Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Deepak withdraws case against Wanita Umno leader
- ‘Just imagine if PR is to lead this country’
- SEED: We have no reason to hide figures
- Khairy tells Edge: retract provocative article on May 13
- Pakatan to hold rush meet over ‘Allah’ issue, Anwar says
- PAS: The Najib factor is not key in voting
- No side will win two-thirds majority, says PAS sec-gen
- Why MyKad change at the Immigration?
- Nik Aziz needs to withdraw 'Apostate' ruling on Umno
- January rally to go on even without permit, says activist
| Deepak withdraws case against Wanita Umno leader Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:30 AM PST
A lawsuit against Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd, allegedly a vehicle for Selangor Umno Wanita chief Senator Raja Ropiaah Abdullah, was withdrawn without reasons. Teoh El Sen, FMT Controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan today withdrew a lawsuit against a Wanita Umno leader's company over a Defence Ministry land deal which went sour. The withdrawal was confirmed by Saseedharan Menon, the lawyer for the main defendant, Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd which belonged to Selangor Umno Wanita chief Senator Raja Ropiaah Abdullah. "Yes, they have withdrawn [it] and the court has struck off the case," he told FMT. He said that reasons behind the sudden withdrawal today, which was fixed for oral submissions, were not given. "We had no objections to the withdrawal and there were no orders as to costs," he said "This is no out-court-settlement." Saseedharan said the withdrawal would vindicate Raja Roopiah, saying: "It has to vindicate my client as the withdrawal comes from the plaintiff himself" Meanwhile, lawyer Latheefa Koya said that Deepak had changed his lawyers on short notice today. "We are no longer his lawyers on record," she said, referring to lead counsel R Sivarasa and N Surendran. She said that Deepak's matter, including the withdrawal, was handled by another firm, adding that no reason was given for the change of lawyers. Deal to build defence research centre Previously, Deepak, through the company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd, of which he is a director, had filed the legal suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court naming the Malaysian government, Syarikat Tanah Harta Sdn Bhd, Awan Megah and Cebur Megah Development Sdn Bhd, in which he is also a director, as defendants for breach of agreement over the 233.33 acres of land. Awan Megah had filed a counter-claim in response. High Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof had earlier struck out the Malaysian government, Syarikat Tanah Harta and Cebur Megah as defendants in the suit, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal.
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| ‘Just imagine if PR is to lead this country’ Posted: 26 Dec 2012 04:52 PM PST
It has been part of DAP's tradition to threat people when it comes to covering their scandal. Thus, on December 20, at 3.30pm when he was at the food court of Dewan Undangan Negeri, Nga Kor Ming came to Dato' Hamidah and threatened her by saying, "If you revealed this, you watch out I will go after you''. The Kuala Lumpur Post The issue of Kelantan's 4,210 land which is worth almost RM30 million in locations such as Relai, Chiku District at Gua Musang which is given to Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd by Nik Aziz's government is beginning to fall apart. It is said that the land is given because it involves the interest of politicians such as Adun DAP Sitiawan, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, few of the investors in the company. The 'gift' given by PAS government to the Perak DAP leader is said so that PAS could put Adun Pasir Panjang, Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak Chief Minister at the time. Based on the search on Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), 40% or RM15 million of Upaya Padu Plantation Sdn Bhd is owned by Ngeh Koo Ham, and 51% or RM16 million is owned by a company known as Efektif Kirana. And 99% of the shares in Efektif Kirana is owned by Ngeh Koo Ham as well. Thus, in a way, Upaya Padu Plantation is almost 100% owned by Ngeh Koo Ham. Ngeh also confirmed that he is the owner of the company even though previously he tried to lie deny everything. This issue is not really that hard to understand especially when Nik Aziz's Media Secretary himself, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari confirmed that the state government had offered Upayapadu Sdn Bhd through the letter of Yayasan Islam Kelantan dated August 28, 2005. Considering that everything is breaking up, Nik Aziz and Ngeh began to find ways to defend themselves when their 'dirty business' is exposed. Harakah also took an important role to twist stories and to blame UMNO leaders as the backbone of the whole thing. They are saying that the land is given to Upayapadu through the approval from the central government based on the letter from Deputy Minister of Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Dr Awang Adek bin Hussin, and the letter from Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities at the time, Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui. It is clear that this is PAS's desperate efford in trying too twist such a simple story, so that it would be too twisted for rakyat to understand. This is because, both of the letters which is being used as PAS as their 'evidence that they are innocent' is only support letter on the project which is proposed and not the document to change land ownership to anyone. It has always been the responsibility of the central government to support projects that are seen to be able to generate state income. However, Datuk Awang Adek nor Datuk Peter Chin have any rights or power to change the land ownership to Upaya Padu Sdn Bhd or anyone. According to the Perak Today, the only one who has the power to do such thing is none other than Tok Guru Nik Aziz himself. The thing which makes it harder for PAS and DAP is when this scandal is raised in Dewan DUN Perak by Dato' Hamidah Osman. It has been part of DAP's tradition to threat people when it comes to covering their scandal. Thus, on December 20, at 3.30pm when he was at the food court of Dewan Undangan Negeri, Nga Kor Ming came to Dato' Hamidah and threatened her by saying, "If you revealed this, you watch out I will go after you''. However, as usual, DAP is too arrogant to admit that they threaten anyone even though the fact is, Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali and Datuk Rusnah Kassim was there during the incident. Who knows what DAP and PAS would do after this to cover their corruption issue. Today, PAS had proven that they are willing to sacrifice 4,210 hectare of their land for the CM post. Just imagine if PR is to lead this country…who knows how much land would PAS give away for the post of Cabinet Ministers or even GLC Directors. And just imagine the kind of threats those DAP would do if they don't get what they want.
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| SEED: We have no reason to hide figures Posted: 26 Dec 2012 04:27 PM PST
Responding to a call from an Indian business group, the secretariat explains the loans given out to Indian businesses. G Lavendran, FMT The Special Secretariat for Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED) today said that people should first dismiss the misconception that it is a MIC initiative. SEED director AT Kumararajah explained that the secretariat was set up by the Prime Minister's Department to assist in giving out the RM180 million allocated for the Indian community. He added that G Palanivel was playing his role in SEED as a cabinet minister and not as the president of MIC. Kumararajah claimed that SEED had data since August 2012 up until Dec 6, 2012 with regard to the number of applicants, the amount of loans dispersed and the applicants who had been rejected. "It is a work-in-progress, we have no reason to hide the figures. At the same time, it's not easy to collect data from the 13 banks affiliated with this programme and all its branches from around Malaysia. We are getting there," he said. The SEED director was responding to the Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) which demanded MIC to reveal the figures pertaining to the funds allocated for Indian businesses. According to Kumararajah, there had been 932 applications as of December 20 this year. Out of which, 643 had been approved and dispersed and 20 applications rejected. The balance 269 applications were still being processed but 57 of them were already lined up out of which, 28 almost completed. He said that out of the total RM2.43 billion allocated by the government for businesses, RM180 million was allocated specifically for the Indians. This amount, he added, was broken down and parked under several other programmes and financial institutions – RM10 million to Malaysian Industrial Development Finance (MIDF), RM10 million to Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation Malaysia (SME), RM30 million to Tekun and the remaining RM130 million to banks. Responding to another point raised by Miba, Kumararajah said: "The funds given out by banks is indeed using the Islamic concept. People have to realise that the Islamic concept is merely a funding mechanism and has proved to be one of the fastest growing mechanisms." "There is no difference between normal loans and that of the Islamic concept, the only thing is the 'halal' factor. Still, there is leniency ranging from 15%-20% of the business being of 'non-halal' in nature," he added. Creating awareness Explaining further on the figures, Kumararajah said RM24.37 million had been given out so far to the above mentioned 643 approvals – RM3 million via SME, RM9.9 million via MIDF, RM9 million via Tekun and RM13.8 million via banks. "We have the figures and just need time to collect the precise data. Once that is complete, we would definitely publish the details," he told FMT.
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| Khairy tells Edge: retract provocative article on May 13 Posted: 26 Dec 2012 04:08 PM PST
(Malaysian Digest) - Edge Financial Daily has been urged to retract its article related on the May 13 tragedy, in which it was claimed that the incident was triggered by Umno's plans to topple the late Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman Putra. Umno Youth has condemned the accusations and described the article as "an act of provocation."
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| Pakatan to hold rush meet over ‘Allah’ issue, Anwar says Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:39 PM PST
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders will conduct an urgent meeting to discuss the controversial "Allah" issue that has resurfaced, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today. Anwar said this when asked to comment on DAP and PAS taking different stands on whether the Arabic word "Allah" should be used by Christians to describe their god in the Alkitab, the Malay-language translation of the Bible. "Now that this matter has resurfaced, I think it will require an urgent meeting of Pakatan leadership," Anwar told reporters after a court hearing here. Earlier on, the PKR de facto leader said that the matter had previously been settled in a meeting with leaders from all three PR parties ― DAP, PAS and PKR ― present. "From my understanding, this issue was resolved. Not only was there a meeting, but there was a detailed elaborate discussion on the subject..." he said, saying that classical and religious texts were referred to in the meeting. In a renewed debate over the use of the word "Allah", PAS yesterday said that Christians should not use it in the Alkitab, claiming that it does not reflect the actual meaning of "God" in the original text. PAS also said that using the word "Allah" in the Alkitab will confuse both Christians and Muslims. But DAP insisted yesterday that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak, who use the Malay language to converse, should be allowed to use the word "Allah" in their Alkitab.
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| PAS: The Najib factor is not key in voting Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:24 PM PST
"Especially when PAS fights against Umno (in Malay-majority seats), the background of the candidate counts. It also matters if the candidate has a big family there, lots of friends or contacts," he said. Tarani Palani, fz.com Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's approval ratings have been coasting at a steady 60% since he took office in 2009, but whether that is enough to take his weakened coalition through the crucial 13th general election is an open question. For PAS, Najib is dogged by controversies that the people would not easily forget and this would negate his high score in opinion polls. Therefore, the Islamic party is confident that the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition would not be able to regain its precious two-thirds majority that it lost for the first time in the 2008 electoral contest. PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali downplayed the effect of the Najib factor on the election outcome. The key to winning the coming election lies in the candidate's local connections, he opines. "In the elections, whether you can win or will lose depends on the local constituency – how big is your power base there and how strong is your candidate. Those two elements count more. It is not the Najib factor," he said in an interview with fz.com recently. According to Mustafa, the way the party machinery and workers were organised and how they worked the ground in the local constituency still mattered a lot. He believes that Najib's high approval ratings may be due to the people's perceptions as well as the clever use of Najib's appearances and public image. "Maybe it is a perception because people see him out and about, but the Najib factor is not too much of a factor," he said, when it comes to the next general election. In particular, Najib's popularity does not diminish the fact that the prime minister has to deal with the effect of his involvement in high profile cases, in the minds of the general public, said Mustafa. "He may present a new kind of politics but he has political baggage," said Mustafa said with a chuckle. Najib has been embroiled in allegations that huge commissions were paid for the purchase of Scorpene submarines from French defence firm DCNS during his tenure as the Defence Minister. A close associate, Abdul Razak Baginda, had been charged with abetment in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shariibuu, who was an interpreter in the submarine deal. Abdul Razak was acquitted in 2008. Opposition politicians have used the case as a talking point during ceramah (talks) and the issue can be expected to be extensively aired during the election campaign. Mustafa's views notwithstanding, Najib's popularity is frequently cited by political commentators as an important factor that will influence the BN's chances in the general election. Its significance is seen as even more important considering that the percentage of people who are dissatisfied with his leadership has been consistently below 30% since 2009. However, the BN has not fared as well in its approval ratings and Najib has been constantly coaxing BN politicians to work harder to win the people's support. Soon after taking over as the country's sixth premier, Najib made a strong bid to re-brand the BN administration as inclusive by promoting the 1Malaysia concept as a way to foster national unity. He has also tried to re-invent himself as a leader reaching out to the middle ground, instead of taking the rightist approach that has been the traditional Umno position. Analysts have also rated his economic and administrative transformation programmes and the steady stream of financial handouts as positive factors that would pay dividends during the general election. Discounting the Najib factor, PAS is putting its faith in its core election strategy of connecting with voters, and it remains to be seen whether this approach is the correct one for what may be the closest fight yet in an election. In Mustafa's view, the coming election may be revolutionary for the nation but the political culture on the ground remains unchanged. This is especially true in the seats where PAS has traditionally faced Umno in a battle for Malay hearts and minds. "In PAS, we chose candidates based on their 'winability'. Their capacity to perform, their acceptance by local constituents and the 'X' factor," said Mustafa. "Especially when PAS fights against Umno (in Malay-majority seats), the background of the candidate counts. It also matters if the candidate has a big family there, lots of friends or contacts," he said. "It all counts. These people can vote across party lines if they like the candidate. That will be the 'X' factor. It does not matter if the candidate is young, old or new – as long as they have these criteria, they will be elected," said Mustafa. Also, he believes that the next election will be such a close fight that the idea of securing a "two-thirds" majority, which was the yardstick to measure the BN's election performance, will no longer apply. "I think the people see a possibility of a two-party system now," he said. On the chances of Pakatan gaining power, Mustafa solemnly believes that it was a distinct possibility. "For all three Pakatan parties, this is the closest to the central government (that we have been)," he said. "It will be a close fight that nobody will ever think of getting a two-thirds majority. Whoever wins will win with a simple majority," he said.
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| No side will win two-thirds majority, says PAS sec-gen Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:17 PM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - The 13th general will be a very tight race where the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition can only hope to take Parliament by a simple majority, Datuk Mustafa Ali predicts. The PAS secretary-general poured cold water on the BN's upbeat forecast for the looming elections that it has got the upper hand and reclaim the two-thirds majority it lost four years ago in the landmark 2008 elections, which also saw the formation of PAS-DAP-PKR partnership. "Even if Pakatan rakyat wins, we will not get two-thirds majority. "There will be no side that will get a two-thirds majority victory," he told Sinar Harian Online yesterday. The ruling BN is now in control of 137 seats out of 222 in the Dewan Rakyat. But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who heads the 13-member BN coalition, has expressed confidence it can take back its customary two-thirds control of Parliament as in previous years, so long as members unite instead of sabotaging the party. Umno information chief, Datuk Ahmad Maslan has said BN only needed to win a minimum of eight seats to add to its 140 seats it won in the 12th general elections to reclaim its pole position in the law-making house. However, political observers have said that BN could possibly take only 120 seats at the next polls, pointing to growing voter restlessness at the slow pace of the Najib administration's promised government and economic reforms. While a simple majority is good enough to enact new laws, a two-thirds majority is crucial to amend the Federal Constitution.
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| Why MyKad change at the Immigration? Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:45 AM PST
(Daily Express) - "But it is being done at the Immigration Department, which is only handling passport and work pass. Since when did the Immigration Department also handle the job of the National Registration Department?" he asked. DAP Tanjung Aru has queried the reason for the changing of new MyKad being done at the Immigration Department in the Federal Administrative Complex here instead of the National Registration Department. Its Chief, Dato David Chong Ket Sui, said he had received a report that the process to change to the new MyKad and address could be done up to two hours only. "But it is being done at the Immigration Department, which is only handling passport and work pass. Since when did the Immigration Department also handle the job of the National Registration Department?" he asked. In a statement Wednesday, Chong said he received information that most of those who were changing their MyKad and address were from Pulau Gaya, Telipok, Menggatal and Karambunai. "Most of these people are from the Bajau Filipino community who are changing their address to Kota Kinabalu and Sembulan," he said, adding the move was allegedly facilitated by "agents" offering money ranging from RM100 to RM200 for them to change their address in their MyKad and in the process moved their voting constituency. He said all they had to do was to select areas such as Karamunsing, Kampung Air and Sinsuran as their new address even though they were not residing in these places. Chong believed the move had something to do with the fact that the Barisan Nasional (BN) had found out that it would be difficult for them to win Chinese majority constituencies such as Kota Kinabalu, which has about 90 per cent Chinese voters. "Therefore, the BN is moving voters from other constituencies to the Chinese majority constituency to change the demography and give them a chance to win in the coming election," he claimed. According to him, the BN needed at least 4,000 voters to offset the Chinese votes in Kota Kinabalu, which in the last general election had voted in a candidate from DAP. Meanwhile, Chong said since the process to change the address and in the MyKad now was so easy and quick, he urged those who had to take a long journey back to cast their vote to change their address in their Identity Card so that their polling centre could be nearer. "Those who always complained about the trouble for them to go back to far away constituencies like Kudat or Sandakan should take the opportunity to change their address in their MyKad, which only takes up to two hours now," he said. Chong presumed that the change of voting constituency in the electoral roll is being done together with the change of address in the MyKad at the Immigration Department. It had been reported that BN leaders from Sepanggar parliamentary constituency had also complained about the "exercise" to move voters from the constituency to neighbouring Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency.
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| Nik Aziz needs to withdraw 'Apostate' ruling on Umno Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:27 AM PST
(Bernama) - Apart from PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's decree 35 years ago which should be withdrawn as it causes disunity among Muslims, the opposition party's spiritual advisor should also withdraw several of his own religious rulings (fatwas). Umno Information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said this was because several religious rulings made by Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat as Kelantan Menteri Besar especially that Umno was apostate and whoever supported Umno was evil, had bad implications on Malays and Muslims in the country. "Nik Aziz needs to withdraw his religious rulings which could break up the Malays and Muslims, not only Abdul Hadi should do so (withdraw his decree)," he told reporters after visiting 157 flood victims at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mulong here last night. Ahmad said this was in line with the address of the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V on Tuesday who wanted Muslims to mutually respect each other and avoid prolonged problems. In his speeh at the 100th anniversary of the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK), the Sultan said that he hoped all parties were aware of the high hopes of Muslims towards peace and harmony as well as his disappointment when the energy and strength of Muslims were sapped because of internal struggles. The text of his speech was read out by the Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan, Tengku Muhammad Fa-iz Petra.
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| January rally to go on even without permit, says activist Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:25 AM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - The Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (People's Uprising Rally) mass event next January 12 will go on at Stadium Merdeka even without the authorities' permit to use the iconic venue, The Malaysian Insider understands. According to social activist Hishammuddin Rais, event organisers are still waiting for a response from the KL City Hall on their application for Stadium Merdeka, which was sent some time last week. But he noted that even without permit, rally-goers could gather peacefully in the areas surrounding the stadium. "I am just paraphrasing Md Sabu... if there is no stadium permit, we gather around it," he said, referring to PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who is chairman of the event. "I don't think there will be any chaos, unless the cops are going to come running again. But I think the time is not conducive for this... but we shall cross the river when we get there," Hishammuddin told The Malaysian Insider. Should the event proceed without permission, the streets of the capital will again become the focus of international attention as major civil society movements nationwide, along with PR parties and other anti-government proponents, gather to demand a string of key issues ahead of national polls. Hishammuddin said that the People's Uprising Rally is a culmination of sorts for all movements against purportedly unfair government policies and decisions, as well as pro-change, pro-democracy and pro-opposition groups, and a massive show of force to frighten the ruling administration away from cheating during the coming polls. At a press conference to announce the rally last week, Mohamad had invited all those with grouses against the government to participate in the mammoth event. "We are not hiding the fact that this date was selected specifically because it is near the elections. And yes, there will be those who say this is purely political. "It is clearly an event to mount pressure on the government of the day so they will not do mass cheating during the polls, so that it will not be a stolen election," Hishammuddin said. But the activist, who is also a Bersih 2.0 steering committee member, reminded that regardless of the political nature of the rally, the involvement of civil society movements meant that the groups want their demands delivered ― from the scrapping of the Lynas plant in Kuantan, to the promise of fair royalty payments to oil-producing states, free education and a fair polls process. "These groups have been voicing their demands... and this is not just for the present government but for the incoming government as well. "These demands are still valid so whoever rules next, must remember this," Hishammuddin said, before adding that the demand for free and fair elections will lead as the key message of the event. As such, protestors, numbering to a targeted one million, will colour the iconic Stadium Merdeka this January 12 in splashes of anti-Lynas's fluorescent green, Bersih 2.0's eye-catching yellow, the anti-FGVH movement's orange and the striking red of pro-oil royalty groups. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/january-rally-to-go-on-even-without-permit-says-activist/
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