Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Ku Li wants to rekindle spirit of founding fathers
- MTV controversy in Selangor
- Ambiga to take on EC at talk
- Rais awarded RM400,000 in blogger suit
- DCNS, Boustead get RM10b contract?
- No more street rallies, warns Muhyiddin
- Economy still determines outcome of GE, say Pakatan, BN
| Ku Li wants to rekindle spirit of founding fathers Posted: 18 Jul 2011 04:48 PM PDT
Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will launch a new group to rekindle spirit of national unity. (Free Malaysia Today) - Respected Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, popularly known as Ku Li, is set to launch his new outfit Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) aimed at nurturing unity as espoused by the country's founding fathers. Amid a more racially divided Malaysia, Amanah said in a statement today the group bids "to reaffirm, inculcate and re-ignite the sense of togetherness and true family spirit that prevailed among all Malaysians during the time of our common struggle for national independence". It also said it wants to rekindle the legacy, promise and ideals of Bapa Malaysia and the founding fathers so that all Malaysians may live together as members of a truly just, fair, progressive, united and happy nation community. Its other objectives are:
Razaleigh, who is the group's founding president, will deliver his keynote speech on Friday at the Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra here.
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| Posted: 18 Jul 2011 04:32 PM PDT
(The Star) - Another controversy involving PAS' hardline stance has surfaced with the Islamist party calling for a stop to the MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia concert on Sunday. Leading the protest are Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi, who have voiced their objections. Khalid said he opposed the concert because it was being held too close to the fasting month. He also said the concert venue – i-City in Shah Alam – was not a conducive environment. The MP said that about 2,000 residents in Section 7 were opposed to the venue since it would be near a residential area. Nasrudin said the party, based on its principles, was not agreeable to concerts which encouraged immoral activities and indecent behaviour. "The party will protest against concerts which encourage liberal socialising, featuring provocative dances and songs that contain immoral lyrics," he told The Star. Furthermore, he said the concert, if not held within a confined environment and thus exposed to the Muslim public, should not be given a permit or licence as a mark of respect for the coming fasting month. MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok urged the DAP to stand up against PAS for its objections to the concert which would be telecast to many Asian countries. The protest by Khalid proved he was not the liberal that many non-Muslims had perceived him to be while Nasrudin had consistently pushed the Islamic state agenda, he said. PAS, he said, would never change its objectives. Selangor Umno deputy liaison chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar said it was clear that while PAS opposed the concert, "the Mentri Besar (Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim) has said the concert will go on". He was speaking after opening a seminar for entrepreneurs on agriculture cultivation at Tanjung Karang.
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| Posted: 18 Jul 2011 04:15 PM PDT
EC's number two Wan Ahmad Wan Omar and Bersih 2.0's S Ambiga will come face-to-face at a talk on July 26. (Free Malaysia Today) - The Election Commission and Bersih 2.0 will be facing off for the first time next week. In a talk entitled "What next after July 9?", EC will be represened by deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar while Bersih 2.0′s S Ambiga will argue her case. Hosted by Malay daily, Sinar Harian, the talk will be held on July 26, from 2pm to 5pm, at the Karangkraf Media Group auditorium in Section 15, Shah Alam. The other panellist for the three hour talk will be Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of UKM's Ethnic Studies Institute. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan will be moderating the three-hour dialogue. When contacted, Wan Saiful said: "I will be asking questions that are on the minds of the people that have not been answered." Sinar Harian's executive editor Abdul Jalil said the talk will also allow those attending to field their questions.
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| Rais awarded RM400,000 in blogger suit Posted: 18 Jul 2011 10:33 AM PDT
By M Mageswari, The Star KUALA LUMPUR: Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has been awarded RM300,000 in his defamation suit against blogger Amizudin Ahmat for implying that he was guilty of raping his Indonesian maid. High Court judge Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof on Tuesday also awarded Dr Rais RM100,000 in costs. In her ruling, Justice Zabariah said there was no evidence that the blogger had been provoked by Dr Rais into publishing the defamatory article. Dr Rais had filed a suit against Amizudin on Jan 31 saying that the blogger had published or caused to be published a defamatory article under the heading Hei Pak Menteri ... mana mau lari ... (Hey Mr Minister ... where do you want to run to) in his blog on Dec 28 last year. In his suit, Dr Rais claimed that the words meant that he was guilty of raping his Indonesian maid and capable of murdering her to conceal evidence over the alleged rape. Dr Rais on Tuesday said it was a sound judgement. |
| DCNS, Boustead get RM10b contract? Posted: 18 Jul 2011 10:27 AM PDT
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: Controversial companies, French DCNS and Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), are said to have received a contract to build patrol vessels worth RM10 billion, according to former law minister Zaid Ibrahim. DCNS is currently being probed by French prosecutors for the scandalous Scorpene submarine deal with the Malaysian government, which is also linked to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaaribuu. "DCNS will build these patrol vessels in Perak this time (after all, our Defence Minister (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) hails from Perak). Unsurprisingly, BNS has no idea how to build these patrol vessels, nor does it know what electronic and fighting equipment these vessels should be equipped with. "BNS will not listen to advice of the Navy either. DCNS will decide and dictate everything, including the price of about RM10 billion (usually, it will announce a lower figure but these costs usually escalate further on various grounds (such as additional requirements). "This is the same old modus operandi," said Zaid, who is also the president of independent party Kita in his recent blog posting. Second scandal for BNS This is the second time BNS has been implicated in an arms contract scandal. The only naval shipyard company in Malaysia was first linked to allegations of irregularities when an opposition lawmaker claimed the government was paying BNS 870% more than market price for six offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for RM6 billion. Meanwhile, the French prosecution is ready to go on full trial over the submarine fiasco that could see Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor called to testify before the French court. The case was filed by a local human rights group Suaram which questioned the alleged payment of 114 million euro (RM500 million) in commission to Perimekar Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, of which the wife of Najib's aide Abdul Razak Baginda is a principal shareholder. Najib was the defence minister at the time of the deal. Zaid did not state if he has the evidence to back his claims but urged opposition politicians to unearth more of these scandals.
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| No more street rallies, warns Muhyiddin Posted: 18 Jul 2011 10:22 AM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - With Putrajaya still reeling from the July 9 Bersih rally, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today warned Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that the government will brook no further street demonstrations. "Do not take any threatening action (towards the administration). We will not bow to threats but since they (PR) have a political motive, they are trying to make it look as though the government is insensitive, our electoral system is outdated and that our general elections had been conducted improperly," Bernama Online quoted the deputy prime minister as saying today. Muhyiddin today maintained the establishment line on the list of electoral reforms demanded by Bersih, but added that Barisan Nasional was also interested in improving the present system. "Our electoral system has been tested for more than five decades and this system should be accepted by all," he said. Bersih is persisting with its eight reform demands for free and fair elections, but chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has said that no further rallies are being planned. The July 9 Bersih rally has sent the Najib administration on the back foot, and criticism of the way it suppressed the mass gathering has taken on a global nature. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived in the UK for a four-day visit last week and was greeted by a scathing editorial in The Guardian that compared his administration to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak's regime.
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| Economy still determines outcome of GE, say Pakatan, BN Posted: 18 Jul 2011 10:14 AM PDT By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The next general election will still be won or lost on the economy as both Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders believe that sound economic reform policies will effectively garner maximum voter support. Leaders from both sides of the political divide have agreed that while Bersih's electoral reform demands are important and should be addressed, the Najib administration would still be able to ward off criticisms and win back support if it focused on reforming and addressing economic issues, specifically rising inflation and commodity prices. The BN government's image has taken a severe beating following the July 9 rally where tens of thousands poured into the city, resulting in nearly 1,700 arrests, scores injured and the death of a PKR division leader's husband. Its suppression of the Bersih rally drew widespread condemnation from the global media, with UK's The Guardian going as far as to compare the Najib government to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak's regime."To be honest, if the economy performs very well — high commodity prices, low inflation, increasing wages and improved employment opportunities — then really, political abuses take a back seat," DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua told The Malaysian Insider. But Pua argued that the the current administration under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was not in full control of the economy, and charged that many "economic benchmarks" — global commodity prices like crude oil, natural gas, rubber, palm oil — were not within the government's control. The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said that many key policies have not been "followed through" due to race-based objections from political groups. "Major privatisations contracts are still being awarded on a direct negotiation basis without a credible open tender system. Policy 'pillars' such as the Approved Permit (AP) system for cars and a host of other imported goods remain in the selected hands of connected companies in the guise of 'Bumiputera development'," said Pua, adding that unless the government addressed its economic reform plans seriously, its policies would backfire.
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