Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Hudud-leaning Hadi won’t do in Sabah Posted: 19 Nov 2012 02:36 PM PST Abdul Hadi Awang's 'willingness' to be the prime minister has rekindled a previous controversial call he made for a 'unity government' with Umno. Anwar was acquitted of his Sodomy II charge in January 2012, and while PKR was immediately jubilant, its coalition partners in Pakatan Rakyat – PAS and DAP – were wary, waiting for the "catch". Many thought the "catch" was in the appeal the government filed but that was rejected. Pushparani Thilaganathan, FMT Late last year there were speculations filtering out of Umno corridors in Kuala Lumpur that emissaries of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim were in "negotiation" over the latter and his daughter Nurul Izzah's future. Whispers then were linked to the imminent outcome of Anwar's Sodomy II and rumours were that Anwar was being asked to "leave" politics "temporarily" and the "powers-that-be" would allow Nurul to grow (politically). The comment at that time was: "Najib has no personal angst against Anwar… but if he [Anwar] wants a future [Nurul Izzah]; he [Anwar] must go". It just seemed like random speculation last year as during the very same period there were also talks of Najib and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah "ironing out details". Talk was that Razaleigh would have his own "independent" team contesting in the 13th general election. Much has happened since. Anwar was acquitted of his Sodomy II charge in January 2012, and while PKR was immediately jubilant, its coalition partners in Pakatan Rakyat – PAS and DAP – were wary, waiting for the "catch". Many thought the "catch" was in the appeal the government filed but that was rejected. The months in-between have been a volley of exposures by PKR's young turks with BN on the defence. Nurul Izzah, too, has come under some heavy criticism, the latest potshots came for defending religious freedom. Amidst the cacophony of disclosures and criticism from both sides, Najib has made an unprecedented number of visits to Sabah. With its 25-plus one (Labuan) parliamentary seats, Sabah is crucial to Najib's personal future. Talk is rife that deals are being struck here with individuals on the outside who are "federal friendly". Sabah is also crucial to Anwar. And he, too, has struck deals; among them with former Upko deputy chairman Wilfred Bumburing, a devout Christian whose platform Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (APS) aims to "lead" the Christian Kadazandusun community. Sabah, like Sarawak, has a large Christian community. But unlike in Sarawak, in Sabah many are closet Christians mostly due to fear. PAS may not be significant in Sabah but one cannot discount the impact of its president Abdul Hadi Awang's headlining "I welcome being elected as the prime minister" statement on Sunday in Kelantan. Hadi supported 'unity government' call Hudud-leaning Hadi's "willingness" to be prime minister will not resonate well in Sabah where Christianity has been a victim of Umno's "Islamisation" policy dating back to the 1970s. If popular political blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's posting on Monday is any measure, then PAS is sure of its position in Peninsular Malaysia and couldn't care less how its partners – DAP and PKR – and allies fare in Sabah in the coming election. According to Raja Petra, if PAS wins 60 seats and DAP and PKR collectively have 60 seats, then "PAS will have a say on who should be prime minister" within the opposition block. "Hence it is not impossible for Abdul Hadi to become the prime minister if PAS wins more seats than PKR and DAP," noted Raja Petra. At the closing of PAS' annual muktamar (national conference) in Kelantan on Sunday, Hadi had publicly conceded to a delegate's call that he accepts the position of prime minister if the opposition coalition wins the 13th general election. His "willingness" has reminded observers of a call he made, together with Nasharudin Mat Isa and Hasan Ali, post-2008 general election for a unity government with Umno. Hadi's call took many members by surprise and was a clear indication that PAS under his leadership was willing to compromise.
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| Have we become a fascist state? Posted: 19 Nov 2012 02:23 PM PST Our state apparatus and its servants have become mere robots working on command of the ruling party to ensure freedom to opine is controlled if not stifled altogether It can be said that due to the education system that we have, the entrants into the police force today are of very low quality. Most of these entrants believe that by securing a job with the police and being in uniform, they are untouchable. Most are very lowly educated, most have very little knowledge of English, all they can converse in is in the national language. By P Dev Anand Pillai, FMT I wonder now which writer will be picked up for airing his opinions in public all for the betterment of Malaysians and most of all to have a thinking public which is known not to be a reading society. Though the police may have acted on the orders of their political masters i.e. the top civil servants in the home ministry who would have signaled their displeasure to the Inspector General of Police after having read the article, the police themselves have become a shame to their institution and the nation as a whole. Despite having a better educated force, we still see many officers taking orders from their superiors which makes them look like fools when they execute such orders. Have we become a fascist state that criticising national policies and the way in which the nation is run has become so dangerous that writers and publishers have become the latest targets of the police? Perhaps God may have seen what happened to Malaysiakini when the police came a calling, and that in the following days a huge disgraceful incident had happened in Prai, Penang where three policemen were accused of raping an Indonesian domestic helper who was caught without having her original passport which was being withheld by the agency which had brought her here. Instead of disciplining their own, our police force seem interested in ensuring that the freedom to opine is controlled if not stifled altogether. It can be said that due to the education system that we have, the entrants into the police force today are of very low quality. Most of these entrants believe that by securing a job with the police and being in uniform, they are untouchable. Most are very lowly educated, most have very little knowledge of English, all they can converse in is in the national language. The ones that are English speaking are usually kept as aides to the higher ranked officers who speak very little English but need to put up a good public relation stunt to show the world that they are able and highly educated policemen. Now with the secondment of Rela guards as police personnel, it makes the matter even worse. Amongst the lower strata of the Indian community who have now become urban slum and ghetto dwellers, a job with the police force is like a calling from God. They feel that it will be better to join the devil instead of getting killed by the devil all the time. So, with pleasure many will be glad to see their daughters and sons in the blue uniform although what they do is just sit around in pondoks waiting for that gullible Indon, Bangla, Burmese or Indian worker to pass by. Most don't mind that all their children will be learning is the art of corruption and how to perfect it whilst enjoying a salary from the public purse and to top it all, a pension at the end of the day. Gone are the days when we had Indian and Chinese officers whose names would be enough to put fear into the slime balls of the underworld. What we are left with today is a batch of Indian and Chinese officers who see the police force as another means of perfecting the art of patronage so that they can be as decorated as it is allowable for a non Malay in the police force. This mental state has spread to all spheres of the current regime's administration, after the DAP took power in Penang. Suddenly the Chinese in the DAP have become ultra Chinese who "hate" Malays. But when these same Chinese were in the opposition, no mention was made of this so called ultra-ism then. So what can be gained from this is, as long as compliant Chinese in the MCA are sharing the "leased out" power which is on the benevolence of Umno, all will be fine but if the DAP takes power, the Chinese there will be termed as ultras. This fear and mental state in the Malays will never be eradicated until and unless they themselves brave the challenges and come out of the mental stranglehold of the state. When queried by the press on the rape case by the police personnel, the home minister says that all has been done to bring them to justice and questions, "What else can be done?". In mature democracies, the home minister's resignation will be called for and if it is not forthcoming, public pressure will mount. If we are really to become the best democracy in the world as espoused by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, accountability shall be paramount when it comes to public office. But as usual in our administration, all we have for a term of office by this current federal government is slogans, slogans and nothing but slogans. It should have been 'People Last and What Performance?' instead of 'People First and Performance Now!' We have to learn to differ and respect the right to opine if we are serious in seeing this country not become another province of Indonesia in the future, or some backwater state of South Asia where a system of governance which is more of a system of preferences based on race instead of need and a system which does not bother about accountability that has failed miserably, leaving us far behind our other South Asian neighbours. To do that we need to show this government which has now become more of a regime because of the way in which the state apparatus and its servants (civil servants) have become more of robots working on command of the ruling party instead of going in tandem with the General Orders of Civil Service no matter which party comes to power. There is no more time to be given to rectify mistakes. Mistakes should have been rectified a long time ago. We are on the verge of being a failed state. People have got to know that only when we agree to disagree can we sow the best minds which, in turn will help us lead this country to greater heights in the future especially in Southeast Asia where our neighbours are far ahead of us.
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