Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Liu shows proof it was all BN’s work
- S'gor MB challenged to explain proposed sale of PKNS assets
- Twenty-five years later, camaraderie in adversity
- Local councils a law unto themselves
- Are we who we are?
- Jolie, Ashley & Gang for Adoption
- What constitutes a Manifesto?
- DAP’s ‘gesture of goodwill’ to SAPP
- MACC report against Palani’s aide
- The day of the dictator – Oct 27, 1987
- Playing the religion game
- Genneva gold storm poses political risks ahead of polls
- Stupid & Stupider
- Youth and Political Awareness
- Malay behaviour: Survival replaces greed
- Karpal renews pressure on one man-one seat policy
- Do you know what sacrifice means?
- Let Federal Court decide status of M’sia
- Before meddling with subsidies, ask why we need subsidies
- Not just a Malay problem: dirty money cost China US$3.8 trillion 2000-2011
- 10 Qualities of a Great Nation
- The battle for Nibong Tebal
- Sabotaj bukan 'budaya eksklusif' Umno semata-mata
- Harun Taib: Ulama Pas bukan 'Ayatollah Iran'
- Assange says to stay in embassy until US backs off: CNN
- Is apple-polishing Zambry psychic?
- Only 300 turn up for Bt Caves protest
- Million Dollar Bribes Disguised As ‘Donations’ – UMNO’s Ever Changing Stories!
- The credibility of AES
- Launched: Book on polls irregularities
- Don’t be Duped by BN’s Bread and Circuses
- Dr M’s attack on Najib tactical, say analysts
- Perception and relativism
- Negative sentiment takes down Petronas
- Malaysia and Safe Sex
- Khalid Ibrahim says local council reform is top priority
- MCA-DAP bawa ‘agenda besar’, dakwa Hasan Ali
- MB Kedah dedah penyelewengan projek BN
- Mufti Perak: Tegur pemimpin jihad paling besar
- 'Kami bukan Ayatollah', Pas jawab Dr Asri
- MCA: Reveal their location
- PAS Youth holds protest outside Wisma MCA
- The last lap
- Ecuador fears for Assange health, seeks UK safe passage
- Politicians ARE servants of people
- Muhyiddin’s boys target Nov 30
- GLCs were part of Malay equity, says Dr M
- Malay congress proposes direct negotiation for Malays for projects below RM100m
- Malaysia opens schools for migrant workers’ kids
- Surat Ringkas Buat Chua Soi Lek
| Liu shows proof it was all BN’s work Posted: 27 Oct 2012 04:04 AM PDT Selangor state exco Ronnie Liu presents documented evidence showing BN's hand in approving the Batu Caves condominium project Leven Woon, FMT BATU CAVES: The Selangor state government today provided evidence showing Barisan Nasional's hand in approving the proposed condominium project near the Batu Caves Temple. Ronnie Liu, the Selangor executive councillor (exco) for local government today showed planning approvals issued on Nov 30, 2007 that details the height, size and type of the development slated on the land. "The approval, signed by the then Selayang Municipal Council president, Zainal Abidin Azim, was done with the full knowledge of the then BN councillors," he said. "The planning approvals state clearly that the whole development consists of two blocks of 29-storey service apartment, and another 25-storey apartment, with shophouses fronting it. "Hence, no one, including the Batu Caves temple committee chairman, should put the blame on the Pakatan government," said Liu at the site of the proposed development. Liu's revelation comes a day after a protest by about 300 people against the project, calling Pakatan state government to scrap the project. Deputy Foreign Minister, A Kohilan Pillay, who was a MPS councillor at that time, said that BN was only responsible for the issuance of the preliminary planning approval. He blamed Pakatan for the subsequent building approval and marketing proposals, paving the way for the project to take shape. Debunking the claims today, Liu said the state government could not do anything after a planning approval is issued. "Planning approval means an overall greenlight. Kohilan is trying to bullshit everyone by saying that we can give planning approval but not execution approval," he said. He explained that the building approval, which was issued in March 2008, was the work of the BN councillors. He said this was because the Pakatan Rakyat councillors were only sworn in, in July 2008, though they took over the state leadership in March after the general election. Not bothered by legal threat When asked about the marketing approval, Liu said it was under the purview of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. "It has nothing to do with us. Nothing has been done by Pakatan to support the project," he said.
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| S'gor MB challenged to explain proposed sale of PKNS assets Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:25 PM PDT
(Bernama) - Yet another Barisan Nasional (BN) leader has challenged Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to explain the proposed sale of five assets of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) valued at RM321 million by the PKR-led state government. Puteri Umno chief Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said today Abdul Khalid should explain the rationale for the proposed sale and its impact on bumiputera entrepreneurs operating businesses at those premises. The five assets are the Menara PKNS in Petaling Jaya, the Shah Alam Convention Centre (SACC) Mall in Shah Alam, the PKNS Complex in Shah Alam, the PKNS Complex in Bangi and Wisma Yakin in Jalan Masjid India here. "Can the Selangor government give an assurance that the potential owners of the five assets would ensure the welfare of the entrepreneurs?" she asked in a statement. Rosnah, who is deputy health minister, was commenting on the controversy over the proposed sale of the assets by the Selangor government which is feared would be a loss to the people of the state, particularly the bumiputeras. She said Abdul Khalid, as a former corporate figure, should be more mature and enhance development of the state without subjecting the people to injustice. "Tan Sri Abdul Khalid cannot assume that the Selangor state administration is a business which is concerned only with profit and development without considering the welfare of the people. "Is the sale of the five assets the best solution? Why was the decision (to sell) made now? Is PKNS facing a financial problem? These are questions demanding answers," she said. Rosnah said PKNS should be increasing its holdings and not reduce them through sale. Selangor Umno Liaison Committee deputy chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar had also questioned the proposed sale of the PKNS assets.
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| Twenty-five years later, camaraderie in adversity Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:52 PM PDT
A quarter of a century later, as we look back at Dr Mahathir's mass detention camp of 1987 while on the cusp a possible change of government, there is a sense of poetic justice that Operation Lalang "united" Barisan Nasional's opponents and gave them a steely resolve to oppose like never before. Liew Chin Tong, The Malaysian Insider The collective adversity suffered by the DAP, PAS and civil society leaders in 1987 ironically built the steely resolve for change and the deep camaraderie to see it through. This day 25 years ago, October 27, 1987, was one of the darkest days in Malaysian history when 106 politicians and social activists were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Operation Lalang. Printing permits for three newspapers, namely The Star, Sinchew and Watan, were withdrawn. The security crackdown that shocked the nation and marked the end of the boisterous, often mistaken as democratic, first phase of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's leadership that began in 1981. Dr Mahathir succeeded Tun Hussein Oon with a weak base in Umno and virtually no one to trust. By pitting Musa Hitam against Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in Umno's deputy presidential elections of 1981 and 1984, Dr Mahathir bought himself time and space. But the chickens came home to roost by 1987 when Tengku Razaleigh teamed up with Musa to challenge the Dr Mahathir-Ghafar Baba ticket. The election on April 24 saw Tengku Razaleigh losing to Dr Mahathir by a mere 43 votes, allegedly after a suspicious blackout at the vote-counting centre. Umno continued to flounder after the party polls with Dr Mahathir's legitimacy seriously dented. The purging of Team B supporters such as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Rais Yatim, Shahrir Samad and Radzi Sheikh Ahmad from the Cabinet and government further de-stabilised the situation. While Dr Mahathir's base was weak his style was anything but consultative. Further, the various ideas that he bulldozed were more often than not half-baked, resulting in multiple and major financial scandals in just a few years of his rule. Civil society activism emerged from the more discerning and critical urban populace. The Islamic revival movement was birthed as the rallying point for those who frowned upon Umno-style get-rich-quick materialism. Further, Dr Mahathir not only pitted Umno leaders against each other, he was manipulating ethnic sentiments against each other. In October 1987, the Chinese educationist cause mobilised against a policy of placing teachers who had no proficiency in Mandarin to head Chinese schools. Umno Youth was counter-mobilised to whip up Malay sentiment. Between the April Umno election and October, the Mahathir government drifted purposelessly while his party opponents started a permanent campaign to remove Dr Mahathir in the next party election due in three years' time. The rift was felt. Mercury rose. On October 18, one Private Adam ran amok in Chow Kit with an M16 rifle as Umno Youth was mobilising for a November 1 show of force. Dr Mahathir seized the timely excuse. On October 27, Ops Lalang was launched to arrest his fiercest external critics including the then Leader of the Opposition Lim Kit Siang and 16 DAP elected reps. Not only Dr Mahathir did paralyse the opposition, he terrified the nation and, more importantly, his Umno opponents.
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| Local councils a law unto themselves Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:45 PM PDT Lack of accountability and transparency in the Batu Caves condo project is the result of 50 years of Umno-BN rule, says DAP's S Ramakrishnan Athi Shankar, FMT The condominium project approved by the BN-led Selangor government in 2007 near Batu Caves has highlighted the lack of accountability and transparency in local councils, said DAP Senator S Ramakrishnan. He said the two 29-storey project, slated to be built adjacent to the Hindu temple showed that the over 50 years of BN federal rule had made local councils a lord unto themselves. He took the Selayang Municipal Council to task for approving the Dolomite Park Avenue condominium project on Sept 26, 2007 despite the federal declaration's of the 272ha Batu Caves Reserve as a national heritage site that same year. He hit out at the council for approving the project without an environmental impact study and called for a review and reevaluation of the project altogether. The beauty of the area was in the caves, hill structures, and the many varieties of unique and inimitable flora and fauna. He said that in 1930, the Batu Caves Hill was reserved as a site for public recreation (Federated Malay States Government Gazette Notification (GN) No 4712-30, part-revoked by GN 652-54; and the Selangor State Government Gazette GN 312-59), while in 1980 the state government agreed to stop quarrying at Batu Caves to protect the hills and caves. "The federal declaration affirmed the status of Batu Caves as a unique site of national interest. Yet the MPS approved the project," said Ramakrishnan. He said current Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim had called for local councils to be reformed. Local councils must be made accountable - However, Ramakrishnan said the dominant federal ruling party, Umno, had lost the moral authority and leadership to reform them. He called for a change of government to initiate reforms and accountability of local councils to rate payers. "Local councils must be made accountable for their decisions," he said. The Senator also commended the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) for monitoring and protecting the dark caves and lime stone structures within the Batu Caves.
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| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:27 PM PDT In Chinese philosophy, the concept of Yin-Yang is about how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in relation to each other. Many natural dualities such as dark and light, male and female, low and high, cold and hot, water and fire, earth and air, etc., are considered manifestations of Yin and Yang. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Are we who we are? Or are we who we are not? For example, we are not black. Hence since we are not black then we must be the opposite of black, which means white. That is, of course, if we look at the world in merely two shades -- black and white, good and bad, big and small, rich and poor, sick and healthy, etc. But is this not how we always look at the world, in two shades? Either you are with me or you are against me. You must be one or the other. You cannot be not with me plus not against me. And this is how most people look at things. Either you are Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. They cannot imagine that there exists an in-between world that is neither left nor right. So, who are you? Are you who you are? Or are you who you are not? And have we even pondered on this question or have we accepted who we are based on what society has moulded us into believing who we are? We exist because something else exists. In the absence of that something else we would cease to exist. Hence we are not who or what we think we are. What we are is always in relation to something else that is not what we are. I know this sounds very confusing so I will need to quote a few examples to help you understand this concept. In an earlier article I used the example of the moon. The moon, or rather the full moon, exists only because the sun exists. If the sun did not exist then the (full) moon would not exist as well. And we measure time according to the sun and/or the moon. Malays call month bulan, which is also the word for moon. Some communities measure time according to how many moons have passed. Hence, if the sun did not exist, and therefore the moon also did not exist, would time exist? Time exists only because the sun exists. In the absence of the sun -- and say the world is dark all year around -- time would not exist. A King exists because there are subjects. If there were no subjects and he-who-would-be-king was alone in this world, there would be no kings. He would merely be one man alone in this world. Hence the existence of kings is contingent upon the existence of subjects. Religionists say that without God humankind would not exist. If you believe in God then this argument would form the fundamentals of your belief system. But is it not true also the other way around? If humankind did not exist would there be a God? God may still exist in its 'physical' form, for want of a better word, but God will never exist in its conceptual form. Humankind needs a concept of God. So, without humankind, the concept of God would not exist. God needs creations to become a God -- just like kings need subjects to become a king. Without creations, God cannot become God. So, is that the true secret of our creation -- so that God can become God? I am not sure whether you can grasp this concept, which is really not that complex. Does goodness exist? Goodness exists only because evil exists. Without evil goodness cannot exist. Hence does goodness really exist or is this merely a perception in our mind? Say there are no murders, rapes, robberies, diseases, deaths, etc., in this world. Everything is very perfect just like we were living in Paradise. Everything is good. There is no bad. So, since bad or evil does not exist, good cannot exist as well. Things will just be, that's all. It will never be good or be bad. It will just be because there is no concept of good and bad or evil. The existence of one is subject to the existence of the other. Hence what we are is basically the opposite of what we are not. So, back to my original question, are we who we are or are we who we are not? We are alive because we are not dead. Life is the opposite of death and since both exist then the concept of life and death also exist. So, are we who we are (meaning alive)? Or are we who we are not (meaning not dead)? If no one died then there would be no concept of death. And since there is no concept of death then there would be no concept of life as well. We just are, that is all. We are not alive, because we cannot be dead. So, we claim we are alive. That is who we say we are. But that is who we think we are only because there is an opposite of life. In the absence of death we will not be alive. We will just be. In that case we cannot claim that to be what we are. Humankind thinks alongside concepts. And based on this very narrow understanding of concepts we get to know ourselves. But we think we know ourselves only because of the way we think. However, once we change the way we think, we start to realise that we do not really know ourselves. We thought it was very simple and that life is very clear. We measure things and perceive things according to the accepted laws of nature. Maybe the Chinese have the best concept to describe this --Yin and Yang, as the Chinese would say. In Chinese philosophy, the concept of Yin-Yang is about how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in relation to each other. Many natural dualities such as dark and light, male and female, low and high, cold and hot, water and fire, earth and air, etc., are considered manifestations of Yin and Yang. There may be something, after all, in 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation that the world is yet to understand. Yin and Yang need to exist together. Without one the other would not exist. Hence, we need death for life to exist. So, are we really alive or just not dead? Yes, are we who we are? Or are we who we are not? Just my Saturday evening article to get your brain cells to work a bit. No politics or religion, just some Chinese philosophy for your weekend reading. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jolie, Ashley & Gang for Adoption Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:07 PM PDT | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:05 PM PDT
Mohd Hisham Abdul Rafar, Bernama Manifestos are part and parcel of any general election. They also play a vital role in determining the success or defeat of an electoral candidate or a political party. The word 'manifesto' is being bandied about increasingly in the media and in conversations among the people in the run-up to the 13th General Election, particularly with regard to promises made by political parties prior to the last general election and as to whether they have been delivered or not.
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| DAP’s ‘gesture of goodwill’ to SAPP Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:37 PM PDT Party opens door to Sabah Progressive Party to contest in three state seats within the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency (FMT) - KOTA KINABALU: In a shrewd move to show it is willing to compromise to break the political deadlock in Sabah, the DAP said it will not be contesting all the Chinese majority seats in Sabah in the coming general election. A senior DAP official speaking on condition of anonymity said the party had agreed to open the door to the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to contest in three state seats, all within the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency as a "gesture of cooperation and goodwill". "But that is about it," he said yesterday. He was commenting on DAP Sabah chief, Jimmy Wong's announcement last Sunday that the DAP would be contesting in three parliamentary seats and seven state seats in the general election. According to the official, DAP would make way for SAPP in Api Api as they had heard that SAPP president Yong Teck Lee would be its candidate there, although there have been indications from the party that he might contest in his previous constituency of Likas. Political observers say the clash between Yong and his archrival, BN's Dr Yee Moh Chai, who is the incumbent state assemblyman for Api-Api, would be more worthy and satisfying for the former chief minister. Yee is a Deputy Chief Minister representing the Chinese community under a peculiar system in the state's Umno-led BN coalition government that breaks up existing power structures so as to prevent smaller power groups from linking up against Umno. He is also the state's Resource Development and Information Technology Minister and a deputy president of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), a party that observers say has lost the goodwill of the Chinese community. If Yong were to contest in Likas, he would be taking over from his close aide Liew Teck Chan and be open to being accused of practicing nepotism by his critics. As for Luyang and Likas which also come under Kota Kinabalu, the senior DAP official said it was only fair that SAPP be given the chance to defend the seats as they were the incumbents. The DAP will defend its Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat through incumbent MP Hiew King Cheu, an engineer, as well as field candidates in Sandakan and Penampang. "We are still wary about SAPP as they refuse to officially join Pakatan Rakyat and as such it would be a big risk to us if they were to be allowed to contest more seats," said the senior official, explaining the rationale in giving way to SAPP in three constituencies only. 'SAPP's strength is in Kota Kinabalu' The opposition coalition which is made up of peninsular-controlled parities is also standing its ground on not giving way to the local party in Sandakan as the incumbents are now in Gerakan, also a peninsular-controlled party. "Look, SAPP cannot even hold on to what they have and if they are given more and they win, we would never know until it's too late if they would cross over again," said the official. "It is better to be safe. Furthermore, SAPP does not have calibre candidates for the Sandakan seats, so it's no point contesting there. Their strength is in Kota Kinabalu so it is best they focus all their resources here." SAPP has claimed it has bases throughout the state and is capable of fielding candidates in a majority of the 60 state and 25 parliamentary constituencies. DAP wants to field veterinarian Dr Edwin Bosi in the Kadazandusun-majority district of Penampang where PKR's Darrel Leiking is also among the contenders. DAP is also eyeing the neighbouring constituency of Kepayan.
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| MACC report against Palani’s aide Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:35 PM PDT Several businessmen claim corrupt practices in the handing out of cooking oil packing contracts to Indian contractors. B Nantha Kumar, FTM Several businessmen have lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against a senior and most trusted aide of cabinet member and MIC president G Palanivel. The report is over alleged corrupt practices involved in the handing out of cooking oil packing contracts overseen by Palanivel in his capacity as the lead minister of Indian Affairs in the Prime Minister's Department. The report accused Dr S Vijendran, who until last week was the political secretary of Palanivel but has since been redesignated as private secretary to the minister, of manipulating the cooking oil packing contracts to favour one particular contractor. "We are frustrated with Dr Vijendran's involvement in the cooking oil packing contract which is supposed to be open for all deserving Indian entrepreneurs," said one of the complainants who wished to be unnamed for now. He said that the MACC should take immediate steps to look into the alleged corrupt practices as it was hampering the growth of genuine Indian entrepreneurs. The report was made yesterday despite it being a public holiday. "If there is no action taken soon, we will hold a rally against Palanivel for still relying on Vijendran on matters involving the Indian business community," he said. The distribution of the contract was handled by Suria Cooperative Society which is chaired by Palanivel, who had then left it in the hands of Vijendran to pick the deserving Indian businessmen to service the contract. Originally seven Indian companies had been identified for the contract but five of them were rejected for not holding a Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) licence. And from the two qualified companies, Vijendran allegedly decided to pick only one as the other did not apparently meet the requirements set by Suria Cooperative Society. At the same time, Vijendran also had allegedly turned away other companies who had obtained the KPDNKK licence. He is also accused of asking these new companies to become sub-contractors to one particular company. "Why is he giving special privilege to the particular company when the contract is meant to help the Indian business community? Why is Palanivel keeping quiet over this matter?" asked the complainant. He wants the MACC to investigate this. He also claimed that Vijendran's action had only resulted in the sole contract winner of making hefty profits. "By having more Indian companies on board, more people would enjoy the benefits instead of one or two connected individuals," he said.
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| The day of the dictator – Oct 27, 1987 Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:30 PM PDT
uppercaise Twenty-five years ago today, the first Umno Malay Civil War caused the arrests of at least 106 civilians in the infamous Operation Lallang (Operasi Lalang, in Malay) when the beleaguered Mahathir Mohamad government used the political turmoil that had been festering through the year to detain opposition politicians (and a few from Umno), Chinese educationists, academicians and activists, priests and a Malay Christian convert. It was clear then, as it is now, that the detentions and the subsequent climate of fear were aimed at ensuring Mahathir's survival. The events of 1987 would subsequently lead to the judiciary's loss of independence, tighter restriction on the media, and a free hand for Mahathir and his political and business cronies. The Constitution was ripped apart, with one of the three Estates left in limbo. The country has still to recover from that grievous wound.
Things had come to a head earlier in the year, when Mahathir Mohamad was challenged for the leadership of Umno, for the first time since he took power 12 years before. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had teamed up with Musa Hitam ("Team B") to take on Mahathir and his gang. At the Umno general assembly on April 24, Mahathir narrowly survived, by 43 votes, against Tengku Razaleigh, whose Team B managed only to win a third of the seats on the Umno supreme council. Tensions had been growing in Umno in the three years after Tengku Razaleigh had been replaced as finance minister by Mahathir's partner Daim Zainuddin. Malaysia had just come through two years of a global economic recession in 1984-85, but there was growing discontent about Mahathir's privatisation policies to selected cronies, as well as his authoritarian style. After the party election, a suit was filed on June 25 by "the Umno 11″ — a group of Umno members (one had dropped out) who sought a court declaration to have the Umno elections overturned, on the ground that 78 illegal members were among the delegates at the Umno general assembly, and that documents had been tampered with. On Sept 30, the High Court gave the two sides a fortnight to settle it between themselves. There was a standoff: Razaleigh's side wanted new elections, Mahathir's camp offered a "face-saving solution" if they accepted the results. On Oct 19, the Umno 11 said the suit would proceed.  Operation Spectrum: young professional social activists rounded up, accused of a Marxist plot In the midst of all that, Chinese educationists had been unhappy with the posting of non-Mandarin-speaking heads of Chinese schools by the Education Ministry (then headed by Anwar Ibrahim). Political temperatures had been rising. As the Barisan Nasional's Chinese-based parties added their voices to the ruckus raised by Dong Xiao Zong and the DAP, a rally was called on Oct 11 next to Thean Hou temple. Umno Youth, headed by Najib Razak, reacted by calling a counter-rally for Oct 17 at TPCA Stadium in Jalan Raja Muda, with Najib threatening to call out 500,000 into the streets. A year earlier, in Novmber 1986, Umno Youth had held a demonstration at Putra World Trade Centre to protest against a statement by Lee Kim Sai that all three major races in Malaysia had arrived through immigration and only the Orang Asli were prebumi. The TPCA stadium rally was a heated affair with cries for blood. Najib Razak was reputed to have drawn a keris and threatened to bathe it in blood, and there were other blood-curling statements made, including cries of "another May 13″. The very next day, Kuala Lumpur and the metropolitan area went into curfew shutdown mode when a Malay Regiment soldier from an Ipoh camp, private Adam Jaffar, allegedly went amok in the Chow Kit area, loosing off his M16 automatic assault rifle: an elderly Chinese man died after being hit by a ricochet, and several others were wounded. Rumours of shootings and deaths in Chow Kit, and memories of the 1969 race riots spread throughout the city, heightening the tension, which worsened through the hours of a 30-hour siege when Pvt Adam refused to surrender to the police, demanding to see his unit commander. He was finally taken into custody by the military before being put on trial. A day later, the Umno 11 raised the ante against Mahathir. They rejected making a deal with Mahathir and announced the suit would proceed. It was against that fast-moving backdrop of intense Umno Malay rivalry and racial and political tension, that the police began their swoop in the early hours on Oct 27. They called it an act of national security. But it was all for Umno's security, and for the job security of Mahathir Mohamad. Read more at: http://uppercaise.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/the-day-of-the-dictator/
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| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:27 PM PDT
The failure of Najib to control Chua's illogical rantings is obvious to many of the urban Malays and this gives the lie to Umno's claims as the defender of Islam. Readers can be sure that Najib will be going all out to do damage control in the forthcoming Umno annual general assembly scheduled to be held from Nov 27 to Dec 1 by whipping up fervour in regards to 'Ketuanan Melayu' or 'Malay Supremacy'. Selena Tay, Free Malaysia Today Are both Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek vying with each other to see who is the dumbest person where political strategy is concerned? This is the scenario. Chua has certainly overdone it in regards to wooing the Chinese. He has insulted Islam in the recent MCA annual general assembly held on Oct 20 and 21 by defending the claim of a MCA Wanita deputy minister who had said that PAS condones the rape of non-Muslim women who do not conform to the Islamic dress code. By this crazy bone-headed move, Chua has certainly alienated the Malay voters. And to top it all, PM Najib who has all along proclaimed that Umno champions Islam and Malays had the cheek to keep quiet at the assembly. The prime minister must have thought that as BN controls the mainstream media, Chua's antics would not reach the ears of the rural Malays. There is the power of the internet. And that is the reason why there is a lack of internet coverage in the rural areas. Nevertheless, the rural folks' children who are studying in the city have access to the internet and therefore news from the websites would also reach the rural folks when their children go back home during the national or festive holidays. Readers can be sure that Najib will be going all out to do damage control in the forthcoming Umno annual general assembly scheduled to be held from Nov 27 to Dec 1 by whipping up fervour in regards to 'Ketuanan Melayu' or 'Malay Supremacy'. The failure of Najib to control Chua's illogical rantings is obvious to many of the urban Malays and this gives the lie to Umno's claims as the defender of Islam. Chua only bothers about the survival of MCA. Therefore he goes all out for the kill in a kamikaze manner. It is Najib who is foolish for allowing Chua to dance 'Gangnam style' on his head. The urban Malays and those who are fence-sitters have now seen clearly Najib's cowardice. Kuala Krai MP, Hatta Ramli who is the PAS election director has raised the issue that more and more foreign-sounding names are appearing in the electoral roll. He has voiced out his anger and disappointment at the Election Commission (EC) for not doing anything to clean up the electoral roll. "The EC and the prime minister himself are not concerned at all about the dirty electoral roll and out of this dirty roll a dirty government will be elected," remarked Hatta. Back to the antics of MCA's Chua and PM Najib. After Chua's senseless attack on Islam, there is no way Najib can win the 13th general election in a fair fight. He had sat on the stage of the MCA general assembly keeping quiet when Chua was blazing away with the insults. Najib had allowed Chua to do so as he is desperate to obtain the Chinese votes. This is a very clear indication that Najib is still in a denial mode where Chinese votes is concerned because everyone knows that 80% of the Chinese have rejected his leadership. Chua may be dumb to insult Islam but Najib is dumber still for allowing it! From a recent ground survey conducted by this columnist who interviewed ten apolitical fence-sitters, all of them share the same view that Najib is lacking direction in his plans. It can be seen that his solutions are only piecemeal efforts and one-off measures and the fence-sitters opined that perhaps it is time that he is "one-offed on polling day". The fact that he lacked the courage to reprimand Chua has earned him widespread chastisement on Facebook. Therefore, Najib now tries to target the Indian voters. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2012/10/27/playing-the-religion-game/
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| Genneva gold storm poses political risks ahead of polls Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:25 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - The action against Genneva has resulted in pressure on the Najib administration to resolve the controversy that has put 300,000 livelihoods at stake — according to Genneva contractors and customers who spoke to The Malaysian Insider — and which could impact the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's chances in the 13th general election that must be called by next April, less than six months away. While many Muslim Malaysians are kicking back at home with their extended family over a feast of roasted meats and laughter this long Aidiladha weekend, Genneva Malaysia gold trader Che Surin Jusoh is struggling to explain to her five-year-old son why they cannot return to Kedah for the holidays. "My son will ask 'Ma, kenapa tak bawa keluar? Lama tak jalan-jalan' (Ma, why haven't you taken me out? Long time since we've gone out)," the 32-year-old banker-turned-gold-seller told The Malaysian Insider earlier this week, as city dwellers began their annual rush home to celebrate the Muslim holiday. "I don't know what to say... I only have RM1,000 to RM2,000 in my bank account," the mother of two young children — her younger child, a girl, is two years old — and the sole breadwinner in the family added, her voice sounding thick as she fought to prevent a sob from escaping. Che Surin is among the 60,000-plus sellers and buyers who have been left nearly broke after Bank Negara raided the firm and seized 200kg of gold bullion estimated to be worth a whopping RM40 million from Genneva Malaysia's premises in Jalan Kuchai Lama here on October 1.  The gold bars stacked up in a Genneva Malaysia office awaiting distribution to paid customers before the October 1 Bank Negara raid. — Picture courtesy of Che Surin Jusoh It has been reported that the scheme operated by Genneva offered extremely high returns of up to 24 per cent per annum. How the scheme worked was the gold was priced at between 18 per cent and 20 per cent above market rate, and purchasers were paid guaranteed monthly returns of about three per cent. The physical gold was not passed to the buyer and the company would buy back the investment after the end of the contract period, according to a New Straits Times news report on October 5 highlighting several dissatisfied customers who lodged police reports against the company. This meant that the customer's return on investment appeared to have been funded by the principal capital put into the scheme which was above the market rate for gold. Bank Negara has also frozen Genneva Malaysia's accounts, cheques and other assets, on suspicion the company violated various banking and financial laws which include taking deposits without giving gold in return, money laundering, evading taxes, appointing agents without licence, failing to file statutory documents, and misrepresenting itself as an investment firm and giving false descriptions on its business after several people lodged complaints with the police. The central bank's actions sparked an immediate outcry from the 6,000 salesmen contracted to sell and buy back gold from Genneva Malaysia who have rallied to the company's defence and its 60,000 customers from all walks of life, including professionals from the banking industry like Che Surin, pensioners, students, and The Malaysian Insider understands politicians and various foundations that have been working to fund charities like orphanages. Bank Negara has yet to press charges against the company's directors.  Dr Mahathir launched Genneva Malaysia on December 15, 2010. — Picture courtesy of Shereen Lim The Malaysian Insider understands that Putrajaya is well aware of the potential political fallout but there is concern that a bailout of any kind would involve several billion ringgit and would be a moral hazard. For Che Surin who had worked for three banks before signing up with Genneva Malaysia in February last year, the company's unusual business operations had proved to be a godsend when she encountered financial woes two years ago which put her in what she called " my dark summer of 2010". "I could not pay my bills then," she said. The round-faced tudung-clad woman recounted that she was initially sceptical of Genneva Malaysia when her bank customers sung its praises to her. "When I joined, I was not 100 per cent convinced," she said, but related that she dabbled in trying out the buying-and-selling back the gold scheme over a five-month period before becoming confident that it could work. What truly sold her on the Genneva idea was the public endorsement campaigns headlined by dignitaries like Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had encouraged Malaysians to buy gold instead of putting their faith in paper money during his speech at the syariah-compliant company's launch on December 15. Despite the action taken by authorities in Singapore and Malaysia, Che Surin and three other Genneva Malaysia contractors — what the company designates as its salesmen — told The Malaysian Insider that they strongly believe the company management had acted above board. They bristle with indignation that the company is a Ponzi scheme or a get-rich-quick scheme despite the exceptionally high returns which many government officials and critics have pointed out was too good to be true. "We are not investors. That's the misconception," said 54-year-old retiree Shereen Lim, who pointed out that Genneva Malaysia's management had published advertisements in all the mainstream dailies, including the vernacular newspapers, to educate the public on what it was last March, following Bank Negara's advice after its last audit and dialogue session with the company. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/genneva-gold-storm-poses-political-risks-ahead-of-polls/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:50 AM PDT
TAKDENAMA NEWS REPORT, MMXII Bloody Slow Breaking News, Selangor. An undisclosed whistle blower had come forward to inform this news agency that Ampang MP and PKR Wanita Chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin aka Azmin's lackey, turned up at ADUN Cempaka YB Iskandar Samad's offices sometime last week when the latter was not around. Accompanying Zuraida is one Chinese old man, Mr. Yap aka Zuraida's "new" lackey, who is also the self appointed PKR Cabang (unofficial) Pandan Jaya "taiko". The two felons had approached YB Iskandar's aide ordering him to use Iskandar's official stamp on an official letter issued from PKR Selangor, stating that the issue has been discussed "upstairs" and that the stamp was required to complete the authorization of Mr. X as the new penghulu of Ampang New Village. Incidentally, everybody who is somebody in the Ampang & Pandan area knows that Iskandar is due to fly overseas the following day and will not be in his office that particular day. His office has officially informed both DAP and PKR's offices a few weeks before. When ordered by Zuraida, common sense prevailed and Iskandar's aide was quick to inform the Ampang MP that Iskandar's official stamp is always with him and not being kept in the office and that Zuraida and Mr Yap could either go directly to Iskandar's residence or wait until he comes back from his trip. That statement did not go down too well with Zuraida and she left without stating another word. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:38 AM PDT
I polled the audience and most of them had no idea who Khairy Jamaludin is, let alone PR's Nik Nazmi. From this, I had a hunch that the youth, despite the 'noise' they seem to be making about politics, are not really that aware. Anas Zubedy I was recently invited to speak at Perdana Leadership Foundation in a forum titled, "Citizenship in the Age of the Internet: Has the Internet increased political awareness among Malaysian youth?" The other panelist were YB Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah (Deputy Minister of Education), Tricia Yeo a researcher and former assistant to the Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim, Cheah Kar Fei a student leader, former AIESEC President of Malaysia. The session was moderated by Lim Teck Hoe. I see being a panelist in this talk as a great chance to test a hypothesis I have regarding youth and political awareness. In a previous session I delivered early this year among 200 student leaders from all over the country, I polled the audience and most of them had no idea who Khairy Jamaludin is, let alone PR's Nik Nazmi. From this, I had a hunch that the youth, despite the 'noise' they seem to be making about politics, are not really that aware. In preparation for this talk, I experimented with the hunch. A telephone/face-on-face survey of 10 questions (5 behavioural/5 knowledge-based, Question 7 and 9 being tricky on purpose) was conducted between 15 and 16 October 2012. This is to minimize any opportunity to look up the answers and to capture the most candid ones. 120 respondents between the ages of 18 to 25 were surveyed and the answers supported my initial thought. Here are the findings: Question 1: Out of 1 hour of internet time, how many % of it you spend on reading news about politics?
Question 2: You get your biggest chunk of information about politics from? (e.g internet, friends, parents, TV, newspaper, etc)
Question 4: In one word how would you describe our politicians?
Question 5: Describe your trust level towards our politicians. 1) Excellent 2) Good 3) Average 4) Poor 5) Very Poor
Question 6: How many seats are there in the Malaysian Parliament?
Question 8: What is the prerequisite to amend the constitution in the Malaysian Parliament? 51% votes, 63% or 75%?
Question 9: How many federal and how many state seats does Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur has? (Note: Trick question. Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur does not hold any state seats)
Question 10: Do you know what Article 153 is about? Tell me a little about it.
In conclusion. The panellists were given a task to answer 4 questions with regards to the title. Based on the survey results, I provide conclusions as the following 1. Based on all of the above consideration, do I believe that the age of Internet has increased political awareness among Malaysian youth? My conclusion : Not particularly. 2. Do I think the Internet is being properly utilised to understand political and national issues? My conclusion : Not particularly. 3. Why is that? My conclusion : Simple, there are just too many distractions out there and politicians are not seen as cool. If the youth likes football, they'd make an effort to watch the matches. If they fancy a particular celebrity, they'd be stalking the celebrity on twitter and be reading up about him or her in all available media. Our politicians lack the cool factor and as a consequence, the youth just don't have that drive to fully use the Internet to catch up on current affairs, politics in particular. 4. Ultimately, do I think the 'Internet population' will significantly affect the outcome of the thirteenth general election? My conclusion: Not particularly. The parties are better off concentrating on their ground-level machinery, making sure their workers go all out to approach the voters, and also to curb internal sabotage to ensure UNITY IN PURPOSE. I have another hunch.. If we ask the same questions to older Malaysians, the results would not be too far off too. What do you think? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Malay behaviour: Survival replaces greed Posted: 25 Oct 2012 08:01 PM PDT Malays continue to blame others for their failures and will not work hard to earn self-respect and the respect of others in the community. For decades, many Malaysians, both Malays and non-Malays, tried to highlight the abuse of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has enabled Umnoputras to become millionaires overnight, whilst the majority of the rakyat suffered. Mariam Mokhtar, FMT The unprecedented outburst by a member of the Malay business community this week did not come as a surprise; but is his expression of indignation enough? Speaking at the Malay Economic Congress in Kuala Lumpur, the president of the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM), Syed Ali Alattas, denounced Malay leaders for their greed and corrupt practices and that their lack of a "clean heart", contributed to the failure of the Malay business community. Syed Ali did not reveal anything new; what he said has been known by most Malaysians, but ignored by Umno politicians, Umnoputras, Malays in denial and the non-Malay cronies of Umno. So, why is Syed Ali criticising the Malay leaders now? What prompted him to condemn these leaders, whom he cultivated for years? Syed Ali said that despite billions of ringgits being pumped into the Malay economy, the Malays have achieved little. He said: "What's gone wrong? That's what is being asked……There is a lot of carelessness and not enough responsibility among leaders which caused Malays to fall behind". "Corruption and greed caused the Malay agenda to fail," he added. For decades, many Malaysians, both Malays and non-Malays, tried to highlight the abuse of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has enabled Umnoputras to become millionaires overnight, whilst the majority of the rakyat suffered. Many complained about the preferential educational opportunities, housing and job openings given to the Malays. Some of these outspoken people were detained under the ISA, considered a national threat and called public enemies. Families were broken up when parents encouraged their children to settle overseas for a brighter future. On a national level, the country lost a much valued resource – some of its best and brightest people. Whilst this was going on, was Syed Ali living off the fat of the land, enjoying the scraps thrown at him by Umno? The NEP experiment has been a failure, since its inception, so why did Syed Ali not admit this earlier? He claims that Malays are at a "crossroads" but cynics argue that it is the Malay leaders of industry and business, people like Syed Ali, and not the Malay community, who are at the "crossroads". With Umno lying in the gutter, and their own positions looking increasingly precarious and untenable, people like Syed Ali have finally chosen to be vocal. Switching sides Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's body language speaks of failure. In his public speeches, he no longer cries out "Who will defend Putrajaya with me?" He has stopped saying that he would "defend Putrajaya with blood, sweat and tears". In the near future, we will probably see an avalanche of Malays in positions of seniority, like Syed Ali coming forward to criticise Umno and other parts of the BN coalition. These people are cowards but sensing the failure of Umno, are cunning enough to ingratiate themselves with the rakyat and perhaps, try and align themselves with the new administration. The MCCM president admitted that less than 10% of the economy, in terms of equity, businesses and shops, is Malay owned. He declared: "I am brave enough to say that there is not one shop in the centre of Johor Baru that is owned by a Malay". Syed Ali may claim that he is "brave", but his "bravery" is just deceit. He is merely trying to ingratiate himself with the opposition. Perhaps, his open criticism is another 'play' for the benefit of the rakyat. Umno is known to be divided into many camps, so has someone needled Syed Ali to attack Najib? Last year, when Umno was in a stronger position than today, the Malay Mail carried a report, on Dec 19, 2011, in which Syed Ali demanded government projects, such as the RM3 billion Pudu Prison redevelopment, be given to bumiputera companies, "irrespective of whether they could deliver." Syed Ali told the Malay Mail, "The issue is not whether the contract should be given to a bumiputera or a non-bumiputera company. The bumiputera companies should be given such projects but we never get this kind of deals. Such projects should be given to us. Period." The link to this article, in the Malay Mail, is http://www.mmail.com.my/content/87577-only-bumi-companies-govt-projects. The article is widely cited on the internet but has since been removed from the paper. Today, Syed Ali sings a different tune. He castigates Malay leaders and asks "What's gone wrong?"
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| Karpal renews pressure on one man-one seat policy Posted: 25 Oct 2012 07:58 PM PDT The DAP chairman wants the party's double-seat holders to publicly announce that they would contest to retain only one seat in the next general election. Athi Shankar, FMT The DAP's double-seat holders should publicly declare that they would contest only one seat in the next general election instead of waiting for the party leadership to decide for them. National chairman Karpal Singh said this would spare the party supreme decision-making body, central executive committee (CEC), the trouble of dumping them eventually from either the parliamentary or state seat. He insisted said that in their declaration, the current double-seat holders should only declare that they would opt for one seat the next time. He said they however, shall not declare which seat, federal or state, they would decline, as it would be the CEC prerogative to decide on that. He insisted that it was not in the public interest for DAP candidates to continue to be silent on their stance or insist to contest both federal and state seats in the next polls. He said they got to declare their one-seat stance in the larger interest of the party and Pakatan Rakyat. "They should make way for new candidates and young leaders," Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, told a press conference in Bandar Baru Air Itam here today. He said the party had grown leaps and bounds over the last four years, thus not facing shortage of enthusiastic and energetic candidates. Nine double-hatters The most prominent double-seat holder is DAP secretary general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. He is Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman. Lim however, may be excused from making such public declaration. When the CEC reached a consensus and endorsed the one person – one seat formula some time back, Karpal said it was decided that there would be some exemptions to the general rule. But he insisted that the exceptional rule shall be used in its "fullest import." One exemption proposed by Karpal is to allow the chief minister candidate to contest both federal and state seats. "We need the chief minister to be an MP to air the state issues at federal level," said Karpal, recalling that former state chief minister Lim Chong Eu was once both MP and a state assemblyman (1969 – 1974) However, Karpal admitted that from 1974 general electon until 1990, Chong Eu opted only for the state seat to focus on his chief minister job. But he still insisted on DAP's chief minister candidate to be given double seats to enable a chief minister to handle directly state-federal issues. Another exemption would be to allow double-seat contestants in Sabah and Sarawak due to shortage of credible candidates there. Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow (Tanjung MP and Padang Kota assemblyman) and deputy chairman P Ramasamy (Batu Kawan MP and Prai assemblyman) are other two incumbents of both parliamentary and state seats in Penang. Others double-hat wearers in Peninsular are Beruas MP and Sitiawan assemblyman Ngeh Koo Ham and Taiping MP and Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming in Perak; Seputeh MP and Kinrara assemblyperson Teresa Kok Suh Sim in Selangor; and Rasah MP and Lobak assemblyman Anthony Loke Siew Fook in Negeri Sembilan. In Sarawak, double-hat politicians are Sibu MP and Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng and Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen.
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| Do you know what sacrifice means? Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT So, yes, today, animals all over the world are going to be sacrificed for the sake of God. But it is the animals that are going to be sacrificed. Those sacrificing those animals do not sacrifice anything other than a few hundred Ringgit, many of it illegally earned anyway from usury, exploitation, cronyism, nepotism, speculation, profiteering, bribes, tax evasion, etc. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Muslims nationwide celebrated Aidil Adha today on a moderate scale and in appreciation of sacrifice as required by Islamic teachings. Aidil Adha is of great significance for Muslims worldwide and is celebrated in memory of the sacrifice made by the prophets Ibrahim and Ismail in obeying Allah. Fine weather in the morning enabled Muslims to perform their prayers comfortably, followed by the sacrificial offerings carried out at mosques, villages and housing estates. — Bernama ****************************************** Performing the pilgrimage or Haj is one of the tenets or rituals of Islam. And today about three million or so Muslims are in Mina where they will spend three days stoning Satan (symbolically, of course) before moving on to Mekah to perform the Sa'i -- the ritual of walking seven times from the hills of Al-Safa to Al-Marwah. This is what one Islamic website has to say about that ritual: According to Islamic beliefs, the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was commanded by God to leave his wife Hagar and their infant son alone in the desert between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah with only basic provisions to test their faith. When their provisions were exhausted, Hagar went in search of help or water. To make her search easier and faster, she went alone, leaving the infant Ismail (Ishmael) on the ground. She first climbed the nearest hill, Al-Safa, to look over the surrounding area. When she saw nothing, she then went to the other hill, Al-Marwah, to look around. While Hagar was on either hillside, she was able to see Ismail and know he was safe. However, when she was in the valley between the hills she was unable to see her son, and would thus run whilst in the valley and walk at a normal pace when on the hillsides. Hagar travelled back and forth between the hills seven times in the scorching heat before returning to her son. When she arrived, she found that a spring had broken forth from where the crying baby kicked the sand with his feet. This spring is now known as the Zamzam Well, and was revealed by the angel of God as both sustenance and a reward for Hagar's patience. Yesterday, those performing the Haj had to spend at least 24 hours congregating (and waiting) in the Arafah desert just outside Muzdalifa and Mina. This is symbolic of what is supposed to happen when you die -- and when you are resurrected to face judgement and to receive your punishment or reward for what you do in this life. Basically, this represents the day of judgement and symbolic of all of us waiting anxiously for the fate that will befall us after we die. So, as you can see, the waiting in Arafah, the stoning of Satan in Mina, the walk from Al-Safa to Al-Marwah seven times, etc., are all symbolic rituals to remind us what the pilgrimage or Haj is all about. And the lesson from all these rituals and symbolism is that we need to sacrifice in this life to be rewarded accordingly in the next life. And that is why today is called the Festival of the Sacrifice or Aidil Adha. What, however, is the Festival of the Sacrifice symbolic of? Well, according to the Jews, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (Ishak) from his first wife, Sarah. According to the Muslims, though, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail from his second wife, Hagar. Hence both Jews and Muslims share the same roots but are from different branches of the family tree of Abraham. The Jews are from the son of Abraham's first wife while the Muslims are from the son of Abraham's second wife. In other words, the Jews and Muslims are 'related by birth' but are split into Team A and Team B -- no different from Umno politics over the last 60 years or so since the 1950s. Anyway, the most important aspect of Islamic (and Jewish) teachings is to sacrifice. And this is reinforced in a Hadith that relates the Prophet Muhammad as saying that if you want to give sedekah (alms or donations) to someone then give something that you love or treasure the most. Giving away your old and tattered clothes that no longer fit you is no sedekah as you sacrifice nothing. In fact, those taking them are doing you a favour by helping you to get rid of your junk. Abraham loved his son tremendously but when God commanded him to sacrifice his son he did not hesitate to do so. He sharpened his knife and told his son to lie down so that he (Abraham) can slit his (son's) throat. Abraham's son gladly did as he was told but just before the knife touched his throat God rescinded the command and told Abraham to replace his son with an animal. Hence, till today, this day is celebrated with the sacrifice of a lamb, goat, cow, buffalo, camel, etc. So there you are. God told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son and Abraham plus his son gladly complied. So, today, Muslims all over the world sacrifice an animal as a symbolic gesture of Abraham's sacrifice of his son in compliance with God's command. But how many Muslims treat today as merely a ritual and a day of celebration? How many Muslims treat today as the particular day in a year that they need to sacrifice in the way of Allah? How many Muslims can live a life of sacrifice all year round from one day of Aidil Adha to the next day of Aidil Adha the following year? Rituals and symbolism in religion are meant as reminders and to test our discipline, obedience, commitment and resolve. But most people will be good and obedient only for that one day. Then, for the rest of the year, they revert to following the life of the devil. Corrupt, greedy, racist, evil, etc., Muslims will stop being corrupt, greedy, racist and evil only for today, the day of the Festival of the Sacrifice. Then, tomorrow, once the day of the Festival of the Sacrifice is over, they will revert to what they really are. Sacrifice is a very easy word to throw around. Everyone talks about sacrifice. Everyone says to see change we need to sacrifice. But whether you are Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever, how many of you really practice what you preach? Sacrifice is probably the most overrated and overused word amongst Malaysians. Nine out of ten Malaysians will scream that word. But less than one in ten Malaysians would dare sacrifice. If you think change is necessary and that we must see change at all costs, how many of you will pay this cost of sacrifice to see this change? As a start, how many of you will dare use your real names to post comments in Malaysia Today? Yes, you might face the wrath of the government and you might have to sacrifice your freedom if you do that. But what is the use of sacrifice if you dare not sacrifice a minor and unimportant thing like your freedom? What is your freedom for the sake of change? Nothing! So, yes, today, animals all over the world are going to be sacrificed for the sake of God. But it is the animals that are going to be sacrificed. Those sacrificing those animals do not sacrifice anything other than a few hundred Ringgit, many of it illegally earned anyway from usury, exploitation, cronyism, nepotism, speculation, profiteering, bribes, tax evasion, etc. If all you are prepared to do is to pay a few hundred Ringgit to buy an animal so that its throat can be slit, then better save your money. Don't waste your money. Your so-called sacrifice is no sacrifice. It is merely a waste of your money and the waste of the life of the animal. Sacrifice is not mere rituals and symbolism. It has to be from the heart. And most Malaysians have absolutely no heart and no guts for sacrificing anything, whatever religion they may profess. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Let Federal Court decide status of M’sia Posted: 25 Oct 2012 04:04 PM PDT The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong shoud command a full Federal Court bench to determine if Malaysia is a secular or an Islamic state, says Karpal Singh. Athi Shankar, FMT Senior parliamentarian Karpal Singh has urged the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to command a full 12-man bench of the federal court to decide and declare on whether Malaysia is a secular or an Islamic nation. The DAP national chairman urged the king to invoke his power under Article 130 of the Federal Constitution to refer the contentious issue to the highest court for its opinion and "clear the air once for all." He believed it was crucial for the king's intervention for a judicial pronouncement as to the status of the country in view of recent controversy on the secular – Islamic state issue and its impact on the country. Article 130 permits the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to refer to the Federal Court for its opinion on any question as to the effect of any provision of this constitution which has arisen or appears to him likely to arise, and the Federal Court shall pronounce in open court its opinion on any question so referred to it. Karpal was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz's parliamentary reply on Monday, declaring that based on legal provisions in the country, Malaysia has never been declared nor endorsed as a secular nation. Nazri said that the situation in Malaysia was different than in the United States, India and Turkey, which clearly specify that those countries were secular in their constitutions. But Karpal countered that the constitution neither had declared Malaysia as "an Islamic state" unlike countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran. He said notwithstanding specific provisions on Islam and the lack of the word "secular" in the Federal Constitution, Malaysia had been officially declared as a secular state, including in judicial pronouncement. He said that Mohd Nazri's parliamentary statement was also in conflict with a 1988 judicial decision. Judicially pronounced to be secular The Supreme Court was equivalent of the current Federal Court which replaced the Privy Council. Karpal said given the official declaration of the nation's highest judicial authority, Malaysia has been "judicially pronounced to be a secular state". "A country having secular laws could not be an Islamic state," argued Karpal, also a senior lawyer. He recalled that two former prime ministers, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman and Hussien Onn, had also stated on record that "Malaysia was not an Islamic state". He rubbished political declaration by another ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamed in September, 2001 at the Gerakan general assembly that Malaysia was an Islamic state. "It does not have the stamp of legitimacy," Karpal told newsmen in Bandar Baru Air Itam during his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency visit here today.
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| Before meddling with subsidies, ask why we need subsidies Posted: 25 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT A subsidy is designed to support a disadvantaged group that cannot secure the needs and necessities for survival because an underlying condition is persistently preventing their fulfillment. Pak Sako, CPI Two groups, CPI and Refsa-IDEAS, are debating government subsidies. This debate is critical because politicians are taking their cues from it. It is important that good judgement prevails. Much is at stake. But first, what is a subsidy? Why do we need it? Some believe subsidies are government money spent on primary healthcare, infrastructure, culture or the environment. But these are not subsidies. These are fundamental public provisions that a decent society would collectively provide for all its members in most ordinary circumstances. A subsidy is different. It is a special kind of public expenditure. A subsidy is designed to support a disadvantaged group that cannot secure the needs and necessities for survival because an underlying condition is persistently preventing their fulfillment. When we get a burn, we run cold water over it and bandage. It is lousy policy to do away with running water and bandages without properly attending to the cause, which is contact with fire. Similarly, subsidies may be essential to make life bearable for vulnerable groups and the needy as long as the root causes that provoke the subsidies are still there. Don't like subsidies? Address the underlying structural faults. To reduce (or even increase) a subsidy, study it and consider the data. Manoeuvring in the dark without information can be harmful. Now what are the underlying reasons that necessitate subsidies? There are of course sociological and behavioural factors. But a major reason is that we operate in an economic system that is systematically biased in favour of capitalist interests. In this pro-capitalist system, the lower income classes often do not get their fair share of the economic wealth that comes from economic growth. Business enterprises generate profits by shifting all sorts of hidden social costs onto society — an additional level of disenfranchisement. When a government allies itself with big businesses, it is all the more unfortunate. Creating "free markets" in this kind of political-economic condition will not remove the conditions that demand subsidies. It would aggravate them. That is why the Refsa-IDEAS proposal must be regarded with caution. Their motivation may be good, but their approach is narrow. IDEAS (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs) is a free-market, neoliberal think-tank. Neoliberals believe that the market system is a magical mechanism: if it operates freely, without interference, it should ensure everybody's wellbeing. Hence why neoliberals tend to maintain that subsidies ought to be reduced or eliminated. For them, subsidies are bad 'government interventions'. Neoliberals would propose that individual citizens keep the money instead and spend it themselves to best satisfy their wants or needs through 'efficient' free markets. But markets are neither magical nor self-correcting. Not all things in life can, or should, be marketised and monetised into packages to be allocated by markets. Many essentials are best secured for everyone through government or other collective ways, not individually via markets.
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| Not just a Malay problem: dirty money cost China US$3.8 trillion 2000-2011 Posted: 25 Oct 2012 03:46 PM PDT
(Reuters) - China has lost US$3.79 trillion over the past decade in money smuggled out of the country, a massive amount that could weaken its economy and create instability, according to a new report. And the outflow - much of it from corruption, crime or tax evasion - is accelerating. China lost $472 billion in 2011, equivalent to 8.3 percent of its gross domestic product, up from $204.7 billion in 2000, Global Financial Integrity, a research and advocacy group that campaigns to limit illegal flows, said in a report on Thursday. "The magnitude of illicit money flowing out of China is astonishing," said GFI director Raymond Baker. "There is no other developing or emerging country that comes even close to suffering as much in illicit financial flows." The lost funds between 2000 and 2011 significantly exceeded the amount of money flowing into China as foreign direct investment. The International Monetary Fund calculated FDI inflows at roughly $310 billion between 1998 and 2011. Illicit capital flows rob a government of tax revenues and potential investment funds. Capital flight on this scale can be politically destabilizing by allowing the rich to get richer through tax evasion, GFI said. China has a low level of tax collection given the size of its economy, according to the IMF. Beijing has recognized that corruption and bribery is a significant problem, an issue brought into sharp focus recently by the Bo Xilai scandal. The country has announced a major crackdown as it prepares for its once in a decade leadership transition. GFI calculates how much money leaks out of a country unchecked by analyzing discrepancies in data filed with the IMF on import and export prices between trade partners and calculating discrepancies in a country's balance sheet. The developing world overall lost $903 billion in illicit outflows in 2009, with China, Mexico, Russia and Saudi Arabia in that order showing the largest losses, it said. Trade mispricing was the major method of smuggling money out of China, accounting for 86.2 percent of lost funds, the GFI report found. This scheme involves importers reporting inflated prices for goods or services purchased. The payments are transferred out and the excess amounts are deposited into overseas bank accounts. Trade mispricing is most common for nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and electrical equipment, the report said. The bulk of the money ends up in tax havens - on average, 52.4 percent between 2005 and 2011. Much of this money eventually makes its way back to China as foreign direct investment for a double hit to the economy. FDI benefits from special tax breaks and subsidies, essentially setting up an elaborate form of money laundering for Chinese businesses, GFI added.
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| 10 Qualities of a Great Nation Posted: 25 Oct 2012 03:14 PM PDT
Towards A New Malaysia With an upcoming General Election that is expected to be the most hotly contested one ever since independence and the formation of our relatively young nation, Malaysia is at a crossroad. Perhaps for the first time the prospect of a change in government is realistic and both coalitions sense it. Hearing the empty rhetorics of some leaders of the current coalition, one can only come to the conclusion that they are bankrupt. Certainly not of material wealth but of ideas. What if there is a change in government and we have a chance to rebuild and reshape this nation? What kind of a nation would we want to build? What are the qualities that would make Malaysia a great nation? Let me state clearly that I for one do not believe that change for the better will come overnight for two reasons. You can't undo a political, administrative and social mindset that has been skewed towards a regime overnight. It will be a slow uphill task that requires perseverance. Secondly, the new government does not necessarily be different in ability and even integrity from the old or have all the answers. The difference is that there is a chance for real reform and for the voices and aspirations of the people to be heard, and that is, if we choose to actively and constructively engage the new administration. I would like to suggest 10 qualities that would make Malaysia a great nation, a place that we would be proud to call home and where we would see a reversal of the brain drain?.
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| Posted: 25 Oct 2012 03:06 PM PDT
The next general election is expected to be the closest fight to form the new government. And several seats across the nation are likely to see heated battles with the victor winning by the slimmest of majorities. The Malaysian Insider takes a look at some of these hot seats in what will be an intense election for control of Malaysia. Opalyn Mok, The Malaysian Insider NIBONG TEBAL, Oct 26 — Located on the southern part of Seberang Perai, this small township of about 50,000 people is almost like the last frontier of mainland Penang. That's because there is a spot in this quiet little town where you just need to take one step forward and you would have left Penang and stepped right into Perak. Perhaps it is due to its distance from the busy city of George Town but not many Penang folk would venture here except for foodies intent on trying out the town's famed Teochew crab porridge, boiled baby octopus and curried freshwater prawns. Far from the sea, it may seem strange that this mainland township's fame is tied to "seafood" but considering the Krian River runs through it, the mud crabs and freshwater prawns are obviously local catches. Jawi is the busiest part of the whole constituency where there is a concentration of shoplots, food courts, wet markets, restaurants, supermarkets and government offices. Nibong Tebal is spread out over three state constituencies — Jawi, Sungai Acheh and Sungai Bakap — with different racial groups in different villages. The whole of Nibong Tebal is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays, with a majority of the Malays located in the Sungai Acheh area where agriculture is the main industry.  Jawi town is the main hub with its rows of shophouses. Previously, the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat and its three state seats, Sungai Acheh, Sungai Bakap and Jawi, were all Barisan Nasional (BN) seats. In the 2004 general election, Umno (BN) newcomer Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman won the parliamentary seat with a 6,005-vote majority while the three state seats also saw BN winning with huge majorities but in 2008, BN only managed to retain the Sungai Acheh state seat with a slim majority of 250 votes and lost the rest. This coming election, Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the one to try to win the seat back for BN even though the current MP, Tan Tee Beng, who won the seat on the PKR ticket, is now an independent MP.  Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the BN candidate for the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat. A local boy, Zainal Abidin's family home is located in one of the villages here but other than to his fellow villagers, he is not that well-known in the non-Malay community. Instead, he often appears at BN functions with Nibong Tebal BN co-ordinator Tan Cheng Liang, who is also former Jawi state assemblyman and tipped to contest the Jawi state seat, purportedly to show a united BN front. It is obvious that Nibong Tebal has been "under attack" by BN which is intent on winning the two state seats and the parliamentary one back this time around. This year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a RM8.5 million allocation for Nibong Tebal for development projects such as construction of a multi-purpose hall in Nibong Tebal (RM3 million), repainting of apartments (RM2 million), repairing of houses in Indian and Chinese villages (RM2 million) and rebuilding of Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Amin (RM1.8 million).  Fishing is an industry in the area as the Krian River runs through Nibong Tebal. There was also a "promotional blitz" of sorts when the MCA launched its Jom Masuk Kampung (Let's Enter The Villages) roadshow in Penang at Nibong Tebal with all of the top MCA leadership spending the day at various villages in the constituency. More recently, BN allocated a further RM3 million, on top of the RM1 million it had earlier allocated, to the building fund of SMJK Jit Sin II which is located in the constituency. The school is in the midst of raising RM30 million for its building fund. But all this attention by BN does not seem to impress many of the constituents. "We are not small children who can be pleased by offerings of sweets and candies. Do they think us stupid?" a resident said when asked if they feel indebted to BN for all the goodies it has been handing out to the constituency. After speaking to the villagers, it is clear that the general sentiment seems to be one of disgust, disappointment and even hatred for BN and its leaders. "They think we are slow-thinking villagers who do not know how to access the Internet to get the real story behind their corruption and excesses? There they are spending our money like their own and then when elections come, they pretend to give us little titbits as if it is from their own pocket," one Jawi resident said. Many of them said they would not give BN another chance to "cheat" and "lie" to them. "If I see any of them, I turn around and walk away. I feel it is really time that we changed the whole federal government, not only change our state assemblymen and MP," said an elderly resident who's been following the political scene closely through the news and the Internet.
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| Sabotaj bukan 'budaya eksklusif' Umno semata-mata Posted: 25 Oct 2012 03:00 PM PDT
Salmiah Druhamad Drahsin, Sinar Harian Ramai telah mengulas sejak keputusan Majlis Tertinggi Umno mahu menubuhkan panel khas menangani masalah sabotaj baru-baru ini diumumkan. Parti teras Barisan Nasional (BN) itu mahu mengambil tindakan segera ke atas ahli parti itu yang didapati melakukan perbuatan khianat dan sabotaj ke atas parti dan ia dilihat satu amaran keras menjelangnya Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13). Ahli Parlimen Kota Belud, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan menegaskan, ini bukan lagi masanya untuk main-main atau merajuk apabila tidak dipilih sebagai calon dan melakukan onar dalam parti kerana pilihan raya kali ini adalah pilihan raya yang paling kritikal. "Kita kena melihat kepada pengalaman-pengalaman yang lepas. Ini peringatan kepada pemimpin atau pihak-pihak tertentu bahawa dalam Umno ini, kita tidak boleh ambil risiko, kita tidak boleh main-main. "Kadang-kadang orang berfikir mahu jadi wakil rakyat dan bukan sekadar ahli hanya untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat tapi hakikatnya banyak cara untuk kita berkhidmat," kata Setiausaha BN Sabah ini kepada Sinar Harian Online. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak selaku Presidennya mengumumkan bahawa jawatankuasa khas itu akan dipengerusikan oleh Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail yang juga Pengerusi Lembaga Disiplin Umno. Menurutnya, penubuhan jawatankuasa itu mengikut Fasal 10 (15) Perlembagaan Umno yang dianggotai oleh ahli Majlis Tertinggi dan beberapa individu yang tiada kepentingan. Mengulas lanjut, Abdul Rahman, yang juga Naib Pengerusi Kelab Penyokong-penyokong Kerajaan Barisan Nasiona (BN-BBC) mengakui, perbuatan sabotaj ini memang berlaku, namun ia bukanlah suatu perkara yang luar biasa dalam sesebuah parti politik. "(Sabotaj) ini bukan terhad dalam Umno sahaja. Tetapi dalam semua parti politik tetapi Umno sebuah parti yang proaktif menubuhkan jawatankuasa ini dalam menghadapi pilihan raya yang dikatakan sengit ini," katanya lagi. Ahli Parlimen veteran Umno-BN, Datuk Mohamad Aziz yang bersetuju seratus peratus dengan penubuhan jawatankuasa itu berkata, penubuhan panel khas ini penting kerana parti berhadapan dengan ramai ahli yang pelbagai kerenah. Wakil rakyat dari Sri Gading ini menambah, Najib tentunya melihat kepada pengalaman 2008 yang menyaksikan kekalahan teruk Umno-BN disebabkan oleh faktor sabotaj di kalangan ahli parti itu yang kecewa kerana tidak dipilih sebagai calon. "Apa makna masuk parti jadi ahli, kemudian sabotaj? Umno sebuah parti yang membela nasib agama, bangsa dan negara. Sabotaj parti bermakna sabotaj agama, bangsa dan negara. "Kita kalah 2008. Tapi Umno bukan kalah disebabkan pembangkang kuat tetapi sebab ada ahli parti yang main tikam belakang," katanya. Beliau menambah, penubuhan jawatankuasa ini juga secara tidak langsung mengembirakan ramai ahli Umno yang setia dengan perjuangan parti. "Apabila nampak sabotaj dalam parti, orang yang setia ini akan merasa kecewa. Tetapi dengan tertubuhnya jawatankuasa ini, orang yang setia dengan parti akan rasa dihargai. "Saya sokong seratus peratus penubuhan jawatankuasa ini," tambah beliau. Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Nusajaya, Datuk Aziz Sapian juga mengetengahkan pandangan yang seiring dengan dua pemimpin itu. Penubuhan jawatankuasa ini sebagai pemberitahuan kepada mereka yang berhasrat untuk melakukan perbuatan tidak bermoral semata-mata untuk mendapat kedudukan selesa dalam parti bahawa pergerakan mereka sedang diperhatikan, katanya lagi, Malah tambah beliau, mereka yang berebut-rebut mahu menjadi calon misalnya belum tentu punya kemampuan untuk menjalankan tanggungjawab yang diamanahkan. "Ini lebih kepada sikap. Mereka ini orang yang tidak ada jati diri, mengikut nafsu. "Sekarang ini sudah tidak boleh seperti dulu. Sistem yang dibawakan oleh Datuk Seri Najib ini lain. Apa tujuan jadi ahli parti? Mereka ini orang yang tidak setia kepada perjuangan parti," katanya kepada Sinar Harian Online. Aziz secara sinis mengingatkan mereka yang terfikir untuk khianat dan sabotaj ini adalah ahli parti yang tidak setia dan hanya mengejar keuntungan peribadi. "Tanggungjawab kita sebagai ahli parti, itu yang penting. Jangan hendak berebut jadi Ketua Cawangan tapi tidak ada rasa tanggungjawab. Bertahun Datuk Seri Najib buat kerja, kalau kita sabotaj, adakah kita boleh buat kerja? Ini bukan perjuangan, ini gila kuasa namanya," ujar beliau. Ketika mengumumkan perkara itu minggu lau, Najib yang juga Pengerusi BN dan Perdana Menteri berkata, penubuhan jawatankuasa ini bertujuan bagi memudahkan tindakan segera di ambil ke atas ahli parti itu yang mengkhianati parti dan calon BN. Sebelum ini, setiap kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh ahli parti diserahkan kepada Lembaga Disiplin dan ia mengambil masa sebelum tindakan diambil. Majlis Tertinggi Umno juga telah memutuskan untuk melantik salah seorang daripada setiap bahagian Umno di seluruh negara sebagai anggota jawatankuasa itu. Ini kali pertama Umno mengambil tindakan tegas ini. Tindakan akan diambil sebelum PRu13 berbanding dulu selepas pilihan raya selesai. Pengalaman 2008 membawa Umno ke tahap lebih berhati-hati meskipun sesetengah pihak melihat parti ini sudah panik. Sebagaimana dikatakan Abdul Rahman, sabotaj tidak terhad kepada Umno sahaja. Ia jelas kerana Umno bertindak sebagai parti besar dengan tiga juga ahli.
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| Harun Taib: Ulama Pas bukan 'Ayatollah Iran' Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:57 PM PDT
(Sinar Harian) - Dilihat menyangkal pandangan Prof Madya Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, Ulama Pas menegaskan, pihaknya berpegang teguh mempertahankan prinsip Islam dan oleh itu, tidak wajar disamakan dengan kepimpinan Ayatollah Iran. "Sejarah Islam membuktikan betapa telusnya corak pemerintahan Islam itu sendiri apabila dikurniakan oleh ALLAH SWT akan tampuk pemerintahan," kata Ketua Ulama Pas, Datuk Harun Taib. Tambah beliau: "Rasulullah SAW sendiri tidak memulakan peperangan Badar kecuali setelah mengadakan perbincangan dengan kaum Ansar, inilah pendekatan Pas yang menjadi pegangan kita selama ini." Dipetik Harakahdaily, Harun berkata, sudah menjadi tradisi pemerintahan Islam bersikap telus ketika memerintah. Jelasnya, Saidina Abu Bakar ketika mula dilantik sebagai khalifah telah mengisytiharkan bahawa beliau sanggup diperbetulkan sekiranya melakukan kesalahan. Begitu juga Saidina Umar yang mengisytiharkan perkara yang sama sehingga rakyat menyambutnya dengan keazaman untuk memperbetulkan beliau walaupun dengan mata pedang, kata beliau. Ulas beliau lagi, pernah berlaku pada zaman Saidina Abu Bakar dalam peristiwa memerangi golongan yang murtad. "Walaupun terdapat perbezaan pandangan pada peringkat permulaan tetapi kerana keterbukaan yang ditunjukkan oleh Saidina Abu Bakar dalam perbincangan antara hujah-hujah yang berbeza, maka para sahabat akur. "Inilah keterbukaan yang ditunjukkan oleh sejarah berkenaan pemerintahan Islam. Dan keterbukaan penghujahan inilah yang akan terus diperjuangkan oleh para Ulama Pas. "Begitu juga pada zaman Saidina Umar ketika seorang wanita menegur beliau berkenaan dengan mahar, beliau tidak melenting bahkan mengakui tentang kesilapan beliau dan mengiktiraf pendirian wanita tersebut," jelas beliau. Laporan organ Pas itu tidak merujuk khusus kepada Asri. Ketika muncul pada program Wacana Sinar Harian ke-15 Selasa lalu, Asri berkata, Pas tidak seharusnya menjadi seperti pemerintahan Ayatollah di Iran sekiranya berjaya memerintah Putrajaya kelak. Asri, bekas Mufti Perlis berkata, kalau ada yang bermentaliti bahawa orang agama yang berkuasa tidak boleh ditegur, negara akan menjadi lebih korup dari sekarang. Menjawab pandangan Asri itu, dua Naib Presiden Pas kelmarin menjawab bahawa pihaknya memberi jaminan tidak akan sama sekali akan menjadi pemimpin-pemimpin bergelaran Ayatollah Iran jika diberi mandat memerintah Kerajaan Pusat kelak kerana parti komponen Pakatan Rakyat (PR) itu sentiasa mengamalkan sikap terbuka kepada semua pihak tanpa mengira fahaman politik. Sambil menghargai pandangan bekas Mufti Perlis, pemimpin-pemimpin Pas yang dihubungi Sinar Harian Online berkata parti berusia lebih enam dekad itu tidak pernah mengamalkan pendekatan tutup pintu kepada pandangan dan teguran mana-mana pihak. Ayatollah adalah gelaran tertinggi diberikan kepada ulama Syiah Iran. Mengulas teguran Asri itu, Naib Presiden Pas, Datuk Mahfuz Omar berkata, sekiranya diberi mandat memerintah Putrajaya kelak, mereka tidak akan sekali-kali menjadi seperti pimpinan Ayatollah. Katanya, sedia ditegur dan dikritik akan terus menjadi asas perjuangan parti itu. Mengulas lanjut, Harun yang juga Adun Manir menyangkal sama sekali kebimbangan yang tidak berasas bahawa Pas akan mengikut pendekatan Ayatollah. Beliau menyifatkan kebimbangan itu seperti Nujum Pak Belalang yang meramalkan sesuatu tanpa bukti. "Kalau perkara yang ditegur atau dikritik itu betul, Pas tidak teragak-agak untuk menerimanya dengan jiwa yang terbuka dan Pas telah membuktikannya, sejarah telah membuktikan bahawa Pas telah sanggup bermuzakarah dengan Umno dan sejarah telah membuktikannya," katanya lagi. Beliau berkata, bermuzakarah dan perbincangan merupakan tradisi yang telah diamalkan oleh Pas sejak dari penubuhannya lagi bukan sahaja dari sudut dalaman parti apatah lagi dengan pihak luar yang tidak sealiran dengannya.
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| Assange says to stay in embassy until US backs off: CNN Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:52 PM PDT (Reuters) - LONDON: Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange said yesterday the United States would have to give up its "immoral" investigation into his whistle blowing website before he considered leaving the confines of the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Assange has been sheltering in the embassy since June to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault allegations. Britain says it is obliged to send him to Sweden and will not let him to go to Ecuador, which has given him asylum. His lawyers and the Ecuador government fear that travelling to Sweden could lead to the 41-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he could face charges stemming from Wikileaks' publication of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Challenged in a CNN interview in the embassy that he could not stay there forever, Assange said: "I think we need the US government to drop its investigation … It's an immoral investigation. It breaches the First Amendment. It breaches all the principles that the United States government says that it stands for and it absolutely breaches the principles that the US founding fathers stood for and which most of the US people believe in." Ecuador wants Britain to give Assange written guarantees that he would not be extradited from Sweden to any third country. Assange fears he could face inhumane treatment in the United States. "There's an attempt to extradite me without charge and without evidence, allegedly for the purpose of questioning," he said. "All meanwhile, the FBI has been engaged in building this tremendous case." In the interview, Assange likened life in the embassy to "living on a space station". "There's no natural light," he said. "You have got to make all your own stuff. You can't go out to the shops." "But I've been in solitary confinement. I know what life is like for prisoners – it's a lot better than it is for prisoners." Earlier yesterday, Wikileaks began publishing what it said were more than 100 US Defense Department files detailing military detention policies in camps in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay in the years after the September 11 attacks on US targets.
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| Is apple-polishing Zambry psychic? Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:43 PM PDT How does Najib Tun Razak fingering '1' this and '1' that answer the fact that 12% of the Malays live below the poverty level? What Najib really is, is a master of subterfuge with an expiring shelf-life in an organisation dominated by life-time right-wingers. And Zamry in particular knows, that his leader who shouts loudly here and there, is a man shouted at, at home. Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, FMT Some cocksure apple-polishing politician has come up with wickedly ingenuous NAJ1B – Negeri Aman Jika 1Malaysia Bersatu. Wow! Now we know the world does not revolve around Umno. It's revolves around Najib, the son of Tun Razak. It must be a sign of desperate times calling for desperate measures. The recent attempt by Perak Menteri Besar Zamry Kadir – the man who benefited from Umno's coup d'état of the legitimately elected Perak government – to canonise Najib is surely a naked unashamed display of sycophant-ism. Let us somberly remind Zamry that canonisation or the act of declaring a person as saint is done only on deceased persons. Perhaps Zamry already knows that after the 13th general election, Umno will be dead. Or maybe Zamry wishes to cement his candidacy by doing just what he knows Najib likes – to inflate the latter's ego. So, better declare Najib a saint before its too late. After all Najib has acted as Santa Claus for a number of years. At every budget, Najib has given out money to people in order to buy loyalty. Umno and Barisan Nasional has been doing that for more than 20 years in Kelantan, it hasn't succeeded. Loyalty earned from conviction and belief isn't as fragile as one earned by way of paying for it. Najib and Umno haven't learnt that. Najib and Umno haven't got what it takes to inspire loyalty. They poured tonnes of money into Bandar Tun Razak, yet the stuttering Khalid Ibrahim (Selangor MB) won handsomely. What Najib really is, is a master of subterfuge with an expiring shelf-life in an organisation dominated by life-time right-wingers. And Zamry in particular knows, that his leader who shouts loudly here and there, is a man shouted at, at home. A little panadol-like ego booster is a much needed calming remedy. Najib has to create a Kim Il Jung persona to overwhelm the right wingers in Umno. Najib, a cult figure? He is this and that without ever realising that what he is doing is mythifying impressions. How does '1′ this and '1′ that solve our economic productivity? How does '1′ this and '1′ that, answer the fact that 12% of the Malays lived below the poverty level? How does Najib fingering '1′ this and '1′ that explain that after 55 years of independence and rule by Umno, income disparity within the Malay community is greatest?
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| Only 300 turn up for Bt Caves protest Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:39 PM PDT Saying that a stop work order is not enough, they want the Selangor government to scrap the project permanently. Leven Woon, FMT BATU CAVES: Falling way below the organiser's 100,000 target, only some 300 people flocked to the Batu Caves temple to protest against a proposed high-rise development project. The two 29-storey condominium project, which was approved by the then Barisan Nasional-led government in 2007, was slated to be built adjacent to the Batu Caves temple. The temple committee said construction of the project would cause instability to the temple structures and also the world's tallest Lord Murugan statue. The protesters held up banners that read "Stop" against the backdrop of the Lord Murugan statue today. They also inked their support for a signature drive organised by the temple committee. "The project was approved in 2007 by the Selayang Municipal Council. "We must know, who sat in the council that time. Who approved this?" said temple committee chairman R Nadarajah in his speech.
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| Million Dollar Bribes Disguised As ‘Donations’ – UMNO’s Ever Changing Stories! Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:18 PM PDT
Thanks for the RM40 million my lad. Of course, nothing compared to the huge timber concessions and barging monopolies which I have offered your family. I hope you are still making regular payments to my sons and keeping up the rental on that house in Perth that I asked you to organise? Remember these are all perfectly proper political donations and I am no longer denying we do business! SARAWAK REPORT Where was Michael Chia on 14th August 2008 ? UMNO have created so many contradictions with their various excuses that they must now produce some evidence. The story started back on that date when it was reported that timber trader Michael Chia had been arrested with RM40million in his suitcase, on his way to Sabah from Hong Kong. It created a news storm and a great number of denials. Chia denied he had been arrested or that the money was to do with him and Musa Aman denied he had anything to do with Michael Chia. But now, suddenly, after four years of these denials, UMNO's Mr Nazri has capitulated and admitted that after all the money was being sent by Chia to Musa. However not in a personal capacity but as a "perfectly proper" political 'donation'. Come on! Why didn't Musa, Mr Nazri and BN/UMNO just say so in the first place? Instead of playing President Clinton and saying as recently as April this year:
Why didn't Musa just say:
Changing stories Consider all the missed opportunities Musa/UMNO have had to clarify the situation. The arrest was first reported Way back in 2008. This was how the UMNO supporting Star Newspaper put it at the time:
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| Posted: 25 Oct 2012 11:02 AM PDT
The PAS-backed Kempen Anti-Saman Ekor uncovered that many of the 831 locations where AES cameras would be set up were incredulous, with some of them located in the middle of the sea and jungle. Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily The drawbacks and weaknesses of the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) have been gradually revealed and if the Road Transport Department (RTD) does not make a comprehensive review, the AES might not be able to achieve the desired objectives due to the lack of credibility. The PAS-backed Kempen Anti-Saman Ekor (Kase) uncovered that many of the 831 locations where AES cameras would be set up were incredulous, with some of them located in the middle of the sea and jungle. Some Internet users teased that these AES cameras were used to capture speeding fish and beasts. If it is confirmed to be a mistake made by the RTD, it will once again expose the weakness of no proper planning for the AES. It was reported earlier that among the locations where AES cameras would be installed, five of them were located at 30km/h zones and some with inconspicuous or without a signboard to warn motorists about the cameras. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha later said that the 831 locations were only a proposal that could still be reviewed. The problem is, who had provided the information for the authority to examine and determine the locations? Was it the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), the contracted companies or the police? The latter should be the one who knows where traffic accident black areas are located. The AES is a good plan, but it has been continuously questioned, due to a few factors. The people cannot understand why the AES is handed over to private companies, instead of having a group of experts in the Transport Ministry to manage the system. Without having a clear picture about the content of the contracts, the amount of profit earned, the background and qualification of the private companies are speculated. The credibility of the AES reduces when law enforcement is connected to business. The accuracy of the AES has also been questioned. Although Miros claimed that the AES system and instruments are complying with the Weights and Measures Act of Malaysia and all authentication procedures are based on the international standard developed by the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML). However, has it been tested and verified by foreign experts? The AES execution is inhumane and it is not in line with the concept of people first. Motorists receiving AES summonses could only appeal to courts. The Transport Ministry should have considered that some motorists might be innocent, including those whose vehicle registered numbers are embezzled and those who have sold their cars without changing the owner's name. The RTD can actually handle such appeals immediately and it is not necessary to bring them to courts. Most crucially, not like other countries where only the rich can afford to drive, most motorists in Malaysia are middle and low-income earners due to the poor public transport infrastructure. The RM300 flat fine of the AES summonses is absolutely politically incorrect. Since there are so many doubts about the AES, I believe that some motorists will challenge the system in courts, just like some property owners have challenged the Indah Water, and eventually, many people refuse to pay the sewage charges. Since only 14 AES cameras have been installed so far, the Transport Ministry should immediate conduct a comprehensive review to avoid more mistakes when the system is fully implemented. The Transport Ministry can actually learn from the experience of other countries. For example, France stresses on both punishment and education to reduce car accident deaths. The country has installed another 1,000 radar speed detectors in highways of different levels and imposed heavier penalties for speeding. At the same time, the country also strictly enforces traffic laws and driving test, improve road infrastructure and release traffic information through electronic display signs. We can not rely only on a single method or system to reduce road accidents. The AES will not be able to change the outcome, if human factors remain unchanged. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Launched: Book on polls irregularities Posted: 25 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT From far right: co-editors Soon Li Tsin, Wong Chin Huat and Pak Samad flanked by the panel speakers. (fz.com) - "We have so many inspirational stories when we look at the Malaysian electoral role. Grandparents rise from the death and vote without visiting their grandchildren, same-gender marriage is allowed the Malaysian armed forces," he said in jest, referring to numerous reported allegations of electoral irregularities. A book on irregularities that occurred during the 16 by-elections since the March 2008 general election has been launched. "Democracy at Stake?, Examining 16 by-elections in Malaysia, 2008-2011" is edited by political scientist and Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Wong Chin Huat and Soon Li Tsin. The short analysis pieces on the series of by-elections, written by journalists, activists and researchers, highlight instances where state resources of both the Barisan National and Pakatan Rakyat were misused for political gain, among other irregularities. Speaking during the book's launch at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night, co-editor Wong was quick to point out that the data presented was outdated as there have been allegations of new irregularity on a daily basis. He hopes the book would, however, serve as a reminder of the reality on the ground to both elites and the masses. "We have so many inspirational stories when we look at the Malaysian electoral role. Grandparents rise from the death and vote without visiting their grandchildren, same-gender marriage is allowed the Malaysian armed forces," he said in jest, referring to numerous reported allegations of electoral irregularities. Read more at: http://fz.com/content/launched-book-polls-irregularities | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Don’t be Duped by BN’s Bread and Circuses Posted: 25 Oct 2012 10:56 AM PDT
Nicole Tan Lee Koon, Secretary, Seremban branch, DAP NS The term "Bread and Circuses" (Latin: panem et circenses) is a figure of speech for a fake sense of satisfaction or the "feel good" factor. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the garnering of public approval through manipulation and/or the instant/quick mere satisfaction of the shallow requirements of the citizens. In other words, as "panadols" for quick fixes. Juvenal (a Roman poet) defined it as "a simplistic motivation of common people". The phrase is taken to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To politicians, it connotes the winning formula for the survival of the Roman Republic for centuries. Both the Roman Republic and China's Han dynasty lasted for 500 years. The former used "bread and circuses" whilst the latter was an absolute monarchy. Instead of winning the citizens' approval through excellent public service and policies, the Roman Republic gave cheap food and entertainment. The Roman Republic provided the bread and circuses in order to order to keep the Roman citizens from becoming too discontent with their lives. The Roman government provided the citizens with enough food (bread) so they wouldn't starve and enough entertainment (circuses) so they would be amused. Hence, the Romans elected them again and again. BN's breads are the 1Malaysia goodies and handouts (BR1M Part 1 & 2, free tyres for taxi drivers, smart phone allowances for young adults, FELDA's RM15,000, pay rise for civil servants, etc). BN's latest " bread" was announced by Najib : "Najib Announces RM2.98 Billion for Sabah next year" (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-announces-rm2.98b-for-sabah-next-year/). BN's circuses shows are the alphabet soup management (ETP, GTP, NKRA etc); not forgetting tarring the roads before any General elections. Another great circus show was Najib's "groundbreaking" announcement in his Malaysia Day's speech. He said the government shall repeal the 3 Emergency Declarations and the draconian statutes like ISA, Printing Presses and Publications Act and Banishment Food (or bread) for thought : is BN using the age old formula of "Bread and Circuses" to survive another general elections? Are we gullible enough to allow that to happen again? N.B : Steven Sim's article "Is A Country A Brand?" also touches on bread and circuses. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dr M’s attack on Najib tactical, say analysts Posted: 24 Oct 2012 07:56 PM PDT Only the rural Malays will buy the former premier's attempt to rally the electorate behind the ruling coalition with communal politics. Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT Dr Mahathir Mohamad's attempt to scare the Malays through communal politicking will not work, said analysts who viewed the former prime minister's recent criticism against the Najib government as "tactical". Yesterday, Dr Mahathir, the influential former Umno president, speaking at the 2012 Malay Economic Congress, called Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration "weak" and hinted that it was making too much concessions to non-Malays. Malaysia's longest-serving premier argued that the country's majority race is now divided and is fast becoming a "beggar" dependent on the support and sympathy of the minorities. This was the second time Mahathir had openly criticised Najib just ahead of the 13th general election, but he said current premier cannot take the blame alone. He cited Malay disunity as key to the current government's predicament. Political observers noted that Mahathir's strategy had often been used in the past, but the tactic may still be effective in driving the Malays away from the opposition. "This is apparently a scare tactic. It may work on the rural Malays but not the urban Malays," said analyst James Chin of Monash University. "If you look at the key institutions of the government, they are still held by the Malays," he said, adding that much of Mahathir's race rhetoric has the least impact on an informed and decided electorate. But Chin agreed with the view that Mahathir's attack on Najib may not all be strategic and that the former premier, who was instrumental in the ousting of the latter's predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is indeed unhappy with some of the current government's policies.
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2012 07:05 PM PDT Now, before we embark upon this part of our discussion, let us first be clear about the difference between needs and wants. The NEP is supposed to satisfy our needs. It is not about pandering to our wants. Needs are necessities. Wants is greed. We have to understand the difference or else we can never come to a consensus as to whether the NEP has succeeded or has failed. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin The Great Hudud Debate is still raging. And it will continue to burn right into the next general election and beyond mainly because we are standing on different platforms to debate this issue. In short, we are not on the same page and unless we get onto the same page it is impossible to come to any consensus. The proponents of Hudud are using the religious/theological platform to forward their views. The opponents are using the legal/constitutional platform. How can any consensus ever be reached unless the proponents and opponents first come to an agreement as to whether they want to debate Hudud as a religious/theological issue or as a legal/constitutional issue? This is the first bridge we need to cross and unless we can cross that first bridge there is no way we can hope to cross the second bridge -- that is reach a consensus on Hudud itself. Are the politicians from both sides of the political fence really that stupid? Or are they actually very clever and that is why they are able to confuse Malaysians by debating an issue using different 'wavelengths' knowing that the debate will continue indefinitely with no resolution possible? It could be that the politicians are not stupid but are very clever. They are not really seeking a resolution. They just want this debate to go on forever as a convenient political weapon that can be resurrected every time a general election comes along. If they come to a consensus then the issue would be resolved and it can no longer be used as a political weapon. Hence better that they continue this debate as it is and keep using it again and again. If we use the religious/theological platform to debate Hudud then the proponents of Hudud are right. If we use the legal/constitutional platform then the opponents of Hudud are right. In other words, both sides are right and both sides are wrong. In other words, also, there is no absolute right and absolute wrong. Right and wrong are mere perceptions and relative to the comparison you are using. It all depends on what you are comparing it to. But when we use absolution we will always see right as wrong or wrong as right, a mere perception we have created in our minds. I know at this point I may have 'lost' some of you, especially those who admit that they read only part of my articles and then start posting a comment as if they fully understand my message. Yes, there are a lot of those types of readers in Malaysia Today. They read just the heading or just a few paragraphs and then come to a conclusion as to what they think I am trying to say and then start posting comments. We have to grasp the fundamentals of the concept I am talking about -- perception and relativism -- if we want to comprehend what I am saying. I am not sure how to demonstrate how this concept works to make you better understand it but allow me to try. A few nights ago, I looked up to the sky and told my wife how beautiful the moon looked. It was so round and so bright. The moon also appeared so much bigger here in Manchester than back in Kuala Lumpur. A couple of weeks ago, if I had looked up to the sky, I would have told my wife, "There is no moon tonight." Actually, a couple of weeks ago, if I had looked up to the sky and told my wife, 'There is no moon tonight," I would have been wrong. There was a moon. The only thing is I could not see it. Hence my correct statement should have been, "The moon is there but we can't see it." The moon is always there. It is never not there. Sometimes we can't see it. Sometimes we see it as a half moon. And sometimes we see it as a full moon. But how we see the moon is subject to how the sun's light is reflected onto the moon. The 'existence' of the moon, therefore, is subject to the sun. Without the sun there would not be a moon the way we perceive it. The moon looks beautiful/romantic only because the sun makes it look beautiful/romantic. So the moon is very dependent upon the sun for its beauty. On its own the moon is 'powerless' to radiate its beauty. Hence the moon cannot exist in isolation. The moon can only exist if the sun exists or else it will be 'invisible' and therefore 'non-existent'. Without the sun no lovers can walk in the romantic moonlight. In fact, they are not even walking in the romantic moonlight. They are walking in the romantic sunlight reflected onto the moon and bounced back to earth. My point in this moonlight example is: how do you see things? Do you see things as you want to see them or in relation to something else? Even the so-called moonlight is not what you think it is. But are you able to see it for what it is (meaning sunlight) or do you see it for what you think it is (meaning moonlight)? Okay, next example. You may have noticed over the last few days the Malay Chamber of Commerce, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, etc., were all talking about the economic situation of the Bumiputeras. I will not go into the details because I think you know what I am referring to. So maybe I can use that as my second example. The consensus of the Malay businessmen and the Malay politicians is that the Bumiputeras have not quite succeeded as the government and the Malay Chamber of Commerce had hoped they would since the launch of the New Economic Policy (NEP) 42 years ago in 1970. This statement is both right and wrong. Again, as in the Hudud debate, there is no absolute right and absolute wrong. When you talk about the economic success of the Bumiputeras what are you comparing it to? If you are comparing the current economic success of the Malays to what it used to be in the 1950s, or pre-Merdeka, then the Malays have certainly come a long way. They have improved in leaps and bounds. But if you are comparing the economic success of the Malays to that of the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese, then the Malays are definitely being left far behind. Now, when the NEP was launched, what was the objective of that policy? The policy had dual objectives. One was to reduce the gap between the haves and the haves-not. The other was to reduce the differential between the various races. So, in that sense, it is not a 'Malay' policy. But the NEP was not only about the creation of wealth. It also included many other issues or targets such as housing, financial security, employment, education, health, etc. In short, the NEP was not just about more money in the pockets but about a better quality of life, and not just for the Malays. Now, before we embark upon this part of our discussion, let us first be clear about the difference between needs and wants. The NEP is supposed to satisfy our needs. It is not about pandering to our wants. Needs are necessities. Wants is greed. We have to understand the difference or else we can never come to a consensus as to whether the NEP has succeeded or has failed. We need clothes on our back. We need a roof over our head. We need food on the table. We do not need a Porsche. We do not need a RM10 million mansion on a hill. We do not need USD150,000 Birkin handbags. Those are what we want, not what we need. Okay, so have the Malays improved economically since 55 years ago? Are more Malays educated and receive better health care now compared to 55 years ago? If you are comparing the Malays of today to the Malays of 55 years ago then certainly the Malays have benefited from the NEP and have a better quality of life now than they did 55 years ago. But then the Malay Chamber of Commerce and the Malay politicians are not comparing the Malays of today to the Malays of 55 years ago. If they did then Umno/Barisan Nasional has succeeded in improving the lot of the Malays. They are comparing the Malays of today to the non-Malays of today, in particular the Chinese. And if you use that comparison then the Malays are definitely still left far behind. So which comparison is a fair comparison then? Should we compare Malays to Malays -- Malays of today to the Malays of 55 years ago? Or should we compare Malays to non-Malays -- Malays of today to the Chinese of today? This is the same argument as: do we talk about Hudud as a religious/theological issue or as a legal/constitutional issue? Hence my first example regarding the moon. Do we look at the moon in isolation and gauge its beauty by the light, roundness and size? Or do we look at the moon in relation to the sun and understand that its beauty is subject to the reflection of the sun? And would lovers no longer find it romantic to walk in the moonlight once they understand that the moonlight is actually the sunlight and not the moonlight because the moon has no light? We Malaysians love to quarrel and argue. And we pretend that all these quarrels and arguments are actually intelligent and intellectual debates. But we never get to resolve these conflicts because we are arguing about the opposite sides of the same coin but think we are both seeing the same side of the coin. Hence debates related to race, religion, politics, development, the economy, etc., would go unresolved. And the politicians know this. It is not that they don't. For example, Umno and Barisan Nasional will compare Malaysia of 55 years ago to Malaysia today to argue that the government has succeeded in bringing development and prosperity to Malaysians. Okay, if you compare Malaysia 55 years ago to Malaysia today then I have no disagreement with that argument. Certainly Malaysia has improved in leaps and bounds. But what if I use another comparison? What if I compare Malaysia today to what Malaysia could have been had the country been better managed these last 55 years, or even just these last 30 years? Using that scenario would we see a highly successful Malaysia or a less successful Malaysia? Note I have not used the phrase 'a successful Malaysia' to 'a not successful (meaning failed) Malaysia'. Instead, I have used the phrase 'a highly successful Malaysia' to 'a less successful Malaysia'. In the first comparison I would be comparing success to failure. In the second comparison I am saying that both are successes, only that one is more successful than the other. Hence, even if I want to agree with the government that Malaysia is a success and not a failure, I can still argue about the degree of success -- and 'less successful' compared to 'more successful' can be interpreted as failure. The government is right in that Malaysia today is successful if compared to Malaysia 55 years ago. I am also right when I say that Malaysia today could have been better had it been better run so in that sense it is not successful. The government is both right and wrong while I am also both right and wrong. What makes right become wrong and wrong become right all depends on what comparisons we are using and what yardstick we use to measure success and failure. So, are the Malays successful or unsuccessful? Did the government do a good job or a bad job? Is Hudud a religious/theological issue or a legal/constitutional issue? Is the moonlight beautiful and romantic or is it merely the sunlight reflected on the moon that gives an appearance/impression it is beautiful and romantic? Yes, I know, this article is already so cheong hei. Actually I can write another 20 pages if I want to but I know most of you have no time for proper discussions. You only want to read articles that whack people and call people all sort of nasty names. So I will stop here and conclude this article by saying: don't waste your time arguing about Hudud or the NEP or whatever. This argument has no ending unless we first agree what platform we are using in debating these issues. Unless the platform is resolved then the debate is a non-starter. How to resolve anything when one talks about the cruelty to the dog while the other talks about the colour of the dog collar? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Negative sentiment takes down Petronas Posted: 24 Oct 2012 05:47 PM PDT
(Jakarta Post) - Malaysia-based oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has suspended most of its gasoline stations in Indonesia amid depressed sales, a move seen by many as partly influenced by persistent negative public sentiment toward the neighboring country. Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's downstream director Umi Asngadah said on Wednesday that 15 out of 19 Petronas fuel stations had been closed down.
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2012 05:45 PM PDT  Slip a condom on, in the condominium(Asia Sentinel) - As a conservative Islamic society, Malaysia frets over teenage sex and the spate of unplanned babies left on doorsteps by unwed young mothers. Read more at: http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4926&Itemid=189 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Khalid Ibrahim says local council reform is top priority Posted: 24 Oct 2012 04:21 PM PDT
Amin Iskandar, The Malaysian Insider Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim vows to reform local councils and make it Selangor government's topmost priority if he is re-elected to lead the state. "I want to reform the local councils, but I am pressed for time." "Local councils should be the state government's operator in managing cities, and should have the ability to create an environment where citizens can feel that they own the city," Abdul Khalid (picture) told The Malaysian Insider in a recent interview. According to Abdul Khalid, he wants Selangor citizens to be proud of their cities, much like Londoners. "To have a great city, we need a great mayor, just like how Londoners are proud of their mayor, the one with the uncombed hair," he said. London Mayor Boris Johnson is well-known for his unruly hair, and has become the pride of Londoners after the city successfully organised the 2012 Olympic Games. According to Abdul Khalid, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) is among the best local councils in Selangor, in addition to having the highest revenue. "I recently launched a report about MBPJ which collects revenue of nearly RM300 million. The majority of residents in MBPJ are also graduates, with reasonable income. "The problem, however, is that currently Petaling Jaya residents do not feel that the city is theirs, they see Kuala Lumpur as theirs instead, and Petaling Jaya is only a place where they go home for the night. "This is what I want to change, so Petaling Jaya residents can feel that Petaling Jaya is theirs," he explained. Abdul Khalid believes that in order to reform local councils, there was a need to change the public's mindset over their role. "When we involve the public in the discussions to develop a city, they will feel a sense of ownership and will not hesitate to pay any fees or taxes needed for the good of the council. "They will feel proud if their city is clean and safe, proud of its cultural performances and sports teams, football teams, for example," he added.
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| MCA-DAP bawa ‘agenda besar’, dakwa Hasan Ali Posted: 24 Oct 2012 04:10 PM PDT
Nizam Zain, Sinar Harian Bekas Pesuruhjaya Pas Selangor, Datuk Dr Hasan Ali mendakwa MCA dan DAP mempunyai "agenda besar" di sebalik pendirian kedua-dua parti itu dalam soal hukum hudud. Secara tidak langsung kata beliau, ia mampu menarik sokongan masyarakat Cina kepada MCA dan DAP disebabkan pandangan dan kritikan yang dilontarkan pimpinan mereka selari dengan kehendak, kemahuan dan tuntutan masyarakat berketurunan Cina.
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| MB Kedah dedah penyelewengan projek BN Posted: 24 Oct 2012 04:04 PM PDT
Roslinda Hashim, Sinar Harian Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak mengambil pendekatan 'menyerang balik' pemimpin Barisan Nasional (BN) yang sejak kebelakangan ini sering menyalahkan Kerajaan Negeri, terutama dirinya berhubung dakwaan penyelewengan, berdasarkan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara 2011. Beliau yang sebelum ini mengambil sikap berdiam diri, kini tampil mendedahkan empat projek bawah kerajaan BN yang gagal sehingga menyebabkan Kerajaan Negeri menanggung beban hutang yang banyak.
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| Mufti Perak: Tegur pemimpin jihad paling besar Posted: 24 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT
Robiatuladawiyah Abd Rashad, Sinar Harian Mufti Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria berkata, menjadi satu keperluan untuk menegur pemimpin yang gagal menjalankan tanggungjawabnya dengan baik dan ia juga harus dianggap sebagai satu "jihad paling besar." Beliau berkata, tugas itu wajib kepada semua umat Islam terutama yang mempunyai kelebihan. "Golongan ulama memang perlu tegur pemimpin, saya juga tegur pemimpin, hampir ke semua Perdana Menteri pernah saya tegur termasuk Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (Mursyidul Am Pas). "Memetik hadis Nabi, menasihati pemimpin yang zalim adalah jihad yang paling besar. "Tugas itu perlu dimainkan oleh semua orang tetapi selalunya dilihat sebagai tugas ulama kerana mereka mempunyai kelebihan," katanya kepada Sinar Harian. Menurut beliau, kelebihan itu bukan sahaja daripada ilmu yang dimiliki ulama terbabit tetapi termasuklah peluang yang lebih mudah untuk bertemu dan bercakap dengan pemimpin itu. Kelmarin, bekas Mufti Perlis, Prof Madya Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin berpendapat boleh menegur pemimpin tetapi perlu secara tertib. "Kritik kesalahan dan pengurusan itu tapi pilih perkataan yang elok seperti manusia yang bertamadun. Sebut perkataan yang tegas dan bermaksud," katanya pada siri Wacana Sinar Harian ke-15 bertajuk Peranan Ulama Menasihati Pemimpin. Harrussani berkata, ada orang menggunakan medan syarahan atau media massa menegur pemimpin. Katanya, teguran yang dibuat perlulah secara beradap dan tidak menyinggung perasaan individu yang ditegur itu. "Semua orang ada egonya, jadi adalah lebih baik menggunakan cara yang bersesuaian untuk menegur orang itu supaya tidak mengguris hatinya. "Kalau kita mahu tegur cara tugas mereka, boleh menulis surat untuk menasihatinya dan jika punya kesempatan, bertemu secara terus adalah lebih baik," katanya. Katanya, mereka yang menegur seseorang itu melalui ucapan dianggap sebagai mengumpat. "Kita tidak perlu menegur orang itu sehingga memberi aib kepadanya. Gunakan cara yang lebih diplomasi," katanya.
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| 'Kami bukan Ayatollah', Pas jawab Dr Asri Posted: 24 Oct 2012 03:57 PM PDT
Nurul Aini Mohamaed Ali, Sinar Harian Pas memberi jaminan tidak akan sama sekali akan menjadi pemimpin-pemimpin bergelaran Ayatollah Iran jika diberi mandat memerintah Kerajaan Pusat kelak kerana parti komponen Pakatan Rakyat (PR) itu sentiasa mengamalkan sikap terbuka kepada semua pihak tanpa mengira fahaman politik. Sambil menghargai pandangan bekas Mufti Perlis, Prof Madya Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, pemimpin-pemimpin Pas yang dihubungi Sinar Harian Online berkata parti berusia lebih enam dekad itu tidak pernah mengamalkan pendekatan tutup pintu kepada pandangan dan teguran mana-mana pihak. Ayatollah adalah gelaran tertinggi diberikan kepada ulama Syiah Iran. Mengulas teguran Asri itu, Naib Presiden Pas, Datuk Mahfuz Omar berkata, sekiranya diberi mandat memerintah Putrajaya kelak, mereka tidak akan sekali-kali menjadi seperti pimpinan Ayatollah. Katanya, sedia ditegur dan dikritik akan terus menjadi asas perjuangan parti itu. "Saya rasa Dr Asri sekadar membuat peringatan yang jujur dan ikhlas, tiada niat lain dan saya hargai peringatan yang diberi itu. "Jika dilihat sekarang ini pun, media arus perdana hari ini kerap memutar belit fakta yang kami beri, tetapi kami tidak pernah melenting, malah memberi reaksi yang baik dan sentiasa positif," kata beliau. Kelmarin, Asri, yang dari semasa ke semasa menganalisis perjalanan politik negara, menggesa Pas agar tidak mengamalkan pendekatan politik negara Teluk itu jika berjaya mandat memerintah Putrajaya kelak. Bagaimanapun beliau tidak memberi contoh khusus yang berkemungkinan Pas akan menjadi sebagai kepimpinan Ayatollah. Beliau berkata, kalau ada yang bermentaliti bahawa orang agama yang berkuasa tidak boleh ditegur, negara akan menjadi lebih korup dari sekarang. "Saya rasa ini satu masalah dalam Pas, masalah sekarang ini, Pas belum menjadi pemerintah, tetapi kalau kita tidak bahas hari ini, kita akan jadi seperti Iran, yang mana pemimpinnya Ayatollah tidak boleh ditegur dan disentuh," katanya. Mahfuz yang juga Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena berkata, tidak perlu melihat terlalu jauh atau melihat corak pemerintahan Pas di masa hadapan, corak pemerintahan Pas sekarang ini pun tidak pernah mengambil sikap 'tutup pintu' jika dikritik mana-mana pihak. "Kami pun sedia maklum, bukan semua pemimpin Pas mahir dan arif dalam semua perkara, justeru teguran juga penting," katanya. Beliau juga menambah, jika teguran yang dibuat itu merupakan sesuatu yang baik, mereka sedia menerima walaupun berbeza faham politik. Seorang lagi Naib Presidennya, Salahuddin Ayub turut sepakat dengan Mahfuz menyatakan parti itu sentiasa terbuka untuk menerima sebarang kritikan daripada mana-mana pihak. "Berdasarkan pengalaman saya dalam Pas, mana-mana ahli bebas memberi pandangan dan teguran masing-masing kerana kami sentiasa berpaksikan semangat demokrasi. "Jika dalam mesyuarat perwakilan atau mesyuarat bulanan, semua ahli bebas memberi kritikan kepada pemimpin, tiada masalah," katanya. Beliau juga menambah yang rata-rata keputusan yang dibuat oleh parti itu juga adalah berdasarkan teguran. "Cara ini kami telah amalkan sejak lama dulu dan setakat ini, kami sentiasa terbuka dan saya rasa tidak mungkin kami akat bersikap seperti Ayatollah jika memerintah Putrajaya kelak," tegas beliau tetapi pada masa yang sama menghargai teguran Asri semalam terhadap Pas. Katanya, ia satu peringatan positif.
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2012 03:04 PM PDT
(The Star) - Selangor MCA has demanded for details on an Opposition MP's claim that the Opposition-led state government had built 23,637 affordable houses for the rakyat. Selangor MCA chief Datuk Donald Lim said he wanted Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and the state government to reveal the location of these houses and who were eligible to buy them. Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday, Lim, who is Deputy Finance Minister, said information on these affordable houses should be advertised in newspapers, including the criteria on eligible buyers. On Tuesday in the Dewan Rakyat, Lim accused the state government of failing to build any affordable houses for the people since it took over in 2008. His comment led Tony Pua (DAP Petaling Jaya Utara) to protest that Lim was misleading the Dewan with his statement. Pua said the state government had built a total of 23,637 units of affordable houses priced at below RM100,000 each. Lim said recent data revealed in the Selangor state assembly showed that the state government built "very little" affordable houses that it was "almost nothing". Based on the data, only 287 out of the 23,637 units are completely built and occupied while 16,998 have yet to be constructed. The rest are still under construction. Lim urged Pua to check his facts and hoped the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) would change its policy on housing.
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| PAS Youth holds protest outside Wisma MCA Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:58 PM PDT Protest note: Tan (left) receiving the memorandum from Khairul (third from left) at Wisma MCA. Looking on are PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akhin (second from right) and PAS information chief Idris Ahmad (second from left). (The Star) - A group of PAS Youth members held a protest outside Wisma MCA to demand an apology from party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek over his statement on hudud. PAS Youth secretary Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil claimed that Dr Chua had "gone overboard" by saying that 1.2 million people would be jobless if hudud were to be implemented in the country. "He also stated last week that eight of 11 countries that implemented hudud were known to be corrupt, unstable and unsafe. This statement has hurt the sensitivities and beliefs of Muslims in the country and is highly inappropriate," he said after submitting a memorandum demanding an apology, which was received by MCA Youth secretariat officer Leonard Tan Soon Huat. The memorandum also urged Dr Chua to respond or publicly apologise within a week, failing which PAS Youth would seek an audience with the King. Tan told reporters later that he would submit the memorandum to the MCA central committee for the next course of action.
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:50 PM PDT
Three factors will, however, clinch the elections for Pakatan. One is the voters' current restless mood. They are tired of the wait – never has the people of this country waited for so long, and they have been dragged along like a puppet on a string by the Prime Minister. ZAID UNTUK RAKYAT On the advice of my doctor, I've been avoiding stressful activities for several months. Now I feel sufficiently rested to start writing again. Just the other day, Selangor UMNO confidently predicted that it would win 32 seats in the upcoming General Election, while an UMNO Division leader from Kelantan told me that the Barisan Nasional already had 28 seats in the bag. These assessments by BN leaders are wildly unrealistic. Taken with the Prime Minister's desperate plan to dispense another round of cash handouts in January, I am now convinced more than ever that the Pakatan Rakyat will form the government after the next General Election. Elections are around the corner and in racing parlance the contestants are now "in the straight". In this last stretch, it's important for parties not to make mistakes. The winner will, in fact, be the one who makes the least number of errors during this last lap. The BN has an easier task in this respect because there are only one or two leaders who are allowed to speak for the Government. Most of the time it's the Prime Minister, who takes centre stage on TV and in the newspapers. Even Rosmah has been kept quiet and is less visible nowadays. Pakatan, on the other hand, is less structured, and Parliamentarians in the PR coalition can say anything they want. This can give rise to costly mistakes, unless they refrain themselves from making controversial statements, especially on Islamic issues. Three factors will, however, clinch the elections for Pakatan. One is the voters' current restless mood. They are tired of the wait – never has the people of this country waited for so long, and they have been dragged along like a puppet on a string by the Prime Minister. While the Westminster model gives the PM the discretion to dissolve Parliament, it was not placed there for him to show off this power. It was meant to enable the PM to call for elections when all participating parties are ready, and when other stakeholders like the election monitoring group and the police are ready. When all parties are ready a date should be announced a year or so before elections are held. This collective readiness will ensure the people's maximum participation, which will hopefully result in a genuine mandate for the next government. That's what the PM's discretion in fixing the date is for. It's not a trick to be used to gain an unfair advantage over opponents. It's not meant to be used as a tool to surprise, tire or bankrupt them. The BN will pay a heavy price for this dilly-dallying, as the people are not amused. The second factor in Pakatan's favour is their obvious strength in Peninsular Malaysia. With the exception of Johor and Melaka, BN parties are struggling everywhere. The state governments of the four Pakatan states have done well in the last four years, and there is no reason for them to lose. Lim Guan Eng and Khalid Ibrahim have shown incredible strength in managing the two important states, despite all of the BN's efforts to topple them. Pakatan are also making strong gains in Terengganu, Perak and even in Pahang. I believe they will have majority seats in the Peninsular and that should be enough for them to be in the comfortable front row to negotiate with East Malaysian Parliamentarians as to who should form the Federal Government. There is no love lost in politics.
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| Ecuador fears for Assange health, seeks UK safe passage Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:40 PM PDT (Reuters) - Ecuador is worried about the health of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has asked Britain to guarantee him safe passage from its London embassy to hospital if he needs medical treatment, a senior Ecuadorean diplomat said in Moscow. Assange, an Australian, has been holed up inside Ecuador's embassy in central London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault allegations. British authorities say Assange will be arrested if he sets foot outside the embassy. The apartment building, located just behind London's famed Harrods department store, is under constant police surveillance. "Assange has grown noticeably thinner, and we are very concerned about his health," Voice of Russia radio quoted Vice Foreign Minister Marco Albuja Martinez as saying in comments confirmed by the Ecuadorean embassy in Moscow. "If he falls ill, we will have to choose between two alternatives: to treat Assange in the embassy or hospitalize him," Albuja Martinez said. "This is a very serious situation and it can affect Assange's human rights." Ecuador has asked the British Foreign Office for a document that would enable Assange to enter hospital safely if necessary and return to the embassy with refugee status, the Voice of Russia quoted Albuja Martinez as saying. The Foreign Office said it was unaware of Assange's health problems. "Ecuador have not told us that Mr Assange is ill. However, were they to do so, we would consider the matter," said a Foreign Office spokesman. Ecuador granted Assange asylum in August and said it shared his fears that he could face charges in the United States over the publication by WikiLeaks in 2010 of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables. When he appeared on a balcony of the building to address supporters in August, Assange appeared tanned and in good health. But a BBC reporter who saw him recently described him as "a very pale man" in a story broadcast on Sunday. Assange broke the conditions of his bail when he entered the embassy after running out of legal options to avoid being sent to Sweden. Speaking about the safe passage request he said Ecuador had lodged with the Foreign Office, Albuja Martinez said his country was pleased that Britain "did not reject it outright". "We will not put pressure on them and will patiently await an answer, so that Assange can receive medical treatment if necessary," he was quoted as saying in Moscow.
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| Politicians ARE servants of people Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:34 PM PDT Politicians who refuse to digest the truth that their bona fide political masters are the rakyat have no business calling themselves as 'wakil rakyat'. The bitter truth is that politicians like Nazri and Shahrizat very conveniently dismissed the fact that they are nothing more than servants of the rakyat; all because a red carpet is rolled out each time they attend an event does not make them important, in the true sense of the word. Jeswan Kaur, FMT Veteran politician Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has gone on record to say that he is a very important person and is very influential, proving to the rakyat that his self-conceit has blinded him to the very essence of serving the rakyat. This "interesting" remark came about after Nazri told FMT last Friday that he had no hand in the outcome of the criminal investigation involving his son Mohamed Nedim. On March 20, Mohamed Nedim made news for the wrong reason when he allegedly assaulted a security supervisor at a luxury condominium. It, however, did not take long for the incident to die a natural death when the Home Ministry on Oct 17 declared Mohamed Nazri's son innocent, shifting the blame on Mohamed Nedim's former bodyguard instead. The Brickfields district police chief Wan Abdul Bari was then quoted as saying: "This is a minor case. We have already completed investigation. I do not know why and how another person (Mohamad Nedim) was dragged into this. It is a clear-cut case involving a bodyguard and a security guard." Mohamed Nedim was also cleared of any wrongdoing that led to the murder of one Darren Kang at the Uncle Don restaurant in Sri Hartamas in 2004. In Malaysia's "Bolehland", such verdicts no longer shock the rakyat. What, however, gets their goat is when politicians like Nazri no longer show any interest in looking after the people's welfare. Instead, Nazri's pompous claim that "I am very important person and am very influential" is a slap in the face of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's "people first" propaganda. No politician, no matter his years of experience in politics, should have the audacity to brag of being important and influential, for doing so only reflects his insincerity in serving the rakyat. It appears that Nazri, the de facto law minister, is either ungrateful or has forgotten who his real "masters" are, that is, the people of this nation; a shame that 40 over long years in politics failed to humble him. Politicians are servants of the rakyat Had Nazri, the Padang Rengas MP, not received the rakyat's trust, would he and his family be leading the life of the rich and famous, with his son Mohamed Nedim painting the town red in his luxurious Porsche and armed with his father's business cards? Did the rakyat choose Nazri as their representative so that he could one day boast of his so-called eminence and power? If Nazri is one of the many politicians whose arrogance supersedes the original agenda of working for the people, it is time the rakyat rejected the likes of him. It is amazing how politicians of this country waste no time upon joining politics in amassing a fortune. With mansions for home and a fleet of luxury cars to boot, these politicians get busy "working" for themselves and not the rakyat. Prior to this, it was Mohamed Salleh Ismail, chairman of National Feedlot Corporation and husband of former women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who allegedly misused the RM250 million government loan meant for cattle breeding to purchase upscale condominiums in the affluent Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and in Singapore besides buying a posh Mercedes Benz and two plots of land in Putrajaya. Shahrizat then defended herself from allegations of being an "accomplice" by virtue of her being a minister by saying that she and her family led independent lives, each having no idea what the other person was up to. Did the rakyat buy Shahrizat's feckless retort? Far from it as the public furore that ensued resulted in Shahrizat's senatorship not being renewed, forcing her on April 8 to vacant her minister's seat and trying hard to remain politically relevant as Wanita Umno chief. The bitter truth is that politicians like Nazri and Shahrizat very conveniently dismissed the fact that they are nothing more than servants of the rakyat; all because a red carpet is rolled out each time they attend an event does not make them important, in the true sense of the word. On the contrary, the red carpet and VIP treatment is simply a gesture of respect from the humble rakyat which the politicians have sadly taken for granted.
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| Muhyiddin’s boys target Nov 30 Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:29 PM PDT According to Muhyiddin Yassin's camp, campaigning in December will give BN a strategic advantage, given that the middle-class and Christians will be distracted. Toffee Rodrigo, FMT Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin's boys want the general election this year. They are pushing Muhyiddin to pressure Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to dissolve Parliament by Nov 30. Muhyiddin's supporters feel Nov 30 should be the latest date, or else Umno and Barisan Nasional will be in trouble. According to them, campaigning in December will give BN a strategic advantage. The strategic advantage they are talking about is in East Malaysia. A December poll, they believe, will give the Christians (read opposition) less time to campaign, they will be busy with Christmas and have little time to dwell on politics. And this will be good for the BN as far as Sarawak is concerned as the natives will be also too busy with the festivities to seek out the alternative media. They will thus depend on the propaganda dished out by the government-controlled mass media especially the radio and TV. In West Malaysia, the middle class, which is seen to be anti-establishment, will be busy taking holidays. Many of them may not be around even to vote if the election is called in December. And this is what BN needs to win back states like Selangor and Penang. The Christians in West Malaysia, too, will have little time having to prepare for Christmas, schooling for the children and holidays and may not be around in their respective constituencies. Muhyddin may get the boot Najib, on the other hand, does not think so. He believes he is gaining ground with the Christians and needs their support. Najib reckons MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek's peddling of the hudud around every nook and corner will compel Christians to opt for the BN even though many in their ranks deplore the BN. Now within Umno there are two groups with different views. Muhyiddin's supporters are convinced that Najib is just wasting time as he knows this is his last term. Muhyiddin himself is growing increasingly frustrated. He is confident of an even worse showing for Umno-BN than in 2008. He is sure to make moves to push Najib out sooner than later. Najib, meanwhile, is fully aware of his plight but does not see himself being ousted the way former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi went. Najib is as such preparing to remove Muhyiddin from the deputy's position and has in mind Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to replace him. Najib believes Zahid has done a good job in handling the Suaram onslaught against him and he wants to reward Zahid. And Najib has precedence to support him.
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| GLCs were part of Malay equity, says Dr M Posted: 23 Oct 2012 10:42 PM PDT
Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider The country's government-linked companies (GLCs) were once considered part of bumiputera equity, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today, which could mean that bumiputera corporate holdings might have exceeded the original 30 per cent target in the past. The former prime minister said that GLCs and state investment arm Khazanah Nasional were established to hold equity in trust while Malays strengthened themselves economically and that the equity was meant to be later distributed to the Malays. He said that GLCs were established in trust for Malays but have since deviated from their original purpose. "GLCs are holdings in trust and were considered part of bumiputera equity," said Mahathir (picture) at a press conference today after closing the Malay Economic Congress here. "Now the holdings belong to the companies concerned and they cannot be regarded as bumiputera holdings." The definition of whether GLCs are considered part of Malay equity could have implications on affirmative action programmes for Malays as many Umno leaders maintain that Malay equity stands at only about 20 per cent today, which is below the target of 30 per cent set in the New Economic Policy (NEP). If GLCs, which comprise a large chunk of the economy and also make up a significant number of the benchmark FBM KLCI index components, were at one time considered to be Malay equity, it is possible that the 30 per cent target was exceeded in the past. State oil company Petronas is also Malaysia's sole representative in the Fortune 500 list of the world's largest companies. Some observers have argued that GLCs appeared very much to be Malay companies due to their management and employee makeup as well as their activities and should be counted as Malay corporate holdings. The government has said that GLCs cannot be considered bumiputera equity as they are controlled by the government. The Malay Economic Congress also passed a resolution today criticising GLCs, and in particular Petronas, Khazanah and PNB, saying that they should have a stronger Malay agenda.
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| Malay congress proposes direct negotiation for Malays for projects below RM100m Posted: 23 Oct 2012 10:38 PM PDT
Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider The Malay Economic Congress passed a resolution today proposing that government tenders worth less than RM100 million be directly negotiated with Malay companies. The congress also called for GLCs to have a strong Malay agenda and that they be monitored with key performance indicators (KPIs). "The new economic policy has not achieved its objectives," said Datuk Syed Ali Alattas, president of the Malay Chambers of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM). "The gap between Malays who are the majority race and heritage of this country and other races is growing and increasingly worrying." He also said that government agencies have "lost their spirit" to help Malay entrepreneurs. Other resolutions include a stand against corruption, cronyism and abuse of power and a call for the revamp of Teraju, a bumiputera economic development agency. The congress said that "weak leadership" in Teraju was the main reason for the failure of several Malay agenda initiatives. These include failures to allocate economic opportunities to Malay entrepreneurs, the failure to allocate funds for business viability studies and lack of clear direction and communication. The congress said that the head of Teraju needed to be changed to someone who had high aspirations for Malays and ministerial powers. The congress also wanted special courses for government staff and politicians to educate them on the Malay agenda. It also called for priority for local companies and bumiputeras in government tenders. Another resolution proposed the establishment of an audit firm run by Malays to audit GLCs and government agencies.
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| Malaysia opens schools for migrant workers’ kids Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:29 PM PDT But Tamil schools ignored (The Jakarta Post) - Malaysia has agreed to open 22 schools for the children of Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah, according to a senior Indonesian official. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday that the agreement was announced by his Malaysian counterpart, Anifah Aman, during the 12th meeting of the joint commission for bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia in Yogyakarta. "This is the agenda we have been pushing to get approved. It has just now been announced that [Malaysia] has approved the establishment of 22 schools," Marty told reporters after the meeting.Although the Foreign Ministry had no information on the number of children of Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah, many are said to lack access to school for a variety of reasons.
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| Surat Ringkas Buat Chua Soi Lek Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:01 PM PDT
Syafiq Kamil, Penerangan Ma'ruf Club Hari ini bicara Hudud kembali hangat semula di media dengan kenyataan kurang beradab seorang makhluk Allah bernama Chua Soi Lek. Kepada Encik Chua Soi Lek, kami menawarkan kepada anda dua pilihan; sama ada anda berhenti bercakap pasal agama lain, atau jika anda mahu juga bercakap mengenai agama lain lebih-lebih lagi Islam, anda duduk belajar mengenai agama Islam dengan ulama'-ulama' kami. Anda perlu faham, anda sebenarnya seorang yang masih jahil bab hukum hakam Islam. Lihatlah sahaja bagaimana Encik Lim Kit Siang membalas kenyataan anda. Kenyataan anda semakin hari semakin pelik. Anda mendakwa Islam membenarkan wanita bukan Islam yang tidak menutup aurat dirogol oleh orang Islam. Dari mana anda belajar? Bahkan anda tahu atau tidak apa yang dimaksudkan dengan aurat atau ketika kod pemakaian Islam? Jika anda tidak tahu, silakan baca artikel ini terlebih dahulu. Jika anda masih tidak faham istilah-istilah yang digunakan, tidak mengapa kami akan cuba terangkan. Kami akan terangkan dengan penuh beradab dan budi bahasa. Budi bahasa budaya kita. Sekarang bukan soal anda dari parti mana. Kami di peringkat mahasiswa sentiasa jelas dengan pendirian kami, tidak kira parti mana, jika ianya menghina sensitiviti agama Islam mahupun agama lain, anda wajib ditegur. Anda mesti mahu mendapat penjelasan mengapa PAS begitu bersungguh-sungguh mahu melaksanakan hudud bukan? Sebelum itu anda masih mengerti atau tidak apa yang dimaksudkan dengan hudud menurut perspektif Islam? Sudah dengar penjelasan pimpinan PAS? Adakah bezanya hudud PAS dengan hudud sebenar yang digariskan dalam Islam? Kalau masih belum mengerti, di sini kami sertakan link mengenai penjelasan di sekitar 'hudud PAS'. Link yang kami sertakan ini semuanya diambil dari jaringan web kelolaan PAS. Jangan melatah lagi, baca dulu, Encik Chua Soi Lek. Jika anda masih perlukan penjelasan dan penerangan dengan lebih lanjut, kami sedia berjumpa menerangkan kepada anda dengan lebih lanjut. Kita buat usrah sekali, anda mahu tanya seribu empat ratus enam puluh tiga soalan pun, kami akan cuba untuk jawab dengan penjelasan mendalam. Kami sediakan pakar-pakar yang terbaik buat anda! |
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