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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Bank Islam’s Azrul a PKR mole, says blogger
This is no conspiracy theory
Manikavasagam issued stern warning over outburst
Sharifah Zohra Jabeen, I challenge you to a debate!
Listen, listen, listen! Have we gone overboard?
NGO lapor polis dakwa pelajar Islam diberi Bible di hadapan sekolah
Peanuts for landowners, millions for cronies
RM23m for Umno company to play middleman
Radio stations very naughty, says Chief Minister
RCI revelations could drown Musa, Umno
Did Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s honorary doctorate cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM23m?

Bank Islam’s Azrul a PKR mole, says blogger

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 04:49 AM PST

The pro-Umno Rocky's Bru says the suspended economist had "frequent, passionate and discreet" communications with several PKR leaders.

(FMT) - A pro-Umno blogger has alleged that suspended Bank Islam chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin was a mole who supplied Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim with sensitive information.

Ahirudin Attan, who runs a blog called Rocky's Bru, said this was the reason why Anwar, his daughter and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah and PKR chief strategist Rafizi Ramli were "visibly and terribly upset" over Azrul's suspension from the bank.

Azrul hit the limelight recently for outlining three possible post-GE scenarios at a regional forum in his capacity as Bank Islam chief economist. One of the three scenarios included Pakatan Rakyat winning the next general election.

Bank Islam sought to distance itself from its chief economist after the news broke out, and shortly afterwards suspended his service indefinitely, citing breach of internal policy.

PKR has questioned the propriety of the suspension.

"If you are wondering why Anwar Ibrahim, his daughter Nurul Izzah, and PKR chief strategist Rafizi Ramli are visibly and terribly upset over the suspension of Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin – to the point of calling for a boycott of Bank Islam – it's because they have a lot to lose. And I mean a lot," Ahiruddin said in his latest posting.

"In their tweets… the trio may not have admitted to knowing Azrul. Very soon, however, they will have to own up to the fact that they not only know the Bank Islam chief economist but know him intimately."

He claimed that Azrul was fondly known as "Wawa" by the three and that he was not a "regular bank employee they are making him out to be".

"Wawa and the PKR leaders communicate frequently, passionately and discreetly. Anwar, Nurul Izzah and Rafizi will admit that they have been in regular contact with the Bank Islam chief economist for quite a while. They have been using him over and over and over again.

"Wawa has been their insider, their fly on the wall at highly classified internal meetings and meetings with Bank Negara, and the spy who has been leaking to his handlers, including to Anwar Ibrahim directly, confidential information of the Bafia (Banking and Financial Institutions Act) kind, from board papers to correspondence between the central bank."

He said the bank acted against Azrul because as a bank officer he had contravened the law.

"And this was not his first offence.

"Wawa was suspended pending a domestic inquiry. The investigation, however, has brought to surface affairs and conduct more sinister than just political over-zealousness.

READ MORE HERE

This is no conspiracy theory

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 04:57 PM PST

The important thing is, while Dr Mahathir may have been guilty of 'reversing' what Tunku Abdul Rahman did, he did not act alone. This was not one man's plan on how to ensure that Barisan Nasional and Umno do not lose power. It was a GOVERNMENT plan, with Dr Mahathir as head of that government, of course. And we must remember that in 1991 Anwar was Malaysia's Finance Minister and in 1993 he became the Deputy Prime Minister. And the 'Christian' government of Sabah was toppled in 1994.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Over the last two years my studies in British and European history has been able to help me look at events from a fresh perspective. When we studied history back in our school days in Malaysia it was merely a study of dates and events, and maybe the personalities behind those events.

Later they changed the syllabus to objective and you just marked the correct answer: A, B, C, D or E. That brought the level of education down drastically and sometimes you passed your exams by just making a lucky guess at what the right answer is.

Here in Oxford we need to look at the broader picture to understand why what happened, happened. And if we apply the Oxford module rather than the 'Pendidekan Malaysia' module (I am not even sure of the 'modern' Malay spelling any more) then the Sabah 'illegal immigrants given Malaysian citizenship' issue can be better understood.

Many of you reading this are probably quite young, born after Merdeka of 1957 or after 'May 13' of 1969 -- or maybe you were still a kid then and did not know what was happening around you. Hence you will look at the 'Sabah issue' from today's perspective. And hence, also, you just want to know who the guilty person is in what you consider a most heinous 'crime' -- in your opinion tantamount to treachery.

Now, I am not saying what they did in Sabah is legal or illegal, or even moral or immoral. This piece is not about right and wrong. Historians do not pass judgement about events in history. They just analyse what happened and what, in their opinion, were the causes of that event.

First let us go to back to 1946, the year Umno was formed.

In 1946, the British Colonial government introduced the Malayan Union, which reduced the powers of the Raja-raja Melayu (Malay Rulers). This, in turn, meant that the Malays would lose some of their powers. Hence the elite and intellectuals amongst the Malays opposed the Malayan Union.

Yes, it was the Malay elite class and the intellectual community -- and not the fishermen and farmers -- who opposed the Malayan Union. The kampong people did not really care because their lives would remain the same never mind who ran the country.

Because of this opposition to the Malayan Union, in 1948 the British abandoned the idea and instead introduced the Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.

Next came the idea of Merdeka or independence. And this took many years of negotiations (no blood on the streets, as what Umno tells us). One issue of concern to Britain was what to do with the more than one million Chinese and Indians after Malaya was given Merdeka. They can't be sent back to China and India so an independent Malaya had to absorb them by giving them citizenship.

Now, note what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday. He said that Tunku Abdul Rahman was worse. The Tunku gave citizenship to more than one million foreigners. Maybe Dr Mahathir is trying to say that he gave citizenship to less than one million foreigners.

What Dr Mahathir did not explain is that the Tunku had to agree to the granting of citizenship to more than one million Chinese and Indians, which was the British term and condition for agreeing to Merdeka for Malaya. If the Tunku did not agree then the British would probably disagree to Merdeka for Malaya mainly because they had to 'protect' the more than one million Chinese and Indians who would otherwise become stateless.

It was a sort of trade off. Malaya would absorb the more than one million Chinese and Indians. The Chinese and Indians, in turn, must agree to special privileges for the Malays (plus Malay becomes the national language and Islam the religion of the Federation). And then Britain would grant Malaya independence.

In 1955, two years before Merdeka, the first elections were held in Malaya and the Alliance Party (a coalition of Umno, MCA and MIC) won 51 of the 52 seats. That meant the Alliance Party was 'stable' and could rule an independent Malaya with a clear mandate from the voters. Two years later, in 1957, Malaya gained independence.

But that 'honeymoon' was short-lived. Twelve years later, in 1969, the Alliance party received a beating in the Third General Election. It garnered less than 50% of the popular votes and lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The Alliance Party (meaning all three: Umno, MCA and MIC) knew that it was losing power. Hence Barisan Nasional was formed to replace the Alliance Party so that the opposition parties could be brought into the ruling coalition. And that was how the Alliance Party got back control of the country -- by forming a new coalition with the opposition parties (what we could call a 'unity government', I suppose).

But that was not enough and they needed to do more. Selangor, the jewel in the crown, was in jeopardy (it still is today). So they created new 'Malay' cities, such as Shah Alam, and 'flooded' these cities with Malays to 'dilute' the Chinese voters.

Then they created a separate Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur so that the majority Chinese in Kuala Lumpur could be 'kicked out' of Selangor. Thus the ruling party can afford to lose Kuala Lumpur but they would not also lose Selangor.

By then, of course, Malaysia had been created with the agreement that 25% of the Parliament seats would come from Sabah and Sarawak. This would mean that Sabah and Sarawak would be the ruling party's 'fixed deposit' and there was no way 1969 could be repeated as long as Sabah and Sarawak remained under the ruling party.

But that soon changed in 1985 when PBS, seen as a Christian-based party, kicked out the 'Muslim' government and replaced it with a 'Christian' government.

This meant, yet again, the ruling party was in danger of losing power like what happened in 1969. And they were in danger of losing power because the Muslims, who used to be 85-90% of the population, pre-Merdeka, had been reduced to a mere 50% or so -- in the first instance when more than one million Chinese and Indians had been given citizenship in 1957 and in the second instance when Sabah and Sarawak became part of Malaysia and the Muslim population was diluted even further.

Hence Barisan Nasional (in particular Umno) needed to dilute the non-Muslim population, in particular in their 'fixed deposit' states in East Malaysia which control a very critical 25% of the seats in Parliament and where the Muslims are not the majority like in West Malaysia.

And that was when the idea was mooted to 'create' an additional Muslim population of at least one million. And they could not wait for this to happen gradually over 50 years by encouraging Malays to have more children. They had to 'fast track' this exercise, which means they had to 'import' the population.

The first step was for Umno to get into Sabah. The next step was to 'import' one million Muslims into Sabah and give them citizenship. In 1994, this exercise over those few years proved successful when the 'Christian' government got kicked out and a 'Muslim' government took over the state and has held it ever since.

Now, certainly Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time. But it was the Barisan Nasional government (which means it was more than just Umno) that came out with this game plan on how to grab back and/or retain power by diluting the non-Muslim population by importing a large Muslim population.

In 1957, they granted citizenship to one million 'foreign' Chinese and Indians and 30 years later they 'balanced' this by granting citizenship to one million foreign Muslims. There was nothing illegal about what they did but whether it was moral or not is another thing altogether.

And this happened not because of one man, Dr Mahathir, but because of what the government did. And Anwar was a key person in that government at that time. Hence I would be very careful about how the opposition plays up the Sabah issue because if the truth were to emerge it may cost PKR a lot of votes in Sabah. And if they can't win Sabah then they can't form the next federal government.

Manikavasagam issued stern warning over outburst

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:55 PM PST

(The Star) - PKR has issued a stern warning to Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam for criticising Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and state exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

An official said the party's political bureau, headed by its president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, issued the warning on Wednesday following a report from its disciplinary committee.

He said several leaders, including Dr Xavier, had pressed for Manikavasagam's suspension, but were over-ruled by party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Disciplinary committee head Datuk Dr Tan Tee Kwong confirmed that a decision had been made but refused to give further details, saying these would only be made public after Manikavasagam had been informed.

Manikavasagam was issued a show-cause letter after two video clips in mid-December showed him urging Khalid to resign over the demolition of an altar in Taman Seroja in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi in November.

In another clip, Manikavasagam blamed Dr Xavier for the demolition of temples in Selangor over the last four years. He replied to the show-cause letter on Tuesday.

Earlier, two PKR members, N. Shanmugam of Batu division and K. Samynathan of Kelana Jaya, said Manikavasagam criticised the two leaders as they had failed to resolve problems involving temple demolitions in the state.

"He (Manikavasagam) had promised that the Pakatan Rakyat government will not demolish any temple if it comes to power," Shanmugam said.

"But seven temples have been demolished so far and more notices for demolitions have been received by other temples," Samynathan added.

Sharifah Zohra Jabeen, I challenge you to a debate!

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:49 PM PST

You were a big bully. You didn't even have the decency to let her finish speaking and then counter her opinions with your own. But then again, you didn't have much to say.

Zan Azlee, The Malaysian Insider

You were way out of your depth. It was obviously clear. And that was the reason why you had to pull the microphone away from KS Bawani when she was speaking.

But you definitely had no awareness of this, I'm sure. You thought you were all that in your sophisticated-looking pantsuit and fancy title of President of Suara Wanita.

Trying to go for a SW1M? Try not to sink instead!

You were at a university, Universiti Utara Malaysia, an institution of learning where people go to (where most of them are actually legally adults) obtain an education.

You were a part of a panel at a forum. A panel forum, which I'm very sure, had an objective to bring forth discourse and intellectual discussion, and to share that with the students.

The forum, which was titled "Seiringkah Mahasiswa dan Politik", had given the panellists a chance to speak, and also had a session that was open to the floor, a chance for the students to speak.

If the panellists were allowed to share their thoughts and opinions, then by all means, the members of the floor should be given that chance too. It is a forum anyway.

What right did you have to stop a person from speaking? What right did you have to pull the microphone away from someone when she is speaking?

Is it because you are older? And this is considering the fact that you said to Bawani that she had to learn to respect her elders.

Respecting elders doesn't mean blindly following what they say. Respecting elders is also feeling the responsibility to correct them when they are wrong and heading down the wrong path.

Or did you feel you had a right to pull the microphone away because you thought it was your forum? And, to you, this meant that only you had a right to an opinion?

I really felt that you were just scared. You were scared because suddenly, there was this young girl dressed casually in a long sleeved T-shirt and jeans who could articulate better than you.

I think you felt threatened because this young girl was sharing opinions that were so well thought out and clear that the rest of the attendees might just have been persuaded by her.

Probably the desperation that you felt was so intense that you couldn't do anything else but force her to keep quiet by pulling the microphone away from her so no one could hear her.

You were a big bully. You didn't even have the decency to let her finish speaking and then counter her opinions with your own. But then again, you didn't have much to say.

You just ranted along about how those who didn't like the state Malaysia is in to leave the country. Come on! How stupid do you think people are?

And what is it with the animal analogy? I don't even want to comment on that one! Basically, you didn't even have quality rebuttals for Bawani. You just bullied her away from the microphone.

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST

I am reminded of a scene in the film "Les Misérables", when the young revolutionaries whisper the lyrics "do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men? It's the music of a people who will not be slaves again!" Though there will not be a revolution as our country is already a democracy, finally being free after 56 years of a BN government is now the idea of a people's victory in Malaysia.

Douglas Tan, The Malaysian Insider

In this day and age, there are YouTube sensations which catapult little known individuals to fame. The K-Pop star, Psy, went from a virtual unknown outside Korea into an international sensation, with his music video "Gangnam Style", garnering 1.2 billion views on YouTube and setting a Guinness world record and spawning masses of parodies including local favourites such as "Oppa KL Style" and "Georgetown Gangnam style".

On the local scene, 2012 was the year of cows in condos, with Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil being lambasted by political leaders and online media, and most prominently being featured in yet another "Gangnam Style" parody, "Ubah Rocket Style" released by the DAP. In 2013, the word of the month seems to be "Listen".

Respect?

For those who are unaware or oblivious of the background, a little known leader of an NGO called Suara Wanita 1 Malaysia or SW1M was propelled to fame when a YouTube video of a woman berating a student went viral on social media circles.

Sharifah Zohra Jabeen reached notoriety, which is almost unparalleled in local politics in terms of ridicule and attention, from a video made at Universiti Utara Malaysia entitled "Forum Suara Mahasiswa Part 4" (translated into "Voice of the Students Forum Part 4"). This virtually happened overnight when she cut off second-year law student Bawani KS mid-way through her question by saying "Listen" 10 times and "Let me speak" seven times despite Bawani's protests.

The crux of Bawani's question was whether Malaysia would be able to move towards a system where university education could be provided for free. This is reflective of a promise being made by Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to abolish PTPTN and provide free tertiary education to Malaysians. What proceeded from Sharifah Zohra's interruption was ludicrous.

She then thanked Bawani for "having the guts" to ask the question, before turning to ask the students whether she had accorded "respect" to Bawani. At this point in the video, I began to feel sick inside because what she proceeded to do was nothing short of humiliating.

She mocked Bawani's attitude, said she is less "pendidikan" compared to her, asked her to leave the country if she is unhappy with the government's policies, and then proceeded to say the now famous "even animals have problems". If there was anyone who was being disrespectful, it was Sharifah Zohra. Her reply was not only "kurang ajar", it was a classic red herring.

For many online netizens who vented their frustrations, she epitomised the Barisan Nasional government: arrogant, out of touch, emotionally cold and vindictive. Bawani, on the other hand, achieved hero status by being the underdog, standing up for her beliefs and daring to question the authorities.

Neitzen's revenge

Although the forum itself took place on December 8 last year, the outpouring of wrath and ridicule only culminated in the past week. The parodies, Photoshopped pictures and even music "re-mixes" have all gone viral, especially on Facebook, with countless "likes" and "shares". There has also been a Facebook page opened dedicated to asking Sharifah Zohra to apologise to Bawani. Eventually this was highlighted on Yahoo! News and then the mainstream media just a couple of days ago.

The controversy has also given birth to a slew of marketing opportunities. Yes 4G, DiGi and Nandos came out with their own "Listen" campaigns to great effect, catching the wave of emotion crashing against Sharifah Zohra. I admit that I also got caught up in all of this, going so far as to order a "Listen, Listen" T-shirt!

There seems to be no end to the scorn poured on Sharifah Zohra and Barisan Nasional from this sordid episode. What is apparent is that there is a lot of pent-up rage which is being poured out, which is far larger than Sharifah Zohra herself.

There is the anger at the BN for attempting to brainwash university students. There is also the arrogance and oppressiveness of the party which is personified in how Sharifah Zohra attacked Bawani. Subsequent to all of this, there is also the unrepentant recalcitrance by Sharifah Zohra not issuing an apology and with the SW1M Facebook page posting updates defending their president.

It may be an understatement to say that this may be worrying to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his colleagues with the general election looming.

Gone too far?

However, in the midst of all this emotion, there were two of my friends who kept their heads to ask some very logical questions about the situation. Kelvin Yii posted a very meaningful video blog, providing a logical commentary and asking crucial questions as to the state of affairs transpiring from the event. Another friend, Tai Zee Kin, proceeded to ask a very honest question, as to whether all the persistent mocking, joking and parodies would make us any better than Sharifah Zohra herself? Have we gone too far?

Politics, it appears, finds its basis on emotional hyperbole rather than constructive, rational discussion. Taking a step back, are we being excessively harsh on Sharifah Zohra? Perhaps so, especially where there are individuals in high political positions who had made blatantly racist or arrogant statements in the media in the past. Sharifah Zohra perhaps is a victim of circumstances.

Was what she did acceptable then? No it was not. Shall we feel too sorry for her then? Maybe not. But then again, have we as netizens allowed for emotion to usurp logical and pragmatic discussion? Yes, but I believe that it mostly down to the fact that we are guilty of jumping on the "bash Sharifah Zohra" bandwagon.

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:27 PM PST

(Bernama) - Sebuah pertubuhan bukan kerajaan, Persatuan Mukabuku Pulau Pinang, hari ini membuat laporan polis mendakwa dua lelaki mengedar kitab Bible kepada pelajar beragama Islam, di hadapan sebuah sekolah di Jelutong di sini.

Pengerusi persatuan itu, Salleh Ismail, berkata pihaknya mempunyai bukti bergambar dan video dua lelaki itu memberi Bible kecil berbahasa Inggeris kepada pelajar Melayu di sekolah menengah berkenaan.

"Kami harap pihak bertanggungjawab menyiasat kegiatan ini kerana ia melibatkan akidah umat Islam terutama generasi muda," katanya kepada pemberita selepas membuat laporan di Balai Polis Jelutong.

Beliau berkata pihaknya membuat laporan polis kerana aktiviti pengedaran Bible kepada pelajar Islam adalah kegiatan berdakwah agama lain kepada umat Islam dan ia menyalahi Perkara 11 (4) dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang melarang agama lain disebarkan kepada orang Islam.

Peanuts for landowners, millions for cronies

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:47 PM PST

The moment your land is eyed by the greedy Umno cronies, that's it. It will be taken away from you in the name of development.

By Chua Jui Meng

Now the Malays are beginning to see through Umno's 55 years of misleading the community to enrich themselves, their families and cronies.

It sure took a long time for the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia and several non-governmental organisations to finally see the real problem – the super corrupt and greedy Umno.

Chamber president Syed Ali Alattas lamented that the Malays in Johor are the poorest in Malaysia, with cost of living skyrocketing due to the significant presence of foreigners (Singaporeans) residing in the state.

He also pointed to the fact that 80% of the former Malay-majority owned Iskandar land was now foreign-owned.

Syed Ali said even the Malays in Kelantan were richer because one can buy more with the ringgit in the east coast state.

The Malays can buy a bungalow for RM200,000 in Kelantan but the same would cost RM1.5 million in Johor.

In the past two decades, thousands of acres of Malay ancestral land had been "robbed" by former Menteri Besar Muhyiddin Yassin and now the Ghani Othman-led Johor government is using the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

Just look and tell me what you see in Tebrau, Pasir Gudang, Danga Bay, Iskandar and Nusajaya.

And the latest to benefit from the "seized" Malay land is China's Country Garden (Holdings) Ltd.

It bought 55 acres in Iskandar's Danga Bay for RM900 million for property development. The state government, using the Act, had paid the majority Malay land owners only 64 sen psf or RM1.53 million.

Now, locals just cannot afford the houses and condominiums priced from RM800,000 and above. And these properties are on land previously belonging to Malays.

Blame Dr Mahathir

In fact the land grabs in Johor have been going on the past two decades, starting with Muhyiddin, and now with Ghani and his government using the Act to acquire land to be alienated to cronies for property development.

And the person Malaysians have to thank for such an opportunity to abuse and grab land is Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It was Mahathir, using Barisan Nasional (BN)'s overwhelming majority in Parliament in 1991, who passed the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill.

The rephrasing of sections of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 basically gave incontestable power to state governments to seize private land for development by private companies and individuals. Lands originally acquired for public purposes can also be used for private development.

Before the amendments, land could only be acquired for public purposes or for public utilities like building of roads, schools, hospitals, pipelines, water or power plants, etc.

With the addition of "…for any purpose which in the opinion of the State Authority is beneficial to the economic development of Malaysia", no land is safe.

The term "beneficial to the economic development of Malaysia" is as subjective as you can get. A piece of land can be acquired to build a posh five-star hotel, an amusement park or a golf resort because in the opinion of the government it would bring in the tourist dollar and create jobs for locals, not to mention enriching the private companies which would, of course, be paying taxes.

That was Umno and Mahathir's "killer" and is the cause of land grabs everywhere today. This has actually rendered all land in Malaysia as unsafe investment.

The moment the land you own is eyed by the greedy Umno cronies, that's it. In the name of development (read Umno's pockets), you will be paid peanuts but Umno and its cronies will develop and reap millions or billions of ringgit.

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:44 PM PST

DAP claims the Puteri Umno leader's company charged RM23,000 to train a PE teacher when in fact a similar programme conducted by UiTM costs only RM6,000.

Jared Pereira and G Lavendran, FMT

A Puteri Umno leader was awarded a contract worth RM22.9 million by the Education Ministry in 2012, and there are doubts that the company awarded the contract had the capability to do the job, DAP claimed today.

DAP election strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming said the ministry had awarded a contract to the Puteri Umno leader to act as a middleman in a sports arrangement between the Education Ministry and the United States Sports Academy (USSA).

USSA conducts a programme called the 'International Diploma in Physical Education and Scholastic Sports' (IDPESS) and the Education Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, had sought its services to retrain 1,000 physical education teachers here, especially those without proper qualifications.

The alleged company, claimed Ong, was headed by Kedah Puteri Umno deputy chief Hisham Suhaili Othman, who is also Langkawi Puteri Umno chief.

The company is Syarikat KH Sports World Sdn Bhd, who is the authorised agent in Malaysia for USSA, and the contract was awarded via a direct negotiation, said Ong

The purpose of this arrangement was to train these teachers to complement Muhyiddin's 'Satu Murid Satu Sukan' initiative which was to enhance physical education in nation building.

According to its website, USSA is an online academy which provides sports degree programmes to about 1,300 students annually.

Ong said the training of the teachers began last June but the duration of the program nor the number of teachers that have been trained was unknown.

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:23 PM PST

(Borneo Post) - "The relevant authorities must find out who the sponsors or owners of these radio stations are. We cannot allow them to continue broadcasting lies upon lies because at the end of the day, many people would think that what they say is true.

Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud describes Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) as a 'naughty one' who has no respect for the truth.

Taib, who is also state Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said a lot of people have heard RFS' broadcast and were angry because they knew the radio station was spreading lies.

He, however, believed that only very few (people) were misled by the lies.

"The fact that they illegally broadcast from a foreign country shows that the broadcasters have no pure motive in what they are doing," he said after receiving tithe on behalf of Tabung Baitulmal from Pelita Holdings Sdn Bhd and Magna Focus Sdn Bhd at Menara Pelita here yesterday.

On Radio Kenyalang, Taib believed that its establishment was prompted by the impending general election.

On possible jamming of the radio broadcast, the chief minister said the matter was best left to the relevant authority to decide.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak president Tan Sri Dr James Masing was reported to have said on Wednesday that he wanted Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Kenyalang to be stopped on their tracks as the 'illegal entities' are poisoning the minds of the rural populace, especially the Ibans, and running down the BN government.

Masing, who is also Land Development Minister, urged the authorities concerned to act against those distributing free radio sets in the rural areas as they were agents of the two radio stations.

He added that if their operations could not be halted, the relevant authorities should at least jam their transmissions so that they would become inaudible to listeners.

Masing added that Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Kenyalang must be stopped to prevent others from following suit.

"The relevant authorities must find out who the sponsors or owners of these radio stations are. We cannot allow them to continue broadcasting lies upon lies because at the end of the day, many people would think that what they say is true.

"This is bad because both radio stations are running down the BN government," he said.

RCI revelations could drown Musa, Umno

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 12:55 PM PST

(Free Malaysia Today) - The disclosures in the current RCI hearing in Sabah may lead to more damaging testimonies implicating the state's top leadership.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is also the state's Umno chief, could be in for some uncomfortable moments soon as those involved in handing out Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants in Sabah continue to expose the high and mighty.

So far, one ex-chief minister, Osu Sukam has been implicated by the testimony of a former director of Sabah's National Registration Department (NRD) at the ongoing investigation by Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants problems in Sabah here.

Ramli Kamaruddin, in his testimony said Osu was present with then federal deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob at a hotel here in 1994 when he was given instruction "to issue NRD receipts using the name and identity card numbers of voters already in the electoral roll, with the sole purpose of allowing them to vote to help ensure that a state government endorsed by the federal government would win" in Sabah.

A former right-hand man of ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdul Aziz Shamsudin, was also mentioned at the RCI hearing which, going on current disclosures, promises to expose one of the biggest scandals in Malaysia's history involving members of the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government.

Another former chief minister, Harris Salleh, who testified before the five-member RCI, tried to shield himself from the scandal by saying that it was the federal authorities that gave immigrants Malaysian documents like IC, and not him or even the state government he led.

He also denied any knowledge of a project to parcel out ICs in exchange for votes.

Musa was dragged into the scandal after his name was mentioned many times in books by blogger Mutalib M.D.

The blogger had implied Musa's involvement in recruiting illegal immigrants in Sabah to become Umno operatives and also voters to defeat Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) state government in the 1994 election.

Mutalib, who did his own research and interviews with people directly involved in or in the know of the security scandal, has written prolifically on the hiring of Muslim illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia by Umno.

Musa's involvement is based on his being the chairman of an alleged special task force set up by Sabah Umno to recruit immigrants. A former Umno member, Jabarkan Napi, has also repeatedly named Musa in the scam.

Did Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s honorary doctorate cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM23m?

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 12:41 PM PST

Tan Sri Muhyiddin needs to explain why a contract worth RM23m to retrain Physical Education (PE) teachers was given to a UMNO leader via direct negotiation

Ong Kian Ming, DAP Election Strategist,

Our education minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate on the 17th of January by the United States Sports Academy (USSA), which is based in Daphne, Alabama, for his efforts 'to enhance physical education to help in the building of a nation' through the creation of the 'One Student – One Sport' initiative.

For a 6 month period starting from June 2012, USSA trainers were in Malaysia to provide retraining for PE teachers and training for other teachers interested in PE through an "International Diploma in Physical Education and Scholastic Sports (IDPESS)" program. This pilot program to retrain 1000 teachers cost the Malaysian government RM22.9m and the contract was awarded to a Syarikat KH Sports World Sdn Bhd (who is the authorized agent in Malaysia for USSA) via a direct negotiation.

According to KH Sports World website (http://www.kh-ussa.com/management-team/), its chairwoman is Hisham Suhaili Othman whose list of titles includes 'Naib Ketua Puteri UMNO, Negeri Kedah', 'Ketua Puteri UMNO, Bahagian Langkawi', 'Ahli Jawatankuasa Perhubungan UMNO, Negeri Kedah', 'Bendehari Biro Sukan & Kecergasan Puteri UMNO, Malaysia' and 'Ahli Lembaga Pelawat Hospital Langkawi'.

While the intention of providing retraining to PE teachers, especially those without the proper qualifications, may be a good one, we question why this contract was given, via direct negotiation, to a company which was founded in 2008 'to venture into the sports equipment and product market' in Malaysia.

We also call into question the decision to appoint a US based college whose method of teaching is almost exclusively via distance and online learning. Such a college would certainly not have sufficient teaching faculty and resources to deliver face to face teaching programs, especially for the 1000 teachers who were supposed to enrol in this program. For comparison, the estimated current number of students at USSA is less than 600!

We also call into question the high cost of this program. RM22.9m for 1000 students translates into RM22,900 for every 'diploma' earned. This is more than 4 times what it costs to obtain a 'Diploma in Pengajian Sukan' from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), which costs about RM5709 for 6 semesters.

The awarding of this contract is yet another example of the BN's 'Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin' where the Prime Minister preaches transparency on the one hand while members of his cabinet does the complete opposite by awarding contracts to cronies at vastly inflated prices. Is this the price the Malaysian taxpayer has to pay so that our Minister of Education can obtain an honorary doctorate?

Did Tan Sri Muhyiddin's honorary doctorate cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM23m?

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Jumaat, 18 Januari 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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