| Zaid Ibrahim: Raja Petra di pihak salah Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:37 PM PST (Merdeka Review) - Dua minggu lalu, saya menulis tentang bagaimanakah kita boleh menjadikan pembangkang lebih kuat. Saya mencadangkan agar pihak pembangkang harus mengambil pendekatan yang inklusif dan tidak membiarkan perbezaan kecil dengan cara mewujudkan barisan bersatu.  Ini bermakna termasuk kumpulan kecil atau sampingan yang berada di dalam stratosfera politik. Saya juga berkata bahawa kita tidak harus lupa Hindu Rights Action Force atau HINDRAF, dan penulis blog Raja Petra Kamarudin (gambar kanan), yang mana kedua-dua ini merupakan pemain utama dalam kebangkitan politik 2008.
Jadi, saya terkejut apabila membaca New Sunday Times pada hari tahun baru yang menyiarkan temu bual dengan Raja Petra yang telah dijalankan di Singapura. Bukannya dia tidak mempunyai apa-apa untuk diperkatakan mengenai Anwar Ibrahim yang mana dia tidak pernah pun menyebutnya sebelum pilihan raya Sarawak dahulu. Ia adalah perkara yang sama, dan saya tidak akan mengulanginya lagi. Apa yang saya kurang faham ialah mengapa Raja Petra memilih untuk menyerang Anwar dari semua sudut - dan pada masa yang sama mahu melihat pembangkang menjadi lebih kuat.
Benar kata Raja Petra, apabila mendakwa pihak pembangkang tidak hanya mengenai Anwar dan nasib politik beliau. Ia sebuah gerakan yang lebih besar, dan menjadi suara alternatif yang kuat buat rakyat. Tetapi, ia tidak logik untuk mengalih sebahagian daripada parti-parti pembangkang (yang sememangnya Anwar sebahagian daripada gerakan ini) dan mengatakan bahawa itulah caranya menjadikan pembangkang lebih kuat.
Pembangkang mungkin tidak dapat memenangi Pilihan Raya Umum akan datang, tetapi kepada kita yang mahu melihat kebebasan dan demokrasi yang lebih baik dan amalan rasuah serta penyalahgunaan kuasa yang berkurangan, perjuangan tetap perlu diteruskan walau apa jua rintangan yang menghalang. Pilihan raya akan datang setiap lima tahun dan satu hari nanti, kita akan pasti menang.
Saya rasa terpaksa mengulangi apa yang saya katakan sebelum ini, tetapi dengan sedikit pembetulan. Kami harus menjadi inklusif dan kita tidak boleh tidak termasuk orang-orang kita yang mahu melihat pembaharuan dan perubahan dalam cara negara kita diperintah.
Kita perlu berjuang untuk perpaduan dan keharmonian untuk seluruh rakyat Malaysia. Mereka yang mengatakan mahu melihat pembangkang menjadi lebih kuat lagi tetapi sanggup mengenepikan beberapa pemimpin kerana tidak bersetuju, tidak boleh dianggap sebagai sekutu. Petra pasti di pihak yang salah. Di medan perang ini, kita mesti belajar untuk menilai sumbangan semua orang, tetapi hanya untuk orang-orang yang masih mahu melihat demokrasi menyala.
*Tulisan ini dipetik dari laman Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA), oleh Zaid Ibrahim (gambar kanan) selaku Ketua Parti.
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| PKR plans 100,000-strong rally for Sodomy II verdict Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:30 PM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said today it will gather 100,000 people on Monday to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when the Kuala Lumpur High Court decides if the opposition leader is guilty of sodomy. PKR deputy president Azmin Ali told reporters today the opposition pact had agreed to mobilise and gather at the Duta Court Complex despite police warnings against any public rally when the court rules in Anwar's two-year-long trial. "The system is so rotten, we have to expect the worst-case scenario," the Gombak MP said. "Along with PAS and DAP, we will gather 100,000 people at the court to show our support to the cause fought by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim." He also warned that public rallies would continue until the next general election if the former deputy prime minister was found guilty. "We will continue. The same night we have a programme in Penang. If he is acquitted, then Anwar will celebrate in his home state. If not, we will go to Penang and continue our demands," he said. Selangor PAS chief Dr Rani Osman also said the Islamist party had called on all divisions to mobilise and "even those in Sabah and Sarawak want to join". Anwar is accused of sodomising a former aide, a charge that he has vehemently denied, saying that it is part of a ploy to destroy his political career. The Kuala Lumpur High Court heard closing submissions from December 8 to 15 and will deliver its verdict on Monday, ahead of a general election that must be called by early 2013. READ MORE HERE |
| Dr Nedu to stand as candidate in GE13 Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:20 PM PST Press statement A year ago, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement officially endorsed me, under their Barisan Rakyat Independent Candidate Initiative, as a parliamentary candidate for the Kapar constituency. However, in a recent report in the New Straits Times under the heading "Rights group not a third force – RPK", MCLM Chairman Raja Petra Kamarudin said that MCLM had decided not to field any candidate for the coming general election.
I wish to state that despite the statement by the Chairman, I will still contest for the Kapar parliamentary seat and I shall do so as a pro-Pakatan Rakyat independent candidate.
RPK's statement has in no way affected my earlier decision to stand for elections.
Out of the numerous people who offered themselves as candidates under the Barisan Rakyat Independent Candidate Initiative, I was one of the few to survive MCLM's stringent vetting and be acknowledged as a winnable candidate.
I have conducted numerous free medical and dental clinics to the needy and children, and served as the President of The Malaysian Private Dental Practitioners Association for three terms, and have held other posts in numerous other dental organisation.
Kapar is my hometown and it is only right that a local represent his constituency so as to serve the people better. I am a Community Leader there appointed by Klang District Office, under the initiative of Economic Planning Unit of Selangor State Government.
DR NEDUNCHELIAN VENGU
CANDIDATE FOR THE 13TH GENERAL ELECTION - P109 KAPAR
Dr Nedunchelian Vengu, a 43-year-old dentist from Kapar is a private practitioner for 20 years who served as the President of Malaysian Private Dental Practitioners' Association and on a Health Ministry committee, is known for his social work as well as his efforts to raise industry standards. His motto for Rakyat is Engage, Educate and Empower and create Rakyat who could stand on their own. |
| A gift to the world? Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:16 PM PST ART HARUN Let's forget, for the moment, about Raja Petra, Harris Ibrahim, the police and FRU as well as the cows for a while. It's the new year. And with a new year, I think we are entitled to at least one new hope. Or one dream. Why not? After all, when hopes and dreams fade and vanish does death begin, I think. Let's talk about the environment, for a change. About global warming. The melting of the ice caps. The greenhouse effects. The complete reliance on fossil fuel by the whole world. The consumption of fossil energy which results in the production of carbon which in turn eats up the ozone layer. Which then makes the world warmer and even hotter. Which then makes all of us turn on our air-conditioners even more. Which means we consume even more energy. The power plants then burn even more fossil fuel to produce energy. Which means they produce more carbons which in turn eats up the ozone making the world even hotter. And the heat melts the ice caps. Making the sea level grow higher. And it goes on and on and on in an endless cycle. What will be of our children and their children? What are we doing about this? Personally, I must admit I have not done much about this issue really. Apart from trying not to use plastic bags when I shop or making sure the lights and air-conditioners are switched off if they are not of any use to anybody. For the future, I plan to buy a hybrid car for the family. That's about it! I did try though to sell an idea to someone within the corridors of power about 2-3 years ago. But the guy yawned after 15 minutes. Okay, perhaps I was not good at selling the idea. Hence the reaction. To my mind, why do we continue to build mega industrial, commercial and recreational parks? Can't we, as a nation, do something different? I was thinking of an Environmental Park or a Green Technology Park. Call it whatever you like, but the idea is simple. We take a huge swath of land – which we seem to have in abundance - somewhere. We turn that area into a park which only use alternative power/energy. Let that park be absolutely and independently sustained by powers generated from the wind, the sunlight, the water and whatever natural means that are within our possession. Well, actually, we cannot exactly say that we possess those natural means. I mean how can we say that we possess the sunlight or the wind. But we can always claim to have the ability to exploit them if we have the knowledge and technology to harness those natural resources and turn them into power or energy. So, let's imagine this huge area of land. We build all the infrastructures which are necessary for all those people and corporations with the knowledge and technology to come here to try to exploit those natural resources to produce energy. We create an environment which is conducive for these people to do research, to experiment and to produce. We invite all of them to come here. The locals can also join in. We do not lack knowledge. Our people have the expertise and specialist knowledge in all sorts of scientific areas. Our people have even managed to trace the Malay genome, for example (not that I know what genome is!). Bring them back here and let them research. And allow them to flourish in our own country. So, let's all of us imagine. This huge area of land is full of people, locals and internationals, doing research on alternative power and energy. Good, efficient and clean power and energy. It is for the good of the country. And the world at large. And within that particular land area, people live in homes powered by these alternative energy and power. People drive vehicles using those alternative energy. People exchange ideas about these technologies, conduct forums and seminars about them – in halls and buildings powered by alternative energies – and sell them to the world. I believe that will be a world's first because really I don't think any country in the world has ever done that. Even if there are, I don't think they have done that at such a scale and at such level of governmental supports. We love to create world records, don't we? We have the 1st astronaut who makes teh tarik in space. We have the tallest twin towers in the world. The biggest ketupat in the world. The longest shortest fattest thinnest roundest squarest whatever in the world. Why not the 1st Green City in the world? READ MORE HERE |
| No southern comfort for opposition Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:22 AM PST Pakatan Rakyat will come up against a resolute BN in its dream to win more Johor seats in the next polls It is understood that Pakatan, for all the internal squabbles underneath, is pushing ahead with strategies to realise its dream, one of which is to identify big names among the three parties, even from outside the state, to contest in Johor. Syed Nadzri, NST A GENERAL election battle royale could be shaping up in the unlikeliest of places as an overconfident parliamentary opposition alliance prepares an all out assault for power on a resolute Barisan Nasional lying in wait. Johor, the birthplace of Umno and BN's Fort Knox, has for all these years, always been too predictable when it comes to elections. The ruling party never conceded significant losses as to make a dent in its armour. But the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-Pas-DAP troika, which call themselves Pakatan Rakyat, reckon they can change all that when the 13th general election is held probably within the next few weeks, a wild dream as far as BN and the neutrals are concerned. The dubious desire is said to have been driven in part by the lust for wealth from Johor's huge economic progress as well as the thought that they could do a Selangor on the southern state. Johor offers 26 parliamentary seats, all but one being held by BN. And of the 56 state seats, only six are non-BN. Still, there is an air of confidence, misplaced or otherwise, permeating the air for Pakatan, spearheaded by Johor PKR chief Datuk Chua Jui Meng, the former health minister. Johor Baru was picked as the venue for the PKR annual congress a few weeks ago, an indication of where the state lies in the order of importance for the party. It is understood that Pakatan, for all the internal squabbles underneath, is pushing ahead with strategies to realise its dream, one of which is to identify big names among the three parties, even from outside the state, to contest in Johor. By doing this, the grouping, especially DAP, thinks it can increase its chances. The game plan: put in the ordinary and less famous candidates in Perak, Penang and Selangor where "they can surely win regardless" and field the big names in Johor to capture new seats, possibly to brighten up hope for a power grab on Putrajaya. To the neutrals, it is hard to imagine whether this would work, knowing the psyche of the people of Johor. They are, and have never been, supportive of parties other than Umno-BN, let alone candidates parachuted in from outside the state. Even in the last general election, when sentiment for the ruling party was said to be low, the most the voters did was to protest through spoilt votes. Indeed, Johor recorded the highest number with 28,709 spoilt votes for parliamentary seats and 25,455 for state seats then. For this reason, BN seems to be quite unperturbed by Pakatan's intended show of force in Johor. To the ruling party, the DAP-Pakatan strategy takes for granted that the Chinese voters are all for them. But the fact is, BN has its fair share of support from this community as well, as evident from the Tenang by-election last year, where BN secured almost 30 per cent of the Chinese votes. A BN source said: "We have done our survey and performance test in voting centres. "BN will be on safe ground because we found that, at the moment, we can get 25 per cent to 30 per cent of Chinese votes, enough to improve on the 2008 performance." The survey, according to him, also revealed that BN could lose up to six parliamentary seats and 15 state seats, if the Chinese support dipped to below 20 per cent. "This is not likely to happen because Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, MCA leaders and several non-governmental organisations have been working tirelessly and keeping their ears close to the ground to measure support." Pakatan is being rocked by internal bickering but this has not exactly stopped its audacious plan to grab seats in Johor to add to its national tally, and possibly even hustle up the wealth Johor could bring. I was most amazed to see the progress in Johor Baru when I came by two weeks ago, my first visit after several years. The state capital has transformed into a bustling metropolis and I couldn't even recognise some of the localities, despite having lived in the city for a few years 20 years ago. There were new buildings everywhere and the roads and highways looped around in every corner. The best part is that, unlike in the Klang Valley, most of the new highways are toll-free. Of course, there is also the Iskandar economic region, which will prove to be something else. The senseless incident where pig heads were thrown into a mosque in Taman Desa Jaya may just signal the start of a big political battle that is looming on the horizon. |
| Lupakan perjuangan personality Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST Nizam Yatim, The Malaysian Insider Baru-baru ini dalam satu pertemuan dengan media Malaysia di Singapura, Raja Petra Kamarudin, individu yang pernah dikaitkan sebagai penyokong kuat gerakan reformasi Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengakui Ketua Pembangkang itu kini bukan lagi pilihan bagi rakyat Malaysia. Raja Petra yang sejak tiga tahun lalu tinggal dalam "buangan" di Manchester, England menegaskan, pihak pembangkang patut mengurangkan perjuangan untuk Anwar atau "Anwarista" kerana agenda untuk perubahan tidak harus berteraskan kepada personaliti. "Kita belum tamat, kita kena teruskan. Bukan sebab Anwar. Bagaimana jika sesuatu berlaku kepada Anwar. Dia bukan muda lagi. Dia lebih tua daripada saya. "Cakap tentang struktur dan penambahbaikan negara, kita akan bergerak ke depan. Walaupun Mandela (di Afrika Selatan) dipenjarakan selama 27 tahun, tak ada kempen pembebasan untuknya. "Walaupun ada Kumpulan Free Mandela, tetapi ia merupakan kempen untuk menamatkan aparteid, bukan untuk bebaskan Mandela. Mandela hanyalah pencetusnya. Saya pasti Mandela adalah figura yang jauh lebih besar berbanding Anwar terutamanya dalam kepentingan sejarah," ujarnya. Apa yang ditegaskan oleh Raja Petra itu telah mendedahkan akan hakikat bahawa pihak pembangkang bukanlah alternatif terbaik untuk memimpin negara ini kerana dasar yang diperjuangkan mereka berbeza-beza dan hanya menjadikan Ketua Pembangkang itu sebagai "ikon" penyatu. Ahli Parlimen Kulim-Bandar Baharu, Zulkifli Noordin yang mengulas hakikat itu berkata, penyatuan pihak pembangkang itu boleh dianggap sebagai "persekongkolan luar tabii" kerana masing-masing mempunyai agenda perjuangan berlainan termasuk DAP yang bersifat cauvinis dan rasis. Menurut beliau, pada masa depan tidak mustahil parti-parti yang menganggotai pakatan itu akan kembali kepada perjuangan asal setelah mendapat kuasa atau setelah merasakan sudah menjadi parti paling dominan dalam pakatan itu. "Misalnya, PAs telah melancarkan dokumen negara berkebajikan yang turut disokong pimpinan pembangkang lain. Ia sarat dengan pelbagai janji manis dan madah berhelah bagi mencapai nafsu serakah untuk menawan Putrajaya. "Sekiranya PAS sanggup melancarkan dokumen baru ini bagi menggantikan dokumen negara Islam yang diperkenalkan pada 12 November 2003, tidak mustahil mereka akan membuat pusingan 'U' untuk membuang dokumen negara berkebajikan dan menggantikannya dengan dokumen entah apa lagi! "Tidak mustahil juga bila DAP berkuasa, mereka akan melancarkan pula dokumen negara cauvinis dan jika sosialis berjaya, mereka akan lancarkan pula dokumen negara komunis," ujarnya. Dalam pada itu, bekas Naib Ketua Angkatan Muda Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Mohd Zahid Md Arip berkata, Anwar tidak mempunyai falsafah perjuangan terbaik bagi membangunkan negara dan rakyat sebaliknya lebih mengutamakan kepentingan mendapatkan kuasa bagi diri dan kroni-kroninya. "Saya tidak fikir rakyat Malaysia sedia menerima pemimpin pembohong macam Anwar. Bagi saya, dia tidak layak menjadi pemimpin kerana tidak mampu memimpin dirinya sendiri,"katanya. Mohd. Zahid berkata, pendedahan Raja Petra seharusnya dijadikan pengajaran kepada pihak-pihak yang baru mahu berjinak-jinak dengan Anwar bahawa Ketua Pembangkang itu sanggup memperalatkan sesiapa sahaja bagi menjaja pembohongannya. "Beliau sanggup memburukkan negara malah bangsanya sendiri demi memperjuangkan kepentingan peribadi dan kroni-kroninya," ujar beliau. Apa yang diperkatakan oleh Mohd Zahid seharusnya dapat mengingatkan rakyat supaya tidak terus menyokong Anwar dan gerakan terbaru untuk mendewa-dewakannya. Kita tidak boleh alpa akan hakikat perjuangan berasaskan personaliti tidak penting sebaliknya yang lebih utama adalah idea yang dibawa seseorang itu. Rakyat seharusnya bimbang dengan trend mendewa-dewakan Ketua Pembangkang itu yang dapat dilihat apabila "ulama" PKR yang juga bekas pemimpin Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), Dr Badrul Amin menggelar Anwar sebagai pemimpin dari sebelah Timur yang ditunggu-tunggu. Ungkapan sama pernah digunakan pelbagai pihak bagi merujuk kepada penyelamat umat manusia iaitu Imam Mahdi. Turut menggunakan ungkapan itu ialah pengikut Al-Arqam yang menyifatkan pemimpin mereka, Allahyarham Ashaari Muhammad sebagai Pemuda Bani Tamim yang bakal muncul datang dari Timur. Kita bimbang apabila rakyat terlalu taksub dengan seseorang pemimpin itu mereka akan mengikut segala arahan dan apa yang diperkatanya secara membuta-tuli. READ MORE HERE |
| Apa pendirian PAS? Posted: 02 Jan 2012 07:56 AM PST Zulkiflee Bakar, The Malaysian Insider Pada 9 Julai lalu, apabila berlakunya perhimpunan haram Bersih di Kuala Lumpur, PAS merupakan kelompok terbesar menghantar penyokongnya. Malahan beberapa pemimpin utama parti turut serta biar pun ia adalah satu perhimpunan yang dianggap melanggar undang-undang. Bagaimanapun apabila pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) Islam mengadakan Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) baru-baru ini bagi membanteras gejala murtad, PAS "senyap dan sunyi", yang hadir hanyalah Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor, Datuk Dr Hasan Ali. Beliau pergi atas kapasiti peribadi sebagai pemimpin Islam bukan mewakili PAS. Kini PAS menjadi tumpuan lagi apabila kesetiaan mereka sebagai sekutu pembangkang akan dituntut pada 9 Januari ini dalam kempen "Bebaskan Anwar 901". Kita tidak pasti apakah pendirian PAS dalam kempen tersebut? Apakah PAS akan mengerahkan penyokongnya atau menyerahkan kepada mereka untuk membuat keputusan sendiri. Tetapi hakikatnya golongan pro-Anwar di dalam PAS tidak akan duduk diam, mereka pasti akan mendesak supaya pucuk pimpinan parti membuat kenyataan agar penyokong parti itu turun menyokong Anwar. Sememangnya semua orang tahu siapa lebih berpengaruh di dalam PAS sejak parti itu dikatakan dikuasai oleh puak Anwarinas. Bagaimanapun PAS perlu berhati-hati dalam tindakannya, ini kerana himpunan haram yang dicadangkan pada 9 Januari ini bukanlah sebarangan. Tersilap langkah PAS boleh dituduh "bersubahat" menghina institusi kehakiman negara. Tak apalah jika sebelum ini PAS hendak menjadi "pak turut" apabila bersedia mengerahkan "bala tenteranya" turun ke jalanan. Tetapi isu 9 Januari ini melibatkan keputusan mahkamah. Oleh itu, pemimpin PAS tidak harus terpengaruh dengan ketidakmatangan sesetengah pemimpin Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) yang melancarkan kempen Bebas Anwar 901. PAS sendiri sudah menyaksikan bagaimana perjalanan perbicaraan berlangsung dan di kalangan pemimpin PAS sendiri dikatakan bosan apabila Anwar berpuluh-puluh kali memohon penangguhan. Namun mahkamah tetap membenarkannya, kalau mahkamah tidak adil sudah lama permohonan Anwar akan ditolak. Bagaimanapun semua itu tidak berlaku, mahkamah memberi peluang seadil-adilnya untuk membela diri. Beliau bukan sahaja dibantu oleh barisan peguam yang hebat belaka, malahan Anwar juga dibenarkan membawa saksi dan pakar daripada luar negara bagi memberi keterangan. Oleh itu, Anwar telah menjalani perbicaraan yang adil dan PAS tentu mengakui perkara, justeru kalau PAS terlibat dalam kempen Bebas Anwar 901 maknanya mereka tidak menghormati institusi kehakiman. PAS perlu ingat kempen yang dilancarkan menggunakan istilah "Bebas Anwar" dan bukannya "Sokong Anwar", kalau sekadar "sokong" tidak mengapa kerana PAS sememangnya kawan baik PKR dan DAP tetapi kenapakah awal-awal lagi lancar kempen "bebas Anwar" sedangkan keputusan masih belum diketahui? Penggunaan istilah "bebas Anwar" ini boleh ditafsirkan seolah-olah bagi penyokong Anwar terutamanya daripada PKR, tidak kira apa pun hujahnya pada 9 Januari ini harus ada satu sahaja keputusan iaitu Anwar mesti dibebaskan! Soalnya apakah PAS begitu yakin bahawa Anwar tidak bersalah sehingga bersedia untuk turun ke jalanan bagi "membebaskan" beliau. Sepatutnya PAS menyerahkan sepenuhnya kepada mahkamah untuk membuat keputusan. Anwar bukannya sedang berada di penjara tetapi berada di luar penjara, beliau bebas ke mana sahaja hatta ke luar negara sekali pun biar pun sedang berhadapan dengan kes serius di mahkamah, pasport beliau tidak ditahan. Justeru PAS janganlah mudah diperbodohkan dengan mainan politik PKR yang pada masa ini bermati-matian mahu memperjuangkan Anwar kerana itulah matlamat sebenar penubuhan parti itu. Percayalah PKR amat bergantung kepada PAS untuk turun ke jalanan, mereka tidak boleh berharap kepada DAP yang sudah pasti tidak akan membiarkan penyokongnya dikejar oleh polis atau terkena semburan air. Cuba lihat apa yang berlaku pada himpunan haram Bersih yang lalu, demonstrasi tersebut tidak akan berlaku jika penyokong PAS tidak turun tetapi apa yang PAS dapat? PAS hanya dimaki-hamun oleh warga kota kerana telah menyusahkan mereka, mengaku parti memperjuangkan Islam tetapi perangai tidak melambangkan peribadi Islam sebenar. Oleh itu PAS perlu berhati-hati dalam penglibatannya dalam kempen "Bebas Anwar 901", janganlah mengikut nafsu politik dan janganlah terlalu yakin bahawa isu Anwar ini akan membantu pembangkang dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang. Percayalah senario sudah berubah, Anwar kini dilihat bukan sahaja liabiliti kepada pembangkang tetapi juga negara kerana beliau sanggup memburuk-burukkan tanah air sendiri demi dendam politiknya. Jadi adakah PAS akan bersekongkol dengan orang seumpama ini? Tidakkah kerana adanya Anwar, pemimpin-pemimpin PAS yang jauh lebih baik budi pekerti dan akhlaknya dipinggirkan serta seolah-olah tidak dihormati hatta oleh sesetengah pengikut PAS sendiri. Apakah Anwar begitu hebat sehingga DAP berkata, kalau Anwar dipenjara sekali pun, beliau tetap dilantik sebagai Perdana Menteri jika pembangkang memenangi pilihan raya. Semua keadaan ini jelaslah menunjukkan PAS dan pemimpinnya hanya menjadi alat kepada PKR dan DAP untuk menang dalam pilihan raya, tidak lebih daripada itu. Kalau mereka menghormati PAS sudah pasti, mereka akan berhati-hati dalam membuat kenyataan seumpama itu. Sebab itulah PAS janganlah terus membiarkan diri diperalatkan semata-mata untuk memperjuangkan nasib Anwar. Apa yang lebih penting memikirkan sejauh manakah perjuangan mereka dalam soal berkenaan akan menguntungkan PAS. READ MORE HERE |
| Opposition elites fight to the death – of the Rakyat Posted: 02 Jan 2012 07:49 AM PST HORNBILL UNLEASHED "When rich people fight wars with one another, poor people are the ones to die." so said Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. Wikipedia has a write-up of the Frenchman, and it is worth some attention. Take that statement and fast-forward to today's Malaysia (not just Malaysia Today), and then rewind a little to put it into the context of Malaysian political history. To me, there is much similarlity indeed between what the Frenchman said, with blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's New Year's Day assault on Pakatan Rakyat. Critical historians can probably remind us how the elites' tussles for power throughout Malayan history, and also before and immediately after the formation of Malaysia, played out. History can relate how many struggling Malaysians died due to the elites' feud. Oh yes, I forget: mainstream historians tell us those who died in battle were not struggling poor people, but "baby-eating" commies, with guns and explosives, the devil incarnate, supposedly. Then fast forward Malaysian history – perhaps it is more appropriate to term it UMNO's or Malaya's history – to the Mahathir era in 1987. When authoritarian Mahathir was first threatened by the Kelantan prince, Tengku Razaleigh, for the prized and lucrative Prime Minister's post, it was the first "modern day" Malaysian elites' fight. Bear in mind that the top government post, in the Malaysian context, is lucrative not just for one's own self, but for an entire empire-building industry. There is more than enough documentation regarding those who suffered under political detention in that 1980s elitist struggle. 
Advance now to 1997, again, "coincidentally" as in 1987, during yet another cycle of economic collapse, we had another elites' fight. Mahathir, a practised dictator by then, was having to fend off another assault on his Prime Ministerial post and the treasure associated with the PM package, as perfected by King Mahathir. It is well known that Anwar Ibrahim, a rising political star within UMNO, was the "victim" in this elitist fight. He was imprisoned and received a black eye from the highest-ranking police officer, the Inspector General of Police. But Anwar was not the only victim. This time round, in 1997, the victims would again be the ordinary Malaysians, the working class and the proletariat, who had to suffer through another episode of Malaysian elites' fight. Opposition Elites also do battle Of course history is never discriminatory, in only recording the ruling front's elite battles. The Malaysian opposition politicians too, after all, are elites in our society. Since the birth of Pakatan Rakyat (PR), it has been an open secret who the elites are, with the exception of a few of those politicians with strong community-centred ideological foundations, There are plenty of examples of the kind of suffering among the ordinary Rakyat, when elites fight within the opposition. Before one jumps into saying opposition elites' fights do not produce any deaths among the poor, think again. The elites' battles left the poor under continuing oppression and suppression, and left them to be denigrated, and termed the 'poor' (in fact, in the Malaysian context, it is not enough to be 'poor,' but we have even created another category of "hardcore" poor, so that this last category of Malaysians – neglected Malays, Indians, Chinese, Dayaks, Kadazan Dusuns and "lain-lain" – are left to die young). The opposition elites' fight became more feverish after March 2008. Opposition numbers grew in and out of Parliament and State Legislatures in Malaya. Sarawak and Sabah elites had of course been fighting, long before Malaya were in any position to fight as they did after March 2008. The latest battle lines The controversial blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin, or RPK, has now openly declared war on the opposition PR with his latest "interview" by the UMNO media group. His broadside has been picked up by various other online news portals. As he expected, all sort of insults and accusations have been thrown at him after his savaging of Anwar Ibrahim and the PR. RPK knows what he is doing. After TV3 had twisted the content of his previous interview in April 2011 from Australia, RPK had written about further attention by UMNO's media. He had even named his terms and conditions before he would grant another interview to the UMNO media. READ MORE HERE |
| Any time is a bad time for Najib Posted: 02 Jan 2012 06:38 AM PST HORNBILL UNLEASHED Terence Netto What would be a good time for Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold the 13th general election? This question has risen with unnerving urgency now that the Umno-BN supremo is nearing the end of four years of the mandate his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had obtained, albeit in personal tenure ending fashion. Although the constitution provides for a five-year election cycle, Abdullah had set a pattern of waiting for only four before he decided to go to the polls. There were exactly four years between his landslide victory in the 11th general election of March 2004 and his loss of Umno-BN's two-thirds majority in Parliament in the March 2008 polls, a descent that spelt disaster for Abdullah. Four years between one general election and the next seems like a reasonable stretch; five is a stall.  The quadrennial cycle to elections is a good fit for the waxing and waning of political distempers.
These calculations are not arbitrary: issues have a way of simmering for some time before they reach a boil; four years appear about as long a time as one could keep them on a backburner. Having taking over from a beleaguered Abdullah in April 2009, Najib has been waiting for the right time to seek a mandate that new PMs consider essential to gaining the legitimacy to make changes, especially after they have taken over from a predecessor who appears to have failed. Road to hell is paved with good intentions On assuming the reins, Najib would have reckoned to wait some time in which to introduce reforms before seeking a new mandate. He spoke the jargon of reform, liberalised aspects of the economy, particularly the rules on equity ownership, and shaped up to introduce political reforms. The latter score was where he ran into trouble. Because Malaysia is not like China where the ruling communist party could liberalise the economy while maintaining tight control over the politics and appear to get away with it, Najib discovered that an undertow of stale thinking dogged his intention to liberalise the obsolete regimen of rules and regulations by which Malaysia's politics is conducted. After belatedly conceding that the popular demonstration last July in support of the changes electoral reform pressure group, Bersih, were clamouring for needed to be reckoned with, Najib had, what in retrospect appeared as a fast-fading chance, to make good on his reform-seeking agenda. He grabbed at it, or appeared to be intent on doing so. In a Malaysia Day address last Sept 15, he announced there would be credible reforms to a host of repressive laws on internal security, public demonstrations and the press. What eventuated, in respect of the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 tabled, amended and passed in Parliament at its last sitting, only served to remind people that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Aspects of the Bill turned out to be worse than what the benighted military junta in Burma had condescended to introduce in their hapless country. Malaysia on a par with Burma is bad enough; Malaysia worse than that mothballed country is intolerable. Even as the image of Najib as credible reformer lay exposed by the end of last year as a delusion, the notion is taking hold among the electorate that power which is never transferred from one coalition to another – as distinct from being slightly shuffled among its existing holders – is power that will be abused. READ MORE HERE |
| How Raja Petra lost the plot and became irrelevant Posted: 02 Jan 2012 12:00 AM PST It will not work. In fact what Raja Petra has done in his interview will only harden the entrenched views of those who are going to vote for the Opposition and push the fence-sitters (who were hitherto guarding their wallets and feeding their stomachs) to the arms of the Opposition. There will be a thousand and one ways to use the Raja Petra issue to inflict pain on the BN and it does not require much imagination. By Matthias Chang This article will come as a shock to many just as Raja Petra's interview with the New Sunday Times about Anwar but not for those in the political inside track. To those in charge of propaganda in UMNO, the interview in which Raja Petra let loose his pent-up anger on Anwar is a major propaganda coup that will surely turn the tide against the opposition.
There will be some within the ranks of the Opposition who will be disheartened by this open attack on Anwar by a former "loyalist" and founder of Malaysia-Today. There will be many within the ranks of Barisan Nasional who will consider this exposé as the nail in the Opposition's coffin and contribute to the success of Barisan Nasional in the next General Election.
But I beg to differ. Here are my reasons. When I was the political secretary to Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, I was not a member of any political party and till today, I am still not a member of any political party so as to remain an independent observer and opinion maker. I gave my views, opinions and advice just as a lawyer would to his client, honestly and without fear or favour. I would do my research and give the pros and cons and finally my conclusions and recommendations. I endeavoured to be as objective as possible. It makes no difference to me whether my views, opinions and advice were accepted or not. I gave my best efforts and would move on to the next assignment. By adopting any other attitude in such a position would result inevitably in a subjective and bias approach to one's assignment. This was how Vice-President Dick Cheney and his team gathered every morsel of intelligence (regardless of their cogency and veracity) to support the policy of waging war against Iraq. The intelligence collected was to serve a pre-conceived agenda. So, we have to be very discerning about information, views and "advice" given in such POLITICAL SITUATIONS, as any misjudgment would end up in a fiasco. Let this be a warning! It is often quoted in political circles that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Yes, it is true up to a point and would depend on the degree of usefulness of this particular "friend". In intelligence work, there is always a lingering doubt whether a "defector" is a genuine defector or a "double agent" – whether he is planting and giving enough intelligence jewels to convince the bait that he is genuine. To understand the mindset of such a person, his motive is all important. We should not be easily taken in by the information / propaganda jewels given on a silver platter. There are no free lunches. Everything has a price and consequences. To those who take the views of Raja Petra seriously, have you asked one critical question: What caused the "fallout" between Raja Petra and Anwar? Do you really know about this "fallout"? Why was Raja Petra not a member of Party Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)? Or was he? If he is not a member of the party, why is he trying to dictate the composition of leadership of PKR even to the extent of supporting a maverick and a political frog in the person of Zaid Ibrahim, who resigned as the Law Minister and UMNO member to vie for the leadership of PKR? What locus standi has Raja Petra to interfere in the internal affairs of PKR? Why is he questioning the leadership of DAP and PAS in their support for Anwar? Is Raja Petra really acting in the interest of the Barisan Nasional? What is the ultimate role of the so-called "Civil Liberties Movement" (more commonly referred to as the "third force")? Can Raja Petra and the so-called "third force" dictate how a party (whether in the Barisan Nasional or the Pakatan Rakyat coalition) selects the candidates for an election when they are not subject to any party discipline and or adhere to the party's policies? Raja Petra is even willing to offer the so-called "electable candidates" of the "third force" to any party who is willing to subscribe to his agenda / policies. Therefore, what is his agenda??? So, before Barisan Nasional embraces Raja Petra and the so-called "third force" so eagerly, it should adopt a wary stance for what is on offer may well be a poison chalice! There may be more than meets the eye. Differences in a political party are normal. It is part of the democratic process of any party and Raja Petra has always demanded such freedom within the Opposition parties. Yet, he highlights differences of minor players within the ranks of the Opposition parties and exaggerates the implications on the basis that this is the view of the voters. What voters does Raja Petra or the "third force" represent? Who are these voters? In 2010, Raja Petra announced that he has thirty "electable candidates" that will stand in the next General Election and will provide their names every week or so. But what happened? Other than giving two names (I stand to be corrected on this) and even if it may be more than two, he certainly did not deliver the thirty names. Another question that needs an urgent answer – not being a PKR member, how did he end up collaborating with Zaid Ibrahim and supporting his candidacy for Deputy President against Azmin Ali? And when Zaid Ibrahim lost the battle and abandoned the party, Raja Petra went ballistics! Why? Wayang Kulit (shadow play)? Is Raja Petra "a man who has lost the plot" or something else? After Raja Petra's interview with TV3, just before the Sawarak State Election, he lost all credibility in the eyes of the voters who supported the opposition. DAP did rather well notwithstanding the interview. He then gave an elaborate explanation on how he was misquoted etc. He fell for the bait of having publicity on prime time television – an ego trip, and lost big time! His followers abandoned him. Now, he gives an interview timed just before the High Court's judgment on Sodomy II fixed for the 9th January 2012. Why? So many questions, but so few answers! He claims that he wants clarity and focus on critical issues, but his actions muddy further the already polluted waters. That he needs another constituency to survive and to reap the political harvest in the next General Election from whichever political coalition willing to pay his political ransom is all too clear. So he comes bearing gifts to the Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional as a teaser and prelude to extract the ultimate political ransom. The trillion dollar question: Why is Raja Petra bearing gifts to Barisan Nasional? But he says that he still supports the Opposition. Is he playing both sides? If he is, and gets away with it, he is indeed a political fiddler par excellence. In my previous article, "Malaysia – 2012, National Suicide or A New Paradigm", I had warned that the next General Election will be a "no-holds-barred" political slug fest and it will be ugly. Post-2008, no one can take for granted that the voters would be as gullible as pre-2008. On the contrary, they are more informed and discerning and can see through the fog of the political war. In the past, such an interview by a former "loyalist" may be the ruin of a political leader, but not this time, as Raja Petra is not the first and will not be the last "loyalist" that will lambast the leader of the Opposition. Prior to Raja Petra, there was Ezam Mohd Nor, one-time "loyal supporter" of Anwar. But Anwar survived this fallout and it is Ezam who has now become irrelevant. I believe that Anwar will survive Raja Petra's attacks and in due course, Raja Petra will also become irrelevant. Raja Petra is a desperate man and we must all be on guard against such a desperado. That is why it is so dangerous to assume that this attack by Raja Petra will be the end of Anwar and that this will assist Barisan Nasional to triumph in the next General Election. This would be a gross miscalculation and if Barisan Nasional formulates its strategy on these lines, Prime Minister Najib will definitely be a one-term leader. Why do I say this? People are sick and fed-up of the Sodomy II case, not because as alleged by Raja Petra that Anwar dragged on the case, but because the majority of the people have already made up their mind that Anwar is innocent and this is a sham trial to lynch Anwar and bury him once and for all. It matters not whether you agree with this perception or conclusion. But this is the reality. If Sodomy I could not kill Anwar, how can Sodomy II and the other stupid pornographic video bury Anwar? Anwar went to jail after Sodomy I and came out even stronger and more resilient. Even if Raja Petra says that it is Anwar in the said pornographic video, is he an expert? As far as the people are concerned, Sodomy II is another episode of gutter politics. This is the bloody reality! They are fed-up and disgusted with the way this has been used against Anwar. I was told once by a political leader that after Sodomy I, the country will not tolerate another sodomy trial against any politician as a means to end his political career. So, I question Raja Petra's accusations and allegations against Anwar at this particular juncture. Who will be the ultimate beneficiary of his tirade against Anwar? Just as Hasan Ali is toxic to PAS members and to many Chinese and Christians who are now supporting PAS and are no longer afraid of Islam, Raja Petra is equally toxic to those in PKR and DAP and those Chinese and Indians who are supporting PKR and DAP. Nothing will change their minds because they are riled by the perceived abuse of power by the leaders of Barisan Nasional and the contradictions and inconsistencies of the BN policies, the various flip-flops. Anger has now turned into contempt. And we are talking about the conservative middle-class. This is another reality. I am only the messenger. You may not want to agree or accept this reality. But the fact remains that many people have this mindset. Period! I would caution the BN to be wary and not embrace Raja Petra too readily. He is toxic like the financial derivatives that almost destroyed the global financial system in the 2007 / 2008 financial tsunami! In my view, the granting of two full-page of Raja Petra's propaganda in the New Sunday Times and the Malay mass-media is a desperate attempt by Barisan Nasional to deflect the attention from the various scandals afflicting the BN to Anwar's Sodomy II trial. It will not work. In fact what Raja Petra has done in his interview will only harden the entrenched views of those who are going to vote for the Opposition and push the fence-sitters (who were hitherto guarding their wallets and feeding their stomachs) to the arms of the Opposition. There will be a thousand and one ways to use the Raja Petra issue to inflict pain on the BN and it does not require much imagination. Do you know what decent apolitical families are saying? They have been saying and continue to say, "How can these people be so cruel to inflict so much pain on Anwar's family?" You may well consider this view as being superficial and subjective, but can you rid this perception from the people? Raja Petra in his personal vendetta against Anwar for whatever wrong, real or perceived, that Anwar has done to him, has revealed a side of his character that has not been revealed to his supporters all these years – vindictiveness over political differences. And this is an insecure and dangerous trait. Raja Petra and his family have suffered tremendously for his political beliefs and views and I sympathise and admire his tenacity for enduring such hardships. But, I cannot allow personal sentiments to cloud my judgment. Raja Petra has demanded that truth be told. I say that if truth be told, Raja Petra has lost the plot and has become a victim of his own vindictiveness. He is not a leader that can be respected or entrusted to change the country as he professes to do so. Raja Petra may not be too happy reading this article and his band may well mount a counter-attack on me. But it matters not, for in the past, his band has maligned me with profanities instead of debating the issues raised by me in a mature way in his website. What else can they do after they have called me: "Mahathir's barking dog", "Mahathir's crony", "bastard", "M#@*%@ F#@*%#", "scumbag" etc. Let's gather our thoughts on the so-called Civil Liberties Movement (the "Third Force") and its agenda. I have no doubt that there are many genuine people who want to better the country and have indeed made tremendous sacrifices and are willing to follow Raja Petra as the pied-piper. But, do they know Raja Petra's ultimate agenda? Let me summarise for you. It is quite simple. His ambition is to hold the balance of power in Parliament in the event of a Hung Parliament and leverage to the hilt whichever political coalition that is willing to pay the political ransom demanded. The essence of his ambition is power. Let's not kid ourselves. Politicians do not venture into politics for altruistic ideals. They want power to fulfill their ambitions. If the country is fortunate, she may from time to time have a politician who does good for the country, but there are far and few. Yes, I agree that Nelson Mandela is one of the few. Raja Petra does not think that Anwar, Najib, etc. belong to that category. But neither is Raja Petra! Let us not be distracted by personalities and exaggerated egos across the political divide. We have enough of them. Let us focus on those who can unite our country and lead us to greater heights of excellence and by 2020 to be a developed nation for a start.
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| Pakatan Rakyat : Dulu, kini dan selama lamanya? Posted: 01 Jan 2012 11:10 PM PST STEADYAKU47 What did Petra said that has not been said before? Nothing. Elek. Zilch. And yet the main stream media (MSM) went into overdrive and was able to spin the whole "RPK exposure" into a supposedly deadly projectile that wounded the opposition and baited its attendant islands into a frenzy of denials and outright claims of lies and slander made by RPK. It goaded many into hurried damage control and defense mechanism mode to minimize damage to DSAI,to PKR and to all things Pakatan Rakyat. But really, people, what new news has RPK brought from London to Singapore and from thence to you all in Malaysia and then to me in Adelaide? All things considered what upset me most was the arrogance displayed by RPK in giving that interview! More arrogant than Nazri Aziz, than KJ or even the great man himself, Mahathir! But then that has been RPK style all along - so what's me worry? Apart from the arrogance displayed by RPK nothing else interest me enough to want to sit down and dash of my comments to what he said onto my blog quick smart. I read about it at around 10 p.m. in FMT on Sunday night. Slept on it and it was only after I read about Haris Ibrahim's resignation because of what Haris alleged RPK said and did, at around 6 p.m. today – then and only then did it move me to write. And that too, to write more on Haris resignation as President of MCLM then on what RPK said in the MSM. When all is said and done the only revelations that RPK made that was unknown to me was the prosecution's insistence for a free hand in the sodomy two case. Everything else I know. And if I know then I am sure you too know! That PKR is having problems. Check. That Azmin is having problems. Check. That Nurrul is talked about as the next Messiah. Check. That Anwar is guilty. Check. That Anwar was in the Carcosa tapes. Check. That Anwar will be found guilty. Check. Bribery in Selangor. Check. Anwar may become irrelevant. Check. Rights group not a third force. Check - there are a work in progress! Anwar morally unfit to become PM. Go check my blog - I have been saying this from way back when! Check! READ MORE HERE |
| PKR: RPK ‘hired’ to smear Anwar ahead of Sodomy II verdict Posted: 01 Jan 2012 10:31 PM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - PKR today sought to discredit Raja Petra Kamarudin as a "hired Umno blogger" and part of a larger plot to smear Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ahead of the latter's sodomy trial verdict. The PKR de facto leader will learn the verdict on his sodomy charge on January 9. He is accused of sodomising a former aide, a charge he has vehemently denied and claims is a conspiracy to destroy his political career. Today, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution said Umno and Barisan Nasional were determined to see Anwar jailed, adding that the attacks against Anwar was meant to deflect from the government's financial scandals. "It should not be forgotten that Raja Petra Kamarudin, now more known as a 'hired Umno blogger', once made a sworn statement that (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) and (Datin Seri) Rosmah (Mansor) were involved in the brutal murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shariibuu... "The latest are spins by Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, Umno-owned media who ... pick and contort Raja Petra Kamarudin's statement on lies and allegations about Anwar's case in their front pages," Saifuddin said in a statement. The self-exiled blogger told Utusan Malaysia that Anwar was morally unfit to become prime minister as Malaysians could not accept a homosexual leading the country. Raja Petra did not explicitly call Anwar homosexual but said there was no room in Malaysia for someone who is gay and wants to become PM. READ MORE HERE |
| Haris quits MCLM over RPK’s comments Posted: 01 Jan 2012 10:19 PM PST Raja Petra Kamarudin's comments in mainstream daily NST, have "greatly undermined" the efforts of MCLM president Haris Ibrahim. (Free Malaysia Today) - Lawyer Haris Ibrahim has resigned as president of Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM). He cited the views expressed by MCLM chairman, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), in a mainstream media yesterday, as his main reason. Haris said he was compelled to do so after reading Raja Petra comment's on MCLM's candidacy in the coming general elections and his view on 'people's revolution.' "In the circumstances, I find it impossible to continue to serve MCLM as its president." "I have communicated my decision to RPK through email, " he said adding that he had been aware of the interview but was not privy to its content until he read the report. Commenting on Raja Petra's views published by NST, Haris said he was saddened specifically by 'two parts' of the interview. "The two parts (of the interview) that have led me to the decision were that "MCLM had decided it would not field any candidates for the coming general election." "I can confirm now that no such decision has been made. (In fact) in December, 2010, in London, RPK announced the launch of MCLM's Barisan Rakyat independent candidate initiative." "In July, last year, MCLM announced the deployment of our first candidate, Dr Neduchelian, in the Kapar consitutuency," Haris said in his People's Parliament blog today. 'No idle threat' He also cited another reported comment by Raja Petra which he said 'greatly undermined' his efforts in the 'Anything But Umno' (ABU) initiative. "RPK is reported to have said that "the Egypt-style people's revolution was not an answer for Malaysia due to the delicate racial balance. They (Chinese voters) don't want Tahrir Square type of change." "These comments greatly undermine efforts I am making, albeit through MLCM, in the ABU initiative. READ MORE HERE |
| Malaysian politics is overheating with Anwar-bashing Posted: 01 Jan 2012 09:43 PM PST Whichever way we look at it, for argument's sake, what so wrong if DSAI is a gay? And if he is a confirmed long-time gay, how come UMNO in the first place endorsed, enlisted, groomed and nurtured him during the Mahathir era? Worst, Mahathir himself paraded to the world that Anwar was his sole and only worthy Deputy, after having sacked other predecessors. By J. D. Lovrenciear Even before the courts can dish a verdict of guilty or innocent, the political marauders have already gone into overdrive plundering at a man, father, husband, friend, leader – and above all a Malaysian who has the solid support of honorable leaders from the Opposition political divide and many examplary individuals all across the globe. Truly, by any perspective you look at the politics in Malaysia, we have lost all decency, sensibility and in place are wallowing in a sordid state of scum. The most recent is the currently broiling sensation involving the widely subscribed and popular blog of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) - Malaysia Today and its architect. The amount of national time, national resources and ink and paper and blog space that has gone into bashing this one man – Anwar Ibrahim is probably far more greater than that of Watergate Scandal involving Nixon or the more recent in memory, that of the Clinton-Lewinsky episode. If ever there is to be an international award for the 'Most Outrageous Politically Laced Sex Scandal' competition, Malaysia will be the crown-grabber and probably be the only contestant. Whichever way we look at it, for argument's sake, what is so wrong if DSAI is gay? And if he is a confirmed long-time gay, how come UMNO in the first place endorsed, enlisted, groomed and nurtured him during the Mahathir era? Worse, Mahathir himself paraded to the world that Anwar was his sole and only worthy Deputy, after having sacked other predecessors. Only when the Financial Crisis helmed in, suddenly Anwar is gay! Even any heavenly revelation would have lost to this drama of the centuries. By any account, what is the gross difference between a gay and a straight-sex man who takes advantage of the weaker sex who are minors? Or for that matter, what of those who discreetly keep more than their rightfully wedded wives as sex toys? Are there none in our society? Or how about those who steal another man or woman's spouse under the camouflage of divorce and re-marry? Are these approved sins? Do we not have such examples within the seemingly sacred tabernacles of the power corridors of UMNO and BN? The whole of Lorong Haji Taib is stinking to high heavens right to this day with pondan-sex-for-sale day and night. This is of no national concern, but Anwar is? Or how about the upper-class joineries splashed all along Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street? Sex-for-sale is a booming business here. And who says that our 5-Star hotels are free of sins against the flesh? Are these pardonable and should therefore be condoned, encouraged and therefore remain protected? Let us not think that the electorate are fools. Let us also not run away with the notion that Malaysians cannot think. Above all, we must stop playing God. If and when politics sinks to the lowest ebb mired in misplaced sex and lust bashing strategies, when it grovels in the pit of personal morality issues while the national socio-landscape is punctured with flesh trade, we have lost everything sane and sensible. Indeed we are hypocrites of the highest order, nothing less really. Let then the first man (or woman) who has never sinned in whatsoever way, be the first to cast the stone at Anwar Ibrahim. And let that person be reminded too that prophets in the past have admonished that even prostitutes are worthy of merit when there is remorse. It is a shame. It is a disgrace. It is a reputation disaster for Malaysia in the global eyes when our political battle strategies against opponents are drawn with sex-tainted allegations. Truly Malaysia stands out as the only country in the world today that is so preoccupied these past several years doing political battle by using sex as the batter against one man. Therein rests the true state of Malaysian politics, Malaysian leadership and Malaysian governance. How are we going to capture our history for the generations to come? |
| My personal opinion of Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 01 Jan 2012 08:03 PM PST Leaving aside Anwar's superior oratory skills and empowering personality, what else has he proven himself to us? Viva Liberte Negaraku, Viva Liberte Malaysia Recently our country has been seen to be undergoing tremendous political fluidity towards some may say in the right path of democracy. A lot of these has been attributed to one man who seems to have made a second coming into Malaysian politics and within a hairs breadth knocking on the PM's door to take over his place, ie DSAI. It is without a doubt Anwar possesses some great characteristics; none greater than his spectacular oratory skills enabling him to sway and eventually command a good majority of the general public's opinion. I have my personal reservations about him, not because I find him incapable to be PM but I find that his character is suspect. I shall list my reasons below for debate, kindly bear in mind I am no expert of his biography: 1) Baling incident;
Anwar did cause an uproar regarding the few deaths due to starvation there. However, one must ask oneself what was his intention? What would you have done if you were in his shoes? Most people would have tried to organize channelling of food there, writing in to government bodies for necessary help, donations etc. In short, usually within the confines of the law. You must also understand that this took place in the 70's long before the corrupt-infested government that is so evident today. Death due to starvation in Malaysia (for that matter anywhere in the world) should never happen but I am quite sure it occurred due to the inefficiency of the government of that day and had nothing to do with their corruption or ill conscience. For whatever Anwar's genuine intention of leading a demonstration then, the fact is it definitely catapulted his political career. Coming from a family where his father was one of the youngest UMNO MPs, I am quite sure he knew what he was doing and where that incident will take him. 2) ISA detainee;
As some say, according to his fellow detainees like Syed Hussin etc, he kept them entertained and the overall mood there was great. Agreed he has a great sense of humor and that is all. 3) UMNO/PAS;
He chose UMNO because .... Let me guess ...."I'm going to change UMNO from within " ... yeah RIGHT! How so original! What a sacrifice! 4) His legacy in UMNO;
What legacy are we talking about here? My limited knowledge tells me his moronic decision to introduce Bahasa Baku when he was the Education Minister. We found it strange trying to decipher the new lingo on RTM news. As the Finance Minister, he fought tooth and nail against pegging the ringgit when on hindsight we are all aware was a masterstroke by Dr M that saved not just Malaysia but this region. Whose brilliant idea was it to give hard earned tax payers money amounting to RM 1 billion to Indonesia and that too when we were going through one of our worst financial crisis. Was someone trying to look good on the international stage? 5) He is Mr Clean;
Could anyone believe that Anwar could maneuver himself within UMNO's corridors of 'lepers' and rise to be the Deputy President just on Dr M's patronage alone without greasing a few hands and closing one eye here and there along the way? Just because he was never caught does not do justice to the argument here. If it needs be reminded, even with Pakatan Rakyat now controlling 4 states, it is difficult to unearth dirt on most UMNO leaders. 'Angels' like Mohd Taib, Samy Velu etc still remain clean in the eyes of the 'law'. 6) He couldn't do much because of Dr M;
Which only means that he was aware of the injustices that were going around but did nothing. Just great isn't it! Here is a guy who went out of his way to highlight the Baling incident but suddenly chooses to remain silent within the system. Wasn't this the same guy who once said he joined UMNO because .... 7) That was then now is now;
Fine, acceptable. So I guess he must be sorry and regretful about it? NO! To date I would like to put it on record there has been no public apology or mention of any regret! So what is going on then? What reforms are we then talking about for the future? 8) Drama Queen;
During last year's BERSIH rally, in case you are unaware, Anwar was not involved in the formation of the petition that was to be given to the Agong. However, at the precise moment of the handing over of the petition, guess who appears driven in on a 500cc bike and that too 15 to 30 minutes late so everyone had to wait for his grand arrival? What was supposed to be a rakyat's initiative attended by thousands of people from all walks of life was hijacked right under their noses by saudara Anwar. During the HINDRAF rally (pre and post), was Anwar around? However, guess who was suddenly there championing the Indians' rights in Klang just after the infamous HINDRAF 5 ISA arrests. Wow, what a 'Makkal Sakthi' guy! The Turkish embassy fiasco and of course the the Sept 16 drama that practically crippled the whole country economically. 9) His sacrifice going to jail from 1998 to 2004;
That, I'm afraid has nothing to do with the rakyat. He fell out of favour with the dictatorial Dr M and suffered his wrath. That was not his sacrifice to the rakyat at all however wrong it was. Anwar only 'saw the light' for reformation after losing his job as a DPM. While in UMNO and wearing his Armani suits, somehow reformasi was the furthest thing on his mind. Since 1998 till today, the entire country is still fighting Anwar's personal sodomy trials, while 'Rome burns'!
So my friend, leaving aside Anwar's superior oratory skills and empowering personality, what else has he proven himself to us? I know of a similar late Malay actor/singer who possessed similar atributes but did not go far politically. Should we regret that ? Please do not misinterpret what I am trying to put across here. I do believe we are on the crossroads of political change and Anwar is at the moment our best candidate by chance or default to be our next PM. However, what is more important is the rakyat should be the ones in control and not just one person. We must watch him and Pakatan Rakyat like hawks once they take control of the government and never ever make the same mistakes we did with BN. Be a patriot and think out of the box! |
| I have resigned as MCLM president Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:44 PM PST THE PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT From the very first post in this blog to this day, my political viewpoint has been the same. If we are to transform this into a nation of a single, united people, and to finally start to see a just distribution of the nation's wealth, to offer equal educational and economic opportunities to all our children, and, most importantly, to restore vital institutions of state back to their role as servants of the people, UMNO and BN had to be removed from Putrajaya. My faith, though, in seeing this realised, has been with an awakening people working with the non-BN political parties who are truly pro-rakyat. This, too, remains unchanged. On 30th October, 2010, whilst attending to guests at an SABM dinner, lecture, I received an sms from RPK informing that that very night, in London, at the inaugural meeting of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement, I had been unanimously elected as president. 3 weeks later, I was in Manchester where, after much deliberation with RPK, I agreed to accept the position subject to our agreement on several issues. I will only mention two here that I believe relevant to the difficult decision I have made today. First, matters of policy and direction of MCLM were to be determined and made after mutual consultation and consensus between us. Second, RPK would oversee the administrative affairs of MCLM, in his capacity as chairman, as well as look into all overseas matters. whilst I would drive our operations here at home. In December, 2010, in London, RPK announced the launch of our Barisan Rakyat Independent Candidate Initiative. In July, last year, MCLM announced the deployment of our first candidate, Dr Neduchelian, in the Kapar consitutuency. In December, last year, after conferring with RPK, MCLM joined several other groups in issuing a warning to Najib that should he call snap elections without first carrying through the electoral reforms demanded by BERSIH 2.0, he should brace himself for street rallies that might culminate in his government being toppled. I wish to reiterate here that this was no idle threat. Again, after conferring with RPK, MCLM had, last month, firmly aligned itself with the many NGOs and several political parties that hve given life to the Asalkan Bukan Umno / Anything But Umno (ABU) initiative. Yesterday, the New Straits Times published an interview with RPK that was conducted in Singapore last week. I had been informed by RPK whilst I was with him in Phuket over the Christmas holiday that this interview was to take place. I was not, however, fully appraised of all that was to be said in the course of the interview. The matters spoken of by RPK have been quite wide-ranging. I only propose to allude here to the two parts that have led me to the decision I have made today. Under the heading "Rights group not a third force – RPK" that appeared in the NST and is reproduced in full on Malaysia Today, RPK is reported to have said that "MCLM had decided it would not field any candidates for the coming general election". I can confirm now that no such decision has been made after due consultation. And under the heading "RPK – Anwar may become irrelevant", also reproduced in full on Malaysia Today, RPK is reported to have said that "the Egypt-style people's revolution was not an answer for Malaysia due to the delicate racial balance. "They (Chinese voters) don't want Tahrir Square type of change"." These comments just referred to greatly undermine efforts I am making, albeit through MLCM, in the ABU initiative. It also saddens me that even as initiatives like SABM and so many others continue daily to undo the ill-effects of UMNO/BN's 40 over years of race-based, divide-and-rule, my friend should continue to see us as Malays, Chinese, Indians, dll. I remain committed to all efforts to see this a nation of a single people, all equal. And I am fully committed to the cause of ABU. In the circumstances, I find it impossible to continue to serve MCLM as its president. I have communicated my resignation to RPK by email. READ MORE HERE |
| Come back and shed light on bribery claims, Selangor urges Raja Petra Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:35 PM PST (The Star) - The Selangor state government is willing to pay the travel cost for blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin to come to state office to shed some light into his bribery claims. Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's political secretary Faekah Husin said Raja Petra, who is currently living in self-imposed exile overseas, should be responsible for his statements and provide more information to his claims of corruption in the Pakatan Rakyat-held state. "He should not make wild accusations just to undermine the state government's efforts. We do sympathise and understand his disappointments of having to live in exile amidst personal problems, but making wild accusations will not help him return home. It will instead further dent his image," she said in a statement Monday. Faekah said providing further information was the least Raja Petra he could do to help the state government combat corruption, more so since he was of Selangor royal blood. "His accusations that there are corrupt practices in Selangor...are serious. We urge him to step forward to provide detailed information to the state government so that detailed investigations can be carried out. "We are willing to pay for his travel costs, The state has allocated RM15mil to combat corruption and abuse of power, an amount which has been included in the Selangorku Geran," she added. Raja Petra, a once close ally of Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, recently gave an interview to selected mainstream media and an online portal where he spoke on a variety of issues, including Anwar's possible irrelevance, his sodomy trial and the state in Selangor. He claimed that corruption was still the same in Selangor and that people still had to pay "under table" money to get things done. |
| RPK says detractors’ comments not important Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:31 PM PST (The Star) - Controversial blogger-in-exile Raja Petra Kamarudin has hit back at critics who have accused him of selling out to Barisan Nasional after he criticised Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a recent interview with Mingguan Malaysia. In his latest post on his website, he said he had expected the barrage of criticism unleashed against him once the interview was published as "not many could accept the truth". Dismissing comments in various online portals where readers questioned whether he had sold out or turned traitor against Anwar, he said the vast majority of their comments did not matter to him. "The more important issue is, which category are you in? Are you amongst the less than four million Malaysians who voted Opposition in the last general election in 2008 or are you amongst the more than 11 million eligible voters who did not vote Opposition, did not vote at all, or did not even register to vote? "Yes, I value your comments, but only if you fall in the first category of all those various groups above. If not, then your comments are of no significance. And that would probably mean almost all if not all of those who are commenting," he wrote in his latest blog post Monday, questioning the majority of the commenters' true commitment towards asserting their political rights. Once a staunch Anwar supporter, RPK stunned many when he questioned whether Anwar was the best candidate to lead the country and said he "wasn't impressed" with Anwar's performance in Selangor. "Have there been many drastic changes in Selangor? Definitely not. The feedback we have received reflects that corruption still remains at the same level, no decrease," he said in the interview, which was also published in Berita Harian, The New Sunday Times and his online website Malaysia Today on Sunday. RPK pointed out that it had been three years since Anwar was appointed Selangor's economic advisor, and yet had gone for more than 60 overseas trips during that period instead of carrying out his duties. "We tell him, stay in the country and carry out your duties in Pakatan. More than 60 trips overseas is really too extreme," he said. |
| Raja Petra Kamarudin adalah ‘blogger upahan Umno’ Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:25 PM PST (Harakah Daily) - Keterdesakan Umno dan Barisan Nasional di bawah pimpinan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak semakin terserlah dan jelas tidak boleh diselindung lagi. Setiausaha Agung PKR, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail berkata, perkiraan Najib untuk membubarkan Parlimen dan mengadakan pilihanraya umum dalam tempoh terdekat ini bakal mengundang padah yang besar bagi dirinya dan isteri beliau, Rosmah serta pada keseluruhan parti usang Umno dan Barisan Nasional. Katanya, umum mengetahui bahawa strategi serangan terhadap Anwar Ibrahim adalah usaha terus-terusan Umno dan Barisan Nasional, dan menghumban Anwar ke dalam penjara dianggap bakal memberi sedikit nyawa untuk mereka terus wujud dan merompak harta rakyat dan Negara. Terbaru sekali, ujarnya adalah kepolokkan Utusan Malaysia dan Berita Harian, media pembohong milik Umno yang cukup pantas memetik dan memperbesar kenyataan Raja Petra Kamarudin tentang fitnah dan tohmahan kes salah laku seks terhadap Anwar Ibrahim di muka hadapan akhbar masing-masing. "Umum tidak harus lupa bahawa Raja Petra Kamarudin, yang kini semakin diketahui sebagai 'blogger upahan Umno' juga pernah membuat kenyataan bersumpah bahawa Najib dan Rosmah terlibat dalam pembunuhan kejam model Mongolia Altantuya Shariibuu tidak lama dahulu yang walaubagaimanapun, sememangnya dan tentunya tidak dilapor langsung oleh akhbar-akhbar ini," ujarnya dalam satu kenyataan. Katanya, fitnah pertuduhan meliwat oleh Anwar Ibrahim yang selama ini menjadi ancaman kepada Najib dan Rosmah bakal diputuskan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi tanggal 9 Januari ini. "Terdesaknya Umno adalah apabila belum apa-apa, hasrat rakyat kebanyakan untuk keluar memberi sokongan kepada Anwar terus dianggap sebagai cubaan mencetuskan huru-hara," ujarnya yang juga Ahli Parlimen Machang. Menurutnya, harus ditekankan bahawa Anwar Ibrahim merupakan Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen Malaysia, Ahli Parlimen Permatang Pauh dan Ketua Umum Parti Keadilan Rakyat. "Sebagai seorang pemimpin politik, tentunya beliau mempunyai pengikut dan penyokongnya," katanya. Kehadiran pengikut dan penyokong Anwar dan anggota-anggota PKR bagi menunjukkan sokongan terhadap beliau tidak harus dianggap sebagai cubaan menghuru-harakan negara. Dari nada pimpinan Umno dan media milik Umno berhubung perkara ini kebelakangan ini serta dari pengalaman lampau, beliau dapat menjangka bahawa Umno sendirilah yang akan mencetuskan provokasi pada hari tersebut. "Saya sekali lagi menyeru kalangan anggota dan penyokong parti untuk berhati-hati dan tidak terjebak dengan perangkap Umno dan Barisan Nasional yang ingin menjadikan 9 Januari ini suatu hari hitam dalam diari perjuangan kita," ujarnya. Tambahnya, nyata keterdesakan Umno dan Barisan Nasional untuk terus mengekang dan memadam kebangkitan rakyat telah menjangkau ke tahap kritikal. |
| RPK: Azmin can only plot and scheme Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:17 PM PST Raja Petra trains his gun at Azmin Ali, saying that Anwar's blue-eyed boy is not the right person to lead PKR post-Anwar. "Azmin is deceitful and he will put his personal interests and ambition above the interests of the party and the rakyat. He is basically a product of Umno who has not been able to shed the Umno culture. He is still Umno through and through. And what we want is ABU: anything but Umno," said Raja Petra. K Kabilan, Free Malaysia Today 
Influential blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin predicts an internal revolt in PKR if Anwar Ibrahim tries to promote deputy president Azmin Ali to take over the party after his (Anwar's) sentencing for sodomy. "In fact there is already an internal revolt. If Anwar pushes for Azmin, there will be a backlash," Raja Petra told FMT in an interview recently. Raja Petra said Azmin is devious, likes to plot and scheme, and more worryingly, still had Umno culture in him. "I have not seen anything from Azmin this far which impresses me or convinces me that he can lead." "His forte is scheming and plotting, and that's about it. But sooner or later we need to stop scheming and plotting and get down to business. This, Azmin appears incapable of," he said. "Azmin is deceitful and he will put his personal interests and ambition above the interests of the party and the rakyat." "He is basically a product of Umno who has not been able to shed the Umno culture. He is still Umno through and through. And what we want is ABU: anything but Umno," said Raja Petra. Raja Petra also reiterated that PKR members would not have forgotten Azmin's role in pushing out Zaid Ibrahim from PKR after the contentious party polls in 2010. "The tragedy of Zaid leaving the party was Azmin's doing. Then they tried to paint a picture of Zaid being a Trojan horse and whatnot," he said. He also added that even Pakatan Rakyat partners PAS and DAP would prefer someone else apart from Azmin to lead PKR. "Azmin may be acceptable to Anwar as his anointed successor but PAS and DAP do not trust him and do not regard him highly." Nurul should take charge
 When asked who could fill the leadership mantle in the party post-Anwar, Raja Petra said it was time for vice-president Nurul Izzah to step up and take charge. "Nurul needs to get out of the father's shadow. She needs to be Nurul Izzah, not Nurul the daughter of Anwar." "She also needs to oppose her father if need be whenever she feels her father is wrong. Maybe the best thing for her would be if Anwar were to be sent to jail. Then Nurul can be her own woman." He also brushed aside general concerns that Nurul was inexperienced and too young to helm PKR, especially going into an election year. "They say Nurul is too young. 200 years ago girls got married at 11, boys joined the army at 13, and by 30 you were considered old and over the hill." "Nurul, by the standards of 200 years ago, would be old and over the hill. So, no, I do not think she is too young and certainly she is of the age when she can take over the leadership of the party." "But does she have enough experience? If she does not play a leadership role now then how is she to get the experience? It is a catch 22 situation," he said. 
He was also harsh on Anwar's leadership, especially in the lack of direction after the massive wins gained in the 2008 general election. "Over the last three years, he has made more than 60 overseas trips. It appears like Anwar is more interested in lecturing at forums and universities than of managing Selangor as its economic adviser or managing party matters as the party adviser." "Would Anwar's absence really be missed?" he asked. On the attack
On Sunday, Raja Petra told FMT that it was certain Anwar would be jailed for sodomy on Jan 9. He also alluded that Anwar was in fact guilty of the sodomy charge, saying that the PKR supremo was a victim of a honey-trap. Apart from talking to FMT, Raja Petra had also granted interviews to other mainstream media in which he had said that Malaysians were unable to accept a homosexual to lead the country. However he did not state Anwar was homosexual. He had also claimed that he was almost 90 percent sure that the man featured in a sex video released by the Datuk T trio was Anwar. He added that Anwar had lied by stating that he did not know the main personality behind the Datuk T trio, Shazryl Eskay Abdullah. Anwar has not officially responded to Raja Petra's hard-hitting interviews but PKR vice-president N Surendran said that Raja Petra's "statements, insinuations and innuendos are unfair,untrue, unsupported by any believable evidence and plainly libelous". Surendran reiterated Anwar's stand that the sodomy trial was "a transparent fabrication by Umno/BN with the connivance and cooperation of the police force and the Attorney General's office". READ MORE HERE |
| Najib’s ex-info chief joins DAP Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:15 PM PST DAP scores a coup with Umno veterans and bloggers, including former Pulau Manis Umno rep Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz. 
(Free Malaysia Today) - Former Pulau Manis Umno assemblyman Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz and Negeri Umno veteran Aspan Alias (photo) have joined DAP. Having Ariff on board is a major coup for DAP because he was Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's information chief in his Pekan Umno division up until 2004. "If you want to know, yes, that is what we are doing (joining DAP). "I am impressed by DAP. They are principled, I like their professionalism. "I was with (Lim) Guan Eng at the bloggers conference last month. There is no fancy words, they are focussed on work … always thinking unlike our Umno people," he told FMT recently. Ariff's admission puts to rest weeks of wildfire speculations in pro-Umno blogs. He is also rumoured to be contesting under the DAP banner in the next general election. Ariff is touted to be contesting in Raub where MCA's Ng Yen Yen is incumbent. Ng is currently the tourism minister, and a MCA vice president. Warning to Umno's bloggers 
Gunning pro-Umno bloggers who have been maligning them both personally and professionally, an incessant Ariff (photo) said: "Why the paranoia? If we are not good, failed Adun (assemblymen), bankrupt politicians, it will be cinch for any winnable Umno candidates to beat us. "So, it's no cause of concern or a sleep depriver." "But be warned, you want to play ball, we play ball too, so stop telling lies about us and we can promise not to tell the truth about you (Umno)." Both Ariff and Aspan are not alone. There are increasing speculations of shifts within and out of Umno. DAP has been targeting 'thinking' Malays post-2008 GE to increase its support within the community. Onboard is Transparency International Malaysia founder Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim who is now the party's vice chairman and former Umno education minister Khir Johari's son Zairil. Zairil and party strategist Liew Chin Tong along with Youth chairman Anthony Loke have been tasked with wooing selected Malays. It was reported that the party leaders have been meeting "Malay opinion-makers in small closed-door discussions dealing with issues concerning Islamic state, hudud and Bumiputera affirmative action". READ MORE HERE |
| RPK’s Statement Baseless And Unsupported Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:08 PM PST I refer to blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's interview in which he discusses 'gay Prime Ministers' in relation to the sodomy trial of federal Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He also says he is '90 per cent sure' that the person in the notorious 'Datuk T' sex video is Anwar Ibrahim. I do not wish to speculate as to RPK's motives in making such statements. However I do say that his statements, insinuations and innuendoes are unfair, untrue, unsupported by any believable evidence and plainly libellous. For some reason, RPK ignores the fact that the entire sodomy case is a transparent fabrication by Umno/BN with the connivance and cooperation of the police force and the Attorney General's office. RPK's insinuations are thus based upon a malicious conspiracy which is widely disbelieved throughout this country and abroad. Anwar's trial has made a mockery of justice, and fair and accepted legal procedures; and it has been condemned as such by civil and political leaders as well as rights bodies worldwide. The failure to disclose material evidence critical to the defence; the serious flaws in the way forensic samples were obtained, stored and analyzed; the unusual and legally unsound pre-judgement of the case by Judge Zabidin at the end of prosecution case; the extraordinary meeting between the complainant and the Prime Minister, and the PM's lying explanation for it, are but some of the proofs of a wide-ranging conspiracy behind the Sodomy II case. Upon this shaky ground, RPK builds a ramshackle tower of vague suppositions and wild innuendoes.
As for the sex video, it was concocted out of desperation by UMNO-linked conspirators as a result of Sodomy II's failure to turn the rakyat against Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat. A key figure in the shameful sex video fiasco is the former UMNO Vice-President and Chief Minister of Melaka, Rahim Thamby Chik who was forced to resign over a sex scandal involving a minor. Tens of thousands of copies of the pornographic video were freely distributed all over the country, while the police sat by and took no action against the porn-peddlers. When after months of public pressure, the Datuk T trio were charged for a minor offence, the A-G's chambers took advantage of the proceedings to slander and attack the reputation of Anwar Ibrahim. Has RPK forgotten UMNO's long, disgraceful and criminal history of abusing the police, prosecution and judiciary in order to silence or neutralize key opposition figures? Further, he provides not the slightest basis or evidence for his extraordinary claim that he is '90 %' certain that it is Anwar in the sex video.
It is extremely fortunate that the people of this country have not fallen for these UMNO-inspired plots, which are simply underhand and criminal attempts to halt the reform movement and Pakatan Rakyat's march to federal power. UMNO must engage in democratic politics by debate and discussion, and stop using dirty and dishonest means to try to bring down Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat.
Issued by,
N SURENDRAN
VICE PRESIDENT
KEADILAN
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| RAJA PETRA PERLU BERI MAKLUMAT LANJUT DAKWAAN RASUAH Posted: 01 Jan 2012 10:05 AM PST KENYATAAN AKHBAR Saya terpanggil untuk memberi komen selepas membaca temubual eksklusif bekas rakan reformasi yang juga Penulis Blog, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) bersama akhbar-akhbar milik UMNO yang disiarkan semalam. Meskipun saya menghormati hak RPK melakukan analisa politiknya namun saya berasa mushkil dan sesungguhnya hanya beliau seorang sahaja yang mengetahui logik sebenar kenyataan tersebut. Pada masa yang sama saya percaya rakyat boleh menilai sendiri kenyataan dan dakwaan yang dibuat oleh RPK seperti disiarkan The Sunday Times dan Berita Minggu - dua akhbar yang dulunya pernah mengkritik dan mengutuk RPK secara keras kerana menentang Kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Walau apapun sebab yang membawa kepada tindakan akhbar-akhbar tersebut bertukar selera serta ghairah memberi keistimewaan kepada RPK, yang pasti RPK harus bertanggungjawab ke atas apa yang beliau telah katakan. Tuduhan beliau bahawa wujud amalan rasuah di Selangor; duit kopi yang melibatkan para usahawan berbangsa Cina, adalah tuduhan serius. Kami menuntut RPK untuk tampil memberikan butiran lanjut kepada Kerajaan Negeri dan pihak berwajib agar penyiasatan terperinci dapat dilakukan. Kerajaan Negeri bersedia membayar kos perjalanan RPK ke Pejabat Pentadbiran Kerajaan kerana untuk makluman RPK Kerajaan Negeri Selangor telah memperuntukkan sejumlah RM15 juta untuk membasmi rasuah dan penyalahgunaan kuasa di Negara ini khususnya di Selangor. Jumlah tersebut termasuk di dalam Geran Selangorku yang diumumkan oleh YAB Dato' Menteri Besar ketika pembentangan Belanjawan 2012 yang lalu. Sesungguhnya inilah sekecil-kecil jasa yang beliau boleh lakukan untuk membantu kerajaan yang benar-benar mahu membenteras rasuah; apatah lagi beliau sendiri dari darah bangsawan negeri Selangor. RPK tidak seharusnya melemparkan dakwaan liar hanya semata-mata mahu memperlekeh usaha Kerajaan Negeri untuk mewujudkan sebuah pentadbiran yang baik, bersih dan penuh pertanggungjawaban. Kami sesungguhnya simpati dan amat memahami kekecewaan beliau yang terpaksa hidup dalam buangan di tengah-tengah permasalahan peribadi yang beliau hadapi, tetapi dengan melemparkan dakwaan liar sebegini tidak akan membantu membawanya pulang ke negara ini. Sebaliknya ianya hanya akan mencemarkan lagi imejnya yang sudah sediakala tercalar. Rata-rata teman reformasi yang sempat dihubungi serta rakyat biasa, telahpun membuat kesimpulan bahawa RPK begitu terdesak serta mengharapkan kebebasan dan dibenarkan pulang ke negara ini. Insuransnya mudah; tohmahan dan fitnah terhadap Kerajaan Negeri Selangor dan Penasihat Ekonomi Negeri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sebagai serangan awal menghadapi pilihan raya umum. FAEKAH HUSIN SETIAUSAHA POLITIK KEPADA YAB DATO' MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR |
| Apa maksud ‘Pemimpin yang ditunggu’ Posted: 01 Jan 2012 09:31 AM PST Tok Ki, The Malaysian Insider Menatap video rakaman ucapan Dr Badrul Amin adalah contoh lawak terbaik menjelang 901. Antara yang saya sempat kutip daripada video itu; "Perlu ada seorang pemimpin yang mampu menyatukan umat Islam — paling tidak menyatukan dunia Arab. Ia akan datang dari sebelah Timur. Ia sudah ada dan sedang disiapkan dengan mengalami siri ujian-ujian peringkat akhir. Orang hormat prinsip agamanya. Dan dia ialah Anwar Ibrahim". Lawak sungguh firasat Dr Badrul. Bagaimana "ulama" PKR ini tergamak membuat kenyataan yang memperlihatkan daya taksub kelas pertama sedangkan yang digambarkan itu penuh dengan masalah integriti atau kewibawaan. Sayang, ilmu yang dimilikinya, kelulusan yang didapatinya tidak seimbang dengan kenyataan yang dibuat. Kalaulah dikatakan Anwar memiliki faktor penyatuan umat, kerana cita-cita peribadinya untuk sampai ke Putrajaya, umat Islam berpecah dan umat Malaysia terjebak dalam sengketa. Ramai kawan yang dulunya rapat dengannya kini meninggalkannya. Dia tak mampu menjadi faktor pemersatu. Alasan kawan-kawan yang meninggalkannya ialah Anwar tidak layak menjadi pemimpin kerana menghadapi masalah moral yang serius. Anwar membalas dengan mudah dan lazim kepada yang meninggalkannya — mereka sudah dibeli oleh Umno atau kerajaan. Ujian yang dilaluinya adalah hasil perbuatannya sendiri. Dia tuduh konspirasi berlaku. Mana bukti konspirasi itu. Apakah mudah pihak polis, ahli perubatan, pakar forensik, pegawai pendakwa, hakim dan lain-lain lagi berpakat untuk melakukan kerja keji dan zalim itu. Kalau ia berlaku lambat laun ia akan pecah juga, "mulut tempayan boleh ditutup, mulut manusia, tidak!" "Orang itu datang dari Timur". Ini mengingat penulis Allahyarham Ustaz Ashaari Muhammad, pemimpin Arqam mengenai Pemuda Bani Tamim yang bakal muncul datang dari Timur. Apakah Anwar Ibrahim orangnya. Ciri-ciri yang disebutkan oleh Dr Badrul tidak menggambarkan watak sedemikian. Apakah kenyataan Dr Badrul sebagai strategi "pemujaan" menjelang 901. Dia disebut sebagai menghormati prinsip agama. Dr Badrul tentu arif mengenai isu "kalimah Allah" yang diperjuangkan oleh Anwar yang menyebabkan ia digelar "pluralis" sewaktu bercakap di London School of Economics suatu ketika dulu. Dia juga yang mengambil sikap terbuka mengenai isu pemurtadan di DUMC, 3 Ogos 2011 yang menyebabkan Dr Hasan Ali semacam dipinggirkan dari memainkan peranan dan Anwar dikatakan berada di belakang penyokong gaya hidup lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transeksual (LGBT) kerana kenyataannya tidak jelas. Dia dikatakan mempunyai ramai kawan seperti Al Gore, Camdessus, George Soros, Paul Wolfowitz, Shaha Ali Reza (teman wanita Wolfowitz), Martin Indyk (bekas Duta AS ke Israel), Michael Danby (MP Australia yang pro-Israel), James Wolfensohn (bekas Presiden Bank Dunia), William Cohen (bekas Setiausaha Pertahanan AS) dan ramai lagi. Apakah Dr Badrul tidak pernah mengetahui ini semua. Kasihan! Ia ditimbulkan kerana Anwar Ibrahim dikatakan boleh menyatukan umat Arab dan membebaskan Masjidil Aqsa. Bagaimana ini boleh berlaku sekiranya NGO "pelik" dari negara luar amat rapat hubungannya dengan Anwar. Kawan-kawan Anwar dari International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) dan sebahagian kenalan Arabnya dalam Ikhwan Muslimin mungkin tidak tahu isu setempat yang sedang dilalui oleh Anwar termasuk grup al Barakah dari Bahrain. Malah seperti orang lain pun, mereka tidak percaya. Yang berlaku ialah konspirasi dan tuduhan silih berganti terhadapnya adalah dicipta. Memang benar terdapat daya taksub yang tinggi di kalangan sesetengah pihak termasuk yang terjadi kepada Dr Badrul. Tetapi sudah semakin ramai orang luar negara mengetahui cerita sebenarnya. Untuk menjadi "Pemimpin yang ditunggu" membawa risalah mulia mesti memiliki integriti yang tinggi. Apalagi kalau ingin membawa risalah Islam sebagai faktor penyelesai kemelut umat. Di Malaysia, Anwar sedang menghadapi masalah integriti yang serius. Kenyataan Lee Kuan Yew dalam Wikileaks suatu ketika dulu terhadapnya, tidak diberi respons dan ia serius. Salah satu bab biografi Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mengaitkan Anwar dengan kisah yang amat memalukan adalah suatu kes yang serius juga. Video seks Datuk Eskay Abdullah yang dikaitkan dengan dirinya adalah lebih serius lagi. Mengapa Anwar tidak mengambil tindakan menyaman dan membersihkan diri dalam tuduhan ini. Apakah Dr Badrul mengikuti semua ini dan tuduhan-tuduhan yang lain. Dr Badrul tidak boleh mengambil sikap semuanya ini adalah palsu, direka oleh musuh dan suatu siri konspirasi menjatuhkan Anwar dan menghalangnya untuk sampai ke Putrajaya. Anwar pernah memberitahu kawan-kawan Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) dulu iaitu sebagai pemimpin kita kena bersih dan kelihatan bersih. Dr Badrul sebagai bekas pemimpin ABIM tentu pernah dengar ini. READ MORE HERE |
| Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #95 Posted: 01 Jan 2012 09:23 AM PST M. BAKRI MUSA Chapter11: Embracing Free Enterprise Encouraging Entrepreneurialism NEP's Failure to Nurture Malay Entrepreneurs As a long distance observer, let me suggest some reasons for NEP's failure in this endeavor. They all boil down to that basic defect of too much central planning and too rigid top-down command. Instead of trying to create an environment where budding Bumiputra entrepreneurs could thrive, the government went much further to actually select which individual Bumiputras would thrive and succeed. These central planners presume to know the traits of a successful would-be businessman. That these planners—politicians and bureaucrats—have no experience in starting or running a business is conveniently ignored. Such hubris! No surprise then that the pseudo entrepreneurs that the system produced were more adept in cashing in their close association with the politically powerful rather than being true creators and builders of wealth. They in turn perpetuated that same system in choosing their own set of suppliers, subcontractors, and vendors. Thus was born a class of Bumiputra entrepreneurs and businessmen more skillful at commercializing their political ties rather than being true wealth creators; a class of rent seekers and economic parasites rather than of genuine entrepreneurs. These individuals with their new wealth and political clout began flexing their power. They easily convinced the government that juicy public contracts and privatization projects be reserved for them in the belief that their enterprises would quickly reach a sufficient size and strength that they could then take on the world. They wanted to create their own kampong version of the Japanese keiretsu and Korean chaebol. These big Bumiputra companies would then act as a locomotive to carry the rest forward. That at least was the theory. The reality, as with all centrally hatched plans, was far different. The relationship these new companies had with their suppliers and vendors down the feeding chain was more predatory than supportive. These companies acted less like locomotives and more like the head of a serpent devouring every competitor, Bumiputra and non-Bumiputra alike. They effectively snuffed out other new entrants. One example would suffice to illustrate the massive clout of these new Bumiputra pseudo entrepreneurs and their destructive predatory behaviors. In Kuala Lumpur of the 1970s, the government issued a number of bas mini (mini bus) permits to provide transportation services to the many small suburbs sprouting around the capital city. These new settlements were too small to merit regular bus services. Thus the bas mini was an ideal compromise between cheap public buses and the more expensive taxis. That brilliant strategy resulted in many mini bus owner-operators. The program succeeded in creating a class of true small-time entrepreneurs not only in the form of owner operators but also in the supporting services, including repair shops and coach builders. The public too benefited from the frequent and convenient bus service. It became a point where these mini buses became ubiquitous in the capital city, and plans were afoot to introduce them at other major urban centers. They also have a cute acronym, BMW – Bas Mini Wilayah (Federal Mini Bus). It would certainly impress your co-workers when you assert that you come to work in a BMW! It did not take long for the powerful government-sponsored pseudo entrepreneurs to muscle in. They convinced the government to cancel those permits and to give the franchise to their major bus companies instead. Overnight these owner-operators saw their investments became worthless. The government decided, persuaded undoubtedly by the politically connected entrepreneurs, that the big bus companies could provide a better service than the mini bus operators. Of course the government never bothered to ask the consumers. A better strategy would have been to let them battle it out in the marketplace. Whoever provides the better service would win. This hubris of top government officials presuming to be able to pick winners in the private sector is major factor in the economic crisis of 1997. Sadly, the government has yet to learn its lesson. It continues with the same pattern. Only this time some other new favored players are replacing the Tajuddin Ramlis and Halim Saads of yore. Contracts and projects are still being awarded sans competitive bidding. A decade hence the story would be the same, only the characters and ventures would change. READ MORE HERE |
| RPK speaks his mind on Politics in Malaysia Posted: 01 Jan 2012 07:56 AM PST DIN MERICAN Nearly 7,000 words by measure can be a long piece. The temptation is to dismiss RPK as having sold out to the other side because he talks to his erstwhile opponents, The New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia. If he has sold his allegiance to any side of our politics, then his friends in Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement like the committed Haris Ibrahim and his associates would have abandoned him. They are still with him. He may be critical of both UMNO-BN and Pakatan Rakyat these days. That is understandable. And I think I know why. They all are disillusioned with politicians on both sides of the political divide. I recall having a meeting before the 2008 General Elections with my good friend Haris Ibrahim at the Cobra Club House in Petaling Jaya. Haris wanted to know from me whether PKR (at that time I was in Anwar Ibrahim's Office) and its associates, DAP and PAS, would endorse their Peoples Declaration. I spoke to all top guns in PKR including Anwar Ibrahim and Tian Chua, and came back and told Haris that PKR would endorse it and so would DAP and PAS. As a result of that endorsement, Haris Ibrahim, RPK, Bernard Khoo and others took part on the campaign for the March 8, 2008 elections and subsequent by-elections. RPK went to hell for the cause, spending some time in Sungei Buloh under ISA until he was won his habeas corpus case in the Shah Alam High Court. His high profile case was ably handled by Malik Imtiaz, Art Harun and others. RPK is passionate about the cause of freedom, human right, justice and democracy. He has written a book, The Silent Roar, containing his views on Malaysian political issues.
Writ of Habeas corpus petition, as you know, is a petition filed with a court by a person who objects to his own or another's detention or imprisonment. The petition must show that the court ordering the detention or imprisonment made a legal or factual error. Habeas corpus petitions are usually filed by persons serving prison sentences.
When their agenda as embodied in the Peoples Declaration was not taken up in earnest by Pakatan Rakyat, RPK and Haris Ibrahim formed the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) to promote political reform in our country. I have a lot of regard for RPK, Haris Ibrahim and the people who are from civil society in this worthy cause. In this interview, he mentioned some outstanding names. But he was critical of Ambiga, the hero of Berish 2.0.
Please read this interview in its entirety with care and critique his views if you must but do not cast aspersions on RPK. I trust you can do that. I am afraid I do not have an English version, but the interview he gave to the New Straits Times which I posted earlier can give some idea of what he is saying in this Mingguan Malaysia interview. READ MORE HERE |
| Will we see a change of government in Malaysia in the coming general election? Posted: 01 Jan 2012 07:47 AM PST HORNBILL UNLEASHED The 12th general election in 2008 produced a devastating result for Barisan Nasional. BN received 49 per cent of popular votes in the Peninsula while the opposition gained a combined vote of 51 per cent. Nationally, after taking into account of votes from Sabah and Sarawak, the tally was reversed with BN 51 per cent versus the opposition at 49 per cent. In terms of seats, on 8th March 2008, BN gained 85 seats in the Peninsula while the opposition 80 seats. The opposition managed to get only one (Bandar Kuching) of the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak and one (Kota Kinabalu) of 25 in Sabah. In the Peninsula, the opposition won one (Bakri) of 26 seats in Johor and two (Kuantan and Indera Mahkota) of Pahang's 13 parliamentary seats. The four "fixed deposit" states of BN has a total of 95 seats. A change of federal government will happen if the opposition wins a third of the parliamentary seats in the states of Sabah, Sarawak, Johore and Pahang. Besides the economic issues such as inflation and depleting value of income, the coming 13th general election will also be based on these factors: 1. Malay votes are sensitive to issues of corruption, abuse of power and bullying tactics against political foes (think about Anwar Ibrahim, Adam Adli, etc); 2. At least two traditional vote banks of Umno — Felda and the civil service — are in jittery due to poor policy choices (listing of FGV and the new salary scheme). 3. The Indian support for BN is not as solid as it was thought. There are divides along the line of North-South (Pakatan Rakyat is not very strong in southern Peninsula), urban-estate (access to alternative information is minimal in estates), middle class-poor (the poor being more supportive of BN, for whatever reasons). 4. The Chinese support for BN has further eroded since 2008, thanks to Perkasa and Utusan. 5. In Utusan and Perkasa's zeal to promote its exclusivist causes, a huge segment of "fixed deposits" — the Sabah and Sarawak Christian Bumiputra — are alienated. 6. Sabah Umno as possible king maker. Umno won only 79 of the 112 federal seats it contested in 2008. Of which 13 comes from Sabah and one from Labuan. Essentially, the Peninsula Umno won only 65 seats. 7. Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud as possible king maker. Allegedly Najib Razak dislikes Taib. If the Prime Minister does not do anything before the next poll, with 14 parliamentary seats which his Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) is likely to retain, Taib may hold the balance of power. READ MORE HERE |
| Malaysia would be a better place without Umno Posted: 01 Jan 2012 07:45 AM PST HORNBILL UNLEASHED Who is responsible for destroying racial unity in this country? Which forked-tongue party with the tacit support of their soul mate – a xenophobic NGO – is using race and religion to divide the people? It is palpably not the Opposition. The Opposition on their part are seriously working with the marginalized minorities as well as the majority race in instilling peace and unity in the society. Ethnic diversity is no doubt a distinctive feature of Malaysia but the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling parties – led by the 'Big Brother', UMNO – opt to promote individual self-serving racial schema all in the name of promoting the interests of their own ethnic group against the other. This has led to a divisive kind of politics in the coalition since the country's independence and it has caused grave disunity among the people of various races and religions. The only party in the country that often uses race, religion and ethnic 'rights' to stay relevant in politics is UMNO. For this reason, UMNO does not deserve to talk about racial unity. Constitution was carved in good faith Article 153 visibly states that it is the King's responsibility "to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article". Sadly, some racial zealots are using this Article as a weapon of aggression just to score some brownie points in politics. This symptom is not boding well for the country. Malaysians in general have never questioned the special position of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak. The minorities among them only demand that their positions too be acknowledged by the majority race. Notably, the Constitution was carved with good faith to create a united Malaysian race. It explicitly covers the special 'position' of the indigenous and unreservedly recognizes the 'rights' of all Malaysians. The Constitution is not deliberately tilted towards any single group of citizens to favour them more then the others. The lexis 'rights' and 'position' are semantically disparate, though. Unfortunately, some UMNO politicians and their soul mates care more to argue on the deeper structure of the terminology. A Malay lawmaker has this to say: "When politicians talk of the special 'rights' of only one group of people, it smacks of unfairness, as the Constitution also implicitly prescribes for the 'rights' of other Malaysians." There is a harmonious gamut to the positions of all races in the country in the Constitution, which some politicians prefer to ignore. They are immaturely trying to practise divisive politics by toying with the issue of 'a chosen people' versus ' the marginal group' and this has perceptibly caused covert but marked disunity among people of different races and religions in the country. As commented by the Malay lawmaker, "No one disputes the Constitution and no minority groups are for civil strife just by asking the majority to be fair to them as the rightful citizens of the country." UMNO and some deep-seated NGO leaders are too quick to demean those who bring to facade the above notion – erroneously implying that any attempt to honestly decipher the semantic of the Constitution is to question UMNO and undermine what they term as 'the unity foundations they have long built'. Too many political observers, this is too opinionated in temperament. The lawmaker added: "The Constitution belongs to all Malaysians and not any political party per se. Some politicians are actually destroying racial unity in manipulating the neat foundation of the Constitution when they insinuate that the minorities must accept themselves as second-class citizens." To reject a government More often than not, the word 'unity' becomes a hallowed formulate expansively used by UMNO just before elections to win support. The word disappears from their political repository just after an election. Unity rhetoric is only for UMNO's political expedient. In truth, national unity has virtually been shattered by the UMNO government. Unity in its truest sense can only be seen if the rights of all Malaysians are taken care of. For that matter, safeguarding the indigenous rights does not come at the expense of the legitimate interests of the minorities. It is a fundamental human right that the minorities in any nation are treated fairly. When the minorities come to realize that they are neglected in all societal sectors they are bound to have animosity against the majority. They, therefore, deserve the right to reject a government that advocates injustice and unfairness. A sociologist has this to say, "A social contract bounds the rights of all citizens. Nothing absolute pertaining to race is actually sealed in a social contract. The deprived in the society need to be helped. Poverty eradication involves people from all ethnic groups – not just confined to a single race. The poor among all races have to be factored in. Racial unity prevails when a government is sincere in narrowing this gap." Promoting racial unity for UMNO is like playing a hide and seek game. To the sociologists, the framework for racial unity has to be based on the true aspirants of the people – the majority and the minority. UMNO's mode of silencing the parties representing the minority ethnic groups in the BN coalition with a 'Big Brother' mentality – on the issue of rights and special position of the indigenous has not helped promote good racial relations in the country. UMNO cannot call for unity and yet with the same breath spew out racist remarks against the non-Malays. Neither is it right for UMNO to rancorously create an imaginary Christian onslaught on Islam, as this has given rise to a widening gulf of misapprehension between the Muslims and the Christians in the country. Cycle of poverty It is an accepted reality that not all Malaysians are ready to totally shed their racial identity and call themselves Malaysians. For this ideal to morph into reality it may take another few generations. But UMNO does not seem to have the formula for this quandary. First, the poor and marginalized Malays, Indians, Chinese and the Indigenous are those that need to be helped to pull them into a level playing ground. As practised by UMNO, enriching a selected few among their cronies is not the solution to national unity. Over 70 percent of the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak are still poor after many years of independence. Over 65 percent of the Malays are still in the poor category despite the long years of NEP. The marginalised Indians constitute 58 percent of the poor within this community. The Chinese too are not spared by poverty. 35 percent are still under the poor category within this community. Building richness solely within a single racial group is not going to bring unity or harmony to the society. Many bigots, opportunists and self-serving leaders in UMNO prefer to ignore the fact that there are also many deprived people from among the minorities who need help in many ways. Unity does not mean that UMNO and their BN parties should come together to help themselves with the nation's wealth, with UMNO taking the biggest share. Racial unity also becomes a mockery if all opportunities are given to a single race with crumbs thrown to the minorities. Practising tokenism for the minorities will only demoralize the marginalized more. A local economist has this to say: "Preferential treatment of a single race may not augur well for the nation when there are many who are equally deprived in the society. In a need-based economic approach to nation building would see a better Malaysia for all. UMNO does not need to enrich the rich but empower the poor from among all the races to drag them out of the cycle of poverty and into the level playing ground. This will help promote racial unity in the long run." READ MORE HERE |
| Student bashing: Is Malaysia already a future North Korea? Posted: 31 Dec 2011 11:42 PM PST We cannot stain our hands with the sins of killing our own children for the sake of keeping power. By J. D. Lovrenciear The new year 2012 begins with a black cloak shrouding an already gasping democracy. And this is not in a distant, iron fisted regime but right here in Malaysia! The brutal blows thrown by the long hand of the law keepers on our young, vibrant and vocal youths from the corridors of future leaders – our universities, with one student battling for his life is a shocking trauma that grips the nation of 28 million citizens and another four to eight million of foreign labor here. How do we allow this? What justifications can anyone dish out? Will we once again sweep all these democracy-bashing governance tactics under the carpet and resume life as if semuanya okay? Law abiding, nation-caring, and democracy champions must rise to the occasion and demand univocally in all earnesty: How do we respond to such blatant high handedness that smacks right in the vital spot of true democracy? Do we need to be brutal in our ways in curbing public expression within the corridors of knowledge and leadership formation? Are there no more civil and globally accepted standards that we could have deployed to bring about awareness, understanding, empathy and acceptance amongst groups (students) who have a going-concern? The Prime Minister and the Education Minister must hold themselves accountable to this darkened start of a new year. The worst tyranny that any statesman can commit is to allow the brutal and lethal blow-treatment against innocent, unarmed -- the children of future Malaysia, who want a participative role in the formation of a better nation in their future ahead of them. Are our ministers so preoccupied that they did not anticipate the issues brewing and having the propensity to disintegrate into a crisis and finally ended up having to react by using the high handed law keepers to breach all decency and protection owing to our youth? All civil society, learned minds, committed activities must come forward and demand that civil liberties and true democratic expressions that do not threaten national security cannot be brutalized like what has happened now. We cannot stain our hands with the sins of killing our own children for the sake of keeping power. We need to know and accept the fact that that students' uprising is because of issues that go ignored and unattended in a persuasive, convincing and transparent manner. We need to realize that as long as the powers-that-be continue to stifle public display of concerns by using might power with total disregard for the safety and security of protestors, we are only being reminded that Malaysia is becoming a highly intolerant society of power that intimidates, annihilates and hinges on the edge of becoming a potential North Korea. Surely our neighbors are watching. Surely our major trading partners are increasingly becoming cautious. And surely, we – all Malaysians will become the victims of such brutality aimed at staying in power at all costs. Yes we do not condone restlessness. We do not want street marches. We want peace, harmony and co-existence. But when politicians lose their two cents worth of moral fiber and will not hesitate to go to extremes to bargain and keep power at the expense of basic democratic principles, then we have lost our radar for the journey into the second decade of the 21st century. The buck must stop here. How? When? Who? And when there are no answers to these questions, we know that we are already doomed in our progress. The presiding government owes all Malaysians answers and explanations that better be good. |
| RPK amputates 'gangrenous' Anwar Ibrahim from Pakatan? Posted: 31 Dec 2011 09:08 PM PST KTEMOC KONSIDERS Ho ho ho ho ho.
Hello there, would that be Santa (Father Christmas), late by more than a week? Maybe his tardy arrival were due to some of his reindeers being made to disappear by a woman who had abracadabra-ishly changed them into condominiums? wakakaka. No, it's RPK with his political and personal dis-endorsements of the Great One, Anwar Ibrahim, much to the distress, disappointments and dismay of the PKR camp – see following at Malaysia-Today:
(1) Anwar morally unfit to become PM, says RPK
(2) 'Rights group not a third force' - RPK
(3) RPK: There's life after Anwar
(4) RPK: "Anwar may become irrelevant"
(5) RPK says confident Anwar man in sex video
Oh, how those anwaristas would love to mutilate, mangle and mafoolaat RPK wakakaka. Already the predictable, childish and zombie-like "RPK has been bought by UMNO" comments can be seen in a number of intercative online news media and blogs. Instead, I would advise those losers to wear sack cloth, powder themselves with ashes and wail for seven days and seven nights as per Esther 4:1 (KJV), with apologies to the author of the solar-powered King James version of the Bible for substituting Mordecai with 'PKR' wakakaka:
When PKR perceived all that was done, PKR rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry.
But other than the year being new, there's nothing new in RPK's views about Anwar. On 14 April last year (that is/was 2011), RPK stated more or less the same in The Malaysian Insider's article RPK says Pakatan disunited, Anwar incapable to lead.
Then, RPK condemned Anwar for exactly the same things, broken promises, the disgraceful 916 undemocratic bullsh*t and most important of all, a lack of political and economic leadership, especially in a number of incidents in Selangor.
I blogged immediately after The Malaysian Insider's article in a post titled RPK and the necessary destruction of Anwar Ibrahim? where I wrote: READ MORE HERE |
| Malays should not fear the DAP Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:12 PM PST SAKMONGKOL AK47 I am not going to respond to the xenophobic responses around news that Aspan Alias and Sakmongkol are about to join DAP. No explanation will be able to change preconceived biases. So why bother? So we are about to join or have joined DAP. The DAP is a democratic party committed to the rule of law, good governance and good government. It abhors corruption and abuse of political office. To me those are attractive propositions. UMNO on the other hand has turned its back on these. It harps only on one primal worry of Malays- when UMNO is threatened it shares the threat with Malays at large. So a threat to UMNO is translated mindlessly into a threat to Malays as a whole. Nothing can be farther from the truth. That is how UMNO has approached politics in Malaysia basically- make its fears public, make the gains private for selected Malays within UMNO. I have only one message to that - those salad days and that halcyon period are over. UMNO is trapped by its own successes. Indeed its supporters and leaders assume ownership of the wrong things and end up digging in to support the wrong choices. My answer is, if we do indeed change our political vehicle that is what we are actually doing. Don't read our move as blasphemous or treasonable. The DAP is more relevant and functional in achieving a more democratic and abuse-free society. As a Muslim, we are changing wadah not aqidah. So, I thought it would be more substantive to answer my critics by writing an article, why shouldn't Malays embrace DAP politics? That's the only way to dominate and conquer your fears. How has DAP politics been inimical to the general political health of this country? Can any DAP Chinese leader be a PM when it's contesting only at most 50-55 seats? Can any DAP non Malay leader harbor the dream of becoming a PM in a country dominated by Malays? Has the DAP threatened the institution of Malay rulers? DAP has never done that or will not be mad to countenance such rebellious idea, but UMNO on the other hand has insulted the Malay rulers way back in 1998 constitutional crisis. Can we reasonably accept the allegation that the DAP is instrumental in claims that Malays are being converted into Christians when most DAP members are not themselves Christians? We have to do better than that to take Malays as imbeciles. Only UMNO seems to do that. But DAP is Chinese chauvinist party and anti-Malay. I will answer by examining the deeds rather than slogans. When I was an ADUN in the Pahang Legislative assembly (2004-2008) I have never heard the lone DAP member ever speak about anti Malay themes. He spoke about abuse of power, about mindless spending, he spoke about maladministration. The first book Lim Kit Siang writes that I read was Time Bombs in Malaysia. After that I read so many books written by Kit Siang that touched on the Maika Scandals, the BMF financial scandal and so on. If we are honest enough, we have to admit, the issues raised were never about one race dominating the other but were always about the abuses of those in power, corruption, and a continuous attack on policies that are ruinous to this country. So we are going to oppose Kit Siang on the basis of the fact that these things are spoken of by a Chinaman? To the Chinese UMNO is also a chauvinist Malay party except, their leaders can be easily bought. The Malay will sell all to abandon their cause. Er…correction, the UMNO Malay, I mean. I would also like to respond by saying- why Malays should consider joining DAP en masse. It's a party committed to democratic principles and rule of law. I can only imagine, so many can prosper under a regime of freedom of speech within DAP. I can speak on the plight of the displaced and disowned Malays with more energy than allowed of in UMNO. The interest of Malays can be fought of on any political platform other than UMNO. That is what UMNO fears. Its monopoly is broken. READ MORE HERE |
| RPK says confident Anwar man in sex video Posted: 31 Dec 2011 06:05 PM PST 
(The Malaysian Insider) - Raja Petra Kamarudin said today he was "90 per cent" sure the man in the Datuk T sex video was Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and that many of his friends believed in the authenticity of the video. The self-exiled blogger told Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia in an interview that he was initially unsure whether it was Anwar in the video, and that he was certain the latter would not be so "stupid to let himself get caught." "I feel that there are more people who believe in the video. Many of them, Anwar's close friends I met in the UK, Liverpool, Manchester ... they honestly say Anwar is (the one) in the video. "I think the person is Anwar. I am not saying 100 per cent but 90 per cent or more that is Anwar," he was quoted by Mingguan Malaysia as saying. Raja Petra said his opinion changed when Anwar had during a press conference denied knowing Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, one of the three men responsible for screening the video. The Malaysia Today portal editor claimed that Anwar had called him three years ago and asked him to help out a "friend" — Shazryl. "Anwar said the problem was that the government suspected Eskay smuggled me out of Malaysia. The government suspected I went to Langkawi and Eskay (a former Thai honorary consulate) made a Thai passport for me and smuggled me out to Thailand through Langkawi. "He (Anwar) said the government was causing problems for Eskay and that I had to explain things to clear his name," said Raja Petra. He said he then clarified the matter through a posting on his portal, stating how he left Malaysia, and that he did not know Shazryl. "That was three years ago. Now Anwar says he does not know Eskay ... this made me think and realise. I know Anwar knows Eskay, just say that you really know him. This is actually quite funny," added the blogger. Raja Petra said that the PKR de facto leader's outburst at a press conference during the Sarawak state election when asked about his Omega watch showed he had something to hide. "Yes, the fact is that if you need to lie, that means you have something to hide. You must be guilty." Anwar has repeatedly denied that he was the man seen having sex with a prostitute in the 21-minute video which was first aired to the media in cloak-and-dagger fashion by a mysterious 'Datuk T' at a prestigious hotel in April this year. It was later revealed that Datuk T referred to three notable public figures — former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and former Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuib Lazim. The latest probe on the case was opened after investigating officer DSP Shanmugan Moorthy lodged a police report claiming Anwar committed the offence under section 182 of the Penal Code. The crime is punishable with a six-month jail term or a fine of RM2,000. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin had recently said the probe on the sex video was complete and investigation papers handed over to the Attorney-General but the case was sent back to the police to include Anwar's statement. He has slammed the police for failing to act on a previous report he had lodged against the Datuk T trio where he accused them of criminal intimidation. He has also accused BN of masterminding the latest probe against him in the Datuk T sex video saga. The Opposition leader is also awaiting the verdict on his second sodomy charge, where he is accused of sodomising a former aide. The former deputy prime minister has vehemently denied the charge, saying that it is part of a ploy to destroy his political career. |
| Which category are you in? Posted: 31 Dec 2011 05:28 PM PST 
Of course I expected to get a whacking. I told my wife that that is exactly what is going to happen once my interview with the mainstream media is published. Not many can accept the truth. They would rather I say what is pleasing to their ears. I am to say that the emperor wears clothes even if he is stark naked. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin The more important issue is not what you think of me. Certainly you will say I have been bought, have sold out, have turned, am a traitor, and whatnot. I have read your comments in Malaysia Today, Free Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and whatnot. I have received your private messages and e-mails. The more important issue is: which category are you in?
Are you amongst the less than 4 million Malaysians who voted opposition in the last general election in 2008 or are you amongst the more than 11 million eligible voters who did not vote opposition, did not vote at all, or did not even register to vote?
If you are in the first category then I value your comments. If you are in the second then your comments are of no importance.
Are you amongst the handful of one million Malaysians who live overseas and came back to Malaysia to vote opposition in the last general election in 2008 or are you amongst the majority of the overseas eligible voters who came home to vote but voted Barisan Nasional, did not come home to vote, or did not even register to vote?
If you are in the first category then I value your comments. If you are in the second then your comments are of no importance.
Are you amongst the 20 student demonstrators in Tanjong Malim or the 100 'V for Vendetta' protestors at Dataran Merdeka last night or are you amongst the 28 million Malaysians who stayed home or did other things last night instead of supporting the fight for change?
If you are in the first category then I value your comments. If you are in the second then your comments are of no importance.
Are you amongst those one or two who post comments in the Blogs and websites under you real name because you are committed to the cause or are you amongst the 99.9% of the readers who post comments under fictitious names because you prefer to throw stones while hiding your hands in case you get into trouble.
If you are in the first category then I value your comments. If you are in the second then your comments are of no importance.
Are you, like me, wondering who is running Selangor -- EXCO Member Hasan Ali, Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, or Selangor State Economic Adviser Anwar Ibrahim -- after you heard of the raid on the pubs last night, or are you not concerned that there appears to be some confusion as to who is in charge in Selangor, especially with the deafening silence by the Pakatan Rakyat leaders today?
If you are in the first category then I value your comments. If you are in the second then your comments are of no importance.
Yes, I value your comments, but only if you fall in the first category of all those various groups above. If not, then your comments are of no significance. And that would probably mean almost all if not all of those who are commenting. |
| ‘Frustrated’ voters will back BN in polls, says RPK Posted: 31 Dec 2011 04:25 PM PST 
(The Malaysian Insider) - Many voters have become frustrated with Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) performance at the helm in four key states and will throw their support behind Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general elections, Raja Petra Kamarudin said. In an interview published in Mingguan Malaysia today, the self-exiled blogger said the PKR-DAP-PAS pact was still stuck with the mindset of taking over Putrajaya by "default" as they were confident in being the only alternative to the ruling BN, and that they were using the same anti-Umno tactics to win over voters. "I am telling you, in the next election they [voters] will support the government. They say, in the next election they will not support the opposition because they are disappointed, dissatisfied, and not confident with the opposition. "Why the opposition is so confident of forming a federal government? On the basis of ABU (asalkan bukan Umno), of rejecting Umno?" he was quoted saying in an interview published today by the Umno-owned newspaper. Raja Petra (picture) pointed out that the same strategy was used back in 1999 by the short-lived opposition pact, Barisan Alternatif (BA) against former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed but failed when he retired and passed over the baton to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi- resulting in BN's massive electoral win in the 2004 elections. "If you use the same strategy, what happens when people no longer hate Umno? You cannot start a relationship with people based on hate, it will not last," he added. He said infighting between different PR factions were evident in Penang, Selangor and Perak, and that will be why voters will "return to BN and forget Pakatan." Raja Petra claimed several Chinese businessmen in Selangor had complained to him that they still had to fork out "under-the-table" money in order to conduct businesses in the state, and that corruption was still rampant there. "I tell them I do not know what to say. They say, come elections, they will not vote for Pakatan.". |
| Excerpts of exclusive interview with Raja Petra Posted: 31 Dec 2011 03:39 PM PST 
The following are excerpts of an exclusive interview with Raja Petra Kamarudin held recently. The editor of the Malaysia Today news portal, who is in exile in the United Kingdom, sat down with the New Sunday Times at a hotel suite in Singapore for over two hours to discuss Malaysian politics. Looking fresh after his holiday in Phuket, the Selangor prince spoke among others about his former ally Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition front and the Najib administration. New Straits Times On Anwar and his sodomy trial
Question: They talk about rule of law, but when the court does not rule in their favour, they will say there is no independent judiciary. We know there's one verdict coming out on Jan 9. What is your comment? Answer: Well I think we have a bigger fish to fry. This agenda for change... the perjuangan cannot be about personalities. Now, we should not reduce this perjuangan into a struggle for Anwar. Even Mandela went to jail for 27 years, there was not a campaign to free Mandela. Even though there were groups, the Free Mandela Group. It was a campaign to end apartheid. But not to free Mandela, as much as Mandela was a catalyst. And I am sure Mandela is a much bigger figure than Anwar by far, in terms of historical importance. And what I worry is that we will be reducing the struggle into a struggle for Anwarista. And don't forget, Anwarista is a word that I invented back in 1999 . Anwarista is a movement for Anwar. We do not want an Anwarista. Now, if Anwar goes to jail, and if he goes to jail as a political prisoner, that's another issue. In Myanmar, it's about a political prisoner. It's about freeing a political prisoner. But Anwar is being put on trial not on political grounds but on criminal grounds. Now the issue of Anwar, whether he is or is not guilty of sodomy, whether Anwar was fixed up and is a victim of a sham trial, and so on, that's another issue. But the point still remains: whether he got a trial that he wanted.
Question: Sometimes people forget about the victim, which is Saiful. Answer: Actually, we are tired of this issue of sodomy. We want the whole thing over and done with. In fact, we're hoping the trial is completed instead of being dragged on.
Question: But he was the one who dragged it. Answer: Yes, but the whole country gets dragged along. We don't need this. The whole country's future cannot depend on one man.
On Anwar and the Selangor administration
Let's talk about the jewel in the crown, of course Selangor. Now you look at Selangor. Are there many drastic changes in Selangor? The feedback I get from business people and this is the yardstick we use, corruption is the same, there is no reduction in corruption. People still have to pay 'under the table' to get things done, and that's the most important thing we are fighting for, good governance. So we fail on that score. We complained to Anwar. We told him people are not happy. The Selangor people are not happy and don't assume you are going to retain Selangor. There is a good chance Selangor will go back to Barisan because people are not happy, and Anwar's reply, and this was during a meeting: the trouble with Khalid is ego, tak mau dengar cakap. (refused to listen). Cannot control him. I said you appointed him as MB. We are telling you Selangor is not performing. You are telling me you have a problem with him and the problem is he got an ego, he doesn't listen. So what are you going to do about it? You created the monster. What are you going to do about it? He appointed himself as economic advisor. What's your advice? In the last three years since you have been economic advisor, you've gone overseas 60 times. Sixty times overseas trips in a mere three years. Shouldn't you be staying home running the state? Running the party? Running the coalition? The coalition is in a mess. People are fighting with each other. What's his comment? No comment. Total silence. We told him: stay home, run the state, run the party, coalition.
Will Anwar fade away?
Because it is politically expedient to support Anwar. Because there's a possibility that we are going to form the next federal government. But if we don't form the next federal government, then we have to wait another five years. Anwar will become irrelevant very, very fast. Can Pakatan form the next government and therefore continue with Anwar's relevancy? It would depend on Sabah and Sarawak. You got 165 parliament seats in west Malaysia. Out of 165 parliament seats, how many can Pakatan win? 85? Say Pakatan wins 85, they grab the five MCA seats, grabbing 85 parliament seats in west Malaysia. And then Barisan only left with 80 seats, with 70 will be Umno. And only 10 for the others MCA, maybe MIC, zero, or Gerakan one. So you have to go to Sabah and Sarawak, which has 57, including Labuan. Last election, Pakatan only won two. And 55 was with Barisan Nasional. Here in west Malaysia, last election you won 80, and then won another two by-elections in Kuala Terengganu and Bukit Gantang. You add in by- elections you got 82. But you won 80 in west Malaysia. So from 80 to 85 by taking away the five MCA seats, OK lah. It's a reasonable forecast. But you only won two in east Malaysia. 55 (seats) was won by Barisan. How many you expect to increase? You need 30 from east Malaysia. So 30 plus here (west Malaysia) 85, you only got 115, which means you only get a three seat majority. But if three people jump, you lose the government. So ideally, you need a 10 or 15 seat majority. Which means you need to try to get 35 seats from east Malaysia. Thirty-five plus this one, then you get 120. That's a comfortable margin. But how are you going to get 35 seats from east Malaysia? You only got two in the last election. To jump from 80 to 85 is reasonable. But to jump from two to 35, that's a bit too far to jump. To get 35 seats from east Malaysia, you must have a strong coalition. What happened in the Sarawak state election recently? DAP did very well, but that's it. Because DAP only took the Chinese seats, but outside that...habis. They couldn't do it in a state election, what makes you think they can do it in the general election? If you could have done it, you would have done it already. The fact that you weren't able to do it means you can't do it. Sabah is in a mess. So I don't see how from two seats, you are going to increase to 35 in east Malaysia. Maybe, you can increase it to 10. But 10 plus this, it's still 95.
Leadership transition within Pakatan
Anwar projects himself as a future leader only because Pakatan allows him to do so. So why does Pakatan allow that to happen? We are creating this impression, this fallacy that there is only one man that can lead the opposition. DAP made a statement that even if Anwar goes to jail, they still support him. Are you saying there is nobody else? The fault lies in DAP, Pas, and Anwar goes around talking about the party because he has got the party, who appears to accept him and only him as their leader. And when people like (Datuk) Zaid Ibrahim comes along as an alternative, that there can be other people, they kill him off. They won't accept. Anwar goes around the country talking and he's good when it comes to ceramah. But is that a measure of his support? Many elections which I had gone around personally, by-elections even where the crowd is there, but how is it when it comes to the votes? I have spoken to some people who were with him when he was in the government. They have pointed out what he did. And I asked him and they say, 'You know, Anwar has his shortcomings.' Anwar has his skeletons in the closet. Yet you support Pakatan. Their answer is, 'What choice do we have.' It all boils down to that. What choice do we have? People support Anwar purely because they see him as the only alternative to what we have now.
Lessons from Egypt
Question: You and your people (in MCLM) are striving for all these changes in your own way. Don't you think the current Barisan Nasional government is doing that in certain ways through evolution rather than revolution? Answer: Yeah, we always say as we always hear about evolutionary change as opposed to revolutionary change. In some countries, evolutionary change has to be put aside in favour of revolutionary change. Let's be practical. In Malaysia, a revolutionary change cannot work because of the very delicate racial balance. We can talk about it in Egypt because in Egypt everybody's Egyptian. Every man on the street is Egyptian. In Malaysia, not every man on the street is a Malay. So this is more delicate. So I suppose for a country where it is not multiracial, or not delicately multiracially balanced, it is easier to achieve that kind of a militant way of changing. They (Chinese voters) don't want Tahrir Square type of change. But even then you merely embark on evolutionary changes...small changes. I think it's time Najib grabs the bull by the horns, and call a spade a spade.
On cracks within the opposition
What are they doing? In Penang, they are fighting: DAP versus DAP. In Perak, they are fighting: DAP versus DAP. In Selangor, they are fighting: PKR versus PKR. Pas versus Pas. In Johor, they are fighting: PKR versus DAP. In Sarawak, they are fighting. No, we are not fighting Barisan. No, we are fighting each other. You think the voters are going to love you for that? In fact, the voters are now beginning to say: This time we go back to Barisan, forget about Pakatan. That is my very honest....I am not supporting Barisan, I am not saying Barisan is the best government, but Pakatan has not shown it can be a better government. That's all, and I am not saying it. The voters are saying it. I am telling you what the voters are saying. |
| RPK: “Anwar may become irrelevant” Posted: 31 Dec 2011 03:34 PM PST ASSESSMENT: Raja Petra faulted Anwar both for his ineptitude in improving the economy of the PKR-led Selangor state and for turning his latest sodomy trial, bogged down by prolonged delays, into a political circus. (New Straits Times) - SINGAPORE: Raja Petra Kamarudin has said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is fighting his latest sodomy charge, will be politically irrelevant and fade into oblivion if the opposition failed to take over Putrajaya in the coming general election. With the opposition coalition "in a mess" due to infighting, and Anwar's inability to hold a firm grip on PKR's "crown jewel" of Selangor, the chances of Pakatan Rakyat winning power will be at stake, said Raja Petra, once a staunch supporter of Anwar. "Like an Elvis Presley song, 'It's Now or Never'. But the question is can it be now?" the UK-born Selangor prince, now living in exile in Manchester, told the New Sunday Times in a rare interview. Raja Petra, 61, has been a long-time supporter of the opposition and was instrumental in the first campaign to free Anwar from jail 11 years ago. Both have since fallen out. Raja Petra had disappeared after two arrest warrants were issued against him for failing to attend court hearings in April and May, 2009. He had claimed to be in a self-imposed exile. In the wide-ranging interview, he also gave a frank assessment of the government's transformation programme spearheaded by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the current state of the Pakatan coalition and the emerging role of the so-called "third force" in the Malaysian electoral system. In the two-hour interview at a hotel suite in Singapore, he launched a scathing attack on Anwar, whom he spent years fighting for his freedom from his jail sentence following his earlier corruption and sodomy convictions. He faulted Anwar both for turning his latest sodomy trial, bogged down by prolonged delays, into a political circus and for his inability to improve the economy of the PKR-led Selangor state, raising question marks over his leadership. (Anwar is the economic adviser to the Selangor government). The sodomy trial has taken a very long time and the verdict is not due until Jan 9. "There were like 50-60 postponements during the trial," Raja Petra noted. He said the most important thing was not whether Anwar would be found guilty or otherwise. "To me the issue of Anwar is not whether he is or not guilty with sodomy. The issue is whether he is the best person to run the country. Can he run the country? Now, you might be the most God-fearing man on earth, you can be absolutely clean. But if you cannot run the country, you cannot run the country," Raja Petra said. Likewise, Anwar has also not seen much success in Selangor: "What's your advice? In the last three years since you been economic adviser, you've gone overseas 60 times in mere three years. Shouldn't you be staying home running the state? Running the party? Running the coalition?…The coalition is in a mess. People are fighting with each other," Raja Petra said. "He seems to be running away." Raja Petra warned opposition supporters against turning the fight for justice into a struggle for Anwar. "Even when Mandela went to jail for 27 years, there was no campaign to free Mandela. Even though there were groups, the Free Mandela Group. It was a campaign to end apartheid," he said. "I am sure Mandela is a much bigger figure than Anwar by far, in terms of historical importance." Raja Petra said Anwar's leadership of Pakatan was out of political expedience. "Pakatan will back Anwar as long as they still harbour hopes of forming the next federal government. But if come the next election, and if Pakatan fails to form the next federal government, Pakatan has no use for Anwar anymore, especially Pas and DAP." Raja Petra also said both sides of the political divide would have to work hard to win the sizeable "floating voters" in the coming election. "There's this group which is actually floating and this is a big group. This is 30 to 40 per cent. They are prepared to swing either way. At the moment, a lot of them will still give Pakatan the benefit of the doubt. But also a lot of them are beginning to lose confidence with Pakatan. "At worst, if they are not prepared to give Barisan the confidence, yet not prepared to give Pakatan the benefit of the doubt, they will abstain from voting. He said the Egypt-style people's revolution was not an answer for Malaysia due to the delicate racial balance. "They (Chinese voters) don't want Tahrir Square type of change. But if then you merely embark on evolutionary changes, small changes. I think it's time Najib grabs the bull by the horns and call a spade a spade." He said Umno, the backbone of Barisan Nasional, too needs an internal transformation. "Najib must be prepared not only to take a knife but take a chainsaw and cut whatever needs to be cut." |
| ‘Rights group not a third force’ - RPK Posted: 31 Dec 2011 03:28 PM PST 
UNEASY: Raja Petra reveals Pakatan Rakyat's tactic in undermining capable candidates (NST) - SINGAPORE: PAKATAN Rakyat has allegedly been trying to undermine the emergence of a civil liberty movement as a "third force" in politics to avoid an erosion of its political base, Raja Petra Kamarudin claims in an interview. The self-exiled Malaysia Today editor said tactics deployed by Pakatan include discouraging capable election candidates, who had originally intended to contest as independents, but were later allegedly heckled by Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to join its fray. Raja Petra said Anwar was uneasy when such capable candidates were endorsed by the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), a pressure group he (Raja Petra) founded in the United Kingdom. The group advocates good governance through civil liberties. "You (Anwar) want to cut the cake into two: Barisan and Pakatan and you don't want any third party involvement. "Oh, you (Anwar) are prepared to let them become independent before this. But when we (MCLM) approach them, you go: 'Oh, they must join the party'. "Is there any sincerity here? If that's the issue, then we (MCLM) are prepared to stay out," said Raja Petra." Raja Petra cited human rights lawyer, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, as among the possible candidates whom had been courted by DAP many years ago, but he had refused because he preferred to run as an independent. He said he had recommended Malik Imtiaz and other names to Anwar before. However, Anwar insisted the candidates become members of an opposition party first. Raja Petra said MCLM had decided it would not field any candidates for the coming general election and denied any notion that the movement was a third force in the country's politics. He cited other organisations, which could merge as a third force, such as the United Borneo Front, Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, Hindraf and even Bersih (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections). Raja Petra further questioned Bersih's motives given its seemingly close links to Pakatan. "That has disappointed us a bit. That it is serving a Pakatan agenda, an Anwar agenda. "We don't want that. Bersih must be above it, not in it."
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| Anwar morally unfit to become PM, says RPK Posted: 31 Dec 2011 03:17 PM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin denounced Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as morally unfit to become prime minister, saying that Malaysians are unable to accept a homosexual to lead the country. Better known as RPK, the self-exiled editor of the Malaysia-Today news portal was quoted in an Umno-owned national daily as crediting Anwar's huge support to widespread public perception of the opposition leader as an "alternative" to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). It did not necessarily mean Anwar was a better leader or PM-designate, said the man who was once seen to sit in the PKR de facto chief's inner circle. "I don't care. If you say is Anwar gay? I say maybe. But you cannot become prime minister. That is the reality," said Raja Petra in an interview published today the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia. Raja Petra did not explicitly call Anwar a homosexual but said there was no room in Malaysia for someone who is gay and wants to become PM. "In Australia, you can. You can be gay and even become a minister. In Malaysia you have to choose. I personally have no problems but if you want to become PM and be gay, in Malaysia you cannot. "I am not defending immoral behaviour but that is your choice. If you choose that you cannot have this. In [the] UK, Australia you can have both," he said. Anwar, 64, is currently awaiting his verdict on his second sodomy charge, where he is accused of sodomising a former aide. The High Court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on January 9. The former deputy prime minister has vehemently denied the charge, saying that it was part of a ploy to destroy his political career. In his harshest remarks against Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat yet, Raja Petra said the opposition pact needed to cut down on its campaign for Anwar, and that the fight for reform was beyond the political future of one man. Saying that PR had "bigger fish to fry", he stressed that the "future of this country does not depend on this one man." "I do not know if Anwar is guilty or not. For me the issue is not important. The question is, is he the best candidate to run the country? If you are a good person, you are surely 'clean'. But if you can't run the country, you can't, it's that simple." Raja Petra charged that Anwar's performance as Selangor Economic Advisor has been unimpressive, and that he spent too much time going overseas for functions and lectures at universities. The controversial blogger claimed he received complaints of rampant corruption in Selangor, saying that nothing had changed since PR took over from BN there. "We tell him [Anwar] stay in the country and do your job in Pakatan. More than 60 trips abroad is too much...it is as if he is running away not knowing what to do," Minguan Malaysia reported Raja Petra as saying. Raja Petra stressed that politics in Malaysia needed to move beyond national leaders like Anwar or even PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak and more on structure and ideas. "I think we do not need to talk about Anwar anymore. It is not about Anwar. When we talk politics, we talk about Najib-Anwar, Najib-Anwar. "What if Najib gets a heart attack like his father? What if something happens to Anwar? He is not young, he is older than me...we will get new leaders…we must move on," the blogger said. |
| Malaysian of 2011 Posted: 31 Dec 2011 03:14 PM PST KTEMOC KONSIDERS Traditionally, around end of December each year, news media like to 'roundup' the year's important headline-making news, while Time Magazine likes to nominate who it considers as the most significant news-making person or institution of the Year; and of course Playboy announces the Playmate of the Year wakakaka. I prefer the latter, yes, I've to confess to having a wish to view Playmate of the Year wakakaka, but in this post I'll forgo the girlie pictures and write on whom I believe to be the socio-political Malaysian of the Year 2011.
I reckon it'll be boring to continue nominating RPK or Haris Ibrahim as they would have been nominated years before. Neither would I name Ibrahim Ali or Utusan Malaysia as newsworthy anymore as their strident shrill and sickening bigoted comments have become flat like an overexposed piece of keropok because of over airing wakakaka.
How about sweeties Ambiga Sreenevasan or Auntie Bersih? Both are wonderful sweethearts but I want someone more intriguing and who's likely (has the potential) to make an impact on the political scene.
What about Dr Mahathir who in recent times has disappointedly been propounding the Chinese threat to Malays? I suppose he really meant the threats to UMNO-Malays rather than general Malays. No, not him!
Hmmm, I wonder whether Dr M has read a delightful summary of the year's threats to Malays, in The Malaysian Insider'sMILF-PRON Special Report for 2011: Malays under threat, delightfully written by Yusseri Yusoff. Following are extracts of his article:
While Mahathir continued his series of warnings to the Malays by warning that the Malays could end up like the Palestinians who sold their own country out to the Jews, a new threat to the Malays reared its ugly head — Kentucky Fried Chicken could possibly be out of Malay hands.
Based on an unconfirmed rumour it was said that the majority owner of KFC in Malaysia Kulim Bhd could be sold off to a non-Malay company and therefore this would constitute a major threat to the ability of Malays to consume chicken fried in 11 secret herbs and spices.
The owners of Kulim Bhd Johor Corp denied the rumours. When asked whether they were the ones responsible for spreading the rumour the owners of the Radix Fried Chicken chain refused to comment They did however say that Radix Fried Chicken contained more that 11 herbs and spices as well as Tongkat Ali and quite possibly ginseng, for a stiffer fried chicken experience presumably.
Wakakaka, good one Yusseri, but sorry, no, you're not my Malaysian of 2011 … piece READ MORE HERE |
| Why bully a pastor? Posted: 31 Dec 2011 10:01 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - So, the latest act by Ibrahim Ali and his band of Perkasa men is to lodge a police report against Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng for raising concerns revolving Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. The way these Perkasa boys reacted makes one wonder, if the mentioning of Article 153 by any non-Malay is like committing a deadly sin. Then again, could we have expected anything less from the Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas? On that account, and true to his nature, he didn't disappoint — neither us nor his taskmasters. Our prime minister has only recently stated his intent to transform Malaysia to be the best democracy in the world; and yet — despite 54 years after Merdeka - we are instead left to rue individuals such as Ibrahim Ali, who take pleasure in being paragons of fear mongering, when pertinent issues surrounding Article 153 are highlighted. If national unity vis a vis nation-building is one of our goals, and the construction of Bangsa Malaysia is part of Vision 2020, then why should we cower from confronting stumbling blocks that stand in our way? I attended the CFM Christmas hi-tea gathering, and I heard Reverend Eu's speech, and amongst the things he mentioned in his speech was that, "in order to move forward as a nation, we must be willing to address impediments to our progress". Surely, that is a wise call for mature and temperate heads to come together and discuss our way forward. Reverend Eu further explained that the interpretation and more serious debates concerning Article 153 should be attended to by our parliamentarians. He also made it clear that ordinary Malaysians have no problem with the rights of the Malays and the Sultans as stipulated in our Constitution. Where he did call a spade, a spade, was in pointing out what many people unfortunately experience, at 'ground level', and that is in the context of the implementation of Article 153, where unfairness of treatment rears its ugly head. It was on this otherwise valid remark that Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa pounced upon. I would like to ask Ibrahim, at which point did Reverend Eu question Article 153, as the former purports that he did? Where was the "irresponsible provocation"? Should one deem it as irresponsible provocation, when another rightfully highlights weaknesses that permeate the system? In fact, wouldn't silence in the course of inequity, constitute a graver act of irresponsibility? It is within this context that Reverend Eu spoke of the precarious predicament of 'shifting rights' — a burdensome shadow under which many Malaysians have lived by and endured, hoping that their space wouldn't erode any further. Sadly, more often than not, that has not been the case. I stand in agreement therefore with Reverend Eu, that in the context of the implementation of Article 153 — yes, we do feel bullied. This is not a minority opinion, for many agree with Reverend Eu's forthright observation. This includes constitutional expert Prof Abdul Aziz Bari, who opined that Reverend Eu has not uttered anything seditious. Couple that with the support shown by MCA's Young Professional Bureau Chairman Datuk Chua Tee Yong, as reported by The Star on 31.12.2011, and it appears that Ibrahim and Perkasa are the ones who are isolated in their warped and immature outlook. As Aziz Bari reportedly told them, "grow up". READ MORE HERE |
| Najib likely to reshuffle Cabinet, push polls back Posted: 31 Dec 2011 08:32 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Seri Najib Razak is likely to reshuffle his Cabinet as early as this month and delay calling elections to later this year as scandals engulfing at least two ministers are threatening the feel-good factor of Budget 2012 where the prime minister dispensed direct cash aid to some 5.3 million households, Umno insiders say. The Malaysian Insider understands that Prime Minister's Office (PMO) senior officials have a list of potential new ministers and deputy ministers that will be seen as Najib's people to execute his New Economic Model (NEM) and political transformation programme as he heads into the general election. "Najib needs more of his own men in the Cabinet. And he needs to replace those seen as tainted before he calls an election," said an Umno lawmaker close to the party president, referring to scandals surrounding Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, religious affairs minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and deputy minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussin who admitted to receiving some financial contributions. There has been speculation in the Chinese media and also among political analysts that Najib could dissolve parliament after the Chinese New Year celebrations on January 23 for a March election, four years after Election 2008. It is understood that the Election Commission (EC) has booked school halls and community centres for a possible election in March. However, others say Najib is waiting for electoral reforms and the initial public offering by state land developer Felda before calling an election. Another Umno source said the party is also not ready for polls despite Najib telling party members to be on a "war footing" for an early election. "We are not exactly ready. Some warlords don't want to give up their chance of standing in the next polls," he told The Malaysian Insider. The source pointed out only former Terengganu mentri besar and Umno chief, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, has openly said he will not contest in future elections. "Most warlords think they can win if they are picked. And if they are not picked, they will refuse to work for those named just like what happened in 2008," he added. READ MORE HERE |
| Hasan Ali joins Jais raid Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:57 AM PST (The Star) - Controversial PAS leader Datuk Dr Hasan Ali joined a rare raid on drinking spots at Mutiara Damansara and Petaling Jaya, which saw the arrest of 41 Muslims. Among those nabbed in Ops Mungkar were 18 people who were caught taking alcohol, an offence under Selangor's syariah law. They include six women. Dr Hasan said the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) has strong evidence to charge them for alcohol consumption under the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1995, which provides for a jail term of up to two years and a fine of not more than RM3,000, or both. Unlike other states, Selangor does not whip offenders caught drinking alcohol. Dr Hasan said the other 23 pub goers caught in the raid, including 13 women, would be required to attend counselling sessions. "They will have to give their statements on Jan 11 and 12, before Jais fixes the dates for counselling," he said at the Jais office here yesterday. He said the raiding party, which included the Bukit Aman police, was led by Jais director Datuk Marzuki Hussin following a tip-off. Those arrested were aged between 18 and 58. "We could see there was entertainment going on and the drinking (of alcohol)," said Dr Hasan, who is in charge of Islamic affairs in the state executive council. He refuted suggestions that the operation was connected to the recent controversies surrounding him. Dr Hasan, the former Selangor PAS commissioner, is embroiled in a feud with the leadership over the party's policy switch from an Islamic state agenda to a welfare state. In August, he defended the Jais checks on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church and had also locked horns with the state over the sale of alcoholic beverages at convenience stores and the mushrooming of massage centres. |
| Nanyang urged to withdraw reports and apologise Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:46 AM PST (Sinchew) - Negeri Sembilan PAS, PKR and NGOs presented a memorandum demanding Nanyang Siang Pau to withdraw its feature series entitled "Looking at the Islamic Penal Law the rational way" and apologise within seven days, at the newspaper's Seremban office yesterday. Protest if no apology They said if Nanyang refused to withdraw the reports and apologise, they would lodge police reports across the country and hold peaceful demonstrations in front of Nanyang's offices nationwide. PAS Negeri Sembilan commissioner cum Paroi state assemblyman Hj Mohamad Taufek Abd Ghani said when presenting the memorandum that PAS was of the opinion that the images published in Nanyang were cruel and should not have been selected for publication in relation to the Islamic Penal Law. "The Islamic Penal Law will never allow such cruel punishments on children. Even though it was not mentioned in the captions that those were the punishments under the Islamic Penal Law, it gave the public an impression that they were the punishments under the Islamic Penal law, as reflected from political leaders' reactions. "This is very unfair to us." Roundtable meeting proposed Negeri Sembilan PAS Youth chief Khairil Anuar Abd Wafa said that in one of the photos published, a man was seen holding a microphone beside a punished boy as if he was staging a show, adding that this was not the way punishments were handed out under the Islamic Penal Law. "Nanyang Siang Pau has an obligation to clarify on this," he continued. PKR Rembau divisional secretary Norazizi Abd. Aziz suggested that a roundtable meeting be held between the media and PAS to better understand the true significance of the Islamic Penal Law. PKR Teluk Kemang division committee member Muhd Saufi bin Miad said they were not censuring Nanyang, as they believed such undesirable development could have stemmed from a lack of real understanding of the Islamic Penal law. Also present were Negeri Sembilan PAS Supporter Congress chairman Yao Con Seng and members from NGOs. |
| Witches, riches, victories in Taib-land Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:37 AM PST HORNBILL UNLEASHED PBB president Taib Mahmud will not allow Umno's Najib Tun Razak or Muhyiddin Yassin to ever corner him again. In Sarawak, the highlight of 2011 was the "unravelling" of "godlike" Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and the exciting historic victory by the opposition in the state election. Frankly, Taib has been the preoccupation of politicians, activists – both local and abroad – and the man-on-the street. Why, one may ask, and we will say it is because Taib has over the last 30 years woven himself into the very fabric of Sarawakian lives in politics, trade and practices. Observers here claim that Taib controls everything. He has wielded his political clout muzzling local dissent, monopolising corporate Sarawak, and exuding uncharacteristic charm and fatherly "benevolence" at the longhouses littering the rural interior – wooing native Sarawakians into believing that he is "clean and corrupt-free" and that those accusing him are "evil" and not to be trusted. The year 2011 saw Taib's secrets exposed by a UK-based investigative portal Sarawak Report (SR) and its bold Radio Free Sarawak (RFM), with its broadcasts in local Iban dialect. SR in collaboration with the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) made shocking revelations of Taib and his family's "unimaginable" wealth running into billions in US dollars across eight countries. BMF alleged that Taib was corrupt and had pillaged and plundered the state since he came to power in 1981. BMF has also released figures showing that Taib and his family held influential stakes worth US$1.46 billion in 330 companies in Sarawak and in 80 other companies globally. In response, Taib simply said " my children are clever". BMF has also pressured several countries to investigate Taib's alleged money laundering and already probing Taib's global links are Switzerland, Germany and Australia. Here in Malaysia, there's been increasing pressure for the authorities to investigate Taib.
Witches and gangsters On the local front, opposition DAP, emboldened by its 13-seat victory in the April 16 state election, has been openly demanding for transparency over contracts awarded to Taib-linked companies in Sarawak. According to the party, no major contract in Sarawak is without a Taib-linked company stamp. During the April state election campaign, DAP – together with its Pakatan Rakyat allies PKR and PAS – had successfully highlighted the issues of corruption, power abuse, nepotism and cronyism allegedly committed by the state government. Land grabs by the authorities, land rents, premiums, education, Chinese education and schools were also hot topics that eventually saw the thrashing of the Chinese-dominated Sarawak United People Party (SUPP) at the state polls. Since winning the polls, Taib has tightened the noose on his own Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB). He has made it clear that his party can and will rule Sarawak with or without coalition members SUPP, Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). In the run-up to the April 16 polls, Taib saw an unexpected spoiler in his cousin and former deputy education minister Salleh Jafaruddin. Salleh, who stood against Taib in Balingian constituency, brought to light Taib's fetish for bomohs and witches who "guided" his continued stay in power. According to Salleh, Taib was notorious for consulting with black magic practitioners and after the death of his wife Laila Taib, his daughter Raziah had moved in to consolidate her influence with her father by introducing her own in-house female bomoh – a blonde named Stella – to him. A SR report noted that Stella's signature ritual included "tip-toeing and howling". "Each morning she (Stella) would cross the garden from Raziah's house to the ground of Taib's residence and would perform a ritual of chasing away evil spirits before the chief minister rose for his early run!" Salleh also spoke of Taib's conniving mind and his bevy of "gangsters" who cast a shadow of fear over Balingian in the run-up to the April 16 state election, which Taib eventually won. Taib's majority, however, was far less than in 2004 as was Barisan Nasional's overall support in Sarawak. READ MORE HERE |
| Hasan Ali sertai operasi serbu pusat hiburan Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:29 AM PST 18 pelanggan minum arak ditahan(Berita Harian) - Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) menahan 41 pengunjung beragama Islam di dua pusat hiburan di Mutiara Damansara dan Petaling Jaya dalam 'Ops Mungkar' kerana melakukan kesalahan jenayah syariah, awal pagi semalam. Mereka yang ditahan didapati melanggar Enakmen Jenayah Syariah Selangor 1995 dan 18 termasuk enam wanita akan dihadapkan ke mahkamah kerana kesalahan meminum arak selain 23 lagi dikenakan kaunseling. Operasi diketuai Ketua Pengarah JAIS, Marzuki Hussin dan turut disertai Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Tetap Hal Ehwal Islam, Adat-Adat Istiadat Melayu dan Kemudahan Awam negeri, Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali. Hasan berkata, mereka yang ditahan itu berusia antara 18 hingga 58 tahun dan mereka yang memerlukan kaunseling itu termasuk 13 wanita akan dipanggil memberi keterangan pada 11 dan 12 Januari ini sebelum diberikan tarikh yang sesuai untuk kaunseling.
Katanya, operasi yang dibantu polis Bukit Aman itu dilaksanakan selepas mendapat maklumat mengenai aktiviti bercanggah syariah dilakukan individu Islam di pusat hiburan terbabit termasuk di sebuah hotel terkemuka di Petaling Jaya.
"Operasi ini tertumpu kepada orang Islam selari dengan peruntukan Enakmen Jenayah Syariah 1995. Kita dapat lihat dengan jelas ada hiburan dan ada minum-minum (arak). Hasilnya, Ops Mungkar itu setakat ini mendapati ada bukti kukuh mendakwa individu terbabit, " katanya.
Hasan berkata, semua yang ditahan akan dimaklumkan kepada ahli keluarga mereka untuk diikat jamin.
Selain itu, Hasan menafikan pembabitannya dalam operasi itu ada kaitan dengan kontroversi membabitkan dirinya beberapa minggu kebelakangan ini, sebaliknya ia menunjukkan komitmen bersama khususnya penguatkuasaan JAIS.
"Selama ini saya memang serahkan semua operasi atas sebab keselamatan serta bagi memastikan kejayaan kepada semua operasi yang dilakukan. Saya terbabit secara langsung pada hari ini untuk melihat dan menentukan Prosedur Operasi Standard (SOP) kita dipatuhi, " katanya. |
| Student leader Safwan in critical condition after ‘assault by police Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:22 AM PST UPPERCAISE Student leader Mohd Safwan Alang was critically injured after being attacked and assaulted in a police lockup after being arrested at a New Year's Eve student rally for academic freedom, held at University Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim last night. Details of the attack were not immediately available. On-the-scene reports sent via Twitter messages said Safwan had lost consciousness after the attack and had initially been taken to Tanjung Malim hospital. Parti Socialis Malaysia said Safwan had been seriously assaulted by police while at the police lockup, and was in critical condition. He had been transferred to Slim River hospital. Parti Socialis also said another person had received stitches in Tanjung Malim hospital for his injuries From inside Tanjung Malim police station, student activist Adam Adli posted a message on Twitter that Safwan was punched twice in the face and was being assaulted in the police station. READ MORE HERE |
| We won't eat halal meat, say MPs and peers who reject demands to serve it at Westminster Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:16 AM PST Some parliamentarians have eaten meat at Westminster having been assured it was halal (Mail Online) - The Palace of Westminster has rejected demands to serve halal meat in its restaurants. Muslim MPs and peers have been told they cannot have meat slaughtered in line with Islamic tradition because the method – slitting an animal's throat without first stunning it – is offensive to many of their non-Muslim colleagues. The stance has infuriated some parliamentarians who have eaten meat in the Palace's 23 restaurants and cafes, having been assured that it was halal. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham said: 'I did feel misled. I think a halal option should be made available.' In 2010, The Mail on Sunday revealed schools, hospitals and restaurants were serving halal meat to unwitting customers. Alison Ruoff, a member of the Church of England, said: 'It's a bit hypocritical that the Houses of Parliament, which have allowed other people to provide halal food, have ruled it out on their own premises.' Spokesmen for the House of Lords and the House of Commons confirmed that halal meat was not served in their restaurants.
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| Siapa yang pengkhianat? Introspeksi betul-betul Posted: 31 Dec 2011 07:14 AM PST ASPAN ALIAS Isu saya yang dispekulasikan akan menyertai DAP membuatkan pihak tertentu marah-marah dan yang marah-marah itu seorang dua memang saya kenali. Saya tidak bercadang untuk menjawab dan melayani mereka ini kerana seperti yang saya katakan mereka ini masih bercabang kencingnya dan belum lagi kenal yang mana satu tangan kanan untuk menyuap nasi dan yang mana satu tangan kiri untuk beristinja'. Bagi pihak yang mengkritik saya ini, mereka tidak ada isu untuk membahaskan apa yang telah saya perkatakan selama ini: tentang apa yang terlalu kurang dalam UMNO. Mereka ini belum pun pandai menyebut nama UMNO itu tetapi bercakap mempertahankan UMNO itu seolah-olah mereka telah lama mengenali UMNO dan perjuangannya.
Saya ini kononnya bangkrap politik dan telah menjadi barang 'reject'. Kalau lah betul apa yang dikatakan terhadap diri saya itu saya hairan kenapa isu ini diperbesarkan sedangkan saya ini adalah barang ' reject' dan bangkrap politik.
Saya ingin menyatakan dengan terang dan jelas. Yang telah bangkrap ialah UMNO dan yang sedang di 'reject' ialah UMNO dan keseluruhan sekutunya. Mereka yang kononnya pejuang ini harus berfikir bukankah UMNO hanya tinggal 56 kerusi sahaja di Semenanjung dan 13 kerusi sahaja di Sabah. Jumlahnya hanya 69 semuanya. UMNO telah kalah dalam banyak kerusi dan akan kalah banyak lagi dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang ini.
Siapa yang kena 'reject' ini? Kalau UMNO kena 'reject' tentulah ada sebabnya. Orang seperti saya bukan suka-suka hendak 'reject' UMNO tetapi oleh kerana keadaan yang membuatkan UMNO itu terpaksa di 'reject'. Saya perhatikan pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO dan penyokong-penyokongnya yang membela membabi buta ini hanya mahu mendengar apa yang mereka hendak dengar sahaja.
Segala hujjah kami tidak pernah dibahaskan dengan cara baik, sebaliknya melakukan 'name calling' yang tidak berbudaya dan beradab dengan bahasa yang sangat hina dan membosankan. Oleh kerana mereka tidak mampu memberikan perbahasan yang baik mereka terpaksa menyerang orang seperti saya dengan kata-kata nista. Membina budaya kotor merupakan satu kejayaan besar UMNO.
Sesungguhnya apabila seseorang yang berbahas dalam hal politik itu menggunakan bahasa kasar dan 'name calling' seperti yang kita dengar sekarang, secara automatik parti dukungan mereka akan di 'reject' oleh rakyat kerana cara itu merupakan 'self defeating' bagi mereka sendiri. Menggunakan perungkapan kotor itu bukan bahasa dan adab Melayu. bagaimana nak kita katakan UMNO itu pejuang Melayu sedangkan bahasa dan budayanya pun bukan budaya dan bahasa seorang Melayu.
Menyertai mana-mana parti adalah perkara biasa yang berlaku dalam sistem demokrasi. Menyertai DAP yang begitu telus itu bukannya pengkhianat seperti yang dilabelkan kepada saya dan Ariff. Untuk pengetahuan mereka yang masih lembut ubun-ubun ini, menggunakan wang rakyat yang berbillion ringgit untuk menyelamatkan perniagaan anak itu adalah pengkhianat negara. Menyalahgunakan wang pinjaman mudah untuk memelihara lembu untuk negara itu adalah pengkhianat. Wang yang mudah didapati kerana pengaruh menteri itu telah di gunakan untuk membeli kondo mewah di Kuala Lumpur dan Singapura adalah kerja khianat kepada negara. READ MORE HERE |
| RPK: There’s life after Anwar Posted: 31 Dec 2011 01:04 AM PST The sodomy charge against Anwar was not trumped up and he will be found guilty on Jan 9, says popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin. "I think it is a foregone conclusion: Anwar is going to be found guilty. PKR will certainly go to town on the issue, but PAS and DAP will not be too excited about turning the Pakatan agenda into a 'free Anwar campaign'. K. Kabilan, Free Malaysia Today Reform activist and influential blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin believes that Anwar Ibrahim was a victim of a honey-trap, but quickly added that the opposition leader was given a fair trial. He is also certain that Anwar will be found guilty on Jan 9. However, he predicts a low-key reaction from the people on the guilty verdict. Interestingly, he says both PAS and DAP would be less than keen to make Anwar's conviction a Pakatan Rakyat agenda. "I think it is a foregone conclusion: Anwar is going to be found guilty. PKR will certainly go to town on the issue, but PAS and DAP will not be too excited about turning the Pakatan agenda into a 'free Anwar campaign'. "Ultimately, there is a bigger fish to fry and that would be to focus on the coming general election," he told FMT in an exclusive interview. He said that the second sodomy trial "came and went as a non-event", unlike the 1999 trial. "In 1999, there was the 'black eye' issue and the high exposure of the trial: hence the public awareness regarding the flaws in the trial. This time around, not many people followed the trial or were even concerned about the trial," he said. He said that the jailing of Anwar this time around would not garner extra votes for the opposition. Anwaristas and the PKR leadership will definitely take umbrage at Raja Petra's frank opinion on the matter, but the popular blogger said even the reaction of the PKR supporters against the verdict would settle down quietly. "For a while, PKR will rant and rave. Then the excitement will tone down and people will get on with their lives. "Umno, meanwhile, will just sit back and watch. If the Anwaristas get out of hand and try to turn the event into a 'Malaysian Spring', the government will just round them up and silence them. "The government is ready for the attempt to turn Jan 9 into a Malaysian Spring and they know how to handle it. It will be doomed from the start. This is not going to be Sept 20, 1998," he said. Why didn't he take the stand?
Raja Petra, who is based in London, also said that while the Barisan Nasional-Umno leadership is definitely "out to get Anwar because he is a political threat", the PKR leader was nevertheless allowed a fair trial. "I know for a fact that the prosecutor agreed to handle the prosecution only if he was allowed to conduct a fair trial and without any political interference." "Therefore, I would say that Anwar was allowed a fair trial," he said. Raja Petra added that Anwar was also allowed more than 60 postponements throughout the trial. "He was supposed to subpoena more than 50 witnesses to testify on his behalf, which in the end he did not and which we are not told why. "It appears like Anwar was allowed a lot of leeway to defend himself. Why did he not take the stand to testify under oath? "Saiful took the stand and he was vigorously cross-examined by the defence. Why did Anwar avoid doing the same?" asked Raja Petra. "I do not think that the charges were trumped up. But I do believe that Anwar is a victim of a honey-trap. In a way it was entrapment, which in a country like the US is illegal," he added. READ MORE HERE |
| Electoral reform a farce without free and fair media coverage Posted: 30 Dec 2011 09:09 PM PST An electoral contest with one contestant monopolizing the media to the exclusion of his adversary is akin to a debating competition where one debater is using a microphone to speak to the audience while the other is using none.
By Kim Quek Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's call for free and fair media coverage for the coming election strikes at the core of the fundamental flaws that have made Malaysian elections a mockery of democracy. This is because electoral democracy is a game of perception. And perception is shaped by the media. Hence, an electoral contest with one contestant monopolizing the media to the exclusion of his adversary is akin to a debating competition where one debater is using a microphone to speak to the audience while the other is using none. And the Malaysian media is notorious for its biased reporting, as the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) has never been shy in exploiting to the fullest, its iron-grip on the entire spectrum of the local mass media (save the Internet) to advance its political fortune. Such complete control is made possible through a combination of repressive legislations and media ownership, as the BN government possesses the arbitrary power to grant or terminate any media license (printed and electronic) without legal redress, and all such media are owned either by BN's component parties or by their allies. And public TV and radio, which are legally bound to be politically neutral, have long been corrupted by BN to serve its parochial political interests – a practice that has emphatically breached our Constitution.
GOLIATH vs DAVID MEDIA WAR
With such unlimited media power at the exclusive disposal of a ruling power as ruthless as BN, one can imagine what kind of scenario will be seen at a Malaysian national election. It will not be a democratic election for sure. More likely, it will look like giant Goliath fighting little David, as far media war is concerned. And yet, it is the media that influence the mind, and the mind that influences the vote. Granted that advancement in Internet has somewhat mitigated the unleveled playing field, but its current stage of usage in Malaysia is nowhere near the kind of level that would enable the opposition to meaningfully counter BN's vicious propaganda perpetrated through the main stream media. TV, radio and newspaper are still the regular information feeders depended upon by overwhelming majority of Malaysians, particularly those in the non-urban areas. And the opposition's serious handicap in information dissemination is further critically compounded by the 8 to 10 day campaign period (though allowable period is 60 days), a practice perpetrated in recent decades by an obviously manipulated Election Commission (EC) to favour BN. With such a ridiculously short campaign period, it is impossible for the opposition to carry its message – not to mention countering BN's false propaganda – to the far flung territories that include the hinterlands across the South China Seas. More than any other factor, BN's monopolistic abuse and exploitation of the mass media, coupled with the indecently brief campaign period, has been accountable to BN's unfailing victory in every general election in the past.
BN NO MATCH FOR PAKATAN IN FAIR CONTEST
Surveying the current scenario ahead of the election, what we see is a fundamentally altered political landscape. On one side of the battlefield, is an aged and decadent coalition with antiquated policy, kept in power by dint of its grip on the state machinery. On the other, a newly emerged coalition brimming with ideas to rejuvenate the nation, with proven record of sound governance in its state governments. Under such circumstances, it is fair to say that BN should be no match for Pakatan Rakyat in a free and fair contest, more so in the current trend of dissent against decadent and aged power that has swept across the world including our region. But of course, we have never had a free and fair contest, and in fact, our unleveled playing field has gone from bad to worse. It is in the realization that we may once again be cheated of a fair choice of government that hitherto docile voters have risen strongly to brave brutal crackdown to demand fair election in the Bersih 2.0 rally. It is not difficult to surmise that, given the present extreme lop-sidedness of Malaysian election, whether the people will be given a fair choice in the coming poll hinges on how effective the current attempt at electoral reform will be towards rectifying the current flaws. The recent focus by the parliamentary select committee (PFC) and EC on introducing indelible ink and advance voting in lieu of postal voting is of course a welcome improvement. But we must be cautious not to allow such focus to blur our priorities, top among which is the mandatory practice of free and fair and non-discriminatory media coverage for all contestants. And of course, the current unconstitutional abuse of public media (TV, radio, news agency etc) to disseminate biased information in favour of BN has to cease forthwith.
FREE MEDIA NON-NEGOTIABLE
This is something that BN can do right away without waiting for new legislation or alteration of election regulation. All that is needed is the political will and commitment to honour the letter and spirit of our Constitution. Knowing the critical importance of free media to democratic election, it should be made a non-negotiable issue. I have no doubt that Bersih 2.0, political parties and all who cherish democracy and the Constitution will stand very firm to demand that BN gives its solemn pledge to restore free and fair media coverage as pre-requisite to the return to democratic election. |
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