Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Hah! Padan muka!
- The Hudud issue: FOR and AGAINST
- What a (mis)adventure
- A response to comments on ‘The four-letter word called SEX’
- The four-letter word called SEX (UPDATED with Malay Translation)
- When ‘Hang Tuah’ became ‘Hang Jebat’
- If it works well, don’t fix it
- Some call it divine intervention
- The next level
- Our way of saying ‘thank you’
| Posted: 26 Sep 2011 07:55 PM PDT
Do you know how low I felt, the nephew of Malaysia's Agong having to join the ranks of the illegal Indonesian immigrants selling food on the streets of Sungai Buloh? I felt, in the interest of justice, I should have at least been given two months notice, not sacked on the spot just three days after the general election. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
Yes, padan muka (serves you right)! I am talking about the two items below. Let's talk about the Human Rights Party (Hindraf) piece first (below). They lament that for 40 years the Indians have been sidelined. That means since 1970 or so. Why lament? I have been telling the Indians the same thing for 35 years or so since I first became politically active in the 1970s. I remember, when I told the Indians this, they refused to listen. So now, padan muka! You made your bed, now lie in it. And I hope you suffer more before it gets better. There is no better lesson than suffering. When I said that MIC cannot and will not look after the Indian interest, the Indians replied that they regard Samy Vellu as a God. They revered Samy Vellu even as the MIC President was selling out the Indians. Do you know how much Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave to MIC? But NONE went to the Indians. It all went into the pockets of the MIC leaders. Go ask Dr Mahathir if you want the full details. And while the MIC leaders plundered whatever Dr Mahathir gave the Indians, the Indians sembah Samy Vellu like he was God. I once asked (back in the 1980s) a senior Umno leader: why do the Indians still keep Samy Vellu as their leader when he is not helping the Indians? And this Umno leader replied that it is not the Indians but Umno who was keeping Samy Vellu as the MIC leader. This is because Samy Vellu works for Umno, I was told. Also, back in the 1980s, I had a meeting with Samy Vellu (I was then a central committee member of the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry) to discuss some issues concerning the Malay contractors (they were being bankrupted by the 1980s world recession). And do you know what Samy Vellu told me? He said: I am already doing so much for the Malays. I am a leader for the Malays, not for the Indians. Samy Vellu held up his right arm and said: Malay blood runs through my veins. Without Malay votes I will never become a Minister. So I will do everything within my power to help the Malays, he concluded. But when I revealed this to the Indians they still sembah Samy Vellu and call him God. I asked the Indians: why does Samy Vellu not negotiate with the government to start a FELDA scheme for the Indians, in particular the displaced and retrenched Indian estate workers? FELDA settlers are getting rich, I told them. They earn more than even university graduates. They are buying RM30,000 motorbikes (and that was back in the 1980s and 1990s mind you). We have FELDA settlements for retired army and police personnel. Why not also one for the Indians? But no, Samy Vellu is God, even though all he needed to do was move his fat arse and it would have been a fait accompli -- but he did not do so. I personally asked Dr Mahathir why he gave all those shares, etc., to MIC and not directly to the Indians -- like, say, start an ASI (Amanah Saham India)? Dr Mahathir replied that 90% of the Indians vote for MIC. So this means the Indians support MIC and regard it as their legitimate 'wakil'. So there you have it. 90% of the Indians vote for MIC. So MIC receives all the government aid on behalf of the Indians. But it never went to the Indians -- while they sembah Samy Vellu and call him God. Yes, I know, Raja Petra Kamarudin is a racist who whacks the Indians. Sudahlah! Podah! For 35 years I have been telling you this. And for 35 years you refused to listen. Now suffer. I am enjoying this 'I told you so!'. It's the best birthday present I ever had -- the pleasure I get from telling you 'I told you so' after 35 years of failing to wake you Indians from your sleep. Now, on the second piece (below). Pakatan Rakyat is grumbling that the mainstream media (MSM) is lying and distorting what they say. Again, padam muka! Soon after the 1999 general election -- together with Zunar, the late Rustam Sani, Zul Sulong and a few others -- we launched the 'Boikot TV3, Utusan and NST' campaign. The opposition coalition of PKN (now PKR), DAP, PAS and PRM -- called Barisan Alternatif -- shot it down. They disagreed. They said we must practice freedom of the media. So no 'Boikot TV3, Utusan and NST' campaign. We said that freedom of the media is fine, but not freedom to lie and distort. Eventually, we had to launch it as a 'private initiative' outside the party. The four opposition parties would not support the campaign. I was pissed big-time. During one press conference in the run-up to the 1999 general election, I chased TV3 out of the office and threatened them with violence if they ever tried to gatecrash again. The opposition leaders were very angry about this incident (which was reported on TV3 that same night). And, three days after the general election, I was sacked from my post of media coordinator. For many months my wife, Marina, had to fry curry puffs, which I went round Sungai Buloh to sell house-to-house. It was with tears in my eyes that I had to endure a life of hawking to be able to put food on the table -- all because I was a loose cannon whom the party can't seem to control. Do you know how low I felt, the nephew of Malaysia's Agong having to join the ranks of the illegal Indonesian immigrants selling food on the streets of Sungai Buloh? I felt, in the interest of justice, I should have at least been given two months notice, not sacked on the spot just three days after the general election. Later, during the PKR party convention in Kelana Jaya, my wife put up a notice banning the MSM from entering the hall. She also placed bouncers at the entrance with a mandate to beat up anyone who tries to force their way in. When the PKR Deputy President found out, he scolded us and told us to remove the sign. He instructed us to allow the MSM into the hall. My wife was fuming mad. Yes, it has always been an uphill battle to fight back against the lying MSM. And the obstacle has always been the opposition itself. Then, when I gave an interview with TV3 in February this year (like how I have taught to do so by the opposition since 1999), I get whacked to kingdom come and get called all sorts of things. I am happy that the opposition is now facing a problem with this Hudud issue that has been spun and distorted by the MSM. This is another lovely birthday present: the pleasure to say, "I told you so!" ***************************************** A.S.N. launched 40 years ago with World Bank funds but lost opportunities for Indian poor. Only rich & poor Malay/Muslims benefitted. With the RM 200 million pumped in to Amanah Saham Nasional (PNB) (presumably loan from the World Bank) this money was used not for all 1 Malaysian poor but for only the Malay-Muslims the rich and the poor. With this money loans were given to the Malay-Muslims to buy shares in PNB and the repayments were deducted from the dividends, bonus, etc. So the estimated 17 million Malay-Muslims got for "free" at tens of thousands ringgit each after 40 years. This was made possible largely by the UMNO government selling prime pieces of land in the KL city and in major towns. Also by the sale of the UMNO government blue chip shares and prime high yielding investments of PNB. Also this way PNB today after 40 years is worth RM 150 billion (source: PNB website). But only redistributed to the rich and poor Malays under UMNO's agenda in socially engineering the Indian poor if not to become poorer. And to the exclusion and segregation of the Indian poor many of whom have become relatively poorer in these 40 years. But 1Malay-sian Prime Minister Najib Razak says this is the real 1Malaysia. ****************************************** We never threatened to quit Pakatan Rakyat: DAP DAP has strongly denied that its secretary general Lim Guan Eng had threatened to quit Pakatan Rakyat's leadership council due to differences over the Hudud law, and said MCA-controlled The Star, which has been dedicating its pages on the Islamic deterrent punishment for serious crimes, had twisted his words. In a letter today, Lim's political secretary Zairil Khir Johari stressed that Lim had instead pledge that the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) would resign en-masse "if anyone can prove that Hudud law would be implemented in the Common Policy Framework (CPF) or Buku Jingga that has been presented to the public." Buku Jingga, or the Orange Book, outlines the coalition's common policies in governance as well as reforms it said would be carried out within the first hundreds days of power at the Federal level. According to Zairil, the paper had initially published a correct report on its online version, but the next day, it said DAP would quit PR, under the heading "DAP leaders threaten to quit Pakatan council". "This is categorically untrue as Lim had neither made any threats to quit the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council, nor the Pakatan Rakyat in general," he said, and urged the daily to explain the stark contradictions. Earlier, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek threatened to pull out from Barisan Nasional if UMNO lent support to any attempt by Kelantan to implement the popular Hudud laws there. This followed a statement by UMNO deputy president Muhyiddin Yasin saying that as a Muslim, he could not oppose the laws, but would not implement them at present. Yesterday, PR issued a gag order on leaders across the three parties from issuing any statements on the hudud row, until they meet on September 28. "We do not want to blame anyone for having issued statements about hudud but it has been blown out of proportion now. "Hence we decided that until the 28th (Wednesday), there must be no longer any statements issued on this matter from all three parties, whether PAS, PKR or DAP," said PAS secretary general Mustafa Ali, in a joint statement with his PKR counterpart Saifuddin Nasution and DAP deputy secretary general Anthony Loke.
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| The Hudud issue: FOR and AGAINST Posted: 26 Sep 2011 07:08 AM PDT
Basically, you have a democratic right to dream about Hudud and to support it. And you also have a democratic right to have nightmares about Hudud and to oppose it. The problem is, both sides do not understand democracy and do not respect the democratic right of someone to support or oppose what they feel they want to support or oppose. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Let us first argue FOR. So you see, democracy works both ways. And democracy may not necessarily always be good when we are in the minority. However, whether you like it or not, majority rules. And this is the reality we have to accept. Tough! |
| Posted: 25 Sep 2011 08:12 PM PDT
Nevertheless, only the good die young, as the saying goes. So this offers us very little incentive to be good. Anyway, as Marilyn Monroe said, "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls have all the fun." So give me a bad girl over a good girl any time because the good girl would most probably be already dead and making love to a corpse is no fun as many Malaysians married for more than 50 years to the same woman would be able to tell you. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
Misadventure comes from the old English word, misaventure, which in turn comes from the old French word, mesaventure, which means an instance of misfortune or a mishap. In law, this would translate to accidental death not due to any crime or negligence. I am raising this because it appears that many readers do not understand the meaning of the verdict by Coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharanion regarding the death of Selangor Customs Department assistant director, Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed. This simply means, in short, no one can explain his death and since the CCTV recordings have been mysteriously erased -- and no one seems to know how that happened -- then no further investigation can be made as to whether there was any foul play involved. All we do know is that Ahmad Sarbaini died. Of course, you do not have to be a Coroner or doctor to figure that one out. And we all know that the cause of death was because the deceased stopped breathing. Again, you do not have to be a Coroner or doctor to figure that one out. Most people stop breathing when they die. Only a very few Malaysians are still breathing although we can consider them dead and wish they would quickly stop breathing so that we can send them to their graves without further delay. Nevertheless, only the good die young, as the saying goes. So this offers us very little incentive to be good. Anyway, as Marilyn Monroe said, "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls have all the fun." So give me a bad girl over a good girl any time because the good girl would most probably be already dead and making love to a corpse is no fun as many Malaysians married for more than 50 years to the same woman would be able to tell you. And this poses a serious problem for the proposal by PAS to introduce the Islamic law of Hudud to Malaysia. Certainly, the severe punishment under those laws would make everyone become good. And this would mean many, if not most, Malaysians would die young. Now, the civil servants are asking the government to increase the retirement age to 60. Judges, who now retire at 65, would probably also want their retirement age increased to, say, 75. Considering that even at 85 our mind is still sharp -- as proven by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who still thinks and talks like the much younger Ibrahim Ali -- this makes sense. Age 56 or 58 is too young to retire. Hey, I will be 61 tomorrow and I still think like I am 21, although most of the time it is sex that I am thinking about. Anyway, the fact that judges can still sit on the bench until they are 65 or 70 and have not died yet can only mean that most judges are bad and that there are no good judges. If they were good judges then they would not be alive any longer since only the good die young and the bad continue to breathe, walk and talk, though most times it is talking cock. I know, at this point, most of you will whack Dr Mahathir and quote him as a good example of my prognosis above. And in the same breath you will also whack me and allege that I am a Mahathir lover. Never mind, whack on. Malaysia Today does, after all, practice freedom of expression, even the freedom to whack me. I know you feel that Dr Mahathir is 'interfering' in the running of the country and that he should lay off since he has already retired as Prime Minister eight years ago. But you must understand, Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister for 22 years, and with the vast knowledge that he has, what is the problem with him sharing his experience with younger leaders like Najib Tun Razak? Singapore, too, had its Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew. So what's wrong if Malaysia has a Minister Tormentor? That made Singapore great so maybe this will make Malaysia great as well. You must understand, under Dr Mahathir, Malaysia set many world records. Now that Dr Mahathir is no longer the leader, we have lost out on many things. We used to have the tallest tower, the longest bridge, the first national car in the world to be manufactured entirely using Japanese components, the first car to be parachuted into the North Pole (or was it the South Pole?), the first car attempted to be driven in the North Pole (or was it the South Pole) with the engine oil frozen solid, the first country outside India to have an Indian Prime Minister, the first country in the world to have an Indian Muslim Prime Minister, the first country after Nazi Germany to sack its Deputy on allegations of sodomy, and so on and so forth. Since Dr Mahathir left office, what has Malaysia achieved and what new world records have we set other than the first country in the world to have a husband and wife team as the joint-Prime Minister? Honestly, Dr Mahathir may have his faults, but he did also put Malaysia onto the world map. In the past, say back in the 1970s, very few people knew where Malaysia is located on the world map. I used to have to tell people, "You know Bangkok?" and the answer would of course be 'yes'. Everyone knows Bangkok. That is where you go to bang…well, you know what. Then I ask them, "You know Singapore?" And of course everyone knows Singapore as well. Singapore is a fine city. They fine you for everything, even for chewing gum. Then I tell them: well, Malaysia is sandwiched in between Bangkok and Singapore. "Ah!" they say. Now they know where Malaysia is. My relatives on my mother's side used to think we live in houses on stilts in Malaysia. This is because, soon after WWII, one of my uncles, who was in the Royal Navy, landed in Pulau Ketam off Port Kelang and he thought that the whole of Malaysia was built on stilts. It took a long time before they realised that Malaysia is not built on stilts but on a pack of cards. What surprised them even more is to see that the pack of cards has not fallen yet although other superpowers like Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, etc., what we call PIGS, are crumbling even as we speak. That should be proof enough that khinzir is haram in case you Islam-bashers in Malaysia Today still want to argue that there is nothing wrong with pork. Anyway, I am digressing from the topic of the day, which is death by misadventure. Okay, in case many of you still do not get it, let me explain it this way. If, in a moment of weakness, I find myself in Rosmah's bed, and realising that this is a fate worse than death, I take Najib's gun and shoot myself in the head. That would be suicide. If Najib comes home and finds me in Rosmah's bed and he gets angry and shoots me dead, that would be murder. If Najib comes home and finds me in Rosmah's bed and he gets angry and shoots me but accidentally hits and kills Rosmah instead, that would be manslaughter. If Najib comes home and finds me in Rosmah's bed and he laughs so much at seeing something so ridiculous, and then when he slaps his thigh during a moment of uncontrollable laughter his gun accidentally goes off and the bullet hits and kills me, that would be death by misadventure. I trust now you can comprehend the Coroner's ruling on how Ahmad Sarbaini died. |
| A response to comments on ‘The four-letter word called SEX’ Posted: 25 Sep 2011 06:16 AM PDT
As I write this, almost 100 comments have been posted in response to my article titled 'The four-letter word called SEX'. I have picked up just four of these comments to reply to. I hope this will trigger some debate as I feel we need more discourse on what ails Malaysia. I have not edited or amended any of these comments and have published them as is. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin 1. It's wicked for RPK to say "The Malay mind can be summarised in just three words - sex, sex, sex!" There's got to be something in between having sex. |
| The four-letter word called SEX (UPDATED with Malay Translation) Posted: 24 Sep 2011 09:09 PM PDT
So the state religious authority can actually be called 'The Department of Anti-Illicit Sex'. It is not actually a religious department. It is an anti-illicit sex department. Millions of Ringgit of your taxpayers' money is spent to employ thousands of officers whose job is to make sure that you only bonk your wife, and from the front, and no one else other than that and not from any other position other than the front. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Sex video allegations 'cruel', says Customs DG (The Malaysian Insider) - Customs' chief said there was no proof its officer was in a sex video recently unveiled by pro-Umno bloggers, adding it's "cruel" to link it to Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed's death. "Although the blog clearly showed sexual acts, until today there has been no further information over who was involved. As such, it cannot be conclusively said that it involved a Customs staff," Customs director-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Yusuf said in an SMS response to The Malaysian Insider. "Linking the sex act to Sarbaini's case, which I cannot even see the link, is a cruel act and an irresponsible one, if it seeks to humiliate a person who has died," he added. If there was proof, then Khalid said the evidence should be passed to the police, not revealed in public. Earlier this week, Umno-linked blogs released a video in an apparent attempt to tarnish the reputation of Customs officers ahead of Monday's verdict in the Sarbaini inquest. The video — which appears to have been secretly recorded — shows a Malay man engaging in sex with a Caucasian woman in what looks like a hotel room. Umno-linked blog theunspinners.blogspot.com was the first to release the video, claiming the man in the recording was a Customs officer while suggesting the woman was a Russian prostitute. The man in the video is not named, but the blogger links the recording, which is titled "Pegawai Kastam Yang Terlampau," to the senior Customs officer's death while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) earlier this year. ******************************************** When all else fails, raise allegations of sexual misconduct. It works every time. When they wanted to bring down Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, they did this. Why not raise allegations of abuse of power or corruption involving contracts, projects, shares, etc? I am sure they can find many instances where friends and even family members of Anwar were recipients of government 'favours'. Every Barisan Nasional politician (and/or their friends/family members) benefited from some form of government handout. I know of many instances where those close to both Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar benefited from being close or related to the Prime Minister/Deputy Prime Minister. It would not be that hard to find at least one instance where Anwar can be said to have abused his position to enrich his friend or family member. I personally know of some, although I will not mention them or else there will be allegations made against me that I have been bought, have turned, am a Trojan Horse, etc. Anwar can do no wrong so I better not say he did if I value my life. Rahim Thambi Chik, the one-time Chief Minister of Melaka, was absolutely corrupt. There would be scores of instances where he was involved in corruption to the tune of hundreds of millions. But it was the ONE allegation of sexual misconduct and not the 50 cases of corruption that brought him down. Mat Sabu and Ahmad Sarbaini (the Customs Officer who died at the hands of the MACC) are now being smeared by sexual misconduct allegations as well. Why sexual misconduct and not something else? Because allegations of sexual misconduct works every time and has never failed thus far to bring someone down. Even if all these people are sexually promiscuous, so what? Even if they are gay or bi-sexual, so what? Even if they do poke their peckers into all and sundry and bonk all over the place, so what? How does it affect me personally? In what way do I suffer? Do I lose anything? Does the country lose anything? Will it bring the country to bankruptcy? Will the country's economy collapse? Are the taxpayers paying for it? Yes, what is it that does affect me personally? In what way would I suffer? In what way do I lose? In what way does the country lose? What is it that will bring the country to bankruptcy? In what way will the country's economy collapse? In what way will the taxpayers pay? All the above, and more, will happen only when the country is mismanaged and the country's wealth is plundered by those who walk in the corridors of power. Other than that, neither the country nor I suffer in any way -- even if those who walk in the corridors of power indulge in orgies every weekend. So, why this fixation on sex rather than on how the country is being mismanaged and on how the country's wealth is being plundered? Well, because most Malaysians don't care a damn about important issues. Most Malaysians are kay poh. They only want to know who is bonking whom and whether from the front or from the back. That's Malaysians for you. So they raise allegations of sexual misconduct and use this to bring their adversary down. And that is why the deceased Customs Officer is now being smeared by the Umno Blogs. Initially, he was said to have been involved in a multi-billion racket. Then it was reduced to a mere few hundreds of millions. Now it is sex with a woman who is not his wife. The last minor allegation -- though of no impact to me, you, or the nation -- is the sure formula for success. I suppose, to the Chinese, this type of allegation would not matter. In fact, it can even enhance your chances of becoming the party president. If Chua Soi Lek can arrange for 100 more DVDs to be released showing him in various Kamasutra positions, he might even go on to become the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. But to the Malays, this is taboo. This will bring you down if you are Malay. Why are Malays so fixated with that four-letter word, sex? I am not a sociology or anthropology student but it is not that difficult to analyse the Malay mind. Let me very briefly tell you why (hey, can I get a PhD for this?). Let's look at the current controversy raging in Malaysia with regards to the Islamic law of Hudud. Hudud is actually one of many laws under the Shariah and involves what can be considered as serious crimes under Islam. These are crimes such as robbery, rebellion, murder, etc., plus allegations of sexual misconduct. Yes, that right, the allegation of sexual misconduct is amongst the serious crimes such as robbery, rebellion and murder. In fact, Islam regards false allegations (fitnah) as worse than murder (the taking of a human life). Amongst the seven serious crimes stipulated under Hudud is the crime of alleging that a woman is immoral. If the allegation is true and can be proven -- or can be supported by the testimony of witnesses (or a video/photograph, which can be taken as evidence) -- then the punishment is very severe. Some say she must be whipped with 100 lashes. Some say she should be whipped with 100 lashes only if she is not married. If she is married then she should be stoned to death. And if the accuser can't prove the allegation, then the accuser should be whipped with 80 lashes instead. So you see, allegations of sexual misconduct sit way up there amongst the sevens serious crimes in Islam. Racism, persecution, discrimination, corruption, abuse of power, abuse of public funds, spending tens of millions of the taxpayers' money for your wife's shopping sprees, cruelty to animals, and many more are not serious crimes covered by Hudud. Making false allegations of sexual misconduct is. So Malays, being Muslims, have been brought up with this mindset. There is nothing more serious than allegations of sexual misconduct. Racism, persecution, discrimination, corruption, abuse of power, abuse of public funds, spending tens of millions of the taxpayers' money for your wife's shopping sprees, cruelty to animals, etc., are not serious crimes. An allegation of sexual misconduct is! This is why you see all these allegations being made. Malays are fixated with sex. Everything is about sex. The Malay mind is submerged in sex. If you still don't think so, let us look at the Shariah courts. What do the Shariah courts deal with other than family matters and matters such as eating during the month of Ramadhan when you should be fasting? Why, sex, of course. The state religious authorities conduct raids to catch people indulging in illicit sex. Do the state religious authorities conduct raids to catch people involved in racism, persecution, discrimination, corruption, abuse of power, abuse of public funds, spending tens of millions of the taxpayers' money for your wife's shopping sprees, cruelty to animals, etc? Of course not! They do not care about all that. They only care about those people indulging in illicit sex. So the state religious authority can actually be called 'The Department of Anti-Illicit Sex'. It is not actually a religious department. It is an anti-illicit sex department. Millions of Ringgit of your taxpayers' money is spent to employ thousands of officers whose job is to make sure that you only bonk your wife, and from the front, and no one else other than that and not from any other position other than the front. Sounds pathetic, doesn't it? Well, that's because it IS pathetic. So now do you understand the Malay mind? And this is why all these allegations of sexual misconduct are surfacing. It is because of the way the Malays have been brought up and because of how they have been educated. The Malay mind can be summarised in just three words -- sex, sex, sex! Have I upset some Malays? Well, I hope so. I intend to upset them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Translated into Malay by bintikdebu Setelah semuanya gagal, timbulkanlah tuduhan pelanggaran seksual. Itu pasti berhasil. Ketika mereka ingin menjatuhkan Anwar Ibrahim pada tahun 1998, mereka menyebarkan tuduhan tersebut. Mengapa tidak menimbulkan tuduhan penyalahgunaan kekuasaan atau korupsi yang melibatkan kontrak, proyek, saham dll? Saya pasti mereka dapat menemukan banyak kejadian di mana sahabat-sahabat dan bahkan anggota keluarga Anwar menerima pelayanan "istimewa" dari pemerintah. Setiap politisi Barisan Nasional (dan/atau sahabat-sahabat/anggota keluarga mereka) menikmati "pemberian" pemerintah dalam satu bentuk atau yang lainnya. Saya mengetahui banyak kejadian di mana mereka yang dekat dengan Tun Dr Mahathir Muhamad dan Anwar meraup manfaat justru kerana kedekatan atau hubungan mereka kepada Perdana Menteri/Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Sebenarnya tidak sulit untuk menemukan setidaknya satu kejadian di mana Anwar dapat dikatakan telah menyalahgunakan kedudukannya untuk memperkaya sahabat atau anggota keluarganya. Saya pribadi mengenal beberapa orang, meskipun saya tidak akan menyebut nama mereka, kalau tidak, akan muncul tuduhan terhadap saya bahwa saya telah dibeli, sudah mengkhianati, adalah Trojan Horse dll. Anwar tidak dapat berbuat salah jadi lebih baik saya jangan mengatakan sebaliknya jika saya menghargai nyawa saya. Rahim Thambi Chik, yang pernah menjabat sebagai Menteri Besar Melaka, adalah seorang koruptor besar. Ada begitu banyak kejadian di mana dia terlibat dalam korupsi sejumlah ratusan juta ringgat. Namun dia dijatuhkan oleh SATU tuduhan pelanggaran seksual dan bukan 50 kasus korupsi. Mat Sabu dan Ahmad Sarbaini (Pengawai Kastam yang mati di tangan MACC) sekarang juga sedang dinodai dengan tuduhan pelanggaran seksual. Mengapa pelanggaran seksual dan bukan hal lain? Karena tuduhan pelanggaran seksual selalu berhasil dan tidak pernah gagal sejauh ini dalam menjatuhkan seseorang. Sekalipun semua orang ini memang tidak bermoral, ada apa? Bahkan jika mereka adalah gay atau bi-seksual, ada apa? Bahkan jika mereka secara sembarangan dan gila-gilaan menusuk cotok mereka ke mana-mana, ada apa? Bagaimana itu dapat mempengaruhi saya secara pribadi? Dalam cara apa saya disusahkan? Apakah saya Ya, apa sebenarnya yang mempengaruhi saya secara pribadi? Apa sebenarnya yang menyengsarakan saya? Apa sebenarnya yang merugikan saya? Apa sebenarnya yang merugikan negara? Apa yang akan membangkrutkan negara? Apa yang akan meruntuhkan ekonomi negara? Apa yang akan membebani pembayar cukai? Semua yang tersebut di atas, hanya akan terjadi jika negara disalah kelola dan kekayaan negara dijarah oleh mereka memegang kekuasaan. Selain dari itu, negara dan saya tidak disusahkan dalam bentuk apa pun – sekalipun mereka yang memegang kekuasaan berpesta seks setiap akhir minggu. Jadi, mengapa begitu terpaku pada seks daripada bagaimana negara ini disalah kelola dan bagaimana kekayaan negara sedang dijarah? Nah, karena kebanyakan orang Malaysia tidak pernah mempedulikan isu-isu penting. Kebanyakan orang Malaysia itu kay poh. Mereka hanya ingin tahu siapa yang menusuk siapa dan apakah dari Itulah orang Malaysia. Jadi mereka menimbulkan tuduhan pelanggaran seksual dan menggunakannya untuk menjatuhkan musuh Mulanya, almarhum disebut terbabit dalam penipuan yang melibatkan berbilion-bilion ringgit. Kemudian, dikurangi menjadi hanya beberapa ratus juta. Dan sekarang hubungan seks dengan seorang wanita yang bukan istrinya. Tuduhan terakhir yang kecil ini – sekalipun tidak mempengaruhi saya, anda, atau negara – adalah formula yang pasti berhasil. Saya kira, untuk kaum Cina, tuduhan semacam ini tidak akan mempengaruhi mereka. Dalam kenyataannya, itu bahkan dapat meningkatkan peluang anda menjadi presiden parti. Jika Chua Soi Lek dapat mengatur supaya 100 lagi DVD dirilis yang menunjukkan dia dalam pelbagai posisi Kamasutra, dia bahkan dapat maju menjadi Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia. Namun bagi orang Melayu, ini merupakan taboo. Ini akan menjatuhkan anda jika anda orang Melayu. Mengapa orang Melayu begitu terpaku pada kata empat-huruf itu, seks? Saya bukan seorang siswa sosiologi atau antropologi namun tidak sulit untuk menganalisa cara orang Melayu berpikir. Izinkan saya menjelaskannya kepada anda secara sederhana. Mari lihat kontroversi yang memanas di Malaysia sekarang ini sehubungan dengan hukum Islam yang disebut Hudud. Hudud sebenarnya adalah salah satu dari sekian banyak hukum di bawah Shariah dan melibatkan apa yang dapat dianggap sebagai kejahatan-kejahatan besar dalam Islam, sebagai contoh, kejahatan-kejahatan seperti perampokan, pemberontakan, pembunuhan dll, termasuk tuduhan (atau dakwaan) pelanggaran seksual. Ya, memang benar, tuduhan/dakwaan pelanggaran seksual termasuk kejahatan serius seperti perampokan, pemberontakan dan pembunuhan. Dalam kenyataannya, Islam menganggap tuduhan palsu (fitnah) itu lebih buruk dari pembunuhan. Salah satu dari tujuh kejahatan serius yang ditetapkan di bawah Hudud adalah kejahatan menuduh bahwa seorang wanita itu tidak bermoral. Jika tuduhan itu benar dan dapat dibuktikan – atau dapat didukung oleh kesaksian dari beberapa saksi (atau sebuah video/photo, yang dapat diterima sebagai bukti) – maka hukumannya amatlah berat. Ada yang mengatakan bahwa dia harus dicambuk 100 kali. Ada pula yang berpendapat bahwa dia harus dicambuk 100 kali hanya jika dia belum bernikah. Jika dia sudah bernikah maka dia harus dilempari batu sampai mati. Dan jika yang menuduh tidak dapat membuktikan tuduhannya, maka yang menuduh pula yang harus dicambuk 80 kali. Jadi coba lihat, tuduhan pelanggaran seksual mengambil tempat yang amat tinggi dalam Islam, termasuk dalam tujuh kejahatan yang paling serius dalam Islam. Rasisme, penganiayaan, diskriminasi, korupsi, penyalahgunaan kuasa, penyalahgunaan uang rakyat, pembaziran puluhan juta wang rakyat untuk istri shopping, kekejaman pada hewan, dan banyak lagi tidak dianggap kejahatan serius di bahwa Hudud. Sebaliknya, membuat tuduhan palsu tentang pelanggaran seksual digolongkan sebagai kejahatan serius. Jadi orang Melayu, sebagai umat Muslim, telah dibesarkan dengan pola pikir seperti ini. Tidak ada perkara yang lebih serius daripada tuduhan pelanggaran seks. Rasisme, penganiayaan, diskriminasi, korupsi, penyalahgunaan kuasa, penyalahgunaan wang rakyat, pembaziran puluhan juta wang rakyat untuk istri shopping, kekejaman pada hewan dll, bukanlah kejahatan serius. Namun, tuduhan pelanggaran seksual itu serius! Itulah sebabnya anda melihat semua tuduhan itu dibuat. Orang Melayu itu terpaku pada seks. Semuanya berhubungan dengan seks. Pikiran orang Melayu itu terendam dalam seks. Jika anda masih tidak percaya, marilah kita lihat ke mahkamah Shariah. Apakah perkara-perkara yang ditangani mahkamah Shariah selain dari perkara-perkara keluarga dan perkara-perkara seperti curi makan dalam bulan Ramadhan? Tentu saja, seks. Jabatan Agama Negeri melakukan razzia untuk menangkap orang yang terlibat dalam seks bebas. Apakah Jabatan Agama Negeri melakukan razzia untuk menangkap orang yang terlibat dalam rasisme, penganiayaan, diskriminasi, korupsi, penyalahgunaan kuasa, penyalahgunaan wang rakyat, pembaziran puluhan juta wang rakyat untuk istri shopping, kekejaman pada hewan dll? Tentu saja tidak! Mereka tidak peduli tentang semua itu. Mereka hanya membimbangkan orang-orang yang terlibat seks bebas. Jadi Jabatan Agama Negeri sebetulnya dapat disebut "Department Anti-Seks-Bebas". Ia sebetulnya bukanlah department agama, tetapi department anti-seks-bebas. Jutaan ringgit wang rakyat dibelanjakan untuk menggaji ribuan pegawai yang pekerjaannya adalah memastikan bahwa anda hanya menusuk istri anda, dan dari depan, dan tidak wanita lain selain dia dan tidak dari arah lain selain depan. Kedengaran menyedihkan, bukan? Nah, kedengaran menyedihkan karena MEMANG menyedihkan! Jadi apakah anda sudah memahami cara orang Melayu berpikir? Itulah sebabnya mengapa semua tuduhan pelanggaran seks itu bermunculan. Itu disebabkan oleh cara orang Melayu dibesarkan dan oleh cara mereka dididik. Pikiran orang Melayu dapat disimpulkan dengan tiga kata – seks, seks, seks! Apakah saya telah menggusarkan orang Melayu? Saya harap demikian. Saya memang berniat untuk berbuat |
| When ‘Hang Tuah’ became ‘Hang Jebat’ Posted: 23 Sep 2011 05:29 PM PDT
The Prime Minister's campaign continued. He silenced the Rulers over the issue of the 1987 ISA detentions; staged a hostile debate on the monarchy in the 1990 Umno general assembly after the loss of Kelantan to PAS; removed the Rulers' immunity to prosecution following the constitutional crisis of 1992-93; stripped away their flights, outriders, and special hospital wards; and in 1994, with little opposition, finally removed the need to obtain the Rulers' assent for State laws. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
The young should emulate Hang Tuah - Melaka CM (Bernama) -- Youths should emulate the legendary Malay warrior Hang Tuah, who had a superior character and was loyal to king and country, Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said last night. He said that Hang Tuah was indomitable in defending the Melaka Sultanate from external attacks. "His leadership qualities were pronounced because his knowledge covered religion and the art of silat," Mohd Ali said when opening the Hang Tuah Festival at the Malay Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum at Bandar Hilir here last night. Also present were Information, Communications and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz and Melaka State Assembly Speaker Datuk Othman Muhamad. Mohd Ali said Hang Tuah used his mastery of several languages to help boost relations between Melaka and other states and territories. ************************************** Mahathir vs the Malay Rulers By HUZIR SULAIMAN, The Star In the concluding instalment of the three-part series, Ruling the Rulers, our columnist looks at the outcome of Dr Mahathir's 1983 standoff with the Sultans. BY October 1983, Malaysians were becoming aware that a constitutional crisis was in full swing. The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1983 had been passed by both houses of Parliament, but the King, under pressure from his fellow rulers, was refusing to give his Royal Assent to it. The bill would remove the need for the King to assent to legislation, and would similarly do away with the need for Sultans to assent to State laws. It would also take away the King's power to declare an Emergency and give it to the Prime Minister. The Rulers publicly rejected these amendments after a meeting in Selangor on Nov 20, 1983. When the public became aware that a storm was brewing, Dr Mahathir's administration initiated a propaganda war to put pressure on the Rulers. There took place a "series of illegal public rallies held by Umno in Alor Star, Bagan Datoh, Seremban, Batu Pahat, Malacca, for the Prime Minister with reports of officially inflated crowd figures?." as Lim Kit Siang would later describe them in the Dewan Rakyat. These rallies, staged in order to generate sympathy for the Government's cause, were illegal in the sense that police permits were neither sought nor granted. Whether or not the crowd figures were inflated by the Umno-aligned media – it is true that they generally reported these events in positive terms – it is clear that the 1983 rallies were exciting evenings, with republican sentiments on everyone's minds, if not exactly on their lips. One of the most arresting images in Rais Yatim's Faces in the Corridor of Power is a photograph of two youths at one such rally. They are wearing T-shirts bearing Dr Mahathir's picture and the words "DAULAT RAKYAT". Although the Prime Minister denied wanting to abolish the monarchy, at these rallies "the historical moment of unfolding Malay nationalism was relived as a continuing battle of Malay popular sovereignty against royal hegemony," as Khoo Boo Teik writes in Paradoxes of Mahathirism. At a rally in Alor Star on Nov 26, Dr Mahathir declared that "It was the rakyat who had protested against the Malayan Union after the Second World War; it was the rakyat who wanted a democratic system that would enable them to choose their own leaders. It was always the people who had fought for their destiny." At the largest rally, in Batu Pahat, Dr Mahathir told the crowds, in a thinly veiled dig at hereditary rulers, "We weren't born Ministers ? We're up here because we were chosen by all of you." The propaganda war continued, with tales of royal extravagance and impropriety emerging. The Government leaked the fact that they were compiling dossiers on the Sultans. RTM announced they were preparing a year-long TV series on the Rulers and the Constitution. Yet pro-royal rallies took place too – especially in Kelantan and Terengganu, where Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was rumoured to be responsible for them – and they drew large crowds, although they went unreported by the media. Upping the ante, the Umno Youth executive council called for the Government to gazette the Constitution (Amendment) Bill without waiting for the King's assent, effectively daring the Rulers to challenge it in court. Dr Mahathir did not immediately adopt this strategy, but held this "nuclear option" in reserve while behind-the-scenes negotiations continued with the Rulers. Public opinion was divided over the issue. Rural Malays tended to support the Rulers; urban Malays, while not uncritical of Mahathir's strategies and motives, were more ready to accept egalitarian ideas. As for the Chinese community, R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy note in Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir that "One might have expected that, since the rulers and the Agung were symbols of 'Malayness' the Chinese would feel little loyalty to them. Paradoxically, they were quite pro-royalty, because they did not really trust Malay politicians. Indeed, they viewed the Agung and the rulers as protectors of their vital interests." There seemed to be no way out of the impasse except by compromise – which is what happened. The Rulers agreed to the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 1983 on the condition that many of its provisions were modified or repealed immediately with the introduction of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1984. The new bill, passed in January 1984, meant that the King could now only delay a piece of non-money legislation for a month. It then had to be sent back to Parliament with his objections. If the King still opposed it in the form in which Parliament then passed it, he could only delay it for another month before it was gazetted as law. The King could therefore only delay legislation for up to two months before it became the law of the land. But this principle was no longer extended to the State level: Sultans still needed to assent to State bills before they became law, which was an important symbolic victory. Most importantly for those who feared Dr Mahathir's supposed plan to concentrate power in his own hands, the bill removed the proposed ability of the Prime Minister to declare an Emergency by himself, and restored it to the King. Nonetheless, Dr Mahathir saw himself as having won, declaring at a victory rally in Malacca that the feudal system had ended. He had brought his theatrical, confrontational, unapologetically antagonistic style to a high-stakes arena and had, by some accounts at least, triumphed over the Malay Rulers. He quickly moved to consolidate his gains. Stories had been circulating that the head of the army, Jen Tan Sri Mohd Zain Hashim, was opposed to Mahathir's approach and believed the armed force's loyalty lay with the Rulers. Mohd Zain took early retirement. This was followed by a reorganisation of the army and some 500 other early retirements and dismissals. When the independent-minded Sultan of Johor took over as Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1984, some feared (and some hoped) that royal activism would reassert itself. As Roger Kershaw writes in Monarchy In South-East Asia: Faces of Tradition in Transition, "From the beginning, the Agong had made no secret of his contempt for Mahathir on the grounds of his mixed blood, calling him, to his face, 'Mamak' (a derogatory nickname for those of Indian Muslim ancestry). [?] But Dr Mahathir had proved more than a match for this difficult sovereign. Having got the measure of the King's essential vanity and exhibitionism, he prudently pandered to it, even to the extent of placing a more convenient Royal Malaysian Airforce helicopter at his permanent disposal?." Through this and other measures, Dr Mahathir maintained good relations with the new King, enlisting him in his 1987 move against the judiciary, the effects of which are still felt today. The Prime Minister's campaign continued. He silenced the Rulers over the issue of the 1987 ISA detentions; staged a hostile debate on the monarchy in the 1990 Umno general assembly after the loss of Kelantan to PAS; removed the Rulers' immunity to prosecution following the constitutional crisis of 1992-93; stripped away their flights, outriders, and special hospital wards; and in 1994, with little opposition, finally removed the need to obtain the Rulers' assent for State laws. Looking back, we can see how the bars of the yellow silk cage began to go up in 1983, closing in year after year. Should we find it surprising, then, that after 25 years the tigers within should want to break free? Can we not understand that the Rulers might want to regain what has been lost? And here is the hardest question of all: without giving up our democratic ideals, in a cynical and disloyal age, can we find a way to let our Rulers rule? Huzir Sulaiman writes for theatre, film, television, and newspapers.
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| If it works well, don’t fix it Posted: 23 Sep 2011 06:42 AM PDT
The question now is: are PAS and DAP going to swallow the bait, hook, line and sinker? If they are then maybe they are not matured enough and are not ready yet to form the next federal government. Maybe we should allow Barisan Nasional to continue running the country until the opposition matures and not get trapped so easily. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin As they say, if it works, don't fix it. Another saying: no need to reinvent the wheel. Yet another saying: lunacy is doing the same thing while expecting different results. Hey, if you want sayings, I have an abundance of them and I can write pages upon pages of sayings. |
| Some call it divine intervention Posted: 21 Sep 2011 07:29 PM PDT
Sigh…poor Gani Patail. Nothing seems to be going his way. He is supposed to be God where even Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is supposed to be scared of him. But everything he tries seem to have failed. Could there be an even greater God than Gani Patail who is intervening and thwarting all the AG's plans and plots? NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
Attorney-General Gani Patail is very short-tempered nowadays. Nothing seems to be going his way. Every plan and plot he hatches blows up in his face in the end. What Gani Patail does not seem to understand is: man proposes, God disposes. He can plan and plot all he wants, but, as the Quran says, God is the greatest plotter of all. And the more Gani Patail thinks he is God, the more his plans and plots will get thwarted. Gani Patail's dilemma started back in 2009 when he discovered that I was no longer in Malaysia. He tried to track me down and found out that I was in the UK (mainly because I was not in hiding but made many public appearances). However, he tried to hide this fact from me and announced that they know I was in Australia. Actually, this was a red herring. They knew I was in the UK but they did not want me to know that they know. But I knew that they knew. This was because they met up with the British authorities to discuss the possibility of extraditing me back to Malaysia. They told the British authorities that I was facing four charges, one for sedition and three for criminal defamation. What Gani Patail did not know is that the British authorities contacted my lawyers to get more details about my cases. It seems they wanted to send a report to the Home Office in case the Malaysian government files an application to extradite me. The British authorities reminded Gani Patail that there is no extradition treaty between the UK and Malaysia. Therefore, they can't just pick me up and send me back to Malaysia. Malaysia would have to go to a UK court to apply to extradite me. This means a sort of trial would be held where Malaysia would have to convince the UK court of my guilt. Now this would be a problem for Malaysia. Gani Patail would not be able to manipulate the British judiciary like he does in Malaysia. The evidence would have to be very strong for them to convince the UK court that I am guilty and therefore should be sent back to Malaysia. An even bigger problem would be the dual criminality law. The crime I am alleged to have committed must also be a crime in the UK. For example, sodomy is not a crime in the UK (gay marriages are legal in the UK). So, in that type of situation, you cannot extradite someone charged with sodomy in Malaysia. This all happened back in 2009, mind you. While Gani Patail was figuring out what to do, on 1st January 2010, the UK Government suddenly repealed the sedition and criminal defamation laws. That means sedition and criminal defamation were no longer crimes in the UK. And that also means that since the dual criminality rule would apply, Malaysia could no longer extradite me. I am sure the UK government did not repeal the sedition and criminal defamation laws just for my sake. Was it a mere coincidence then? Or is this what we can call divine intervention? Anyway, that ended any possibility of the Malaysian government applying to extradite me back to Malaysia. They then tried to get my son instead -- in the hope that I will make a deal to save my son. They arrested my son and beat him up to get him to confess to four criminal charges. He, however, pleaded not guilty and fought the charges. I then announced that I am 'disowning' my son and that he is entirely on his own. He would have to sort out his own problems and I would not intervene. That surprised them. They thought I would surely try to make a deal instead of 'abandoning' my son. In wars there is such a thing called 'collateral damage' and my son would have to be that collateral damage. Finally, the court ruled that there was no case against my son and he was acquitted without his defense being called on all four charges. This made Gani Patail hopping mad and he now wants to appeal the court's decision and try to get my son back into court. The problem with this, though, is that they first have to find my son and serve the papers on him. But they don't know where to find him. So they sent the letters to my old house address where no one is living any longer. Officially, therefore, nothing has been served on my son yet. (You can read the scanned copies of the letters below). In the meantime, my son is moving around town a free man while they try to track him down and drag him back to court. And the beautiful thing is, my son is not even in hiding. Yet they can't find him. Is this divine intervention, yet again? Kuala Lumpur is not that big. And still they can't find my son? Aiyoh! Apalah ni? Yes, nothing seems to be working in Gani Patail's favour and he can't figure out why. He knows that I have moles in Bukit Aman and the A-G Chambers -- people who are feeding me information so that I am always one step ahead of the government. But after two years of trying, he still can't figure out who they are. And this is really making him mad as hell. Now I have moles in the Customs Department as well -- the result of what the MACC did to Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed. Who do you think leaked the documents regarding Rosmah Mansor's USD24 million diamond ring? This was the Customs officers' revenge for what they did to Ahmad Sarbaini. Incidentally, next week, the Coroner is going to deliver the verdict on how Ahmad Sarbaini died. And they are at a dilemma as to what to rule. In Kugan's case, it was death due to water in the lungs. Okay, he died because of water in the lungs. That is like saying he died because he stopped breathing. Everyone knows you stop breathing when you die. The question is: why did you stop breathing? What they did not explain is: how did the water get into Kugan's lungs in the first place? Well, have you ever heard of water boarding? The Japanese used this in WWII. They pump water into your stomach and once your belly is bloated they jump up and down on your belly. The Americans too use this method on suspected Al Qaeda terrorists. It is a very effective way to make you confess to crimes you did not commit. And that is what they did to Kugan -- which was why he died due to water in the lungs. Then Teoh Beng Hock died at the hands of the MACC and they ruled that he committed suicide. And before the Beng Hock storm could blow over, another man died, also at the hands of the MACC. This time it was Ahmad Sarbaini. Now, how did Ahmad Sarbaini die? According to the official story, he died while trying to escape through a third floor pantry window. But Ahmad Sarbaini went to the MACC office on his own accord, so the official story goes. He was not under arrest or was being interrogated, so the official story goes. So why does he need to escape then? He can just walk out of there if he wants to. That is what does not make sense and which is troubling Gani Patail. Shafee Abdullah, the lawyer acting on behalf of the MACC, says that Malaysia Today's story that Ahmad Sarbaini was forced to stand on the window ledge and that was how he fell to his death is a lie. He insists that Ahmad Sarbaini died while trying to escape through the third-floor pantry window. Okay lah! The official story and ruling by the Coroner is that Kugan died due to water in his lungs, Beng Hock committed suicide, and Ahmad Sabraini died while trying to escape. That is the official story. But the Court of Public Opinion rejects all three findings. The Court of Public Opinion insists that all three were murdered. And this is what they will remember when they go to the polls come the next election. The government knows that this will have a serious impact on the government. And Gani Patail's job is to do damage control. However, he has failed to do that. And that was why Shafee Abdullah was brought in -- to sort out the mess that Gani Patail can't seem to handle. In fact, Gani Patail has many other problems as well. He went for the ex-CCID Director, Ramli Yusuff. Ramli Yusuff was charged for all sorts of things. Then the court acquitted him without his defense being called, like what happened to my son. In fact, the Sabah court even said that the ex-IGP, Musa Hassan, lied. That was a double whammy for the Gani-Musa team. Then, coincidentally, or maybe through divine intervention, Ramli Yusuff was appointed the Deputy Chairman of Ho Hup. And, lo and behold, Ho Hup's auditors discovered that the previous Chairman had bribed Gani Patail. Now that is what I not only call divine intervention but poetic justice. Talk about bad karma. So Ramli Yusuff now has Gani Patail's balls in his hands. And he is squeezing them so hard that Gani Patail can't breathe properly. Gani Patail is still trying to get Ramli Yusuff though. He is also trying to get Ramli Yusuff's lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, as well. However, just like what happened to Ramli Yusuff, Rosli Dahlan was also acquitted of the charges they brought against him. Not satisfied with that, Gani Patail asked his boys to appeal the court's decision. But his boys realised that, just like in the case of Ramli Yusuff, they had no case against Rosli Dahlan. So they did nothing. Unknown to Gani Patail, the time allowed to file an appeal had expired. When he found out that the deadline had come and gone, and the appeal against Rosli Dahlan's acquittal had not been filed yet, he flipped. Gani Patail has now written to the court to apply for an extension of time to file the appeal against Rosli Dahlan's acquittal. By right, the date to file the appeal has expired. But Gani Patail is trying to bypass the rules so that he can still file the appeal even though the date has expired. Sigh…poor Gani Patail. Nothing seems to be going his way. He is supposed to be God where even Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is supposed to be scared of him. But everything he tries seem to have failed. Could there be an even greater God than Gani Patail who is intervening and thwarting all the AG's plans and plots? Anyway, in the meantime, they will have to find my son to serve the papers on him so that they can, again, drag him to court and 'punish him for the sins of the father'. Good luck. That is my son's problem and for him to handle. But if he is the son of the father that I think he is, then Gani Patail is going to have his hands full in trying to get him -- just like he can't seem to get me, Ramli Yusuff or Rosli Dahlan. This is what life is all about -- making your enemies run around in circles and defeating them every step of the way while we shout: Yeh! Yeh! Kita menang! |
| Posted: 20 Sep 2011 06:34 PM PDT
If Najib is sincere and honest about reforms, then he should invite the opposition (or at least those from the civil society movements) to sit down with the government to discuss the new laws. And if the opposition too is sincere and honest about reforms, it should stop screaming about who should take the credit for the repeal of the ISA and try to approach the government to ask to be part of the team that is going to formulate the new laws to replace the ISA. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin For decades we have been fighting for the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA) -- at least I have, for about 35 years since the 1970s (that was about the time the government detained Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Syed Husin Ali, and others who opposed the government). By then, the ISA - a weapon used to combat terrorism and the Communist Terrorists (CTs), had been around for about 14 years. No one had any objections to the ISA before that. But once it was no longer used to combat terrorism or the CTs, but instead was used against student leaders, university lecturers, activists, and those viewed as dissidents or anti-establishment, then the ISA began to attract attraction. Finally, after half a century, the government is considering repealing the ISA -- although it was indicated that a new law would be introduced to replace the ISA (and we do not know yet how this law is going to look like and whether it will be better or worse than the ISA). But what are we doing? What is the opposition doing? Everyone is arguing about whether the repeal of the ISA is proof that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is walking the talk and is serious about his reform agenda or whether this is proof that the government has admitted defeat and is repealing the ISA because of the pressure from the opposition. The government is taking credit for the repeal of the ISA. The opposition is also taking credit for the repeal of the ISA. It's all about who should be credited for the ISA finally being abolished. Is anyone sitting down to sort out what the new law is going to look like? Yes, the ISA is going to be repealed. But there is going to be a new law to replace it. Should we not be more concerned about this instead of whether Najib or the opposition should take the credit for the ISA being repealed? I have said this before and I am going to say it again. Both the government and the opposition must become more matured and open. Yes, BOTH the government and the opposition. If Najib is sincere and honest about reforms, then he should invite the opposition (or at least those from the civil society movements) to sit down with the government to discuss the new laws. And if the opposition too is sincere and honest about reforms, it should stop screaming about who should take the credit for the repeal of the ISA and try to approach the government to ask to be part of the team that is going to formulate the new laws to replace the ISA. On another issue, I have received 'hate-mail' from people who allege that Malaysia Today has been 'compromised'. Umno has bought off Malaysia Today, they say. These people argue that in the past Malaysia Today focused on revealing corruption and the wrongdoings of those who walk in the corridors of power. Now we no longer do that (actually we still do). I suppose these types of people just love to read about scandals. And that is all they are concerned about -- to be entertained with stories of scandals. But Malaysia Today is not in the entertainment business. We are not here to entertain you. We are in the business of seeing change in Malaysia. Honestly, if Malaysia Today publishes more stories about corruption and scandals, is that going to make you any more a hard-core opposition supporter than you already are? Those who come to Malaysia Today are already BN-haters. You can see this from the comments. The BN-lovers do not come to Malaysia Today. So whom would I be trying to convert? The BN-haters? The BN-haters would still hate BN never mind whatever I say. No amount of reports about corruption and scandals would make the BN-haters any more haters of BN than they already are. We need to reach those who DO NOT come to Malaysia Today. And since they already DO NOT come to Malaysia Today, then we have to find a way to go to them instead. The mountain must go to Muhammad, as the saying goes. And we are doing just that, trust me. But we are not doing that through Malaysia Today because they DO NOT read Malaysia Today. We are currently talking to some people to come out with a Bahasa Malaysia version of Malaysia Today. Everything will be in Bahasa Malaysia and it will be a totally different site. There are many Malay-educated readers, even those from towns in the Malay heartland, who read Blogs. But they do not come to 'English' Blogs like Malaysia Today. They only read 'Malay' Blogs. So we need to create a 'Malay' version of Malaysia Today. And this is in the cards. Then there are many Malay-educated Malaysians in the rural areas who do not access the Internet at all. They do not even own a computer. So we need to reach them through other means. And that plan has already been launched. I will not tell you what it is just yet in case the government shoots us down before we can take off. But rest assured that hundreds of thousands of ringgit is being poured into this new project to reach the rural, non-internet savvy population. We are trying to raise the money for this project even as you read this. Now, back to Malaysia Today. Malaysia Today is now seven years old. We started life on 13th August 2004 soon after the March 2004 election 'disaster'. The first few years were spent in exposing the wrongdoings of the government and in trying to convince you that we need change. Those who come to Malaysia Today are already convinced we need change. I cannot convince you any more than you are already convinced. Exposing the wrongdoings of the government is not going to convince you any further. We need to now take this to 'the next level'. What we are now attempting to do is NOT to convince you that we need change or ABU (Anything But Umno/Asal Bukan Umno). That you already know. We want to talk to you about what type of change we should be looking at. It is not enough we scream and shout that we need change. We must also be clear in our minds about what type of change we should be seeking. And my piece on the Bill of Rights is one of many examples of how we are trying to do this. We must not be naïve and think that as long as we kick our Barisan Nasional then all our problems will be over. They thought that as well when they kicked out Charles I of England, King Louis XVI of France, President Batista of Cuba, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Shah Rezā Pahlavi of Iran, etc. What they got in the end was an exchange of one tyrant for another. No, I am not saying that Pakatan Rakyat will be a tyrant or that it will prove worse than Barisan Nasional. I am saying that Barisan Nasional will never be kicked out and Pakatan Rakyat will never take over unless we, the people, do that. So let's be clear about one thing. Pakatan Rakyat will never be able to kick out Barisan Nasional. It will be we, the people, who can do that. So we, the people, have a say in what type of government we want as a replacement to the current government that we have. This is what I mean by 'the next level'. The next level is to teach you what you should be looking at. The next level is to teach you what you should expect. The next level is to teach you what you should demand. Enough with all this 'Barisan Nasional is corrupt and should be ousted' talk. We all know that. We do not need further convincing. What we should focus on now is to make sure that what we get in exchange is really something better and not just the same old wine in a new bottle. And let's start with the new law that is going to replace the ISA. Why have we not heard anything from the opposition other than arguments about whether Najib or the opposition should take the credit for the repeal of this draconian law? Who cares who should take the credit? We want to know what it is going to be replaced with. That is 'the next level'. |
| Posted: 19 Sep 2011 11:55 PM PDT
To coincide with our latest move to liberalise the policy on comments and allow unregistered readers to comment, I thought I would share with you some of our statistics (and hope that this will frighten Umno a bit). Maybe you can look at the following Google Analytical statistics on our Unique Visitors. Unique Visitors means one-time visitors and not total visits, which most certainly would be much higher since many readers come into Malaysia Today many times a day. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
This was the total number of Unique Visitors for the half-year period of 1st January to 30th June 2008. The 12th General Election was held in March of that same year. This is the figure for that same period this year – 1st January to 30th June 2011. You can see that the number of Unique Visitors has remained the same. This was the figure for that same period last year -- 1st January to 30th June 2010. Again, there was not that much change. For the period of 1st January this year till yesterday (19th September 2011), this is the total number of Unique Visitors. And this was the total number of Unique Visitors for that same period last year – 1st January 2010 till 19th September 2010. We have not suffered any drop in readership in spite of tightening the control on comments (as what we promised the MCMC when they agreed to unblock or unban Malaysia Today in September 2008). The readers stayed loyal to Malaysia Today even though they could only read without commenting. Maybe it is time we repaid this loyalty by loosening control on comments. I just hope you will not abuse this privilege (yes, privilege, not right) by posting comments that may get Malaysia Today blocked or banned again. Anyway, it is your call. |
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