Selasa, 19 November 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News


Belief is shaped by doctrine

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 03:49 PM PST

Hmm…that may be the problem after all. Malaysians are still running the 1955 Version 1.0 operating system (when Blacks or African Americans in the US had to sit at the back of the white bus) and we have not upgraded to the latest 2013 Version 10.0 (when Blacks or African Americans in the US can sit at the front in the White House).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The graphics below is from Malaysiakini and, below that, is an extract from Helen Ang's article in her Blog about the same matter. And that 'matter' is regarding what the Malays and Chinese think of each other.

Being someone with the advantage of living in both worlds, so to speak, I can say that this study about what the Malays and Chinese think of each other is pretty accurate.

If you were an independent and unbiased judge who has been tasked with the job of listening to the grouses from both sides, you would probably come to a conclusion that both sides have a case. In other words, both the Malays and the Chinese are right.

In any conflict there is always two sides to a story and if you were to analyse the issue deep enough you can come to a conclusion that both sides are wrong in their actions (or both sides are right about the allegation against the other party).

For example, regarding the current brouhaha about the recent CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka (which Malaysia refused to boycott), KTemoc Konsiders wrote this piece today regarding the matter -- Why Najib didn't boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka (READ HERE) -- and I think he accurately pointed out the fact that both sides are equally guilty of the same 'war crimes'.

Another example is the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing, China. Conservative figures put the deaths at 241 while some estimates put it in excess of 1,000, with an estimated 1,000-3,000 injured.

The world always talks about the brutality that the students in Tiananmen Square suffered at the hands of the military. What the world does not talk about is regarding the military and police personnel who were executed by the protestors all over China in roughly 400 cities.

Hence the trouble was not just in Beijing but also in 400 other cities all over China. And the killings had been going on for about two to three weeks before the government decided to act and end the Tiananmen Square sit-in.

I was in China soon after that and I met some students from the Beijing University (all girls and lovely creatures, I must say) so I personally saw all the photographs of military and police personnel hanging from lampposts in Shanghai, Guangzhao, and so on. In fact, their bodies were left there to rot (because no one dared take them down) for weeks until the military took back control of the cities.

So you see, in any conflict you need to go down to the ground and find out what really happened. Who started it first is one issue (and in Sri Lanka and China it was not government that started it first) but whether one side is the 'war criminal' and the other side the 'innocent victim' is true, as what we are being told.

Anyway, back to the issue of the survey regarding what the Malays and Chinese think of each other. As I said, being from both a Malay and Chinese family, I can say that the finding of this survey is pretty accurate.

The Malays perceive themselves as the victims and the Chinese as the aggressors. And the Chinese, too, perceive themselves as the victims and the Malays as the aggressors. The truth is, both sides are aggressive (whether rightly or wrongfully is another matter) and hence the other side needs to take a siege mentality stance.

We cannot solve this matter by finger pointing and by trying to find out who the culprit in this crisis is, if we can call it a crisis. This just puts the other side on the defensive and those on the defensive need to come out with their counter-charges. Hence what we get in the end is merely a blame game.

Okay, let us look at this survey as positive rather than negative. I always said that the first step to curing a disease is to find out what is wrong and what disease we are suffering from.

Now we know what the disease is and what caused it. Next we need to find the cure. And the cure is not in blaming someone else for the disease because that is not going to cure the disease. The cure would be to kill the virus.

Now, again, I am going to argue that same old argument, which I am sure many of you are tired of hearing by now.

Can changing the government cure this disease? I fear not because never mind what government runs the country the opinions of the Malays and Chinese regarding one other is never going to change.

I mean, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan are under a Pakatan Rakyat government. So we do have new governments in those states. But are you telling me that the Malays and Chinese in those three states do not think of each other the way this survey shows?

Far from it!

So the cure to the disease has to be more than just changing the government (although many would argue that that is a good start). The cure is in your mind. As long as the Malays think that way about the Chinese, and vice versa, the problem is never going to go away.

My title for this article is 'Belief is shaped by doctrine'. And why did I use that title? Simple! Because doctrine determines our belief system. And unless we change our opinion regarding doctrine then our belief is never going to change. And religion would be the best example to demonstrate how doctrine shapes our beliefs.

This is really not as complicating as it sounds. For example, the Malay 'doctrine' is that the Malays 'own' Malaysia while the Chinese are immigrants or 'guests'. As long as there is this doctrine (of Ketuanan Melayu) then this belief will be carved in stone.

And the list goes on where the Malays and Chinese hold to a certain doctrine, which shapes what they believe. Hence my old and often used argument: change has to be in the mind, not in the changing of the government.

And if we continue to believe what we believe and hold on to the very old and divisive doctrine, then Malaysians will forever remain divided because of the belief (by both sides) that 'the other side' is too much, too demanding, too arrogant, unreasonable, unfair, unjust, greedy, does not respect the Constitution, etc.

And that brings us to the most important question: what do we do and how do we change this? I really don't know. If I did then I should be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. Is it possible to send 28 million Malaysians to have their brains reformatted and then we reinstall the latest operating system into their brains?

Hmm…that may be the problem after all. Malaysians are still running the 1955 Version 1.0 operating system (when Blacks or African Americans in the US had to sit at the back of the white bus) and we have not upgraded to the latest 2013 Version 10.0 (when Blacks or African Americans in the US can sit at the front in the White House).

Oh, and feel free to interpret this article of mine any way you wish.

 

I. Views that can be somewhat corroborated or somewhat disproved

(i) "Chinese private schools do not teach Malay history"

(ii) "In Chinese companies, Malays salaries always lower than the Chinese"

(iii) "Chinese only award contracts to Chinese companies"

(iv) "Chinese have taken control of the private sector"

(v) "Chinese colonized Malay land by their economic powers"

 

II. Race issues and nation-building

(i) "Education system is fair / only Malaysia is practicing vernacular school system in the world"

(ii) "Chinese ruined ethnic unity by rejecting Wawasan schools"

(iii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not like to learn bahasa Malaysia"

(iv) "Chinese jealous of Malays' special rights"

(v) "Chinese do not support ethnic unity"

 

III. Religion and the Malaysian identity

(i) "Chinese do not accept Islam as state religion"

(ii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not accept Islam"

(iii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not respect the Malay rulers"

 

IV. "Melayu diutamakan" vs jus soli

(i) "Chinese must admit the fact that Malays are the landowners of Malaysia"

(ii) "Malay are masters, Chinese are guests to Malay land"

 

V. Perceptions that cause instability

(i) "Chinese look down on Malays"

(ii) "Chinese keep demanding but never respect Malay thinking"

(iii) "Malays always fulfill Chinese request"

(iv) "Chinese have obtained too much / Malays have tolerated a lot"

READ MORE HERE: http://helenang.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/what-malays-think-about-chinese-true-or-not/

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News


Penang PAS alleges being sidelined in state policies and appointments, wants more say

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 06:20 PM PST

(TMI) - Penang PAS has flexed its muscles, sending a message to the state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership that it wants equal standing with its colleagues from the DAP and PKR. If not, the party will walk.

The party, which has one state seat in Penang, said its deputy state commissioner Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff wants to be consulted on policy-making by the state government before final decisions are made, among other things.

"We are not going to let the party be viewed as a puppet in Penang.

"Penang PAS, with all due respect, will withdraw and resign from state positions and appointments offered if the state government and the state PR Council do not take our demands seriously.

"We will also review our position in the state PR if PAS is no longer needed in the state government to safeguard our principles and the dignity of our struggles," he told a press conference in Seberang Jaya today that was attended by several state party leaders.

He said even though the party has one seat in Permatang Pasir, it did not mean its voice, contribution, service and professionalism in Penang can be disregarded.

The party is demanding that all political appointments in the state government that are set aside for PAS must be made only after consulting and getting consent from the party.

Otherwise, Fauzi said, Penang PAS will consider the action as sidelining the party, and will not acknowledge the appointments and will even take action against the individuals involved.

He said the party wanted its state commissioner and sole assemblyman Datuk Mohd Salleh Man, who is also state religious council head, to have full power over the appointments of council members and board of directors in agencies and subsidiaries under the Penang Islamic Council (MAIPP), without any interference from the state exco.

He alleged that there was unnecessary interference from the exco on appointments for the coming term, and it was against the ethics and spirit of PR.

"We fear that such interference will cause power overlapping, which will disrupt MAIPP's administration and appointments made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," Fauzi said, declining to say if he was referring to Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassin of PKR, who is state religious affairs, domestic trade and consumerism committee chairman.

Penang PAS is also demanding a quota be set for its members to be appointed as directors on the boards of state government-linked companies. Presently no PAS member holds such a position.

The party also wants control over the appointments of Village Security and Development Committees (JKKK) members in the six state and two parliamentary constituencies contested by PAS.

"We were made to understand that appointments had been made directly without consulting us nor getting our consent when the constituencies are PAS seats. That is against the PR ethics. It is most regrettable. Logically, the mandate should be ours.

"We also want the number of Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councillors from PAS to be increased from two to four for each council, and they must be individuals recommended and approved by the party," he said, adding that the demands are being made following a state party meeting last Thursday chaired by Mohd Salleh.

Fauzi said the demands were not unreasonable because improvements should be made in the PR administration.

"Last term, PR was just learning how to administer the state but now we want to see improvements," he said.

READ MORE HERE

 

25 perkataan yang tidak boleh digunakan oleh bukan Islam

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 06:04 PM PST

(Malaysian Times) - Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) menyelar kenyataan pakar perlembagaan, Dr Aziz Bari bahawa Sultan tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk menghalang bukan Islam daripada menggunakan kalimah Allah.

Ahli MAIS, Datuk Aidit Ghazali berkata kenyataan oleh bekas pensyarah Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) itu nyata bersifat berat sebelah dan condong kepada pembangkang.

Aziz Bari sebelum ini berkata pemerintah negeri di Malaysia tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk menggantung atau menafikan hak beragama bukan Islam yang telah dijamin Perlembagaan Persekutuan, lapor laman portal  Antarapos.

Beliau berkata demikian beberapa hari selepas Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah menitahkan agar akhbar mingguan Katolik, The Herald dan kitab Bible versi Melayu dihalang daripada menggunakan kalimah Allah.

Titah Baginda selari dengan keputusan Mahkamah Rayuan pada 14 Oktober yang memutuskan The Herald tidak boleh menggunakan kalimah Allah dalam sebarang penerbitannya.

Aidit berkata, Aziz Bari perlu akur pada peranan Baginda sebagai Ketua Agama Islam negeri itu.

"Dia (Dr Aziz) tak ada apa-apa kuasa, tapi Tuanku ada kuasa. Dalam hal ini kita kena lihat apabila Tuanku bertitah, Tuanku tidak bertitah dengan apa-apa sandaran memihak kepada pandangan politik tapi Dr Aziz kita semua tahu inklinasi beliau pada politik pembangkang.

"Justeru apabila orang membuat sesuatu kenyataan dan bersandarkan kepada sesuatu inklinasi politik, maka pandangan itu bersifat prejudis," katanya.

Aidit selain itu berkata, titah Sultan Selangor perlu dilihat dari semua aspek bagi memelihara kesucian agama Islam.

Baginda juga merujuk kepada apa yang terkandung di dalam Al-Quran dan Sunnah, ijmak para ulama serta fatwa-fatwa yang diwartakan di peringkat negeri dan kebangsaan, sebelum bertitah sedemikian, ujar Aidit.

"Pendapat Dr Aziz Bari ialah pendapat peribadi beliau. Apabila Tuanku Sultan Selangor membuat titah sedemikian rupa, Baginda mengambil kira dari pelbagai aspek, bukan sahaja aspek perlembagaan persekutuan, tetapi dari aspek apa yang terkandung dalam Al-Quran dan Sunnah dan Ijmak Ulama, serta aspek fatwa oleh Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan dan fatwa yang diwartakan di peringkat negeri serta aspek kuasa Baginda sebagai Ketua Agama Islam Selangor.

"Ada pakar-pakar sehebat Dr Aziz malah ada yang lebih hebat yang sebenarnya mengiyakan dan menyokong apa yang telah dititahkan oleh Tuanku Sultan Selangor," jelasnya lagi.

Aidit kemudiannya mengingatkan Selangor sebelum ini meluluskan Enakmen Agama Buakn Islam (Kawalan dan Sekatan Pengembangan di Kalangan Orang Bukan Islam) 1988 yang menetapkan 25 perkataan yang tidak boleh digunakan oleh bukan Islam.

Perkataan itu adalah Allah, Illahi, Rasul, Fatwa, Firman Allah, Wahyu, Iman, Ulama, Mubaligh, Dakwah, Nabi, Hadith, Syariah, Injil, Sheikh, Ibadah, Qiblat, Salat, Kaabah, Haji, Khalifah, Kadi, Mufti, Wali dan ibadah.

 

Stop PAS’ push for hudud, MCA tells Pakatan

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:59 PM PST

MCA Kelantan wants PKR and DAP to pressure the Islamic party into revoking the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993

Anisah Shukry, FMT

MCA Kelantan has called for opposition parties DAP and PKR to step in and put a stop to its Islamist ally PAS' renewed talks of implementing hudud in the state.

"DAP and PKR must assert their influence on PAS and call for the revocation of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993, rather than defend it," said MCA Kelantan secretary Tan Ken Ten.

"The enactment which was unanimously passed by the Kelantan state assembly in 1993 shows that PAS' call for hudud has gained support, and the Syariah courts are ready to execute the criminal codes."

The enactment has not been implemented as it requires amendments to the Federal Constitution.

However, local authorities have imposed by-laws on non-Muslims, jeopardising their livelihoods and lifestyles, according to Tan.

Last week, the head of Kelantan's Syariah Court said they were ready to implement the controversial Islamic criminal law in the state.

"God willing, Kelantan is able to implement hudud. The laws are already there and if there's a need for more judges, we will add," Syariah chief judge Daud Muhammad said on Nov 13.

Anxiety among non-Muslims in Kelantan

PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar subsequently told the media that the party was mulling a proposal to forward a motion to debate hudud in the Dewan Rakyat.

The minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Shahidan Kassim, was reported as saying he was prepared to back such a motion.

READ MORE HERE

 

Apologise for twisting facts, Karpal tells Raja Ahmad

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:55 PM PST

Reiterating that he owes no one an apology, the DAP chairman wants the Islamic party's youth vice chief to publicly apologise for lying about his views on race-based parties

Athi Shankar, FMT

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh insisted that he would not apologise for his statement on Nov 5 where he called for the deregistration of race-based political parties in the country.

Instead, the senior parliamentarian called on PAS national youth vice-chief Raja Ahmad Iskandar Raja Yaacob to publicly apologise for misrepresenting facts of his statement.

"Raja Ahmad has clearly misled the public and he is guilty, I repeat, of perpetrating an unadulterated lie for which he owes the public an apology.

"The demand by some misguided and ignorant leaders in PAS in giving me an ultimatum to apologise to PAS within five days is an absolutely outlandish and an unwarranted demand.

"Needless to say, the question of apologising to anyone does not arise. There will be no apology. I will not entertain any idle demands by misguided PAS leaders," said Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP.

He said he stood by his statement made during a press conference in Penang in relation to the need for race-based political parties and organisations to be deregistered.

He reiterated that a multiracial country like Malaysia should not have race-based political parties for such parties would only further divide the people.

Incomplete recording of speech

Since unity is strength, Karpal said race-based political parties do not strive towards the significance and import of that adage.

"I repeat the only sensible approach to ensuring a truly united Malaysian nation was to outlaw race-based political parties," said Karpal.

READ MORE HERE

 

Hasina denies her citizens voted in GE13

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:40 PM PST

(Bernama) - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has denied Pakatan Rakyat's claim that 40,000 of her people were involved and voted for the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Malaysia's 13th general election (GE13).

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said during his meeting with Sheikh Hasina, the South Asian leader shook her head in disbelieve at the erroneous claim.

Najib also said if the claim that his visit to Bangladesh was to meet and thank those people for voting for the BN in the last general election, then his mission had failed as he did not meet any of the purported voters.

"Looks like this second mission has failed because I did not meet the 40,000 Bangladeshis who were said to have voted for the Barisan Nasional," he told reporters after a bilateral meeting with the Bangladesh government here.

Najib said the Bangladesh prime minister further dismissed the claim as absurd as it was unlikely for Malaysia to accord citizenship to 40,000 Bangladeshis.

Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim while winding up the Budget 2014 Bill in the Dewan Rakyat charged the claim made by the opposition during the GE13 to be a big lie, stressing that only 12 Bangladeshis had acquired Malaysian citizenship in the past 10 years. 

 

Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali gets one-day jail, RM20,000 fine for contempt of court

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:21 PM PST

(The Star) - Perkasa boss Ibrahim Ali (pic) was sentenced to one-day jail and RM20,000 fine for contempt of court against a judge hearing the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's defamation case against Utusan Melayu.

High Court judge John Louis O'Hara gave his judgement after hearing nearly two hours of submissions by counsels.

Anwar was granted leave on March 5 to cite Ibrahim and writer Zainuddin Salleh for contempt for scandalising the trial judge in his defamation case.

However, Ibrahim claimed that neither he nor Perkasa was responsible for posting a defamatory article on a website on Jan 7.

Anwar's lawyer, R. Sivarasa submitted to the court on Tuesday that the article had make scurrilous and personal attacks on a High Court judge whilst a decision was pending to be delivered by the trial judge in a RM50mil defamation case filed by Anwar against Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd.

On Jan 21, Anwar won his defamation suit against Utusan Melayu over publication of two articles on his comments to BBC during an interview on homosexuality laws.

Justice V. T. Singham had ordered Utusan Melayu to pay RM45,000 in costs to Anwar.

 

KENYATAAN MEDIA Badan Perhubungan PAS Pulau Pinang

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 04:33 PM PST

PAS Pulau Pinang dengan penuh hormat akan menarik diri serta meletak jawatan dalam beberapa tawaran jawatan, portfolio dan posisi jawatan tertentu dalam Kerajaan Negeri jika tuntutan dan ketetapan ini tidak diambil serius oleh pihak Kerajaan Negeri dan Majlis Pakatan Rakyat.

Mohd Fauzi b Yusof

TIMBALAN PESURUHJAYA PAS PULAU PINANG

Bagi memperkukuh dan memberdaya Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Pulau Pinang, Mesyuarat Badan Perhubungan PAS Negeri P.Pinang pada 14 November 2013 lalu yang dipengerusikan sendiri oleh Pesuruhjaya PAS P.Pinang YB Dato' Mohd Salleh Man, telah membuat beberapa ketetapan untuk makluman dan tindakan Kerajaan Negeri serta Majlis Pakatan Rakyat Negeri P.Pinang, seperti berikut:-
 
1.      Memberi kuasa penuh tanpa sebarang campur tangan yang tidak wajar kepada YDP MAINPP sekarang (YB Dato' Mohd Salleh Man) untuk mengemukakan makluman keputusan cadangan lantikan Ahli-ahli Majlis MAINPP serta mana-mana portfolio Lembaga Pengarah dalam mana-mana agensi atau anak syarikat dibawah Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Pulau Pinang.
 
Kami difahamkan terdapat campur tangan yang tidak sewajarnya dari pihak Exco Kerajaan Negeri untuk menetapkan Ahli-ahli Majlis MAINPP serta Pengerusi dan Ahli-ahli Lembaga Pengarah anak-anak syarikat MAINPP untuk sesi akan datang. Jika benar, ianya adalah satu tindakan yang bertentangan etika & semangat Pakatan Rakyat. Tindakan campur tangan ini sangat dikesali.
 
2.      Menambah bilangan Ahli Majlis MPPP dan MPSP untuk kuota PAS P.Pinang dari 2 orang setiap PBT kepada 4 orang setiap PBT. Ini adalah manifestasi dari pandangan ahli peringkat akar umbi dalam mesyuarat-mesyuarat agung yang telah dijalankan sebelum ini.
 
Perlantikan Ahli Majlis MPPP & MPSP untuk kuota PAS ini hendaklah dilantik dengan cadangan & persetujuan PAS P.Pinang.
 
3.      Memberi kuasa penuh kepada PAS P.Pinang untuk memilih dan melantik JKKK di kawasan DUN / Parlimen yang ditandingi PAS (6 DUN, 2 Parlimen).
 
Kami difahamkan bahawa terdapat lantikan JKKK di kawasan yang ditandingi PAS dibuat secara terus kepada individu terlibat tanpa persetujuan & perbincangan melibatkan pihak PAS Kawasan. Tindakan ini juga melanggar etika Pakatan Rakyat.
Ia sangat dikesali.
 
4.      Memperuntukkan kuota mewakili PAS bagi lantikan Ahli Lembaga Pengarah dalam anak-anak syarikat milik / berkaitan Kerajaan Negeri (GLC). Sehingga kini, TIADA mana-mana lantikan yang dibuat mewakili PAS dengan persetujuan PAS P.Pinang. Tindakan ini juga tidak menggambarkan semangat kerjasama Pakatan Rakyat.



Tuntutan / ketetapan ini dibuat berdasarkan beberapa justifikasi seperti berikut:-
 
1.      Mesyuarat Agung PAS Kawasan-kawasan seluruh P.Pinang serta sayap parti (Dewan Ulama, Dewan Pemuda & Dewan Muslimat) yang berlangsung baru-baru ini sebahagiannya membuat keputusan bahawa PAS P.Pinang perlu lebih bertegas dengan pihak rakan Pakatan Rakyat dalam Kerajaan Negeri P.Pinang supaya diberi peranan & posisi yang seimbang dalam Kerajaan Negeri. Tuntutan ini dibuat berdasarkan maklumbalas ahli-ahli peringkat akar umbi bagi memperkukuhkan PAS dalam Pakatan Rakyat di Pulau Pinang.
 
2.      Tuntutan & ketetapan ini adalah selari dengan semangat persefahaman & kerjasama  yang digariskan dalam Pakatan Rakyat.
 
3.      Ia juga adalah selaras dengan slogan CAT (Cekap, Akauntabiliti, Telus) yang diamalkan Kerajaan Negeri. Kami mendapati bahawa slogan CAT ini tidak dipraktikkan dalam hubungan PAS bersama Pakatan Rakyat Pulau Pinang.
 
4.      PAS P.Pinang akan terus bertindak sebagai juru semak & imbang (check and balance) kepada Kerajaan Negeri & Pakatan Rakyat P.Pinang. Tuntutan & ketetapan ini adalah sebahagian dari fungi semak & imbang tersebut.
 
5.      PAS P.Pinang bimbang dengan campur tangan yang tidak wajar oleh pihak Kerajaan Negeri terhadap MAINPP akan menyebabkan berlakunya 'Pertindihan Kuasa' yang akan mengganggu kelancaran pentadbiran dan organisasi MAINPP yang dilantik oleh Yang Dipertuan Agong.
 
6.      Walaupun PAS P.Pinang hanya memiliki 1 kerusi DUN, ia tidak bermakna suara, sumbangan, khidmat & profesionalisma PAS di Pulau Pinang dipinggirkan.



Dengan ini, PAS P.Pinang membuat penegasan bahawa:-
 
1.      PAS P.Pinang hendaklah dilibatkan dalam apa-apa perbincangan dasar dan polisi yang hendak dirancang oleh Kerajaan Negeri sebelum ia dilaksanakan. Perbincangan tersebut hendaklah melibatkan organisasi, bukan secara individu. Hal ini amat perlu kerana ahli-ahli PAS, penyokong dan pendokong PAS tidak mengizinkan PAS dilihat seperti boneka rakan Pakatan Rakyat terutamanya di P.Pinang.
 
2.      Sebarang perlantikan politik terhadap mana-mana jawatan, portfolio, posisi dalam Kerajaan Negeri yang melibatkan kuota PAS mahupun pimpinan atau mana-mana ahli PAS, mestilah dengan perbincangan dan persetujuan PAS P.Pinang. Jika tidak, PAS P.Pinang tidak mengiktiraf penglibatan individu tersebut sebagai mewakili parti dan akan mengambil tindakan keatas individu berkenaan, serta menganggap tindakan ini sebagai mengenepikan PAS P.Pinang.
 
3.      PAS P.Pinang dengan penuh hormat akan menarik diri serta meletak jawatan dalam beberapa tawaran jawatan, portfolio dan posisi jawatan tertentu dalam Kerajaan Negeri jika tuntutan dan ketetapan ini tidak diambil serius oleh pihak Kerajaan Negeri dan Majlis Pakatan Rakyat.
 
PAS P.Pinang juga akan mengkaji kembali kedudukannya dalam Pakatan Rakyat P.Pinang jika tidak lagi diperlukan dalam Kerajaan Negeri, demi memelihara prinsip & maruah perjuangan.
 
Sekian, terima kasih.
 
 
Mohd Fauzi b Yusof
TIMBALAN PESURUHJAYA PAS PULAU PINANG

 
15 Muharram 1435H / 19 November 2013

 

Belief is shaped by doctrine

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 03:49 PM PST

Hmm…that may be the problem after all. Malaysians are still running the 1955 Version 1.0 operating system (when Blacks or African Americans in the US had to sit at the back of the white bus) and we have not upgraded to the latest 2013 Version 10.0 (when Blacks or African Americans in the US can sit at the front in the White House).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The graphics below is from Malaysiakini and, below that, is an extract from Helen Ang's article in her Blog about the same matter. And that 'matter' is regarding what the Malays and Chinese think of each other.

Being someone with the advantage of living in both worlds, so to speak, I can say that this study about what the Malays and Chinese think of each other is pretty accurate.

If you were an independent and unbiased judge who has been tasked with the job of listening to the grouses from both sides, you would probably come to a conclusion that both sides have a case. In other words, both the Malays and the Chinese are right.

In any conflict there is always two sides to a story and if you were to analyse the issue deep enough you can come to a conclusion that both sides are wrong in their actions (or both sides are right about the allegation against the other party).

For example, regarding the current brouhaha about the recent CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka (which Malaysia refused to boycott), KTemoc Konsiders wrote this piece today regarding the matter -- Why Najib didn't boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka (READ HERE) -- and I think he accurately pointed out the fact that both sides are equally guilty of the same 'war crimes'.

Another example is the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing, China. Conservative figures put the deaths at 241 while some estimates put it in excess of 1,000, with an estimated 1,000-3,000 injured.

The world always talks about the brutality that the students in Tiananmen Square suffered at the hands of the military. What the world does not talk about is regarding the military and police personnel who were executed by the protestors all over China in roughly 400 cities.

Hence the trouble was not just in Beijing but also in 400 other cities all over China. And the killings had been going on for about two to three weeks before the government decided to act and end the Tiananmen Square sit-in.

I was in China soon after that and I met some students from the Beijing University (all girls and lovely creatures, I must say) so I personally saw all the photographs of military and police personnel hanging from lampposts in Shanghai, Guangzhao, and so on. In fact, their bodies were left there to rot (because no one dared take them down) for weeks until the military took back control of the cities.

So you see, in any conflict you need to go down to the ground and find out what really happened. Who started it first is one issue (and in Sri Lanka and China it was not government that started it first) but whether one side is the 'war criminal' and the other side the 'innocent victim' is true, as what we are being told.

Anyway, back to the issue of the survey regarding what the Malays and Chinese think of each other. As I said, being from both a Malay and Chinese family, I can say that the finding of this survey is pretty accurate.

The Malays perceive themselves as the victims and the Chinese as the aggressors. And the Chinese, too, perceive themselves as the victims and the Malays as the aggressors. The truth is, both sides are aggressive (whether rightly or wrongfully is another matter) and hence the other side needs to take a siege mentality stance.

We cannot solve this matter by finger pointing and by trying to find out who the culprit in this crisis is, if we can call it a crisis. This just puts the other side on the defensive and those on the defensive need to come out with their counter-charges. Hence what we get in the end is merely a blame game.

Okay, let us look at this survey as positive rather than negative. I always said that the first step to curing a disease is to find out what is wrong and what disease we are suffering from.

Now we know what the disease is and what caused it. Next we need to find the cure. And the cure is not in blaming someone else for the disease because that is not going to cure the disease. The cure would be to kill the virus.

Now, again, I am going to argue that same old argument, which I am sure many of you are tired of hearing by now.

Can changing the government cure this disease? I fear not because never mind what government runs the country the opinions of the Malays and Chinese regarding one other is never going to change.

I mean, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan are under a Pakatan Rakyat government. So we do have new governments in those states. But are you telling me that the Malays and Chinese in those three states do not think of each other the way this survey shows?

Far from it!

So the cure to the disease has to be more than just changing the government (although many would argue that that is a good start). The cure is in your mind. As long as the Malays think that way about the Chinese, and vice versa, the problem is never going to go away.

My title for this article is 'Belief is shaped by doctrine'. And why did I use that title? Simple! Because doctrine determines our belief system. And unless we change our opinion regarding doctrine then our belief is never going to change. And religion would be the best example to demonstrate how doctrine shapes our beliefs.

This is really not as complicating as it sounds. For example, the Malay 'doctrine' is that the Malays 'own' Malaysia while the Chinese are immigrants or 'guests'. As long as there is this doctrine (of Ketuanan Melayu) then this belief will be carved in stone.

And the list goes on where the Malays and Chinese hold to a certain doctrine, which shapes what they believe. Hence my old and often used argument: change has to be in the mind, not in the changing of the government.

And if we continue to believe what we believe and hold on to the very old and divisive doctrine, then Malaysians will forever remain divided because of the belief (by both sides) that 'the other side' is too much, too demanding, too arrogant, unreasonable, unfair, unjust, greedy, does not respect the Constitution, etc.

And that brings us to the most important question: what do we do and how do we change this? I really don't know. If I did then I should be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. Is it possible to send 28 million Malaysians to have their brains reformatted and then we reinstall the latest operating system into their brains?

Hmm…that may be the problem after all. Malaysians are still running the 1955 Version 1.0 operating system (when Blacks or African Americans in the US had to sit at the back of the white bus) and we have not upgraded to the latest 2013 Version 10.0 (when Blacks or African Americans in the US can sit at the front in the White House).

Oh, and feel free to interpret this article of mine any way you wish.

 

I. Views that can be somewhat corroborated or somewhat disproved

(i) "Chinese private schools do not teach Malay history"

(ii) "In Chinese companies, Malays salaries always lower than the Chinese"

(iii) "Chinese only award contracts to Chinese companies"

(iv) "Chinese have taken control of the private sector"

(v) "Chinese colonized Malay land by their economic powers"

 

II. Race issues and nation-building

(i) "Education system is fair / only Malaysia is practicing vernacular school system in the world"

(ii) "Chinese ruined ethnic unity by rejecting Wawasan schools"

(iii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not like to learn bahasa Malaysia"

(iv) "Chinese jealous of Malays' special rights"

(v) "Chinese do not support ethnic unity"

 

III. Religion and the Malaysian identity

(i) "Chinese do not accept Islam as state religion"

(ii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not accept Islam"

(iii) "Chinese are unpatriotic because Chinese do not respect the Malay rulers"

 

IV. "Melayu diutamakan" vs jus soli

(i) "Chinese must admit the fact that Malays are the landowners of Malaysia"

(ii) "Malay are masters, Chinese are guests to Malay land"

 

V. Perceptions that cause instability

(i) "Chinese look down on Malays"

(ii) "Chinese keep demanding but never respect Malay thinking"

(iii) "Malays always fulfill Chinese request"

(iv) "Chinese have obtained too much / Malays have tolerated a lot"

READ MORE HERE: http://helenang.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/what-malays-think-about-chinese-true-or-not/

 

Will Khalid be a big winner or a big loser?

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 02:02 PM PST

Three key things stood out in his blog posting. First, he slammed the group that claimed it is out to save PAS from practising the "culture of slander and destruction". This group has been pushing for ulama candidates in the party polls and running down those from the Erdogan camp.

Joceline Tan, The Star

SHAH Alam MP Khalid Samad will either be a big winner in this week's PAS election or the big loser.

His latest blog post, a no-holds-barred opinion piece on the party's election campaign attracted mixed reactions. Some agreed with it, some accused him of campaigning for incumbent deputy president Mohamad Sabu while others think he is too emotional and has gone overboard. One PAS branch is even contemplating lodging a complaint to the party's election committee.

Three key things stood out in his blog posting. First, he slammed the group that claimed it is out to save PAS from practising the "culture of slander and destruction". This group has been pushing for ulama candidates in the party polls and running down those from the Erdogan camp.

Second, he rubbished claims that Mohamad, who is seeking re-election, is a Syiah and said it was concocted by external enemies and perpetuated by "orang PAS" or people inside the party. He disagreed that the No. 2 must be an ulama and said that Mohamad should be retained.

Third, he said the agenda of those who claimed they want to save PAS actually want to take the party out of Pakatan Rakyat.

He appealed to delegates to vote for status quo so that the Pakatan coalition will remain intact.

The Erdogan have been under attack by the young Turks in the ulama group and Khalid is taking a calculated risk in hitting back.

About 30% or so among the 1,300 delegates who will be voting on Friday are ulama; that is, those who went through religious education and who work as religious teachers and preachers.

Delegates who approve of the ideas and approach of the Erdogans comprise about 30%.

Khalid is reaching out to the re­­maining 40% fence-sitters who will decide on the outcome of the polls.

The pro-ulama group has been preparing for the showdown since September when the Dewan Ulama hosted a big gathering or Multaqa Ulama in Alor Setar to discuss issues of concern to their circle.

About 1,500 ulama from the party attended and this was where the now famous call to review the political cooperation or tahaluf siasi between PAS and the Pakatan parties came about. They also called for more ulama to occupy the top party posts.

"There were suggestions that the top leaders including the deputy president and vice-president in the party should be from the ulama group.

"We have made our stand and we leave it to the delegates to decide at the muktamar," Johor PAS commission Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed.

The ulama clout in PAS is what makes this party special and different from arch rival Umno.

This group does not necessarily want PAS to quit Pakatan, as claimed by Khalid, but they want the party to redefine its role in the coalition.

For several years now, the Erdogan group had convinced the leadership that the party should focus on winning Putrajaya instead of frightening voters with talk about their Islamic state goal.

But PAS lost the Malay ground to Umno in the general election and the ulama feel that the party needs to review its political approach.

Some of those in the pro-ulama group have even come up with a menu of candidates who have their support. Top of their list is Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah who is challenging Mat Sabu for the No 2 post.

Their choice for the three vice-presidents are Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Datuk Abu Bakar Chik, both ulama, and the popular incumbent Datuk Salahuddin Ayub.

Their endorsed list of CWC candidates includes 10 religious scholars.

Also on the list are Nik Abduh Nik Aziz, the son of Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, and Khairuddin Muhammad, the son-in-law of Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

Meanwhile, some leaders in PAS are still denying there is a rift between the ulama and the pro-Erdogan camp, insisting that the media is making it up.

They are suffering from what is known as the elephant-in-the-room syndrome.

 

Karamkah kapal DAP-PAS ekoran Karpal?

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:57 PM PST

Amran Ahmad, TMI

Perbalahan antara Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh dengan beberapa pimpinan utama PAS, yang paling ketara dengan Naib Ketua Dewan Pemuda PAS Dr. Raja Ahmad Iskandar Raja Yaacob dan Dewan Muslimat PAS ternyata tiada penghujungnya sehingga hari ini.

Disahut pula oleh beberapa pimpinan tertinggi PAS yang lain antaranya Naib Presiden PAS Datuk Mahfuz Omar dan Timbalan Pesuruhjaya III Pas Kelantan yang juga calon Timbalan Presiden PAS Datuk Mohd Nik Amar Nik Abdullah yang menyifatkan kenyataan Ahli Parlimen Bukit Gelugor hanya satu suara ganjil dalam Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Justeru, segelintir dengan cepat berpendapat bahawa inilah bibit-bibit yang boleh menjerumuskan kedua-dua parti ke lembah kebinasaan yang memungkinkan kapal PR karam apabila PAS tidak lagi mahu menjadi antara nakhoda utamanya.

Ada yang yang berpendapat bahawa perbalahan secara terang-terangan ini menjadi suatu manifestasi kepada kekecewaan PAS dalam bergandingan bersama DAP pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU13) yang tidak lagi dapat dibendung.

Malah ada juga yang berpendapat kelantangan pimpinan PAS ini adalah sebahagian kempen di kalangan calon-calonnya menjelang Muktamar Tahunan PAS ke-59 akan menyaksikan pemilihan untuk jawatan tertinggi di peringkat pusat dan dewan-dewan bagi penggal 2013-2015 bermula 20 November ini.

Apa jua penyebab atau ramalannya, perbalahan secara terbuka yang mendapat liputan meluas oleh media cetak, elektronik dan portal berita tempatan terutama milik Umno seperti Utusan Malaysia dan TV3 itu, secara terang lagi bersuluh, menggambarkan kekusutan hubungan antara PAS dan DAP.

Itu belum termasuk kecenderungan PAS Kelantan untuk menubuhkan jawatankuasa khas bagi melicinkan pelaksanaan undang-undang hudud di negeri tersebut, suatu tindakan yang tidak digemari oleh DAP dan sering menjadi punca pertikaman lidah antara kedua-dua parti sebelum ini.

Bagaimanapun, ia tidak mampu untuk menjadi faktor utama kepada perpecahan dalam PR, apatah lagi tidak memungkinkan kepada keputusan PAS untuk tidak lagi bergandingan bersama DAP dan PKR pada PRU14.

Apa yang lebih menarik untuk diperhatikan ialah keputusan pemilihan PAS pada 24 November ini yang akan menjadi penentu kepada kesinambungan hubungan erat antara parti komponen dalam PR terutama DAP dan PAS.

Ada yang berpendapat, jika Mohamad Sabu yang lebih terkenal dengan panggilan Mat Sabu berjaya mengekalkan jawatannya, maka hubungan PAS dan DAP kekal seperti biasa malah akan terus diperkukuhkan.

Telah menjadi rahsia umum mengenai hubungan akrab antara Mat Sabu dengan Setiausaha Agung DAP yang juga Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng semenjak sama-sama menjadi penghuni Kem Kamunting semasa Operasi Lalang 1987.

Keakraban yang dicemburui oleh Ketua Pemuda Umno Khairy Jamaludin ini terserlah kerana Guan Eng dikatakan sanggup berjaga malam jika Mat Sabu mengajaknya menemani beliau makan nasi kandar jika Mat Sabu singgah di Pulau Mutiara itu.

Keakraban tersebut juga meletakkan Mat Sabu dalam kedudukan untuk menjawat kerusi Pengarah Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBA).

Namun jika Nik Amar pula berjaya meneruskan Mat Sabu untuk jawatan nombor dua dalam PAS itu, ramai melihat bukan sahaja keakraban antara kedua-dua parti itu tergugat, malah turut melibatkan PKR.

Pandangan ini tidak salah jika dilihat pada kenyataan Nik Amar sebelum ini yang pernah bertegas mengenai keperluan PAS mengkaji kerjasamanya dengan DAP dan PKR setelah parti itu gagal mendapatkan sokongan majoriti pengundi Melayu pada PRU13.

Nik Amar dipetik sebagai berkata : "PAS ketinggalan dalam PRU yang lalu dalam jumlah kerusi yang dimenangi. Kita menang 21 kerusi Parlimen berbanding 23 sebelum ini, sedangkan Umno menambah daripada 79 kepada 89. Kita tidak boleh mencapai matlamat untuk menggantikan Umno jika kita tidak mendapat sokongan majoriti pengundi Melayu Islam."

"Kita bukan nak menarik diri daripada PR tetapi kita perlu mengkaji masalah dan kesilapan yang menyebabkan orang Melayu menyokong Umno bukan PAS," kata Nik Amar lagi yang melegakan ramai penyokong PR.

READ MORE HERE

 

Tahniah PAS Kelantan kerana tubuh jawatankuasa khas hudud

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:52 PM PST

Mohd Sayuti Omar, TMI

Tanggal 1 November lepas saya mencadangkan kepada kerajaan Kelantan agar menubuh sebuah jawatankuasa khas teknikal pelaksanaan hukum hudud bagi mencari makenisme proses perlaksanaan hukum hudud.

Menerusi jawatankuasa itu ia boleh mencari pendekatan dan penyelesaian terhadap teknikal yang boleh membantu pelaksanaan Jenayah Syariah II (hukum hudud) yang dilulus DUN Kelantan sejak tahun 1993.

Tampaknya cadangan saya itu selari dengan kehendak PAS Kelantan. Hari ini PAS Kelantan mengumumkan penubuhan jawatan kuasa khas bagi melincinkan pelaksanaan undang-undang hudud di negeri tersebut yang berkuat kuasa hari ini.

Jawatankuasa itu digerakan oleh Lajnah Undang-Undang dan Hak Asasi Manusia (Luham) PAS Kelantan, di mana jawatankuasa itu dipimpin sendiri oleh Menteri Besar Ahmad Yaacob.

Perkara ini diumumkan oleh Pengerusi Luham Hisham Fauzi yang juga merupakan ahli jawatankuasa khas berkenaan.

Tahniah kepada PAS Kelantan yang peka mengenai hal ini. Cuma sedikit dipersoalkan kenapa jawatankuasa itu tidak ditubuh di peringkat negeri? Mungkin kalau ia ditubuh diperingkat negeri jawatankuasa berkenaan lebih rasmi, skopnya lebih luas dan efektif. Peruntukan RM1 juta boleh diguna pakai jawatankuasa berkenaan.

Bagaimana pun sebagai permulaan ia sesuatu yang baik dan menjelaskan keprihatinan dan kesungguhan PAS Kelantan untuk melaksanakan hukum berkenaan. Tahniah.

Dalam pada itu, sehubungan isu hudud sehari dua ini diperkatakan oleh pelbagai pihak termasuk juga wakil rakyat Umno Annuar Musa dan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah serta Ketua Hakim Mahkamah Syariah Kelantan Daud Muhammad yang memberi jaminan pihaknya bersedia melaksanakan hukum berkenaan, adalah elok kalau Ahmad Yaakub menulis surat kepada Perdana Menteri Mohd Najib Razak memohon pengecuali untuk Kelantan melaksanakan yang kesekian lama tertangguh itu.

READ MORE HERE

 

Umrah trip, hotel rooms for votes in Umno Lembah Pantai polls, say complainants

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:46 PM PST

V. Anbalagan and Diyana Ibrahim, TMI

A month after the Umno polls, a member has complained to the party's election committee that delegates were bribed with hotel rooms and umrah packages to elect Lembah Pantai division office-bearers.

Asat Ahmad said he also lodged a complaint with the party's disciplinary board on the preferred list which was distributed to elect the division committee members for the next three years.

A letter to election committee chairman Tan Sri Mohammad Tajol Rosli Ghazali and another note to acting disciplinary board chairman Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas were sent on October 31.

Copies of Asat's complaint were also given to Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. Asat, a former branch chairman in the Lembah Pantai Umno division, said Umno should stop leaders from destroying the party through money politics and expressed hope the leadership would take steps to treat the problem which has reached a "cancerous" stage.

"The results of the last two general elections showed that the people rejected Umno and the party will be destroyed if the situation was not corrected," he said in a letter made available to The Malaysian Insider.

Barisan Nasional lost the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat to Nurul Izzah Anwar in 2008 and failed to recapture the seat in the May 5 general election.

Another complainant, Mohyiddin Mohmad, a former Lembah Pantai division committee member, said on October 19, he was at the Pullman Hotel in Jalan Pantai Baru to attend the division meeting when he was approached with the preferred list.

Mohyiddin claimed he was also informed by hotel employees that 50 rooms had been booked to accommodate delegates attending the meeting.

"As a past division committee member, I was unaware and shocked that rooms were booked," he said, adding that he believed that the practice was masterminded by senior leaders in the division.

READ MORE HERE

 

MAS turnaround bid hit by RM375m loss

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:34 PM PST

The losses came about despite despite a 12.4% improvement in revenue to RM3.91 billion from the RM3.47 billion it made in the corresponding quarter last year.

by Prem Kumar Panjamorthy, FMT

Despite optimism for improvements this year, national carrier Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) reported a loss of RM375.44 million for its third-quarter (3Q) ended Sept 30.

Earnings per share showed a loss of 2.25 sen, compared to 0.52 sen previously. The losses were made despite a 12.4% improvement in revenue to RM3.91 billion from the RM3.47 billion it made in the corresponding quarter last year, in which it posted a RM37.08 million net profit.

For the cumulative nine months, MAS' net loss widened to RM830.25 million from RM483.96 million previously. Revenue for the period improved to RM11.22 billion from RM9.89 billion in 2012.

The loss was reported late yesterday when MAS stocks closed unchanged at 35 sen, but strong trading movements are expected today.

The loss, which went against market expectations, is an indication that the worst is not over for MAS, which is undergoing a comprehensive turnaround plan that is scheduled to bring the company back into the black by the end of 2014. This goal is expected to be deferred for the third time.

Last week, analysts covering the national carrier had expressed confidence that MAS would break even in the 3Q. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd expected the airline to report a RM17 million net profit on the back of seasonally strong 3Q and a better load factor.

The airline's 3Q load factor stood at 84.8% — a historic peak for the 41-year-old carrier.

MAS said its operating expenditure in the last quarter was higher by 16% compared to the same quarter last year due to higher fuel and non-fuel variable costs, which rose in line with capacity increase and the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.

"Fuel and non-fuel costs for the airline increased by 16%. The increase in operating expenditure is also attributed to a one-off cost incurred for redelivery of aircraft.

"In addition, the group intensified its advertising and promotional activities amid intense competition as part of its long-term strategy to continuously strengthen presence in key markets," MAS said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Despite the loss, the carrier said its cash position remains strong at RM5.4 billion.

MAS said its operating revenue improved 13% to RM3.78 billion compared to the same quarter last year due to an increase in seat factor by 10.3 percentage points to 84.8%, on the back of a 20% increase in capacity.

READ MORE HERE

 

PAS at a Crossroads

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 12:49 PM PST

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae159/Malaysia-Today/Mug%20shots/dato_zaid2.jpg 

Zaid Ibrahim 

This weekend's elections for the top posts in PAS will reveal many things about the Islamist party. Are they a serious alternative for Malays and Malaysians or are they just a group of ideologues with no real prospect for government besides in the state of Kelantan?

If incumbent deputy president Mohamad Sabu and his friends win well, and especially if the three incumbent Vice Presidents—Datuk Paduka Husam Musa, Datuk Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub—are returned to their posts, then I will be reasonably confident that the party has a future in galvanising the democratic and moderate forces of the country.

On the other hand, their defeat will mean that right-wing conservatives in PAS may coalesce and join forces with those outside the party, particularly UMNO, to further the cause of extremist politics in Malaysia.

The forthcoming PAS elections will be a day of reckoning for the party, for the Malays and for Malaysia. Some observers have pointed out that the resurgence of PAS conservatives is a result of the defeat of party moderates at the recent General Election. This, say observers, is why delegates will abandon the moderates at the party polls and opt for the ulama faction. They also say that widespread talk of implementing hudud is a sign of the growing influence of the conservative faction.

It will be most disappointing if the conservatives prevail. UMNO will then have no reason to return to a moderate and progressive Malay-Muslim political platform, as some expected after the General Election.

Indeed I believe that the DNA of UMNO has totally mutated and it has become a completely different species from the original party that was founded 55 years ago and led by our first three Prime Ministers. The fact that the MCA, Gerakan, the MIC and other parties in East Malaysia are still attached to UMNO does not in any way indicate that they are real partners in Malaysian politics today.

Thus, the space for a moderate and progressive Islamic party is there for the taking. There is room for PAS to make new friends and build new alliances in addition to those they already have in the Pakatan Rakyat. If PAS were to opt for more practical and pragmatic politics and policies, they will fill the void by making it easier for others to work with them.

The first step towards greater acceptance must involve putting an end to using hudud as a tactic to scare people. PAS leaders know that this aspect of shariah law does not resonate in Malaysia and will not be implemented, whether by PAS or by UMNO, in the near future.  We are not Brunei where the views of the many do not count. So why give Middle Malaysia no choice but to support the so-called "moderate" UMNO when UMNO has become extreme beyond recognition?

PAS leaders need only address the real issues of the rakyat and champion the cause of the people in order to make the party an acceptable alternative to UMNO. PAS leaders should remember the advice of Dr Burhanuddin Helmi, Tan Sri Asri Muda and Datuk Fadzil Noor, that uplifting Muslim life in economics and education is the only way to create a just Muslim society. As such, the structure and forms of the Islamic State, with its attendant ideologies such as hudud, do not enrich or empower Muslims and do not deserve priority when so much more can and must be done.

Malaysia today is desperately in need of a Malay-Muslim party that addresses the needs and hopes of the common people. The young need jobs. Those with jobs need good pay. Those who have gone to university need regular incomes to repay their student loans.  The list goes on and on, and the country deserves a fairer party in power than UMNO. PAS has the potential to be this party if it can offer reforms in all walks of life to improve the lot of ordinary Malaysians of all creeds and colours.

READ MORE HERE 

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News


Penang PAS alleges being sidelined in state policies and appointments, wants more say

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 06:20 PM PST

(TMI) - Penang PAS has flexed its muscles, sending a message to the state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership that it wants equal standing with its colleagues from the DAP and PKR. If not, the party will walk.

The party, which has one state seat in Penang, said its deputy state commissioner Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff wants to be consulted on policy-making by the state government before final decisions are made, among other things.

"We are not going to let the party be viewed as a puppet in Penang.

"Penang PAS, with all due respect, will withdraw and resign from state positions and appointments offered if the state government and the state PR Council do not take our demands seriously.

"We will also review our position in the state PR if PAS is no longer needed in the state government to safeguard our principles and the dignity of our struggles," he told a press conference in Seberang Jaya today that was attended by several state party leaders.

He said even though the party has one seat in Permatang Pasir, it did not mean its voice, contribution, service and professionalism in Penang can be disregarded.

The party is demanding that all political appointments in the state government that are set aside for PAS must be made only after consulting and getting consent from the party.

Otherwise, Fauzi said, Penang PAS will consider the action as sidelining the party, and will not acknowledge the appointments and will even take action against the individuals involved.

He said the party wanted its state commissioner and sole assemblyman Datuk Mohd Salleh Man, who is also state religious council head, to have full power over the appointments of council members and board of directors in agencies and subsidiaries under the Penang Islamic Council (MAIPP), without any interference from the state exco.

He alleged that there was unnecessary interference from the exco on appointments for the coming term, and it was against the ethics and spirit of PR.

"We fear that such interference will cause power overlapping, which will disrupt MAIPP's administration and appointments made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," Fauzi said, declining to say if he was referring to Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassin of PKR, who is state religious affairs, domestic trade and consumerism committee chairman.

Penang PAS is also demanding a quota be set for its members to be appointed as directors on the boards of state government-linked companies. Presently no PAS member holds such a position.

The party also wants control over the appointments of Village Security and Development Committees (JKKK) members in the six state and two parliamentary constituencies contested by PAS.

"We were made to understand that appointments had been made directly without consulting us nor getting our consent when the constituencies are PAS seats. That is against the PR ethics. It is most regrettable. Logically, the mandate should be ours.

"We also want the number of Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councillors from PAS to be increased from two to four for each council, and they must be individuals recommended and approved by the party," he said, adding that the demands are being made following a state party meeting last Thursday chaired by Mohd Salleh.

Fauzi said the demands were not unreasonable because improvements should be made in the PR administration.

"Last term, PR was just learning how to administer the state but now we want to see improvements," he said.

READ MORE HERE

 

Stop PAS’ push for hudud, MCA tells Pakatan

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:59 PM PST

MCA Kelantan wants PKR and DAP to pressure the Islamic party into revoking the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993

Anisah Shukry, FMT

MCA Kelantan has called for opposition parties DAP and PKR to step in and put a stop to its Islamist ally PAS' renewed talks of implementing hudud in the state.

"DAP and PKR must assert their influence on PAS and call for the revocation of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993, rather than defend it," said MCA Kelantan secretary Tan Ken Ten.

"The enactment which was unanimously passed by the Kelantan state assembly in 1993 shows that PAS' call for hudud has gained support, and the Syariah courts are ready to execute the criminal codes."

The enactment has not been implemented as it requires amendments to the Federal Constitution.

However, local authorities have imposed by-laws on non-Muslims, jeopardising their livelihoods and lifestyles, according to Tan.

Last week, the head of Kelantan's Syariah Court said they were ready to implement the controversial Islamic criminal law in the state.

"God willing, Kelantan is able to implement hudud. The laws are already there and if there's a need for more judges, we will add," Syariah chief judge Daud Muhammad said on Nov 13.

Anxiety among non-Muslims in Kelantan

PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar subsequently told the media that the party was mulling a proposal to forward a motion to debate hudud in the Dewan Rakyat.

The minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Shahidan Kassim, was reported as saying he was prepared to back such a motion.

READ MORE HERE

 

Apologise for twisting facts, Karpal tells Raja Ahmad

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:55 PM PST

Reiterating that he owes no one an apology, the DAP chairman wants the Islamic party's youth vice chief to publicly apologise for lying about his views on race-based parties

Athi Shankar, FMT

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh insisted that he would not apologise for his statement on Nov 5 where he called for the deregistration of race-based political parties in the country.

Instead, the senior parliamentarian called on PAS national youth vice-chief Raja Ahmad Iskandar Raja Yaacob to publicly apologise for misrepresenting facts of his statement.

"Raja Ahmad has clearly misled the public and he is guilty, I repeat, of perpetrating an unadulterated lie for which he owes the public an apology.

"The demand by some misguided and ignorant leaders in PAS in giving me an ultimatum to apologise to PAS within five days is an absolutely outlandish and an unwarranted demand.

"Needless to say, the question of apologising to anyone does not arise. There will be no apology. I will not entertain any idle demands by misguided PAS leaders," said Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP.

He said he stood by his statement made during a press conference in Penang in relation to the need for race-based political parties and organisations to be deregistered.

He reiterated that a multiracial country like Malaysia should not have race-based political parties for such parties would only further divide the people.

Incomplete recording of speech

Since unity is strength, Karpal said race-based political parties do not strive towards the significance and import of that adage.

"I repeat the only sensible approach to ensuring a truly united Malaysian nation was to outlaw race-based political parties," said Karpal.

READ MORE HERE

 

Hasina denies her citizens voted in GE13

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:40 PM PST

(Bernama) - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has denied Pakatan Rakyat's claim that 40,000 of her people were involved and voted for the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Malaysia's 13th general election (GE13).

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said during his meeting with Sheikh Hasina, the South Asian leader shook her head in disbelieve at the erroneous claim.

Najib also said if the claim that his visit to Bangladesh was to meet and thank those people for voting for the BN in the last general election, then his mission had failed as he did not meet any of the purported voters.

"Looks like this second mission has failed because I did not meet the 40,000 Bangladeshis who were said to have voted for the Barisan Nasional," he told reporters after a bilateral meeting with the Bangladesh government here.

Najib said the Bangladesh prime minister further dismissed the claim as absurd as it was unlikely for Malaysia to accord citizenship to 40,000 Bangladeshis.

Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim while winding up the Budget 2014 Bill in the Dewan Rakyat charged the claim made by the opposition during the GE13 to be a big lie, stressing that only 12 Bangladeshis had acquired Malaysian citizenship in the past 10 years. 

 

Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali gets one-day jail, RM20,000 fine for contempt of court

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:21 PM PST

(The Star) - Perkasa boss Ibrahim Ali (pic) was sentenced to one-day jail and RM20,000 fine for contempt of court against a judge hearing the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's defamation case against Utusan Melayu.

High Court judge John Louis O'Hara gave his judgement after hearing nearly two hours of submissions by counsels.

Anwar was granted leave on March 5 to cite Ibrahim and writer Zainuddin Salleh for contempt for scandalising the trial judge in his defamation case.

However, Ibrahim claimed that neither he nor Perkasa was responsible for posting a defamatory article on a website on Jan 7.

Anwar's lawyer, R. Sivarasa submitted to the court on Tuesday that the article had make scurrilous and personal attacks on a High Court judge whilst a decision was pending to be delivered by the trial judge in a RM50mil defamation case filed by Anwar against Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd.

On Jan 21, Anwar won his defamation suit against Utusan Melayu over publication of two articles on his comments to BBC during an interview on homosexuality laws.

Justice V. T. Singham had ordered Utusan Melayu to pay RM45,000 in costs to Anwar.

 

Umrah trip, hotel rooms for votes in Umno Lembah Pantai polls, say complainants

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:46 PM PST

V. Anbalagan and Diyana Ibrahim, TMI

A month after the Umno polls, a member has complained to the party's election committee that delegates were bribed with hotel rooms and umrah packages to elect Lembah Pantai division office-bearers.

Asat Ahmad said he also lodged a complaint with the party's disciplinary board on the preferred list which was distributed to elect the division committee members for the next three years.

A letter to election committee chairman Tan Sri Mohammad Tajol Rosli Ghazali and another note to acting disciplinary board chairman Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas were sent on October 31.

Copies of Asat's complaint were also given to Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. Asat, a former branch chairman in the Lembah Pantai Umno division, said Umno should stop leaders from destroying the party through money politics and expressed hope the leadership would take steps to treat the problem which has reached a "cancerous" stage.

"The results of the last two general elections showed that the people rejected Umno and the party will be destroyed if the situation was not corrected," he said in a letter made available to The Malaysian Insider.

Barisan Nasional lost the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat to Nurul Izzah Anwar in 2008 and failed to recapture the seat in the May 5 general election.

Another complainant, Mohyiddin Mohmad, a former Lembah Pantai division committee member, said on October 19, he was at the Pullman Hotel in Jalan Pantai Baru to attend the division meeting when he was approached with the preferred list.

Mohyiddin claimed he was also informed by hotel employees that 50 rooms had been booked to accommodate delegates attending the meeting.

"As a past division committee member, I was unaware and shocked that rooms were booked," he said, adding that he believed that the practice was masterminded by senior leaders in the division.

READ MORE HERE

 

MAS turnaround bid hit by RM375m loss

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:34 PM PST

The losses came about despite despite a 12.4% improvement in revenue to RM3.91 billion from the RM3.47 billion it made in the corresponding quarter last year.

by Prem Kumar Panjamorthy, FMT

Despite optimism for improvements this year, national carrier Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) reported a loss of RM375.44 million for its third-quarter (3Q) ended Sept 30.

Earnings per share showed a loss of 2.25 sen, compared to 0.52 sen previously. The losses were made despite a 12.4% improvement in revenue to RM3.91 billion from the RM3.47 billion it made in the corresponding quarter last year, in which it posted a RM37.08 million net profit.

For the cumulative nine months, MAS' net loss widened to RM830.25 million from RM483.96 million previously. Revenue for the period improved to RM11.22 billion from RM9.89 billion in 2012.

The loss was reported late yesterday when MAS stocks closed unchanged at 35 sen, but strong trading movements are expected today.

The loss, which went against market expectations, is an indication that the worst is not over for MAS, which is undergoing a comprehensive turnaround plan that is scheduled to bring the company back into the black by the end of 2014. This goal is expected to be deferred for the third time.

Last week, analysts covering the national carrier had expressed confidence that MAS would break even in the 3Q. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd expected the airline to report a RM17 million net profit on the back of seasonally strong 3Q and a better load factor.

The airline's 3Q load factor stood at 84.8% — a historic peak for the 41-year-old carrier.

MAS said its operating expenditure in the last quarter was higher by 16% compared to the same quarter last year due to higher fuel and non-fuel variable costs, which rose in line with capacity increase and the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.

"Fuel and non-fuel costs for the airline increased by 16%. The increase in operating expenditure is also attributed to a one-off cost incurred for redelivery of aircraft.

"In addition, the group intensified its advertising and promotional activities amid intense competition as part of its long-term strategy to continuously strengthen presence in key markets," MAS said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Despite the loss, the carrier said its cash position remains strong at RM5.4 billion.

MAS said its operating revenue improved 13% to RM3.78 billion compared to the same quarter last year due to an increase in seat factor by 10.3 percentage points to 84.8%, on the back of a 20% increase in capacity.

READ MORE HERE

 

PAS polls turning ugly, Anwar’s name dragged in to run down ‘progressives’

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 12:52 PM PST

http://i.imgur.com/0bNEpk1.jpg

Sources said the PAS electoral battle was turning out to be ugly with even a dog image being ascribed to one of the contestants for the Youth chief post. 

Ahmad Fadzly Esa, The Ant Daily 

The PAS elections are shaping up into one of the hottest and ugliest in the party's history, and it seems Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been dragged into it.

PAS leaders identified as belonging to the "progressive" faction are miffed by allegations that they are a threat to the Islamic party because of their alleged allegiance to PKR supremo Anwar.

They said such allegations were nothing more than the work of Umno and its cohorts who were using the 59th PAS muktamar (assembly) on Nov 22 to split the Islamic party.

PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad rubbished talk that the PAS election would be a battle between the conservatives and the Anwaristas, the professionals said to have close ties with Anwar.

It was just a ploy to create a rift between the candidates and their supporters, said Dzulkefly, who is contesting for a seat in the central committee.

"I would like to clearly state that PAS has never been divided into these so-called clerics and Anwarina factions. The fact that we sometimes disagree or have differences in opinions will only make us more relevant and conducive as a political party," he said.

He said if anything, this clearly indicated that PAS had never been a mere "follower" in the current political scenario.

"At the same time, I can see Umno-BN trying to take advantage of the situation and create a division within the party, but I am convinced that PAS members are wise and mature enough to not fall into this trap," he told theantdaily.

Another PAS central committee member, Khalid Samad, also dismissed allegations that the party is embroiled in a tussle between the conservative Islamic clerics and the urbane professionals.

READ MORE HERE 

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net
 

Malaysia Today Online

Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved