Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Voter Registration - Kuching
- Of Jais, Malay Supremacy and Mamak’s curse
- Hishammuddin compromises Malaysia’s national security by his blind acceptance of 800 boat ...
- Listen to the Voice for Electoral Reforms
| Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:30 PM PDT DAP Socialist Youth Kuching will organise a voters registration this weekend at : 13/08/11 (SATURDAY) - Voters Registration at Kuching Festival from 6:00pm - 9:30pm 14/08/11 (SUNDAY) - Lundu Ramadhan Bazaar ( Person to contact Lau Wee Ming - 016-8742231) Satok Ramadhan Bazaar with Angkatan Muda Keadilan at 4.00 pm - 6.30pm For more information, please contact Andrew Sim at 016-8799606 or Awang Saifeluddin at 016-8899149 |
| Of Jais, Malay Supremacy and Mamak’s curse Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:26 PM PDT By Truthbespoken So Jais indeed does have the liberty to intrude into any public gathering of its choice without warrant under section 4 of the Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1988. What type of law is this?Could it be based on suspicions alone? And why is there the presence of the police force? Without first ascertaining whether Jais's intention is right or wrong or whether its action is politically motivated or genuinely legitimate, why is the police so super efficient in protectingJais each time Jais is there to disrupt such parties and gatherings? Is there an unspoken and unholy alliance between Jais and the police? Could it be coincidental that both parties are from the Ketuanan Melayu type of establishments? Their high-handed actions smell foul on Malaysians as they do not subscribe to normal human decency values and approach. The situations are demeaning and lean towards police-protected harassment of decent citizens. It is gangsterism by religious zealots! Can anyone say that Jais is never wrong with its arbitrary actions? Jais is not God! Jais can be faulted. If it is perceived to be willfully creating public disorder, and its action wrong in approach and intention, why should those responsible not be arrested? Can the Ketuanan Melayu-victimised groups, the people, then conduct a citizen's arrest on them in response to the senseless intrusion? Is that why the police is always there to protect Jais? Hell, tell us where common human social justice is if we are not even allowed to hold fund gatherings in peace for the needy within the confines of private premises! Why must theKetuanan types have to use race and religious excuses so frequently to intimidate, separate and dominate fellow Malaysians? Why must these people continue to remain so weak in mind and psyche as to have that urge to frequently impose threats and force on others to show their predominance? What's the actual cause of such blatant arrogance? Again, the answer is, curse befalls upon that old Mamak! It was he who had introduced and expanded on this divisive and harmful Ketuanan Melayu concept in the country! Race and religion were, and still are, the tools of these willful politicians to expand on their personal interest and greedy agendas by making use of weaklings and fools from all those Ketuananagencies set up by them to do their bidding! Now that Malaysia has become so divided by race and religion, no thanks to Mamak again, there will be no harmony in the country! Malaysia will continue to suffer a prolonged absence of determination to move forward as a united nation. It is unfortunate those aforesaid Ketuanansimpletons and foot-soldiers may never be able comprehend the enormous detrimental effects of the Mamak's evil spell after supporting and implementing his willful agenda for so long! TheseKetuanan types, from BTN, Jais, and several others, all irresponsibly making use of racial and religious factors, are likely to remain for sometime to continue with their insistence on Malay Nationalism over Malaysian Nationalism in multi-racial and multi-cultural Malaysia! They will always place race interest before national interest! In other words, Malaysia will continue to remain a country without a soul, a Malaysian National Soul, that is, until the Ketuanan types are released from the Mamak's curse! I trust there is no other country in the world which is not proud or do not practice her country's nationalism! Only Malaysia is being cursed into such a strange and untenable social situation. Sigh... Malaysians are truly in a dire need of a new government to break that Mamak curse!
|
| Hishammuddin compromises Malaysia’s national security by his blind acceptance of 800 boat ... Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:18 PM PDT By Teresa Kok Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's callous support of the refugee swap between Malaysia and Australia is appalling in his attitude towards human life as a mere commodity that can be traded for money, even as he jeopardizes Malaysia's national security. (Source: Malaysia prepared to receive asylum seekers from Australia as part of deal http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/8/10/nation/9267202&sec=nation) This refugee swap will see Malaysia exchange 4000 UNHCR-recognised refugees for 800 boat people sent by Australia, for which the Malaysia government will reportedly receive RM900 million. This exchange of money between nations for human lives is vulgar and is but a form of state-sanctioned human trafficking which I condemn unreservedly. Hishammuddin's blind acceptance of the 800 boat people who are effectively Australia's "rejects" puts Malaysia's national security at risk. These 800 boat people who are newly-arrived in Australia would not have been screened by UNHCR, thus they are likely not genuine refugees at all. They can come from any and all countries. Their backgrounds, language ability, work skills are unclear and dubious. Hishammuddin hasn't got a clue who he is welcoming onto our shores. Since the 800 were arrested attempting to enter Australia through illegal means, it is possible that they may have criminal backgrounds and links to underground syndicates. According to statements made by the Australian Government, these 800 will be allowed to move freely in Malaysia and be able to work as well. By allowing these 800 to enter Malaysia, Hishammuddin is inviting problems into our home. In contrast to the 800, the 4,000 currently in Malaysia should be allowed to remain in Malaysia instead of being displaced yet again and shunted off to Australia because they are genuine refugees who have been screened by UNHCR. Most of them are Burmese refugees who have been in Malaysia for one to two decades. Many have had their children born in Malaysia, which makes Malaysia the only country their children have ever known. These refugees have grown accustomed to the local environment and formed social ties within themselves and with some Malaysians. Many have learnt to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia and English. Cancel the agreement and let the 4000 refugees live and work in Malaysia I urge the Malaysian Government to call off the agreement with the Australian Government, recognise the refugee status of these 4,000 and allow them to enter the Malaysia's job market to alleviate the worker shortage in Malaysia. The Labour Department has reported that there are 60,000 jobs waiting to be filled right now in Selangor alone. Some industrialists have found it a challenge to open or expand their business in Malaysia due to shortage of workers. Therefore, allowing these refugees to work would be beneficial for both our Malaysian economy as well as for the refugees. It will allow the refugees the opportunity to earn an income and provide them with a sense of human dignity, in contrast to their current statelessness. The UNHCR, Pakatan Rakyat MPs and I have repeatedly proposed this mutually-beneficial arrangement to the Malaysian Government but our proposal has fallen onto deaf ears. Furthermore, I have no faith whatsoever in Prime Minister Najib's statement that the 800 boat people being deported to Malaysia "will be treated with dignity and respect and in accordance with human rights standards" because until today, Malaysia has not established a comprehensive national legal and administrative framework for the protection of refugees despite having been a refugee-destination country since the Vietnam War. In addition, Malaysia has an appalling track record of whipping undocumented migrants as punishment and forcing them to live in inhumane conditions while in detention. Malaysian Federal Government refuses to provide details of agreement I was in Australia on a Selangor State Government investment promotion mission from 25 July to 1 August 2011. Every single day, I saw news of this refugee swap being heavily reported in the Australian newspapers, radio and television. The Australian Government has had to do much explanation to so many concerned and vocal Australians and organizations regarding the details of this deal, and rightly so. In contrast, the Malaysian Government has kept mum on the details of the agreement, intentionally leaving Malaysians in the dark on with many unanswered questions. 1. Why should Malaysia send away 4000 UNHCR-recognised refugees when refugees should be given asylum and protection? 2. How can Malaysia promise that the human rights of the 800 boat people will be respected when Malaysia remains in denial of its appalling track record in the treatment of undocumented migrants? 3. Most of all, what do Malaysians get in return for accepting 800 boat people of unknown and dubious background onto our land? Is the Malaysian Government not creating a potential security time-bomb for all Malaysians for the short-term gain of RM900 million? The Malaysian Government has the duty to make public the content of the agreement in the interest of national security and yet there has been so little transparency and accountability. Hishammuddin Hussein has a lot to answer for.
|
| Listen to the Voice for Electoral Reforms Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:27 PM PDT By Meo-Net MEO-Net, an election observation group, call upon the Federal and Sarawak state government to take seriously the main message of electoral reform to be brought up by the Walk for Democracy, organized by the Movement for Change (Sarawak) on August 13th at Kuching's Waterfront area. The election administration of Sarawak and the country need a complete overhaul to maintain the legitimacy of the governments elected from the elections. From our observation of the Sibu by-election on May 16 2010, and the 10th Sarawak state elections on April 16th 2011 there are ample indisputable evidences of electoral frauds and mal-administration which caused the election conduct to deviate far from the requirement of the election laws as well as regional norms. The legitimacy issue is exacerbated by the lowest voter registration in Sarawak, especially its interior, among all states in the country, which lower the base of representation for the polling conducted. The evidences we have collected on the election mal-administration and frauds are as follow: Firstly while the Returning Officers have been briefed by the Election Commission Chairman Abdul Aziz on March 23rd, to stay away from the candidates and campaigning politicians we found most RO's had clearly violated the rule of neutrality in this regard. To cite as an example, SAO Jeffrey Jalong, an appointed RO for Telang Usan, was often seen to accompany the PBB chief in campaign functions in Ulu Baram during the state elections. Secondly despite the reported warning from the State Secretary Mohamad Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani, reported on May 5th 2011, that he will penalize civil servants who were involved in political campaigns, most State and Federal civil servants were reportedly mobilized at the constituencies involved to provide services, give away gifts and provide programs and platforms for political campaign activities. The worst case of such abuse of civil servants is the threat by politicians to the government paid community leaders that the community risk losing development if they don't vote for the ruling party. Example, most recently this was done by Michael Manyin Jawong, reportedly on Aug 30th, to Bidayuh community leaders. All elections should be a competition between political parties, where the government departments should stay away from party campaigns, and all governments should provide developments to all communities based on need and merit rather than who they voted. Thirdly there is no enforcement against offences identified by the Election Offenses Act 1954, chiefly on vote buying. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had through its spokespersons on numerous occasions, disclaim their responsibility to enforce the Election Offenses Act 1954. Instead they claim that they are only mandated to enforce the Anti-Corruption Act 1997. This was confirmed in an interview by MEO-Net with Kuching MACC office on April 11th 2011. There cannot be a fair competition of any kind should there be no referee to enforce the regulations on all participants. Without enforcement of commonly agreed regulations to ensure integrity of the competition, the results will be open to disputes. Fourthly, the level of vote buying, partly arising from the lack of enforcement as mentioned above had been rampant in the elections. Numerous incidents confirmed the pervasiveness of vote buying. Immediately after the Sibu by-election, 100 Ibans congregated in front of a SUPP party office in Sibu to claim their unpaid payment for voting BN. In Selangau, the chief of Kuching Long House admitted that he received Rm10,000 from the campaigners of the BN candidate from Tamin. On both occasions the politicians admitted that payments were made, but tried to justify them as payment for campaigning work, contrary to the admission of the voters involved. Based on the level of payment to the individual voters concerned, the payment, if reflected in their mandatory campaigning expenses account, would have exceeded the legally allowed campaigning expenses. It should be noted that such dubious payments to voters are no where allowed in our regional neighbours, as they are deemed to be evidence enough to disqualify the candidates caught committing such offense. Fifthly, the inaccessibility of the tax-payer supported media to all candidates make it practically impossible for the voters to make fully-informed decisions, an essential requirement for free and fair elections. This monopoly and abuse of tax-payers supported public media is particularly damaging to the election administration as a free election demand that the information about all candidates and parties be accessible to all the voters. Compromising this mean that the process is unfairly herding voters towards making a choice based on restricted information of the choices available. This is unacceptable in all electoral democracies. Sixthly, the level of enfranchisement of the Sarawakians are appallingly low, in fact at the lowest among all states in Malaysia. In many interior areas surveyed by MEO-Net, the registration of eligible citizens as voters is less than half. Exmaple, of the 22 000 residents of Batang Ai, only 7000 are registered. Yet the voting rates have been low due to big sections of the voters being denied their Constitutionally guaranteed voting right. This include the big number of voters, estimated at between 100 000-200 000 (10-20% of Sarawak's electorate), who are not able to come home from West Malaysia to cast their votes. Worse,they are not allowed to cast their vote by postal vote, despite the fact that the EC do possess the discretionary power to allow this under sub-regulation (3)(1)(f) in the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulation There are more evidences and documentation of mal-administration of elections in the 10th Sarawak state elections which will be released through the soon-to-be published final report of the election observation mission of MEO-Net to the Sarawak state elections. On account of these evidences of mal-administration which jar with regional standards and get away due to non-enforcement of local election laws, MEO-Net calls upon the Federal and State government of Sarawak to take actions within its power to make amend on all the issues brought up by the Walk for Democracy and all other election watch groups. Further to this we call upon the police to provide full cooperation to the organizer of the Walk for Democracy so that they can exercise their freedom of assembly and freedom of speech on Aug 13th. The police should learn from their poor handling of the Bersih rally which tarnished the police and the country's image locally and internationally.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan