Khamis, 6 September 2012

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

BN eyes polls in November, after Budget debate
Malaysia's UMNO Goes After A Critic
Explain probe under Sedition Act
Khaled: College considered all options before expelling student
Tioman Trip: Excitement turned into Frustration
Di bawah 1Malaysia, anak muda semakin kreatif
Will Najib go for full term?
Not many date options are left
It’s decided – PAS for Labuan
It’s about the money!
Revisiting the Malaysian School Curriculum
Show me the money
Hindraf awaiting Najib’s, Anwar’s response
German Embassy admits to funding Suaram
MB: Anwar invited only as a guest speaker
New government can choose new flag, says historical society
Tanda Putera director lashes out at critics

BN eyes polls in November, after Budget debate

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:58 AM PDT

Barisan Nasional (BN) is likely to call the general election at the end of November, a week after the last of the 28,000 Muslim pilgrims return from the Haj and the Budget 2013 is passed by the Dewan Rakyat, sources say.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Education Ministry top officials have been asked this past week to check the availability of schools, mainly secondary schools, during that period when the Form Five and Six public examinations are usually held.

"The government is looking at the end of November, just after the last flight bringing back the Haj pilgrims on November 19," a BN strategist told The Malaysian Insider.

The next Parliament session starts September 24 and is scheduled to end on November 27, with the highlight being Budget 2013 to be tabled by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on September 28.

BN's mandate expires next April 28, five years after Election 2008 where the ruling coalition under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suffered historic losses of its two-thirds parliamentary majority and four more states. Abdullah stepped down in favour of Najib in April 2009. This is Najib's first shot at getting his own mandate.

The Malaysian Insider had earlier reported that plans to dissolve Parliament last month have been shelved after two Sabah lawmakers quit the coalition and expressed support for arch-rivals Pakatan Rakyat (PR). There have also been reports of elections to be called earlier and the middle of the year but none have panned out.

Najib hinted last week that a general election is near while former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has openly said November would be a good month for elections. Both are also bullish about BN's prospects in the coming polls.

Malaysia's UMNO Goes After A Critic

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:55 AM PDT

(Asia Sentinel) - Never mind 150 million euros in bribes, a dead woman and a global scandal, go for the whistle-blower's throat

In November of 2009, Suaram, the Kuala Lumpur-based human rights NGO, asked a French investigative law firm to look into what appeared to be huge bribes and kickbacks paid to Malaysian politicians by the French state-owned defense company DCN and its subsidiaries for the 2002 purchase of two submarines and the lease of a third.

The story was complicated by the sensational 2006 death of a Mongolian translator and party girl, Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was shot by two of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak's bodyguards and her body was blown up with military explosives. While the bodyguards were convicted of her for-hire killing, the court appeared to have actively suppressed any mention of who allegedly paid the two to kill her, raising Suaram's concerns that there would be no justice delivered.

In the intervening three years, Suaram's request to the law firm, headed by the Paris-based William Bourdon, resulted in a probe that exposed nearly 150 million euros in questionable funds paid to a close friend of then-defense minister Najib Tun Razak, now Malaysia's prime minister.

Eventually, when a Paris-based investigating magistrate began to examine the evidence, the court turned up voluminous memos, emails and other documents from a raid on DCN's offices indicating that massive bribes had been paid with the full knowledge of Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, Mahathir Mohamad, then the prime minister of Malaysia, and Najib, who had negotiated the purchase. The evidence detailed a host of other sleazy dealings.

Some 133 documents listing the alleged criminal dealings were obtained independently by Asia Sentinel and posted here on June 25 on the Internet. Although the documents are in French, those who do not speak the language can get them onto their computer screens and click on Google Translate. While the grammar is somewhat primitive, their meaning is very clear. Those who do not want to bother may read two stories that Asia Sentinel published on the subject on 25 June. They can be found here and here.

The publication of the documents kicked off a storm in France and Malaysia. But what the publication of the French documents or the investigation did not do was spur any probe of the purported criminal activities in Malaysia.

What it did do, however, was to precipitate an unprecedented attack by a wide range of pro-government bloggers, ruling coalition politicians and others on the reputation and integrity of Suaram, and by extension against Asia Sentinel for printing the documents.

Explain probe under Sedition Act

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:49 AM PDT

Stepping on a photograph of the Prime Minister and his wife cannot be an offence under the Sedition Act 1948.

Gobind Singh Deo

I call upon the IGP to explain why and how it is Ong Sing Yee, 19 and others were arrested and detained for investigations under the Sedition Act 1948.

Stepping on a photograph of the Prime Minister and his wife cannot be an offence under the Sedition Act 1948.

Section 4 of the Act makes it an offence for any person who does or attempts to do any act which has or would have a seditious tendency.

Section 3 of the Act defines and outlines what is meant by the words "seditious tendency". Of the 6 instances, (a) defines it as being a tendency to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government.

And as for the definition of "Government", section 2 of the Act says it means Government of Malaysia and of any State in Malaysia.

Clearly therefore the Act does not apply to the Prime Minister and his wife individually. It must be taken in its proper context. The acts complained of must relate to the Government in terms of its governance and not otherwise.

To extend the application of the word Government to individuals who are part of the Government would be to stretch its definition too far.

It is further disappointing to note that despite the government saying openly that it proposes to repeal the Sedition Act 1948 because it is outdated, the Act is still being used.

In July this very year, the Prime Minister himself announced the proposed repeal of the Act.

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was thereafter quoted in the Star of July 14 2012 as saying:

"The Sedition Act has a provision of not allowing the raising of anger against the government, but now we have discarded it as criticism levelled at the government and its leaders is legitimate under the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Constitution."

The action of the police in moving to do what to my mind isn't condoned by the Act and against the July declaration aforesaid is therefore, and without explanation, an abuse of process.

As such, it would be best for the police to clear the air and explain forthwith.

Khaled: College considered all options before expelling student

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:44 AM PDT

(Bernama) - "The student's expulsion reflects the stance of the college to refuse to compromise with any action committed by its students, against the law," he said.

Higher Education minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the decision by a private college in Cheras to expel the student who had allegedly exposed his buttocks at pictures of the country's leaders at a pre-Merdeka rally at Dataran Merdeka had considered all options before doing so.

He viewed the decision as appropriate since the action by the individual had tarnished the good name of the institute of higher learning.

"The student's expulsion reflects the stance of the college to refuse to compromise with any action committed by its students, against the law," he said.

Tioman Trip: Excitement turned into Frustration

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:29 AM PDT

Insufficient life jackets, improper evacuation procedures and overloading contributed to the deaths and injuries suffered in 2007.

What is it going to take for the authorities to wake up from their slumber and do their jobs? Are they waiting for another 7 people to die, or maybe 15 or 20 people this time? Malaysian authorities are known for acting only AFTER a tragedy happens.

Nirmala Arunaselam

Tioman has often been touted as a great tourist attraction, on par with overseas holiday destinations. Adverts peddling the appeal and lure of the island are aplenty. But for my family and me, what was supposed to be an enjoyable and relaxing Merdeka weekend getaway on the island turned frustrating and traumatic on our trip home.

Mind you, Tioman island is a wonderful tourist destination and has its own quirky charm if you like a simple, laid-back relaxing-in-the-sun environment. It is also known as a divers' paradise and tons of people come to dive and snorkel. HOWEVER the facilities and services were a complete and total letdown.

We were to return home on Sunday, September 2, 2012 after a nice, relaxing weekend on the island. The ferry (Bluewater Express company) pick-up was at 10:30am and it was expected to be jam-packed with people. We decided to go to the jetty half an hour early so that we could wait at the front of the line to ensure that we get a seat on the ferry. What we discovered was that there was no line, no queue system and basically no system whatsoever for boarding the ferry.

So there we were waiting for the ferry from 10am. 10:30 passed, then 11am, 11:30am and still no ferry in sight. It finally arrived at 1pm. You can just imagine the crowd pushing to get on board. I had to board the ferry first with my two young children while my husband went to the back of the ferry to load the bags. Here I was with 2 small kids – holding onto one and carrying the other – and people were pushing me from the back, left and right. My temper started to rise and I had to tell them to stop pushing.

After boarding the ferry (Bestari 2), I noticed that there were people already on board – obviously picked up from the earlier stops. Usually this is not the case as Salang is usually the first pick-up point, but due to the delay I guess that they must have picked up passengers from the other stops while dropping others off.

I hastily tried to find 4 seats but was unsuccessful. I found two seats and left my 7 year old there while I went to look for another two. I finally found one other empty seat. Suddenly I realized that the ferry was moving. I looked out the window and saw my husband still waiting at the jetty, after not succeeding in loading our bags as the boatmen would not take any more bags on board. He called my handphone and told me that they were not letting anymore people on the ferry as it was overloaded already.

I quickly ran to those in charge and asked them to stop and go back for him. I spoke to 2 people, one of whom told me that my husband had to wait for the next ferry which might come in about another hour (not guaranteed). After I raised my voice, the other person finally agreed to radio the skipper and ask him to stop the ferry.

Imagine how I had to frantically negotiate with the boatmen to turn back for my husband while handling 2 girls aged 4 and 7 who were sitting in different sections of the ferry. Initially I thought they were going back for my husband but that was not the case. My husband called and said that the ferry was not turning back. I flipped out and almost yelled at the person in charge. I told them there was no way I was going to travel on the ferry for 3 hours with 2 small kids while my husband was left behind at the jetty. I insisted, "Let him on or let me off". I believe most of the passengers were staring at me but I was so furious I could not care less if I was upsetting anyone.

Well, the ferry finally turned around and my husband came on board. All this took quite a few minutes. For your information, out of nearly 80-100 people who were waiting for the ferry, more than half were not allowed on board and were thus left behind. We later overheard the boatman saying that this was the last ferry out for now. What was the fate of those left waiting at the jetty? I shudder to think if I was one of those left behind.

That the ferry was overcrowded is an understatement. There were people standing, sitting on the steps, squatting near the toilets as well as bags and stuff everywhere on the floor, steps and compartments. I saw only a few life jackets, and I wonder how many rules and regulations were broken that day.

Remember the Tioman ferry tragedy in 2007 where 7 people died? Ref: Ferry tragedy trials postponed - Nation | The Star Online

5 years have passed and I wonder if the authorities are waiting for another tragedy to occur before any action is taken to enforce the regulations meant to safeguard passengers. Or has integrity been thrown out at sea with authorities closing one eye so that the ferry company can rake in more money at the expense of passengers' safety.

Back to my story, when reaching what we thought was Mersing jetty, we were told that it was instead heading towards Tanjung Gemuk as it was low tide at Mersing and the ferry could not go there. Buses were supposed to be waiting at Tanjung Gemuk to transfer passengers to Mersing.

The question here is, if they already knew that it would be low tide at Mersing after 2pm (as was told to us), why did the ferry not come on time at 10:30am to fetch passengers and make it back on time to Mersing by 1:30pm? And what about all the other passengers left stranded at Salang jetty?

The obvious answer could be that the ferry company was making sure that profits were maximized by overloading the ferry and cramming in as many people as possible (we paid for 4 tickets but only got 3 seats).

This is not my first time to Tioman and each time I board the ferry from Mersing, I pray for a smooth and safe trip to the island and back. On almost every trip, the ferry is overloaded and waiting for a disaster to happen. Ref: A Tioman disaster waiting to happen - Malaysiakini

What do the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Tourism have to say about this? Why all the hype about local tourist destinations when they can't even enforce basic rules to ensure the safety of passengers on ferries? Ministry officials should experience first-hand waiting for delayed ferries and suffering the congestion of overloaded ferries.

They should also try using the public toilets, especially at Mersing jetty. There was only one female toilet and one male toilet catering to around 120-150 people. To make matters worse the lights were not working. Imagine the STENCH!!! I am sure foreigners who visit Tioman will go home and discourage others from visiting the place.

Does the ferry company, Bluewater Express, have a conscience? What they did that day smacks of greed, recklessness and unprofessionalism. They are willing to put so many lives at risk, just to make a few extra bucks. Aren't human lives more precious than dollars and cents?

I don't expect miracles overnight, but I do hope that more people come forward and voice out their views and opinions, especially where safety and health issues are concerned. Only then will we see a change for the better in the tourism and other public sectors.

I urge the authorities to take action and be proactive instead of reactive. Safety should not be taken lightly. Ensure that ferry operators act professionally and enforce safety regulations before another disaster happens!!!

Di bawah 1Malaysia, anak muda semakin kreatif

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:18 AM PDT

GROSS INSULT: The student was detained when he turned up in Cheras to meet college management — Pic: RAZAK GHAZALI

Penghormatan adalah kurniaan dari rakyat tetapi bukan menghasut atau di minta. Penghormatan adalah suci dan indah tanpa diselaputi dengan ketakutan.

Meta trader

kDGLevboeRg
Or watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGLevboeRg

Najib salah seorang Perdana Menteri yang dipilih parti UMNO, begitulah statusnya kurang dapat penghormatan dari anak muda. Dasar parti pemerintah memang haus dengan kuasa dari rakyat tetapi dasar pemerintah menganggap sesiapa yang menentang mereka adalah musuh, ini amatlah konflik macam mana parti pemerintah dapat sokongan dari musuh??

Penghormatan adalah kurniaan dari rakyat tetapi bukan menghasut atau di minta. Penghormatan adalah suci dan indah tanpa diselaputi dengan ketakutan. Penghormatan dianugerahkan dengan percuma tanpa dijual beli, dalam prinsip demokrasi kuasa rakyat adalah kuasa penghormatan.

Isu anak muda memijak poster Najib dan Rosmah menandakan anak muda terasa jijik dan benci atas corak pemerintahan 1Malaysia, Najib patutlah mengambil langkah yang bijak dan positif demi mengujudkan imej mesra dengan anak muda. Isu penangkapan anak muda memiak poster Najib memang kurang moral, ini adalah isu moral yang kurang sopan terhadap seseorang pemimpin tetapi kenapa diperkenakan akta hasutan?? Penyiasatan PDRM yang begitu pilih kasih bukan dapat menakutkan anak muda tetapi memberikan kesempatan untuk menjauhi parti pemerintah.

Ruang siber bergitu luas, anak muda berupaya menggunakan minda kreativiti mereka dalam apa japa enis rekaan dan ciptaan mereka, meraka sanggup lakukan apa saja, sama ada dalam puisi, sajak, video, animation,.... demi melepaskan geram dan menyebarkan rasa ketidakadilan yang wujud dari hati naluri mereka. Selagi parti pemerintah bersikap angkuh dan enggan memberikan ruang untuk anak muda bernafas, khasnya akta 114A, Maka banyak lagi hasil kreatif sama ada dalam blog, forum, acebook youtube akan dijadikan medan perang mereka.

Begitu juga video klip janji di capati, kelihatan anak muda bijak menggunakan media alternatif menghiburkan rakyat, menyampaikan mesej dan pendapat pendapat yang waras dalam musik ciptaan mereka.

Will Najib go for full term?

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 12:35 AM PDT

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Malaysia-Today - Do you really think it is about the ballot box?

RPK's latest post carries a very provocative title. Nonetheless he has a few good points which (coincidentally, would you believe it?) I share and would have posted last night but alas I was too busy. However, I have to state that my thrust would have been different to his point. Thus, I won't follow RPK's provocative path wakakaka.

In any Westminster-styled democracy, a majority ruling party has the legitimate right to govern the country for the full term prescribed in the constitution, whether the term is 5 or (in the case of Australia) 3 years.

There seems to a current fallacy that Najib is cheating the voters because he has thus far refused to call or ignored the calls for an election now (though there are now hints he might do it in November, this year of course wakakaka).

On a related issue, though not central to my post topic, there is also a fallacy that Britain does not have a written constitution. It does, except the articles (rules) are not written in one convenient 'book' like ours, with all its rules (or articles) in one single tome.

Magna Carta

The Brits have their constitutional rules scattered all over, among the pages of the Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, Bill of Rights, Act of Settlement, Parliament Acts, Representation of the People Act, case laws such as Case of Proclamations, each written at various stages in their history stretching from around 1215 (Magna Carta) to 1969 (Representation of the People Act), over a period of some 750 years. And no Pakistani legal expert helped, thank you, wakakaka.

Anyway, fast forward to the present, and the topic to be discussed.

As we read almost everyday, there have been condemnations (or at best, criticisms) of Najib for 'refusing' to call for an early general election when the actual 5-year term for the BN as the ruling party will only expire some time in March 2013.

Understandably, most of the condemnations have been from PKR where an impatient and at the same time optimistic Anwar Ibrahim believes the tide has swung in his favour. His party and supporters have been conducting psy-war against Najib, attempting to goad Ah Jib Gor into an early election.

Understandably too, Najib appears to be going for the full term, or at least not dancing to Anwar's tune, because it's obvious he (Najib) has assessed BN will be at a disadvantage if he were to call for an election now.

And why would he, when the more time he has, the more monkey tricks he can bring about, wakakaka. Alas, it's his prime ministerial constitutional right.

Now, why did I want to (coincidentally) write about the full term for an elected government, though I had already mentioned Najib's prerogative to go for the full 5 years in a couple of previous posts?

Two recent events persuaded me to.

One - Down in Australia, PM Julia Gillard has just stated very clearly her government will go the full 3-year term BUT in exhibiting her prime ministerial prerogative a la Westminster-styled democracy, reserves the right to call for an early election, even if 'early' means a month or two before the run-out date.

In fact, recently I read in the newspapers downunder that Australia's Constitution allows a ruling term to be slightly over the so-called maximum 3-year term, of course by only a few weeks for some administrative reasons. I am not sure whether the Malaysian Constitution provides for that.

Thus Najib has the same prime ministerial prerogatives to run his government for the full term of 5 years, or if he wants to, sneak in an early request to HM the Agong to dissolve parliament. I have a different view to RPK in that the Agong doesn't have much say, as he 'has to' heed the PM's 'advice' to dissolve parliament, more so under Malaysian constitutional terms.

Two - The other reason which suggests to me to blog on this issue had come as a total surprise to me. Actually I was mildly shocked when 3 days ago, I read Free Malaysia Today's Delay polls and risk punishment.

If it had been Anwar who said that, I would have accepted that he's correct in pushing for the election a.s.a.p. because the BN is currently in a politically precarious position. If it had been Pak Haji Hadi Awang, Lim Guan Eng or even my hero Karpal Singh, it would be normal politics.

But when I read that it was another of my heroes, Ambiga Sreenevasan, who warned Najib that his continuing dilly dallying in calling for an election could prove to be perilous for him and BN, I was gobsmacked.

FMT reported:

She said that it would not come as a surprise if the voters, including the fence-sitters, punished him for this feet-dragging in the next polls.

"I understand it is the Westminster system and it is the prerogative of the prime minister. But a good government should be prepared to take on the election and not be afraid to set a date," she told FMT.

"We have been in election mode since he [Najib] took over and everyone has been pumped up. He drops hints [about the polls] and that is irresponsible. You don't toy with people's feelings.

"People are fed up! They can't plan things like going on holidays and so forth. Furthermore, it affects investor confidence.

"That's why I say it is irresponsible. If this is how a government is going to play with the election date, then it would be best to have a fixed date for polling," she added.

Obviously Ambiga knows her laws as she said "I understand it is the Westminster system and it is the prerogative of the prime minister." So why did she see it necessary to warn Najib into an early election. I don't know then, and I don't know now.

READ MORE HERE

Not many date options are left

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 06:20 PM PDT

Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily

There are not many date options left. The 13th general election is likely to fall in November this year, January or March next year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently hinted that the general election might be fall in November, as 11 is his favourite number. Therefore, people started to speculate, avoided the Deepavali and Awal Muharram on Nov 13 and 15, the polling day could fall on Nov 3, 11 or 25.

However, it could also be a false alarm, as there is still no sign showing that the election will be held in November. If the Prime Minister wants to distribute candies on September 28 when the Budget is tabled, it will take time to achieve the expected effects and they would not make it by November.

Najib is very likely to announce another round of the RM500 BR1M aid distribution or other people-friendly measures. The aid can be issued the earliest in December and the timing will be nice if the election is held in early next year.

Feedback from the public shows positive response to the BR1M aid, even better than fuel subsidies, and it consumed only RM2.6 billion. Therefore, it is believed that the BN will not miss the opportunity to create a feel-good mood.

Moreover, the factional problem of Umno has not yet been solved. Some district leaders actually ignore Najib's plan of fielding only those with the highest chance of winning, and insist to compete. The election would not come so soon before the problem is solved.

Therefore, Umno leaders are very likely to authorise the party president the full authority to decide on election candidates at the annual party congress, to eliminate different voices in the party. Also, Umno is expected to motivate party members and implement the party's policy at the congress.

Therefore, the possibility to have the election in November is not high. Since they have been waiting for so long, why should they take the risk now? Therefore, it is believed that the election should be held either in January or March next year. Since February 10 is the Chinese New Year, February is not suitable for campaigning. Of course, Najib would not allow the Parliament to be automatically dissolved after April 28 to avoid affecting the morale of BN's component party members.

In any case, even if the election falls in November, Najib is now Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister without his own electoral mandate, the previous record was four and a half year. It shows that the BN is really facing the most difficult political situation this time.

The BN has done all it wants to fight for swing votes and its policies can no longer be changed. The people have also already made their decisions. Further delay will make the situation more chaotic, and more and more conflicts will be triggered. It is not something in favour of the BN, too.

Incidents triggered by the Janji Demokrasi rally on August 30, including the move of stepping on a picture of Najib, would not affect the Pakatan Rakyat as the society has been seriously divided. The BN, instead, should be vigilant against unexpected events.

For example, after two Sabah lawmakers have withdrawn from the BN and decided to support the Pakatan Rakyat, the BN should not give them more time to stir up Bumiputeras' sentiments. If the world economy does not deteriorate and the global food prices surge, it might still affect domestic prices in early next year.

Therefore, based on the above analysis, January will be the best timing and the situation would turn dangerous if they fail to make good use of the opportunity.

It’s decided – PAS for Labuan

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 06:02 PM PDT

Labuan will remain with Barisan Nasional now that it's 'clear' that PAS will contest in the parliamentary constituency.

(FMT) - LABUAN: PAS will contest in the duty free Labuan parliamentary constituency and the decision is 'final'. Speaking to reporters here, Federal Territories PAS commissioner Mohamad Noor Mohamad said – in no uncertain terms – that the presidential council of Pakatan Rakyat "had decided on this".

He said the party will field a candidate for the Labuan parliamentary constituency in the 13th general election and that the name of the individual will be submitted to the party president soon for approval.

"The Presidential Council of PR (Pakatan Rakyat) has decided that for state seats, the state PR (Pakatan) councils will decide.

"The three leaders of the council from PAS, PKR and DAP had agreed for the Labuan seat to be contested by PAS," he said succintly ending Labuan DAP's claims that seat negotiation here is "yet to be finalised".

Labuan DAP chief Lau Seng Kiat yesterday said that he had been "advised" by Pakatan leaders that allocation of seats for Sabah and Labuan have "yet to be finalised."

"We are still in the process of negotiation to determine the contesting parties in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan," Lau said.

But Mohamad reiterated his Monday stand that the decision by the presidential council was made on Aug 18 and that a letter to effect was issued regarding the seat distribution.

"So it is clear that PAS will stand here in Labuan," Mohamad said, adding that "Labuan will be in the race for Putrajaya".

Mohamad also addressed the fact that although PAS has a poor track record over the past few polls, they were optimistic of performing better this time round.

"What's important now is that in the coming elections BN is challenged one-on-one without split of opposition votes.

"That way the opposition has a good chance to unseat BN," he said alluding to the last election when Labuan saw a three-cornered fight between BN, PAS and DAP.

READ MORE HERE

It’s about the money!

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:42 PM PDT

Under PM Najib's administration, we have seen the passing of several progressive-sounding laws like The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Security Offences [Special Measures] Act. But that is all it is, nice sounding titles because there are enough provisions in them to nullify their objectives. They are just perception-correction exercises by PM Najib, something that he is very good at.

Thomas Fann

As Malaysians wait in eager expectation for PM Najib to annouce the date of the 13th General Election, one seen by most as a potentially pivotal general election that would decide the future of this country, the stakes are high and the issues many.

As I glance the headlines of newspapers and online media, there are a myriad of issues that surface every day. Today it's the alternative flag issue, yesterday was the size of rallies, previously and no doubt in the days to come, the ketuanan Melayu issue, Chinese education, marginalization of Indians, the Sabah IC for votes, Hudud, electoral reforms, high or disputed crime rates, police brutality, death in detention, etc. These are all highly sensitive and important issues, especially to those affected by them.

Mother of All Issues

But I would like to suggest that the mother of all issues should be corruption. It is about the money. There is a saying, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil".

According to Transparency International, "Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority."

It is more than the receiving of bribes or commission for which the person is not entitled to but it includes cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement, extortion, lobbying with inducements, laziness, incompetence, theft, pilfering, etc.

It is Stealing

Let's cut through all the chase, corruption is stealing and we are the victim. Let us not gloss over this criminal act by using legal-sounding terms like commission, appreciation, and incentives. It is stealing. When you use your position for private gain either in the form of money, perks, sex, discounts, pervert justice, or favour someone, it is stealing and you are a thief.

Whilst many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region have been making big strides in combating corruption and has risen in ranking on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index ranking, Malaysia has been slipping. In the 2011 ranking, we are 60th out of 183 countries, a drop of 4 places from the previous year with a score of 4.3/10 (10 being highly clean). In fact, our score has been steadily slipping since 1995 when the first TI CPI index came out when we scored 5.28/10 then.

Perception-Correction Exercises

Some may live in denial and tell us that it is just a perception problem and the solution is to improve public perception by focusing on the positive news and distorting the truth. That in itself is corruption!

Let's look at the facts. Unfortunately, it is hard to get the facts, thanks to laws that hide the facts like the Official Secrets Acts, Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) 1989, which do not promote transparency but are used to prosecute whistleblowers of corrupt practices.

Revisiting the Malaysian School Curriculum

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:34 PM PDT

Stephen Doss

Recently I had the good fortune of being part of a focus group on "national unity" which was formed by a local think tank which wanted to present a proposal to the Education Ministry. The proposal was to be included as part of the Ministry's blueprint for education reform.

The focus was on what was needed to be done to foster unity though the identification of a Malaysian identity unique to all Malaysians through the school system.

The questions posed were not new, just go to any seminar, forum, workshop on unity in Malaysia and the same questions would invariably surface if not by a panelist then from someone from the floor. Why are we still having problems defining what is it that makes us Malaysians? Why are we not united beyond the surface level? Why do we still have race-based organizations? Why aren't all Malaysians treated equally? And the list can go on and on.

But this particular focus group was a bit more focused. The think tank wanted to see what more can be done at the school level to change attitudes assuming that these problems begin from a young tender age.

It started off by asking questions about the curriculum, is there something wrong with our school syllabus that does not help foster a common identity? Does the syllabus not promote attitudes that lead students to appreciate unity among the different races? There were also question about the school environment, is the school environment not conducive to the building of harmonious relations?

According to dictionary.com, "Unity" is defined as ;
1. the state of being one; oneness
2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number ofpersons; concord, harmony, or agreement.

Now assuming that it is easier to achieve unity through a state of harmony, and harmonious relations are easily achievable if we have a common identity or purpose, then the question that we should be asking is after 55 years of independence, why do we still have problems with issues regarding national identity?

According to Wikipedia, "National identity" is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status. National identity is not an inborn trait; various studies have shown that a person's national identity is a direct result of the presence of elements from the "common points" in people's daily lives: national symbols, language, the nation's history, national consciousness, blood ties, culture, music, cuisine, etc

Now let us dissect the above before we go back to our nation's school syllabus.

National symbols, we have no shortage of these, the flag, the rukunegara, the monarchy, architecture, national car, etc.

Language, there is no dispute that Bahasa Malaysia is our official language although there are still many Malaysians who are not able to speak or write in the language.

The nation's history, by and large we are all familiar with our nation's history, our colonial past, and our struggle for independence although not all of us may agree with where our ancestors came from, their different contributions, who were the actual freedom fighters and who benefited what, from whose struggles.

National consciousness, we might have a problem here as we seem to have different races championing their own cultures as superior to the other, trying to agree on a common culture and placing that above individual cultural practice belonging to each ethnic group in the country still seems a mighty challenge.

Blood ties, most Malaysians are by now second if not third generation Malaysians, by right not an issue, notwithstanding that Malaysians still like to call each "pendatang" or "bangsa asing' now and then.

Culture, as yet we still have a problem identifying a culture that is common to all of us, we seem happy accepting a mix of cultures belonging to all races, a cop out of sorts just to keep everybody happy.

Music, we've probably had more success here, but that is to be expected for music is a universal language.

Cuisine, to be sure this is the one thing we are all proud of to claim as our own, we have successfully incorporated unique characteristics in our cuisine that it is said that you will not find similar food anywhere else.

Looking at the list of items that are said to be part of what is required for forming a national identity, it is clear that we are far from a finished product, a nation that is still finding itself.

Do we find these ingredients in our national school syllabus? I am guessing not really and definitely not beyond scratching the surface or with any real substance. I suspect it is because the adults among us cannot yet seem to agree on most items in the list, not surprising since we cannot even agree on allowing our children the advantage of attending one school with one objective.

There was agreement among the focus group members though to be sure that our current school syllabus does not cause disunity among students, neither is it a cause for concern in the short term. Although the same could not be said of deliverers of the syllabus, most who attended were of the view that it is this aspect of the school system that we should look at, as it is these deliverers who have an impact on our impressionable children and there was real concern that what is being imparted to students is the reason why there is a perception that real unity will continue to elude us as long as these deliverers do not move beyond the superficial and away from their own racial discriminations.

An improved syllabus which incorporates national identity and promotes harmonious relations will mean little if the deliverers themselves do not believe in the project.

Stephen Doss is a social activist and political observer. He is currently the President of the International Social Media Chambers. He can be found on twitter @stephendoss

Show me the money

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:22 PM PDT

If what FMT reported above is true, and if most people in Sabah think the way that FMT says they think, then Sabah is doomed. And so is Sarawak. The people there would not vote based on good governance, transparency, justice, and whatnot. They would vote based on whether the people they vote for can make them happy. And without Sabah and Sarawak, Pakatan Rakyat's dream of marching into Putrajaya will be merely angan-angan.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

LYNAS shares surge after granting of licence in Malaysia

MELBOURNE : Shares in Lynas Corporation have surged by more than 50 per cent in early trade after the rare earths miner was granted a temporary licence for its US$800 million rare earths refinery in Kuantan.

After the close of Wednesday's trading session, the company said the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board had issued a temporary operating licence (TOL) for its advanced materials plant in Kuantan.

At 10.40am (Melbourne time) on Thursday, Lynas shares were 50 per cent higher at A91 cents before dropping back to A78 cents at 11.10am, the Australian Associated Press reports.

The long-delayed plant has been opposed by environmentalists concerned about potential radioactivity risks.

The plant will process rare earths from the Lynas Mount Weld mine in Western Australia.

China currently produces about 95 per cent of all rare earth materials, which are vital for many electronic products. -- Bernama

******************************************

Lajim still a good bet for opposition

KOTA KINABALU: Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Among his constituents and ardent local political observers, the currently much-talked about Beaufort MP may still win big in the coming polls.

They opined that the former federal deputy minister of housing and local government, who jumped from ruling Umno to the opposition side recently, would win in least two parliamentary and three state assembly seats.

Malik Unar, 74, a Sabah political writer, is one of those who believes so, saying Lajim would win easily in his former state seat of Klias and retain even his Beaufort seat if he decides to go for both.

"He will win there easily… He or his men or associates will take Kuala Penyu and Lumadan state seats and the Sipitang parliamentary seat," claimed the veteran writer who hailed from Membakut in Beaufort.

Malik has written several political books during his prolific years including while Lajim was still with PBS (1984-1994).

"Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily. He will win no matter what others say about him," he claimed when asked for his opinion at a meeting in Kota Kinabalu recently.

Even though Lajim has become a subject of ridicule in RPK's blogsite Malaysia Today, many here still believe it would not harm his reputation, at least among his own "Bisaya folks" in Beaufort vicinity. -- Free Malaysia Today

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We tend to believe that everyone thinks the way we do and that everyone shares our same values. When we flock with those of our same feather that impression becomes even stronger. Most times, however, we do not really know whether we are in the minority or the majority and when the minority shouts while the majority keeps quiet this become even more illusionary.

At the end of the day, when it comes down to choices, what choice will you make? What would be your immediate concerns? Would you worry about the world? Would you worry about your country? Would you worry about your community? Would you worry about your neighbourhood? Or would you worry about your family?

Some people would worry about themselves even before they worry about their family. Hence the neighbourhood, community, country and the world would have to be the last things you worry about, in that order of priority.

We consider LYNAS, or rather the opposition to LYNAS, as a noble cause. Hence if we oppose LYNAS then we are certainly fighting a noble cause. And opposing LYNAS would involve making sure that they do not get a licence to operate. And certainly the world would share this noble cause, would it not?

Then their licence is approved and the company's share price jumps 50%. And that is definitely most puzzling because we thought that everyone shared our noble cause -- and the noble cause would be about doing the right thing and not about making money. It appears, though, that making money rather than fighting noble causes is still the priority of some people, or maybe even many people.

So, are we alone? Or is the world with us? Or is it all about making money in the end?

Then we look at this issue regarding Lajim Ukin.

"Lajim still a good bet for opposition," screams the headlines of the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news report. FMT then goes on to say:

Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Among his constituents and ardent local political observers, the currently much-talked about Beaufort MP may still win big in the coming polls. Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily. He will win no matter what others say about him. Even though Lajim has become a subject of ridicule in RPK's blogsite, Malaysia Today, many here still believe it would not harm his reputation, at least among his own "Bisaya folks" in Beaufort vicinity.

The key to the above report is: Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily.

Again, we thought this was about noble causes, honour and integrity. Apparently it is not. Apparently it is about whether you can make the voters happy. And what better way of making the people happy than by giving them a good life? And a good life would involve money.

And would this be the same formula that will apply to Lembah Pantai? Will Nurul Izzah Anwar win because she is perceived as a sincere and noble person of honour and integrity or will Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin win instead because he is able to make the people happy? And how would he go about making the people happy?

At the end of the day, most people are selfish. How many would be prepared to make sacrifices? Would they sacrifice their comfort and security in the interest of doing the right thing? Or would their decision be based on 'what's in it for me'?

We would like to believe that we uphold noble values and that the world shares these same values. Then we discover that the shares of a business we are opposed to spirals because it received its licence to do the business we are opposed to. So the world is not really with us after all. What really makes the world go round is money.

We would like to believe that we uphold noble values and that the world shares these same values. Then we discover that the people who have no integrity get to win because they get the support of voters who put money above noble values. So the world is not really with us after all. What really makes the world go round is money.

We hear a lot of 'statements of support' for Nurul Izzah. Yes, many statements of support from people who place noble values and doing the right thing above everything else. But how many of these people will be voting? How many of these people will be voting in Lembah Pantai? In fact, how many of these people even donated to the measly RM35,365 election fund that was collected over the last ten days?

At the end of that day, if we can talk without losing anything we will talk. But if it is going to cost us something then it is not worth talking. Talk, if it is free, is okay with us, as long as we do not need to pay or sacrifice. That is the nature of the beast of Malaysian voters.

Even Malaysia Today has such freeloaders. These are people who scream about freedom of speech and the right to post comments in Malaysia Today as long as they need not take the trouble of registering and need not pay even RM1 to post comments. To deny them their privilege to post comments is a breach of their civil rights. Where they got the notion that posting comments in Malaysia Today come under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is beyond me.

It is all about what they want. It is about meeting their demands. It is about everything they see in this world as being their right. And causes must be something that does not cost them anything. But if between noble causes and their personal comfort, then their interests must always come first.

Hindraf awaiting Najib’s, Anwar’s response

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:17 PM PDT

Dr V.S. Paraman, CPI

The return home of Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy from exile has taken many by surprise. To clear the air against allegation that Waytha's exile had been self-imposed, his accusers should be made aware of a statement by Malaysian High Commissioner in Singapore, Mohd Hussin Nayan, on July 31, 2012 that Waytha's passport had indeed been revoked by the Malaysian government in 2008.

It is fortunate that the British government accorded political asylum to Waytha, lending further credence to the Hindraf plight.

The Hindraf chairman had used his time abroad to further the Hindraf cause and through his untiring efforts, Hindraf received international recognition.

Hindraf was given space to make presentations to the British Parliament, American Congress, European Parliament and United Nations as well as to U.S. State Department, U.S. Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Human Rights Caucus, and noted international NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

In recognition of his efforts in raising serious human rights violations by the Malaysian government on her citizens, the 'Human Rights Conference of India Diaspora in Different Parts of the World' awarded him the 'Global Human Rights Defender of India Diaspora' award this year.

Waytha's project in London

During his exile in London, Waytha sifted through more than 500,000 declassified documents from the British archives on the Reid Commission as well as documents pertaining to independence to Malaya.

He then handpicked almost 40,000 precious documents that will serve Hindraf well in the class action suit fikled by Hindraf against the British government. For this, Hindraf engaged the services of solicitor Imran Khan who has a reputation for unflinching commitment to fighting injustice and acclaimed for his in the human rights arena.

Waytha Moorthy successfully filed the British civil suit on the July 2, 2012 and thereafter returned home to Malaysia.

Don't mistake Hindraf for spent force

Since his return, Hindraf has held dozens of roadshows and public forums across west Malaysia. From Johor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah, these gatherings have attracted large crowds, packing indoor halls with enthusiastic Malaysian Indians.

Their Shah Alam forum attracted 1,500 people and a recent Seremban meet brought together almost 1,400 Malaysian Indians.

Hindraf has no choice but to go to the ground as they are well aware that their message is not going to be carried by the mainstream media which is biased towards Barisan Nasional. And neither is it going to get any favours from the online media that is heavily tilted towards Pakatan Rakyat.

Within the space of a week of Waytha's return, the nationwide roadshows managed to register the contact details, such as email addresses and handphone numbers, of Indian supporters on the Hindraf roll.

Currently more than 20,000 have registered and Hindraf has now raised the bar to collect 100,000 registrations so that these supporters can spread by word of mouth the Hindraf message further. Looking at the large turnouts, the general public should realise that like it or not, Hindraf is very much alive within the heart of every Malaysian Indian in this country.

Hindraf to be change agent

Throughout these nationwide tours, the Malaysian Indians have been giving a resounding 'Yes' for Hindraf to be given the mandate to speak on their behalf to voice their critical issues to the Malaysian authorities.

The message is loud and clear. Malaysian Indians want comprehensive changes and not just cosmetic changes to their critical issues. Armed with this mandate, Hindraf have the moral right to speak on behalf of the marginalized Malaysian Indians.

It is for this reason that Hindraf has chosen the path to be apolitical and to engage with all state governments as well as the federal government to provide comprehensive solutions on the Indian problems of marginalization.

In fact, Hindraf's vision is to be a primary comprehensive change agent in leading Malaysia towards the creation of a society based on equality, justice and freedom. Hindraf's mission is to create an empowered civil society movement that strives to bring all the marginalized segments of Malaysian society into the mainstream of national development, with particular focus on Indians.

Hindraf intends to contribute positively to changing the social values in Malaysian society so that institutionalized racism and religious supremacist policies are dismantled and may be completely eliminated.

Hindraf believes the British civil suit will be the foundation stone to bring about comprehensive changes in Malaysia the way how Apartheid in South Africa was dismantled.

READ MORE HERE

German Embassy admits to funding Suaram

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:45 PM PDT

(Bernama) - The German Embassy here has admitted contributing funds to Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Its ambassador to Malaysia, Dr Guenter Georg Gruber (picture above), said the embassy funded project-specific initiatives.

"The project with Suaram was in 2010, which we had evaluated," he said, adding that he could not recall what the project was, and that "the amount (of funds) was limited".

He told reporters this after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Universiti Malaysia Pahang and two German companies here today.

The initial investigation by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) revealed the existence of fund transactions between Suara Inisiatif, which was registered under the Companies Act 1965, and Suaram.

CCM has been criticised by several NGOs for allegedly failing to act against Suaram which admitted to receiving funds from foreign countries, among others.

The criticism followed reports that Suaram was not an NGO, but a company, namely Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd.

Asked whether the embassy would fund other Suaram projects, the envoy said the mission would look at any proposal "that is in accordance to our values".

"We also supported the Bar Council over the rights of indigenous people. We do it all the time. This is close to our value system," he added.

MB: Anwar invited only as a guest speaker

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:41 PM PDT

(The Star) - Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was only invited as a guest speaker to the Selangor state Merdeka eve celebration and not as a guest of honour, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

He said that in previous years, he himself was the guest of honour at the event.

"Records from 2003 showed that the mentri besar was always the guest of honour," said Khalid, adding that the only exception was in 2007 when the Sultan of Selangor graced the Merdeka parade in conjunction with the nation's golden jubilee celebrations.

There were no celebrations in 2009 and 2010 as Merdeka coincided with the Ramadan month, he added.

"The Sultan of Selangor, through Dato' Lela Bakti (private secretary Datuk Munir Bani), will be invited every year for the yasin and tahlil prayers in conjunction with the Merdeka month celebration," Khalid said after chairing the state exco meeting.

He was responding to criticisms that the Sultan had not been invited to the celebration while Anwar, who is the state's economic adviser, was the chief guest and gave a speech.

It was reported that the Sultan, through quotes by Munir, found it strange that he, as Ruler of the state, was not given the honour accorded to Anwar when the Opposition Leader was not even among the ranks of the state leadership.

At the meeting, the task force that organised the Merdeka celebration also provided an explanation to the state exco. It was led by state secretary Datuk Khusrin Munawi.

"We found no fault at all," Khalid said.

New government can choose new flag, says historical society

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:13 PM PDT

Flag of the British East India Company, 1707–1801

Hafidz Baharom, The Malaysian Insider

The national flag can be changed if the government of the day wills it, Malaysian Historical Society (MHS) executive chairman Tan Sri Omar Hashim said today.

"New governments always change their flags, as we have seen in Libya and Iraq. So basically if there is a change in government, they can do so," Omar said.

He added, however, that while the current Malaysian flag remained the chosen symbol of the government, it should be respected and be the only flag flown during National Day celebrations.

The chairman was responding to reporters asking him of the recent re-emergence of the controversial red and white 'Sang Saka Malaya' flag during the Merdeka eve celebration at Merdeka Square.

The event was hosted by a coalition of non-government organisations called Gabungan Janji, headed by national literary laureate A Samad Said.

"The red and white flag, the Sang Saka, is the flag representing Malay kingdoms. We saw this in the 13th and 14th century.

"That is a historical fact," Omar said today.

Omar added it was not a problem to unveil the Sang Saka for research purposes, mentioning academician Farish Noor's extensive study on the matter.

"It shouldn't be a problem to show the flag for educational and research purposes, but it should not be political," Omar said.

Omar also added that the red and white stripes were clearly seen in flags of former Malay kingdoms such as the Majapahit sultanate.

A blogger, known only as Singa Selatan (Southern Lion), had admitted to flying the controversial flag during the eve of Malaysia's 55th National day countdown as an attempt to educate people of history.

"We do not represent any political party, be it from the government or the opposition, we represent the youth who wish to project truth and history that has attempted to be drowned out by the responsible parties, and clearly have no motive to change the Jalur Gemilang to Sang Saka Malaya, because Sang Saka Malaya has been turned into the Jalur Gemilang today," the blogger said in his Bahasa Malaysia entry posted last Friday.

The bloggers actions started a political firestorm with accusations made by the government headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib that it was a political move sponsored by Opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat to replace the current flag, the Jalur Gemilang.

Tanda Putera director lashes out at critics

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:06 PM PDT

Shuhaimi Baba speaks to FMT in a brief e-mail interview about her upcoming controversial film that will depict the May 13 bloody race riots.

Teoh El Sen, FMT

Filmmaker Shuhaimi Baba has declared that she is open to a debate to discuss her latest controversial movie "Tanda Putera", provided that such talks be held after the movie is screened.

The award-winning director, whose movie retells the story of Malaysia's second prime minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, and deputy prime minister, the late Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, amid the bloody May 13, 1969 race riots, said in an e-mail to FMT that she would not mind sharing views as long as it was done in a "mature" manner.

The director, who has received open scorn from critics lately, has also called on all Malaysians to just "cool it", stressing that she and her crew have put in a lot of love into their work and are not about "peddling hatred and propaganda".

Even before it has hit the silver screen, Shuhaimi's movie, which is now re-scheduled to be screened on Nov 15, has been criticised for allegedly providing only a one-sided view of history.

Shuhaimi had denied accusations that the movie promoted a pro-Malay agenda. She also had to douse accusations that it featured a character based on DAP leader Lim Kit Siang in a negative light.

Another controversial aspect of the movie was that the RM4.8 million cost was fully funded by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) and the Multimedia Development Corporation (Mdec), with questions raised over whether a movie that did not gel with the "official version" would receive such support.

The film, according to critics, demonises early leftist movements, with its trailer allegedly showing scenes of Chinese groups marching through the streets of Kuala Lumpur city after the success of the opposition parties in municipal elections carrying the Labour Party flag and other banners bearing anti-Malay slogans.

However, despite all the "unexpected and upsetting" response she has received, Shuhaimi maintained that she has done her legwork.

"I looked as far back as confrontation to understand the deep psychological resentments at that time until May13. But the catalysts were – the 'hooliganism' – the choice of words and insults thrown at the Malays, the over-the-top celebration by the opposition parties.

"The movie is not about judging and blaming any side in particular. Touchy as it may be, we needed to drive home the point of the trauma of May 13 (that we should not let it happen again) and how Tun Razak and Tun Ismail succeeded in making the country overcome the trauma and forget May 13. The movie sets out to do that as we share the journey taken by the two heroes," she said.

Tanda Putera – rated PG13 – stars Rusdi Ramli (Tun Abdul Razak), Faezah Elai (Toh Puan Rahah), Zizan Nin (Tun Dr Ismail) and Linda Hashim (Toh Puan Norashikin). The film, a joint production by Pesona Pictures together with Finas and Mdec, tells the story about the friendship of the two national leaders and their struggles in healing the nation after the riots.

Below are excerpts from the e-mail communiqué:

FMT: Firstly, the meaning behind the title "Tanda Putera", if you could elaborate more on the choice of words?

Shuhaimi: Tanda Putera means "Mark of a Leader". This is the closest my team of writers and I could draw from our original title "Incurable Hero". It was written for a documentary drama in English. However, after several friends read the documentary script , they convinced us to do justice by writing it as a screenplay and a feature-length movie. The thought was scary at first, the amount of research, detailing and design work and most of all the budget needed gave me sleepless nights. But then after going through several material, I thought: 'Yes, why not? The two heroes deserve this tribute'.

Could you share with us your feelings so far, are you perturbed by the controversy the movie had courted?

Controversy, well, I think it comes with the territory. You know, it's only the movies after all! Expect anything in film-making – there are always issues to deal with. There was my first horror film 'Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam' – after 30 years of horror films being banned. But I went ahead and it opened doors for the industry. There's also the first feature-length movie on local folk lore 'waris jari hantu', the tigerman and the boy-girl character (hermaphrodite). They were contentious and controversial – only because the ideas were fresh and unexplored . But the 'restless' and 'opinionated' [ones] settled down anyway and cinema goers accepted the film.

So yes, I didn't expect the May13 scenes to go through without the usual noise. But I didn't expect the attention from people who don't watch local movies. They have no idea what movie-going culture is about and rant over the movie trailer! Aiyooo… what to say. Attention from politicians are much worse, I can say that much. Their reasoning is simply: 'See it my way or no way'.

I have a team of young people managing the Facebook for the movie and it turned into a 'battleground'! I had to keep reminding the admin team to keep their cool and it was tough for them to manage the racial slurs and hate-mongers. But you know, like other times, I told them these are people who need to get things off their chest and they will tire. I briefed them on the background of the country's history especially from Konfrontasi onwards so that they are confident and they know what they are up against.

Other than the threats, obscene language, racial slurs and hatred – I think although it was very unexpected and upsetting – we managed to calm everyone down reminding them this is nothing, we must deal with it as cool as possible.

Why was this movie being done? What prompted you to take up the challenge of such a touchy topic?

Difficult question. But I will try to answer. Malaysia was the only country in a unique dangerous situation – where the prime minister and deputy PM were facing critical illness at the same time – in a critical fragile situation. Their brave sacrifices needed to be told. It captured my imagination – I believe it would 'capture' others too. It's only touchy if you don't respect someone else's views and creative expression.

When I first read Dr Kua (Kia Soong's) book, I thought what came out first and shining through was his prejudices against Malays and his resentment against the office of the prime minister then. His accusations – alluding to who was responsible for May 13- that is, Tun Razak, was not only atrocious but irresponsible. But then he knows that, I am sure, since he's more intelligent than most men, and he does it for effect and propaganda and to rile up Chinese sentiments. It was too easy for him. As a writer, he preferred to be biased and did not shed any light on the riots but even considered the communists had nothing to do with it.

READ MORE HERE

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Show me the money
Do you really think it is about the ballot box?
Malaysians are a load of bullshit
Tales from the East
About the next government
BN, PR: dua kali lima
Let the class war begin
Let’s go the whole nine yards
Battle Royale in Lembah Pantai (UPDATED WITH BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS)
So you think you know the voters

Show me the money

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:22 PM PDT

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

LYNAS shares surge after granting of licence in Malaysia

At 10.40am (Melbourne time) on Thursday, Lynas shares were 50 per cent higher at A91 cents before dropping back to A78 cents at 11.10am, the Australian Associated Press reports.

The long-delayed plant has been opposed by environmentalists concerned about potential radioactivity risks.

The plant will process rare earths from the Lynas Mount Weld mine in Western Australia.

China currently produces about 95 per cent of all rare earth materials, which are vital for many electronic products. -- Bernama

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Lajim still a good bet for opposition

KOTA KINABALU: Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Among his constituents and ardent local political observers, the currently much-talked about Beaufort MP may still win big in the coming polls.

Malik has written several political books during his prolific years including while Lajim was still with PBS (1984-1994).

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So, are we alone? Or is the world with us? Or is it all about making money in the end?

Then we look at this issue regarding Lajim Ukin.

"Lajim still a good bet for opposition," screams the headlines of the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news report. FMT then goes on to say:

Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The key to the above report is: Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily.

Do you really think it is about the ballot box?

Posted: 04 Sep 2012 05:42 PM PDT

So what does this mean? Hell, do I need to spell it out for you like talking to a primary school kid? What it means is simply this: is it your votes or is it the Palace, Police and Military that will decide who gets to march into Putrajaya?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Article 55(3) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia says that Parliament will be automatically dissolved exactly five years to the day of the start of the first session of Parliament of that term. Thereafter we will no longer have an elected government (the country will be run by the civil service) and the Election Commission (SPR) will take over and call for fresh elections within 60 days.

Article number: 55(3) Parliament unless sooner dissolved shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting and shall then stand dissolved.

In other words, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak needs to do nothing. He can just allow the government to continue until Parliament is automatically dissolved and then allow the SPR to call for the 13th General Election, which must be held before the end of June 2013.

Of course, this has never been done before. Thus far, for 55 years since Merdeka, the Prime Minister would request an audience with His Majesty the Agong and will request His Majesty to dissolve Parliament.

His Majesty, however, can refuse this request according to Article 40a(2)(b) of the Constitution although this, too, has never been done before.

Article number 40a(2)(b): The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament.

His Majesty can also declare an emergency whereby Parliament will be suspended and elections can be postponed under Article 150(1) of the Constitution and this declaration cannot be challenged in court.

Article number 150(1): If the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof is threatened, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency making therein a declaration to that effect.

Article number 150(2): A Proclamation of Emergency under Clause (1) may be issued before the actual occurrence of the event which threatens the security, or the economic life, or public order in the Federation or any part thereof if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is satisfied that there is imminent danger of the occurrence of such event.

In other words, if His Majesty is of the opinion for whatever reason that (1) the security of the country, (2) the economic life of the country, and/or (3) public order of the country is under threat, His Majesty can declare an emergency. His Majesty can also declare an emergency to preempt such as occurrence (before it happens if His Majesty believes it may happen).

The question would be: does Malaysia face such a threat? Well, it does not matter what you and I think. It is what His Majesty thinks that matters. Even if you and I do not think so but His Majesty does then that is all that matters. Then a state of emergency can be declared and Parliament is suspended and the general election can be postponed.

Is this lawful? Of course it is lawful. It is what the Constitution allows and stipulates. Whether it is morally right to do that is another matter. After all, morality is subjective, as I have tried to explain many times in earlier articles. And we must admit that many 'incidences' of late appear to point to a breakdown of law and order (get it now?).

So, to those of you who are whining about Najib 'postponing' the 13th General Elections, please stop whining. You sound pathetic and just show how little you understand your own Constitution. Janganlah tunjuk bodoh. Malu!

If we are already in July 2013 and still the 13th General Election has not been called yet then you can whine. Then we can say Najib has postponed the general election. But July 2013 is more than ten months from now. So until we are already in July 2013 we cannot whine and complain that the general election has been postponed.

Of course, we can whine that Najib is the longest-serving 'non-elected' Prime Minister in Malaysian history. That would be correct. But that is still not something illegal or unconstitutional. It is merely morally wrong -- or at least on the border of morally wrong because what's so immoral about taking over, as what Najib had done?

I mean, let's look at it another way. Let's say Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had won the elections back in March 2008 (which he did) and the very next day (9th March 2008) he dies in a helicopter crash. That same day, 9th March 2008, Najib takes over as the new Prime Minister. Does he need to dissolve Parliament on 10th March 2008 seeing that we just had a general election two days earlier?

Was it Barisan Nasional or Abdullah Badawi who won the 12th General Election? Did we vote for the person or did we vote for the party? I read many comments by Malaysia Today readers that say we vote for the party, not the person. Are we against Najib or are we against Umno? If Muhyiddin Yassin replaces Najib as Prime Minister will we now vote for Umno or will we still oppose Umno?

Nevertheless, I did write a while ago that Najib is an 'illegitimate' Prime Minister in the sense that he was not voted into office but inherited the job. And I did also write that the 'window' for Najib to call for the 13th General Election was March this year. Unfortunate for Najib, this window is closing fast and the longer he waits the lesser margin for error he is allowed.

Najib's only bet is for the opposition to make many more mistakes -- or perceived mistakes. But when he and Umno/Barisan Nasional also make mistakes that would not help much. Both sides are bungling big time.

You have probably already seen the video below. Okay, what do you make of that video? I bet you only saw the dog collar and not the dog, as usual. Well, then let me help you see the dog.

What was Dr Xavier Jayakumar lamenting about? He was lamenting about the police and the military pulling out of Selangor's Merdeka celebration. In short, because Anwar Ibrahim instead of His Highness the Sultan of Selangor was the guest of honour, the police and the military boycotted the event.

Think about this one. And do a bit more thinking and less shooting off at the mouth. Ponder, people, ponder! Pull your head out of the sand for once and see things for what they really are. And you may want to read my earlier articles again, especially the one about the Istana's influence in politics.

ZVNT5Oblbwc

SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVNT5Oblbwc

Malaysians are a load of bullshit

Posted: 02 Sep 2012 10:42 PM PDT

Again, no cheong hei article, just a short post to tell you that the total collection so far over the last one week for the Nurul Izzah Anwar election fund is only RM24,145.00. ABU konon. You can't even put your money where your mouth is. Yes, let's vote for change, just as long as someone else pays for it and we don't have to do anything. ATPB: Asal tak pelu bayar.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tales from the East

Posted: 02 Sep 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Now, while Lajim's financial backer, a Bruneian who migrated to Sabah, is known as Mr. W., Lajim is known as Mr. J. And Mr. J. stands for 'Mister Jackpot'. Mr. W. and Mr. J., in fact, go way back, back to the days when Lajim was still in Usno. And Mr. W. has been funding Lajim's political career all this while. But Lajim suffers from a serious addiction. And this addiction is gambling (so much for Lajim's Islamic credentials).

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Lajim to set up new political party in Sabah

The new party, if approved, will field candidates for the coming general election.

(Bernama, 31 Aug 2012)) -- Former Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Bin Haji Ukin will set up a new political party as a vehicle to field candidates in the upcoming general election.

He said a formal application for that purpose would be submitted to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) within the next 10 days. "If approved by ROS, we will be contesting under the new party," he told a news conference, here, today.

Lajim, who formed a non-governmental organisation called Pakatan Angkatan Rakyat (PPS) recently, however, declined to divulge the name of the new party, only saying "it is a new political party".

The former deputy housing and local government minister said should ROS reject the application, he and his supporters would likely contest on a Pakatan Rakyat coalition member's ticket.

"We already have the logo and constitution drawn up… the leadership line-up is also ready," he said, adding that the party would be representing the Muslim Bumiputeras of Sabah.

Lajim, 57, had recently announced his resignation as an Umno supreme council member, Beaufort Umno division chief and Beaufort BN chairman with immediate effect and declared his support for Pakatan but remained an Umno member, and as a result, his appointment as a federal deputy minister was later revoked.

*******************************************

Lajim Ukin, a Muslim leader from Sabah, with great fanfare and ceremony, recently announced his resignation from his various posts in Umno (but not as an Umno member) and said he will be supporting the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (which resulted in his sacking from the Cabinet).

Lajim's defection was supposed to have triggered an exodus, in particular from amongst Sabah's Muslim population.

Now, why have I stressed 'Muslim leader' in that paragraph above? Simple. Since Sabah got its independence from Britain almost 50 years ago, the Chinese population in that state has declined from 23% to just 9.11%. Hence the Chinese are not that significant in Sabah, save in the few urban areas, just like in Peninsular Malaysia. (See the chart below for the details).

What you will also notice from that chart, the Kadazan-Dusun (who, at 32%, used to be the largest group) is no longer the majority either. Malays, who used to be only 0.4% of the population, have increased to 5.71% while the Bumiputeras and other Muslim groups have increased from 15.8% to 20.56%. Hence the Malays/Bumiputeras/Muslims are now a quarter of Sabah's population with the non-Malaysian citizens making up another 27.81%.

Some would call this backdoor colonisation. Anyway, what is crucial is that the natives are no longer the majority like they used to be at the time of Merdeka. The Malays/Bumiputeras/Muslims now make up the majority, with an even larger number of non-Malaysian citizens, mostly Muslims -- who can be given overnight citizenship to dilute the non-Malays/non-Bumiputeras/non-Muslims even further if the need arises.

Now do you know why I take my hat off to Umno? Like them or hate them, you must admit that they are brilliant (okay, sneaky, devious, etc., as well).

Hence a 'prominent' Muslim leader like Lajim Ukin is very important to PKR and Pakatan Rakyat if they want to take over the state government. Hence, also, there was great excitement when it was announced that Lajim and his other Muslim partners-in-crime were joining the opposition. Suddenly the road to Putrajaya became clearer.

But then Lajim was asking for too much. Other than bags of cash, which he needed to cover his deficit finances, he also wanted to become one of the three Deputy Prime Ministers if/when Pakatan Rakyat marches into Putrajaya. And if he can't become one of the three Deputy Prime Ministers then he wants at least the post of Sabah Chief Minister.

That has placed Anwar Ibrahim in a quandary because he had already promised the post of Sabah Chief Minister to other people -- in fact, to a few other people. Hence if Pakatan Rakyat does win Sabah, and these various contenders for Chief Minister win the seats they are going to contest, Sabah may have to revert to the rotation system so that everyone who was promised the post of Chief Minister can take their turn at this most lucrative job that earns whoever is lucky enough to get that job at least RM100 million a year (judging by the wealth of the current and previous Chief Ministers).

But Lajim can't be made the Chief Minister of Sabah -- and certainly not one of the three Deputy Prime Ministers. And this is not because those posts have been promised to others, although that is one reason, but because he is carrying too much baggage. And this baggage is going to be revealed immediately after Nomination Day of GE13.

Hence it is better that Malaysia Today reveals it now, before others do. Then I can gloat and tell you 'I told you so', like I always do.

Actually, the reason why Lajim resigned from all his posts in Umno (but not as an Umno member) is because of a scandal that was about to explode. Hence he no longer has any future in Umno, especially as a candidate in the coming general election. And this scandal involves someone I will call Mr. W.

Back in 2007, just before the 2008 General Election, Lajim had promised Mr. W a RM50 million contract to build an Islamic college in Beaufort. But he wanted Mr. W. to pay the commission up-front, supposedly as election funds for GE12.

Over the last five years since 2007, Mr W. has paid Lajim a total of RM8 million. However, Mr. W. never got the project. What Mr. W. received instead was 55 undated cheques totalling RM3 million. But all these cheques are worthless and Mr. W. is hopping mad and now realises he is not going to get the project, nor his money back.

Chief Minister Musa Aman knows about this scandal and because of that Lajim has to be dropped as a candidate in the coming general election. Realising that his future is no longer bright, Lajim woke up one morning and decided to join the opposition to fight for reforms.

Isn't it uncanny that Barisan Nasional politicians who no longer have a future in the ruling party suddenly wake up and have visions of joining the opposition to fight for reforms? It makes one wonder why they never had these visions when they were making tons of money in Barisan Nasional.

Mr. W. has had to bail Lajim out of trouble more than once. There was one occasion when Lajim owed an Ah Long (loan shark) RM800,000 and he had to pawn two solid-gold Rolex watches to cover his debts.

To add insult to injury, the so-called RM50 million Islamic college project does not exist. It is all a scam. And Mr. W. no longer wants to fund Lajim (that is why Lajim is looking for a new financier -- guess who).

In fact, Mr. W. wants his money back and if he does not get it he is going to go public on this. And because of that Umno can no longer retain Lajim in the coming general election. And because of that, also, Lajim has suddenly 'woken up' and is joining the opposition to fight for reforms – justice, transparency, accountability, good governance, an end to corruption and abuse of power, and all that shit.

No, I am not going to repeat that since 2008 I have asked Pakatan Rakyat to ensure that they field quality/clean candidates in the next general election. Let them field the likes of Lajim and let's see Pakatan Rakyat get whacked in East Malaysia. East Malaysia holds the key to Putrajaya and unless you win in Sabah and Sarawak you are not going to march into Putrajaya.

So, having Lajim and those of his ilk as your partners will only ensure that Barisan Nasional will remain in power. Then, the day after Polling Day, I can, with glee, write my 'I told you so' article.

Anwar, Anwar…apa ni? I know you want to become Prime Minister. But this type of thing is only going to make your dream become our nightmare. As the Malays would say: why would we want to reject penyamum and vote for lanun? We said we want CHANGE, meaning change for the better, not change for the worse.

Aiyah! Dah malas nak cakap Lantak engkaulah!

Lakim Ukin's normal haunt (above) and the 55 cheques totally RM3 million (below).

ADDENDUM

http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/lajim/Lajim1.jpg

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http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/lajim/Lajim18.jpg

About the next government

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:22 PM PDT

This is not about whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat is worse. This is about doing the honest thing. When you do party work the rakyat must not be made to pay for it. And when Parliament and the State Assemblies have been dissolved you are committing criminal breach of trust by continuing to use the government facilities for your personal political campaigns and party work.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

First have a look at the Google Analytical graphic below. Those are Malaysia Today's figures for the pre-Raya, Raya, and post-Raya period.

On Friday, 17th August 2012, Malays began to leave town to return to their kampung. That was when the figures started declining. By Saturday, more people left town (even many non-Malays) and the figures dropped even further.

The non-Malays did not return to work until Wednesday last week, and that was when the figures started to increase again. Most Malays, however, stayed away the entire week until Sunday. On Monday this week, the figures returned to normal when everyone was back in town.

Now, while the figures over last week were down quite a bit because many people were still back in their kampung, the comments, however, did not suffer. And even when the figures went up again this week, the comments more or less remained the same.

From these figures I can only assume two things. First is that Malaysia Today's Malay readership is quite large. And that is why the figures drop when the Malays are away. Secondly is that most of those who comment are non-Malays. And that is why while the Malay readership declines the comments do not.

Of course, thirdly, based on the type of comments posted, we can also assume that most of those who comment are not yet of the age of maturity. And that is why many comments are very childish. (You should read the ones we deleted. They will shock you).

Anyway, what I want to talk about today is regarding the next government. You see, when Parliament is dissolved to make way for the next general election, in principle Malaysia no longer has a government. What we have is merely a caretaker government and a caretaker Prime Minister.

Now, even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this back in 2006. Dr Mahathir explained that in principle there is no longer any government but just a caretaker Prime Minister. But he could not understand, Dr Mahathir said, why no one realises this and never challenged it.

In short, the Cabinet no longer exists, as everyone would have already been 'sacked', so to speak. Parliament has been dissolved so technically we no longer have any Members of Parliament. Hence, if we no longer have any Members of Parliament, then we no longer have a Prime Minister or Ministers.

Can the Prime Minister still use his office and other facilities such as the private jet, helicopter, etc., which are for the use of the Prime Minister? What about all those Ministers who still use their office, government car, etc?

Many Malays regard our First Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, as fasiq (bad Muslim) because of his drinking and gambling. But did you know that the Tunku took six months no-pay leave to campaign for the general election? He handed the government to his Deputy, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, to take over as Acting Prime Minister.

Whatever you might say about the Tunku, at least he was honest enough to separate his party post from his government post and he did not abuse his government post to do party work. Has any Prime Minister since then taken no-pay leave when they campaign for their party? Even the Merdeka celebration is treated as a party campaign.

And please don't start screaming 'that is why we need to get rid of Umno'. Many now in the opposition -- not only from Umno but also from MCA, Gerakan and MIC as well -- did the same thing when they were in government. They talk only now that they are with the opposition. When they were in government serupa saja.

Take the Menteris Besar from the Pakatan Rakyat states, as an example. Would these MBs take no-pay leave whenever they are campaigning for their party or would they use their post as MB to campaign for Pakatan Rakyat? Of course Umno also does this. That, I don't deny. But do two wrongs make a right?

Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the MB of Kelantan, switches of the 'government' light when he prays (which is a personal duty and has nothing to do with the government). And how much electricity does his light bulb consume when he prays?

This is not about whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat is worse. This is about doing the honest thing. When you do party work the rakyat must not be made to pay for it. And when Parliament and the State Assemblies have been dissolved you are committing criminal breach of trust by continuing to use the government facilities for your personal political campaigns and party work.

Do you remember when Datuk Ramli Yussuf, the Director of the CCID, faced charges in Sabah for using a police plane to fly over his land? He was alleged to have taken a detour while on official duty to fly over his land. Just a slight detour in a government plane and he was arrested and charged.

No doubt he was eventually acquitted of that charge but the fact he could he sacked, arrested and charged for taking a 'joyride' in a police plane was enough to show the difference between personal and official work. What makes the Prime Minister or Ministers immune from this same 'crime'? Once Parliament is dissolved it should be hands-off all public property. No more using public facilities for your personal or party work and campaigns.

I do not know how better to explain this point without sounding cheong hei but understand one thing: once Parliament is dissolved you are now sacked from your job. Hence we no longer have a government and you can no longer use what belongs to the government -- meaning, of course, what belongs to the rakyat.

Now, in that same spirit, since we no longer have a government, when we go to the polls we are choosing a new government. Whether we choose Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat does not matter. Both are new governments. The old government no longer exists. Everyone has been sacked from his/her job.

Okay, so we no longer have a government and we go to the polls to choose a government. Never mind that Barisan Nasional has ruled Malaysia for 55 years. That was before. For all intents and purposes, if they win the election they are going to be a new government, jut like how Pakatan Rakyat would be if they win the election.

Hence we need to ask both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat what type of new government they are going to be. We do not care what they did in the past. Don't try to impress us with what you have been doing over the last 55 years (actually it's 53 years because the First General Election was in 1959, not 1957). That government no longer exists. We are about to choose a new government so we want to know what type of new government we are going to choose.

Let's look at it this way. We wipe the slate clean and start from scratch (not to include any corrupt acts, of course, which should still be on the slate). Then we are giving both a level playing field (or else Barisan Nasional can boast about what they have done over 55 years compared to Pakatan Rakyat who never ruled at federal level). Let's assume Malaysia never had a government before. So now tell us why we should vote for you.

And that would mean we would need to look at so many unresolved issues and hear from both sides what they have to offer us. As I said, there are just so many issues but maybe for purposes of this article we can talk about some of the more pressing ones. And my list is certainly not in order of priority. And I am addressing this list to both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

1. Will Malaysia adopt in its entirety the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations on 10th December 1948?

2. Will Malaysia practice meritocracy to replace the system of quotas and preferential treatment and will Article 153 in the Constitution be abrogated?

3. Will fundamental liberties be respected and will it include the right to choose your religion, the right to have no religion, the right to your sexual preference, the right to a civil partnership, and much more?

4. Will Malaysia remain a Constitutional Monarchy or will it opt to become a Republic?

5. Will the oil royalty for those states that have oil and gas be increased to 20% or more or will it remain at 5%.

6. Will Sabah and Sarawak be given autonomy and will Federalisation in those states be reduced/limited in line with the 20- and 18-Point Agreements?

7. Will the Human Rights Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Police Force Commission, Judicial Commission, Election Commission, etc., be restructured so that the appointments can be made by Parliament and so that they can be responsible to Parliament and will include Commissioners from both sides of the political fence in equal numbers?

8. Will the Constitution be amended to make Malaysia more Secular with the removal of Islam as the religion of the Federation?

9. What is the position of the Sharia -- Hudud included, of course -- and which legal system will be supreme and will Malaysia remove the dual system, which appears to be running parallel, in favour of a single legal system?

10. Will the anti-hopping act, freedom of information act, freedom of association act (to include students), anti-discrimination act, anti-racism act, freedom of religion act, etc., be introduced and will the death sentence be abolished?

Those are just ten points that both sides need to tell us about. Of course there are many more and some of you may want to add to that list. The bottom line, however, is that we want to hear from all those who are going to offer themselves for election what their position about all these issues are. We can't accept the 'vote first and talk later' argument. We need to know before we go to the polls the stand of all these people who want our vote. Hence no shocks and surprises later once we choose our new government.

BN, PR: dua kali lima

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:05 PM PDT

But the political parties that they belong to will not allow this. Although they are called Wakil Rakyat, in reality they are Wakil Parti. They have to represent their party, not us, the voters. And when they try to do what they are supposed to do, the party will pounce on them. Hence they have to toe the party line or else they will be suspended, or worse, sacked.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

No, this is not an anti-government article. It is not an opposition-whacking article either. This is an article about why we vote for 222 Malaysians to represent us in Parliament -- never mind whether you voted (or will be voting) for Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. That is not important. What is important is: why do we vote?

We vote for 222 Malaysians to go to Parliament (and another almost 600 State Assemblypersons for the State Assemblies as well -- known as ADUNs) so that they can become our representatives or wakil.

The Malays have the correct term for this. These people we vote for (both MPs and ADUNs) are called Wakil Rakyat in Malay, which means Citizen's Representative (or People's Representative).

And, as the name implies, that is exactly what they are supposed to do -- represent us, the voters.

But the political parties that they belong to will not allow this. Although they are called Wakil Rakyat, in reality they are Wakil Parti. They have to represent their party, not us, the voters. And when they try to do what they are supposed to do, the party will pounce on them. Hence they have to toe the party line or else they will be suspended, or worse, sacked.

Why call them Wakil Rakyat then? They cannot function as Wakil Rakyat. We might as well call them Wakil Parti. And in the coming general election, 10 million Malaysians can go to the polling stations to vote for the Wakil Parti.

Both Barisan Nasional as well as Pakatan Rakyat are equally guilty of this. And since we do not have a 'third force', so to speak -- unless the rakyat can be regarded as that third force -- that is how things are going to be for a long time to come.

But, no, I am not going to talk about the third force. Malaysians are too dumb to understand the meaning of 'third force'. To most people, 'third force' means three-corner contests. Then they will say I am trying to sabotage Pakatan Rakyat so that Barisan Nasional can retain power.

So what if some Members of Parliament (never mind BN or PR) go against their party stand? If it is for the good of the rakyat why can't they break ranks and not toe the party line? That is why we sent them to Parliament (or the State Assemblies) in the first place.

In America, the Congressmen or Senators from the President's own party can vote against the President while those from the other side will vote in support of the Bill that the President is proposing. On more than one occasion the President's Bill had been defeated by his own party while those from the other side actually voted in support of it. No one was suspended or sacked because of this.

I know, some of you are now going to argue that we follow the British Westminster system and that this is how they do things in the UK. They have the Parliament Whip whose job is to ensure that no one breaks ranks.

Okay, if we are so concerned about what they do in Britain, and hence we need to follow the British model, then what about the written constitution? Britain does not have a written constitution. Why not follow Britain and abolish our Constitution?

I have no problems with that. Then no longer will Islam be the religion of the Federation or Malays have special privileges or the Agong be the Supreme Head of the Federation and all that. Britain's 'laws' do not allow a Prime Minister not from the Church of England. You must belong to the Church of England. You want to follow that as well since it is very important that we follow the UK?

Some things we say we MUST follow. Other things we don't want to follow. Apa ni? Gay marriages also allowed in England, mah! Want to follow or not?

This sorry state of affairs can only be corrected by you, the voters. If you, the voters, insist that the Wakil Rakyat speak for us and not for their party, only then can it happen.

I am going to tell you a story about why Ali is my favourite of the four (Rightly-Guided) Caliphs of Medina. And, no, it is not because I am a follower of the Shia sect of Islam.

Ali was the last of the four Medinan Caliphs. The Shias, however, allege that Ali was robbed of his right to be the First Caliph. I am not going to talk about that. What I want to talk about is he almost became the Third Caliph. And according to the story this is what happened.

As Omar, the Second Caliph, lay dying, he told the people of Medina to form a committee to decide on who should succeed him when he dies. A few candidates were selected and finally it was short-listed to just two, Osman and Ali.

A few interviews were conducted and during the final interview Osman was asked how he would rule if he was chosen as Caliph. Osman replied he would rule according to tradition and by following the example of the Prophet.

Ali was asked the same question and he replied he would rule according to his conscience and with God as his guide.

Osman got the job and some historians say that that was the beginning of the decline of the Islamic Empire. Osman appointed his relatives to important posts in the government and corruption soon emerged. One of Osman's blunders was he appointed his cousin Muawiyah as the Governor of Syria. When Osman died and Ali took over, Muawiyah declared war on Ali, the first ever war where Muslims fought Muslims (and have been fighting ever since)

I know many Islamists will disagree with my analysis of events, although these events did take place. Nevertheless, my interpretation of this event is Osman said he would follow tradition while Ali said he would follow his conscience. And we have seen how tradition may not always be the best thing to follow.

And the same goes to the issue of our Wakil Rakyat. Forget about tradition, especially Westminster tradition. Follow your conscience. Did we, the voters, or your party vote you into office? And if we voted you into office then serve us instead of your party.

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BN trio face reprimand for Section 114A gripe

(Malaysiakini, 29 Aug 2012) - The cabinet has accepted a suggestion to reprimand three key BN leaders for their open objection to Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950.

The trio are Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Gan Ping Sieu and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

Government sources told Malaysiakini that the cabinet made the decision at its meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Aug 15.

"It was suggested that the prime minister or deputy prime minister should summon the two deputy ministers and give them a warning because their actions went against the government's stance," revealed one source.

"It was also suggested that Minister in Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz should meet with the two deputy ministers and Khairy to hear their views, and provide them with the government's explanation."

A day before the meeting, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was abroad then, had instructed the cabinet to discuss the contentious following a major online protest dubbed 'Internet Blackout Day'.

However, the meeting decided not to review the amendment. The decision was later reaffirmed and explained by Nazri.

According to the sources, the cabinet was of the view that if action was not taken, it would jeopardise the government's credibility and weaken the administration.

"The cabinet also noted that the trio have been openly issuing statements contradicting government policies.

"They should have convey their views through internal channels such as their ministers or political parties," a source added.

The sources also disclosed that the cabinet had pointed out that disciplinary action had been taken against defiant members of the administration since the era of second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, but this practice is absent in the current administration.

When contacted today, Khairy and Saifuddin said they have yet to be informed about the cabinet decision.

"Didn't receive anything yet, so no comment," replied Saifuddin.

Khairy said he would meet Nazri and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail today to pursue his views on the amendment.

Nazri and Gani could not be reached for comment despite several attempts to contact them.

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(The Star, May 2012)) - The DAP disciplinary board wants Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim to confirm if he has repeated his public criticism of Bersih 3.0 although he was rebuked earlier by the party leadership over the matter.

"I am trying to locate Tunku (Aziz) for the statement," the board's chairman Tan Kok Wai told a news portal yesterday.

Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan called for disciplinary action to be taken against Tunku Aziz, who is party vice-chairman, over his remarks on the rally.

Manoharan accused Tunku Aziz for failing to toe the party's line by making the remarks, which he said were tantamount to a "double misconduct".

"It is my personal view that severe action should be taken against him. He seems to be a great embarrassment to the party.

"It is the police and not the public that should be blamed. The public have a right to voice out (their feelings)," he said yesterday.

He called on Tunku Aziz to leave the party on his own accord, claiming that the latter did not understand the party leaders' struggles, especially those who were held under the Internal Security Act.

Tunku Aziz had spoken out against the rally before it was held on April 28, fearing that it might turn violent.

Expressing sadness over the violence that did occur, Tunku Aziz recently remarked that the Bersih 3.0 organisers should have realised that while there were those who were genuinely fighting for electoral reforms, others were out to create havoc or hijack the rally for their political agenda.

He added that it was unfair for Bersih leaders and politicians to solely blame police for the violence between protesters and police.

Tunku Aziz reportedly said Bersih 3.0 organisers were not "angels descended from heaven" who were blameless, adding that they should look at themselves before pointing at police for last Saturday's violence.

When contacted yesterday, Tunku Aziz said he was not upset with Manoharan as he was entitled to his personal view.

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(The Star, 2007) - Cameron Highlands MP K. Devamany has been let off without a suspension or warning over his remark in Parliament recently.

Devamany had a 20-minute meeting with Barisan Nasional Chief Whip and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday morning to explain himself.

The MIC backbencher told a press conference at the Parliament lobby that he had told Najib that he regretted his statement.

He, however, declined to say whether he was sorry over what he said when pushed further by reporters.

Devamany was said to have broken ranks with the ruling coalition over his remark in Parliament last Monday.

He had said the fact that 50,000 people showed up at the Nov 25 Hindraf protest showed the Government's failure in distributing wealth equally.

His remark irked some Barisan backbenchers who felt he should have used proper channels but Devamany, who received support from the MIC top brass, maintained that he was only speaking up for the Indian community.

Devamany thanked Najib for meeting him and said he explained to the Chief Whip the concerns of the Indian community.

"He was very nice to me. I told him I regretted the statement. He advised me on what happened.

"I truly believe that unity, peace and stability is paramount in the country and cannot be compromised," he said.

Devamany said Najib had expressed concern over the plight of the Indian community, which would be addressed by the Government and MIC through the Barisan Nasional spirit.

"He (Najib) has assured him that he would look into legitimate concerns of the Indian community," he added.

Devamany said he would still speak up in the House but would be more responsible and not just throw words around.

"I fully support Barisan Nasional and the party leadership. That cannot be questioned," he added.

Also at the press conference was Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and Deputy Chief Whip Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who confirmed that no suspension or warning had been given to Devamany.

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(Malaysiakini, 2005) - MIC secretary-general S Sothinathan has been suspended as a deputy minister for three months over his remarks at yesterday's parliamentary debate on the Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) issue.

The unprecedented decision was made at a cabinet meeting today. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the suspension was because Sothinathan had breached BN party discipline.

"We made a decision to suspend him with immediate effect for what he did in parliament," Abdullah told a press conference.

"He's a member of the front bench, he should not have taken a stand like he did, criticising his own government. It is certainly a breach of party discipline," he said.

Sothinathan, who is deputy minister for natural resources and environment, could not be reached for his reaction on the suspension.

Yesterday, Sothinathan irked Barisan Nasional backbenchers when he broke ranks and interrupted Deputy Health Minister Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad over a point raised in explaining the decision to withdraw recognition for Ukraine-based CSMU.

The withdrawal of recognition by state agency, the Malaysian Medical Council, has affected about 1,400 Malaysian students who are currently studying at the university - the oldest and leading medical university in Ukraine.

The non-recognition resulted in the students, who are mostly Indian Malaysians, not being able to practice as doctors upon graduation, but will have to sit for an additional medical qualifying examination under the MMC.

Latiff told Parliament during a heated debate yesterday that the decision was made to maintain the quality of our doctors, and stressed that it had "nothing to do with race, ethnicity and religion".

He said the number of Malaysian students in CSMU had increased from 53 to 1,366 in May this year.

According to Latiff, unqualified CSMU students, including those who failed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, had obtained no-objection letters from the Higher Education Ministry to enable them to enrol in the university.

Sothinathan, who was agitated by Latiff's remarks that the majority of those who graduated from unrecognised universities were Indians, had pressed the deputy health minister on how the Higher Education Ministry could have issued no-objection letters to unqualified students.

He also asked why one community was being single out when the problem of unrecognised medical graduates involves all communities in Malaysia.

"If MMC is indeed professional, how come it recognised CSMU in 2001? Why did it make a decision in haste?" he asked.

The debate, which was sparked by an emergency motion moved by the opposition DAP, saw the blurring of party affiliations with DAP and MIC MPs exchanging barbs with Umno MPs over the issue.

Works Minister S Samy Vellu, contacted by reporters in Parliament today, refused to comment.

Samy, who is MIC chief, had earlier described the MMC decision as a move to prevent more Indians from becoming doctors.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) said that the parliamentary culture of allowing MPs to reflect the people's views without having to toe a party line is still "very superficial if not alien in Malaysia".

"This 'Big Brother' rule for BN back-bench criticism of ministers was broken yesterday, and this explained the strong adverse reaction to the MIC position in Parliament and the 'high drama' over my emergency motion on the MMC derecognition of CSMU medical degrees," he added.

Let the class war begin

Posted: 28 Aug 2012 08:24 PM PDT

And why are the Chinese businessmen so unhappy? It was we in the opposition who have been fighting for a minimum wage since more than a decade ago. It is we who have been pressuring the Barisan Nasional government to implement a minimum wage policy. If Pakatan Rakyat comes to power I am hoping that the minimum wage will be increased a further 50% from what it is now.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

One thing that I have been fighting for over more than a decade since 1999 is for Malaysia to implement a minimum wage policy like here in the UK. That was one of the points in The People's Declaration that we launched in early 2008 plus for the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) that was launched in late 2010.

As far as I am concerned, that has never changed.

I also once wrote that if May 13 Version 2.0 does hit Malaysia, it is not going to be à la May 13 of 1969. This time it is going to be a clash between the haves and the haves-not, basically a class war.

I remember writing about His Highness the Sultan of Selangor summoning me to the Palace soon after my release from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention in June 2001. His Highness was concerned that I was 'rampaging in the streets' and involved in Reformasi demonstrations and getting arrested and jailed. His Highness was a bit puzzled about what I was trying to achieve and what it is that I am aggrieved about.

His Highness stated that he is worried if I continued like this I would again get detained and the Palace is powerless to do anything about it and can't help me. Hence is it worth all the trouble of getting arrested or detained for a cause, which, His Highness said, he did not quite understand?

I then spent the next two hours, very politely but with great passion, in briefing His Highness about where I was coming from and where I was headed. I not only tried to help His Highness understand my cause but also why such a cause is necessary. I admit that in my passion I may have exceeded what protocol allows -- in that I raised my voice and flung my arms all over the place while pointing at His Highness to emphasis my point.

On hindsight I might have been a bit biadap (insolent), though there was no such intention other than I 'lost myself' in my passion. His Highness, however, remained calm and collected and did not appear perturbed about the 'high drama' he was witnessing.

At the end of that session, His Highness said he understood what I was saying and was trying to do but the question still remains: is it worth getting arrested for?

I closed that 'debate' by responding: Tuanku, someone has to do it. This is a rakyat's fight. Do we, the members of the royal family, just stand aside and not get involved? If we do not support the rakyat then what is the purpose of our existence? How do we justify the existence of the Monarchy if the Monarchy serves no purpose? At least some of us from the royal family need to go down to the streets and, shoulder-to-shoulder with the rakyat, fight together with them. How can we expect the rakyat to love the Monarchy if the Monarchy does not love the rakyat?

His Highness pondered on that 'closing statement' for quite a while and I must admit I found the silence deafening. Finally, His Highness nodded, a sign of his approval, and just said: okay, but try to stay out of jail.

Of course I did not and after that I was arrested a few more times, as what His Highness feared would happen.

Through all that time, amongst the various issues that we were fighting for was for Malaysia to impose a minimum wage. Ten years ago we were talking about a figure of at least RM1,000-1,200 a month. Today I suppose that amount would no longer be sufficient because for a family of five or six to live a decent life, especially in the urban areas, you would need a household income of at least RM2,000-3,000 a month.

RM1,000-1,200 a month is only RM250-300 a week or RM6.25-7.50 an hour on a 40-hour working week. That is about what we earn as minimum wage here in the UK, about 6-7 pounds an hour (although the Chinese establishments in Chinatown sometimes pay as low as 5 pounds an hour).

Now, in the UK, if you earn 6-7 pounds an hour, and if you work 40 hours a week, you take home 240-280 pounds before tax. If you work 10 hours a day, say from 10am to 8pm, then you take home 300-350 pounds a week before tax. So you can earn roughly 1,000-1,400 pounds a month before tax, which is 20%.

Note, however, when you are paid weekly, you earn 13 months a year salary in the UK (meaning 52 weeks) and not just 12 months a year like in Malaysia (equivalent to only 48 weeks).

Now, what can you do with a net after-tax pay of 1,000 pounds a month? You can buy a new car for about 10,000-15,000 pounds, depending on the make and model. You can buy an apartment for less than 100,000 pounds or a house for slightly over 100,000, if outside London, of course.

However, with the RM1,000 you earn in Kuala Lumpur, can you but a new car for RM15,000 and a house or apartment for RM100,000? You need RM500 to fill up your shopping cart in KL while in the UK it is only 80-100 pounds.

Hence your RM1,000 in KL is pittance compared to the 1,000 pounds in the UK. Hence also, even if you are paid a minimum wage of RM7.50 per hour or RM1,000-1,200 per month in Malaysia, you are still very poor compared to the 7 pounds per hour or 1,000 pounds per month we earn in the UK.

Getting the Malaysian government to agree to a minimum wage was an uphill battle as it is. Now the Chinese businessmen are against it (read about it here). And the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCIM) is not happy with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak because of this.

So what do these Chinese businessmen want? They want Malaysians to continue earning RM800 a month, is it? What can you do with RM800 a month? For that matter, what can you do with RM1,200 a month? You can't even do much with RM2,000 a month.

Do I take it that these Chinese businessmen will now not support Pakatan Rakyat? Do I take it that making more money by keeping wages low is more important than good governance, transparency, accountability, etc?

What more can I say about these Chinese capitalists and blood-sucking leeches? Am I right or am I right about the Chinese? At the end of the day it is all about money.

Let’s go the whole nine yards

Posted: 27 Aug 2012 08:13 PM PDT

Almost two years later, in April 2011, TV3 aired an interview they did with me. What I said in my TV3 interview was basically a repeat of my YouTube video (below). This time it finally got the attention I wanted (which was why I did that TV3 interview in the first place). A few weeks later, the Malaysian police met up with me in Bangkok, Thailand, and took my statement, which I signed. You can read my statement to the police below.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) lodged a report at the Hulu Kelang police station on Saturday, 25th August 2012. JMM president Azwanddin Hamzah said the police were urged to investigate the revelation by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin which alleged that M Puravalen, Abdul Razak Baginda's former lawyer; Subang member of parliament, R Sivarasa; and private investigator P Balasubramaniam were involved in a conspiracy to defame the prime minister and threaten national security.

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Dear Azwan, how are you? And how is your brother, Din? Is he still with Finas? Please send my salam to Din. It's been a long time since we last met and I thought I would write this open letter in response to the police report you made recently on 25th August 2012.

You are probably aware of my June 2008 Statutory Declaration and the host of problems I got into for signing it. What you are probably not aware about, though, is that when I was brought to court and the three charges of criminal defamation were read out to me, I told the judge that I was not going to respond to the charges on grounds that the charges are defective and mala fide.

The judge, in fact the whole court, was stunned and did not know how to respond. The judge then said he would take that as a 'not guilty' plea. I then raised my voice and told the judge that I did not enter a plea of 'not guilty'. What I said was I was not going to respond to the charges on grounds that the charges are defective and mala fide. The judge did not dare look up or look me in the face and he insisted that that would tantamount to a 'not guilty' plea.

The Prosecutor then asked the court to set bail at RM10,000 for each charge, which means totalling RM30,000. My lawyer then stood up and asked the court to reduced the bail to RM5,000. I shouted at the judge and told him that I did not authorise my lawyers to negotiate a reduction in bail, hence I am sacking my lawyers and will represent myself. I then told the judge I refuse to pay any bail even if it is a mere RM1.00.

The judge did not know what to do so he called for a short recess and asked the Prosecutors and my lawyers to meet in chambers. They then discussed what to do. The judge wanted to know whether my lawyers could convince me to accept bail. The Prosecutor told the judge that I am very stubborn so I would probably not back down.

After a few minutes the court resumed and the judge fixed the bail at RM3,000 for all three charges. Everyone in court was surprised. The Prosecutor had asked for RM10,000 while my lawyers had asked for RM5,000. The judge, however, on his own initiative, reduced it to RM3,000 for all three charges, something that the court had never experienced before.

When the judge announced the bail I walked out of the dock and headed for the court lockup. The police officer just stood there and did not know what to do. I then turned and shouted at the police officer to follow me. He tried to persuade me to stay in court but I shouted at him to just follow me to the lockup and to do his job.

The police officer, however, refused to put me in the lockup. He told my lawyer and my wife to talk to me and to try to persuade me to accept bail. After a bit of drama and with my wife reduced to tears, I agreed to accept bail and went home.

Not long after that I left the country and eventually the charges against me were dropped, as was the earlier charge of sedition. However, my SD was never investigated.

About six month later, in August 2009, I did a video, which was published in YouTube (see below). In that video I related the story regarding my SD. Still nothing was done in spite of the fact that almost 150,000 people have viewed the video.

Again, what I said in my signed statement to the Malaysian police is exactly the same as what I said in my YouTube video of August 2009 and my TV3 interview of April 2011. The only difference is my statement was officially recorded and signed.

Hence, Azwan, seeing how concerned you are about the investigation regarding Altantuya's murder, you may want to go the whole nine yards (an English idiom such as 'better the devil you know') and also take up this issue and ask the Malaysian police what has happened to the recorded and signed statement they took from me in May 2011.

My salam aidil fitri to you and your entire family.

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RPK Speaks His Mind - Altantuya Statutory Declaration

f4yE5vv73DA

SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4yE5vv73DA

********************************************

My recorded and signed statement to the Malaysian police regarding the 18th June 2008 Statutory Declaration (SD) that I signed

In early June 2008, an old schoolmate of mine named Nik Azmi Nik Daud (Bul) phoned me and requested to meet. He did not tell me what the meeting was about. I not only knew Bul from my Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) school days of the 1960s but also know him as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's (Ku Li) campaign manager. Whenever Ku Li needs to reach me or he needs to pass me any information it is done though Bul.

We met at La Bodega in Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, for tea (about 3.00-4.00pm). I can't remember the exact date (maybe around the second week of June 2008 between the 3rd-5th), but it was about two weeks or so before I signed the SD and it was a working day, mid-week.

My wife, Marina Lee, accompanied me to the meeting and there was another person with Bul. I was not introduced to this fourth person and since Bul did not introduce us I took it I was not supposed to know who he is, so I did not ask. This fourth person did not speak a word throughout the meeting so I could not ascertain whether he was Malay or Chinese although he looked more Chinese than Malay (but then many Malays look Chinese so I could not be sure). As the discussion progressed I began to suspect that he may be from the military or military intelligence (he had that 'regimented' look) but this was only my suspicion based on the subject matter that we discussed.

Bul related the story regarding the number two in the Special Branch of the Military Intelligence, Lt. Kol. Azmi Zainal Abidin, meeting Ku Li to inform Ku Li about the night that Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered. Bul said that Lt. Kol. Azmi told Ku Li that the Deputy Prime Minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor; and Rosmah's ADC, Lt. Kol. Norhayati Hassan; and Lt. Kol. Norhayati's husband, Lt. Kol. Aziz Buyong; were all present (all three of them) at the scene of Altantuya's murder the night she was murdered and blown up with C4 explosives.

Bul said he was present in the meeting when Lt. Kol. Azmi told Ku Li about this episode. He also told me that Ku Li would like this matter to be exposed, hence the purpose of the meeting that day.

After the meeting with Bul, Marina and I discussed the matter and she did not agree that I pursue this expose because she considered the story as farfetched, plus also because Bul was not reliable and in the past some of his stories have proven to be false. Hence, at the behest of Marina, I did nothing about the matter.

About ten days or so later, Bul again phoned me to ask me whether I was going to follow up on the matter we discussed. I told him I was not going to and he requested to meet again. We met the second time on Sunday, 15th June 2008, for lunch at the Selangor Club at Dataran Merdeka.

I arrived around noon and Bul was already there with about a dozen or so people. They were all having lunch on the veranda. Bul signalled to me to move to another table a bit farther from the group and he joined me there together with the fourth person whom he had brought when we first met at La Bodega. (This fourth person again did not say a word throughout the meeting).

Bul asked me why I did not want to expose the story he had told me earlier and I explained that I thought it was too risky and I would definitely get arrested and charged if I did that. Bul assured me that if that happens then he and Lt. Kol. Azmi would come forward to back up my story. They were prepared to go to court to testify in my defence if required to do so.

Marina told Bul that she was not prepared for me to take the risk in exposing the story. Bul assured Marina that he has all the documents to support the story. The documents are in the form of a confidential report by the Military Intelligence that confirms Rosmah, Lt. Kol. Nothayati and Lt. Kol. Aziz were all at the scene of Altantuya's murder the night she was murdered. This report is the same report that was given to the Prime Minister (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and DYMM the Agong. Bul said that if the police took action against me they will then give me a copy of this report to use in my defence plus they will come forward to testify on my behalf.

After considering it for a while, I told Bul I would run the story. Marina, however, disagreed with my decision and she told Bul this. Bul assured Marina that all will be well and that he (Bul) will make sure of that ("We will never let Pet go to jail," Bul said). Marina told Bul that if I were to be sent to jail then Malaysia Today would be in trouble. Who would keep Malaysia Today running, in particular to pay for the cost of maintaining the server, which at that time came to about RM10,000 a month? Bul told Marina that if I get sent to jail then they would take over the RM10,000 a month cost of maintaining Malaysia Today.

Bul then asked me when I would be doing the expose. I replied that I would write the story in a day or so but Bul disagreed. It must not be just a story, he told me. It has to be in the form of a Statutory Declaration. The government can just ignore a story. But they can't ignore a SD, which is a legal document. They would have to take action if it was a SD. So Bul asked me to sign a SD instead of just writing a story.

I was still not fully satisfied that Bul's story was accurate. I was also not sure whether Lt. Kol. Azmi really existed (although Bul showed me his calling card), let alone whether his story is real and whether he is reliable. So I called John Pang, who also works for Ku Li, and told John Pang what Bul had told me. I then asked John Pang to confirm the story with Ku Li.

John Pang called me back and said that Ku Li is aware of the story and that this person called Lt. Kol. Azmi is very reliable. It seems he always goes to Ku Li's office to pass Ku Li classified information. According to John Pang, Lt Kol. Azmi is also close to Anwar Ibrahim.

I then called Din Merican, who at that time was working for Anwar Ibrahim, and asked Din Merican to also confirm the story with Anwar. Din Merican called me back and said exactly what John Pang had said. Din Merican added that Lt. Kol. Azmi is not only reliable but goes to meet Anwar very often to pass Anwar information, which had been very useful for the 2008 general election.

Based on these 'references' from Ku Li and Anwar, I then signed the SD on Wednesday, 18th June 2008, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. My lawyer was present when I signed that SD and the following day he sent my SD to the Prosecutors in the Altantuya murder trial.

On Friday, 20th June 2008, an Umno Blog (http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/) published a copy of my SD. That same day, the Blog owner, Zakir, phoned me to ask about the SD and whether I did sign it. I responded with a 'no comment'. He then published the SD and stated that he did call me and that I refused to comment. I do not know where Zakir got a copy of that SD from, as I did not send him a copy.

That same day, Friday, 20th June 2008, the Attorney General told the media that I had signed a false SD and that they will be investigating the matter. The following day, Saturday, 21st June 2008, the IGP told the media that they would be taking action against me for signing a false SD.

Both the AG and IGP based their comments on the copy of that SD that was published in http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/. This is because they both referred to the SD published in http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/ when they made their comments. This was reported in the mainstream media on Friday and Saturday, 20th and 21st June 2008 respectively.

Not long after that, I was arrested and charged for criminal defamation and on 11th September 2008 I was detained under the Internal Security Act and was subjected to a 10-day interrogation session where, amongst others, they wanted to know the details regarding the background to that SD. I told the Special Branch exactly what I had related above but no action was taken. In fact, Lt. Kol. Azmi was promoted from the number two to the head of the Special Branch of the Military Intelligence.

According to Datuk Zambri Ahmad, the Special Branch officer in charge of my interrogation, the information I was given by Bul was a red herring and was aimed at trapping me and to get me into trouble. I do not know where Datuk Zambri got that information from or why he told me that.

RAJA PETRA BIN RAJA KAMARUDIN

Battle Royale in Lembah Pantai (UPDATED WITH BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS)

Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:28 PM PDT

If the total number of registered voters is about 70,000, we can expect a voter turnout of about 50,000, plus-minus. That would be an increase in voter-turnout of about 9,000. Now, Nurul Izzah's majority in March 2008 was less than 3,000 votes or just 7%. This does not give her too much room to play with. It is certainly touch and go from where I am sitting, even though I am sitting thousands of miles away.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Is Nurul Izzah losing her grip?

The Malay Mail

In the last general election, Nurul Izzah Anwar was 'David' against Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's 'Goliath' in the battle for Lembah Pantai. The eldest daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim achieved what opposition colleagues Zainur Zakaria and Tun Salleh Abas could not -- wrest the parliamentary constituency from the charismatic Shahrizat.

However, four years later, words on the ground have it that Nurul Izzah is losing support to Umno's Datuk Seri Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin. In what can be called a role reversal, the Barisan Nasional (BN) senator has been hard at work turun padang, speaking to the people and using his position as Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister to address their problems, ranging from City Hall issues, housing and business related problems.

Seri Pahang flats resident Mohd Shardi Hashim, 34, an ardent fan of Raja Nong Chik, pointed out that the latter was more 'people savvy' and had contributed a lot to the Lembah Pantai folks.

"He made a lot of changes and assisted us in many ways. He goes to the ground often and talks to the people. He also listens to our problems and addresses them, especially on housing. On the other hand, I seldom see Nurul Izzah. I don't know what she has done for the constituency. What I do know is, she just started appearing again quite recently."

Sue Anna Tan, 34, agreed with Mohd Shardi and said she was surprised when Raja Nong Chik sent her an SMS wishing her happy birthday recently.

"I have no idea how he got my number but it was rather sweet of him to text me," she said. The main concern of Tan -- a victim of snatch thefts three years ago -- was the 'ever increasing crime rate'.

"I must say Bangsar nowadays seems to turn into a hotspot for criminals. Every day residents hear of snatch thefts and, almost every week, burglary cases. My neighbour's house was broken into recently and it happened on a Sunday afternoon."

"In my case, the first incident was in 2008 outside my home, the second in 2009 while I was walking along Jalan Telawi, and the third was in 2010 when they smashed my car window at Bangsar Shopping Centre," Tan said.

Shop owner Norzilla Abdullah, 66, would also root for Raja Nong Chik because it would be easier for her to run her business since he held a Cabinet post. "I like Nurul Izzah but I have to be practical when it comes to business. I would rather have an MP who is also the minister who supervises City Hall," she said.

She said Nurul Izzah, who defeated Shahrizat in the 2008 general election, was seen by many Lembah Pantai residents as 'not doing anything much' for the constituency. To this, Nurul Izza said: "We (Pakatan Rakyat) are rendered powerless by City Hall, which is answerable to the minister. This affects our job in Kuala Lumpur itself, let alone Lembah Pantai."

"I find it challenging to do good work for my constituents because most complaints are directly related to City Hall. Sometimes I feel like I'm just the middle person trying to push City Hall to provide better services to the constituents."

"It doesn't help that BN has a service centre near Seri Pahang flats as well. This confuses the people. Who do they go to for help? Me or my political nemesis? I'm the rightful MP but he's the minister."

The 31-year-old, who is also PKR vice-president, also claimed that City Hall and various administrators of public facilities were 'unfriendly' towards her programmes, projects and campaigns.

"It has come to a point where we just try to do it. Can you imagine the Bangsar mosque is not allowing us to distribute charity to the poor? They say we should not have 'political activities' in a mosque," she said.

However, when The Malay Mail brought the matter up with Raja Nong Chik, he firmly denied it, saying that Nurul Izzah 'must adhere procedures just like everyone else'. "Even Umno members are sometimes denied facilities by City Hall. It depends on a lot of factors," he said.

"I have been doing my best to assist the poor of Lembah Pantai for 25 years. My opponent has only been doing it for the past two to three years as an MP. I was here even when I lost the division chief's post for Umno but I stayed on to serve."

Raja Nong Chik said he knew the issues concerning the poor. "It is housing, It has always been the case and I've been on top of it to provide low-cost housing for the squatters."

"I basically want to improve their overall living conditions, including better pensions for the elderly and providing better homes for everyone, especially the poor."

****************************************

When you pray five times a day, you remember Allah and Raja Nong Chik, not necessarily in that order of priority, though.

That was what The Malay Mail had to say about the matter. Now read what I have to say, not that I have not written about this matter a couple of times already. However, as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad likes to say: Melayu mudah lupa. I say all Malaysians mudah lupa. So sometimes we need to repeat what we have already said to keep reminding you.

There were almost 57,000 registered voters in Lembah Pantai in March 2008. I do not know what the exact figure is now but I am guesstimating that it should be roughly 70,000, plus-minus. I am basing this estimate on the ratio of the national increase in voters and am assuming that the increase in voters for the parliamentary constituency of Lembah Pantai is in tandem with the national figure. If it is higher, then we should begin to worry and suspect that something devious is happening here -- such as 'phantom' voters.

Anyhow, whatever it may be, slightly over half those voters are Malays, say 52-54%, and less than half are non-Malays -- mainly Chinese, about a quarter, and Indians, about 20% or so. Hence the Malay voters would probably decide the outcome of the coming general election in Lembah Pantai.

I would not put too much weight on The Malay Mail report above. I mean, a swallow does not make a summer and interviewing one or two people for their comments does not reflect the majority view. Nevertheless, The Malay Mail is not entirely wrong and there are certainly some areas of concern. And I am definitely concerned about them -- although Nurul Izzah's 'machinery' is very gung-ho about the situation.

We must remember that the PKR Youth machinery is always gung-ho. In the Indera Kayangan by-election ten years ago in 2002 -- the campaign that was run by the PKR Youth Movement -- I said that PKR was going to lose by at least 2,500 votes. PKR Youth, however, said it was going win by not less than 3,000 votes, maybe even 5,000 votes.

Even Rafizi Ramli, who at that time was still studying in the UK, said that PKR was going to lose by at least 2,500 votes, and he spoke to me about it. Nevertheless, the PKR Youth election machinery was still confident it was going to win. Finally, Rafizi and I were proven right. PKR lost by 2,593 votes, worse than in 1999 when they lost by less than 2,000 votes.

Hence I am always very worried about these Young Chicos in PKR. They are too confident and always end up wrong in the end. So why should I not be worried about Lembah Pantai when it is the same Young Chicos who are running the campaign and who look down on us Old Cocks as out of touch with what is happening on the ground?

And Indera Kayang is just one of many examples of how wrong these PKR Youth campaigners have been. They always forecast a win and the result turns out the opposite. And I fear we may see this happening in the coming general election as well if they don't pull their heads out of the sand and look at reality.

Let me make one thing very clear. Places such as Lucky Gardens in Bangsar used to always vote Barisan Nasional. For the first time in 2008 they voted Pakatan Rakyat. And this is because of ABU or 'anything but Umno'. Will they still vote ABU this time around or will they go back to what they used to do in the many elections before 2008 -- that is, vote ruling party?

When the Bangsarians voted ABU it was mainly because they hated Umno. Hence it is not so much because they loved Nurul Izzah as much as because they hated Umno, and by extension the Umno candidate, meaning Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

One question we need to ask is: did they hate Umno or did they hate (or 'did not like' in case 'hate' is too strong a word to use) Shahrizat? If they hated Umno, then well and fine. But if it were Shahrizat rather than Umno that they hated (or disliked), would they still feel the same way if it were not Shahrizat who is contesting but someone else instead -- such as Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin?

Now, I personally know Raja Nong Chik. In fact, I have known him since back in the 1980s. And I must admit that he is a very likeable character. It is very difficult to hate him just because he happens to be in Umno and is Umno's candidate for Lembah Pantai. And, being a very successful businessman, he has good PR and knows how to rub you the right way.

Another important thing is Raja Nong Chik is wealthy and can afford to throw his money around. And when you have a pleasant personality, are always smiling, walk around with an aura of humility, and are spreading hard cash all over the place, it becomes very difficult to find fault with you.

Other than that, Raja Nong Chik is the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister and Lembah Pantai comes under the Federal Territory. Hence he can do 'favours' for the residents of Lembah Pantai that Nurul Izzah cannot do (and Nurul Izzah does not deny this fact, and neither do the voters).

Is this an abuse of power, and hence corruption? Those who are receiving favours and cash handouts do not care whether it is abuse of power or corruption. They will just take the favours and money and vote for whoever it is giving them these favours and cash. That is the reality of the situation. I mean those who scream corruption are the same people who bribe a policeman to escape a fine, is this not so? Hence it is corruption only when others benefit, not when you benefit.

An even greater obstacle facing Nurul Izzah is the fact that, while the Bangsar residents (meaning mainly non-Malays) may have been voting ABU in the last election, the Malays in the Pantai Dalam area were not voting ABU. They were voting ABS -- anything but Shahrizat. I know this because I was involved in 'bribing' some of the Malay Umno members to cross over and become 'turncoats'.

You see, for a long time, Raja Nong Chik had been working the ground and was building his support amongst the Malays in Pantai Dalam in the hope that he would be selected to contest the 2008 general election. When Shahrizat was retained instead, many of Raja Nong Chik's Umno supporters were pissed off. Hence they voted for Nurul Izzah just to teach Umno a lesson.

And all we did was to capitalise on this and give them more reason not to vote for Shahrizat -- money being that icing on the cake. But the cake was already there. We just provided the icing. So they took the money and voted Nurul Izzah not because they wanted Nurul Izzah but because they did not want Shahrizat. And they did not want Shahrizat because they wanted Raja Nong Chik.

Sounds very complicating, no?

This normally happens when the candidate is not the choice of the ground but the choice of the 'higher-ups' in the Umno hierarchy. And this is Umno's main worry in the coming general election as well. And that is why the 13th General Election is facing a delay. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is having a headache trying to sort out the candidates list to avoid internal sabotage if they field the 'wrong' candidate.

So the delay in the 13th General Election has nothing to do with Altantuya Shaariibuu, as some PKR people would have us believe. It is because they need to sort out the candidates list and see how they can 'reward' (also meaning 'bribe') those candidates who are going to be dropped so that they will not sabotage their own party, Umno.

And now do you know why some Umno Sabah people are jumping? They are going to be dropped and they are not happy with the 'retirement package' they are being offered. So they cross over to the opposition. But I will talk about this matter later in another article. I already have all the shit and will soon be revealing it.

Anyway, back to Lembah Pantai. If the total number of registered voters is about 70,000, we can expect a voter turnout of about 50,000, plus-minus. That would be an increase in voter-turnout of about 9,000. Now, Nurul Izzah's majority in March 2008 was less than 3,000 votes or just 7%. This does not give her too much room to play with. It is certainly touch and go from where I am sitting, even though I am sitting thousands of miles away.

The biggest issue to the Malays is housing. If Raja Nong Chik can sort out the housing problem that the Malays are facing (which he certainly can and is doing so) then I fear all is lost. Would the Malays take these houses (and the cash that Raja Nong Chik is dishing out) and still vote opposition? I doubt it. The Malays suffer from this 'disease' called 'terhutang budi'. Once you show kindness to them they repay in kindness.

And this I strongly believe is also Nurul Izzah's main concern.

Nurul Izzah needs a better election machinery. But is it too late for that? I really don't know. But better late than never I always say. The campaign should no longer be just about ABU. We must remember that many who voted for Nurul Izzah in the last general election were Umno people. ABU will not work on Umno people. They will take it as a personal attack. How do you expect to get their votes when you attack them, meaning scream ABU?

Malays have this other 'disease': tak kenal maka tak cinta. And this is Raja Nong Chik's strong point. He makes the voters cinta him but getting them to kenal him. And never visit them empty-handed -- as the Malays would say, bawa air lior basi. But to visit them with gifts means you need to have a deep pocket, something which Raja Nong Chik has and which Nurul Izzah will be hard-pressed to match.

Nurul Izzah has to stop all her gallivanting. No need all those trips and going around the country to ceramah. Focus on Lembah Pantai, which is a large enough territory as it is. The voters need to see your face and shake your hand. Kiss babies if need be. Just make sure that your presence is felt. What you lack in Ministerial powers and millions in cash you need to make up for in personal touch.

And get rid of those Young Chikos. Get some Old Cocks onto your team. And go poach some Umno people as well. Pay them to work for you if need be. You need to pull every trick in the book at this stage. And if you need more money just holler. With 500,00 readers, and if each Malaysia Today reader donated just RM10 on average, that can already come to RM5 million.

You need to fight Raja Nong Chik using his own weapon. And his weapon is money. So you must use that same weapon. And if this is something you are not prepared to do then get out of Lembah Pantai and contest somewhere else.

It is now in the hands of you, Malaysia Today readers. If you want Nurul Izzah to win then open your cheque books now. If not, then bye-bye Nurul Izzah and hello Raja Nong Chik. And do not say I did not tell you when I write my 'I told you so' article the day after the 13th General Election.

NOTE: Bank account where you can send money to is "AHLI PARLIMEN LEMBAH PANTAI", Maybank, account number 5641 2834 5008

*****************************************

By the way, on another note, I have spoken to my lawyer to form a Board of Trustees and to open a bank account where people can donate money towards the coming general election. I will not interfere in its operation and will leave it to the Board of Trustees to manage the funds and to make the decision where the funds will go. This will be a group of lawyers and accountants that are wealthy in their own right.

So stay tuned and I will keep you posted once things are up and running. The rest will be up to you. I can only do so much but without money Pakatan Rakyat will be hard-pressed in fighting the coming general election. Will you guys and gals promise me at least RM10 million? If you can't even do that then Barisan Nasional deserves to win.

So you think you know the voters

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT

About 61 percent of Malays considered themselves Muslims first, with only 28 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians. When asked whether they rely upon their religion when making major life decisions, 92 percent of Malays and 85 percent of Indians answered affirmatively, while only 37 percent of Chinese agreed.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In October 2006, the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur sent the report below to Washington. This was, of course, six years ago and a year before the first Bersih rally of November 2007 and about 17 months before the 12th General Election in March 2008.

We would like to believe that this report is already outdated and that Malaysians have generally changed since then. But have they?

This opinion poll, funded by The Asia Foundation (http://asiafoundation.org/), surveyed more than 1,500 young Malaysian adults aged 18-32. The results showed sharp differences of views on religion and national identity and the relation between state and religion among the country's three largest ethnic groups - the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Maybe you should read the report below and unless things have changed drastically over the last six years, which I feel they have not, then you are going to be in for a surprise this coming general election.

The salient points you should take special note of are the following:

1. About 61 percent of Malays considered themselves Muslims first, with only 28 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians.

2. Only 31 percent of Malays agreed that 'all cultures and religions should be given equal rights', compared with 61 percent of Chinese and 66 percent of Indian respondents (which means 69 percent of Malays support 'Ketuanan Melayu').

3. The Chinese put ethnicity first (47 percent), followed by nationality (44 percent) and religion (5 percent).

4. Indians were the most nationalistic, with 75 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians, followed by their ethnic group (14 percent) and religion (5 percent).

5. When asked whether they rely upon their religion when making major life decisions, 92 percent of Malays and 85 percent of Indians answered affirmatively, while only 37 percent of Chinese agreed.

6. Only 9 percent of Malays agreed 'it is not wrong for unmarried couples to hold hands in public places', compared with 96 percent of Chinese and 58 percent of Indians.

7. With regard to the connection between government and religion, only 3 percent of Malays agreed that 'government and religion should be kept separate', compared with 64 percent of Chinese and 47 percent of Indians.

8. About 30 percent of Malays hoped Malaysia would become 'more Islamic', while that outcome was supported by 0 percent of Chinese and 4 percent of Indians.

9. About 34 percent of Malays agreed that 'government should increase the implementation of Islam by introducing Hudud laws for Muslims', compared with only 2 percent of Chinese and 0 percent of Indian respondents.

10. A majority of Malays (53 percent) stated that they would not accept a woman as prime minister, compared with only 11 percent of Chinese and 6 percent of Indians.

11. Over 40 percent of respondents (of all races) would forgo elections in exchange for government-guaranteed peace, stability and economic growth (which means 'democracy' is not as important as peace, stability and economic growth).

Those who do not understand the method that opinion polls are done would probably argue that 1,500 respondents do not reflect the opinion of 15 million registered voters or 28 million Malaysian citizens. Those who do, however, would know that in a properly conducted poll, 1,500 respondents are all you need to get a plus-minus 5% accuracy result, and even if you increase the number of respondents to 15,000 or more, the accuracy would only improve by 1-2%.

Anyway, the bottom line is, we think we understand the psyche of the Malaysian voter, in particular the young or first-time voter. But do we?

Note that some within the age group of those polled back in 2006 were not yet registered voters or of the age where they could vote. This time around, however, many are able to vote and/or have registered to vote and will be voting in the coming general election, maybe three million or so.

Are you surprised to learn how Malaysians think and the sentiments they have and did you suspect this is what they think? Yes, that is the million dollar question and going by the comments posted in Malaysian Today, which I have been monitoring these last few years since 2008, I can see that many of you do not really know what is in the mind of most Malaysians and you are of the view that other Malaysians think exactly the way you do.

Can you now see how wrong you were?

*****************************************

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001913

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016

TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KDEM, KWMN, PINR, SOCI, KISL, MY

SUBJECT: MALAYSIAN YOUTH POLL REVEALS SHARP ETHNIC DIVIDE AND POLITICAL APATHY

A recent opinion poll, funded by The Asia Foundation, of over 1,500 young Malaysian adults aged 18-32 showed sharp differences of views on religion and national identity and the relation between state and religion among the country's three largest ethnic groups - the Malays, Chinese and Indians. The majority of Malays, defined under law as Muslims, identified themselves first as Muslims and secondarily as Malaysians, in stark contrast to the other ethnic groups. In addition, Malays exhibited far greater willingness to involve the government in religious affairs.

About a third of all Malay respondents hoped that Malaysia would become "more Islamic" and supported adoption of Islamic (hudud) statutes for criminal offenses. Less than a third of Malays surveyed supported equal rights for all cultures and religions. The survey found common ground across ethnic boundaries in terms of Malaysian youths' high degree of cynicism toward elected officials, apathy about current affairs and political disengagement. Over 40 percent of respondents would forgo elections in exchange for government-guaranteed peace, stability and economic growth.

The survey's results highlighted the strong sense of Malay/Muslim identity and illustrated the sharp inter-ethnic differences that will continue to work against the emergence in Malaysia of a large multi-ethnic, multi-religious political party. Post has forwarded the complete survey data to EAP/MTS.

Sixty-one percent of Malays considered themselves Muslim first, with only 28 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians. The Chinese put ethnicity first (47 percent), followed by nationality (44 percent) and religion (5 percent). Indians were the most nationalistic, with 75 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians, followed by their ethnic group (14 percent) and religion (5 percent).

When asked whether they rely upon their religion when making major life decisions, 92 percent of Malays and 85 percent of Indians answered affirmatively, while only 37 percent of Chinese agreed. Only 9 percent of Malays agreed that "it is not wrong for unmarried couples to hold hands in public places," compared with 96 percent of Chinese and 58 percent of Indians.

With regard to the connection between government and religion, only 3 percent of Malay respondents agreed that "government and religion should be kept separate," compared with 64 percent of Chinese and 47 percent of Indians.

Thirty-four percent of Malays agreed that "government should increase the implementation of Islam by introducing hudud law for Muslims," compared with only 2 percent of Chinese and 0 percent of Indian respondents. (Note: hudud, or Islamic law encompassing criminal offenses, currently does not apply to any Malaysians; all citizens are subject to a secular criminal law system.)

Thirty percent of Malays hoped Malaysia would become "more Islamic," while that outcome was supported by 0 percent of Chinese and 4 percent of Indians. Only 31 percent of Malays agreed that "all cultures and religions should be given equal rights," compared with 61 percent and 66 percent of Chinese and Indian respondents, respectively.

A majority of Malays (53 percent) stated that they would not accept a woman as prime minister, compared with only 11 percent of Chinese and 6 percent of Indians.

The survey included various questions that attempted to determine the greatest concerns of respondents, as well as their degree of awareness about local and global political affairs. The young adults surveyed were primarily concerned with completing their education, advancing their careers and supporting their families.

According to the Merdeka Center, "only a handful" expressed concern about wider societal issues. In its summary report about its survey, the Merdeka Center concluded that "a majority of youth tend to have a negative, cynical and dismissive view about politics."

The survey indicated that most of Malaysia's young adults remain disengaged from their political environment. When asked how frequently they discuss "government policies and current issues" with friends, family members, schoolmates or colleagues, the most frequent responses were once per week (43 percent), once per month (26 percent), and rarely/never (17 percent).

Respondents placed high value on holding elections, but 41 percent would agree to eliminate elections if the government could guarantee "stability, peace and economic growth."

Malaysia's young adults, like those in many other nations, appear to focus largely on advancing their educations or careers, and pay significant attention to their families and home environment. When asked an open-ended question about how they spend their free time, the young adults listed "stay at home" as their primary response (34 percent), with "shopping complexes" (15 percent), "sports venues/fields" (6 percent), "scenic areas" (6 percent) and "go to town" (6 percent) as the next most popular responses.

Favourite hobbies were reading (24 percent), sports (23 percent), listening to music (9 percent), watching television or movies (8 percent), and fishing (6 percent). Only 26 percent have visited another country, with nearby Singapore the most common destination by far. Fifty-three percent of respondents stated they have no access to the Internet, and only 15 percent said they accessed the Internet 6 or more times per week.

Mobile phone penetration was significantly higher, with 86 percent of respondents owning at least one of the devices.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Khamis, 6 September 2012

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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