Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Putrajaya’s SUARAM probe sparks civil society activism
- PERSECUTION IN MALAYSIA - Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Malaysia
- Ex-DAP Tunku Aziz: Lim Guan Eng appointed himself CM
- Ex-mufti: Pakatan should rebuke its own for anti-Islam remarks
- Like a trapped animal (part 1)
- IGP: Police studying police reports against Ngeh
- Karpal denies DAP getting foreign funds
- Apa sebab pergi cari pasal?
- Israel won't force Google to block anti-Muslim video
- Putting My Foot Down
- Let authorities probe Suaram foreign funding, says Najib
- Read what the Umno Blogs are saying
- Senseless rage over anti-Islam film
- 237 reports made against Ngeh’s controversial Tweet
- Guan Eng: DAP Kedah wajar dapat tambahan kerusi
- End the siege on religions, urges NGO
- Tunku Abdul Aziz: No political clout in Pakatan Rakyat to form the next federal government
- France bans protests over Prophet Mohammad cartoons
- Just plain afraid of losing
- Insults to Islam ignite violence in Pakistan, 15 killed
- Who will be the Sabah opposition CM?
- Report: M’sia high on religious intolerance
- What are they defending?
- Should Pakatan Reveal Its Shadow Cabinet?
- Questioning four times within two weeks, police abuse of procedure for harassment?
- Next Parliament session may be last before polls
- Sabah: Still a ‘fixed deposit’?
- NST report: ‘Ridiculous and rubbish’
- EC waiting for AG's nod over postal voting for overseas Malaysians
- Who’s your Daddy? Part 3
- Najib slams fake letter to IIUM as a 'desperate act'
- Sabah opposition in dogfight for seats
- Ribuan umat Islam ‘menyerbu’ Kedutaan Amerika
- Karpal denounces insults against Prophet
- Cina sudah kurang ajar! Dah lupa 13 Mei ke?
- SUARAM, and USAid expulsion from Russia
- Audit PKR di Selangor ada unsur penipuan, kata SPR
- Revolusi Mental Orang Melayu
- APA?? Rosmah Mansor pakai jam tangan bernilai RM350,000?
- Defending Ngeh's Tweet on provocative film
- Pro A sapu bersih pilihan raya kampus
- ‘Reopen probe against Mahathir’
- Hisham, Rais, must apologise to M’sians for national shame
- Pakatan promises affordable housing, after cheaper cars, free education
- Malaysian role vexes Thai conflict
- Malaysia wants to prevent homosexuality from spreading
- Dr M: Leaders can be reproached and challenged
- How the knife cuts both ways
- I retract and apologise to any Muslim who is offended by my tweet
- Najib’s turn at Google Hangout, aims for cyber-savvy crowd
| Putrajaya’s SUARAM probe sparks civil society activism Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:53 AM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Outrage at Putrajaya's clampdown on Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) appears to have given a major boost to civil society activism here, likely affecting the Najib government's bid for votes from middle Malaysia ahead of an election expected soon. The human rights watchdog has been instrumental in the French probe on Malaysia's multibillion ringgit purchase of two Scorpene submarines, a high-profile scandal that many believe will unearth incriminating evidence against top government officials here. Global rights group Amnesty International had yesterday raised suspicion over the timing of the government's sudden interest in SUARAM's operations and funding sources, saying the probe was opened only four weeks after the organisation revealed documents showing a close associate to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had allegedly sold Malaysian naval secrets to the French. A new citizen group has now sprouted, joining the burgeoning of other civil society movements nationwide in a campaign to help SUARAM keep the Scorpene scandal in the limelight. Calling themselves the "Scorpene Never Dies" Action Team, the group of youths and "concerned citizens" has demanded that the Najib administration stop its "politically-motivated" investigation against SUARAM. Team coordinator Ng Yap Hwa said this was a poignant moment for Malaysians as their failure to band together to protect SUARAM would only encourage the government to continue to quell public dissent. "We feel we need to stand by Suaram in this critical time. "If we as citizens don't rally behind a human rights defender, the government could easily clamp down... no more people can stand by us in the future," he said. The team is organising a one-hour candlelight vigil next Tuesday at the historic Merdeka Square in the city centre here where several other protests fuelled by civil society activism have taken place recently. The team has also urged Malaysians nationwide to hold simultaneous events next week to record their disdain for the alleged harassment against SUARAM. Ng said that if members of the public keep silent now, "we will be the next (victim)" one day. He said that to "defend Suaram and to stand by Suaram" is for everyone's benefit. Ng added that the team would not be applying for a police permit for its 8pm event at the historic Merdeka square, as it was every individual's "constitutional right" to have a peaceful assembly. "Let us spread the Scorpene submarines issue far and wide to express our solidarity with the human rights defender, thereby warning the government that even if it could keep down SUARAM, the Scorpene submarines issue would never die and we would carry on the struggle to uncover the truth of the Scorpenes scandal and uphold justice for Altantuya," the group said in a statement. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/putrajayas-suaram-probe-sparks-civil-society-activism/ |
| PERSECUTION IN MALAYSIA - Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Malaysia Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:28 AM PDT Ij9soe_9BfU Or watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij9soe_9BfU An appeal to the Islamic religious authorities especially the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) to stop all agitations and incitements against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Malaysia and to hold an open discussion (muzakarah) with it. TheAmanTv Background |
| Ex-DAP Tunku Aziz: Lim Guan Eng appointed himself CM Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:55 PM PDT  Athi Shankar, WikiSabah GEORGE TOWN: In the never ending attempts to belittle Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng ,the latest query is whether Lim is the legitimate leader of the state. This time it comes from former DAP national vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim. Tunku Aziz says Lim appointed himself as the chief executive of the newly formed Pakatan Rakyat government by virtue of being the party's secretary general.By convention, he noted that long serving Penang DAP chairman and Padang Kota assemblyman Chow Kon Yeow should have been the chief minister, not a parachute candidate like Lim. But, Tunku Aziz alleged Lim declared himself as the chief minister during a meeting among DAP elected representatives held in Red Rock Hotel immediately after the 2008 election results were announced. During the closed door meeting, Abdul Aziz claimed that when a question was raised on who would be the new chief minister, Lim, the Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman, immediately jumped up and said "I am the chief minister because I am the party secretary general." He said Lim pre-empted any internal political conventional process to take place to choose the chief minister. "No one nominated or chose him … he chose himself. He bypassed the party's central executive and state committees to bulldoze his way through to grab the post. "I think many know the story on how he became the CM," Tunku Aziz told FMT before speaking at an indoor rally here last night. Tunku Aziz noted that Lim had been committing administrative blunders since 2008 because he does not understand the local needs, demands and sentiments. He cited unscrupulous sales of state land to rich developers to build posh houses at the expense of affordable homes for the poor was a perfect example of Lim's mismanagement due to lack of knowledge, maturity and experience. Rich developers He said Lim was now surrounded by rich developers. "Ordinary Penang people can't afford to buy homes in their own birth place. It's violation of their rights. Penangites wanted a chief minister, not a land broker," said Abdul Aziz. As the secretary general, he said Lim should sit at the national secretariat and focus to reorganise, restructure and strengthen the DAP to face the next election. He said DAP now was in disarray due to overwhelming power play by the dominant Lim dynasty which had frustrated many grassroots leaders and members. He said some leaders and members either were sacked or had left the party for good as "they were fed up with the Lim dynasty dominance." "Lim thinks he can handle everything so he wears many hats, sparing only positions of councillors and JKKK head to others. "His monopoly of power is a sign of insecurity and distrust of others," said Tunku Aziz.  Family business Later when speaking on the same subject at the rally, he said the Lim dynasty had turned DAP into a family business, practicing double standard and selective prosecution. He also slammed these leaders as hypocrites for not voicing out their opposition against the hudud law, even though they supported their national chairman Karpal Singh's firm stand against it. "They fear losing the Malay votes," Tunku Aziz told a crowded Leong See Kah Miew hall in Jalan Perak. Other speakers at the rally themed "The days when we were in DAP" were former DAP members Tan Tuan Tat, a former Selangor DAP publicity secretary; Yap Kon Min and Tony Tan Chee Chong, a former personal assistant to Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok Suh Sim. On Pakatan, Tunku Aziz described the coalition as a mere "marriage of convenience" in which all allies – DAP, PKR and PAS, could agree on many issues to clinch a common agenda. He noted that Pakatan can't reach consensus on a shadow cabinet and predicted intense internal squabbles for positions of prime minister and cabinet ministers if the coalition capture the federal government.
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| Ex-mufti: Pakatan should rebuke its own for anti-Islam remarks Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:28 PM PDT
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider Former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin today advised Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders to practise moderation when criticising others and not shy away from rebuking party colleagues if they breach religious boundaries. The Muslim cleric, who was commenting on the row over DAP lawmaker Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham's remark on Twitter, said politicians on both sides of the aisle should not only attack their opponents while keeping silent when their allies make mistakes. "For Pakatan, I hope they will be more balanced in politicking. Don't just pick on the faults of your opponents, but keep quiet when your ally makes a mistake. This is unhealthy politics. "I also hope that Umno will be the same, practise a healthy political culture," he told The Malaysian Insider. Asri's comments came after Ngeh apologised for asking recently over microblogging site Twitter if the protests against the anti-Islam clip "Innocence of Muslims" were a waste of "time and energy." Ngeh, the chairman of DAP's Perak chapter, came under fire for the remark but his party colleagues had also earned the ire of Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians when they did not openly rebuke the leader for his tweet. "I accept Ngeh Koo Ham's statement of apology, only next time, hopefully he will be careful with his comments," Asri said. Earlier today, Ngeh said that he felt his apology should sufficiently calm Muslim anger over his remarks and urged his critics to move on from the matter to other more important issues. He had on Thursday said that he had not meant to hurt Muslim sensitivities or belittle Islam with the offending message on Twitter. But prime minister yesterday questioned Ngeh's sincerity, reportedly saying: "If it is that easy, we can also pass remarks, insult and ridicule other religions and later apologise." De facto law minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz had yesterday called for the police to probe Ngeh over his remarks on the microblogging site. Yesterday, DAP's Lim Guan Eng said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be "uncharitable and small-minded" over Ngeh's apology. He pointed out that Ngeh's apology and retraction yesterday proved that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders were more gracious and willing to admit to their mistakes or shortcomings, unlike the politicians in Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN). Lim also told Najib to look at his own members in BN before passing any judgment against Ngeh, pointing out that many in the ruling coalition who made offensive statements in the past had not found it necessary to apologise later.
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| Like a trapped animal (part 1) Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:49 PM PDT
My friends told me I was crazy. "What are you going to do if your prediction does not come true?" they asked me. "Well, I suppose I will quietly leave the country," I joked. "Never fear, though," I told them. "There is such a thing called a self-fulfilling prophecy. If enough people believe it, it will happen." THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Who prevails in Umno? (The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah can talk about a better Malaysia, and we don't doubt his sincerity. He has been principled on many issues, and speaks of the knowledge of authority, not the authority of knowledge. That is the gist of his speech this past week in Melbourne. "It's not about numbers, it's about qualitative change. There are many paths to a better Malaysia," he told a mixed audience of about 130 at the annual Seminar Pembangunan Insan (Seminar on Human Development) at Melbourne Umno Club (KUAM) on Thursday. Saifuddin identified four features for the participatory democracy needed to respond to today's new social consciousness, especially among the young — integrity, governance, innovations in democracy, and progressive political thought. Do the others in Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN) speak of the same things? Does he speak for Umno or BN for that matter? The thing is, Saifuddin is of a very small minority in Umno. In fact he stands alone, and is not popular in the party that feels its dominance is an entitlement, a birthright. And the names he mentioned in his talk in Melbourne — Khairy Jamaluddin and Gan Ping Siew — are not in his class when speaking about change, be it in Putrajaya or within their parties. The question is this: who has more sway in Putrajaya: Saifuddin or the likes of Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz or Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein or even Datuk Ahmad Maslan? And who prevails in Umno? At this point in time, it sure doesn't look like its Saifuddin or those like him. *********************************************** That was The Malaysian Insider Editorial today, and a very valid observation and pertinent questions, may I add. Nevertheless, we all know the answer to those questions. Saifuddin Abdullah speaks for the minority, not the majority. And the majority definitely holds the opposite view to Saifuddin's. Should Saifuddin, therefore, even bother to speak up since his is the minority view and his minority view is not going to change anything? But then is this not always the case? The minority would normally never dare speak up. Take Saifuddin's case as an example. Those in Umno brand him as a Trojan horse. They call him a mole. They allege that he is a Pakatan Rakyat supporter who is trying to sabotage Umno from the inside. They consider him a traitor who is waiting to leave Umno to join the opposition. And because of that he would most likely not be chosen to contest the next election. The opposition would also whack him. They will say he is not sincere. If he is sincere why is he still in Umno? He should leave Umno now and join the opposition. Then, when he does leave Umno to join the opposition, he would still get whacked. Umno will say he is a frustrated person (gulungan keciwa) who left Umno to join the opposition because he is not going to be chosen to contest the next election. The opposition supporters will say the same thing and will speculate that he is an Umno mole who will probably jump back to Umno in the event of a hung Parliament. The bottom line is, whatever you say and do can never be right. They will still have something to say about you. And being in the minority means you will get whacked by both sides. It is better you remain in the majority, either pro-government or pro-opposition. If you are in the opposition and you criticise the opposition you will get whacked. If you are in the government and you criticise the government you will get whacked. Hence you either take the side of the government or you take the side of the opposition and then suck up to one side or the other. Then you become a hero. That, I suppose, is the Malaysian way. That is the Malaysian mindset. You follow the herd. Either you are a cow or you are a goat. And you just moo or bleat when others do, in sync and in tempo with the others. You do not meow in a group that moos or bleats. They will whack you to kingdom come. And that proves Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's theory that most people, Malaysians included, are like herd. They buy and sell property and shares like herd as well. When people buy they buy. When people sell they sell. Fundamentals play no part in your investment and divestment decisions. You just follow what others do. And hence would Malaysian politics be any different? If you think that Barisan Nasional is going to win you will vote Barisan Nasional. If you think that Pakatan Rakyat is going to win you will vote Pakatan Rakyat. This happened in 1999. It happened in 2004. And it happened again in 2008. Most people would like to believe that Pakatan Rakyat performed the way it did in 2008 because the people already had enough of Barisan Nasional and just wanted a change after half a century of the same government. I hope you do not believe this because if you do then you are going to be in for a rude shock. No, that was not the reason why 2008 turned out the way it did. People already felt the way they did in 2008 since way back in 1998, ten years before that. The only thing is that most people did not dare act on what they felt because they thought they were in the minority. And people do not like being in the minority. They want to be in the majority. In 1998, it was mainly the Malays who swung. And they swung because they felt that the Malays who were going to swing were in the majority. And that proved true the following year in the 1999 general election. The non-Malays I spoke to back in 1998-1999 also felt the same way as the Malays felt. But they were not confident that the swing was large enough. They were worried that the swing would be too small and hence if they joined those who vote against the government they might be in the minority. And the non-Malays told me that it is very dangerous to be in the minority. It is safer to be in the majority. Hence even if they hate Barisan Nasional they would still vote for Barisan Nasional just to be safe. In 2004, it appeared like the hate factor had disappeared. The people were not really anti-Barisan Nasional as much as they were anti-Dr Mahathir. And the issue against Dr Mahathir was what he did to Anwar Ibrahim. Hence 1999 was a reflection of the Dr Mahathir hate factor. But Dr Mahathir had already resigned and there was talk that Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would release Anwar soon after the 11th General Election of March 2004. Hence the Malays are no longer angry with Umno. Against that backdrop, most likely the Malays would swing back to Umno. So, if the non-Malays voted opposition while the Malays voted Barisan Nasional, the non-Malays will be in the minority. So, again, it would be safer to vote Barisan Nasional, just in case. And that was exactly what happened in 2004. The Malays swung back to Umno and PAS lost Terengganu and held on to Kelantan with a one-seat majority in the State Assembly. Phew, lucky the non-Malays did not vote opposition. So they were right for not voting opposition after all. If they did they would be in deep shit. But they still hated Umno and Barisan Nasional though. It is just they did not vote opposition for safety reasons. Then, in 2007, against the backdrop of the Bersih and Hindaf rallies in November that same year, it appeared like those opposed to the government were in the majority, or at least a large minority. And it appeared like those opposed to the government were not confined to just one race but cut across the board to include all the races. Even Tun Dr Mahathir was opposed to the government. He resigned from Umno and campaigned all over Malaysia to tell the Umno members to not vote for Umno. It looked like this time it was for real. Many Umno people even supported and joined the Bersih march in November 2007. DAP and PAS members and some leaders also met up with Umno people who supported the move that Umno must be taught a lesson in the general election. There were just so many anti-Umno Umno members and leaders. This anti-Umno movement was no longer just an opposition thing. Umno people and leaders were against Umno as well. Tun Dr Mahathir himself was against Umno. Umno is finished. It is time everyone voted Pakatan Rakyat. We are now in the majority. Then we went round the country to speak at ceramahs and announced that Barisan Nasional was going to lose between 80-100 Parliament seats. They were also going to lose five states and probably rule in two states with a simple majority. Barisan Nasional is finished. Even Umno people and its leaders support the opposition. We told the tens of thousands in the audience this will definitely happen. We even named the states that were going to fall to the opposition. My friends told me I was crazy. "What are you going to do if your prediction does not come true?" they asked me. "Well, I suppose I will quietly leave the country," I joked. "Never fear, though," I told them. "There is such a thing called a self-fulfilling prophecy. If enough people believe it, it will happen." It is just like the stock market or property market. If enough people believe that in January next year the market is going to collapse it will collapse. And it will collapse because people will panic and will sell. So it is the panicking and selling that actually triggers the collapse. That is how self-fulfilling prophecies work. The people from Sabah and Sarawak were quite sore with us from West Malaysia. We should have gone to East Malaysia and also tell the voters there that Barisan Nasional was going to get whacked, they lamented. The East Malaysian voters did not think it would happen. So they voted Barisan Nasional because they thought the swing is not going to be large enough. If they had known that the swing was actually bigger than they thought then they too would have voted opposition. Hence the people from East Malaysia would have also followed the herd if they had known. The only thing is they did not know that there was a herd. And that was why they stuck with Barisan Nasional. The question now is: do the people believe that the swing is still there? Do they believe that the swing is even larger now than in 2008? If they believe that the swing is larger it is going to get larger. But if they believe that the swing has gone back to Barisan Nasional then it will swing back to Barisan Nasional. People have herd mentality and they will follow the herd. They do not want to be in the minority I will stop here for now and maybe continue later with part 2 of 'Like a trapped animal' and relate what is going to make the people, in particular the Malays, vote Umno. |
| IGP: Police studying police reports against Ngeh Posted: 21 Sep 2012 07:04 PM PDT
(Bernama) - The police are evaluating reports made against Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham to determine the nature of the offence when he questioned Muslim reaction to an anti-Islam film, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said today. "If there is justification, we will conduct the investigation in accordance with procedure," he told a news conference after launching a campus community policing programme at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), here.
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| Karpal denies DAP getting foreign funds Posted: 21 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT
(Bernama) - DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said the allegation that the party is getting foreign funds from George Soros was uncalled for. "Where is the evidence that the DAP is getting foreign funds?" he said when asked about several Malaysian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including Suaram having obtained foreign funds to destabilize the government.
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:31 PM PDT You can find almost anything in this world if you go looking for it and if you know where to find them. There are even gay parties, wife-swapping parties, orgies, 'adult' entertainment centres, nudist colonies, singles resorts, etc. You name it; you can find it -- even sex with cows and goats if that is what turns you on. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Israel won't force Google to block anti-Muslim video Court rejects MK Talab el-Sana's petition to prevent the controversial film from being available to people in Israel via the Internet • Court: Those who may be offended by it should not look for it on the Internet. (Israel Hayom) - The Jerusalem District Court rejected a petition by MK Talab el-Sana (Ra'am-Ta'al) on Thursday requesting that the controversial film, 'Innocence of Muslims', produced in the U.S., be made inaccessible to people in Israel through the Internet. Judge Miriam Mizrahi decided to refrain from issuing an order to restrict access to the film through the YouTube website. El-Sana, together with other Israeli-Arab political and religious leaders, requested that the YouTube page featuring the film be shut down, or, alternatively, that the page be blocked from access throughout the country. Although the petitioners asked for an urgent hearing on the matter so that the court could issue a temporary order to prevent the film from being accessible on the Internet, Mizrahi said in her ruling that those who thought they would be offended by viewing the film should not search for it on the Internet. "Whoever does not look for the film will not find it, so the public who would be offended by the film can avoid seeing it," Mizrahi said. The court is scheduled to continue to discuss the matter on Oct. 15, after both sides submit their detailed legal explanations. The petitioners, through attorney Kais Nasser, claimed, "The movie is extremely offensive, desecrates the image of the Prophet Muhammad in a racist manner, tramples his sanctity and name, and offends the honour and faith of more than a billion Muslims throughout the world and more than a million Muslims who are citizens of Israel." ************************************** When my wife and I first moved into our new home in Manchester three years ago, on Saturdays and/or Sundays people from the local church would come knocking on our door to talk to us about Jesus Christ. Most times I would be in my office working so my wife goes to answer the door. My wife would stand there patiently as they spoke to her about Jesus. They would also invite her to the local church to meet the community. After their 'ceramah' they would leave pamphlets and booklets with her before they left. My wife would just place the material on the sideboard and later would dump them in the dustbin together with the other 'junk mail' that goes out with the Thursday rubbish collection. Different people would come at different times and sometimes they would ask what religion we profess. My wife would reply that we are Muslims and they were usually very pleased to hear that. This probably made their 'mission' more interesting and challenging. They don't come around that much nowadays, at least not weekly any longer like before. I suppose they have given up on us as a 'lost cause'. Nevertheless, my wife (and I as well whenever I happen to be the one answering the door) is never rude to these Christian evangelists. We always smile -- and maintain the smile throughout even when they stand on our doorstep for half an hour -- and politely give them our full attention. We never show that we are impatient for them to leave. We will allow them to finish what they want to say and leave when they are ready to leave. Until then we stand there and play the perfect host and make sure they are not uncomfortable about 'disturbing' us. I sometimes even flip though the pamphlets and booklets before I throw them into the dustbin. I feel guilty about throwing them away without reading them and therefore waste their effort and money in their attempt to convert us to the way of Christ. They left them so that we will read them -- so I do just that, I read them. Hence at least that part of their mission succeeds although they failed to get us to go to church. I just hope that at least that small effort of ours at being nice, hospitable and friendly managed to give these Christian evangelists the impression that not all Muslims run berserk and will foam at the mouth when you try to preach Christianity to them. I consider this my greatest jihad for Islam -- showing Christians that Muslims can be nice, hospitable and friendly. They never tried to tell us that Islam is bad or is the wrong religion. They just focused on talking about Christianity and to tell us that Jesus loves us and is our saviour and all that. They also tried to put across to us that they love us as well and is why they come to our door every week to talk to us. And I also showed them that I love them and appreciate the trouble they took to come to speak to us. I could, of course, have screamed at them to leave us alone. I could also have told them that we are Muslims and hence are not interested to hear what they have to say about Christianity or Christ. But that would be downright rude and unfriendly even though that would be within our rights to do so. After all, they are disturbing us very early on a Sunday or Saturday morning so I have every right to tell them off. At the very least I could have just not opened the door and after a while they would have gone away. But why disappoint them? Why make them feel like they have wasted their time? Why make them feel unwelcome by not opening the door when they clearly know we are at home? Make them feel welcome and let them go home happy that they managed to talk to a Muslim about Christianity and Christ. I know most Muslims reading this will be appalled. They would probably think that my imam (faith) is very weak. How can week after week I layan (entertain) Christian evangelists who are trying to convert me to Christianity? Well, I am not a 'regular' Muslim. If you can't accept me for what I am then that is your problem, not mine. You lead your life the way you want to lead your life and leave me to lead my life the way I want to. That is the long and short of it all. I want to now talk about that news item from Israel above. What the Israeli court said regarding that controversial movie is very sensible. "Those who may be offended by it should not look for it on the Internet. Whoever does not look for the film will not find it, so the public who would be offended by the film can avoid seeing it." You may have heard or read that there is a trailer of an anti-Islam movie on the Internet, YouTube in particular. But did they come to your door to give you a copy of that movie? Did they force you to sit down and watch that movie? Are you obligated to watch that movie? You heard or read about it. Then you went looking for it. And then you found it. After that you get angry and run berserk. Apa ni? Apa sebab pergi cari pasal? You go looking for it and then you get upset. There are many things out there. There are brothels and prostitutes (plus transvestites) walking on the streets and hanging around seedy back lanes and side alleys. There are massage parlours that throw in sex or a hand job/blow job for an extra fee. There are bars, pubs, clubs, etc., where you can go to get drunk plus to pick up girls, boys, lady boys and whatever may turn you on. There are casinos, gambling dens and gaming outlets where you can gamble. You can find almost anything in this world if you go looking for it and if you know where to find them. There are even gay parties, wife-swapping parties, orgies, 'adult' entertainment centres, nudist colonies, singles resorts, etc. You name it; you can find it -- even sex with cows and goats if that is what turns you on. So don't go looking for it. And if you go looking for it and find it, don't go and get upset about it. Now, if they come to your home and knock on your door to offer you these 'services', then by all means get upset. Scream, rant and rave if you want since they came to your home to disturb you. But even then, if they came to my home and knocked on my door I would not get upset. I would either politely refuse them, tell them not to disturb me again, or just not open my door. But I would not bother to run amok, even if they came to my door. And if they did not come to my door why the hell would I want to go and seek them out and then get upset? |
| Israel won't force Google to block anti-Muslim video Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:01 PM PDT
Court rejects MK Talab el-Sana's petition to prevent the controversial film from being available to people in Israel via the Internet • Court: Those who may be offended by it should not look for it on the Internet. (Israel Hayom) - The Jerusalem District Court rejected a petition by MK Talab el-Sana (Ra'am-Ta'al) on Thursday requesting that the controversial film, "Innocence of Muslims," produced in the U.S., be made inaccessible to people in Israel through the Internet. Judge Miriam Mizrahi decided to refrain from issuing an order to restrict access to the film through the YouTube website. El-Sana, together with other Israeli-Arab political and religious leaders, requested that the YouTube page featuring the film be shut down, or, alternatively, that the page be blocked from access throughout the country. Although the petitioners asked for an urgent hearing on the matter so that the court could issue a temporary order to prevent the film from being accessible on the Internet, Mizrahi said in her ruling that those who thought they would be offended by viewing the film should not search for it on the Internet. "Whoever does not look for the film will not find it, so the public who would be offended by the film can avoid seeing it," Mizrahi said. The court is scheduled to continue to discuss the matter on Oct. 15, after both sides submit their detailed legal explanations. The petitioners, through attorney Kais Nasser, claimed, "The movie is extremely offensive, desecrates the image of the Prophet Muhammad in a racist manner, tramples his sanctity and name, and offends the honor and faith of more than a billion Muslims throughout the world and more than a million Muslims who are citizens of Israel." According to the petition, publication of the film violates the penal code by offending the feelings of Muslims, incites racism and constitutes slander. Attorney Hagit Bleiberg, who represented Google (owner of YouTube) in the case, pointed out that "No one in the world, and in Israel in particular, has recognized the Google search engine as a publisher. The film's creator is its publisher. It is he who uploaded the content. YouTube did not upload the film and neither did Google. It's a fact that the court did not find them responsible for it." At the end of the session, El-Sana warned that violent protests may take place in Israel if access to the film is not blocked. On Sept. 11, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staffers were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi by protesters angry over the film which they said ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. After that incident, a wave of violent protests swept through Arab countries in light of the film's publication and repercussions from the film's anti-Muslim message have yet to abate in the Arab world. Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress from Bakersfield, California, who had a small role in the anti-Islam film, told the Gawker website on Sept. 12 that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka "Sam Bacile"), the film's producer, initially said he was an Israeli real estate mogul but told her on set that he was actually Egyptian and spoke Arabic. Garcia said that after protests broke out in Libya and Egypt, she called Bacile up to express her outrage. When she asked why he made the film, she said he told her, "I'm tired of radical Islamists killing each other." Garcia has since sued Nakoula and demanded that the film be removed from YouTube. She accused the producer of fraud, slander and violation of her privacy, and said her life was in danger due to her role in the film. A Los Angeles judge rejected her petition on Thursday, but Garcia, via her attorney, vowed to continue to pursue the matter. Meanwhile, the chief editor of the satirical French weekly paper Charlie Hebdo was unapologetic and defiant on Sept. 19 over his decision to publish drawings considered offensive to Muslims. Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, who publishes under the pen name "Charb," has been under police protection for the past year. "Muhammad isn't sacred to me. I don't blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French law. I don't live under Quranic law," Charbonnier told The Associated Press. He said he had no regrets and felt no responsibility for any violence. "I'm not the one going into the streets with stones and Kalashnikovs," he said. "We've had 1,000 issues and only three problems, all after front pages about radical Islam." On Nov. 2, 2011 a fire caused serious damage at the headquarters of the newspaper which had "invited" the Prophet Muhammad as a guest editor throughout the week. A police official said the fire broke out at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, and the cause remains unclear. No injuries were reported in the incident.
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:08 PM PDT  Malaysia Today is publishing this article in response to comments posted asking about the source of the photograph By Shaun Tan, CEKU You know something's wrong when even the simplest gestures become risky. Last week many of us were made acutely aware of this. On Merdeka Eve, a group of people were photographed stepping on pictures of Prime Minister Najib Razak. The result was the arrests of three young people under the threat of sedition and a continuing 'manhunt' for the rest of the group. Suddenly stepping on the Prime Minister's photo – something no one even knew was supposed to be illegal – was threatened with criminal prosecution. Such persecution by the Barisan Nasional government has prompted one of the suspects, a 19-year-old girl, to apologize for her actions. I don't know what satisfaction the BN government got from bullying a young girl into apologizing, but in at least one respect it seems to have succeeded: suddenly people are apologizing where no apology should be necessary. The Opposition response to this has been disappointingly hesitant. So far most statements by Opposition leaders seem to urge the government to 'forgive' those involved. It's a pity that so few are prepared to say what needs to be said: that those young people were just expressing their displeasure at the Prime Minister in a way that harmed no one, that threatened no one, and that the government has neither right nor cause to forgive them anything. It's a pity that our government needs reminding that in a democracy politicians derive their authority from the people, and that when faced with public expressions of displeasure, a true leader should square his shoulders and put up with it. Because in politics, criticism and even insult come with the territory, and someone who cannot stomach it or who can only respond to negative feedback with threats and coercion is unfit to lead. It's difficult for me not to see this persecution as just the latest in a series of attacks by the BN government on our liberty. I've grown up seeing how these attacks have infected the country with a pernicious self-censorship and reduced the mainstream media to its pitiful state, and I am unwilling to concede another inch. I don't want Malaysia to become a country where the Prime Minister is so sacred that even stepping on his image is illegal. And since without a corresponding gesture my words will be empty, here's a photo to go with them:
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| Let authorities probe Suaram foreign funding, says Najib Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:56 PM PDT
(Bernama) - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today he would leave it to the authorities to investigate allegations that non-governmental organisation Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) receives foreign funding. "Let the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) and the relevant authorities investigate (the matter)," he told reporters after launching the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) at Pudu Sentral, here. Preliminary investigation by CCM had revealed the existence of fund transactions between Suaram and its parent company, Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd. Suaram, which claims to be a non-governmental organisation, was also found to have not registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS). On the Saudi Arabian government's rejection of a Malaysian application to increase its annual quota of pilgrims to the Holy Land, Najib said the decision rested with the Saudi Arabian government. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said yesterday that Malaysia was among 40 countries which were denied an additional quota of Haj pilgrims for this year by the Saudi Arabian government. Malaysia had asked for the annual quota of 28,000 to be raised by 10,000 this year in view of the 982,000 people on the Haj pilgrimage waiting list. Najib expressed pride over the success of the 1 Malaysia English Channel Solidarity Swimming Expedition team yesterday. He said the team's success was a major achievement for Malaysia as well as for the Malaysian Armed Forces. "I am very proud that they were able to swim across the English Channel, a feat most difficult to accomplish, what with the many obstacles. I am also proud of the fact there are people who are resilient and bold and carry the spirit of Malaysia Boleh," he said. Two teams from the armed forces, one comprising a solo swimmer and the other a relay team, completed the feat yesterday after the event was postponed due to strong winds and rough sea. Solo swimmer Estino Taniyu, a Royal Malaysia Navy (RMN) personnel from Semporna, Sabah, became the second Malaysian to conquer the channel without the use of a shark cage, after Lennard Lee who accomplished the feat in 2004. Estino completed his swim in 13 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds. The relay team of six swimmers, comprising Mohd Roslan Mohd Zawawi, Mohd Khairul Faizal Mazli, Mohd Salleh Mahmor, Buranurdin Sali, Sharizal Omar and Mohd Zulfadhli Mahamad, completed their swim in 14 hours and 30 minutes. The expedition was sponsored by the Malaysian 7 Continents Exploration Club under the patronage of the prime minister.
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| Read what the Umno Blogs are saying Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:47 PM PDT Bila Melayu bersatu tunjuk marah, babi-babi bertambah rasis  Mereka gelisah melihat Melayu bersatu hati dan sepakat yang memungkinkan lebih banyak persepakatan sesama Melayu akan berlaku sebagaimana Cina dalam DAP dan luar DAP begitu bersepakat dan senada dalam memainkan isu berhubung kepentingan mereka.
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| Senseless rage over anti-Islam film Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:30 PM PDT
Islamic Renaissance Front, The Malaysian Insider The Islamic Renaissance Front views the recent murders and uproar over the film "Innocence of Muslims" with much sadness and bafflement. All available facts suggest that "Innocence of Muslims" is not even a film. What is currently known about it was available in the widely circulated YouTube clip which ran for a total of some 13-odd minutes. What is worse, most critics are in agreement on the film's utterly poor quality — cheap sets, mediocre actors, bad voice-overs and incomprehensible narrative — all of which explains why no one had even heard of the so-called film until Muslims decided to make a fuss about it. Indeed, the added tragedy is not so much that the film is Islamophobic, which it clearly is, but that the unnecessary attention given to it by angry Muslims, eventually gave the film far more publicity than it deserves. Why? The question is why. What is behind the apparent trend of Muslim hypersensitivity? For the protests is just one occurrence out of countless others before, whereby masses of Muslims occupy public space to pressure some form of censure, punishment or banning of some product for insulting Islam. Rather than to reflect, negotiate or dialogue the tenor has often been to confront and suppress. The most well-known case to date was the furore over Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses". More recently there were the Danish cartoons. Even the rather well produced "The Message", directed by Moustafa Akkad in 1976 with Anthony Quinn as the main actor, which did not portray the Prophet at all was deemed by many Muslims to be offensive. A Muslim group staged a siege against the Washington DC chapter of B'nai B'rith, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants under the false belief that Quinn portrayed the Prophet. We now witnessed the needless deaths of dozens of innocent civilians as a result of violent protests that only reinforced the distorted image of Islam as a religion of violence and intolerance. It portrays the vicious face of a religion that was supposed to be a religion of peace and compassion. The West? When one observes the discourse closely, one will find that what underlies the narrative is a sense of defeat and insecurity upon being overwhelmed by what is often broadly termed as "the West". This sentiment is an obvious continuation of an earlier resentment against Western colonialism, which almost all Muslim-majority countries today experienced in one form or another. Daily life in the age of globalisation too has seen an increase of presence by Western products as well as political and cultural values. Geopolitically, the presence of Western military forces in Muslim countries is all too apparent and overwhelming. All this has somehow been viewed by Muslims as a sign that Islam is left behind, in one way or another, as a civilisation. That in turn further reinforces the anxiety of powerlessness before fearful imaginations of a monolithic behemoth called "the West". From there, everything Islamic is juxtaposed against it, giving rise to a mood of scepticism against anything and everything that comes from the so-called "West". Towards openness and dialogue But the situation is not that simple. While there has been much decline in science and learning in the Muslim world, which is undeniably tied to a history of colonial exploitation, Muslims must learn to take responsibility for the course of their own progress. Thus, rather than to recoil in defensiveness against everything Western or offensive, there must be instead, an attitude of critical reflection and openness to ideas. Progress requires freedom, for no genuine learning can proceed when power is imposed from without on what can be said and heard. To embrace this is not to embrace or justify Islamophobic or racist sentiments. It is rather to affirm that racist or Islamophobic sentiments are best dealt with through dialogue, learning and empathy rather than brute force or coercion. Hate must be combated. Oppression must end. But Muslims will only fail themselves if they proceed in a stupor of insecurity and anger. Islam is a religion of patience and compassion There is nothing in Islam that says hate must be combated with more hate. Recall, when the Prophet Muhammad was just beginning his mission, a woman placed faeces at his door in hatred of Islam. Muhammad endured the humiliation peacefully, neither choosing to retaliate in anger or violence, to exemplify that ethos of calm and compassion that defined the eventual success of Islam in Mecca. Conservative Muslims tend to regard such instances as inevitable given that Muslims did not get in power until Medina, but they forget the historical fact that it was Muhammad's exemplary character as a clear-headed leader in Mecca that compelled the Medinans to turn to him as an arbiter and leader for their fragmented city in the first place. Calm and compassion needed in Malaysia too Yesterday, thousands gathered outside Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru and the US Embassy to protest the "Innocence of Muslims". Interestingly this saw members of the Islamist party (PAS) and the main ruling Malay party (Umno) marching for a similar cause for once, even prompting the Umno Youth chief to invite PAS to join the ruling coalition. It is too early to say if this will lead to anything but it does reveal again an age-old fact about Malay politics, namely in how the vagueness of "Malay and Muslim unity" is used as a pretext to overlook other more concerned issues, such as socio-economic justice and multiracial solidarity. Emotions and passions reign ahead of clear-headed rationale and human values. The Islamic Renaissance Front once again calls for all Muslims to focus on the central agenda of Islam and that is the end of oppression and the establishment of a just society whereby all citizens irrespective of race and creed are treated equally. Enough lives, time and effort have been wasted over this film. It is time to move on and wake up. * This Islamic Renaissance Front statement carries the names of Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, Ahmad Fuad Rahmad, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Rizqi Mukhriz and Ehsan Shahwahid.
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| 237 reports made against Ngeh’s controversial Tweet Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:19 PM PDT
(Bernama) - A total of 237 police reports have been lodged in the state against Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham for his controversial tweet questioning the moves taken by Muslims in protesting the anti-Islamic 'Innocence of Muslims' film. Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahalan said police would look into the reports and take into consideration all aspects before making any decisions on the matter. "So far, we have collected the reports lodged statewide and my officers will study them.
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| Guan Eng: DAP Kedah wajar dapat tambahan kerusi Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:15 PM PDT
(Sinar Harian) - DAP Kedah wajar diberi peranan lebih besar dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13) dengan tambahan kerusi untuk bertanding termasuk peringkat parlimen. Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng berkata, DAP Pusat bersetuju dengan hasrat DAP Kedah yang mahu meletakkan calon di dua kerusi parlimen (Alor Setar dan Padang Serai) dan enam Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) membabitkan Kota Darul Aman, Bakar Bata, Derga, Bakar Arang, Gurun dan Lunas. "DAP tetap mahu tambahan kerusi untuk bertanding pada PRU13, ketika PRU12 kita hanya letak calon di Kota Darul Aman dan Derga. Jumlah ini amat kecil dan ia tidak boleh diterima untuk PRU13," katanya ketika berucap merasmikan Konvensyen Tahunan DAP Kedah, di Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Kedah, semalam.
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| End the siege on religions, urges NGO Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:58 PM PDT
(The Star) - The unrelenting siege on all religions and their prophets must cease, said a Muslim non-governmental organisation. Society must also be courageous to condemn abominations against theism, said the Muslim Professionals Forum yesterday. In issuing its statement over the controversial film Innocence of Muslims and the subsequent violent protests across the Muslim world, the organisation said that "the perpetrators have guised behind the cloak of freedom of speech while claiming to be works of literature or the arts". The beliefs of Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism have similarly not been spared. "Specific individuals and interest groups are unashamedly abusing our noble values of freedom of speech and expression to tarnish the image of authentic religions, demonising it and demeaning their prophets with trails of untruths and unfounded claims," said the organisation's board of directors. The Muslim Professionals Forum also labelled the irrational and emotional reactions by some Muslims and the violence unleashed with its consequent deaths, injuries and damages to property as "most un-Islamic" and "distant from the Islamic teachings of peace, justice and fair-play". "Governments, civil society, religious leaders and icons in the literary and film industry must be courageous to condemn and prohibit the publication and showing of films and literary works of a similar nature." Umno had also condemned the production and airing of the movie as well as the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in bad light in a French magazine. "Fellow Muslims need to understand that Islam doesn't need us to defend it; it only needs us to represent it faithfully and authentically."
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| Tunku Abdul Aziz: No political clout in Pakatan Rakyat to form the next federal government Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:55 PM PDT
(The Star) - Pakatan Rakyat does not have the political clout to form the next federal government because they cannot agree on many fundamental issues, said former DAP vice-president Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim. "Among themselves (DAP, PAS and PKR), they have not agreed with each other. This is what people are describing as a marriage of convenience. They will surely divorce," he said here on Friday night during a ceramah at the Leong See Kah Miew community hall. "But (for now), they are scared to do so because they share a common goal, which is to capture Putrajaya." He was speaking in Penang for the first time, since he quit DAP in May. The former Transparency International board of directors' vice-chairman also touched on the political situation in Penang. He added that even if Pakatan won, it would be a useless outcome because they would only decide on the ministerial posts when they reached Putrajaya and it would be too late. "Now, they cannot decide among themselves about forming a shadow cabinet," he said. On Penang, he said while the state had progressed in the last four years, it was developed because it had a history of more than 200 years and not because of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. "Rather it is your (local) ancestors, who are the ones who built it up," he said. According to Tunku Abdul Aziz, Lim was a politician who parachuted into Penang because he was not capable in Malacca.
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| France bans protests over Prophet Mohammad cartoons Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:52 PM PDT (Reuters) - PARIS: France banned protests yesterday against cartoons published by a satirical weekly denigrating Islam's Prophet Mohammad as part of a security clamp-down while prayers took place across the Muslim world. The country's Muslim population, drawn largely from ex-colonies in North and West Africa, shrugged off the controversy as imams in mosques denounced the pictures but urged their followers to remain calm. The drawings have stoked a furor over an anti-Islam film made in California that has provoked sometimes violent protests in several Muslim countries, including attacks on US and other Western embassies, the killing of the US envoy to Libya and a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said prefects had orders to prohibit any protest and to crack down if the ban was challenged. "There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," he told a news conference in the southern port city of Marseille. The main body representing Muslims in France appealed for calm as the weekly Charlie Hebdo put a new print run of the cartoons featuring a naked Prophet Mohammad on the news stands. Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Muslim Council, described both the film and the cartoons as "acts of aggression" but urged French Muslims not to protest in the streets. "I repeat the council's call not to protest. Any protest could be hijacked and counterproductive," he told radio RFI. An estimated 8,000 Muslims gathered peacefully for Friday prayers at a temporary prayer hall in northern Paris set up in a former fire department depot. So many turned out that hundreds had to pray in the rain in the adjacent parking lot. "This demonstrates that the vast majority of the Muslim community is not made up of extremists," said Abderahmane Dahmane, spokesman for the local association that runs the prayer hall, one of the largest in the Paris region. "The majority will not play the game of the hotheads." At prayers in the northeast Paris suburb of La Courneuve, delivery driver Hakim Ardjou, 42, also rejected violence. "We just want our message to be heard: this sort of insult is a disgrace, but we will keep calm." Public approves protest ban French embassies, schools and cultural centers in some 20 Muslim countries were closed yesterday, the Muslim day of prayer, in a precaution ordered by the French government. French media showed footage of an embassy protected by soldiers and barbed wire in former French colony Tunisia, where the Islamist-led government has also banned protests over the cartoons. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there had been anti-French demonstrations in Afghanistan, Egypt and Indonesia, but there were no incidents against French nationals. "In a certain number of countries, the measures (closures) will be kept in place as a precaution on Saturday and Sunday," Fabius told journalists. Police were on alert in the French capital after protests planned by some Muslim groups were banned. Charlie Hebdo, an anti-establishment weekly whose Paris offices are under police protection, defied critics to rush out another run of the publication that sold out on Wednesday. It says the cartoons are designed simply to poke fun at the uproar over the film and on Friday hit back at critics accusing it of deliberately stirring controversy to sell newspapers. "If Charlie Hebdo wanted to make a quick buck, it would not produce Charlie Hebdo," it said on its Twitter feed. The publication has a print run of around 70,000 but its Mohammad cartoons have made front-page news in a country which has both the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in Europe – an estimated five million Muslims and 600,000 Jews. President Francois Hollande's government has sought to balance a cherished tradition of freedom of expression with security concerns, denouncing Charlie Hebdo as irresponsible. "When you are free, in a country like ours, you always have to measure the impact of your words," French European Affairs Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. A survey by TNS Sofres for i-Tele news channel showed 58 percent thought freedom of expression was a fundamental right, and that "freedom to caricature" was part of that. Yet an even higher 71 percent of the roughly 1,000 people interviewed on Thursday approved of the ban on protests against the cartoons. France has a proud tradition of street protest.
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:47 PM PDT The Barisan Nasional must not go overboard in its campaign of intimidation against the opposition. Selena Tay, FMT Those in power can be said to be bullying the rakyat and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat one way or other. First and foremost is the bullying of the rakyat by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in regard to the date of the 13th general election. Not too long ago he has strongly hinted that the polls will be held in November, but only recently he has said, "Let them speculate. I like them to speculate." This is a very irresponsible conduct coming from the leader of the nation. Not sticking to the November date shows that he is afraid of losing. Just as Barisan Nasional has said the Selangor Pakatan-led state government is afraid of losing when the latter announced that it would not be holding the state polls this year, the same yardstick can also be applied to the BN. Perhaps Najib wants to have the election next year so that he can regain Selangor at one go. It must be noted, too, that he has said guessing the election date is a national past-time. "In the first place, the election date is definitely not a game and should not have been made into a game. Therefore it is time to put a stop to it. This has gone on long enough," said M Manogaran, DAP MP for Teluk Intan. Another form of bullying from the powers-that-be is the refusal to clean up the electoral rolls. Instead, the citizens who took to the streets to ask for clean and fair elections have been set upon, attacked and beaten up. The constant bombardment of one-sided propaganda promoting BN, which includes biased reporting against Pakatan through the mainstream media to keep voters in the dark, can also be considered a form of bullying, with the intention of creating captive minds for easy manipulation. The harassment of NGOs, civil society activists and individuals connected with whistleblowing on the powers-that-be is also bullying. Punching-bag DAP Pertaining to the bullying of the opposition, the DAP has become a punching bag for both Umno and MCA. DAP has been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam but, at the same time, is also accused of being supportive of the implemention of hudud law, with the exception of DAP stalwart, Karpal Singh. Therefore, DAP is cornered from all sides with contradictory accusations. Not very intelligent but enough to fool the gullible. DAP's service centres in Penang have also been splashed with red paint recently and also earlier this year. So much for DAP. As for Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim, he has had to endure bullying punishment in the form of sex scandals and have had a shoe thrown at him in a mosque in Kedah earlier this month. His Pakatan bus which is currently going on a tour in the Peninsula in an effort to meet the rakyat has been splashed with red paint more than once (thrice at this time of writing). Nails have also been strewn on the road to damage the bus tyres, not to mention hostile youths blocking the route. Even Anwar's safety cannot be guaranteed from malicious forces, what more the safety of the average ordinary citizens. Earlier this year, too, Pakatan's ceramahs have been set upon by rowdy youths. The cars of Pakatan leaders have also been damaged. The victims of the car damage include Anwar, PAS Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin, PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and a Malacca DAP state assemblyman. Cars of DAP's dinner guests in Kuching have also suffered damage to the windscreen this year. Fortunately a windscreen repair shop proprietor, who is also a DAP member, has offered to provide discounted repairs.
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| Insults to Islam ignite violence in Pakistan, 15 killed Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:42 PM PDT (Reuters) - ISLAMABAD: Muslim protests against insults to the Prophet Mohammad turned violent in Pakistan, where at least 15 people were killed yesterday, the Muslim day of prayer, but remained mostly peaceful in other Islamic countries. In France, where the publication of cartoons denigrating the Prophet stoked anger over an anti-Islam video made in California, authorities banned all protests over the issue. "There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," said Interior Minister Manuel Valls. Tunisia's Islamist-led government also banned protests against the images published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Four people were killed and almost 30 wounded last week when the U.S. embassy was stormed in a protest over the film. Many Western and Muslim politicians and clerics have appealed for calm, denouncing those behind the mockery of the Prophet, but also condemning violent reactions to it. At street level, Muslims enraged by attacks on their faith spoke of a culture war against those in the West who put rights to freedom of expression before religious sensitivities. "They hate him (the Prophet Mohammad) and show this through their continued works in the West, through their writings, cartoons, films and the way they launch war against him in schools," said Abdessalam Abdullah, a preacher at a mosque in Beirut's Palestinian refugee camp of Bourj al-Barajneh. Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet blasphemous. Western diplomatic missions in Muslim nations tightened security ahead of Friday prayers. France ordered embassies, schools and cultural centers to close in a score of countries and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said some would stay shut over the weekend. Cut him in pieces In Pakistan, tens of thousands of people joined protests encouraged by the government in several cities including Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan and Muzaffarabad. The bloodiest unrest erupted in the southern city of Karachi, where 10 people were killed, including three policemen, and more than 100 wounded, according to Allah Bachayo Memon, spokesman of the chief minister of Sindh province. He said about 20 vehicles, three banks and five cinemas were set on fire. Crowds set two cinemas ablaze and ransacked shops in the northwestern city of Peshawar, clashing with riot police who fired tear gas. At least five people were killed. In Mardan in the northwest, police said a Christian church was set on fire and several people hurt. Mohammed Tariq Khan, a protester in Islamabad, said: "Our demand is that whoever has blasphemed against our holy Prophet should be handed over to us so we can cut him up into tiny pieces in front of the entire nation." Security forces fired in the air in Peshawar and the eastern city of Lahore to keep protesters away from U.S. consulates. Police fired tear gas at about 1,000 protesters in Islamabad. The US embassy in Pakistan has run television spots, one featuring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying the government had nothing to do with the film about Mohammad. Pakistan had declared Friday a "Day of Love" for the Prophet and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said an attack on Islam's founder was "an attack on the whole 1.5 billion Muslims". The Foreign Ministry summoned the US chargé d'affaires to lodge a protest over the video posted on YouTube, the latest in an array of irritants poisoning US-Pakistani relations. In neighbouring Afghanistan, police contacted religious and community leaders to try to prevent bloodshed. Protests in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif only attracted a few hundred people and no violence was reported, but a cleric told one crowd: "If you kill Americans, it's legal and allowable." About 10,000 Islamists gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka after Friday prayers, chanting slogans and burning US and French flags and an effigy of US President Barack Obama. Peaceful protests Protests went off peacefully in the Arab world, where last week several embassies were attacked and the US envoy to Libya was killed in an initial burst of unrest over the film. Thousands of Libyans marched in Benghazi yesterday in support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that Washington blames for the attack on the US consulate last week that killed four Americans including the ambassador. Authorities said eight people in total had been arrested over the attack. Later, pro-government demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia militia, aiming to evict fighters from the site. A few dozen Egyptians protested near the French embassy in Cairo, but were kept away from the premises by police deployed in large numbers to avoid a repeat of violence at the US embassy last week. Mainstream Islamic leaders in Egypt, where Islamist parties have moved to the heart of government since Hosni Mubarak was toppled, have expressed outrage, but urged a peaceful response. In remarks to Reuters, the leader of the Nour Party, one of the biggest ultraorthodox Islamist parties in Egypt, echoed calls for the criminalization of insults to religions including Islam. But he said it was important to separate between an offender and an entire society. "The reasonable people in the West outnumber the thoughtless," said Emad Abdel Ghafour. "Contact should be kept up with the reasonable people," he added. "It is unreasonable that reactions come through arson and killing. We all suffer and are affected by these acts," he said. In Yemen, where the US embassy was stormed last week, several hundred Shi'ite protesters chanted anti-American slogans, but riot police blocked the route to the embassy. Anger over the film brought several thousand Shi'ites and Sunnis together in a rare show of sectarian unity in Iraq's southern city of Basra, where they burnt US and Israeli flags. Thousands marched against the film on Thursday in a district of eastern Saudi Arabia where members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority have staged anti-government demonstrations since last year, a local activist said. Photographs of the march showed protesters burning American flags. Lebanon's Hezbollah-run al-Manar television showed thousands of people waving Lebanese and yellow Hezbollah flags as they marched past the Roman ruins of Baalbek and shouted slogans such as "Death to America, death to those who insult the Prophet". Several hundred people demonstrated peacefully in the southwest German city of Freiburg. Some carried placards reading "Our Prophet Mohammad is taboo". "Both the film and the cartoons are malicious and deliberately provocative. The film particularly portrays a disgracefully distorted image of Muslims," Rupert Colville, spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, told a news briefing in Geneva. He said Pillay upheld people's right to protest peacefully, but saw no justification for violent and destructive reactions. "In the case of Charlie Hebdo, given that they knew perfectly what happened in response to the film last week, it seems doubly irresponsible on their part to have published these cartoons," Colville said of the French magazine.
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| Who will be the Sabah opposition CM? Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:40 PM PDT Sabah BN secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan has given the opposition one month to announce who their chief minister will be. (FMT) - KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional has thrown the opposition,namely Pakatan Rakyat, a challenge – "announce your shadow cabinet within a month". Aware that this will be a singularly impossible immediate feat for Sabah Pakatan which is grappling with seething resentment over newcomers – defectors from BN – flexing their muscles, Sabah BN secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that Sabahans had the right to know who will be the state's chief minister if the opposition came into power. "We're giving them a month, ample time for their members to meet and discuss who should be made chief minister. "We're fair, we don't expect them to come up with the shadow cabinet line-up tomorrow or the day after," he said. Abdul Rahman added that announcing their shadow cabinet would also reflect on the opposition's sincerity in supporting a two-party system. "In the west under the two-party concept, opposition parties must announce their shadow cabinet before the election so voters would be able to judge their experience, credibility and effectiveness in the cabinet. "Such act is also in line with the democratic process as the people will be able to know the candidates' backgrounds, track record and experience. "The people would then be able to judge for themselves the leaders' abilities and experiences," said Abdul Rahman He was speaking to reporters during a joint press conference here yesterday. Also present were Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Dr Henrynus Amin, United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) secretary-general Wilfred Madius Tangau; Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) secretary-general Dr Johnson Tee, Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general Teo Chee Kang, Parti Gerakan Sabah liaison secretary Wong Choon Seng, MCA Sabah liaison secretary Goh Wak Kheng and MIC Sabah liaison secretary Gannes Nandy. According to Abdul Rahman, the current conflicting statements from opposition leaders about candidates for ministerial posts were confusing Sabahans.
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| Report: M’sia high on religious intolerance Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:38 PM PDT A US-based report suggests that while Malaysia's government was more relaxed on religious restrictions, it still had a long way to go. Patrick Lee, FMT At first glance, Malaysia may be enjoying more religious freedom today, according to the US-based think tank, the Pew Research Center. In a report entitled "Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion" surveying 197 regions, Malaysia's government seemed to be more relaxed over religion, scoring 6.4 in mid-2010, compared to 8.1 in mid-2009. However, the decrease in government-applied restriction -collated under the report's Government Restriction Index- still puts it at 0.2 points below the "Very High" marker. As a result, the country now shares a "High" placement with nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iraq. At the same time, Malaysia seemed to have higher social hostility where religion was concerned. In mid-2009, the group's Social Hostility Index (SHI) marked Malaysia with a score of 1.3. In mid-2010, this figure increased to 2.2. As such, Malaysia is termed as a "Moderate" country SHI-wise, sharing the category with the US, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Haiti and Australia. According to the report, the GRI's score was determined by various questions including:
The SHI on the other hand, was determined by questions such as:
The report did not delve into Malaysia's individual score. Meanwhile, the report said that more than 5 billion people in the world today (75%) lived in a country where their government restricted them from practicing their faith.
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:22 PM PDT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9JiGp0pGk&feature=share I watched the above video with a very heavy heart, for I pity these pathetic human beings for doing what they are doing. Although I dislike the provocative video that seemingly belittled Islam, I find that I had to agree with Mr. Ngeh that time is wasted on this. ViewAct http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLKk00OYKhU I have a group of Christian friends that shared this video once, and when inquired, they said that it's just a joke. True Christian know who Jesus is and will never be offended by untrue illustrations of Him. Only those who are not so faithful would scream and shout, for they fear the "holy" image of their "God" or "religious leader" gets scattered. Well, They were people of history and will never have the chance to do the things depicted in the videos. What is there to shout about? As a follower of a "holy" religion, I am amazed how these people in the first video could shout vulgarities and at the same time claim that they are defending a "holy" religion. Do they mean that to defend their "dignity", they can resort to all sorts of "wrongdoings"? Instead of leading by example, they resort to threatening and venting of hate? What are they defending then? "Holiness" or "gangsterism"? I'm sure true followers of Islam don't do that. Screaming at the top of their lungs, they claim that DAP is meddling into the matters of Islam. Is "advising them not to waste time in unnecessary lingering into a mindless video" an act of stepping into the matters of Islam? Is the video so seriously important that a comment of such would cause such important "change" or "influence" into the matters of Islam? If so, I would have no choice but to be amazed by the director's ability to create such impact over a mindless, non-depth research. Another question to these groups. What had DAP enforced over Islam that they have been "tolerating" all this while? Has DAP changed Islam? Made any policies that sidelined Islam? Re-written the Laws of Islam? Or have them stopped or disrupted any religious activities of Muslims? However, I am very glad that there are only a handfull of participants in that mindless "demonstration". For it showed that the majority of Muslims are not in the same state as these people are. Well, for a defender of Islam like what Perkasa is claiming they are, they should be condemning such vulgarities among their people instead. You can and should correct a non-muslim for making mindless statements as they do not know and it is your responsibility to tell them. But what you should really be concerned with are Muslims who go against the teachings of Islam. For one who know the religion so well as to claim to protect it, such acts are surely unbecoming. Imagine if these people are picked to be religious leaders and teachers one day (since they are so protective of the holy religion). What would they teach to the next generation? Well, enough about this. I hope everyone can put this behind. Instead of screaming and shouting vulgarities over it, wouldn't it be more productive to teach the right teachings to clear the doubts of people over it? Wouldn't this make people respect Islam and Muslims more? By resorting to violence, what image would that give? Good and respectable? Or fearful and lowly? Now what face of Islam are they showing? Or should I say... Is this any way Islamic at all? |
| Should Pakatan Reveal Its Shadow Cabinet? Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:17 PM PDT  Why do we demand so much of PR simply because it may be the new kid in government if it wins? Do we know what Najib's Cabinet will be if BN wins? He's likely to reshuffle it, but do we demand to know the likely line-up? I haven't heard anyone asking. So why pick on PR? Kee Thuan Chye I'm surprised that even intelligent people are questioning whether Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is ready to govern at federal level. I must admit I read this on an online news website and the full implications of what they said at a forum last Sunday may not have been comprehensively conveyed, but the gist of it is, they seem sceptical. To me, the question of whether PR is ready to be the federal government is an unfair one. Was the Alliance ready to rule when the British handed the administration to it in the 1950s? I believe we have to give people a chance. In many instances, when they are given that chance, they simply step up to the job. That's what PR did when in 2008 they won, to their great surprise, the state governments of Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Perak. They had no prior experience then of doing the job but they got down to business straight away. Some observers would say that the PR government in Perak was doing quite well, headed by Nizar Jamaluddin, until Barisan Nasional (BN) inveigled its way into the driver's seat. The public knew practically nothing about Nizar when he was sworn in as menteri besar, but he turned out to be an effective and likeable leader for the 11 months he served. In other words, he stepped up to the job. Meanwhile, the state governments of Penang and Selangor have shown their abilities to rule in their first time out. There is a buzz of excitement about Penang these days that had not been there for at least a couple of decades. Lim Guan Eng's government attracted investments totalling RM10 billion in 2011. But more than that, the Penang and Selangor state governments have won plaudits from the Auditor-General for their financial management. They have succeeded in increasing revenue and reducing public debt. As a Selangor resident, I can say that the government under Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has not done anything I would object to. In fact, among other things, I support its bid to take over the four water concessionaires in the state. Were they ready to rule before 2008? Did either one have a shadow executive council prior to that year's general election? So I'm surprised that lawyer Andrew Khoo, whose views I usually hold in high regard, expressed at last Sunday's forum his reservations about PR's readiness to govern. I'm sure Khoo's concern is not a misplaced one and could be easily misinterpreted in the way the report on the forum was angled and written. I also believe that he was not writing off PR as an entity incapable of governing but was instead urging the coalition to get its act together. I base this on what he said: "To me, the great tragedy of Malaysia would be if PR won and then failed as a government." My only quarrel with that quote is that it is too pessimistic and drastic. And it is too broad. How does one determine such failure anyway? By the same token, is the current BN government a "failed" one? If it is, would a PR government not do better? If it isn't, would a PR government, at the very least, not do as well? In Khoo's reckoning, PR's credibility is "restricted" because it has not come up with a shadow Cabinet, i.e. a line-up of people who will helm the government if PR takes Putrajaya at the next general election. He also says, "Although (PR) have a common policy in (their) Buku Jingga … (the) inability or reluctance of PR to form a shadow Cabinet … has meant they are unable to articulate what their policy is going to be." I can't agree with that. The fact that there is already a policy is a plus point; the articulation will come if and when PR takes office. I don't think PR needs to name its ministers first in order to articulate this policy. When Najib named his Cabinet, we didn't know what his policies would be. As time went on, he came up with 1Malaysia and the transformation programmes. Later on, he opted for populist policies aimed mainly at winning the general election. Where do policy and personnel figure in this? Khoo's request for a shadow Cabinet is, however, a reasonable one. As some would argue, you need to know if a company can handle the job before you'd hire it. It is also a request that would have a strong place in a true democracy. And certainly in a democracy unfettered by racial and religious prejudices. But in a Malaysia that is rent by the politics of race and religion and goodness-knows-what-else, the risk an Opposition coalition takes in revealing its shadow Cabinet is as high as automatically losing the general election. To all intents and purposes, PR may already have a shadow Cabinet, or at least a rough idea of one, but given the vicious tendency of BN hawks to rip apart everything that PR does, revealing the shadow Cabinet would be exposing PR to deadly attacks that could bring deadly consequences. Once released, the line-up would be pounced upon by the BN-controlled mainstream media and pro-BN bloggers. If the shadow Cabinet were seen to be too multi-racial or if non-Malays were given significant portfolios like Finance or Trade and Industry or even Defence (simply because they merited them), it would suffer race-baiting excoriation. The hyperboles would fly. BN would go to town reinforcing the fiction that the Malays would truly lose power if the government were run by such a Cabinet. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim would be called a traitor who sold out his race. PAS leaders would be accused of being puppets who gave in to the influence of the infidels. The DAP would be seen to be more dangerous than Dajjal, capable of mesmerising its coalition partners into surrendering power to it. If, on the other hand, not enough non-Malays were represented, the non-Malay voters might become disenchanted and not vote for PR. They might say Anwar is someone who could not be trusted after all. Hindraf, or some reincarnation of it, might pop up and hold a massive rally outside PKR's headquarters. Either way, it's a powderkeg. It's a lose-lose situation. PR's ratings would drop like a cylinder loaded with C4 explosives. It could result in PR losing the general election even before it's called. And losing the war before you've fought it would be very poor strategy indeed. In the first place, why take such an unnecessary risk? PR knows how to play the political game. For that reason, I'm sure it knows it cannot reveal its shadow Cabinet. Not now. Not when the general election is called. Not even on the day before voting – because goodness knows what bad press might emerge from there to undermine the coalition's prospects. All it takes is an honest mistake, like that on the eve of the 1990 general election when the mainstream media crucified Tengku Razaleigh for wearing a Kadazan headgear that bore on its front what looked like a cross. It cost his Parti Melayu Semangat 46 a lot of Malay votes – and, up to that point, a good chance for the Opposition to at least break BN's two-thirds majority. For now, we know Anwar Ibrahim will be prime minister if PR wins. And if that happens, he should only reveal his Cabinet after he's been sworn in. Not a minute sooner. And of course, to be perverse, perhaps we should ask whether he is ready to be prime minister since he's had no experience being one, forgetting that Najib had none either, and neither did Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak, Hussein Onn, Abdullah Badawi or even Mahathir Mohamad himself. So why do we really need to know PR's shadow Cabinet? Why do we demand so much of PR simply because it may be the new kid in government if it wins? Do we know what Najib's Cabinet will be if BN wins? He's likely to reshuffle it, but do we demand to know the likely line-up? I haven't heard anyone asking. So why pick on PR? * Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians, available in major bookstores. |
| Questioning four times within two weeks, police abuse of procedure for harassment? Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:08 PM PDT
Instead of sending medical personnel to help the patients, or the ketua kampung to console, the police was sent to interrogate. Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC) BCAC chairman Mr Wong Kin Hoong was summoned for questioning by the police on 11am on 18th September, which was his third time within 14 days following the Himpunan Hijau Raub 902. This time, he was summoned together with another BCAC leader Mr Alec Hue and one of the members, Mr Rajoo. The police mainly questioned on the press conference held on 20th June at KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). According to police, five people lodged police reports regarding the press conference and BCAC were summoned to assist the investigation. The two-hour-long interrogation centered on the health survey report which was released on 20th June's press conference. The police refused to disclose the details of the 5 people who made the police report, and BCAC also failed to acquire a copy of the police report mentioned. May this year, BCAC conducted a questionnaire health survey in the residential areas adjacent to the gold mine in Bukit Koman, Raub, a total of 383 villagers responded. After one month of careful analysis and data verification, a press conference was held on 20th June 2012 at KLSCAH to release the report, which revealed that 50% of respondents faced a variety of skin problems, including itchy skin and rashes, and caught a national attention. Unexpectedly, the Raub police turned up at the door of one of the patients Mr Woon Soon Fatt who appeared in the press conference on 26th July, claiming that the police received a report and was there to investigate! The interrogation went on for one hour. Instead of sending medical personnel to help the patients, or the ketua kampung to console, the police was sent to interrogate; made people wonder what kind of world are we living in? This is the second time the police claimed that they received a report regarding the KLSCAH's press conference. If the police is supposedly carrying out their duty impartially, then does that mean that each time the villagers made a report complaining of the Gold Mine's unidentified gas emissions causing illness and discomfort the police would investigate the management of the gold mine? However, from past experience, instead of recording statements from the gold mine, the police interrogated the villagers who made the police reports! We are wondering why there are difference sets of Standard Operating Procedures? After summoning Mr Wong Kin Hoong, Mr Alec Hue and Mr Rajoo for statements, the police called the BCAC Vice-Chair Ms Sherly Hue for questioning. Subsequently Ms Sherly Hue turned up at the Dang Wangi police station on 7pm on 19th September accompanied by Ms Malar who is an attorney, and was also interrogated by the police for two hours. Reason for investigation given by Police is the same and related to the press conference at KLSCAH on 20th June. However, this time the interrogation centered on the background of BCAC, the anti cyanide movement, the gold mining company. For example: "Why you are against RAGM?" "Is it your ultimate goal to close down RAGM?", "Any doctor can prove that the villagers' sufferings were caused by the cyanide?" Police summoning BCAC to question four times within two weeks is a form of mental torture in disguise. And for the elderly people of more than sixty years old, it is both physically and mentally stressful. BCAC condemns this sort of inhumane and unprofessional conduct. The members of BCAC are just ordinary concerned citizens who are trying to protect their homes, to care for the environment, and to exercise their human rights; they are not criminals! It is the duty and responsibility of the Government to ensure that the people live and work in a safe and healthy environment. Not only did the government fail to fulfill that, now the police is abusing a seemingly legitimate procedure to harass innocent people! |
| Next Parliament session may be last before polls Posted: 20 Sep 2012 08:42 PM PDT
(Bernama) - With the Dewan Rakyat convening on Monday for the budget meeting, questions have arisen as to whether it would be the last or penultimate meeting before the government's mandate runs out on April 28 next year. Pundits speculate that the 13th general election could be called at the end of November, after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak quipped during a visit to Machang, Kelantan, early this month that he was longing to call the general election. If that happens, then the Budget meeting of the Dewan Rakyat, the third meeting of the fifth session of the 12th parliament, which ends on November 27, could be the last meeting of the 12th parliament. If the general election does not take place in November as speculated, then it is likely that the government may go the full term on its mandate, meaning the election would be held early next year. Election Commission (EC) Deputy Chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said parliament would dissolve automatically if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not dissolve it before April 28 next year. "After that, the EC will have 60 days to hold the general election. The same rule applies for the state legislative assemblies, except Sarawak's," he told Bernama. (Sarawak held its state elections only last year.) The Dewan Rakyat meeting opening on Monday will go on for 34 days up to November 27 and the speculation of a general election will prompt greater focus on Budget 2013 to be tabled by Najib, who is also the finance minister, on Friday. The people, in general, will be awaiting "good news", especially from the aspect of the prices of goods. Not to be left out are the 1.4 million civil servants who are eagerly waiting for an announcement on the improvement to the Malaysian Remuneration System. Last May, Najib said that Budget 2013 would focus on balanced and quality growth as well as the people's welfare. Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, when contacted by Bernama, said the coming meeting of the Dewan Rakyat would be more lively than usual. MPs convinced that this meeting would be the last before the dissolution of parliament would make full use of the opportunity to raise issues, he said. "The Speaker will be often prompted to given them more time for debate," he added. Also at the coming meeting, there will be a slight change in the seating of MPs, with Beaufort MP Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, 57, and Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing moving from the Barisan Nasional (BN) segment to occupy seats next to the independent MPs. Last July, Lajim announced that he was resigning from all positions in Umno and the BN and pledged support for the opposition. He did not resign from the party, but the government revoked his post of deputy minister of housing and local government. Bumburing quit as deputy president of the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), a BN component party. It is learnt that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia would determine the seating arrangement of the two MPs after considering their political affiliation.
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| Sabah: Still a ‘fixed deposit’? Posted: 20 Sep 2012 07:33 PM PDT Sabah will be a focal point in the coming general election, especially after the defections of two BN MPs. If the opposition can avoid contesting three-cornered contests then Sabah's status as a BN 'fixed deposit' state could hang in the balance, writes Arnold Puyok. ALIRAN The upcoming 13th General Election is sure to be a hotly contested election. It will be a litmus test for Prime Minister Najib Razak who is banking on his "transformational agenda" to return the BN to power. Indeed, to restore the BN to a two-thirds majority. For PR, the election is seen as Anwar Ibrahim's last chance to take over Putrajaya after the alleged September 16 coup failed. Even though many of the seats contested come from Peninsular Malaysia, the real battle will be in Sabah and Sarawak. In the 2008 General Election, the 54 seats from East Malaysia ensured BN a simple majority win. Without the 54 seats, BN would have lost power to the opposition, in the event of party crossovers. Consequently Sabah and Sarawak are considered as BN's "fixed deposits". This article is an attempt to look into the prospects and challenges of the 13th General Election in Sabah especially in light of the withdrawal of two Sabah leaders from BN – Wilfred Bumburing of UPKO (United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Association) and Lajim Ukin of Sabah UMNO (United Malays National Organisation). With the persistent attacks on Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman for his alleged involvement in an international money laundering scandal and the Wilfred-Lajim factor, BN is expected to face a tough challenge from the opposition to retain Sabah. The article argues that if the opposition is able to form a strong alliance and avoid contesting against each other, it could affect Sabah's fixed deposit status. Similarly, failure on BN's part to address the perennial Sabah issues such as the illegal immigrant problems and state autonomy will affect its chances of returning to power. Categorising the seats contested For analytical purposes, all the 60 state and 25 parliamentary seats contested in Sabah will be divided into three categories: "safe" BN seats (where BN has more than an 80 percent chance of winning), "marginal" or "50-50" seats (where electoral support can go either to BN or the opposition) and "opposition" seats (where the opposition has more than an 80 percent chance of winning). This prospect is based on the following two factors: 1) Changes in the number of registered voters according to age and ethnicity and 2) Less multi-cornered but more one-to-one contests in the "marginal" areas. The opposition here refers to PR comprising PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat), DAP (Democratic Action Party), and PAS (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia). The other local-based opposition parties are STAR (State Reform Party) Sabah and SAPP (Sabah People's Progressive Party). The safe BN seats There are 42 safe BN state seats and most are Muslim-majority. At the parliamentary level, there are nine safe BN seats with a large number of Muslim Bumiputera voters and they all belong to UMNO. (See Table 1 & 2) With the absence of alternative Muslim-based parties, the majority of the Muslim electorate will remain in UMNO. Among the weapons used by UMNO to maintain Muslim support are the persistent championing of Islam as a religion that unites the Muslims and the practice of on-the-spot development funds allocation. The Muslim-majority areas will be BN's key seats that will help maintain the party's grip on power. PKR appears to fail to take the Muslim support from UMNO. One of the reasons is the lack of credible and popular Muslim leaders in the party. The present Sabah PKR chief, Ahmad Thamrin is not popular among the Muslim electorate while another well-known Muslim leader, Ansari Abdullah, does not have strong Muslim support beyond his base in Tuaran. There is also the assumption that UMNO is falling apart due to the factions formed by supporters of Musa Aman and Federal Minister, Shafie Afdal. However, the so-called factions do not affect UMNO that much. So far, Musa has been able to keep the Muslim support in UMNO intact. Musa has also successfully defused the Bajau challenge led by Salleh Said, a former Chief Minister and currently Sabah UMNO deputy chief. Despite the attacks on Musa for his alleged involvement in a financial scandal, Najib seems to be mindful not to pursue the case with intensive investigations. Najib knows that Musa has the clout to decide the fate of BN in Sabah. Asking Musa to resign before the election would put Sabah BN at great risk. The question is, if Musa resigned, who will be the most likely candidate to replace him? Many people believe that Najib has an eye on Shafie, his loyal ally from Semporna, Sabah. But others have mentioned Salleh Said, Musa's number two in Sabah UMNO. Salleh is considered more liberal, in tune with the times and therefore, potentially, acceptable to Najib. Another possible candidate is Hajiji Noor, a senior UMNO member in the Sabah Cabinet. The marginal or 50-50 seats There are 10 marginal or 50-50 seats at the state level. Of the 10 seats, three are currently held by Gerakan (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia), two each by LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah), and SAPP respectively, and one by UPKO. The three seats currently held by Gerakan previously belonged to LDP (1) and SAPP (2) previously. After an internal party conflict, Peter Pang, Au Kam Wah and Raymond Tan left their parties and joined the Gerakan. The three seats are considered as marginal as they were won under LDP and SAPP tickets. There is a high possibility that the voters might change their support to the opposition as a mark of protest over the decision of their leaders to join the peninsular-based Gerakan. The two state seats currently held by LDP, Tg. Kapor and Merotai, were won by Teo Chee Kang and Pang Yuk Ming after the opposition failed to agree on a one-to-one contest in 2008. The opposition's chances of winning the two seats from BN are high in the upcoming election if it can avoid multi-cornered fights. The other two marginal seats are in Tandek and Kadamaian. The PBS won the two seats in 2008 by marginal majorities. Grassroots sentiments in the two areas seem to indicate that the voters are unhappy with BN over its failure to address a number of local issues such as Native Customary Rights (NCR) land and poverty. The BN's handling of the Tambatuon dam in Kadamaian has also been strongly criticised. Many people are also calling for the incumbent BN representatives to step down and to allow "winnable" candidates to take over. There are several lobby groups in Kadamaian that call for the incumbent Herbert Timbun Lagadan to make way for a younger candidate. Likas and Luyang are regarded as marginal seats simply because both were won under SAPP when the party was still with BN. With SAPP now outside the ruling party, the opposition has raised its stakes in the two areas. The SAPP's victory in the two areas in 2008 with marginal majorities shows that the opposition is highly popular there. In fact, had the DAP and PKR agreed to co-operate, SAPP would have lost in the 2008 election. The voters' mood in the upcoming election will depend on SAPP's next course of action. So far, SAPP has not made any decision as to whether it would re-join BN or remain with the opposition. SAPP appears to have a "game" of its own. SAPP's neither "here-nor-there" stance has not been well received by other local-based opposition parties even though its leaders could be seen attending political rallies organised by other opposition parties. SAPP's future will depend on how well it can lobby to contest in Chinese and mixed areas. But again this will be difficult as DAP has strongly indicated its desire to contest in Chinese-majority areas. Unless SAPP and STAR Sabah are willing to compromise, they will have to contest against each other in mixed areas. There are 13 marginal seats at the parliamentary level. Four of the seats are currently held by UPKO and UMNO, three by PBS, and two by SAPP. Most of the marginal parliamentary seats are non-Muslim Bumiputera-majority. The prospect of all 12 seats remaining with BN is dependent upon the reaction of the voters to the RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) to investigate the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah and leadership issues. Three of the main parties representing the Kadazandusuns are PBS, UPKO and PBRS (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah). Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the president of PBS, is now regarded by the Kadazandusuns as an ineffective leader who is not as aggressive as before in fighting for state rights and autonomy. Pairin has defended PBS' "accommodative" and "census-building" approach but the Kadazandusuns see it as a sign of weak leadership. Bernard Dompok, the president of UPKO is also in a dilemma after the withdrawal of his deputy, Wilfred Bumburing from BN. It is believed that more UPKO members will leave the party, if not sooner, then later. Dompok, who was previously praised for speaking against the banning of the word "Allah" in Catholic churches, is now slowly losing influence in Penampang. Joseph Kurup who leads another Kadazandusun-based party, PBRS, could lose his seat in Pensiangan if he fails to address local sentiments there. He won the seat uncontested in 2008 after the candidacy of the opposition candidate was rejected on "technical grounds". The performance of the Kadazandusun-based BN parties will be seriously affected given the negative perception of the Kadazandusun electorate towards Kadazandusun leaders. The Kadazandusun voters have the habit of "kicking" their leaders out of office. This was evident in 1995 when many of the Kadazandusun leaders (for instance, Bernard Dompok and Jeffrey Kitingan) who left PBS in 1994 were voted out. In fact, BN lost in all the non-Muslim Bumiputera seats in 1995.
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| NST report: ‘Ridiculous and rubbish’ Posted: 20 Sep 2012 06:39 PM PDT The NGOs mentioned in an alleged plot to destabilise the government lash out at New Straits Times for its alleged smear campaign. Anisah Shukry, FMT Suaram denied today that it is a tool for foreign hands to destabilise the Malaysian government as alleged by New Straits Times (NST) daily today, adding that the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has no say in its direction or projects. NST claimed today that the Washington-based NED is seeking to destabilise the government by channelling up to RM20 million in funds to Malaysian non-governmental organisations (NGO) such as Suaram, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) as well as news portal Malaysiakini. But the front page report "Plot to destabilise govt" did not specify how the organisations planned to overthrow the Barisan Nasional-led government with the donated funds. It also failed to substantiate its claim that the NED wished to destabilise the government, beyond citing "investigators" and "sources", and a Berita Harian interview with Aliran founder Professor Dr Chandra Muzzafar yesterday. When asked to comment on the report, Suaram chairperson K Arumugam said that it was no secret that NED provided funds to Suaram, but added that that was the full extent of NED's role in the human rights group. "We make it clear in our annual human rights report that NED provides us with funds so that we are able to monitor the violation of civil and political rights in Malaysia. It's not some top secret thing," Arumugam told FMT. "But NED doesn't decide what we do in Malaysia. We decide what we plan to do, then we apply for funding for those projects. They don't dictate nor direct anything." He said that there were many agencies online that were willing to donate to human rights organisations, and that Suaram's link with the NED had began via a simple Google search for funds. "So the idea that the NED wants to destabilise the government through Suaram is completely nonsense, pure rubbish," Arumugam said. "How are we supposed to even do that? We are such a small group of people. Is the government so unstable?" He further pointed out that if such allegations were true, then the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) would not have presented Suaram with a human rights award last year. "So we are recognised for our human rights by a statutory body formed by the government itself. It's highly unlikely they would award it to a group that intends to overthrow the government," he said. 'Practise journalism ethics, NST' Arumugam also slammed NST for not calling up Suaram or any of the other NGOs mentioned in the article before publishing it. "NST should have called Suaram to create a balanced reporting. Instead of allowing us to respond to the allegations, it merely discredited Suaram," he said. "While it is their freedom of expression to publish it, we would have appreciated some balanced reporting," he added. His view was echoed by CIJ executive officer Masjaliza Hamzah, who poured scorn on the article for lacking neutrality and evidence. "NST should practise journalism ethics. One, they did not call us for any quotes. Two, they should have provided evidence," she told FMT. "If anyone is accused of destabilising the government, this is a serious charge and they cannot make such a serious charge and not provide evidence." Masjaliza said that such an article should have been relegated to a blog rather than the front page due to its lack of substantiated facts and sources. "Show proof. They need to name what activities CIJ has done that points to it being part of a larger plot to destabilise the government," she challenged. Like Arumugam, LFL co-founder and advisor Eric Paulsen found the article to be "quite ridiculous" and an obvious attack against NGOs that challenge the government's credibility. "LFL has been vocal, without fear of favour, on issues such as abuse of power, detention without trial, police shootings," Paulsen told FMT. "These are all issues that affect the government's credibility. So, presumably, that is why NST has written such an article." He also said that the article was clearly linked to Suaram as the latter has been in the highlight after initiating a French inquiry probing Malaysia's multibillion ringgit purchase of two Scorpene submarines. "Suaram exposed the hundreds of millions that the government paid for commissions for submarines that we don't even need, and this has caused huge embarrassment to the government. "Suaram's is a credible human rights organisation, so clearly the decision to persecute it, as well as to publish such a sensational front page article, is linked to the Scorpene scandal," he said.
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| EC waiting for AG's nod over postal voting for overseas Malaysians Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:58 PM PDT
(The Star) - The Election Commission is waiting for the green light from the Attorney-General's Chambers to proceed with plans for overseas Malaysians to become postal voters in the coming general election. Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the AG is now studying the proposal to determine whether it will require amendments to the Federal Constitution or laws governing national polls, or just some "tweaking" of existing regulations. "The EC is waiting for the AG for final advice on how to proceed. I cannot say (when a decision will be made), but it will be very soon," he told a press conference. Currently, only full-time Malaysian students and their spouses and civil servants and their spouses are eligible as postal voters. This has led to complaints by those who are not within the category, such as private sector employees working overseas. A Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms in its report in April, among others, recommended that postal voting be expanded to all Malaysians overseas.
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| Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:52 PM PDT
And there are many anecdotes and enough stories written about how sex is used to get projects. Before, a man would have an official first wife who epitomises goodness and grace. Nowadays, they discard the first wives for a sexier model. And the reasons are not as clear-cut as a man's shallowness of wanting a younger, sexier replacement. Dina Zaman, The Malaysian Insider Gold-digger central It's no secret that to get money in this town, the businessman has to resort to a few tricks. One's name and social status are not enough, as well as one's connections and bank account(s). Sometimes, to get a contract, one has to get the girls. Or, at least provide willing female friends who are gold diggers but have tongues as smooth as silk. The man with iman can only surrender to his fate when he faces a nymph. Heaven be damned when he's experiencing oral sex in a karaoke lounge. And there are many anecdotes and enough stories written about how sex is used to get projects. Before, a man would have an official first wife who epitomises goodness and grace. Nowadays, they discard the first wives for a sexier model. And the reasons are not as clear-cut as a man's shallowness of wanting a younger, sexier replacement. "When you have a sexy, young, flirtatious but also sharp-minded wife, she helps bring in the money. Businesses are not just conducted on golf courses; they are discussed in the privacy of homes. "Now if you have a wife who's either frumpy, tudung-ed or fat and is unable to get along with your business contacts, she's not going to get the business for you. But with a sexy wife, who has equally sexy girlfriends and who knows how to wind men up, it makes things easier…" an observer commented. This is why many guest relations officers (GROs) are quite in demand as second wives or mistresses, even to the would-be entrepreneur. Sex sells and brings in the money. "And many times, first wives close their eyes. Who's going to want to give up their Hermès? And getting divorced at their age, you think easy-ah?" What about the goodness of the first wives who was there when their husbands just started out? "You must be joking. This town teems with gold diggers. And these women know who to connect with. They're indispensable. You are very idealistic." Money laundering One channel of this newfound wealth is money laundering (link: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/almost-100-money-laundering-cases-being-prosecuted/) Just type "money laundering in Malaysia" and a whole list of links come up. For the eager millionaire-to-be, this is a windfall. A well-heeled Datin, who was formerly in finance, shakes her head. "I can only point this newfound wealth to money laundering. It's fast, it's easy and there are many gullible people. "I don't deny that there are many government tenders which have been got through unethical means, but not all these tenders are not bona fide. Some of the consultants I know tendered in the right way, and with patience, determination, they get the projects but money laundering is rife." The desire, the "nak" overwhelms the person who wants to be rich beyond his dreams. "The current generation bases wealth on an as-is basis. He does not foresee the future. All he sees is money." With money, can one have respect and a place in the sun. The concession generation is more political than anything. Before, the money trickled back to the rakyat but now it goes straight into the pockets of the children. "And with the (Tun Dr) Mahathir-Anwar (Ibrahim) fiasco years back… everything was divided. Now let's look at the companies tendering for projects. Some have the experience while the one-off ones are the ones you should beware of. "But what is prevalent now is money laundering. This is how they do it. A approaches B wanting to invest in B's business. A is not concerned whether B makes profit or not. RM100,000 is given. If B can give back 30 per cent of the RM100,000 to A, that's good enough. Simple." And it's not just bankers and politicians and VIPs who get involved. Working tradesmen like fishermen are in on the game, too, she says. "Thing is, the money launderer is socially invisible. But because your bank account has been used, the bank authorities will go after you." She cites an example of the new rich. She was at Prada when an elderly woman who is best described as a "makcik" enters the boutique, and with a bag full of cash. She then went shopping at Gucci and Valentino, and made sure that there were few customers around. Purchases were bought with hastily-grabbed cash from her bag. Of course, there's prostitution, drugs to add to the equation. However, money laundering is quite easy to accomplish because despite the anti-laundering Act we already have, the enforcement is weak. "And people need money. They are not compensated well at work. Why work so hard for so little?"
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| Najib slams fake letter to IIUM as a 'desperate act' Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:30 PM PDT
(NST) - UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has strongly criticised irresponsible quarters who had vilified him with a false letter addressed to the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) rector Datuk Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin. The letter, which was sent using the Umno letterhead and Najib's purported signature, referred to the appointment of Datuk Dr Mizan Hitam as IIUM deputy rector of student affairs, replacing Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood. The letter allegedly stated that Mizan's appointment was intended to bring success and glory to "Pro Aspirasi" in order to empower the nation based on Umno's constitution. Najib said this was an act by a desperate group who would go all out to invoke hatred towards the government. "I vehemently deny any involvement in this, and have never issued any party letter on the appointment of university officials," Najib said after the Umno supreme council meeting yesterday. He said this could be verified by the university and also the Higher Education Ministry.Earlier, at a press conference, IIUM Student Affairs & Development Division dean Dr Akmal Khuzairy Abdul Rahman refuted the attempt to link the prime minister and Umno to the letter. "The university categorically denies that we received the letter from the prime minister," he said. The letter was addressed to UIA Rector Prof Datuk Seri Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin on Aug 7.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the fake letter, using an Umno letterhead and purportedly signed by him, that has been circulating on social media sites and the International Islamic University campus notice boards. The letter allegedly indicated Mizan's appointment had been approved by the Umno supreme council and that it was to facilitate the initiation of the "Ops 2020" project in conjunction with IIUM's campus elections on Sept 25. |
| Sabah opposition in dogfight for seats Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:25 PM PDT Latest developments in Sabah's political scene are an indication of the failure by PKR's top leaders to unite the people in support of a cohesive Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Joseph Bingkasan, FMT KOTA KINABALU: The already muddy political scene in the state is getting dirtier as the general election looms and the battle for candidacy heats up. The switch by former Barisan Nasional loyalists to the opposition is threatening to upset the delicate balance between the newcomers and the old hands, with both claiming they are the legitimate first-choice contenders for any seat. Until a few weeks ago, PKR was the main opposition party that was seen as being able to topple BN's Maximus Ongkili from his parliamentary seat in Kota Marudu where he is considered an interloper as his family is from Tambunan. Support for popular local-born Anthony Mandiau, a PKR candidate in the 12th general election, was rising even though he was defeated by Ongkili. The writing was on the wall when he polled a creditable 7,830 votes against the winner's 12,028. Mandiau did the same in 2004 as an independent candidate polling 7,268 votes against Ongkili's 10,457. However, with the entry of former United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) veteran leaders Wilfred Bumburing and Senator Maijol Mahap who quit their party and the ruling coalition to enter the fray, Mandiau may not get the chance to test the third-time-lucky game plan. Things were looking up for him when Mahap, the former Upko vice-president, quit BN to throw his support for Pakatan Rakyat. "The number of PKR supporters has increased close to 10,000 now compared to just 13 members when I joined the party in 2007," Mandiau told delegates of the divisional party's congress in Kota Marudu last week. However, the jump in the number of overt supporters is making him sweat rather than smile. "It now seems that my friend [Mahap] has his own plans. He quit BN so that he can contest in the coming election on a Pakatan ticket. "When I joined PKR in 2007, Upko leaders including Mahap laughed at me… they were telling the people of Kota Marudu that my move was wrong as I was joining a political party that had no following. Now they want to join us," he told the congress. 'Newcomers' stoking anger Mandiau, a two-time opposition candidate, views (Mahap's) move as unprincipled in the light of the newcomers' attempts to commandeer the process of nominating opposition candidates for various seats in the state. Mahap has joined Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) headed by Bumburing, who is Tuaran MP. Bumburing has declared support for Pakatan and seems intent on stamping his mark on the question of candidacy. Mandiau disclosed that Bumburing was accompanied by Mahap and former senator Kalakau Untol last week to a gathering of PKR supporters in Kampung Marak Parak, a remote village in the Kota Marudu district. "It was during this gathering that the APS leader announced that Mahap will be the Pakatan candidate for the Kota Marudu parliamentary seat, contesting on a PKR ticket. "What is this? This is clear that Mahap resigned from Upko so that he can contest, which he would not have been able to do if he is still in BN," Mandiau said. He said he was only informed by Mahap about the function three hours before it began at 2pm and he was unable to attend. But said that he was with the senator the day before and there was no mention about the next day's gathering. "I am the Kota Marudu PKR head but was sidelined. This should not have happened," he said, adding that PKR leaders in the division are not happy about the new developments following APS' entry into the district. He also told the congress that due to APU's move and activities in promoting Mahap as the candidate, former MP George Sangkin and about 1,000 supporters had left PKR. But Sangkin had promised support if he (Mandiau) is the candidate. PKR leaders must listen to people Mandiau believes the same battle for seats is happening in other constituencies where those who left BN to join APS and Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPS) headed by Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin are expecting to be rewarded for the switch in allegiance.
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| Ribuan umat Islam ‘menyerbu’ Kedutaan Amerika Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:21 PM PDT Fazy Sahir and Jamilah Kamarudin, FMT Kira-kira 5,000 umat Islam berkumpul di kawasan Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat di Jalan Tun Razak selepas berarak dari Masjid Al-Syakirin di KLCC kira-kira satu kilometer. Kelihatan kira-kira 200 anggota polis dikerahkan mengawal keadaan sekitar kedutaan dan Jalan Tun Razak. Perarakan sekurang-kurangnya 5, 000 orang itu turut disertai oleh pemimpin PAS dan PKR serta NGO-NGO Islam. Antara yang kelihatan ialah Naib Presiden PAS, Sallahuddin Ayub dan Ketua Pemuda, Nas udin Hasan. Manakala pemimin PKR yang kelihatan ialah dua Naib Presiden iaitu Tian Chua dan Nurul Izzah Anwar. Kedutaan ditutup sejak jam 11 pagi berikutan anjuran demonstrasi aman membantah filem 'Innocence of Muslims'. Dalam ucapannya, Tian Chua berkata, kita tak benarkan sesiapa menghina agama yang lain. "Perkara ini bukan saja perjuangan Islam, ini isu kemanusiaan. Sesiapa yang menghina agama lain, ini merupakan penghinaan kepada semua manusia sejagat. "Kita bersama-sama menunjukkan solidariti kawan kita kepada umat Islam penghinaan ini tidak dibenarkan oleh mana-mana pihak. "Ini isu maruah seluruh rakyat Malaysia dan ini harus dihentikan. Kita sebulat suara mendesak US dan mana-mana kerajaan pun untuk membela maruah islam dan mana-mana agama supaya penindasan dihentikan. "Hari ini orang islam, esok mungkin orang Sikh, esok mungkin agama Kristian. Jadi mari bersama-sama pertahankan prinsip manusia tanpa mengira agama," katanya. Manakala perhimpunan membantah filem anti Islam, 'Innocence of Muslims' di Masjid Jamek, Kampung Baru di sini, berlangsung anman dan disertai ribuan orang. Laungan 'Allahuakbar' tanpa henti manakala Exco Pemuda Umno, Lokman Noor Adam berucap di atas sebuah van di hadapan pintu utama Masjid Jamek yang diikuti pemimpin-pemimpin lain. Mereka termasuk Ketua Pemuda Umno,Khairy Jamaluddin, dan Naib Ketua yang juga Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Presiden Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa (Perkasa), Datuk Ibrahim Ali dan Presiden Jati, Datuk Hasan Ali.
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| Karpal denounces insults against Prophet Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:18 PM PDT The DAP leader says it will take a long time for the feelings of Muslims to be assuaged. (FMT) - National DAP chairman Karpal Singh has denounced the American movie Innocence of Muslims and cartoons published by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo that insult the Prophet Muhammad. "On behalf of the DAP, with all the force at my command, I condemn the insults to Prophet Muhammad as evidenced in the movie Innocence of Muslims and the French satirical magazine," he said in a press statement today. "The irresponsibility and the wanton disregard for the feelings of Muslims have certainly left an indelible scar on their psyche and it will take a long time for the feelings of Muslims to be assuaged." The movie portrays the Prophet as a womaniser and a fool, and Charlie Hebdo has published offensive cartoons such as one showing him as a bearded figure bending over to display his buttocks. Had the movie and cartoons originated in Malaysia, Karpal added, the offenders would be liable to prosecution under Section 298 of the Penal Code. The section provides for the imprisonment and fine of any individual who utters words with the intention of injuring the religious feelings of any person. Karpal urged Muslims to exercise restraint in opposing both the movie and the magazine. "It is hoped Muslims will exercise restraint in the face of the justified grave provocation brought about as a result of the irresponsibility of those who have thought it fit to insult Islam's prophet," he said. "The innocent should not be subject to any harm to their person or property." Karpal's statement also referred to a controversial Twitter message by Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham, saying he hoped Muslims would accept his apology. Ngeh apologised yesterday for questioning the rationale for demonstrations by Muslims against the United States and France.
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| Cina sudah kurang ajar! Dah lupa 13 Mei ke? Posted: 20 Sep 2012 03:43 PM PDT Cina sudah kurang ajar. Cina perlu diajar. Cina sudah lupa 13 Mei. Ini negara Melayu. Agama Malaysia ialah Islam. Sekiranya Cina tak boleh terima ini maka mereka boleh keluar dari Malaysia. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin "It appears like the opposition is not consistent with its stand regarding freedom of speech. When we say something they don't like they whack us. They call us all sorts of foul names. They call us a traitor and turncoat. They call us a Trojan horse." -- RPK. Whacking, calling foul name, and calling traitor/turncoat might be inflammatory, but they are still covered by freedom of expression under USA 1st Amendment and also re-affirmed by later ruling of US Supreme Court. Alas, we are not USA. Despite we are not USA, we should still appreciate how the freedom of expression can and have prevented monopoly of those in powerful position. How to prevent the over-concentration of power (i.e. the hallmark of dictator)? One of the answers is to protect the right of expression of every citizen; the right must include whacking, calling foul name, and other inflammatory remarks. The freedom of expression includes the right to say stupid things and being bias to "your team". It is that "pain" of freedom of expression that allows powerful counter-weight to those in power position. If we cannot take that "pain" or sacrifice, we can kiss goodbye to democracy. "I remember when Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim expressed his personal view and he was whacked kau-kau for that. Does not Tunku Aziz also have a right to his personal view just like Ngeh?" -- RPK. So is the right of those who whack Tunku Aziz kau-kau. We should stop confuse people about the right of freedom of expression. Whacking someone kau-kau might be bad manners and even politically stupid, but it has not violated the right of Tunku Aziz. I think I can understand RPK whacking DAP and Pakatan Rakyat asking them to behave. But, confusing people on what is freedom of expression is a great "sin" -- as far as nurturing nascent democracy is concerned. (Comment by Shiou in my article 'How the knife cuts both ways'). ************************************************* That was what Shiou commented in my article 'How the knife cuts both ways'. Basically, Shiou is of the opinion that freedom of expression means 'no holds barred', anything goes, there are no limits or boundaries to what one can say. Let's say I buy that. Let's say I go along with what Shiou says -- that freedom of expression means 'no holds barred', anything goes, there are no limits or boundaries to what one can say. But then, in the same breath, Shiou contradicts himself/herself and concludes that confusing people on what is freedom of expression is a great sin. If Shiou is a propagator of absolute freedom of expression with no limits or boundaries, then how can he/she infer that confusing people is a great sin? There are no sins under absolute freedom of expression, going by Shiou's argument. Would not whatever I say, even if it is my intention to confuse people, be my freedom of expression? How can Shiou regard a statement meant to confuse people as a great sin? There is no such thing as a sin as far as absolute freedom of expression goes. Everything is fair game -- even a lie, misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, distortions, innuendoes, and whatnot. All are kosher. They all come under freedom of expression if we use Shiou's interpretation of no limit to freedom of expression. Now look at this photograph. And then read the heading of my article: Cina sudah kurang ajar! Dah lupa 13 Mei ke? I am relating my heading to the photograph above. To Shiou, this Chinese chap is merely expressing himself under his right of freedom of expression by stepping on the photograph of the Prime Minister. I, too, am expressing myself under my right of freedom of expression by saying, "Cina sudah kurang ajar! Dah lupa 13 Mei ke?" Am I making a racist statement? Am I instigating racial hatred? Is what I am doing dangerous considering that racism in Malaysia has reached a dangerous level never seen before since May 1969? As far as I am concerned I am just applying Shiou's standards and yardstick of freedom of expression. Under your right of freedom of expression there should be no limits or boundary. Anything goes. Everything is kosher. And I do not see that Chinese chap who is stepping on the Prime Minister's photograph as him exercising his freedom of expression. I see it as Chinese arrogance and a challenge to the Malays (cabaran kepada Melayu). Hence I say: Cina sudah kurang ajar! Dah lupa 13 Mei ke? Maybe what I am doing is dangerous. Maybe what I am doing may trigger racial discord. It may even expose Malaysia to the danger of racial conflict and violence. But that is not important. What is important is that I am expressing my view under my right of freedom of expression. What I am doing may result in deaths, maybe even hundreds or thousands of deaths. But can we allow that possibility to stand in the way of freedom of expression? Cina sudah kurang ajar. Cina perlu diajar. Cina sudah lupa 13 Mei. Ini negara Melayu. Agama Malaysia ialah Islam. Sekiranya Cina tak boleh terima ini maka mereka boleh keluar dari Malaysia. Yes, that statement, too, is covered under my right of absolute freedom of expression. So how can you say it is malicious, seditious, vicious and mischievous? Under freedom of expression, as Shiou says, there are no limits. There are no boundaries. Everything goes. All is kosher. |
| SUARAM, and USAid expulsion from Russia Posted: 20 Sep 2012 02:16 PM PDT
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL SUARAM is whining everyday ever since they are faced with a barrage of investigations. SUARAM's initial reaction to the various demands for investigations was to garner sympathy and support. They claimed they are being harrassed, authorities are reacting to the mob and finally they try a counter offense to express willingness to be scrutinised but insist a probe on Scorpene purchase.  And don't the SUARAM people read, Confession of an Economic Hitman? Perhaps, they believe it is okay to work with the enemy of the state as long as they get their way of seizing power. That is undemocratic and they will only be another dictator to promote onlt their own agenda. The international news have been giving favourable report on Putin lately. They claim he is having confidence problem with the people. Two days back, the Russian expelled USAID out of Russia. The response would likely say that it is Putin trying to preserve himself by blaming others. Is it so or there is basis to do so? Not many months ago, one Middle East country expelled NDI operatives. Remember Rocky's posting here. Read the news below:
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| Audit PKR di Selangor ada unsur penipuan, kata SPR Posted: 20 Sep 2012 02:09 PM PDT
Amin Iskandar, The Malaysian Insider Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR), Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof hari ini mendedahkan tentang terdapatnya unsur penipuan yang berlaku dalam audit daftar pemilih yang dilakukan oleh PKR di negeri Selangor. Menurut Abdul Aziz (gambar), penipuan dikesan sewaktu dijemput dalam sebuah program radio Bernama bersama-sama setiausaha agung PKR, Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail baru-baru ini. "Dalam program tersebut Saifuddin menunjukkan kepada wartawan gambar sebuah 'Dangau' yang dikatakan terdapat 18 orang pengundi berdaftar di Kampung Sungai Pusu, Gombak. "Saya minta dia tunjukkan gambar tersebut, gambar tersebut kami ambil untuk buat kajian. "Namun apabila SPR turun dilapangan, rupa-rupanya, Dangau itu adalah tempat letak motosikal dan sebenarnya terdapat 32 buah keluarga tinggal kampung tersebut, gambar tersebut sebenarnya di crop. "Ini salah satu bukti penipuan dalam audit yang dilakukan oleh PKR," kata Abdul Aziz kepada pemberita. Dangau adalah merujuk kepada pondok di dalam loghat Kedah yang digunakan oleh Saifuddin. "Sebab itu apabila terdapat kekeliruan atau tidak jelas tentang sesuatu perkara, datang berjumpa SPR. "Jangan terus dedah kepada media kerana ini akan mengelirukan orang ramai," kata pengerusi SPR itu lagi. Abdul Aziz turut menunjukkan gambar-gambar hasil penyiasatan yang dilakukan oleh pasukan penyisat SPR Selangor ke Kampung Sungai Pusu yang menunjukkan 32 keluarga yang menetap di kampung tersebut menggunakan satu alamat yang terletak di pondok tersebut. Baru-baru ini kerajaan negeri Selangor mengumumkan tidak akan membubarkan dewan undangan negeri (DUN)serentak dengan pilihan raya umum (PRU) oleh kerana daftar pemilih yang tidak bersih. Dalam statistik terbaru SPR digazet pada 16 Ogos yang dihantar kepada The Malaysian Insider, SPR merekodkan jumlah pemilih berdaftar seramai 13,052,374 orang di mana 12,778,127 orang adalah pengundi biasa dan 274,247 orang adalah pengundi tidak hadir yang terdiri daripada tentera, polis dan pengundi luar negara. Selangor mempunyai pengundi luar negeri yang paling tinggi iaitu 597 orang manakala Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur mempunyai jumlah pengundi tidak hadir paling tinggi iaitu seramai 40,543 orang.
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| Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:58 PM PDT
SAKMONGKOL AK47 Orang Melayu mesti buang dan singkirkan pemikiran ini. yakni, jangan fikir bahawa masa depan kita, kemakmuran kita hanya UMNO boleh buat. Orang Melayu bukan UMNO pun boleh buat lagi baik. Yang pegang tampuk kuasa tidak boleh lama mengelak dari melakukan apa yang dikehendaki oleh majority. Orang Melayu majority kan? You cant dismiss the majority. Lim Guang Eng, KM Pulau Pinang. Dalam mengurus negeri tersebut, dia tak mampu mengenepikan kehendak orang Melayu disana. Dia tahu reality politik Malaysia. Pengajaran nya ialah sesiapa pun yang memerintah, kalau dia peka dan akur kepada kehendak majority, akan selamat. Orang Melayu mesti bersatu. Tapi bukanlah bersatu dibawah UMNO. Bersatulah dalam fikiran bahawa melalui bertindak seirama dan senada, merekalah yang ada kuasa dan daulat untuk menentukan bagaimana negara ini ditadbir. Kita mungkin ada kerajaan PR yang memerintah- tapi selagi orang Melayu bertindak secara kolektif, kerajaan PR pun tidak boleh lakukan selain daripada apa yang dikehendaki oleh bangsa Melayu. Itulah faktanya. Bersatulah orang Melayu tapi tidaklah ia bermaksud bersatu dibawah UMNO. Kita mesti ingat pengorbadanan orang2 dahulu, tapi janganlah kita ingat yang berkorban dahulu2 hanya orang UMNO. Masaalah UMNO sekarang ialah ia gagal memncerminkan kehendak majority dalam pemimpin nya, dalam kepimpinan merka, dalam dasar dan wawasan mereka dan dalam mutu penyokong dan ahli mereka. Adakah majority Melalu biadab dan kebiadaman mereka diwakili oleh pembaling batu dan cat kearah kenderaan Anwar Ibrahim. yang tonggeng bontot didepan rumah Ambiga- adakah mereka mewakili kebiadaban orang Melayu? Hidup dan mati kita bukan disebabkan UMNO. Kalau orang Melayu yang beragama Islam berfikiran bahawa semua nya kerana dan untuk UMNO, itu sudah kufur. Jadi, banish the thoughts that only UMNO can serve orang Melayu. Kita biarkan orang UMNO jadi lembu, majority kita orang Melayu bukan sahaja tidak mahu jadi lembu tapi juga tidak rela dilembukan! Kalau kita berkehendakkan sangat supaya orang Melayu jadi ketua, kita pilih orang Melayu. Antara calun MCA dan calun Melayu bukan UMNO bertanding, pilih orang Melayu. Kalau Melayu DAP lawan cina MCA, pilih Melayu DAP. Kalau Melayu PAS lawan Melayu UMNO, pilih yang terbaik diatara mereka. Jangan pilih Melayu UMNO walaupun kita tahu dia penyangak dan gangster dan kaki sapu duit. Salah fikiran begitu. Kalau orang Melayu nak selamat- maka perkiraan yang paling selamat, kalau Melayu lawan Cina , pilih Melayu. Kalau Melayu lawan Melayu pilih yang lebih baik. Orang Melayu tidak ikat janji dengan UMNO. Jadi relakslah. Kita tak ikrar, sesungguhnya solat ku, ibadahku, hidupku dan mati ku kerana UMNO pemerintah alam kan? Tak kiamat dan tidak kafir kita kalau singkirkan UMNO. Najib kata kalau UMNO kalah, masa depan orang Melayu akan muram. Ek betul dia dan UMNO. Macamlah dia dan UMNO sahaja yang boleh menjaga kebajikan orang Melayu. Sebuah kerajaan yang majoritinya Melayu pun boleh buat lebih baik dari UMNO. Penjagaan dan perlindungan kebajikan dan kepentingan orang Melayu tidak bersyaratkan UMNO sahaja yang boleh lakukan. UMNO dah perintah sejak tahun 1955 dan semenjak merdeka iaitu selama 55 tahun. UMNO dapat masa tersebut dan masih gagal nak lakukan yang sepatutnya dilakukan. Itu sudah bukti kuat, UMNO tidak mampu lakukan apa yang mereka janji. Sudah tiba masa nya, kita tendang UMNO keluar dan gantikan dengan kerajaan PR dimana majority pemimpin nya tetap juga Melayu. Apa yang kita lihat pada UMNO? Kita lihat bahawa setiap pemimpin UMNO melihat kedudukan dan jawatan yang mereka dapat sebagai punca mencari rezeki dan kekayaan. UMNO penuh dengan pemimpin yan rasuah. Tak masuk akal seorang naib preisden UMNO boleh beri isteri muda RM 200 ribu dan RM 1 juta seminggu!. Tak masuk akal pemimpin UMNI dengan gaji menterinya boleh memiliki lebih dari 12 buak kereta mewah. Kita tak boleh terima Noh Omar bekalkan benih padi melalui syarikat proxy nya. Semua menteri UMNO korap dan rasuah. Mukhriz dan Mutapa Mohamad dikatakan telah mengagihkan 100 juta saham FGV antara mereka berdua. Orang Melayu peneroka Felda yang berjumlah 112, 000 orang hanya dapat 800 unit saham seorang.
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| APA?? Rosmah Mansor pakai jam tangan bernilai RM350,000? Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:51 PM PDT  Anak Sungai Derhaka Beberapa ketika dahulu rakyat 1Malaysia telah dikejutkan dengan beberapa acessories milik Rosmah Mansor antaranya bag tangan 'Birkin' yang mencecah ratusan ribu RM dan juga 'Bangle' atau gelang tangan yang bernilai jutaan RM dan cincin RM24Juta. Rosmah Mansor dikatakan memiliki sekurang-kurangnya 11 beg tangan mewah jenama Birkin dianggarkan Rosmah membelanjakan minima RM638,000 hingga maksima RM5,192,000 untuk membeli beg tangan berkenaan.Bagi beg edisi terhad miliknya pula harga sebuah beg tangan dikatakan mencecah RM28,000 (US$ 9,000) hingga RM472,000 (US$150,000) bagi setiap satu.. sila baca di ( SINI ) Cincin berlian yang dikenali sebagai 'Natural Fancy Blue Gray Cushion Cut" miliknya itu berharga lebihkurang RM24 Juta.. sila baca di ( SINI ) Kali ini kita akan melihat lagi koleksi barangan mewah milik Rosmah Mansor iaitu jam tangan pula.. Terkini koleksi yang jam tangan yang dipakai Rosmah dalam satu majlis yang dihadirinya di Vietnam berjaya dirakam lensa kamera…  Ianya dikatakan dikatakan bernilai antara £70,000 - £100,000. Dan harga tersebut tidak termasuk duti import lagi... Atau dalam nilai RM lebih kurang RM350,000 hingga RM500,000 sahaja.. Dengan mengambil kira gaji minimum baru bagi Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu sebanyak RM900 manakala di Sabah dan Sarawak diletakkan pada paras RM800.. rakyat Malaysia perlu mengambil masa selama seperti perkiraan di bawah untuk memilikinya.. RM900 x 12 (bulan) = RM10800 x 46 tahun 4 bulan = RM500,400 Ini bermakna mereka memerlukan sekurang-kurangnya 46 tahun lama untuk memiliki jam tangan mewah berjenama Franck Muller ini.. |
| Defending Ngeh's Tweet on provocative film Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:50 PM PDT
KTEMOC KONSIDERS The Malaysian Insider - Ngeh retracts tweet, apologises to Muslims I agree with Ngeh that Muslims have been/are wasting to much time and energy on an issue (deliberately) provoked by one single person. Instead, they should look at the 'agenda' behind the provocation.
Jones is notorious for provoking the Muslim world two years ago by his boast to burn 200 copies of the Quran. However, US State and Defence authorities successfully persuaded him against that as his action could imperil American troops in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Nonetheless, one year later (in 2011) he did burn one copy of the Quran. On the recent Bacile's provocative film, he ignored pleas from US authorities (again) not to upload the film on his church website. US media columnists have also appealed to church authorities to stop him to avoid violence in the Middle East but he gave everyone two fingers. Some US church leaders stated what he has done has been a travesty and detestable. As for the suspected 'agenda' behind the film, my agreement with Ngeh also pertains to my observations and belief that there would usually be a Zionist element behind such provocations against Muslims in general and Arabs (Palestinians) in particular. There is a very strong nexus between Ultra Zionists (both American and Israeli Zionists) and the US Christian Right, hence Jones' deliberate provocations could be related to right-wing Zionists' aim to demonize the easily provoked Arab-Muslims and/or to win back lost European sympathies and support for them - sympathies and support lost as a result of their arrogant political intransigence and feral brutalities against the Palestinians. Recently, President Obama has made an unprecedented decision (for a US President) in refusing to see Benjamin Netanyahu. Many Israeli leaders realized that Netanyahu has crossed the line in his usual 'dictates' to Obama, and took to criticizing him (Netanyahu) for his faux pas, hoping to steer him back on the proper polite path to winning back the US presidential support for an already isolated Israel. Israeli PMs, particularly an ultra like Netanyahu, believe they alone in the world have the politically teflonised backings from the US Christian Right and American Zionists to lecture, berate and scold US President on the correct political policies for the Middle-East. Usually they have been correct but Netanyahu's increasingly arrogant and strident talk-down to the US President have gotten out of hand, to an extent the US President, the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, would have suffered irreparable humiliation if he continues (like his predecessors) to quietly accept the Israeli dressing down. Perhaps the Arabs must be brought into the picture once again to help divert attention from this. If we recall some years back, when the Danish rightwing Jyllen-Posten published the Prophet Mohamad cartoons, it set the European world topsy turvy by the predictably violent reaction from Muslims and Arabs.
When European authorities and media were asked on the appropriateness of Jyllen-Posten publishing such offensive caricatures of a personality beloved by Muslims, the usual hypocritical mob would chant out blindly their mantra of 'freedom of speech and expression', while pretending not to remember how they persecuted Prince Harry for wearing a mere swastika armband to a fancy dress ball, or a Holocaust denier like David Irving for writing a book that says Jews killed by the Nazis did not number 6 millions and were considerably less.
Condemned for something associated with a fancy dress ball? For crying out loud! But the Zionist-galvanized ruckus evoked from an innocuous incident by an unsuspecting youth was so great that it not only forced the young royalty into apologising but panicked his father, the future King of England into issuing abject apologies and explanations of how silly his son had been, with British ministers wading in, all stumbling forward to prostrate themselves before the Gods of their guilt. His father even ordered little Harry to visit the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz to learn and atone. I have seen 'Dracula', 'Stalin', 'Tojo' and even a 'George Bush' at fancy dress balls, all winning at least a laugh or two. Shouldn't those wearers of the costumes be made to apologize to respectively Romania, Russia, Japan and the USA too? Lord Janner, a senior figure in Britain's Jewish community, said "What Harry did was both stupid and evil. The time has come for him to make a public apology." Evil? Hey! Freedom of expression? What happened to that supposedly cherished Western institution then? Oh BTW, David Irving was jailed for a number of years by an Australian Court for challenging the sacrosanct figure of 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
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| Pro A sapu bersih pilihan raya kampus Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:43 PM PDT Pengumuman keputusan pilihan raya kampus ini telah dibuat di kesemua universiti yang terlibat oleh jawatankuasa pemilih perwakilan pelajar. Amirul Azam Zulkafli, FMT Pilihan raya kampus yang berlangsung semalam di lima buah universiti awam bagi memilih kepimpinan baru Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) bagi sesi 2012/2013 telah menyaksikan kumpulan Aspirasi Mahasiswa menyapu bersih menewaskan Pro Mahasiswa. .Lima universiti yang mengadakan pilihan raya kampus semalam adalah Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) dan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). Pengumuman keputusan pilihan raya kampus ini telah dibuat di kesemua universiti yang terlibat oleh jawatankuasa pemilih perwakilan pelajar. Aspirasi Mahasiswa telah menyapu bersih kesemua kerusi yang dipertandingkan di UiTM (50 kerusi), UniMAP (31), UTeM (28) dan UniSZA (24). Di UiTM pula, Aspirasi menang 25 kerusi daripada 27 yang dipertandingkan. Proses pilihan raya kampus di lima universiti itu yang berlangsung sejak awal pagi Khamis ditutup pada jam 4 petang. Sementara itu, sebanyak 15 IPTA lain memilih untuk mengadakan pilihan raya kampus masing-masing pada Selasa depan.
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| ‘Reopen probe against Mahathir’ Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:33 PM PDT In an open letter to IGP Ismail Omar, the former KL CID chief said the case was never closed as indicated by former IGP Musa Hassan and AG Abdul Gani Patail in 2008. G Vinod, FMT The police should reopen investigations on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on alleged abuse of power, said former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigations Department CID) chief Mat Zain Ibrahim today. In an open letter to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar, Mat Zain said he was referring to then Anti-Corruption Agency's (ACA) probe on Mahathir under the instruction of its then director-general, Shafee Yahya. "Former IGP Musa Hassan and Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail told the media in April 2008 that the probe against Mahathir was closed by former AG Mohtar Abdullah in February 2000. "But I tell you that the case is still open," said Mat Zain. Mat Zain said that the case could not have been closed in February 2000 as the police reports were only made against Mahathir in June that year. He also said a businessman lodged a subsequent report against Mahathir on July 22, 2000. "The investigation papers were only produced to AG Chambers in November 2000. Even then, the KL police delayed further probe pending new statements from others, including Shafee," said Mat Zain. Training his guns against Musa and Gani, Mat Zain said that it was obvious that the duo were attempting to deceive the rakyat by saying the the case against Mahathir was closed. "What's worse is that they passed the buck to a dead person (Mohtar) to save their own necks," said Mat Zain.
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| Hisham, Rais, must apologise to M’sians for national shame Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:29 PM PDT
Datuk Chua Jui Meng BERNAMA's admission that its pictures were doctored has shamed Malaysia globally in the most unethical manner. It is the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's national news agency and therefore the ministers linked to media affairs, namely Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim, must apologise to Malaysians for the national shame. They must start thinking out of the box and not resort to looking for scapegoats to cover up what was committed intentionally. I guess that would be too much for the ministers and the BN to stomach. After 55 years of Merdeka (Independence), Malaysians cannot continue to rely on a government that is unable to think out of the box to do the right thing. BN resorts to cover-ups and sweeping everything under the carpet whenever blunders and scandals erupt. Admitting that its photographs of prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in Pekan, Pahang (an east coast state of the peninsula), were doctored to reflect huge crowds is not enough. Finding a scapegoat to take the rap is also deplorable as it will further shame Malaysia. Very few Malaysians, save for loyal BN supporters who are always giving blind support, believe that the doctoring of pictures was the act of an individual out to sabotage the national news agency. The delayed admission by Bernama that its pictures were doctored raises doubts of sincerity. The admission came only after a series of pictures were posted on the internet that clearly showed the visuals were fakes. Bernama's editor-in-chief Yong Soo Heong was quick to deny the pictures were fake and that the news agency had no time to engage in such unethical work. When more of such pictures were posted in the internet, Bernama buckled under mounting pressure and admitted guilt. Suddenly, Yong says "Bernama has conducted an initial investigation into allegations that one of its recent photographs was manipulated and found the flawed picture was discovered at the source from where it was sent". Do you expect Malaysians to believe Yong who was quick to dismiss the allegations when the picture was clearly doctored and then admitted guilt when pressure for the truth continued to mount. I doubt the doctoring was done by the photographer who would not be so stupid to put his job on the line because such doctoring can be easily detected. But he could have been pressured by his superiors to do so. Whatever, this is going to be another case of going after the ikan bilis (anchovy or small fish) instead of the big fish. |
| Pakatan promises affordable housing, after cheaper cars, free education Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:22 PM PDT Rafizi said PR's budget proposals will be backed up by background costing. (The Malaysian Insider) - Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) budget proposals next week will highlight affordable housing, a touchy subject that urbanites and unionists have asked the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) to act on as house prices are rising faster than income levels. The federal opposition coalition had earlier promised to slash vehicles prices and offer free tertiary education, and the move on housing prices is seen as a sweetener to win more support to capture Putrajaya in the next general election which must be held by middle 2013. PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said the PR budget proposals, to be unveiled on September 24 by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will address the two issues which are driving housing prices up. "The first reason is speculation. There is no denying that Barisan Nasional has been trying to counter this by controlling credit for housing but this textbook style in dealing with the issue is too late," he told The Malaysian Insider, saying credit restrictions were not working as speculators no longer approached banks for funds and instead pooled their resources. Rafizi said there was also a need to regulate developers who hand out rebates and discounts after setting prices. "They (developers) give so many rebates and discounts and deducting all this, suddenly you find that the house is only RM900,000. "But because the initial value was a million, it pushes up the base line for housing prices," he added. He said there were a lot of "nitty gritty items" needing review, adding that BN's handling of the crisis was not detailed and thorough enough to curb speculation. "The government has also abdicated the role of providing housing to private contractors, so now we in PR have to look at different ways to balance the supply for affordable housing," Rafizi said, adding that there was no drive for contractors to build affordable houses. He said that instead of Putrajaya's move to guarantee aid to first-time homeowners through the My First Home Scheme announced in Budget 2012, PR would look into increasing the supply of affordable housing but added that the issue would not be resolved overnight. "We won't see any effects until the third year because this problem cannot be solved quickly, even in one or two years," said the trained accountant, adding it was a matter of cost and cashflow. "BN would never admit to this, but whenever we come out with a policy, we will always give a proper cashflow along with it. So I can assure everyone that the plan is sound," Rafizi said. He added that proposals in the PR budget will be backed up by background costing and would not be including the earlier policies promised by the opposition pact. "The onus is on us to prove that our plans are viable, as we have done with our car policy and even with our PTPTN policy; the figures and cashflow we provide will tally," Rafizi said. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pakatan-promises-affordable-housing-after-cheaper-cars-free-education/
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| Malaysian role vexes Thai conflict Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:14 PM PDT
(Asia Times) -- PATTANI - When Malay Muslim insurgents recently staked Malaysian flags along roads, pedestrian bridges and on electricity poles across Thailand's predominantly Muslim southernmost provinces, the symbolic acts of rebellion highlighted Malaysia's often overlooked cross-border role in the deadly conflict. Although Thai officials have consistently characterized the situation as homegrown, that interpretation is stretched by the fact that many Malay Muslim Thai nationals share an ethnic and religious affinity with Malaysia's ethnic majority. Malaysia has long served as a source of sanctuary for ethnic Malay separatists who launch attacks in Thailand and flee to safety across the border. Read more at: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NI21Ae01.html
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| Malaysia wants to prevent homosexuality from spreading Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:11 PM PDT
(Business Standard) - Malaysia's education ministry today said it viewed the phenomenon of homosexuality seriously and wants to make sure it does not spread in schools, days after it distanced itself from 'guidelines' issued by a seminar on how to identify gay tendencies in children. Deputy Education minister, Mohd Puad Zarkashi said various measures had and would be taken, including appointing counsellors in schools to help parents understand the issue and the dangers it posed. "However, the ministry does not intend to issue set guidelines to curb the LGBT phenomenon although we realise that it is increasingly evident in this country," he told a parenting seminar on tackling the LGBT issue. Mohd Puad said the question of set guidelines did not arise, but many people might have thought that the ministry was directly involved in fighting the LGBT menace by issuing such guidelines. "Actually, we want to educate parents and expose them to the LGBT threat but the parents themselves, through the consultative council, expressed their worry over the LGBT phenomenon," he was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying. Mohd Puad said the ministry was of the opinion that the LGBT symptoms be honestly made known to parents and teachers so that the problem involving the young, especially those still schooling, could be checked. "The time has come for the LGBT issue be discussed openly and not treat it as a taboo subject, just like when we introduced sex education in schools where we undertook various measures including naming the subject health and reproductive education," he said. Meanwhile, Shahlan Ismail, chairman of the parent teachers consultative council said that so far 11 seminars nationwide had been organised by the Council on the LGBT issue, to discuss with parents the "symptoms" and "preventive measures" as well as the dangers posed by the phenomenon. "These seminars are not aimed at encouraging the public to get rid of LGBTs as claimed by some quarters, or to use violence against them or to arrest them," Bernama quoted him as saying. |
| Dr M: Leaders can be reproached and challenged Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:06 PM PDT
(Bernama) - "During my time (as prime minister), I was reproached by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa Hitam and there were also scores of people who were angry with me," he said. Leaders can be reproached and challenged if it is felt they have strayed from the struggle to develop society and the nation, says former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. "(We do it) when we have the opportunity to do so, but not in an angry or insulting manner. We give opinions that can be taken into consideration by the leaders," he said. Speaking to reporters after a discussion on leadership at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), here yesterday, he said the leaders too must be open to challenge and reprovals. "During my time (as prime minister), I was reproached by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa Hitam and there were also scores of people who were angry with me," he said. Dr Mahathir said leaders must also not overstay in power and "go when it is time for them to go, although they are popular among the people". Asked how a leader would know if it is time to step down, he said: "A leader must be able to read the people's mind and there would be indications or signals for him to go." However, he said, it would be bad if the time given to a leader to lead was too short that he could not learn his job, formulate some policies and implement them. "Five years? Ten years? Some countries limit it (term) to five years. That is not good. "People need to give time to a leader unless of course if he is very bad, filling his own pocket, giving priority to his family and something like that. If he is not like that, then you allow him to stay on at least for another term". On the 13th general election, Dr Mahathir said the problem that he saw in Barisan Nasional at the moment was that there were too many people who considered themselves as the best candidates. "When not elected as candidates, these people will go all out to prevent the elected candidates from winning." He said another thing that would hinder BN from winning two-thirds majority comfortably in the elections was that the people were easily influenced by the feeling of hatred being stirred up against the government by the opposition. |
| Posted: 19 Sep 2012 05:40 PM PDT
Ngeh's statement was also about taking to the streets being a waste of time. What Ngeh said was basically almost the same as what Tunku Aziz said. But Tunku Aziz was demonised while Ngeh was not. In fact, the reverse happened. PAS supports Ngeh's right to air this personal view, a right not allowed Tunku Aziz. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
Perak DAP Chief Ngeh Koo Ham – you are a complete disgrace (The Kuala Lumpur Post) - Ngeh Koo Ham – you are a complete disgrace. You are just like the other arrogant DAP leaders who do not use their head when they tweet. How does one describe the DAP leader Manoharan who posted a tweet to run down our badminton hero Lee Chong Wei. The Perak DAP chief, we are sure, is the kind who would run down Malaysia when he is overseas. We bet our last ringgit he does that. He is the kind of chauvinist leader who appeals to the many whining Malaysians – who lives in a affluent neighbourhood, has a maid, has three cars or more, travels overseas and enjoys the best of Malaysian life! One can speculate what are Ngeh's private views regarding the controversial anti-Islam Innocence of Muslims video clip. He has a sick mind because only a racist mind would post a tweet that read: "Khairy wants Muslim protest against Sam Bacile. For Islam or his political gains? Are Muslims wasting too much time and energy on this." He has tried to wriggle out of this provocative tweet by claiming he was merely posing a question. Come on, Ngeh, you must think we are as stupid as your DAP groupies and zombies. You should stop lying and come out with an apology instead. You are clearly insensitive but worse, you have offended the majority of Muslims in Malaysia. A mistake is one thing but to put that offensive question is another thing. You can only say you are a bloody disgrace. ****************************************** Ngeh Koo Ham keluarkan pandangan peribadi, kata Hatta Ramli (The Malaysian Insider) - Bendahari PAS Pusat Dr Hatta Mohd Ramli berkata, pengerusi DAP Perak, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham hanya mengeluarkan pandangan peribadi mengenai demonstrasi menentang klip video nabi yang akan dilangsungkan esok di hadapan Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan tidak mewakili pandangan keseluruhan ahli Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Menurut beliau, di dalam sebuah negara demokratik, setiap orang berhak untuk mengeluarkan pandangan sendiri asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas. Pada 16 September lalu, Ngeh telah menulis dalam laman sosial Twitter yang bertulis, "Khairy mahu umat Islam berdemo menentang (klip video) Sam Bacile, untuk Islam atau kepentingan politik? Kenapa umat Islam membuang masa dan tenaga untuk semua ini." Berikutan dengan kenyataan itu, ia menimbulkan perasaan kurang senang di kalangan beberapa pihak yang mengatakan Ngeh tidak sensitif dengan isu yang berkait dengan agama Islam. Menurut Dr Hatta lagi, hubungan DAP dan PAS akan terus kekal rapat dalam kerjasama PR biarpun terdapat perbezaan dalam beberapa isu. ****************************************** The above was what an Umno Blog wrote, and republished by a few news portals and websites. Ngeh has since apologised for that faux pas here: I retract and apologise to any Muslim who is offended by my tweet. According to Dr Hatta Mohd Ramli of PAS, Ngeh's 'outburst' was his personal view. Dr Hatta also said, "…di dalam sebuah negara demokratik, setiap orang berhak untuk mengeluarkan pandangan sendiri asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas." (In a democratic country, everyone has a right to air his/her personal view as long as it does not exceed the boundary). It is apparent that Umno is going to town on this faux pas and this is going to hurt DAP quite badly. And I really don't blame Umno. If I were in Umno's Black Ops or Psychological Warfare team I would do the same. This is certainly not an opportunity to be missed. But that is not the issue I want to talk about. After all, race, religion and personal attacks are the stuff that Malaysian politics is made of. Basically, it is primary school-level politics. And when words fail, they will resort to violence. So far, over the last year or so, we have seen the fringes of this violence. Rest assured more and harder stuff is coming and those who talk the most will probably hide within the safety of their homes while those innocent of any involvement will have to suffer the consequences and retaliation. This is the sad reality of violence. Dr Hatta's conclusion is that everyone has a right to his/her personal view. And Ngeh's statement was just that, his personal view. Hence PAS will not lose any sleep over what Ngeh said. It is very comforting and reassuring to hear Dr Hatta say that. But then Dr Hatta is a liberal Muslim and the product of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). Hence he has been moulded into tolerating dissenting views and criticism -- although he may be a leader of an Islamic party and the dissenting view is regarding Islam. So, not all the more than one billion Muslims are bloodthirsty, medieval-minded, intolerant people. There are many amongst that more than one billion who are open-minded and tolerant of criticism. It is only that they can't be bothered to argue with the close-minded Muslims. Most of us have learned years ago that it is a waste of time trying to debate with religious bigots, never mind from which religion they may come from -- they are all the same. Hence that is the bottom line -- just ignore the religious bigots. When you ignore them they eventually just shut up and go home. It is when you layan (engage) them that they get all excited. They want an audience and when you give them an audience they will put on an even greater 'show'. A crucial part of Dr Hatta's statement is that as long as it does not exceed the boundary (asalkan ia tidak melampaui batas) it is okay to express your personal view. And herein lies the problem. Where is this boundary and at what point would one be perceived as 'exceeding the boundary'? Is calling Anwar Ibrahim BABI (Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim), as what the Umno Blogs do, be melampaui batas? What about calling Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Mahatahi? Is this within the boundary (tidak melampaui batas)? The boundary is invisible and very subjective. I would consider BABI and Mahatahi as definitely melampaui batas. The Umno and Pakatan supporters, however, do not think so. They think this is very kosher. In that case would calling Prophet Muhammad a paedophile be considered kosher or melampaui batas? I suppose the yardstick would be: do unto others as you would others do unto you. Some Umno Bloggers call my mother a prostitute. I hate that. Hence I would not call any other person's mother a prostitute since I do not like my mother being called that. The more crucial issue in this whole Ngeh episode is that Dr Hatta regards what Ngeh said as his personal view and that under a democracy Ngeh has a right to his personal views. Okay, that is well and fine -- what Ngeh said is his personal view and under a democracy Ngeh has a right to his personal views. But do the DAP people also practice what Dr Hatta's preaches? I remember when Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim expressed his personal view and he was whacked kau-kau for that. Does not Tunku Aziz also have a right to his personal view just like Ngeh? What Tunku Aziz said was regarding demonstrations. He did not think Malaysians should take to the streets, as this is a violation of Malaysian laws. (Whether we agree or not with that law would be another matter but it would still be breaking the law). Ngeh's statement was also about taking to the streets being a waste of time. What Ngeh said was basically almost the same as what Tunku Aziz said. But Tunku Aziz was demonised while Ngeh was not. In fact, the reverse happened. PAS supports Ngeh's right to air this personal view, a right not allowed Tunku Aziz. The opposition has to decide whether freedom of speech is allowed or not. No need to ask Umno or Barisan Nasional this question. Umno and Barisan Nasional do not allow freedom of speech. It is the opposition that is fighting for freedom of speech. So we need to ask the opposition this question, not ask Umno or Barisan Nasional. It appears like the opposition is not consistent with its stand regarding freedom of speech. When we say something they don't like they whack us. They call us all sorts of foul names. They call us a traitor and turncoat. They call us a Trojan horse. But when they commit a faux pas they scream freedom of speech to squirm out of their mistake. And please stop this "if you criticise the opposition that means you support Barisan Nasional" nonsense. That is so, so childish. Some of us might do just that, support Barisan Nasional, just to teach you phoneys and fakes a lesson. Barisan Nasional may be bad but at least they do not pretend to be angels. They are bad and proud of it. You opposition people pretend to be angels but behind that mask you are no different from Barisan Nasional. Just practice what you preach. Walk the talk. Then you will get our support. Until then, shape up or ship out. Your choice!
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| I retract and apologise to any Muslim who is offended by my tweet Posted: 19 Sep 2012 03:47 PM PDT
Ngeh Koo Ham
I retract and apologise to any Muslim who is offended by my tweet as it was never intended to be so. It was 1.43 am 17th September 2012, after seeing world news on CNN, BBC and Al Ajazeera showing violent protests in various parts of the world where lives were lost, many injured properties gutted and unrest ensued in response to the video produced by Sam Bacile, and after reading the news in Malaysiakini.com that YB Khairy Jamaluddin has planned to hold massive protest coming Friday (21st Sept 2012) with regard to the same matter that I tweeted the following words 'Khairy wants muslim protest against Same Bacile. For Islam or for his political gains? Are muslims wasting to much time and energy on this?' In the context of the violent protests round the world and the many demonstrations to be held that I posed the question 'Are muslims wasting too much time and energy on this?' I was wondering if too much time and energy have been spent in response to the 13.5 minutes video produced by a mad man in the name of Sam Bacile. I wanted our society to think deeper with regard to the way we response to any provocation or issue that confronts us. I have been taught and have always emphasized to the young never to react but always to respond. I want to make it very clear my following stands:- 1. I strongly condemn the video and its producer for belittling the faith/religion of another person and reiterate support for the stand that has been taken by DAP on this issue which is contained in the media statement issued by my party's Secretary General on 16/9/2012. 2. I totally support the rights of a person to hold peaceful demonstrations. In my 23 years of active political involvement, I have organized scores of demonstration in Perak. I was arrested by the police in Bersih 2.0 and was there at Bersih 3.0. The abovesaid tweet has now been twisted by UMNO/BN to say I belittle Islam. This is a total lie. However, having explain the context in which my question was posed, any Muslim who is still offended by the question I posed, I apologise as that was never intended. I feel comforted that a leading Muslim cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, head of international union of Muslim Scholars, Encik Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, the Executive Committee Chairman of Malaysia Young Ulama Assembly and Encik Musa Awang, the President of the Syarie lawyers of Malaysia have also come forward to call for restraint in the response to this video issue. |
| Najib’s turn at Google Hangout, aims for cyber-savvy crowd Posted: 19 Sep 2012 03:36 PM PDT
Jahabar Sadiq, The Malaysian Insider Datuk Seri Najib Razak will host a Google Hangout on September 29, becoming the second Malaysian politician to connect with IT-savvy Malaysians especially youths who form a distinct demographic of the 13 million eligible to vote in the next general election. The Malaysian Insider understands that the prime minister will answer questions in the hour-long session in the online forum from 4pm that Saturday, a day after he tables the Budget 2013 proposals in Parliament. The budget is the last one before elections that must be called by middle 2013. "Datuk Seri Najib is having a Google Hangout on September 29 at 4pm and this will add to other efforts in cyberspace," a source told The Malaysian Insider. It is learnt that his communication team is working on the details of the Google Hangout and an advertising campaign to promote the event, which will centre on the government's efforts to develop the country into a high-income developed nation by 2020. It is also understood that Najib, who is finance minister, will also answer questions about the Budget 2013 proposals. The Google Hangout comes at a time when the Malaysian authorities lodged an official complaint to Google and its video-sharing site YouTube about the anti-Islam film clip "Innocence of Muslims" which is seen as denigrating Prophet Muhammad and the faith, which is the country's official religion. YouTube has blocked access to the video clip from Malaysian Internet Protocol (IP) addresses but other services remain. The video-sharing site is popular in Malaysia and is mainly used by opposition politicians who want to bypass local free-to-air television stations which are either run by the state or by pro-government owners. Najib's main political foe, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was the first politician in the country to hold a Google Hangout, which allows virtual meetings of up to 10 people or a broadcast to an online audience of millions. Anwar's event drew thousands when it was held on August 17, two days before the Eid festival when Malaysian Muslims return home to celebrate the end of the holy Ramadan fasting month. US President Barack Obama hosted a Google Hangout last January as part of his re-election campaign. The forum comes in the form of live video connections and video YouTube questions. Najib, who will seek his own mandate in the next polls, is one of the country's most popular politicians online through his blog www.1malaysia.com.my, his two Facebook accounts and his Twitter microblogging account. His main Facebook page has 1,181,087 likes against Anwar's 388,219 likes in a country which has some 12.9 million Facebook accounts.
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