Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Waytha still a ‘national threat’?
- Ad Calling Jihad ‘Savage’ Is Set to Appear in Subway
- Dr M: Najib’s cash handouts ‘very close’ to vote buying
- Free speech or incitement? French mag runs cartoons of Prophet Mohammed
- Dr M: BN won’t get supermajority
- Taib is worth RM45b, believe it or not
- Freeze Taib’s accounts, govts told
- Fake website or serious opposition mouthpiece? - PBS
- Zakir Naik’s host defends invite
- Duo’s application struck out in RPK suit
- White House: Libya attack may have been preplanned
- 'Fatwa' to kill issued against anti-Islam filmmaker
- French Mag to Publish Cartoons of Prophet Mohammed
- Uproar over Ngeh’s tweet on anti-Islam video
- Dr M says American mothers are promiscuous in attack against US free speech
- More film retaliation as suicide bomber near Kabul airport kills nine
- Six govt bodies to act against Suaram
- Chaos at US embassy in Jakarta over anti-Islam film
- Thai US embassy to close ahead of film rally
- Suaram faces ‘misleading accounts’ charge, says minister
- Suaram says prepared for scrutiny but wants probe on Scorpene too
- Yahya spells reasons for joining PKR
- ‘Slight voter swing to BN’
- Terengganu invents furnace for efficient Quran disposal
- Nizar: A bigger tsunami taking shape in Umno
- FOC briyani for ‘LGBTs’
- PAS: Don’t delay hudud
- More urging Dong Zong duo to cancel rally for sake of Chinese education
- Ismail Embong among three named Tokoh M’sia
- Makers of anti-Islamic movie influenced by preacher
- DAP predicts southern storm
- 'BN can score big in Selangor'
- Suaram trio told to explain foreign funding
- Was U.S. Ambassador Lynched?
- Anti-Islam film made by US Christian group
- Anti-Islam film was directed by former Hollywood soft-core porn filmmaker Alan Roberts: report
- Sabah Umno loses two more leaders to PKR
- Penang CM: BN snarling as polls near
- ‘Pakatan will make Sabah, S’wak equal’
- Assange looking at a year in embassy, says father
- Opposition denial does not hold water – PBS
- Don’t kiss up to politicians, says Clint Eastwood
- PAS assures Hindraf better life for Indians
- The Last Frontier
- State DAP HQ, service centres splashed with red paint
- With 13m voters now, urgent call to clean up electoral roll
- PKR tour bus again comes under paint attack
| Waytha still a ‘national threat’? Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:53 PM PDT
(The Sun Daily) - Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Waythamoorthy, 46, was prohibited from leaving the country on Tuesday after being told by airport officials he was classified as a "threat to national security" in the immigration department's records.
Waytha, who spent five years in self-exile in the UK, was held up at the LCCT, Sepang while checking in for a Manila flight at 5.30pm. "It was a business trip and it has gone to waste as a result. This is absolutely ridiculous. I had no problems entering the country last month. I was told by immigration officers that the police have classified me as a national threat, and I am not allowed to leave the country," he told theSun. He learnt the immigration had clarified that the prohibition order was issued by the police in 2007 and it may be outdated. Waytha lodged a report against Immigration Director Datuk Alias Ahmad, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein at 11am today at the Travers police station, claiming the prohibition was a breach of human rights. "The restriction should have been removed if it is outdated. I am leaving for London on Saturday and I hope to not face similar problems," he said. Waythamoorthy said he would institute legal action against the relevant parties if the prohibition remains active. Officials from the police, immigration and Home Ministry were not reachable for responses. Waythamoorthy left the country in November 2007, fighting Hindraf's cause from overseas before returning to Malaysia last month. On Aug 2, Ismail was reported to have said that the police will monitor the movements and activities of Waythamoorthy and that no action would be taken against him as long as he abides by the law. On Aug 1, Waythamoorthy entered the country via the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in Johor Baru with a passport issued to him on July 30 by the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore. His passport was revoked on April 2008. Upon his return, Waythamoorthy said he would not be taking sides in the country's political arena nor would Hindraf become a political party as its main duty was to champion the cause of the Indian community in the country.
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| Ad Calling Jihad ‘Savage’ Is Set to Appear in Subway Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:39 PM PDT
(New York Times) - As violent and sometimes deadly protests consume much of the Muslim world in response to an American-made video mocking the Prophet Muhammad, New Yorkers will soon encounter another potentially inflammatory rendering of Islam: an advertisement in the transit system that reads, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man." It concludes with the words, "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad," wedged between two Stars of David. After rejecting the ads initially, then losing a federal court ruling on First Amendment grounds, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Tuesday that the ads were expected to appear next week at 10 subway stations. "Our hands are tied," Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the authority, said when asked about the timing of the ad. In July, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that the authority had violated the First Amendment rights of the group that sought to place the ad, the American Freedom Defense Initiative. The authority had cited the ad's "demeaning" language in barring its placement. The authority, which appealed the July ruling, also asked the judge to postpone implementing his decision until after its next board meeting on Sept. 27. But in an order late last month, Judge Engelmayer granted the agency just two more weeks to revise its ad policy or to seek a further stay from an appellate court. It has done neither. Now, the authority finds itself in a precarious position. The American Freedom Defense Initiative has also purchased ad space in Washington, but the transit authority there said Tuesday that it had "deferred" the ad's placement "out of a concern for public safety, given current world events." A similar option is not available to New York's transportation authority because of the court order, according to the agency. Mr. Donovan said the authority might consider revising its ad policy at its board meeting next week. Pamela Geller, the executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said in an e-mail Tuesday that transit officials in Washington were "kowtowing to the threat of jihad terrorism." She added that recent events in the Middle East had not given her pause "for a second" about posting the ads in New York. "I will never cower before violent intimidation, and stop telling the truth because doing so is dangerous," she said. "Freedom must be vigorously defended." She added, "If someone commits violence, it is his responsibility and no one else's." The group has also advertised at Metro-North Railroad stations, with posters that cite "deadly Islamic attacks" since Sept. 11 and read, "It's not Islamophobia, it's Islamorealism." The transportation authority has said it did not try to block these ads because they did not meet the agency's threshold for "demeaning" language, as the ad referring to a "savage" had. Muneer Awad, the executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were an attempt to "define Muslims" through hate speech. "We're encouraging American Muslims to go out there and define themselves," he said. Mr. Awad added that the group had not called for the ads' removal, though it has asked the transportation authority to redirect funds it receives for the ads to the city's Human Rights Commission. "It's perfectly legal to be a bigot and to be a racist," he said. "We want to make sure there's a counter-voice."
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| Dr M: Najib’s cash handouts ‘very close’ to vote buying Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:34 PM PDT
Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted today that the Najib administration's penchant for handing out cash to Malaysians through its various people-centric policies was "very close" to vote buying. But the former prime minister said the government was running out of time with polls drawing closer as the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition needed a bigger mandate to tighten its grasp on Putrajaya. "I do not believe in giving money to the people. I believe in giving facilities. But I think when a government has no time and they are facing an election, they make a decision that is easy," Dr Mahathir said in his keynote address at the Perdana Leadership Foundation's CEO Forum 2012 here. "If you give people money, then they should support (you). Maybe it is not vote-buying... but it is very close to that," he said, to laughter from the audience. The government is expected to announce a second round of RM500 cash handouts to lower-income households when Budget 2013 is tabled next week, in a move that is seen as giving Najib and his BN pact's ratings a boost ahead of polls expected soon. The first round of handouts under the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) programme, which involved some five million families and cost taxpayers RM2.6 billion, saw Najib's approval ratings shoot up to 69 per cent, largely due to a surge of support from low-income households. Throughout his address, Dr Mahathir repeatedly mentioned the Najib administration's cash handouts, at one point even saying that "he (Najib) has a lot of money". "Now we have a new man as the head (of government)," he said when recalling the succession of prime ministers after he stepped down in 2003. "I won't say anything bad about him because I support BN. "The only thing I'm going to say is that he has a lot of money and he is giving away money to everyone. "During my time, I didn't give away money. I could have even given money to myself but I didn't. I think I made a mistake there," he said in jest. Najib will table the Budget on September 28 and besides the fresh BR1M handout, he is expected to announce other measures to boost domestic spending and the economy in a bid to head off a worsening economic outlook as he prepares to call his first general election. The economy grew at a surprising pace of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, blowing away economists' expectations and potentially giving rise to a feel-good factor ahead of the general election. But the good news is not expected to last, as the global outlook is likely to affect Malaysian exports. Malaysia's surprisingly strong second-quarter economic growth despite weakening exports was largely due to the buffer of ongoing construction projects and increased spending attributed to civil servant salary hikes and government cash handouts, say economists, which could point to uneven growth in the months ahead. This means many ordinary Malaysians are not feeling the positive effects of economic growth, making the second BR1M handouts necessary to continue maintaining any economic momentum. A number of international ratings agencies also say that Malaysia has yet to present a convincing plan to tackle the twin fiscal threats of its federal budget deficit and federal debt even though strains on its credit profile are increasing. The ratio of federal government debt to GDP reached 51.8 per cent at end-2011 despite strong GDP growth but barring a further deterioration in the global economy, the government should be able to meet its 2012 deficit target of 4.7 per cent of GDP. The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has criticised the Najib administration for what it says is vote buying by the BN government through public spending in the form of various handouts such as the BR1M.
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| Free speech or incitement? French mag runs cartoons of Prophet Mohammed Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:33 PM PDT
(CNN) - After a week of deadly, international protests against an anti-Islam film, a French satirical magazine is fueling the debate between freedom of expression and offensive provocation. The magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons featuring a figure resembling the Prophet Mohammed in an issue that hit newsstands Wednesday. Magazine director Stephane Charbonnier said his staff is "not really fueling the fire," but rather using its freedom of expression "to comment (on) the news in a satirical way." "It happens that the news this week is Mohammed and this lousy film, so we are drawing cartoons about this subject," Charbonnier told CNN affiliate BFM-TV on Wednesday. "It's more turning in derision this grotesque film than to make fun of Mohammed." The "lousy film" he's referring to is "Innocence of Muslims," an amateurish, 14-minute video that mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and killer. The video drew international attention last week and spawned heated protests in more than a dozen countries. Any depiction of Islam's prophet is considered blasphemy by many Muslims. France will close embassies and schools in about 20 countries on Friday, the main Muslim day of prayer, as a precaution, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. It is already boosting security in some locations. There has been no violence reported as a result of the cartoons so far. They were published just a day after hundreds of Muslims took to Twitter to satirize the U.S. magazine Newsweek's cover story on "Muslim Rage." Muslims posted tongue-in-cheek tweets about what enrages them, such as having a really good hair day but no one knowing because you wear a hijab. Hend Amry, who posted that tweet as @LibyaLiberty, said Charlie Hebdo's latest cartoons were a cynical attempt to inflate sales. Opinion: Media don't get #MuslimRage She compared it to the French magazine that printed topless photos of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge last week. "Like printing tawdry pics of (Catherine) Middleton -- lowbrow rating booster," she said. "If we're going to chart it on the Muslim insult-o-meter, it is less inflammatory than the 'film,' but does continue the East/West divide we see," she told CNN. Charlie Hebdo journalist Laurent Leger said the magazine has shown Muslim men and Muslim extremists in the past, but does not explicitly state that the cartoons are depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. Rather, he said, the cartoons are open to interpretation. "The aim is to laugh. We want to laugh at the extremists -- every extremist. They can be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic. Everyone can be religious, but extremist thoughts and acts we cannot accept," Leger said. Hend Amry said she didn't believe that was really the magazine's intention. "No it isn't. It's for ratings," she said. Leger said the magazine was within its rights. "In France, we always have the right to write and draw. And if some people are not happy with this, they can sue us and we can defend ourselves. That's democracy. You don't throw bombs, you discuss, you debate. But you don't act violently. We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism." The cartoons are already drawing strong condemnation by the French Muslim community. Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the French Council of Muslim Faith, described a feeling of "indignation against this new Islamophobic act" to BFM-TV. He said the cartoons are "insulting for the prophet of Islam," and described their publication as a "new provocation." French authorities have already taken precautionary measures, with police vehicles parked outside the offices of Charlie Hebdo late Tuesday. The offices were the scene of an attack last November, when they were burned on the day the magazine was due to publish an issue with a cover appearing to make fun of Islamic law. The cover featured a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the Prophet Mohammed saying, "100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter." The magazine received threats after it announced that the edition would be guest-edited by the Prophet Mohammed and dedicated to the Arab Spring, Charbonnier told BFM-TV in November. The cartoonist known as Luz has been under police protection since last year, when one of his illustrations depicting the Prophet Mohammed was featured on the cover of that issue. Luz told CNN the latest cartoons depicting Mohammed are not featured on the cover. "We learned our lesson," Luz said. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault weighed in on the debate Tuesday, expressing "his disapproval of any excess" and appealing "to the spirit of responsibility of each," according to a statement from his office. "The prime minister states that the freedom of speech makes up one of the fundamental principles of our republic. This freedom is expressed within the confines of the law and under the control of the courts," the statement read. Outside the country, security at French embassies have been reinforced, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "I am against all provocations, especially during a period as sensitive as this one. I do not see any usefulness in such provocation," he told the radio station France Info. "There must be freedom of speech, but I am absolutely opposed to any provocation." France has seen rising tensions over its rapidly growing Muslim minority -- the largest Muslim population in western Europe. Last year, the country banned the wearing of Islamic veils and other face coverings, claiming they were both degrading and a security risk. Belgium has passed similar legislation, and Switzerland banned the building of minarets, the tall spires which often stand next to mosques.
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| Dr M: BN won’t get supermajority Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:27 PM PDT
The influential former prime minister says Najib's government is weak. Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT Influential former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today described the Najib government as weak and predicted that it will not gain the much-needed parliamentary supermajority in the upcoming polls. Malaysia's longest-serving premier said the present government under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was too focused on "surviving" after its record losses in the 2008 general election, meaning it could not make "strong decisions" needed to push the country forward. Mahathir had in the past hinted repeatedly that Najib was making concessions to popular and opposition demands to shore up support and warned that this could weaken his administration. Speaking at the 2012 Perdana Global CEO Forum here today, the country's fourth prime minister said he would not "say anything bad" of Najib's performance now but hinted that it was too occupied with wooing voters at the expense of development. "I think Barisan Nasional will win but I think the majority will not be so good," he said in his keynote address entitled "What to expect post-13th general election". "If you ask me, will BN deliver after it wins? Today the government is not strong… it is trying to survive. What it is doing is just surviving. When a government is only trying to survive, it cannot focus on development." Mahathir also hinted that Najib, an unelected prime minister who took office in April 2009, was splashing out cash to woo voters and hinted that it was almost "close to vote buying". Spending a lot of money "I won't say anything bad about Najib. I'm supposed to be campaigning for him but what I can tell you is, he is spending a lot of money. I wish I could have done that but we didn't have that much money then," he joked. The former premier had often dodged rating Najib's performance in the past, repeatedly saying that he would avoid giving negative feedbacks. Observers interpret Mahathir's response as a hint that the outlook on Najib's leadership and approach to redeem BN's losses in 2008 was not good. And while he is seen campaigning hard to ensure the ruling coalition stays in power, analysts said this does not necessarily translate into endorsement for Najib. Today, Mahathir again urged voters to be mindful of voting in the opposition, saying that although the present administration may have its weaknesses, the country can improve with only a reshuffle in leadership. He said voting the opposition into power could be disastrous and the voters will have to "pay the price" when most of the policies of the opposition are in place. BN claimed most of the ideas proposed by Pakatan Rakyat were populist and unrealistic. Pakata had promised to raise oil subsidies, lower car prices and cut taxes but the government said these measures will affect revenue and hinder development.
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| Taib is worth RM45b, believe it or not Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:23 PM PDT
When Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud told longhouses residents in Sungai Aup, Sibu, in 2010 that he had 'more money than he can ever spend', people understood that he was rich. But how rich, was anyone's guess. Pushparani Thilaganathan, FMT Earlier today, Swiss-based NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), threw some light when it released its report: The Taib Timber Mafia. Facts and Figures on Politically Exposed Persons from Sarawak, Malaysia. According to the report, Taib and his 20-member family clan are collectively worth US$21 billion (RM64 billion). Taib himself is worth US$15 billion (RM45 billion) and, according to the report, "is the richest man in Malaysia"… his wealth having been derived from "plundering the state during his three decades as Chief Minister of Sarawak". It further explains why Umno and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak cannot muscle old man Taib out of his decades-old political seat. Also wallowing in wealth are Taib's better known siblings Onn Mahmud, Tufail Mahmud, Raziah Mahmud and his children Mahmud Bekir, Sulaiman Rahman, Jamilah and Hanifah. Also in this elite loop is his first cousin Hamid Sepawi. Lesser known to the masses are Taib's 12 other clan members, also "business magnets" worth millions in US dollar. Disclosing these financial details in a 45-page report released in Brussels in conjunction with the visit of the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Bernard Dompok, to the European Union, BMF noted that "godfather" Taib and his family may have more "assets hidden in offshore districts", which may be untraceable. "The facts and figures of the Taib family are merely the tip of the iceberg as many family assets are likely to be hidden overseas or in offshore districts where information is virtually impossible to obtain." But the extensive research into Taib's business in Malaysia and overseas had, however, uncovered the vast dimensions of the family's illicit assets. "This report aims to build up international pressure against the corrupt Taib family and provide investigating bodies, journalists, Sarawakians and interested parties with detailed evidence on the Taib financial empire. "The report also aims to demonstrate the financial and political control that Taib has over Sarawak and provides profiles on the chief minister and his family members, all of whom have financially benefited from the destruction of Sarawak's rainforest," it said. The reports claimed that Taib abused his position as chief minister, state finance minister, and planning and resources minister, to award his family members with timber and palm oil concessions, state contracts and directorships in Sarawak's largest companies. It notes that in 2009, his three ministries controlled 49.6% of the state's operating expenditure of RM1.19 billion (US% 391 million) and 80% of the state's development expenditure of RM3.08 billion (US$1.01 billion), with the other 10 ministers sharing the rest. Overflowing wealth
Detailing the wealth list of the Taib clan, the report said that the second richest man in Malaysia was Taib's brother Onn Mahmud, who is worth US$2 billion (RM6 billion). Also sharing the billionaire tag with a net worth of US%1.5 billion (RM4.5 billion) and US$1 billion (RM3 billion) respectively were Taib's elder son Mahmud Bekir and his Canada-based socialite daughter Jamilah Taib-Murray. His two other children – the "invisible" Kota Samarahan MP, Sulaiman Rahman, is worth US$300 million (RM900 million) while and daughter Hanifah has US$400 million (RM1.2 billion) to her name. Taib's sibling Onn Mahmud has an alleged net worth of US$1.5 billion (RM4.5 billion) and is the second richest man in Malaysia, while his other brother Tufail has US$600 million (RM1.8 billion) and sister Raziah is worth US$500 million (RM1.5 billion). Other siblings noted in the report are Arip Mahmud who is worth US$100 million (RM300 million), Ibrahim Mahmud and Ali Mahmud at US$20 million (RM60 million) each. His sister Ferdahanum and Zaleha are worth US$10 million (RM30 million) each while the net worth of another sister Aisah Zainab is not known. Also mentioned in the report is Taib's cousin Hamid Sepawi who made the Forbes Asia 2012 list . Hamid, who is the founder of Ta Ann Group, a timber conglomerate, is worth US$175 million (RM535 million), according to the list. Next in line is Taib's in-laws. His daughter Jamilah's husband, Sean Murray, is worth US$10 million (RM30 million) while Hanifah's spouse Syed Ahmad enjoys US$20 million (RM60 million) in assets. Of his brother-in laws, Robert Geneid (Raziah's spouse) has US$10 million (RM30 million) and Ferdahanum's man Abdul Aziz Husain has US$20 million (RM60 million).
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| Freeze Taib’s accounts, govts told Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:20 PM PDT
A Swiss NGO has lumped Taib Mahmud together with 'money launderers' Indonesian president Suharto and Philippines' Marcos. (FMT) - Swiss NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), has reiterated its call for governments and banks around the globe to freeze the assets of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his family. It has also called on anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering authorities worldwide to investigate the Taib family's business activities. In a statement issued in conjunction with the release of its report 'The Taib Timber Mafia. Facts and Figures on Politically Exposed Persons from Sarawak, Malaysia' in Brussels, Belgium earlier today, BMF said the Taibs could be compared to Indonesia's president Suharto and president Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. "The Taibs are being compared to the Suharto and Marcos clans who have also stolen billions from their countries. "According to Transparency International, former Indonesian president Suharto had embezzled US$15 to US$35 billion, while former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos is thought to have stolen between US$20 and US$900 billion. "We want the governments and banks around the globe to freeze Taib family assets. "These assets should be frozen and restituted to the people of Sarawak, and the Taib family and their co-conspirators should be prosecuted for corruption, abuse of public funds, fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and other related crimes," noted the statement, alluding to the report which detailed Taib and his family's extensive wealth. According to the report, which was released to coincide with the visit by the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Bernard Dompok, to the European Union, Taib and his 20-member clan are worth US$21 billion (RM64 billion). And the extensive wealth, the report claims, was derived "through the almost complete political and economic control of Sarawak" over the past three decades. "Taib Mahmud has systematically plundered a country once rich in natural resources, particularly oil, gas and timber. While the proceeds of the oil and gas extraction are mostly benefiting Malaysia's federal government, the Sarawak state government enjoys total autonomy as to the use of the state's forest resources and state lands. "The Bruno Manser Fund estimates the combined net worth of 20 Taib family members at close to US$21 billion, which have been acquired through the almost complete political and economic control of Sarawak, over three decades. "In particular, the Taibs have established monopolies over the granting of timber and plantation concessions, the export of timber to third countries, the maintenance of public roads as well as over the production and sale of cement and a number of other construction materials," it said. Taib's assets being monitored
Taib, an impoverished carpenter's son, has been helming Sarawak since 1981. According to the report, his personal wealth now stands at US$15 billion (RM45 billion), making him the richest man in Malaysia. The second richest man in Malaysia is his brother Onn Mahmud with a net worth of US$1.5 billion (RM4.5 billion). Both have been closely linked to logging scandals dating back to 1981, the year Taib assumed the chief minister's post. The report cited two key scandals – one in 2007 and another in 2008. "In 2007, a scandal exposed by the Japanese tax authorities revealed that tens of millions of US dollars had been paid in secret, illegal kickbacks by Japanese shipping companies exporting timber from Sarawak. "The money was paid directly to Hong Kong companies linked to the chief minister's brother, Onn Mahmud. The Japanese cartel concluded an agreement in 1981 with Malaysia's Dewan Niaga Sarawak regarding lumber transport. "Dewan Niaga is a state-affiliated agency in charge of lumber export control and is headed by Onn Mahmud, one of Taib's brothers. "In 2008, Indonesian newspaper, Tribun Pontianak, revealed that around 30 shipments of illegal Indonesian logs were imported into Sarawak and re-exported to other countries every month. Chief Minister Taib Mahmud was implicated in this timber scam," the report noted.
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| Fake website or serious opposition mouthpiece? - PBS Posted: 18 Sep 2012 05:24 PM PDT
(Bernama) - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has urged Malaysians in Sabah to look at the website http://suarapakatanrakyat.com/ postings since August 2011 to judge for themselves whether Suara Pakatan Rakyat is a fake website or a serious opposition mouthpiece created specifically to discredit Barisan Nasional (BN) in a systematic manner. PBS has described the opposition's denial and calls for evidence to link the blog to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as a desperate attempt to distance itself from the controversial but popular pro-opposition blog. PBS assistant secretary-general Daniel Kinsik said the PBS police report and subsequent statement (over an article) did not point finger specifically at PKR, but rather the blog and the blogger whose writings were obviously pro-opposition and critical of BN. PKR Sabah deputy secretary-general Darrel Leiking had earlier challenged PBS secretary-general Datuk Henrynus Amin to produce evidence to link PKR to the blog. "What evidence is Darrel talking about when the PBS police report simply urged the police to investigate the seditious nature of the article," said Daniel in a statement, here, today. "Why is he so jumpy when nothing is said to specifically accuse PKR of being the author of the blog? Does he know something we do not know?" What is there to be afraid of? "As a lawyer, Darrel should read the PBS police report and subsequent statement, before jumping to conclusion merely based on sensational headlines created by the editors to add spark," he said. Daniel said PKR Kadazandusun and Murut leaders were confused and started acting strange as the controversial article mocking the Sumazau dance must weigh heavily on their conscience as opposition leaders, knowing very well Suara Pakatan Rakyat is a mouthpiece for the opposition agenda. "Notwithstanding the police investigation, PBS' stand is that the article in the Suara Pakatan Rakyat blog is seditious in nature and seems to be the work of those closely linked to the opposition agenda. "If indeed Pakatan Rakyat has nothing to do with the controversial blog, they should take legal action to stop Suara Pakatan Rakyat from further publishing, using a name closely identical to theirs," he said. However, Daniel said, the people of Sabah would not be easily fooled by the opposition denial, as Darrel's antics merely reinforced public suspicion that Pakatan Rakyat was desperate and afraid of the unexpected turn of events against them.
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| Zakir Naik’s host defends invite Posted: 18 Sep 2012 05:12 PM PDT
Saba Islamic Media invites non-Muslims to the controversial orator's talks. G Vinod, FMT Saba Islamic Media today defended its invitation of controversial Islamic orator Dr Zakir Naik to give talks in Malaysia, saying its purpose was to promote harmony among people of various religions. Saba spokesman Shakirin Kakulal Govindji said his organisation was inviting non-Muslims to Naik's talks and would give them priority during the question-and-answer sessions. News that the Mumbai-born physician-turned-orator was coming to Malaysia next week has caused fierce debate on the Internet, with some commentators alleging that Naik has often insulted non-Islamic faiths in his talks. "We are a multi-religious country and we want to maintain the peace and harmony in Malaysia," Govindji told FMT. "In the past 20 years, Saba Islamic Media has worked towards building bridges with people of different faiths in the country." He said that among Saba's objectives in inviting Naik was to have him clarify Islamic views on unity among people of all faiths, the Islamic perspective on modern science, and Muslims' misconception of terrorism and jihad. Naik is scheduled to deliver a series of talks between next week and Oct 7 at several venues, including the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). Govindji said there would be a non-Muslim panellist at the PWTC event. "We also invite non-Muslims to attend the talks," he said. "Priority will be given to them to pose questions. Rest assured that no one will stop you. "So I urge those who disagree with Zakir's thoughts to put forward your rebuttals and allow him to answer them. Zakir has agreed to end the sessions late to accommodate all questions." Govindji also explained his own views on inter-faith harmony. He said that although there were doctrinal differences between religions, this did not mean that people of different faiths could not unite on common ground.
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| Duo’s application struck out in RPK suit Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:48 PM PDT
(The Star) - The High Court here has struck out an application by two lieutenant colonels to amend their statement of claim in a defamation suit filed against blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin. High Court judge Justice Su Geok Yiam dismissed the application after ruling that the issues for amendment brought up by Lt-Col Abdul Aziz Buyong and Lt-Col Norhayati Hassan were matters of evidence rather than fact. She also ruled that there had been no satisfactory explanation for the delay in the amendment. No date has been set for the next mention. Raja Petra was charged with defaming Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and the two senior military officers in a statutory declaration made at the Jalan Duta court complex on June 18, 2008. However, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court subsequently granted him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal over the charge. The two lieutenant colonels have since filed separate RM1mil defamation suits against him.
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| White House: Libya attack may have been preplanned Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:13 PM PDT
(Yahoo News) - THE White House on Tuesday explicitly left open the possibility that last week's dramatic attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens dead, was a preplanned attack. Press secretary Jay Carney suggested the assault could have been the work of an armed group looking to "take advantage" of unrest he blamed on an anti-Islam video available online. Carney repeatedly described that footage as the "precipitating" cause of the protests and the violence targeting American diplomatic posts in Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia and elsewhere.
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| 'Fatwa' to kill issued against anti-Islam filmmaker Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:04 PM PDT
(Agencies) - A Fatwa was issued against filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula amidst warnings from Hizbollah of dangerous repercussions if the anti-Islam film is released in full. Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the film the "worst attack ever on Islam". Hizbollah warned of "very dangerous" global repercussions if an anti-Islam film is released in its entirety, as a fatwa was issued against the film's producer who has gone into hiding with his family. The warning from Hizbollah's Hassan Nasrallah came as the death toll from a week of violence sparked by the movie rose to 19. An eruption of Muslim anger over a trailer of the American-made film that appeared on the internet has spread across the world, taking hold Monday in Afghanistan, Indonesia, the West Bank, the Philippines and Yemen. Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of southern Beirut to denounce the film at Nasrallah's request, and the head of the powerful Shiite Muslim group surprised supporters by making a rare public appearance. Nasrallah, whose Lebanese movement is blacklisted in the United States as a terrorist group, has called for a week of protests across the country over the film, describing it as the "worst attack ever on Islam". "America must understand ... the US must understand that releasing the entire film will have dangerous, very dangerous, repercussions around the world," he told the rally. The filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt and fraudster who was sentenced to 21 months in prison in the US in June 2010, has not been seen since Saturday when he was questioned by his US parole officer. The risks now facing those involved in the production of the film "Innocence of Muslims", which depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a thuggish womanizer, were underlined when a Salafist cleric in Egypt called Monday for the deaths of all those involved in its making. The film producer's family joined him in hiding, as more cast members of the film that outraged the Islamic world insisted they had been duped into making it. Before dawn on Monday, officers from the Los Angeles County sheriff's department escorted four members of Nakoula's family out of their home to be driven in unmarked police vehicles to an undisclosed location to join him. The terrorism monitoring service SITE Intelligence Group said Ahmad Fouad Ashoush issued his fatwa, or religious edict, against the cast and crew of "Innocence of Muslims" via jihadist internet forums over the weekend. "I issue a fatwa and call on the Muslim youth in America and Europe to do this duty, which is to kill the director, the producer and the actors and everyone who helped and promoted the film," the cleric said. The controversial movie has sparked a week of furious protests outside US embassies and other American symbols in at least 20 countries. In Pakistan, thousands of students burned US flags and chanted anti-American slogans in the northwestern city of Peshawar, where Osama bin Laden kept a home during the 1980s jihad against Soviet troops in adjacent Afghanistan. In the nearby district of Upper Dir, a protester was killed and two others wounded in a shoot-out with police. In Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, another demonstrator died after being shot in the head during clashes with police near the US consulate on Sunday. The US embassy in Islamabad was closed on Monday because of the risk of demonstrations and diplomats have been banned from all but essential travel throughout the country. In neighboring Afghanistan, protests turned violent for the first time when more than 1,000 people rallied in Kabul, setting police cars and containers ablaze, police told AFP. Between 40 and 50 policemen were "very slightly wounded" by stone-throwers and members of the crowd waving sticks, said Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi. Google has barred access to the video of the film in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Libya and Malaysia, while the government has restricted access to Google-owned YouTube in Afghanistan. Later, Pakistan blocked access to YouTube after an order from Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to do so, following the video-sharing website's failure to take down the anti-Islam film. Attempts to access YouTube met with a message saying the website had been classed as containing "indecent material". In Jakarta, protesters hurled petrol bombs and clashed with Indonesian police outside the US embassy shouting "America, America go to hell", as demonstrations in the world's most populous Muslim nation turned violent. The capital's police chief Untung Rajab said 11 policemen and a protester were injured and taken to hospital, and that four protesters were arrested. Mass demonstrations after the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday saw 11 protesters killed as police battled to defend US missions from mobs in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen. The unrest began in Cairo, where protesters stormed the US embassy late Tuesday, replacing the Stars and Strips with an Islamic flag. Hours later it spread to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where the US consulate came under sustained attack, killing four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. In Afghanistan, two US Marines died and six US fighter jets were destroyed when Taliban fighters on Friday stormed a giant airfield to avenge the film. The United States has deployed counterterror Marine units to Libya to protect its embassy in Tripoli and stationed two destroyers off the North African coast. A Marine unit was also dispatched to protect the US embassy in Yemen, where police shot dead four protesters and wounded 34 others on Thursday as a mob breached its perimeter. There were more protests in Yemen on Monday. The United States has evacuated all non-essential staff and family members from Sudan and Tunisia and warned US citizens against travel to the two countries. Libya said it has arrested 50 suspects in connection with the consulate attack. | |||||
| French Mag to Publish Cartoons of Prophet Mohammed Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:53 AM PDT
The offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine destroyed in a bomb attack in Paris, 2011 (ABC News) - A French satirical magazine is set to publish several cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, a move that is likely to inflame the Islamic faithful and militants who have already rioted in more than 20 countries over a movie mocking the prophet. Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited and considered blasphemous by Muslims. Cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark in 2005 and then reproduced in newspapers across Europe triggered riots throughout the Mideast and Africa. Churches and embassies were torched and at least 100 people died in the outbreaks and police crackdowns. The magazine "Charlie Hebdo" has confirmed that it will publish the cartoons, but has not revealed what they will depict. French newspaper "Le Monde" reports that some of the cartoons show the prophet in "particularly explicit poses," without providing any further detail. The move comes as Muslims are still simmering after riots in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and nearly 20 other countries over the move "Innocence of Muslims." U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. French government ministers have criticized the magazine's decision and police in Paris have stepped up security around its offices. Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/09/french-mag-to-publish-cartoons-of-prophet-mohammed/
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| Uproar over Ngeh’s tweet on anti-Islam video Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:49 AM PDT
(The Star) - Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham has sparked an uproar over his tweet questioning whether Muslims were "wasting time and energy" in protesting the controversial anti-Islam Innocence of Muslims video clip. Politicians from both sides of the divide banded together to hit out at Ngeh, with many calling him insensitive. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin described Ngeh's comments as insensitive and offensive, adding: "It clearly shows that he and DAP have failed to understand Islam and Muslims, our respect for the Prophet and our feelings." He also noted that Ngeh had indirectly criticised PAS who were planning to join a peaceful assembly on Friday over the matter. "No wonder PAS cannot trust DAP when their senior leaders regularly betray a lack of respect for Muslims," Khairy said. In his Twitter account, Ngeh, who is Sitiawan assemblyman, posted: "Khairy wants Muslim protest against Sam Bacile. For Islam or his political gains? Are Muslims wasting too much time and energy on this?" It was reported that Umno and PAS members are planning a massive protest on Friday against the anti-Islam film that mocks and insults Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Information, Culture and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim tweeted that Ngeh was unfit to be a political leader for denying the rights of Muslims to uphold their religion. PAS Youth secretary Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil said Ngeh should be careful with his statements, pointing out that it was not Khairy who mooted the idea to hold a massive protest on Friday. "This issue involves all Muslims and it is mandatory for Muslims to protect the good name of Prophet Muhammad regardless of their political affiliation," he said yesterday. Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said Ngeh displayed "extreme insensitivity" in questioning whether the planned protest was politically motivated. MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Ngeh's comments reflected insensitivity towards the feelings of Muslims. He stressed that the displeasure against the video clip had nothing to do with politics and that even Google and YouTube had taken measures to deal with the matter. "How can people in our country use this as a political tool? This is the problem with some, especially in DAP, who always look at things with a political slant," he said. Former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim said the remark by Ngeh was unsustainable and uncalled for. Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir slammed Ngeh, saying it was not right for him to make such a statement especially in relation to such a sensitive issue. Three police reports have been lodged against Ngeh. Ngeh said he was very disappointed that some people had twisted the meaning of his tweet, reiterating that he respected the rights of everyone to protest or demonstrate. "There is no doubt that I condemn the video but my tweet was a question and not a statement as some have claimed, belittled Islam," he said. "I agree with the Malaysian Young Ulama that there needs to be restrain and a need to not cause further unrest. We should focus on the person who made the video and not the whole of the United States, where there are also Muslims living." | |||||
| Dr M says American mothers are promiscuous in attack against US free speech Posted: 17 Sep 2012 07:39 PM PDT
Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested today that American mothers "sleep around with just about anybody" when he attacked the United States for defending free speech while PKR warned governments against exploiting Muslim anger to restrict freedoms as protests continued to spread across the Muslim world over a controversial film mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister said the West's idea of freedom of expression as being a part of human rights was one that may not be accepted in the cultures of Asians or Muslims worldwide. In contrast, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali said in a separate statement that "dictatorial regimes" should not exploit the anger of Muslims to curtail freedoms. "Those who blame freedoms for the production of the film are leaders who are anti-democratic and anti-freedom of the people, and are exploiting the anger of the people to reduce democratic space for political purposes," he said. Dr Mahathir was unrelenting, however, in his attack against the US which has officially condemned the film. "It would seem that the liberal West believes that free speech is licence to curse and insult other people without limit. I think Western values have gone crazy," the now-retired Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog today. "How would one feel if someone comes up to you and calls you 'a bastard, the offspring of sex between your mother and some man who is not your legally wedded father'?" "The Americans would feel nothing because in their society this is normal. Their mothers sleep around with just about anybody," said the controversial political veteran. Such a practice would be considered a norm in an American society, he said, adding that apart from American mothers, fathers behave much the same way. "It is an expression of the equality of the sexes," he said. Dr Mahathir was railing against US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom he said had appeared to defend the maker of the film when the latter was quoted in the media as saying, "We do not stop individual citizens from expressing their views, no matter how distasteful they may be." US embassies worldwide have been placed on high alert following protests against the controversial video, which have even led to the death of a US ambassador and three other Americans last week during a protest at its consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi. Protests have spread to other countries across the Muslim world, and have also reached Malaysian shores, uniting Muslims here from across the political divide in their bid to express their unhappiness at the US for the film. The youth wing of Malaysia's largest Muslim party Umno will be organising a mass protest after Friday prayers this week, while last week's global protests were also joined by Islamist party PAS.
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| More film retaliation as suicide bomber near Kabul airport kills nine Posted: 17 Sep 2012 03:20 PM PDT
(Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew up a mini-bus carrying foreign and local contract workers near Kabul airport in Afghanistan today, with at least nine bodies lying near the wreckage, a Reuters witness at the scene said. Eight of those killed were foreign workers for an international courier company, a senior police source said, while the other was an Afghan translator. Eight Afghan workers were injured in the blast. Afghan insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami claimed responsibility for the suicide attack and said it was launched in retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad. "A woman wearing a suicide vest blew herself up in response to the anti-Islam video," said Zubair Sediqqi, a spokesman for the militant faction, which does not usually carry out such attacks. The attack underscored growing anger in Afghanistan over the film, which has enraged much of the Muslim world and led to the killing last week of the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. Thousands of protesters clashed with police in the Afghan capital yesterday, burning cars and hurling rocks at security forces in the worst outbreak of violence since February rioting over the inadvertent burning of Korans by US soldiers. The suicide attack was the first in Kabul involving a woman and the foreigners killed were mostly Russian and South African pilots working for an international courier company, senior police sources said. The toll was the highest on foreigners in the city since last April when an Afghan air force pilot gunned down eight US military flight instructors and an American civilian adviser after an argument at Kabul International Airport. Hezb-e-Islami, which means Islamic Party, is a radical militant group which shares some of the Taliban's anti-foreigner, anti-government aims.
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| Six govt bodies to act against Suaram Posted: 17 Sep 2012 03:11 PM PDT
However, it is ultimately up to the attorney-general to decide whether to take the human rights operating entity to court, says minister Ismail Sabri Yakob. Anisah Shukry, FMT Six government agencies are taking action against Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, the operating entity of human rights organisation Suaram, under five sections of the Companies Act 1965. "The Companies Commission Malaysia (CCM) has no power over Suaram as it is not registered as a society. As such, we are taking action against Suara Inisiatif Rakyat for its misleading accounts," said Minister of Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He said the six agencies, which included CCM, Registrar of Societies (ROS), Bank Negara, the Home Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC), were not interested in the source of the organisations' funds. Suaram had been under media and government scrutiny lately due to its foreign source of funds, particularly its alleged links to currency speculator George Soros. "We know where their funds come from, but [the issue is with] the way they report their accounts, which is misleading," Ismail said, although he refused to elaborate. The scope of their investigations, he said, would be based on Sections 364(2), 166A(3), 169(14), 167(1), 167(2), and 132(1) of the Companies Act 1965. But the ultimate decision as to whether Suara Inisiatif Rakyat would be charged in court was with the Attorney General, he said, adding that he would be meeting with AG Abdul Gani Patail later today over the matter. "Everything looks okay. We've already met with the deputy [AG] over this. It's just a matter of the AG signing yes or no," he said. He also said the other agencies, such as ROS and Bank Negara, would be taking action against either Suaram or Suara Inisiatif within their own jurisdictions. "For example, Suaram has not been registered as a society, so the ROS will take action against them for that," he added.
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| Chaos at US embassy in Jakarta over anti-Islam film Posted: 17 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT
(Asia One) - JAKARTA - A rally protesting the movie, Innocence of Muslims, turned chaotic as members of the Islamic Society Forum (FUI) clashed with police in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta on Monday. The clash was sparked after the Central Jakarta Police officers blasted tear gas at hundreds of FUI members. Protesters retaliated by throwing rocks at police officers. The group demanded that the US government punish the film director for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. "According to Islamic law, [the director] must face the death penalty," said the rally coordinator Bernad Abdul Jabbar to The Jakarta Post earlier on Monday. The FUI began the protest at 1 p.m. by marching from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the embassy. "It is supposed to be a peaceful rally. However, several members brought eggs with the intention of throwing them. The bottom line is we don't want the protest to be chaotic," he added. Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol previously said that they had deployed 2,000 personnel to guard the rally. Jakarta Police chief Untung S. Rajab reportedly came to the scene, in an effort to calm down the protesters. | |||||
| Thai US embassy to close ahead of film rally Posted: 17 Sep 2012 02:56 PM PDT
(Asia One) - THAILAND - The US Embassy will close today when "several hundred people" are expected to protest about an anti-Islam film in front of the mission's compound in downtown Bangkok. US citizens also have been warned to exercise caution and to avoid large crowds or gatherings, the embassy said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. It said it was informed by police that a demonstration involving several hundred people was planned on Wireless Road in front of the US mission from 1pm to 2pm today. "Demonstrators will assemble at Lumpini Park and march to the embassy. The large number of demonstrators is expected to disrupt traffic in the area," the statement said. Because of the expected protest, the embassy "will be closing to the public at noon and non-essential personnel will be sent home", it said. The embassy said it was unaware of any specific threat to Americans in Thailand, but it advised them to avoid areas that might be targeted for demonstrations. "Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence with little or no warning. You should avoid areas that may be targeted for demonstrations and exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations or large gatherings. You should monitor local media to keep updated with the latest information about demonstrations and areas to avoid," the US mission said on its website. Embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler confirmed that the planned rally was part of a wave of protests, some of which have turned violent, against a low-budget trailer for a movie titled "Innocence of Muslims". The film is believed to have been made by a small group of extremist Christians in the United States. In its statement, the embassy did not mention Muslims or say whether the planned protest was connected to the controversial film. An official at the Japanese Embassy, which is close to the US compound, said closure was under consideration, but the Netherlands plans to keep its nearby embassy open because it has an entrance on a separate street. Protests have been staged since last Tuesday in at least 20 countries, with at least 17 people killed and dozens wounded in violence linked to the film. Buddhist-majority Thailand has about 1.2 million Muslims - 4 per cent of the population - according to the latest data. Many live in the Southern provinces near the Malaysian border. Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said police would be instructed to provide security at the US Embassy as well as its consulate in Chiang Mai, although the US mission had not made any specific request in regard to the rally. "I have ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with the police," he said. However, Surapong did not think violence similar what has happened in other countries such as Libya and Egypt would occur here. Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said no suspicious movements had been found in Thailand linked to the protest. "But we will not lower our guard; we will keep a close watch," Yongyuth said.
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| Suaram faces ‘misleading accounts’ charge, says minister Posted: 17 Sep 2012 02:38 PM PDT
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider The Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) plans to bring charges against the operating entity of Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) for its "misleading accounts", the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said. "We will take legal action on Suara Inisiatif based on accounts that was reported to us... there are misleading elements in accounts," he told reporters today. He declined to reveal the specific clause in the Companies Act 1965 that will be used to bring charges against Suara Inisiatif within the next two days, saying that the Attorney-General will decide on the charge. Ismail (picture) said the CCM was not bringing charges against Suara Inisiatif for receiving foreign funds. "In one year, we investigate over 200 cases, Suara Inisiatif is one of them... not because we have personal problems with Suara Inisiatif," he said. He was responding to questions on whether SSM carried out similar investigations on other registered companies. Ismail added that the other five government agencies involved in the probe have agreed to take action based on existing legal provisions. He said the CCM's scope of investigation is based on five sections in the Companies Act — sections 364 (2), 166A (3), 169 (14), 167 (1), 167 (2), 132 (1).
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| Suaram says prepared for scrutiny but wants probe on Scorpene too Posted: 17 Sep 2012 02:31 PM PDT
Suaram members at the launch of the 'Stand up for Suaram' campaign outside the CCM office in Kuala Lumpur on September 18, 2012. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) will give its full co-operation in the probe against it by six government agencies, the human rights watchdog's chairman Arumugan Kalimuthu said today. "Suaram is prepared to be scrutinised and investigated. We will fully co-operate with CCM and any other bodies that are interested to look at our books," he told reporters. The Companies Commission Malaysia (CCM) is currently investigating Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, the operating entity of Suaram. "I would warn those who are responsible in the government for the scandal of Scorpene to open up (the) books..." Arumugan said, adding that the "true facts" should be revealed to taxpayers. Suaram is currently in the limelight due to its part in an ongoing French inquiry probing possible corruption in Malaysia's multibillion ringgit purchase of two Scorpene submarines, which has been linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the murder of Mongolian model Altantuyaa Shaariibuu. Arumugan was speaking at the launch of "Stand Up for Suaram", a campaign to draw support for the watchdog.
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| Yahya spells reasons for joining PKR Posted: 17 Sep 2012 02:18 PM PDT
Mariah Doksil, Borneo Post KOTA KINABALU: Former deputy minister Datuk Haji Yahya Lampong spelled out his reason for joining the opposition, saying it was nothing personal but just Barisan Nasional's (BN) system of having absolute power, which he said is similar to the communist brand of politics. Yahya maintained that a democratic system refers to a government by the people, and the majority of the voters are those who are not affiliated to any political party. He added if the total number of voters is ten million, only two per cent of that number should be members of political parties and the remaining 98 per cent would decide the government for the next five years and that government is subject to change. "As an example, over 46 million people are registered as voters to vote in elections in the United Kingdom which has three major political parties, namely the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. "The Conservative party and the Labour party each has about 300,000 members while the Liberal Democratic party has about 200,000. This means to suggest that out of 46 million voters in the UK, only 800,000 are members of one of the political parties. Their total number does not even reach one million," he said. "However, unlike the BN, nobody knows exactly the number of BN members, but it was disclosed by Umno secretary general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor on September 9, 2010 that the coalition had about seven million members," he said. Yahya also quoted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who announced on May 20, 2010, that Umno has about three million active members. According to Yahya, the total number of voters who cast their votes in the 2008 general elections was 10,952,139 and if the figure was to stay, he perceived that the BN would be in power forever, only because they have the number. "In the next general election, there will be approximately 11,579,280 eligible voters, although this is not the final figure. And with the BN claiming to have seven million members, they will certainly stay in power. "This system is very much similar to the system adopted by the communists and we certainly do not want to see this state of affair occurring in our country. "Why similar? Because the majority of voters in the communist system are members of the party. Whenever there is a general election, they are assured of power and staying in power. It is not subject to change," he said. "I do not want to vote for a government which is not subject to change. I do not want my children or even my grandchildren to vote for a government professing absolute power because we will be denied of transparency and proper check and balances," he stressed. Touching on the pledge of giving back a 20 per cent oil royalty to the state, Yahya said only the opposition had taken the liberty to promise the Sabahans with that figure. He admitted however that it was now too late to talk about more because that promise had been given to be fulfilled. "This is likened to something having dropped from the sky because BN cannot give this to us," the former Kota Belud member of parliament said. "If the people vote Pakatan Rakyat to power, a 'Yayasan Rakyat' will be formed to allow for every Sabahan aged 18 years and above to be entitled for cash contribution from the government since the money belongs to the people. "We will develop the necessary infrastructure and at the same time we will give back to the people their money as a form of bonus," he said. Yahya, who is a former Tempasuk assemblyman and whose entry into Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) was announced by de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday, confirmed the announcement and said "it was time to change."
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| Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:52 PM PDT
A Gerakan leader and a university don feel that because of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's abrasive style some Chinese voters are seen to favour Barisan Nasional. Hawkeye, FMT GEORGE TOWN: If one were to believe Gerakan, there is a slight shift of Chinese support towards Barisan Nasional. They say this shift is because of Teng Chang Yeow, who was made the Penang Gerakan chief earlier this year. Even though the shift is so slight it is enough to give BN optimism it would fare better in the coming general election, says Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Wong Mun Hoe. Wong claims that Teng's style has won some Chinese voters and he has united BN to take on Pakatan Rakyat. "One important element going into any political battle is unity. Teng has restored that in BN. Also, Umno has rebranded itself to please the voters. Wong said another factor for the slight swing is Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's tendency to be harsh towards critics. He said Lim is forever attacking the previous state government and his partisan politics has made the average voter fed up. "Lim should be forward-looking, but instead he is dwelling on the past. Where is the master plan for sustainable development?" He also disputed Lim"s alleged remark that Pakatan has secured 95% of the Chinese vote bank ahead of the next election. 'Focus on protest voters' Wong claimed there is also a swing of Indian voters back to BN because "never in the country's history, has there been a prime minister who has done so much for the community". From resolving vernacular educational issues to helping them restore their citizenship documentation, Najib has done much and is willing to do more for the Indian community, he said.
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| Terengganu invents furnace for efficient Quran disposal Posted: 16 Sep 2012 06:02 PM PDT
(Bernama) - The Terengganu Islamic Affairs Department (JHEAT) has devised a furnace to dispose of copies of the Quran using a more efficient burning system. JHEAT Research Division principal assistant director, Mohamad Noor Mohd said the furnace would facilitate the disposal process, reduce burning time and was more environment-friendly. "Previously, disposal was a long process because several steps were involved such as separating the paper, shredding, burning and then dumping the ashes into the sea. "With this new furnace, shredding and burning will go on simultaneously," he told Bernama. He said the furnace was invented by 10 department staff who took nine months to design it, while its production took another four months to complete. Head of the invention team, Wan Zainuddin Wan Mansor said their main challenge was complying with syariah requirements and not violating Department of Environment (DOE) regulations. "The DOE does not allow burning so as to preserve the environment, but use of this furnace is approved as it does not affect our environment," he said. Eleven Quran will produce about one kilogramme of ash and the furnace will be able to carry out unlimited amount of burning. The furnace, costing RM7,000 to produce, won third place in an Innovative and Creative Invention competition among the state government departments and agencies recently.
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| Nizar: A bigger tsunami taking shape in Umno Posted: 16 Sep 2012 03:34 PM PDT
The PAS leader claims that Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh and Muhyiddin are baying for Najib's blood as they fear his continued leadership will disintegrate Umno and BN. Humayun Kabir, FMT TAIPING: PAS claims that Umno is facing a greater political tsunami within the party than what it experienced during 2008. Perak PAS deputy chief Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin told FMT that the 2008 political turmoil within Umno was on a low-key level but now it had become more vicious. In 2008, politicking within Umno led by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad resulted in the then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi being forced to resign. There were also allegations that frustrated Umno members who were not selected as candidates in the general election had sabotaged Umno by supporting the opposition. "It is a no holds barred struggle as speculation is that the three Umno leaders – Mahathir (Mohamad), Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) and (Deputy Premier) Muhyiddin (Yassin) are (competing among themselves in) trying to replace Najib as Umno president before the coming general election," said Nizar. He said the three Umno leaders feared that the party might disintegrate and BN would lose the coming general election if Najib continued to lead. To back his argument, Nizar said it was reported that posters calling for Muhyiddin to replace Najib had been widely circulating in Johor. He said it was also reported that Mahathir was ready to resume his former premier post if requested to do so. The vocal PAS leader also did not rule out the possibility of Razaleigh's movement Amanah Rakyat replacing the present Umno. Nizar predicted that it would be an "all out dirty political war" within Umno as members fight for personal gains rather than ensuring that BN wins in the coming general election. Anger in Perak Umno Speaking at a ceramah in Perak last week, Nizar said Umno was also facing a political dilemma at the state level. "I was told that Najib has demanded that 90% of the Umno candidates in Perak must be new faces, professionals, having educational backgrounds and not necessarily committee Umno members to be winnable candidates in the coming general election. "An Umno division deputy chief told me that most members are frustrated. So they are just waiting for the date when Najib will declare the dissolution of Parliament and many from Perak will quit and join Tengku's Amanah. "Ku Li had come to Perak in April and he gained some momentum (in recruiting members for Amanah). So within Umno there is another Umno," he pointed out. The PAS leader also revealed that there was intense infighting within Perak Umno over several seats.
Nizar, whose left arm was in a sling, told the crowd that on Thursday evening, he was plucking coconuts in his house compound, when a coconut fell and injured his left shoulder. During his speech, Nizar also showed slides and video recordings on the alleged wrongdoings of Umno members. He also showed the controversial YouTube video clip of Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor dancing on the first day of Hari Raya celebrations at their official residency in Putrajaya.
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| Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:25 PM PDT
Looking good for food: Herukh (second from right) giving away free briyani to (from left) Pang, Loh and Jerome Kugan at Fierce Curry House in Bangsar Utama. (The Star) - A briyani shop here poked fun at the purported guidelines to spot gays and lesbians for schoolchildren by giving away free meals to men wearing tight-fitting V-neck T-shirts and carrying sling bags. What started off as a pub conversation quickly set siblings and owners Herukh and Kubhaer T. Jeswant of the Fierce Curry House in Bangsar Utama to add some fun to their business and celebrate the diversity of their patrons. "When the guidelines came out, we thought it was ridiculous. "But instead of joining in the fray to condemn it, we thought it would be an interesting concept to give out free briyani meals to the first 15 men who walk in with a V-neck and a man-bag," said Herukh, who publicised his offer on Facebook. By midday yesterday, the brothers had to extend their promotion to another 10 customers after receiving a roaring response. Kubhaer said even women walked in with V-neck T-shirts and man-bags but they were disappointed because the offer was only for men. "If only the guidelines were easier to identify," he said, bursting with laughter when The Star met them yesterday. Yayasan Guru Malaysia Bhd and the Putrajaya Consultative Council of Parents and Teachers Associations, who organised a parenting seminar in Penang, had distributed the alleged guidelines to participants on Thursday. Among others, the guidelines said tendencies of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenderers (LGBT) can be spotted among boys wearing tight-fitting V-neck T-shirts and carrying large sling bags, and girls who enjoy the company of their own gender. The Education Ministry has since denied it had endorsed the guidelines although it views cases of social ills in the community seriously. Actor and events manager Alfred Loh who enjoyed his free briyani said it was a great way to raise awareness, not particularly for any rights groups but on current issues. "As a completely heterosexual man, it is also a wonderful way to discover a new fashion sense," he said, beaming in his red V-neck and a borrowed black man-bag. Gay rights activist Pang Khee Teik said that he was happy with the public outcry over the absurdity of the guidelines. "I'm glad that Fierce Curry House acknowledges that education, like food, must be made available to everyone," he said.
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| Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:20 PM PDT
(The Star) - Implementation of hudud should not be delayed because enforcing it is an obligation and not an option, said PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat. "Hudud is part of the syariah legislation that is compulsory in Islam. "To me, there is neither legal basis nor necessity based on logic to delay its enforcement. "(And) nowhere in the world, whether in the democratic or communist systems, are laws implemented only after making the rakyat understand and accept them,'' he said on his blog. The recent statement by the Kelantan Mentri Besar is an apparent rebuttal against calls by certain political parties that hudud could only be implemented only after creating public awareness and gaining their acceptance. PAS leaders have stepped up their calls to implement hudud with president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang recently creating a stir by saying that the party would not forgo its plans to implement hudud. Even his deputy president Mohamad Sabu had said that they would implement it if they had two-thirds majority support in Parliament to amend the Constitution. PAS deputy Mursyidul Am Datuk Dr Harun Din and Perak deputy Youth chief Dr Raja Ahmad Al Hiss had also backed Hadi. However, the polemics over hudud had prompted the Erdogans in PAS to call for an end to free airing of views on hudud in the public sphere. PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had said that the issue would hamper the party's performance at the coming general election. Nik Aziz said all other laws in Malaysia had been implemented without first seeking public acceptance. He added that while the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (that includes hudud) was passed in Kelantan 19 years ago, it could not be enforced because of objection from the Federal Government. "This includes a warning through an official letter sent by then prime minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) that has yet to be retracted,'' he said. Using the analogy that fishermen could enjoy better catch when riding on high waves, Nik Aziz implied that Muslims should decide in the interest of religious obligation even when the tide was against them.
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| More urging Dong Zong duo to cancel rally for sake of Chinese education Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:16 PM PDT
(The Star) - AN increasing number of the board of directors of Chinese schools have come forward to urge the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) chairman Yap Sin Tian and his deputy Chow Siew Hon to call off the 926 rally demanding the resignation of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong. They said the rally would harm the development of Chinese education, Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press reported. Nanyang reported that on Saturday, representatives of the board members from 40 Chinese primary schools in Malacca urged the two to set aside their personal grievances and not to politicise the Chinese education problems. On Sept 8, over 110 representatives from Pahang Chinese primary schools' board of directors as well as their parent-teacher associations slammed Yap and Chow for misusing the organisation's resources to call for a rally for their personal agenda. A day later, a group of parents from SJK Jinjang Utara wanted the school's former board chairman Yap Sin Tian to "leave the school alone" for the sake of its students. Yap and Chow, who was SJK Jinjang Utara's deputy chairman, had also submitted a list of nine names for the school board to the Education Department last year instead of the required 15. Earlier this year, another group submitted a complete list which was accepted by the state Education Department. Yap had accused the Education Ministry of trying to grab power from the school board by not accepting his list of names and has initiated a rally on Sept 26 calling for Dr Wee's resignation. Datuk Chin Kon Tow, the board chairman of SRJK (C) Masjid Tanah in Malacca, said the school would not attend the 926 rally, and urged other primary schools in the state not to attend as well. He said Dr Wee had worked hard to solve the Chinese education problems, so there was no reason to call for his resignation. "Will it solve the problems (in Chinese schools) once and for all just by asking the Deputy Education Minister to resign?" Chin asked. Chin said Yap and Chow should return to talks with the relevant authorities to find solutions for the development of Chinese education.
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| Ismail Embong among three named Tokoh M’sia Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:11 PM PDT
(The Star) - Three Malaysians have been honoured with the Tokoh Hari Malaysia award during the Malaysia Day celebration here. Tan Sri Harris Salleh from Sabah, Tan Sri Hamdan Sirat from Sarawak and Ismail Embong from Terengganu were honoured for their services and contributions to their states and the country. Hamdan is a former state commissioner of police, former acting governor and former state public service commission chief. Ismail is a prolific national artist whose works include a mural of Malaysia's history and a life-sized painting called Tujuh Negarawan that features the seven past and present Umno presidents. Harris was Sabah's chief minister from 1976 to 1985. The trio received their awards from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here yesterday. Najib also presented awards to two national Paralympic athletes who won the silver and bronze medals in London recently. The duo are Hasihin Sanawi, who won the silver in the men's archery, and Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli, who captured the bronze in the men's shot putt at the Paralympic Games in the F20 category. Najib also presented the Malaysia Book of Records certificates to the organisers of Dikir Barat and Twitter Merdeka. Dikir Barat entered the Malaysia Book of Records after it managed to gather 8,500 participants. The other two certificates were given for the largest gathering of Twitter users (10,128) and most tweets within an hour (3,611,323) during the Merdeka Day event at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Aug 31.
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| Makers of anti-Islamic movie influenced by preacher Posted: 15 Sep 2012 07:17 PM PDT
Libyan civilians help an injured man, identified by eyewitnesses as U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, at the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi.(AFP / Getty Images / September 12, 2012) (AFP) - The makers of an anti-Islamic movie that set off violent anti-US protests in the Arab world were influenced by a southern California-based Coptic preacher, who made a business out of insults to the Prophet Mohammed, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. The newspaper said this preacher named Zakaria Botros Henein teaches that Mohammed was a necrophile, a homosexual and a paedophile. He has not been directly linked to the film "Innocence of Muslims," but the three men behind the movie were all supporters of his views, the report said. Steve Klein, a Christian who worked on the script, said Botros was "a close friend" and compared him favourably to US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the paper noted. Joseph Nassralla, the head of a Christian charity in Duarte where part of the movie was shot, praised Botros's website, FatherZakaria.net. Meanwhile, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who organized the production, spoke openly of his devotion to the cleric while in federal prison, The Times pointed out. Botros's son, Benyamin, said his father was unavailable, according to the report. "I cannot tell you where he is because his life is in danger," The Times quoted the son as saying. However Botros defended the movie on the Arabic satellite TV station Alfady that he runs in California -- and criticized the violent reaction to the film, the paper said. According to the report, Botros was jailed several times in his native Egypt for trying to convert Muslims to Christianity and eventually was exiled. In Australia, he began an online ministry that insisted that Islam was a misguided religion, the paper said. As a result, Al-Qaeda allegedly issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for his death and offering $60 million to his killer, The Times said. He relocated to Huntington Beach in southern California in the early 2000s and launched the Alfady network, the paper noted. "God let me to leave Egypt in order to speak freely and openly, explaining the Islam, saving Muslims from the bondage of the Islam," he said in one of his online sermons. "Islam is a religion? I say no. Islam is an ideology. Islam is a state before it is a religion." "Innocence of Muslims" was produced by a US religious group called Media for Christ and reportedly directed by a pornographer. Nakoula, a US-based Egyptian Coptic Christian, has previously admitted uploading the trailer on the Internet. In 2010 he was convicted of defrauding US banks by opening false accounts and passing bad checks, court documents show, and he served one year before being released on probation. Early on Saturday US federal authorities questioned Nakoula, the alleged brains behind the film that has inflamed much of the Muslim world by lampooning the Prophet Mohammed, but quickly released him. Nakoula was "given a ride" from his southern California home to the interview shortly after midnight, with investigators seeking to establish if he broke the terms of his probation over a bank fraud conspiracy, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Don Walker told AFP. A man later emerged from the police station wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses, a local NBC News affiliate reported. The film was promoted by a network of right-wing Coptic and Evangelical Christians with a radical anti-Muslim agenda, such as Terry Jones, a Florida pastor notorious for publicly burning a Koran. Klein, a Vietnam war veteran and founder of Courageous Christians United, which is notorious for protests outside mosques and Mormon temples, was acting as "consultant." "He is not only a gifted preacher -- he is bold, a very brave man, Klein wrote about Botros in his book "Is Islam Compatible With the Constitution?" "Today, Father Zakaria and I are close friends," he continued. "He has taught me much -- including a sense of bravery as rare as those who earn Medals of Honour."
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| Posted: 15 Sep 2012 03:56 PM PDT
The Rocket predicted that Pakatan would score its biggest win in Johor, winning nine out of 26 parliamentary seats in the southern-most state. Athi Shankar, FMT The DAP media organ 'The Rocket' has predicted Pakatan Rakyat to win up to 15 parliamentary seats with an equal fighting chance to wrest away eight more in the southern belt of Peninsular Malaysia in the next general election. The DAP mouthpiece's latest September edition forecasts that Pakatan can considerably increase its parliamentary tally in southern states of Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor, which are now under Barisan Nasional's control, boosting its chances to capture Putrajaya. Currently Pakatan only has one federal seat each in Johor and Malacca, and three in Negeri Sembilan. Of the three southern states, The Rocket predicted that Pakatan would score its biggest win in Johor. It forecasts Pakatan to win nine out of 26 parliamentary seats in the southern-most state. The three-page election analysis forecasts federal seats of Segamat, Labis, Ledang, Muar, Batu Pahat, Kluang, Gelang Patah and Kulai to fall to Pakatan. It expects the DAP to retain Bakri. Current Bakri MP is Er Tech Hwa. Titled – "Election Analysis: Southern Storm", the article speculated that Johor Baru, Tanjung Piai, Pulai, Pasir Gudang, Simpang Renggam and Parit Sulong were dicey seats for BN. Its writer, former Umno assemblyman for Pulau Manis, Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz speculated that a nine to 32 per cent vote swing towards Pakatan would actualise the forecast. After the 13th general election, he claimed "Johor would no longer be Umno's bastion." In the last general election in 2008, there was a 14 percent swing towards the opposition and The Rocket speculated the support for Pakatan to grow stronger in the next polls. Mohd Ariff claimed that Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman, perturbed by the pro-Pakatan upswing, had apparently told Umno division leaders recently that some nine federal and 16 state seats could fall in the next election. He said Pakatan would have the edge in Johor Baru if incumbent MP Shahrir Samad decided to retire. Four seats winnable in Negeri Sembilan The article speculates Khairy not to seek re-election in Rembau this time. Currently Pakatan holds Rasah and Seremban (both DAP), and Telok Kemang (PKR) out of eight federal seats in Negeri Sembilan. The state's other federal seats are Jelebu, Jempol, Kuala Pilah and Tampin. In Malacca, The Rocket believes Pakatan can retain its sole parliamentary seat in Kota Melaka via DAP and add one more through PKR in Bukit Katil. PKR youth wing chief Shamsul Iskandar Mat Akin, a Malaccan, has been speculated to contest Bukit Katil, considered as Barisan Nasional fortress. He lost in Dungun federal seat in Terengganu in the 2008 general election.
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| 'BN can score big in Selangor' Posted: 15 Sep 2012 03:36 PM PDT
(NST) - UMNO deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called on Umno divisions in Selangor to put in extra hard work to fulfil the desire of people to topple the ruling Pakatan Rakyat government and return it to Barisan Nasional control. He said the voter ecosystem was now most conducive for change and it was up to Umno divisions in Selangor to consolidate their internal system by sorting out problems and rising to the challenge of the coming general election. He said the problem-beset Selangor state government also provided the right formula for BN to score success in the state. Speaking at the Selayang Umno division delegates meeting here yesterday, Muhyiddin said during his visits to Selangor, people kept asking him when the election would be held. "When I ask them why, they tell me that they are fed up with the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government and want to vote in BN in the coming election. "In fact, never in the history of this country has a state government been riddled with so many issues dragging on unresolved for so long. "Every day, some problem arises either due to the deliberate action of the Selangor government or the reaction of the people over their dissatisfaction with the state government's policy and programmes." Muhyiddin said he was also involved in some issues in Selangor, such as the water issue which, despite warnings from local and foreign experts that if left unsolved could escalate into a major water crisis affecting about six million people in and around Selangor, the Selangor government was still in denial. He said: "They show us dams that are overflowing but what is needed is treated water. The treatment plants are now working at full capacity, with some running 24 hours. "If the overworked treatment plants break down, the people in the area will face water shortage." Muhyiddin said about 200 factories in Selangor had been denied their Certificate of Fitness for Occupancy (CFO) by the state government for fear that if the CFO is given, the state government would be obliged to provide them with the necessary utilities, like water. "This is why the Langat 2 project is so important and the Federal Government is determined to get the project to proceed even without the state government's approval. "If they bring in bulldozers to block the project, they are being cruel to the people who stand to benefit from the project. "I am confident that the people now feel that the time is right for Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat to leave Selangor." Muhyiddin said Khalid and his people would not give up easily as they would use all their means to retain their hold on Selangor and it was up to Umno and BN divisions in the state to put in an extraordinary effort to get them out. He said Umno and BN leaders should realise that the mindset of voters today was different as they did not take anything for granted. "They don't take it for granted that if we do something for them, then they must vote for us. "Even though BN had developed Selangor into a premier state in the country, the people voted us out in 2008. We have to face this reality." Muhyiddin said the Selangor people, seeing the undelivered promises of the Pakatan Rakyat government in the last four years, were ready to vote in BN but the question was whether Umno and BN divisions in the state were ready. He said checks showed that only 40 per cent of the voting district centres (PDM) of Umno were ready to face the general election, adding that in some districts the election machinery had yet to be set up. Pointing to the 2004 general election when BN lost Kelantan state to Pas after losing a single state constituency by just two votes, Muhyiddin said Umno and BN divisions in Selangor should become more serious and not take things easy in the coming elections. Like Kelantan, if BN loses Selangor again, the opposition would get a firmer grip on it and BN cannot win it back again. Later, in Kuala Lumpur, Muhyiddin attended the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry's Hari Raya celebration at Astaka Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. At the Hari Raya open house of the United Malaysian Motorcycle Riders Association, better known as Rempit United, in Bukit Bintang here yesterday, Muhyiddin said the role played by youths was vital for the nation's continuity. He said Rempit United should hold a series of talks with its 239,000 members nationwide to gather their views and help them to succeed. He said the government would support the efforts of Rempit United as it was a good initiative. Rempit United president Wazi Abdul Hamid later handed a memorandum to Muhyiddin, asking for the government to provide facilities for motorcycle riders so that they did not disturb other road users. | |||||
| Suaram trio told to explain foreign funding Posted: 15 Sep 2012 03:31 PM PDT
FOREIGN FUNDING: Why has outside influence been used to interfere in the country's political agenda (NST) - Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) is calling on PKR leader Tian Chua and Suara Rakyat Malaysia director Kua Kia Soong and co-founder R. Sivarasa to explain to Malaysians why Suaram is allegedly funded by foreign parties. JMM president Azwanddin Hamzah yesterday urged the trio to hold a press conference to inform the rakyat why foreign influence had been used to interfere in the country's political agenda. "We also want to know if Tian Chua, Sivarasa and Kua have paid taxes to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) from the funds received from currency speculator George Soros. "It's very clear that Soros was the mastermind behind the plans of bringing down the country's economy," he said yesterday in a statement. Azwanndin urged IRB chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Shukor Mahfar to investigate and ensure that the key Suaram figures were paying corporate income tax. Suaram has been plagued with controversy with reports that it was not a non-governmental organisation but an entity registered as a company called Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd and the revelation of "highly suspicious" fund transactions between Suaram and Suara Inisiatif. The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry has been investigating whether an American non-governmental organisation that is allegedly funding Suaram is linked to Soros. Emails have been reportedly found linking the money to Soros. Meanwhile, Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kasim yesterday urged Suaram officials to identify those who had pushed it to pay private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to sign a statutory declaration in a plot to defame the prime minister. "It is undeniable and obvious that the main agenda of the people and sponsors of Suaram is to accuse the prime minister in the murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu," he said. Ruslan added that their other agendas included sponsoring programmes for apostasy and other elements frowned upon by Islam. Perkasa, he said, was also urging the American embassy to openly declare that the Open Society Institute has nothing to do with the producers of the movie, Nakuola Basseley. | |||||
| Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:59 PM PDT
Attack on U.S. Consulate illustrates disastrous outcome of Obama's "humanitarian" intervention in Libya Despite initial reports suggesting he died in a rocket attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, photos appear to indicate that U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed by a lynch mob, illustrating the disastrous consequences of the Obama administration's military intervention in Libya – arming some of the very same men who carried out today's attack. Paul Joseph Watson
"The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, has been killed in a rocket attack in the eastern city of Benghazi along with three other embassy staff, the White House confirmed on Wednesday," reports France 24. However, images released in the hours after the attack show Stevens' body being paraded around by a mob. The body appears to show signs of torture. Subsequent reports speculated that Stevens' car was attacked as he and the three other personnel attempted to escape from the Consulate. The other embassy staff were shot while Stevens' died of "suffocation," suggesting he was lynched and physically attacked by the mob. The incident is being portrayed by the establishment media as a reaction to a film produced in the United States that purportedly ridicules Islam's Prophet Mohammed. However, the wider issue of how the 2011 bombardment of Libya paved the way for gangs of militant Islamic extremists, once backed by NATO powers with heavy weapons, to fill the power vacuum left by Colonel Gaddafi, has been largely ignored. Indeed, it's a horrific irony that Hillary Clinton's infamous gloating about Gaddafi's execution - "We came, we saw, he died" - has now come full circle, with Stevens paying for such despicable arrogance with his life. After NATO-backed insurgents with links to Al-Qaeda helped topple Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, they proudly flew the distinctive black Al-Qaeda flag over courthouses in Benghazi and other centers of power. That same flag flew over the Consulate today after the U.S. flag was torn down and burned. Read more at: http://restrictednews.com/2012/09/12/was-u-s-ambassador-lynched/
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| Anti-Islam film made by US Christian group Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:58 PM PDT
Actress Cindy Lee Davis Garcia, who plays a role in the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims", claims that she and other cast members were deceived into thinking they were making a biblical epic. (AFP) - The inflammatory anti-Islam film that has triggered rioting across the Muslim world was produced by a US religious group called Media for Christ and reportedly directed by a pornographer. The man apparently behind the film -- entitled "Innocence of Muslims" on its 14-minute YouTube trailer -- is a US-based Egyptian Copt and fraudster who may have violated his parole, US officials said Friday. The film was directed by 65-year-old Alan Roberts, a veteran whose prior oeuvre was dominated by schlock soft porn and hammy action with titles like "Young Lady Chatterley II" and "Karate Cop," according to website Gawker. Gawker interviewed members of the cast of "Innocence of Muslims," who say they were duped into appearing in what they thought was a fictional epic, only to discover their lines had been dubbed over with anti-Muslim propaganda. Roberts's casting call lists the leading roles as George, Condalisa and Hillary, but in the finished version, the script was doctored to make them represent the Prophet Mohammed and figures from the Koran. The film was promoted by a network of right-wing Coptic and Evangelical Christians with a radical anti-Muslim agenda, like Egyptian American provocateur Morris Sadek and Terry Jones, a Florida pastor notorious for publicly burning a Koran. And, acting as "consultant," was Steve Klein, a Vietnam veteran and founder of Courageous Christians United who is notorious for protests outside mosques and Mormon temples and who told AFP he helped the moviemakers. The film itself does not appear to have broken any US laws, but Nakoula Bassily Nakoula, the 55-year-old Egyptian Copt believed to have written the film, may have breached the rules governing his conditional release from prison. "The matter is under review," said a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the US Courts. Early Saturday, Nakoula was taken for questioning to a police station, local television reported. The local NBC News affiliate said Nakoula was escorted by sheriff's deputies from his Cerritos, California, home shortly after midnight for an interview by federal probation officers. A 2009 indictment from a US District Court in California shows that Nakoula was charged with defrauding US banks by opening false accounts and passing bad checks. He has since been released on probation, and the document says he agreed to testify against the alleged ringleader in the check scam, but if Nakoula is now found to have broken the terms of his parole, he could go back to jail. As part of his release terms, he was forbidden from using computers or the Internet for five years and fined $790,000. This week saw Nakoula move from anonymous petty criminal to become a central figure in an international incident that has triggered mass protests in Muslim-majority countries in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and seen several US diplomatic missions attacked. Reporters and police are camped out outside Nakoula's house in Cerrito outside Los Angeles, but he has not been seen, although he did give an interview to Radio Sawa, a US-government station that broadcasts in Arabic. 'Nobody manipulated my film' "I am the one who leaked the 14 minutes and put it on the Internet and I am thinking about releasing the full film. Nobody manipulated my film," he said. The clip on YouTube was picked up by Egyptian television. The film has amateurish production values, with actors in laughable false beards appearing to hover weightlessly in front of stock desert footage. But its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed as a thuggish deviant offended many Muslims, and sparked a wave of anti-American protests that have cost several lives and seen mobs burn US missions, schools and businesses. According to Paul Audley, president of Film LA, which issues filming permits in Los Angeles, a group called Media for Christ was issued a one-day shooting license in August 2011 for a film with the working title "Desert Warriors." "I do know personally for having looked at it, before it was withdrawn, that the producer's name on it is Sam Bossil," he said in an interview. Bossil is believed to be one of the pseudonyms used by Nakoula, who uploaded the clip as "Sam Bacile." A man identifying himself as Sam Bacile gave interviews to US media this week in which he claimed to be an Israeli-American Jew who made the film to help Israel, but a consultant on the movie has since debunked this claim. Media for Christ's websites and Facebook page were taken down without explanation Friday, but the group is reportedly a right-wing conservative operation founded by Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih, an Egyptian Copt. "Media For Christ is a place to discover the word of God and the Gospel preached by many different ministries and ministers in the Lord," the brief introduction to the otherwise defunct website reads. The group is based just outside Los Angeles in the city of Duarte, where city manager Karen Herrera confirmed it holds an active business permit.
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| Anti-Islam film was directed by former Hollywood soft-core porn filmmaker Alan Roberts: report Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:47 PM PDT
Alan Roberts, the man who directed an anti-Islam film that sparked protests in 20 Muslim countries is the same person best known for making a string of low-budget, softcore porn movies in the 1970s and 1980s like 'The Sexpert' and a 'Happy Hooker' trilogy, Gawker reports. | |||||
| Sabah Umno loses two more leaders to PKR Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:39 PM PDT
Dr Ibrahim Menudin, the present chairman of Sabah government-owned Suria Capital is set to be PKR's candidate for Labuan. Luke Rintod, FMT TUARAN : Sabah Umno has lost two more of its founding leaders to rival PKR when corporate figure Dr Ibrahim Menudin and former federal deputy minister Yahya Lampong ditched it for the opposition. Menudin was Sabah Umno's former treasurer and presently chairman of Sabah government-owned Suria Capital, an investment arm of the state. He is set to resign from his lucrative post. Both were present at the Pakatan Rakyat's function to commemorate the 49th anniversary of Malaysia's formation in 1963, at a restaurant in Tuaran near here Saturday evening. Pakatan Rakyat supremo and PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim announced the formal reception of the duo at the function attended by at least 3,000 people last night. "Tan Sri Ibrahim loses about RM60,000 or RM70,000 (monthly perks) for joining PKR but that he does it for the people," Anwar said amid applause from the audience who kept their spirit high despite intermittent downpours at the function which culminated into fireworks show at 12am midnight. Ibrahim had earlier made his decision known in a Labuan function attended by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who was also present at last night's event. He is now poised to become Pakatan's candidate in Labuan. In fact Pakatan came in full force for the Malaysia's 49th anniversary. Among those who attended were PAS president Hadi Awang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who is also Penang Chief Minister, PKR vice president Azmin Ali, DAP secretary-general Mustaffa Ali, Husam Musa, Tian Chua, William Leong, Zuraida Kamarudin and others. Organising chairman Lajim Ukin in his welcoming speech said Malaysia has come of age and it is time a new government led by Pakatan treats Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners to Peninsular Malaysia in the federation. "BN will not treat us as equal partners but Pakatan has pledged to restore our rights and therefore we must support for change for the better of not only Sabah and Sarawak but for the whole nation," he said.
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| Penang CM: BN snarling as polls near Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:36 PM PDT
Lim says that his worst fear in facing the coming general election is that the BN government will do anything to stay in power. Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: A series of recent incidents targeting Pakatan Rakyat has given Malaysians a clear picture of the type of government in power, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said here on Saturday. The DAP secretary-general who is in the state to attend the Malaysia Day celebration organised by Pakatan Rakyat, in Tuaran on Sunday said the culture of intolerance and fear was threatening to damage the nation as general election looms. Lim was referring to a series of attacks on DAP offices in his state and on the PKR convoy in various parts of the peninsula. He said however that the general election would provide an avenue for the electorate to voice their opinion forcefully on the direction the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government was taking the country. "This offers the people a clear choice on whether they want to support a political party that breeds the culture of hatred … violence, or to choose Pakatan Rakyat that fights for people-centric policies that not only benefit the rakyat but also give a bright future for our future generations. "This is the difference between hate and love, violence and non-violence, despair and hope. I think it gives the people a clear choice," he said. The Penang Chief Minister however said that his worst fear in facing the coming general election was that the BN government would do anything to stay in power. "They (Barisan Nasional) will cheat, they will lie, they will buy and they will threaten. First they will lie, if they cannot lie, they will try to buy, if they cannot buy, they will try to instil fear … that is threaten you," he said.
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| ‘Pakatan will make Sabah, S’wak equal’ Posted: 15 Sep 2012 02:23 PM PDT
DAP sec-gen Lim says he is convinced that Sabah can become the richest state in the country if the oil royalty is increased from 5% to 20%. Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Rakyat has promised to reinstate Sabah and Sarawak's original position as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia, if it comes to power. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng made the pledge during a visit to the state to attend a Pakatan Rakyat organised Malaysia Day celebration today in Tuaran, about 40 minutes drive from here. Lim who is also the Penang Chief Minister said that to ensure that Sabah and Sarawak benefit being equal partners in the Federation, the new government would specifically focus on addressing the imbalance in oil revenue, infrastructure development, water and electricity supply and land reform as well as the issue of illegal immigrants in the state. On the oil royalty that the state currently receives from the government-owned oil firm Petronas for pumping out the commodity, he said it would be raised from 5% to 20%. He said this was imperative so that the two states could build up their infrastructure, improve education facilities and combat the high level of poverty. Lim said he was convinced that Sabah could become the richest state in the country if the oil royalty is increased from 5% to 20%. "The disgraceful state of infrastructures in Sabah and Sarawak must be improved and this includes the airports and ports in Sabah and Sarawak. "To be an equal partner in the Federation of Malaysia, you must have consistent and regular supply of water and electricity and also internet connectivity via free wifi in public places. "As for the illegal immigrants issue, we shall ensure that with the inquiry conducted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants, action will be taken against those who are responsible and how to stop and resolve this problem," he said. Pakatan is also targeting a land policy. "Land must be given to the people, not to political leaders. CM, excos, MPs, state assemblymen, and even district councillors are not qualified to apply for state lands. If they want to apply, then they must resign and become ordinary citizens, then only they can apply. Only ordinary people are qualified to apply," he said. Following the Penang way
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| Assange looking at a year in embassy, says father Posted: 14 Sep 2012 06:07 PM PDT
(AFP) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's father said Saturday that his son thought he could spend as long as a year holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London, but was prepared for his "long meditation". John Shipton, Assange's biological father, said he spoke frequently with the 41-year-old who won asylum from Ecuador to escape extradition from Britain to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault allegations. "He's in a small room... and in that he has a treadmill and a sunlamp," he told AFP in Sydney's Redfern where he had accepted an Aboriginal Nations passport, for use when travelling within Australia, on behalf of his son. "But he faces his future with equanimity. He says he may have to spend 12 months in this situation. I think that he's prepared himself for his long meditation." Shipton, 68, said his son was still pressing ahead with his plans to run for the Australian Senate in the national election due next year, and had asked his father to write the constitution for his yet-to-be founded political party. Sydney-based Shipton said he felt Australians were "genuinely concerned and moved" by the plight of Assange and the work of WikiLeaks, which has published hundreds of thousands of documents online, including confidential United States State Department emails. He said he had spoken to Assange about the Aboriginal Nationals passport -- used for travel through Aboriginal lands in the country. "This occasion is a further opportunity to generate support for Julian's situation," he said. "The irony is it's a great help to bring to notice to people that the situation is well, very questionable, morally very questionable. "The (Australian) foreign minister could do a little more. Although he says he has done a lot, he won't speak to me." Shipton, who said he had always kept in touch with Assange's mother but had little contact with his son from when he was three until his twenties, spoke of his pride in Assange, a former computer hacker. "I am astounded, absolutely astounded. And each day more impressed," he said. "He seems as though he handles himself at those rarefied atmospheres really quite well. "It must have taken a great deal of suffering to have learned so quickly how to move amongst those people... and not display fear when the whole American empire wishes to crush you." But Shipton won't be watching a new movie about Assange's earlier life called "Underground: The Julian Assange Story" which is set to screen on Australian television early next month. He doesn't have a television.
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| Opposition denial does not hold water – PBS Posted: 14 Sep 2012 04:21 PM PDT
(The Borneo Post) - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has rejected the opposition denial of their link to the Suara Pakatan Rakyat and urged the police to investigate the seditious blog. PBS secretary general Datuk Henrynus Amin, in welcoming the statement by the Chief Minister who joined the chorus of voices against the opposition blogger who is critical of the Sumazau dance, said he had no doubt about the close link between Suara Pakatan Rakyat and the opposition front – PKR, DAP and PAS – which collectively styled themselves as Pakatan Rakyat. He said as the name implies, Suara Pakatan Rakyat is an opposition propaganda, a voice for Pakatan Rakyat, whose contents are fiercely anti-BN and their political orientation closely identical to or rather seemed to represent the opposition agenda. "The opposition denial of any link with Suara Pakatan Rakyat does not hold water as there is no secret about the intention, affiliation and political allegiance of the blogger," he said. Henrynus also totally rejected insinuation that Umno is behind the blog. He said the Suara Pakatan Rakyat blog had existed for a long time and its contents highly critical of Umno and the BN. "How do you reconcile the fact that the administration of the blog is firmly in the hands of those highly critical of Umno and the BN?" He said the fact of the matter is that the opposition tried to discredit the Prime Minister by associating him with the Sumazau which they erroneously branded as a Pagan religious ritual of the Kadazandusun and Murut community. The opposition, as a matter of strategy, was trying to emulate the success of the BN propaganda associating Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah with the Christian cross displayed on a Kadazandusun headgear he wore during a political function in the 1990 general election, said Henrynus. "So this was a case of political strategy gone awfully wrong for which they will have to bear the consequences of their foolishness." The blogger thinks naively the Kadazandusun and Murut community are passive insignificant people whom they can conveniently use as a scapegoat and the perfect political punching bag to pursue their selfish political goals. "The opposition may be forgiven for their dislike or at best ignorance of the indigenous culture of Sabah, but for them to think they can gain political mileage by demonizing the culture of the Kadazandusun and Murut community, they are yet to find out in the coming general election the price they have to pay for their disrespect." "Contrary to their expectation, by demonizing the Sumazau dance, the people of Sabah, the Kadazandusun and Murut community in particular, is even more united in the defence of their cultural heritage. "The Kadazandusun and Murut community are proud of their cultural heritage, and history has shown as exemplified by the famous Kampung Karanaan gathering in 1982 in response to Berjaya's disrespect of the Kaamatan Festival, that they as a community will fight anyone, and including the opposition front, who may be tempted to humiliate them as a community." He said PBS decision as a Kadazandusun and Murut based multiracial political party to make a police report was therefore timely and truly justified. "PBS fully agrees with the Chief Minister of Sabah, 'For those who have no respect for our cultural values are not welcome here in Sabah.' "Sabahans, the Kadazandusun and Murut community in particular, should not support or rather should not have anything to do with those who have no respect for the people of Sabah and their culture," added Henrynus.
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| Don’t kiss up to politicians, says Clint Eastwood Posted: 14 Sep 2012 03:50 PM PDT
(Reuters) - Clint Eastwood said on Friday that the aim of his widely publicised speech to the Republican National Convention was to urge Americans to stop idolising politicians - of any party. Speaking at a news conference promoting his upcoming movie drama "Trouble with the Curve," the Oscar-winning actor and director said Americans should look at the records of politicians and make their own judgments. "My only message was that I just want people to take the idolising factor out of every contestant out there and just look at the work, look at the background and make a judgment on that," he told reporters who asked him to reflect on the rambling 'empty chair' speech last month. The Aug 30 speech puzzled observers and quickly become the brunt of jokes. "I was just trying to say that, and I did it in kind of a roundabout way which took up a lot more time I suppose than they would have liked," the "Dirty Harry" star said. "People don't have to kiss it up with politicians, no matter what party they're in," he added. "You should evaluate their work and make your judgments accordingly. That's the way you do in life in every other subject. But sometimes in America we get gaga, you know, we look at the wrong values." Eastwood, 82, last week told the local paper in the Carmel, California town where he was mayor in the 1980s that he decided only minutes before going on stage to cast an empty chair as an invisible President Barack Obama. Eastwood was speaking to a television audience of millions minutes before Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney made a keynote address. Eastwood last week termed his unscripted speech "unorthodox" and said he had been largely unaware of the headlines his performance had caused. Eastwood, who won directing Oscars for "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby", plays an aging baseball scout with a fractured relationship with his daughter (Amy Adams) in the movie "Trouble with the Curve." The film opens in US theatres on Sept 21.
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| PAS assures Hindraf better life for Indians Posted: 14 Sep 2012 03:41 PM PDT
Waythamoorthy has a fruitful meeting with spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and it could pave way for strong electoral ties between Pakatan and Hindraf Athi Shankar, FMT PAS has assured Hindraf Makkal Sakti that marginalised ethnic Malaysian Indians would have a better future if Pakatan Rakyat captures Putrajaya in the next election. PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat assured that "things would be different under Pakatan" to Hindraf supremo P Waythamoorthy during a meeting on Thursday morning. Hindraf national coordinator W Sambulingam said Waythamoorthy had explained to Nik Aziz of the human rights violations against the Indian community under Umno's misrule. He said Waythamoorthy told the PAS leader how most working class Indians have been excluded and isolated from the country's mainstream development since independence. "Tuan Guru Nik Aziz listened attentively on the plight of marginalised Indians raised by Waythamoorthy. "The Menteri Besar was symphatetic and assured us that under Pakatan rule things would be different," said Sambulingam. The private meeting between Nik Aziz and Waythamoorthy was held at the Kelantan Menteri Besar's home. As Nik Aziz was not feeling well, the meeting, originally scheduled at the Menteri Besar's office, was moved to the PAS leader's home. Waythamoorthy also held a separate meeting with PAS vice president and Kelantan executive councillor Husam Musa in his Kota Bahru office the same day. PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu was present. Sambulingam said Waythamoorthy and the PAS leaders held discussions on forging electoral ties between Hindraf and Pakatan to face Barisan Nasional. Waythamoorthy also assured Husam and Mat Sabu that Hindraf was willing to deploy its members as elections volunteers for Pakatan in Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Negeri Sembilan. "Waythamoorthy reiterated Hindraf's commitment to help Pakatan on the understanding that there should be a strategic win-win partnership between the parties," said Sambulingam.
Waythamoorthy has also briefed both leaders on the displacement of about 800,000 estate workers since the 70s due to the country's unscrupulous urbanisation programme. Sambulingam said Waythamoorthy told them that these estate workers were systematically excluded from the government's mainstream socio-economic master plan for decades. He added that the PAS leaders were enlightened on how estate workers were denied land, house and cash compensations and even job opportunities.
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| Posted: 14 Sep 2012 12:24 PM PDT
(Al Jazeera) - Alleged corruption, rights violations and environmental degradation plague Malaysia's controversial Bakun project. Watch video at: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2012/09/2012913111958210349.html Thousands are set to lose their homes, as a controversial hydro power scheme gets underway. In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the Bakun Dam has already flooded an area the size of Singapore. Some of those displaced say they've never received the full compensation they were promised. The state government, working with Australian company Hydro Tasmania, is embarking on an ambitious plan to build a further 12 dams - flooding vast tracts of river valley land - and displacing tens of thousands of indigenous people. Hydro Tasmania, an Australian state-owned energy company is involved with dam construction projects in Sarawak by the Sarawak Energy Board while Malaysian timber giant Ta Ann has received major timber harvesting contracts in Tasmania. Both businesses are linked through Hamed Sepawi, who is the chairman of Sarawak Energy Board and Ta Ann. He is also a cousin and close business associate of the state's Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, say there is a lack of accountability and transparency over the hydropower projects. Environmentalists and political activists in Malaysia and Australia are calling for the 'unhealthy' business ties between Tasmania and Sarawak to be investigated and audited by an independent body. The Malaysian government says the 20gigawatt project capacity can change the economic face of Sarawak and says its links with Hydro Tasmania are legitimate, while the companies involved deny any wrongdoing.
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| State DAP HQ, service centres splashed with red paint Posted: 14 Sep 2012 12:19 PM PDT
(Free Malaysia Today) - The new RM3 million state DAP headquarters, Wisma DAP and service centres of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and three other party assemblymen were found splashed with red paint this morning. Video footage from CCTV cameras at Wisma DAP in Jalan Rangoon here revealed that two men wearing crash helmets have thrown at least six packets of red paint on the roller shutter and floor of the building at 1.15am. The packets were found at the site. The service centres of Lim in Jalan Air Itam, Jagdeep Singh Deo in Jalan Datuk Keramat, Ng Wei Aik in Lorong Seratus Tahun and Koay Teng Hai in Pulau Tikus were also splashed with red paint. A car parked near Ng's centre was also smeared with red paint. Packets of red paint were also found at the service centres. A police report has been lodged at the Jalan Patani police station. At a press conference at Wisma DAP, Lim said he was shocked with the attack, adding that it was first time the service centre of a state chief minister was vandalised Calling on DAP and Pakatan Rakyat members to remain calm, he said such attacks would not hamper the coalition spirits. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/14/penang-dap-hq-service-centres-splashed-with-red-paint/ | |||||
| With 13m voters now, urgent call to clean up electoral roll Posted: 14 Sep 2012 12:15 PM PDT  File photo of people checking their status at a polling booth in Kuching in last year's Sarawak state elections. (The Malaysian insider) - With 13 million registered voters to date, the Election Commission (EC) now faces increasing pressure to clean up the electoral roll and conduct separate polls for areas under both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). The Selangor PR government has openly declared it will not hold state elections when the federal BN calls them unless the EC is able to show the gazetted electoral roll to be used in GE13 has been cleared of dubious entries. In its latest electoral statistics gazetted last August 16 made available to The Malaysian Insider, the EC recorded the number of registered voters as 13,052,374 people, out of whom 12,778,127 fall into the category of ordinary voters while 274,247 are recorded as absent voters. The latter group encompasses the armed forces, the police and overseas voters. Selangor recorded the largest number of overseas voters, currently standing at 579 people, while the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur has the highest number of absent voters with 40,543 people. This is followed by Perak with 38,367 voters and Johor a distant third with 25,058 voters. Kuala Lumpur FT also has the highest number of absent voters from within the ranks of the armed forces, totalling 24,979 people, while Selangor has the largest number of absent voters from within the police force, with 16,525 people. The electoral law provides for absent voters to cast their ballots through the post even if the person is stationed within the voting constituency. This lack of transparency in the voting process has led to various allegations of gerrymandering and tampering with the ballot papers.  DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke has urged the EC to speed up cleaning its voter registry. DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke has urged the EC to speed up cleaning its voter registry, saying the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform had stated that it would only take four months to do so. "It has been four months since the report was out but we are still receiving complaints, that's why we want the EC to speed up the cleaning process. "We urge the EC to show commitment in this cleaning process, and will continue to press them to update the data or explain this issue," said Loke, who is both a federal and state lawmaker in Negri Sembilan. He said cleaning the electoral roll was still being carried out and the Malaysian Microelectronic System Institute (MIMOS) had found dubious voter names in the roll. "In the parliamentary report, MIMOS found there were 324 addresses registered with more than 100 voters, and 938 addresses with more than 51 to 100 voters. "The overall voters were more than 100,000," he said. However, the deputy chairman of the EC, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, has made it known that he disagrees with Selangor's suggestion of separate poll dates for the state election. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/with-13m-voters-now-urgent-call-to-clean-up-electoral-roll/ | |||||
| PKR tour bus again comes under paint attack Posted: 14 Sep 2012 03:09 AM PDT
(Bernama) - A bus carrying opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and 18 members of his delegation was hit by red paint hurled by two youths on a motorcycle when it stopped near the Masjid Jamek Bandar Tangkak at Jalan Hasan, here this afternoon. The two youths suddenly stopped their machine and splashed the paint on the ride side of the bus, which carried Anwar's photograph, before fleeing. This was the third time that the bus carrying the delegation for the "Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat" programme had been splashed with paint by unknown attacked. The bus driver, Faizal Abdul Kadir, said the incident occurred at about 1.45pm when the opposition leader's delegation had just completed performing the Friday Prayer at the mosque. "The bus carried 19 passengers including Anwar, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Johor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed, Johor PKR head Datuk Chua Jui Meng," he said. Meanwhile, Ledang District police chief Supt Harun Idris, when contacted, confirmed receiving a report on the incident at about 3.05pm. He said police were identifying the two youths concerned and based on initial investigation, the registration number on the motorcycle used was false.
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