Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Article 153 is not just for Malays but for every Malaysian!
- Is the BN Serious about Race Relations
- MCA implodes, a blow to BN
- Appeal Letter by PLKN Operator to the Prime Minister
| Article 153 is not just for Malays but for every Malaysian! Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:51 PM PST The simple meaning is that the Agong is the protector of ALL Malaysians, and not just the Malays! So why do leaders like Ibrahim Ali keep harping on this Article 153 as if it is a sacred provision for the Malays only? Are they idiots who can't read? By Daniel John Jambun Datuk Ibrahim Ali just came up with a gem of truth when he said there is no need for a Race Relations Act if people behave. "If everyone behaves, if nobody touches on (Article) 153, nobody questions this and that, condemns this and that, and at the same time recognises the disparity of wealth between Malays and non-Malays, I don't think we need any additional Act," he said. How very true! Out of so many idiotic statements we have heard from political jokers, this one is a real gem of truth. The funny thing is that Ibrahim thinks he said something very brilliant when in fact it is simple truism (truth that doesn't need to be said). Yes, we wouldn't need any law for that matter if everyone behaves. We wouldn't need the police, the security guards, the magistrates and judges, nor the prisons if there were no criminals. We wouldn't need the Speaker in Parliament if every Member of Parliament can behave and not become rowdy or insensitive comedians making fun of women. But who are really behaving badly in Malaysia? Who are those questioning this and that, condemning this and that? I guess only Ibrahim is the luckiest guy in the country because he makes all sorts of seditious and racist statements, misbehaving in a way that he should be arrested and charged in court, but nobody touches him, no national leaders even dare to ask him to shut up. Of the Race Relations Act he said that "We will see the draft of the Act. If it is good for the country, we have no problem supporting it," he said. "But whatever Act is introduced ... it must not encroach upon (Article) 153, Islam as the official religion of the Federation, Bahasa Melayu as the national language, the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers." We all know that there is no question about Islam being the official religion, Bahasa Melayu as the national language or the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers. What I would precisely prefer to talk about is Article 153. It is very tiring to keep hearing political leaders speak about Article 153 as if it belongs only to the Malays. If we read the article in its entirety we will be reminded very clearly that it is not a protection for Malay rights, and neither has it got to do with any so-called social contract. It says that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is responsible for safeguarding the special position of the Malays AND the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, AND the legitimate interest of other communities. The simple meaning is that the Agong is the protector of ALL Malaysians, and not just the Malays! So why do leaders like Ibrahim Ali keep harping on this Article 153 as if it is a sacred provision for the Malays only? Are they idiots who can't read? Or are they stubborn morons who deliberately behave like idiots for the purpose of making political mileage over something that has nothing to do with what they are saying? I fully support Senior Christian leader Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng who said that Article 153 had been used to bully others, and that it was something that "needed somebody to say it." He told an online portal he had nothing to fear despite the fierce reaction from various Malay groups and denials by the government that Christians or any minority group had been sidelined. He described Perkasa's call for him to be investigated for sedition an example of fear-mongering. It is time somebody said and stood up bravely about it. The Deputy Prime Minister hit back and said the provision was never used to bully anyone. But has he not heard radicals like Ibrahim Ali abusing the provision all the time? How do the non-Malays feel when radicals talk about Malay supremacy or when the DPM himself said he is a Malay first and Malaysian second? The radical groups who idolize Article 153 as if it gives the Malays special rights, privileges, positions and bullying power need to be told to stop the negative attitude. What I see in the Article is something very positive for Malaysians as a whole because to me it is a strong unifying provision, under which we are protected by our King as equal partners in Malaysia. It is NOT a provision to give the Malay superior position. It doesn't give the Muslim the right to bully other people and other religions. Under this provision the Malays have equal "special position" with the natives of the Borneo States. Under it, the Malays are on equal position with the Ibans, the Penans, Bajaus and the Kadazandusuns. We have the same special position of the Malays, so we can tell the Malays like Ibrahim Ali to shut up and grow up if we want to. Advisor, UK-Based Human Rights foundation Malaysia |
| Is the BN Serious about Race Relations Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:45 PM PST Who will bear the brunt of this new legislation and what has the abolition of the Internal Security Act to do with race relations? By Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM One wonders if the BN government is capable of reform. Soon after the Prime Minister's promises of reform on Independence Day recently, we have seen the new ISA arrests and the new Peaceful Assembly Bill. Now they have announced the introduction of a Race Relations Act in the coming parliamentary meeting as a replacement for the Internal Security Act. They have also announced that there will be an "Anti-Terrorism Act" to replace the ISA. What exactly have they got in mind? Who will bear the brunt of this new legislation and what has the abolition of the Internal Security Act to do with race relations? First of all, the scribes in the Attorney General's office must be aware that the UK Race Relations Act (RRA) 1976 has now been superseded by the new and improved Equality Act 2010? The aim is to bring the RRA legislation in line with European Human Rights legislation and to extend protection to other groups not previously covered, namely, to cover age, disability, gender, religion, belief and sexual orientation. So why does the BN government not want an Equality Act instead since it is an updated legislation of the 1976 RRA?
It is not surprising that PERKASA is objecting to such legislation because "incitement to racial hatred" is a criminal offence under the Act. Under the Act, there is direct discrimination when "someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic".The British Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994 made publication of materials that incited racial hatred an arrestable offence. These include: - Deliberately provoking hatred against a racial group; - Distributing racist material to the public; - Making inflammatory public speeches; - Creating racist websites on the internet; - Inciting inflammatory rumours about an individual or ethnic group, in order to spread racial discontent. The UK Public Order Act 1986 defines racial hatred as "hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic origins". Section 21 of the Act makes "incitement to racial hatred" an offence to publish or distribute material which is threatening or abusive or insulting if intended to stir up racial hatred…" "Hate crimes" are criminal acts committed as intimidation, threats, property damage, assault, murder or such other criminal offence. They are a type of crime in which the perpetrator is sending a message to the victim and their right to belong to that society. Hate crimes violate the principle of equality between people and deny their right to achieve full human dignity and to realize their full potential. The impact of hate crimes on the greater community cannot be emphasized enough – the social acceptance of discrimination against particular groups in society is an important factor in causing hate crimes to increase.
Clearly, far right racial supremacists who rail about the dominance of their "race" should be reined in by an Equality & Human Rights Commission and dealt with under an Equality Act or the RRA. Thus, the UMNO leaders who were inciting racial hatred and calling for "Chinese blood" at the Jalan Raja Muda Stadium in 1987 before Operation Lalang would have been the prime target for such a law. (See Government White Paper 1988) So would the mob which organized the "cow head" protest over the relocation of a Hindu temple in 2009. When racial incidents do happen, such as the May 13 Incident and the Kampung Medan Incident, the culprits responsible should be swiftly apprehended and charged for murder.
But what has the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial got to do with race relations? Well, the BN government has through the years extended the ambit of the ISA to claim that any dissident activity or view is a "threat to national security". Operation Lalang was the prime manifestation of this BN logic. Thus, I like several others during Operation Lalang was arrested and detained under the ISA for being a threat to national security. Among the "allegations of fact", mine were for "calling on participants at a forum to support mother tongue education," and "writing a book entitled 'Polarisation in Malaysia: The Root causes'. One can only suppose that the BN government now wants to replace the ISA with a "Race Relations Act" so that they can use it to deal with people who question these aspects of government policy. As with the recent Peaceful Assembly Bill, Malaysians should be prepared for some outrageous provisions in this proposed 'Race Relations Act'. They will say it is modeled after the UK RRA but it will end up letting off the far right fascists and making dissidents the usual quarry. I hope they prove me wrong!
Our Human Rights Commission should extend its jurisdiction to incorporate an Equality Commission. Its work would be to encourage greater integration and better ethnic relations and to use legal powers to help eradicate racial discrimination and harassment. Thus, its ambit would cover racist stereotyping in text books and the press; racial discrimination in the public sphere, employment, education, social services, advertisements. The independent Commission should be empowered to issue codes of practice and invested with powers to conduct formal investigations and to serve notices to furnish information or documents in order to enforce the law. It would then be up to the Malaysian courts to decide on the legality or illegality of such institutions in Malaysian society since 1971, for example, the Bumiputera-only policy at UiTM and other public institutions; the quota system and its implementation; the discounts for Bumiputeras in various economic transactions and other blatant discriminations. For sure, if the BN government uses the UK RRA as a model, they will end up in the dock over the many cases of racial discrimination in our public institutions. Ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Finally, for an administration to convince Malaysians that it is genuinely keen to institute reforms for better ethnic relations and equality, our country should immediately initiate moves to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR). Failure to do so will only arouse suspicion that this BN government is merely hectically doing window dressing before the looming 13th general elections. |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:40 PM PST By Jackson Ng, Retired Journalist TWO time bombs have exploded in the MCA in the past two days but the mainstream media, especially MCA's mouthpiece, The Star, has down played the news. About 1,000 MCA members from Penang and Johor have resigned en bloc and they cite the loss of confidence in the party leadership as their reason for quitting. The resignations are only the tip of the iceberg and it signals the beginning of the imploding of Barisan Nasional (BN)'s second largest component party. According to a few of those who quit but did not want to be named, more MCA members nationwide are expected to quit in the run-up to the next general election. The mainstream media are down playing the news because it is a major blow for the MCA and BN's preparations for the general election widely expected to be called by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in February or March. Those who quit say they had lost confidence in the MCA leadership because it is led by a scandal-tainted and immoral president, Dr Chua Soi Lek. "Whenever he speaks on any issue, it backfires and is a laughing stock of the people or grassroots. This is because Chua is in no position to talk about issues on morality and integrity. "We cannot continue to be associated with such a leader and his cronies who are only looking after their own interest and positions," said a former MCA member who is known to this writer. Citing recent events and issues, the former member said: "It is embarrassing to MCA for Chua to talk about freedom of the press and freedom of speech. "What is he talking about when the first thing he (Chua) did when he won the presidency by fluke was to place The Star directly under the control of the party. "The paper is now under the overall control of a panel that includes his son (Tee Yong) as a key member. He also appointed his son in government positions. "The MCA leadership is now led by a man who is morally tainted and one who practices nepotism and cronyism to turn the party into his family's empire," he added. Another former member added: "Just watch how MCA implodes in the run-up to the 13th General Election. At least 30 per cent of its members will eventually abandon the party by polling day." In another development, party insiders say Selangor MCA is in shambles following a fallout between Chua and state MCA chief Donald Lim Siang Chai. As the state chief, Lim does not even have the say to decide which seat to contest. Lim is said to be eyeing the Selayang parliamentary seat but Chua already has someone else in mind – possibly a woman candidate. What is telling is that Lim does not even have the confidence to try and wrest back his former seat - PJ Selatan – where he was beaten by PKR's Hee Loy Sian by 5,706 votes in 2008. Party insiders say the backdoor Deputy Finance Minister Senator is now desperate and is manoeuvring to get what he wants. The insiders say it would be most interesting to see how severely Selangor MCA would be split by the Chua-Lim tussle for control of the state. |
| Appeal Letter by PLKN Operator to the Prime Minister Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:53 AM PST Malangnya sehingga ke hari ini, Yayasan Selangor belum menerima sebarang surat tawaran penyambungan kontrak PLKN daripada pihak JLKN atau Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Pertahanan Malaysia, sedangkan pihak kami tidak pernah gagal dalam menyediakan perkhidmatan yang dikehendaki, termasuk penambah-baikan untuk memenuhi SOC JLKN, dan yang terkini Perhimpunan Alumni PLKN 1Malaysia di kem kami, Kem PLKN Ampang Pechah, Kuala Kubu Baru pada 7 November 2011. YAB DATO' SRI MOHD. NAJIB BIN TUN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK sedangkan Kem PL Ampang Pecah adalah milik YS sepenuhnya. 3. Malangnya sehingga ke hari ini, Yayasan Selangor belum menerima sebarang surat tawaran penyambungan kontrak PLKN daripada pihak JLKN atau Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Pertahanan Malaysia, sedangkan pihak kami tidak pernah gagal dalam menyediakan perkhidmatan yang dikehendaki, termasuk penambah-baikan untuk memenuhi SOC JLKN, dan yang terkini Perhimpunan Alumni PLKN 1Malaysia di kem kami, Kem PLKN Ampang Pechah, Kuala Kubu Baru pada 7 November 2011. 4. Selaku pemilik Kem PLKN Ampang Pecah, Kuala Kubu Baharu, Yayasan Selangor telah membuat penambah-baikan kemudahan di kem tersebut dan membelanjakan banyak wang ringgit untuk keselesaan pelatih dan Pegawai/Jurulatih/Kakitangan JLKN, antaranya: 4.1 Pagar sempadan baru antara PLKN dan KBS. Tinggi 5' Panjang 1,134'- RM86,840.00 4.2 Generator Set baru - RM120,900.00 4.3 Naik taraf 2 bilik air jadikan bilik rehat Jurulatih - RM286,265.00 4.4 Naiktaraf surau - RM329,690.00 4.5 Bangunan baru Stor Lojistik - RM443,028.00 4.6 Bangunan baru pusat rawatan - RM356,371.00 4.7 Pasang jubin bilik air, bilik kuliah dan turap semula padang kawad -RM489,584.00 4.8 Naiktaraf 2 gelanggang sepaktakraw dan gelanggang bolatampar - RM234,191.00 4.9 Bina kolam aktiviti air - RM1,700,000.00 JUMLAH -RM4,046,869.00 5. Sayugia dimaklumkan bahawa Yayasan Selangor telah menjadi operator PLKN sejak tahun 2004 dan Majlis Pelancaran Kursus PLKN Seluruh Negara juga telah dilaksanakan di Kem PLKN Ampang Pecah, Kuala Kubu Baharu pada tahun 16 Februari 2004 oleh YAB Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi selaku Perdana Menteri Malaysia, yang turut dihadiri oleh YAB Dato' Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak yang ketika itu adalah Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pertahanan Malaysia ketika itu. 6. Untuk makluman pihak YAB Dato' Sri, sekiranya kontrak PLKN Ampang Pecah, Kuala Kubu Baharu tidak disambung, kedudukan pekerja dan kontraktor yang berkhidmat dengan kem PLKN ini sudah tentu akan terjejas, antaranya: 6.1 24 Kakitangan Kem (senarai dilampirkan) 6.2 Kontraktor Penyedia Makanan/Caterer Kem PLKN 6.3 Kontraktor Pembersihan Kem PLKN 6.4 Kontraktor Dobi 6.5 Kontraktor Pembersihan Hygine (Tuala Wanita) 7. Untuk makluman YAB Dato' Sri juga, Yayasan Selangor adalah "a non-profit organization", dan semua lebihan pendapatan digunakan untuk menawarkan biasiswa dan pinjaman kepada pelajar-pelajar yang kurang berkemampuan dari luar bandar tanpa mengira kaum dan ideologi politik. Sejak 40 tahun lalu, Yayasan Selangor menjadi tempat bergantung lebih 40,000 orang pelajar miskin dan miskin tegar di seluruh Selangor 8. Sayugia diingatkan bahawa Yayasan Selangor adalah milik Rakyat Selangor dan tidak sewajarnya dihukum akibat percaturan politik kepartian di mana majoriti daripada penerima bantuan pendidikan adalah orang Melayu-Islam. 9. Ketidakadilan ini pasti membuatkan akan membuatkan rakyat lebih benci dengan pemerintah di Putrajaya kini dan tidak mustahil "kebencian rakyat" pasti akan diterjemahkan dalam PRU13 dengan mengekalkan kerajaan di Selangor kini. 10. Segala usaha YAB Dato' Sri untuk merebut kembali Selangor akan pasti gagal disebabkan sikap tidak matang dalam membuat keputusan dalam kes penyambungan Kem PLKN di Kuala Kubu Bharu ini. 11. Sehubungan itu, Yayasan Selangor ingin merayu supaya kontrak Kem PLKN Ampang Pecah, Kuala Kubu Baharu dapat disambung semula sepertimana pengusaha-pengusaha lain supaya persiapan terakhir di sempurnakan menanti kumpulan pertama sesi 2012. 12. Pertimbangan, kebijaksanaan dan sokongan YAB Dato' Sri sangat dihargai dan didahului dengan ucapan jutaan terima kasih. Sekian dan salam hormat. As Salaam, RAJA AMIR SHAH RAJA ABD AZIZ Timbalan Pengurus Besar
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan