| PAS man denies supporting Lynas plant Posted: 28 Aug 2011 12:41 PM PDT 
By G.Manimaran, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — PAS lawmaker Che Rosli Che Mat has insisted that his comments on primetime television were not in support of a controversial RM700 million rare earth plant that is being opposed by his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues. The Hulu Langat MP also told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that he appeared in a TV3 segment that staunchly defended the refinery being built by Australian miner Lynas Corp in his personal capacity as a nuclear scientist and not as a representative of the Islamist party.
"I told the TV3 journalist that I need the permission of my party president but because Karam Singh Walia called me two or three times, I said I would only appear as a scientist," the former lecturer said.
PAS said yesterday that it will demand an explanation from Che Rosli after Hari Raya this week as to why he broke ranks with the party's stand although it clarified that it was not a disciplinary issue.
Although Che Rosli also said that he will accept the party's decision on the matter, he insisted that "I did not act against the party and I do not support Lynas."
The Malaysian Insider understands that the MP will be hauled up to the party headquarters in the second week of September over comments he made regarding the plant that has raised fears of radiation pollution among Kuantan residents.
In the news segment, Che Rosli had said: "The ones that have raised this issue is PKR... but it is unfair. Is Lynas a nuclear plant? They spin. I was ashamed. I am a PAS member too. So I made the decision as a nuclear scientist to come today. They can say whatever they want.
"These allegations are unscientific and not academic at all. The public does not need to be afraid. They can go themselves and see in the Lynas plant, what will be built and the facilities it will have to protect the safety of its workers and also the general public."
Following Che Rosli's appearance on television, Pahang PAS information chief Suhaimi Md Saad told The Malaysian Insider last week that Che Rosli's actions were unacceptable as the nuclear scientist could have used party channels or even voiced his support for the plant in party organ Harakah.
"We know he supported the plant when we first discussed the issue in 2009. But after consulting other experts, PAS's stand was to oppose the project. But now he has gone into the enemy's camp to attack his own party," Suhaimi had said.
A review of the project led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) put forward 11 recommendations for Lynas to meet before beginning operations which have been adopted by Putrajaya. READ MORE HERE. |
| Revised law rewards judiciary’s top three, works other judges longer Posted: 28 Aug 2011 11:42 AM PDT 
By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Unlike his predecessors, Tun Zaki Azmi will retire on a full pension when he clocks out for the last time from the Palace of Justice on September 12 despite serving less than three years as Chief Justice, thanks to a recent revision of a remuneration law for the country's judges. It used to be a minimum of 15 years for judges from the High Court upwards to get their full pensions but few in the courts appear aware of the revisions to the Judges' Remuneration Act (JRA) 1971, passed in Parliament two months ago, that gave senior judges a shorter time to get pensions while junior judges now have to spend 18 years to get their full pension
"The whole thing is purposely catered to Zaki," DAP federal lawmaker Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insiderwhen contacted.
The Ipoh Timur MP said the proposal had been debated in the Dewan Rakyat in June but that the costing was not known then.
The new law is effectively immediately.
The few lawyers who know the amended law, also known as Act 45, have attacked it as being tailored to reward the outgoing CJ. They added that the changes are discriminatory to judges.
The most significant change involves enabling those holding the judiciary's top three posts, namely that of the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Judge of Malaya or Sabah and Sarawak, to be rewarded with a full pension.
A new provision rewarding the country's top three judges was created under section 9 of the JRA, which reads: "Notwithstanding anything in this Act but subject to section 8, a person holding the office of Chief Justice, President or Chief Judge shall be entitled to maximum pension if he has held either office or all the offices for a period in the aggregate of not less than three years."
For Zaki, the son of a former Lord President of the Federal Court, Tun Mohamed Azmi Mohamed, this amendment to the law is most opportune.
The former Umno lawyer was directly appointed into the judiciary as a Federal Court judge on September 5, 2007 and fast-tracked to the post of Court of Appeal President on December 11 that same year.
Less than a year later, on October 8, 2008 Zaki was elevated to the judiciary's topmost post as Chief Justice — setting a record for the fastest-rising judge in the country.
Under the new law, full pension now amounts to three-fifths of the top-ranking judge's last drawn salary, revised upwards from half the amount.
Lim said the opposition pact had raised questions over the motive for the amendment, if it was to benefit "only Zaki".
However, the veteran politician was silent when asked if there were objections to the second significant amendment, to extend the number of years of service for the other judges from 15 to 18 in order for them to qualify for full pension.
Former Bar Council chief Ragunath Kesavan said the amendment to section 5 of the JRA was even more unfair, contrasted against the acceleration of the judiciary's top three while other judges saw their years in service added on to qualify for full pension.
"That is obviously unfair to the judges. If you're a judge, you're a judge. There should not be a distinction made between them," he said, adding that few of those currently on the Bench were aware of this piece of news. READ MORE HERE. |
| One man’s traitor is another man’s patriot Posted: 28 Aug 2011 05:15 AM PDT 
There appears to be a debate raging around Mat Sabu. I really don't know what it is he said. I was not there and neither have I seen the video recording of what he said. Anyway, while we wait for the jury to come back to rule on whether Mat Sabu was out of line or not, let us deliberate on the definition of patriot and traitor. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin There appears to be a debate raging around Mat Sabu. I really don't know what it is he said. I was not there and neither have I seen the video recording of what he said. Anyway, while we wait for the jury to come back to rule on whether Mat Sabu was out of line or not, let us deliberate on the definition of patriot and traitor.
George Washington was a traitor. He committed treason. And yet he was also a patriot and they named the capital of the United States of America after him. The only thing is the British were not able to capture him and put him to death. So, fortunate for him, he went on to become the First President of America.
Jose Rizal was a traitor. He committed treason and so they put him to death. And yet he was also a patriot and is now considered the Philippines' national hero. If you were to smear his name while on a visit to Manila, they would probably have to send your body home in a coffin, if there is anything left of you by the time they finish with you.
Tok Janggut was a traitor. He committed treason. So they killed him and hung his body upside down along the banks of the Kelantan River and left it there to rot. And yet he is also a patriot and the Kelantanese revere his name.
Gandhi was a traitor. He committed treason. The British would have loved to kill him if they dared do so. But they did not dare do so because he was so popular. So the British decided to give India independence and take a slow boat back to England with their tail between their legs.
Joan of Arc was a traitor. She committed treason. So they captured her and burned her alive at the stake. And yet she was also a patriot who rallied the French against the English who had illegally occupied French territory.
Mary Queen of Scots was a traitor. She committed treason. So Queen Elizabeth I arrested her and put her to death. And yet she was a patriot who opposed the Queen's inquisition where thousands of Catholics were rounded up and burned alive for what the Church of England considered heresy.
Nelson Mandela was a traitor. He committed treason. So the Apartheid government of South Africa jailed him on an island for 27 years while many of his comrades were either jailed together with him or were assassinated by the police. And yet he was a patriot who fought for South Africa and went on to become the first post-Apartheid President of that country.
Yes, I can go on and on and write pages and pages about traitors who committed treason who were also patriots. But I think my point has been made. And that point is one man's traitor is another man's patriot.
So, whether you may think that so and so is a traitor or a patriot, that is your point of view. It all depends on what point of time in history you are looking at the event and which side of history you are looking at it.
So, whether Mat Sabu is a traitor or a patriot, that is left to be seen. It depends on who you are and where you stand on the matter. It also depends on at what point in time you are making this judgement.
Moses, Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad were also traitors who committed treason as well as Prophets who guided mankind. Again, it depends on who you are and at what point of time you are judging Moses, Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad.
I take it now you get my point.
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| Mat Sabu pengganas, pengkhianat – Musa Hassan Posted: 28 Aug 2011 04:25 AM PDT (Utusan Malaysia) - Bekas Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Musa Hassan melabelkan Mohamed Sabu sebagai pengganas dan pengkhianat negara apabila mendakwa Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) ialah hero sebenar dalam peristiwa Bukit Kepong dan bukannya anggota keselamatan serta ahli keluarga mereka. Sehubungan itu, katanya, Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) perlu memantau tindak-tanduk Timbalan Presiden Pas itu dan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadapnya termasuk dikenakan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) kerana kenyataannya itu menunjukkan beliau mempunyai kecenderungan menjadi pengganas. Menurut Musa, kenyataan Mat Sabu itu jelas menunjukkan beliau menyokong pengganas sedangkan sejarah membuktikan betapa kejamnya komunis terhadap anggota pasukan keselamatan dan rakyat yang menentang perjuangan mereka suatu ketika dahulu. "Lupakah Mat Sabu betapa ramai anggota pasukan keselamatan dibunuh dengan kejam oleh komunis, berapa banyak rumah penduduk kampung dibakar apabila enggan memberi beras kepada mereka? "Ada 6,000 pegawai dan anggota polis dibunuh oleh komunis, tak kan mereka sanggup bergadai nyawa jika bukan mahu mempertahankan negara tetapi malang sekali pengorbanan mereka diperlekehkan oleh seorang pengkhianat seperti Mat Sabu," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia hari ini. Kata Musa lagi, Mohamad Sabu mungkin sengaja mengeluarkan kenyataan tersebut untuk mencari publisiti dan memburukkan polis yang selalu menangkapnya kerana melanggar undang-undang sebelum ini. |
| WIKILEAKS: SARAWAK: OPPOSITION ADRIFT; INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LACK SERVICES; POLICE REJECT CRITICISM Posted: 28 Aug 2011 01:00 AM PDT 
They said Sarawak's Chief Minister Taib Mahmud ensured the construction contract was awarded to Cahaya Mata, a large holding company that is majority-owned by Taib's family. Upon being awarded the construction contract for RM300 million, Cahaya Mata hired a subcontracting firm to complete the construction for RM220 million; Cahaya Mata (and the Taib family) pocketed the RM80 million ($22 million) difference. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin 
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001935 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/IP/ITA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016 TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, KDEM, KISL, MY SUBJECT: SARAWAK: OPPOSITION ADRIFT; INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LACK SERVICES; POLICE REJECT CRITICISM REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 942 B. 05 KUALA LUMPUR 1955 Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b, d. Summary 1. (C) We met with political opposition leaders, human rights advocates and police during an October 2 visit to Sarawak's state capitol of Kuching. While the nationally active ethnic Chinese opposition party DAP performed well in the May 20 state assembly election, we found the party has not yet articulated its political priorities or legislative goals in Sarawak. Through a combination of the governing coalition's media ownership and control, political and financial patronage, and the DAP's apparent lack of a coherent political agenda, the Barisan Nasional-affiliated governing coalition will likely remain in firm control of Sarawak. With regard to protecting the rights of the state's most vulnerable citizens, one of the 16 commissioners from Malaysia's government-funded national human rights commission (Suhakam) condemned the state's "insufficient support" for impoverished, rural, indigenous persons. Echoing comments we have heard from other Suhakam commissioners, he said the government largely ignores Suhakam's recommendations. The state's second highest ranking cop told us that police leaders remain vehemently opposed to the contents of last year's police commission report, and they see no need for establishment of an independent oversight body. He said the government has heavily criticized the police without providing the funding necessary to build a more effective police force. End Summary. The Drifting Chinese Opposition 2. (C) In Sarawak's May 20 state assembly election, the ethnic Chinese party DAP increased its representation from one seat to six, thereby establishing itself as the main opposition party in the state's 71 seat assembly (ref A). We met with two of those DAP representatives, lawyers Chong Chieng Jen and Violet Yong. Chong and Yong stated that during the run-up to the May 20 election, while the English-language media acted almost entirely as a mouthpiece for the state's long-governing National Front constituent parties, the Chinese-language media "provided a surprising amount of coverage" for opposition candidates. They claimed the primary campaign issue among their constituents was "corruption by Chief Minister Taib and his cronies." Chong said over 1,500 postal votes were recorded in his district by military men posted outside Sarawak, and he claimed "about 99% of them voted against me." When asked why the National Front coalition didn't simply increase the number of postal voters to ensure victory for its candidate, he stated, "They only have a limited total number of postal votes to apportion to the various electoral districts, and they simply misallocated." 3. (C) Chong and Yong said the Sarawak state assembly meets for only 16 days per year. They questioned the state government's ongoing RM300 million ($82 million) construction project to build a 27-storey state assembly building. The new structure will remain largely empty during the 349 days when the assembly is not in session. They said Sarawak's Chief Minister Taib Mahmud ensured the construction contract was awarded to Cahaya Mata, a large holding company that is majority-owned by Taib's family. Upon being awarded the construction contract for RM300 million, Cahaya Mata hired a subcontracting firm to complete the construction for RM220 million; Cahaya Mata (and the Taib family) pocketed the RM80 million ($22 million) difference. The DAP politicians told us Taib, whose liver cancer was reportedly brought into remission earlier in 2006, "will likely die in office." While the DAP representatives described election fraud in great detail and articulated their opposition to government corruption, they could not (or would not) tell us of their political agenda. Although we asked them several times to define their political goals, we left the meeting with the impression that the DAP has no legislative plans or detailed political priorities - other than maintenance of their seats in the next state election. Enfeebled Suhakam Fights Losing Battle 4. (C) Dr. Mohammad Herman Ritom Abdullah, Suhakam Commissioner for the state of Sarawak, told us that most of Suhakam's work in the state focuses on the rights of indigenous persons. He said no specific state ministry looks after their affairs, and state assistance is provided on an "irregular, ad hoc basis." He described a recent visit to villages of the Penan tribe near Brunei. Abdullah stated that approximately 15,000 Penan tribe members there lack electricity, water treatment and schools. He criticized the federal and state governments for not fulfilling their promises to provide access to primary education for all citizens. For many Penan children, Abdullah said the nearest school is more than two hours away by foot or boat. To provide basic services on a centralized, more efficient basis for the Penan and other indigenous peoples, the government has established several "service centers" that attempt to draw rural indigenous families from remote villages. Abdullah criticized these efforts as ineffective, saying the service centers "are not vibrant and self-supporting." He said, "All the young people end up leaving, as there are no jobs, and only elderly residents remain." 5. (C) Indigenous persons account for over half of Sarawak's population, but they lack political power. Abdullah explained, "There are plenty of indigenous leaders in the state government, but they can't do anything without the consent of the Chief Minister." He said Taib appoints "compliant local leaders" from various tribes into "financially rewarding" government positions as a means to stifle potential opposition. Taib belongs to the Melanau indigenous tribe and has been in power for the past 25 years. Embassy sources outside the government uniformly characterize him as highly corrupt. Abdullah said Taib has done little to assist the state's indigenous peoples as they attempt to establish legal ownership of their ancestral lands and defend themselves against encroachment by logging companies. Taib and his relatives are widely thought to extract a percentage from most major commercial contracts - including those for logging - awarded in the state. Abdullah's efforts to represent the concerns of Sabah's impoverished indigenous peoples have fallen on deaf ears. He stated flatly, "The government doesn't listen to us or act on our advice." All Stick and No Carrot for Police 6. (C) Sarawak's Deputy Police Commissioner, Kuik Alias Harris, told us on October 2 in Kuching that the federal government "has done little for us other than to criticize our work." We discussed the government-sponsored police commission report published in May 2005 that was highly critical of police corruption, incompetence and prisoner abuse (ref B). Waving his finger in the air and leaning forward for emphasis, he said police leaders "are 101 percent against (the report's) findings." National police leaders have been highly critical, both privately and publicly, of efforts to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) that would investigate reports of police abuse, use of deadly force during apprehension of suspects, deaths in police custody and the generally high level of corruption that pervades the force. While Harris welcomed public comments by government officials that salaries, living quarters and equipment for police must be improved, he said little had been done thus far by the government in these areas. 7. (C) The head of Sarawak's Special Branch, Khariri Jaafar, added, "The country's police stations are falling apart." He criticized the lack of funding for police facilities and equipment, calling the situation "demoralizing." He told us to visit the police station in Dang Wangi that handles the center of Kuala Lumpur. He said, "I wouldn't spend one day working there." Harris concluded, "It's hard for us to do our jobs. The current situation is frustrating." Comment 8. (C) Comments from the DAP politicians and Suhakam reinforce what we have heard from other Sarawak state leaders and national politicians. By these accounts, the Sarawak state government remains highly corrupt and firmly in the hands of its chief minister. The $82 million state assembly building now under construction serves as perhaps the most obvious and extreme example of the self-enrichment of the state's chief minister and other senior government officials. Through a combination of financial and political patronage, media ownership and control, and a seemingly unfocused opposition party, no serious challenge exists to the governing coalition's longstanding grip on political power in the state. The deputy police commissioner's strong negative reaction to the police commission report mirrors comments from the national police leadership in Kuala Lumpur. Despite the prime minister's earlier publicly stated support for an independent oversight body, the police have thus far won the stand-off. SHEAR |
| MACC’s Silence on A-G Gani Patail is Deafening Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:22 PM PDT DIN MERICAN Ramadan has special significance for Muslims the world over. The Hadith says that the night of Lailatul Qadr, which appears during the last ten nights of Ramadan, is better than a thousand months. Thus most Muslims show heightened piety and many go to Makkah for Umrah in what they think is an act of cleansing during Ramadan. Also, Muslims who go to Makkah for Haj are expected to return to a more serene blessed life. But, not so for A-G Gani Patail. His Haj Trip with Tajuddin Ramli's proxy, one Shahidan Shafie, the ex-policeman who was charged for bribery and now turned lawyer and businessman, is anything but serene and blessed. A-G Gani Patail's Haj became a subject of controversy which has dogged him ever since. Is that an indication of God's ire? 
Self-appointed crusader against social injustice and corruption, Tan Sri Robert Phang (left), lambasted A-G Gani for inappropriate conduct in consorting with Tajuddin's proxy at a time when public pressure is mounting why there is no action taken against Tajuddin. Because of that, Phang came under attack and was investigated by the MACC. Something is also obviously wrong when A-G Gani disregarded the investigation report by former Director CCID, Dato' Ramli Yusuff, who had made strong recommendations to former PM Abdullah Badawi that Tajuddin should be prosecuted. Instead, Dato' Ramli was stripped of his rank, suspended and charged in court. And when Dato' Ramli was acquitted by the courts, A-G Gani Patail continued to pursue appeals against his acquittals which are still going on in an attempt to prevent Dato' Ramli from being reinstated and getting his pensions. As pointed out by Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), the Tajuddin's case is bizzare in that the Opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the Police while the UMNO Bloggers are calling the Police a bunch of liars: here Suspicions were already abound that Tajuddin Ramli was receiving preferential treatment from the MACC and A-G Chambers. Now that suspicion is confirmed when de facto Justice Minister, Dato Seri Nazri Azizi, announced that he had been mandated by the government to appoint new lawyers for the government linked companies (GLCs) and to close the cases by a Global Settlement which simply means the cases are to be withdrawn. Thus, I wrote on August 13, 2011 about THE MAS STORY: OF PLUNDER, ABUSES AND LIES here because I was alarmed to note that Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah has now entered the MAS Board of Directors. The corporate world is fully aware of Wan Azmi's closeness to Tajuddin Ramli. They are both Tun Daim's boys drawn from the Peremba clique who had benefited from Tun Dr Mahathir's bumiputera privatisation initiatives. Wan Azmi's presence in the MAS Board is ill-timed and will continue to fuel more suspicions. This will certainly be an election issue come GE-13. Barely has that controversy subsided, A-G Gani Patail is again embroiled in another controversy when RPK produced documents which showed that A-G Gani was being bribed by former Ho Hup Construction Bhd Deputy Executive Chairman Datuk Vincent Lye in exchange for help in a boardroom tussle involving his corporate rival, Dato' TC Low. Vincent Lye was ousted during an EGM in March this year and the documents of the bribery became exposed. The allegations is strengthened by a photograph of A-G Gani with Vincent Lye at Ho Hup's office (picture below). That certainly begs the question- why was A-G Gani Patail there? 
Following this recent revelation, Robert Phang has asked the MACC to show independence and not impotence when dealing with A-G Gani Patail. Phang is justified to demand swift action from the MACC especially given the absolute manner in which A-G Gani was cleared over the Haj Trip affair but Phang himself was only given a conditional clearance over an unfounded allegation. That certainly smacks of preferential treatment and selective prosecution. The MACC's silence on this matter is also deafening. The investigations against the Selangor opposition assemblymen involving only RM2,400 which led to the death of Teoh Beng Hock was widely sensationalised. So was the investigations against Customs officers in the much touted Ops 3B which led to the death of Ahmad Sarbaini. The government has also been buying advertorial spaces in the main stream media to laud the MACC's anti-corruption drive in the government's transformation plan (GTP), yet a matter as serious as A-G Gani Patail's bribery seems to receive the silent treatment from the MACC. What is happening here? Is this an attempt to bury an otherwise explosive story? Dato' TC Low left for Sydney in a huff My friends in the corporate circles tell me that when this story broke, Dato' TC Low left the country in a huff for Sydney, Australia. Is there something that Dato' TC Low is afraid of? Was he fearful of retaliation from A-G Gani Patail? Why has the MACC not stepped in to give him protection? Why hasn't the MACC interviewed the Managing Director of Ho Hup, Mr Derek Wong? Or for that matter the rest of the Ho Hup Board of Directors which includes senior lawyer Felix Dorairaj? Are all these people afraid because it involves A-G Gani Patail? All Quiet on the MACC Front All these information about Ho Hup is easily available on the company's website and yet all is quiet on the MACC front. My research disclosed even more interesting facts. The Chairman of Ho Hup is former Kuala Lumpur City Mayor Tan Sri Dato Kamaruzzaman Sharif. And guess who is Ho Hup's Deputy Chairman? Does the name Dato' Ramli Yusuff ring a bell? I was astounded. Could it be? READ MORE HERE |
| Do you want to go to heaven? Posted: 27 Aug 2011 09:55 PM PDT Muslims believe in the Resurrection and the Afterlife, just like Christians do. Christians believe that those who follow Jesus Christ would go to heaven and all others would go to hell. Muslims believe that those who follow Prophet Muhammad would go to heaven and all others would go to hell. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin Terengganu checks attempts to spread Shiite teachings Attempts to propagate the teachings of the Shiite sect among Malaysia's Sunni Muslims have been detected in Terengganu, according to the State Religious and Information Committee chairman Khazan Che Mat. He said the chairmen of all mosques in the state received reading material pertaining to the sect by registered mail several days ago. Khazan said he had instructed all recipients of the material to surrender them to the Terengganu Religious Affairs Department. "We do not want anyone to have the impression that the propagation of Shiite teachings has the blessings of the state government," he told reporters after an event organised by Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) here today to popularise its Terengganufm and Kelantanfm channels. -- Bernama ******************************** To those who are not Muslims, the impression probably created is that Shiites are not real Muslims or are deviant Muslims. That is why the Malaysian government is blocking the spread of Shiite Islam and those Malaysian Muslims who follow Shiite teachings would suffer arrest. Actually, Shiites are also Muslims. It is just that they follow a different sect of Islam. However, since they do not follow Sunni Islam, they are considered deviants by the Malaysian government. Shiites are allowed into Mekah and Medina. If they were not Muslims then they would be banned from the 'Holy Land'. The Saudi Arabian government is very strict on this and non-Muslims are forbidden entry into the two Holy Cities. But Shiites are not banned from entry into Mekah and Medina. So this means they are still considered Muslims. If you are born Malay, then you are automatically a Sunni Muslim. This is the law. And if you follow another sect of Islam, or you leave Islam to follow another religion, then you have committed a crime and you will be punished. To those who are not Muslims, this may sound strange. After all, in other countries such as England, there are many types of Christians and no one is arrested if they don't follow the Church of England. But England was not always like this. 1,000 years ago, the Crusaders killed more Christians than they did Muslims. If you were a Christian of another sect, then you would be put to death. In fact, only 500 years ago, 'deviant' Christians were still being put to death in England. Henry VIII was notorious for massacring thousands of his own citizens after he broke away from Rome and formed his own church with him as head of the church. This break from Rome was partly for religious reasons and partly because of money and power. When England came under Rome, the very rich church sent money to the Vatican. With Rome out of the equation, Henry could confiscate the vast property of the church to become the richest King in Christendom. You see, in those days, the church was richer than the King -- while England was going bankrupt because of the many wars it embarked upon. So it made sense for Henry to take over as head of the church. Then, everything that the church owned would now be owned by the King. And we are talking about a lot of money here. When Mary I ascended the throne, she tried to bring back England to Rome and the Protestants who resisted were put to death in great numbers. That was why she was known as Bloody Mary -- blood flowed like rivers when she was Queen. Then Elizabeth I took over and she took revenge on the Catholics. Those who were Catholics were burned alive, just like what her sister Mary did to the non-Catholics. Only now can you be whatever type of Christian you would like to be without facing the danger of being burned alive. However, until today, Catholics still can't sit on the throne of England or become the British Prime Minister -- a law passed by Parliament during the time of Elizabeth I. Malaysia is 500 years behind England. No doubt, Malaysia does not burn Shiites alive or cut off their heads with a sword. But you will get arrested and the government will block the spread of Shiite at all cost. If you are not a Muslim, you probably have the impression that the Prophet Muhammad was a Sunni or that Muslims believe that God is a Sunni Muslim. Actually, Prophet Muhammad was not a Sunni, Shiite, Salafi, Ahmadiyya, Kharijite, Bahá'í, Ahl-e Haqq, Ismaili, Alawi, Zaidiyyah, Druze, Qadiri, Bektashi, Chishti, Naqshbandi, Oveyssi, Suhrawardiyya, or whatever. All these different sects and sub-sects are inventions of man -- just like the hundreds of many different Christian sects/sub-sects (see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations) that at one time were killing one another in the hundreds of thousands or millions. So, which is the correct version of Islam from the many different sects and sub-sects? The Malaysian government says Sunni Islam, and the Shafiee School in particular. Is this what God said in the Quran? No! Is this what Prophet Muhammad said? No! This is what the Malaysian government says and the Malaysian government, and not God or Prophet Muhammad, is the final authority on Islam. Muslims believe in the Resurrection and the Afterlife, just like Christians do. Christians believe that those who follow Jesus Christ would go to heaven and all others would go to hell. Muslims believe that those who follow Prophet Muhammad would go to heaven and all others would go to hell. The Malaysian government believes that only those who follow the Malaysian government's version of Islam would go to heaven while all others would go to hell. So, if you want to go to heaven and not to hell, then follow the Malaysian government. And if you vote for Umno and Barisan Nasional, then you will not only be going to heaven but you will also be rewarded with many virgins for your sacrifice and jihad. Hmm… what makes the government think that I like virgins? Give me a woman with experience any time. |
| An insight into the misery of refugee life Posted: 27 Aug 2011 08:18 PM PDT However, this emptiness was shattered for a while on August 23. About 10,000 desperate refugees who had fled the brutal military dictatorship in Burma converged on the immigration department offices because they feared imminent mass deportation. By Peter Boyle, Green Left Putrajaya, the seat of Malaysia's federal government, was built for more than US$8 billion as a fantasy project of the country's former PM and strongman Mohamed Mahathir. It was carved out of rubber plantation-covered hills in the 1990s and turned into a planned city for public servants. Many buildings were designed to look like palaces — with an eclectic mix of styles from around the world — giving the city the look of a sprawling, but spookily empty, theme park. However, this emptiness was shattered for a while on August 23. About 10,000 desperate refugees who had fled the brutal military dictatorship in Burma converged on the immigration department offices because they feared imminent mass deportation. The Malaysian NGO Tenaganita, which protects and promotes the rights of women, migrants and refugees, said on August 24 that the refugees (who had United Nations cards recognising their refugee status) were told they needed to be registered at Putrajaya imigration office. Thousands of people — including the elderly, ill, young children, mothers with babies — stood for hours in cramped conditions. They waited only to be told they had to come back the next day because the immigration department could register a maximum of only 2500 people a day. Those who managed to get registered under the government's system became even more alarmed when they were then issued with a slip which said: "Purpose: Return to Home Country." The government responded by mobilising a notorious volunteer militia that has been used to control refugees and migrant workers. Witnesses said that the militia turned up armed with sticks and abused and threatened the terrified refugees. It was just another day in the nightmare that is life for the nearly 100,000 refugees stuck in Malaysia. The country has not signed UN conventions on refugee rights yet the Australian government is trying to deport 800 asylum seekers there. The incident represented just a tiny bit of the misery that is the life of the 43.7 million people now estimated by the United Nations to be displaced worldwide. Green Left Weekly gives a voice to refugees and their supporters who are campaigning against the immoral and illegal treatment of asylum seekers, especially by rich countries such as Australia. |
| Mat Sabu mum on Utusan attack, says can’t recall Aug 21 speech Posted: 27 Aug 2011 07:42 PM PDT (The Malaysian Insider) - Mohamad Sabu has refused to comment on Utusan Malaysia's attack of his speech allegedly supporting communists, saying he can't remember all of it and will review it first. Mohamad was speaking at a political ceramah in Penang's Tasek Gelugor on August 21. The PAS deputy president told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that he has not read the Malay daily's report, and said that he won't "deny or confirm" whether what was reported was true. "I cannot recall everything that I said as it was said on August 21…the report in Utusan came out on August 27. "I am not denying or confirming anything. I just want to look back at the recordings…Utusan's reports are not always trustworthy," he said. During the Emergency (1948-1960), communist insurgents attacked the Bukit Kepong police station on February 23 1950, while the country was still under British rule. Utusan yesterday quoted Mohamad as saying that the communists who attacked Bukit Kepong police station were heroes insults those who fought for the country. READ MORE HERE |
| Utusan says Mat Sabu wants to turn Malaysia into a republic Posted: 27 Aug 2011 07:39 PM PDT (The Malaysian Insider) - Utusan Malaysia today launched a full-scale assault on Mohamad Sabu, accusing him rewriting history to turn Malaysia into a republic, over his alleged remarks praising communists. Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of the Umno daily carried eight pages worth of comments and criticisms against Mohamad, ranging from top Umno leaders like Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar to ex-soldiers who had fought communists during the February 23, 1950 attack on the Bukit Kepong police station. The daily attacked Mohamad — who is popularly known as Mat Sabu — for allegedly praising the communists who attacked the police station in British-ruled Malaya during Emergency (1948-1960) "Awang sees what Mat Sabu says as an insult to the country especially with the coming National Day this Wednesday. But Awang is not surprised. Mat Sabu is actually carrying the aspirations of other parties who have always fanned their own agenda to rewrite the history and constitution of our country. "The strategy of some DAP leaders to engage in close ties with Mat Sabu has clearly worked...Awang will not be surprised if once the opposition takes over, he (Mohamad) will place Parti Komunis Malaya Leader (PKM) Chin Peng as a national hero and suggest that Malaysia be turned into a republic," Awang Selamat wrote today. Awang Selamat is a pseudonym under which editors of Utusan Malaysia write. The Malay daily interviewed Temenggong Kanang Langkau, one of the few army survivors from the attack on Bukit Kepong who demanded that the Internal Security Act be used on the PAS leader for his supposed remarks made during a recent ceramah. "This man is useless, is this what you call a former elected representative? Tell him if he wants to support Communists he does not have to contest in the general elections. "He is supports communists, therefore he is a communist. He should be banished," the former soldier told the Malay daily. Utusan aired its first report on Mohamad's alleged speech during a ceramah in Tasek Gelugor yesterday. The report also claimed that the PAS leader said the country's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj and Umno's first president Datuk Onn Jaafar were not freedom fighters. READ MORE HERE |
| Illegal immigrants in Sabah: A numbers game Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:32 PM PDT The recent figures seem to show that the population of illegal immigrants in Sabah has not only increased, but no action has been taken to stem the tide. Free Malaysia Today KOTA KINABALU: Ask Sabahans if they believe the census and official figures given by the government on the number of illegal immigrants residing in the state after the recent registration exercise and they will laugh and roll their eyes. They are not the only ones. Even illegal immigrants in the state will tell you the figures given by the Immigration Department are way off the mark. Ismail (not his real name), an illegal immigrant who works at a building site here and does odd jobs, is one of them. He has been here for more than a decade along with an uncle and his family. He has even gone back to the Philippines to see his family several times from Tawau. It's easy he says. What he does is get passage on a small boat which will take him out to sea, board the ferry heading for Zamboanga in the southern Philippines at mid sea and just like that, he's out. It's the same way back. He says for every one illegal immigrant who has registered there is at least one unregistered. The Immigration Department says it has registered close to one million immigrants and 200,000 of them are illegal. Ismail scoffs at this figure, something agreed by former senator and political activist Dr Chong Eng Leong. Ismail is one of those who did not bother to register himself along with his family during the recent ballyhooed registration exercise, one in a number held since the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition government came to power in the state in 1994. Ismail's uncle who came to Sabah in the mid 70s is already a permanent resident along with his children. One has become a bumiputera through marriage to a native and has gained all the entitlements which come with the status. Nothing being done
Chong, now a Sabah PKR leader, also pointed out the conflicting figures on the illegal immigrant population in Sabah as provided by the government. The illegal immigrant activist said the figures bandied about by the government are suspect. Sabah Immigration Department Director Mohd bin Mentek on Thursday, commenting on 2010 Census, said that there were about 800,000 non-Malaysians living in the state. Of this number, about 200,000 are illegal residents. Chong however noted that the Yearbook of Statistics Sabah 2010 stated that there were 932,300 non-Malaysians in Sabah and 22,900 in Labuan. "One would take it that these foreigners were those in possession of valid documents. We were told on July by the state secretary Sukari Wakiman that there were estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants
in the state. "But now we are told that 200,000 illegals were amongst these foreigners in the 2010 Census," he said. He also wants to know why the illegal immigrants were merely counted during the census exercise and registered as illegals and then allowed them to remain in Sabah. "This non-action by the authorities further confirms our perception that both state and federal governments are not sincere in tackling the problem in Sabah," he said. The state government has been accused of never being serious about wanting to resolve the perennial issue affecting Sabah where allegations of vote-fixing using illegal immigrants as a vote bank have been hurled against it for decades. READ MORE HERE |
| Khianat: Wajah Nik Aziz diconteng salib Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:28 PM PDT (Harakah Daily) - Sekurang-kurangnya tiga kain rentang PAS yang digantung sebagai mengalukan kehadiran bulan Ramadan dan sambutan Hari Raya Aidil Fitri di sekitar Shah Alam diconteng pihak tidak bertanggungjawab. 
Malah lebih teruk dari itu, beberapa wajah pemimpin PAS pada kain rentang itu diconteng dengan tanda salib. Kejadian tersebut dikesan sejak semalam di sekitar kawasan Seksyen 23, Shah Alam.
Antara yang menjadi mangsa perbuatan khianat tersebut adalah wajah Mursyidul Am PAS, Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat dan juga Timbalan Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor Khalid Abdul Samad yang diconteng dengan dakwat merah.
Menurut seorang penduduk yang memaklumkan kejadian itu kepada Harakahdaily, beliau berkata perbuatan khianat dan tak berakhlak tersebut dipercayai dilakukan semasa waktu berbuka puasa dan waktu ramai orang berada di masjid dan surau utk qiamullail.
"Sebelum kejadian ini sudah 4 kali kain-kain rentang sambut Ramadan yang jumlahnya 12 bidang kesemuanya telah dipotong pada waktu yg sama,' katanya yang tidak mahu namanya disiarkan.
Kejadian itu dipercayai ada kaitan dengan tindakan pemeriksaan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) terhadap Gereja Methodist Damansara Utama awal Ogos lalu yang kini hangat diperdebatkan semua pihak.
 Berhubung isu itu, PAS menyatakan pendirian mereka agar Jais membuat pendakwaan jika mempunyai bukti wujud usaha mengkristiankan orang Islam.
Sementara itu, Khalid ketika dihubungi Harakahdaily melahirkan rasa kesal dengan tindakan "puak-puak jahat" tersebut.
"Ini kerja orang yang tidak ada akhlak. Saya tidak mahu kata Umno yang buat tetapi rakyat tahu siapa yang buat ini dan dapat menilai sendiri," katanya.
Menurutnya lagi, PAS tidak pernah membuat perkara serupa kepada mana-mana pihak walaupun tidak berpuas hati terhadap satu-satu isu.
"Conteng salib itu seperti tuduh orang jadi Kristian lah. Ini bukan benda ringan, tetapi dah mereka jahil nak buat macam mana," katanya yang juga Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam.
Ditanya sama ada beliau akan membuat laporan polis, beliau bagaimanapun tidak akan berbuat demikian dan hanya berdoa kepada Allah agar pihak yang bertanggungjawab diberikan hidayah. |
| Lesen monopoli kepada kroni BN punca inflasi Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:27 PM PDT (Harakah Daily) - Sebahagian besar inflasi dan kenaikan harga barang di negara ini diakibatkan pemberian lesen-lesen monopoli kepada kroni-kroni Umno dan Barisan Nasional (BN), kata Naib Presiden PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar. "Lesen-lesen monopoli seperti beras, gula, permit import (AP) kereta, konsesi tol lebuhraya dan lain-lain diberikan kepada kroni-kroni Umno dan BN. "Penyalahgunaan kuasa Umno dan BN seperti itulah yang menjadi antara penyumbang utama kenaikan harga barang dan inflasi di negara ini," kata beliau. Menurut Mahfuz, bila tidak ada persaingan sihat dan monopoli dijadikan bermaharajalela oleh kerajaan Umno, harga dinaikkan tanpa mempedulikan kesusahan pengguna. "Sebab itulah kesedaran rakyat perlu digerakkan supaya tertanam di hati mereka bahawa inflasi yang sedang melanda negara ini adalah inflasi Barisan Nasional atau inflasi BN kerana inflasi negara ini adalah inflasi angkara BN, barang naik angkara BN," tegas Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena itu. Beliau menyifatkan adalah karut jika kerajaan BN menyalahkan kenaikan harga makanan sedunia semata-mata sebagai punca kenaikan harga makanan di negara ini. "Pertama, kenaikan harga makanan di negara ini berkali ganda lebih tinggi dari kenaikan harga di peringkat global seperti yang dibuktikan oleh angka-angka Pertubuhan Makanan dan Pertanian, Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (FAO). "Kedua, Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) dan Bank Dunia telah menjangkakan perkara itu sejak dua tiga tahun yang lalu dan sudah cukup amaran yang diberikan, mengapa kerajaan Umno BN tidak mengambil langkah pembaikan yang sewajarnya?" Mahfuz mempersoalkan. Malah, katanya, kerajaan pimpinan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dilanda sindrom syok sendiri. "Perkara itu terbukti apabila langkah-langkah kerajaan bukan untuk menjadikan Malaysia bebas daripada menjadi pengimport makanan, malah wang negara dikikis habis kepada projek-projek mega yang menguntungkan kroni seperti Menara Warisan, 1Malaysia Development, MRT dan sebagainya," katanya. Beliau mengulangi komitmen untuk memastikan Kelab Protes Barang Naik atau ringkasnya Protes BN yang digerakkan oleh Lajnah Pengguna PAS yang diterajuinya akan melipatgandakan penerangan kepada rakyat. "Kita mahu rakyat sedar punca berlakunya kenaikan harga barangan ini disebabkan kelemahan pengurusan ekonomi oleh kerajaan BN. "Perkara ini boleh dielak jika tiada keborosan, tiada ketirisan, tiada salah keutamaan dan tiada amalan rasuah dalam pentadbiran negara," kata Mahfuz. |
| Scumbag Malaysia "Recognises" Fascist Rebel Government In Libya Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:18 PM PDT 
Matthias Chang Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It is despicable enough that Malaysia did not bother to condemn the illegal and barbaric invasion of Libya by Special Forces of NATO and Britain which led to massive killings of civilians under the pretext of a UN-sanctioned imposition of a No-Fly Zone, for which China and Russia abstained. It may have been understandable that at the initial stages, Malaysia could have been confused by the Zionist Anglo-American / NATO propaganda that Gaddafi's government was allegedly killing its own people who supposedly was rising in protest against the rule of Gaddafi.
But there is no excuse that after the international expose of this fraud, there was still silence on Malaysia's part in condemning the military operations against Libya.
This is hypocrisy and is so typical of Malaysia as was illustrated by the banning of President of Sudan from attending the recent Langkawi Dialogue and thereafter the scrambling to repair the damage when the Foreign Minister was dispatched to apologise to the President of Sudan for the political debacle. And all because of Malaysia's oil investment in Sudan.
Could it be that this cowardly and hypocritical stance of Malaysia has to do with oil as well, just as the greedy and barbaric Western oil interests are doing?
Shame, shame and shame on Malaysia and the government of Malaysia.
Prime Minister Najib, are you sleeping on the job? Are you so detached that you cannot distinguish truth from falsehood?
Britain has admitted that its SAS forces were involved in the attack on Tripoli in open defiance and in contravention of UN resolutions concerning Libya, and the massacre of civilians by the so-called rebels which inter-alia consist of fascist Qataris and other 'jihadists' which have been financed by the countries of NATO. It is significant that even the African Union has condemned the attack on Tripoli and has not extended any recognition to the rebels.
So, what is the hurry in recognising these fascist rebels when the African Union which are more knowledgeable about the events have yet to do so? And Malaysia is a Muslim country.
Is it because Malaysia is under pressure from external parties?
If so, then Malaysia is a scumbag country devoid of morals and principals.
I call upon all peace-loving Malaysians and people of the world to condemn this hypocrisy of Malaysia.
Right now, please send emails, twitter messages, and phone calls to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and make sure he gets no let up from this global condemnation.
And make sure this time round, the foreign minister crawls to Tripoli to offer a public apology to the heroic Libyans fighting the Neo-colonialists and fascist 'Islamic forces' who have betrayed Islam. These child-killers and rapists are financed by the Qataris and Saudis and propped up by the insidious propaganda of Al-Jazeera. Yes, this so-called Arabic media is now a tool of the Zionist Anglo-American Elites. How can anyone think otherwise when Qatar is the operation headquarters of the American Central Command in the invasion of Iraq.
Shame, Shame, Shame on Malaysia.
Regards,
Matthias Chang |
| Malaysia: WikiLeaks documents press censorship Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:10 PM PDT 
It said: "Malaysia's online news sources and blogs have blossomed over recent years as an alternative to the government dominated mainstream media. This trend has only increased after the March 8 elections, in which Abdullah and his UMNO party suffered a major setback." By Timothy Lawson, Green Left A confidential United States cable released by WikiLeaks on July 29 documents the arrest of controversial Malaysian blogger and Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin. Kamarudin had been outspoken in his criticism of the government. On September 12, 2008, Kamarudin was arrested at his residence under the Internal Security Act (ISA) ― which allows for detention without trial. Kamarudin's arrest came days after Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi threatened to use the ISA to repress those purportedly stoking racial and religious tensions. The cable said: "The arrest was meant as a warning to the growing Internet media, but also sends a signal to the political Opposition, which has vowed to topple Abdullah's coalition later this month, that the UMNO-led government could take stern measures to defend itself." It said: "Malaysia's online news sources and blogs have blossomed over recent years as an alternative to the government dominated mainstream media. "This trend has only increased after the March 8 elections, in which Abdullah and his UMNO party suffered a major setback." It states that the arrest "is another sign of insecurity on the part of Abdullah and the UMNO party. The government's use of the ISA sends a strong warning to other opposition bloggers to curb their activities. "The arrest may intimidate some activists, but it could result in a backlash by the independent media and bloggers, and increase public disaffection with Abdullah's leadership." Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who approved Kamarudin's ISA detention order, told the media that he was detained under 73(1) of the ISA because he was deemed a threat to security, peace and public order. The arrest came after one of his more controversial posts in which he is alleged to have ridiculed Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Albar said: "We have called and advised him [Kamarudin] many times following the publishing of his statements but he has continued to write, so much so that they [the statements] could pose a threat [to security and public order]." Albar said Kamarudin would be detained for 60 days and that police would do an assessment during that period; further, he stated, "if they feel he should be held more than 60 days, the police will then refer to me". The normal procedure would be for the minister to accept the recommendations of the police and sign the order under Section 8(1) of the Act, which allows the police to detain people for renewable two-year periods. Kamarudin was freed on November 7 after a court ruling decreed his detention was illegal. Kamarudin's arrest came the day after the government ordered the Multimedia and Communications Commission (MCMC) to re-instate access to all blocked-websites, including the Malaysia Today site that was blocked on August 27. Kamarudin has been detained under the ISA before. Former prime minister Matathir Mohamad detained him under the ISA in 2001 for his involvement in when former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim initiated a reform movement. Kamarudin was held for 53 days. The cable spelled out how US spokespeople should respond to Kamarudin's detention "if asked". It said that, while "The United States firmly believes that freedom of the press", the US "comment further on the specific grounds for the Malaysian government's actions". If asked about the use of the ISA law, it recommended expressing the "hope" that " countries refrain from using national security laws to curtail the peaceful expression of political views and media freedom". |
| Anti-Chinese sentiment gaining ground in Malaysia Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:24 AM PDT By China.org.cn Recently, a racial incident again took place in a Malaysian school. A middle school history teacher in Johor told a student of Chinese descent to "go back to China." The incident came mere months after another case of schoolyard racism when a middle school principal insulted his Chinese students with similar remarks at the end of last year. Although racial remarks and activities are often punished firmly by the Malaysian authorities, these discordant voices continue to drum in schools in attempts of clearing out Chinese descendants. For the middle school principal, however, the only consequence for his behavior last year was being reassigned from his post. This did not appease the anger of the Chinese community. Moreover, it was shown to be a tacit approval for anti-Chinese sentiment by the government. This time, it is a history teacher who made such improper remarks. The saying goes: Take history as a mirror, and we can see the rise and fall of dynasties. Obviously, this history teacher does not measure up to his supposed expertise, and his ignorance is on clear display as he stirs up racial disputes. Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural nation with Malays, Chinese and Indians as its three major ethnicities. All three settled on the islands almost at the same time; none is technically aborigines in Malaysia. However, the anti-Chinese sentiment has been deeply rooted. Malays account for 60 percent of the population, Chinese 26 percent and Indians 8 percent. The current administration implements preferential policies to Malays, which has further deepened the racial discrimination in the society. Chinese descendents in Southeast Asian countries constitute the majority of the foreign Chinese. Minorities in all, the Chinese descendents have still played important roles in the social and economical developments of these countries. Even in the hardest time, they did not leave the countries but stuck to their businesses there. As citizens, they made contribution to the social and economical restorations to the countries where they reside. This was especially the case in Malaysia. Therefore, "Go back to China" is no small thing. It reflects a lack of sensitivity to racism in Malaysia, as well as the lack of understanding for the local Chinese. The Chinese descendents do not want the government to simply adopt measures to deal with improper remarks or activities as a formality. They want a deeper, intrinsic kind of respect for their community. And instead of fanning the flames of racism and condoning anti-Chinese behaviors, they hope government would take on a meaningful role in maintaining the unity of the ethnicities. A politician once pointed out this of the Malaysian government: "If you knock it, it will shake. But if you knock harder, it will break. It looks well on the outside, but ill on the inside." Moreover, a Malaysian congressman confronted the government, saying it was a great shame that although his party had won an overwhelming 91 percent of parliament seats in the election in March, 2004, the prime minister did not take this chance to promote a national unity. On the contrary, ethnic separatists are more influential than ever, bringing a new crisis to the country. |
| 'Lowering requirements may affect residential schools' Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:57 AM PDT By Rahmah Ghazali, NST KUALA LUMPUR: Revising the minimum admission requirements to residential schools for less fortunate pupils may cause a drop in the schools' performances, said an educational non-governmental organisation. Parents Action Group for Education president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said pupils in residential schools obtained stellar results in their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).
"(Some of them) achieve 5As. This is why residential schools are always oversubscribed.
"Therefore, I don't see why the standards should be lowered.
"We should encourage these students to do better, instead of coming up with mediocre work," she told the New Sunday Times.
Yesterday, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his ministry had revised the minimum admission requirement to fully residential schools for Form One students. He said the new requirements would see students from low-income families needing to score only a minimum of 3As and 2Bs in their UPSR, whereas students from rural areas needed to achieve a minimum of 4As and 1B.
Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said the ministry made the decision as many poor pupils lagged behind because of financial woes.
Noor Azimah said those factors would not necessarily impact students' achievements.
"We must not underestimate these pupils because their parents are aware of the importance of education.
"They may not be able to afford tuition classes, but teachers play a very important role in educating these children."
She added that residential schools rejected even students with 5As.
"More than 20,000 applied for admission, and these are students with 5As or 4As. So, I don't think we need to lower the schools' standards."
National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council president Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan said although it was important to help pupils from low-income families or those from rural areas, the government had to ensure that no one took advantage of the new policy.
"This new policy has to be scrutinised so that people can't claim that they belong to the two groups."
He said the government could provide extra classes for English or extra coaching to ensure students could acclimatise themselves to the environment in fully residential schools.
"(This is to avoid) culture shock when they meet urban students with excellent academic backgrounds.
"But, at the same time, they should not be pampered.
"We have to discipline them so they can work hard to overcome their deficiencies."
National Union of the Teaching Profession president Hashim Adnan lauded the move and described it as a golden opportunity for students whose academic progress was hampered because of financial constraints.
"I suggest that the government assist them until they get into university. This will help them get good jobs.
"They can then return to serve in their hometowns. This will break the cycle of poverty."
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| Muhyiddin: Mohamad’s communist remarks insulting Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:47 AM PDT  (The Malaysian Insider) - KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu saying the communists who attacked Bukit Kepong police station were heroes insults those who fought for the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday. During the Emergency (1958-1960), communist insurgents attacked the police station in the 1950s, while the country was still under British rule. Muhyiddin said he was extremely disappointed with Mohamad who is more popularly known as Mat Sabu, for his August 21 remarks made at a Tasek Gelugot political gathering, as reported by a local daily. The report also stated that the PAS leader said the country's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj and Umno's first president Datuk Onn Jaafar were not freedom fighters, Muhyiddin pointed out. In his statement released to Bernama Online, Muhyiddin said Mohamad was ignorant of the contribution made by past Malay leaders to lead the country to independence. He wants Mohamad to now apologise to all Malaysians for his remarks. Muhyiddin explained further that the Malay leaders Mohamad derided who ended up inspired Malays to oppose British rule and the Malayan Union. He said that they led to the formation of Umno and have always defended Malay rulers, Malay rights, Malay language and Islam. READ MORE HERE. |
| Politics, politics after Raya Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:39 AM PDT 
By Wong Chun Wai, The Star THE word in Putrajaya is that immediately after the Hari Raya celebrations, it will be just politics, politics and politics. In short, campaigning for the general election will be in full mode. The Prime Minister, it appears, has served notice that a large part of his weekly schedule will be devoted to meeting the people and getting their feedback: that is, hitting the ground ahead of the elections. It is unlikely that the polls would be called in November. The likelihood is that the earliest date would be in March. There are those who like to think that polls have been fixed for Nov 11, 2011, simply because they believe that the number 11 is Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's favourite. But this deduction has little political logic. It has been reported that his schedule would soon be Monday to Friday in the office, Thursday for political work and Friday to Sunday on the ground. The focus after the Hari Raya break will be to fine-tune his address on Sept 16; National Day celebrations on Aug 31 have now been moved to Malaysia Day instead. His call for greater democratic space, including doing away with censorship laws and setting up a Parliamentary Select Committee to review electoral laws, is just a prelude to his address on Sept 16. It is almost certain that he will expand on democratic reforms with an outline of the changes he wants to implement in Malaysia. It won't be promises but changes that would be set out in black and white. The fresh democratic reforms will surprise even his critics, particularly those who are pushing for a greater civil society. In short, the new democracy that he wants to see would recognise the calls by Malaysians. It is the Middle Malaysia that he wants to address. He will say that yes, he hears these voices. The next priority will be the Budget speech scheduled for Oct 7. The attention will be on affordable housing for low and middle income families and possibly even financial support for books and school transport. Granted that this could be the last Budget before the elections, no one would be surprised if he tables a practical and yet balanced populist one aimed at winning votes. Given a chance, his political opponents would have done the same if there is a need to win popularity. Obviously Najib needs to recognise that coping with the rising cost of living is the biggest concern of ordinary Malaysians. People are worried about whether they will have enough to buy food, pay their mortgage, settle electricity bills, car loan instalments and children's tuition fees and still have some left for savings. His Budget speech, where he is expected to expand on his Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the New Economic Model (NEM), will re-emphasise the point that he has an economic plan to develop Malaysia. He will have this chance to convince the fence sitters and even those who dislike the Barisan Nasional that he should be given a chance to transform Malaysia. After all, he has only been in office for about two years. In short, he would challenge his opponents to show Malaysians what economic plans they have and, for that matter, who would be the Prime Minister if they form the next federal government. Given the negative reaction towards the Government's handling of Bersih 2.0, which has dented its image, Najib would want to seize back the political momentum. So, enjoy the break while you still can because the political roller coaster ride is about to begin. To all Muslim readers, I wish to take this opportunity to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin. |
| PSC: A tactic to delay, deny and confuse? Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:33 AM PDT  By P Ramakrishnan, Aliran President When the Prime Minister announced the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee on 15 August 2011, a friend rang up to ask me what I thought of it. My immediate response was, "It is a tactic to delay, deny and confuse Malaysians!" What has transpired since then only seems to confirm this observation. The onus is with the government now to dispel this notion. And the only way to do it is to give a public pledge to the nation that parliament will not be dissolved any time before the PSC completes its work and presents its findings to parliament to put in place the reformation that is urgently required to ensure free and fair elections. This undertaking is absolutely necessary to convince Malaysians that there was sincerity and commitment on the part of the PM in setting up this PSC. We need to be assured that the Barisan Nasional government will go all the way to implement the reforms that are demanded by the people. But what was confusing to Malaysians was the statement made by the PM nine days later that the next general election can be held anytime and will not be bound by the findings of the PSC on electoral reforms. This is perplexing! In order to call for elections, parliament has to be dissolved and when that is done the PSC lapses. He would have effectively scuttled the PSC and sent it into oblivion. The truth of the matter is that the life of the PSC doesn't go beyond the life span of the current parliament. When that is the case, then what is the purpose in setting up the PSC to look at the necessary electoral reforms? By dissolving parliament before the PSC completes its duties entrusted to it, the PM will immediately deny all Malaysians the electoral reforms that were promised by setting up the PSC. Not only that, he will inevitably delay the promised reforms indefinitely. History would suggest that the BN has no intention of introducing any meaningful reforms. Since the last Bersih Rally in 2007, the BN had two years to rectify this problem. The four demands of Bersih in 2007 were: - The use of indelible ink (which was already been agreed to by the Electoral Commission, but later scrapped);
- A clean-up of the registered voters' roll;
- Abolition of postal votes; and
- Access to the government-controlled print and broadcast media for opposition parties.
The BN government did nothing to address these issues. And these four demands have now become part of the eight demands of Bersih 2.0. In reality there were only four new demands in 2011: READ MORE HERE. |
| Take Responsibility, Rais! Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:29 AM PDT 
By Tony Pua TV1 last night reported in its 8pm prime-time news on the existence of "Murtads in Malaysia & Singapore" Facebook group. What is most despicable and sickening is TV1 highlighting the alleged association of DAP leaders such as Tan Kok Wai, Charles Santiago, Dr Boo Cheng Hau, Ean Yong Hian Wah with the Group. TV1 even placed the spotlight on the chairman of Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) and ADUN for Kota Damansara Dr Nasir Hashim insinuating the betrayal of his own faith. The "news" report is obviously calculated to inflame sentiments and anger among Malays and Muslims in the country, especially towards Pakatan Rakyat whose leaders' names were "found" to be part of the group.
The problem is those responsible in TV1 obviously did not bother to find the truth to the story but went ahead to make the baseless insinuations above. TV1 either were too ignorant to know, or did not want to know the fact that the "add to group" function in Facebook is such that you cannot prevent a group administrator from adding you to any group. There is no requirement to secure one's permission or approval for adding a Facebook member to a Group.
Therefore all of the accused "supporters" of the Facebook page did not intend to, or never knew they had "joined" the Group. TV1 was completely unethical in its reporting by not first verifying the above information with the relevant people who were "implicated" by the Facebook page, especially since they were Pakatan Rakyat leaders who were easily accessible.
Hence instead of making a news report to cite the existence of the "Murtads in Malaysia & Singapore" Facebook page and criticising the administrators for wantonly adding Pakatan Rakyat leaders to the page and to cause anger among the people, TV1 chose to emphasize the supposed support shown by these leaders to the page. TV1 must be charged for making and disseminating false news to incite hatred among ordinary Malaysians.
The false TV1 news report follows closely another fake news aired by TV3 on 21 August which claimed the proselytization by a tuition centre in Old Klang Road after complaints by a non-existent "Surau Al-Musyrikin".
It is absolutely clear that the above incendiary and seditious false news reports by the Government-owned and UMNO-associated media organisations are part of a systematic and orchestrated campaign to divide the people and retain power for Barisan Nasional in the next general elections. The desperation of the Najib administration is so deep that "to win at all cost", BN is willing to not only spread false news, but also to use the highly-charged religious sentiments to tear the country apart.
We condemn the actions of the TV stations in the strongest possible terms and demand that the Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Dr Rais Yatim apologise on behalf of the TV stations for making false and seditious news reports. Dr Rais must also conduct an immediate investigation into the completely lack of professionalism in both TV1 and TV3 and insist that the responsible parties are removed from the posts. |
| Penang BN to focus on 18 ‘critical seats’, says Koh Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:21 AM PDT  By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) is focused on regaining and retaining 18 "critical" state seats in the next polls, as state coalition chief Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon believes they are crucial to winning back the state. Koh was chief minister from 1990 until the political tsunami of March 2008 — when Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won 29 out of the total 40 state seats in the state. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng replaced him. "Of the 11 seats BN has won in March 2008, there are six seats which we won by less than the 600 vote margin. We have to first defend this. Then there are seven seats which we lost by less than 2000 vote margin, have to try and win back these seats. We also have five seats which we lost less than the 3000 majority margin. "So we are talking about critical seats altogether of 18 that we have to work very hard on. That's our target we are working on this.18 critical seats," Koh told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview. The six seats won by BN by less than a 600 vote margin are Telok Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas, Sungai Acheh, Seberang Jaya and Sungai Dua. The seven seats BN lost by less than a 2000 vote margin are Bukit Tengah, Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Tikus, Padang Kota, Datuk Keramat, Batu Uban and Pantai Jerejak. The five seats BN lost by less than a 3000 vote margin are Penanti, Sungai Bakap, Sungai Pinang, Seri Delima and Air Itam. "I'm not going to claim that we will win. Neither am I going to claim that we will lose because a lot depends on what happens between now and the GE. After March 2008, any politician with the right sense will not make claims after another... In politics there's no absolute surety. (But) we have to try our very best," added the Gerakan president. The DAP won 19 state seats in the last polls, PKR won 9 and PAS won 1, while Umno won 11 seats. BN coalition partners Gerakan, MCA and MIC however were completely wiped out. Koh is also facing heat as state BN chief, as there have been calls from within the coalition demanding that the mild-mannered politician step down. BN leaders have said this was necessary if the coalition is to have any chance of wresting back Penang from PR. The Princeton graduate has been viewed as indecisive and a symbol of the BN leadership that was rejected by the voters in 2008. BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has spoken behind closed doors on the need to rejuvenate the Gerakan leadership with younger talent and acknowledges that BN component parties need new blood if inroads are to be made in Penang, where DAP's Lim is a formidable opponent. Najib is due to pay a visit and speak at the Han Chiang High School in Penang on Sept 29 in what is seen as an attempt to woo the majority Chinese voters on the island. The school field was the site of a massive PR rally on March 6, 2008, two days before Lim swept to power in the state. The visit is seen as part of Najib's latest strategy to go to the ground every weekend before calling elections ahead of the BN mandate expiring in 2013. READ MORE HERE. |
| Election Commission should fine-tune voting options list Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:10 AM PDT (The Star) - FOR nearly one million Malaysians based abroad, postal voting will soon become a reality. The Elections Commission (EC) has rightly been commended for this move, which respects the right of voters to vote even when based overseas, makes it convenient for them to do so, and helps them maintain ties with their home country. So far, only full-time Malaysian students as well as civil servants and their spouses abroad may cast postal ballots, with many others employed in the private sector left out. Widening the option of postal voting is definitely an improvement, but the EC should go further. The procedure for postal voting takes time, is circuitous, and thus may raise doubts about the security and confidentiality of the ballots. Each Malaysian embassy abroad would hand out the ballots for marking by voters, who then return them to the embassies, which then send them back to Malaysia where they are transported to the respective polling centres of the voters' Malaysian addresses. Current technology evident in the biometric system being considered for all polling centres suggests that we can do better. Can the EC devise a practical and secure means of voting online from abroad? It would be good to know that the EC has at least explored the options to see what is possible. For now, Malaysians based abroad who had not been able to vote but are now hoping to do so must first register for postal balloting. This is only reasonable as they must first be on record as postal voters. It is also only fair, since voters should show their interest in casting their votes by registering before being given postal ballots. The EC has still to decide whether to recommend indelible ink, biometrics or both to Parliament to help secure the integrity of voting in the coming general election. The decision should result from a thorough consideration of what is best, not from any pressure from critics or interested parties. Only then can the EC earn the respect of all. |
| I would hold the election after Raya Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:58 AM PDT Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy 2 trial is going just like Sodomy 1.
Anwar's team of lawyers are smarter than the prosecutors. They have managed to turn the trial into political grandstanding.
The issue is no longer whether Anwar did or did not commit the act of sodomy. The issue is whether the prosecution can prove that he did so. So they are fighting on technicalities. And the technicalities appear focused on the matter of fabrication of evidence.
That was what happened in the Sodomy 1 trial. And that is what is also happening in the Sodomy 2 trial.
If Najib Tun Razak hopes to convict Anwar and send him to jail, that will happen, of course. That happened in Sodomy 1 and it will happen in Sodomy 2 as well. However, just like what happened in Sodomy 1, the people will not believe that Anwar received a fair trial.
So, if Najib plans to hold the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail, in the hope that Anwar would be discredited and Pakatan Rakyat would lose the moral high ground, that is not going to happen. Instead, Anwar's credibility would be enhanced and Pakatan Rakyat would gain more ground.
So, it is no point in holding the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail. Pakatan Rakyat would, in fact, benefit from that. Najib would be doing Pakatan Rakyat a favour by sending Anwar to jail on what most would consider a sham trial on trumped-up charges and fabricated evidence.
Yes, things are not going well for Najib. Anwar's team has skilfully refocused attention not to the whether Anwar did or did not commit sodomy but to whether he is or is not getting a fair trial. The bungling fools in the prosecution are convincing everyone that the evidence is being fabricated to gain a conviction.
Anwar is going to jail. But he is not going to jail as a disgraced criminal. He is not going to jail because he committed sodomy. He is going to jail because they are giving him a sham jail.
Never mind whether Anwar is really guilty of sodomy. It matters not whether he did or did not commit the crime. What does matter is they can't prove it and they fabricated the evidence to justify sending him to jail.
Things are indeed not going well for Najib. The Sodomy 2 trial is a foregone conclusion. But it is going to hurt Najib more than it is going to hurt Anwar. It is going to damage Barisan Nasional more than it is going to damage Pakatan Rakyat.
So, holding the general election after they send Anwar to jail will do more harm than good to Barisan Nasional. So they had better hold the election now, after Hari Raya.
The economy is not doing well. The UK and the US are bracing themselves for a crash landing.
In October, Najib will be presenting his budget for 2012. It was supposed to be an election budget. But no amount of window-dressing is going to convince anyone that everything is peachy rosy and honky dory.
Najib's budget is going to be torn to pieces. They will strip it naked and it will be seen for what it is: rhetoric with no substance. So, holding the election after the budget, which means after Anwar's trial as well, is going to be a double whammy for Barisan Nasional.
Umno is imploding. Najib is going to face what Dr Mahathir Mohamad faced in mid-2002. In 2002, Umno closed in on Dr Mahathir and forced his hand. In an emotional moment of weakness, Dr Mahathir announced his resignation and handed power to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 1 November 2003.
Najib is fighting on three fronts. On one front is Anwar. On the second front is the doomed economy. More importantly, however, on the third front is Umno that wants Najib's head on a silver platter.
Rosmah Mansor has been very silent of late. She has been told that a Prime Minister's wife must be seen, not heard. In Rosmah's case, it is better that she is not seen as well.
Rosmah is Najib's Khairy. She is to Najib what Khairy was to Abdullah Badawi. And for that same reason Najib has Dr Mahathir breathing down his neck.
Yes, the world is crumbling around Najib. Time is ticking away and is getting shorter. Time is not on Najib's side. Time is a luxury he can't afford.
Najib must call for the general election after Hari Raya if he wants to make it till Christmas. If not, he would go down in history as Malaysia's Prime Minister who ruled the shortest.
Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya.
That is what I would do if I were Najib. I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. Then I would catch Pakatan Rakyat unprepared.
Pakatan Rakyat is not yet ready for the elections. They still have not sorted out the seat allocations. In fact, they have not even started talking yet. And they are far from even sorting out the list of candidates.
Pakatan Rakyat is still sleeping. If the general election is held after Hari Raya, Pakatan Rakyat will be caught with its pants down. Pakatan Rakyat will be like the Americans at Pearl Harbour. They would be bombed and sunk just like at Pearl Harbour.
Yes, call the election after Hari Raya and watch Pakatan Rakyat scramble like cockroaches when the light is switched on. That is what will happen if the election is called after Hari Raya.
If I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya and solve all my problems. It then matters not what type of trial Anwar is subjected to. It then matters not what happens to the economy. It then matters not what Umno is trying to do to me.
By the time it does matter the general election would be over and I would be installed as the legitimate Prime Minister. Then that would give me five years to solve all my problems. And in five years all my problems today would no longer be problems.
That is why I would hold the general election after Hari Raya if I were Najib. But then I am not Najib. And that is why Najib will fall, because he is not me and he would not do what I would do if I were him.
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| A-G denies Raja Petra’s bribe claims Posted: 26 Aug 2011 08:08 PM PDT 
(The Malaysian Insider) - Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has denied claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that he was being bribed by former Ho Hup Bhd deputy executive chairman Datuk Vincent Lye in exchange for help in a boardroom tussle. Raja Petra had alleged on his blog Malaysia-Today on August 23 that Lye had "bribed" Gani and used Ho Hup funds to pay for renovation work at Gani Patail's second wife's house in Negeri Sembilan. (Read more here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/42988-now-lets-see-what-the-macc-is-going-to-do) In his first response to Raja Petra's claims, Abdul Gani told The Malaysian Insider that he had never accepted any money from the construction company. "I didn't take a single cent from Ho Hup. I have a rule; I don't take money," he said. When asked whether he owned a house in Seremban, he replied: "I don't have a house in Seremban or anywhere in Negri Sembilan." "I don't know what to say … all these things happened in 2009 but the case was from 2010, so it doesn't make sense," he added, apparently referring to the charges filed against Low. Raja Petra had insinuated that the A-G used his influence on behalf of Lye to have his boardroom rival Datuk TC Low charged in court in January this year for non-timely disclosure of his interests in the company. The blogger had also posted pictures on the website of what appears to be a computer-generated invoice dated July 13 2009 from a company in Petaling Jaya to Ho Hup for installation of lighting fixtures for "AG's Bungalow at Seremban 2 — Sri Carcosa"; a handwritten invoice dated July 13 to Lye for renovation work for Sri Carcosa in Seremban 2; a cash payment voucher from Ho Hup dated August 12 for work done for "AG Tan Sri Ghani Patail Bangalow at Seremban 2 — Sri Carcosa" worth RM18,000; and a cheque made out to the renovation supplier for RM18,000. READ MORE HERE |
| The MAS loss discrepancy Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:37 PM PDT Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin Malaysia Today has written a series of articles (which have been republished a number of times) about what happened to Malaysia's national airline, MAS, from 1994 to 2001. Basically, the gist of the articles was that there were some criminal goings-on and shenanigans in MAS during the seven years that Tajudin Ramli was managing MAS, which resulted in massive losses for the airline company. The Malaysian Insider also carried the story and Tajudin has since sued the online portal for reporting that MAS lost RM8 billion when it was in the hands of Tajudin. (Read more here: Former MAS chairman sues news portal for RM200mil). The pro-Umno blogs have pooh-poohed this story of the RM8 billion losses. They have even published the annual reports of the airline company to prove that the losses were not RM8 billion but only RM1 billion. The investigation by the CCID of the Malaysian Police (PDRM), however, revealed a different figure. In fact, the Director of the CCID wrote to the Prime Minister to inform the PM of this matter and the figure quoted was RM8 billion. (Read more here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/24192-the-untold-mas-story-part-8) This can only mean that someone is not telling the truth. If the losses were only RM1 billion, then the police must have been lying. And would the Malaysian police dare lie? Have we ever known it to lie? Is the CCID of the Malaysian Police prepared to defend its reputation (if it has any left to defend) by standing by its reported RM8 billion losses? Or has the CCID been misleading us (which is what most Malaysians suspect of the police anyway)? The CCID of the PDRM is the same department that investigated me and came to the conclusion that I had committed various crimes. I was not only arrested and made to face four charges. I was further detained without trial under the Internal Security Act. Now, this is the novelty here. My detention without trial under the Internal Security Act was for the same so-called crimes that I had been charged with and for which I was facing trial. This means I was being punished twice for the same alleged crimes, which is wrong in law. You just cannot be punished twice for the same crime. Nevertheless, they still punished me twice for the same alleged crimes and yet they still expected me to stay back in Malaysia and face trial for alleged crimes I had already been punished for. Now you know why I decided to walk off and tell the court to go fuck itself. If they do not respect the law then why should I? Anyway, we now have a situation where the police say one thing and the auditors for MAS say another thing. And Tajudin is suing The Malaysian Insider for what he considers a blatant lie. And the Umno Bloggers are also saying that the police lied. Can you just see the irony here? We, the opposition Bloggers, are saying that the police told the truth and that we believe the allegation of the RM8 billion loss. The Umno Bloggers, however, are saying that the police lied. Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you. If the police lied about the MAS matter this would mean the police are capable of lying about other things as well. And this would mean they lied about me and they also lied about Anwar Ibrahim. As they say: once a liar, always a liar. And the MAS matter is a not a small thing, mind you. It involves Umno as well. Now, let us not forget what Tajudin said in his Affidavit. He said he is only the front and that other people are behind him. Most believe that he is the front for Umno. Parts 6 and 7 of his Affidavit says it very clearly: At all material times, I was a nominee and agent of the Government….. (Read more here: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/34253-umnos-hands-in-every-pie) So, if Tajudin is being protected and no action was taken against him because of this, then it can only mean that Umno is the real criminal in this exercise to bleed MAS. Can you see how this can spin out of control? This is not only about whether the police lied or not. If they did not, then someone else higher up is lying instead. And if they did, then this means we can't trust the police. Either way someone's balls are going to get whacked good and proper. So now it is the Malaysian Police-Opposition Bloggers versus Umno-Umno Bloggers. We take the side of the police while the Umno Bloggers are on the other side. Let us see who is lying and who is telling the truth. Either way it does not concern me one bit. Either way we would have proved our point. Now do you see why we are better at this game than Umno is? And now do you see why Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should sack all this so-called advisers, PR companies and spin-doctors and employ us instead? Yes, it is because we are better at this game than his people are. Oh, and sorry if I sound boastful. If you are good, you are good. What more can I say? |
| Sodomy II: Sperm sample not taken properly, says expert Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:20 PM PDT (THE STAR) - A DNA expert told the High Court yesterday that sperm samples taken from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's rectum had not been properly extracted by a chemist. Dr Brian Leslie McDonald said the differential extraction process (DEP) carried out by the chemist was not properly conducted due to the presence of Mohd Saiful's DNA. Describing the chemist's findings as speculative, he said a detailed process was necessary to ensure the sperm was isolated from other cells belonging to the complainant. He said that in order to get the proper results, the samples had "to be cleaned a couple of times." Dr McDonald pointed out that the report prepared by the chemist did not indicate where the swabs came from. He said doctors at Hospital Kuala Lumpur did not use the same numbering system for the samples as used by the chemist. "We have to assume where the swabs came from as this was not reflected in the chemist's report," said Dr McDonald. He said samples must be verified whether they came from the anal and rectum areas in sodomy cases. Giving his opinion on the results of the samples taken from Mohd Saiful, Dr McDonald said the two swabs - taken from Mohd Saiful's high rectum and one from the low rectum - showed no degradation despite being examined after more than 90 hours. "The evidence found was pristine as there was no evidence of degradation, and this is inconsistent with its history." he said. He explained that in the low rectum swab, there was a mixture of two samples, which included Male Y. "The second high rectal swab had a mixture of Male Y and the complainant," he said, adding that the "dominance is by the complainant." "And the one from the low rectal was inconclusive," said Dr McDonald. On Thursday, Dr McDonald said the samples should have been smeared onto a glass slide, air-dried and immediately frozen at -20C to stop the growth of bacteria from destroying the sperm cells. The hearing was adjourned to Sept 19. |
| RM8bil joy for bumiputra contractors Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:18 PM PDT (THE STAR) - More than RM8bil worth of projects will be awarded to bumiputra companies as part of the MY Rapid Transit (MRT) project, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. He said several packages in the RM20bil project had been specially allocated to bumiputra contractors. The packages are civil and infrastructure works, Tenaga Nasional Bhd power supply, centralised procurement, tunnel and underground works, and MRT systems, he said after chairing the fifth Bumiputra Agenda action council meeting yesterday. Meanwhile, the Bumiputra Agenda Coordinating Unit (Teraju) in the Prime Minister's Department said procurement strategies for the MRT project had been approved by the one-stop procurement committee headed by Najib, who is also finance minister. Since its inception, Teraju has been working to increase bumiputra participation in the mega project by securing opportunities for bumiputra contractors under Class D, E, and F and ensure "economies of scale" in the centralised procurement. Teraju said packages worth RM200mil had been set aside for contractors in Class D, E and F to undertake civil and infrastructure works. Meanwhile, at a breaking of fast at the Foreign Ministry, Najib said the Government would ensure democracy flourished in the country and would not tolerate anarchy. The Prime Minister said the Government would provide space for dissent but would not allow riots and disturbances to public order. "We have always championed democracy from day one but will not tolerate anarchy and riots. "We know the way forward is for us to allow room and space for dissent but at the same time to uphold the rules and laws," he said. Also present were Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and members of foreign missions, including ambassadors and high commissioners. Najib said the Government would review many things, including censorship laws and ensure that there would be space for society to show dissent in an orderly manner. He said events happening around the world showed that law and order could not be taken for granted. "Who would have imagined the event (riots) in London, a cradle of democracy. "If such a homogeneous society can break down, what more a diverse society like Malaysia which is very plural. "I am not saying that everything is perfect in Malaysia ... we are far from it but are working on it," he said. |
| Sand and Singapore Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:13 PM PDT THE DIPLOMAT The politics of sand is a dirty business, and there's plenty of it around – particularly in the tiny island-state of Singapore. Its voracious appetite for constructing mega-buildings and expanding its borders by filling in the sea has led to widespread ecological damage around the region. Indonesia has complained bitterly about its disappearing islands and banned the export of sand. So has Vietnam. Malaysia uses dealings over sand as a political bargaining chip when negotiating with Singapore, and countries further afield are also thinking twice about selling it sand. This was the case with Cambodia, which acted on a report by environmental activists Global Witness that was released in May. It has announced that it has ordered a suspension of sand dredging while it assesses alleged damage to fish stocks and the ecology of the Tatai River. However, all the indications are that private business in Cambodia is thumbing their nose at the government and continuing to dredge the Tatai River. This is despite pleas from impoverished villagers, who live hand to mouth and who have had their livelihoods affected and seen widespread damage to their local environment. According to the report, Singapore expanded its surface area by 22 percent, from 582 square kilometres in the 1960s to 710 square kilometres in 2008 – and it wants to go much further. Ho Mak, director of Rivers at the Ministry of Water resources, told The Diplomat the companies dredging the Tatai had been ordered to stop while an environmental impact study is made. Piech Siyon, a provincial director of the Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, insists this has happened. However, the reports to the contrary are many, something supported by Chum Sok Korb, who told The Diplomat that villagers wanted all sand dredging – big and small – stopped now. There's no shortage of smugglers in Southeast Asia and the Singapore land developers are well aware of this, prompting accusations by Greenpeace they have launched a 'war' for the commodity. READ MORE HERE |
| Letter to Tan Sri William Cheng Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:04 PM PDT By Datuk Seri Idris Jala via The Malaysian Insider Pemandu is arguing that a report by The Malaysian Insider, "Pemandu admits land acquisition only way to recoup MRT cost", is misleading. YBhg Tan Sri, I refer to your letter entitled "Unfair Rail plus Property Model for MRT Development" dated August 8m 2011. YBhg Tan Sri has raised some concerns regarding the rail and property model including the acquisition of the Jalan Sultan shoplots. The "rail and property model" is a business model that has been successfully applied by the Hong Kong MTR Corporation in developing the HK MRT rail network. The rationale behind this concept is to ensure effective synergies between rail and property development to optimise catchment and passenger flows for the MRT and provide an effective means of recouping the vast sums spent on developing the MRT. For Hong Kong, this approach also serves as a planning tool for urban spatial development by establishing new communities along the routes of its railway lines. HK MTR revenues are currently based on 35 per cent fare box revenues, with the remainder being derived from property development. By relying solely on fare box revenue itself, Hong Kong will not be able to successfully finance both the capex and opex costs for its rail network. In the case of Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) develops the MRT lines but does not get involved in property development along MRT routes. Instead, this role rests with the Urban Redevelopment Authority and its Housing and Development Board. The exception is the Dhoby Ghaut station (a five-storey high-rise) undertaken by LTA. Singapore's MRT operators rely heavily on fare box revenues and contribution from commercial activities is minimal but this approach is considered an exception rather than the norm. It is difficult to replicate fully HK's property value management model in Malaysia as we have to put in play a model that is best suited to our specific needs. HK MTR Corporation has the benefit of access to several tracts of land (mainly from reclamation) that allows integrated station and property/residential development in a country where land is scarce. At the same time, the high density in Hong Kong allows maximum optimization of returns from such property development. However, in the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley area, most of the area is already built-up and the Sungai Buloh-Kajang alignment runs mainly along a corridor where there are existing developments and hence the need for some amount of land acquisition. The developments referred to by YBhg Tan Sri in respect of Sungai Buloh-RRI and Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) sites are developed by GLCs and to be totally clear, the revenue from these developments do not go directly towards offsetting the MRT capex. For the government to manage the project efficiently and sustainably, fare-box revenue will not be sufficient to finance the high CAPEX and OPEX for the MRT network. Increasing the fares is not an option as the government wants to act responsibly by providing the rakyat with affordable transport. Instead, the government is adopting a prudent approach towards a sustainable financial model for the MRT through a modified rail-plus-property model. The government through the MRT Co will develop properties above the underground station box and the park-and-ride facilities to ensure optimisation of MRT assets and the associated facilities (park and drop-off/bus/taxis areas). In addition, where there is injurious land (part of the remaining lot not compulsorily acquired) and the property owner is willing to dispose to the government on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis or where the property owner approaches the MRT Co for joint development, the government is willing to consider such options that would allow some returns to balance the heavy investment in rail infrastructure. The government is thus not acquiring land banks for the MRT Co nor abusing the Land Acquisition Act for this purpose. In respect of the Jalan Sultan shoplots and several other buildings such as UDA Ocean and Plaza Warisan, I will let the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) respond to your concerns as I understand that YBhg Tan Sri has sent a similar letter to SPAD. READ MORE HERE |
| RCI, not 5P biometric registration, the only answer to illegals problem Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:00 PM PDT 
On the long-proposed RCI on illegals, I would like to ask why is Umno against it, or pretend to be deaf about it, while all the other political parties, including BN components, have been demanding for it? Doesn't Umno agree that the RCI is the only way to clean up the whole mess with the illegals? What is it trying to hide? Daniel John Jambun It is laughable that the Barisan Nasional parties are not even in agreement about the real figures involving the most important issue in Sabah – the problem of the illegal immigrants. The LDP said that according to the 2010 census "of the 2,330,779 non-Malaysians in the country are in Sabah." And frighteningly, LDP reminded us that "the non-Malaysian citizens which stand at 27.75 per cent is now THE LARGEST GROUP OF PEOPLE in Sabah… If we combine their figure with the other Bumiputera, they form 48.33 percent of the population. WE HAVE NOT EVEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THOSE ILLEGALS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CENSUS"!
This statement reminds us that they are a lot more foreigners out there than we have on records, and that the natives are already overwhelmed by them! But the Sabah Immigration Director, Mohd bin Mentek, responded on behalf of the government almost a week later saying there are only 200,000 illegals, citing convenient statistics as if official statistics were accurate and reliable. Wikipedia says that the common saying about "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is "a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments." The immigration Director argued to dismiss LDP concern by breaking down the figure stated by LDP and reasoning that some of them were legal workers, expatriates and foreigners, while 200,000 were illegal workers. Another source says that in every four Sabahans, there is one illegal immigrant, meaning 25 percent of Sabahans are illegals! But what are the real figures? On August 2, the local papers reported that there are more illegal immigrants in Sabah than originally thought, so the 5P registration had to be extended. This again shows that even the authorities don't know how many illegals there are around us. They can make officials announcements about official figures but it is all official nonsense because it is all lies, damn lies, and statistics. It so easy to ally fears by giving nice statistics, and to give reassurance as if everything is alright. Mohd even told reporters that "we registered 161,370 in just 24 days. Thus the registration rate for 5P was better than (those in 2008 and 2009)" as if there is some kind of success we should be happy about.
The other frightening reality is that the government now takes huge figures like 1,000,000, 800,000 and even 200,000 as if they are small figures that we don't have to worry about. We have forgotten that even 10,000 illegals is something that calls for a national emergency action. So one day we will be talking about 2,000,000 illegals and we still behave as if it is NORMAL?
Let's bear in mind the hidden truths behind all these statements: (1) We are not told that the higher and faster registration rate this time is possibly because the number of illegals has increased by leaps and bounds! (2) Nobody on earth even really knows how many illegals are out there who are purposely avoiding this registration for fear of having to go back to their countries, (3) Nobody knows how many are arriving to Sabah behind the backdoors everyday because our borders are so porous, (4) We don't know how many of them are being given IMM13 documents, (5) Nobody has any idea how many illegals in Sabah who are already holding genuine Mykads and think of themselves as real Sabahans and not as illegals! Can the Directors of the State Immigration Department and National Registration Department inform us how many foreigners have been given the many types of documents at all their offices in Sabah in the last few years. I am asking this because the number of foreigners jamming the space at the waiting area of the NRD office in the Federal Government Administration Centre everyday is quite incredible. I remember that sometime back the number of immigrants seeking IMM13 documents at the Wisma Budaya near Kampung Air looked like there was a festival there everyday!
Taking all these and many other realities which we have no space to mention here, we can conclude with confidence that there a lot more we don't know out there than what the government officials are willing to tell us. The current 5P exercise seems like a convenient escape for the government in its effort to make the people forget about their demand to have a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the illegals. The opposition parties have accused the BN of having a secret mechanism to make this 5P exercise to increase the BN votes in the next general election. What if the registration is designed to record the illegals to enable them to get documents to vote?
What we need is an RCI, not the 5P registration exercise. Tan Sri Bernard Dompok himself had said on Friday that the semi-permanent ink is a better method to prevent multiple voting than the biometric records because biometric verification is impossible where there is no electricity. Also I believe biometric records can be manipulated so that what should be shown are not shown during checking, and the illegals or the phantom voters can still vote – several times. And in such cases we in the opposition would be in no position to substantiate our complaints. TSB is right, and I stand behind him on the use of indelible ink.
On the long-proposed RCI on illegals, I would like to ask why is Umno against it, or pretend to be deaf about it, while all the other political parties, including BN components, have been demanding for it? Doesn't Umno agree that the RCI is the only way to clean up the whole mess with the illegals? What is it trying to hide?
Even the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI) is useless as a means to monitor the problem of illegals via the NRD. Tan Sri Bernard resigned as its chairman in 2007 due to lack of co-operation from the NRD. The obvious question is "Why?" If the NRD has nothing to hide, why did it refuse to attend the PSCI meetings? Lim Kit Siang had then commented in his blog: "Bernard's resignation as PSCI chairman is not a matter which merely concerns him, because of his invidious and unenviable position of chairing the parliamentary select committee on integrity while being a Cabinet Minister. This mix-up of the separate executive and parliamentary roles undermining the doctrine of the separation of powers of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary has created complex and grave conflict situations, as the role of parliamentary select committees is to present viewpoints and proposals which are independent and distinct from those of the Executive for consideration and adoption by the Cabinet. This is why the situation of Cabinet Ministers chairing parliamentary select committees is completely unheard-of in other Commonwealth parliaments, as it creates inherent conflicts and contradictions which has resulted in situations like Bernard's resignation and statement: 'I feel that as a member of the Cabinet I may not be able to do justice to the tasks assigned to the committee by Parliament'."
Again, the only solution is an RCI. We don't have to prove to the government anymore the serious threats of the illegals, and how grave the situation is. Patriotic leaders in Sabah have talked about the dangers of reverse takeover, they had sent documents, Mutalib M.D. and Dr. Chong Eng Leong have published books about it, Datuk Wilfred Bumburing had sent a thick memorandum, Prof. Kamal Sadiq of University of California - Irvine had produced an academic paper about it (search online for Kamal Sadiq, "When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia"). What else are we going to do to make the federal government listen to our pleas and fears? Do we have to go to the streets like Bersih before Kuala Lumpur listens? Won't we then be told to present our grievance "through the proper channel"? But the government doesn't respond to proper channels, so what else are we to do? |
| ‘Sabah getting a raw deal from Petronas’ Posted: 26 Aug 2011 01:56 PM PDT 
By Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Petronas,which gets a major portion of their wealth from Sabah, was taken to task for spending on luxury projects such as the Sepang F1 racing circuit and a '5-star' hospital for the rich . PKR Sabah secretary Dr Roland Chia said Petronas gets a major portion of its wealth from Sabah,but it is spending money millions on lavish peojects in the Peninsula while Sabah is right at the bottom in the country's poverty index. Chia said Petronas had neglected its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to Sabah and has instead indulged in unnecessary projects. He said Petronas should be using its billions of ringgit following the oil price hike for more meaningful causes, rather than sponsoring sports cars to participate in the F1 Circuit, or continue to finance the accumulated losses incurred by the Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur. Sabah, the largest gas producer and the fourth largest crude oil producer in the country, has been short – changed and many feel Petronas should do more for the state. "I urge Petronas to channel their CSR funds for more meaningful causes rather than building a half-a-billion ringgit elite hospital in Kuala Lumpur and continuing to finance the Prince Court Medical Centre. "The money can be used by sponsoring community buses for rural school children who needed to walk for 10-20 km to reach their schools in Sabah and Sarawak," he said. Critics have complained that Petronas spent RM544 million on PCMC and this contrasts with the RM47 million the company spent over the last 36 years from 1975 to 2011 on its Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) in Sabah, which works out to RM1.3 million a year. "This is utterly ridiculous. Sabahans are living in poverty … their overty index is among the highest in the country and Petronas under the BN government has got their priorities absolutely wrong." On losses incurred by PCMC, Chia noted that in its most recent annual financial report ended April 2010, the hospital, wholly owned by Petronas, suffered a net loss of RM451 million on the back of a RM82 million revenue. According to records, the luxury healthcare facility had liabilities and current liabilities of RM749.4 million while its reserves were RM178.3 million. The hospital which was launched in 2007, made a loss of RM203 million on revenue of RM24 million in 2009 to put its accumulated losses over the two years at RM654 million. READ MORE HERE. |
| Walk The Talk Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:27 PM PDT By Christian Federation Malaysia Together with all Malaysians we join hands in celebrating and rejoicing over Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day this year. Let us offer our prayers in thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings showered upon us and for His kind mercies over these past 54 years of celebrating Merdeka Day and over the past 48 years in auspiciously marking Malaysia Day. We must continue to uphold the constitutional framework which embodies the principles of democratic freedoms and institutions first set down by our Founding Fathers irrespective of race, religion or creed so that each generation will be able to advance and progress as Malaysians. We have also embraced the principles of the Rukunegara and the fundamental liberties including the Freedom of Religion which allows us freedom to believe and personal liberty to ensure we live in peace and harmony and for us to seek the welfare and well-being of all who dwell in Malaysia. The diversity of faiths expressed in the many places of worship throughout Malaysia is a testimony to the spiritual vitality of all our peoples and their desire to be connected to the Almighty God. Therefore, we must hold to the sanctity of all our places of worship and also our freedom to believe and not allow such to be violated in any way. As Malaysians we must continue in the sharing of our religious traditions, spiritualities and festivities with one another in the spirit of mutual respect. We must not allow actions which are insensitive, arrogant and disrespectful to prevail nor to derail us from our living in harmony and love amongst all religions and communities in Malaysia. Malaysians value justice and righteousness and therefore expect such values to be exhibited and practiced by the leaders of our nation and by one and all. Malaysians desire that our leaders act justly, do rightly and to love mercy. This spirit will help us build a great nation for ourselves, our children and our children's children. Therefore, we expect and call our nation's leaders to show consistent and sustainable leadership in the Prime Minister's unifying theme of 1Malaysia : People First, Performance Now to the end that the theme will not be just more talk than action but become a concrete reality so that we can all enjoy its fruits. As our nation grows we need to build stronger democratic institutions which will give Malaysians a greater say in the affairs of state. Today, Malaysians as concerned citizens want our voices to be heard and wish to speak on the issues of the nation and how it is administered. Many Malaysians desire electoral reforms to ensure a fair and equitable electoral system and the government's response of a parliamentary select committee to look into this crucial matter is a step forward in the right direction. As Malaysians we need to build on the positives that we have in our land rather than the negatives that divide us on the basis of race, religion or creed.
Malaysians need to come together to reject all extremisms as they were never what our Founding Fathers saw and desired for Malaysia. In particular, we reject extremist speeches and statements and irresponsible reporting in the media. We call on every Malaysian to contribute towards the process of nation-building without thought of reward. Churches and Christians should continue freely to do works of charity to contribute towards nation-building in diverse ways so that the benefits can be reaped by the poor and the needy, irrespective of race, religion or creed. As Malaysians, let us pledge to work for the betterment of all Malaysians, to further the cause of national unity, to promote mutual respect of all peoples and religions, to foster a caring and compassionate society, to maintain democracy, to enable a vibrant economy for the well-being of all, to see to the good of all Malaysians and to ensure that our public institutions are transparent, accountable and serving the people. The churches join all Malaysians in praying for the good health and well-being of our beloved King and Queen, the Rulers, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the Mentris Besar and Chief Ministers of the states, our parliamentarians, all members of the state assemblies, the police and those who defend our nation. It is our desire to see continued prosperity with peace, justice and righteousness and the strengthening of our common bonds of friendship and harmony amongst all peoples and religions in Malaysia.
CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
- BISHOP NG MOON HING (Chairman)
- BISHOP ANTONY SELVANAYAGAM (Vice-Chairman)
- BISHOP DR THOMAS TSEN (Vice-Chairman)
- REV EU HONG SENG (Vice-Chairman) |
| Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Q1 net profit 737mn ringgit Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:24 PM PDT By Business Recorder KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals: Net profit 737 million ringgit ($247 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. The Company had on March 2 2011, announced the change of financial year end from March 31 to Dec. 31 beginning from April 2011. As a result, there is no equivalent comparative quarter. Results driven by strong prices seen across most petrochemical products and partially offset by a stronger Malaysian ringgit against the US Dollar. |
| Malaysia Petronas 1Q Net Profit MYR19.35 Billion Vs MYR12.32 Billion Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:21 PM PDT By Jason Ng, Dow Jones Newswires KUALA LUMPUR -(Dow Jones)- Malaysia's state-owned oil-and-gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd. Friday reported a 57% rise in its first-quarter net profit, but said growth is likely to slow from the second quarter, and may continue to be sluggish going into 2012.
Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company and the country's most profitable firm, also known as Petronas, said net profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose to MYR19.35 billion, compared with MYR12.32 billion in the year-earlier period. Revenue was higher at MYR72.97 billion from MYR58.56 billion.
Petronas President and Chief Executive Shamsul Azhar Abbas said higher product prices across the board helped the performance. Net profit was also boosted by a one-time gain of MYR2.60 billion from a stake sale in Cairn India Ltd. (532792.BY). In April, Petronas exited Cairn India, selling its entire 14.94% stake in the oil-and-gas explorer for about $2.1 billion.
"Based on July numbers, we are definitely moving towards a slowdown in the second quarter which will continue into next year," Shamsul told reporters at an earnings conference.
Shamsul said the company realized an average weighted crude oil price of $ 122.26 a barrel compared with $76.14 a barrel during the January-March period. However, he cautioned that any slowdown in the U.S. and Europe will likely cause demand destruction and lead to lower product prices.
"Our main worry is the demand destruction" due to economic slowdown in US and Europe, he added.
Petronas projects an average crude oil price of $80-$85 a barrel into 2012 based on fundamentals, Shamsul said.
Shamsul also said the company will be open to acquiring more discovered oil- and-gas assets, as well as unconventional assets, globally.
In June, Petronas bought half of Progress Energy Resources Corp.'s (PRQ.T) certain shale assets in northeastern British Columbia for $1.10 billion.
Shamsul earlier said that Petronas will be also open to buying more shale assets.
Petronas plans to partner U.S.-based Hess Corp. (HES ) in the MYR15.00 billionNorth Malay Basin project that it announced earlier this week. The project is to develop a marginal gas field off peninsular Malaysia to cater to growing domestic demand.
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| Pakatan: MRT rail, property model is land grab Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:17 PM PDT  By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has accused Putrajaya of using the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) as an excuse to acquire prime land after it was revealed that the government will rely on property development to foot project costs. DAP international secretary Liew Chin Tong said the modified rail-and-property model was just "land grab by another name" and accused the Land Public Transport Authority (SPAD) of putting revenue considerations before the needs of the public. He told The Malaysian Insider that the regulator's focus on how to maximise returns through property redevelopment rather than public transport requirements was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and called an example of "worst planning practices". "You should look at transport needs and how to cater for that before anything else," Liew said, adding that this called into question whether the alignment of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line had been determined by property development propositions rather than demand. "The most important thing is to think how to get people to work (riding the MRT)... The number one priority is to ensure this is the easiest way to work so you don't have a peak hour (congestion) problem." PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the viability of the entire MRT project was now suspect given the risky nature of property developments, especially since the government will incur "huge public debt" financing them. He pointed out that returns from such developments were not guaranteed as the outlook for the high-end property market was "quite gloomy" and there was already a property glut in the Klang Valley. "This is the danger of the MRT project if it's not managed properly," he said. Rafizi also questioned the timeline for property development on the acquired land and whether it would take place before or after the MRT is scheduled to begin service in 2016. "When is this so-called redevelopment for [capital expenditure] and [operating expenditure] going to take place? 2017? 2018? In the meantime, the public has to fork out more money while waiting for the returns," he added. PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said there was a need for the Najib administration to open up the project to parliamentary scrutiny as the reliance on property development showed that not enough thought had gone into how to finance the MRT. "If this an afterthought? Have they not said it was a PFI (privately financed initiative) in the first place?" he said. The Kuala Selangor MP said that the RM50 billion bill for the project would "go through the roof" now as the original estimate had not taken into consideration the massive cost of redeveloping properties the government plans to acquire. Dzulkefly added that if land acquisition was the single most dominant factor that determines the success of the MRT, Putrajaya should be "humble" enough to engage the Selangor state government on land acquisition matters cordially. READ MORE HERE. |
| Pakatan confident of ‘mission impossible’ Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:06 PM PDT 
By B Nantha Kumar, FMT PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat is gearing to launch a powerful offensive in Malacca, which is considered a Barisan Nasional stronghold, in the next general election. Although political pundits predict that BN would retain power, PKR and PAS were aiming to win more seats in the state assembly. Sources revealed that the two opposition parties alongside DAP would bank on "Umno's arrogance" in running the state to pull in the votes. In the 2008 general election, BN won 23 seats while the opposition won five – all by DAP. DAP contested eight but won the Bachang, Ayer Keroh, Kesidang, Kota Laksamana and Bandar Hilir state seats. PAS contested 13 seats while PKR fielded seven candidates. Time time around, a Malacca DAP leader said Pakatan was confident of capturing at least 14 of the 28 state seats up for grabs. While political analysts dismissed this as "mission impossible", the opposition believes that with the right campaign strategy, it could turn the tide against BN. In the next general election, DAP plans to increase its tally to six while PAS and PKR were aiming to seize four seats each. "DAP is confident of retaining five seats. They are also eyeing the Duyong seat, it is the only state seat they lost in the Kota Melaka parliamentary constituency in the last general election," a party insider told FMT. The Duyong seat was won by BN candidate Gan Tian Loo with a slim 806 vote majority defeating DAP's Damian Yeo Shen Li.
Extra seat for PKR However, there were several issues which needed to be ironed out before DAP could contest the seat. Speculation was rife that PKR wanted the seat as part of a swap plan. DAP leaders on the other hand were adamant about contesting in Duyong.
READ MORE HERE.
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| Biometric System Would Do More Harm Than Good? Posted: 26 Aug 2011 11:36 AM PDT By Syed Zahar. Malaysian Digest
This whole fuss over the final decision on whether to use the biometric system or indelible ink reminds me of an old tale about the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Russian Federal Space Agency (RESA). As the story goes, during the height of the space race in the 1960s, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in space since there's no gravity to make the ink flow down to the ball of the pen. They needed to figure out another way for the astronauts to write things down. So they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pen that could put ink to paper in a weightless environment. Meanwhile, their crafty Soviet counterparts at RESA simply equipped their cosmonauts with pencils.
Though this story is just a myth (but a space pen was really invented by a US company which patented it in 1965) it carries a message of simplicity and thrift – not to mention a failure of common sense in a bureaucracy. So why implement the complicated and expensive biometric voting system when a much simpler and cheaper indelible ink would do the trick?
Biometric System vs Indelible Ink
Many Malaysians, especially the opposition-leaning rakyat had sensed that something mischievous was going on when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced recently that biometric system will be used in the coming parliamentary election. It took no time for Pakatan Rakyat to voice out against the idea saying it's a sham as, according to them, the biometric voting system can be manipulated by the Election Commission (EC). They also feel that it's too costly since the EC will need to have thumbprint readers in every stream and every polling station.
Meanwhile, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof yesterday said the committee is seriously considering the use of indelible ink. Then he also said in a typical flip-flop manner that they might decide on using indelible ink as well as the biometric system or just biometrics entirely. Defending the biometric system, Abdul Aziz said the decision will put an end to allegations of "phantom voters". He said phantom voters will no longer exist in the electoral lists once the biometric system is used to verify registered voters. He also urged people to have faith in the biometric system by pointing out that the system is currently used by the Home Ministry, national anti-drugs agency, the Immigration and the police.
Abdul Aziz's announcement was confusing, unconvincing, inconsistent and rather blindsided to say the least. For one, the EC first agreed to use indelible ink in 2008 only to change its mind at the last minute. The EC had bought RM2.9 million worth of ink from Thailand but at the eleventh hour, it decided not to use it due to "security reasons". Then, following the Bersih 2.0 episode, the EC denounced indelible ink saying that it's unfeasible while endorsing the biometric system, only to make yet another U-turn later on.
Meanwhile, in response to the widespread use of biometrics in various authorities, apparently, there are already reports on a certain glitch to biometric data recently. On Aug 11, news came out on the tampering of 600 biometric equipments that were used to record the data of foreign workers in the ongoing amnesty program. According to the Home Ministry, the tampering had caused damage to the biometric system and, as a result, the data of the foreigners could not be uploaded to the Immigration Department's main server. This proved that the biometric system does have flaws where it could be manipulated.
Inconsistencies: Now the EC chief is contradicting his deputy. He said that in 2008, even when word came about that someone was illegally bringing in indelible ink from Thailand, it wouldn't have mattered
Trust More of An Issue Than Efficient Technology
If the idea to use the biometric system goes through we will be the first to implement the system for voting, unless another country beats us to it. Ghana, which have also been disputing over the same issue, would be the other country that will enforce the biometric voting system in their next election in 2012. READ MORE HERE |
| Harapan Komuniti receives death threat Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:59 AM PDT  By Stephanie Sta Maria, FMT PETALING JAYA: Harapan Komuniti, the organisers of the thanksgiving dinner raided by the Selangor Religious Islamic Department (JAIS) on Aug 3, received a death threat yesterday morning. The source who informed FMT of the incident was unable to provide any details except that the handwritten note was written in Malay and contained a warning to Christians that Muslims would not "lose". Harapan Komuniti lodged a police report at the Sea Park police station at about 10pm last night.
The police officer in charge confirmed this but said that details of the report were confidential. When contacted Harapan Komuniti's management appeared upset that the news had reached the media and declined to comment. The source told FMT that the NGO was remaining tight-lipped over the incident as it was "devastated" that the home had now become an innocent target of irresponsible individuals. "They are fearing for the lives of those under their care, especially the children," the source said. "And the last thing they want is for this incident to be spun by media with agenda which could worsen the situation." Being harrassed JAIS raided the dinner held in the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on Aug 3 after allegedly receiving a complaint that proselytising activities were being carried out there. Harapan Komuniti has denied this and inisted that the dinner was held for HIV/AIDS supporters. JAIS has since summoned the 12 Muslims present at the dinner for questioning earlier this week. READ MORE HERE. |
| ACCIM claims MRT abused as front for land grab Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:49 AM PDT 
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — The country's largest Chinese business association has accused the regulator and the owner of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) of abusing the Land Acquisition Act to acquire a prime land bank for property development by "favoured parties". In a no-holds barred letter sighted by The Malaysian Insider, the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) told the transport minister that the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) should stop the abuse and focus on developing an efficient public transport system instead.
"Since SPAD/Prasarana announced the 'rail plus property' model to develop the MRT, the private sector was already apprehensive that they will abuse the Land Acquisition Act to compulsorily acquire large tracts of land under the guise of MRT station needs with the true underlying purpose of parcelling out to favoured parties to develop in unfair competition with the private sector.
"This abuse must be stopped. The private sector does not have any objections if SPAD/Prasarana develops properties around the MRT stations on state land, e.g. RRI land in Sungai Buloh, Malaysia Financial Centre in Sungai Besi, Cochrane Road, etc," ACCCIM president Tan Sri William Cheng said in a letter to Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha dated this August 22.
The multi-billion project is 51km-long, including 9.5 km of underground tunnels, and stretches from Sungai Buloh to Kajang. Putrajaya has also reserved 43 per cent of the works bill, or RM8 billion in value, for Bumiputera contractors in the country's most expensive infrastructure project.
Property owners protest against the proposed acquisition of land in Chinatown for the MRT project, in Kuala Lumpur August 9, 2011. — Picture by Jack Ooi
In his letter, Cheng said the private sector was in effect subsidising the MRT, citing the "incredulous" proposal mooted by SPAD and Prasarana to acquire prime land in Bandar Utama after one of ACCCIM's members, Bandar Utama Development, refused to foot the bill for the proposed station there without compensation.
"The MRT station appears to [have been] surreptitiously moved away from the operating 1 Utama Integrated Transportation Hub and the developer was given the choice to have the station reverted back to its original ideal position if the developer acquiesced to build and surrender the station plus 500 Park & Ride [parking lots], forego any land acquisition compensation and to also build a commercial building.
"Arising from the developer declining to acquiesce to these onerous and unfair demands, an acquisition of five acres of prime Bandar Utama commercial land worth at least RM150 million has been proposed under the guise of building car parks for Park & Ride facilities, which is incredulous," he said, adding that such tactics could not be condoned. READ MORE HERE. |
| RBA briefed on bribery, deputy governor admits Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:41 AM PDT 
By Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, The Age Federal police last month charged NPA and sister firm Securency with Australia's first foreign bribery offences, alleging that millions of dollars paid to the companies' agents in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia were used to bribe officials. Eight former NPA and Securency senior executives have also been charged. THE Reserve Bank of Australia board was briefed twice in 2007 on information implicating subsidiary Note Printing Australia in overseas bribery, deputy governor Ric Battellino (pictured) admitted yesterday. Mr Battellino's admission came as he and RBA governor Glenn Stevens faced questions from the House of Representatives' economics committee on the bribery scandal involving the bank's currency printing firms NPA and Securency. At the committee's meeting in February, Mr Stevens said it was unlikely any RBA officials knew of bribery allegations involving its banknote businesses prior to The Age revealing corruption concerns about Securency in May 2009. Under questioning from Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer and Greens MP Adam Bandt, Mr Battellino confirmed the details of a report by The Age this month, which revealed the board of NPA and senior RBA officials were, in May 2007, presented with strong evidence implicating the company and two of its agents in the bribery of officials in Malaysia and Nepal in return for contracts. The 2007 information included an admission from an NPA agent that he had paid bribes and requests from another agent to be paid excessive commissions into a third-party bank account. Mr Battellino said the information presented to the NPA board raised issues ''about bad business practices in relation to agents and, as a result of that, they took some very hard decisions''. But instead of referring the bribery evidence to the Australian Federal Police for investigation, the RBA and the NPA board decided to handle the matter internally by sacking the agents, calling in the Reserve Bank's audit team and later contracting law firm Freehills to conduct an inquiry. Mr Battellino said the RBA board was briefed on the internal inquiries into the NPA bribery matters in July and August 2007. The RBA board was told Freehills had been unable to find any breach of Australian laws, he said. Asked by Ms O'Dwyer why neither the NPA board nor the RBA called the police in 2007, Mr Battellino said: ''There was no basis to. This was an investigation that was started by the NPA board as part of an ongoing control around the way the business was being run. They pursued that to its logical conclusion. You have to accept it is a very serious matter for any organisation to call in police to have staff investigated and my guess is that most organisations would not do that.'' Freehills did not have the AFP's powers to formally question people, issue search warrants to seize evidence or seek co-operation from overseas police. The RBA has twice refused freedom-of-information requests from The Age for the Freehills report. Federal police last month charged NPA and sister firm Securency with Australia's first foreign bribery offences, alleging that millions of dollars paid to the companies' agents in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia were used to bribe officials. Eight former NPA and Securency senior executives have also been charged. Mr Battellino confirmed to the committee yesterday that Abdul Kayum, the Malaysian agent specifically referred to in the 2007 bribery information, had also last month been charged with corruption offences by Malaysian authorities investigating NPA's 2004 central bank contract. A former assistant governor of Malaysia's central bank was also charged with accepting a bribe from NPA. The alleged kickbacks paid by NPA's Nepal agent, Himalaya Pande, to secure a 2002 central bank contract are still being investigated by the AFP and by Nepal's anti-corruption agency. The NPA board in 2007 was chaired by former RBA deputy governor and former Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chief Graeme Thompson.
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| Malaysia Airlines' short-term outlook bleak despite new alliance with AirAsia Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:33 AM PDT 
By Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported a heavy loss in 2Q2011 (three months to 30-Jun-2011) as soaring costs, led by fuel, weighed on the result. The 2Q2011 loss is MAS' second-consecutive quarterly loss and the carrier expects to remain in the red for the rest of the year. MAS reported a net loss of MYR525.8 million (USD177.7 million) in the second quarter, seasonally its weakest. Aggressive capacity deployment, under-performance from its revenue management and sales teams and increasing competition from regional and Gulf-based rivals also hurt the 2Q2011 result. The net result was a slight year-on-year improvement, but the airline's operating loss swelled to MYR412.5 million (USD139 million) from MYR285.6 million (USD95 million) in the same period last year.
The deteriorating operating performance reflects the sharp increase in operating costs, led chiefly by fuel, which surged 41% in the period, and a weaker cargo performance, which pushed the airline deeply into the red. MAS' operating margin for the quarter was -12.0%.
Various initiatives will be undertaken to reverse MAS' woes. Most notably, MAS has announced a tie-up with Malaysian LCC powerhouse AirAsia and its long-haul offshoot AirAsia X, the airline grouping largely responsible for MAS' struggles over the past decade.
MAS said its board "has identified immediate priorities to focus on in the short-term", aimed at stemming losses. "Working with the new executive committee…recovery initiatives will be implemented to turn the company's fortunes around and to start rebuilding cash reserves," which have fallen sharply in 2011. Immediate initiatives will include, among others, more prudent capacity management, implementing new dynamic pricing to improve yields and revenues and a review of products and brand positioning.
Revenue up, but costs neutralise gains
MAS recorded an 8.5% increase in top-line revenue to MYR3,429 million (USD1.17 billion). Revenue gains were, however, neutralised by soaring costs, which increased 11.4% in the period to MYR3,897 million (USD1.31 billion), which pushed the airline deeply into the red for the quarter.
MAS revenue and operating expenses (MYR million) and growth (% change): 2Q2007 to 2Q2011
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and MAS
MAS net profit (MYR million): 2Q2007-2Q2011
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and MAS
Passenger revenue increased 9.1% to MYR2,086 million (USD698 million) and revenue from fuel and administration surcharges rose 45.2% to MYR495 million (USD166 million).
Cargo revenue however was much weaker in the period, reflecting the lower year-on-year trade volumes seen in the region, which was skewed by the replenishing of global restocking of inventories in early 1H2010 following the global financial crisis. Total cargo revenue fell 16%, led by a 24% fall in belly and freighter revenue. The cargo segment's fuel surcharge, which increased 6.6% to MYR145 million (USD48.5 million), helped mitigate the sharp fall in cargo revenue.
But spiralling costs significantly outweighed revenue growth. Operating costs increased 11.5% to MYR3,987 million (USD1.31 billion). Fuel, unsurprisingly, led the rise in costs. Fuel costs surged 41% in 2Q to MYR1,550 million (USD519 million), to account for 40% of total operating costs, up from 30% in 2Q2010. The sharp fuel price rise masks what would otherwise have been an impressive cost performance in 2Q2011, with non-fuel operating costs down 2%, reflecting MAS' aggressive and consistent cost control measures.
ASKs increased 10% and RPKs increased 12%, pushing average loads up 1.5ppts to 75.5%. The stronger load factors and other various yield-supportive measures, such as fare increases and fuel surcharges, saw yields increase 1% to 24.2 sen (USD8.16 cents), with RASK up 3% to 18.2 sen (USD6.14 cents).
Strategic shake-up aimed at ending MAS' woes
Since the end of 2Q2011, a major strategic development has taken place as MAS forged earlier this month a tie-up with rival AirAsia, which has moved aggressively into MAS' short-haul, regional, and more recently, its long-haul markets. Khazanah, a national investment vehicle and majority shareholder in MAS, purchased a 10% stake in AirAsia from Tune Air, as part of a cross-equity deal. Khazanah will also purchase a 10% stake in AirAsia X. Tune Air, the largest shareholder in AirAsia and the investment vehicle of CEO Tony Fernandes, acquired a 20% stake in MAS from Khazanah.
See related report: Turning the industry on its head: AirAsia joins Malaysia Airlines
A Joint Collaboration Committee (JCC) was formed on 09-Aug-2011, which will look into key areas for collaboration to realise synergies and cost efforts, MAS says. MAS and AirAsia aim to cooperate in areas such as engineering and ground support, aircraft purchasing, catering and training and cargo services.
The Malaysian government said the agreement would end cut-throat competition between the airline groups, allowing them to grow together and more profitably than would otherwise be the case. Mr Fernandes said the deal allows his airline to focus on growing the business, "as opposed to spending a lot of time on politics and fighting unnecessary battles". The collaboration should also boost yields for both airlines.
Better market segmentation should also be achieved under the deal, with one partner targeting the low-cost, leisure market and the other, the higher-yielding and premium market. Firefly, MAS' LCC subsidiary, also recorded heavy losses in 1H2011 and will be re-structured to focus on the short-haul premium travel space using turboprop equipment. MAS said a longer-term solution for Firefly would be developed by the management team to put the airline on course for sustained profitability.
While Firefly will retain its ATR-72s, the carrier's B737 fleet is expected to be transferred to the new regional, full-service airline, Sapphire. But it remains unclear how MAS, which also has a regional carrier unit in east Malaysia with ATR-72 operator MASwings, will juggle so many brands. Of particular interest will be how the Sapphire unit differs from MAS' existing regional narrowbody services.
MAS, in releasing its 2Q2011 earnings, also said its multi-year re-fleeting programme will be accelerated. As of mid-Aug-2011, the airline has taken delivery this year of five new B737-800s and five new A330-300s. Over the next four months, MAS will take delivery of six more aircraft – two B737-800s, two A330-200Fs and two ATR-72s. Excluding these aircraft, MAS' order book comprises 38 B737-800s, ten A330s, six A380s and two A330-200Fs. The airline said its fleet delivery schedule would be accelerated in the next few years, adding that all required financing activities for 2012 have been completed.
Weak result matched by gloomy outlook
MAS expects a weak second-half due to elevated fuel prices and sovereign debt fears in key markets which will continue to weigh on consumer confidence and economic growth. The airline's forward bookings indicate challenges in the European, US and Japanese markets, with "normal" trends for other regions. The third quarter will be soft owing to the month of Ramadan, when travel is seasonally slow.
In response to the challenging outlook, MAS will moderate its capacity growth in 2H2011. The airline will also review its route network and adjust capacity accordingly. MAS will retire two B747-200Fs, one B747-400 and three B737-400s by Oct-2011.
The airline will also have a heavier focus on yield management, with new revenue systems to be introduced in 2H2011. MAS aims to enhance its yield performance through front-end business class initiatives, implementation of fuel surcharges and step up its yield/revenue management.
A loss in 2H2011 is still expected, though MAS said it would be less severe than 1H2011, due to these initiatives.
MAS' most significant turn in fortunes is likely to come from its tie-up with AirAsia, a deal that effectively neutralises a major competitor and a leading cause of losses in recent years. Under the agreement, MAS also gains two successful and experienced aviation executives on its board, in Tony Fernandes and AirAsia deputy CEO Kamarudin Meranun. This expertise at senior management level should help MAS overhaul its network, alliance and fleet strategies and navigate the flag carrier through some more desperate times.
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| Isn’t the Transport Minister from MCA? Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:14 PM PDT 
Kong is keeping mum because his useless ministerial position is more important than the Chinese community. If he objects, he will be removed by Umno, just like what happened to former MCA president Ong Tee Keat in the multi-billion-ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKF) financial scandal. By Lee Kee Who is MCA trying to kid in the controversial acquisition of Petaling "Chinatown" Street land for the construction of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT)? The sex-scandal-tainted president Dr Chua Soi Lek had on Wednesday (Aug 24, 2011) so proudly announced and promised that the 31 landowners on Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Sultan would be able to hold on to their property — after the government agreed to reinforce their buildings — and return upon completion of the tunnelling beneath their shops. In less than 24 hours, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Syed Hamid Albar said the compulsory acquisition of the Jalan Sultan lots — where the KVMRT would run underground — was necessary because under land law, landowners also owned the land that lies below ground. "We have to do compulsory acquisition of the land. It means that subsequently, they have to alienate the land above," Syed Hamid told reporters after a memorandum of understanding signing with Puspakom Sdn Bhd on Thursday. Syed Hamid added that although they were currently working on a solution to allow the traders to return to Chinatown "there is no guarantee that it would eventually be returned to the owners". This again, as in the past, shows what MCA leaders say are meaningless and just a "damage control exercise" whenever controversial issues afflicting the Chinese community arise. In particular, can anyone really trust Dr Chua the wife cheater to represent us? In dealing with such issues since Merdeka, the MCA continues to dish out crap, never sticking its neck out for the Chinese community. The biggest joke in this Chinatown issue is this: "Why is the Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha keeping mum?" Isn't he from MCA? Is the SPAD chairman more powerful than Kong? Of course the Umno SPAD chairman is more powerful. Kong is keeping mum because his useless ministerial position (Kong is making it useless with his inaction) is more important than the Chinese community. If he objects, he will be removed by Umno, just like what happened to former MCA president Ong Tee Keat who foolishly knocked his head on the brickwall in the multi-billion-ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKF) financial scandal. Kong, after taking office, displayed his 101% loyalty to the powers that be by immediately sweeping the PKFZ probe under the carpet, thus comnsolidating his ministerial position. Under such circumstances, do you really expect the dumbbell Kong or the MCA to defend the interests of the Chinese community or care a damn for a Chinese heritage zone? It is really appalling to note that, of late, the non-Umno ministers have been reduced to just puppets, toothless leaders who are completely subservient to Umno and the powers that be. Non-Umno ministers are just puppets and powerless to Umno-formed and Umno-linked commissions, committees, boards, etc. So Malaysians, isn't it crystal clear that it does not really make any difference whether there are MCA, Gerakan or MIC ministers after the next general election? As for the Malays, only the cronies of Umno Malays will continue to prosper while the majority of Malays continue to struggle in poverty. |
| Lynas: an injustice most taxing Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:09 PM PDT 
The 12-year tax exemption given to Lynas may prove to be the biggest blunder ever. Lynas is projected to make about AUD 6.2 billion in pre-tax profit in 2012 and 2013 and in exchange, we allow them to contaminate our land for free. By Lee Wee Tak and Soo Jin Hou Malaysians are no strangers to skewed agreements. From IPP subsidies to guaranteed profits for highway concessionaires, the public has on numerous times endured the consequences of sheer governmental incompetence. Yet, the 12-year tax exemption given to Lynas may prove to be the biggest blunder ever. Lynas is projected to make about AUD 6.2 billion in pre-tax profit in 2012 and 2013 and in exchange, we allow them to contaminate our land for free.
The graph below shows the spectacular rise in rare earth price since Q3 2010. While gold's bull run has been getting plenty of attention of late, the real star is rare earth, which has taken off to astronomical heights. For Lynas, the price of the rare earths from Mount Weld may increase 15.7 times from JP Morgan's estimate by the time the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) begins production in 2012.
JP Morgan published their stock analysis on 24 June 2010, just prior to the price break out. They have predicted a ridiculously conservative average price of USD 17.69/kg in 2012. At that price, they have expected Lynas to be breaking even in making AUD 4.8 million in net tax profit in 2012. The price has since shot up to USD 201.35/kg on 22 Aug 2011. Based on linear regression calculated from 3Q10 to 22 August 2011, and extrapolated to 1 January 2012, the price may even surge up to USD278.14. The following table shows our revised estimates based on JP Morgan's research. We predict Lynas will make AUD 2.2 billion in 2012 and AUD 4.1 billion in 2013 before tax based on the above linear regression estimation (if the 22 August price of USD 201.35/kg is used, 2012 and 2013 profits would be AUD1.5 billion and AUD 2.9 billion respectively). No matter what the price would be, Lynas will be able to repay their entire setup cost of AUD 807 million and still be able to make super normal windfall profit within the first year. The profit is expected to double up in 2013 when production from Phase 2 commences. 
Certain important assumptions are made in this deduction, and they are:
a) The revenue is directly proportional to the increase in rare earth price.
b) Rare earth prices are able to sustain at an average of USD 278.14.13/kg. This is justified by assuming that the downside risk of new supply sources is balanced by the upside risk of China's continual pull back in production.
c) Production of Phase 2, which will double LAMP's capacity to commence production by 2013. Construction of Phase 2 is scheduled for completion by Q4 2012.
d) In 2012 and 2013, the AUD/USD rates are 0.95 (rate at 25/8/2011) and 0.9 respectively.
e) Exchange rate has impact on revenue (since rare earths are priced in USD) and operating cost (25% of total operating cost to run the Mount Weld concentration plant is denominated in AUD).
JP Morgan has estimated that the internal transfer price of the semi-refined ores from the Mount Weld concentration plant to its Malaysian subsidiary to be approximately 30% of the finished product price. Consequently, from the AUD 6.2 billion pre-tax profit for 2012-2013, only AUD 1.9 billion will be subjected to Australian tax. Read more at: http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/08/lynas-injustice-most-taxing.html |
| Giving out Free Lunches! Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:05 PM PDT 
But pray tell me Najib how much more of OUR money are you going to give away for YOUR political survival? There is no such thing as a free lunch….well maybe not for most of us but there seems to be an endless supply of free lunches for Najib to give away… By steadyaku47 Politics is not an exact science. It is the art of the impossible. Do you not wonder sometimes what the outcome of the 13th General Election will be? Or do you consider yourself amongst the growing number of skeptics that resigns themselves to the inevitability of being saddled with bad politicians no matter who wins the election? Sometimes I despair at the diversity of it all.
· I support DSAI. · I am for Najib Tun Razak.
· Anything but UMNO! · Pakatan Rakyat will only do worse then BN when in government!
· Satu lagi Projek BN. · PR will stop waste in government spending!
And so the battle rages while we stand on the sidelines and watch. Watch and ponder where our country will be after the 13th general elections!
For me I see no glimmer of light shining through any cracks in the amour of BN or PR within which they all hide from us. To both these antagonists what matters is winning because in Malaysian politics the winner takes it all.
Yes I can see great things happening in Penang with Guan Eng there but already money is being made by party cronies. When big business comes into Penang, big money stands to be made. Not that there is anything wrong in that…nothing glaring wrong as yet…but big business has a way of corrupting those who are within their ambit! Politicians included…especially politicians!
Najib launches initiatives after initiatives – today it is KARISMA as part of Gagasan 1 Malaysia "pillars…in upholding social justice!".
Just imagine a Rm1.4 billion welfare program that will help 500,000 people. If only 10% of that 500,000 people are persuaded to thank Najib by voting BN at the next general election – that is 50,000 additional votes for BN. 50,000 additional votes at a costs of RM1.4 billion ringgit is acceptable to a desperate government fighting for its political survival but (it would seem) still concerned enough to uphold the pillars of social justice"….just as long as they are doing the holding up of the pillars of social justice with OUR money!
What it does to a country already in hock right up to its neck is to be debated AFTER the 13th general elections.
The picture opportunity of Najib, Muhyiddin and Sharizat with that one finger salute is collateral "win win" for UMNO that costs the people RM1.4 billion. That headline of NST "FULL OF KARISMA" should really be "FULL OF S#*T" (to quote that Son of Ali).
Now that Din guy in the Rumah Ministry had a live bullet sent to him - which according to KL CID chief is a threat under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation – and this brave Din guy is not at all intimidated about it. It only strengthens his resolve to discharge his duties and responsibilities to maintain the country's peace and security. Well said Din! I do wish that whoever sent that live bullet to Din will now stop laughing and get a hold of himself. He has had his fun. Din has made all the right noises about "not being intimidated…and national security" and that PDRM CID chief in KL has had his 15-second of fame. Now can we get back to OUR security and maintaining OUR peace?
A quick look through of who Najib is "helping" today is quiet impressive:
Taxi Drivers (our unsung heroes according to NST) gets RM$612,8000 at the Masjid Putra in Putrajaya from Najib & company. According to Najib he knows that these taxi drivers struggle to make ends meet as they earned only RM1,000 a month. Does he knows that half their takings each day are paid out to UMNO cronies that own these Taxi companies? Hell even the uniformed veterans have a Taxi Company that does the same thing! The Taxi companies make the big money – the taxi drivers are not unsung heroes – they are the people who do their daily grind of 12 to 15 hours of work to take home RM1,000 per month while UMNO cronies rake in the big bucks! And were the money distributed to taxi drivers of all races or was it only for the "priceless contributions" of Bumiputra taxi drivers?
And women too! In addressing 5000 women attending the National Women's Day celebration Najib declared women as significant partners in the country's transformation plan…explaining that the having of 30 per cent key position in the corporate sector to be held by women is a target, not a quota. Phew! For a moment there those corporate big wigs listening must have almost had a coronary!
And the financial give away continues with RM9.75 million presented to 127 non-governmental organizations to enable them to carry out their programme!
Through all this I can see that all knowing gaze of Rosmah nodding along with what Najib was saying. In as far as she was concerned she had achieved her 30 per cent quota in her household – 30per cent for Najib and 70 per cent for her!
That about covers it all – from taxi drivers to armed veteran and across the gender divide too. A good day at the office for our Prime Minister. Read more at: http://steadyaku-steadyaku-husseinhamid.blogspot.com/2011/08/giving-out-free-lunches.html |
| FBI Pressured to Stop Backing Malaysian Potentate Posted: 25 Aug 2011 07:30 PM PDT By World-Wire Western NGOs are increasing the pressure on the United States' federal police for its ties with Malaysian potentate Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib"), one of South-East Asia's longest-serving and most corrupt politicians BASEL, SWITZERLAND/SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, D.C., August 25, 2011 –-/WORLD-WIRE/– In a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller, the Swiss Bruno Manser Fund and the San-Francisco-based Borneo Project are calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to cut ties with Wallysons Inc., a US company controlled by the Malaysian Taib family. The NGOs are asking the American federal police to suspend the rental contracts for the Abraham Lincoln Building in Seattle, which is owned by Wallysons Inc., and houses the FBI's Seattle Division headquarters. FBI Director Mueller is also asked to ascertain if the Taib family's US investments are in line with the country's anti-money-laundering legislation, and to freeze all Taib family assets in the United States. "While the the fight against public corruption should be one of the FBI's top priorities, it is renting premises from the Taib family, one of South East Asia's largest corruption networks. We are seriously concerned that the FBI appears to be unduly backing the Taib family and its illicit foreign assets," the Bruno Manser Fund wrote in a statement. Copies of the letter have been sent to a number of US government agencies and top politicians, including the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary for the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, the Attorney General, Eric Holder, and the Judiciary Committees of congress who oversee the FBI. In March 2011, the NGOs had approached the American federal police on the matter and organized a street protest in front of the FBI's Seattle Division Headquarters. The FBI had left their complaints unanswered and refused to receive a NGO delegation. Wallysons Inc. is one out of five US companies blacklisted by the Bruno Manser Fund for their close association with the Taib family. 75-year old Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib") has been governing Malaysia's largest state, Sarawak, since 1981, a position which he has abused to amass a fortune estimated at several billion US dollars. Most of Taib's wealth is believed to stem from the destructive logging of Borneo's tropical rainforests. In June 2011, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission announced it had opened a corruption investigation against Abdul Taib Mahmud. For more information contact: Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel / Switzerland |
| Rise of strict Islam exposes tensions in Malaysia Posted: 25 Aug 2011 07:20 PM PDT 
Analysts say this emphasis on Islamic practice is superficial. They blame it on the competition for Malay-Muslim voters between the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), both of which are trying to position themselves as defenders of Islam. By Jennifer Pak, BBC News Muslim women without headscarves are a common sight on the streets of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. But engaging them in a discussion about the hijab is difficult. Norhayati Kaprawi is a Malaysian activist whose recent documentary Aku Siapa (Who Am I) deals with the issue of how women in Malaysia should dress. She found some women unwilling to show their faces in her film - not on religious grounds, but becasue they feared reprisals. This is a damning reflection on Malaysia's Muslim society, says Ms Norhayati. "It's full of fear. If you don't follow the mainstream you will be lynched." According to the activist, the pressure to wear the hijab grew after the Iranian revolution in 1979, and it is now the most visible sign of Malaysia's rising Islamic fundmentalism. Muslims account for over half the population of 28 million people and are mainly ethnic Malays. Malaysia often prides itself on being a moderate Muslim nation, which allows other religions freedom of worship. And while there are no laws forcing women to wear the hijab, Ms Norhayati says many Muslims feel compelled. Crime and punishmentIncreasingly, there is a greater emphasis on Islamic codes of conduct. For the first time last year, Malaysian authorities caned women under Sharia law. The three women sentenced were found guilty of having sex outside of marriage. And a part-time Muslim model was sentenced to the same punishment in 2009 for drinking beer in public. Islamic authorities eventually reduced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno's sentence to community service last year after the story made international headlines. Analysts say this emphasis on Islamic practice is superficial. They blame it on the competition for Malay-Muslim voters between the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), both of which are trying to position themselves as defenders of Islam. The youth wing of the PAS has often lobbied the government to ban Western pop artists from perfoming in Malaysia, deeming them to be un-Islamic. Since 2008, when elections delivered a record number of seats to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, of which the PAS is a member, the party has tried to moderate its stance. Although the PAS has not abandoned the goal of making Malaysia into an Islamic state, PAS Member of Parliament Khalid Samad says non-Muslims have nothing to fear. "We do not think Islam is all about cutting off hands and stoning adulterers," he says. "That's a very minute aspect of the Islamic law. What's more important is the question of good governance." In a move to show it can work with non-Muslims, the PAS is planning to open up membership to them. "Nobody can say if we come to power, [that] we cannot govern a multi-religious and multi-racial nation," says Mr Khalid. Cause for concern? But a resurgence in Islam has many non-Muslims concerned. Islamic officials in Selangor state entered a Methodist church without a warrant in early August, breaking up a fundraising dinner. They recorded the details of several Muslims who attended the function. The Islamic authorities have said they acted on a tip-off, but have refused to reveal the nature of the complaint. Religious officials are wary about Muslims attending church-organised events. There are fears these are attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity - something that is illegal in Malaysia. "This action sets a dangerous precedent and makes a mockery of the sanctity and inviolability of all religious places in our beloved country," said the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hindusim, Sikhism and Taoism in a statement. Ongoing row The fear of conversion has already strained relations between Muslims and the Christian minority, who make up around nine per cent of the country's population and are typically ethnic Chinese and Indians. Over the last two years, churches have been firebombed and Bibles have been seized in an ongoing row between Christians and Muslims over the use of the word 'Allah'. The religious minority insists that they have been using the term for centuries in the Malay language to refer to the Christian god. But in 1986, the government banned non-Muslim from using the word 'Allah' in publications. This ban was not usually enforced until recently when the government began to act upon it at the behest of some Muslim groups. In a move seen as a bid to win Malay-Muslim votes, the government argued that for non-Muslims, calling their gods 'Allah' would be confusing to the Muslim-majority and threaten national security. As a result, Malay-language Bibles have been impounded by customs officials. Some Muslim activists fear that Christians are using the Bibles to convert Muslims. Attacks on places of worship came after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled in December 2009 that the word 'Allah' is not exclusive to Islam. The government has appealed against the decision but no hearing date has been set yet. In the meantime the prime minister's department has made some concessions in recent months and released some 35,000 seized Bibles. The cabinet has also set up a committee for religious leaders from all faiths to resolve the "Allah" issue. Reverend Dr Thomas Philips is one of the committee members. He says the meetings have been sporadic but he is optimistic they can reach an understanding. "I'm convinced Malaysia is a moderate Muslim country," he says. Norhayati Kaprawi agrees, but fears that the mainstream opinion has been silenced. "People who hold more progressive or alternative views," she says, "don't dare to speak up in public." |
| DNA samples from Saiful’s anus ‘pristine’ Posted: 25 Aug 2011 05:40 PM PDT 
There is absolutely no evidence that Saiful's DNA samples had degraded, according to Australian expert McDonald said the sample – taken from the higher rectum which was predominantly from "Male Y", while another which was predominantly Saiful's – was inconclusive. However, the DNA expert said that all three had no evidence that degradation had occurred and were "pristine DNA". Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today The DNA samples extracted from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's anus, which were supposed to have degraded, appeared to be in "pristine" condition, the High Court here heard today. "There is absolutely no evidence of degradation… " said Australian consultant molecular geneticist, Dr Brian Leslie McDonald, at the Sodomy II trial. McDonald agreed with defence counsel Ramkarpal Singh that the DNA test results were "inconsistent with the history (of the case)". Yesterday, McDonald had testified that the DNA samples – which were extracted from Saiful's anus 56 hours after the alleged sodomy, and later kept in a drawer for 43 hours – would have degraded. Australian forensic expert Dr David Lawrence Noel Wells, the head of forensic medicine at the Victoria Institute of Medicine, had also testified that the poorly kept samples were unlikely to have returned a positive result. The defence team claimed the testimony today supports its argument that the evidence was tampered with. "This is a very important issue. How could we have a new sample when the sample was supposed to have degraded with bacteria? Where did they get the sample from?" Anwar told reporters outside the court. Earlier, Ramkarpal asked McDonald to give his opinion on the chemist report done on three DNA samples (B7, B8, B9) which were taken from Saiful's higher and lower rectum. 
Mere guesswork McDonald said the sample – taken from the higher rectum which was predominantly from "Male Y", while another which was predominantly Saiful's – was inconclusive. However, the DNA expert said that all three had no evidence that degradation had occurred and were "pristine DNA". McDonald also criticised the way government chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong had conducted the tests on the samples. According to him, Seah did not identify where the swab samples were taken from and had merely labelled them as numbers in her chemist report. "One is left not knowing – and have to assume – where the samples were swabbed from…" said McDonald. During the prosecution's case, the DNA samples from Saiful's anus had been identified by chemists as that belonging to one "Male Y", which were matched to samples taken from several items in Anwar's lock-up. Earlier, McDonald said Seah's conclusions in her chemistry report, which subsequently enabled the prosecution to allege that Anwar's sperm was found in Saiful's anus, were based on mere guesswork. He said Seah's report was not "scientifically objective". Yesterday, he said that in sexual assault cases, it was critical to be able identify that a DNA sample is derived from the sperm cells. 
In order to conclusively say that a DNA profile comes from the sperm cells, as opposed to other types of cells, a chemist needs to separate sperm cells from the other types of cells by conducting a "differential extraction process". "This process was not done properly (by Dr Seah)," McDonald told the court when questioned by Ramkarpal. He said this was evident in her own "guess" that there were still other types of cells present after the separation process. "If she maintained that the DNA (identified as belonging to Saiful) comes from epithelial cells (non-sperm cells), then she should have done the separation process again," he said. READ MORE HERE |
| WikiLeaks Releases Tens of Thousands More Classified Cables Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:52 PM PDT 
(Malaysian Digest) - WASHINGTON: The WikiLeaks organization said on Thursday it was releasing tens of thousands of previously unpublished US diplomatic cables, some of which are still classified, reported Reuters. "We will have released over 100,000 US embassy cables from around the world by the end of today," said a message on WikiLeaks' Twitter feed. The Twitter page is believed to be controlled by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' controversial Australian-born founder and chief. According to the report, the cables which the website said it is dumping onto the public record appear to be from a cache of more than 250,000 State Department reports leaked to the group. WikiLeaks began releasing the cables in smaller batches late last year, but until now had made them public in piecemeal fashion.
Several news organizations around the world, including Reuters, have had complete sets of the cables for months. But for the most part, media outlets have only cited or published cables when publishing specific news or investigative stories based on them. By late afternoon on Thursday, the WikiLeaks website said it had published 97,115 of the 251,287 cables it possesses. It did not specify its motives for releasing such a large amount of material at once.
A person in contact with Assange's inner circle told Reuters the rationale behind the mass release of documents was dismay among WikiLeaks activists that media organizations had lost interest in publishing stories based on the material.
The source described Assange and his associates as "frustrated" at the lack of media interest.
The document release began hours after WikiLeaks revealed on Twitter that Dynadot, a California internet registrar which had hosted WikiLeaks, had received an order, generated by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, requiring it to produce "information on Julian Assange."
WikiLeaks said Dynadot had complied with the order.
According to a copy of the document published by WikiLeaks, US investigators want any "customer or subscriber account information" held by Dynadot since November 1 that relates to Assange, WikiLeaks or the domain name wikileaks.org.
Dynadot and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
It is unclear when or how WikiLeaks acquired a copy of the government order to Dynadot, which was dated January 4, 2011. A US official indicated that the document, which was sealed by court order, had not been officially unsealed.
US officials have indicated that prosecutors and a grand jury in Alexandria, have a long-running investigation into WikiLeaks, Assange and others associated with the website.
A few weeks earlier, the same prosecutors sent a similar request to Twitter seeking records of accounts held by Assange, WikiLeaks, and others. They include Bradley Manning, a US Army private being detained for alleged unauthorized disclosures of classified information which was believed to have gone to WikiLeaks.
Last year WikiLeaks and Assange were celebrated after their release of State Department cables, tens of thousands of other secret US files, and a classified video of a contested American military operation in Iraq.
Since then public interest in WikiLeaks has waned. It may have suffered from publicity related to Assange's flight to Britain after sexual misconduct charges were filed against him in Sweden and a subsequent protracted extradition fight. Assange has also publicly fueded with former collaborators.
A person close to Assange said a British appeals court is due to rule early next month on his appeal against Sweden's extradition request. The source was unaware of any link between the latest document dump and the anticipated court decision. |
| TV3 Kantoi! Surau Al-Musyrikin tidak wujud! Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:42 PM PDT 
Milo Suam SEBELUM ini media propaganda, TV3 ada menyiarkan berita kononnya ada sebuah kelas tuisyen di Jalan Klang lama yang menyebarkan agama Kristian kepada pelajarnya. Tambah melucukan bercampur hairan, TV3 mendakwa sekumpulan Qariah Surau Al-Musyrikin (kafir) telah berhimpun di hadapan kelas tuisyen berkenaan kerana membantah tindakan kelas tuisyen itu yang didakwa kononnya menyebarkan agama Kristian kepada pelajar yang beragama Islam.
Saksikan video laporan media propaganda TV3 di bawah ini. READ MORE HERE |
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