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Let the punishment fit the crime
Al Sheikh Al Juburi’s Faithful Assistant & Clique
An insignificant and irrelevant hogwash
DAP infighting due to polls candidacy and rewards
For some, the world will end in 2012

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 02:29 PM PST

By Zaid Ibrahim

Just because society creates offences for reasons of its own does not mean that the person committing the offence is undesirable, bad or a danger to others. Sometimes offences are created because the acts are frowned upon by religion.

However, in a democracy we should not create offences just because acts are considered sinful.

Sodomy is a criminal offence in Malaysia but so are other sexual acts that are more "creative" than the usual horizontal position.

Offences "against the order of nature" make us blush because many of us probably partake in some of them. These are offences because the British made them offences 160 years ago, and although England and other countries have since abolished such laws, we still have them in our Penal Code.

In some countries long ago, it was a crime for a commoner to look upon the King, and for a woman to walk unescorted by a male relative. In Saudi Arabia it is still an offence for a woman to drive.

There is also a vast collection of very strange—if rarely enforced—laws: for example, commoners are prohibited from dying in the Palace of Westminster (i.e. the UK Parliament) as they would be eligible for a state funeral. Any actual deaths in Parliament are legally recorded as having occurred at a nearby hospital.

In Florida, it is illegal for an unmarried woman to parachute on a Sunday, and in France it is unlawful to name a pig "Napoleon"—the list goes on.

However, in a democracy we should not create offences just because acts are considered sinful.

Offences can be justified only on the grounds of providing for the safety and protection of the people, or as deterrents. The moral issue is not for the government to deal with. Sins are for God to punish, not the government.

Whatever the verdict in Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy case next week, I hope he will be treated fairly. If there is a conviction and the court is disposed to hand down a custodial sentence, let it be minimal. Even if the act of sodomy was committed, it was consensual. This fact must not escape the judge.

Fairness is for everyone

Consensual sexual acts are not crimes in most countries and we should take cognisance of this.

Some of us may have a deep sense of revulsion and disapproval of such acts, but this disapproval does not justify punishing those who are different from us.

Al Sheikh Al Juburi’s Faithful Assistant & Clique

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 01:27 PM PST

Parti Keadilan Rakyat is becoming more Umno-like than Umno itself these days and Al Sheikh Al Juburi's Faithful Assistant & Clique are responsible for it. If the Azmin-Zuraida team is capable of doing what they are doing now to PKR, imagine what they will do if Pakatan wins the next general elections without DSAI to control these two.

By Hakim Joe

One may ask, "Who the Hell is Al Sheikh Al Juburi and who is this Faithful Assistant that is being referred to?" The answer can be acquired from Mat Sabu (PAS Deputy President).

Back in the dark ages (1977) when DSAI was still the Finance Minister and DPM of Malaysia and prior to Sodomy I, Mat Sabu made this reference against DSAI as a tit-for-tat after Ummi Hafilda lodged a complaint to A/L Kutty that his deputy is bonking his driver, one Azizan Abu Bakar from the rear and one Shamsidar Taharin (Azmin Ali's missus) from the front. This was pure revenge for DSAI's chief conspiratory role in having Mat Sabu caught for "close proximity" at Hotel Perdana in Kota Bharu on January the 31st, 1995, two years after the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly approved the motion on Hudud and Qisas.

Jubur refers to the posterior or the rear end, but in Kelantan it also refers to the female private part. Mat Sabu chose such an appropriate tag to describe DSAI as an abnormal individual who have preferences for the front part (Shamsidar) and the posterior (Azizan Abu Bakar). Realmente Magnifico!

History has of course acquitted DSAI of Sodomy I and Mat Sabu had to literally eat his words but it has also provided Umno with the ammunition to re-launch Sodomy II. This article however does not make reference to either Sodomy I or its sequel but concentrates purely on Al Sheikh Al Juburi's faithful assistant and his coterie of henchmen who are becoming more like Umno than Umno itself.

Mohamed Azmin bin Ali was born in Singapore on August the 25th, 1964 (Year of the Dragon), which makes him Singaporean by birth. However his education was purely KL stuff, first at the English-based primary school, Gurney Road School [2] (now SK Jalan Gurney) and its secondary education at Technical Institute in Jalan Cheras (now SM Teknik Cheras). From thereon it was to the University of Minnesota where he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Economics (1986) and his Master of Education in Mathematics and Economics a year later.

First job home in Malaysia was as a Special Officer to the Minister of Education and two years later in 1989, Azmin was promoted to being DSAI's private secretary. He served in the same capacity after DSAI was first promoted to being the Finance Minister (1991) and then later to be the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (1993).

One year before DSAI was sacked from Umno in 1998, Azmin took a two-month hiatus from work to enroll at St. Catherine's College, Oxford University where he successfully completed an Executive Training Program on Political Administration. At this juncture of time, Azmin had already accumulated a full decade of political experience and was groomed to be someone of note but his initial plans were seriously derailed after DSAI was dismissed from all his political positions.

However this proved to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise, as he was elected Selangor State Assemblyman for Hulu Kelang in 1999, and therefore launched his political career earlier than if he was still DSAI's private secretary.

In November 2001, while DSAI was still in jail, Azmin was elected as a Vice President of Keadilan and in 2008, he won the Gombak parliamentary seat and Bukit Antarabangsa state seat in Selangor. By now he had over twenty years of political experience and with no one evidently challenging him on his smooth and sheltered ride to the upper echelons of PKR, Azmin brought together an assembly of his loyal supporters and delegates that climbed the party ladder together without a notable hitch (except for Khalid Ibrahim) and fully backed by the defacto leader himself.

When Keadilan merged with Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 2002 and launched itself in 2003 as PKR, Azmin was still pretty confident of his position within the newly merged party. However he was knocked down one notch when Khalid Ibrahim was selected as the Menteri Besar of Selangor after the 2008 state election victory.

Then came Zaid "Sea-Biscuit" Ibrahim one year later in 2009 and this intimidated Azmin's "now seemingly precarious" position in PKR and within Pakatan Rakyat itself.

From the onset, it was seen that Zaid was his own man and not someone else's poster boy. This was his first big mistake as his escalating popularity was challenging Azmin and posed as an affront to DSAI, and this made the entire PKR EXCO gang up on him (less the few loose cannons). As a recent former Umno minister, Zaid did not understand how the PKR party politics were being played and by standing out as a candidate that could pose as a serious replacement for DSAI so soon after joining PKR, he was in fact threatening Azmin's position, status and future.

The second mistake Zaid did was his attempts to entrench himself as the number two man in PKR and Azmin was not having any of that.

Even when Zaid was grabbing national headlines alongside DSAI, the latter acknowledged the fact that PKR is in reality stronger with Zaid and therefore portrayed itself as a creditable replacement to Umno. Additionally, DSAI also knows that Zaid could not possibly challenge him as the defacto leader of PKR and that should Pakatan win the next general elections, DSAI will unquestionably become the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The scenario is however completely different with Azmin. With Zaid showing tremendous form, one of the DPM seats (DSAI proposed 3 DPM posts, one each from the three coalition parties) suddenly looked awfully remote and getting further and further away from his outstretched grasp, and something had to be done to curb his ominous headlong slide to mediocrity. The PKR party elections hence became the definitive battleground to rein in Zaid (and along the way Khalid as well) and to resolve the issue once and for all and Selangor was chosen to be the ultimate frontline, no holds barred.

The controversy laden 2010 PKR party elections proved to be tainted by allegations of vote rigging, undemocratic practices, existence of two different register rolls, missing ballot boxes, fraud, electoral misconduct, double standards, bribery, etc and its corresponding results became so dubious that Azmin-crony Molly Cheah, the PKR party election committee chairperson, was taken to task over the final announced results. Hell, even A/L Kutty was pleasantly surprised with the Umno-tactics used in the PKR party elections. Nonetheless, Azmin and his clique have done their damage and finally, Zaid and Khalid were left standing alone.

Zaid resigned from PKR and Azmin took full advantage to be appointed the PKR Chief of Selangor, replacing incumbent Khalid Ibrahim, the Selangor MB who was reassured that he shall remain the Selangor PKR Chief by PKR President Kak Wan less than a month ago (29 days to be exact). For those who stood by him, all were suitably rewarded. PKR Wanita Chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin became the PKR Deputy Chief of Selangor. Zakaria Abdul Rahim aka Zakaria Bola was selected as the PKR Pandan Chief (even when the corresponding
party elections was a tie between him and incumbent Nik Md. Zain Nik Mohmad). Mansor Othman and ninety percent of all PKR honchos and cohorts were praised and rewarded. N. Surendran was appointed as one of the party's Vice Presidents. Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong was retained as the party disciplinary bureau chairman. For the remaining 10 percent who was not of the DSAI-AA-ZK gang, the witch-hunt began in earnest.

Amongst the "biggies" on the list, Batu Kawan division women wing chief Dr. Joyce Lee Yueh Choo was the first one to be served suspension papers (later sacked). Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong was next to go. Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan and Nibong Tebal assemblyman Tan Tee Beng were sidelined. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was ignored and many municipal councilors who defied Azmin or Zuraida had their appointments terminated. PKR Deputy Secretary General, Jonson Chong of Kelana Jaya were amongst the 29 active members that were sacked. 10 members were suspended and 12 others received warning letters. Even Tian Chua did not have sufficient clout to stop the "cleansing" ala Mao's Cultural Revolution style elimination of all resistance within the party while Wan Azizah pretended ignorance.

Anyone suspected of not condoning the "Cult of DSAI-AA" were systematically dismissed from the party (and it is still happening now). PKR Deputy Chief of Selangor, Zuraida Kamaruddin then took this opportunity to do a bit of personal cleansing and started sacking anyone who question her actions and sidelined those who does not serve her purpose (including the time she instructed all Selangor's PKR Cabang's official minutes that were detrimental against her be "misplaced"). Way to go.

Yes, PKR really needed to clean up their house a long time ago but it should be done against those who opposes the Party's ideology, not those who would not support either DSAI, AA or ZK. Keadilan should stand for the people not these three individuals alone. PKR, as with DAP and PAS, is about presenting themselves as a viable alternative to BN, and not acting like them. PKR should act like a political party and not a cult.

With DSAI possibly going in for another stint after Sodomy II, Azmin is now attempting to present himself as the only suitable candidate to lead PKR and Pakatan to GE13, and to do so he needs 100 percent backing from PKR itself, henceforth the cleansing exercise that is turning the party upside down.

Be warned. Be especially warned.

An insignificant and irrelevant hogwash

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 01:20 PM PST

By Thomas Lee Seng Hock

The mainstream media are having a field day cashing in on the so-called party civil war in the DAP. Their spin writers have been making some remarkable fantastic comments that the the public tit-for-tat party war of words between national chairman Karpal Singh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) P. Ramasamy will result in the DAP being insidiously damaged or even destroyed eventually.

The pubic feud between Karpal and Ramasamy is said to be have happened at an inopportune time when a snap general election seems imminent, and all parties are busy preparing and mobilising their leaders and members for the Battle of Putrajaya.

I think all these comments are hogwash, given the fact the the Karpal-Ramasamy spat will not have much significance in the electoral equipollent equation as the personal political fate of Ramasamy will have no impact and influence on the DAP performance in the next general election.

Ramasamy was a virtually unknown, a political nobody, until the DAP fielded him as a candidate in the March 2008 general election and made him a deputy chief minister in Penang. It was not his personal charisma and credential that resulted in his electoral victory at the federal constituency of Batu Kawan and the state seat of Prai. It was the DAP Rocket that attracted the voters, who gave Ramasamy the victory on a golden plate.

In March 2008, the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat had 47,378, with Chinese voters comprising 56.3% of the electorate, Indians constituting 22.8%, Malays 20.5%, and voters of other racial origins 0.3%.

Ramasamy, standing under the DAP Rocket symbol, won the contest by returning 23,067 votes, beating Gerakan president and the then incumbent Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon, who obtained 13,582 votes, giving the DAP candidate a 9,485-vote majority. There were 640 spoilt votes.

In the Prai state seat, Ramasamy, the DAP standard-bearer in the contest, sent Barisan Nasional candidate L. Krishnan of the MIC and independent candidate Ulaganathan K.A.P. Ramasamy packing, winning the 14,175-voter constitutency by polling 7,668 votes against the Barisan Nasional man's 2,492 votes and the independent candidate's 311 votes. Ramasamy's majority was 5,176 votes. There were 180 spoilt votes.

The Prai state seat then had 52.9% Chinese votes, and a relatively high concentration of Indian voters, which accounted for 35.4% of the voters. The Malays constituted only 11% of the voters, with the balance 0.6% voters being people of other racial origins.

From these statistics, it could be observed that whoever the DAP had fielded in March 2008, the results in both the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat and the Prai state seat would have been the same.

Given the then prevailing wind of change blowing in the political scenario of the country, the credit and merit for the DAP victory cannot be attributed to the candidate. Anyone fielded by the party would have won hands down, given the fact that the DAP was riding high in the political tsunamic waves at that time.

Hence, Ramasamy cannot claim personal credit for the electoral victory per se. If he had contested on his own, he would have in all likelihood lose his deposits.

One spin writer has claimed that Ramasamy's threat to quit the DAP has put the party in a fix, quoting a purported Ramasamy supporter as contending that the DAP would lose the Indian votes, without him.

The spin writer argued that Ramasamy, a parachute candidate imported into the party to stand at the last general election, is supposed to be a dynamic champion of Indian issues, highly looked up to by the Indian community, and any action on the part of the DAP to drop him as a candidate will result in massive exodus of Indians from the party.

I think the spin writer is severely miscalculating in his assessment of the Indian community, at least the core majority within it, who are fiercely loyal to the DAP over the last 50 years of the party existence.

Do not forget that the DAP has been in the forefront of fighting for the Indian community all these years, and is the main political bastion to protect and promote the rights of the community. Many of its early and current top leaders are Indians, like Devan Nair, V. David, P. Patto, Karpal Singh, Peter Dason, and that at any one time, the DAP has more Indian MPs than the MIC.

Hence, to say that the Ramasamy fiasco would seriously affect the performance of the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat at the 13th general election is simply an illusion created by the Barisan Nasional propaganda machinery using the main stream media controlled by the ruling coalition to sow discord, create demoralisation, and promote disillusion among the DAP grassroots members, and to deceive the general voting population that all is not well in the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat.

The Ramasamy saga will not be the only media assault on the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat. The PAS Islamic agenda, the Hasan Ali controversy, the alleged Nga Kor Ming tailoring contract scandal, and every little negative incident involving the DAP and its Pakatan Rakyat component partners will be exeggerated, exacerbated and exploited to the fullest to make the DAP and the alternative coalition look bad in the public eyes.

However, the DAP should take comfort in the fact that the integrity and credential of its top leaders, in particular Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng, Tan Kok Wai, Fung Kui Lun, and its army of upcoming new generation of idealistic, well-educated, committed, and exemplary leaders like Teresa Kok, Chow Kon Yeow, Ronnie Liu, Tony Pua, Jenice Lee, Lim Lip Eng, Gobind Singh Deo, Jagdeep Singh, Hannah Yeoh, Teo Nie Ching, etc will ensure it performs beyond expectation, exceeding the victorious margin of the March 2008 general election.

The people's dream and hope are in the hands of the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat, so don't let the Ramasamy fiasco and other minor irritants frustrate the march towards Putrajaya.

DAP infighting due to polls candidacy and rewards

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 08:37 AM PST

What all this means is that the continuing rivalries between Karpal and Dr Ramasamy; and also Nga and Kulasegaran have become unsolvable and is affecting the party grassroots. Eventually, it will impact on the party's performance in the general election.

By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY, The Star

DAP, which did well in the 2008 general election and was erstwhile the most united and strong component compared to the defection-hit PKR and PAS with its own detractors, is showing signs of fraying at the sides as the next election approaches.

Its adviser Lim Kit Siang tweeted on Saturday, warning party leaders to settle their quarrels among themselves using party channels and not go to mainstream media and fall prey to their manipulation.

But both the mainstream and online media went to town reporting the fallout between leaders in the DAP, which is mainly a competition over who is to contest what seat in the coming general election.

The "warlord-godfather" row between Dr P. Ramasamy and national chairman Karpal Singh was reignited after Karpal's call for Dr Ramasamy, a parachute candidate in 2008, to resign as Penang Deputy Chief Minister II.

In a sign that things have come to a head between the two giants, Karpal announced that Dr Ramasamy's position as Deputy Chief Minister is no longer tenable because he had gone against a directive to shut up over the "warlord-godfather" issue.

Karpal accused Dr Ramasamy of going against the recommendations of a three-man committee that was set up to settle the issue a fortnight ago, by giving an interview to The Star on Thursday alleging a grand design in the party to oust him.

Dr Ramasamy also alleged that party members had bugged him for favours which he had refused, thus incurring their wrath.

Karpal wanted Dr Ramasamy to lodge a report with the MACC and also reveal the members, if there were any.

In Ipoh, former Perak DAP deputy chairman M. Kulasegaran called for a press conference and, while talking about how DAP leaders had to declare their assets, also asked his arch rival Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, who had defeated him and his camp in the state DAP elections in November last year, to come clean on allegations that a contract for suits for Ipoh councillors was awarded to a company in which his wife is a director.

Kulasegaran said that "business and politics" should not mix.

"One should not make money from politics. In the party's best interest Nga should clear the air over the matter."

It is alleged that the contract was given to the highest bidder just weeks after Pakatan Rakyat took power in Perak but it lost the state a year later through defections.

The company was formed in the first blush of Pakatan leaders taking power and although Nga has threatened to sue, he does not deny that the company, in which his wife is director, got the contract.

He is a subject of some controversy as he had been at loggerheads with not only Kulasegaran but also with Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir for calling him "metallic black" for which he apologised.

He also called Perak "Darul Kartun" and is getting flak for it.

In Perak, rivals to Kulasegaran former state assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar supported by his ally Buntong assemblyman S. Sivasubramaniam are already campaigning for Kulasagaran's Ipoh Barat seat.

It is said that Nga had already promised it to Sivakumar and if that is the case, Kulasegaran would have to move out or drop out altogether. Yet another Perak leader, Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, had been removed from all party functions as a result of a clash with Nga.

It is unclear whether she will be a candidate in Perak.

All this is causing an all-out rivalry in Perak between the Nga faction and the Kulasegaran camp. And as recent history has shown, when the DAP factions fight, they perform poorly in the general election.

In Penang, great stress is showing up between Karpal and Dr Ramasamy with the party grassroots in the state almost entirely supporting Karpal in his war against Dr Ramasamy.

Those ex-MIC and new people who had been attached to Dr Ramasamy after he almost overnight became the Batu Kawan MP, Prai assemblyman and Deputy Chief Minister II in one go, are about the only people in the DAP backing him in his feud with Karpal.

While Dr Ramasamy is weak in the DAP, he enjoys better standing in the Indian community where he is seen as a university professor who took to Opposition politics and made it good in the 2008 polls.

He gets support in the feud from Indian NGOs, ex-Hindraf people and also some ex-Makkal Sakti individuals who lost in the leadership tussle of the party to R. S. Thanenthiran, the current president.

Their feud has ramifications far beyond the squabble over terminology and if Dr Ramasamy is pushed, as Karpal seems to be doing, he might even quit the party, a potential disaster for the DAP with a general election around the corner. At the very least, he might have to give up his Prai state seat and the coveted Deputy Chief Minister's post and just contest the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat.

He has told a close confidant that he is ready to face any eventuality.

The DAP, thought to be the strongest party in the Pakatan, is showing dangerous in-fighting that could impact negatively on its general election performance.

For some, the world will end in 2012

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 08:19 AM PST

'Winnable' candidates have much to fear come next year

This is where the end of the world will come for some of them because what perhaps they do not realise is that in the BN scheme of things, the party chairman already has his evaluation methods to determine the candidates to be fielded. And much of these comes from intelligence reports he is privy to.

By Syed Nadzri, New Straits Times

SOME people say the world will end in the coming year. There's actually a certain truth in that. Even if the apocalyptic Mayan predictions and Nostradamus prophecy do not occur, it is going to be the end of the world just the same for some people here.

The death knell, one way or the other, will come with the 13th general election, which, as has been widely anticipated and figured out, is most likely to take place next year -- sooner rather than later. So for many, the world will end just before or just after this watershed event.

For one, the "winnable candidate" buzz could just veer off to give the death blow. The obsession with this tag has certainly added a horrendous twist to the molten political landscape that had taken shape after the bruising elections the last time around in 2008.

The fact is that many are anticipating 2012 to be a year of political showdowns. This plus the preoccupation with the winnable candidate formula gives it just the right recipe for the end of the world stuff.

Central to this issue is what, or who, is a winnable candidate? I think this overused expression is as redundant as the grossly irritating "repeat again one more time".

When you field a candidate, of course, he is considered (at least to the party pitting him) a winnable candidate. Who would want to put up a "losable candidate"?

But the tricky and often amusing part about the sweet-sounding term is that it brings forth many hopefuls who regard themselves as winnable on all counts, even if it is only by their own reckoning. And this is where the problem lies, because the world will virtually end for these people if they don't get selected as candidates. Or, in cases where they do, they get beaten.

There was, for instance, this old chap the other day who openly declared without the slightest hesitation.

The veteran said he had based the self-assessment on feedback from people around him and then boldly maintained that "this is not what I say but what the people say". Yeah right. Such smugness from a schmuck.

It is the same person who has been going around undermining some of his counterparts. It is also the same person who has not much to show from running a major sport association he heads. And he wants to be picked as a winnable candidate in politics.

Just watch, he will make all kinds of threats to everyone if he is not picked.

There are many people like him. It is understood that intense lobbying and so many petitions and self-pitching reports have gone out to Barisan Nasional party leaders in the promotion of certain so-called winnable candidates.

According to an aide to a minister, there had been numerous occasions when, during official functions or visits, envelopes and files containing lengthy resumes of certain candidates were willy-nilly passed on to top party leaders in the hope of consideration.

Even personalities linked to non-governmental organisations and elected representatives who are in the parliamentary independent group are in the list lobbying to be winnable candidates.

This is where the end of the world will come for some of them because what perhaps they do not realise is that in the BN scheme of things, the party chairman already has his evaluation methods to determine the candidates to be fielded. And much of these comes from intelligence reports he is privy to.

The same goes for prospective candidates from parties on the other side of the fence. The election outcome in 2008 made many sit up, and suddenly, now everyone wants to be a candidate, thinking that he can be a winner.

This explains the internal squabbles afflicting the parties.

Pas and DAP have some of their top leaders engaged in open confrontation which would inevitably affect candidacy. Parti Keadilan Rakyat is losing more disillusioned campaigners.

The odd thing about these parties and their supporters is that when abrasive statements are made from within or by one of their own officials, they are always the same -- the culprit has been paid off to become a turncoat. If it is the other way around and the criticisms come from within BN, the critic is instantly tagged as "a man with principles".

It is a bit like their perception of court cases and the media. Things are only fair if they are to their advantage.

On this note, there is a crucial court decision due soon. This could spell the end of the world as well, one way or the other.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Selasa, 27 Disember 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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