Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Bursa bloodbath gives Najib pause on polls
- The Religious Front
- Home Minister misses the point again by a gross margin
- Less political rebellion, more mollycoddled mob
- Sting is in the air?
- Malaysian student injured in London riots
- MCA/BN mimpi di siang hari?
- WIKILEAKS: ANWAR IBRAHIM'S SODOMY TRIAL II - A PRIMER
- Pelajar Mara cedera rusuhan di London
- PAS Youth supports church raid
- Tension Grows in Malaysian Religious Controversy
- Who's lying now?
- Haris resigns from Bersih 2.0
- Pemuda PAS sokong tindakan Jais
- Dr M: Congrats for ‘destroying’ Umno
- PKA inked PKFZ deal before official Cabinet nod, says witness
- Azmil out of MAS in share swap with AirAsia
- 11% pelajar Kelantan ada masalah mental - pakar
- Donald Lim vows to quit if MCA fails in Selangor
- On the road to a failed ‘Islamic state’
- Khairy questions Idris Jala’s track record
- Who benefits from the MAS, AirAsia share swap?
- 'New media used to spread lies'
- A Reluctant Symbol for Electoral Reform in Malaysia
- Isu murtad: Bukti ditemui dalam tong sampah
- Raiders playing with fire
- Witness interview: Duo object to Anwar’s presence
- Money matters
- London riots: how BlackBerry Messenger played a key role
| Bursa bloodbath gives Najib pause on polls Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:59 AM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider With some RM91 billion slashed from the stock market in two days, Datuk Seri Najib Razak faces yet another global financial meltdown ahead of general elections — due in less than two years. Although the prime minister was said to be mulling snap polls as early as the end of the year, politicians and analysts say that economic factors are now firmly out of his hands, with him hanging on to his Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects only for a rebound next year. "These projects are his only defence against the storm clouds on the horizon," said Jupiter Securities research head Pong Teng Siew, stating that Najib will only go to the ballot boxes after the ETP bites. Among the projects that will kick off this year is the country's most expensive infrastructure project, the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) while Bandar Malaysia, the massive development at the Sungei Besi air base will start once the Royal Malaysian Air Force move out after November 30. Pong also said the forecast this year will remain at 4 per cent or lower unless these projects kick in, despite the economy rebounding with a 7.2 per cent growth last year after skidding to a recession when the economy dipped 1.1 per cent in 2009. But DAP's Tony Pua, one of the opposition's top economic spokespersons, said that Najib is "hamstrung" as he heads into the pre-election period. "In the last two years, he has been able to rely on high oil prices to bankroll public spending but that is not going to happen this time as the global slowdown will hit oil prices and our exports. "This is Najib's worst nightmare. The perfect storm is brewing and he can only hope to wait it out," the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said. Bursa Malaysia began bleeding on Friday after the United States debt rating was downgraded, causing stock exchanges to tumble globally as confidence faltered ahead of a potential double-dip recession. Putrajaya is also tightening its belt after the country's deficit hit a two-decade record of 7 per cent in 2009, forcing it to take a razor to fuel, electricity and sugar subsidies to prevent the subsidy bill from doubling to RM21 billion this year. But inflation has continued to rise after hitting a two-year high of 3 per cent in March with the consumer price index sitting at 3.5 per cent in June.
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:55 AM PDT By batsman The political struggle must necessarily be engaged on many fronts, not just on the internet. It is on the religious front that the opposition PR coalition suffers one of its greatest weaknesses. The recent JAIS raid on a Christian fund raising dinner exposes serious wounds which even now some people refuse to see or acknowledge. They are in deepest denial. UMNO has no qualms about mixing politics with religion. Any inconsistencies in UMNO's brand of politics with religion is glossed over with brute force of power, wealth and arrogance. Here, brainy internet bloggers have less impact with their reasoning and clever arguments than they think. On the other hand, PAS has trouble trying to mix politics with religion and it is beginning to show. This means PAS has not found a stable equilibrium in its brand of politics with religion. PAS's struggle has not matured sufficiently for it to sit comfortably with its secular coalitions partners in the PR. It is not as if circumstances and conditions that exist in Turkey also exist in Malaysia to the same degree as well. Added to this difficulty, all the non-Muslim religious organizations refuse to engage in politics under the ideology and world view that politics and religion must be separate. It does not take a brainy person to see that if UMNO has no problems mixing politics with religion and all the rest of non-Muslim organizations refuse to engage in politics, where the advantage lies. At this stage, under the special circumstances of Malaysian politics, it makes good sense for all non-Muslim organizations to be especially sensitive to PAS's problems, in order to achieve some sort of balance in an equally matched 2 party political system. Without this sympathy, there will be no equally matched struggle on the religious front of politics in Malaysia. UMNO will be supreme on this front. Non-Muslim religious organizations therefore cannot reject politics even if they wish to. By doing so, they will be foisting the problem on to the shoulders of the secularists to fight the political struggle while they concentrate on "saving souls". Therefore even a seemingly innocuous invitation by Christians to Muslims to dinner can have enormous political impact. By refusing to acknowledge this in the hope of separating politics from religion is an act of deepest denial. This is exactly the situation that will cause friction between PAS and the secularists. Such a situation means that non-religious organizations in Malaysia will be in deepest denial. In PAS, the friendly struggle between the Erdogans and the conservatives reflect the situation in the Muslim community itself. This struggle is ongoing and has no definite result. It would be unreasonable to expect PAS to mature beyond what the community is able to support. It would therefore seem that if the non-Muslim communities leave the political struggle to the secularists, it must necessarily be treated as a long term thing with changes in the mindsets of Malaysians expected to occur only very slowly. Malaysia cannot change beyond small increments at this stage. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that in the short term, the political struggle on the religious front will be overwhelmingly dominated by UMNO. With this realization, the follow up realization that the PR will most probably not be able to form the next government of Malaysia is also quite a reasonable one. It would seem that brainy RPK has already come to this conclusion, which is why he thinks the next best thing is for Ku Li to be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. Unfortunately, as usual, he is being whacked mercilessly for being a non-conformist – maybe for being a little wishy-washy too. heeheehee. |
| Home Minister misses the point again by a gross margin Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:54 AM PDT By J. Di' Lovrenciear The Malaysian Home Minister has come out with guns-blazing. He has lambasted the opposition parties and citizens aligned to the 'enemies' of BN. He categorically stated that there are Malaysians misusing the new media to spread lies. He went on to state that there are people outside the country who appreciate what Malaysia has to offer. And that Malaysians are not appreciating these at all. Why is the minister harping on wanting to rest on his laurels? And why must he put down the dignity of the citizens and praise those who are not even in the country? And along with that he also laced his words with threats that the police will have on record the citizens' particulars when they are hauled in for demonstrating - short of saying that citizens who demand transparency and accountability in governance are black listed. Not undone yet, the minister concludes with an apparently contrite heart that the government has been slow in harnessing the new media to engage battle with the opposition parties and citizens who are on the opposition camp. Now does it not amaze you that each time our ministers make a post-event comment or give an ultimatum, it suspiciously falls off the mark almost all the time. Even what is reported by the main stream media reveals these, in between the lines. Now, ministers are there as ministers not to glorify party politics. They are there to serve the nation – all citizens irrespective of which political party they are aligned to. So why does the Home Minister talk of doing battle with the opposition? If he wants to speak so then he must not be reported as the 'Home Minister' but a party politician. and such reports should be restricted to their own party organs - not the main stream media by any count. The other gross missed mark is the minister's claim that Malaysians are not appreciating what they have. Again, is he speaking in defense of the citizens or is he voicing his total disgust with anything that is 'opposition'? In the first place, citizens are only asking why can't Malaysia be better than what it already is. Is this aspiration to excel a crime? Is this not being loyal and patriotic towards nation-building? Malaysians from all walks of life are only asking the government to account in a transparent and responsible manner. They want to have a participatory role in decision making because they care for the future of this nation. The ballot box is not the end-all for citizens' participation in nation building. They want to have a say and want to know and most importantly hold those whom they elected accountable to the voters. Now is this far too unbearable for our ministers? And the government despite having all the main stream media in their claws, are still unable to convince the citizens – the tens of thousands for example who marched on July 9, 2011. What does this teach? Do you not recognize the learning opportunities here Mr. Honorable Minister? Lest the Home Minster fail again, he must be told that the new media has become the alternate media for Malaysians simply because the main stream media is filtered beyond reasonable parameters. Is it not true? If no, then please explain why the editors must get clearance from your ministry for every single bit of news deemed 'sensitive' by your office and the powers that be? It would do the UMNO political party greater good if its party members did not speak under the hats of their appointed roles vested by the civil and voting citizenry. It would do the appointed individuals greater good too if they spoke for all Malaysians when using the power of their chair to deliver messages to the electorate. This then is the first and foremost lesson to be learned when it comes to harnessing the new media. But it is sadly obvious the minister seems to have fixed his perspectives on doing a cyber war instead. How sad. |
| Less political rebellion, more mollycoddled mob Posted: 09 Aug 2011 07:16 AM PDT
What we have on the streets of London and elsewhere are welfare-state mobs. The youth who are shattering their own communities represent a generation that has been suckled by the state more than any generation before it. Brendan O'Neill, The Australian MANY commentators are on a mission to contextualise the riots that have swept parts of urban London and other British cities. "It's very naive to look at these riots without the context," says one journalist, who says the reason the violence kicked off in the London suburb of Tottenham is because "that area is getting 75 per cent cuts [in public services]". Others have said the political context for the rioting is youth unemployment or working-class anger at Prime Minister David Cameron's cuts agenda. "There is a context to London's riots that can't be ignored," says a writer for The Guardian, and it is the "backdrop of brutal cuts and enforced austerity measures". The "mass unrest" is a protest against unhinged capitalism, apparently. These observers are right that there is a political context to the riots. While the police shooting of young black man Mark Duggan may ostensibly have been the trigger for the street violence, there is a broader context to the disturbances. But they are wrong about what the political context is. Painting these riots as some kind of action replay of historic political streetfights against capitalist bosses or racist cops might allow armchair radicals to get their intellectual rocks off, as they lift their noses from dusty tomes about the Levellers or the suffragettes and fantasise that a political upheaval of equal worth is occurring outside their windows. But such shameless projection misses what is new and deeply worrying about these riots. The political context is not the cuts or racist policing, it is the welfare state, which has nurtured a generation that has no sense of community spirit or social solidarity. What we have on the streets of London and elsewhere are welfare-state mobs. The youth who are shattering their own communities represent a generation that has been suckled by the state more than any generation before it. They live in urban territories where the sharp-elbowed intrusion of the welfare state during the past 30 years has pushed aside older ideals of self-reliance and community spirit. The march of the welfare state into every aspect of urban, less well-off people's existences, from their financial wellbeing to their child-rearing habits and even into their emotional lives, with the rise of therapeutic welfarism designed to ensure that the poor remain "mentally fit", has undermined individual resourcefulness and social bonding. The antisocial youthful rioters are the end-product of this antisocial system of state intervention. The most striking thing about the rioters is how little they care for their own communities. You don't have to be a right-winger with helmet hair and a niggling discomfort with black or chavvy yoof (I am the opposite of that) to recognise that this violence is not political, just criminal. It is entertaining to watch the political contortions of commentators who claim the riots are an uprising against the evils of capitalism, as they struggle to explain why the targets have been Foot Locker sports shops and why the only "gains" made by the rioters have been to get a new pair of trainers or an Apple laptop. In the Brixton race riots of 1981, looting and the destruction of local infrastructure were largely incidental to the broader expression of political anger, by-products of the main show, which was a clash between a community and the forces of the state. But in these riots, looting and smashing stuff up is all there is. It is childish nihilism. Many older members of the urban communities rocked by violence have been shocked by the level of self-destruction exhibited by the rioters. Some shop owners have got together to defend their property, even beating up rioters who have turned up with iron bars. In one video, a West Indian woman in her 50s braves the rubble-strewn streets to lecture the rioters: "These people worked hard to make their businesses work and then you lot wanna go and burn it up. For what?" On Twitter, the hashtag #riotcleanup is being used by community members to co-ordinate some post-riot street-cleaning, to make amends for what one elderly Tottenham resident described as "the stupid behaviour of the young". But it is more than childish destructiveness motivating the rioters. These are youngsters who are uniquely alienated from the communities in which they grew up. Nurtured in large part by the welfare state, financially, physically and educationally, socialised more by the agents of welfarism than by their own neighbours or local representatives, these youth have little moral or emotional attachment to their communities. Their rioting reveals not that Britain is in a time warp in 1981 or 1985 with politically motivated riots against the police, but that the tentacle-like spread of the welfare state into every area of people's lives has utterly zapped old social bonds, the relationship of sharing and solidarity that once existed in working-class communities. These riots suggest that the welfare state is giving rise to a generation happy to shit on its own doorstep. This is not a political rebellion; it is a mollycoddled mob, a riotous expression of carelessness for one's own community. And as a left-winger I refuse to celebrate nihilistic behaviour that has a profoundly adverse affect on working people's lives. Far from being an instance of working-class action, this welfare-state mob has more in common with what Marx described as the lumpenproletariat. Indeed, it is worth remembering Marx's colourful description in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon of how that French ruler cynically built his power base among parts of the bourgeoisie and sections of the lumpenproletariat, so that "ruined and adventurous offshoots of the bourgeoisie rubbed shoulders with vagabonds, discharged soldiers, discharged jailbirds, escaped galley slaves, swindlers, pickpockets, tricksters, gamblers, brothel-keepers, organ-grinders, ragpickers, knife-grinders, tinkers, beggars and from this kindred element Boneparte formed the core of his [constituency], where all its members felt the need to benefit themselves at the expense of the labouring nation". In very different circumstances, we have something similar today where the decadent commentariat's siding with lumpen rioters represents a weird coming together of sections of the bourgeoisie with sections of the underworked and the over-flattered, as the rest of us, "the labouring nation", look on with disdain. There is one more important part to this rioting story: the reaction of the cops. Their inability to handle the riots effectively reveals the extent to which the British police are adapted to consensual rather than conflictual policing. It also demonstrates how far they have been paralysed by the politics of victimhood, where virtually every police activity gets followed up by a complaint or a legal case. Their kid-glove approach to the rioters only fuels the riots because, as one observer put it, when the rioters "see that the police cannot control the situation, [that] leads to sort of adrenalin-fuelled euphoria". So this street violence was largely ignited by the excesses of the welfare state and intensified by the discombobulation of the police state. The riots tell a very interesting story about modern Britain.
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 07:12 AM PDT
SAKMONGKOL AK47 We will let the boss of Khazanah say anything at the moment and have his 5 minutes of fame. Everyone would be forgiven to think; this is the last word on the issue because the boss of Khazanah says the whatever you called it of the deal between Mas-Air Asia is defensible. Among other things he says, this is not a bail out of MAS. We will take him on these issues. The first questions we want to ask, why is this deal worked out in the first place? Why AA? It's operating at how many times its PE? 40 times? Looking at its numbers, the high PE could mean its stocks are overpriced. That may mean some boys are cooking up the number to set up the market and make killings. Maybe. If the reason as Dr Mahathir says, MAS can learn from Air Asia on ways to cut costs, you mean those damn exercise carried out by Idris "al Dunlap" Jala wasn't enough? Why don't we learn from Singapore Airlines or Qatar Airlines? oh… we want to learn from our home grown talent will be the likely answer. I know this is a bad deal because Dr Mahathir said so. Dr Mahathir always say something when he actually mean the reverse. Yeah baby, what can we learn from AA? How about the home grown talent's records then? Well, let's see. As of the 1st Quarter of 2011, Air Asia (AA) debts amounted to 7.7 billion with cash balances amounting to 1.7 billion. This part doesn't require teaching for MAS. Its executives are renowned masters. Let's see further. Hmm, in August 2010. AA announced a deferment of their proposed aircraft purchases but sometime in June 2011 they reversed their decision and proceeded to place an order for an additional 200 new aircrafts at the Paris Air Show. No big deal, we can order as many as we want. Possibly the commissions earned from the purchases dwarf the one earned from the Scorpene submarines which are not submersible. As of 31 March 2011, we can see from its 1st Quarter report, AA's capital commitments stood at RM 19 billion. With the above announcement, an additional RM 54 billion will be added as Capital Commitments. The proposed Capital Commitments of roughly 74 billion will be spread over a 15 year period ending 2026. In other words, AA has to increase its earnings to an average of 5 billion per annum to meet its future dues. From 2006 to 2010. AA's revenue grew by 10 fold from 110 million to roughly 1.1 billion, an average growth of RM 200 million per annum. How will its reach 5 billion? We will see in the coming months when they rationalize all the routes and what not. Its cash reserves rose 6 fold from approximately 300 million to 1.7 billion but its debts skyrocketed from 1.05 billion in 2006 to 7.7 billion in 2010, an increase of 700%. Surely this looks like a debt burden that is spiraling out of control. Spend baby spend. This deal is signed, sealed and delivered at an onerous time. The world economy including Asia's will be into another maelstrom and air travel will invariably be hit. So what can be done? One, AA can cancel orders but contract penalties will be onerous. That option is no go and why does anyone want to forfeit commissions my man. Also, Tony is probably thinking along what Keynes said- when you are a big borrower, the banks are scared of you. So as a big borrower Tony feels that size does matter after all- it will shield him from foreclosure as banks will be leery of bearing heavy losses! But also, a sizeable chunk of those loans are being held by Malaysian banks and in the worst case scenario, the government and the taxpayer will have to pick the tab to avert a financial meltdown cascading down the AA slope. So maybe what a blogger said about enriching AA on taxpayer's money is true after all. Let me speak to some financial whizz kids to see the deal from a different perspective. No, I am not going to dignify one commentator stating that I am a racist for writing this article. If it were that Meranun chap inking this deal, I will wallop him the same. Who cares what race Tony is?
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| Malaysian student injured in London riots Posted: 09 Aug 2011 04:41 AM PDT
(Bernama) - A Mara-sponsored accountancy student was injured during riots in North London yesterday. Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, however, said the Selangor-born student, Asyraf Hazlan, in his 20s, only sustained jaw injury and was currently being treated at the Royal London Hospital. "The student was not involved in the riots, but was attacked by a group of rioters when trying to get out of a subway train. He was heading to North London to break fast with a friend when the incident occurred. "He was also beaten and robbed but was later taken to hospital where he would probably undergo a minor surgery," he told reporters after breaking fast with the ministry's staff at the Institute for Rural Advancement (Infra) here today. Mohd Shafie said Asyraf's family had also been informed about the incident. The minister said Mara had also taken precautionary measures to relocate its students from the high-risk areas to Leicester Square to ensure their safety. "They are also advised not to go out aimlessly except to run important errands. Mara Education Director and staff will also monitor the situation there with cooperation from the police," he said. During the event, Mohd Shafie also presented 'duit raya' and prayer items to 120 orphans and 40 Orang Asli children from Gombak, Selangor.
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 04:24 AM PDT
ASPAN ALIAS MCA tidak lagi bersemangat. Pengerusi MCA Selangor Donald Lim menyatakan yang beliau akan meletakkan jawatan sebagai pengerusi negeri Selangor jika MCA tidak mendapat menambah kerusinya di dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang. Sekarang ini MCA hanya mempunyai 2 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri yang di menanginya dari 14 yang dipertandingkan. MCA juga mempunyai 1 kerusi Parlimen yang dimenangi mereka dari 7 yang dipertandingkan. Kalau ditengok dari kehadziran MCA di Sekangor sekarang ini parti itu sudah terlalu hilang mayanya untuk bergerak dan seolah-olah menyerah sebelum bertanding. Maka dari segi lojiknya DAP akan mengambil alih kedua-dua kerusi DUN dan 1 Parlimen di Selangor dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang. Jika pembahagian kerusi dibuat seperti pembahagian pilihanraya yang lalu adayang berpendapat semua kawasan parlimen dan DUN yang diberikan kepada Gerakan dan MCA akan kalah semuanya.
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| WIKILEAKS: ANWAR IBRAHIM'S SODOMY TRIAL II - A PRIMER Posted: 09 Aug 2011 01:00 AM PDT
Most observers conclude that a conviction in Anwar's case, one upheld on appeal, would essentially end Anwar's political career given the legal penalties and Anwar's age (62). According to the Federal Constitution, a member of Parliament will be disqualified from holding his seat if he is convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than US $570 (RM 2,000) and has not received a free pardon. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 07 KUALA LUMPUR 000529
SIPDIS
FOR EAP/MTS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019 TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, KJUS, MY SUBJECT: ANWAR IBRAHIM'S SODOMY TRIAL II - A PRIMER
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARK D. CLARK, REASON 1.4 (B AND D).
Summary and Comment 1. (C) Malaysian Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will go on trial beginning July 8 on charges of sodomy -- a criminal offense in Malaysia -- with a former aide. Anwar was previously tried and convicted of sodomy in 2000 in a heavily manipulated trial that the U.S. concluded "was marred by deep flaws in the judicial process." The verdict was overturned on appeal in 2004. Senior Malaysian authorities were very aggressive in handling the present case during the initial period of June-September 2008, but, coinciding with the passing of Anwar's deadline to bring down the government through Parliamentary cross-overs, have since taken a more measured "rule-of-law" approach in public. Authorities have not taken all the legal and extra-legal measures available to them, for example, to challenge Anwar's bail provisions or resolve an earlier impasse regarding the court venue. Anwar's conviction in this trial, which may last many months, could end his political career; the judge would decide whether Anwar would remain free pending an appeal. This cable provides a primer for the Department's reference, including background on the 2000 conviction and the present case, a synopsis of the specific legal charges and penalties, a summary of likely evidence to be presented in court, and three possible scenarios for the trial. 2. (C) Comment: The issue of the specific actions between Anwar and his aide will play out in court and, we suspect, in a very sensationalistic fashion. The facts surrounding the case, however, make a compelling argument that the government's prosecution of the case is foremost a political act against the Opposition leader. Whether the incident in question was wholly concocted or has some basis in fact, the case is not part of a morals campaign or a normal criminal matter and has been the subject of extensive political interference and manipulation. As one consequence, much of the Malaysian public remains deeply sceptical about the government's prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar's flawed trials in 1998-2000 produced a public uproar and attracted international condemnation; in today's information-intensive environment, such effects may be exacerbated depending on events in court. Embassy will provide draft press guidance for the Department's consideration prior to the July 8 trial date. End Summary and Comment. Sodomy Case I, 1998-2000 3. (SBU) Under the government of former Prime Minister Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim was charged and convicted of sodomy (and abuse of power) in a sensationalistic trials in 1998-2000, directed and heavily manipulated by Mahathir against his former deputy. Anwar was charged with sodomizing his wife's driver. During his pre-trial detention, Anwar was beaten by the then Inspector General of Police. The High Court convicted Anwar of sodomy in August 2000 and sentenced him to nine years imprisonment. The U.S. expressed deep concern with the first sodomy trial, noting "that the trial and (Anwar's) resulting conviction and nine-year jail sentence were marred by deep flaws in the judicial process." After Mahathir stepped down in favor of Abdullah Badawi, the Federal Court overturned the conviction in September 2004 and released Anwar from prison (Anwar's separate conviction for abuse of power remained in place). The Federal Court found there were "many unusual things that happened regarding the arrest and confession" of certain prosecution witnesses, including the fact that Anwar's driver stated that he was paid to make the allegations against Anwar. In an unusual move and possible political compromise, the Federal Court judges included in their judgment the conclusion that there was evidence to confirm "the appellants were involved in homosexual activities," but added that the prosecution failed to prove the alleged offenses beyond reasonable doubt. Because Anwar's conviction on the separate charge of abuse of power was not overturned, he was barred from political office until April 2008. Sodomy Case II, 2008 4. (SBU) Less than four months after Anwar Ibrahim's People's Justice Party (PKR) and its opposition partners made significant advances in the March 2008 national elections, and three months after Anwar became eligible for political office, an aide to Anwar, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, filed a police report on June 28, 2008, alleging that he had been forcibly sodomized by Anwar on several occasions. The following day, Anwar took refuge in the Turkish ambassador's residence, claiming that he feared a repetition of his 1998 arrest and for his personal safety. He remained with the Turkish ambassador for only one day, departing after public assurances of his safety from the Foreign Minister and Home Minister. In the midst of a highly charged political atmosphere, which included Anwar's claims that he could bring down the government through Parliamentary defections by September 16, 2008, and new allegations linking then DPM Najib with the Altantuya murder case, the police investigation proceeded. It came to light that Saiful had had contact with the office of then DPM Najib prior to working with Anwar, and more significantly Saiful had met with Najib (and allegedly his wife Rosmah) at Najib's home just prior to filing his police complaint. Najib first denied publicly he had any connection with the case, and then acknowledged meeting Saiful, an admission that preempted internet reports about to be released by blogger Raja Petra (who is now a fugitive from sedition charges). 5. (SBU) As authorities made known their intention to arrest and charge Anwar for sodomy, Anwar's lawyers arranged for his voluntary appearance before police for questioning and charging. Contrary to the agreement, on July 16, police in commando-style outfits waylaid Anwar's convoy en route to the police station and arrested him on the street. Police questioned Anwar, took him to a hospital to provide a DNA sample (which Anwar refused, citing lawyers' advice and fear of "manipulation"), and held him overnight. Anwar was released on police bail by a magistrate on July 17. The Charges 6. (SBU) On August 7, 2008, prosecutors charged Anwar Ibrahim before a Sessions Court under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which reads: "Whoever voluntarily commits carnal intercourse against the order of nature shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years and shall be liable to whipping." Section 377A of the Penal Code defines "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" as including sodomy. Prosecutors specifically charged Anwar with the sodomizing of Saiful Bukhari Azlan at a Kuala Lumpur condominium (owned by Anwar's friend) on June 26, 2008. Although Saiful originally claimed he was forcibly sodomized on several occasions, the prosecutors chose not to pursue charges against Anwar under a separate Penal Code section (377C), which pertains to non-consensual sodomy (with a higher burden of proof), and also to focus on only one alleged incident. It is important to note that under Malaysia's legal system, prosecutors may amend the charges during the course of the trial. Saiful himself does not face charges for the alleged acts. The Court ordered Anwar to remain free on a personal bond of US $5,700 RM 20,000 and did not impose other restrictions (for example, Anwar has been free to travel abroad and has done so on many occasions since August 2008). The government did not attempt to dispute or revoke the bail provisions. Wrangle and Delay over Court Venue 7. (SBU) Following Anwar's formal charging, and with Anwar's 9/16 deadline looming in the background, prosecutors quickly moved to transfer the case from the Sessions Court to the High Court. The prosecution argued on September 10, 2008, that such an important case with possibly complicated legal issues should be dealt with at the High Court and produced a certificate signed by the Attorney General to move the case, which under normal circumstances automatically results in a transfer. However, Anwar's lawyers objected to the transfer out of concern that the more politicized High Court level would result in a pro-prosecution judge hearing the case, as happened during the first sodomy trial in 1999-2000. In November 2008, independent-minded Sessions Court judge Komathy Suppiah rejected the certificate of transfer, noting that Attorney General Gani Patail faced allegations of evidence tampering in Anwar's 1998 case and the transfer order signed by the AG would "undermine the public perception of the judiciary." 8. (C) Judge Komathy was overruled in March 2009 by High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Md Diah who decided the Sessions Court has no authority to refuse the Attorney General's transfer order; Zabidin himself was then assigned to preside over the sodomy trial. Anwar's lawyers filed an appeal against the transfer; the Court of Appeals only began to hear the appeal on June 30; based on precedent, Anwar's camp admits the appeal has little chance of success. Zabidin initially attempted to schedule the trial to begin in May 2009; defense lawyers argued they needed more time and hoped their appeal would be heard prior to the trial. (Note: The High Court often takes one to two years before setting trial dates in normal criminal cases. End Note.) Zabidin subsequently set the trial to begin on July 1. Anwar's lawyers filed an application to compel the prosecution to provide them with full documentation and evidence that will be introduced at the trial, which the prosecution has thus far failed to do in apparent violation of the Criminal Procedure Code. With the hearing on the disclosure of evidence set for July 1 (now pushed back to July 3), Judge Zabidin postponed the trial start to July 8. The judge originally specified a three-week duration for the trial, but lawyers assume that the trial will take many months to conclude. The High Court Judge 9. (C) High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Md Diah is a lawyer by training. After private law practice, he joined the judicial service as a Sessions Court judge and was elevated to judicial commissioner in 2004. After two years on contract, Zabidin was promoted to become a permanent High Court judge in 2006. Zabidin is not a well-known judge and is not associated with high profile or controversial judgments, according to our senior legal contacts. Anwar's lawyers allege that Zabidin is beholden to the government and will favor the prosecution; the judge's unusual rush to bring the case to trial is viewed by the defense as an early indication of his bias. Government Switches Gears 10. (C) Senior government and UMNO party officials adopted a very aggressive public and private approach to the Anwar case during the June-September 2008 period. This included frequent, prejudicial statements in public, and strong claims in private to other politicians and diplomats regarding Anwar's guilt. This intensive phase encompassed the initial news of the allegations and Anwar's formal charging, but also Anwar's own aggressive political posturing and claims that he could bring down the government by September 2008 through Parliamentary crossovers. After Anwar's deadline passed in September, and after resolution of the UMNO leadership battle in favor of Najib's succession in October 2008, we observed a definite toning down of the Government's approach, and a shifting to a lower gear. For example, we did not hear reports of government intervention to quickly resolve the matter of the court venue, which effectively delayed the prosecution by some seven months. Anwar's bail provisions remained in place and unchallenged. Public statements by senior government officials, outside of by-election campaigns, became infrequent. This toned down approach has continued through the present; it would fit within a hypothetical decision to demonstrate that the trial is a law enforcement matter, rather than a political battle. Regardless, it is clear that the government has not taken all the legal and extra-legal steps against Anwar that it could have since September 2008. GOM Confidence: Waning or Recalculating? 11. (C) Many of our government and UMNO contacts have insisted to us, emphatically so in the early months of the case, that the evidence against Anwar is very conclusive, often hinting at video footage and physical evidence like DNA (see below). Recently, some contacts sympathetic to Anwar but not part of his team claimed the government over time had become less certain it had sufficient evidence to convict Anwar. According to one unconfirmed account, in June several key aides to PM Najib advised him to drop the case against Anwar because the evidence was not strong enough for an easy conviction and the political cost of forcing through a guilty verdict would be too high. It is also possible that the toned down rhetoric from the government has been misinterpreted as uncertainty on the authorities' part. Evidence at the Trial 12. (C) Based on available information, we believe the following evidentiary aspects will feature in Anwar's trial: Saiful's complaint: The testimony of Saiful is central to the government's case, and he is expected to take the stand. Saiful has continued to assert that he was forcibly sodomized, although the charges under Section 377B do not require proof of a non-consensual act; given his youth (age 23) and physical size, Saiful will need to explain specific circumstances of the incident to support his assertion of rape. Medical reports: As publicly revealed by defense lawyers, Saiful underwent two medical examinations on June 28, 2008, just prior to lodging a police report. The first examination by a Burmese doctor at a local hospital concluded there was "no conclusive clinical findings" suggestive of sodomy, and the doctor recommended he be examined at a government hospital in line with police procedures in such cases. (Note: The Burmese doctor briefly left Malaysia after being held for questioning by police. End Note.) The second examination at the police-approved government hospital also failed to uncover medical evidence of sodomy, according to copies of hospital reports released by the defense. DNA: The defense team believes prosecutors will introduce DNA evidence, based on DNA samples held by the police since 1998, and are preparing expert witnesses. The government's hurried passage in Parliament of a DNA bill, approved by the lower house on June 23, is widely seen as tied to the Anwar trial and will permit the government to utilize the 11-year old samples. The defense could claim the samples were planted, as is widely believed to be the case in Anwar's earlier prosecution. Anwar's alibi: Anwar's lawyers claim that five persons will testify that Anwar was with them at the time of the alleged incident. They also claim that police attempted but failed to intimidate some of these defense witnesses to change their accounts. CCTV: The prosecution may use CCTV footage from the condominium where the alleged incident took place to confirm Anwar's presence at a specific date and time. Character witnesses: As happened in the 1999 case, it is very possible that prosecutors introduce witnesses to attack Anwar's character and actions aside from the alleged 2008 sodomy incident. There are unconfirmed reports that the prosecution will call 30 witnesses to the stand. Defense witnesses (PM Najib and wife Rosmah?): In an effort to demonstrate the political motivation in the government's case, defense lawyers could call PM Najib, his wife Rosmah, and other senior officials such as Najib's aide Khairil Anas Yusof who appear connected to the case (Najib and Rosmah because they met Saiful and discussed his reporting to the police). While this will make for momentary drama, we expect the judge to disallow such moves. Bail and other Conditions during the Trial 13. (C) Anwar's legal team has expressed concern that the prosecution may apply to revoke the personal bond that allows Anwar to be free pending the trial or seek to impose other conditions, such as impounding his passport or restricting his movement to within Kuala Lumpur. The lawyers acknowledge that there is not a strong precedent for overturning the existing bail decision. In several recent politically-charged court cases, however, Malaysian judges have ignored precedent decisions. (Note: We have no information on the prosecution's intentions in this matter. End Note.) What if Anwar is Convicted? 14. (C) Most observers conclude that a conviction in Anwar's case, one upheld on appeal, would essentially end Anwar's political career given the legal penalties and Anwar's age (62). According to the Federal Constitution, a member of Parliament will be disqualified from holding his seat if he is convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than US $570 (RM 2,000) and has not received a free pardon. This stipulation comes into effect after all appeals are exhausted (at the Court of Appeals and Federal Court). The constitution also provides that a convicted person can only be active in politics after five years from the date of his release from prison. At age 62, a second conviction could effectively bar Anwar permanently from political life. In the event of a conviction, Anwar will certainly appeal. The judge will decide whether Anwar remains free pending appeal or immediately goes to jail. While officially remaining a Member of Parliament pending the final outcome, he would be unable to operate from prison as the Opposition leader. Political Interference and Manipulation 15. (C) The issue of the alleged actions between Anwar and Saiful will play out in court, and sodomy, even a consensual act, is a crime under Malaysian law. The facts surrounding the case, however, make it clear that the government's prosecution of the case is foremost a political act against the Opposition leader. The Malaysian government does not aggressively prosecute cases of sodomy; we find record of some 55 cases since 1991, or an average of 3 per year. The vast majority of such cases involve adults assaulting minors. Anwar's prosecution is not part of a morals campaign. The GOM does not aggressively target non-heterosexual behavior; if it did so, a recent cabinet minister, senior staff associated with PM Najib and other prominent citizens linked to the government also would find themselves under investigation. 16. (C) Aside from the immediate comparison with Anwar's previous prosecution for sodomy, which was grossly manipulated by former Prime Minister Mahathir, the indications of political interference and manipulation in the present case are compelling; much of the information is in the public realm. Collateral reporting, not addressed here, provides further substantiation. Najib connection: Keeping in mind that Najib and Anwar remain bitter enemies, it is striking that Najib met personally with the complainant Saiful prior to the police report, and allegedly arranged for Saiful to have intensive contact with senior police officials in the days before he filed the complaint. Senior officials' involvement: From the very early stages, the senior-most officials in the government, including then PM Abdullah, current PM Najib, cabinet ministers, the AGO and national police chief (the latter two having played important roles in Anwar's 1998-1999 flawed trials) and officials of the ruling UMNO party have been intimately involved in decisions regarding the case, according to Embassy contacts and publicly available sources. Despite the current toned-down government approach, and emphasis that the Anwar trial is a normal law enforcement matter, senior-most executive and UMNO party officials continue such a directing role. Leakage of information: Senior government leaders provided law enforcement information on the case to leaders of Anwar's coalition partner, the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), in an unsuccessful attempt to split PAS from the opposition. A recent internet report claims that the government has provided some government-directed press editors with a "sneak preview" of evidence against Anwar. Public statements: From the initial public reports of the complaint against Anwar in June 2008 to Anwar's election to Parliament in August 2008, PM Abdullah and other senior leaders spoke publicly and frequently about Anwar's alleged crime and the need for justice, and the case featured prominently in the parliamentary campaign against Anwar. There have been far fewer statements since September 2008, except during by-election campaigns. Press: The Government-directed mainstream press, which includes all major dailies and all TV stations, provided extensive coverage of Saiful's allegations while severely limiting reporting on Anwar's response during the heated period of June-August 2008. Alleged intimidation: The police detained for questioning the doctor who first examined Saiful, causing him to leave Malaysia temporarily out of concern for his safety. Police also pressured the hospital in question to hold a press conference to state that the doctor was not qualified to conduct such an examination, according to our sources. According to defence lawyers, several of their witnesses have been threatened by police in an effort to change their testimony. The Imam for the Federal Territories (including Kuala Lumpur and the administrative capital Putra Jaya) claimed publicly that he was forced to witness an "improper" Islamic oath taken by Saiful; he was subsequently sacked by the Prime Minister's Department. Customized Legislation, the DNA bill: The government hurriedly prepared a bill on DNA evidence, following shortly after Anwar's refusal to provide a DNA sample at the time of his arrest, which compels suspects to provide samples and allows authorities to utilize previously stored samples in new criminal cases. The government originally introduced the bill in August 2008 and voted it through the lower house only on June 23, 2009; several steps remain before it becomes law. Public Scepticism 17. (C) In the run-up to Anwar's August 2008 arraignment, public opinion polling conducted by the Merdeka Center, Malaysia's most respected opinion survey group, revealed that a preponderance of Malaysians believed the charges against Anwar were unjust, indicating a deep public scepticism regarding the government's case. We understand that new polling on this question will be released before the July 8 trial date. Pollsters have informed us that the new data continues to reflect widespread public suspicions. Reportedly, only 15 percent of ethnic Malays and 10 percent of Malaysians overall believe Anwar's prosecution to be justified. Outside of government circles, many Embassy contacts, including those who give credence to rumors of Anwar's personal life, take it as a matter of fact that the government is prosecuting Anwar for political reasons. In a public statement made on June 24, former Bar Council president (and U.S. Woman of Courage awardee in 2009) Ambiga Sreenvasan urged the government to drop the charges against Anwar in order to restore credibility to PM Najib's ruling coalition. Scenarios 18. (C) When viewed as a political matter, a number of potential scenarios for the Anwar prosecution present themselves; below we review three that are most apparent. In these scenarios we assume that Najib will exercise the deciding voice on how and whether to proceed, though he also will need to weigh the opinions of other UMNO ruling party elites. -- Conviction at all costs: Based on an assessment that Anwar is a threat to UMNO's continued rule at least at the time of the next national elections, Najib and UMNO elites decide that the political costs of prosecuting Anwar are acceptable and pursue the matter aggressively inside and outside the courtroom with the overriding goal of convicting Anwar and removing him permanently from politics. While asserting that this is purely a law enforcement matter, the government exerts political pressure as necessary, accepting reputational risks in the process, and achieves a conviction after months of high-profile drama in the courtroom. The courts hear and reject Anwar's appeals in an expedited manner, well ahead of the next national elections in 2012 or 2013. This scenario appeared to be in play during the initial months of the case and in the lead up to Anwar's September 2008 deadline to overturn the ruling coalition's majority; it has been less apparent since then. Recalling the deep personal animosity between Najib and Anwar, and the singular importance of Anwar to the opposition coalition, this scenario remains plausible, even though Anwar's immediate threat to UMNO's rule has passed. -- Merits of the case, reputational damage: In a second scenario, the government proceeds with the prosecution but refrains from exerting undue pressure to achieve conviction, believing that the evidence presented and/or the court proceedings themselves will sufficiently damage Anwar's reputation and this will outweigh harm to the Najib administration's credibility. Conviction remains the desired outcome, supported by sufficient evidence, but the government accepts some risk of a final verdict of innocence after all appeals are heard. This scenario rests on the assumption of sufficiently clear evidence against Anwar that will swing public opinion in favor of the government even in the event of an eventual acquittal. Absent greater information on the government's evidence against Anwar, it is difficult to judge the prospects for this scenario. -- Withdrawal: In a third scenario, Najib and UMNO elites decide that the government's case is not strong enough to pursue, entails unacceptable political costs, or is no longer necessary because of the diminished threat from Anwar. The government withdraws the charges prior to the trial start of July 8, or shortly after the trial begins, possibly under conditions of "discharge not amounting to acquittal." (Lawyers tell us that such a discharge in theory would allow the government to reactivate the case at a future time, thus maintaining this as a lever over Anwar.) Najib, confident that he can beat back an opposition challenge in the next election, attributes the original decision to prosecute to the previous administration of Abdullah Badawi and takes credit for respecting the rule of law in this high profile case involving his determined political nemesis. In contrast to 2008, Najib's currently secure position as UMNO leader and Prime Minister, along with Anwar's diminished threat, make this scenario a political possibility, though some UMNO elites and perhaps Najib himself may not want to give up the opportunity to remove Anwar Ibrahim from politics once and for all. KEITH
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| Pelajar Mara cedera rusuhan di London Posted: 09 Aug 2011 12:52 AM PDT
READ MY LIPS: No Malaysian citizens were involved in the London riot that erupted over the weekend, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman. In fact, no Malaysians were in the vicinity, he said. (The Malaysian Insider) - Seorang pelajar tajaan Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) jurusan Perakaunan sebuah kolej di London tercedera ringan dalam rusuhan di kota itu semalam. Menteri Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal berkata bagaimanapun, pelajar itu, Asyraf Hazlan, 20-an, tidak kritikal dan hanya cedera di bahagian rahang dan kini dirawat di Royal London Hospital. "Pelajar ini tidak terlibat dalam rusuhan, tetapi beliau diserang oleh sekumpulan perusuh ketika keluar dari tren bawah tanah ketika dalam perjalanan menziarah rakannya untuk berbuka puasa di utara London. "Beliau kemudian dipukul dan dirompak, tetapi telahpun dibawa ke hospital untuk rawatan, di mana beliau perlu menjalani pembedahan untuk merawat kecederaan itu," katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis berbuka puasa bersama warga kementerian berkenaan dan agensi di bawahnya, di Institut Kemajuan Desa (Infra). Dipetik Bernama Online, Mohd Shafie berkata keluarga mangsa, yang berasal dari Selangor, telah dimaklumkan mengenai kejadian tersebut. Beliau berkata Mara turut mengambil langkah berjaga-jaga dengan memindahkan pelajar di kawasan berisiko tinggi di kota itu ke sebuah penempatan di Leicester Square bagi menjamin keselamatan mereka. XYuMPw6Yi3k
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| PAS Youth supports church raid Posted: 09 Aug 2011 12:28 AM PDT
(The Star) - The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) used its prerogative to raid a function at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church last week, PAS Youth said, adding the movement backed the action. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said it supported the Jais action on the principle that the department was keeping the akhlak (conduct) of the Muslims in check. "Basically, the role of Jais is to protect the sanctity of Islam. "There should not be any doubt on the action it took. Instead, it should be supported," Nasrudin said after meeting Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hasan Ali at his office here Tuesday. Saying Dr Hasan had shown him strong "evidence" that led to the raid, Nasrudin said he was satisfied with the explanation given by the state exco member. Urging critics not to be prejudiced, Nasrudin said Jais was merely carrying out its duty.
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| Tension Grows in Malaysian Religious Controversy Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:02 PM PDT
Religious police accuse Christians of attempting to convert Muslims The federal constitution, which ensures freedom of religion in Malaysia, also bans conversion attempts. Other state governments have enacted other statues that prohibit proselytizing by non-Muslims. Asia Sentinel Always-tense relations between Malaysia's religious communities continue to be strained again over a raid on Aug. 3 by officials of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department on a Methodist church in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Petaling Jaya where they said Malay Muslims were being converted to Christianity.
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:36 PM PDT
So, are there still Malaysians in London or not? Can Anifah Aman make up his mind? In the one breath he says Malaysians have all gone back to Malaysia for the holidays and in another he says Malaysians have been advised to stay away from the affected areas. NO HOLDS BARRED
No Malaysians involved in London riot, says Anifah Aman (Bernama) - No Malaysian citizens were involved in the London riot that erupted over the weekend, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman. In fact, no Malaysians were in the vicinity, he said. "I received a report from our High Commissioner there, Datuk Zakaria Sulong, that our citizens, especially students, were on holiday." "Most have returned home (to Malaysia), but we have advised Malaysians in areas nearby not to go to that specific area," he told reporters after his ministry's breaking-of-fast function, here, Monday night. A smashing and looting rampage broke out on Saturday at Tottenham in North London after a peaceful demonstration over the death of its local 29-year-old Mark Duggan, a black man, who was shot by police two days earlier. However, Anifah said, it was still safe to travel to Britain, but he advised Malaysians to stay away from Tottenham, an area with a high unemployment rate and racial issues, for the time being. ********************************* And how does Anifah Aman know that no Malaysians were involved in the London riots? Well, he knows because, as he said, "I received a report from our High Commissioner there, Datuk Zakaria Sulong, that our citizens, especially students, were on holiday." So there you have it. Malaysian citizens, especially students, are on holiday. Therefore, no Malaysians were involved in the London riots. But hold on. My daughter is Malaysian and she is not on holiday. She is still here in the UK attending summer class. And the entire committee of Friends of Pakatan Rakyat UK are still in London and are not on holiday. So are the Kelab PAS members. They are also still here in the UK and are not on holiday. So who are these people Anifah Aman is talking about who are not in London and are on holiday and therefore no Malaysians were involved in the riots? Okay, maybe Anifah Aman means the sons and daughters of the UmnoPutras. These are the people who have flown back to Malaysia for their holidays. And this is because they are the only people who can afford to fly back to Malaysia every school holiday. Yes, that's right, the rest of us less wealthy Malaysians stay here in the UK during the holidays. We don't have that kind of money to afford to fly back to Malaysia every holiday, ten times a year. Hmm…wasn't it Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's cousin, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who said today, 'New media used to spread lies'? New Media or New Straits Times? That report came out in the New Straits Times (you can read it here). "….but we have advised Malaysians in areas nearby not to go to that specific area," added Anifah Aman. Ah...if there are no Malaysians in London because they have all gone back to Malaysia for the holidays, then whom are these 'Malaysians in areas nearby' who are being advised not to go to that specific area? So, are there still Malaysians in London or not? Can Anifah Aman make up his mind? In the one breath he says Malaysians have all gone back to Malaysia for the holidays and in another he says Malaysians have been advised to stay away from the affected areas. Anifah Aman ended by saying that it was still safe to travel to Britain, but he advised Malaysians to stay away from Tottenham, an area with a high unemployment rate and racial issues, for the time being. Now that is the crux to the whole matter. One Umno Blogger, Syed Akbar Ali, has used the London riots as the reason why he opposes the Bersih rally. If rallies such as Bersih are allowed, there would be a danger it could escalate to a riot, like what happened in London. In fact, the riots have now spread to many other parts of the UK. It is no longer confined to just London. And these riots have nothing to do with free and fair elections or human rights or freedom of religion or whatever. It is all about the frustration of the people. Remember I wrote about this matter in my article yesterday titled 'Upsetting the ecological balance'? Well, this can happen in Malaysia as well if we are not careful. What we are seeing in the UK is a 'class struggle'. It is a demonstration of the people's frustration. And unless Malaysia addresses this issue then what we are seeing in UK today we will see in Malaysia in time to come. Let's imagine if the above story was about Malaysia in the year 2030. **************************************** No Indonesians involved in Kuala Lumpur riot, says Khir Toyo (Antara) - No Indonesian citizens were involved in the Kuala Lumpur riot that erupted over the weekend, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Khir Toyo. In fact, no Indonesians were in the vicinity, he said. "I received a report from our Ambassador there, Da'i Bachtiar, that our citizens, especially students, were on holiday." "Most have returned home (to Indonesia), but we have advised Indonesians in areas nearby not to go to that specific area," he told reporters after his ministry's breaking-of-fast function, here, Monday night. A smashing and looting rampage broke out on Saturday in Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur after a peaceful demonstration over the death of its local 29-year-old Aramugum Pillai, an Indian, who was shot by police two days earlier. However, Khir said, it was still safe to travel to Malaysia, but he advised Indonesians to stay away from Brickfields, an area with a high unemployment rate and racial issues, for the time being. |
| Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:40 PM PDT
He says it's time for him to refocus his attention on his ongoing campaign. (Free Malaysia Today) - Lawyer-turned-activist, Haris Ibrahim, today announced his resignation as Bersih 2.0 steering committee member – exactly one month after the July 9 rally took over the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Haris, who was involved in the first Bersih rally in 2007, said his decision was based on the need to separate Bersih's non-partisan stand from his personal political leaning. "If you noticed, I had not written anything on my blog (The People's Parliament) in the run-up to the rally," he said. "This is because Bersih 2.0 has been non-partisan from its inception to its launch." "But Haris Ibrahim via my blog has always been anti-BN. Not because I love the opposition but because BN and Umno have long been the bane of this nation." Haris explained that he found it increasingly difficult to express his thoughts on his blog without his writing being misconstrued as Bersih's point of view. The frustration led him to contemplate his post-Bersih step and he decided that it was time he turned his attention back to pursuing his ongoing "DNBN Kuburkan BN" campaign ahead of the 13th general election. "My involvement in this campaign would have created a perception problem for Bersih 2.0," Haris said. "The committee understood that I'm passionate about this campaign and that I will continue giving my full support to Bersih from the outside." "The rally has been successful and the steering committee is in the good hands of (Bersih 2.0 chairperson) Ambiga (Sreenevasan), so no worries there." Asked whether he had anticipated this predicament ahead of the rally, Haris said that he had given very little thought to where he would plant his feet when he first got involved in Bersih. "Politics in this country has been so fluid," he added. "It was very hard to say where things were going back then and where I would be turning my efforts to." He also laughed off speculation that he had chosen his resignation date to commemorate the one- month anniversary of the Bersih 2.0 rally. "Not at all, it has nothing to do with the date," he said. "My resignation wasn't even pre-planned."
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| Pemuda PAS sokong tindakan Jais Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:11 PM PDT Menurut Nasrudin menjadi prinsip dan tanggungjawab mana-mana jabatan agama untuk mempertahankan akidah umat Islam serta kesucian agama tersebut. (Free Malaysia Today) - Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat menyokong tindakan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) yang melakukan pemeriksaan di Gereja Methodist Damansara Utama (DUMC) di Petaling Jaya Rabu lalu. Perkara itu diutarakan oleh Ketua Pemudanya Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi dalam satu sidang media di sini hari ini selepas pertemuan kira- kira sejam bersama Exco Hal Ehwal Islam, Adat Istiadat Melayu, Infrastruktur dan Kemudahan Awam Selangor, Datuk Dr Hasan Ali bagi mendapat penjelasan lanjut berhubung kontroversi yang membabitkan Jais. Kenyataan Nasrudin itu juga sekaligus berbeza dengan pandangan Timbalan Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor III, Khalid Samad pada Jumaat lalu yang menyifatkan tindakan Jais itu tidak wajar. Beliau yang hadir bersama 10 exco pemuda berpuas hati dengan penjelasan yang diberi Hasan dan meminta agar umat Islam bertenang dengan kontroversi yang berlaku sekarang. Menurut Nasrudin menjadi prinsip dan tanggungjawab mana-mana jabatan agama untuk mempertahankan akidah umat Islam serta kesucian agama tersebut. Beliau berkata tindakan itu juga wajar disokong oleh semua pihak agar tidak timbul sebarang keraguan. Malah beliau mahu kepercayaan diberi kepada Jais tanpa sebarang prejudis lebih-lebih lagi ia melibatkan usaha dalam menjaga agama Islam. "Kami berpuas hati dengan penjelasan yang diberi Hasan. Tindakan Jais juga kami sokong dan wajar memandangkan pendekatan yang diambil adalah untuk mempertahankan Islam dan wajar disokong oleh semua pihak agar tidak timbul sebarang keraguan. "Jais ambil kesempatan dalam setiap tindakan dan penguatkuasaan iaitu menepati kaedah atau prosedur untuk fahami dan patuhi segala peraturan yang ada. "Ini bagi mengelakkan sebarang kekeliruan yang timbul. Harap beri kepercayaan tanpa sebarang prejudis untuk menjaga agama. Yang salah dalam peraturan dan prosedur harus ditegur," kata Nasrudin.
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| Dr M: Congrats for ‘destroying’ Umno Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:55 PM PDT
By RK Anand, FMT PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has responded to the speculation that he is once again working backstage to bring the curtain down on another political career – that of his protege Najib Tun Razak. The former premier complained about a FMT report which portrayed him as being the force behind the alleged move to replace Najib with current number two Muhyiddin Yassin. Mahathir also congratulated those who had expertly used psychological tactics to "destroy" Umno and possibly sow suspicion among party leaders and members. The former Umno president said that efforts were underway to weaken the ruling party ahead of the next general election. Last week, FMT reported that Penawar, an organisation comprising former Umno MPs, had voiced disatisfaction over Najib's leadership and wanted him to step down. The next day, Penawar's head, Aziz Shamsuddin, a former political secretary to Mahathir, had denied the report, despite refusing to comment the day before. 'Najib may be suspicious of Muyiddin and me' Mahathir, credited with playing a key role in ousting former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and prior to that, ending the careers of three deputy prime ministers during his 22 year reign, said the FMT report may now led Najib to doubt Muhyiddin and him. He warned that if Najib suspected Muhyiddin, Umno would crack, with some backing the president and others throwing their weight behind Muhyiddin. "The strategy was to claim that Penawar held its meeting to undermine Najib and that Muhyiddin and myself are the hidden hands. Of course, Najib would become suspicious of us and Penawar. "The report also spooked Penawar and other NGOs that Najib would be suspicious of their meetings and expose them to the accusation that they were Mahathir's people," he added in a blog posting. Mahathir said such reports would make the Malays afraid of politicking and the opposition would achieve its aim of seeing the race becoming disunited and not being able to defend its rights. 'Malay or Malaysian first' The former premier also noted that a reporter had recently asked Najib if he was a Malay or Malaysian first, landing the latter in a spot. Mahathir alleged that the question was deliberately posed to put Najib in a dilemma. "If he had answered that he was more Malay, then he would be called a racist just like how Muhyiddin and myself were accused. And if he had said 'Malaysian', then he would be seen as not sharing the view of his deputy," he said.
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| PKA inked PKFZ deal before official Cabinet nod, says witness Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:53 PM PDT
By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — The Port Klang Authority (PKA) bought Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) land from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) before the port regulators were officially notified of the Cabinet's consent for the purchase, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik's graft trial heard today. Datuk Abdul Rahman Mohd Noor, a former deputy secretary-general for planning in the Transport Ministry, told the High Court that the sales and purchase agreement was signed on November 12, 2002, but PKA only received an official extract of the Cabinet decision on November 20, 2002. He also said the sales and purchase agreement was not revealed to the PKA board before it was signed by then-PKA chairman Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh and witnessed by then-PKA general manager OC Phang. Abdul Rahman, 61, who had been in the civil service for three decades, added that Phang signed an offer letter to KDSB on November 6, 2002, which was the same day that the Cabinet gave the green light for the purchase. "This RM1.088 billion agreement... as a board member, would an agreement like this usually need board approval?" asked deputy public prosecutor Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah. "Yes, it would," answered Abdul Rahman. Abdul Rahman testified yesterday that the Finance Ministry (MoF) preferred the government to compulsorily acquire the land in Pulau Indah, rather than buying it back. The then transport minister, Dr Ling, had written a letter on April 3, 2002 to then-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, proposing the federal government compulsorily acquire 1,000 acres on Pulau Indah at a price of RM25 per square foot (psf) to develop a mega transportation hub in Port Klang, known as the Regional Distripark Centre. Dr Mahathir had agreed to Dr Ling's proposal in a letter dated five days later. Abdul Rahman said yesterday the purchase price of RM25 psf had been arrived at by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) based on the land cost, which included costs for reclamation, basic infrastructural development, instalment payments and bond issuance. Dr Ling is charged with deceiving the government by concealing the fact that the 7.5 per cent interest rate was surplus to the purchase of Lot 67894 at RM25 psf — amounting to a total of RM1,088,456,000 — despite knowing that JPPH had already taken interest into account when it valued the land.
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| Azmil out of MAS in share swap with AirAsia Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:51 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - MAS managing director Tengku Datuk Azmil Zaharudin lost his job today after the airline's shareholders finalised a share swap with Asia's largest low cost carrier, AirAsia. The Malaysian Insider understands that an executive committee led by Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof will manage the state carrier while day-to-day operations will be handled by Khazanah Nasional Bhd executive director and MAS board member, Mohd Rashdan Mohd Yusof. Azmil will join Khazanah as an executive director effective September 12, 2011. Under the share swap, AirAsia's main shareholder Tune Air Sdn Bhd will swap 10 per cent stake in the budget carrier for 20.25 per cent share of the ailing flag carrier in the agreement called a "Comprehensive Collaboration Framework". Before the share swap, Tune Air was the biggest shareholder in AirAsia with 26.28 per cent stake while Khazanah held a total of 69.33 per cent share of MAS. The MAS board will also see some new faces, namely Land & General Bhd founder, Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, former IJM chief executive Datuk Krishnan Tan, Astro chief executive Datuk Rohana Rozhan and David Lau from Shell Malaysia, who will act as independent non-executive directors. Rashdan, popularly known as Danny, was part of the BinaFikir consultancy that engineered the wide asset unbundling (WAU) restructuring that made MAS a virtual airline in 2002. BinaFikir was then led by Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, who is now managing director of Khazanah, the majority shareholder in MAS.
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| 11% pelajar Kelantan ada masalah mental - pakar Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:44 PM PDT (Bernama) - Antara 10 dan 11 peratus remaja khususnya pelajar di Kelantan menghadapi masalah mental dan menerima rawatan di Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kubang Kerian, di sini. Ketua Jabatan Psikiatri HUSM Prof. Madya Dr. Mohd. Jamil Yaacob berkata, mereka ini, yang termasuk murid sekolah rendah, adalah antara lebih 700 pesakit yang menerima rawatan setiap bulan di klinik psikiatri hospital itu termasuk kes berulang. "Ini adalah fenomena baru dalam masyarakat kesan tekanan hidup dalam kekeluargaan dan pelajaran di dunia yang semakin mencabar sekarang," katanya kepada Bernama di pejabatnya di sini hari ini yang turut dihadiri Pengarah HUSM Datuk Dr. Zaidun Kamari. Mohd. Jamil berkata, kebanyakan pelajar yang menghadapi masalah mental itu adalah disebabkan faktor keturunan, masalah keluarga di rumah dan persekitaran sekolah. Katanya, peningkatan jumlah pelajar yang menerima rawatan itu berikutan kesedaran orang ramai terhadap peranan dan tugas yang dimainkan oleh klinik psikiatri dalam menyelesaikan pelajar yang menghadapi masalah itu. "Sebelum ini, ramai ibu bapa enggan datang ke klinik psikiatri kerana tidak sanggup menerima tanggapan negatif masyarakat yang menganggap mereka datang ke klinik berkenaan sebagai penghidap penyakit jiwa," katanya.
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| Donald Lim vows to quit if MCA fails in Selangor Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:25 PM PDT
According to figures from Election 2008, of the over 1.5 million registered voters in Selangor, the Malay electorate makes up 50.7 per cent, while the Chinese make up 34.7 per cent, Indians 13.9 per cent and others 0.6 per cent. (The Malaysian Insider) - Selangor MCA's embattled chairman Datuk Donald Lim has pledged to relinquish his post if the Barisan Nasional (BN) party fails to capture more seats in the frontline state in the coming polls. The deputy finance minister acknowledged the uphill task ahead of him but told The Malaysian Insider that he was confident the party's state chapter would perform better than it did in 2008. "But I have said, if we cannot get better results than the last time, I will step down as Selangor MCA chairman. "As far as Selangor is concerned, this means that I cannot handle it well," he conceded, when met on the sidelines of a breaking fast function with Cabinet ministers at the prime minister's Seri Perdana residence here last night. Lim however said his post as MCA vice-president was a separate matter and did not reveal if he would relinquish the position as well. The MCA was nearly wiped out from Selangor during Election 2008 and only won two of the 14 state seats and one out of the seven parliamentary seats it contested. Lim was among the many casualties, losing his Petaling Jaya Selatan parliamentary seat to PKR's Hee Loy Sian who had a 5,706-vote majority. Earlier yesterday, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek conceded that some leaders in the party's Selangor chapter were "lazy" and said he knew who they were but insisted that this may not spell the party's demise in the country's richest state. He was commenting on The Malaysian Insider's weekend report on the MCA's lacklustre leadership in Selangor, in which one party leader predicted a total wipe-out for the party come the 13th general election. State MCA leaders had told The Malaysian Insider that while Umno may be brimming with confidence that it can recapture Selangor in the next elections, there are fears that a lethargic MCA could lose the game for the coalition. They also pointed the finger at Selangor MCA chief Lim for the party's sluggish state in Selangor. But in his defence, Lim told The Malaysian Insider that he knew the Selangor electorate well and labelled them as mostly "anti-establishment". "I have been in Selangor for a long time... I have been a division chairman for quite a while and, of course, I understand Selangor very well. Who is who in Selangor, we know. "Yes, it is not easy and we have to face reality so we have to place the best candidate. We cannot guarantee things but if we can field a winnable candidate, I believe people will give us a chance," he said. He admitted that the Selangor Chinese electorate was among the one of the most discerning catchment of voters in Malaysia and attributed this to their level of education and access to information.
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| On the road to a failed ‘Islamic state’ Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:20 PM PDT
The raid by Jais or the Selangor Islamic Religious Department on a fundraising dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya cannot be described as anything but a sanctioned vigilante action. It is part of the continuing agenda to vilify and incite hatred towards Christians. Bob Teoh, The Malaysian Insider The Jais raid on DUMC last week signals Malaysia's quickening slide into a failed "Islamic state" like Iran, Yemen, and Tunisia and the rest. Prime Minister Najib Razak must act firmly and urgently to assure non-Muslims that the ruling coalition is serious about protecting their constitutional right to profess, practise and propagate their faith. The commitment to religious freedom is a hallmark of a progressive nation, of what Najib says his 1 Malaysia is all about. Therefore, the PM cannot afford to continue to remain silent on this affront by Jais. Islam may be a state matter. But clearly Jakim or the Islamic Development Department is parked right under the PM's nose headed by a full Cabinet minister. It can act swiftly if it wanted to in matters pertaining to Islam and even other religions. For instance, when the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled on December 31, 2009 against the government and allowed The Herald — a Catholic publication — to use the word Allah to refer to God in Bahasa Malaysia, it went into overdrive, seeking ways to scuttle the ruling. The government was initially indecisive in that instance. A church in Kuala Lumpur was subsequently torched so extensively that it was rendered useless following relentless public vilification of Christians by Utusan, the Malay-language newspaper owned by Umno, as well as by Perkasa, a small ultra-Malay right-wing outfit under the patronage of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He declared Malaysia to be an Islamic state in 2001. The raid by Jais or the Selangor Islamic Religious Department on a fundraising dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya cannot be described as anything but a sanctioned vigilante action. It is part of the continuing agenda to vilify and incite hatred towards Christians. They came unannounced but prepared and accompanied by a media circus, their own enforcement officers and the police. However, they did not have a search warrant nor any plausible explanation for barging in except that someone had made a complaint of which they did not produce details of it. Their suspicion was that the church was proselytising Muslims. The rule of law cannot be based merely on suspicions. There must be prima facie evidence. Proselytisation has always been the bugbear used by extremist Muslim groups and the right wing in Umno to scare the Malay heartland into believing Christians are out to convert them by any means. And even to make Christianity into the religion of the federation, ludicrous as it may sound. But the opposite is true. Data tabulated from Pusat Islam and Jakim revealed that between 1980 and 2001 a total of 102,997 people were converted to Islam in Malaysia. But the figure could be higher. Utusan Malaysia on February 25, 2009 quoted the governor as saying in Sabah alone there were 117,579 converts to Islam since 1970. It is public knowledge that such conversions were mainly from rural native Bumiputera Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, sometimes through marriage, inducements or other means. [See here] While the prime minister and Umno had decided to remain silent, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek was quick to hammer Jais but shifted the blame to the Pakatan-controlled Selangor state government. But Jais had likely acted within the law as a controversial enactment passed by the then-Barisan Nasional state government in 1988 allows action against non-Muslims, according to Malaysian Bar Council chief Lim Chee Wee. "Whilst Jais may have the legal power to enter the premises, it must do so on a proper legal basis that there has been an offence committed. From the presently available facts, there is no basis for its intrusion," he was reported to have said.
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| Khairy questions Idris Jala’s track record Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:14 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Khairy Jamaluddin ridiculed today Datuk Seri Idris Jala's track record during his tenure as Malaysian Airlines Bhd (MAS) boss as well as the minister in charge of Putrajaya's Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu). The Umno Youth chief posted on micro-blogging site Twitter that "running a beleaguered premium flag carrier needs more imagination than being able to give a slick ppt presentation or unbundling its assets." "I think one of Idris Jala's best career move was leaving MAS to become Minister. He didn't actually need to run MAS beyond 'turnaround'," the Rembau MP added, referring to questions raised over Jala's record as MAS chief executive. The imminent share swap between the national carrier and thriving budget airline AirAsia has cast the spotlight on Jala's four years at MAS. After being appointed to the position by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in 2005, he implemented a turnaround plan from a nine-month loss of RM1.3 billion in 2005 to a record profit of RM850 million in 2007. But Khairy's (picture) tweets today reflected criticism levelled at the minister in the Prime Minister's Department, that he achieved healthy figures through asset stripping, a strategy that he has repeated as part of the administration's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The ETP, which aims to double per capita income by 2020, will see "non-core" government and government-linked-company assets being divested, a move some say reflects the Treasury's need for additional cash.
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| Who benefits from the MAS, AirAsia share swap? Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:03 PM PDT
Government officials familiar with the deal said Khazanah and AirAsia have been talking about a tie-up on five separate occasions but have never been able to come to terms. Among the issues are pricing and reaction from MAS in-house unions and the Malay ground that could have political repercussions for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government. The jury is still out on whether the proposed share swap between Malaysian Airlines Bhd (MAS) and AirAsia Bhd will benefit the beleaguered flag carrier as its in-house unions threaten strikes and voting for the opposition if the Najib administration goes through with the deal today. Both MAS and AirAsia shares have been suspended for trading until this evening pending an announcement that could see the low-cost carrier's main shareholder, Tune Air Sdn Bhd, get 20 per cent of the national airline. The unlisted Tune Air is jointly owned by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and Datuk Aziz Bakar. The Malaysian Insider has reported that the share swap will eventually see MAS reclaim its position as a premium airline, leaving low-cost operations to be dominated by AirAsia, Asia's biggest budget carrier that was just a two-plane operation when Tune Air bought the airline for RM1 in 2001. Some analysts and MAS staff have argued that the government needs to rescue the airline that has been bleeding red ink in the past few quarters rather than sell a stake to "the enemy" as AirAsia has been known since it became a runaway success. But can Putrajaya throw good money after bad into a virtual airline that has had its books cleaned up in 2002 under the wide asset unbundling (WAU) exercise. That restructuring was engineered by the BinaFikir consultancy, then led by Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, the current managing director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, MAS's ultimate main shareholder. After all, the state-owned airline has already had two rights issues since the WAU, raking in RM1.6 billion in 2007 and RM2.67 billion in 2010 to fund its operations and fleet purchases. How much more money is required to stop the airline from bleeding red ink after a rather peaceful flight under former managing director Datuk Seri Idris Jala? The past financial fixes haven't helped MAS. Another round of money won't either, an industry source told The Malaysian Insider despite a touted RM8.4 billion aircraft renewal programme. "Most of the past solutions for MAS, either the WAU or Jala's business transformation plan, were financial in nature to keep the airline in the black. But what is needed are operational fixes," he added. Saving MAS
"It has never been easy and even this deal is not easy. But the choice is clear, take this deal and save MAS with the government keeping the majority stake or let it bleed and 20,000 people lose their jobs," said a government source who spoke to The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity. The source also dismissed talk of selling out Bumiputera equity, saying Khazanah will still keep the main stake through its wholly-owned unit Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) while Tune Air itself has a majority Bumiputera shareholder through Kamarudin and Aziz. "Yes, Tony is the public face of AirAsia but it's Kamarudin who also runs the operations," he said, adding this gives a chance for the state-run airline to work with entrepreneurial Bumiputeras rather than just the bankers and accountants who have run MAS. The government source noted that Fernandes was named Airline CEO of the Year for 2009 while AirAsia has won the World's Best Low-Cost Airline award for 2009 and 2010, proving world-class talents are at MAS's doorstep. He also pointed out that picking Tune Air to help save MAS would benefit both airlines in the long run, despite talk that the premium market is shrinking and the tie-up was effectively a cartel. "There is demand for a premium airline. Just look at the Gulf carriers such as Etihad and Emirates. They are breaking into the premium market that is controlled by Singapore Airlines," the source added. It is understood that Emirates will soon start flying its Airbus A380 on the Dubai-Kuala Lumpur route, cutting further into the premium market that MAS once dominated. Gulf airlines are now using their fifth-freedom rights to ply the Dubai-Kuala Lumpur route and beyond — the same right that benefited MAS and Singapore Airlines in the past. As to whether the share swap will lead to a cartel, an industry source said both companies will keep their respective boards and compete on some routes but still benefit from several synergies. So, who benefits from the deal? ECM Libra, in its research note, said the partnership would allow AirAsia to continue what it does best with less predatory competition, while MAS can concentrate on serving the premium segment with better revenue yield. It also said that there are opportunities for cost-savings as both airlines would be able to bargain better for future aircraft purchases, as well as minimise duplication of resources such as that in the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) area. AirAsia currently outsources its MRO to Singapore but the share swap deal could push the low-cost budget carrier to use MAS services instead. An analyst agreed the partnership will allow MAS to cut the queue for aircraft such as the A380 as AirAsia is one of Airbus' largest customers with more than 200 orders and options. "MAS used to have clout with the airplane makers but its scant purchases over the years has diminished that," the analyst said, pointing out that MAS will only start getting the A380s next year, some four years after the initial delivery scheduled for May 2008. "MAS can get more aircraft, faster and cheaper, if AirAsia is in the picture," he added. |
| 'New media used to spread lies' Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:55 PM PDT
(New Straits Times) - The opposition's use of new media has enabled them to instigate sections of society to participate even in unlawful activities that give them political mileage. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said this was particularly damaging as many of the issues propagated through this media channel were untrue. He said while the government had exhausted all its avenues to reach and explain to the people about the demonstration, it was not easy as the power hungry were willing to go the distance in pushing to attain power without going to elections. Conceding that handling the run-up to the July 9 demonstration was difficult as the opposition had triumphed over the use of the new media, Hishammuddin said the ruling government must catch up on their use of the medium. "It couldn't be clearer that there are quarters who would not hesitate to seize any opportunity and compromise everything for their narrow political ambitions. On the repercussions and lessons to be learned by those arrested and released by the police every time street demonstrations are held, he said those taken in by the police would have their particulars recorded in the police system. |
| A Reluctant Symbol for Electoral Reform in Malaysia Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:51 PM PDT
Ms. Ambiga, who is ethnic Indian in a country that is mostly Malay and mostly Muslim, said that the protesters "exploded many myths" about Malaysians, such as the notion that people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds could not work together and that the middle class was "too comfortable to step up to the plate." Her photograph has been burned by ethnic Malay nationalists, there have been calls to revoke her Malaysian citizenship and she has been threatened, via text message, with death. The movement she leads, Bersih, an alliance of 62 nongovernmental organizations pressing for electoral reform, has been declared illegal, and a demonstration that brought thousands of its followers into the streets of this capital city last month ended with nearly 1,700 arrests. But having stared down these challenges, Ambiga Sreenevasan, 54, a University of Exeter-educated lawyer and former president of the Malaysian Bar Council, is now being hailed by many here as the "new symbol of civil society's dissent." "She has not been afraid to speak the truth to power," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center, an independent polling firm in Kuala Lumpur. Over peppermint tea in a busy cafe recently, Ms. Ambiga squirmed uncomfortably at the attention she had attracted. "This focus on me is actually ridiculous," said Ms. Ambiga. "It's a true citizens' movement, because the citizens have taken ownership of Bersih." The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, or Bersih — "clean" in Malay — got its start in November 2007. Members of the political opposition and civic groups defied restrictions on gatherings of more than five people without a permit and rallied for changes in an election system they said unfairly favored the governing coalition, which has been in power since achieved independence in 1957. The demonstrators were dispersed by tear gas, and some were arrested. They did not achieve their immediate demands, which included better access to the state-owned news media by opposition candidates and the use of indelible ink on voters' thumbs to help prevent fraud. But their action was credited with winning support for the opposition and contributing to the governing coalition's poor showing in the 2008 election, when it fell below a two-thirds majority for the first time. Ms. Ambiga did not attend that rally in 2007, but earlier in the year she had led a march of more than 2,000 lawyers calling for judicial reform. And while she runs a commercial litigation practice, she has also devoted considerable time to pro bono cases involving the rights of squatters, indigenous people and women. In 2009 she became the first Malaysian to receive a U.S. State Department "International Women of Courage" Award. Maria Chin Abdullah, executive director of Empower, a nongovernmental organization that promotes women in politics, said it was because of Ms. Ambiga's "commitment, dedication and leadership in defending human rights and democracy" that she and other N.G.O. leaders approached her to lead Bersih 2.0, the second incarnation of the electoral reform movement. Ms. Ambiga agreed, on the proviso that it be "civil society-driven," and not simply a tool of opposition parties. Again, Bersih pushed for an end to electoral fraud, media access for all parties and a minimum 21-day campaign period before any election. But Ms. Ambiga said she never expected the event to unfold the way it did. What began as a call for reform morphed into widespread anger at the government's handling of the activists. When Bersih was declared an unregistered and therefore illegal organization, barred from demonstrating in the capital, and more than 200 people were arrested in the weeks leading up to a July 9 protest, Ms. Ambiga said, the effect was to prompt even more people to join in the rally. Bersih estimated that there were 50,000 protesters; the police put the figure at 5,000 to 6,000. As the demonstrators tried to march to Stadium Merdeka, the police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Among those arrested was Ms. Ambiga, who, along with the others, was released that night. "While I was sitting there the most wonderful things were happening in Kuala Lumpur, which I could only read about that night," she said. "It brought tears to my eyes. I just didn't for a minute expect Malaysians to rise to the occasion in the way they did that day." Even though the rally was blocked, she said, Bersih has heightened public awareness of the need for free and fair elections. "A number of people have told me that they may not have voted before, but they'll definitely vote next time," she said. Even now, though, she does not call herself an activist. "I think I'm an advocate for a cause," she said. "In a sense it was a learning experience for me, pulling myself out of the comfort of the Bar Council and all its support that it had, including finances, coming into this organization that didn't have a single cent." Ms. Ambiga, who is ethnic Indian in a country that is mostly Malay and mostly Muslim, said that the protesters "exploded many myths" about Malaysians, such as the notion that people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds could not work together and that the middle class was "too comfortable to step up to the plate." She attributes her willingness to get involved in public causes to her upbringing. She cites as an inspiration her late father, a doctor who helped establish the National Kidney Foundation. "I suppose I've been brought up to always try and do the right thing no matter what the odds," said Ms. Ambiga. Haji Sulaiman Abdullah, also a former president of the Bar Council, said he was not surprised by "the breadth and depth of leadership she has brought to the Bersih movement." "Even the ordinary man in the street has come to appreciate what Ambiga stands for," he said. The events of recent weeks offer plentiful fodder for a compelling election campaign narrative, but Ms. Ambiga shoots down any possibility that a political career could be in the offing. "I don't have the stomach for it," she said. In fact, it has been Ms. Ambiga's ability to define the Bersih movement as a cause apart from partisan politics that has enabled her to unite Malaysians, said Mr. Suffian, of the Merdeka Center. Bersih has pledged that its campaign would continue and has called for people to wear yellow on Saturdays, but no more protests are planned for now. "People keep saying, 'What next?,' but, quite frankly, I think the citizens have taken it upon themselves to organize things around the country using the yellow theme, the theme of democracy. What I think Bersih has achieved is the awakening," Ms. Ambiga said. She said there have been positive responses from the Election Commission, for example, making it possible for Malaysians living overseas to vote. Its announcement that it would introduce a biometric fingerprinting system, she said, was an admission that there had been a problem of election fraud. When pressed on how Bersih would respond if the government did not meet other demands, such as equal media access, before the next election, which must be held by mid-2013, Ms. Ambiga's tendency to deflect the focus from herself resurfaced. "It's not me making the decision," she said. "It will be the rakyat" — Malay for "people" — "making the decision."
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| Isu murtad: Bukti ditemui dalam tong sampah Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:40 PM PDT
FMT turut menerima tentatif program serta kertas soalan sebagai bukti dakwaan mengaitkan kegiatan penyebaran agama bukan Islam kepada penganut agama Islam. (Free Malaysia Today) - Di sebalik kontroversi yang membabitkan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) kerana menyerbu Gereja Methodist Damansara Utama (DUMC) di Petaling Jaya minggu lalu, kini terdapat bukti yang menjelaskan keadaan sebenar pada majlis makan malam tersebut. FMT turut menerima tentatif program serta kertas soalan bersifat 'menguji pengetahuan' dalam bahasa Malaysia dan Inggeris – sebagai bukti dakwaan mengaitkan kegiatan penyebaran agama bukan Islam kepada penganut agama Islam. Soalan yang tertera adalah menjurus kepada fahaman agama Islam secara keseluruhannya seperti membabitkan; Nabi Muhammad, Al- Quran, rukun Islam, kitab, solat dan lain-lain. Kertas dua halaman yang mengandungi 12 soalan itu didakwa diberikan kepada para peserta yang menyertai majlis makan malam tersebut yang turut disertai oleh penganut agama Islam. Kertas tersebut dibahagi kepada empat corak soalan iaitu isi tempat kosong, beri jawapan ya/tidak, padanan jawapan dan pilihan jawapan. Antara soalan itu adalah 'Apakah maksud perkataan Islam, Muslim, Quran? Apakah enam perkara iman seseorang Muslim, solat lima waktu dalam Islam, malaikat manakah yang dipercayai menurunkan wahyu kepada Nabi Muhammad dan tahun bilakah Nabi Muhammad dilahirkan. Berapa banyak Surah dalam Al-Quran? Berapa kali nama Isa disebut di dalam Al-Quran dan kenapa orang Islam bersalam menggunakan sarung tangan? Pendedahan itu dibuat oleh Pengerusi Sahabat Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya (PPUM) Dr Dzulkhaini Husain yang mendakwa kepingan-kepingan kertas soalan itu ditemui dalam sebuah tong sampah. Sambil mempertahankan tindakan Jais yang memeriksa gereja terbabit Dzulkhaini berkata turut menjadi tanda tanya apabila kertas soalan seperti itu diagihkan dalam majlis makan malam yang dikatakan untuk membantu golongan tidak bernasib baik dan memerlukan. "Ketika kejadian itu terdapat kira-kira 100 orang dengan nisbah kehadiran satu perlima daripadanya adalah penganut Islam; 12 orang dewasa (tiga lelaki, sembilan wanita) dan lapan kanak-kanak," katanya. Beliau memberitahu apabila Jais masuk ke dalam, kertas soal jawab ini dah berkecai-kecai dan dimasukkan ke dalam tong sampah. "Kalau niat baik kenapa nak masuk tong sampah? Apabila masuk tong sampah, Jais sita untuk dijadikan maklumat (bukti) di mahkamah. "Malah bila mereka ini keluar seorang demi seorang, Jais meminta kad pengenalan (IC) untuk dilihat. Jais tidak ambil kad pengenalan daripada kanak-kanak memandangkan mereka tidak ada IC. Tindakan Jais ini benar. "Tidak berlaku mereka (Jais) pecah pintu, hal itu berlaku diluar gereja, dengan sasaran (orang). Namun masih ada yang melemparkan fitnah mengatakan Jais pecah pintu dan berlaku kekasaran," jelasnya.
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:22 PM PDT
The action of JAIS is not only despicable but also inimical to the interests of society. But we are not living in the dark age of religious intolerance where Christians and Muslims fell by the sword in their bloody pursuit of supremacy of the cross or the crescent. This is the age of goodwill, of mutual respect, of compromise, of reason, of sanity. Although remnants of suspicion, hate, and animosity still run deep, the march of progressive ideas and thoughts calls for new thinking and behaviour. Free Malaysia Today The spectre of religious strife is casting a long shadow as Christians continue to be the punching bag in the country whose prime minister recently shooks hands with the spiritual leader of over one billion Christians worldwide. While the Muslim-dominated government, be it at state or federal level, professes to advocate religious tolerance, the reality is that it has little respect for people of other faiths. The gun is always trained on the Christians who seem to have a hand in every plot, imagined or real, to destablise the country. The resentment felt towards the Christians is so great that churches had become target of attacks or raids. The recent detestable action of the "religious policemen" from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) is one of the many examples of the shabby treatment meted out to the Christian minority. JAIS is the religious arm of the state government whose job, among others, is to protect Muslims from the evil influences of outsiders. So when its officers barged in a church and rudely disrupted a thanksgiving-cum-HIV/AIDS fundraising dinner organised by an NGO, they accused Christians of attempting to convert some Muslim guests. They had no proof that the church was engaged in a "subversive" activity to undermine Islam. They behaved boorishly simply because there were some Muslims present at the event. The implication is clear: if there are Muslims in any function organised by Christians, then the latter is guilty of proselytising which is a serious crime, given that Islam is the official religion. Such parochial thinking is dangerous because it will breed hatred in the Muslim and Christian communities and pave the way to sectarian violence. JAIS is so absurd and irrational in its thinking that it may not surprise anyone if it raids the homes of Christians on Christmas day because Muslims are celebrating with Christians the birth of a Christian prophet. The Christians are using the Yuletide festival as a cover to convert the unsuspecting Muslims, JAIS may reason foolishly. In this theatre of the absurd, JAIS may even issue a decree: Muslims are not allowed to visit the homes of Christians. And bigoted politicians may follow up with a law banning Christmas and crosses. Then events may spin out of control and soon a slew of farcical legislation will pop up: Muslims cannot the shake the unclean hands of Christians, churches must conduct their services behind high walls, and to round it up in a final outburst of fervour, all Christians must abandon their faith on pain of death. But we are not living in the dark age of religious intolerance where Christians and Muslims fell by the sword in their bloody pursuit of supremacy of the cross or the crescent. This is the age of goodwill, of mutual respect, of compromise, of reason, of sanity. Although remnants of suspicion, hate, and animosity still run deep, the march of progressive ideas and thoughts calls for new thinking and behaviour. Muslims cannot forever cling to the threadbare argument that a crackdown on Christians is justified because they threaten the preeminent position of Islam. Since the Federal Constitution unambiguously states that Islam is the religion of the federation, no one can and will dispute it. At the same time the sacred constitution also guarantees the right of "every person to profess and practise his own religion". For the country to progress and prosper, the fire of religious fanaticism must be doused for good. Muslims cannot hark back to days of yore where blood and gore followed the swords of Islam. Let all religions flourish in peace and amity.
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| Witness interview: Duo object to Anwar’s presence Posted: 08 Aug 2011 03:57 PM PDT
Former IGP Musa Hassan and another ex-top cop refuse to be interviewed by the defence team in the presence of Anwar Ibrahim. (Free Malaysia Today) - Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's bid to interview potential witnesses for his sodomy trial hit a snag after two witnesses cancelled their session with the defence team at the Jalan Duta Court this morning. Ex-Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan and former Bukit Aman commercial crimes department deputy director Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof both backed out at the last minute after objecting to Anwar's presence during the interview. The interviews are being held by Anwar's defence team to determine if the two were suitable to be witnesses in the ongoing trial. Musa and Rodwan were spotted in court today but investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira was the one who informed Anwar's lawyers of their decision. Anwar's defence counsel Sankara Nair said: "Legally he (Anwar) has the right to be there. It is his basic right as the accused. Take for example if our client can't afford lawyers, then is he to be denied his right to interview witnesses when he is his own defence lawyer?" It was understood that the prosecution, led by Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, had written to the court to seek further direction from judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah over the issue. Following that, justice Mohamad Zabidin has fixed tomorrow morning to hear the matter with both prosecution and defence team in chambers. "He (Anwar) has to be there as we may need to seek certain instructions. This, I have to emphasise, has never happened before in my legal practice," Anwar's lead defence counsel Karpal Singh was reported as saying. Karpal said he wanted to correct the perception that the defence was prolonging the case, since the objection was raised by the prosecution. Six more interviews tomorrow It was learnt that another six witnesses were scheduled to be interviewed tomorrow. Yesterday, the High Court allowed an application by Anwar to interview 15 witnesses, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor. In his decision, Mohamad Zabidin said that it was the duty of the prosecution team, which provided the witnesses, to make sure that the witnesses attended the interview. However, he said that the defence had the right to interview the witnesses on the condition that they were willing. Aside from Musa and Rodwan, Anwar also wanted to interview Hasanuddin Abd Hamid, the owner of the condominium unit where the incident allegedly occurred, and 10 alibi witnesses. The 15 witnesses were among the 25 the defence wanted to interview to prepare for its case. At the close of their case, the prosecution offered 71 witnesses, of whom the defence chose to interview 25.
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2011 03:40 PM PDT
ART HARUN The outlook is grim I must say. Underscoring the seriousness of the US debt-payment horror is the fact that as of July this year, Apple Inc's nett operating cash balance of USD 76.4b far outperformed the entire US as a nation. At the same time, the US, as a nation, had a nett operating cash balance of only USD73.7b. (source: BBC report). The US government debt is projected by S&P to hit 11 trillion this year, which would be equivalent to 75% of its gross domestic product or all the wealth that the US economy would generate this year. S&P also estimated the debt would increase to $14 trillion by 2015 and top $20 trillion by 2021, which at that point would mean that it will be 85 per cent of GDP. In a grim postulation, S&P says in a worst-case scenario, US government debt could outstrip all the wealth generated in the world's largest economy by 2021. (source: here). With those kind of numbers, it was not surprising at all that the US credit rating was downgraded a notch from AAA rating to AA+. (source: BBC report). How do all these affect us? Back home, the numbers aren't all rosy as well. As of last year, our national debt was down from RM236.18b in 2008 to RM233.92b. (source: the Star report). That sounds good as it is on a downward trend. However, an analysis of our foreign debts as compared coupled with our domestic borrowings as well as the percentage in the increase of our debts as compared to the increase in our GDP over several years paints a really worrying picture. See the analysis here. The points are these:
What the above means is that we are borrowing faster than we are producing income. According to the US Census Bureau, between the months of January to May this year, the US' exports to Malaysia totals USD6.1b while our exports are worth USD10.5b. The US Department of State's website shows that he United States is Malaysia's third-largest trading partner and Malaysia is the eighteenth-largest trading partner of the United States with annual two-way trade amounting to $33b. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Malaysia on a cumulative basis, and was the largest source of new foreign direct investment in Malaysia in 2010 with direct investment in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia as of year-end 2009 of $15.1 billion, with billions of dollars in additional investment in the oil and gas and financial services sectors of the economy. Such is the importance of the US to Malaysia. It goes without saying that a US in financial bad shape would inevitably equal to a Malaysia in economic doldrums. Meanwhile, Malaysia's Economic Transformation Program (ETP), an ambitious project to convert the country into a fully developed nation by 2020 remains critically linked to foreign investment. The ETP requires annual foreign investment in the range of $11 billion to fund a quarter of the proposed projects. However, average annual investment since 1997 has only been $3.1 billion. A March 2011 report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch ranked Malaysia the second least popular market after Colombia among global emerging market fund managers. Malaysia, thus, is in no position to project a picture of chaos and disruption to the investors from outside. In addition, recent well known events, the details of which are all too familiar to many, if not all of us, do not endear Malaysia too well to foreign investors despite strenuous efforts by the government to attract them. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs revised our GDP forecast for this year from 5.4% to 5% with a similar cut of 0.4% next year from 5.6%. (source: the Malaysian Insider report). Considering the state of the US economy and its burgeoning debts, the US government might just increase interest rates in order to lessen public spending; impose higher import duties on certain goods; impose some strict import conditions as well as broaden its protectionism policy over some industries.
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| London riots: how BlackBerry Messenger played a key role Posted: 08 Aug 2011 03:34 PM PDT
Police looking on Facebook and Twitter for signs of unrest spreading will have missed out – they should have watched BBM (The Guardian) - In October 1985, on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham where the death of Cynthia Jarrett sparked riots that culminated in the brutal murder of PC Keith Blakelock, a community leader stood on his chair at a packed open-air meeting. The man bellowed into a megaphone to the 150 residents in front of him: "You tell them that it's a life for a life from now on. This is war." Over whoops and cheers from the residents, he turned to a huddle of police officers standing 50 yards away and warned: "I hope you're listening. There is no way I am going to condemn the actions of the youth on Sunday night." Twenty six years later, police officers are still listening – but the megaphones and open-air meetings have been largely replaced. This weekend's north London riots, the Daily Mail announced on Monday, were "fuelled by social media". But is this necessarily the case? Certainly, the first online gathering of people mourning – and soon vowing to avenge – the death of Tottenham resident Mark Duggan took place on Facebook. Some of those behind the page, which now boasts more than 7,500 fans, launched into action shortly before 10.30pm on Saturday evening – more than five hours after the first public show of protest, outside the police station on Tottenham High Road. At 10.45pm, when rioters set a double decker bus alight, the page posted: "Please upload any pictures or video's you may have from tonight in Tottenham. Share it with people to send the message out as to why this has blown into a riot." However, otherwise, if there was any sign that a peaceful protest would escalate, it wasn't to be found on Facebook. Twitter was slightly more indicative: tweets about an attempt to target Sunday's Hackney Carnival were spotted by police and the event was abruptly cancelled. Scotland Yard warned on Monday afternoon that those "inciting violence" on the 140-character social network would not go unpunished. Deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that officers were looking at the website as part of investigations into widespread looting and rioting. However, the most powerful and up-to-the-minute rallying appears to have taken place on a more covert social network: BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Using BlackBerry handsets – the smartphone of choice for the majority (37%) of British teens, according to last week's Ofcom study – BBM allows users to send one-to-many messages to their network of contacts, who are connected by "BBM PINs". For many teens armed with a BlackBerry, BBM has replaced text messaging because it is free, instant and more part of a much larger community than regular SMS. And unlike Twitter or Facebook, many BBM messages are untraceable by the authorities (which is why, in large part, BBM is so favoured by Emirati teens to spread illicit gossip about officialdom). One BBM broadcast sent on Sunday, which has been shown to the Guardian by multiple sources, calls on "everyone from all sides of London" to vandalise shops on Oxford street. It said: "Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, Bare SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!) fuck the feds we will send them back with OUR riot! >:O Dead the ends and colour war for now so if you see a brother... SALUT! if you see a fed... SHOOT!" Another sent shortly before the outbreak of violence in Enfield on Sunday afternoon reads: "Everyone in edmonton enfield wood green everywhere in north link up at enfield town station at 4 o clock sharp!". Jenny Jones, the former deputy mayor of London, blamed an under-resourced force for missing the tweets and the status updates. "It's quite possible if they had more resources they could have picked up on this," she said. But maybe they were looking in the wrong place. Just as Tottenham residents in 1985 lambasted the media for scaremongering about protesters – the Daily Express suggested some had been trained in Russia – today's rioters might be surprised to read about "Twitter-organised chaos".
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Government officials familiar with the deal said Khazanah and AirAsia have been talking about a tie-up on five separate occasions but have never been able to come to terms. Among the issues are pricing and reaction from MAS in-house unions and the Malay ground that could have political repercussions for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
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