Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- A CAT lesson from the Jais-DUMC fiasco
- What is ethics?
- WIKILEAKS: MALAYSIAN RACIAL ECONOMIC PREFERENCES CRITIQUED AT CONFERENCE IN KL
- Raja Nazrin asks Islamic religious council to review programmes
- Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad on 'Inertia or Ignorance: The Challenge of Dismantling Malaysia’s ...
- Adopt Zakat, Not Hudud
- 2012 budget: Not transformative but a desperate vote buying bid with tax payers’ money
- Umno not ready for Nov/Dec polls
- Home Ministry wants standard manual on firearms use
- Unravelling the culture of patronage
- Malaysia sultan says Muslims who attended church dinner will get counseling to ‘restore faith’
- Mindef plans to market defence products globally
- Skandal telekom: India fail kes ke atas empat termasuk Ananda Krishnan, Ralph Marshall
- Indian police ‘book’ tycoon Ananda Krishnan, Ralph Marshall in telco graft scandal
- UK's Cameron says to tighten up immigration rules
- Hypocrisy hampers deficit reduction agenda
- PAS to start petition calling for royal panel to probe A-G
- Mat Zain: Panel probe on A-G ‘unconstitutional’
- What are you looking for?
- Will Najib's election goodies be enough?
- Detainee Dies In Kota Baharu Court Lock-Up
- 'Money will not fall from sky'
- Lynas and the Malaysian Green movement — Kua Kia Soong
- ‘Where’s the Auditor-General’s report?’
- Zahid says no cash for BAE warship deal
- Selangor Sultan backs Jais church raid, no one to be charged
| A CAT lesson from the Jais-DUMC fiasco Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:01 AM PDT
However, I firmly believe that the unilateral Jais enforcement action without an official search warrant on the DUMC was certainly not appropriate, but surely appalling and apprehensive, especially when the victims concerned are generally peace-loving members of a church. Thomas Lee Seng Hock Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor has issued an edict exonerating and absolving the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) from any wrong-doing in the fiasco involving its enforcement personnel in their controversial raid on a private party held on the premises of the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya.
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| Posted: 10 Oct 2011 01:00 AM PDT
Okay, in the posting yesterday (What are you looking for?), many comments have been posted as to what Malaysians would like to see in their government and what they would like to see implemented in Malaysia. But would not all this be possible and realised if we had a government (and politicians) that put ethics above politics, economic growth, development, etc? Would not what we want be automatically achieved through an ethical government? What, in your opinion, is ethics (from your understanding of the concept)? NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW As a guide, maybe you would want to address the issue of RELATIVISM -- where what is ethical within one society may not be in another. Also consider what is 'morally acceptable' against the backdrop of Malaysian society and norms. Also note that 'morals' is subjective and depends on your upbringing and the community you live in plus your religious persuasion. Therefore, when you talk about ethics, you may want to qualify it as ethical relativism and not ethical absolutes. This discussion may help you understand how far you are prepared to go and whether you have set limitations and boundaries into achieving what you aspire to see and also how much compromises you are prepared to make on ethics as long as it achieves the end. |
| WIKILEAKS: MALAYSIAN RACIAL ECONOMIC PREFERENCES CRITIQUED AT CONFERENCE IN KL Posted: 10 Oct 2011 01:00 AM PDT
In response to Lim's presentation, a number of members of the audience spoke out angrily, including a member of the Government's Economic Planning Unit (EPU) who resorted to a personal attack on Lim rather than on the points he raised. Another critic in the audience, Ms. Aminah binti Pit Abdul Rahman who had been a government employee for 23 years, became visibly agitated and reminded the audience that ethnic Malays comprised 60 percent of the population; therefore, she argued (or rather shouted) that the government targets should be raised from 30 percent to 60 or 70 percent. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
1. (SBU) Summary: Malaysia's race-based economic preferences were roundly criticized at the annual National Economic Outlook Conference hosted by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER). In the keynote address, the Crown Prince of the State of Perak called for national unity and pragmatic economic policies designed to improve the country's competitiveness, essentially a polite rejection of race-based policies. Stronger attacks on Malaysia's racial preferences were made by a former World Bank economist and an Australian academic who argued that incentives in Malaysia's economy were becoming increasingly distorted, leading to a loss of competitiveness. While no one expects the government of Malaysia to undertake policy change in this sensitive area in the near term, it is notable that a government-funded think tank provided the forum for this much needed debate. End Summary. CROWN PRINCE OF STATE OF PERAK CALLS FOR CHANGE 2. (U) In his keynote address the Crown Prince of the State of Perak called for "pragmatism and fairness," a subtle attack on the government's current policies in terms of both its economic agenda and its divisive racial preferences. On the economic front, he described Malaysia as "squeezed between the low-cost economies of China and Vietnam and the high-technology economies of Japan and South Korea," and called for "the most competitive, innovative and flexible responses." 3. (U) He cited the oft-repeated mantra that Malaysia needs to move "up the technological ladder"; however, a far greater part of his address focused on social and human capital, which he said were essential to development. He said Malaysia must foster networks among its different ethnic, religious, and territorial groups. He called for "increasing opportunities for bonding and bridging in residential neighborhoods, classrooms and the workplace, all with the understanding that more cultural mix is better." 4. (U) Alluding to the ongoing brain drain, the Crown Prince asked, "Can entrepreneurs, scientists, and technologists be nurtured without an enabling political, social, economic and cultural environment? Can they flourish in the presence of perverse incentives and disincentives? ...There are countries today whose citizens are highly educated and whose scientists and engineers are at the leading edge in their fields but who want nothing more than to leave their countries. Countries must change in line with the aspirations of their citizens or they risk losing their best and brightest." MEASURING WEALTH BY RACE 5. (SBU) Lim Teck Ghee, a leading economic analyst and former World Bank staffer, calmly explained his earlier study on distribution of wealth among Malaysia's racial groups (reftels) which concluded that the wealth of ethnic Malays had already exceeded the government's targets. His conclusion effectively challenged the stated basis of the government's racial preference policies. Lim also briefly reviewed several other studies that had reached similar conclusions. Two studies from the late 1980s suggested that that the lower classes bore the highest social costs of the racial preference policies, while a small group among the upper classes enjoyed the benefits. Two other studies, one from 1989 and another from 2002, concluded that the government's wealth targets for ethnic Malays had been reached or exceeded, as did Lim's own 2006 study. 6. (U) Lim reviewed some of the findings and recommendations of his earlier study on the impact of Malaysia's racial policies on the economy and society. First, he pointed out that the government holds more than a third of publicly traded corporate equity, but that government-controlled companies reflected little entrepreneurial or manufacturing capacity. He recommended that government-owned entities be managed by competent professionals with expertise in the business of the company under their charge. Senior management positions should not be determined on the basis of race. 7. (U) Second, he pointed out that the current practice of distributing 30 percent of initial public offerings (IPOs) to individual ethnic Malays generally benefited only an elite few who often divested the shares immediately for huge profits. Lim recommended that Malay IPO allocations not go to individuals unless a mechanism could be introduced to ensure that the beneficiaries played a prominent role in the management of these companies. One option would be to make such allocations to existing trust agencies for Malays and to community-based trust agencies for Malaysian Indians and residents of Malaysian Borneo. [Note: among these two groups are some of Malaysia's poorest people. End note.] 8. (U) Third, Lim said GOM regulations and policies were stymieing entrepreneurial development and hindering domestic and foreign investment. Ethnic preferences undermined entrepreneurial endeavors and the creation of a competitive economic environment. The GOM could better achieve its goals through capacity building efforts such as education and skills training rather than through forced equity restructuring. ECONOMIC FREEDOM: FROM 9TH TO 60TH PLACE 9. (U) More Malaysian feathers were ruffled when Wolfgang Kasper, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of New South Wales, Australia, displayed graphs demonstrating a direct correlation between economic freedom and prosperity and cited the Cato Institute's "Economic Freedom of the World" 2007 Annual Report which ranked Malaysia as 9th most free country in 1990 but as 60th in 2005. Kasper described Malaysia as having reached that halfway point in its development and outlined the elements of the rest of the journey: secure property rights, free markets, and a small, rule-bound, non-corrupt government. He summed up his analysis of Malaysia as follows: "The politicization of economic life leads to stagnation and social convulsion, a prospect that only the unrealistic and naive can face with self-satisfied complacency. It seems to me that it would be much more naive and unrealistic to tolerate the cancer of crony capitalism and heavy reliance on pervasive, top-down bureaucratic controls and big government.... It is the big political challenge of the present generation of decision makers to abandon short-sighted, selfish rent-seeking in order to ensure that the vision of the developed-country shore ahead can be attained." RESPONSES FROM THE AUDIENCE 10. (U) In response to Lim's presentation, a number of members of the audience spoke out angrily, including a member of the Government's Economic Planning Unit (EPU) who resorted to a personal attack on Lim rather than on the points he raised. Another critic in the audience, Ms. Aminah binti Pit Abdul Rahman who had been a government employee for 23 years, became visibly agitated and reminded the audience that ethnic Malays comprised 60 percent of the population; therefore, she argued (or rather shouted) that the government targets should be raised from 30 percent to 60 or 70 percent. Some respondents in the audience were upset about Kasper's comments, with one indignantly noting that Malaysia should be praised for progress achieved. 11. (SBU) Comment: In the run-up to national elections, due by April 2009 but expected before April 2008, there has been increased attention paid to the GOM's economic and social policies in general and its 37-year old race-based economic preference policies in particular. There is widespread concern among non-Malays that these policies are marginalizing them and therefore breaking down Malaysia's social cohesion. Many of the country's best and brightest non-Malay youth are migrating, perceiving little long-term hope of being treated as anything but second-class citizens in Malaysia. Many ethnic Malays, on the other hand, maintain a more defensive posture, apparently convinced of the rhetoric that they are more deserving of special protections because of their past disadvantage. Their outbursts at the conference in response to criticism of the status quo [except, of course, that of the Crown Prince of Perak] were more emotional than pragmatic. Despite a handful of such outbursts, the overwhelming majority of the audience remained silent. At lunch a Malay who had been government employee for many years expressed gratitude for Kasper's presentation on economic freedom, telling econoff, "We need foreigners to say these things." While little change can be expected in the near term, the biggest news is that these kinds of issues can be discussed at all in a conference hosted by a government-funded think tank. The conference would appear to be another example where Prime Minister Badawi's government is ready to allow more open debate as a first step toward possible revisions in policy at a future date when it becomes politically feasible to do so. KEITH (December 2007)
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| Raja Nazrin asks Islamic religious council to review programmes Posted: 09 Oct 2011 07:56 PM PDT (Bernama) - IPOH: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, wants the State Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIP) and Islamic Religious Department (JAIP) to review their programmes towards developing the Muslim community's economy in a sustainable manner. He said greater attention should be given to economic activities involving the role of the Perak Islamic Economic Development Corporatision, zakat and Baitulmal, and managing of funds to ensure viability and high impact of every programme implemented. Speaking at the 177th MAIP Conference here on Monday, Raja Nazrin said he not only wanted to see figures on vouchers and receipts audited, but also evaluation of programmes in terms of quality and impact towards achieving the objectives. He said for a meaningful impact, MAIP and JAIP needed to place the Key Performance Indicators at a more dynamic level. "The existing management culture needs to be revamped and the work culture of 'business as usual' be changed in every activity organised. "Each year, I attend functions organised by MAIP and JAIP such as the Maulidur Rasul and Maal Hijrah celebrations. A lot of time and money were spent on organising these events, but each year the programmes were the same without the injection of innovative ideas to make them more dynamic. "Such programmes have become ritual, merely to fill the calendar of events, and devoid of the spirit to touch the hearts of the attendees, thus not meeting the objectives." In fact, he said, those who came were just obliging the invitations and returned home spiritually unfulfilled. Raja Nazrin said MAIP and JAIP needed to take a new approach by giving a new image and content to the programmes to be organised in 2012. He said the content and venues for the programmes should be planned early and carefully and after approval by the committee, be presented to him for his views and consent, especially on the financial implications. The MAIP conference on Monday also recorded its condolences to the Raja Kecil Besar of Perak, Raja Iskandar Dzulkarnain Sultan Idris Shah, on the demise of his mother, Raja Perempuan Muzwin, on Oct 6. Raja Nazrin also presented the letter of appointment to State Financial Officer Datuk Ghazali Jalal as a member of MAIP, replacing Datuk Jamaluddin Al-Amini who has gone on compulsory retirement. - Bernama |
| Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad on 'Inertia or Ignorance: The Challenge of Dismantling Malaysia’s ... Posted: 09 Oct 2011 07:46 PM PDT Free public lecture with Nik Nazmi Nik AhmadTuesday 11th Oct 2011 6:30pm-7:30pm Register online to attend | Download the flyerCo-presented with Asialink and the Asia Society AustralAsia CentreMalaysia's Federal Constitution was formulated through a historical consensus among the Federation's main ethnic communities and the British administrators. While the Constitution provides for asymmetrical freedoms and responsibilities, equality as a fundamental liberty is enshrined. Yet as authoritarian racial politics becomes more enshrined and Malaysia's institutions have sacrificed their liberty, integrity and transparency, we see festering tensions in Malaysia's social fabric. But Malaysia has an emerging new politics and a society that is demanding change through the fledgling new media. What is holding Malaysia back from dismantling its race-based politics – inertia or ignorance? (Abstract provided by Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.)
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| Posted: 09 Oct 2011 07:43 PM PDT By M. Bakri Musa Malay politicians fall all over themselves in advocating hudud, the Islamic penal laws. That is less an expression of their commitment to Islam, more blatant pandering to Muslim voters. If these leaders are truly committed to advancing the cause of Islam, there is a more productive strategy: make zakat mandatory. Being one of the pillars of our faith, zakat is more defining of Islam. It is even ahead of performing the Hajj. Adopting zakat would bring the country closer to an Islamic state symbolically and operationally, certainly much more so than implementing hudud. |
| 2012 budget: Not transformative but a desperate vote buying bid with tax payers’ money Posted: 09 Oct 2011 07:39 PM PDT By Lee Wee Tak A transformative buget? It is bandied as a budget for next phase of development and transformative in nature but I can't see how transformative this budget can be when the bulk of allocation is not meant for development but just keeping the existing machinery moving. A damning indicator is that salaries and allowances for our bloated civil servants are budgeted at RM52billion, much greater than development expenditure and more thandouble the total amount of personnel income tax collected at RM21billion. Instead I see plenty of handouts for vote buying but no clear indication of how this budget is going to be financed. Revenue for 2012 is budgeted to increase up to RM186.9 billion, up tremendously from RM159.6 billion in 2010, with steep increases from petroleum income and company taxes. The BN administration has taken heart from the increases reflected in its latest forecast for 2011 but there is no consideration about being prudent with the windfall and starting to trim excesses. Let's hope BN's revenue forecast for 2012 is not erring on the optimistic side in view of the difficult economic climate predicted for 2012. But you can't do any good to your revenue collection by granting Lynas, who is setting up a grim reaper kind of factory and enjoying super normal profit, a 12 year tax holiday (which is 2 years beyond the stipulated period in our Income Tax Act, 1967) There is more than 1 budget, you know Total expenditure in Pakatan Rakyat's alternate budget for 2012 is RM220.5 billion which is lower than BN's latest forecast for 2011 RM230.8 billion and yet BN MPs are already calling it plucking figures out of thin air/irresponsbible etc. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pakatan-budget-cant-rein-in-spending-says-bn/ How can a bigger spender with proven record of weak financial control criticise a new administration which have proven financial management record and praised by the Auditor General? |
| Umno not ready for Nov/Dec polls Posted: 09 Oct 2011 07:12 PM PDT
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not heeding his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad's unsolicited advice. (Free Malaysia Today) - A former prime minister who was also a former finance minister and never known for fiscal frugality has warned the west not to spend in denial. Was Dr Mahathir Mohamad also targeting our current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak? In a world set upon by slower economic growth, where do we sell our exports? Can we maintain our price of oil and gas to ensure we have enough funds to finance the RM232.8 billion Budget 2012? For now these factors seem not to worry Najib who is also the current finance minister. Najib isn't heeding the unsolicited talking-to and advice of Mahathir because he has that one tool which he thinks can earn the loyalty and allegiance of people who will ensure Barisan Nasional (BN) stays in power – the Budget. Before the 2008 general election, former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi presented the budget in much the same way as Najib did – giving out goodies to everyone he could capture in the dragnet. But it didn't stop the BN losing a large number of seats and five states. But Najib knows best. So, he will and can call elections anytime. March 2012 polls? Best, call it before the end of the year. But then, the Umno people are just going through the drill attending courses here and there. The Umno assembly is slotted sometime at the end of the year. And Najib is leaving for haj pilgrimage for about two weeks. Perhaps there he will be seeking divine signs on the dates to hold elections. God is on BN's side just as God is a Republican in the US. It's impossible not to win. I will say, the elections will be around March 2012. People can easily be overwhelmed by the feel-good nature of an election budget. But wait till it sinks in, then the questions will come. Has Najib addressed the issue of rising cost of living in his Budget 2012?
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| Home Ministry wants standard manual on firearms use Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:53 PM PDT By Marhalim Abas, The Sun The Home Ministry is mulling the introduction of a standard manual on the use of firearms for its agencies that issue weapons for its personnel. The proposed manual will cover all aspects of firearms handling from training and standard operating procedures to the rules of engagement. With the manual, personnel issued with firearms will have to strictly follow the rules and regulations or find themselves on the wrong side of the law. TheSun learnt that the ministry is considering the move even as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is set to introduce its own firearm manual for its officers. The MACC manual, among others, emphasises that firearms issued to personnel is strictly for self-defence purposes only. The MACC will likely be the first law enforcement agency in the country to come up with such a manual as even the police have yet to have a comprehensive written SOP as it mostly relies on the Inspector-General of Police's Standing Order (IGSO). TheSun was informed that the police is however expected to be exempted from adopting the proposed SOP as its rules of engagement and the use of lethal force are different from the other agencies in the ministry. Apart from the police, other agencies within the Home Ministry which issues firearms to its personnel are tje Immigration, Rela and Prisons departments. Sources informed theSun that the MACC manual was formulated last year when the commission started issuing Glock G26 semi-automatic pistols for its officers. The G26 pistol, popularly known as the 'Baby Glock' because of its small dimensions, can take a 10-round magazine and is easily concealed under the clothing. It was however unclear why the MACC has delayed adopting the manual but it was believed that some of the provisions had legal implications. It was however understood that the manual was formulated after the MACC found that its officers had not been trained properly to use the pistols for self-defence scenarios as their initial training is conducted by the police and the military. "Although the police and military trainers were competent, their skill sets are not relevant for the MACC officers as policemen and soldiers uses firearms offensively and their rules of engagement are different for those using weapons for self-defence only," a source said. The source said this is because while policemen and soldiers are trained for " kill or be killed situations," MACC personnel are not expected "to shoot their way in to catch a suspect". Hence, he said more important than good marksmanship and safe gun handling, their training must underscore the self-defence concept. It is learnt that under the new SOP, MACC officers must go through a qualification process to show he or she, is able to handle a gun competently and safely before the pistol is issued. Those issued with firearms need to re-qualify annually to continue using their weapons. Those who failed the re-qualification will have to return firearms, until he or she regains qualification. Annual re-qualification for firearms are routine for international law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), UK police and the US Secret Service. TheSun learnt that currently, handgun training for MACC officers take five days during which the officers are briefed on the technical details of the Glock pistol, and are taught to fire it from various positions -- standing, sitting, on the knees and prone. |
| Unravelling the culture of patronage Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:51 PM PDT By Halimah Mohd Said via The Sun FOR the MACC alone to crusade against bribery and corruption is an impossible task. To successfully enforce anti-corruption laws, the cooperation of the police and the Attorney-General's Office is indispensable. With the undivided commitment of the three agencies, there will be some success in hauling the sharks and ikan tenggiri guilty of corruption at the higher levels of authority in the public and private sectors. The takers and the givers of bribes will face the law and hopefully be found guilty. For a start there must be complete screening and house-cleaning within these enforcement agencies, among the officers and staff who man anti-bribery and corruption posts. If they themselves are gullible and fall prey to corruption, the credibility of the agencies they serve is diminished. Their anti-corruption crusade becomes meaningless. However without the support of the Malaysian ikan bilis i.e. the ordinary man in the street, national efforts to wipe out corruption through these agencies will be in vain. When the Malaysian public are, knowingly or unknowingly, cohorts in these acts of corruption, they are guilty of perpetuating the very scourge they abhor. They must admit that they themselves are the bribers who corrupt these officers of the law. What Malaysians fail to see is that they live in a deeply rooted culture of patronage which encourages the currying and carrying of favours along the social hierarchy. When the social hierarchy discriminates between the haves and have-nots, patronage becomes a way of life as it has always been from the days of feudalism. In the old feudal structure, from the royal houses right through to the foreign emissaries who court them for trade and commerce and the villagers over whom the ruler and his chieftains exercise their rule, the custom of gift-bearing was the norm. Whether it came in the form of bunga mas and buah tangan; monetary inducements in the form of coffee money and ang pow; or reward for services rendered in the form of upah, these cultural gestures have been a vital part of our eastern culture. We do it without battering an eyelid because they form the basis of goodwill and harmony in our social relationships. Unfortunately in this modern era of development, these acts have become contrived and positioned to extract the greatest economic gain. Gifts are given for favours granted and profits projected. And as the business relationships grow in complexity, the favours asked for and given are more wide-ranging. The gestures are less direct and the gifts are camouflaged in subtlety and sophistication. Malaysians do not realise that the designer handbags and other fashion accessories given to them, their wives and children; the sponsorship of private events and holidays abroad; the granting of tithes and titles are all part of the modern schema of bribery and corruption. In all of this, one thing must be made clear to distinguish the good, bad and ugly. When people surreptitiously give and gain favours to leverage their own selfish positions to reap huge profits, they are corrupted and are more guilty than the person who offers a policeman a RM50 bribe or the underpaid policeman who takes it. There is no doubt that to gain the trust of the electorate and win votes in the next general election the government must declare a national blitz against bribery and corruption. This is of the utmost urgency as corruption and abuse of power surface again and again as the two banes in the present government's cap. There must be an unequivocal statement from the prime minister, endorsed by his cabinet and members of parliament from both sides of the political divide that they are committed to eradicating corruption at all levels of Malaysian society. For a start there must be the transparent and honest declaration of private assets by the country's political, public and corporate movers and shakers of society, to be updated regularly and open to scrutiny by the relevant authorities. On the ground there must be a concerted effort to educate the people and create awareness among individuals, organisations and the greater community. The MACC, the AG's office and the police aided by citizen movements must launch a nationwide anti-bribery and corruption blitz to inform people about the complexities, types and forms of this despicable disease of society. Public and private corporations must establish principles of good governance, outline rules and regulations, and organise in-house workshops to educate their workforce on the dos and don'ts of ethical conduct. It is a war that will, ironically, meet with public apathy and skepticism as Malaysians struggle with their conscience and admit to their own moral failings, but it is a war well-worth waging. It is the Malaysian people who must rise and rally together in the anti-bribery and corruption crusade. |
| Malaysia sultan says Muslims who attended church dinner will get counseling to ‘restore faith’ Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:42 PM PDT
(Washington Post) — Islamic authorities will provide counseling to a dozen Malaysian Muslims to "restore their belief and faith" after they attended a community dinner at a church hall, a royal sultan said Monday. The case has triggered worries among officials in Muslim-majority Malaysia that some non-Muslims were trying to convert Muslims. Proselytizing of Muslims is punishable by prison terms of various lengths in most Malaysian states. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the constitutional ruler of Malaysia's central Selangor state, said Islamic officials who inspected a dinner at a Methodist church hall in early August found "evidence that there were attempts to subvert the faith and belief of Muslims." The sultan did not elaborate on the evidence or mention Christians in his statement, but said the evidence was "insufficient for further legal actions to be taken." Church officials had repeatedly denied any proselytization occurred at the dinner, which they described as a multiethnic gathering to celebrate the work of a community organization that worked with women, children and HIV patients. Christian leaders had also criticized Islamic state enforcement officials for what they called an unauthorized raid. Malaysia's state sultans command immense moral clout particularly among Malaysia's ethnic Malay Muslims, who regard them as the top authorities on Islamic issues. Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of the country's 28 million people, are not legally permitted to change religion. "We command that (Islamic officials) provide counseling to Muslims who were involved in the said dinner, to restore their belief and faith in the religion of Islam," Sultan Sharafuddin said. Rev. Hermen Shastri, the general secretary of Malaysia's Council of Churches, said the sultan's statement "brings closure to the case." "No one should speculate or aggravate the situation further," he told The Associated Press. The sultan added Monday he was "gravely concerned and extremely offended by the attempts of certain parties to weaken the faith and belief of Muslims." "We hope that after this, any and all activities ... for the purposes of spreading other religions to Muslims in Selangor must be ceased immediately," he said. Malaysia's non-Muslims mainly comprise Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, some of whom have complained in recent years that enforcement officials are often overzealous in trying to uphold Islam and fail to respect the rights of minorities.
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| Mindef plans to market defence products globally Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:39 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — The government said today it will set up a new agency to promote Malaysian defence products internationally. The defence ministry said that a marketing company would be set up jointly with the main players in the industry. "Our products have international recognition but there is no integrated support," Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi told reporters today. He said the move would allow Malaysia to showcase its defence products with more visibility, such as having its own pavilion at international arms shows. The Umno vice president said that details such as contributions to paid-up capital will be announced later. He added that the move will allow "cross-fertilisation" between the main companies and the ministry to exchange defence expertise and business knowhow. The government has handed billion-ringgit procurement deals to local companies recently with the stated objective of developing the local defence industry. DRB-HICOM and Boustead have secured deals worth RM8 billion and RM6 billion to deliver vehicles and naval vessels respectively this year alone. |
| Skandal telekom: India fail kes ke atas empat termasuk Ananda Krishnan, Ralph Marshall Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:33 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Pihak berkuasa India memfailkan kes terhadap tokoh perniagaan Malaysia T Ananda Krishnan dan ketua eksekutif kepercayaannya Ralph Marshall bersama seorang bekas menteri telekomunikasi negara itu dan adiknya berhubung tuduhan konspirasi jenayah membabitkan urusan telekomunikasi Maxis dan Aircel. Agensi berita Press Trust of India berkata tiga tiga syarikat termasuk Maxis telah disenaraikan dalam kes itu. Dua syarikat lain ialah Aspro dan Sun TV dari India. Bekas menteri India itu ialah Dayanidhi Maran dan adiknya bernama Kalanidhi. Press Trust of India berkata Biro Siasatan Pusat (CBI) mengadakan serbuan ke atas premis kedua-dua beradik di Delhi dan Chennai. "CBI telah memfaikan kes ke atas adik-beradik Maran, Ralph Marshall dan T Ananda Krishnan (gambar) dan tiga syarikat di bawah Seksyen 120b Kanun Keseksaan India yang dibaca bersama Seksyen 13(2) dan Seksyen 13 (1)(d) dan juga Seksyen 7 dan 12 Akta Pencegahan Rasuah. "Kes ini didaftarkan pada 9 Oktober. Serbuan diadakan di New Delhi dan Chennai," kata jurucakap CBI Dharini Mishra hari ini. Bekas ketua Aircel C Sivasankaran mendakwa bahawa Dayanidhi Maran ketika menjadi menteri telah bertindak memihak kepada Kumpulan Maxis dalam pengambilalihan syarikat itu dan sebagai ganjaran pelaburan dibuat oleh syarikat itu menerusi rangkaian Astro di Sun TV dimiliki oleh keluarga Maran.
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| Indian police ‘book’ tycoon Ananda Krishnan, Ralph Marshall in telco graft scandal Posted: 09 Oct 2011 05:06 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Indian investigators have filed a case against Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan, his trusted executive Ralph Marshall together with a former Indian telecom minister and his brother on charges of criminal conspiracy over a controversial deal involving telecommunication giant Maxis and India's Aircel. A Maxis spokesman told The Malaysian Insider the company is aware of the case when contacted this afternoon."We're aware of that and we'll get back to you," the corporate communications official said. State news agency Press Trust of India said three companies, including Maxis, have also been listed in the case. The other companies are India's Aspro and Sun TV. The former Indian minister is Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi. PTI said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today conducted raids at the premises of the Maran brothers in Delhi and Chennai. "The CBI has registered case against Maran brothers, Ralph Marshall and T. Ananda Krishnan (picture) and three companies under section 120b of IPC read with 13(2) with 13 (1)(d) and also sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The case was registered on 9th October. Searches were conducted at Delhi and Chennai," CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said here. It has been alleged by former Aircel chief C. Sivasankaran that Dayanidhi Maran as the then-telecom minister favoured the Maxis group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by the Maran family. The CBI, in its recent status report to the Supreme Court, had said that during Dayanidhi Maran's tenure there was "deliberate delay" to provide a letter of intent to Sivasankaran. The agency had said that after Aircel was sold to Maxis investments were made by the Malaysian firm into the family business of the Marans. The Aircel group is a joint venture between Malaysia's Maxis Communications Berhad and India's Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited and has the largest service in Tamil Nadu.
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| UK's Cameron says to tighten up immigration rules Posted: 09 Oct 2011 04:30 PM PDT
(Reuters) - Britain plans to tighten up rules on admitting relatives of migrants, cracking down on abuses used to gain entry to the country such as sham and forced marriages, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday. Cameron, who wants to prevent newcomers from relying on Britain's comprehensive welfare system, said that family migration accounted for almost a fifth of total non-EU immigration to Britain last year. The Conservatives want to reduce net migration to Britain from around 200,000 people per year to a figure of tens of thousands which they argue is more manageable. Restricting migration is seen as a way of reducing pressure on public spending at a time when the Conservative-led coalition is making deep cuts in public spending. The policy appeals to the right-wing of the Conservatives but has caused friction with the Liberal Democrats, the junior coalition partner. Cameron said the government wanted to ensure that people bringing their relatives into Britain had enough money to support them. "We're going to look at further measures to ensure financial independence: discounting promises of support from family and friends, and whether a financial bond would be appropriate in some cases," he said in advance excerpts of a speech he will make on Monday. "We're also consulting on how to tackle abuse of the system, to make sure that family migrants who come here are in a genuine relationship with their partner." Cameron gave an example of a Pakistani man granted a visa on the basis of his marriage to someone settled in Britain. "He obtained indefinite leave to remain and then immediately divorced his UK-based spouse. He returned to Pakistan and re-married and then applied for entry clearance for his new spouse," he added. "We simply cannot sit back and allow the system to be abused in this way. So we will make migrants wait longer, to show they really are in a genuine relationship before they can get settlement." Cameron said breaching rules intended to prevent forced marriage would be made a criminal offence and tougher controls could follow. "I am also asking the Home Secretary to consult on making forcing someone to marry an offence in its own right - working closely with those who provide support to women forced into marriage to make sure that such a step would not prevent or hinder them from reporting what has happened to them," he said.
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| Hypocrisy hampers deficit reduction agenda Posted: 09 Oct 2011 04:20 PM PDT
Hafiz Noor Shams, The Malaysian Insider If one throws a dart randomly at those pieces of paper pinned on the wall, there is a good chance the dart will land on a handout provision. Those papers are the 2012 Budget. The Budget, as tabled by the Najib administration, is an election budget. Civil servants, teachers, the police force, the Armed Forces, pensioners and others will get their share regardless of justifiability. Meanwhile, the subsidy liberalisation programme that the Najib administration was so gung-ho about earlier has taken a back seat, half-baked and emitting a stench called hypocrisy. Idris Jala, a man who unproductively exaggerated that Malaysia would go bankrupt if the government expenditure continued to rise, now praises the Budget of goodies. Such is the loyalty of some men to ideas and principles. The wind blows and the mind changes. There is no principle to stick to because only political convenience matters. Never mind the contradiction and hypocrisy. Voters have a short memory span. Give them money and they will go gaga. It is all about winning elections, not honesty and consistency. The financial position of the federal government could be in a better shape if the administration had necessary honesty and consistency instead of bending backwards to accommodate the monster of populism. Without the populism, the fiscal deficit for year 2012 — the Najib administration projects to be 4.7 per cent of nominal gross domestic product (or RM33.8 billion in absolute terms) — could be lowered considerably. It could possibly go down as far as 3.7 per cent of nominal GDP if all the subsidies, one-time transfer payments and other election-related handouts are flushed down the drain. Admittedly, the drastic reduction will be a shock to the system that none might want to experience amid the present global economic uncertainty. Yet, in times of uncertainty, it is only prudent to save for a rainy day even within political needs. This is doubly true given that regardless what was said and done about the importance of domestic demand, external demand is still wildly important to the domestic economy. Furthermore, a number of analysts have already voiced out that the government's revenue figures are too optimistic for a pessimistic world. That is all the more reason for observers to be conservative with the federal government's finance. The fiscal deficit can be brought down still lower even with political considerations in mind. Removing the RM3,000 one-off gift to 4,300 individuals, another RM3,000 one-off transfer to an expected 3.4 million individuals and the KAR1SMA programme that will cost RM1.2 billion off the Budget while keeping the bloated subsidy regime intact, the deficit for the year 2012 could stand at 4.4 per cent out of nominal GDP instead of the higher projected 4.7 per cent.
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| PAS to start petition calling for royal panel to probe A-G Posted: 09 Oct 2011 04:12 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - PAS will press through a petition for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the Attorney-General during the current parliamentary sitting, rejecting Putrajaya's refusal to charge Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail with corruption. PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar told The Malaysian Insider today the petition aims to pressure the government into action, saying it was unacceptable it has chosen repeatedly to ignore the countless allegations of misconduct against the country's top lawyer. He reiterated that if Abdul Gani (picture) was being absolved of blame in all the allegations, defamation charges should be slapped on all the latter's accusers, including former senior police officer Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim and blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin. "To me, this shows the government has no stand in this issue. Their refusal to take action shows their unwillingness to clean up the institution. "It is not a matter of charging the A-G personally, but the entire institution of the A-G's Chambers itself appears to be lacking integrity and credibility," he said when met at the Parliament lobby here this morning. "I will start the petition soon, during this parliamentary sitting, and we will push for the RCI," he added. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told The Malaysian Insider last week that last year's decision to close the door on the A-G's alleged involvement in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's 1998 "black eye" case still stands. "Same reply, same reply. I replied to (DAP adviser Lim) Kit Siang in Parliament before. The reply is the same," he said when asked if Putrajaya would act on the renewed allegations against Abdul Gani. Asked to state if the government would take action against Abdul Gani's accusers, Nazri repeated: "Same reply." In Parliament on December 14 last year, the government side-stepped the damning accusations made by Mat Zain that Abdul Gani had falsified documents in the "black eye" case, brushing aside several open letters and appeals issued by the former. Instead, Nazri had told the House there was no need for Mat Zain to complain that the independent panel formed to investigate the evidence fabrication had failed to clear his name in the incident. This, said Nazri, was because Mat Zain had never been the subject of the panel's probe and had merely been called as a witness to testify.
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| Mat Zain: Panel probe on A-G ‘unconstitutional’ Posted: 09 Oct 2011 04:06 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - The independent panel which absolved Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was unconstitutional, claimed the ex-senior police officer who has campaigned tirelessly to remove the attorney-general. Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahims said that the panel was unconstitutionally set-up in 2009. The panel went on to rule the allegations against Abdul Gani were baseless. Mat Zain who has mounted a one-man campaign against Abdul Gani, charged that only the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may order such a tribunal, and therefore it was not in the purview of the solicitor-general or even any Cabinet minister. "The provisions in the Constitution are very clear. When the conduct of the attorney general becomes an issue, only the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is empowered to establish a Tribunal upon a representation presented to His Majesty by the Prime Minister. There's no other option. "This is a matter strictly between the PM and the Agong," Mat Zain said in a statement. The former policeman said the findings of the independent panel that cleared Abdul Gani (picture) of falsifying evidence in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's 1998 "black eye" case should therefore be considered null and void. Mat Zain said that although the panel had decided on March 1, 2009, Dewan Rakyat was informed ten days later on March 11 that one member of the independent panel had found evidence to "prove" the A-G's involvements in the alleged wrongdoings. Mat Zain also said he informed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on October 2008 regarding the matter but said that no action had been taken against Abdul Gani till today. The government has said it will not take action against the A-G despite renewed allegations of corruption and fabricating evidence made against the country's top lawyer.
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| Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:52 PM PDT
Over the last month or so, since Malaysia Today opened up the comments section to all and sundry and allowed readers to post 'no-holds-barred' comments -- even when they were stupid, bigoted, out of topic, bad language, etc. -- we have read many views, some of them warped as well. But we are yet to read about THE most important view of all, and that is what it is that you are looking for. Today, we shall discuss that. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
POST YOUR VIEWS BELOW As a guide (but not necessarily you MUST touch on all these issues), you may want to take into consideration the present state of affairs in Malaysia, what in your opinion is wrong with the country, and what you would like to see as the NEW DEAL (New Deal meaning changes, reforms, better system, etc., and could be about the health, education, economic, judicial, etc., system(s)). You may also want to touch on what you view as the limitations or obstacles (such as cultural, religious, economic, historical, legal, etc.) that the government would face if it wanted to implement some of these proposals and therefore what kind of compromises and how far these compromises would have to go to at least meet these aspirations part of the way. I have used the word 'government' not in the context of the present Barisan Nasional government or the 'future' Pakatan Rakyat government but as government in general (meaning that we should not concern ourselves about who forms that government but that whosoever does form the government would have to do all this -- a hypothetical government of sorts). A short 500-word essay would be good rather than one-liners, but it is crucial that your essay is not out of topic or flies off tangent. |
| Will Najib's election goodies be enough? Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:36 PM PDT By Ooi Kee Beng, TODAYonline The annual budget is a powerful weapon for the Malaysian government, and never more so than when national elections are impending. Mr Najib Razak's third budget as Prime Minister, announced last Friday, definitely signals that elections are indeed on the way. Beleaguered as his government must feel - after the Bersih demonstration in July turned into a bigger anti-government event than it needed to be - when major economic indicators are all pointing the wrong way and with only one and a half years left before a General Election has to be held, it was wiser for Mr Najib not to postpone the use of this weapon until next October. |
| Detainee Dies In Kota Baharu Court Lock-Up Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:32 PM PDT (Bernama) KOTA BAHARU -- A detainee was found dead in the Kota Baharu court lock-up, here on Sunday. Kota Baharu police deputy chief Supt Idris Abd Rafar said the 43-year-old detainee was found unconscious in the lock-up by a policeman on duty at 3pm. "The policeman had gone to the lock-up to bring him to Pengkalan Chepa Prison when he saw the detainee lying unconscious," he said. Idris said the body was sent to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital, here. "Our investigation found there was no foul play involved and we have classified the case as sudden death." He said the detainee, from Kampung Badang, here, was arrested on Wednesday and charged in court today for an offence under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. |
| 'Money will not fall from sky' Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:16 PM PDT (Harakah Daily) - Money will not fall from the sky. This is the reminder from PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, urging the public to be wary of the government 2012 budget which was focused on spending without income-generating plans. Tuan Ibrahim (right) repeated the description of the budget tabled by prime minister Najib Razak last Friday as 'morphine budget', and said Barisan Nasional was presently concealing any drastic plans to raise revenue until it won the 13th general election. "What has been given will be taken back immediately after 13th GE if they continue to be in power, because by then, the people will be forced to be under the BN government for another five years," he said. He expected BN to table more supplementary budget bills after the general election, saying this was to regenerate income to cover the 2012 budget expenses which was geared towards winning the election. Besides the goods and services tax (GST), Tuan Ibrahim said there was a high possibility that the six percent tax on prepaid mobile phones recently suspended would be reverted. Last week, Najib tabled RM238 billion budget, with RM181 billion for expenditure, and an economic projection of between 5 to 6 percent, as well as a shrinking of deficit to 4.2 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) compared to 5.4 percent in 2011. "Regardless of its theme, the people are aware of the UNNO-BN's tricks and must not be fooled by this morphine injection," added Tuan Ibrahim. |
| Lynas and the Malaysian Green movement — Kua Kia Soong Posted: 09 Oct 2011 02:56 PM PDT
By Kua Kia Soong via The Malaysian Insider The Green Assembly (Himpunan Hijau 109) at dawn at the Kuantan beach yesterday was the harbinger of the Malaysian Green movement that has been a long time coming. Kudos to the organisers of this inspirational event that managed to draw together other green campaigns as well as environmentally conscious Malaysians throughout the country. It was especially heart-warming to see the Orang Asli from nearby Chini taking an active part in the event. There, we pledged our commitment to the Earth Charter and sustainable development and our opposition to projects that are socially disruptive and health-threatening. Green consciousness in Malaysia has been growing with every toxic project in the country, most noxious has been the processing and storage of radioactive waste. The BN government has always tried to justify their production by saying that "impartial experts" have testified to their safety. In the latest case of the Lynas rare earth plant at Gebeng, near Kuantan, they have invited the IAEA as an afterthought and they say that subject to certain recommendations, the plant should be safe. But the people are not convinced and will continue to oppose this toxic project. The myth of impartial experts In 1984, during the controversy over the nuclear dumps of Asian Rare Earth (ARE) at Papan in Perak, I wrote an article in The Star (September 2, 1984) entitled "The Myth of the Impartial Scientist". The government was trying to convince the public that the dumps for the radioactive waste were constructed to the required specifications and scientific experts were carted out to back up their case. But the people of Papan were not impressed and they continued to organise a protracted resistance to the dumps until they won. The ARE factory had started operating in Bukit Merah New Village in 1982. In February 1985, the Bukit Merah residents filed an application in the Ipoh High Court to stop ARE from operating in the vicinity of their village. The residents turned out in force at the court and their organisation and commitment to the cause of environmental safety was an inspiration for the rest of the country. On April 12, 1987, some 10,000 people marched through Bukit Merah to protest the resumption of operations by ARE after the company had disregarded an injunction to stop operations. They finally won through their sustained campaign and ARE had to pack up and pay them compensation. The people of Papan and Bukit Merah were more concerned about their health and the health of their future generations than they were about the short-term gain of employment that ARE provided. Today, the people in Kuantan who are opposing the Lynas rare earth plant are displaying the same admirable organisation, commitment to protecting their environment and concern for their health and the health of their future generations and we salute their efforts. Far from being impartial, the IAEA is deeply involved in promoting nuclear energy. It failed to correctly assess the dangers caused by nuclear disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and recently at Fukushima. For all its "impartiality", it also failed to prevent the Iraq war, when Bush and Blair had insisted that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It turned out to be an elaborate lie to justify western invasion of Iraq. Since the key question to allay the fears of the people is that of safety and the effects of the plant on the people's health, one would have expected the government to bring in independent members outside the IAEA with expertise in nuclear safety, public health, environmental protection and other social concerns. Besides the danger of radiation, the Lynas plant also produces large quantities of industrial acids and chemicals which will adversely affect the environment. The lesson of Bukit Merah should be instructive for the Lynas controversy. The ARE expert there had insisted that their facilities were safe. I remember visiting their premises and the Japanese manager had assured me of the same. When I asked the manager if he would allow his pregnant wife to work in the premises with those drums of radioactive waste around her, he was completely stumped and couldn't answer me. During the Bukit Merah court case, other international experts testified that the adverse health effects on the residents — cancer, congenital deformities, cardiovascular disease, etc — were the direct result of the radioactivity from the waste produced by ARE. Whatever IAEA may recommend for the Lynas plant, they have no power to regulate or enforce compliance on Lynas. We also know that the Malaysian government's record on monitoring and implementing such environmental safety standards and its maintenance culture are legendary! If not, how did the DOE and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board fail the residents of Bukit Merah? Neutrality of science is a myth The lesson from all these controversies is that there is no such thing as a "neutral expert". Science and technology have never been neutral — the neutrality of science is a myth. You can as soon find an expert who will say the project is safe and another who will warn you of its dangers.
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| ‘Where’s the Auditor-General’s report?’ Posted: 09 Oct 2011 02:50 PM PDT By Patrick Lee, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat wants to know what has happened to the Auditor-General's (A-G) report which should have been presented in the Dewan Rakyat before the debate on Budget 2012. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that it was strange for Parliament to debate the budget before the A-G's report was presented. "Unfortunately, we are debating the budget today, but the Auditor-General's report has not been presented," Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat today. He said this while presenting his response to Najib's Friday announcement of Budget 2012. "To my understanding, perhaps the house secretary can check; (this has) not happened before… that the Auditor-General's report has not been presented before the budget was debated," he added. Anwar, the PKR-Permatang Pauh MP, asked if this was a government tactic to prevent MPs from discussing the A-G report's contents. The A-G's report is an internal audit of the government's departments. In previous years, the report has revealed financial irregularities and excesses in a number of government procurement processes.
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| Zahid says no cash for BAE warship deal Posted: 09 Oct 2011 02:07 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — The government will not proceed with plans to jointly develop navy ships with UK-based BAE Systems, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi said today. "They have proposed but because of financial constraints, we will not be proceeding," the defence minister said.
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| Selangor Sultan backs Jais church raid, no one to be charged Posted: 09 Oct 2011 02:02 PM PDT By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider SHAH ALAM, Oct 10 — The Selangor Sultan ruled that the state religious authority's raid on Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3 was legitimate. But Sultan Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said today that although the Selangor Islamic Religious department (Jais) had found evidence of attempts to subvert Muslims, it was "insufficient" for further legal actions. The state ruler said therefore no one would be prosecuted, and Jais will provide counselling to the Muslims who were present in the church during the raid. "Jais has submitted to Us the full report of the search carried out at the Dream Centre Complex, Section 13, Petaling Jaya as well as the subsequent actions taken by Jais. We have thoroughly read in detail the said report and We are satisfied that the actions of Jais were correct and did not breach any laws enforceable in Selangor," said a statement from the Selangor Sultan. The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) disrupted a charity dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3. Jais has said that it "inspected" the evangelical church — based in Petaling Jaya — after acting on a complaint that participants at the dinner were trying to convert the 12 Muslims present at the function to Christianity. Proselytising Muslims is against the law in Malaysia. The contentious raid has escalated religious conflict between Muslims and Christians in the country, with Malay newspapers highlighting allegations of Christians trying to convert Muslims through welfare work. The Selangor hearing working group recently met Jais and representatives from NGO Harapan Komuniti — which organised the dinner at DUMC — in a bid to resolve the debacle that has incensed Muslims and Christians against the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration. Harapan Komuniti — which helps AIDS patients and impoverished single mothers — has said it featured prayer, religious songs and a quiz on Islam at its dinner, but denied it was proselytising. MORE TO COME |
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