Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Citizen Empowerment School (CES)
- Liow’s Tongue Lies!
- Banning of the book “The March to Putrajaya”
- Sign of the end for BN when people no longer afraid
- After July 9th, What Next?
- Voter Registration at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia this weekend
- Lies, lies and shameless lying through their teeth
- Save Malaysia: Australia Trip
- No escape from new media effect
- MCLM Calls BERSIH 2.0 a Great Success and Hails the Rakyat who Participated as the Third Force
- The Principles Behind UMNO’s Corruption Exposed for All to See
- Justice for Jeyakumar!
- The next course of action
- Najib's 9MP that did not go as planned
- Malaysian government to remove ‘Bersih’
- Born Again Malaysian, Totally Cleansed (BERSIH)!
- 10 Reasons Why Shopperholics Should Support Bersih
| Citizen Empowerment School (CES) Posted: 13 Jul 2011 07:50 PM PDT
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| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 07:08 PM PDT  By Martin Jalleh On 11 July he very confidently claimed that the police did not shoot tear gas and spray chemically-laced waterfrom cannons into the Tung Shin Hospital compound, in the crackdown on the recent Bersih 2.0 rally. He added (in a press conference held in the hospital) he had confirmed with the hospital authorities that the claims circulating on the Internet are not true. "The police shot the tear gas over the main road. Maybe the smoke was blown by the wind in this direction - that, we don't know, but they were not aiming at the hospital," he told reporters after meeting board members of the hospital this afternoon. "As for the water cannon, they were shooting at 45 degrees onto the main road, maybe the edge of it may...(have spread to the hospital)." The police have also denied shooting directly into the hospital compounds after protesters had sought refuge there. Liow blamed the opposition for bringing in politics to the hospital, which he labelled as an irresponsible act. Liow was strongly supported by his boss in the MCA (who was also a former Health Minister), Chua Soi Lek, who never lacks cheap excuses when the chips are down. Chua charged that "the truth of the pictures and videos of alleged police brutality during the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally for clean and fair elections, should be viewed "in totality", it "lies in the eye of the beholder". Two days later, a group of doctors (who "wish not to enter into the polemics of the Bersih 2.0") said they were prepared to provide sworn affidavits to say that police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water into the compounds of the Tung Shin and Chinese Maternity Hospitals during the Bersih rally (Malaysian Insider, 13.07.11). In a signed statement, 11 doctors, including some who were at the scene, said they were outraged at the actions of the police in firing tear gas and water cannons without scant regard for the safety of patients and doctors. "Hospitals are considered as safe sanctuaries for all, even during wartime, but these consecrated places of refuge and protection were violated by the defence forces that afternoon. Police even entered the buildings in search of some of these peaceful marchers. "What was most frightening and witnessed by many was the unprovoked violent assault within the hospital compounds and the apprehension of several protesters who had merely run into the hospitals to seek shelter from the tear gas and the water cannons. "It is repulsive that the authorities entrusted with policing the nation and protecting the weak and needy, have shamelessly denied publicly, the occurrence of these incidents in spite of countless photo/video and eyewitness accounts of what was evident to all independent observers," they said. It is very evident that Soi Lek has been "soiled" in his judgment of things and lacks wisdom. Are we expected to believe that 11 senior and reputable doctors suffered from "optical illusion" that day! Chua has bit off more than he could chew! As for Liow, how low can you go? Surely the Health Minister knows it is not healthy to lie! | ||||||||||||||
| Banning of the book “The March to Putrajaya” Posted: 13 Jul 2011 06:23 PM PDT
Kim Quek I am terribly disappointed at judge Rohana Yusof's decision to reject my application to declare the seizure and subsequent banning of my book "The March to Putrajaya" null and void. The judge's one sided judgement which completely ignores the argument submitted by me and my legal counsel is obviously a flawed judgement. It cannot help but convey the unmistakable signal that the present political hold on the judiciary to deliver what the political masters want is intact. It means that Malaysians will continue to be denied their fundamental liberties guaranteed under Part Two of the Constitution – which include the freedom of expression – through abuse of power by the Executive, which will be ultimately protected from legal accountability by a compliant judiciary. It is ironical that the Institution – judiciary – entrusted by the Constitution to play the role of ultimate protector of citizens' rights against encroaches by the Executive has found itself playing the reverse role – the ultimate protector of an abusive Executive that tramples on people's fundamental rights. It should be very clear by now that we cannot count on any of the existing state institutions – judiciary included – to look after the people's interest and to ensure that they truly enjoy what is due to them in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. This calls for the final solution to this tragic predicament faced by the nation – a complete overhaul of our institutions through a change of political leadership. As for today's judgement by Judge Rohana, who also rejects the celebrated cartoonist Zunar's application to lift the ban on his two cartoon books in the same judgement, both Zunar and myself have pledged to fight the legal battle to the very end, despite the thinning chances of receiving justice as we ascend the judicial hierarchy. Our legal effort is part of the larger political movement aimed at turning a new leaf for the country – for ourselves and for generations to come.
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| Sign of the end for BN when people no longer afraid Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:53 PM PDT
By Daniel John Jambun
At one time in Malaysia, especially during the earlier part of Tun Mahathir premiership, people were afraid of the government. Dark stories of sufferings in detention haunted the people, and to us then, being arrested under the ISA was a fearful, dreadful thing. But now we young people like Atama Katama saying he is prepaid to be arrested under the ISA if need be, for the sake of his struggle for free and elections in his beloved country. On being released after her arrest on July 9, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Bersih's President, stated what was already obvious to everyone: "Malaysians are no longer scared of government intimidation." This reminds me of what, Thomas Jefferson, one of the drafters of the US Declaration of Independence, said: "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Gladly, we are clearly heading for that liberty, because it is obvious the government is now on the defensive, clearly intimidated and threatened by the force of the people's desire for clean and free elections in the country. This was made amply clear during the Bersih rally on July 9. Despite weeks of threats and intimidation from the government, laced with rude remarks to make Bersih look like an evil organization, supposedly having a destructive agenda, the people came in droves. The whole city was locked down, but 50,000 people managed to pass through and participate in the rally in high spirit.
What should a government do when the people are no longer afraid to be arrested, even to suffer for a good and noble cause? Isn't is a sign that the end is in sight for the BN?
The BN leaders downplayed the impact of the day by saying the planned rally didn't get the support of the people "because only about 10,000 people turned up instead of the planned 100,000." But if the police and FRU didn't lock down the city, and allowed a free rally, there would have been 200,000 or even more. The fact is 50,000 turned up in spite of the police blockades.
The loud verbal attacks by the Prime Minister against the rally organizers in an arranged and BN-sponsored gathering on 6,000 at the Putra World Trade Centre the following day, sounded hollow and futile, a reaction which was too little too late. The irony of the speech was that it tried to insult the rally participants and those who wished they participated, but it only achieved to galvanize their support for Bersih instead of demoralizing or cowering them into submission. The PM sounded so illogical in his reasoning, and by the sound and the fury of his speech it was obvious he was doing it all just to try a psychological victory over the previous day's rally. It was also obvious he was scared, and feeling highly threatened by Bersih. BN had succeeded in making enemies with the rally participants, and created a strong body of anti-BN Malaysians – a reversal of the 1Malaysia objectives.
The BN is now in a very serious quandary. What will it do now? Should it clean up the election process? And isn't that what the government of a free and democratic country supposed to be doing? But then won't that be an exercise in self-destruction? Then again, if it doesn't clean up the obviously dirty election process, how will it justify itself to the people? The BN must also be struggling with the hard question of what to do with Bersih 3.0 – the third rally which Bersih is threatening to hold if the government doesn't do anything to meet its 8-point demand. And we can bet, this time the rally will be at least three times bigger than the one on July 9, even with the brutal suppression of the police and FRU. There are already Bersih rallies all over the world, and more will come.
The other dilemma giving BN a throbbing headache is whether to suppress or just allow Bersih's next huge rally. If it is allowed, the number of demonstrators will be so huge it will create history and an international embarrassment for the BN regime. If it is suppressed even harder than before, the police brutality, which will be exposed by international news media and the internet, will lower Malaysia to the barbaric level of the Middle East regimes.
So the BN is now caught in the middle, between the choice of becoming civilized or uncivilised. It knows that cruel suppression will fail, and will tarnish the nation's image, and it will definitely lead to a quicker downfall of the BN. The best choice would be for it to listen to the people, to do the right thing, which is to comply and fulfill Bersih's 8-point demand. This is because the people are asking why is the BN so reluctant to do the right thing, and why is a clean electoral process so frightening to the BN?
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| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:32 PM PDT
By Bowler In the post-Bersih 2.0 rally period, the rakyat will tire of the polemics, petty quarrels and nit-picking that hasensued. Far beyond the pain and sacrifices made by our countrymen in that rally, there is a desperate need to ensure permanent good effects come out of the rally. Leaders or leading supporters of Bersih 2.0 have been issuing contradictory statements that have undermined Bersih's efforts.Beyond wishful thinking and vague hopes, systematic and organized strategies must be executed. Loose ends must be tied up. Here are some suggestions: I. Abang Baharuddin's death needs closure Bersih 2.0 needs to assign an officer (with the agreement of the bereaved family) to work with the family to ensure they are not left alone. This officer must assist the family in every way to obtain justice until the family is fully satisfied that justice has been done and any compensation due achieved. 2. Resolve the Tung Shin Hospital Controversy Bersih 2.0 must assign an officer to work with hospital authorities and doctors as well as with independent NGOs to ensure that hospitals and universities are never again abused by the police – that policemen never again invade hospitals and universities – whether with tear gas, water cannons or with their dirty boots and truncheons, nor place their spies, secret agents and appointed cronies in these institutions. Those demonstrators who were injured by policemen with excessive and purposeful force and cruelty also need to see that their torturers are brought to justice. An officer must be assigned to work on this too. If there is any compensation due, this must be successfully obtained from those responsible for the atrocities. All these individuals cases must be settled properly and with full satisfaction of the victims. In addition, the public's grievances must also be settled. 3. Develop the demands of Bersih 2.0 While it is relatively easy to fight for indelible ink to be used in elections, bersih must suggest concrete and effective checks and balances to counter dirty politics? There is some hard thinking and some hard work to be done in this area. Consider and tackle issues related with implementation. Take for example the cleaning up of electoral rolls. Should this be left entirely to the EC? Should there be a watch dog to check the EC? After all, one of the complaints of Bersih 2.0 is that the public servants are not fair and that some steps should be taken to ensure they are fair and professional in their approach to their work and responsibilities. How is this to be ensured? Can the EC be trusted to clean up the electoral rolls? If there is to be a watch dog, how is it to be selected and funded? Is it to be purely voluntary or by appointment? How is it possible to guarantee that civil servants do not have any interest in the outcome of elections in the sense of who wins or who loses the elections? After all even Ministers refuse to declare their assets, what more top and middle ranking civil servants? Who is to ensure that their declarations are accurate? Who is responsible to dig up dirt in case of cover ups and dishonesty? The mechanisms to ensure that civil servants do not have any interest in who wins or loses elections have to be carefully thought out and invented yet. Bersih 2.0 needs to spend some time on this and make their proposals known to the public and voters. 4. Resolve the problems related to postal votes. It is enough to have observers? Do the postal voters list need to be specially checked? After all, even ordinary voters if they are unable to come to the polling stations are recommended by Bersih 2.0 to be given the postal vote. This seems to be a very big thing and may get out of hand. Who is to say whether they can or cannot come to the polling stations? Who is to check and verify the lists of such postal voters? As if police and military postal voters are not enough, now those who are in foreign countries may be given the postal vote too. This is a logistical trap and may even backfire on Bersih 2.0. Prisoners should also be given the postal vote according to the principle that no one may stop a voter from exercising his right to vote. Such rights must be respected and no one may take away such rights lightly especially ministers who refuse to declare they assets. This way, if the rights are carefully protected, the people are assured they are sovereign, not UMNO. However, who can confirm the prisoners can vote freely and not under duress? After all their jailers have more or lees the power of life or death over them. This may influence they way they vote in a really big way. In fact rank and file soldiers are under such strict discipline that their officers have the power to make life hell for them. Who is to ensure that their votes are free and not under any duress? These things may backfire on Bersih 2.0 Bersih 2.0 needs concrete proposals for the public and voters via practical systematic and well organized work for the next elections. 5. Counter Unfair Media Coverage Then there is the problem of media air time and coverage. If everyone of the employees including the top bosses in a TV station is a UMNO crony, how can media air time and coverage be made equal and fair? Bersih 2.0 needs to do some hard thinking on this too and make their proposals known to the public.
After all was it Stalin who is credited with saying that the voters are important, but the people who count the votes are even more important (or something to that effect)? Are UMNO faithful secret followers of Stalin? Should UMNO be the one to appoint the media watch dogs if this were the case? Take the MACC for example. The MACC is supposed to have a watch dog. However, things have gotten so much out of hand in the MACC that a RCI was needed to try and sort out a famous case involving the MACC. This should be considered a slap in the face of the MACC watch dog because they have failed in their duties to keep the MACC on track in its professionalism and integrity to the extent of requiring a RCI to do their job for them. However the thick skinned shameless characters in the watch dog commission refuse even to apologise for this let alone resign their commissions. Such watch dogs are completely useless especially if they are appointed by a Stalinist type authority. Bersih 2.0 needs to ensure that watch dogs not only have the professionalism and integrity, but the funds and power too to do the job they are supposed to do. What I suggest is that all watch dogs must be set up by parliament whether they are watch dogs to monitor media, the judiciary, the police, the EC or the MACC. They must have the power to remove the heads of the departments concerned and they must comprise independent professionals chosen by a parliamentary team comprising government as well as opposition members. If there is dispute, the opposition has the final say in 2 cases while the government has the final say in only 1 case. Funding for such watch dogs must be automatic and compulsory with mechanisms to cater for inflation and special cases of importance to the public, not at the whims and fancy of the government. This case, even if the PR comes to power, BN will have control over the appointments of the watchdogs and vice versa. It will be some sort of check on absolute power. My proposal just highlights the difficulties involved in the cause. Bersih 2.0 cannot afford short cuts in their endeavours which require hard work. At the end of the day, what we desperately need are checks on absolute power. The measures taken must reflect this need. Until politics becomes cleaner, such drastic measures may be withdrawn for more appropriate measures to suit the changed conditions. Hopefully by then Malaysia will be a better place to live in with greater hope for and more confidence in the future – when the rakyat are sovereign. | ||||||||||||||
| Voter Registration at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia this weekend Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:18 PM PDT
Come register as a voter this weekend and next weekend at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia (RABM) from 2-4pm. Date: 16-17 July (Saturday & Sunday)23-24 July (Saturday & Sunday) Time: 2-4pm Venue: Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia,66 Lorong Setiabistari 1, Bukit Damansara (GoogleMap link here) If you're already a registered voter, you can drive all your friends and family who are not yet a voter to RABM this weekend! Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Are you amongst the 3,973,032 eligible but as yet unregistered to vote? Do you know of someone who can but hasn't yet registered? Register now and get every unregistered voter you know to do the same, if we are to have a chance for change come the 13th General Election. Register as a Voter today! http://www.inorout.my/index.php/pages/about
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| Lies, lies and shameless lying through their teeth Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:03 PM PDT
In the face of all these denials the government even has the audacity to threaten legal action against the media world for publishing the facts and truth. By J. D. Lovrenciear It is mind blowing. How do ministers as well as all those charged with leadership responsibilities lie through their teeth knowing full well that not just 28 million people have seen the evidence but the entire global community of people do know what actually happened at Bersih 2.0 on July 19, 2011? It insults. It hurts. It really is very frightening when you start wondering how a government and its agencies could adamantly disclaim solid, real first eye witness accounts backed with hard evidence showing the way the police went about brutalizing and intimidating the citizens at the rally. There are citizens carrying photos of experiences in their cell phones. The blogs have posted evidences. The world press have published hard evidences. Television stations around the globe have showcased snippets of the real life drama. And yet the government denies. Celebrated individuals and professionals around the world have written stinging remarks against the police brutality shown against its own citizens. Global organizations have clearly demonstrated their shock at the way the government went about dealing with its citizens. And our so-called leaders still choose to deny? Mahathir always believed that when you tell a lie all too often or persistently peddle it, people will start believing it. If that is the paradigm from where our government is operating from, you must be worse off than the turkey really. Now, fraternities of doctors from the Tung Shin hospital have stepped forward to state in no uncertain terms that the police did break an international code of ethics by infringing onto hospital premises. And the leader representing Health Care in Malaysia makes an outright denial. And to cap it off, another leader from BN makes a mockery of the truth. What is all these? A joke? Or is someone putting a gun to the heads of spokespersons? And in the face of all these denials the government even has the audacity to threaten legal action against the media world for publishing the facts and truth. Does it not make this nation look extremely foolish in the eyes of a globalizing world? Is this not treason of the highest order – shaming a nation in the most damned manner? One citizen died and the top most leaders make a jest out of it. Others demean the bereaved family members. People were injured. Many more were hurt physically. Young and old suffered. And the government has no qualms in shaming the citizens even more? And it is even threatening hints to the wind that it can marshal millions more to create "chaos". Why? Why? Whatever has got into the heads of our so-called chosen leaders? Look, honorable men and women and respected organizations here and abroad are speaking up against the crime committed on peaceful citizens and the authorities are breathing more hell-bent fire on its citizens by making more denials, showing zero compassion, and displaying absolutely no cares or even any iota of remorse of conscience. And to cap it with even more atrocity, various channels are being employed to fan hatred and suspicion and condemnation against its own citizens. Why? What does the government want in the final analysis? Why so much of lies, lies and shameless lies even when every corner of the nation and the four corners of the world are saying that the government was wrong in its ways? Something is seriously very wrong. It is beginning to seem even more frightening to think what else is coming. This madness must stop. And it better stop yesterday not just for the love of rakyat and king but also for the region and the world at large. Do not for a single moment forget that when the world gets angry at these persistent lies, the price cannot be paid.
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| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:26 AM PDT 9ksg24Fqq8s We gathered how Australian Laws on regulating such industries differed from ours and based on one or more of these laws we can consider taking up a legal injunction there to stop Lynas from operating in Malaysia. By Save Malaysia Stop Lynas Or watch video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksg24Fqq8s The SAVE MALAYSIA STOP LYNAS MOVEMENT has, under the sponsorship of residents in Balok, Gebeng and Kuantan made a trip o Australia from the 3rd to 10th July 2011. Since its inception in March this year, SMSL has made presentations to the Malaysian Parliament calling upon the government to scrap the project called LAMP (Lynas Advanced Materials Plant) Rare Earth processing plant. Till this day there hasn't been any response from the authorities oncerned. We then staged a 1000 mothers candle light vigil at the Teluk Cempedak beach on the Mother's Day and followed up by a Solidarity Walk to the Australian High Commissioner's Office in Kuala Lumpur n the 20th May 2011. In response to the opposition to this plant by the local residents, the government set up an independent panel of experts called the IAEA Panel to look into the safety aspect of the plant. They were given a term of reference that merely concerned itself on whether there is any non-compliance of the regulations regarding radiation as laid down in the IAEA guidelines on such matter. The panel revealed its findings on the 30th June 2011 by declaring that they could not find any cases of non-compliance by Lynas Advanced Materials Plant. However they proposed 11 conditions to be fulfilled by both AELB, the regulating body ,and Lynas before the next stage license be granted to the plant. We have, during the course of the submission period set by the government to the IAEA panel, declared that the terms of reference is too narrow and it did not address the various concerns of the residents living in the vicinity affected by the presence of this plant. We chose not to make any submissions and when the report by IAEA came out, it proved us right that the whole exercise was an eyewash. Though we demonstrated peacefully during the first two days of submission by members of the public at the Hyatt Hotel Kuantan, there were hired thugs who came to harrass us. We have made a police report and a complaint to SUHAKAM regarding the violation of our rights to gather peacefully and to express our opinion, till this day there has not been any response to our police report and complaint to Suhakam on the day's incident. We subsequently held two large peaceful gatherings comprising of ordinary residents from these affected areas at the Taman Gelora on Father's Day and a morning hike up Bukit Pelindung to register our protest against the LAMP project. To date, no positive response from the government has been forthcoming. The IAEA Report mandated 11 recommendations to be fulfilled by parties concerned before the government grant the license for the next stage of development for the plant. We found the report inadequate in many areas. The plant is built on an ecologically sensitive area as it is sited on a large reclaimed swamp land. It is surrounded by swamps. Nearby factories had tested and yielded results from geological studies that the water table is merely 1 metre below the surface. With such delicate geological structure, the radioactive solid wastes of the plant which will amount to hundreds of thousands of tons which will be stored in 'storage cells' built on top of the reclaimed areas will in gradual setting lead to possible cracks on the 1 foot thick clay bottom and cause the plastic lining above it to give way. This will lead to seeping of radioactive elements in the solid wastes into the ground water which will end up in the ecosyatem and eventually in our food chain. Once this happen, the traditional artisan fishermen who have been depending on the catch in the nearby sea will not be able to sell their catch as the fear of ending up eating radioactive fish becomes real to the propective buyers. This will effectively end their livelihood and it will be grossly unjustified for anyone to deprive these hard working kampung folks of the means to support their families. They have been living in these areas since time immemorial. They are the first inhabitants of this area. The LAMP will treacherously destroy the rights of these artisan fishermen of the right to earn a living and this is a grave and serious violation of basic human rights and the Malaysian Constitution! The IAEA team conveniently ignored this possibility as it fell outside the scope of their reference! The Report also recommended that the regulating authority , the AELB, be equipped with adequate resources to monitor and to regulate the activities of this plant 24/7. We have withnessed how the head of AELB had declared that the radioactive waste produced by the plant is so low in radiation that one can 'tabur' (sprinkle') it around! His credibility was further compromised when he declared that depositing the waste permenantly at the factory backyard was not acceptable. These statements contradicted each other and it demonstrated vividly the incompetency of the personnel involved in monitoring the plant's activities. Now that Lynas has mentioned the proposed installation of two units of radioactivity detectors, it made us wonder why these units were not included in the specifications laid out for the plant before it was built? Can we honestly trust AELB to carry out its duties effectively when it is not bothered to check whether these two units of detectors are up to international specifications as they were bought by Lynas! It is equivalent to public road users themselves buying the speed detector for our JPJ to detect whether we have driven our cars exceeding certain limits! Whatever extra measures put in place by Lynas will not change the lack of trust the public has of the competency of our regulating authorities as past incidences have shown that they are lacking in capability in instituting and implementing effective and competent measures to safeguard our environment. The IAEA mentioned the permissible low level of radiation that will be absorbed by the public and the plant employees. It merely concerned itself with EXTERNAL RADIATION for which the irradiation of nearby people or object will obey the inverse square rule. This means the further one is, the lesser will be the strength of the radiation absorbed. It did not address the problem of radioactive dust and liquids that will be produced during the processing of rare earth. It did not consider the dust particles and radioactive gases that could be inhaled and ingested into our bodies. The INTERNAL EMITTERS that result from such inhalation or ingestion will pose many time more risks than that of external radiation. These internal emitters will irradiate our cellular particles inclusive of our DNA and cause permanent mutation which could lead to the gradual development of cancer in the body. It takes only one mutated cell to cause cancer. Obviously the ordinary citizens' voices were not given the due respect and attention. We therefore turned our attention to exploring other options through which we could help bring the LAMP project to a solution acceptable to the residents of Balok, Gebeng and Kuantan. It is under this scenario that we made the trip to Australia. After an overnight flight, we landed at the Sydney airport on the 4th morning and headed for a pre-rally meeting at University Technology of Sydney. We met with the organiser of the next day's demonstration and attended a special meeting with members of Amnesty International. There we explained our situation to the crowd present and they responded positively towards our plan to demonstrate at the Lynas HQ the next day. On the 5th morning, we gathered our gears and travelled by train to 56 Pitt Street where Lynas HQ is situated. We picketed from 1 pm to 2.30 pm. Australian media of all modes came to interview us and our activities were reported in various newspapers and radio talk shows in Sydney. Lynas CEO Mr. Nick Curtis invited us to his office to discuss the issue. We accepted and five of us representing SMSL attended the discussion. We felt rather disappointed because he was merely repeating the points that were aired through one of the videos he did as a PR exercise in Youtube. He tried to justify Lynas' presence here by basing his argument entirely on the IAEA report and he admitted that the company had not done enough to engage the local population. We told him that this engagement which he was attempting to do at that moment should have been done in Kuantan long before Lynas started its project! When we found that the conversation led to no where, we stood up to depart but before we left, we handed him our memo and told him that our bottom line is we DO NOT want Lynas anywhere in Malaysia! We met up with other NGOs that afternoon and we gathered enough info from them on where we should be heading now in our search to bring this issue to a close. We went to the Australian Parliament on the following day and we had meetings with three of their Senators. We had had very fruitful discussions and we were promised that there will be follow-up actions on their part to bring forth the issue in their next sitting while coordinating with other relevant authorities in mapping out strategic engagements with parties that will help to further our cause. Though the weather was cold, the trip to the Australian Parliament was most rewarding even though we had to spend the entire day there. The next day we met up with other NGOs in Canberra and they were all very supportive of our cause as they felt that a dirty toxic industry like rare earth processing should not have been exported to other countries as this will tarnish their national image. They promised to take up the issue and help spread the message around. It is also through one of these meetings that we gathered how Australian Laws on regulating such industries differed from ours and based on one or more of these We are now preparing all things needed to pursue this course of action and we call upon all residents of Balok, Gebeng and Kuantan who still wish to see the 'last, restful paradise' in the East Coast of the Peninsula intact from the possible disastrous ravages of Rare Earth processing to come forward and help us defend our homeland. We in SMSL will lead the fight in preserving our beautiful homeland! We later went on to Albury to attend a Student of Sustainability (SoS) workshops and spoke to a full quorum of students from various universities and individuals who came to participate in the workshops that dwelled on all issues concerning human rights and the destruction of environment. We spoke on the LAMP issue and received overwhelming response and support from the participants. The following day a support group was set up to further take up our campaign. We came back to Sydney on an overnight train ride and were in time for the Bersih 2.0 gathering at the Sydney townhall. We took the opportunity to speak to the crowd about the purpose of our trip to Australia and they too gave us undivided support and they promised that the next trip we make shall see them lining up to help us drive the message home to Lynas that we don't want the plant anywhere in Malaysia! They are true Malaysians! 1. That we found new options through which we can institute actions to stop Lynas in Australia. | ||||||||||||||
| No escape from new media effect Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Whether by choice or due to an inability to engineer a mindset turnaround, Barisan's team has also missed out chances to update its messaging and repair missed touchpoints. Perhaps it might be in serious need of a major overhaul of its voter communication bureaucracies. By Ho Aoi Ling
Unfortunately for stakeholders in Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, Malaysia's political rhythm for the upcoming 13th general election has changed to a new beat from 9 July 2011. In this new political landscape where the rakyat hold supreme in the choice between Barisan and Pakatan, any forward looking players should now be urgently re-thinking their choice of campaign managers and teams who will play an important role to make or break the political incumbents' careers or aspirants' dreams. Compared with Pakatan which has adopted heavy use of new media much earlier, Barisan is running behind in the race to articulate its messages on this platform. Whether by choice or due to an inability to engineer a mindset turnaround, Barisan's team has also missed out chances to update its messaging and repair missed touchpoints. Perhaps it might be in serious need of a major overhaul of its voter communication bureaucracies. For the influential segment of middle class voters who possess more confidence to make a stand on issues and demand for intelligent discourse, BN's incongruent messages do not synchronize with the people's vision of 1Malaysia. The incongruous noise also implies a lack of updated skills in political messaging by Barisan's campaigners, promoters, speakers and spokesmen. One also suspects non-existent political knowhow in the advertising companies managing the BN coalition parties' or candidate's media accounts. Some voters might recall being bombarded by 'unreal' messages from political advertisements mostly carried in mainstream newspapers in the 12th general election campaign. Due to its misalignment to voters' sentiment, some might recall being amused by BN's manifesto's theme 'Selamat, Aman, Makmur' or MCA's ad depicting its President still cycling around the new village. Those messages may have worked well in the days before new media became a daily work, communication and information essential. According to the Election Commission, Malaysia has 11.82 million registered voters after the supplementary electoral roll for the fourth quarter of 2010 was gazetted recently. In June 2010, there were 16.9 million internet users in Malaysia (representing 64.6% of the population) according to Internet World Stats. Certainly these data presents a huge opportunity to extend the power of messaging beyond traditional platforms or hardsell to reach the hearts and minds of Gen X and Y families, especially the new voters. The new media platform exposes its users to diverse perspectives and is a tool to politicize younger people. Today's voters are disengaged from the traditional ideas of political loyalty and places more value on issues of governance and civil discourse. Today's middle class talk about values and rights of an individual. It may even be perceived as a form of cruelty, a turnoff or politically incorrect behavior to cast aspersion via character assassination or cliché to bespattering someone with metaphorical mud. Thence, it was no surprise that individuals 'guilty' of moral indiscretions were elected or appointed to office as the value creation from harnessing their career skills carried more weightage against other considerations. No longer bound to thought limitations of mainstream newspapers, radio and television, your fellow citizens are free to watch and compare ideas on the worldwide internet almost everyday and communicate their expanded worldview to share with their families, relatives and friends in the rural areas or globally. This complicates and presents a huge challenge to candidates contesting in the urban and semi-urban constituencies. Any political campaigners worth their salt must possess listening experience on the internet before embarking on the political trail to try to persuade voters to listen to their candidate's message. As always for political players and stakeholders, fresh approaches to politics are absolutely necessary to convince voters beyond traditional offers of lunch, dinner or charity. There is no escaping the new media effect and for sure, at any given time, the world may be watching and sharing through the internet what one is saying today or have said yesterday.
The writer is a social media listening specialist and heads an independent think tank in Kuala Lumpur. She may be reached at cleat.clew@gmail.com or Twitter http://twitter.com/aoiling | ||||||||||||||
| MCLM Calls BERSIH 2.0 a Great Success and Hails the Rakyat who Participated as the Third Force Posted: 12 Jul 2011 04:57 PM PDT
The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement congratulates the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) on the success of its rally, "Walk for Democracy" held on 9 July 2011. Despite the opposition and obstacles thrown its way by Najib Razak's government and the Polis Di Raja Malaysia (PDRM), BERSIH 2.0, led by chairperson Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan and the steering committee, successfully stayed the course. The "Walk for Democracy" will go down in the annals of history as a sterling example of People Power. The ultimate goal of presenting the memorandum of the eight demands of BERSIH 2.0 to DYMM Yang di Pertuan Agong may have been thwarted by the PDRM in defiance of his majesty's stated wish to receive it. However, an even higher goal was achieved, that is, the demonstration of solidarity by the Rakyat. As the Third Force, the Rakyat who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur were awe-inspiring. As individuals and as a collective force, you were passionate, restrained and courteous. As you stood firm against the onslaught of tear gas and water cannons, helping each other to brave the pain and discomfort, sharing your salt, sharing your water, you revived that spirit of unity that the Barisan Nasional government has tried to destroy over the decades. You have shown the world the true heart of Malaysia, one that is caring, generous and steadfast in adversity. You have shown the government and its instruments of oppression that you are a force to be reckoned with. You are the Third Force. MCLM salutes you. RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN/CHAIRMAN HARIS M. IBRAHIM/PRESIDENT | ||||||||||||||
| The Principles Behind UMNO’s Corruption Exposed for All to See Posted: 12 Jul 2011 03:59 PM PDT By batsman In a previous write-up, I suggested that it is important to understand the tiniest details of grand concepts such as democracy and electoral reforms (Who is Sovereign? The Rakyat or UMNO? ). To back up Bersih 2.0's 8 demands for electoral reform I present some detailed case arguments for your consideration. UMNO no longer has access to reason. It has to rely on prejudice and bigotry. Everyday on UMNO controlled TV stations, traders are interviewed to give their opinions about the Bersih 2.0 rally. Invariably they condemn the rally which they allege cost them one day's losses in revenue. What is the tiny principle behind all these complaints of the traders? It just exposes UMNO's value system that self-interest overrides democratic rights and justice. In UMNO's thinking, 1 day's losses is more important than democratic rights of citizens. When extended further, such value system and thinking creates great dangers for the country and people. When applied to the judiciary, the self-interest of UMNO VIP cronies overrides the law and justice. Is this not what we all already see before our very eyes? Even in Kugan's case, before incontrovertible evidence, the MMC scolds the forensic expert for giving false evidence in his autopsy report, but this is all (Malaysiakini report). The policeman scapegoat is found not guilty and the forensic expert gets away with a scolding. Meantime a man has been tortured to death and his family still awaits justice. When self-interest overrides democratic rights, the right to justice, and even the law itself, these are the dastardly things that happen. And please don't say it does not concern you because it all happened to a 2nd class Indian pariah. Will justice also be denied the pariah Beng Hock and the pariah Sarbaini? When will it be we pariahs' turns? In the case of the traders complaining against Bersih 2.0, their whining shows pathetic kiahsuism. When they chose their locations for strategic value in terms of being the focal point of customers, everything else comes with the territory. This everything else also includes the possibility that demonstrators marching peacefully to express their democratic rights may choose the same locations for the same strategic reasons. The self-interest of these traders is so obsessive that it even extends to monopolizing their locality against other people with legitimate rights. These are the same people who fill parking spaces and 5 foot ways with their tables and wares and scratch your car if you happened to park in a legitimate parking space which they have somehow monopolized and claimed. When self-interest overrides the legitimate and democratic rights of others, such dastardly things happen. Unfortunately, this seems to be the same value system of UMNO and their thugs in UMNO subsidiaries, such as KIMMA and maybe even Perkasa. Apart from whining traders, TV interviews also show students condemning the Bersih 2.0 rally saying that students should spend their time in a better way by advancing their studies and their careers. It would seem that UMNO's education system is bringing up generations of students who selfishly think about themselves above all instead of spending some time with issues of social conscience. This means that UMNO is preparing youngsters to go into the big wide world prepared only to look after their own self interests. These are the people most likely to abuse their power and engage in corruption for their own self-interest. UMNO is screwing up a few generations of young Malaysians by turning them into its own self image. In the west, such arguments as the above do not need to be made. All these things are well understood. That is why their democracies are dynamic and functioning well. Unfortunately in Malaysia's case, such arguments have to be made and made frequently. It would seem that some Malaysians – even EC officers still cannot make the obvious connection between 2 interconnected principles viz. – "no one can stop you from exercising your democratic right to vote" and "no one can stop you from exercising your democratic right to protest peacefully". This is so hard to believe that there must be something wrong. It shows that Bersih 2.0 is absolutely justified in advancing their demands for electoral reforms because top EC officers show or pretend to show in a very suspicious way, their total lack of understanding for democratic principles. All these things are happening right before your eyes almost everyday these days on TV stations controlled by UMNO. There is even an advertisement these days trying to use the glory of Tun Razak and trying to stick some of it on his useless son. Tun Razak tried his best to help poor and marginalized Malays. Unfortunately his useless son is only helping rich UMNO cronies who may be repaying the debt by making presents of expensive bags and diamond rings. Personally I pity Tun Razak for having such a useless son. Some dads may actually have more capable daughters. But this is not why I brought up this issue. Who is paying for this advertisement to glorify a useless son? Tun Razak is a great man, but his useless son seems to be only good at spending public money on expensive TV advertising campaigns for his own self aggrandizement as well as employing expensive consultants both local and foreign to advise him on how to tear gas peaceful demonstrators as well as ram a leading demonstrator with a police land rover and get away with it all, and maybe also how to use low life cronies to explain how the wind spreads this tear gas into hospitals among other things When the TV is used for personal glorification and for UMNO's benefit, it would seem that Bersih 2.0 is absolutely justified in making demands for electoral reforms. In fact I wish they extended their demands for electoral reforms to include reforms in the judiciary and the police as well, because, after looking at the principles behind UMNO's corruption, it would seem Malaysia needs a lot of fixing up in a good many other proper reforms. | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 12 Jul 2011 02:28 PM PDT  By Martin Jalleh Bersih 2.0 laid bare the fact that Umno is politically bankrupt. It brought out the same old bag of tricks, treats and threats. It looked like a party in a sordid state of denial and beyond redemption. Alas, the BN went berserk over Bersih! The coalition continues to be the bane of democracy in Bolehland as it resorts to political moves most base in stifling and stopping Bersih! The Prime Minister now tries desperately hard to redeem his battered image – which he has largely brought upon himself! Time and again he blundered – and very badly too. Najib puts on a brave front whilst playing his blame game. He has been blindly led by his advisors and now finds himself in a bind, with a bruised ego and sounding very much like a broken record! This time a humble woman lawyer of substance and a non-politician outshone him. Each time he attacked her, he reduced himself to a small boy begging for attention and looking for a fight. The Home Minister did what he is most at home with – he bellowed with rage, and blared out the most bizarre and unimaginable balderdash. But no one bothers anymore with his bark and blather! Of course the men in blue who looked as though they made up a branch of the Government (or a component of the BN), bowed, bent and did the bidding of their political (pay)master. A bunch of bullies, their brutality was captured on bountiful clips on the Internet. Yet they unashamedly bulled about their innocence, and the PM and Home Minister added to the bunkum! Whilst Malaysians refused to buckle, the bosses of the servile mainstream press continued to suck up to their political masters, giving stories a spin and slant that served the government. The beleaguered BN continued to bluff itself– all the time! The rakyat refused to buy what it (and its newspapers) were selling! The Bersih 2.0 march is over but its spirit lives on in many Malaysians – in spite of it being branded "illegal". The Government can ban all it wants, but the rakyat will not be browbeaten! The BN's image has hit rock-bottom. It should begin cleansing its stained credibility and integrity by releasing all who are still "illegally" detained (as a result of their involvement with Bersih)! Till to date, there is no solid and substantiated basis for the continued detention in particular of Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj and five of his colleagues of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM). The Government has reduced itself to a political buffoon by resurrecting the"communist" and "foreign" bogeyman in the arrest and re-arrest of Dr Jeyakumar and the rest. For a Government that brags so much about transformation and change, deploying Cold War tactics on political rivals in these days only reveals how far behind the times it really is! Expecting the public to believe that Jeyakumar is trying to revive communist ideology is as ridiculous as saying that Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin is intelligent! Those who know Jeyakumar personally readily vouch for his integrity, his passion for the poor and his principled, patient and peaceful approach. The MP is truly a rare breed politician! The judiciary has just betrayed its often loud claim of being independent when it delayed today the hearing date of habeas corpus application of Jeyakumar and the five others by a month. A June 2010 court circular states that such urgent hearing dates must be fixed within a week after filing. The blunt and brutal truth -- the judiciary remains beholden to the government. The longer Jeyakumar and his colleagues remain behind bars, the longer the Government of Malaysia will look bad in the eyes of the world. It has no one to blame but itself. The Government has to clean up its act. Malaysia sits on the UN Human Rights Council with a laundry list of transgressions. It cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this daylight mockery! Alas, the Government got more than it bargained for when trying to banish Berish into oblivion. Najib leads the nation forward into abysmalpolitical backwaters. | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:48 AM PDT Someone has been injured in a peaceful rally, wounded by officers under your command. Even if he is exaggerating, he is indeed hurt! Instead of voicing concern, you laughed at him, you ridiculed him! That is NOT a character of a leader, what more a Prime Minister? By ViewAct After reaching home with a headache, and resting for a day, I questioned myself if I would like to witness the event on 9th July again. My answer is – Yes and No. "Yes" as I feel elated seeing Malaysians from all walks of life, of all races and all religious backgrounds stood together for the same cause. And this is truly the 1Malaysia unity we wish to see. Even though the government created the slogan, they are in every way trying to ensure it doesn't happen. All these can be seen by the replies they gave on the organization of this event, the carrying out of brutality on peaceful marchers, and the comments afterwards, especially when people got hurt, and even died. My answer of "NO" is for the fact that, I do not wish to see our people suffering from brutal treatment by the very institution that claims to protect us. And the excuse that they give – "shouting during the rally". Countless tear gas canisters were shot, followed with water cannons. The police can claim that it was "just very few shots" while the newspaper contradict their own statement by saying that even police officers suffered the effects of tear gas. Two sets of answers, an obvious lie. Why can't a peaceful procession be left at peace? Still suffering from the effects of the treatment, I now lie on my bed, with blurry vision, and a trobbing head; yet my conscience is clear, and I decide to slowly pen down this article. For I managed to watch a few video clips and immediately my tears flowed. "I was glad I was there" I said to myself. For I would surely regret if I hadn't. I watched in horror when our PM made his remarks on DSAI's injury, saying that he is such a good actor for displaying his painful expression for a small injury then followed by a photo of him lying on a hospital bed. I watched in disgust how he made fun of DSAI, with his disgusting facial expression (Do excuse me for this) while elaborating further on his remarks. How can a Prime Minister say such a thing? Someone has been injured in a peaceful rally, wounded by officers under your command. Even if he is exaggerating, he is indeed hurt! Instead of voicing concern, you laughed at him, you ridiculed him! That is NOT a character of a leader, what more a Prime Minister! And those that cheered when he ridiculed DSAI. Haven't you any conscience? Or you lost them in your bid to shine your boss' shoe? Not to mention also some ministers who came to the front, claiming that the police had indeed NOT shot (tear gas canisters and water) into the compound of a hospital, and had NOT charged into the said hospital to arrest people. The internet has already shown so much proof and yet, they deny it. This will only convince the rakyat more that the government intends to lie to the rakyat shamelessly. There is no intention to make good what is wrong. And making two wrongs will never make a right, datuk-datuk semua. Alright, I believe many have made similar remarks on the Bersih rally, during and after; and one more comment doesn't make much difference to the facts already known to all, even though our PM, and the IGP denied it wide-eyed. What I think is more important now is what is the next course of action that may be taken by the government, after being hit hard on the face? What else can they do to prevent falling further than what is already near the bottom of the gallows? From the remarks of the police, and our PM, it is very clear that they are trying to minimize the damage done to their reputation, with lies and fairy tales that is too obvious to miss. Just compare the photos available online with their remarks; well, I believe that is worth more than a thousand words, isn't it? With the poor reputation, the idiotic remarks of a minister towards a foreign reporter, and mistakes over mistakes by our IGP and PM over the issue, they are now desperate in making sure that they would not lose in GE13. I am expecting the following to take place. 1) The election commission CANNOT reform, at least not yet. For they need all the phantom voters, postal voters and whatnot to ensure they don't fail. At the least, not miserably. They are right that the Bersih Rally failed. For no matter what we do, even with the petition sent to the King, they will delay and postpone to reformation of EC. Until when they need it to be reformed – i.e – when they are the opposition. 2) Increase in prices of goods. The government is famous for punishing its rakyat. When they were shamed by their own action, they will blame it on the rakyat and the opposition for revealing their shame. And for revenge, they would make life hard for people, increasing the price of goods, petrol etc. On one hand, they can vent their anger over the shame revealed by the rakyat; on the other hand, they can get more money to help them "finance" vote buying and frog buying during the coming GE. We have seen numerous examples of our government punishing its people, I don't think I need to elaborate further here. 3) Hidden projects shall be awarded. This shall be a desperate attempt to dig as much money for themselves, as well as money for the coming G.E. It appears to be a win win situation for them. If they win in the next GE, they can continue with whatever dirt they have done. If they lose, they already have their money, and PR will be left with an empty safe-box, and lots of bills to pay off. With money channeled out of the country, what fear do they have should anyone really start investigating them? They are already in a place far far away, with all relevant documents destroyed. Just look at what happened to Selangor after the last G.E. How the documents were destroyed, shredded and burnt, and how the ex-MB went missing, only to return as the leader at the state opposition aisle. 4) Returns to the people. For damage control, they would probably come up with a few "goodies" as returns to the people to mend their tarnished image. Those "returns" could be in any form, just to "show" that they "care". They may even reduce prices of goods (just to upset what I've mentioned above) in their attempt to counter all negative remarks made previously. And they would keep the media focused on these instead, and emphasize on the JASA they perform for the people. 5) Delay in G.E 13. With the bad image projected now, calling for an election would be a suicide attempt. Unless damage control is done to a certain extent – i.e more media lies, and state tours to tell fairy tales to people who have no access to the internet. 6) Last resort – ISA. Like how Ops Lalang were deployed, they could make up another trumped up story and start a nationwide crackdown on opposition leaders, while instilling fear in its people should they oppose the government. Bersih 3.0 would be a good excuse for the deployment. So the story they make up now to blame Bersih and opposition leaders would be crucial if they plan for Ops Lalang 2. By the way, a photo surfaced online allegedly posted in Utusan; it is a desperate attempt to find excuses for the brutality displayed by the police. All in all, the federal government is in a very bad shape now. And our dear TDM's boy is eyeing that seat as he's not made any remarks after the rally; and thus he saved himself from looking silly. Our PM now faces the risk of losing his premiership, not only from the opposition and the rakyat; he is facing threats from within his own party, who are so eager to be on that seat they are willing to do anything to get there. Enemies that fight you openly may be a threat, but a "musuh dibawah selimut" is even more dangerous. You won't know when you will be stabbed from behind. | ||||||||||||||
| Najib's 9MP that did not go as planned Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:42 AM PDT By ManaBolehMalaysia on Murder Scam & Thieves No, 9MP is not the abbreviation for the 9th Malaysia Plan. Najib unveiled his controversial 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) in Parliament on 10 June 2010. 9MP is the secret code name for Najib's murderous plan to kill Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on 9th July 2011, the day of the BERSIH 2.0 Rally in KL. After the recent failed attempts to finish off Anwar Ibrahim (sex video by the infamous Datuk Trio and Sodomy II accusation by Saiful), PM Najib was desperately in need of a perfect murder plan. Blowing Anwar Ibrahim to pieces using C4 explosives like in the Altantuya-Scorpene Scandal Murder case would confirm Najib's involvement once and for all. No, even though Rosmah was pushing him to do it, it would be suicidal for Najib. There had to be another way, where the PM can clean his hands off. He would gladly kiss the hands of the POPE if only there was a way.Sodomy II did not hit the top "box-office" with the Malaysian's public as they had expected. So an Altantuya-style murder II could have the same skepticism and backlash as Sarbaini Mohamad's suicide jump from MACC's building on 6th April 2011. Sarbaini was the second victim to have "mysteriously" committed suicide after "interrogation" by MACC (Malaysia's Anti Corruption Agency). Teoh Beng Hock (an opposition DAP member political aide) mysteriously committed suicide earlier by jumping of MACC's building on 16 July 2009. A third person especially the leader of a united opposition to commit a similar suicide from the MACC's building would be too much for the nation to bear. No one, even the former PM Tun Mahathir who had insisted Anwar's black eye was self-inflicted, would believe it. While the former PM would only be too glad to get rid of his former Deputy (Anwar) and PM Najib at the same time, BN could be at risk of being destroyed totally together with the chance of his son being the future PM. No, that would be throwing the "baby out with the bath water".
Mahathir argued that Anwar's Black Eye was "self inflicted"
Homicide for Teoh Beng Hock and suicide for MCA? -March 29th, 2011 The Dummnos at UMNO were in a real fix. How to stop the united opposition, Pakatan, led by Anwar Ibrahim from securing a landslide win in the coming general election? Their DIRTY CHEATING MACHINERY (DCM, also stands for DEPARTMENT OF CRIME MINISTER) was already working to the hilt in 2008 and yet, they still lost 5 states to a united opposition. With a dirty Crime Minister already suspected of killing Altantuya, Teoh Beng Hock and Sarbaini (directly or indirectly) a dead opposition leader by any means or by even by accident would spell a disastrous election loss for the ruling BN government. The BN's partner-in-crime, Taib's PBB ruling coalition barely scrapped through to hold the state government despite massive election frauds and massive doses of election bribes. Everyone can see that their numbers (and cheating ways of holding on to power) are up. Then in their darkest hours of desperation, BERSIH 2.0 showed up like a bright spark. What better way to kill Anwar Ibrahim and several other opposition leaders as well with a "chaotic stampede" by their own political supporters? What a brilliant plan especially if the leaders and supporters of BERSIH 2.0 can be incited to be angry and violent. Many had commented that Najib's evil inner circle of murderers which included his close cousin, the Home Minister (aka the Homicide Minister) were indecisive and panicking at Bersih's demands. They could not be more wrong. They were following precisely Sun Tze's strategy of "borrowing the enemy's sword to kill their own leader". That was why Najib first offered the stadium as a compromise and later retracted. That was why the Homicide Minister declared Bersih to be illegal and started the clamp down on Bersih days before the 9 July street rally. That was why the Police Chief said Bersih (despite being illegal) can apply for the rally permit in the stadium but intended to reject it at the last minute. That was why Perkasa was encouraged to incite hatred and violence among Bersih's marchers. There are no coincidences. All had been planned well in advance and their main target (objective) was to kill Anwar Ibrahim and as many opposition leaders as possible on 9th July 2011. Man or more precisely, EVIL can plan the mass murders on 9th July but only GOD can dispose. That Anwar Ibrahim survived this "perfect murder plan" is a good sign and a very strong evidence that GOD protects the good and exposes the evil. We, Malaysians have been given many messages that Najib's evil BN regime is about to end soon. That Malaysians from all walks of life can stay united and calm despite the provocations is a good sign that we have matured for true democracy to prevail. Do not let a sinking BN ship destroy that harmony. Altantuya's soul should be able to rest in peace soon and Malaysia can begin the painful process of repairing the broken economy from 30 years of BN's tyrannic rule which started with the evil scheming PM by the name of Mahathir Mohamed. | ||||||||||||||
| Malaysian government to remove ‘Bersih’ Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:38 AM PDT By AsamLaksa, made-up journalist 13 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur. Today the Home Minister announced that Malaysians have decided on a ruling to ban the usage of the Malay word 'bersih' and remove it from history. The minister adds, "It is now a bad word, something that you should not say in front of your parents. It will not be 'ber...apanama' but 'bers**t'." 'Bersih' meaning 'clean' will be replaced with 'kotor' as soon as the legislation is gazetted. 'Kotor' is currently in use meaning dirty. "The people in the government will start using 'kotor' today before the whole of Malaysia. So from now on, I say I am sangat kotor, the PM is kotor, (and) the government is kotor. This law will also be retro(spective) and we will work with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to change all old Malay books and writings. So past slogans will be Kotor, Cekap, Amanah. Very easy." As to the reason for this move, the honourable minister said, "We have reason for this." What about material bearing the word? "We will check all books. We give time for people to hand in books. Customs will seize all foreign books with the word and fine the importer." What if someone uses 'bersih'? "The law will punish those that use it. We plan maybe RM20,000 fine with 1 year jail." When pointed out that this would disqualify people from running for parliament the reply was, "That's why we have laws. We must obey the law. We will also ask religious leaders to make religious ruling to make this word haram and a sin. The cabinet suggest that you go to hell for saying this word." Won't this confuse the public? "I not confused. Are you confused?" When asked if this applies to East Malaysia the minister replied, "Of course. Then we have no problem like that banner in Kota Kinabalu." On the fate of the colour yellow: "Yellow colour is not a problem." Asked about recent arrest related t yellow items, the reply was, "Why you reporters ask about yellow? You got problem with yellow? Don't cari pasal make us look bad. Ban a word is easy, ban colour is crazy. All the arrest because the yellow used connected to bad word and foreign campur tangan." As to how much this exercise will cost, "Don't worry about cost. We estimate RM150 million and we have appointed local company to do this. A site has already (been) identified for new incinerator." The minister closed with: "I am kotor. The government is kotor and takes care of all Malaysians." | ||||||||||||||
| Born Again Malaysian, Totally Cleansed (BERSIH)! Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:21 AM PDT We can die without a whimper, or we can make our deaths resound through history. Either way, we die, as death is a fact of Life. I have chosen to make my death count, for my country Malaysia. To the Death, lawan tetap lawan, if that is what is needed to reclaim our birthrights! By Socrates To put my participation in the BERSIH 2.0 Rally into proper perspective, I need to give you a short synopsis of who I am, and what I used to do for a living. A full blooded Malaysian, I was born in the 50's in Kuala Lumpur, when life was simple, and as kids, we played amongst ourselves oblivious of whether we were Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, or others. We were just children and kawan-kawan, and we had a darn good time playing football, badminton, sepak takraw, picture cards, etc. all together then. Somehow all this changed especially after 1969 May 13. All the bigotry, and prejudice started to set in during Razak's time as PM and it slowly got worse and worse as the ruling elite spotted the opportunity to divide & rule, and make use of all the prejudice and bigotry to set up divide and rule systems that could be exploited to enrich themselves under the guise of "the Malay struggle". As time wore on, to further entrench themselves in their position of power, built on the insecurities of the masses, and the prejudice and bigotry spawned by their system of "divide & rule", they started to dismantle democracy in Malaysia by making the Executive (Govt) so powerful as to make the Legislature (Parliament), and Judiciary subservient to it, the Executive, thereby making the Prime Minister the de facto dictator of Malaysia. Not satisfied with this, they dismantled the jury system where we are supposed to be tried by our peers. No longer, now we are tried by judges who are on the government's salary, appointed by the government. Furthermore, the govt placed their staunch supporters in key positions, whether they were Malay, Chinese or Indian, in the AG's office, Election Commission, MACC, PDRM, and so on to control these institutions so that instead of doing their duty to protect and serve the Rakyat of Malaysia, they are now only to protect and serve the BN govt while paid and funded by the Naturally, by now, the whole election process in Malaysia has been corrupted and skewed to ensure government rule by the BN, where through gerrymandering, phantom voters, multiple voting, and manipulated postal votes, and the stuffing of ballot boxes, and outright vote buying guaranteed the survival of the BN government to the exclusion of all else, thus thwarting BERSIH 2.0 is the Rakyat's Rally to tell the BN Government that enough is enough and we want clean, free & fair elections to reflect the True Will of the Rakyat, and whoever wins the elections then, so be it. At my age, and having worked for 3 decades (since 1980's) from a salesman all the way to a CEO of a foreign owned, public listed corporation, coming from a very sedentary lifestyle, the last thing on my mind would be to walk for hours in the afternoon heat, and with the threat of violence hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles, especially so when I suffer from high blood pressure (HBP), a bum left leg, and an overweight 115 kg body. Having lived through the BN apartheid system (yes, it is no different from South Africa's apartheid system under the whites before the ANC led by Nelson Mandela succeeded in making South Africa a truly democratic nation) for so many years, and having only been overseas for my tertiary degree for 3 - 4 years, and holidays paid for with my hard earned money, I have always worked in Malaysia, paying full Malaysian taxes, and contributing to the EPF, and lived here in KL all my life, I finally had enough when I saw the demonisation of BERSIH 2.0 and the true Patriots of Malaysia (steering committee of BERSIH 2.0 and all the 62 supporting NGOs), by this self-centred, bully of a government. So I told my wife and my kids that I had to go to this rally on the 9th July in KL and make our voices heard. If I made it back, fine, if I didn't, so be it. My wife wanted to walk with me, but I convinced her not to as our daughter is only 4+, though our sons are big enough, and she needed a parent to look after her. Also, if I didn't make it back, she needed to carry on the fight for the sake of our children, and for the sake of our country, Malaysia. This would be my first rally although I had attended almost all the PJ vigils to free Raja Petra Kamarudin from ISA and to mansuhkan ISA, along with my wife and family. My daughter was only 1+ yrs old then and she was then dubbed by Haris Ibrahim and Del Capo as the "Angel" Of the PJ vigils. Yes, I exposed my kids to all this because they had to be taught what is right and wrong, and that is the most important thing that I, as a parent, could teach them. So we checked into Quality Hotel on Jln. Raja Laut as we thought we were going to the palace, then we heard that we were to go to Stadium Merdeka, but it was too late to cancel, so we all showed up at the hotel the afternoon before. On the morning of the 9th, I painfully hauled my 115 kg carcass up and walked out of the main door of the hotel at 9:55 a.m. with my wife who insisted on walking some way with me. There was a police car parked up at the front entrance, and further along we saw many blue "ants" milling around, maybe about 150 to 200 of them. We were stopped and asked where we were going, to which I replied:"Sogo". So this big burly policeman said:"Oh ... Sogo boleh." as if I needed his permission at all to set my foot in any part of MY country, Malaysia! We ignored him and went into Sogo for which could have been our last breakfast together. We observed them playing around with the red riot police helmets, batons, and shields while drinking our coffee. Then, at 10:20 am, we left Sogo and walked to the PRT station across the road. There were some policemen in the booking office and some milling around outside, so I looked at the train routes. I knew I should get out at Hang Tuah to be close to the Stadium, but I saw them watching me, so I told the gentleman at the counter, one ticket to Ampang (the last stop) please, and said goodbye to my wife with You can tell that once the police heard me mention Ampang, they lost interest in me and what I was doing immediately, although I was carrying a bag of water, salt, extra t shirt and face towel! Luckily, we had such simple minded folk in the police force! I got on the train, but it skipped Hang Tuah station! I swore under my breath! Will it stop at Pudu next, or won't it?? It stopped at Pudu, and I walked out, heading back towards KL. There were no police presence there at all, and while I was walking down Jln. Pudu slowly, the road was eerily quiet, save for some 5 or 6 other people walking like me. A little nervous, all alone on my way to my 1st rally, and cursing the Najib administration with every painful step of my bum left leg, hauling my 115 kg sweat drenched carcass, I stopped by a 7-11 and bought some sweets. The air cond made me want to just camp there, but the thought of my family floated across my mind, and with renewed vigour (as much as I could muster!) I headed down to where one of my friends said they would be, in McDonald's next to Kota Raya. But before that, I had to rest my bum leg again and I went into the Swiss Garden Hotel and ordered a milk shake to cool down while I texted like-minded friends to tell them that Jln. Pudu would be an all clear if anyone wanted to join the rally from this direction. When I reached McD's it was 12 noon and my friends were there laughing at my deplorable physical condition! Soon, we went out to Jln. Sultan and suddenly, everyone started walking out and chanting "Bersih, bersih", "Hidup Bersih", "Hidup Rakyat". Young, old, strong, weak, infirm, the physically challenged, Muslims, Christians, Confucianists, Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists, Malay, Chinese, Indians, Iban, and many more from all walks of life, walking together, shoulder to shoulder, with but a single purpose in mind, to reclaim our birthright to clean, free & fair elections in Malaysia. With adrenalin pumping, I walked the length of Jln. Sultan, and whenever a group made it to Kota Raya, we would walk all the way down clapping and chanting to welcome them, and then walk up again. We met several more of our friends along the way. There were a few Caucasian tourists joining in and cheering us on as well. What a carnival it was until ... without any warning to disperse, the police advanced upon us. Before long, the tear gas came and the water cannon as well, just outside Menara Maybank and PuduRaya, while I was standing outside Nandos, and we scurried up into PuduRaya to escape from the fumes. The water cannon, however, ran out of water before it could reach us and had us jeering and laughing at the hapless "cannoneers", with tears streaming down our faces due to the tear gas! People were everywhere helping other people, regardless of race, religion, age, gender, etc., and offering salt, and one guy even got a hose connected to spray the people down, those soaked by the chemical laced water from the cannons, and those who got tear gassed badly. Nostalgia and euphoria simultaneously swept over me, as this was what it was like before May 13 1969, and after Merdeka, all for one, and one for all! Malaysia had indeed come a long way since then, but here we are again, one people, one identity, One Malaysia! This is what the Najib character had tried to convince Malaysians the government of Malaysia is, but has instead shown how racist, fascist, and prejudiced they really are, administering an apartheid system of governance over the Malaysian people. God intervened at this point, and the resulting downpour washed away all the chemical laced water, and tear gas, and the police suddenly found themselves powerless to bully the protestors. On the 9th July 2011, that was One Malaysia in action, and we all headed up Jln. Hang Jebat towards Stadium Merdeka. We stopped outside Stadium Merdeka on its access road and saw barbed wire across the road leading to the Stadium, with the cops behind it. Some of us shouted:"Kami sokong BERSIH, apa kamu sokong?? Kotor??". Some of them smiled. Some of us sat down and when 4:15 came, we dispersed as we, being men of honour, promised Agong that we would, all of us melting away back to our mundane lives, from whence we came. There I was, all drenched and soaked through from head to toe sitting outside the YWCA facing the Stadium when a friend of mine showed up with her friend. An ice cream vendor came by and we waved him down and had some ice cream. We parted company and I found out one of my friends had booked into the Olympic Hotel next to Wisma OCM, I dropped by dripping water as I entered the lobby. Cold, wet through, and still famished from no lunch, and my bum leg sore from so much walking and running, I managed to heave my 115 kg frame into a comfortable chair of the hotel cafe and proceeded to order lunch. My friend, together with a PAS gentleman, had booked several rooms there, and I was generously given a room to shower, clean up, rest & recover. To cut a long story short, my wife and family came to fetch me from Olympic Hotel, and after one long look at my tired out countenance, my daughter held my arm tightly and kissed me on the cheek welcoming me back. We arrived back to our hotel and my kids offerred to massage and pommel me and said thank you for fighting for them and their future. My wife was relieved beyond words that I made it without being worse for wear. I had left her with all my codes and passwords for everything the night before and I can never forget the look on her face when I did that. Najib, Hisham, Ibrahim (Ali), Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyidin Yassin, Muhkriz Mahathir, please take heed. We, the Rakyat of Malaysia, will continue to fight for our civil liberties and rights under our Federal Constitution, and for electoral reform to ensure clean, free & fair elections, no matter what you do, or think you can do. With my passing, my wife and children will take up the clarion call to perform their duty as true patriots of Malaysia. Sure, I am rich enough to emigrate, but I choose not to as Malaysia is my country and my home and nobody, no matter how powerful, how evil, how scheming, will convince or blackball me, or my family and friends, otherwise. There is an ancient saying that says we can die without a whimper, or we can make our deaths resound through history. Either way, we die, as death is a fact of Life. I have chosen to make my death count, for my country Malaysia. To the Death, lawan tetap lawan, if that is what is needed to reclaim our birthrights! An Ordinary, Sedentary, Risen through the ranks, Middle Class, Middle Aged, Bespectacled Malaysian with a bum leg, and an overweight 115 kg frame, signing off. | ||||||||||||||
| 10 Reasons Why Shopperholics Should Support Bersih Posted: 12 Jul 2011 11:09 AM PDT Your children don't have to migrate to Singapore, Australia or America to enjoy a higher standard of living. If things are done right in Malaysia, this can be a far richer and greater country. That, ultimately, is what Bersih is about. By Andrew Sia "Ala, kacau-la this Bersih, the whole KL was jammed and I could not go for the 1Malaysia Mega Sale!" cries out you, the Shopperholic. And TV and newspapers tell you that Bersih caused billions in economic losses because the Burmese and Nepalese foreign workers downtown could not hang out at the Kota Raya shopping complex. No, no, I mean, because the police blocked all roads and nobody, especially you, could go out and buy your RM12,000 Gucci handbag …. But wait a minute. Why are these shops and stalls in downtown KL doing such good business DURING Bersih? Just look a little deeper beyond the sales promotion and hype of 1Malaysia …. You may actually have 10 good reasons to support Bersih.
1) Your ringgit is worth 2.4 times less than the Singapore dollar. Why? Here you are, suffering and sweating to fight the crowds at sales, just to get a bigger discount. But yet, your money is worth 2.4 times less than that bloody little country which has almost ZERO natural resources while we Malaysians have tons of petroleum wealth. In 1965, one ringgit was equal to one Sing dollar. What the hell has happened since then? Corruption? Now when Singaporeans come here, they are like birds - we can hear their distinctive chirping: "cheap, cheap, cheap…". Bargher, by right, we should be the ones walking in Megamall like that, where everyday is like sales day! Now that the leaders have seen how big the Bersih crowd was, maybe they will be a bit more scared of the people's demands? A bit less corrupt? Maybe in ten years time, we will see RM1.50 = S$1 ??? Then we can really shop like mad, right?
2) Bersih didn't close MidValley Megamall, the police did. For certain politicians, Bersih was like Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor. The radiation of having an intelligent debate about the nation's future would cause brain cancer .... That's why, even though Bersih was being held in downtown KL on Saturday, they decided to blockade Megamall, which was far away. In fact, days before Bersih, they even blocked roads on the other side of the world at Subang Jaya and elsewhere. Why? Just so that you shopperholics can scold Bersih for trying to save you from overspending on shopping for one day. The police also wanted you to blame Bersih for making you discover how you can have a great time at home (maybe by taking a walk in the park, watching a DVD or, God forbid, helping mom cook dinner) without having to spend much money at all.
3) But you were smarter, you shopped at Sunway Pyramid, the Curve and Jusco Wangsa Maju. But of course, you were smarter than that. You had already anticipated the blocked roads. You hate staying at home to spend quality family time. Oh I'm sorry, quality family time can only be done at the shopping mall. OK, so you decided to do your shopping at other places like Sunway Pyramid, the Curve, Jusco Balakong, Jusco Kepong or Jusco wherever …. The police could order Sogo and Pertama Complex in downtown KL to shut down but who the hell goes to such places anyway?
4) Actualleee … no need to close roads and shopping centres right? Exactly. Why on earth DID the police order the shops in KL Sentral to close down? Because Anwar Ibrahim and Ambiga were walking there? Maybe the police were scared that they would commit khalwat, so they decided to shoot them several times with tear gas so that they would cry out in pain, rather than cry out in illicit pleasure …. The Bersih folks downtown were peaceful, disciplined and friendly. They sang Negaraku. Complete strangers of all races spoke with and helped each other. Some even brought their children - they came for a non-violent protest. People just wanted to gather in Stadium Merdeka, wear their yellow T-shirts, sing some songs and shout their slogans. They asked for just two hours, from 2pm to 4pm. Itu saja.They are just silly idealists who don't know how fair our elections are. So why did the police order the shopping malls to close down? Because they found somebody throwing a bag filled with parangs at Pertama Complex FOUR days before? And inside the bag, there were a few yellow Bersih T-shirts! Wow, how stupid they are. Maybe there was even a note saying: "Anwar wuz here"....
5) Bersih should have been a Mega Sales Carnival The Lai Foong coffeeshop downtown remained open even as remnants of tear gas hung in the air inside, stinging my eyes. Yet people like me still went there to eat the famous beef noodles. Business was roaring! In fact, if the government was smart, they could have made Bersih part of the 1Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival! Think about it. 50,000 people came despite the blocked roads, the threats by the police etc etc. If they had allowed it to go on peacefully, 100,000 or maybe 150,000 people would have come. And after singing and shouting, they also need to makan and minum right? Rows of stalls could have been set up at Stadium Merdeka, just like at Batu Caves during Thaipusam. What a huge economic boost!
6) Bersih should have been a Visit Malaysia Year event Bersih's call for fair and clean elections "tarnished" the nation's image, claim certain politicians. But the same politicians were warning that silat fellas were coming to reconquer Malacca from the Portuguese while Perkasa has been whacking foreigners (all those who arrived in Malaysia after 1511 that is). All these threats of violence from silat and Perkasa have made Malaysia's name more "fragrant" worldwide, I am sure. But you know what was funny? The real foreigners came and joined Bersih! As you know, downtown KL has lots of Mat Salleh backpackers staying there, and many came out to see the REAL Malaysia in action. It's just like how Ian Wright does not like to go to the over priced tourist traps, he wants to see the action on da streets man!
7) Downtown KL is a foreigners city on weekends. That's right. Certain leaders have been blaring non-stop about how Bersih jeopardised sales for the Indian kaki lima news vendors in downtown KL. But I wonder when was the last time a Minister went to Petaling Street to buy a newspaper, or a fake Rolex? As for ordinary Malaysians, we go to the pasar malams nearer our homes. KL's Old Town ain't what it used to be because Malaysians now live in the suburbs. The UDA Ocean shopping centre downtown had to close down and places like The Curve and Sunway Pyramid are where the real sales action is happening. The main people in downtown KL on a weekend (when the offices are closed) are our dear foreign workers. I have tried the Burmese and Nepalese restaurants there – they are delicious. I'm surprised that our leaders have suddenly become very concerned about what foreign workers eat and buy.
8) Bersih - an economic stimulus program? The way TV has been going on and on, you would think that Bersih has caused the economic collapse of Malaysia. But think about this: 100,000 yellow T-shirts at RM20 each, wow, that works out to RM2 million in turnover, not bad for a day's sales event yeah? Too bad some Minister declared the T-shirts illegal. And because of all the threats from the government to turn Beijing, I mean KL, into The Forbidden City, thousands of people came into town one night earlier. Hey, that's a lot of money being spent on hotel rooms. What about all the money spent by outstation people who purposely came to KL for this historic event? And all the newspaper sales generated by the excitement of the news? And the free publicity for Malaysia in worldwide media? If only the government had allowed it to be a peaceful event, the economic activity generated by 100,000 or more people coming to KL would have been much greater.
9) At least they won't raise the price of petrol now. As a shopperholic, you know that once they raise the price of petrol, the prices of everything else will shoot up. When former PM Badawi raised it to RM2.70, the price of Milo Ais at the mamak shop went up to RM1.80. Now that petrol is at RM1.90, do you see the price coming back down? Not a fat chance! Thanks to the 50,000 brave people who risked arrest and tear gas at Bersih, do you think the government will dare raise the price of petrol any more? No, they will cancel building some palace project some where and use the money to continue subsidising petrol – well, at least till the next elections.
10) One Saturday's shopping in exchange for a better future? Even if you don't agree with the nine reasons above, here's the final question:Can you, dear shopperholic, not sacrifice two or three hours of shopping out of 365 x 24 hours for Malaysia's long term future? During sales, you spend one hour circling MidValley Megamall to find parking anyway. The main threat to our future well-being and prosperity is not some idealistic people in yellow T-shirts calling for fair democracy. The main threat is the billions of ringgit being wasted on submarines that cannot even submerge, stadiums in Terengganu that collapsed (what if it had fallen when the Agong was there?) and … I am sure you can fill in your own list. The Minister Idris Jala showed lots of statistics, warning that Malaysia would become bankrupt in five years, before he claimed he was "misquoted". This is YOUR money which you have paid in taxes. It should benefit you, rather than some politician's millionaire cronies. But why should they care about you, if they are "voted" into power by 30 "supernatural" voters "living" in a house, while everyone in this world can see there is only one old grandmother living there? Do you think the people who went for Bersih like being tear gassed, arrested and man-handled by the police? No. They went to demand that the voices and votes of ordinary people will count. Even if you can afford to splash RM12,000 for a Gucci bag, and all this doesn't matter to you, please think about your children's (and other people's children's) futures. And the future of our nation. Your children don't have to migrate to Singapore, Australia or America to enjoy a higher standard of living. If things are done right in Malaysia, this can be a far richer and greater country. That, ultimately, is what Bersih is about. | ||||||||||||||
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