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Malaysia's Internet Conundrum
Jeffrey’s STAR blows hot and cold
Who raped and plundered Templer’s Park?
Umno and the narrow path of racial politics
Govt unjust to Muslims too, says report
PAS walking a narrow path
PAS to re-visit Malay ground
Apostasy, compulsion, and Nurul’s point
Sabah’s oil curse strikes again
Will Social Media Sway Malaysia’s Elections?
Rush for ‘who-wants-to-be-a-candidate’

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 12:32 AM PST

Authorities would like to shut opposition sites, but former PM promised it would stay free

The government wasn't particularly concerned with the blogs until recently, said Jahabar Siddiq, the editor of Malaysian Insider, because the majority of voters read publications or watched television in their own language. But more recently as many as 1 million overseas Malaysians, most of whom deal in English as the lingua franca, also are internet-savvy and read English.

Asia Sentinel

In August of 1996, when he launched the 50 km-long Multimedia Super Corridor between Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia's new international airport in an attempt to lure high-tech startups to his country, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad made a promise to prospective international investors that the Internet would remain forever free from political interference.

It is a promise that successive governments – and belatedly perhaps Mahathir himself – have had trouble keeping or wish had never been made, as exemplified by the raid last week on Malaysiakini, with 300,000 daily readers the biggest of the flock of independent or opposition news sites that have altered Malaysia's political landscape.

Fifteen policemen showed up at the news organization's offices in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Petaling Jaya to demand information about a writer who posted a long argument that basically asked why ethnic Malays had to be Muslims, among other things.

That was just the latest in a continuing list of actions against Malaysiakini. Others have included various police threats and DDOS (directed denial of service) attacks, in which hundreds of responses to a story or other item on the site flood servers and clog them up, shutting down the site. Steven Gan, the editor of Malaysiakini, and Premesh Chandran, the business director, have been called to give statements to the police on the site's funding.

Nor is Malaysiakini alone. Three other news sites – Malaysian Insider, Free Malaysia Today and the Sarawak Report say they have come under varying degrees of harassment. A fourth site, Malaysia Today, is published by Raja Petra Kamarudin from outside the country after he was threatened with criminal libel and sedition charges.

There are plenty more opposition sites as well. With the mainstream media completely in government hands, Malaysia has grown one of the most intensive opposition online communities anywhere.

Now with the country having been gearing up for months for elections scheduled for April next year, the presence of these particular news sites, none of which are pro-government, has become a major preoccupation for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. The sites are considered to have played a major role in the 2008 election which ended the Barisan's 50-year stranglehold on the Parliament, for the first time breaking its two-thirds lock which allowed it to pass legislation at will.

The sites provide the only independent or pro-opposition news in the country. The mainstream papers and television channels are all owned by the major political parties, reporting in Chinese, Tamil, Malay and English languages. The papers, particularly the Malay language ones, provide a steady diet of hagiographic if not outright sycophantic coverage of pro-government politics and do their best to skewer the opposition.

The opposition sites have continued to break a long series of stories that are antithetical to the political aims of the government, often taking particular aim at such figures as Rosmah Mansor, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's wife, whose reputation for outsize spending on jewelry, deserved or not, has become a major point of controversy.

The blogs also carried voluminous materials on the so-called Cowgate scandal, in which the family of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the head of the Women's wing of UMNO, was accused of misusing RM250 million (US$83 million) in funds for a cattle feed lot to pay for condominiums, vacations, a Mercedes–Benz sedan and other items having nothing to do with feeding cattle. A long series of other scandals has continued to dog the government, faithfully reported by the opposition media.

Asia Sentinel's reporting on a €150 million scandal in which the French government-owned defense contractor DCN allegedly paid massive kickbacks to Malaysian politicians in exchange for picking DCN subsidiaries to supply submarines to the defense ministry has also been given wide play in the country. Asia Sentinel was hit by one DDOS attack which shut the website down for several hours and is regularly attacked by what obviously are paid letter-writers. The stories have also been attacked by pro-goverment bloggers reportedly paid for by political party funds.

The government wasn't particularly concerned with the blogs until recently, said Jahabar Siddiq, the editor of Malaysian Insider, because the majority of voters read publications or watched television in their own language. But more recently as many as 1 million overseas Malaysians, most of whom deal in English as the lingua franca, also are internet-savvy and read English.

"In the last year, they have started to look at the English language publications," Siddiq said. "Most of the new voters are educated overseas. They can't contain what they read." The government has made a few feints at attempting to control the internet, including amending the Evidence Act to include internet publications, but has backed away under pressure.

Mahathir himself – who published his widely read blog Che Det on the Internet and played a major role in bringing down Abdullah Badawi, the successor he came to loathe, has also publicly questioned whether Internet freedom is a good thing. But mostly the government has confined itself to going after the sites in a variety of ways instead of closing down the news organizations themselves.

"Unlike Malaysiakini, we have so far not had any direct pressure from the government," said K. Kabilan, the managing editor of Free Malaysia Today. "We have not had any phone calls asking us to stop any critical writings. However we have had the indirect approach. We have had phone calls from people close to the PM, asking us to tone down our writings.

"We have had UMNO MPs sulking and refusing to talk to us, simply because we have been critical. We have had MIC leaders threatening us with legal suits for articles showing corrupt practices. And we have had big players suing us over articles linking them with corruption. There have been police reports lodged against us over our articles too. Pro-Umno bloggers too at times take swipes at us, trying to discredit us."

A whole corps of pro-government responders has grown up, eager to post pro-government responses to critical stories. Siddiq says he has friends who are making great money posting such responses to stories that run in Malaysian Insider.

"So many of them now, a few of my friends are making good money writing this stuff – even lawyers. They write really good letters. They've been around for about a year."

He has been called in to give statements to the police, he says, "but there have been no raids on us like on Malaysiakini. I have been hassled by the cops, the securities commission, the laws are stiff on that, they put pressure on our advertisers, who tell us if we write things in a certain way, we won't get advertising."

Claire Brown, who publishes the Sarawak Report from London, has made it a particular crusade to bring down Abdul Taib Mahmud the chief minister of the state of Sarawak, who has been accused of taking billions of dollars in kickbacks from timber companies while denuding his state of primary forest.

"The harassment of Malaysiakini is unbelievable and my guess is they will try and bring it to a standstill before the election," Brown said. "It is stupid, because the information is already out and will go through other portals anyway. As for me, I presented a more awkward proposition being located safely out of their jurisdiction in the UK."

Taib, she said, has hired public relations flacks in the west to attack and defame her and used a whole variety of other tactics, including threats of lawsuits by Taib's son-in-law if she didn't retract the entire body of work she has posted.

"But I guess I have more confidence in the British jury system than he does and ignored it - that was well over a year ago!"

Jeffrey’s STAR blows hot and cold

Posted: 14 Nov 2012 03:08 PM PST

Leaders of local opposition, STAR, who recently returned from the party's recent SWOT analysis meeting are pessimistic about the party's direction.

STAR has a few Muslim leaders within its fold but their influence is limited. Despite the drawback, the party is not giving up its bid to contest in mainly Muslim areas for a bigger share of power in the 60-seat state assembly.

Calvin Kabaron, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Has the State Reform Party (STAR) peaked too soon in Sabah?

The party is seeing a slowdown in membership applications, it has failed to attract high profile former Barisan Nasional leaders who have quit the ruling coalition and its campaign is disjointed.

Tongues are wagging and party leader, maverick local politician Jeffrey Kitingan, is taking most of the flak. He is being blamed for being indecisive in the face manifold problems confronting the local opposition party that was formed 10 months ago.

Hints of despair in the party are surfacing and Kitingan who is no stranger to controversy may fall into a political abyss yet again by "refusing to listen to good and alert colleagues", according to people with knowledge of the situation in the party.

Insiders say party leaders are worried local politicians such as independent MPs Lajim Ukin and Wilfred Bumburing who resigned from the ruling coalition three months ago, do not see STAR as a viable option.

While it is widely known that BN component parties like Umno, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut organisation (Upko) are experiencing a leak in their membership, the former BN parties' supporters are shunning the local opposition parties for PKR.

The latest example is former Lahad Datu PBS strongman, Mohamadin Ketapi, who like Bumburing and Lajim, is known to have met Kitingan a few times but did not join the party.

But the party may also have other organisational and management problems. While its financial status is unknown, PKR and even fellow local opposition party, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) are deemed to be in a better position in this area.

STAR's two separate wings – youth and women – on the other hand are said to lack cohesion.

SAPP may get a free ride from Pakatan Rakyat in three Chinese dominated state seats – Likas which was once held by SAPP president Yong Teck Lee, Api-Api where Yong's nemesis PBS Yee Moh Chai is incumbent and Luyang, where the party's incumbent Melanie Chia remains popular.

STAR, on the other hand, remains unsettled as the 13th general election gets closer. It is sending out conflicting signals and giving "false hope" according to some within the party.

STAR's leaders pessimistic

An insider who declined to be named discussing party matters said that one such example of "false hope" is in KadazanDusun area, Kuala Penyu. STAR has little hope of wresting the seat from PKR's John Ghani, the probable opposition candidate.

Such is Ghani's popularity in the constituency that he is reportedly being pursued by Sabah Umno.

STAR's search for credible leaders who can pose a challenge is bogged down. Of its four deputy state chairmen, only Nicholas Guntobon, a young medical practitioner is certain to contest in Liawan, Keningau.

Another, Paul Voon is said to be hesitant, while outspoken Daniel John Jambun is said to be struggling to get his party's endorsement for contesting in Inanam which is also being eyed by SAPP's Sepanggar MP Eric Majimbun.

Jambun could also be good for the Sepanggar parliamentary seat but since Kitingan has agreed to the status quo with SAPP, his deputy chairman is in a fix. He may still go up against the SAPP candidate in Inanam but this would split the opposition vote.

READ MORE HERE

Who raped and plundered Templer’s Park?

Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:36 AM PST

A file picture showing the 80m stretch of a hillslope at Taman Sierra which collapsed in 2009 causing a massive landslide along the old trunk road near Templer's Park.

Because meetings where the alienation and de-forestation were approved are classified and fall under the Official Secrets Act, we will never know the truth.

R. Nadeswaran (The Sun)

IN late 1963, the headmaster of the Rawang English Primary School was driving home after a game of bridge at what was then the Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. Four miles from the town, C. Maheswaran had to slam his brakes. In front of him was a tiger crossing the road.

It was reported in the only English newspaper then, the Straits Times, which relegated it to a single-column story because sightings of wildlife, especially tigers were common in and around Templer's Park, saddled between Batu Caves and Rawang.

About a week later, I remember sitting and listening in awe as Maheswaran related his encounter to my late father. The headmaster's routine took him from his Rawang home twice a week for his bridge sessions at the club.

He spoke about his incredible luck anxiety, not his fright. I remember him saying "the tiger could do nothing to me as I was in the car" but my father tickled by asking if he would have dared step out of the car. To which, he replied: "Yen vambukku pohanam?" (Why ask for trouble?).

That conversation almost 50 years ago came flooding back as the prime minister announced plans for Batu Caves and the surrounding areas. But even as he was speaking, trees were being felled and land is being cleared in the name of "development".

While the PM's efforts for it to be granted heritage status must be applauded, he should also pull up those who have been responsible for the current state of affairs. It is not just the caves per se, but destruction of Templer's Park.

Some background: In 1954, the Sultan of Selangor, the late Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah, declared that Templer's Park was "dedicated by Selangor to serve as a refuge and a sanctuary for wildlife and a meeting place for all who love and respect the beauty of nature". Since then, it had been a favourite picnic and holiday spot for locals. The natural forests and the many waterfalls drew people from Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas by the hordes on weekends.

Long before the North-South Highway was built, the trunk road linking the capital to Ipoh and the north was via Templer's Park. A drive would take you through canopied roads with greenery on both sides of the road with directional signs pointing to waterfalls, picnic spots and other places of interest.

Then someone discovered that there's plenty of money to be made in land, especially land close to the main road with the forest as a background. That was the beginning of the end.

In the '90s, things began to change. Parts of Templer's Park were de-gazetted, the trees cut down for timber and what used to be a serene environment saw the invasion of tractors and bulldozers.

Over the years, more and more land was alienated and fell into private hands and today, two 18-hole golf courses and scores of bungalows around it are standing monuments attesting to the rape and plunder that had been carried on with the blessings of the state government.

The biggest beneficiaries were state-owned companies like Perangsang and SAP, who were alienated large tracts of land running into hundreds of hectares. Drawn by the lure of infrastructure put up by the state and local governments, others began to take the route to fortune.

Land was sub-divided and small housing estates began to appear. But the sight to behold is a six-storey bungalow on the edge of the forest with limestone hills in the background. That mansion, it is learnt, belongs to a former Yang Berhormat.

The alarms and warnings raised by environmental groups like the Selangor Nature Society over the past years have gone unheeded. Successive mentris besar and exco members just approved the de-gazetting without even considering the views of the stakeholders, in this case, the people for whom the park was bequeathed.

The lure of profits for developers and a possible benefit for some of those who approved are some of the plus factors which prompted wholesale detraction from established principles and philosophies.

What other acceptable explanation can the lawmakers provide to placate the anger of the people?

Tomorrow, the finger-pointing will start as to who and how the whole fiasco began or unfolded.

Because meetings where the alienation and de-forestation were approved are classified and fall under the Official Secrets Act, we will never know the truth.

The middlemen, the cronies, the beneficiaries would be running to enlist spin doctors to "tell their side of the story." They would want to sell you stories and story ideas of "the measures taken to protect the environment" or "the money spent on preserving certain sensitive features in the jungle."

There's no other side. There's only one side – greed prompted the state to sell the interests of the people.

So, will it now be wrong for the public to demand that all documents pertaining to the clearing of Templer's Park be declassified and made available for public scrutiny?

R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun.

Umno and the narrow path of racial politics

Posted: 14 Nov 2012 04:31 AM PST

In recent years, however, the Umno factor in BN has become so dominant that it has eclipsed its strength of being able to effectively lead a multi-racial party. Umno's policy of accommodation has been somewhat lost in the political equation, with many Chinese and Indians no longer seeing the MCA and MIC as equal partners. The BN has become a coalition in which Umno leads and MCA and MIC simply follow.

Azam Aris, Yahoo News

IS Umno becoming like the Grand Old Party of US politics — the Republican Party? By moving inwards and to the far right to impress first and foremost its hardcore supporters, the party seems to become less appealing to the multi-racial and multi-religious middle ground.

There are many plausible reasons that Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney lost the battle to Barack Obama, notably in the nine battleground states, but one which stood out was the level of support among the various voter categories. More minorities — blacks, Asians and, notably, the fast-expanding Hispanic population — voted for Obama, and by a wide margin.

The Financial Times' conclusion that demographics is electoral destiny has never seemed more true: The Democratic party can now win less than 50% of the white votes and still capture the White House. Throw in the growing support from youths, educated whites and suburban women alienated by the Republicans' conservative stance — and it will be a long time before a GOP candidate can wrest the presidency, predicts one political pundit.

Another observer, Ethan Case, who considers himself a socially liberal, moderate Republican and supported Romney, notes in his blog that in a changing American society, an astonishing high percentage of Obama voters were members of the minorities, while many others were women and young people. "That's the future of America and if the Republican Party remains a purist cohort built around grumpy old white men, it is committing suicide. That's bad not just for the conservatives but our entire country," Case writes.

The Financial Times further added that Romney's decisive defeat will unleash another bout of soul-searching in the Republican Party, which is torn between conservative purists and a moderate rump that is aware the GOP must broaden its appeal to have any chance of regaining the White House.

So is Umno in the same position? To some political observers, it looks like it is heading that way. But, then again, this is a Malay party that has never lost a general election before and has, for the last 55 years, led a multi-racial coalition in governing the nation. It is the force that binds the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its partners, notably the Chinese-based MCA and Indian-based MIC.

The true picture of this unhealthy balance of power within the coalition was revealed in the 2008 general election, when the BN's Chinese- and Indian-based parties lost badly. Instead of trying to help the MCA, MIC and Gerakan woo back the lost Chinese and Indians voters, Umno seems to have distanced itself from the old politics of accommodation.

Within Umno is an ultra element that is taking the party to the far right of Malay dominance and does not want to embrace prime minister and party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak's more reconciliatory approach, as embodied in the 1Malaysia concept.

Najib's more multi-racial approach, which is based on the principle of "people first, performance now" and seeks to strengthen the relationship and cooperation among the different races and religions, is somewhat lost within Umno's own propaganda machine and its mainstream media voice, Utusan Malaysia.

And as the general election draws nearer — it must be held within the second quarter of next year — the voices of reason within the party get further drowned out in any multi-racial and multi-religious discussions. Basically, the party and its soldiers have given up hope of gaining the non-Malay vote and believe that the way to go is to entrench its support in the Malay heartland.

Discussions on economics, education, scholarships, business opportunities, corporate equities, wealth, development, poverty eradication, quotas, language and Islam are skewed towards the "Malay-ness" of these issues.

Rather than arguing and putting these matters in a better perspective in the context of a Malaysia that aims to be a developed nation by 2020, arguments have been moulded around the theme of "the rights of the Malays that must be protected at all cost" — even if some of these privileges are already guaranteed in the Constitution.

Malays who do not subscribe to these strong and sometimes provocative views are deemed an ungrateful lot or labelled "compromised" bumiputeras They are continuously reminded by top Umno leaders, from past and present administrations, of the consequences of the Malays losing power. They are warned they could end up as "beggars" in their own country.

One advantage that Umno has over the Republican Party is that the Malay/Muslim population — unlike the whites in the US — is growing at a faster rate than the non-Malays. According to some estimates, the Malay/Muslim population will form 70% of the population by 2030, up from the current 60%. So, to some within Umno, it is worthwhile pursuing the politics of radicalisation.

But that might not work, as not all Malays support Umno and those who are politically inclined can opt for PAS and PKR. Those who strongly believe in a multi-racial platform might even consider the DAP if it chooses to become less of a Chinese-based party.

As for voters in general, notably the youths, many are ready to leave the politics of race behind. Political, racial and religious scaremongering is something that will not easily sway their views.

What matters more to them are a level playing field, more economic opportunities, greater freedom of speech, respecting their rights and fundamental liberties as enshrined in the Constitution, reducing corruption and crony capitalism, and voting hard-working representatives into Parliament and state assemblies.

Unlike the Republican party, Umno has yet to taste defeat in a general election, but it is a party that is beginning to lose its appeal to many non-Malays and Malays — and will continue to do so if it chooses the narrow path of racial politics.

Azam Aris is managing editor at The Edge. This story first appeared in The Edge weekly edition of Nov 12-18, 2012.

Govt unjust to Muslims too, says report

Posted: 13 Nov 2012 04:51 PM PST

A study says there's a culture of taboos at the expense of the right to religious freedom.

Anisah Shukry, FMT

Both Muslims and non-Muslims face discrimination from Malaysian authorities in the practice and propagation of their beliefs, according to a UK-based study.

The study, conducted by international human rights organisation Equal Rights Trust (ERT) and local rights group Tenaganita, found that Muslims who express beliefs not approved by "official interpreters of Islam" face discrimination from the state and federal government due to provisions in the constitution.

"In the Malaysian context, the belief that only the religiously learned (the ulama) are entitled to opine on religious matters in Islam has created a culture of taboos at the expense of the right to freedom of religion without discrimination," said a report from the study.

"Today, those Muslims who do not follow the officially sanctioned religion can face persecution.

"As Sunni Islam is the officially accepted branch of Islam in Malaysia, any other forms, practices or schools of Islamic thoughts are vulnerable to being classified deviant."

The government maintains an official list of 56 sects of Islam it considers deviant and a threat to national security. The list includes Shi'a Islam.

"The government, upon approval by a Syariah court, may detain Muslims who deviate from accepted Sunni principles and subject them to mandatory 'rehabilitation' in centres that teach and enforce government approved Islamic practices," said the report.

In the case of non-Muslims, it said, Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution had been used to place discriminatory restrictions on the religious freedoms of Christians, including the freedom to propagate their beliefs.

Article 11(4) states that "state law and, in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam."

This article was used against Christians to ostensibly prevent them from proselytising to Muslims and threatening the supremacy of Islam in Malaysia, the report said.

Arrests

"Laws prohibiting the proselytisation by non-Muslims were reportedly used by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department to suppress the activities of the Damansara Utama Methodist Church," it said.

"In 2009, nine Christians were arrested by Malaysian police at Universiti Putra Malaysia … for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity."

Article 11 (4) is also the basis upon which state laws have prohibited the use of words and phrases by non-Muslims, the report revealed.

"The Malaysian government has banned the use of the word 'Allah' by other religions, on the basis that Muslims would be confused by the use of 'Allah' in other religious publications."

READ MORE HERE

PAS walking a narrow path

Posted: 13 Nov 2012 03:40 PM PST

The party is caught between a rock and a hard place and at a crucial time with the muktamar only days away.

PAS' original source of strength had been its diehard promotion of Islamic causes, which had won for it the conservative vote in the rural Malay hinterland, but since the victories of 2008 when it added Kedah to its stable, it has changed course, taking a more liberal stance.

Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star

PKR vice-president and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar's controversial comment on "religious freedom" not only puts the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in a bind but it is causing partner PAS to lose sleep and fighting to keep its Muslim vote bank from serious erosion.

Her "religious freedom for all" comment, made at an unguarded moment at a recent forum in Subang Jaya, although supported by non-Malays, is nevertheless a serious faux pas when it comes to conservative Muslims, who make up the bulk of PAS supporters.

However, her comments are also in keeping with her father's (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) support for religious pluralism (the acceptance of all religious paths as equally valid) which had sparked furious opposition from Islamic scholars who are opposed to pluralism as un-Islamic and deviant.

Her comments have put PAS at a distinct disadvantage and come at a crucial time when the party is preparing for its 58th Muktamar (general assembly) in Kelantan over the weekend.

This muktamar is the last before the general election and PAS wants to put its best foot forward.

It wants to show its grassroots that it always remains committed to Islam and members want to see the party regain its foothold as the sole promoter and defender of the religion, as PAS had always claimed it is.

Nurul's comments have opened the party to serious attacks from Umno and Islamic scholars who all have lambasted her for implying that, with religious freedom for all, Muslims too can switch faith as they please.

One of her most stringent critics is former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa, who is still a PAS member, and who said that her comments is tantamount to giving Malays the freedom to change their religion.

"When Allah has decided in matter of faith, Syariah and morals, we (Muslims) do not have a right to choose.

"Our right is only to listen and obey as is clearly stated in the Quran," he told Utusan Malaysia in an interview.

As the storm escalated, Nurul quickly met Jais (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) officials to explain and complain that her comments had been "twisted" and that she never supported apostasy.

The Islamic vote is PAS' mainstay but that vote has been sliding, not only because of PAS' continued support for the secular DAP, but also because of its steady concessions on many Islamic matters largely due to pressure from DAP too.

The evidence is the party's defeat in by-elections since 2009 during which the party found it hard to even enter Malay villages which all had raised Umno flags and refused PAS entry.

In Felda schemes too, the party faced the same kind of reception.

This is because it hopes to rule the country one day and realises that it needs the support of non-Muslims to do so.

But it has been steadily losing the Malay fence-sitters with this "playing both ends of the stick" strategy.

PAS has also avoided thorny issues that could cause dissension with its Pakatan Rakyat partners, especially DAP, fearing loss of Chinese votes and preferring to take up Islamic issues once it wins power and enters Putrajaya.

The Anwarinas, the liberal elements in the party, have the powerful support of PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has refused to comment on Nurul's statement at the forum.

Nik Aziz, although pushing 82, is very influential and a pillar of strength for the party and no one is yet ready to question him over his strong support for the liberals, many of whom won in party elections last year.

Although Nurul has denied supporting apostasy, she and PAS have been under constant attacks from Islamic scholars and Umno leaders for doing just that.

And the audience in this "raging battle" is the Malay hinterland whose support is crucial for victory of both contending sides in the upcoming general election.

As PAS comes under escalating attacks, it is under tremendous pressure to repudiate Nurul's "religious freedom" comments or risk further haemorrhaging conservative Muslim votes.

PAS is caught between a rock and a hard place and at a crucial time with the muktamar only days away.

On one side is the powerful presence of Anwar and his supporters in PAS and the non-Muslim votes and on the other is PAS' own grassroots and the Malay heartland, who want Nurul censured and her comments repudiated.

PAS is walking a narrow path.

It wants to support religious pluralism and win non-Muslim voters over but fears a Malay backlash, not only from its traditional ulamas but also from its conservative vote bank.

It does not want to hurt its chances further in the conservative heartland which is already unsettled by PAS' cooperation with the secular DAP and its alliance with PKR, whose de facto leader is openly supportive of religious pluralism and all that it entails for Muslims.

Nurul has complicated matters further for PAS and at a crucial time with her "freedom for all" comment, which according to her critics, imply that Muslims can switch religion when Syariah forbids it.

PAS to re-visit Malay ground

Posted: 13 Nov 2012 07:37 AM PST

During the muktamar which starts on Friday in Kelantan, PAS leadership will likely seek to quash perceptions that the party had become subservient to the liberals in PKR and DAP.

For the first time, this Islamist party will be more worried about the Malay electoral ground than the non-Muslim ones. Since 2008, PAS has been accused by its opponents of abandoning its principles and religious credentials.

Hawkeye, FMT

PAS finds itself in a unique situation when the annual muktamar (party gathering) gets underway beginning this Friday in Kelantan.

The party has also faced questions over how it had managed issues confronting Muslims in Selangor, Penang and Perak (where Pakatan Rakyat was briefly in control).

This has resulted in a belief that PAS has suffered an erosion of support among the Malay/Muslim ground in the peninsula.

Some by-election results also indicated that the Malay ground has either reversed into a stagnant position as a sign of protest towards both PAS and Umno, or shifted back to Barisan Nasional.

A perception was sowed that PAS has become subservient to the liberals in PKR and DAP when handling Islamic issues and that it was inclined to take a muted stance when faced with the congregation's concerns.

One of its harshest critics is its own member – the former Penang PAS Youth head Mohammed Hafiz Nordin, who said that he remains loyal to PAS as it is the closest organisation towards advocating Islam.

However, he is also critical over how PAS reacted to issues, saying its lack of leadership in Penang and Selangor as well as its unwillingness to speak up on the proposal by non-believers to use the "Allah" (God) word, has cast a shadow of doubt over PAS' ability to uphold Islam's non-compromising principles.

The lingering faultline in the party between the ulama (clerics) and technocrats (professionals and academicians) is also a source of friction in the party.

The highlights in the past year were the controversial sacking of its former Selangor PAS commissioner Dr Hasan Ali as well as the emergence of critical voices such as its ex-deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who had openly expressed unhappiness over how PAS responded to issues of faith and Islamic policies.

Such issues will likely reverberate on the sidelines when some 3,000 delegates converge in Kelantan for the respective ulama, women, youth and supporters' club assemblies with the highlight being the main body's gathering from Nov 16 to 18.

Ageing leadership

Established in 1951 with over one million card-carrying members, PAS is now considered the senior party in its strategic election link-up with PKR and DAP, in what is now called Pakatan Rakyat.

One grouse likely to be on the whispering rounds among the delegates, is the party's ageing leadership as well as its seemingly unwillingness to engage issues confronting the Muslims.

Its revered spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat is 82 and ailing while its president Abdul Hadi Awang is 65.

Below the rung are a group of leaders aged in their 50s, who have yet to strike a similar chord with the electorate as Hadi and Abdul Aziz have done for the past three decades.

Deputy president Mohamed Sabu's credential is questioned as he is not a traditional ulama while vice-presidents Mahfuz Omar, Husam Musa and Sallehuddin Ayub are said to be too cautious to the liking of the grassroots, who are growing anxious by the day to see the future course of the party.

Here, two PAS activists provide their input and expressed their hopes on what the party can achieve in the muktamar.

Former Perak PAS commissioner Awang Ahmad agrees that PAS needs to revive its momentum for the Malay ground to complement the fact that non-Muslims remains solidly behind Pakatan.

Awang said this coming general election is the most important one in the Malaysian electoral history.

"It is a do or die for the ruling BN coalition. As for Pakatan, there is no better time to take over the country than now. If we lose, it would take a long while to regain support for another serious attempt at winning Putrajaya."

This must be emphasised at the muktamar.

Fear factor no longer there

The topic and issues debated should be towards winning the election, nothing more or less, Awang said in an interview.

He said PAS must also build on the support among non-Muslims by embarking on preaching programmes to enlighten them about Islam.

On the polemical issues of ulama versus professionals in the party, Awang said the definition of ulama cannot be restrictive in PAS.

READ MORE HERE

Apostasy, compulsion, and Nurul’s point

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 04:30 PM PST

The PKR vice-president said last week that religious freedom is for everyone, even Muslims and Malays. Well, here are the facts to prove she has a point.

Anisah Shukry, FMT

Yet again, Umno as well as the likes of Ibrahim Ali and Nasharudin Mat Isa have resorted to misusing Islam to discredit a member of the opposition bloc.

According to a transcript provided by Malaysiakini, Nurul Izzah Anwar said at a forum last weekend that "…there is no compulsion in religion… How can anyone really say, 'sorry, this only applies to non-Malays.' It has to apply equally."

Hishammuddin Hussein, the home minister, described Nurul's statements as insensitive and causing public anger.

Nasharudin, the former PAS vice-president, said that she must repent and what she said goes against Islam.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister, said her statement was stupid.

Now, putting aside the fact that nearly every time good ol' Hisham, Nasha and Mahathir open their mouths, they say something stupid and insensitive that anger the public, Nurul, on the other hand, did not say anything "radical", "liberal", "dangerous to the faith" or even new.

On the contrary, what she said has been discussed among Islamic scholars across the globe for years.

It's just that no one seems to have clued the Powers That Be on this.

A blanket rule for all

Nurul said that there is no compulsion in religion, whether for Muslims or non-Muslims.

And she has a point.

Islam is all about an individual's own voluntary submission to Allah; there can be no coercion because faith cannot be forced upon anyone, even on those Malays who are born Muslims.

I mean, if I asked you, at gunpoint, to believe in Islam, would you? Unless you're already a believer, then of course not. You'd probably blubber a bit about how being at the brink of death has opened your eyes to Islam, but your convictions would remain the same.

So compulsion is not the answer – education is, just as Nurul mentioned in a later statement.

In fact, even in the Quran, Surah Al-Nahl, verse 126 states:

"Invite [all] to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." (16:126 – translated by Yusuf Ali)

Now, for those of you who are going to say that I'm no scholar and should just keep my mouth shut and let the experts talk it out, allow me to produce a quote from the former Chief Judge of Pakistan, SA Rahman.

"Man is free to choose between truth and falsehood and the Prophet's function is to convey the message, exemplify it in his own life and to leave the rest to God – he is no warder over men to compel them to adopt particular beliefs," he wrote.

This is further fortified in several Islamic verses, including Surah Ali Imran, verse 20 and Al-Ma'idah, verse 92, which state if individuals turn away from the message of Islam, then the Prophet Muhammad's duty is only to educate – not force nor coerce.

Freedom to choose still exists

Unfortunately, we still have the likes of Nasharudin who argue that the "no compulsion in religion" verse (2:256) only applies to non-Muslims in the issue of converting to Islam.

In other words, once one becomes Muslim, let the coercion begin!

Now, I challenge him and other like-minded individuals to point out any verse in the Quran which states that that sort of double standard exists.

Nasharudin did mention Surah al-Ahzab verse 36 as "proof" that there is no freedom in religion for Muslims.

"It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path." (33:36 – translation by Yusuf Ali)

But, as you can see, this verse just states that when Allah has commanded something, it is not fitting for a believer to have any choice in their matter – the freedom to choose still exists, as mentioned several times in the Quran.

But while freedom exists, the Quran still states what is right and wrong.

And if one chooses what has been forbidden, then one will face the consequences of that decision, whether in this life or the hereafter.

Islam and apostasy

Now, by virtue of the fact that freedom of religion exists in Islam, does that mean Muslims, and Malays, have the freedom to renounce their religion and should not be coerced or punished into remaining as Muslims?

Since I'd rather not have 15 policemen raid FMT's office over this article, I'll refrain from stating my stand, but just share the views of several revered scholars in Islam who are not Malaysians, not Malays, and do not have any vested political interest in the issue.

The former chief judge of Pakistan, SA Rahman, wrote in his book "Punishment of apostasy in Islam" that:

"There is absolutely no mention in the Quran of mundane punishment for defection from the faith by a believer, except in the shape of deprivation of the spiritual benefits of Islam or of the civil status and advantages that accrue to an individual as a member of the well-knit fraternity of Muslims.

"He should, however, be free to profess and propagate the faith of his choice, so long as he keeps within the bounds of law and morality, and to enjoy all other rights as a peaceful citizen of the State, in common with his Muslim co-citizens."

He also added that apostasy is an offence in the realm of the rights of God, rather than the rights of mankind, thus there would be no pressing necessity to punish a peaceful change of faith.

READ MORE HERE

Sabah’s oil curse strikes again

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 04:27 PM PST

Poverty-riddled Sabah is the sixth biggest contributor to the national economy, contributing more than a quarter of the total oil and gas produced in the country.

Queville To, FMT

Sabah lost control of its oil wealth more than 30 years ago but the fallout of the widely acknowledged cock-eyed contract is continuing to roil business dealings in the state.

The state Barisan Nasional government is now facing more questions over how it is managing the Petronas-sponsored Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) project that began more than a year ago.

The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has accused Chief Minister Musa Aman's Umno-led BN government of failing to safeguard the interest of the local companies in the ongoing multi-billion-ringgit project.

Melanie Chia, the party's outspoken women's wing chief said there appeared to be no attempt by the state government to ensure locals get a bigger share of the spin-offs from the SOGT project.

She said they had since discovered that the main contract work had been handed over to a Sarawak company which had in turn subcontracted the job valued at RM2.4 billion to a South Korean company to the extent that even the canteen at the site was operated by Koreans.

She noted that while 35 companies with Sabah connections had obtained sub-contract works, the value of these contracts totaled a fraction of the value of the main contract.

"The total value of these sub contract works is only RM470million, or a mere 19.6 per cent of the total contract value of RM2.4 billion. Even the Kimanis new township will be developed by Miri- based Homelite Development Sdn Bhd.

"I don't believe that we do not have enough local companies who can do the jobs. We also have very established and esteemed developers who can develop the new township.

"Do we have to be subservient and remain playing second fiddle all the time even in our own state?" she asked.

Sabah's oil reserve

Chia, who is also Luyang assemblywoman, posed the question during a public talk themed 'Sabah's Future' organised by the SAPP Luyang Central Liaison Committee here over the weekend.

She said the issue of out-of-state companies not only taking the lion's share of the SOGT work and then sub-contracting it out to foreign companies needed to be studied.

"The government owes the people a good explanation as to why Sabah remains the poorest state in Malaysia despite being blessed with abundance of natural resources," she added.

The state is the sixth biggest contributor to the national economy, contributing more than a quarter of the total oil and gas produced in the country.

Sabah's oil reserve were calculated at 1.5 billion barrels as of last year but new oil fields discovered since then have raised the estimate substantially. Gas reserves stand at 11 trillion cubic feet with four new oil fields found in the Sabah waters in the last two years.

The projected production from one area, the Gumusat/Kakap Project, is 135,000 barrels per day will come on stream soon, but Sabah's share is unknown as other oil producing companies are in on the project with Petronas on a contract sharing basis.

SAPP and the opposition have been hitting on the wealth extraction from the state and at the same time holding up its high poverty rate and unemployment figures.

Sabah has the highest number of unemployed in the country at 5.6% or 76,000 people without jobs.

The opposition says that the ruling coalition government has had almost 20 uninterrupted years of power in the state but has yet to come up with a coherent and comprehensive development policy to ensure the state's well-being well into the future.

"Obviously something is not right with the present government otherwise Sabah would not end up the poorest despite having abundance of oil and gas," Chia said.

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 04:11 PM PST

Politicians are becoming media savvy in Malaysia, using Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to appeal to netizens.

Kalinga Seneviratne, IPS

Malaysia is gearing up for a general election in six months and as the campaigns enter the crucial voter-courting phase many observers are wondering if the political 'tsunami', which severely weakened the ruling National Front coalition (BN) at the 2008 polls, might be repeated.

That political tidal wave – which stripped the BN of its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time since independence and handed five state governments over to the opposition – was precipitated by the spread of Internet-based social media as a campaigning tool, harnessed primarily by the opposition.

"In 2008 neither the government nor opposition expected the result they got," Ramanathan Sankaran, author of 'Media, Democracy and Civil Society', told IPS.

The proliferation of independent websites and blogs such as Malaysia Today and Malaysiakini rendered the ruling coalition's propaganda machinery less effective during the electoral race, as formidable opponents appeared in the crucial arena of cyberspace.

"Six or seven bloggers, who had been unknown (to most of the ruling coalition) got into parliament. It shocked the BN," Sankaran added.

Three of these bloggers have now become well-known opposition figures in Malaysia. Former human rights activist and environmental campaigner Elizabeth Wong is now the minister for Tourism, Consumer Affairs and the Environment in the opposition-ruled Selangor state government that covers the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Tony Pua, who defeated a BN parliamentary secretary candidate to win the Petaling Jaya federal constituency, is now the "shadow minister" for Higher Education in the federal parliament.

Meanwhile Jeff Ooi, who won a state assembly seat in Penang, clinching another crucial win for the opposition in 2008, has taken the reigns as senior aide to the Chief Minister.

"One of the first things (then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad) Badawi said when the results came out was 'we lost the Internet war. We didn't realise that was important. We relied too much on mainstream media'," recalled Steven Gan, editor of the leading alternative news website Malaysiakini.

"When (current Prime Minister) Najib Tun Razak came to power in 2009 there was substantial focus on the Internet. He set up his own Facebook (account), along with other politicians, and he is tweeting as well."

The Prime Minister also has a website called '1 Malaysia' which is updated daily. According to Sankaran, Razak has instructed other ministers and senior government officials to make good use of the Internet and respond to emails within 48 hours.

Even the former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has set up his own blog, 'Blogging to Unblock', whose comments are regularly picked up by the mainstream and alternative media.

And long-term opposition member in federal parliament, Lim Kit Siang, who first entered parliament in 1969 and is currently the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party's parliamentary leader, has his own blog through which he has been relentlessly attacking the government on corruption issues for several months.

Nudged by the outcome of the 2008 election, "BN made a concerted move to (mobilise) its own cyber-troopers," Gan told IPS.

According to Sankaran, BN's determination to learn from past mistakes is reflected in their decision to field Kamalananthan Panchanathen, a young Internet-savvy candidate, for the seat of Hulu Selangor, an electorate with a large Indian population.

The 40-year-old blogger won back the seat in the by-election of 2010 "partly because of his appeal to young (netizens), and he now has his own website," Sankaran added.

"The government has opened up the Internet (to encourage better governance)," he added.

Prominent Malaysian political commentator Chandra Muzzafar, a former political ally of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, agrees that the Internet will play an important role in coming elections. "It will be a major actor in some constituencies and controlling it is difficult," he told IPS.

Censorship rears its head

But along with the government's attempt to become more media savvy ahead of the elections has come a desire to curtail the freedoms allowed to other social media practitioners and rights groups who utilise these channels to spread their message to civil society.

On Sep. 13, the independent Star newspaper reported that the prominent human rights group SUARAM was being investigated by the Home Ministry and five government agencies, including the Registrar of Societies, on allegations that they received funds from the Open Society Foundation (OSF), whose chairman is international financial speculator George Soros.

SUARAM's membership includes a number of opposition MPs linked to Anwar Ibrahim's People's Justice Party (PKR). The rights group has waged a long anti-corruption crusade against the government.

Government-controlled media reported that investigations by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry found three letters addressed to SUARAM dated 2007, 2008 and 2010, detailing grants amounting to nearly 189,000 dollars from the OSF.

"Civil society is now continuously portrayed in the media as the enemy who is seeking to overthrow the government at the behest of foreign powers. These accusations have also been hurled at BERSIH (the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections), more so since July last year when we had a successful rally of more than 50,000 people on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, clamouring for clean and fair elections," Ambiga Sreenevasan, co-chair of BERSIH, said in a commentary published by 'Malaysian Insider' last week.

Another alternative media outfit that has been consistently accused of receiving funds from Soros is Malaysiakini.

"While we are non-partisan that doesn't mean we are apolitical. We are very political. We cover issues we feel strongly about such as corruption, press freedom and human rights," Gan said in an interview with IPS.

"We will speak for people who do not have access to mainstream media. We speak for the voiceless, those who suffer human rights abuses that are not covered properly by mainstream media. That has always been our position. People see us as pro-opposition because we cover those issues," he added.

Internet – or economy?

But though active netizens are breaking the government's "monopoly on truth", and the powerful Reformasi movement – comprised of a Malay core and based on exposing corruption and abuse of power within the government – is on the rise, experts like Muzzafar believe BN will have an easy victory at the polls.

He believes the economy will be the key factor in determining the outcome of the election. The Malaysian economy is currently strong and stable. Unemployment is at a low 2.7 percent as of August 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 5.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012 and industrial production was up by 4.9 percent in September 2012, according to the Department of Statistics.

Though Malaysia enjoys a strong alternative media network, a vibrant NGO sector and a robust opposition – the three ingredients necessary to topple a ruling government – Gan believes that BN will win on account of their huge state machinery and state funds – the government's television and radio networks, along with the government-controlled mainstream newspapers, have a huge influence on Malay rural voters who form the backbone of the electorate.

And though the opposition has been targeting young voters, the recent nationwide university elections don't augur well. According to Star, Pro-Aspirasi, a group widely seen to be pro-establishment and pro-government, "won big" in elections at 8 out of 15 public universities on Sep. 25.

Rush for ‘who-wants-to-be-a-candidate’

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 03:03 PM PST

The highly popular 'who wants to be a millionaire' television concept has taken a political twist in Sabah.

Thomas PI, FMT

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, the younger brother of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, once said something about "lucrative positions" in the Cabinet. He was naively confirming what many surmised.

So it is hardly surprising that scores of Sabahans want to be contestants in the upcoming 13th general election and some may even be forgiven for considering a new group as organisers of Sabah's version of "who wants to be a millionaire" with an election slant.

Days after announcing its formation, the "Sabah Independent Candidates Sponsorship Body" has received 30 applications by wannabe electoral candidates in the upcoming 13th general election.

Co-founder and chairman of the body, Abdul Kadir Tahir who launched the organisation to act like a party to help provide voters not satisfied with the usual field of candidates, a third choice, said he was happy with the surge of interest.

He told reporters here that the applicants were from Pensiangan, Keningau, Pitas, Beaufort and Kuala Penyu as well as one who wants to contest both state and parliamentary constituency seats in an interior district.

He described the response from the interior and west coast areas of the state as "very encouraging" and said a second meeting would be held here soon to decide on the organisation's committee line-up as well as to screen all the independent applicants seeking their help.

Part of the mechanishm to measure applicants' suitability for being candidates is their views on eradicating hardcore poverty, reducing crime, corruption and malpractices within the government.

"We want well educated, credible and trustworthy persons to be our independent candidates… we need to know their motives behind offering themselves to be candidates first before we can proceed to the final decision on who will become our candidates," he said.

Abdul Kadir, an ex-liaison officer to former Silam MP Samsu Baharom Abdul Rahman, said the organisation's intention is to place its independent candidates in all 60 state and 25 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah, but a final decision would be made after the parliament is dissolved.

'Emphasis on clean and healthy politics'

According to him, the body was formed to strike a balance between the mighty Barisan National and opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalitions. It will help its candidates by providing "advice to them in upholding the interest of the people".

"After one-and-a-half years of watching the political situation in our country we feel there is a need to provide a third force in the elections.

"With the emphasis on clean and healthy politics, this body can play its role in assisting the new government rule after the elections," he said.

Abdul Kadir, who declined to name the people backing his organisation, said the backers believe almost half of the voters in Sabah are still uncertain who they will support, thus giving independent candidates' a chance.

READ MORE HERE

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Sabtu, 17 November 2012

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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