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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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• The Mysterious Case of the Sulu Sultan
• GE13: Do not let DAP mislead you, says Soi Lek
• Idiot Guide to Malaysian Politics
• Hindraf Q & A
• Nur Misuari: 'We had to fight for it'
• Filipinos fleeing Sabah endure ‘violent crackdown’ by Malaysian forces
• Dr Mahathir: No directive to issue IC to unqualified migrants
• Coffin with Tian Chua’s Photo Found at PKR Headquarters
• Wong Tack should have declared his political intentions, says PKR MP Fuziah
• GE13: PKR-DAP tussle for Bentong heats up
• Getting ready for GE13
• Political chameleons
• Azman, isteri sumbang RM1 bilion untuk Yayasan Azman Hashim
• Fitnah PM: Sivarasa didesak beri penjelasan
• PI Bala - PII Americk Singh Sidhu
• Anwar Says He’s Not The Man In The Video
• New Bar chief promises action
• ‘Johor is Pakatan’s frontline state’
• Americk Singh's fellow member of an historically noble profession
• Karpal: Stop payments to Sulus
• Police want Kiram extradited
• Jeffrey wants Orang Asal, Allies as ‘Force to be Reckoned With’ in mainstream politics
• ‘Najib instructed Cecil to draft Bala’s SD2′
• Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee
• Sabah security in fits-and-starts
• Who knows what the truth is these days?
• More questions raised over Misuari-Anwar links
• BN: Was mega deal finalised in Taiwan?
• Another Anwar sex video?
• M’sian Chinese joins in with HINDRAF’s fasting
• Malaysia facing policy 'blowback'
• Opposition committed 7 big sins: Najib
• When Musa said what he said
• PAS Perak: Nizar may not be only choice for MB post
• Gambar Anwar Romen Jantan Untuk Alih Perhatian Lanun Sulu?
• GE13 Malaysia – Farish Noor
• Lahad Datu – a bizarre crisis
• Waiting to gobble up Selangor
• In Came Tun Musa
• Police raid Suara Keadilan office
• Himpunan ‘Anwar dalang Lahad Datu’ depan Masjid Negara
• Kee Thuan Chye and Shen Yee Aun
• 13th GE may reflect ‘fallout’ from Lahad Datu Standoff
• NGO Activists & Political Opportunism
• My political thoughts during the Hunger Viratham Day Four
• PI Bala passes away
• ‘Where did the Sultan get money from?’
• Pakatan will shut down Lynas, says Fuziah
• Himpunan Hijau divided over Wong Tack’s polls debut
• The Chua Tian Chang Sedition Case

The Mysterious Case of the Sulu Sultan Posted: 16 Mar 2013 01:03 PM PDT   Philippine President Benigno Aquino has recently conceded that events in Sabah showed signs of a conspiracy. A recent statement issued by Malaysian political-scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar alludes to reports of Malaysian opposition figures promising land, titles and other sinecures to the Sulu Sultanate if they emerged victorious in the upcoming elections.   Nile Bowie Malaysia has been in the midst of an ongoing security crisis since early February, when a group of 235 rag-tag militiamen from the neighboring southern Philippines slipped into the eastern state of Sabah and began occupying several villages. While engaging police in several firefights, the insurgents beheaded and mutilated several captured Malaysian security personnel, prompting Malaysian forces to deploy fighter jets in an unprecedented air assault over the area in an operation to flush out the intruders. The gunmen call themselves the "Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate", representing the heirs of a long-defunct kingdom which once controlled the territory up until the late nineteenth century. The so-called Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who is believed to be directing the militant incursion from Manila, insists that Sabah is rightfully part of his kingdom and has vowed not budge on his claims even if his personnel are killed in the standoff. Malaysians, who are preparing to vote in a pivotal general election just around the corner, have been fixated on events in Sabah as they unfold. The Philippines are soon expecting congressional elections as well, and given the timing, local analysts are wondering how exactly did this elderly self-proclaimed Sultan obtained the resources needed to establish his own private army. Both the Malaysian and Philippine governments have launched official investigations into allegations that figures within Malaysia's political opposition had a hand in aiding the Sulu gunmen. Reuters cited an anonymous Filipino military officer who claimed that Sulu rebels were "invited to Sabah by a Malaysian opposition politician". The blame has been laid on Malaysia's de-facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who Malaysian reports say has links to Filipino insurgent networks that have long eyed the resource-rich state of Sabah in northern eastern Borneo. Local journalist Adrian Lai recently unearthed classified diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Manila brought to light by WikiLeaks, which document ties between Nur Misauri, former chairmen of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and Malaysia's main opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The MNLF is a political movement that pitted itself against predominately Christian Manila by seeking political autonomy for Muslim majority provinces in the islands in the southern Philippines. In 2001, Manila accused Misauri of terrorism when he led an MNLF unit that attacked an outpost of the Philippine army, prompting him to seek refuge in Sabah on the assumption that authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia would empathize with him and block his extradition. Misauri was detained by Malaysian security forces in Sabah and sent back to the Philippines where he was jailed until 2008. WikiLeaks cables claim that Misauri detested the Malaysian government for turning him over to Philippine authorities and that he was "a strong advocate for the recovery of Sabah". The cables claim that Misauri boasted that his militias could invade Sabah in the span of two hours. WikiLeaks has also confirmed that Misauri maintained close connections to Anwar Ibrahim, and that the two had met on several occasions. A separate report issued by AFP cited US diplomatic cables that implicate a Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Philippines of funding Muslim groups seeking autonomy in the southern islands. Misauri recently criticized Philippine President Benigno Aquino for siding with Malaysia in his firm stance against the Sulu militants, warning the Aquino government of chaos if Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is apprehended. Anwar Ibrahim, who has vehemently denied all accusations, has long been considered a darling of the West. Mr. Ibrahim is a slippery character of sorts; he was once Malaysia's deputy prime minister prior to being sacked for getting too close to the IMF, among other things. Anwar also has friends in high places, from billionaire financier George Soros to senior neo-cons from the Bush administration. In recent times, Ibrahim has appealed to Carl Gershman, president of the US-Government funded foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), requesting that he send a US observer team to Malaysia to monitor the upcoming elections. Ibrahim enraged many when he stated he would support policy to protect the security of Israel, and while his political party has long received training and backing from the International Republican Institute (IRI) chaired by Republican Senator John McCain, there is little doubt that Anwar – a creature of Washington's taxpayer funded "Democracy Promotion" overseas – would be the trusted ally that the White House is looking for as it refocuses its military muscle and political influence to the Asia-Pacific region. Philippine President Benigno Aquino has recently conceded that events in Sabah showed signs of a conspiracy. A recent statement issued by Malaysian political-scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar alludes to reports of Malaysian opposition figures promising land, titles and other sinecures to the Sulu Sultanate if they emerged victorious in the upcoming elections. Muzaffar argues that a security crisis in Sabah, regarded as a political stronghold for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, could weaken the ruling parties hold over the state, leading to a hung parliament or a narrow victory for the BN, prompting in his words, "massive street agitation which could pave the way for a regime change, which is the goal of not only the Opposition but also its foreign backers." When Chandra talks of "foreign backers", he is referring to the US political establishment. Read more at: http://nilebowie.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-mysterious-case-of-sulu-sultan.html

GE13: Do not let DAP mislead you, says Soi Lek Posted: 16 Mar 2013 12:32 PM PDT   (The Star) - DAP's plan to focus more on Johor will only help PAS strengthen its presence in the state, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. Reminding the Chinese not to be misled by DAP's propaganda, he said a stronger PAS' presence would be detrimental to the Chinese community as the party's focus was only on Islamic matters. He said the best results that the DAP could score in Johor at the next general election was only 15 state seats out of a total of 56. "It is DAP's right to contest in Johor, but we hope that the Chinese community will not be misled by the Opposition because Johor is not going to be the second Penang," he said after a luncheon with Chinese non-governmental organisations here yesterday. "They (the DAP) are only paving the way for PAS to win more seats here." Dr Chua said PAS could not win in certain seats because of the lack of Chinese support for the party. "As long as PAS has extra state seats, it will bring problems to the state because PAS does not care about state developments. "Look at Kedah and Kelantan. The Chinese stand must be firm. "The DAP is not coming here (to Johor) to be the king," he said, referring to the problems faced by the Chinese community under PAS-led governments in Kedah and Kelantan. On a number of DAP strongmen who were speculated to contest in Johor, Dr Chua said the Chinese should think thoroughly about their choice. "One vote for the DAP is equal to a vote for PAS," he warned. "They are only individual heroes. Even if they gain extra seats here, can they change the fate of the Chinese community?" Dr Chua said DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang would move from one place to another after defeating his opponents, serve for one to two terms there before he was gone again. "What is he trying to prove? It only proves that he is only an individual hero," said Dr Chua. "This does not help the Chinese to improve their political influence," he said, adding that in politics, a team needed a common direction.

Idiot Guide to Malaysian Politics Posted: 16 Mar 2013 12:26 PM PDT   Anas Zubedy  1.    Cronyism is only wrong when it is practiced by the other side. 2.    Corruption is only wrong when it is practiced by the other side. But if he or she join us, 'halal' everything is again. 3.    If it was d BN Government who proposed an underground tunnel in Penang, PR will go against it – and, vice versa. 4.    Factories are dangerous when the other side builds it – and vice versa. 5.    When the other side talks about race, they are racist. When we talk about race, it's because we care. 6.    Big projects are wasteful ONLY IF it is a project mooted by the other side. When we moot it, it's smart economics. 7.    A Satan is a Satan as long as he is on the other side. Join us, immediately Satan becomes an Angel. 8.    If you are not with us, you are against us - even if you are right. 9.    My party and I speak on behalf of God. If you don't follow us, you will go to hell. 10. All my leaders are smart; all your leaders are idiots. 11. When my children move up the political ladder, they are smart. When your children do the same, its nepotism. 12. My research shows we got more support and will win in the next general elections. Your research that says otherwise sure wrongly done one. 13. My forensic expert is better than your forensic expert. 14. When our 2 leaders debate, my leader will always be better. No matter how stupid he or she sounded. 15. My ulamak is better than your ulamak even if my ulamak did not quote the Quran. 16. Our idiots are smarter than your experts. 17. When I disagree it is democracy, when you disagree you are rude, stupid, bought over, influenced, etc etc. 18. Green is blue when you say it. Blue is green when I say it. 19. When I give hand-outs it is because I care. When the other side does it, they are buying votes 20. Only jokes about the other side are funny. Note : Siapa makan cili dia terasa pedasnya.

Hindraf Q & A Posted: 16 Mar 2013 12:18 PM PDT   How can Hindraf be an Indian right-wing pressure group demanding for special 'rights' for Indians while maintaining a Malaysian identity, support meritocracy and oppose the NEP-led affirmative actions? Isn't that hypocritical?     N. Ganesan  Soalan 1: Menang 2-3 hari di jalanan cuma mengundang solusi melepas batuk di tangga sahaja. Saudara mahu orang Melayu [misalnya saya seorang individu Melayu yang tak ada jawatan dalam parti politik mana sekali pun] melihat Hindraf ini sebagai apa? Ganesan: Thank you for this interesting question. I can understand that from the common Malay point of view, Hindraf's significance may be only the images of the fight they led on Nov 25th against Umno. Once the media lights moved on so did the memories of the common Malay person. However in the case of the Indians Nov 25th 2007 is viewed as a major historic day because of the huge psychological significance of unity and of defiance . Only the victims in any battle will understand loss. The Indian poor lost everything, their dignity included, over the many years of living lives so close to slavery, after being brought here by the whites. When Merdeka was won, the "Indian near slaves" only saw a change in their masters and a worsening of their living conditions as the big plantations began to break up. The new Masters and new government development priorities saw their conditions deteriorate. They were pushed out of the estates in large numbers. In a recent estimate, about 800,000 Indian plantation workers were forcibly pushed out of their rural communities into the urban areas – poorly equipped for life in a completely alien environment. Most Malays do not make the difference between the urban educated Indians who form about 25% of the Indians in the country with the poor Indians whom we speak of and whom Hindraf represents. Often you hear statistics about the number of Indian Doctors and Lawyers and of Tony Fernandez and Anandakrishnan. This confuses the problems of the Indian poor and totally wipes out the significance and antecedents of their poverty. The result of this has been a steady deterioration of the problems of the Indian poor. This is one of the major reasons for the significant increase in crime amongst the Indian youth. The Malay people need to view Hindraf as a Human Rights organization that came about because of the poverty of the Indians from the estates. They do not threaten the well being of any other community. Of course our enemies will present us as the ones demanding an end to Malay special privileges. But when the Malays themselves are now demanding an end to Malay special privileges among the rich and powerful Malays, Hindraf is just the forerunner of brining these more democratic and just values into the country. In an environment of justice, fairness, dignity and equality, everyone will prosper. Hindraf is a patriotic organization that seeks to contribute to building a nation on a solid foundation of social justice. Question 2: How can Hindraf be an Indian right-wing pressure group demanding for special 'rights' for Indians while maintaining a Malaysian identity, support meritocracy and oppose the NEP-led affirmative actions? Isn't that hypocritical?   Ganesan: Thank you for the question. "How can Hindraf be an Indian right-wing pressure group"… We are an Indian rights group. We seek the re-institution of the rights guaranteed under international norms as well as guaranteed in the Malaysian Federal Constitution. That is different than saying we are a right wing group. Right wing usually denotes terror elements of moneyed and vested interests in society. This we clearly are not. We represent the poor and  defenceless elements in our society. We have no sympathy for the moneyed groups whatsoever – whether Indians or otherwise. Let me state here for your knowledge the stated objectives of Hindraf: 1) To bring the Indian poor and marginalized into the mainstream of National Development 2) To eliminate state-sponsored racist and religious supremacist policies. We do not seek any special rights, just the rights that have been guaranteed us and the practice of equal rights for all citizen in the country. We do not seek special privileges or rights. This is clearly a misunderstanding. Our driving thoughts are these that compel us to both seek targeted solutions for the Indian poor (which makes us look like we are asking for special rights) and to do it without any sense of conflict in multiracial Malaysia: 1) Many of the problems of the Indian poor are unique – the alarming increase in the involvement in underworld activities of Indian youth is one, large numbers of stateless Indians is another, non-commensurate representation in low skill jobs, breakdown of the social system, destruction of places of worship — whatever the reasons given and highest suicide rate among the ethnic groups. The collapse of the primary education system for the Indian children is another glaring and unique problem confronting the Indian poor. These problems cannot be cured by general policies or by what we call trickle down approaches, they need a targeted approach. They need specific attention, allocation of funds and resources and appropriate approaches. These are specific problems that require specific solutions. Unless applied in this way the problems will not go away. All of this is consistent with the national objective of building a strong and resilient Malaysia. 2) RM1,115 billion have been spent in the last 10 Malaysian Development Plans.  There has not been any significant allocation for the development of the Indian poor over the 48 years of the 10 plans. So, we are saying it is time for some funds to be allocated on a targeted basis for the upliftment of the Indian poor. If there are other similar communities, with similar problems, then they need to be addressed in similar ways. We are not asking for exclusive treatment (though our enemies will want to make it look like were doing just that). We are asking for comprehensive and permanent solutions to these problems. We do not believe we are being hypocritical in any way in any of our approaches. We are a young organization, we are a small, resource lean organization, we do social and poltical work in the area where we started and where there is a great need. Nobody else is taking up the case for the Indian poor – they say they care, but the truth of the matter is that all they are interested in is the votes of these poor people. We do what we do, not by taking away from others, but by restoring justice and fairness where it is rightfully due. However we let you decide if any of that is hypocritical. Soalan 3: Berapa ramaikah di kalangan [pemimpin] tertinggi Hindraf yang beragama Kristian? Adakah India Muslim boleh menjadi ahli Hindraf? Mengapakah tidak menyertai party politik yang sedia, yang juga menjaga kepentingan kaum masing-masing? Ganesan: At the Central Leadership there are no Christian members. This not by design. This is how it has worked itself out. Right from the very beginning when Hindraf was formed, the main objective was to prevent the demolition of Hindu Temples. Indian Christians were not affected by what was then happening and so we have it today that there are no Christian members at the Central Leadership level. We however do have several who are Christians at the next levels of leadership. We do not define membership by religion. If you subscribe to the objectives of Hindraf you are eligible to be a member. The objectives of Hindraf are: 1) To bring the Indian poor and marginalized into the mainstream of National Development 2) To eliminate state sponsored-racist and religious supremacist policies. If you subscribe to these objectives you can be a member. None of the existing political parties truly represent the interests and rights of the Indian poor. All they seem to be interested in is their votes. They manipulate the poor Indians, get their votes and then forget about improving their livelihoods. MIC represents the rich Indians. The other Indian parties on Barisan Nasional side only serve Barisan to get them the Indian votes. They do not serve the interest of the Indian poor. On the Pakatan side there is no effective Indian poor representation – yes there are Indian representatives, but they are representatives who happen to be Indian but who do not serve the interest of the Indian poor. In summary it would be right to say that there is no political party that serves the interest of the Indian poor in the country. Soalan 4: Apa masalah besar jika Hindraf mengambil pendekatan lembut dan moderate? Kenapa perlu sentiasa bersifat konfrontasi dan menuntut sesuatu dengan pendekatan bombastik? Ganesan: This question requires an understanding of how things really work in the world of politics. We operate in a democratic system where a simple majority is all that is required for you to get the power of decision and control on all Government policy matters. In this environment, you can see how the minority communities can be disadvantaged. If the minority community is disadvantaged in numbers but is economically strong, then it can buy a share of the power of decision. There are many ways by which this works. To give a simple example — providing a large financial contribution to a candidate who is standing in the elections and make him win as a result. Even though he/she may not belong to the minority community but he/she is now obliged to promote the interest of that community. This is common knowledge. Now imagine what happens if you are a very small minority and you are not economically strong. Your destiny is entirely at the hands of those who hold a simple majority and you have no choice on this anymore. This is exactly the case with the Indian poor. You ask, you request, you do this behind closed doors, you do this in various ways, moderate methods, you do this in the Cabinet, you do this in the party meetings, but no one really hears. You cannot do anything. Years pass. The end result is a community in distress. Couple this on the other hand with the policies designed by the community with a simple majority – all policies get slanted to their advantage, all benefits from the Government flows towards them. Opportunities to the minority communities are blocked, are denied, or are removed. You get a very unbalanced situation. Then one day when the unbalance gets to be so great you suddenly get an explosion of anger against the unfairness and the injustice in the system. That is what you see in recent years. What you have not seen over the previous years past is all the patience and all the behind-the-door discussion and all the moderate and soft approaches that have been used to little benefit. When all that has not produced even small results, the outcome unfortunately is this – the problem spills over on to the streets. As far as making extreme demands, I must say that extreme or not also depends on one's point of view. Take this example — when you have half the young Indian children go to schools that are in dilapidated conditions, in cowsheds and in transportation containers, and this is causing a collapse of the foundational education of half the future of the Indian community and there seems to be no sense of urgency to correct this matter on the part of the Government, what do you expect – more patience from us too, less demand than an immediate attention to the problem and adequate allocation of funds to correct the situation so not too many more generations of these children are affected. The net result, over the years, as you can see is the serious criminalization of Indian youth. Please understand that whatever you see as expressions from Hindraf, we are just reacting according to the seriousness of the situation. Of course the Government will not want you to see that they are doing this to the Indian children. They make us into extremists and our demands to be extreme. Question 5: How does Hindraf intend to be a functional social activist group or political party when they seem to have alienated both coalitions? Ganesan: Very good question. Thank you. Hindraf is not a political party nor does it intend to become one. However we will participate in the political process of the country as a people's movement. As a people's movement we will articulate the needs, interests and rights of people. In articulating for the people, when we see duplicity and deceit on the part of politicians, we will speak up. You must understand one basic truth about politicians – they are only interested in your votes. They are not necessarily interested in doing what is best for you. As a people's movement we are not interested in the votes, we are interested in getting for the people what is best for them. There clearly will be times when we do speak up impartially. Now, think about this, does that make us more or less functional as a social activist group? Not to alienate one or the other coalition is not our priority, to make sure that the politicians come up with policies in the interest of the people and then they follow through with implementation is our priority. That makes us play our roles more effectively. Question 6: Having being ignored first by BN and then rejected by PR, what is Hindraf's next move and what is its political advice or recommendation to its followers and the underclass that it struggles for? Ganesan: I will be brief on this question. We will remain ambivalent on this question till it becomes clear who among the two coalitions will support the 5-year Blueprint plans. The political parties are interested in the votes of our followers. We do not see ourselves recommending to our followers to give it to one or the other without there being a quid pro quo as far as their response to our 5-year Blueprint is concerned. It is still too early (now with the Lahad Datu incident) to say that they have rejected our Blueprint. When the jostling gets heavier, we will then be able to more clearly know. If the response seems too simplistic, take it that I do not want to be read too early on this question. One thing is for certain – our focus and priority is the "5-year Blueprint to bring the Indian poor into the national mainstream of development". N. Ganesan is the Hindraf national advisor. To read the questions at source, see 'Soalan-soalan anda (pembaca blog ini) bagi Hindraf '.

Nur Misuari: 'We had to fight for it' Posted: 16 Mar 2013 12:10 PM PDT   (Al Jazeera) - At stake could be the peace deal between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) leader Ibrahim Murad.  A new crisis in Southern Philippines is underway - it is a conflict with Malaysia over a province called Sabah. Armed Filipino men are challenging the Malaysian government's power over the province, claiming that this land belongs to the Sultan of Sulu who lives in the Philippines.  "We have achieved something tremendous in our quest for peace in our homeland as well as of course enhancing the freedom of our people. We had to fight for it and in fact we have lost hundreds of thousands of lives just to be able to reach this point. The problem is that our homeland is so rich, not only in terms of history but [also] in terms of its resources, that's why so many people want to occupy this land. And they applied what they call the classical policy of divide and rule so that our people could not unite and fight as one nation to roll back all of these foreign aggressors." - Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Fron But the implications here could be severe for the region. At stake could be the peace deal between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) leader Ibrahim Murad. The deal was designed to bring peace to Mindanao and allow the fighters there to build a semi-autonomous Islamic state, to be called Bangsamoro. The party that brokered the deal was Malaysia. Its Muslim-dominated government used its influence with the Islamic fighters in Mindanao to bring the parties together. But now, there are allegations that members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the original Islamic insurgency group, feels sidetracked and has allowed some of its men to fight the Malaysian government presence in Sabah.    Which brings us back to where the conflict in Mindanao started -  it is in places like this that the resistance against what they call Philippine colonialism was nursed.   The fighters would hide in the Muslim ghettos with sympathisers and in turn bring soldiers into the alleyways hungry for revenge. Every family speaks of those years with an overriding sense of loss.   The man who started it all back in the 1970s was Nur Misuari. With international backing he negotiated a separate deal with the government in the 1990s, but he never managed to reach the success MILF reached after splitting with his group. Today, when we caught up with him in his home in Mindanao, we found a man who is clearly not happy with the current state of affairs. Talk to Al Jazeera speaks to Nur Misuari, the former leader of the MNLF about the crisis in Sabah and peace in the Southern Philippines. Watch the video at: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2013/03/201331421944766446.html

Filipinos fleeing Sabah endure ‘violent crackdown’ by Malaysian forces Posted: 16 Mar 2013 12:01 PM PDT     (Philippine Inquirer) - "I acknowledge that there have been some immigrants who were apprehended during Ops Daulat. However, the ancestry of those apprehended was purely incidental," Abdul Gani said. Filipinos, who had fled Sabah in the aftermath of the armed intrusion there by the Sulu "royal army," had learned to endure the pains of being violently beaten by Malaysian security forces during crackdowns on suspected Sabah-based supporters of the sultanate's men just to stay alive, survivors had claimed.   As this developed, the Malaysian Attorney General announced that an investigation has started on the claims of witnesses and supposed survivors of the police's excesses in Sabah under Ops Daulat (sovereignty).   "I did not run when they ordered me to run because I know they will shoot me. What I did was to bear the pain when they hit me," 38-year old Ibrahim Alih, a Sama native from Zamboanga City, told the INQUIRER here, where he was being processed by government agencies before sending him home.   Alih, who was rounded up for failing to present immigration documents during Monday last week's sweep on his neighborhood in Sandakan, said he did not care even if blood was already coming out of his wounds because he knew it was safer for him to just submit to the beating.   When he noticed that the Malaysian forces appeared to be hell bent on beating him to death, Alih said he shouted: "I'm not a Tausug, I'm a Sama Badjao."   Upon hearing this, the Malaysian forces allegedly stopped from hurting him but they still frisked him and took the RM700 he earned from being a carpenter in Sabah for the past four months.   He was then allowed to board ML Fatima Editha – along with hundreds of other Filipinos trying to find a space on the crammed boat – for this province.   Alih said he wished he had not been illegally working in Sabah because a valid document might have saved him from harm.   "I don't even have a passport," he lamented.   Twenty-year old Sherilyn Viado, who worked in a construction company in Sabah, said she too had to assert her ethnicity when Malaysian policemen prepared to gang up on her.   "I told them that I'm not a Tausug but a Badjao," she said, adding that Malaysian security forces were singling out people from Sulu or Sabahans known as Suluk (people who originated from Sulu).   "If you're a Tausug, you will surely land in jail even if you had valid papers," Viado, a native of Zamboanga del Sur, said.   Viado said Malaysian forces were so angry at Tausugs and Suluks that they do not put distinction between males and females anymore.   "We saw on TV how they beat Tausugs, including women," she claimed.   Viado said Tausugs or Suluks who had disappeared from her neighborhood had not resurfaced since their arrest "and the lack of information on their fate had sowed unimaginable degree of fear on us."   Annang Im, 50, who tended a small sidewalk store in Sandakan, said she did not experience being abused but she saw how male Filipinos caught up during the sweeps had been made to physically suffer by Malaysian policemen.   Im, a Tausug-Visaya, also confirmed Viado's claim that Malaysian security forces hated Tausugs and Suluks so much that they did not care even if suspects were killed during the sweeps.   "It is because of what the Kirams did in Lahad Datu," she said.   Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib had confirmed that the campaign against Sabah-based "collaborators" was continuing but maintained that policemen never violated the rights of the suspects.   "The reports of abuses were so dramatic but where did they took place? I am not aware of any incident in the entire Sabah area where people had been beaten or killed on mere suspicions of being terrorists or supporters of terrorists.   He also confirmed that 10 more people – who were either Filipino or have Filipino descent – had been arrested during separate raids on Thursday over suspicions of collaboration with the "Sulu terrorists."   Malaysian Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said the fresh arrests had brought the number of detained suspects to 216 as of late Friday.   Hamza said two of the suspects— both in their 40s—were arrested by police authorities in Bukit Aman in Semporna around 8 p.m. Thursday, while the eight others were collared as they tried to enter the operation area in Lahad Datu on a speedboat past midnight, also on the same day.   Hamza said the two suspects with Filipino ancestry were taken in for questioning during a sweep of Bukit Aman, following information they were "collaborators or might have even been involved in the March 2 ambush in Kampung Simunul."   Hamza said later that evening, policemen in Lahad Datu arrested eight more men—all Filipino—who had no identification or immigration documents, as they tried to dock in Kampung Sungai Bilis.   He said a check on the speedboat uncovered a stash of peso bills, "totaling P369,000 and 300 jerrycans (water containers)."   "No weapons were found but we wondered what they were doing there with huge amount of money and lots of jerrycans," Hamza said.   He said the men, some as young as 17, were now being investigated under Malaysia's Security Offenses and Special Measures Act (Sosma) and immigration laws.   Hamza said the sweep against suspected supporters of the Sulu "terrorists" was continuing.   Reacting to an earlier statement by former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh that he was alarmed by reports of police abuses under Ops Daulat (sovereignty), Hamza said he was not aware of any excesses committed by the Malaysian police since the crackdown started.   "We arrested them humanely and sent them to jail for investigation," he said.   But even then, Patail announced in a statement that an investigation into the reported abuses has started and those complaining of such excesses will be assisted by the Malaysian Bar and the Sabah Law Association.   "If the investigation showed there had indeed been abuses, the persons involved will be charged accordingly," Abdul Gani said in a statement sent to Bernama, the state media group.   In his written statement read by an anchor of another Sabah station known for its scathing anti-Najib commentaries on Wednesday, Harris said he had written Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and asked him to order the police to stop their unlawful actions against the Suluk population in Semporna and Lahad Datu.   Harris said Suluk leaders had sought his help to make the appeal because they could no longer tolerate the abuses.   "These Suluk leaders reported that (the) police are taking away Identity Cards, Red Identity Cards and the IMM13 documents (of the Suluk people) and destroy them," he said.   Harris, giving credence to the claims of the Suluk leaders he did not identify, said the abuses were "unbecoming of a Malaysian police force."   "This behavior is against (any law)…, be it religious or the laws and policies of the Malaysian government," Harris quoted what he told Hishamuddin.   He also reminded Hishamuddin that the "police have no power to destroy any Federal Government document" unless they had been ordered to do so by the National Registration Department.   He warned that the abuses could eventually "create hostility between Sabah and the Suluk people," whom he described as the "original inhabitants of Sabah." Read more at: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/69359/filipinos-fleeing-sabah-endure-violent-crackdown-by-malaysian-forces

Dr Mahathir: No directive to issue IC to unqualified migrants Posted: 16 Mar 2013 11:59 AM PDT   (Bernama) - The government had never issued any directive to any quarters to issue identity cards (IC) or citizenship to unqualified immigrants in Sabah, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. As such, he said, Sabahans could not blame the government during his administration over cases of fraud committed by certain parties for self-interest. "I am aware the issue (IC project) is getting the attention of the people. I have been told, there were those who were not qualified, having just arrived, who received IC. "This is not our directive, not the government's directive...this is fraud on the part of the officers in the area because of other interests," he told reporters on Saturday. The former prime minister was asked to comment on the opposition campaign trend which was aggressively playing up the IC Project issue to garner the people's support, in view of the coming general election. He clarified that many people who were not from this country were made citizens because they had stayed in the country for a long time and had mastered the national language. "Many of us are from other countries, for example from China, Arab (countries) and India. All of them have stayed here for a long time and are loyal to this country. "We give them citizenship if they meet the necessary conditions," he said. In another development, Dr Mahathir, when asked if the government was capable of increasing the oil royalty to Sabah which currently stood at five per cent, said the government's practice was to share riches with all citizens of the country. Prior to this, the opposition pact, in its 13th General Election manifesto, promised 20 per cent oil royalty to the people of Sabah. "If they (opposition) want to give (higher)...then, give 100 per cent to Sabah," said Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years since 1981 before stepping down in 2003. On the setting up of the special security area, Eastern Sabah Security Command in Sabah, following the intrusion by foreign terrorists in Lahad Datu, Dr Mahathir said the move was apt and timely, seeing the significant security threat in the national waters.

Coffin with Tian Chua’s Photo Found at PKR Headquarters Posted: 16 Mar 2013 11:55 AM PDT   The Choice  Friday and Saturday, angry crowds showed up to shout insults and wave protest banners as Parti Keadilan Rakyat Vice President Tian Chua made pit stops along his national tour to explain his alleged, controversial statements about the Lahad Datu intrusion. The capper on the series of incidents occurred in the predawn hours of Saturday morning, when a coffin-like box was placed outside the entrance to the state PKR headquarters in Bukit Piatu. The 'coffin' covered in black cloth was made from polystyrene. A framed photo of Tian Chua was placed on top, along with a garland of flowers. Completing the macabre image, red specks to resemble blood were sprinkled about the display. Those placing the 'coffin' are assumed to be very dissatisfied with Chua's alleged speculation that implied Umno somehow had something to gain from the Lahad Datu intrusion. The alleged comments, reported by PKR organ Keadilan Daily while the government was in the midst of trying to settle the touchy situation with a minimum loss of life through negotiations, didn't win him many fans. However, the 'coffin' takes dissatisfaction to a new level – one that is illegal. The police have opened an investigation paper on the case under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation, as the 'coffin' could be interpreted as a threat to the PKR vice president's life. This act is not merely illegal, it is simply wrong, and unbecoming in a mature democracy. The highly-visible PKR officer and MP is starting to feel the wrath of those he allegedly insulted with his seditious words. On Friday, police were called when Chua received a hostile reception at a rally in Kedah. Around 40 people gathered prior to his arrival, carrying banners and shouting when the PKR vice president arrived to explain his alleged, controversial comments. Read more at: http://www.thechoice.my/featured-articles/64283-coffin-with-tian-chuas-photo-found-at-pkr-headquarters

Wong Tack should have declared his political intentions, says PKR MP Fuziah Posted: 16 Mar 2013 11:36 AM PDT (The Star) - Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack should have declared his political intentions from day one, said PKR MP Fuziah Salleh. The Kuantan MP said Wong, who would be contesting in Bentong under DAP, should not have dragged in the whole environmental non-governmental organisation against the rare earth plant Lynas in Gebeng as his platform to be a politician. "A person can wear many hats and if the environmental issue is something he feels strongly about, he can be a candidate who advocates it. But he must stand alone. "If not, it will risk the NGO being viewed as a political entity and that will create a conflict," she was quoted as saying by The Mole. Fuziah has also similarly campaigned against the plant. Wong recently came under pressure from various groups asking him to quit the movement following DAP's announcement that he would be contesting the Bentong parliamentary seat. He had since expressed his willingness to give up the movement, adding, however, that he was neither elected nor appointed to his post because it was not officially registered as an NGO.

GE13: PKR-DAP tussle for Bentong heats up Posted: 16 Mar 2013 09:24 AM PDT (The Star) - The tussle for the Bentong parliamentary seat between PKR and DAP has heated up with both sides standing firm on their right to put their candidate in the parliamentary seat. The furore started after DAP announced Himpunan Hijau leader Wong Tack (picture) as its candidate for the seat in the general election. The decision stunned PKR, which had wanted the seat as it had put a candidate there at the last polls in 2008. In that election, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai won the seat for the Barisan Nasional when he defeated PKR candidate G. Ponnusamy by a majority of more than 12,500 votes. Following the announcement of Wong's candidacy last week, Ponnusamy lashed out at his party leaders for allowing DAP to take the seat away from PKR. However, PKR leaders had reportedly stated that they were willing to give up Bentong in exchange for two state seats previously contested by DAP, including the Ketari state seat in the constituency. The other is Tanah Rata, which comes under Cameraon Highlands. Both seats were won by the Barisan Nasional on marginal majorities in the last elections. "On our side, we stand by our decision. "If they (DAP) want the Bentong seat, it means we will take the two state seats," Pahang PKR chief Fauzi Abdul Rahman reportedly told news portal Antarapos. The portal quoted him as further saying that his party would not hand over Bentong if DAP did not agree to the swap. DAP reportedly responded by threatening it would take on PKR and Barisan in three-cornered fights in the contentious seats if its ally did not back off from its claims. When contacted by The Star, Fauzi refused to comment. It is understood that PKR and DAP were currently also in disagreement over the Teruntum state seat, which PKR contested and lost in 2008. When contacted, Pahang DAP chairman Leong Ngah Ngah said: "The discussion has left the state level. It is now up to the central Pakatan Rakyat leadership to decide."

Getting ready for GE13 Posted: 16 Mar 2013 09:22 AM PDT The long wait for the general election to be called is almost over as all the signs point to the Prime Minister making the big move this week. Joceline Tan, The Star EVERYONE thinks it is going to be any day now. They are, of course, talking about when Parliament will be dissolved for the general election. Last Wednesday, there was a mild speculation frenzy after the Prime Minister's black Proton Perdana Executive was spotted going through the Palace gates early in the morning. A Malay daily tweeted about it and soon the chatter was Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had sought the King's consent for the dissolution of Parliament. Najib did indeed have an audience with the King as he does every Wednesday before chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting, and many people had a good laugh at themselves after that. Speculation about the dissolution date has gone from "Is it going to be next month?" to "Is it tomorrow?" or even "Heard that PM is meeting the (Yang di-Pertuan) Agong this afternoon." The window is getting smaller and every little move by Najib is scrutinised and analysed for hints. But even those with access to him are flummoxed. "We keep watching PM's body language but no hints at all from him. When we ask him, all he says is, be ready," said Umno executive secretary Datuk Rauf Yusoh. A few days ago, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali tweeted that Parliament would be dissolved on March 18. But the opposition parties have been predicting the general election since 2010 and we are still waiting. The Prime Minister is as ready as can be, according to several top editors who met him at his office on Monday. It was a sort of tea-chat where they exchanged views over a variety of issues. And, of course, there was the burning question of the day: When? Nobody really expected him to say when but what came across during the exchange was how visibly confident Najib was. "He was upbeat, he looked at ease. I think he is ready. He has an impressive report card in terms of the Government's economic transformation policies. He has responded to the new political landscape in terms of social and political reforms. He's got his finger on the national pulse, he has reached out to everyone and he's tuned in to issues of the day," said one of the editors. Najib told them he is "cautiously optimistic" about Barisan Nasional's chances in the elections. It is a phrase he has used whether in private or in public. During a televised town hall-style session titled "Conversation with the PM" a few days ago, he had said: "I say cautiously optimistic because we cannot take anything for granted. But I am very encouraged by the people's response especially when I go round. At the same time, we have done our assessments, numbers and we believe the rakyat is behind us and the rakyat feel that their future is more secure with Barisan Nasional." He has put his heart and soul into his work and those close to him said he has every reason to be confident and that he has his sights set on regaining Barisan's two-third majority in Parliament. But like all seasoned politicians, he knows that this is the time when politicians are about to approach the people to ask for their precious votes and support. Humility is important and it is not the time to talk big or be presumptuous. Najib has often been described as a wartime prime minister given the challenging post-2008 political landscape. But the terror intrusions in Lahad Datu has lent an uncanny meaning to the sobriquet and he has been able to draw on his experience as Defence Minister in handling the crisis. He has been visibly saddened by the deaths on the battle front and his focus over the last few weeks has been as much on the situation in Sabah as it has been on the polls. The crisis is under control but far from over. It has also taken on a life of its own in terms of national impact. There has been a surging tide of nationalist and patriotic sentiments especially among the Malays. Many have been moved by the nightly reporting from the battle front and the televised replay of the Jalur Gemilang-draped coffins emerging from the belly of army aircraft as solemn military music played in the background. Malaysians have been galvanised by what is happening in Lahad Datu and what it means to the country's national security. They are angry there are people out there who have attempted to ridicule the gravity of the situation. For instance, Wong Chin Huat, a leading figure in the Bersih group and now working for a Penang government think-tank, had in the early weeks of the crisis tweeted that the Sulu intruders were here for Chinese New Year, they would be getting ang pows, they decided to stay for Chap Goh Meh, they enjoyed it so much they extended their stay. He probably meant it as a joke but it was not funny when people, especially our police personnel, began dying. PKR vice-president Tian Chua is facing sedition charges after dozens of police reports were lodged over his alleged remarks that the Sabah intrusion was a political conspiracy. Very few are keen to talk openly about how Lahad Datu will impact on the political prospect of either Barisan or Pakatan Rakyat. It would be in bad taste given that the armed forces are out there, putting their lives on the line for the nation. But the political mood in Sabah is very different today compared to a month ago and talk about "Ubah" or change has quietened somewhat. Pakatan leaders have been going on about how they are going to take Putrajaya. They have been reluctant to say how many seats they can possibly win to form the government but are making a concerted bid to win more seats in Johor, Sarawak and Sabah. They have been very strategic in focusing on these states where there are a sizable number of Chinese-majority seats because they have won all the Chinese seats that they could possibly win in other states on the west coast. But they have been tactically silent about the fact that Kedah and Selangor are looking wobbly. They may also lose seats in several other states that were won thanks to the political tsunami. For example, at least five parliamentary seats are expected to fall to Umno in Kelantan. In Penang, Umno is sure of taking back two parliamentary seats from PKR while in Perak, at least four Pakatan parliamentary seats are in danger. This means that the gains Pakatan makes in their frontline states may be negated by losses elsewhere. State seats usually carry parliamentary seats and if Kedah and Selangor fall, Barisan will be looking at a two-thirds majority. The general consensus is that Barisan will still be in Putrajaya after the general election. It will win with a comfortable margin but will fall short of a two-thirds majority. Besides, very few democracies in the world enjoy two-thirds majority governments. "Only the size of the majority remains uncertain," said Asli CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh. Yeoh put it in a nutshell when he said that there are basically three possible outcomes for the elections: > The status quo remains for Barisan at around 140 parliamentary seats. > A reduced majority for Barisan. > Barisan regains two-thirds majority. Najib, said Yeoh, will campaign from a position of strength that is premised on his personality, the hard work he has put in and his track record of policies and programmes. One of the reasons why Pakatan's recently launched manifesto has not had the traction of the earlier Buku Jingga is because of Najib's Janji Ditepati reputation, which has been in sharp contrast to Pakatan's excuse that "manifesto bukan janjian" (a manifesto is not a promise). He has shown that it can walk the talk and deliver on its word. "However, the urban voters are still largely with the Opposition. The urban Chinese support for DAP is strong and as high as 85% of urban Chinese may vote for it," said Yeoh. Umno, he said, will be the big Barisan winner and DAP will be the big Pakatan winner. Malaysian politics is likely to get even more racially polarised. It has been a long wait for the mother of all battles. During a pre-election briefing for the editorial staff a few weeks ago, this paper's group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai asked how many in the auditorium were covering the general election for the first time. On seeing the number of hands, he said with a laugh: "Never mind, don't worry. The last five years have been one long election campaign." He is so right. It has also been five years of endless politicking over almost everything and anything. And just as you thought that it could not get any more complicated, you have Saiful Bukhari Azlan and his father Azlan Mohd Lazim contradicting each other on Saiful's sex allegations against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But nothing could have been more stunning than how the Lynas campaign has unfolded. Lynas leader Wong Tack is now a DAP election candidate and he has veered from wanting to burn down the plant to okaying Lynas if it "goes through the front door". On the other hand, Anwar said Lynas may be allowed to operate but his PKR Wanita chief Fuziah Salleh went the opposite direction with a firm "No". The saying that fact is stranger than fiction has been all too true when it comes to politics since 2008. Publisher Datuk A. Kadir Jasin's gripe about some of the greenhorn politicians swept in by the political tsunami is that they have been like "ayam jantan baru belajar berkokok" (cockerels learning how to crow). "They not only crow at the wrong time, they are also out of tune and are a nuisance to the whole kampung," said Kadir. The result has been some questionable Yang Berhormats who have a talent for saying the wrong things at the wrong time about issues which they are less than qualified to talk about. Malaysians have had ample time to assess what the two coalitions are about. And that is why candidates are going to be a big factor in the elections. Najib will meet the King again on Wednesday prior to the Cabinet meeting. But this time, according to insiders, this might just be the day when he seeks His Majesty's consent to dissolve Parliament. If that happens, he will then return to inform his Cabinet before making a public announcement. The long wait is almost over.

Political chameleons Posted: 16 Mar 2013 09:20 AM PDT Politicians and wannabe politicians have hijacked the green movement to pursue their political goals at the expense of genuine environmental concerns. Wong Chun Wai, The Star HIMPUNAN Hijau activist Wong Tack has found himself facing a barrage of criticism after deciding to contest under the DAP banner in the coming general election. His fellow members in the anti-Lynas movement feel let down because they see his decision as politically opportunistic. They want him to step down from the movement but he says it is unwarranted because Himpunan Hijau isn't registered anyway. He is even saying that his position as chairman is not an official position. But what Wong has not said is that all this while, he has been freely making press statements in that capacity. Dr Kua Kia Soong, adviser for human rights group Suaram, has expressed similar sentiments about Wong, saying the latter must step down. Dr Kua was a Chinese educationist who quit the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) in 1990 to contest under the DAP in the 1990 general election. He won the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat but he did not last long in the DAP as his idealism and uncompromising principles did not fit in the opposition party. The respectable human rights activist, who was detained under the Internal Security Act in 1987, left the DAP bitterly and ended up pouring out his frustrations in a book, Inside the DAP: 1990-1995. Dr Kua has returned to NGO activities. As he rightly wrote recently, "Politicians like to spout the platitude that 'politics is the art of the possible', but movements must bear pressure on them to make their demands possible. "Now, before Wong has even started his career as a politician, he is already faced with his first dilemma." Pakatan Rakyat chief (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Kua wrote, "has demonstrated the 'art of the possible' by declaring that if Pakatan comes into power, Lynas will be given a chance to prove the plant's safety". Wong, when asked to respond to what Anwar had said, was quick to support the Opposition Leader's statement. That was a far cry from his earlier pledge to burn down the Lynas plant himself if Pakatan comes to power. That's precisely the trouble with NGO leaders, especially some activists in Penang, who decide to take a partisan political stand. They begin to make compromises and, worse, they begin to lose their neutrality as they openly side with Pakatan. At least one former NGO leader has taken up a Senator's post while others have been co-opted into various state government posts. Others cannot remember which hat they were wearing when they made statements. The only beacon that stands out in Penang, home of NGOs, is the Consumers Association of Penang, which has consistently spoken out about issues affecting the country and state. Unlike many NGOs which are actually one-man shows, CAP is professionally run and is focused on education and research. It does not need to flirt with politicians and has kept its credibility fully intact. Wong obviously owes the thousands of people who took part in the anti-Lynas protest walk an explanation. Was he using them to increase his profile so he could secure himself a candidacy? His commitment to the environment itself has now been questioned as he has maintained a stoic silence on the blatant raping of forests in Kedah and Kelantan, two states run by PAS, a partner in the Pakatan. Again, I quote Dr Kua in reference to NGO leaders who have wavered after becoming involved in politics: "Is it because they are so caught up with the political hoopla they have also stepped down a notch from their previous uncompromising stand? "It's time they found their own voice now that their erstwhile chairperson has gone on to pursue his political career." There have been high hopes that environment issues would play a major role in this coming election but it would appear that much of it has been tainted with political motives. Politicians and wannabe politicians have hijacked the green movement to pursue their political goals at the expense of genuine environmental concerns. Take, for example, the Bukit Koman gold mine issue. Purported environmental activists have claimed that the mine's use of cyanide caused medical problems among the residents nearby. Until now, however, not a shred of evidence has been produced to support their claims. Last year, DAP Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, a skin specialist, said "there is still no evidence to show the occurrence of skin problems among Bukit Koman residents in Raub is linked to cyanide used in gold mine activities". "It is difficult to attribute the skin problems to a certain substance as it is a very slow process. I think we should approach this issue in a rational manner," he said. Yet, the same allegations have been recycled, with the hope that if a lie is told a thousand times, it will become fact. Interestingly, the gold mine employs over 300 local residents, and Barisan Nasional is claiming that most of the protesters are actually from outside Raub. It is also interesting to note that a gold mine operator in PAS-run Kelantan uses cyanide and actually explained its operations on its official website. But there's not even a whisper of protest against it from pro-Pakatan environmentalists, who seem to choose their targets. Two other gold mines in Pahang are said to also use cyanide but again they are not in the political spotlight. Bukit Koman, however, is in the Raub parliamentary constituency, which the opposition feels it has a chance of wresting from the Barisan. Environmental awareness is crucial and important. Malaysians must demand that protection of our environment be included as part of the national agenda. This newspaper has exposed wanton logging, illegal or otherwise, in Pahang, Kedah, Kelantan and Perak. We have highlighted the problems of the natives in Sarawak and incurred the wrath of politicians and developers over our reports on the excessive hill development in Penang. Then there is the never-ending issue of illegal sand mining in Selangor. Our reporters have been threatened by both sides of the political divide but that's the price we have to pay if we are to pursue the issue passionately. The Buku Jingga, for example, is totally silent on the customary land rights of the orang asli, public transport system and even a sustainable energy policy. Environmental groups and voters must insist on these when the Barisan unveils its manifesto.

Azman, isteri sumbang RM1 bilion untuk Yayasan Azman Hashim Posted: 16 Mar 2013 09:16 AM PDT (Bernama) - Pengerusi Kumpulan Ambank Tan Sri Azman Hashim dan isterinya, Tunku Arishah Tunku Maamor, menyumbang RM1 bilion kepada Yayasan Azman Hashim sempena sambutan ulang tahun ke-50 perkahwinan mereka. Yayasan itu, yang ditubuh pada 5 Januari 1991, akan mengagih dana berkenaan kepada pelbagai program kebajikan dan pembangunan pendidikan di negara ini. Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir dan Tunku Ampuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Aishah Rohani Tengku Besar Mahmud berkenan melancarkan secara rasmi Yayasan Azman Hashim di sini malam tadi. Yayasan itu pernah menyumbang RM42 juta untuk pembangunan pendidikan di beberapa institusi pengajian tinggi awam di negara ini, termasuk pembinaan sebuah kompleks pendidikan di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) bernilai RM7 juta. Selain itu, sumbangan berkenaan diguna untuk membina sebuah bangunan baharu bernilai RM25 juta bagi menampung keperluan Fakulti Perniagaan dan Perakaunan di Universiti Malaya dan RM10 juta bagi membina sebuah bangunan untuk kegiatan sukan di Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Fitnah PM: Sivarasa didesak beri penjelasan Posted: 16 Mar 2013 08:56 AM PDT (Utusan Online) - Berikutan kematian penyiasat persendirian P. Balasubramaniam (PI Bala), Presiden Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), Azwanddin Hamzah mendesak Ahli Majlis Pimpinan Pusat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), R. Sivarasa memperjelaskan beberapa perkara. Berikut adalah kenyataan beliau: Kita mahu tahu sama ada perancangan pakatan pembangkang untuk memfitnah Perdana Menteri akan tergendala ekoran kematian PI Bala. Kita juga meminta penjelasan Sivarasa apakah rancangan beliau seterusnya. Apakah Sivarasa akan memperalatkan kaum keluarga PI Bala pula untuk meneruskan perancangan fitnah pakatan pembangkang terhadap Perdana Menteri. Saya yakin kemungkinan besar, itu yang akan cuba dilakukan kerana memperalatkan keluarga orang adalah salah satu kemahiran pembangkang bagi meneruskan agenda politik peribadi mereka. lKita juga inginkan penjelasan sama ada betulkah beliau berada di Manila pada 7 Februari 2013. Kita minta Sivarasa membuat penafian di semua akhbar utama tempatan jika fakta ini tidak betul. Saya cabar Sivarasa untuk menjawab persoalan ini sebab semua rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan negara mahu tahu cerita sebenar.

PI Bala - PII Americk Singh Sidhu Posted: 16 Mar 2013 08:40 AM PDT Freedom Come Freedom Go Go find it yourself, Americk Singh Sidhu has claimed, quoting an online news portal, "(Cecil) Abraham apologised to him over the drafting of SD2 and admitted that it was done on the instruction of Najib. Americk said he had promised Abraham to keep the information between themselves, but he opted to reveal it today after considering the late Balasubramaniam's quest for justice." Breaking a promise for justice, how noble indeed. Do I trust Messr Americk? You be the judge. Malaysikini , "The truth about Bala's first statutory declaration", Americk Sidhu 15 March 2013, "Valen had met Bala two years earlier, when Valen was engaged to represent Razak Baginda (before Razak was arrested). Bala and Razak were actually in Valen's office at 7.30am the day Razak was arrested. As Bala related the unfolding of events to me, I recorded everything in long hand, pausing every so often to 'cross-examine' Bala on certain points to ensure his memory was indeed vivid and that there was no embellishment of anything he was narrating to me. Bala cross-checked each detail by reference to the archives he had stored in his lap top, which was always kept open before him throughout the entire interviews" From the annals of history, after much cross-examining to ensure PI Bala's memory was vivid and after Bala had cross checked each detail, the PI Bala Americk prepared Statutory Declaration Item 51 courtesy of anwaribrahimblog, 51. On the day Abdul Razak Baginda was arrested, I was with him at his lawyers office at 6.30 a.m. So what? Those of you on the other side will say. Okay. Here's more "truth about Bala's first", "As the restaurant we were in was closing, we decided to adjourn to the Backyard pub down the road to continue our conversation. This is when fellow lawyer R Sivarasa turned up and joined us. The discussion continued. Sivarasa felt Bala's story ought to be documented in a statutory declaration as the Altantuya murder trial was still ongoing at that stage" Well, here is a more vivid recollection of Americk Singh Sidhu at the time, the day PI Bala made the U-turn, to be precise. From the anal of time in non other than Anwar Ibrahim's blogpost, "Thank you for joining the live webcast of the press conference. KeADILan Vice President Sivarasa Rasiah (MP for Subang) and lawyer for P. Balasubramaniam, Americk Sidhu's statements are below," — PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BY AMERICK SINGH SIDHU — 4 July 2008, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia - "I first met Mr. Bala in the presence of a few other persons in a restaurant about two months ago where he asked me to assist with preparing a formal document incorporating some evidence that had not been presented in the ongoing Altantuya trial." READ MORE HERE

Anwar Says He’s Not The Man In The Video Posted: 16 Mar 2013 01:14 AM PDT (The Star) - Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has categorically denied being the man in the photographs released in blogs earlier this week that were purportedly taken from a sex video. "I have already said (I deny it)," he told reporters Saturday after a dialogue session organised by the Anwar Ibrahim Club at One World Hotel. "This is a disgusting political gimmick executed by Umno." He dismissed it as "fitnah" and a "smear campaign" executed for political reasons. When asked if he would take legal action, Anwar said he would let his legal counsel decide. "I don't know yet. I'll let my lawyer handle it." Earlier, it was reported that a political leader is embroiled in yet another alleged sex scandal after pictures of a man resembling him kissing and groping another man appeared on several blogs earlier this week. The photos, which are purportedly taken from a video, were posted on a blog. No other information was uploaded, but it implied that there was more to come on the blog. In the series of 14 photos, which appear to be screen grabs from a black and white video, a man resembling the leader kisses a man dressed in white. They hug each other, and the man resembling the leader gropes his partner. There are photos of the leader shirtless and walking around, in what appears to be a hotel room, in the nude. The photos were posted last Thursday, and quickly picked up by bloggers.

New Bar chief promises action Posted: 16 Mar 2013 01:10 AM PDT Christopher Leong says he will address concerns that judges and lawyers had no sufficient time to prepare cases, while vowing to lodge a disciplinary complaint against Cecil Abraham. Leven Woon, FMT Corporate and commercial lawyer Christopher Leong has been elected as the new Bar Council chairman for the term 2013 and 2014. The lawyer from Choi & Company, who was previously the council's vice president, was elected to the post by some 36 council members followed a 90-minute meeting held after the Malaysian Bar's annual general meeting (AGM). Besides Leong, the other three elected office bearers included Steven Thiru (vice president), Richard Wee (secretary) and Karen Cheah (treasurer). At a press conference after the meeting, Leong said the Bar would hold talks with the judiciary, particularly with the chief judge, to discuss the concerns that both parties did not have sufficient time to prepare for cases. "The Bar is of the view that it's extremely important that extensive written judgment should be prepared, especially at the upper court such as Court of Appeal, Federal Court and High Court because it will lend certainty to law and confidence to of our legal system. "It is not sufficient to have just the broad grounds (in a case). We hope the judiciary and the Bar are able to find ways to improve the time available both for judges to consider cases before them, as well as lawyers to present their cases for the judges," he said. Leong said the Bar has also adopted a motion today to find ways to improve the electronic filing system – an initiative to cut out queues and paperworks at the registry office – which faced frequent breakdowns. Other motions adopted included to raise annual subscription of funds from RM10 to RM20. Action againt senior lawyer On a separate matter, Leong said the Bar would lodge a complaint next week against senior lawyer Cecil Abraham to the disciplinary board over concerns of "professional misconducts". This followed lawyer Americk Sidhu's revelations at the AGM today that Abraham was the one who drafted a contentious statutory declaration (SD) for the late private investigator P Balasubramaniam in 2008. Americk claimed earlier today that Abraham had said he had drafted Balasubramaniam's second SD on the instructions of the then Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. In his second SD, Balasubramaniam retracted all his shocking allegations linking Najib to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. "We will of course be asking (carpet trader) Deepak Jaikishan, and Americk to provide us with formal statement to facilitate complaint," Leong said. He said the disciplinary board headed by Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad, retired Court of Appeal judge, would be given two months to probe into the complaint and "further few months" to conclude the findings. READ MORE HERE

‘Johor is Pakatan’s frontline state’ Posted: 15 Mar 2013 08:09 PM PDT With the right strategies and candidates, Pakatan capable of winning at least 10 federal seats, with DAP winning five to six seats, says DAP chairman Karpal Singh  Athi Shankar, FMT Johor, which has 26 parliamentary and 56 state seats, is the frontline battle state in Pakatan Rakyat's quest to capture federal power, said Karpal Singh. The DAP national chairman said it was imperative for Pakatan to make major inroads in Johor in the forthcoming general election in order capture Putrajaya. He believes Pakatan was capable of winning at least 10 federal seats in Johor, with DAP winning five to six seats, with the right strategies and candidates. Acknowledging that Johor was Umno and BN bastion, the senior parliamentarian indicated that Pakatan would field its strongest candidature line-up to fulfill its goal. "No doubt Johor is the frontline state. Pakatan will field several strong candidates in Johor. "We've got win more seats this time in Johor if we want to win Putrajaya," Karpal told newsmen during a routine visit to his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency here today. To underline its intention to make a major breakthrough in the southern-most state, the DAP is scheduled to celebrate its 47th anniversary in Johor Baru on Monday (March 18). In 2008, BN won 25 of the 26 parliamentary seats and 50 of the 56 state seats in Johor. Under BN, Umno contested 16 parliament and 34 state seats; MCA eight and 15; MIC one and four, and Gerakan one and three. DAP contested six federal and 12 state seats, while PAS contested nine parliament and 34 state seats. PRM contest one parliament seat in Johor Baru Harder task in Sabah PKR contested 10 parliament and state seats, but lost them all. Pakatan won one parliament seat in Bakri through DAP and six state seats. DAP won the Bentayan, Mengkibol, Senai and Skundai, and PAS won Sungai Abong and Maharani state seats. Unlike Johor, Karpal said Pakatan would face harder time to capturing more seats in Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah has 25 federal seats while Sarawak has 31. Based on previous results, especially in the 2011 Sarawak state election, Karpal said DAP can win up to seven parliamentary seats in Borneo states. READ MORE HERE

Americk Singh's fellow member of an historically noble profession Posted: 15 Mar 2013 05:37 PM PDT KTemoc Konsiders On 20 December 2012, in The Malaysian Insider's news report Cecil is a lawyer of the highest integrity – Americk Singh Sidhu, the lawyer of the late Perumal Balasubramanian (Bala), Americk Singh, stated: Deepak has gone on record to say that the lawyers involved in the preparation of that 2nd SD were in fact a 'Tan Sri and his son who is also a lawyer'. This statement has, in the circumstances, publically perpetrated, by insinuation and deduction, the identification of Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and his son Sunil as the possible culprits due to a strange series of coincidences, which in themselves are indeed unfortunate. I wish to place on record that I find these allegations extremely surprising as I know Cecil personally. He is a barrister of the highest integrity with at least 40 years of impeccable service to the Malaysian Bar and is held in high esteem by all those who have had the privilege of making his acquaintance, both personally and professionally. It is therefore unthinkable that someone who possesses such an ingrained sense of dignity, integrity and professionalism and who has dedicated over 40 years of his life in upholding all that is sacrosanct to the honour of being a member of an historically noble profession, would in any way so blatantly compromise those ideals by partaking in something as undignified and as irresponsible as knowingly formulating a false statement to be sworn by someone he had never met, under circumstances of obvious duress and coercion, knowing at all times that I was representing Bala. I recall that last year the Bar Council had also dismissed the notion of Cecil Abraham being the lawyer who drafted the 2nd SD. But today, FMT reported in its 'Najib instructed Cecil to draft Bala's SD2′ that Americk Singh told the Malaysian Bar during its annual general meeting PM Najib had instructed Cecil Abraham to prepare the 2nd SD for Bala. Americk Singh revealed that Cecil Abraham told him so. I liek to know when Cecil told him. Of course, PKR vice president R Sivarasa also of the "historically noble profession" as Americk Singh Sidhu and known as The missing man in the Altantuyaa story tweeted: "Americk Singh Sidhu, PI Bala's lawyer reveals in Bar AGM that Cecil Abraham told him he did the 2nd SD on instructions from PM Najib." Nice! By now, I wonder about Americk Singh's 'revelation' of Abraham Cecil as the author of the 2nd SD, given that less than 3 months ago he effusively enthused about Cecil Abraham as a barrister of the highest integrity with at least 40 years of impeccable service to the Malaysian Bar and is held in high esteem by all those who have had the privilege of making his acquaintance, both personally and professionally ... etc etc etc. But this is not the first time Americk Singh Sidhu has confused me somewhat. On 26 Nov 2009, we read Malaysiakini's PI's lawyer: 'Anwar not behind Bala tapes' which I commented on that same day in my post Bala's SD - Americk Sidhu clears Anwar Ibrahim from involvement how Americk Singh asserted that: "… Anwar had nothing to do with the release of the first SD except to deliver a speech prior to the press conference at the PKR headquarters last July. I have had no communication with Anwar at all, and neither has he or any PKR member tried to contact me." Then I was somewhat puzzled that despite having no communication with Anwar or any PKR member whatsoever (except of course for an encounter with Sivarasa Rasiah at 'The Backyard' pub) Americk Singh was able to further assert that: "… Many people think Anwar Ibrahim is behind all this. That is absolutely untrue. Anwar has no idea about this whole episode except what he may have read in the blogs and on Malaysiakini." I commented that I was in a somewhat similar position as Americk, sharing with him a status where I too "…have had no communication with Anwar at all, and neither has he or any PKR member tried to contact me" - indeed wakakaka. Thus I too would definitely not accuse Anwar Ibrahim of being behind Bala's 1st SD ... Absolutely NOT! But precisely for that very reason, that I was and am not in communication with Anwar, I wouldn't be able to claim whether Anwar was involved or not involved. In other words, I was and am not able nor entitle to speak on behalf of Anwar Ibrahim on this issue. Thus I would not be able to assert Anwar did or did not do this or that. But strangely Americk Singh was able to assure us Anwar Ibrahim had nothing to do Bala's 1st SD. I could go on and on about the confusion I obtained from reading Americk Singh's various release of information including his claim to be neutral and yet authoring a piece for Malaysiakini claiming and virtually damming Najib (as) 'linked' to Bala's disappearance. Anyway, hearkening back to RPK's The Deepak-Bala marriage: in Deepak's own words we have already learned from that article (an early unauthorised version of what Deepak told MACC) that: READ MORE HERE

Karpal: Stop payments to Sulus Posted: 15 Mar 2013 05:19 PM PDT Veteran lawyer urges the Attorney General to obtain a High Court order in Kota Kinabalu to discontinue cessation payments to heirs of the Sulu sultan over Sabah  Athi Shankar, FMT The DAP has urged the Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail to obtain a High Court order in Kota Kinabalu to discontinue Malaysia's cessation payment to heirs of Sultan Sulu over Sabah. Chairman Karpal Singh called on Gani, who hails from Sabah, to spring to action immediately and file the necessary application as public interests demanded him to do so. Senior parliamentarian Karpal noted that the cessation payment was on the authority of a 1938 order by then High Court of North Borneo. The order allowed a petition of nine Sulu heirs to receive and share among themselves RM5,000, or now RM5,300, as annual payment. The 1938 order actually has reinforced the payment that commenced very much earlier when the British took over Sabah. Kadir Mohamad, agent for Malaysia in the ICJ case between Malaysia and Indonesia, said that Kuala Lumpur needed to continue honouring the 1938 judgment on the ground that any violation of that order can be challenged in court by interested parties. Karpal conceded that a court order must be complied with unless it was set aside judicially. "Contravention of a court order amounts to contempt of court and is punishable by committal to prison," said Karpal, a veteran lawyer. But, he said with the passage of time and with Sabah having joined Sarawak and Peninsular to form Malaysia, and recognition by Manila of Malaysia as a sovereign state by having ambassadorial level representation in the country, the Philippines cannot lay any claim to Sabah. He said Malaysia was internationally recognised with Sabah as a sovereign state in the Federation of Malaysia since the North Borneo territory opted to join Malaysia on Aug 31, 1963. "It's ridiculous to continue paying the Sulu heirs when Malaysia and Sabah are independent and sovereign states," Karpal told newsmen during a routine visit to his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency here today. 'Respect sacrifices of our forces' He said the cessation payment was different from the "annual royalty" being paid by Penang to Kedah, as both these provinces were part of a sovereign Malaysia. He said the fact that the payment has been continuously made for 131 years does not mean, having regard to passage of time and change of circumstances, that the case cannot be reopened with a view to the payment to be discontinued. READ MORE HERE

Police want Kiram extradited Posted: 15 Mar 2013 05:18 PM PDT (Bernama) The police will have Sulu terrorist chief Azzimudie Kiram or Agbimuddin extradited from the Philippines to face prosecution in Malaysia, said Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib. He said Azzimudie, as mentioned by Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar, had led the Sulu intrusion in Lahad Datu and was now believed to be back in the Philippines. "Even if he is there (in the Philippines), we do not face any problem because we have undertaken an investigation under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 against those under detention. "We will compile the evidence and use the legal channel to have Azzimudie extradited to face charges in our country," he told a news conference at the Felda Sahabat plantation, near here. Ismail and Chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, at a joint news conference in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, said Azzimudie is believed to have fled to the Philippines. Meanwhile, security forces picked up an unarmed Sulu terrorist in the Ops Daulat offensive zone at the Felda Sahabat plantation at 6.30 am today and believe less than 50 terrorists are still there. Hamza, who disclosed this at the news conference, said the detained terrorist, who had no identification papers on him, was taken to the police station for questioning. He said the terrorist was held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, but he did not reveal the exact location where he was picked up. So far 104 individuals had been arrested under the act while 232 people were being held under different laws. Hamza said 61 terrorists had been killed since March 1 when the terrorists killed two policemen. Six more policemen and two soldiers have also been killed in clashes with the terrorists. The government launched the Ops Daulat offensive on March 5 after the terrorists, who rejected a negotiated settlement of their intrusion into Sabah on Feb 12, started attacking the security forces. Hamza said the security forces' mopping-up exercise in Kampung Tanjung Batu was expected to be completed by tomorrow. He advised villagers and newsmen against entering the village as it was suspected that the terrorists were moving about in small groups. "We need the cooperation of the people in channelling information to the security forces so that we can eliminate the remaining terrorists," he said. Hamza said the security forces were also working to remove 10 bodies of terrorists still in the village. He explained that only 15 terrorists were killed by security forces in a clash in Kampung Tanduo on March 1, and not 27 as reported by some media today. "On March 1, twelve terrorists were killed in a clash. During the mopping-up exercise, we came across three more bodies, raising to 15 the number killed on that day," he said.

Jeffrey wants Orang Asal, Allies as ‘Force to be Reckoned With’ in mainstream politics Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:55 PM PDT   Joe Fernandez Activists from Sabah strongman Jeffrey Kitingan's various NGOs are mercilessly bludgeoning both sides of the political divide, even mosquito parties, with sledgehammers of sorts. Apparently, Jeffrey is leaving nothing to chance as the countdown to the 13th General Elections is set to begin after the Christmas and New Year festive cheers. This is politics in the jungle at its best. Jeffrey's inner circle points out that even if the other Opposition and ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) "did not ask for it", they would be "morally obliged to make mincemeat of all those who are against the Agenda Borneo". The Agenda Borneo, in a nutshell, stands against everything that the "agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo" or "Agenda Malaya" stands for in Sabah and Sarawak. The Borneon in Jeffrey alleges that the Agenda Malaya is a thinly-disguised policy of internal colonisation in Sabah and Sarawak, waged against the Orang Asal in particular -- Murut and Dusun including Kadazan or urban Dusun in Sabah and Dayak in Sarawak -- and Borneons in general. Jeffrey accuses Peninsular Malaysia-based coalitions and local parties aligned to them of stealing seats in Parliament which belong to the "Nations in Borneo" to further facilitate internal colonisation policies. Sabah and Sarawak, he never tires of pointing out during his Borneo Tea Party sessions, were pledged a minimum one third plus one parliamentary seats under the Malaysia Agreement and other constitutional documents. In short, both BN and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) should stay out of the fray in Sabah and Sarawak. Jeffrey wants to bring back the Orang Asal to mainstream politics Towards this end, as Daniel John Jambun put it starkly in a statement earlier this week, his fellow activists are pledged to literally chase out the Malayan parties and their local allies from Borneo. Daniel is Deputy Chairman of the United Borneo Front (UBF), an ad hoc apolitical human rights NGO movement working across the political divide in Sabah and Sarawak. UBF activists will contest the 13th GE under the symbol and flag of the State Reform Party (Star), a Borneo-based national political party pledged to put a 3rd Force in the Malaysian Parliament "to steer evenly between BN and PR". The thrust of Jeffrey's politics, one long flogged by him, is to bring back the Orang Asal in particular as a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream of Malaysian politics. This is easier said than done. Successive administrations in Putrajaya have systematically marginalized and disenfranchised the Orang Asal. One way, in Sabah, has been by Putrajaya allegedly padding the electoral rolls with the names of illegal immigrants issued MyKads by the backdoor.   Sinister move to reduce Orang Asal, Christians in Malaysia To add insult to injury, non-Muslims with bin or binte in their names are routinely, by a policy directive, being classified by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya as Islam on the face of their MyKads. Those who protest are advised by NRD in writing to get a Ruling from the Syariah Court that they are "no longer Muslims". The NRD emphasis is on "no longer Muslims" and on "not Muslims". The manner in which the NRD words its advice in writing on getting the said Ruling, makes it virtually impossible for the Syariah Court to issue a "no longer Muslim" Ruling. It was estimated by a former Sabah Attorney General, not so long ago in one newspaper statement, that no less than 600,000 Dusun are missing from official statistics "in a move designed to reduce the number of Orang Asal and Christians" in Malaysia. Jeffrey stands accused of dividing the Orang Asal further through his politics. He has denied the charges in stressing that absolute unity might be an impractical goal somewhat "given the fact that various Orang Asal parties themselves are willing to be stooges to the local proxies of Putrajaya". Instead, the Star chairman is more focused on denying both BN and PR the 112 seats that they would need to form a Federal Government with a simple majority. For this, he doesn't need absolute Orang Asal unity. He has pledged to do this (deny 112 seats) by, among others, taking away Orang Asal seats held by parties other than the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), indisputably the premier force par excellence among the original inhabitants of Sabah.   Star accused of being pro-BN, financed by it Star is prepared to support either BN or PR, but not both, in Parliament to form a Federal Government with a working majority. The party does not see itself as being part of the Federal Cabinet of such a Government. However, it wants a third of other Government positions, according to party strategists, if the Federal Government comes to power with its support in Parliament. PR has gone to town with Star's admission that BN stands an equal chance of forming the Federal Government as the Opposition Alliance. This is being propagated by PR as Star being pro-BN or even worse being financed by it. This beating of the drums of war by PR may be fuelled by its fears that BN, as the incumbent, may stand a better chance of forming the Federal Government with Star's support in Parliament. One factor, it's said, is PBS President Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Jeffrey's elder brother in politics. Star only sees itself as being in the Federal Cabinet when it can initiate, form and lead the Federal Government on its own accord. The party's strategists reckon that Star and allies like Hindraf Makkal Sakthi would need 50 parliamentary seats at the very minimum to head the Federal Government as the minority partner to either BN or PR as the majority partner. The party insists on holding the Prime Minister's post as the minimum condition in a Federal Government headed by it. That might be some way down the road. As an alternative to denying both BN and PR 112 seats in Parliament, Star favours the 45 per cent minorities in Malaysia -- the component of the population divided by geography, economics, ethnicity, language, culture and religion -- heading a Federal Government in alliance with a moderate third of the 55 per cent majority community who are united by language (Malay) and religion (Islam). Moderate, in Star's language, means NO to a list of issues: hudud, Syariah, Islamisation, ketuanan Melayu, the Prime Minister's post being held permanently by Muslims, non-Muslims being forced to become Muslims, and internal colonisation.   Star leaders delusional, biting off more than they can chew, say critics Moderation among Muslims, in the Star language, also means secularism, diversity in the Government sector, freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. Critics say that Star leaders are delusional, or at the very least, are biting off more than they can chew. In Star's defence, it can be said that Putrajaya's politics of putting its hand in the National Cookie Jar under various guises has caught up with the powers that be to haunt their future. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's reported US$ 44 billion wealth salted away in Japan and other locations abroad and a damaging international report on Malaysia suffering US$ 200 billion flight of dirty money last year alone are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.   Historical opportunity for Sabah, Sarawak to right wrongs by Putrajaya Not surprisingly, the 55 majority community is irreversibly split with Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Pas and Democratic Action Party having sizeable portions of the Malay vote bank with them in Peninsular Malaysia. Umno, at best, commands no more than 45 per cent of the Malay vote bank, with the rest held by the three opposition parties and fence sitters who are neither for BN or PR. The 45 per cent still with Umno is expected to be considerably whittled down by the 13th GE if Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak does not move against Mahathir over his reported ill-gotten gains and remove him from the political equation. The more that Mahathir pontificates sanctimoniously in public, the worse it will be for Umno come the 13th GE. Star sees the political disunity and divisions in Peninsular Malaysia as a God-sent historical opportunity for Sabah and Sarawak to emerge as Nations in Malaysia in line with their choosing independence as their self- etermination on 31 Aug 1963 and 22 July 1963 respectively. Malaysia, as Jeffrey preaches, will remain an aberration in Borneo for the Orang Asal in particular so long as the Nation status of Sabah and Sarawak in the Federation are ignored by Putrajaya and the "States in Malaya".

‘Najib instructed Cecil to draft Bala’s SD2′ Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:41 PM PDT   (Free Malaysia Today) - Americk Sidhu, PI Bala's lawyer makes a startling revelation at the Bar AGM that Cecil Abraham confided in him that he prepared the 2nd SD on instructions from Najib The Malaysian Bar was today told that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had instructed  senior lawyer Cecil Abraham to prepare the second statutory declaration for former private investigator P Balasubramaniam. Balasubramaniam's lawyer Americk Sidhu revealed this during the ongoing  Malaysian Bar's annual general meeting (AGM) today, where Balasubramaniam's SD2 was one of the motions tabled to be discussed. PKR vice president R Sivarasa tweeted: "Americk Singh Sidhu, PI Bala's lawyer reveals in Bar AGM that Cecil Abraham told him he did the 2nd SD on instructions from PM Najib." Balasubramaniam, in his second SD announced on July 4, 2008  retracted all his shocking allegations linking the premier to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. This came a day after he published his first statutory declaration, in which he claimed Najib and aide Abdul Razak Baginda had an intimate relationship with Altantuya. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/16/najib-instructed-cecil-to-draft-pi-balas-sd2/

Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:21 PM PDT   DOE also stated that the HCN concentration is within the safe level as long as it does not breach the maximum permissible level (10ppm and 4.7ppm). What DOE has deliberately kept from the public is from where do they derive these numbers?   Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC)  Referring to the Malay Mail news report（http://mmail.com.my/story/bukit-koman-cyanide-'safe'-47495）dated 14 Feb 2013, Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC) totally disagree with the explanation made by Department of Environment (DOE) that the concentration of the Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) detected in Bukit Koman, Raub is within a safe level. According to the DOE ambient air monitoring exercise conducted daily since XX January  2013,  HCN as high as 1.15ppm has been detected in the ambient air in Bukit Koman.  This is more than 38 times higher than the maximum permissible limit of New York, USA (Maximum limit is 0.03ppm), Czech Republic (0.007ppm) and Russia (0.009ppm). This has clearly showed that the residents of Bukit Koman are continuously exposed to hazardous HCN gas at a concentration far exceeding the safety level. Based on the occupational epidemiological studies conducted by OEHHA (note 1), the long term low level exposure to hydrogen cyanide (annual average levels exceed 0.008 ppm) can caused Center Nerve System, neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular effects , thyroid enlargement, and haematological disorders.  We shall highlight another documented hard fact.  In a letter dated 14 Feb 2013 replying ADUN Tras' earlier query, DOE wrote that their ambient air monitoring programme reported an average daily HCN concentration in the range of 0.32ppm to 0.85ppm. This inevitably inferred that the residents of Bukit Koman and indeed thousands who live nearby are exposed to poisonous Hydrogen Cyanide all the time and this will put their health and well being under extremely high risk.  DOE also stated that the HCN concentration is within the safe level as long as it does not breach the maximum permissible level (10ppm and 4.7ppm). What DOE has deliberately kept from the public is from where do they derive these numbers?  The so-called 4.7ppm 'standard' is based on the DOSH requirement while the maximum 10ppm permissible level is derived to Cyanide Management Guidelines of the Department of Mineral and Energy, Western Australia.  Both of the standards are NOT to be used for ambient air in a residential setting.     Therefore, these standards cited by the DOE in coming to a conclusion that HCN level detected in Bkt Koman are 'safe' are NOT the correct standards at all.  We must be aware that HCN is not listed as a parameter in the Malaysia Ambient Air Quality Standard (MAAQS) precisely because it should NOT be detected in the ambient air at all.   DOE should not use the above mentioned standards to mislead the public and create a false impression that the air we breathe in Bukit Koman is safe. It is not. In New York, the safe level for ambient air in residential environment is 0.03ppm. In Malaysia, the DOE simply pluck the 4.7ppm value from the Malaysia's Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, which is really meant for monitoring exposure for industry workers 8 hours a day in factories or mine.  On the other hand, the people in Bukit Koman, children and the elderly included, breathe 24 hours a day to survive.  DOE should conduct the ambient air monitoring in a more open and transparent manner. The complete records (including raw data) have to be displayed and made available to the public, including Sulfur Dioxide(SO2) reading which is a highly corrosive gas with high toxicity.  Since Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (RAGM) started operating its Carbon In Leach gold refinery plant four years ago, the people of Bukit Koman and Raub has been suffering from disabling skin, eye and respiratory diseases which can be attributed to the polluting fumes, including Hydrogen Cyanide and Sulfur Dioxide, emitting from the gold mine located at a mere 50 meters from the Bukit Koman Village. BCAC strongly believe these pollutants are the main factor behind the health problems as reported by the residents living in close proximity of the plant.  Therefore, BCAC demand that:- 1.     The responsible authorities must issue stop work order immediately pending a detail investigation on the extent of environmental contamination caused by the gold mining operation and how human health has been impacted. And also take appropriate measures to conduct remediation for the contaminated sites and to compensate for the loss and sufferings of the individuals affected by the gold mining operations. 2.     DOE should disclose the complete records (all the 9 parameters, including SO2) detected by its portable FTIR gas analyzer (model Gasmet DX4040). 3.     DOE shall extend its ambient air monitoring from current 15 hours to continuous 24 hours. Currently DOE only monitor the ambient air from 9am till 3am, and skip the early morning period where a lot of residents always complaint of detected strong chemical odour.  As the wind direction will also affected the test accuracy, therefore, BCAC urge DOE to identify and allocate more air monitoring locations in order to obtain more comprehensive results. 4.     DOE must review and revised the existing MAAQS and other related environmental regulations.   New laws and regulations shall be legislated, and the existing laws and regulations tightened with regards to the use of cyanide in gold mining. To protect the environmental and human health, Cyanide must be prohibited in gold mining sector. According to the earlier statements made by Pahang State Exco member, YB Dato Hoh Khai Mun, he shall take action against RAGM once any HCN content was detected in the ambient air. Based on the current DOE ambient air monitoring report, we demand Hoh to act on his promise and hence take immediate action against RAGM. Note 1 : Refer to http://oehha.ca.gov/air/hot_spots/2008/AppendixD3_final.pdf#page=313 Press Statement issued by, Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC)     日期:16-3-2013 劳勿空气污染证据确凿 反山埃委员会促政府施停工令  根据马来邮报2013年2月14日（http://mmail.com.my/story/bukit-koman-cyanide-'safe'-47495）的报导，环境局宣称武吉公满空气中的山埃气体（HCN）的浓度是处于安全水平，彭亨劳勿反山埃委员会完全不能苟同此说法。 环境局所进行的空气探测数据显示，劳勿武吉公满山埃气体（HCN）浓度高达1.15ppm，远高于其他国家的环境空气素质标准~捷克 （0.00724ppm），苏联（0.00905ppm），以及纽约（0.03ppm）。这清楚说明彭亨州劳勿县武吉公满新村的空气已被污染以及这地区的 山埃气体浓度已经严重的超标，甚至已超过大城市纽约的标准38倍以上。   美国加州环境健康危害协会办公室研究（OEHHA）研究证实，长期暴露高于0.008ppm的山埃气体将会影响中枢神经系统，造成甲状腺肿大以及导致血液系统疾病（注1）。 在环境局于2月14日给都赖区州议员办公室的回函中，环境局也证实一月份在武吉公满进行每日15小时的空气探测结果显示，山埃气体（氢化氰）每日平 均浓度为0.32ppm - 0.85ppm。亦即证明武吉公满和周边地区居民每日长期暴露在山埃气体，居民的健康受到严重威胁。 环境局宣称，只要山埃气体指数不超过4.7ppm和10ppm就是安全的。4.7ppm是大马工业安全局（DOSH）的工业安全指标，而10ppm的限制则是参考西澳洲矿物与能源局的西澳洲山埃管理准则。 环境局荒谬地在住宅区设定比工业安全指标超2.1倍的标准！这是误导人民的反逻辑作法。我们坚决认为这两项标准并不适用于长时间24小时暴露于山埃气体的村民身上。虽然现有的马来西亚空气素质法令（MAAQS）没概括山埃气体，但不代表环境局可以误导性引用工业标准来取代环境空气标准和沿用错误的标准误导宣称武吉公满空气中的山埃气体浓度是处于安全水平。 再说，环境局并未透明化地全面公布空气中的其它污染物质的探测结果，包括对皮肤有刺激性和腐蚀性的有毒气体～二氧化硫。金矿已经运作了四年，因此我们有理由怀疑长年累月暴露于空气中的污染物质可能正是导致居民健康受损的原因之一。 反山埃委员会强烈要求：  有关当局马上施停工令,要求金矿公司停止运作以免继续释放出有害居民健康的化学污染物。环境局应进一步调查有关污染化学物对环境和村民的健康影响，并采取相关步骤来修复环境和赔偿健康受损的居民。 环境局对公众透明化地全面公布空气测量仪器（Gasmet DX4040）测量到空气中的所有污染物质的记录，包括对皮肤有刺激性和腐蚀性的有毒气体～二氧化硫。 环境局必须将现有的15小时的测量时间延长到24小时，全天候探测空气中的污染物质。环境局现有的测量时段是从早上9时至凌晨3时，居民较常嗅到化学异味的清晨时段，环境局却没有进行任何探测。由于风向因素也会导致空气探测 报告出现偏差，所以本会促请环境局在金矿周边地区装置更多的测量器以提升报告的准确性。 环境局全面检讨马来西亚空气素质法令（(Malaysia Ambient Air Quality Standard）和相关的法令，并禁止山埃采金，以确保有效的保护环境和人民的健康。 彭亨州行政议员（地方政府、环境、卫生委员会主席）拿督何启文曾在2009年保证，"如果证实空气中拥有山埃成分，将采取行动对付该工厂"。现在环境局已证实空气中出现山埃气体并且严重超标！所以我们要求他兑现承诺，马上采取行动对付劳勿澳洲金矿公司。 注1：参考 http://oehha.ca.gov/air/hot_spots/2008/AppendixD3_final.pdf#page=313

Sabah security in fits-and-starts Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:12 PM PDT   It appears that the reason why Malaysian security forces have been slow in responding to the Lahad Datu intrusion and Standoff may be more due to the fact that the PMD was solely responsible for security in Sabah.  Joe Fernandez Sabah security in fits-and-starts just won't do. We are now told that the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) will be responsible for security along the newly-created Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) stretching from Kudat in the North to Tawau in the south-east corner, past the wolf's mouth segment on the map of the territory. Mindef takes over from the all-powerful Prime Minister's Department (PMD) which had hitherto been apparently responsible for security in Sabah. Indeed, it appears that the reason why Malaysian security forces have been slow in responding to the Lahad Datu intrusion and Standoff may be more due to the fact that the PMD was solely responsible for security in Sabah. Both these items, Mindef and PMD, are news to Sabahans and probably most Malaysians. The PMD, according to 2010 figures, employed 43,544 people and had a budget of RM 3.9 billion. It was a hyper ministry but labeled Department, a misnomer. We still don't know whether the PMD would be responsible for security in the rest of Sabah and who is responsible for the security situation in neighbouring Sarawak which has a long border, albeit for the most part difficult mountainous terrain in jungled territory, with Kalimantan.   Nur Misuari should be given benefit of the doubt In any case the PMD has no business getting involved directly in security matters, internal and security, except through the National Security Council (NSC) headed by the Prime Minister. Is it any wonder therefore that the intelligence services, both Special Branch and Military, have been caught "napping" in a way on the Lahad Datu intrusion by terrorists from the nearby Sulu islands. In fact, they were not napping at all. They weren't responsible for the security of Sabah. No wonder illegal immigrants continued flooding into Sabah over the decades as Putrajaya, by all accounts, looked the other way. One exception was the period after the Sipadan hostage incident in 1999-2000 when Ramli Yusuff became Commissioner of Sabah from 2001- 2004. Upon the specific instructions of then Chief Minister (2001-2003) Chong Kah Kiat, Ramli formed a Special Task Force with Army Commander of Sabah, Brig-Gen Mohd Yassin, to expel thousands of illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia in particular. On another score, we must take Nur Misuari's statements on Malaysia's involvement in training the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) seriously. Of course, it's an open secret in Sabah that not only Malaysia but Libya from the days of the Mustapha regime has been arming the MNLF. But this is the first time that Nur Misuari himself has directly admitted what has been only openly talked about in the warongs for decades. Between Nur Misuari's admission and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's outright self-serving denial, the benefit of the doubt can be given to the former.   Parliament should act on Eastern Sabah Security Zone Taking the announcement on ESSCOM at face value, it seems that not everything is above board. It has often been said that a Government, on paper, has the power to do anything, even the "illegal" if necessary, and detractors can resort to the Court by way of an Application for Leave to secure a Judicial Review either by Mandamus (to compel) or Certiorari (to squash) any errant Government decision by administrative law – not law at all but policy in action -- on any matters of state. Questions abound! Under the Federal Constitution, the Prime Minister has no legislative power, not even in an emergency situation, points out Star chairman Jeffrey Kitingan, for one. Apparently, the power lies with the Yang Di Pertuan Agong and Parliament. Under Article 150, "if the Yang Di Pertuan Agong is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof is threatened, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency making therein a declaration to that effect." Under Article 149, it is for Parliament to pass the necessary laws if there is any "action has been taken or threatened by any substantial body of persons, whether inside or outside the Federation -…(f) which is prejudicial to public order in, or the security of, the Federation or any part thereof,"   Long-term diplomatic and political solution for Sabah The area from Kudat to Tawau involves 11 Parliamentary seats and 27 state seats. The Parliamentary seats affect the whole of Malaysia, not just Sabah. No doubt the internal security problems and international issues facing Sabah, including the claim to Sabah or parts of it by the Philippines and/or Sulu, culminated in the Lahad Datu Standoff. Sabah requires require a long-term diplomatic and political solution, not a military one, a point which is gathering consensus among most people in the state. The United Nations (UN), whose Secretary-General has urged the Malaysian government to find an amicable solution in the wake of Lahad Datu, should be brought in to help resolve issues involving Sabah in Malaysia. No Referendum was held on Malaysia in Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Malaya. The Cobbold Commission was not a Referendum of the people but a sampling survey of community leaders with only Suluk and Bajau leaders agreeing to Malaysia. The Malayan and British Governments dragged Sabah and Sarawak into Malaysia on 16 Sept, 1963 AFTER both Nations had obtained their independence on 31 Aug, 1963 and 22 July, 1963 respectively. Security in Malaysia, for Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei, -- against the crocodiles in the region viz. Philippines and Indonesia -- was an afterthought when it emerged that others were reaping the real benefits of Federation and not the people in Borneo: Britain could consolidate its commercial empire in the region through Malaysia; Singapore obtained independence through merger with Malaya via Malaysia; and the Malaya-led and dominated Federal Government virtually had unlimited access to the resources and revenue of three potentially rich Nations in Borneo. Brunei staying out of Malaysia at the 11th hour floored the argument that the Orang Asal populations of Borneo were needed to facilitate the merger between Chinese-majority Singapore and non-Malay majority Malaya. Not surprisingly, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia two years later as the Malay-speaking communities in Malaya felt demographically threatened by Singapore despite the added numbers of the Orang Asal in Sabah and Sarawak. However, Sabah and Sarawak were not likewise allowed to exit Malaysia. These and other matters, including the so-called Sulu claim, should be resolved by the UN Security Council lest there be an even greater flare-up in Borneo one day when the Orang Asal react violently against their marginalization and disenfranchisement given the continuing influx of illegal immigrants into their countries.   Joe Fernandez is a mature student of law and an educationist, among others, who loves to write especially Submissions for Clients wishing to Act in Person. He feels compelled, as a semi-retired journalist, to put pen to paper -- or rather the fingers to the computer keyboard -- whenever something doesn't quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview). He shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, northern Sarawak and the watershed region in Borneo where three nations meet.

Who knows what the truth is these days? Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:06 PM PDT   Kee Thuan Chye  How do you decide what is truth and what is falsehood as the build-up to Malaysia's 13th general election heats up? So many bizarre twists and turns have emerged in recent days that Malaysians must be in a state of shock and awe. First, businessman Deepak Jaikishan openly alleged that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in forcing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to make a second statutory declaration to contradict his first, which had implicated Najib in the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. Then Bala returned from exile earlier this year to affirm that he stood by his first statutory declaration, reinforcing the revelations made by Deepak about how the second declaration came about. The latest twist is Azlan Mohd Lazim's announcement that Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is innocent of the charge of having sodomised Azlan's son, and that Anwar is the victim of a political conspiracy. Taking everyone by surprise, including apparently Saiful as well, the father attests that his son was "used by several unscrupulous individuals", including a special officer of Najib's, to tarnish Anwar's image. READ: Saiful's father joins PKR, defends Anwar READ: Saiful's dad apologises to Anwar, says son was 'used' Saiful, however, disputes his father's testimony. He stands by his accusation of Anwar, which had led to the Sodomy II trial, debunks the claim of political conspiracy, and insists that it is his father who is being used. He actually lashes out at Anwar and warns him not to "use my father to twist the truth, no matter how desperate you are". Is Anwar desperate? He was acquitted of the charge by the High Court in January last year, but the attorney-general appealed, and the hearing has been scheduled for July 22. By that date, the general election should be over, and if Anwar's coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, is in control of Putrajaya then, he might be able to get his new attorney-general to quash the case, but if it isn't, he could be in for troubled times.  If the Court of Appeal finds him guilty and subsequently, upon his expected appeal, the Federal Court upholds the verdict, he could be shut away for years. In that sense, he might truly be anxious – if 'desperate' is too strong a word – to avoid being in the soup. But then again, would getting Azlan to denounce Saiful's claim be of any help to Anwar at the appeal hearing itself? Unless Azlan is called as a witness and has new evidence to clear Anwar, his denunciation will be of no consequence in court. The only value it may have for now is in creating a perception among the public that Anwar is indeed innocent and a political victim, as this would boost his image and help his coalition's chances at the polls.  But even so, discerning Malaysians are already waxing sceptical about Azlan's sudden turnaround. He was, after all, quite forceful in urging the attorney-general to file an appeal after Anwar's acquittal. They are also questioning his motive and the timing of his announcement. And why he was accompanied at his press conference by Johari Abdul, an Opposition member of Parliament. Such circumstantial indicators promote speculation that the coalition might have engineered the new twist to aid its chances of winning Putrajaya so Anwar could escape further prosecution, but other questions arise which confound that theory, like why would a father discredit his own son?  Then there's the other theory that is being bandied about a lot – of promised rewards to Saiful that have not been fulfilled prompting retaliatory action by his father. And another popular one – that the recent bombshell developments, starting with Deepak's revelations, followed by Bala's return and now Azlan's volte face implicating Najib or at least his men, are the work of Najib's own party rivals plotting his downfall. Although this seems foolhardy and potentially suicidal for his party since the general election is so near, one never can tell in politically surprising Malaysia, especially with so much intrigue piling up almost every other day. So far, Najib has said or done hardly anything to counter the serious allegations against him, and this is something that greatly befuddles the public. It could mean that there is truth to the allegations or that he is someone who doesn't bother with what others say about him and prefers to let his performance as prime minister do the talking. But even on that score, Najib has been coming across as a rather weak leader, and his confidence of winning the elections seems to be waning. He may have to drop a few bombshells of his own to blow up his rivals' chicanery and set a course for not just winning the elections but winning big. As such, in the coming days, Malaysian politics could get even dirtier than it already is. And the public could become more bewildered trying to figure out truth from lies, reality from fiction, and the other way around. As it looks so far, the 13th general election will certainly be the dirtiest one ever. * Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians, and the latest volume, Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More!

More questions raised over Misuari-Anwar links Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:01 PM PDT   (Malaysia Review) - Were they hatching a plot to help each other fulfill their hopes? Attempts to brush off the links between the founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Nur Misuari and Pakatan Rakyat's Anwar Ibrahim only raise more questions. Fresh queries are being raised about what exactly was the topic of discussion between them when they met in Jakarta a few months ago. Have they been in communication since? What common agenda did an ex-Filipino rebel and an ex-Malaysian Minister share? Only answers to these questions will calm the disquiet created in the Philippines and Malaysia by Wikileaks' revelation of the duo's links.  Wikileaks had reported of diplomatic cables sent by the US mission in the Philippines. The 2007 report to the US State Department described Misuari as someone who still harboured aspirations to 'regain' Sabah from Malaysia.  The report had also quoted a Filipino official as saying that Malaysia was concerned about Misuari's intentions towards Sabah as well as about his recent contacts with Anwar. It is telling that, since the story broke, Anwar has largely remained silent about his meeting with Misuari.  PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali and Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah attempted to brush aside the significance of the Misuari-Anwar connection. But not many have been swayed by their feeble attempts to whitewash a potentially-explosive revelation. Azmin tried to justify the Misuari-Anwar connection by saying that at the time of the Wikileaks report, Nur Misuari was the governor of Mindanao, so many leaders met Misuari. But he did not explain why a FORMER Governor who later spent time in jail and currently holds no position in the Philippines continued to have contacts with a FORMER Malaysian Minister who also later spent time in jail and currently holds no position in Malaysia. Misuari now harbours hopes of 'reclaiming' Sabah and Anwar harbours hopes of 'reclaiming' his government position. Were they hatching a plot to help each other fulfill their hopes?

BN: Was mega deal finalised in Taiwan? Posted: 15 Mar 2013 03:59 PM PDT   (Free Malaysia Today) - Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also asked to explain why the RM6.3 billion infrastructure project was awarded to a company headed by an ex-convict The state BN youth has alleged that the state government's ambitious RM6.3 billion mega infrastructure project was finalised in Taiwan, not in Penang, and wants Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to clarify. The movement's information chief, H'ng Khoon Leng, also questioned how could the Pakatan Rakyat government entrust a mega project to a RM2 company headed by an ex-convict of a white collar crime? He said he had received information from reliable sources that Lim and representatives from Chinese companies China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd and Beijing Urban Construction Group all held various private meetings to finalise the deal in Taiwan. "This is a Penang project but we heard all dealings were finalised in Taiwan. We urge the chief minister to clarify this," said H'ng, also the state Gerakan youth vice chairman, at press conference at state BN office here today. Also present were Penang's MIC youth chief J Dhinagaran and, Gerakan youth vice chairmen, Tan Kah Leong and Ng Say Kheng. H'ng also alleged that the chairman of Konsortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, which was awarded the project, was an ex-felon Zarul Ahmad Mohamad Zulkifli. According to records, he said Zarul, a former senior executive of Rakyat Merchant Bankers Bhd (RMB), was convicted with two other bank executives in a loan scandal in 1993. Zarul and two others were charged in 1994 by Bank Negara under the Banking and Financial Institutions (Bafia) Act 1989 for exceeding their limits and approving RM126,876,705 in loans. Zarul and another pleaded guilty to giving RM10,554,840 facility to a RMB client on Nov 23, 1993. Zarul also pleaded guilty to transferring RM67.5 million to RMB clients on Nov 24. Zarul, the former head of RMB public affairs was sentenced to a day's jail and fined RM10,000 on the first charge and a further RM50,000 or three month's jail on second. Open tender H'ng said according to the facts of the prosecution case, the bank faced problems due to the irresponsible attitude of its senior officers. "Awarding a mega project to a company under an ex-convict of commercial crime had raised serious concerns among the people of Penang. "Can the state government guarantee that the project will be carried out smoothly without any problems?" asked H'ng. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/15/bn-was-mega-deal-finalised-in-taiwan/

Another Anwar sex video? Posted: 15 Mar 2013 02:37 PM PDT A sex video clip of a man resembling the Opposition leader in a compromising position with a man has been uploaded on a blog site (FMT) - A sex video of a man resembling Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in a compromising position with another man has been uploaded in a pro-Umno blogger's site. Blogger Syed Akbar Ali, who runs the blog site – syedoutsidethebox – uploaded a single photo of the video under the heading Saturday Sunrise. "Any resemblances to any living person or dead person, real person or imaginary person are purely coincidental. All characters appearing in this work are fictitiously not straight. They are also infamously infamous," he said as a precaution just above the photo. However, he provided links to another blog page entitled 'Aksi si Raja Goyang', which carried 13 other photographs, taken from the video. Although Syed Akbar posted the photo in his blog today, the 'Aksi si Raja Goyang' photos was posted on Thursday. The second blogsite does not have a name of the blogger. The photos in the 'Aksi si Raja Goyang' website has garnered 119 comments so far. The site can be accessed at http://rajagoyang360.blogspot.com/2013/03/3-2-1-action-part-1.html. Last year, another video was released by former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay and  Perkasa's Shuib Lazim. That video showed a man resembling the opposition leader having sex with presumably a woman of Chinese features. Anwar has since denied that he was the one in the video. The opposition leader has also been cleared of a sodomy charge brought against him by  his former personal assistant Saiful Bukhari Azlan, mid last year. Although the High Court has cleared Anwar of the charge, the case in now pending appeal, which would be heard in June, this year. The release of this video could be related to the looming 13th General Election which is expected to be called anytime soon. Najib should stop dirty tactics In an immediate response, PKR strategy director, Rafizi Ramli, said it is part and parcel of the dirty politics played by Umno in tarnishing the image of the opposition's leader. "It is definitely Umno's modus operandi. These dirty tactics will be intensified as the general elections gets closer. "As Shaiful's father has came forward to delcare Anwar's innocence in Sodomy 2, it is timely that they manufacture the next set of porn materials to accuse him further," said Rafizi. READ MORE HERE

M’sian Chinese joins in with HINDRAF’s fasting Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:24 PM PDT   Apparently Nyam Kee Han, an activist of Johor-based human rights organization, Sahabat Rakyat, was convinced that Waythamoorthy's cause is justified and decided to join him. Wong Mun Chee    This Malaysian Chinese youngster may not be a household name, but he has the heart for a just cause. Some of his previous exploits for human rights can be viewed at the following:   http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/malaysia/2007/06/d18699/  &  http://www.asia-pacific-solidarity.net/southeastasia/malaysia/statements/psm_16rideforchangecyclistsarrested_071208.htm   Many typical cyber troopers will castigate him in categorizing his goodwill but aren't these what they are good at with their normal modus operandi without recognizing the predicament that faces this segment of the community for what is politically expedient.   The age and the convoluted mind does not come into the equation when you can hear the scream of a young humane heart for a just cause like this Malaysian Chinese in joining Mr Waytha Moorthy in his fast.   The level of maturity shown by this young Malaysian Chinese needs to be applauded when it does not transgress the basic need and remedying the utter silence by the majority that allowed it all this while for the poor and marginalized Malaysian Indians to digress.   Although the Malaysian Indians are a minority they were able to throw in the spanner to bring the changes in GE12 because it moved on the basis of consciousness, without a political desire. The change of heart is not political but rather based on the conscious.          Today for the perpetual political desire, both BN /PR are unwilling to listen to them even if the cause has been consistent in pursuing what needs to be addressed.   It is heartwarming that a Malaysian Chinese like Nyam can see beyond ethnicity because wisdom is not dictated, but a reflection, imitation and experience without losing sight of the humanity for each other.       Thank you

Malaysia facing policy 'blowback' Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:21 PM PDT   (Al Jazeera) - The former head of a Philippine separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), has told Al Jazeera that despite support from Malaysia in the 1960s, some of his fighters have now turned against the Malaysian government. According to Nur Misuari, the MNLF fighters have joined the Royal Army of Sulu, which has been fighting for control of Malaysia's eastern Sabah state. Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan reports from the Philippine capital, Manila, on whether Malaysia's foreign policy in the 1960s has backfired. Watch video at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/03/2013315123914613146.html

Opposition committed 7 big sins: Najib Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT   (Bernama) - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the people, especially Muslims should reject the opposition including PAS in the upcoming general election because they committed seven big sins, among them allowing the word "Allah" to be used by non-Muslims and not keeping promises. The Prime Minister said their other sins were allowing DAP leaders to get land in the Lodging Highlands, indiscriminate clearing of forest in highlands and PAS compromising on its own struggle.  "Tian Chua's sin (PKR vice-president) regarding the terrorist intrusion into Lahad Datu and the unholy political cooperation between PAS, PKR and DAP) makeup the seven big sins committed by the opposition.     "If before I announced seven major projects (for Kelantan), today I want to let you know the seven big sins committed by them," he said at a "Bekwoh" (Gatheringwith the People) programme at Sekolah Menengah Tanah Merah 1 here today.    Also present were Kelantan Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, his deputy Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, Kelantan MCA chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Kelantan People's Progressive Party (PPP) chairman Datuk Nik Sapeia Nik Yusof and Tanah Merah Umno, Datuk Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz.

When Musa said what he said Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:11 PM PDT   (fz.com) - So why did Musa say what he said, despite going on record saying "I am still very much an Umno man".   WE all know what Tun Musa Hitam said. Yes recently. Yes, about the country not going bankrupt if a regime change happens after the general election. To recap, the former deputy prime minister had said: "If the opposition were to rule, they would not make foreign investors run away. They will not do so and bankrupt the country."   And he said it would be foolish for anyone to say the country would be destroyed should the opposition come into power. "Do not insult the intelligence of the electorate," he said.   To supporters of Pakatan Rakyat, that is a "very good" endorsement for the opposition pact in their "march to Putrajaya".   To the "neutrals" – well at least those who posted comments on the internet – when big name former Umno leaders make such a statement, it not only lends credence to Pakatan but could also mean "they (the leaders) know what's going to happen and talk of change of government after this GE could very well be true".   And Musa is one such leader who many see as "credible" and with "integrity", thus "highly respected".  And he is also a "gentleman", they say, pointing to his "willingness" to quit the DPM post over "irreconcilable differences with then PM Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad". In short many hold him in awe.   Datuk Ariff Sabri, a former Umno man who was once in PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak's inner circle, has this to say: "Musa has set himself up for a lynching over his comments."    And he added:  "Musa Hitam isn't a man unfamiliar with or afraid of controversy".    That was part of what he posted on his blog Sakmongkol AK47.  Arif was information chief of the Pekan Umno division, whose head is, yes, Najib.  He is now a DAP member.   But according to an Umno strategist, the party does not have to attack Musa. "It's important that Umno does not overkill Musa's statement, let it be," he said, stressing that the party should instead focus on the Pakatan manifesto, calling it "a fraud".    However, "attacking" the Pakatan manifesto is something BN have been doing every chance they get – since the opposition unveiled it weeks ago.   According to news portal Malaysian Insider, BN lawmakers it spoke to reacted with "dismay and cynicism at Musa's assertion that Malaysia will not go bankrupt if Pakatan captures Putrajaya in the next election".   To some political observers, "Pakatan had always expected BN to attack their manifesto. When Najib and everybody in BN hammer it, that would lead to people to want to see what's the manifesto all about. That's why they released the manifesto very early".   Back to the things Musa said. The Umno strategist feels the former DPM's statement "would not have any adverse effect on BN as "Musa is not an economist, one who is not in the economic sphere".  But he agrees that "Musa is credible". Still, he insisted, "even Nobel Prize winners cannot defend the stupidity of that manifesto".   Yet there are many who feel what Musa said is, or can be, damaging to the BN and "is a slap" on the faces of many a BN leader. Almost all in BN – including, or rather especially, Mahathir and Najib – had said the country will "go bust and be destroyed if Pakatan takes over".   Musa did not name names. Neither did he point fingers when he said such remarks were "political statements".   So why did Musa say what he said, despite going on record saying "I am still very much an Umno man".   Perhaps Musa was being Musa. One who speaks his mind, regardless of the official party line (what more he has "quit active politics").  He has always maintained that his actions and statements "are for the good and betterment of the agama, bangsa and negara (religion, people and country)".   Read more at: http://fz.com/content/when-musa-said-what-he-said

PAS Perak: Nizar may not be only choice for MB post Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:08 PM PDT   (fz.com) - Though DAP Perak is openly supporting Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin of PAS as the mentri besar candidate should Pakatan Rakyat win the state in the next general election, it is not certain he will be the only choice for the post.   PAS Perak election director Asmuni Awi said there had been no discussions so far at the state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) level regarding the choice of MB.   "The mentri besar is decided by the Sultan of Perak. We leave it to the Sultan. We will send in names that our leadership feels proper, and eventually the Sultan will decide," he said in an exclusive interview with fz.com today.   As an example, Asmuni said in 2008, the three parties had sent in one name each for the Sultan to decide on, and Nizar was subsequently endorsed.   Asked if any discussion had taken place within PAS on this matter, Asmuni said the issue has not been discussed at the state level, but "we will do that after we cross the line".   "Nothing has been discussed at the Pakatan Rakyat state level. No discussions have taken place, so what I can say is that DAP is supporting Nizar on their own," Asmuni.   Nizar for Changkat Jering?   On whether Nizar is contesting the Changkat Jering state seat, as announced by the PAS Perak deputy youth chief Dr Raja Ahmad Iskandar Al-Hiss last night, Asmuni said the matter had not been decided yet.   He explained that according to the party's plan, Nizar, who is Pasir Panjang state assembly member, may be moving seats, leaving another leader to contest there.   There is, however, a possibility that he could be fielded in Changkat Jering, which is one of the state seats under the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency.   PKR's Osman Jailu contested and won the Changkat Jering seat in the 2008 general election, but later quit the party to become a BN-friendly independent.   Nizar, who is the Bukit Gantang MP, is known to the electorate in the area and may stand a good chance of winning the seat if he contests here.   However, PAS Youth's announcement that Nizar would stand in Changkat Jering caught PKR Perak by surprise, and even Nizar was quoted by Sinar Harian as saying the action (to announce his candidacy) was "naughty".   Asmuni said that the announcement was not endorsed by the state leadership but merely the unilateral stand of the PAS Changkat Jering youth.   "We don't endorse anything yet," Asmuni said, adding that he believed the national leadership could resolve the matter.   PKR Perak state chief Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty also confirmed that the status of the seat is not yet decided.   "It is not yet finalised by central committee level," he said in a phone interview, adding that if Nizar is contesting the seat, PAS would need to swap with PKR another winnable seat.   Asked if the unilateral announcement by PAS Youth showed cracks in the Pakatan Rakyat and within PAS, Asmuni shrugged it off and claimed BN component parties also face the same issue.   "I don't think so; I think the matter will be resolved by the full wisdom of our leadership. The action was taken by the kawasan (division), but not endorsed by the state," he said.   Poser over two seats   Asmuni explained that currently there are two seats that are claimed by both PAS and PKR: Changkat Jering and Bagan Serai parliamentary seat. Both seats were contested and won by PKR in the 2008 general election, but both representatives had defected and became BN-friendly independents.   He said that after the defection, PKR did not have a team or a representative to provide service to the electorate in these constituencies, much to the chagrin of the PAS grassroots leaders here.   Read more at: http://fz.com/content/pas-perak-nizar-may-not-be-only-choice-mb-post

Gambar Anwar Romen Jantan Untuk Alih Perhatian Lanun Sulu? Posted: 15 Mar 2013 11:57 AM PDT   Timbul persoalan, mengapa gambar-gambar tersebut muncul pada saat-saat begini.  The Flying Kick  Sememangnya beberapa hari ini, banyak berita hangat yang berlaku di negara kita. Dan hampir kesemua berita-berita hangat tersebut berlegar-legar di sekitar batang tubuh Anwar Ibrahim. Semunya menjadi begitu 'rancak' semenjak REUTERS mendedahkan kaitan antara Ketua Umum PKR itu dengan lanun-lanun Sulu yang telah menyerang Lahad Datu, Sabah. Kemudian apabila dua orang anggota keselamatan terkorban pada 1 Mac 2013, berita-berita hangat semakin menjadi-jadi. Pelbagai usaha dibuat agar isu lanun-lanun Sulu dapat dialihkan. Pencerobohan lanun-lanun Sulu ke bumi Sabah seperti cuba dihilangkan daripada tumpuan rakyat Malaysia. Dengan Jamalul Kiram III dan Nur Misuari memainkan peranan utama untuk cuba menafikan kewujudan Anwar Ibrahim dalam kejahatan yang mereka timpakan kepada rakyat Malaysia, khususnya penduduk Lahad Datu dan Semporna, individu yang dikaitkan sebagai dalang serangan itu pula, kelihatan tidak begitu rancak lagi berceramah dan menghasut. Sebaliknya dia seperti TUNGGU dan LIHAT. Hanya apabila pendedahan demi pendedahan dibuat oleh portal-portal serta agensi-agensi berita asing, khususnya dari Filipina dan Kanada, barulah Anwar Ibrahim memulakan kaedah reversed iaitu cuba menjadikan segala dakwaan terhadap dirinya sebagai satu bahan jenaka. Dia mengungkit-ngungkit tentang agen Yahudi, agen Zionis, agen Amerika pelopor pluralisme dan liberalisme Islam, penyokong taat LGBT, dan sebagainya yang dituduh kepadanya. Kemudian dia cuba melawakkan tuduhan tersebut dengan menyatakan, KALAU JATUH LANGGAR BATU PUN, ANWAR YANG SALAH. Agak aneh memandangkan itulah kaedah yang telah digunakan oleh Anwar Ibrahim dan para pecacainya selama ini sehinggakan Anwar menutuh lubang jubur Saiful pun, salahnya adalah UMNO. Azmin Ali dan wanita simpanannya main acara aiskrim dalam jamban pun, salah UMNO juga. Khalid Ibrahim jumpa kamera pengintip besar gedabak dalam pejabatnya pun salah UMNO. Sekarang, Anwar memusingkan fakta berkenaan dan cuba menyalahkan segala tuduhan yang dilemparkan kepadanya. Kemunculan bapa Saiful Bukhari, Azlan Mohd Lazim untuk membersihkan namanya daripada tuduhan liwat, tidak cukup kuat kerana semua orang tahu, bekas jaga itu sedang bergelut dengan masalah kewangan yang sangat meruncing. Dan perkara itu disahkan oleh Saiful Bukhari sendiri yang memberi amaran kepada Anwar Ibrahim agar tidak menggunakan wang untuk membeli ahli-ahli keluarganya sepertimana yang dilakukan terhadap bapanya. Sidang media yang diadakan oleh Azlan Mohd Lazim dua hari kemudian, sekali lagi gagal memanfaatkan impak yang sepatutnya wujud. Azlan tidak memunculkan bukti terhadap hujah-hujahnya bahawa Saiful telah dibeli dan dipergunakan oleh orang-orang yang rapat dengan Perdana Menteri dan UMNO. Sebaliknya dia sekadar ingin menunjuk yang dia telah menjadi ahli PKR. Itu sahaja. Kemudian semalam, muncul pula berita tentang kematian P.I Bala yang dikatakan akan melondehkan Najib Abdul Razak dan Rosmah Mansor sehingga ke tulang sum-sum. Kematiannya amat mengejut dan sudah ramai yang meragui punca sebenar kematian P.I. Bala yang sebelum ini terdengar ura-ura yang dia cuba melarikan diri daripada 'jagaan' PKR. Tengah malam tadi, muncul pula gambar-gambar tidak senonoh di sebuah blog yang kelihatan masih baru wujud. Read more at: http://theflyingkick.blogspot.com/2013/03/gambar-anwar-romen-jantan-untuk-alih.html

GE13 Malaysia – Farish Noor Posted: 15 Mar 2013 08:43 AM PDT Greg Lopez, New Mandala 1.       What do you think will be the most important issue that the new government must address? National reconciliation and the re-emphasis on nation-building, education and foreign policy on the basis of universal citizenship and that idea that ALL Malaysians are Malaysian CITIZENS. 2.       What do you think is Barisan Nasional's greatest strength? Its power-sharing policies and culture of compromise between the parties, recognition that no component party can/should go on its own. 3.       What do you think is Barisan Nasional's greatest weakness? Handbag stories, cow stories, etc. All of these will be used against it as BN is facing a subaltern class war by the opposition. 4.       What do you think is Pakatan Rakyat's greatest strength? Anwar Ibrahim. He unites as much as he divides. 5.       What do you think is Pakatan Rakyat's greatest weakness? Anwar Ibrahim. He unites as much as he divides. READ MORE HERE

Lahad Datu – a bizarre crisis Posted: 15 Mar 2013 08:25 AM PDT The sultan should seriously get a life and or get a job. How long can he and his band of merry men last if they continue to go around pretending to be royal consorts of an imaginary kingdom? Iskandar Dzulkarnain, FMT Apparently, our billion-ringgit jet fighters missed their targets, as mopped-up operations failed to turn in any bodies, while the chief of the militant group, "Prince" Agbimuddin Kiram, has appeared on Philippine national TV live in a telephone interview. So, there was no total victory as reported and the siege has not ended. The stand-off is turning more bizarre as the Philippine media reported a conspiracy involving the Philippine opposition under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Coincidentally, the Malaysian government is also pointing its fingers at the involvement of the opposition here. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Sultan Jamalul Kiram III were alleged to have attended the Umno annual general assembly last year, while some Sabah Umno representatives are alleged to have close ties with the Sulu Sultanate. So, it is not merely the case of a simple band of 200 opportunistic marauders landing on Sabah's shores with the high hopes of staking a claim on Sabah. Apparently, there is more at stake involving the governments or opposition of both countries. "Princess" Jacel Karim of the Sulu Sultanate has come up with contradicting statements, adamant that the Malaysian government has agreed in principle to pay compensation to the Sulu Sultanate, a few months before the onset of this conflict. She is also reportedly unhappy with the terrorist label and claims that the intruders are armed with the "truth". "Sultan" Jamalul Kiram III describes the 200 intruders as the "Royal Sulu Army" – men of honour, disciplined, peace-loving, who have returned to stake their claim on their long-lost homeland. They want to live among Sabahans, share their land with us including the riches and spoils of Sabah. They also want to install a Sultanate and enforce the Syariah code. Sabahans can also look forward to a Sultanate and become his loyal subjects. Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chief Nur Misuari seems to be taking a great interest in the crisis by initially offering to mediate a ceasefire. Later, he warned that MNLF will not sit idly by and watch the Malaysian army annihilate the intruders. President Benigno Aquino III will not be forgiven for standing back while Malaysia rained bombs on Filipino citizens in Sabah, Nur Misuari has said. "Aquino should be more decisive and stop Malaysia's attack on Jamalul's men in Sabah instead of siding with his southern neighbour. What he has done is very bad." "And for what reason is he [Aquino] aligning this country with Malaysia, a colonial power occupying the land of our people? I am totally against that with all my soul. The country will be in total chaos if they [Malaysia] arrest the Sultan, I promise you." A mischief-maker From his statement, Nur Misuari is adamant on prolonging this conflict for whatever reason best known to him. And basing on his actions, Nur Misuari has proven himself to be a mischief-maker bent on war and destruction. Why would anyone want to quote him defies the imagination. The Philippines and Malaysia should leave him alone to his little toys and avid imaginations of grandeur. Ironically, the Christian Filipino government has just signed a peace treaty with the Muslim rebels, signalling a ceasefire in the Southern Philippines. Are the restless freedom-fighters now eyeing other easy targets to the South? About 800,000 Filipinos from the Tausog tribe are known to be residing in East Malaysia with many holding blue ICs and citizenship. The MNLF has warned that another 10,000 Tausogs have set sailed for the coast of Sabah to reinforce the 200 intruding militants. The USS Guardian, an American warship that ran aground in the Sulu Sea three weeks before the invasion, has set off speculation that the US may be involved, and equated the incident to the migration of the Sulu militants to Sabah. Whatever it is, Sabah has chosen to unite under the Malaysian federation in 1963 and it is an undeniable part of Malaysia. Malaysia should not entertain any opportunists, whether the Sultan of Sulu or the Filipino government, that are trying to stake a vague claim on Sabah. Whether there was any conspiracy in the Lahad Datu stand-off, the Malaysian government must move quickly to resolve this crisis before it blows out of proportion. An alternative is to provide a safety corridor for all the militants to return to the sea peacefully. Porous borders All foreigners without valid documents should be asked to leave Sabah before our government embarks on a high-profile operation to crack down and rein in all the illegals. Besides, there should not be any illegals residing in Sabah or anywhere else in Malaysia, according to the law. Secondly, the Malaysian navy should take concrete steps to seal our porous borders against any future illegal intrusions. Trade can continue as long as foreigners are in possession of legal documents. It is time to solve Sabah's longstanding immigrant problems once and for all. We believe that the majority of legal Filipino Malaysians residing in Sabah would be loyal to Malaysia and would not want any conflict to jeopardise the peace and tranquillity of the state which they have chosen to call their homeland. In short, they are no more Filipinos but legal Malaysian citizens who speak the Malay language, like what former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said. READ MORE HERE

Waiting to gobble up Selangor Posted: 15 Mar 2013 08:20 AM PDT In BN's mission to regain Selangor, three major factors are used as weapons. They can be classified as the 3Ws: water, welfare and waste.  Najib's special project has always been to get back Selangor after having successfully regained Perak through diabolical means. Selena Tay, FMT The Selangor State Legislative Assembly will be automatically dissolved on April 22. This has lent some credence to the rumours that polling for the 13th general election will be held in April, adding fuel to fire that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had the April month in mind since the beginning of this year as he had planned to get back Selangor after the general election. Polling in the month of April will thus prevent the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government from going for separate polls. With the Selangor electoral roll being the dirtiest in the whole of Malaysia, the tremendous advantage certainly belongs to Barisan Nasional. Recently, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who holds the state seat of Ijok, located in the parliamentary seat of Kuala Selangor (held by PAS MP, Dzulkefly Ahmad), has highlighted some facts in regard to the discrepancy in the electoral roll. Khalid brought to light that in Bestari Jaya Utara in Ijok, the population stands at 1,788 but the number of voters is 3,589. "It certainly does not make any sense that voters can outnumber the population who will surely include those below the voting age of 21 and those who are not even registered voters," said Khalid, who is also the Bandar Tun Razak MP. PAS Shah Alam MP, Khalid Samad, said that Najib always avoid issues concerning the electoral roll. "I am of the view that the Election Commission [EC] will be used by BN as the main weapon to stay in power. All the efforts spearheaded by the Pakatan Selangor government in collaboration with Bersih to clean up the electoral roll have been ignored by the EC and the BN federal government is also silent on this matter," said Khalid. This shows that the EC could not be bothered whether the electoral roll is clean and accurate or not. "The EC is acting in BN's interests and this is wrong. I wish to remind the chairman and deputy chairman of the EC not to be the enemy of the state," added Khalid. BN's Machiavellian politics wherein the end justifies the means is only all too obvious. In Perak, BN stole the Silver State using the frog service and in Selangor it will be the phantom and alien factors. Foreign workers as voters "Currently, the BN federal government is bringing in more Bangladeshi workers. This is because the Bangladeshis who have obtained their Malaysian citizenship can be relied upon to vote for the incumbent government because they know nothing about the Malaysian political scenario. "[On the other hand], the Indonesians who have stayed here a long time sometimes may prefer to vote for the opposition as they know that price increase in goods will affect their income," said a PKR strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that PKR grassroots workers had obtained this information from survey conducted among the Indonesians. Therefore this simply means that the prime minister is being economical on the truth. He talks about "moderation, model democracy, noble values" and so on and so forth, but his words are empty and meaningless because at the back of it all, he intends to strangle and kill off Pakatan by using or rather misusing the government's heavy machinery. Najib's special project has always been to get back Selangor after having successfully regained Perak through diabolical means. READ MORE HERE

In Came Tun Musa Posted: 14 Mar 2013 08:30 PM PDT A Kadir Jasin NOT all economic, financial, monetary and fiscal measures proposed by the Pakatan Rakyat pact are sound or practical. Some could have undesirable effects on the well being of the country if implemented. But these are promises and, like all election promises, they are not cast in stone. Even the Barisan Nasional had, over its long rule, amended and abolished some of its cherished policies and programmes. That the BN leaders and supporters quickly lampooned and berated the PR economic agenda as set out in its 2013 General Election Manifesto is only to be expected. Both the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, and (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, were reported as saying that the PR economic agenda was impractical and could bankrupt the country. In his blog posting entitled 'Change', Dr Mahathir, among other things, wrote: "Five years for the (PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) or (PAS president Abdul) Hadi (Awang) -led opposition to govern is dangerous. Many things can be destroyed in five years. We have some experience in this. "Already we see this person who claims to fight for free speech suing and resorting to the courts to shut the mouths of his critics. Other powers of the government will be similarly abused. "Nepotism and cronyism will be employed as indeed they are in the party he now heads." Musa Came to PR Defence   What is not expected is for the former Deputy Prime Minister, (Tun) Musa Hitam, to join the fray and contradict Mohd Najib's and Dr Mahathir's assertion. In a March 13 report headlined 'Pakatan regime won't bankrupt nation, says Musa Hitam', the Malaysian Insider news portal quoted him as saying, Malaysia would not become bankrupt if PR trumps the BN in the race for Putrajaya in the GE. Knowing Musa-Anwar relationship, I believe the statement is less about endorsing Anwar and his People's Pact than about resurrecting his long-drawn rivalry with Dr Mahathir. Although Musa was for five years – from 1981 to 1986 - Dr Mahathir's deputy, there is little genuine respect between them. So, with Dr Mahathir positioning himself as Mohd Najib's 'panglima' (warrior) in the battle against Anwar in the GE, Musa is set to resume his diatribe against his former boss. After resigning as Sime Darby's chairman, Musa is free of all links with the government and, therefore, free to speak as he likes. Furthermore, Musa was appointed to the board of Sime Darby not by Mohd Najib but by (Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. READ MORE HERE

Police raid Suara Keadilan office Posted: 14 Mar 2013 06:14 PM PDT The raid is said to be in connection with Tian Chua's twitter message last week alleging that the Lahad Datu intrusion was staged by Umno. Alyaa Azhar and Priscilla Prasena, FMT Suara Keadilan, the official mouthpiece of PKR, was raided this morning by a group of six policemen. The web portal reported that six policemen raided its office, checking computers at about 10.15 this morning. "They [the police] are an investigating team from Johor Baru," the website said, adding that the raid was in connection with Tian Chua's statement on Lahad Datu which was uploaded by Keadilan Daily on March 1. Yesterday, the PKR vice-president was charged with sedition at the Sessions Court for allegedly attributing the bloodbath in Lahad Datu to an Umno conspiracy. Deputy Public Prosecutor Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim claimed in court that Tian Chua committed the offence when he labelled the Lahad Datu intrusion as an Umno conspiracy, adding that the incident had raised questions and doubts on Umno's "shadow play" (wayang mainan). Tian Chua was also charged with describing the Sulu gunmen's incursion as a government plot to frighten the people and for alleging that Umno was trying to divert people's attention from the issuance of identification cards to foreigners in Sabah. Some of the remarks were published in a Keadilan Daily article titled "Insiden Tembak-Menembak Konspirasi Umno" dated March 3. The web portal also said several Suara Keadilan staff were on duty at the second floor of the building in Jalan Metro Pudu, Cheras, when the police came knocking. "They notified the staff that they were there to confiscate computers which were used to upload the Batu MP's statement. They also showed a warrant allowing them to search the premises," the portal said. Written notes However, lawyer Latheefa Koya, who was contacted by the portal staff, told them to tell the police to deal with her. "After contacting Latheefa, the policemen then said they wanted written notes of Keadilan Daily reporter Aisha Geoffrey, who was called twice previously to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters to give her statement. "However, Aisha was on leave today. The police then left without taking anything after half-an-hour and told the staff that they will wait for Aisha to return to work," the portal said. READ MORE HERE

Himpunan ‘Anwar dalang Lahad Datu’ depan Masjid Negara Posted: 14 Mar 2013 06:09 PM PDT Antara NGO terbabit Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa, Jalur Tiga, Tolak Individu Bernama Anwar Ibrahim serta Jaringan Melayu Malaysia. Jamilah Kamarudin, FMT Cubaan mengaitkan Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sebagai dalang krisis keselamatan di Lahad Datu, Sabah secara terbuka bermula dengan himpunan di Masjid Negara tengahari tadi. Siri jelajah 'Anwar Dalang Lahad Datu' anjuran badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) berhaluan kanan itu bermatlamat meyakinkan orang awam supaya menolak Pakatan Rakyat dalam pilihan raya umum (PRU) 13 kerana menjadi punca pencerobohan 'Sultan Sulu' di Lahad Datu. Antara NGO terbabit Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa (Perkasa), Jalur Tiga (Jati), Tolak Individu Bernama Anwar Ibrahim (Tibai) serta Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM). Selain Anwar, beberapa pemimpin Pakatan termasuk Naib Presiden PKR Tian Chua juga dibidas kerana kenyataannya mengaitkan Umno dengan insiden tembakan antara anggota keselamatan dengan kumpulan penceroboh. "Kita takkan biarkan Tian Chua berkuasa…lepas PRU kita humban dia dalam longkang," laung Mursyidul Am Tibai Zahid Mat Arip dihadapan kira-kira 100 orang selepas menunaikan solat Jumaat. Menjadikan lori sebagai pentas bergerak untuk ceramah, nyanyian lagu 'Negaraku' serta bendera Jalur Gemilang turut diagihkan kepada umum. Presiden Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali ketika berucap mendesak supaya segera diwujudkan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) mengenai isu Lahad Datu. Katanya, semua pihak termasuk anggota keselamatan dan pembangkang perlu dipanggil membantu siasatan. `Wujudkan kertas putih' "Kita mesti desak wujudkan kertas putih untk hilang keraguan siapa dalang di sebalik insiden Lahad Datu. "Kalau tak berbagai tuduhan akan terus berlaku dan takkan selesaikan masalah," katanya. READ MORE HERE

Kee Thuan Chye and Shen Yee Aun Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:41 PM PDT   Anas Zubedy    Kee is a 58 year old Baby Boomer and renowned writer of a best seller. Shen (better known as SYA) a Gen Y and only 26 years of age but is actively writing via his blog and the social media. Kee is proficient in English, SYA in Bahasa Malaysia. But both of them share one common vision – a better Malaysia. While they may share a common Vision, they differ in terms of politics. SYA is obviously MCA and Kee is perceptibly a DAPster (borrowing Helen Ang's categorization). Kee recently wrote an open letter to Chua Soi Lek (click http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/guest-columnists/37380-open-letter-to-chua-soi-lek ) and SYA responded with an article (click http://1sya.com/?p=1720 ). Some say that SYA's counter arguments made Kee's points not only shaky, but on the verge of being 'bullshit' ie the title of the latter's best seller, 'No More Bullshit'. Kee should be given a chance to clear himself.   SYA has challenge Kee for a debate. Personally, I am not into debates among politicians and those who talk politics - unless it is in the parliament. To me debates are good for the academia and academicians. But Kee should at least write back and defend his article. At the least it would be nice to see rationale and mature discussion between someone from the 'old school' and another representing 'the new and the young'.  The 'old' and the 'young' should see themselves as 'equals' and face-off each other as fellow Malaysians for the betterment of the nation.

13th GE may reflect ‘fallout’ from Lahad Datu Standoff Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:27 PM PDT   Someone or some party may want the Suluks in particular out of the 13th GE. Are the loyalties of these people to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suddenly suspect?  Joe Fernandez It cannot be denied that for various reasons the on-going Lahad Datu Standoff may have an effect on the forthcoming 13th General Election results in Sabah. The jury is still out on the question of who stands to "gain" most and who stands to "lose" i.e. if the General Election in eastern Sabah is held at the same time as in the rest of the Territory and country. Judging from former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh's reported appeal letter this week to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Onn, the police are seizing the Malaysian personal documents of Suluks in Semporna and Lahad Datu and tearing them up before their very eyes. Apparently, these documents include IMM13 immigration documents issued to refugees and MyPRs or the red-coloured Permanent Residence Identity Cards. If so, someone or some party may want the Suluks in particular out of the 13th GE. Are the loyalties of these people to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suddenly suspect? Philippine news reports speak only of the Suluk fleeing as "refugees" to the nearby Philippine islands and of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah being sent back in the wake of the revelations at the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the extraordinary rise in the state's population in recent decades. Among the reported demands of one Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, the main figure in the Lahad Datu Standoff, is that the Sulu people in Sabah not be deported to the Philippines "since they were in their own country (Sabah)". Why did Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice president Tian Chua claim, not once, but on several occasions that the Lahad Datu Standoff is a conspiracy hatched by Umno?   Four seditious statements attributed to Tian Chua The sedition charges brought against Tian Chua on Thurs 14 Mar, 2013 attributed four statements to him as follows: 1. The shooting in Lahad Datu is believed to be a planned conspiracy of the Umno government to divert attention and intimidate the people. 2. The incident has raised many questions and doubts as to the drama staged by the Umno government. 3. Described the intrusion in Lahad Datu as only a drama of the government to intimidate the people to make it seem that Sabah is not peaceful. The intrusion in Lahad Datu was only a drama of the government to intimidate the people to make it seem that Sabah is not peaceful. 4. There is a conspiracy by the Umno government to divert the attention of the Sabah people, particularly from the issue of giving identity cards to foreigners. Tian Chua was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 and can be penalized under Section 4(1) of the same act which provides for a maximum fine of RM5, 000 or up to three years in jail, or both, upon conviction for the first offence, and up to five years jail for subsequent offences.   Don's statement should be read together with purported Tian Chua statements Tian Chua's purported statements should be read together with that by, for example, Dr. Gerhard Hoffstaedter of the University of Queensland, Australia, who shared his take on Tues 12 Mar, 2013 with the Voice of Russia "on the armed conflict in the Malaysian state of Sabah, where a ragtag band of fighters from the so-called Royal Army of the Sultan of Sulu clashed with Malaysian troops". "Now, PM Najib's approval ratings have been going down quite rapidly over the last couple of weeks, so he is unlikely to call it (GE) now," according to Hoffstaedter . "A standoff in Sabah could delay elections certainly in Sabah perhaps, maybe even in the entire country, it could show a force on his part, could reassert him, could give him a bounce back in the polls. I mean these are some of the questions being asked - why now?" Hoffstaedter adds that "these claims from the sultanate of Sulu have been there for a very long time and the timing does seem either suspicious or odd at least and raise questions especially because his (Najib's) poll showings are quite bad" The Opposition, noted Hoffstaedter, has worked very hard since already shaking up the establishment in 2008 in the last election when they denied the ruling coalition a 2/3 majority, which it had enjoyed since independence, "and a lot of observers expect the opposition if not to outright win, to cause another major shakeup in Malaysian politics at the next elections". Tian Chua being charged comes amidst speculation that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim may be arrested for his long-standing links with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Leader Nur Misuari and, by extension, his purported links to the Lahad Datu Standoff.   Nur Misuari's about-turn on Lahad Datu interesting Nur Misuari, probably alarmed that Anwar may indeed be arrested, has been singing a different tune in recent days. In a statement on Wed 13 Mar, 2013, MNLF Chairman Muslimin Sema declared that his organization "respects and recognizes the decision taken by the people of Sabah to form Malaysia in 1963". If only it was true! No referendum was held in Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Malays on Malaysia. Earlier, after Lahad Datu erupted into an armed uprising, Nur Misuari warned Najib not be big-headed, warned him against targeting the forces of the so-called Royal Sulu Army (RSA) in Sabah and further warned that the MNLF would not hesitate to send forces to Lahad Datu to fight alongside the so-called Sulu Sultan's forces. In another bizarre statement, Nur Misuari claimed that Sarawak belonged to him from the time of his great-great grandfather or something to that effect. Now, Nur Misuari is claiming that the MNLF forces in Lahad Datu, apparently disguised as the RSA, went there without his knowledge.   Suluk, Bajau complain of marginalization, disenfranchisement The bottomline is that the pro-tem United Sabah National Organization (Usno) under Badaruddin Mustapha, the son of a former Governor and Chief Minister, has evidently been making some headway in Suluk areas in particular in alliance with the State Reform Party (Star) led by Jeffrey Kitingan. Usno candidates are expected to stand under a common independent symbol and/or under Star. There's also talking of Star "loaning" candidates to Usno, whatever it means. Suluk and Bajau community leaders were the only ones who agreed in 1963 to the formation of Malaysia. Since then, they have been complaining of marginalization and disenfranchisement following the continuing influx of Bugis illegal immigrants – Najib's community -- in particular from Sulawesi in Indonesia. To add insult to injury, the Pala'u or Bajau Laut (sea gypsies) along the eastern seaboard of Sabah continues to remain stateless. The Usno is trying to take up their cause but to no avail, according to Usno vice president Abdullah Sani. It has been estimated that at least 12 state seats were created in the aftermath of 1994, the fall of the PBS Government, based on MyKads issued to those who were not eligible to hold them and not entitled to obtain them. The 12 state seats saw the number of Muslim-majority seats in Sabah increasing to 32 from 20, while the number of Orang Asal seats remained at 20 and Chinese at 8. There are 60 seats in the Sabah Assembly while this Nation in Borneo has 26 seats including Labuan in the Malaysian Parliament. Besides, the 20 original Muslims seats were held by Usno before the party was deregistered and Umno took its place.   Jeffrey admitted meeting a Sulu claimant last year Usno is determined to wrest back these 20 seats and has indicated it has no interest in the other 12 Muslim-majority seats. PKR, it's known, has been working these 12 state seats besides other Muslim and non-Muslim seats in Sabah. It's not known whether Star will be vying for the said 12 seats since the party, under its Plan Z, had previously said to would, together with Usno, go for all 60 state seats in Sabah and the 26 Parliamentary seats including Labuan. Jeffrey has also admitted in a recent press statement that he did meet in mid last year in Kota Kinabalu with a claimant to the Sulu Sultanship – not Jamalul Kiram III -- who wanted him to attend his coronation in the Philippines. He declined the invitation.   Joe Fernandez is a mature student of law and an educationist, among others, who loves to write especially Submissions for Clients wishing to Act in Person. He feels compelled, as a semi-retired journalist, to put pen to paper -- or rather the fingers to the computer keyboard -- whenever something doesn't quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview). He shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, northern Sarawak and the watershed region in Borneo where three nations meet.

NGO Activists & Political Opportunism Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:15 PM PDT   Dr Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser   Wong Tack's decision to enter the political arena under the DAP banner should be respected. I did the same in 1990 with 25 other civil rights activists. There is however, one important difference. Our then leader Mr Lim Fong Seng was the Chairman of Dong Zong. He was also the de facto leader of the civil rights movement. When we decided to enter the political arena, he resigned his post in Dong Zong forthwith and so did the rest of us from our posts in the civil rights movement.   The point we were making was clear. We would be taking civil rights issues into the political arena but the civil rights movement must go on as before as a non-partisan movement, ready to defend civil rights whichever political coalition is in power. This was our declaration at the "818 Democratic Uprising" on 18 August 1990: "…While we have taken this political road, we would like to reaffirm the important role that pressure groups and NGOs have to play in a democratic society for ultimately, the particular pressure group knows best and will be prepared to fight for the issue at hand. Thus, the women's movement is spearheading the struggle for women's rights, the civil rights movement does the same for our civil rights, the unions champion workers' rights, etc….We hope the community will continue to press for the democratic demands and promote inter-cultural understanding based on mutual respect and common values." (Kua Kia Soong, 'The Malaysian Civil Rights Movement', SIRD 2005: 98)   Any Movement or NGO has to be Non-Partisan Political parties and politicians can twist and turn, come and go but movements such as the workers' movement, women's movement, civil rights movement and the green movement must go on forever. Politicians like to spout the platitude that "politics is the art of the possible" but movements must bear pressure on them to make their demands possible.   Now, before Wong Tack has even started his career as a politician, he is already faced with his first dilemma. The Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim has demonstrated the "art of the possible" by declaring that if PR comes into power, Lynas will be given a chance to prove the plant's safety. This is a far cry from PR's previous declaration that they would close the plant down if they come into power and Wong Tack himself vowing to burn the damned plant down himself!   Wong Tack has since backtracked but we have not heard the stand by the Himpunan Hijau committee. Is it because they are so caught up with the political hoopla they have also stepped down a notch from their previous uncompromising stand? It's time they found their own voice now that their erstwhile chairperson has gone on to pursue his political career.   More Turbulence Ahead for Green Movement The wave of activism and awareness about green issues in recent months has been unprecedented and that is a tribute to Himpunan Hijau's efforts in opposing the noxious Lynas plant at Kuantan. It has linked up to the struggles at Bukit Koman, Pengerang and even the uplands of Sarawak. However, the need for a non-partisan movement is underscored by the political values of both BN and PR to suck up to multi-national corporations and the big developers in their race to see which administration can attract more investors. This is fatal to the green movement. Thus, we see the readiness to compromise with Lynas. Then there will the decision about the other toxic industries to be seduced to take up the excess energy from the mega dams in Sarawak. Will the "art of the possible" also result in PR accommodating these other mega dams?   PR has so far not only failed to tell us their defence policy, they have also not elaborated on a sustainable energy policy apart from withdrawing subsidies to the IPPs. These have grave consequences for the green movement.   Then, instead of waiting for a PR takeover of the federal government before implementing people-centred public transport system in Penang, the state government there has gone ahead and signed the contract for the tunnel project and more highways for the island. They have tried to justify this by saying that they do not want to be a "do nothing" administration. If that is the case, their role model must surely be Dr Mahathir they have ravaged all these years.   Furthermore, the green movement has to take up the issue of gross deforestation by the Kelantan and Kedah state governments besides the abuse of our forest lands by the BN government. The movement can only do its work if it is non-partisan.   And talking about land, the green movement has to bear in mind that the recognition and protection of Orang Asli customary land rights is part of their concern if they are truly committed to a green agenda. While the BN government has been tardy in protecting Orang Asli land rights, PR's Buku Jingga and election manifesto are also silent on the Orang Asli land rights. Meanwhile, the Orang Asli are fighting a court battle against the Kelantan state government over their land rights.       Watch out! The Rich are bankrolling both Coalitions! The root of the problem is, the rich and super-rich are smarter than you think. Ever since the political tsunami of 2008, they have been backing both horses, the BN and PR. Thus, apart from getting their mega projects approved in BN-run states, they are also feted in the PR-run states for both coalitions are committed to neo-liberal policies and bending over backwards to attract investments so that they can boast that they are more "investors-friendly"! The rich are laughing all the way to the bank…   Thus, notice that both coalitions do not have any progressive fiscal policy to finance people-friendly public projects such as housing, health, transport and other social policies. Just look at elections in the developed countries – there contending political parties' fiscal policies are the bone of contention. Parties have to tell us where the revenue is coming from and not fling goodies and freebies at us without justifying where the revenue is coming from. Furthermore, can PR tell us if they are going to buy those Typhoons from BAE costing more than 5 billion ringgit if they come into power? Are we purchasing any more submarines? Can these be cut so that we have more money to spend on education, transport and other public expenditure? How much defence expenditure are they going to cut?   It's amazing – in the most capitalist country in the world, viz. the US, Obama is prepared to tax the rich. Even Warren Buffet, one of the richest people in the US, feels the rich should be taxed at a higher marginal rate than the rest of us. But in our country, the rich carry on as usual, whichever coalition is in power!   SOP for NGO Activists Wong Tack is certainly not the first NGO activist to go into the political arena. Ever since the political tsunami in 2008, many NGO activists have been seduced into the glamorous career in government while other lean and hungry YB wannabes are hopefully biding their time.   I say good luck to them. The only standard operating procedure they should bear in mind is that, when they venture into the political arena, they should resign from their posts in the movement or NGO as a matter of course.

My political thoughts during the Hunger Viratham Day Four Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:07 PM PDT   There are six major proposals in Hindraf's 5 year blueprint. The first 5 are specific to programs and recommendations that directly impact the lives of the Indian poor. The sixth proposal is however universal in its implications to all of Malaysian society and is clearly a proposal that when realized will make Malaysia a mature democracy.   P. Waythamoorthy   This is the fourth day of my Hunger Viratham. Today I have begun limiting my talking. I spend my time in prayers, thinking, writing and resting.   In this third part I will be penning my thoughts on the contributions that Hindraf is making and has made to move Malaysia to be a true democracy.   Part 3   Hindraf is moving Malaysia towards true democracy   There are six major proposals in Hindraf's 5 year blueprint. The first 5 are specific to programs and recommendations that directly impact the lives of the Indian poor. The sixth proposal is however universal in its implications to all of Malaysian society and is clearly a proposal that when realized will make Malaysia a mature democracy.   The sixth proposal in the Blueprint reads:   6. Bringing Human Rights Practice in Malaysia up to International Standards   1)        To bring the standard of Malaysian law to be consistent with international human rights law and international humanitarian law by signing and ratifying the following International Covenants of the United Nations and then to adjust the Malaysian laws to be consistent with our commitment to these International laws..    ·                International Covenant  on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) ·                International Covenant on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)   2)        To adopt the guiding principles as set forth in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement by the United Nations.   The implications of the signing and ratification of these UN Covenants obliges Malaysia to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Parties are obliged to not discriminate on the basis of race, not to sponsor or defend racism, and to prohibit racial discrimination within their jurisdictions. They must also review their laws and policies to ensure that they do not discriminate on the basis of race, and commit to amending or repealing those that do.   This sixth demand in our blueprint is clearly consistent with all the Human Rights work that Hindraf has been doing. These Human Rights legislations are protective laws. Malaysia is a multicultural, multiethnic society and  is vulnerable to manipulations of greedy elements within.   Just look at what has happened in our country. An institutionalized racist regime has developed since the inception of the nation. Dr. Benjamin Bowling of School of Law, King's College London defines Institutionalized racism thus: Institutionalised racism is the process by which people from ethnic minorities are systematically discriminated against by a range of public and private bodies. If the result or outcome of established laws, customs or practices is racially discriminatory, then institutional racism can be said to have occurred.   The hallmarks of the institutionalized racist regime in our country are: a)        The Federal Constitution basically establishes 2 classes of citizens, vide Article 153, the root of the racist system.  b)        The State sanctions racist and religious extreme laws and policies c)        The State controls the Government Administration through one racial and religious group d)        The State channels most funds for economic/education/social development programs and licenses, permits etc., to one             race e)        The State controls Religious freedom to the disadvantage of non-Muslims, imposes of Muslim religious laws on non-              Muslims and extends the jurisdiction of the Syaria Courts onto non-Muslims. f)         The State sponsors violence and threats of violence both directly and indirectly (outsourced) on the citizens to create             fear among the non-Malay non-Muslims. g)        The State sanctions draconian, punitive laws and gives blank cheques to the Police to make arbitrary arrests of             dissenters. h)        The State explicitly and implicitly declares that the Malays  are the masters  (Malay Supremacy) and the sons of soil.   All of this is in direct contravention to the stipulations of the International laws. Hindraf in including this into the Blueprint is boldly speaking up for all Malaysians.   The Blueprint document that boldly calls for the establishment of a set of laws that will eliminate racism in our country is categorized as a narrow race-centred document by our detractors. Both BN and Pakatan today are not inclined to open their mouths on these issues now or ever. Yet they can call themselves " Beyond Racial Boundaries" and "1Malaysia" and turn around and brand Hindraf as a racist or an extremist organization.   In addition to these demands in the Blueprint, much of what Hindraf pursues relates to changes that are fundamental in nature. It is our belief that only changes that are fundamental can promote the cause of true democracy. Instead what we get today that which is called change and progress towards more democracy are cosmetic changes, one upmanship changes or just simple face changes. What we need are some fundamental changes like: Clear and unambiguous commitment to the principles of Equality for all as stipulated in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution as in the original Reid Commission submission. Strict adherence to the original spirit and intention of the Malaysian Constitution .  Constitutional amendments  to incorporate a truly impartial and independent Constitutional Court .  Increased checks and balances to maintain integrity of the key institutions of the Government. To implement new economic programs to benefit all Malaysians irrespective of   race and religion. To provide protection for minority rights. To give Borneo states their promised autonomy as per the 1963 Malaysia agreement. To adopt and ratify all International Human   rights treaties and to abolish all repressive laws. These are some of the fundamental changes that Hindraf struggles for. In doing this Hindraf is promoting the cause of a more mature democracy in our country, of a more robust and prosperous Malaysia for all. The reality of Malaysia is it is a multicultural and multiethnic nation. The way forward is more fundamental change consistent with this reality. If all we tinker around with is some nominal change at the fringes we are going to be getting more of the same for years to come. Those that wish to see our demise cast us as a narrow racist organization, inspite of the fcat that we struggle to promote democracy boldly. They use a convoluted definition of racism to cast us thus. We we stand up for the victims of institutionalized racism, and in which book of true learning does that constitute racism. The basis for truth cannot be who can shout louder.

PI Bala passes away Posted: 14 Mar 2013 04:24 PM PDT Private investigator P Balasubramaniam, who rocked the nation which his statutory declarations on the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, has passed away. (FMT) - Private investigator P Balasubramaniam, who rocked the nation which his statutory declarations on the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, has passed away. When contacted, both PKR vice-president N Surendran and Subang MP R Sivarasa confirmed this. Sivarasa said, via Twitter, that Balasubramaniam passed away in a clinic in Rawang which he went to after suffering from breathing difficulties. "He was scheduled for a bypass surgery in about three weeks. Pending medication and treatment, Balasubramaniam had a follow-up with his doctors this morning in SJMC and looked fine. Unfortunately, he had breathing difficulties at about 1.30pm," he wrote. Balasubramaniam's friend, M Sadasivam, 57, also confirmed to FMT that the former went for a check up at Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) this morning. "They found that he was doing fine and sent him home. Once home, he had lunch and took his medication. Right after that, he was on the couch watching TV when suddenly he complained of chest pain and was short of breath," he said. Sadasivam said that Balasubramaniam's wife first refused a post mortem and took the body home from the Sungai Buloh Hospital. Sivarasa later advised the wife that it was best to take the body back to the hospital for a post mortem. Balasubramaniam's remains have been taken to the hospital again for a post-mortem. It is not certain when his funeral would be held. Black magic? Balasubramaniam suffered heart problems on March 5 and was admitted to the SJMC. He was discharged on March 12. In his first statutory declaration, he had implicated Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Altantuya. He then retracted his allegation in a second SD, following which he left the country. Upon his return recently, Balasubramaniam swore on the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita that the contents of his first SD was true. Only on Tuesday, Bala told FMT that he would rest for at least a month following his mild heart attack last week, putting the breaks on the opposition's plans for his nationwide ceramah before the 13th general election. READ MORE HERE

‘Where did the Sultan get money from?’ Posted: 14 Mar 2013 03:20 PM PDT The former premier says that "some people" would think an invasion would be beneficial to them. Anisah Shukry, FMT How did a poor man like the Sultan of Sulu amass enough money to mount an armed incursion into a foreign country? Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad posed this question today when asked to respond to claims of a third party's possible involvement in the Royal Sulu Army's attacks on Sabah. "The question is this: all operations cost money. If you are completely bankrupt I don't think you can mount an invasion. So where does the money come from?" he asked. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had previously said in an interview that Philipine president Benigno Aquino had informed him that the people behind the Lahad Datu attacks were quite poor. "They certainly don't have the means to launch such an operation against Malaysia and, therefore, he thinks they are funded from somewhere," Najib had said on the "Conversation with the PM" programme aired on TV3. Mahathir suggested today that "some people" would think an invasion would somehow benefit them, although he stopped short of naming them. "This is a question I personally want to ask and I think the police want to know where the money has come from," he added. READ MORE HERE

Pakatan will shut down Lynas, says Fuziah Posted: 14 Mar 2013 12:44 PM PDT The Kuantan MP said that the rare earth plant should be allowed to operate in Malaysia even if there is small chance it is safe. G Vinod, FMT PKR vice president Fuziah Salleh said  today that Pakatan Rakyat would shut down Lynas (M) Sdn Bhd if it wins federal power in the general election. She also said that Pakatan's recently launched manifesto was crystal clear about it and reiterated that Lynas should not be allowed to operate in Gebeng or anywhere else in Malaysia. "Even if there is a slight chance that Lynas is safe, it still shouldn't be there.The plant was built on peat soil, with the underground water flowing less than a metre deep from the surface. "In addition, the plant is built too near to the  residents, river and the sea," said Fuziah On Tuesday, PKR supremo, Anwar Ibrahim told the Sydney Morning Herald that Lynas would be allowed to operate if it is found safe. Fuziah, who is also Kuantan MP, said that she would remain firm to her conviction as she was one of the earliest elected leader to oppose Lynas in the Parliament since 2008. She also said that the right place for Lynas to operate would be  in the middle of the Australian desert. "That is where the toxic radioactive waste can be returned to its place of origin, which is in Mount Weld in Western Australia," said Fuziah. READ MORE HERE

Himpunan Hijau divided over Wong Tack’s polls debut Posted: 14 Mar 2013 12:26 PM PDT Kong See Hoh, The Sun Daily Himpunan Hijau is divided over its chairman Wong Tack's (pix) decision to contest in the 13th general election (GE13), with naysayers asking him to quit his post and threatening to leave the environmental group. According to an Oriental Daily News report today, Himpunan Hijau steering committee member Clement Chin said some of the panel members were against Wong contesting in the elections but did not have the courage to speak up. Instead, they have chosen to stay away from the committee meetings where Wong received endorsement to contest, he said. Chin pointed out that 70% of the 10 central steering committee members who gave Wong the thumbs-up are either DAP or Parti Keadilan Rakyat members. He said the endorsement by the 10 does not reflect the wishes of the majority of the steering committee members. He told the daily he and other naysayers are considering quitting Himpunan Hijau or launching a protest to keep the group non-partisan. On Tuesday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced that Wong will be contesting the Bentong parliamentary seat under the party's ticket. Bentong is held by MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who is also health minister. Stressing that Himpunan Hijau can work with political parties but not for them, Chin said Wong should resign from his post. He urged Himpunan Hijau to re-elect a new chief, saying the environment group should remain independent and non-partisan. Suaram director Dr Kua Kia Soong, who left a civil rights group to join DAP in the 90s, also felt Wong should resign from his post as he cannot represent Himpunan Hijau in the race for the Bentong seat, and should contest in his personal capacity. Meanwhile, political analyst Datuk Cheah See Kian said Wong should make it clear whether he is contesting in his personal capacity, for Himpunan Hijau or DAP. On Wong's chances, he said it remains to be seen if he can create an upset in a "mixed" constituency where bumiputras, who are known to be less enthusiastic than Chinese about green issues, account for more than 40% of the electorate.

The Chua Tian Chang Sedition Case Posted: 14 Mar 2013 09:16 AM PDT The Choice PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang has been charged with, and claimed trial to sedition, for allegedly claiming that Umno staged the Sulu invasion into Sabah. The essence of the charges is that Chua allegedly worked to undermine the government at a time of military crisis. This is not unique to Malaysia. It is common in developed democracies to treat words attacking the government as sedition during times of invasion and war. As quoted by Keadilan Daily, PKR's dedicated house organ – and presumably one of the publications on which a PKR officer may rely to accurately relay his words – Chua allegedly said the following: 1. "The shooting in Lahad Datu is believed to be a planned conspiracy of the Umno government to divert attention and intimidate the people." 2. "The incident has raised many questions and doubts as to the drama staged by the Umno government." 3. "The intrusion in Lahad Datu was only a drama of the government to intimidate the people to make it seem that Sabah is not peaceful." 4. "There is a conspiracy by the Umno government to divert the attention of the Sabah people, particularly from the issue of giving identity cards to foreigners." It is important to distinguish what Chua allegedly said from how his words have been characterised. He was not criticising the Government's handling of the Lahad Datu situation; if he said what has been alleged, he was asserting that the Government enacted the entire conflict, either murdering soldiers, police, and civilians, or pretending to do the same. If he said what he is alleged to have said, he is also accusing police and soldiers of either faking their comrades' deaths, or being complicit in their murders. By any reasonable measure, this is sedition – it directly attacks the Government and its ability to prosecute war, not its actions, in an attempt to weaken it during a time of conflict. Chua's defence, such as it is, is fairly traditional PKR rhetoric. "This is a politically-motivated charge. I will fight this slander to clear my name," Chua told the Sessions Court while claiming trial. His lawyer, N Surendran, added that as the Prime Minister had promised the repeal of the Sedition Act, Chua should not be charged under it. Putting aside the illogical nature of the lawyer's claim, it is important to understand that almost every country in the world – including the world's leading democracies – has a long history of treating attacks on the government during a time of military conflict as criminal sedition. The United Kingdom has a storied history of sedition charges. Although the charge itself was largely abolished only in 2010, the charge was used heavily during the extensive conflicts in which Britain found itself for the last three centuries. In every major conflict in which Britain found itself embroiled, it charged its own citizens with sedition for attacking Britain's involvement in the war itself. In the last 150 years alone, the Boer War, World War I, and World War II saw dozens of sedition trials each, with convictions almost a foregone conclusion. Most recently, during the Troubles in Ireland, the UK liberally employed sedition charges against attempts to aid the Irish Republican Army (which was at the time planting bombs in and around schools, train stations, and other areas with high civilian traffic) or undermine the effort against the IRA, even into the 1970s. A movement to repeal sedition as a crime began after Ireland calmed, but was delayed in the wake of the July 7 attacks, only coming to fruition in 2010 when Britain faced no significant internal conflict. Even so, sedition remains a crime for aliens in the UK. The United States, despite a tendency to very broad interpretations of free speech, has been a vigorous proponent of sedition charges from the country's very beginning. Washington most recently criminalised sedition – and charged for it en masse – throughout the twentieth century and beyond. During World War I, the US charged and prosecuted over 2,000 American citizens with sedition, which was the crime of interfering with the war effort through speech. During World War II, sedition charges were unused until German submarines appeared off the American coasts – and then the government began charging in earnest. Communists and communist allies were charged and convicted of sedition for the simple act of espousing communism – that is, that there should be an organised movement to overthrow the US government. This occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, when the United States was not formally at war, but was locked in its Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union. Indeed, the United States has never needed a formal declaration of war to prosecute for sedition. American citizens promoting the idea that the archipelago territory of Puerto Rico should be a sovereign nation have been convicted of sedition in the 1970s and 1980s. Terrorists – American citizens who sided with al Qaeda – have been charged with sedition before and after the September 11 attacks; many have not gone to trial merely because they have fled the country or have been killed during America's extensive terror-related conflicts over the last decade. Australia criminalised sedition in 2006, only modifying the laws slightly after a change in Government. India retains an extensive sedition law. Canada has existed under American protection since the end of the Second World War and so has not significantly prosecuted for sedition since then, but retains laws against sedition. Yet sedition charges have become less common than in the past in major democracies. Some suggest this is because their laws and customs have broadened to accept even incendiary speech. This is not so. READ MORE HERE

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