Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- ‘Do away with the biased scholarship system’
- WikiLeaks: Eskay had dealings with insurgents
- Najib vs. Anwar: Epic Battle
| ‘Do away with the biased scholarship system’ Posted: 22 May 2011 05:50 PM PDT DAP and MIC Indian leaders flay PSD for running its own kingdom in the distribution of scholarships to high achievers. Both the parties also called for a revamp of the Public Services Department (PSD) over its failure to provide scholarships to students who had obtained excellent results in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations. B Nantha Kumar and Stephanie Sta Maria, Free Malaysia Today Its the same old scenario again. Students with excellent results do not get Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships. The critical courses like medicine , law, pharmacy, dentistry and engineering are given only to the bumiputera students and the non-bumiputeras are given the rest. In a rare show of agreement the DAP and the MIC want the PSD to stop this biased practice. Both the parties also called for a revamp of the Public Services Department (PSD) over its failure to provide scholarships to students who had obtained excellent results in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations. Teluk Intan DAP member of parliament M Manogaran said PSD has to be revamped to prevent erosion of public confidence of government institutions. The selection committee for PSD scholarships, he said, should comprise academics, government and opposition MPs as well as PSD officers. His call comes following a revelation by Deputy Education Minister, Wee Ka Siong, last week that 363 straight A+ students failed to receive the scholarships this year. This is a repeat of last year's fiasco which required the intervention of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who had promised that all students scoring 8A+ and above would receive PSD scholarships. "I'm sure that there are PSD officers who are fair and diligent in their work. And the present award list should be cancelled," said Manogaran in a statement. The opposition lawmaker also called for the setting-up of an independent multi racial committee to distribute the PSD scholarships starting next year. "The present committee is made up of predominantly one race," he said. "And this is reflected in the distribution of courses between the bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras." "Many of the critical courses like medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry and engineering are being awarded to bumiputeras and the non-bumiputeras are given the rest. PSD should continue maintaining its scholarship quota but I want to see a fair distribution of courses between the two groups," he added. Major flaws in the system Manogaran's statement is backed by an academic from University Malaya, who declined to be named for fear of backlash from the Education Ministry. In an interview earlier this year with FMT, she had identified two major flaws in the education systems both of which involved the PSD scholarships. The first, she said, was a severe shortage of scholarships for physical sciences. The second – and more alarming – was that these scholarships were being awarded to students who either didn't have the aptitude or the interest to pursue a career in physical sciences. From her observations most of these students are bumiputeras. "Malaysia produces less than 20% of physical science graduates," she stated. "Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China produce 30% to 40%, which increases their preponderance for acquiring technology." "And because most of our graduates weren't interested in physical sciences in the first place, they carve careers in other industries upon graduation, which further dilutes our already limited resource pool." Manogaran meanwhile also wanted an immediate investigation on the methods used in the awarding of scholarships and, if necessary, for a report be made to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and the suspension of the top PSD officials responsible for the present predicament. He added that in ignoring the cabinet directive on the award of scholarships, the PSD appeared to be running its own kingdom and has forgotten that they are public servants. "Public servants must remember that they are servants serving the public and not act as little Napoleans. They must be beholden to the public and not take public interest for granted." "The government itself must show that it is serious and sincere in implementing a fair system instead of playing politics. So I call for immediate action to correct the situation and restore public confidence in what is meant to be a merit-based system," he said. Independent committee On another front the MIC wanted the government to set-up an independent committee to investigate the scholarship distribution. Party vice president SK Devamany said the PSD had failed to follow Cabinet directives and this warrants a through investigation. "There are many students coming to my office appealing for scholarships. So far 367 students have approached us asking for assistance," said the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department. "Off the total, 200 students complained about the unfair PSD selection criteria while 167 students aired their grouses because their application for matriculation courses have been rejected despite obtaining 6As or 7As. Many of them are from poor families and a few underprivileged students from hardcore poor families," he added. "Students obtained straight As and but they were heartbroken when they realised that their application for scholarships were rejected. PSD must realise that high achievers are assets to the country," he said, adding that the selection criteria should also be reviewed to bring an end to this problem year in, year out. MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the government should put a stop to this problem as it appears every year without fail. "This year is no exception and the complaints are similar to that of previous years with students with excellent results being left out or offered unrelated courses," he said. He said it was more "sickening" to learn that some non-bumiputera students have been offered scholarships for professional courses although they did not have basic requirements.
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| WikiLeaks: Eskay had dealings with insurgents Posted: 22 May 2011 05:16 PM PDT A leaked US embassy cable from 2006 reveals businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah's indepth knowledge on the Southern Thailand armed conflict. (Free Malaysia Today) - A leaked confidential US embassy cable from 2006 has revealed the extent of influence wielded by businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah in dealing with Thai Malay separatists who are still involved in a war with the Thai government. Eskay, who was then the honorary Thai consul in Langkawi, had shared his indepth knowledge of the separatist movement and their activities with the US embassy high-ranking officers in a meeting on Feb 5, 2006. Details of the meeting were sent in a confidential cable by political counsellor Mark D Clark to the US State Department in Washington. Details of the cable were leaked by WikiLeaks to popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin who had published the leaked cable in his Malaysia Today website today. Clark, in the cable, had revealed some of Eskay's insight and knowledge of the separatist movement and their acts, including:
Clark noted that Eskay's information on the insurgents were the most detailed the US team had received. "Eskay credibly appeared to have contacts with a large pool of old guard leaders, insurgents, and sympathisers from Thailand's Malay south. "His views on the insurgency were the most detailed we heard during five days of travel in northern Malaysia and tracked well in many respects with information and opinions from others," Clark said in the cable. The cable added that Eskay had described his significant "mediator" role in the 2005-2006 dialogue with Thai Malay insurgents and his frequent interaction with separatists on both sides of the border. "Eskay said he carried out his work on the Thai insurgency largely independent of the Thai and Malaysian governments, and maintained direct links with most known Malay separatist leaders resident in Malaysia. "To bolster his credentials, he showed video footage he had recorded of various meetings with men he described as elder separatist leaders and younger operators," added Clark's cable. Clark, however, warned that Eskay's belief in the usefulness of engaging the old guard contradicted the opinion of Malaysian politicians, officials and police who generally dismissed the old-timers as irrelevant. He also said that several Malaysians volunteered they were suspicious of Eskay's contacts with Malay separatists and alleged Eskay had been involved in controversial business deals in the past. Clark also pointed out in his cable that the identity of Eskay is protected throughout. The old guard The cable said that Eskay had informed the US officials that most of the older generation of Malay separatist leaders lived in Malaysia with the Malaysian government's knowledge and acquiescence. "Eskay confirmed that younger generation separatists, including those involved in recent attacks in southern Thailand, frequently entered Malaysia, particularly when the situation became 'too hot' and they required safe haven," the cable said, adding that the Malaysian government was not always aware of the identity and travel of younger separatists. The cable said that the older leaders, with well-established networks in Malaysia, constituted the support service for the insurgents, providing shelter and transportat, and arranging jobs, including in Thai restaurants and on rubber estates. Clark also said that Eskay named one veteran insurgent, Abdullah Idris, the vice-president of National Revolutionary Front, as responsible for ordering some of the ongoing attacks in southern Thailand. However, Eskay believed that the Malay separatists accounted for only 30% of attacks in the south with Thai army, policy and intelligence agency factions, along with criminal gangs, responsible for the balance. "Eskay relayed that many insurgent leaders believed deposed Prime Minister Thaksin (Shinawatra) and Thai Rak Thai party adviser General Chavalit (Yongchaiyudh) were funding much of the recent violence." The cable also said that Eskay admitted arranging meetings between Malaysian intelligence and various insurgents operating in Thailand, meetings which included an understanding of safe passage within Malaysia. However, he had said that even on Malaysian soil, Thai Malay militants did not feel safe from possible assassination or kidnapping. "On at least one occasion, a Thai bounty hunter had bribed local Malaysian police to abduct a separatist who was in Malaysia. "Eskay had intervened to release the target, whom the Malaysian police officer had locked in the trunk of his police car," added the cable.
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| Posted: 22 May 2011 10:50 AM PDT
By Asia Sentinel Wikileaks cables detail a struggle Najib has won so far It is a battle that Najib appears to have won, at least for now, having been named prime minister while an embattled Anwar remains in the dock, fighting charges that he sodomized an aide. The cables, more than 900,000 words long and covering 15 years from 1993 to 2008, depict an Anwar who from the start saw Najib as a danger to him personally. He was in frequent touch with US Embassy officials, warning constantly that Najib was the perpetrator of a long series of corrupt acts in the procurement of defense equipment and that he was a danger to the exercise of democracy. Equally, the cables depict an American legation determined to avoid becoming ensnared in Malaysian politics by taking sides. Christopher LaFleur, US ambassador from 2004 to 2007, wrote in a July 31, 2007 cable to US Army Gen. George W. Casey that "Malaysia is important to us because it is an economically successful, stable, predominantly Muslim country that, over the longer term, may be able to support us more strongly in places like the Middle East… The overall tone in Malaysian-American relations has improved considerably since Abdullah Badawi became Prime Minister in late-2003, and we seek to translate this into substantive improvements. Bilateral relations eroded under Abdullah's vituperative predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but Abdullah brought with him a friendlier style and an interest in projecting a more moderate image, both for himself and for his country. " The embassy, however, watched closely as Anwar forged an unwieldy opposition coalition from the Islamist Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the Chinese Democratic Action Party and Anwar's own Parti Keadilan Rakyat, made up largely of urban Malays. From the time Anwar was released from prison after a 1999 trial on what were widely seen to be bogus charges of corruption and sexual deviancy, the cables show a United Malays National Organisation paralyzed by inaction and led by an ineffective Abdullah Badawi while opposition forces raise enthusiastic crowds of tens of thousands of cheering spectators demanding political reform. The need for Anwar's crucial leadership of the awkward coalition is underscored by a Feb. 23, 2007 cable signed by LaFleur. "PAS valued Anwar as the 'bridge' between the non-Malays especially the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and PAS, and as a name-brand figure able to attract voters," La Fleur wrote. PAS elders, he wrote, found it impossible to communicate with the DAP and other non-Malay parties. He quotes Azizan Abdul Razak of PAS saying that PAS and DAP were "like chickens and ducks, feeding at the same trough, but unable to talk to one another." Anwar was seen as the only one who could blunt the "ruling National Front juggernaut." Anwar, LaFleur wrote on July 17, 2007, was concentrating his attacks on then Deputy Prime Minister Najib as a way to "open up fissures in UMNO middle ranks that will give him other opportunities." As pressure continued on the ruling coalition, Anwar led enthusiastic rallies all over the country, culminating in the March 2008 national elections that ended the Barisan Nasional's 50-year two-thirds hold on parliament. The cables in general seem to indicate a sense of growing panic and paralysis on the part of Barisan leaders, particularly in UMNO, and a desire to drive Abdullah Badawi from the premiership to make way for Najib. Anwar compounded the fears by displaying an eight-minute videotape of a prominent lawyer, VK Lingam, apparently telling a Supreme Court judge to fix key appointments in the government's favor, thus spurring a royal inquiry into judicial corruption. According to Ambassador James Keith, who succeeded LaFleur in July 2007, UMNO leaders worried "about Anwar's drawing power on the streets. That Anwar and other opposition leaders proceeded successfully in the face of PM Abdullah's personal warnings should bolster the opposition's resolve and embolden them to plan further events." After Anwar returned to politics by taking back his Penang parliamentary seat in a by-election, it was only a matter of time before UMNO replaced a faltering Abdullah Badawi with Najib. As Mahathir goaded Najib to act in April 2007, Anwar was telling the diplomats that his opposition coalition "had a 'realistic' opportunity to topple PM Abdullah's government by bringing over 30 or more BN MPs for a no-confidence vote in Parliament," Keith wrote. All of that was brought to a halt on June 30, 2008,when former aide Mohamed Saiful Bukhary Azlan, charged that he had been sodomized by Anwar, a case that goes on to this day. The charges brought the opposition's momentum to a halt. On July 23, 2008, apparently aware that this second sodomy arrest was being viewed skeptically by the international community, Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar assembled a flock of foreign diplomats to give them the government's view. According to a cable on that date signed by Keith, Syed Hamid dismissed claims of conspiracy, defended the police handling of the case and emphasized that Anwar was "being treated fairly." "The Government of Malaysia is becoming aware of the negative impact the Anwar case has had on its international reputation and is acting to change the negative foreign perceptions," the cable read. "Today's briefing was an attempt by the GOM to influence the diplomatic community, counter Anwar's own messaging the day before, and work against critical international media attention." The skeptical tone of the cable is difficult to miss. Syed Hamid, the cable said, "shared no new information with the group as a whole and we doubt the briefing swayed diplomats to change their prior opinions; indeed, we heard a good measure of cynicism from some of the gathered diplomats. The government's decision to hold the event and the Ambassador's discussion with the Home Minister afterward served to reinforce our belief that the Government of Malaysia already has decided to charge Anwar for sodomy, and it will take this next step by mid-August." |
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