such as this, "silence is sometimes our only valid response." But he acknowledged, "of course we are marginalised, big business to small stall owners know that — but MCA cannot admit it."

So when pressed by reporters for a public response to Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew's accusation that year that Malaysia marginalises the Chinese community, Ong related an old Chinese proverb — "Whether the water in the tea cup is hot or cold, he who drinks it knows best," the cable said.

Ong Tee Keat foresaw the difficulties facing the MCA in the general election (held two years later, in 2008). There was great dissatisfaction with the status quo in the Chinese community, only partially shown in the Sarawak elections of 2006 when the DAP won six seats.

READ MORE HERE

 

Wikileak: Koh Tsu Koon humiliated by Pak Lah and Umno

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 04:59 PM PDT

UPPERCAISE

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi publicly humiliated Koh Tsu Koon, then Penang chief minister, in 2006 in "an ironic exercise in hypocrisy and political expediency" just before Umno divisional meetings, according to the US Embassy's political officer, Mark Clark, in a secret diplomatic cable published at Malaysia Today through WikiLeaks.

The cable said Abdullah, then prime minister, "echoed the earlier remarks of his son in law, Khairy Jamaluddin", and publicly charged Koh Tsu Koon "with systematically marginalising [Penang] Malays and demanded immediate action to address the needs of the marginalised Malay community", the cable said.

Penang executive councillor Dr Toh Kin Woon, sometimes called the conscience of the Gerakan, later told Mark Clark privately that Abdullah thoroughly humiliated Koh, who was caught unprepared and unable to respond "although Malays in Penang have a higher per capita income than Malays in many other states".

The irony noted by the cable stemmed from a political controversy sparked by Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew statement that Malaysian Chinese had been systematically marginalised by the ruling coalition, principally by Umno.

Koh Tsu Koon faced further lambasting from Najib Tun Razak, then Abdullah's deputy, who called on Koh to more equally divide his executive powers with the deputy chief minister (an Umno man), and Hishamuddin Tun Hussein, the education minister then, demanded Koh take unconditional immediate action to address the needs of Penang Malays.

"According to sources who attended the meeting, Koh was dumbfounded and unprepared to respond to the Prime Minister's accusations," the cable noted.

READ MORE HERE

 

Timbalan Speaker gubah wang haram?

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 04:28 PM PDT

SABAHKINI

RAMAI rakyat Malaysia tertanya-tanya apa hubungan Timbalan Speaker Dewan Rakyat, Datuk Dr. Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar dengan dua pengarah Mercantile Point Sdn Bhd dihukum penjara dan denda setelah didapati bersalah melakukan kegiatan Menggubah Wang Haram oleh Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur, 17 Ogos lalu?

Penglibatan Junaidi sebagai Pengerusi Prime Stock Sdn.Bhd, subsidiari Mercantile Point Sdn Bhd dikesan melalui blog 'Way Of Investment' yang memaparkan resume dan peranan Junaidi setelah laman web utama Merchantile Point Sdn.Bhd ditutup.

Nama Ahli Parlimen Malaysia (Santubong) ini disebut-sebut oleh pelabur, namun sukar untuk mengesan penglibatannya; melainkan setelah Sabahkini.net menjalankan penyelidikan rapi dengan bantuan beberapa informer yang menjadi mangsa Merchantile Point Sdn.Bhd.

Pada 17 Ogos lalu, dua pengarah syarikat Mercantile Point Sdn Bhd, masing-masing dihukum penjara dua tahun serta denda RM3 juta dan RM5 juta oleh Mahkamah Sesyen di sini selepas didapati bersalah mengikut Akta Bank dan Institusi-institusi Kewangan (BAFIA) 1989 dan Akta Pencegahan Pengubahan Wang Haram dan Pencegahan Pembiayaan Keganasan (AMLATFA) 2001.

READ MORE HERE

 

Former top cop confirms Tajudin links

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 04:24 PM PDT

(Malaysiakini) - Prime Minister Najib Razak should rethink any kind of settlement with Tajudin Ramli or directing the government-linked companies (GLCs) to withdraw all pending law suits against the former Malaysia Airlines chief.

Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim said this was to ensure that the interests of the public are preserved, and not that of Tajudin or other politically-linked personalities.

"I feel there are 'hidden hands and old players' at work in the Malaysia Airlines scandal, and who are again involved in the recent 'merger' of MAS and AirAsia.

daim zainuddin"The appointment of Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah as a director of MAS after he disappeared from the corporate spotlight since 1998 strengthens such a speculation as Wan Azmi is alleged to be involved in holding RM150 million on behalf of (former finance minister) Daim Zainuddin (right).

"It is not wrong for the people to suspect something amiss or be worried that what had happened with Tajudin may happen again with this new exercise. The people have the right to know in detail as to the terms and conditions of this (MAS-AirAsia) agreement," Mat Zain said in a statement provided to Malaysiakini.

Mat Zain was referring to the letter signed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, dated Aug 8, which stated that he had obtained the government's mandate for the GLCs to enter into an out-of-court settlement with Tajudin - and the prime minister has affirmed this.

"It is not wrong for people to feel they may as well say goodbye to the billions of ringgit which Tajudin may have received when he was MAS chairperson," he said.

Top cop involved in Tajudin probe

Mat Zain, who was privy to some high-profile investigations when in office, said he was the investigating officer in Tajudin's alleged wrongdoing in MAS following a police report lodged by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1999.

"Tajudin appeared in the report by Anwar, who also accused Daim of receiving hundreds of millions of ringgit and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was said to be protecting all this.

halim saad"Anwar's police report included three letters by corporate figures Abdul Halim Saad (left) - said to hold 52 million Faber Merlin shares and 130 million Renong shares - Wan Azmi holding RM150 million for Daim, and Tajudin holding RM70 million for Daim," Mat Zain said.

He said he handled the investigation as he was then Kuala Lumpur CID chief. He is certain the letters written by the three corporate figures are genuine and their contents truthful.

"I have investigated another case in 1995 where I verified with a minister, who did not deny the existence of such a letter relating to Halim and his Umno links," he said.

If this was the truth, Mat Zain said, the questions remained as to where all the money that the three corporate figures were holding in trust came from.

Acrimonious relationship with AG

This also begged the question as to why the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACA), now the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), had not acted on this information although it has known about the matter since 1999.

"The people cannot accept that it (MACC) is still investigating the case as it has taken 12 years."

NONEHe also questioned why attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail (right) had not taken action against Tajudin even though the police investigations were "crystal clear".

"I believe Gani still remembers that he had directed the withdrawal of 37 charges against Port Klang asssemblyperson Zakariah Mat Deros. This brought disrepute to the AG's Chambers, judiciary and the enforcement agencies.

"Hopefully, in this month of Ramadan, Gani remembers the fate of the government officers who were involved in the MAS and Tajudin scandal investigations, who were persecuted by him for merely doing their job in investigating the matter, and some are languishing in prison," lamented Mat Zain.

He said Najib may not have been involved in the abuse of power and corruption among senior Umno leaders in 1999.

However, the prime minister, by calling for a settlement in the Tajudin matter, may have been forced to make an unwise decision to the effect of the rakyat losing out.

"I hope Najib himself will not protect the alleged criminal acts committed by Tajudin in the MAS scandal. The action of protecting or hiding a criminal offence is an offence itself."

There is still time until Sept 29, Mat Zain added, for Najib to make amends, which will show whether the PM is aware of, and is concerned about, the people's grievances in the whole affair.

 

Don't be hasty to act over apostasy, says Mahathir

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 04:20 PM PDT

(Bernama) - Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government should not be hasty in taking action on the alleged attempt to convert Muslims in the country into other faiths.

"It has to be studied first... at times the allegation is true, sometimes (it is) not true."

"If we are hasty in our investigation, then when (the action is) wrong, people will no longer believe us."

"Wait until correct information is obtained," he told reporters after attending a breaking of the fast at Masjid Al-Ehsan, Batu 3, Kodiang, near Jerlun last night.

Also present were his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and son Mukhriz, who is also the deputy international trade and industry minister and member of parliament for Jerlun.

Dr Mahathir said Muslims in the country should be concerned about the plight of those in need of assistance to avoid the possibility of a deviation in their faith.

"If no one looks after them and they are in difficulty, they may become attracted to those who offer them aid," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said the people in this country must choose the right leader if they wished to see Malaysia continue to remain ahead in terms of development compared to most of the neighbouring countries.

"If we choose the wrong leader, they (the other neighbouring countries) will overtake us."

"Don't choose people who only want to become the prime minister but do not want to do anything," he added.

 

TBH ‘suicide’ finding: The impossible does not happen

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 03:45 PM PDT

tbh

Extracts from Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Enquiry: 

Decision on the second term of reference:

[119] Having considered all the evidence in its entirety, we found that TBH was driven to commit suicide by the aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation to which he was subjected by certain officers of the MACC who were in the ongoing operation by the Selangor MACC on the night of the 15th and into the morning of the 16th.

- Forensic psychiatric aspects

[233] Tormented by this predicament, TBH experienced a change in his state of mind. And in a matter of hours, this change transformed him from being in the low-risk group for suicide into the high-risk group. The doubts, extreme emotional conflict and the immense feeling of guilt were all intolerable. Finally, precipitating the irreversible crisis that happened to him between 3.30am and 7.00am on the 16th, was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Finding no viable strategies to surmount the hurdle of accusations levelled, he found himself unable to escape from the suffocating quagmire in which he was trapped. TBH would have felt trapped and have succumbed to despair. Since the window on the 14th floor was either open or could be easily opened and it was conspicuous and easily accessible near where he was on the sofa outside Nasdzri's room, TBH would have found that the only way for escape from the torment he was undergoing was by jumping out of the window, even though it meant taking his own life...."

*********************************************

Introduction

Self-inflicted death must have meaning and a reason. In Teoh Beng Hock's death, we find neither meaning nor a reason for taking his own life, if we accept the findings of the TBH royal commission of inquiry.

Suicide is rare. It is even rarer for a normal person without abnormal psychology to commit suicide.

It is hard to believe suicide can happen within few hours of experiencing trauma. Hopelessness as an acute warning sign of suicide most often takes time to develop, days or weeks if not months. RCI has confirmed that TBH was "driven to commit suicide" within hours. The impossible does not happen and the improbable only happens very rarely.

This suicide verdict goes very much against common sense and the intuition of many Malaysians. A closer look is hence necessary to critically examine how the RCI arrived at such conclusion and whether the RCI has proved TBH's intention to suicide.

The focus of study here is essentially of the psychological aspects of the section on 'Forensic psychiatric aspects', pages 64 to 72 of the Report of the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock (hereafter called RCI).

Serious flaws in RCI conjecture

RCI evaluated the evidence from forensic pathology and concluded that TBH fell to his death; and from forensic psychiatry that TBH would have jumped to his death. These conclusions are used as reasons to support the suicide verdict that TBH was driven to commit suicide.

However, there are serious flaws observed in RCI's argument. The authenticity of the evidence of intention to suicide used to support the claim is doubtful. Also, the inference from evidence to the conclusion of suicide is invalid and unsound.

The commissioners' method of reconstructing TBH's psychological state prior to death is questionable. The suicide verdict is examined here from the perspective of suicide.

Making attributions without proof

One of the two main terms of reference as spelt out in the RCI is "...to enquire into the death of Teoh Beng Hock and the circumstances surrounding and contributing to his death. It does not state clearly whether 'death' means the cause of death (e.g. major injuries, heart attack etc.) or the manner of death (natural causes, accident, homicide or suicide)."

By RCI's verdict of the enquiry, it had taken to itself the responsibility to determine the manner or mode of death.

As for the requirement of the level of proof, RCI stated that their finding would be based on "a balance of probabilities sliding to proof beyond reasonable doubt" (RCI pp.5). This means RCI claims its standard of proof is very high. Also, it says that in order to "understand the probability that TBH took his own life", it is crucial to know TBH's traits of character and his changing states of mind (RCI, pp.64).

It is clear from the above that RCI intended to use the language of probability in the reasoning in the argument. However, the RCI commissioners used the language of certainty when giving the verdict of "driven to commit suicide"; it does not say something like "TBH probably or most probably was driven to commit suicide", but asserted that TBH was "driven to commit suicide".

The commissioners should not use categorical terms of suicide in absolute certainty as the precise mental state of the deceased could not be known.

Purported intention to suicide unconvincing

When read closely, the RCI para.[233] on "conclusion on forensic psychiatric aspects" does not confirm that TBH intended to commit suicide but speculated that TBH must have committed suicide:

"...TBH would have found that the only way for escape from the torment he was undergoing was by jumping out of the window, even though it meant taking his own life." (RCI, pp.72). However, such speculation is used as the reason to come to the suicide verdict: "...Having considered all the evidence in its entirety, we found that TBH was driven to commit by the aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation to which  he was subjected by certain officers of the MACC.." (RCI, pp.37).

Para. [233] is of utmost importance in determining whether TBH had the intention to suicide. RCI was unable to confirm the intention to suicide and yet it confirmed suicide had occurred. This is a deep contradiction and the inference is seriously flawed.

RCI is using a strange logic which is only intelligible to itself. It runs something like this: Teoh Beng Hock would have found suicide as the only way out. Therefore, TBH committed suicide. Speculation has then become hard fact. There is little wonder that the public refuses to accept the verdict.

But, why must RCI deliver a suicide verdict? Why not an open verdict? We do not know for what reasons the commissioners felt compelled or were compelled to make a verdict that contradicts its own reasoning. With an unconvincing verdict, the reasoning itself in the RCI needs to be examined critically.

READ MORE HERE

 

Who’s scaring the ‘rakyat’?

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 03:24 PM PDT

By Aliran

Prior to the Bersih 2.0 event, both the alternative and the mainstream media were abuzz with news of arrests, detention and the use of repressive laws such as the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance and police crackdowns on various groups to avert alleged chaos in the country.

There have also been reports that citizens are making police reports against the Bersih 2.0 rally on 9 July. In the run up to the event and a looming general election (the date has not yet been disclosed by the government), loud rumblings could be heard from the authorities, police, and civil society. The nation, seemingly, was on the brink of erupting into public disorder.

Arrests and raids

Most of this rumbling, however, grew louder with the sudden arrests of groups of political and social activists from 25 June. Despite this, many more apparently joined the ranks of Bersih 2.0 supporters declaring their stand by wearing and buying more of these 'effective' yellow T-shirts. Seeing that the arrests only served to attract more support, the authorities and police decided to out-law these yellow T-shirts ( or any yellow-coloured outfit). Not only is this laughable but certainly absurd, but what can we expect of authorities who like producing 'sandiwaras' to deflect public attention from the real fundamental issue of electoral reform.

When this still did not stop the Bersih rumblings, the police resorted to heavier handed methods like threatening to break into the Bersih 2.0 secretariat if they didn't allow the police to ransack and confiscate (without a warrant) office equipment and rally paraphernalia.

Prior to that 30 members of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) were arrested and detained on a serious but spurious charge of reviving the now defunct Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and waging war against the King, simply by having T-shirts bearing images of famous historical communist leaders, Bersih 2.0 pamphlets, "Udahlah…saralah" campaign leaflets, flags and banners in their possession. So, these were also considered illegal, apart from the act of being passengers on a bus involved in a roadshow. The bus driver and his seven-year-old son were also arrested for reasons unknown.

Finding that support for those arrested and detained had not ebbed, the authorities and police went on to wield the threat of using the ISA, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, ultimately 'hitting' the PSM with the Emergency Ordinance. It looks like the BN fears the colour yellow, a few pamphlets, banners, flags and T-shirts. Earlier, in the year, they were threatened by a cartoonist who coined the word 'cartoonophobia'; he was also arrested for publishing a new book of political cartoons for public amusement.

 

READ MORE HERE.

Malaysia's Najib Pledges to Examine Election Laws After Mass Protests

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 03:10 PM PDT

MALAYSIA1

By James Hookway, Wall Street Journal

Five weeks after a protest that was the biggest Malaysia has seen in four years, Prime Minister Najib Razak Tuesday pledged to examine ways to revamp the country's electoral laws.

More than 20,000 people gathered on the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 9 in a demonstration that police sought to break up with tear gas and water cannons. The activists, organized by an independent group known as Bersih—the Malay word for "clean"—but also including opposition leaders such as Anwar Ibrahim, argue that the majority-Muslim country's electoral system unfairly favors the National Front. That coalition has ruled this important gas and palm-oil exporter since independence from Britain in 1957.

Among other things, the protesters called for the government to update the electoral rolls and ensure equal access to state-controlled media for all political parties.

The confrontation with police, which human-rights group Amnesty International called "the worst campaign of repression we've seen in the country for years," came as speculation grew that Mr. Najib, 58 years old and the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, would soon call elections. He isn't obliged to do so until 2013, but analysts say calling for an early election might provide him with an edge over his opponents.

Malaysia, though many parts of its economy are growing strongly, is badly fractured politically, often along race-based lines. Mr. Najib's United Malays National Organization party claims to represent the country's majority Muslim Malay population, and in the 1970s implemented affirmative-action policies meant to help ethnic Malays catch up economically with other groups, especially the country's ethnic Chinese.

Programs including quotas for access to universities and special loans for ethnic Malays have since become well-entrenched, though in recent years a growing number of Malaysians have called for change. Mr. Anwar, the 64-year-old opposition leader, is among those pushing to liberalize the economy and level the playing field for all Malaysians, and analysts say that under Mr. Najib some important aspects of affirmative action have been carefully rolled back.

Political change appears to be coming more slowly. Mr. Najib's tentative offer to consider overhauling Malaysia's electoral system is his biggest concession to the protesters so far. Declaring that the system had served Malaysia well over the past 50 years, he said that he would nonetheless name a parliamentary committee to examine possible changes.

"For whatever reason, some people have expressed doubts about that system, leading to calls for change," Mr. Najib said in a statement. "I have always been deeply committed to Parliamentary democracy and to all it can achieve… That is why I am building on my reform agenda to establish an independent bipartisan Select Committee that will ensure that the views of each and every Malaysian are reflected at the ballot box."

It wasn't clear when, or if, the committee would recommend any changes.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, seen in a Friday photo, on Tuesday promised to examine ways to revamp electoral laws.

Opposition leaders and democracy activists cautiously welcomed Mr. Najib's pledge. Mr. Anwar told The Wall Street Journal that the prime minister is "finally conceding the concerns of the vast number of citizens regarding fraud," but said the committee must include representatives from the opposition, hear the opinions of civil-society groups and address "the fundamental issues on electoral reform."

Mr. Anwar, who is now on trial on charges he violated Malaysia's strict sodomy laws—a case he says is politically motivated—added that he's concerned the formation of a new committee could actually be way to slow down a revamp and deflect momentum away from meaningful change.

"We already have an Election Commission that's supposed to be independent," he said. "What's stopping them from revising the list of postal voters or updating the electoral rolls?"

The Bersih group that organized the July 9 protest in Kuala Lumpur also expressed wariness about Mr. Najib's plans. While welcoming his proposal, the group stressed that changes to the electoral system must happen before the next election.

If Mr. Najib calls a vote before reforms can be made, "I don't think the public will stomach anything like this," said one Bersih activist, Wong Chin Huat.

—Celine Fernandez contributed to this article.

 

Najib says 100pc meritocracy will breed ‘mediocrity’

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:58 PM PDT

By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM: Datuk Seri Najib Razak sought today to justify his administration's apparent return to affirmative action policies to boost the Bumiputera economy, saying a system based 100 per cent on meritocracy would only breed "a nation of mediocrity".

The prime minister told a convention here that the government's "new system" was to use meritocracy among Bumiputeras by identifying and rewarding sincere and deserving Malay businesses while at the same time creating a more competitive environment to enhance the Malay economy.

He said focussing entirely on meritocracy would not be fair to individuals living in rural and suburban areas, claiming they would not be able to compete on a level playing field with those living in urban centres.

"Yes, some have said that the time has arrived that we no longer need affirmative action, some say we can scrap the quota system, we do not need this and that... and that we should practise full meritocracy.

"This is not coming from the non-Malays alone but the Malays themselves, the so-called liberal Malays," Najib said in his keynote address at the opening of the "Strengthening the New Economic Model — 1 Jihad Bumiputera Economy" convention at Universiti Teknologi Mara here.

"I say that it is true that the non-Malays became rich because of hard work but it is no less important to note that they became rich also because of our country's stability and a sound administration... because when they needed money, we gave it to them, even from before," he said.

Najib said Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) should be partly credited for being "considerate" and "fair" to the non-Malays, resulting in an environment that enabled their businesses to thrive.

"But do not now fail to be considerate to the Malays as well... they (non-Malays) should also be fair because Malays are presently at a disadvantage.

"Perhaps they say 40 years (of affirmative action) is enough but a large number of living in rural and suburban areas still need government aid through rewarding policies. So depending solely on meritocracy would be unfair," he said.

 

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

 

 

Najib: We are on track to meet 5% GDP growth

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:20 PM PDT

 

By Zuhrin Azam Ahmad, The Star

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is optimistic that the country will meet this year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of between 5% and 6%.

The Prime Minister said despite the volatile global economy, there were signs that the GDP would meet the 5% growth.

"We decided to project the growth in a range of 5% to 6% as it was difficult to narrow it to one figure.

"Based on the current situation, we are expecting it to be closer to 5%, and as such, we are maintaining the target," he said after chairing the National Financial Council meeting yesterday.

The country's economic growth moderated to 4% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, following a revised growth of 4.9% year-on-year in the preceding quarter due to weaker external environment.

Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said on Wednesday that based on the growth Malaysia has achieved so far, it was likely that the country's GDP for the full year would expand by at least 5%.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the country's inflation was manageable with the latest figures showing a slight decline.

"Several steps including reducing the price of chicken had some impact on the inflation situation. What we want is to achieve low inflation with encouraging economic growth," he said.

Najib also said the target to reduce the fiscal deficit to 5.4% of the GDP this year was still on track.

On the meeting, Najib said the council had agreed to allocate RM318mil in 2013 including RM288mil as contribution to states based on economic development, infrastructure and well-being standards.

Later, writing in his blog, Najib said all input and ideas from participants in the Roundtable Session had been submitted to the Finance Ministry for consideration in the drawing up of the coming Budget.

 

 

“Ikut Perintah”: Vote Rigging Is Coming Out Of The Woodwork Now

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:13 PM PDT

By Mariam Mokhtar

Over the past weeks, Malaysians have been horrified to learn that the Election Commission has been negligent and allowed vote-rigging and electoral manipulation on a wide scale.

The EC would roll out the usual, tired excuses – that checking processes cannot be done, that the EC lacks resources, or that the EC does not have the power.

In a civilised part of the world, any EC head or its deputy, who was responsible for tarnishing its non-partisan image, and who compromised its impartiality and neutrality, would have been sacked for his incompetence. In Malaysia, it is business as usual.

To ensure a clean election is far from the EC's prerogative. To enable Umno to rule in perpetuity seems to be its only objective.

The EC is as useful as an umbrella in a raging typhoon. It continues to disregard all the exposés that ordinary citizens, opposition members, activists and news portals have managed to uncover.

The latest to wade into this election mêlée is the head of the Armed Forces, General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin. He issued a written statement at yesterday's press conference denying vote manipulation in the Armed Forces.

He also denounced the four members of the rank-and-file who admitted that they had been involved in electoral fraud and slammed them for their betrayal and disloyalty.

Earlier this August, another ex-soldier also claimed that he was forced to manipulate postal votes.

Zulkifeli said, "The actions can be interpreted as treachery and it should stop immediately. The Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) is the nation's wall of defence that should be supported by all levels of the people, regardless of ethnicity, religion and political position.

"It is hoped that the ATM is not made a scapegoat by those seeking to advance their own interests. The people should show their support and appreciation for the contributions of the ATM."

According to Zulkifeli, the Armed Forces respects the freedom of its troops to cast their votes, under the Elections Act 1958 and section 16 of the Election Regulations (Postal Votes) 2003.

He stressed, "The voting process carried out by the Armed Forces is clean, transparent and professional without any interference by all levels of the Armed Forces' leadership," and took a swipe at the opposition for discrediting the Armed Forces.

It is a well-known fact that the armed forces have been used to shore up support for the BN in previous elections. The only difference in the 21st century is that we now have some brave individuals who are prepared to admit their actions.

Oftentimes, we do many unpleasant things because we "ikut perintah" and to a lesser extent we "jaga periuk nasi".

Many of our ex-service personnel especially the top brass become arms dealers when they retire. Furthermore, the book 'Questioning Arms Spending in Malaysia" by Kua Kia Soong, alleges that when arms are procured, contracts are given to companies linked to political leaders. Officers approve projects of relatives or friends of the political leaders.

Zulkifeli cannot be a good leader if he immediately points fingers at the Opposition and calls the men who exposed the wrong-doings in the armed forces as traitors. He could have gained more respect if he said that he would look into the allegations and order a full-scale investigation.

To brand the five men as disloyal is an insult. They have exposed the scandal and corruption in the armed forces. It is Zulkifeli who should consider his position and responsibilities.

If Zulkifeli does not order an investigation of the election fraud within the armed forces; he is the traitor and he should be cashiered.

The traitors are also those who let in foreigners through the back-door with citizenship and voting rights.

In 2004, Najib would have lost the Pekan constituency but for postal votes.

Another classic case of postal voting being used to manipulate the election outcome was in the Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11, 2009. It is alleged that the garrison commander of Port Dickson earned his second star because of this. It was a favour returned for his tacit support in ensuring 5,000 extra votes for Umno's Isa Samad, a man who had been charged and punished for money-politics.

Voting in the army involves personnel crossing ballot papers in a hall and then depositing them in mail bags placed in front of the hall. The bags are then sealed and taken away by EC officers. Counting is done centrally at the approved centre after voting day.

Whether the mailing bags surrendered are the right bags is anybody's guess. Anything can happen when the bags are in transit or are stored at the EC office.

Despite claims and efforts by commanders to prevent canvassing in army camps, there are occasions when members of the ruling party have managed to "talk to the boys on a personal basis".

One army commander related how in the 1995 GE, he was told to 'look the other way' when BN politicians solicited for votes in his camp. By right, no campaigning is allowed in army camps, because as Zulkifeli pointed out, the armed forces are supposed to be apolitical.

However, which serving army officer is prepared to ignore the directive from Mindef?

Section 87 of Army Act 1972 stipulates that an officer or a soldier can be subjected to military punishment if he is charged for a conduct/act unbecoming of good military discipline/order.

Section 88 says that punishment can be meted on soldiers/officers for an act/behaviour deemed offensive by a superior officer.

These two sections will get anyone whom a superior dislikes into trouble.

Zulkifeli is disingenuous to claim that the "voting process carried out by the Armed Forces is clean, transparent and professional without any interference". Naturally he cannot condone the electoral cheating because of "Ikut perintah".

But to denounce the four ex-soldiers is outrageous. Zulkifeli is harbouring traitors in disguise. It is he who should question his own allegiance to King and country.

 


 

'The spate of hate crimes must be stopped’

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:09 PM PDT

By Athi Shankar, FMT

GEORGE TOWN: There are groups of extremists who are turning to hate crime to settle their political differences. And Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong thinks that this could be the reason for torching the state DAP headquarters.

 

He also blames acts of political violence in other parts of the country on these political extremists.

He said these extremists were resorting to hate crime because they refuse to exhaust existing avenues to settle political differences.

He added that these people should have adopted diplomatic channels to raise grievances, address contentious issues and find amicable solutions to problems.

"No religion or civilised community would condone such hate crimes. It's a violent act of political desperation by anti-democratic elements," Liew told FMT, referring to the Penang DAP headquarters fire in the early hours yesterday.

Stacks of newspapers placed at the building's front portion were torched about 3am.

The incident happened just four days after their premise in Jalan Talipon was splashed with red paint.

Several politically motivated hate crimes took place in the country, especially in Penang, in the past few months.

Among them were splashing of green paint at the service centre of Komtar state representative Ng Wei Aik, who is also Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's political secretary.

Other incidents were displaying posters defaming Lim, splashing green paint at the house of Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng and splashing yellow paint at Umno Cheras and Bandar Tun Razak branch premises.

A rowdy protest by Suara Anak-Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang (SAMPP) disrupted a press conference held by Bersih coordinator Toh Kin Woon outside the state police headquarters in Jalan Penang on June 29.

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

Dr M says Muslim fracture may tempt foreign intrusion

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:05 PM PDT

By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned that the split among Muslims in Malaysia into three groups may lead to foreign interference with the nation's affairs.

National news agency Bernama reported the influential former prime minister as saying that the three Muslim groups were "warring" among themselves without using weapons like in other Islamic countries suffering disunity.

He did not, however, specifically identify the groups.

"Because of disunity, we have become weak," said Dr Mahathir at a buka puasa dinner in Jerlun, Kedah, last night.

"We may have forgotten that 55 years ago, all Muslims in this country fought for independence and (opposed) the Malayan Union. At that time, the Muslims were weak, but we defeated the Malayan Union because we were united.

"Even though we did not have money and other strengths, but because we were united, we could triumph over the Malayan Union," added the elder statesman.

Dr Mahathir's remarks came as racial and religious tension heightened in multi-racial Malaysia after a series of controversial incidents this year.

The Penang Fatwa Council's recent ban on loudspeaker broadcasts of Quran readings has caused furore among the Muslim community in Penang.

The DAP Penang headquarters was attacked in an arson attempt yesterday, with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng linking the attack to the ban.

Selangor religious authorities also raided a church in Petaling Jaya on August 3, accusing it of proselytising Muslims at a thanksgiving dinner there.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir said that many Islamic countries were now facing problems such as internal strife, wars against foreigners, and famines.

"This is what is going on in many Islamic countries. In those countries, the people are not united. In the end, Muslims become weak and foreigners take the advantage to control Muslims," he said.

"If we are not united, we will become like those Muslims. We have to work hard to ensure that Muslims do not suffer a terrible fate because of our disunity," Dr Mahathir added.

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

‘Don’t put gun to my head’, EC chief asks Bersih

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:03 PM PDT

By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 — The Election Commission (EC) has agreed to meet with Bersih 2.0 to discuss electoral reforms, but its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof asked that the reforms movement not "put a gun to [his] head".

 "I told them better don't do that (put a gun to his head). You can suggest anything but some suggestions we might agree, some suggestions we might not. But don't expect we must agree everything," Abdul Aziz said today.

He was speaking to reporters here at the EC office after a two-hour discussion with the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham).

The first NGO to meet with the EC since the July 9 rally, Proham today submitted a report on "Human Rights and Electoral Reform" based on its findings from a public forum last month.

"You must come like Proham today, we must discuss openly without condition; they (Proham) didn't put a gun to my head," he said.

Bersih 2.0 is a loose coalition of 62 NGOs demanding for clean and fair elections.

The election watchdog group has been pushing for electoral reforms for years, resulting in two street rallies — the first in 2007, which has been partly credited for the Election 2008 tsunami, and the second on July 9 this year, which saw the Najib administration's reformist image take a severe beating in the international media.

Abdul Aziz said based on his understanding, the request for the meeting was on three new issues which he declined to disclose.

"[The EC] is ready to meet with anyone to give suggestions and opinions to improve democracy and the election system.

"I hear and will discuss their (Proham) suggestions with the EC panel members whether those suggestions can be made into law or accepted as policy," Abdul Aziz said.

He said among the issues discussed today were the independence of the EC, as well as ways to keep track of voting with biometric systems and indelible ink.

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

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