Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
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- Invitation to the MCLM forums on Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA)
- Do you have problems with a slow browser?
- Malacca was a roadside toilet-stop
- The Role of the Left in the Struggle for Independence
| Invitation to the MCLM forums on Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA) Posted: 13 Sep 2011 09:52 PM PDT
The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement will be officially launching a series of forums nationwide on the 'Rakyat Reform Agenda' beginning from Monday 19th September 2011 in Kuala Lumpur at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) from 7pm - 11pm. It is MCLM's fervent hope that in order for Malaysia to be the great inclusive nation envisioned by our founding fathers, we must return to basic principles. How will we achieve this? The answer - Through the Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA), which is a four-point plan to: 1. Honour the agreements made in 1963 between the Federation of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak prior to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia 2. Restore the national institutions to the Rakyat – the judiciary, Election Commission, police force, Attorney-General, etc. 3. Restore the liberties guaranteed to the Rakyat under the Federal Constitution by repealing the ISA, OSA, PPPA, UUCA and Sedition Act 4. Adopt the Social Inclusion Agenda, designed to raise the living standards of all marginalised persons in Malaysia. Apart from Kuala Lumpur, the MCLM RARA forums will also be held in Kota Kinabalu (27th Sep), Sandakan (29th Sep), Kuching (1st Oct), Penang (24th Oct), Ipoh (25th Oct) culminating in Johor Baru (27th Oct). Details on the time and exact venues at these locations will be provided in due course. We would appreciate if you can send your journalist to cover the KL event. MCLM Secretariat
For further information, please contact the MCLM Secretariat at Tel: 03-79827101/79712244 or Fax: 03-79829097 or Email: admin@mclm.org.uk
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| Malacca was a roadside toilet-stop Posted: 13 Sep 2011 01:40 PM PDT By John Doe In comparison, look at the Muar River, the Lembah Bujang River, and the Singapore River. According to Sejarah Melayu, the Singapore Port was already famous during Raja Secander Shah's grandfather's time. It was wide, and the waters are deep. Now contrast this to the Malacca River. It is extremely narrow, and does not permit ships to go up or down. Some have argued that the ships could have parked outside. GREAT !! Why call yourself a car-park, when you have to park outside? Why buy submarines which cannot go underwater? Why not open a "Self-service Massage Center" and claim fame? Korek Korek Korek !!! *Hint: Use Google Maps to compare the river sizes, and tell me that the Malacca River does not look like a Longkang ! And while on the topic, do also look at how all the other Empires built their Kingdoms far away from the sea. See how far inland Angkor, Ayudthaya, Lopburi, Sukkhothai, Pegu, Bagan, Borrobudor and so on were. These real Kingdoms had real brains. By building the Capital so far inland, they reduced the risk of a Naval attack. Instead, Malacca had the IQ of a door-nail. "Let's build it right next to the sea, so that 30 pitiful ships can beat our 100,000 fighting men". Malacca was massively losing money for the Dutch. In fact, it contributed to making the VOC go bankrupt ! Go read up on how the Malacca River had to be chained up every night, so that the Bugis Pirates would not loot the place. And how the sailors had to sleep on their ships for fear of the same reason. This sounds so much like how the Malaysian Police had to move their Station away from Chow Kit area, because it was too dangerous for the Police. GREAT !! Also read up on how the Sultan of Malacca went bankrupt, and how Nina Chatu had to loan him money all the time. And when the Sultan refused to repay him, Nina Chatu went to the Portuguese for help. Fortunately, the greedy Sultan decided to attack the Portuguese ship for not paying "toll" (aka extortion money) on the way to Hoi An (in Vietnam). The Portuguese went after the goods on their own, and decided to bypass the "Ketuanan Malacca". To cut a long story short, the Portuguese sent 30 ships to COLONIZE Malacca. They then wrote wonderful things about Malacca as a Strategic Defense Center, so that they could get more Military funding. Don't forget that the Napoleonic Wars were just around the corner. It helps if Malaysians had maps which extend a little more than Singapore and Hadyai. It also helps if Malaysians started learning a little more about other countries. Try this simple Trivia-Challenge: Name 10 countries which have NEVER played in any World Cup before (without looking their names up anywhere) Back to the stupid Dutch, who thought what they Portuguese wrote about Malacca was true, and decided to conquer Malacca themselves. The Dutch realized very quickly, that Malacca was not worth it, and set up heir HQ in Jakarta instead. Google all you want, and you will notice how the Dutch were simply not interested in Malacca. Anyway, when the VOC went bankrupt, they begged the British to take over Malacca. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. If UMNO is too dumb to read, then can someone please print a copy of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty for them. Knowing UMNO, they would probably claim that the Dutch never colonized Malacca either.... They Dutch traded Malacca for Bencoolen. (remember Bencoolen Street anyone?) Just remember that the Brits never fired a shot to take over Malacca. They were handed it, on a platter. The Brits wanted Penang and Singapore actually, but since this was the land in-between their prized possessions, they decided "Oh, what the heck". So, UMNO is now saying that the handing over the Colony of Malacca to the British did not happen? In addition, You can also read up on how all the "Perang Saudara's" were going on, and because of that, it was simply easy for the Colonizers to waltz in and take over any land they wished. And it is true. Malaysia has NEVER been Colonized. Since 1957, no one colonized Malaysia. (Well,..... unless you consider that UMNO did colonize it) In closing, do read up on the bankruptcy of the VOC here: http://gutenberg.net.au/VOC.html or another one here: http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/9.htm If Malacca was so bloody important, why was it not even mentioned ONCE? Anyone still remember how Parameswara is NOT mentioned in Sejarah Melayu? N.B. To date, no one has submitted any evidence, nor refutted what John Doe has written about Malacca |
| The Role of the Left in the Struggle for Independence Posted: 13 Sep 2011 01:31 PM PDT By Dr. Toh Kin Woon The LLG Cultural Development Centre urges the Federal Government to take cognizance of an important message to have come out of the recent debate on Mohamad Indera's role as a patriotic fighter for our country's freedom, which is that the left and progressive forces have contributed immensely to the struggle for Malaysia's independence. In this regard, we also urge the Federal Government to review the contents of our schools' history texts, with a view to accurately and objectively reflect the sacrifices and contributions of all who were genuinely involved in the anti-colonial struggles. These of course include those of UMNO and its partners in the Alliance. In addition, however, our history texts should also describe and analyze in detail the roles and struggles of Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army, the All Malaya Council of Joint Action-Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (AMCJA-Putera), the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), the Labour Party and Parti Rakyat for freedom and independence from both Japanese and British imperial rule. These important episodes have, however, been blatantly marginalized, even left out of our country's historical narratives, as have been the struggles of the anti-Japanese forces during the period of the Japanese occupation; the Peoples' Constitution, with its stress on democracy and equality, as drafted by the AMCJA-PUTERA Alliance; the 1947 hartal; the struggles of the labour movement in both Malaya and Singapore, before and after independence; the struggle of vernacular education movements; the role of the MCP in helping to shorten the transition to independence; the struggle of the Labour Party and Parti Rakyat for a socialist democratic Malaysia; the use of the Internal Security Act by the Alliance Government to cripple the left movement; the May 13 inter-ethnic conflict which was the result of the political machinations of certain political leaders and the students movement of the seventies and their struggles for a more socially just Malaysia. As a result, official history texts, as they are presently structured, are unable to narrate accurately the trials and tribulations of Malaysian peoples' heroic and courageous struggles, especially those of the progressive, patriotic and nationalist forces for independence, democracy, human rights, equality and social justice. Indeed, these have been by design either obliterated, or demonized. Given this deliberate distortion and creation of voids, the need to review our history texts with a view to correcting these distortions and filling the voids becomes all the more imperative and urgent. Finally, the LLG Cultural Development Centre would like to appeal to the Federal Government and certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to respect the right to free speech of Mat Sabu, the Deputy President of Pas. Everyone and anyone should have the right to interpret history based on his or her values and the facts he or she has at hand. Up till now, many NGOs have made police reports. This is construed as intimidation. To us, theses actions are tantamount to restricting Mat Sabu's right to free speech and freedom of expression. We are, however, relieved to hear the rational decision made by Hishamuddin Hussein that the Federal Government will not resort to the use of the ISA to detain without trial Mat Sabu. We also hope that both the police and the Attorney General will likewise respect the right of Mat Sabu to his interpretation of history and that they will not take any action against the latter.
DR TOH KIN WOON is Chairman of LLG Cultural Development Centre |
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