Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Remove Classes – Listen to the stakeholders.
- Kelantan – Myths and Realities
- Mahathir says Najib is a weak leader
- Perak power struggle - pause or game over?
- G5 states to jointly battle for oil royalty?
- The corruption debate continues
- Rakaman video bukti Umno halang Nik Nazmi ceramah di Sri Stulang, Johor Baharu
- Bilik Gerakan BN Jelutong diroboh
- ‘GE’ to be held in 81 NS camps
- BR1M to stay for long if people support BN
- Hamas Paints Malaysian Premier’s Visit as a Stand Against Israel
- Priest lodges police report over ‘Bible burning pesta’ notice
- Pakatan fears PAS puritans putting non-Muslim vote at risk
- Two Thirds of Pakatan Okays Use of 'Allah' By Non-Muslims
- List of Malaysia scandals
- MACC says Deepak postpones interview on Bala’s SD2 again
- Anwar's Sabah Pandora Box
- PAS dan DAP jangan menyusahkan sesama sendiri
- Ahli PAS akar umbi bantah kenyataan Karpal
- Umno-BN has lost moral right to rule
- Get Anwar to testify if needed, RCI told
- Karpal: Charge Ibrahim Ali
- ‘Tell RCI the truth, Anwar’
- Use properly lah... speak also
- What unethical depths and bottomless pits are going to be plumbed by UMNO/BN leaders and their ...
| Remove Classes – Listen to the stakeholders. Posted: 22 Jan 2013 12:01 PM PST I think the DPM and other groups need to speak to the current stake holders of the Remove Classes, i.e. the students, teachers and parents before deciding on the effectiveness of the Remove Classes. I would urge them to LISTEN to the 'recent" past students of Remove Classes and ask if the Remove Classes had helped them in any way. SP Nathan The PM and DPM had with great pomp announced in September 2012 that among other changes to the Education Blue Print was the removal of Remove classes and the introduction of remedial classes in year Four onwards in primary schools. However in a surprising twist, the media reported late last year that the DPM cum Education Minister had verbally agreed to retain the remove classes due to the pressure from certain groups. Lately the grapevine is abuzz that the announcement on the Blue Print at the end of this month would do just that … retain the remove classes. Now, the issue to content with is a simple question. Are the remove classes helping students in gaining a better grasp of Bahasa Malaysia and help in their transition to Form 1. To date there is no detailed study on this issue except one by an NGO in the middle of last year. That study clearly found that Remove Classes do not achieve their stated purpose and called for either its removal or complete overhaul. Admittedly the announcement on the Removal of Remove classes last year brought relief to some and sorrow for others. Let us analyze the varying thoughts on this. One: there is obviously a lot of distrust on the educational policies and its motives. This I find, is the main reason on the reluctance of certain groups to accept the changes proposed. To say that this suspicion is not founded on any truth may not be fair. The state of affairs of our Education system and its products provides amble evidence that "past policies" have failed and the new one is nothing more than "packages" for further failure. So in the case of the Remove Classes, I can understand the wariness of the opposing forces. But again can we continue to allow our suspicions to undermine the "life" of young people who are facing challenges and need help but become hapless victims of politicking. In the case of Remove Classes, what we find in the classes are really students who need help. The nine months or so that they are going to spend in the Remove Classes, under the present state of affairs, cannot help them. They are going to end up in the fringes and become social outcast if proper help and guidance is denied. As suggested by the Blue Print, its better to identify the weak students early, in this case as the Blue Print suggest from year 4 onwards and give them remedial classes. There is no need to wait for them to go to Remove Classes. I think the DPM and other groups need to speak to the current stake holders of the Remove Classes, i.e. the students, teachers and parents before deciding on the effectiveness of the Remove Classes. I would urge them to LISTEN to the 'recent" past students of Remove Classes and ask if the Remove Classes had helped them in any way. LISTEN to the teachers of Remove Classes and gauge if they are able to help and guide the students positively. LISTEN to the parents of the Remove Class students and ask if they are happy with their children in remove classes and if there is any change. AND finally, LISTEN to your inner voice and ask yourself this question …. Will you send your child to the Remove Classes given the current state of affairs. Please do not gamble with the lives of the innocent for the sake of political expediency. Do what is good for these children. They are after all also our children.
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| Kelantan – Myths and Realities Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:51 AM PST
Is Kelantan a backward state filled with restrictions imposed on its people as commonly believed? The Rocket (Chinese Edition) reporter Alice Tan took a tour to the state and witnessed for herself why Kelantan folks' lives are as described in its namesake, 'Darul Naim' (pleasant abode). Report by Alice Tan. Translated by T.K Tan Some Myths To many people, Kelantan seems mysterious and remote from the rest of Malaysia, both physically and metaphorically. A car journey to Kota Baru (to the locals, simply 'KB') from Kuala Lumpur takes about 8 to 10 hours. As a result of PAS's long rule in Kelantan, many outsiders believed that Kelantan is an Islamic state through and through. BN's scaremongering of Kelantan as a theocratic state has caused many to view its non-Muslim population with pitiful and sympathetic lenses, deprived of their freedom to practice their lifestyles ('no pork, no booze, no music, no fun' goes the quip). No discrimination, please Kelantan's non-Malay population forms about 5 percent of the population, with the Chinese being the biggest group, at 3.6 percent of the population, while Malays form 95 percent of the total state. Kelantan's Chinese are mostly concentrated in and around KB, primarily engaged in commerce and trading activities. Many of the Chinese restaurants here still display Chinese signboards and liquor advertisements prominently on their business façade. Aside from the many Jawi language signboards, KB is no different from any Malaysian towns. As dusk sets in, its eateries -Muslims and non-Muslims- are just as packed and lively as other places. There are many Chinese restaurants, coffee shops and pubs that dot KB, except that they are strictly for non-Muslims. My tour guide, Teoh, explains that Kelantan folks are a harmonious lot. "We are pretty much racial blind; Kelantan people see each other as brothers and sisters. Due to societal factors, many Chinese can speak the Kelantanese dialect fluently. Kelantan folks, Malays or non-Malays, use the Malay and Kelantanese dialect pervasively. In the Malay restaurants, the races often mingle with each other easily." Kelantan folks are a friendly lot too; I often saw them smiling at strangers. The non-Malays are conversant with the local Malay customs; the non-Malays often greet each other in the traditional Malay pleasantries. The Kelantan society truly lives out a one Malaysia spirit. In this opposition-run state, the ethnic groups are treated fairly and have equal standing. It is easy to see why Kelantan folks interact and embrace each other easily. All to one's faith  Kelantan has the biggest sitting Buddha statue in the entire South East Asia. To many outsiders, women are perceived to have no status in Islam. In Kelantan however, the womenfolk more than hold up their own. In KB's biggest wet market, the Siti Khadijah wet market, women are the ones running the businesses. Kelantan women are gentle yet capable, as evidenced from their thriving entrepreneurship and ability to take care of their families. Another common misperception about Kelantan is that due to strong Islamisation, there is forced segregation of the sexes in public areas. However, on my observation most people ignore this ruling in their daily lives. In many supermarkets and shops, there are signboards being hung requiring the people to line up according to their gender. There are also queues for families. However, for the other queues the people line up without regards to the regulations. Even the Malays don't have much regard for this regulation. Rich people, poor government Another common myth about Kelantan is because it is governed with a theocratic bend by PAS, it lacks development and as result has a lot of poor people. Hu Pang Chaw, PAS Supporters' Club (DHPP) chairman countered that the people in some of the other states that have oil and gas resources that are under BN's governance are even poorer than Kelantan. According to the official statistics released in 2009, the states with the highest poverty rates are: Sabah, Perlis, Sarawak, and Kedah at third place and Kelantan, fourth place. Terengganu is fifth. "It is the state government who is poor, not its people. Many Malays have land to till; some are even wealthy enough to buy properties with cash." Kelantan Chinese Assembly Hall (KCAH) advisor Lau Chit Fang said that even though Kelantan produces oil, its state government has not received any oil and gas royalty from the federal government. "Even though Petronas's oil rigs are located within 140 km of Kelantan's shore, its oil is transported 300 km to Terengganu. What is their motive for doing so? This is why the state government is launching a movement to demand back the RM 10.4 billion oil and gas royalty due to Kelantan," Lau said. Read more at: http://www.therocket.com.my/en/kelantan-not-what-it-seems/
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| Mahathir says Najib is a weak leader Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:46 AM PST
Now the man who can walk on water has said it again. Najib is a weak leader. Because Mahathir can and because Najib is. The usual Najib way of dealing with accusations is to keep silent hoping that silence and maintaining stoical disdain will make all these nasty things go away. Sakmongkol AK47 There must be something terribly wrong with popular ratings made on Najib. The polls say he has a popular rating of 60-65%. If you ask people in the street, most of them could not give a rat's ass about Najib. If he is so popular and much loved, why was the number of Malaysian Indians celebrating his Ponggol event so dismal? Because the Malaysian Indians haven't recovered from the greatest insult Najib dished out to them when handlers were just throwing hampers and rice to the outstretched hands of Malaysian Indians. That was a pitiful site. This is not Zimbabwe or one of the African countries. It must be heart-warming to aristocratic and bourgeois Najib to see many of the wretched of the earth scrambling over one another affirming his own pedigreed background. All those 'I am one of the people' antics, face booking, twitterings, eating daun pisang, walking around in Petaling Street, busy-bodying in Pasar Khadijah Kota Bharu- everyone knows are all publicity BS. People can see through the hypocrisy. The majority of Malaysian Indians are so caught up in the beggar mentality that they forgot the insult and humiliation Najib treats them with. Will they still want to give Najib their nambikei? Don't! So how come he has a rating of 60%? The population sample has never read newspapers or what? Or is the population sample made up of the deejay I was listening to one day, who pronounced George Town as Jorjee Town? Which school did she go to? RTM employ mental retards or what? Now the man who can walk on water has said it again. Najib is a weak leader. Because Mahathir can and because Najib is. The usual Najib way of dealing with accusations is to keep silent hoping that silence and maintaining stoical disdain will make all these nasty things go away. His minders and all the UMNO paid bloggers including those who affectionately call the PM's missus- kak Rose will hail Najib's actions as that belonging to a great man or even, God forbid, statesman-like. To which we will say- but of course, Deepak also refers Rosmah as Kak Rose. These nasty issues will not go away. Deepakgate has made people become entrenched in their thinking that these two people have something to do with the Alantuya murder. They won't until you take an iron fist approach the legal way. A nobody like Deepak can besmirch the position of our PM and damage the reputation of Najib and the missus in their personal capacities and all they did, was to respond in a weakly and enfeebled manner. "Deepak cannot be trusted and I swear I do not own such a ring". The people are not all impressed and indeed are even more convinced that you have so many things to hide. The UMNO people know all this. But they are polite enough not to tell Najib in his face or will try to save him by laying all the blame with Rosmah. I have said it a long time ago- Najib is a political invertebrate. If he were a Lee Kuan Yew or Hsien Loong or Chok Tong, the people who make allegations will be hauled to court. But then the court is the last place Najib and Rosmah want to be. Because then everything will have to be said in the open unless the DPPs prosecuting are dumb asses or the judge one of the candidates I propose to have cashiered once PR comes to power. As an aside, I say this again- in order to restore our judiciary, all we need to do is to pension off most of the senior judges. Najib with all the skeletons in the carpet has compromised the office of the PM right from day one. Many UMNO member and leaders know Najib is one bloody hypocrite. In the past he has given advice to so many UMNO second liners to rein in their wives but when it comes to him, he is a hopeless case. He is an ow-ow PM just like his not so intelligent cousin. Why has Mahathir come out so many times to say Najib is a weak leader? Less in the open, but in private, I am told, so many times. Mahathir refers to Rosmah as that woman. Others catching on to what Mahathir say, that evil woman with the insatiable lust to swallow up any business deals. Deals that will make Imelda Marcos looked a dwarf standing beside her not so tall structure. Because Mahathir knows Najib has so many things to hide. All his indiscretions, business deals and so forth. Or maybe Mahathir knows, Najib has accumulated more money than Mahathir could ever did.
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| Perak power struggle - pause or game over? Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:43 AM PST
THE people of Perak are waiting expectantly to cast their vote in the 13th general election for a very special reason. Chen Shaua Fui, fz.com The first shock for the people was when the Barisan Nasional (BN) state government fell in the 2008 general election for the first time since independence in 1957. Then, they had a second shock when the new Pakatan Rakyat state government fell in a dramatic tussle just one year later. It was to escalate into a serious constitutional crisis involving the palace, Election Commission, courts, security forces and a very physical session in the state legislative assembly. At the end of the turmoil, the BN took control of the state once again and the coalition has ruled for about four years since then. But that was not the final word on the crisis. The ousted menteri besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin mounted a series of court challenges to reclaim the seat of government. However, after a full year, the Federal Court ruled that the BN's choice of menteri besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir was the rightful holder of the post. The contest for control of the state erupted when three state assembly members, from the 32 that were from the Pakatan coalition, became BN-friendly independents thus changing the balance of power in the 59-member legislature. Pakatan leaders stoutly maintained that the BN state government had no mandate to rule because they had not been voted in by the people. This was hotly debated at all levels of society, from the coffeeshops to cyberspace. A common view was that the next general election would be a sort of referendum on whether the BN's action to take control of the state has the support of the people. Of course, this view is not uniformly heard among the voters. Among the Chinese, a frequently aired opinion at the time of the crisis was that the Pakatan government was denied justice. This could be because the Chinese were among the direct beneficiaries of a number of policy changes adopted by the Pakatan government. In particular, the decision to award land titles to holders of temporary occupancy licences (TOL) generated much goodwill for the new government. This was especially because the Chinese living in New Villages had been pressing for permanent titles since before independence, with little success. A veteran political observer, Chong Soo Choon, 67, a long-time columnist for a Chinese daily, who provided in-depth analysis during the Perak power struggle, endorses this observation. "Until today, the Chinese community around Ipoh think that the Pakatan government was unjustly overthrown, and people still talk about it during tea sessions," he said. Chong, who lives in Ipoh, said that most of the Chinese he meets are of the opinion that if the Perak government had continued to be run by Pakatan, it would have performed on par with the Penang government and their living conditions could have improved as a result. However, his ground observation shows that the Malays are split on this issue, with the older generation staunchly supporting the BN, and the younger generation rooting for change. Undoubtedly, the BN government has tried to win back the people's support with a series of public-oriented programmes. Last year, the Perak government had restructured its water assets to pay back its RM1 billion debts to the federal government. The state government managed to reduce its debt to RM326million. Also, more than 8,000 acres of land were allocated to Chinese independent schools, religious schools and Tamil schools, so that revenue generated from the land would be used to fund the schools. The Chinese educationists welcomed the allocation as this was seen as systemic funding to the school. A BN leader, who wished to remain unidentified, expressed confidence that the coalition will win in the next general election as it has been working very hard to serve the people. "We have not been any less effective than the Pakatan government," he told fz.com in a phone interview. It is pertinent to ask whether voter sentiment about the change of government remains as strong today as it was during the period of political upheaval in 2009. This is especially because there have been a constant round of sensational political developments on the national stage in the intervening years, including allegations of grand corruption. Feelings were certainly running high during the period of the political crisis. No one would have imagined that when Zambry was going to the Perak palace in Kuala Kangsar to be sworn in on Feb 6, 2009, he would be greeted by a boisterous protest of about a thousand people, mostly Malays, who were trying to block his motorcade. However, as the BN state government settled into the job, the people became used to the new status quo and the Pakatan leaders decided to abide by the Federal court verdict in 2010.
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| G5 states to jointly battle for oil royalty? Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:38 AM PST
(fz.com) - The combined electoral weight of the five states - Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak - is enough to make their wishes heeded, Husam argues. The five states have a total 92 parliamentary seats with over 3.5 million voters. From championing solely Kelantan's bid for oil royalty, PAS leader Datuk Husam Musa plans to expand the crusade to all five oil-rich states to leverage on their collective political clout. Mooting a grouping of five resource-rich states, or G5, Husam aims to get them to present a united stand when negotiating on oil royalty issues with the federal government, he told fz.com in a recent interview. The combined electoral weight of the five states - Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak - is enough to make their wishes heeded, Husam argues. The five states have a total 92 parliamentary seats with over 3.5 million voters. "People from these five states must unite if they understand their rights and object to what the federal government practices now," he says. "They can use their standing during the general election. Certainly, 92 seats is a very large force," said Husam, who is Kelantan's state executive council member. That makes up a substantial 41.4% of the 222 seats in Parliament. Of the five states, only Kelantan is currently governed by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) while the other four states are ruled by the Barisan Nasional (BN). Still, the federal opposition hopes that issues like oil royalty payments can help it gain ground in these states. Husam plans to tour the five states to introduce his G5 concept and to push for higher oil royalty payments of up to 20% of the value of the oil produced in the respective states. It is unclear how much traction Husam and Pakatan can gain with the demand for 20% in oil royalties since the agreements signed with the national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has set payment at 5% of the value of the oil produced in the states. Petronas pays the federal government another 5% for production of the liquid gold. Both Petronas and Minister of Finance II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad have warned that increasing the royalty payments could strain Petronas' economic viability and impede future investments. Scepticism over new territorial law Using the G5 platform, Husam plans to warn chief ministers and menteris besar of the potential danger of the Territorial Sea Act 2012 which parliament passed last year. In particular, Section 4 of the Act provides for the sovereignty of the territorial sea, in respect of its bed and subsoil, to be vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Husam fears that Section 4 can be invoked by the federal government to lay claim to resources under the sea bed, thus undermining the states' claims to oil and gas resources. "I have drafted a letter to all the states so that they are aware that this Act will undermine their state's position. I suggest that they reject the new law. "If you want to alter any boundary, you need to go through the state assembly and Council of Rulers. This Act is not applicable until the state assembly approves it," said Husam, who is Salor assemblyman. The new legislation was introduced to specify Malaysia's territorial sea limit of 12 nautical miles after the 1969 Proclamation of Emergency was annulled in December 2011. Previously, the Emergency Ordinance No 7 1969 had set three nautical miles as Malaysia's territorial sea limit. The federal government has hitherto relied on the Emergency Ordinance to strengthen its argument that Kelantan can lay no claim to the petroleum produced off the state's shore as the resource was found beyond three nautical miles. But Kelantan disagrees. "The Emergency Ordinance is purely on the administration of the sea in case of external threats. It has nothing to do with petroleum," Husam said. Fairness between states Apart from securing oil royalty payments for Kelantan, Husam's mission is to ensure that Petronas pays oil royalty directly into the states' coffers so that there is more transparency in the way the funds as spent. There appears to be little uniformity when it comes to oil royalty payments to oil-producing states.
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| The corruption debate continues Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:33 AM PST
China and India, no paragons of good governance according to all such indicators, have grown a lot faster than most "less corrupt" countries. Cheong Kee Cheo, fz.com CORRUPTION is bad. This statement can find few dissenters from a moral or ethical standpoint. Corruption is bad for the economy. Equally unobjectionable? Many people, economists included, would concur. And this is the premise of two recent articles on corruption in The Edge's Forum pages. The first, "Are we really that corrupt?" (Issue 939, Dec 3), by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, came to the conclusion that since the country's growth is unaffected by the perception of rising corruption as measured by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, corruption may not be as bad as people think. The other article, "Do investment and growth show we are not corrupt?" (Issue 941, Dec 17), by Quah Boon Huat, argued that Malaysia's growth was in fact damaged by corruption. Neither conclusion is warranted. First, economic growth is affected by a host of factors, only one of which is corruption. It is almost impossible to make explicit all these factors — a prerequisite for isolating the impact of any one of them. Second, even if these can be made explicit, disentangling their impact can be a nightmare because they are almost certainly interrelated. And third, even if the impact of all these factors can be isolated, demonstrating the link between corruption and growth is no simple matter because the relationship between them is complex. Economic theory will have us look at how scarce resources are misallocated because of corruption, the inefficiencies thus generated, and these inefficiencies' impact on the economy. To conclude that corruption has an impact on growth by comparing trends then is a bit like saying that the rise in crime must be caused by foreign workers/migrants since both have been rising over the same period. Or that strong sunshine causes shark attacks. The difficulty of establishing a direct link between corruption and growth has not stopped scholars from producing a plethora of evidence-based research. But the results have been far from conclusive. Google "corruption and growth" and you will find many studies that demonstrate empirically the negative impact of corruption on growth. Indeed, this is the position taken by the World Bank and other multilateral organisations. These studies, however, have to come to terms with some inconvenient facts. China and India, no paragons of good governance according to all such indicators, have grown a lot faster than most "less corrupt" countries. At the same time, the dominant view is being questioned by some scholars. One paper, by Heckelman and Powell (Corruption and the Institutional Environment for Growth, Suffolk University, 2008), found empirically that "corruption is growth enhancing when economic freedom is... limited." Read more at: http://fz.com/content/corruption-debate-continues
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| Rakaman video bukti Umno halang Nik Nazmi ceramah di Sri Stulang, Johor Baharu Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:31 AM PST
(Keadilan Daily) - Sebagaimana ramai maklum, pada 15 Januari yang lalu, saya bersama Tan Poh Lai, Ketua Cabang KEADILAN Johor Bahru dan rombongan yang lain telah berhadapan keganasan UMNO ketika cuba mengadakan ceramah di Flat Sri Stulang, Johor Bahru. Hari ini kami tampil dengan tiga rakaman video insiden tersebut. Kami pada mulanya tiba sekitar jam 8.30 malam dan berjalan ke flat apabila dihalang kumpulan berpakaian baju Umno BN. Mereka enggan membenarkan kami masuk ke dalam sekalipun kami sudah bersiap-siap untuk program kami terlebih dahulu. Mereka turut mengeluarkan makian dan kata-kata kesat terhadap kami. Selepas berbincang dengan pihak polis, maka kami berundur sementara untuk menyejukkan keadaan. Kemudian kami cuba masuk dengan kenderaan kami ke perkarangan flat menerusi pintu satu lagi. Kini kami dihalang anak-anak muda berbaju Umno yang kemudian memanggil kumpulan pertama. Kami cuba masuk dengan berjalan kaki tetapi terus dihalang dan saya turut ditendang (rujuk video a). Kami kemudian keluar daripada tempat kejadian, sekalipun cuba dihalang beberapa orang Umno-BN (rujuk video b) dan terus membuat laporan polis di Balai Polis Majidee Johor Bahru. Kemudian dengan ditemani teman-teman daripada KEADILAN Pasir Gudang dan Gelang Patah serta PAS bersama-sama pihak polis masuk semula ke tapak ceramah untuk mengambil peralatan ceramah. Saya telahpun dihubungi pegawai penyiasat kes ini. Saya berharap pimpinan tertinggi Umno, Presidennya, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak , Ketua Pemuda Umno, Khairy Jamaluddin dan Ahli Parlimen Johor Bahru, Tan Sri Shahrir Samad dapat menyatakan dengan jelas pendirian mereka menolak keganasan politik. Rakaman video Video a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDJWzB5uKg (Di pintu masuk kedua Flat Sri Stulang di mana kenderaan kami dihalang dan ditendang, dan kemudian rombongan kami dihalang dan saya ditendang lelaki di dalam baju BN berwarna biru) Video b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pUZ4d-l5tk (Kami terus dihalang beberapa individu ketika kami cuba meninggalkan kawasan tersebut) Video c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIKzG7eNV8 (Kami mengambil peralatan ceramah dengan diiringi pihak polis selepas membuat laporan polis)
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| Bilik Gerakan BN Jelutong diroboh Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:30 AM PST
(The Malaysian Times) - Wanita Barisan Nasional (BN) Jelutong mahu pihak yang bertanggungjawab merobohkan bilik gerakan BN Jelutong pada Ahad lepas memberi penjelasan berhubung tindakan mereka. Timbalan Pengerusinya Senator Datuk Saripah Aminah Syed Mohd berkata tindakan itu yang dilakukan tanpa notis pemberitahuan menyebabkan kerugian sekitar RM150,000. "Kita beri mereka yang sepatutnya bertanggunggjawab dalam hal ini selama seminggu untuk tampil beri penjelasan…jika tidak ada juga kita akan minta nasihat peguam untuk tindakan selanjutnya," katanya kepada pemberita selepas meninjau tapak bilik itu di sini hari ini. Saripah Aminah yang juga Ketua Wanita Umno Jelutong, berkata mereka kehilangan tiga unit mesin jahit, dua alat pendingin hawa serta kabinet fail dalam kejadian itu. Bilik ini yang beroperasi sejak 1998 dimanfaatkan bagi pelbagai aktiviti termasuk kelas jahitan serta kelas tuisyen percuma untuk 20 pelajar miskin dari kawasan sekitar, katanya. "Saya memang perlukan sangat bilik gerakan ini untuk pilihan raya umum yang akan datang, sejak beroperasi sebanyak tiga pilihan raya umum memang menggunakan bilik gerakan ini untuk semua operasi…sekarang ni saya pun tak tahu nak buat macam mana lagi," katanya. Menurut Saripah Aminah, kejadian itu berlaku ketika pihaknya masih berunding dengan pemilik tanah iaitu Duta Mas Permai Sdn Bhd, sama ada syarikat tersebut mahu memberi pampasan atau premis baharu kepada mereka. "…tetapi belum pun sempat capai keputusan, bangunan dirobohkan," katanya.
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| ‘GE’ to be held in 81 NS camps Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:25 AM PST
(The Star) - National Service (NS) trainees will hold mock elections in all 81 camps this year, mimicking the general election. Calling it an "election simulation", NS Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said the programme would mirror that of university polls. "We're going to use the camps as a platform to show how the political process works," he told a press conference at the Setia Ikhlas NS camp. He added that trainees would be divided into two "political" groups, carry out campaigning and even nominate and vote for their peers. Abdul Hadi said the programme was not designed to create young political leaders but to educate the trainees on Malaysia's election process. "We're worried that youths today forget or aren't aware of the democratic process of how leaders are appointed," he said. Camp supervisors, he added, would be trained by the Election Commission to oversee these polls. Abdul Hadi also said that more youths today were interested in the NS than before. "The perception is changing. People now don't see NS as a burden, but as an opportunity," he said. He added that 2,000 people had applied voluntarily to join the first NS batch this year, of which 867 were approved. In comparison, he said that 4,000 had applied voluntarily in 2012, with more than 500 youths getting in. NS volunteer Himuneswary Subramaniam, 18, said she applied because of her ambition to become a police officer. "I hope that the NS can be a stepping stone and for me to get some experience," she said. Yesterday, Abdul Hadi oversaw the opening ceremony for the first of three NS batches for 2013. This year also marks a decade of operations for the programme. A total of 140,000 trainees are involved in the NS this year.
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| BR1M to stay for long if people support BN Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:23 AM PST
(Bernama) - The people will continue to benefit from the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) programme if they give their support to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in the 13th general election (GE). Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the aid, introduced last year, had given a huge impact in helping to ease the burden of more than four million households nationwide. "I believe Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak sees this (BR1M) as something which has to be continued, and I believe when the people see it as something good, their hope would be to have it implemented for a long period of time. "I do not expect it to be a one off or two off. I expect it to be implemented for as long as BN is given the trust to be the government after the 13th GE," he told reporters after a 1Malaysia people's feast which was attended by about 10,000 people at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tun Haji Abdul Malik here today. Also present were Muhyiddin's wife Puan Sri Noorainee Abdul Rahman and Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam. Muhyiddin said the RM500 aid given to the BR1M recipients would possibly be increased if the country's revenue increased in future. Besides BR1M, he said, other forms of aid, like the early schooling aid, would also be continued because of the huge impact it had given in reducing the people's burden. "What we are hoping is for the people to evaluate this contribution (by the government) and if they think it is good, we hope they will continue to give their support to the BN government," he added. Earlier in his speech, Muhyiddin said the opposition pact was not capable of continuing with efforts to develop the country as had been done by BN since 55 years ago because there was no consensus among them. "Until today, PAS and DAP are still at loggerheads, while PKR failed to bring them together at one table to discuss their problems. When there is no consensus, it can weaken the government," he added. He said BN's success in preserving the country's harmony and peace, developing its economy and providing comfort for the people should be maintained in an effort to make Malaysia a developed nation. "A strong government, like the BN government is capable of fulfilling its promises," he added. At the function, Muhyiddin announced an allocation of RM250,000 for upgrading of the surau at SMK Tun Haji Abdul Malik and RM4.5 million to build a hall for the school. |
| Hamas Paints Malaysian Premier’s Visit as a Stand Against Israel Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:21 AM PST
(The New York Times) - Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia visited the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday on what he called a humanitarian mission but Hamas portrayed as a defiant stand against Israeli restrictions on Gaza. "This is an Islamic declaration for breaking the Israeli siege on Gaza," said Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of Hamas, the Islamic movement, who received the Malaysian premier, his wife and his foreign minister at the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt. Although the restrictions have been eased recently, most exports from Gaza are still banned. The visit came as Israelis headed to polling stations for parliamentary elections. Mr. Haniya said he considered Mr. Razak's visit "a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic response" to a visit on Tuesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Mr. Haniya said the Western Wall, known to Muslims as Al Buraq, was "an Arab and Islamic wall," and added, "Jerusalem is Islamic." Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/world/middleeast/hamas-paints-malaysian-premiers-visit-as-stand-against-israel.html |
| Priest lodges police report over ‘Bible burning pesta’ notice Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:18 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - A Christian priest has lodged a police report after he found a notice purportedly by an Anti-Bahasa Melayu Bible Action Group calling all Muslims to join in a 'Bahasa Melayu Bible burning pesta'. Reverend John Kennady, from St Mark's Church, was shocked to find the notice typed on a plain piece of paper with the title 'Jom Bakaq! Pesta Bakaq Bible Bahasa Melayu' (Let's burn! Bahasa Melayu Bible burning fest) in his post box this morning. He had immediately informed the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) before he lodged a report at the Butterworth police station at about 3pm today. The notice, written in Bahasa Malaysia, invites all Muslims to join the 'Anti-Bahasa Melayu Bible Action Group' in a 'pesta' to burn the Malay version of the Bible 'for the sake of the future generations'. It further proclaimed that the group already has in its hands several Malay versions of the Bible and it urged all Muslims to join in the 'pesta' to burn the Bibles at a field in front of the Ahmad Badawi Hall in Bagan Luar here this Sunday morning. It also stated that the reason they had chosen Sunday was because it is the day that Christians are in churches praying and it ended with a sentence proclaiming 'Let's Teach 'Em A Lesson'. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/priest-lodges-police-report-over-bible-burning-pesta-notice
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| Pakatan fears PAS puritans putting non-Muslim vote at risk Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:16 AM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - There is concern among Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) rank-and-file that PAS risks losing the pact's non-Muslim vote in Election 2013 due to the Islamist party's puritanical restrictions for the word "Allah" and its gender-segregation policies in Kedah and Kelantan. Several PR leaders and lawmakers have admitted the controversies are hurting the pact's image ahead of the polls due by June, but hope discreet dialogue will blunt the conservative Islamists' influence in PAS policies. DAP national chairman Karpal Singh asked PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang over the weekend to get the party's top policy-making body ― the Majlis Syura ― to reverse its ruling that the Arabic word "Allah" could not be translated to or from other languages as it is specifically used by Muslims to refer to God. "The recent ruling by the council that the word 'Allah' cannot be used by non-Muslims contradicts the position taken by the leadership of Pakatan component parties," Karpal had said, adding it would affect his fellow Sikhs as the word appears in their holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Pointing out that elections are around the corner, the Bukit Gelugor MP said the PAS-led Kedah government should stop "rocking the boat" by issuing guidelines on dress codes for women as it did recently for Chinese New Year celebrations in the state. The ruling has since been modified for cultural events but caused some ripples among the non-Malays and has become a campaign issue for Barisan Nasional (BN) parties. DAP Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching had slammed PAS over the Kedah Chinese New Year guidelines, saying the policy would sabotage PR's polls preparations by alienating Chinese support. A PAS leader who declined to be named admitted that the party's conservative stance would have an effect on support from the non-Muslim electorate. "There is an impact and we have to mitigate it," he said, adding the conservatives held sway as they controlled the party's top leadership. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pakatan-fears-pas-puritans-putting-non-muslim-vote-at-risk/
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| Two Thirds of Pakatan Okays Use of 'Allah' By Non-Muslims Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST
If PAS as a key partner of Pakatan behaves in this extreme manner, when they are only waiting in wings eagerly to take over the government, what will happen when are given full reigns of the government? Concerned Voter It is often said that the Indians, who form about 8 per cent of the population will be king makers in the coming General Elections, whenever it is to be held. A seldom realised fact is that the Christians in Malaysia form a larger portion of the population than Indians and will play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the coming elections. So each Christian must consider carefully who they will vote. Recent events in Malaysia must be carefully studied and analysed by each and every Christian. The "Allah" issue is certainly a major issue. The Allah issue has clearly shown how divided a party Pakatan is. Lim Guan Seng in his Christmas message for 2012 said Christians must be allowed to use the word 'Allah' in their worship. Anwar Ibrahim sought to achieve a consensus among the Pakatan parties and has failed dismally. In fact, his attempts at reaching a solution has shown the widening cracks within the party. Can PAS with its flip flop stance on the Allah issue be trusted? First they said Christians could use the term but now have hardened their stand and have said Christians cannot use the term after the meeting of the Syura Council. Anwar Ibrahim has not commented on Nik Aziz's statement. But his lieutenant, Azmin Ali has announced Pakatan Rakyat stands by its decision that non-Malays can use the term 'Allah'. What he is effectively saying is that two thirds of the party allows Christians to use the term. At best, Pakatan is shoring up trouble for later. Most probably after the elections! The turnabout by PAS coupled with restrictions placed on Chinese New Year Shows in Kedah only serves to show the true extreme face of PAS. Not many would have forgotten the fiasco in Kelantan over women workers cutting men's hair and the ban of the sale of lottery tickets. There have also been restrictions in women workers' attire in supermarkets as well as prohibition of unmarried couples sitting together in Cinemas in Kelantan. Regarding the Allah issue, not only the Christians are affected, but so are the Sikhs, who have always used the term "Allah" in their religious texts. Perhaps it is divine providence that the PAS turnabout on the 'Allah' issue has come about at this juncture, as we look forward to the General Election which has to take place this year. The 'Allah' question and other related issues which have surfaced are only the tip of the iceberg of Islamic extremism. If PAS as a key partner of Pakatan behaves in this extreme manner, when they are only waiting in wings eagerly to take over the government, what will happen when are given full reigns of the government? Not only Christians, but all Malaysians must therefore weigh the issues affecting religion and personal liberties carefully before they vote.
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| Posted: 22 Jan 2013 10:54 AM PST List of Malaysia scandals include: Excesses and wastages:
Read more at: http://list.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Malaysia_scandals
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| MACC says Deepak postpones interview on Bala’s SD2 again Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:05 AM PST
Md Izwan and Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed today that controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan had again postponed his interview with the anti-graft body. Last Saturday, the MACC said that Deepak had claimed he was "not in the (right) state of mind" to be questioned over his claims regarding private investigator P. Balasubramaniam's second sworn statement in 2008 over the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuyaa Shaariibuu. Deepak said he did not appear at the MACC's office today. "No, I didn't come. I spoke to them at 4pm. I'm meeting them at 5pm tomorrow," Deepak told The Malaysian Insider in a text message today. When contacted, a MACC official confirmed that Deepak had told them that he would not be coming today. "Yes, Deepak did call to tell SPRM that he cannot make it today," the official wrote in a text message to The Malaysian Insider. Both Deepak and the MACC official did not state why the interview was moved to tomorrow evening. Last Friday, Deepak told The Malaysian Insider that he expects to reveal everything to the MACC after he had recently admitted that he helped to get Balasubramaniam to repudiate his earlier statutory declaration on the matter, including finding two lawyers to draft the new statement. But later that day, Deepak had said that MACC officers had asked him to return at a later unspecified date with documents to back up his allegations. MACC then responded with a statement last Saturday saying that Deepak had asked to have his interview postponed to today. "Deepak was greeted by one MACC officer (yesterday) and he subsequently told the officer that he was supposed to be at the MACC office because he had made an appointment with a reporter. "When asked if he was ready to give his statement, Deepak told the officer that he was 'not in the state of mind' to have his statement recorded and requested that he does so on January 22, 2013, at 5pm," the commission's Deputy Chief Commissioner, Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull, said in a statement. The Bar Council is currently investigating the identity of lawyers and possible misconduct in the drafting of Balasubramaniam's second sworn statement about the murder of Altantuya. A cloud of mystery has hung over the identity of the lawyer who drew up Balasubramaniam's second SD, dated a day after his first on July 3, 2008, regarding Altantuya's 2006 murder, for which two elite police commandos have been convicted and are facing death sentences. Balasubramaniam's lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu had previously said M. Arunampalam's role as the lawyer who had drafted the investigator's second SD had been dispelled by well-connected businessman Deepak, who is also in the centre of the controversy surrounding Balasubramaniam's two SDs.
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| Posted: 21 Jan 2013 06:04 PM PST  Another Brick in the Wall In discussing issues on Sabah, one must differentiate between the voices of the people or rakyat and polemics of politicians. Even the term rakyat can be an overused term and bordering on cliche. When PKR, PAS and DAP made headway in the 2008 general election, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed it is peoples' uprising or kebangkitan rakyat.  Having made regular trips to Sabah since the 1990s, more had been learnt and appreciated of Sabah and Sabahans. They are nice, friendly and embracing people. It is their politics and politicians that is problematic. Since the 90s, their politicians have been spewing views that does not serve our nation building objective with their insular-themed slogan Sabah for Sabahans; us-against-them attitude behind the complains and accusation of oppression against the federal government; infringement of the "mythical" 20 point agreements; and call for cessation out of Malaysia. It also does not reflect the aspiration or the attitude of the Sabahans. Our friend, whose married to a Sabahan from Keningau and wish to retire in Sabah, refused to believe Sabahans wants to opt out of Malaysia to be either an independent state or part of Indonesia or Phillipines or Brunei. At the people-to-people level, Sabahan are more open and accept the presence of Semenanjung people in Sabah than perhaps a Kelantanis to non-Kelantanis Semenanjung. Without Semenanjungs, Sabahan could not fill-up basic positions like teachers, soldiers, police, fireman, and nurses to enable such public services available to the people. Even the Universities and colleges need Semenanjungs to fill the positions of lecturers. Sabahan could only fill up only one third of University Malaysia Sabah's annual enrollments. Some private colleges in Sabah cannot get sufficient enrollment despite the more relaxed entry requirement for Sabahans. More than the politicians realised, there had been marked increase in interactions and integration between Sabah and Semenanjung. There are quite a high number of inter marriage and migration between Sabahan and Semenanjung. Notice the packed LCCT and filled up flights to and from Sabah on weekend. Some of the more national outlook Sabahan realised they can rely on the Semananjung better than their Sabah politicians. The business community viewed the politicians as having raped the state dry. They understand Sabah need to maintain good relation with the federal government as they rebuild their economy away from forestry into other sectors like agriculture or tourism. Political Defection The RCI on illegal immigrants can be traced to the era of Sabah political turmoil of the trio-Chief Ministers of Tun Mustapha-Harris Sallah-Pairin Kitingan.  Harris formed UPKO and later turned it into multiracial BERJAYA. He was the party's first president in 1973. By collaborating with then Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Fuad Stephen who resigned to join BERJAYA, they managed to wrest from USNO. Tun Fuad became Sabah's Chief Minister again as it's fifth Chief Minister. However he died in a place crash in June 1976 and Harris replaced him as Sabah's sixth Chief Minister. Few years before the 1984 state election, Harris faced challenge to his leadership. However, he managed to win the 1984 state election winning 44 out of the 48 seats. His actions against his challengers prior to the 1984 state election resulted in few Kadazan assemblymen and supporters led by Dato Joseph Pairin Kitingan to leave BERJAYA and form Parti bersatu Sabah (PBS). left with only 4 of the 48 seats, he dissolved the state assembly and called for a state election in 1985. BERJAYA lost power to PBS and Pairin became 7th Chief Minister of Sabah. Read more in Wikipedia here. Many believed the problem of Harris was his temperament and leading to a dictatorial habit, the same accusation he made of the man he opposed before, Tun Mustapha.  He won the seat in the 1976 state election under the BERJAYA party ticket and was subsequently appointed as Minister in Harris cabinet. The extract from Wikipedia here, below: Over time, Joseph Pairin became disillusioned with the party's leadership, and opposed some of the party's policies. He felt that the party had deviated from its original struggle. He however, remained firm with the party and subsequently, he was forced to leave the ruling party coalition in 1984. Leadership In December 1984, he challenged as an Independent candidate against the ruling party to defend his seat in the Tambunan by-election. His leadership in a state within a federation which had the official religion of Islam, was also questioned because of his religion. The ruling party, which was a component of the Barisan Nasional, Malaysia's ruling coalition, had no qualms in using the sensitive race card issues which is something that is generally shunned in a multi-racial country (state). Joseph Pairin easily won and defended his seat with significant majority. In March 1985, Joseph Pairin Kitingan formed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) or United Sabah Party. Despite overwhelming odds, he succeeded in registering PBS as a political party in the eleventh hour; thus paving the way for the party to contest against the incumbent state government in the Sabah state election, 1985 in April. Berjaya and the United Sabah National Organization (USNO) joined forces to win the 1985 election, but after riots by BN followers, the newly formed coalition between Berjaya and USNO was dissolved giving PBS the majority government.[2] Pairin was sworn in as the seventh Chief Minister of the state of Sabah. He held the post of Sabah Chief Minister from April 1985 to March 1994, during which he spearheaded his party's triumphant outings in four successive state elections (1985, 1986, 1990 and 1994). In the 1994 state election, PBS won the election, however shortly after being announced the winner, almost all PBS assemblymen defected to Barisan Nasional. Pairin was not allowed to be sworn in as Chief Minister. Tun Sakaran Dandai of UMNO was then sworn to be the eighth Chief Minister of Sabah.[3]An important point from the Wikipedia on PBS, here as extracted below: PBS formed the state government after winning the 1985 state elections and governed Sabah from 1985 to 1994. Following the 1986 Sabah riots, PBS joined the Barisan Nasional coalition after winning the May 1986 state election.[1] However, on the eve of the July 1990 state election, PBS pulled out of the coalition[1] and won the state election for a third time. It also won the 1994 state elections by a narrow margin. However, numerous defections occurred as many PBS representatives switched allegiance to the then opposition Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition before PBS were even able to form a new state government; these politicians were nicknamed katak, which means frogs in Malay. PBS subsequently rejoined the BN coalition in 2002, ending any form of opposition as BN fully occupied the state legislature and returning Sabah to the rule of the BN coalition that holds the federal parliament.From the historical brief, PBS was never robbed of power through the ballot box. But through the Sabah styled political manouvre of Sabah UMNO. Thus, there is no real basis to accuse the naturalisation of illegal immigrants exercise as the cause for denying PBS the much due power. PBS lost power in Sabah not because of any alleged electoral manipulation of the 1994 state election but due to defection. The exercise had no impact to the election outcome. Interestingly, the post election defection by Pairin in 1984 became the same manouvre replicated by Sabah UMNO to deny PBS power in 1994.
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| PAS dan DAP jangan menyusahkan sesama sendiri Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:25 PM PST Umno menyerang PAS dalam isu kalimah Allah, MCA dan Gerakan serang DAP dalam isu salun rambut di Kelantan. Zefry Dahalan, FMT PAS kini menghadapi serangan bertali arus yang amat hebat dari Umno ekoran isu penggunaan kalimah Allah di dalam Bible Melayu yang menjadi isu hangat sejak penghujung Disember lalu. Apabila Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang dan Mursyidul Am PAS, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat berkata kalimah Allah boleh digunakan oleh bukan Islam, PAS dikecam habis-habisan kononnya menjadi kuda tunggangan DAP. Walaupun pada 13 Januari, Majlis Syura Ulama PAS mengambil keputusan kalimah Allah tetapi tidak boleh diterjemahkan ke dalam mana-mana bahasa dan tidak boleh disalahgunakan, serangan umno terhadap PAS nampaknya masih belum reda. Nik Abdul Aziz juga telah menegaskan perkara yang sama. Sebenarnya sejak awal lagi Abdul Hadi atau PAS tidak pernah berkata bahawa kalimah Allah boleh digunakan di dalam Bible Melayu. Ketika PAS dan sekutunya berada di landasan serta mood serangan yang betul ke atas Umno dan BN khususnya Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dengan pelbagai isu yang berbangkit termasuk 'bantuan' secara tidak langsung oleh ahli perniagaan karpet, Deepak Jaikishan tiba-tiba sejak 25 Disember lalu Umno mendapat 'peluru' dan serangan politik ke atas PAS. Kini PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat dari menyerang terpaksa menjadi bertahan berpunca daripada isu kalimah Allah ini. Sudah tentu PAS sebagai parti berteraskan Islam menjadi parti yang menjadi sasaran tepat 'tembakan' Umno berbanding DAP atau PKR. Guan Eng buka isu lama Beberapa pemimpin PAS yang dihubungi, berkata mereka hanya mahu bercakap dengan syarat identiti tidak didedahkan. Seorang pemimpin PAS senior memberi pandangan bahawa isu kalimah Allah telah senyap atau sejuk sejak 2010. "Kita masih ingat bagaimana ketika itu isu kalimah Allah menjadi sebuah isu yang amat sensitif di kalangan orang Islam di dalam negara ini sehingga ada individu yang bertindak cuba membakar gereja pada tahun 2010. "Bagaimanapun isu itu reda selepas itu sementara menunggu proses perundangan di mahkamah selesai. "Tiba-tiba Lim Guan Eng (Setiausaha Agung DAP) meminta agar kerajaan membenarkan kalimah Allah digunakan dalam Bible Melayu sempena perutusan Hari Krismas beliau. "Saya harus akui isu kalimah Allah memberi kesan yang besar kepada PAS dalam konteks sokongan orang Melayu kepada PAS dan juga PKR," kata beliau. Tidak bantu Pakatan Rakyat Pemimpin PAS itu berkata kenyataan Guan Eng tidak membantu PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat apatah lagi Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU-13) semakin hampir. Pemimpin PAS tersebut walaubagaimanapun lega apabila Majlis Syura telah membuat keputusan bahawa kalimah Allah tidak boleh digunakan oleh orang bukan Islam. Beliau berharap pemimpin DAP itu pada masa akan mengambil kira apakah implikasi kepada rakan dalam Pakatan Rakyat sebelum mengeluarkan kenyataan sensitif berkaitan isu agama. "Kalau ia pun nak beri perutusan Hari Krismas, banyak lagi perkara yang beliau boleh sarankan antaranya jika Pakatan Rakyat mengambil alih Putrajaya, kita tidak akan halang kebebasan beragama dan kita akan beri bantuan kewangan kepada semua agama termasuk kepada gereja tanpa pilih kasih. "Saya cukup menghormati Guan Eng di atas kecekapan beliau mentadbir Pulau Pinang tanpa rasuah. Cuma saya berharap pada masa akan datang, beliau tidak mengulas isu-isu yang sensitif agama sebelum bincang terlebih dahulu dengan kepimpinan utama Pakatan Rakyat. "Beliau harus sedar kenyataan beliau seperti dalam isu kalimah Allah akan melemahkan PAS dan PKR di kalangan orang Melayu dan misi menawan Putrajaya akan gagal tanpa sokongan orang Melayu dan kemenangan calon PAS serta PKR," katanya lagi. Pemimpin PAS ini juga mengingatkan bahawa beliau tidak mahu memberi sebarang kenyataan berhubung isu ini pada masa akan datang. Lebih baik fokus PRU-13 Seorang pemimpin PAS berbangsa Cina dari Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS (DHPP), berpendapat kenyataan Guan Eng tidak kena pada masanya merujuk tarik PRU-13 semakin hampir. "Ini bukan masanya untuk mengeluarkan kenyataan sensitif. Disebabkan isu ini PAS kena 'ketuk' di sana sini. Sokongan orang Melayu pada PAS terjejas. "Sekarang banyak masa dihabiskan untuk menjelaskan pendirian PAS terhadap isu ini di kalangan orang Melayu. "Lebih baik kita sama-sama fokus pada persediaan PRU-13 nanti daripada mencetuskan isu kontroversi yang akhirnya makan diri sendiri (Pakatan Rakyat)," jelas beliau. PAS juga pernah melemahkan DAP Tetapi PAS juga pernah melemahkan DAP dalam isu kedai gunting rambut di Kota Bahru pada November 2012. PAS sering berkata bahawa hukum hudud dan undang-undang Islam yang mereka perjuangkan hanya akan dilaksanakan (sekiranya dipersetujui Pakatan Rakyat) kepada mereka yang beragama Islam. Tiada paksaan ke atas orang bukan Islam.
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| Ahli PAS akar umbi bantah kenyataan Karpal Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:22 PM PST
Perhimpunan lebih sejam di Jalan Green Hall yang disertai anggota PAS dari kawasan Tanjong dan Bagan Ajam itu diketuai Pengerusi Tetap PAS kawasan Tanjong Zaidi Abu Bakar. (BERNAMA) - Sekumpulan anggota akar umbi PAS di Pulau Pinang berhimpun di hadapan pejabat Pengerusi DAP Kebangsaan Karpal Singh di sini, bagi membantah kenyataannya mempertikai keputusan Majlis Syura PAS berhubung isu kalimah Allah. Perhimpunan lebih sejam di Jalan Green Hall yang disertai anggota PAS dari kawasan Tanjong dan Bagan Ajam itu diketuai Pengerusi Tetap PAS kawasan Tanjong Zaidi Abu Bakar. Mereka turut membawa sepanduk dan kain rentang yang memaparkan antaranya "Kalau Hang (Karpal) Nak Lawan Ulama Kami Langkah Mayat Kami Dulu", "Orang Melayu Jangan Undi Karpal", "PAS Wajib Keluar PR", "Kami Pertahankan Majlis Mereka turut memijak bendera DAP. Sementara itu, Zaidi dalam ucapannya berkata Karpal tidak berhak mencampuri urusan agama Islam dan mesti menghormati keputusan Majlis Syura yang dikaji ulama PAS selaras tuntutan syariat. Bersekongkol "Pada mulanya ada pemimpin PAS buat kenyataan tersasar tetapi setelah ada keputusan dari Majlis Syura Ulama, semuanya telah capai kata sepakat jadi Karpal jangan masuk campur dan keruhkan keadaan," katanya. Beliau juga mendakwa kebanyakan anggota PAS di Pulau Pinang kecewa dengan kepimpinan PAS negeri yang hanya berdiam diri dengan kenyataan Karpal itu. Sementara itu, bekas Ketua Pemuda PAS negeri Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin menyifatkan Pesuruhjaya PAS negeri Datuk Salleh Man dan Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Agama Islam negeri Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim bersekongkol dengan Ketua Menteri Lim Guan Eng. "Mereka ini terlalu berhati-hati keluar pendapat demi menjaga hati pakatan rakyat berbanding jaga kalimah Allah. Dah tiba masanya PAS tinggalkan pakatan jangan jadi pengecut," katanya. Beliau berkata kedua-dua orang pemimpin itu langsung tidak boleh diharap untuk membela kepentingan umat Islam di Pulau Pinang. Karpal pada sidang medianya baru-baru ini berkata beliau akan memujuk Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang agar mengkaji semula pendirian Majlis Syura Ulama PAS yang memutuskan kalimah Allah tidak boleh diguna orang bukan Islam termasuk Bible bahasa Melayu. Katanya pendirian Majlis Syura itu bercanggah dengan keputusan yang dicapai pemimpin pakatan pembangkang termasuk Abdul Hadi dan Mursidul Am PAS Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat pada 8 Januari lalu lalu yang bersetuju dan menyokong cadangan Lim yang mendesak kerajaan pusat membenarkan penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam Bible bahasa Melayu.
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| Umno-BN has lost moral right to rule Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:15 PM PST The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue, says STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) believes that ruling Barisan Nasional has lost the moral right to rule as a legitimate government. Citing disclosures made in the ongoing RCI on illegal immigrants and the issuance of citizenships to foreigners in Sabah, STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan said "the present government should not be allowed to continue to rule". "From the RCI disclosures, we can see that we have been governed by leaders who would not have been elected if not for illegitimate voters. The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue. It should be replaced by a non-partisan caretaker government. "Whilst we cannot change what has happened and leave it to the powers that be to untangle the mess that Sabah is in and punish the culprits and their mastermind, we, all Sabahans, can make a difference and determine our own future and our own destiny," he said. Jeffrey said people must not leave it to Sabah leaders alone, especially those in the Umno-BN government, to save Sabah from further damage and control by foreigners. "No government in the world that is patriotic and loves its citizens would do what Umno and the BN government have done to Sabah. It is treason of the highest degree and in past history, many would have been beheaded or hanged for lesser offences," he said. Jeffery doubted Sabah BN component parties leaders of PBS, UPKO, LDP would leave BN and stand on the side of Sabah and its people as they do not care for its future. Solution imperative He said even if they did care, they cannot do anything about it as they are beholden to their political masters in BN, besides the fact that many of them have files and dossiers on them. "At best, they will leave it to Umno, their big brother in BN. We cannot expect thieves to catch thieves," he said. He said with the general election around the corner, a solution was imperative. "If people leave everything to the RCI, by the time it completes its investigation in six months time, it would be too late. "Even then there is no guarantee that action will be taken to rectify the grave injustice done to Sabah and legitimate Sabahans, particularly the natives, whether they are KDMs, Bajaus, Suluks, Ubian, Iranun, Kedayan, Bisaya, Rungus, Sungei, Lun Bawang, Sino-natives, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and the many others. "Therefore, we the ordinary Sabahans must unite and kick out this illegitimate Umno-BN government," he said. He stressed that whoever the next Chief Minister of Sabah is going to be, he must take every action to safeguard the interests of Sabah and Sabahans. "We regret the view of one of our past Chief Ministers who, by his own admission, failed in his duty in protecting Sabah, when he nonchalantly stated that it was the prerogative of the federal government to grant citizenships," he said. Jeffrey said STAR's stand is that Sabah is a nation by itself and an equal partner in Malaysia, thus the Federal government cannot and should not grant federal citizenships or the right to vote to every Tom, Dick and Harry, regardless of their nationality and religious background. "We should only award citizenships to qualified people who can contribute to the country. In granting citizenships, it is by way of operation of law or by naturalisation. Granting of citizenships to children of citizens is by way of law. Giving MyKads based on fraudulent declaration of place of birth in Sabah is not naturalisation. It is fraud," he said. 'Malaya is not Malaysia' He also censured former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed for defending the granting of citizenships. "He may be right in saying that giving of citizenships is not wrong if it is done according to law, but he should have added that granting citizenships not according to law is wrong and that the perpetuators should be punished." Mahathir, Jeffrey said, had completely missed the point when he compared granting of citizenships to foreign nationals during the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 to doing so in Sabah in the 1990s when he was prime minister.
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| Get Anwar to testify if needed, RCI told Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:06 PM PST S Ambiga wants the Royal Commission to subpoena all those who were in the know about 'Project IC'. G Vinod, FMT The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) must subpoena all those who knew or were involved in "Project IC" in Sabah, said Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson S Ambiga today. Responding to a question whether this should include former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, she replied:"Why not?" She was speaking at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Also present were Bersih co-chairperson A Samad Said, steering committee members K Arumugam and Liau Kok Fah and Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) research assistant Lee Wee Tak. Earlier, Sabah Bersih chairman Andrew Ambrose, via Skype, urged the RCI to subpoena former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Sabah chief minister Haris Salleh and Attorney- General Abdul Gani Patail to testify on "Project IC." In a surprising move, Ambrose also wanted RCI panel members Herman Luping and KY Mustafa to testify, claiming they were in the know of what was happening in Sabah. He made this remark despite being sued by Luping for the allegation in October last year. Luping was a former Sabah state attorney-general in the 80s while Mustafa was the state secretary from 2000 to 2007. Over the recent weeks, the RCI had heard testimonies from various witnesses on how MyKads were given to foreigners with no proper documentation. Sabah former National Registration Department chief Ramli Kamarudin even implicated former deputy home minister, Megat Junid Megat Ayub, in the matter. Meanwhile, Ambiga, a former Bar Council chairman, urged the Election Commission (EC) to clean up the electoral roll before the general election. She also said it proved that what Bersih had been saying all along was true, that there were massive problems in the electoral roll. "EC must respond as they have a duty to the public," she added. While she concurred that the RCI had yet to reach its conclusion, Ambiga said this was not the first time such cases of irregularity was found in Sabah's electoral roll.
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| Posted: 21 Jan 2013 04:51 PM PST DAP national chairman lodges a police report against Ibrahim Ali over his remarks that Bibles which contained the term "Allah" should be seized and burnt. Jared Pereira, FMT Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's call to burn Malay Bibles which use "Allah" is seditious and can incite religious discord. This was the stance of Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who lodged a police report against Ibrahim Ali for asking Muslims to "seize and burn" Bibles which used the "Allah" term. "Muslims must unite to protect their religion. They must seize those Bibles, including the Malay editions, which contain the term Allah and other Arabic religious words, and burn them," Pasir MAS MP Ibrahim has said on Saturday. Talking to the media after lodging his report, Karpal said that what Ibrahim did not realise was that by calling for the burning of such Bibles, he was indirectly calling for the burning of "Allah's" name. "I don't think he knows that he's also calling for Allah to be burnt," he said. Karpal called for Ibrahim to be charged under the Sedition Act 1948. "He [Ibrahim] should be charged under the Act for what he had said could pass off as seditious and the Attorney-General [Abdul Gani Patail] should initiate investigations on him immediately," Karpal said. However, both Karpal and his son, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo were annoyed with the AG seemingly acting "weak" on this matter. "AG is apparently waiting to act on Ibrahim only if there are Bibles which are actually burnt…and this shows that he is not doing his job as the legal head of the country," said Gobind. "I blame the AG for this mess….he is very weak and is not suitable to be the legal head of the country," added Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M Manoharan, who was also present at the press conference. The AG told FMT yesterday that he was "not concerned" about Ibrahim's statements and that he would only probe the case if reports were lodged. Karpal said: "Now that we [DAP] have lodged a police report, we hope that he will act…but then again, this is wrong. As the AG, he should act if there is an offence regardless of police reports being lodged or not. Gobind added that if the AG refused to act even after the police report has been made against Ibrahim, DAP will lodge a report against the AG. "We will get the court to issue a mandamus order, which is an order for the AG to act under his powers and carry out his responsibility which is in the nature of public duty," he said. When asked if there was a timeframe in which they expected the AG to act, Karpal said investigations should not take long and they were giving the AG two weeks.
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| Posted: 21 Jan 2013 04:16 PM PST Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak challenges Anwar to shed some light on the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah. (FMT) -- Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak has challenged opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to tell the truth about the illegal immigrants to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) tasked with looking into the long-standing problem in the state. He said that Anwar was duty-bound to do so as he was deputy prime minister at that particular period, adding that "he was a powerful man and knew what was going on in Sabah". "Don't be a hypocrite, perharps with the inside knowledge, Anwar can help shed some light… so tell the truth to RCI. He must not play politics. At least Najib Tun Razak, our Prime Minister, is prepared to seek the truth and approved the formation of RCI to identify the roots of the problem. "We should not come into a conclusion and blame certain parties just because of statements by few ex-ISA [Internal Security Act] detainees. We should let RCI complete its works…What we want is a permanent solution," he told Bernama after attending a meet-the-people session at SK Sembirai, near here today. In this respect, Salleh, who is also State Legislative Assembly Speaker, said the people should praise and support Najib for his bold move to form the RCI. "Once RCI completes its task then the government will study and act on it accordingly to resolve the matter once and for all. "Those who were qualified and obtained their citizenship through proper procedure should not be punished and those who obtained it through illegal or dubious means must have their citizensip revoked. That should be the way," he said. Expressing confidence that the illegal immigrants' problem would be resolved by the government under Najib, Salleh said genuine Sabahans must be patient to wait for a permanent solution. Meanwhile, Parti Bersatu Sabah, which may have been a victim of Umno's citizenship-for votes scam in the 1994 elections, also wants Anwar to testify at the ongoing RCI. PBS information chief Johnny Mositun said Anwar was the deputy prime minister at the time and privy to information exclusive to the top most leadership.
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| Use properly lah... speak also Posted: 21 Jan 2013 02:03 PM PST Mohsin Abdullah's imaginary write-up on Bahasa Malaysia includes these words. THE government has issued guidelines for the media on the proper usage of Bahasa Malaysia. Documented in book form "courtesy" of the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry. Its minister Datuk Rais Yatim himself launched the "manual". Mohsin Abdullah, fz.com Hence the guidelines must be used by all media practitioners in Malaysia – state owned as well as private. Rais wants the media to play a major role in upholding Bahasa Malaysia as the national language. Definitely there will be lots of write-ups in support of the government initiative towards making the noble cause a success. But just need to know if the write-up be something like this ? "Gunakan Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Kebangsaan. Bahasa Malaysia adalah bahasa yang INOVATIF yang boleh digunakan untuk berKOMUNIKASI dengan EFEKTIF. Ia adalah MEDIUM yang berPRESTIJ untuk kita meREALISASIkan, MISI, VISI dan ASPIRASI serta INSPIRASI NASIONAL supaya rakyat berbilang bangsa di negara tercinta ini dapat berINTEGRASI dengan sikap TOLERANSI. Kita mempunyai IDENTITI kita tersendiri. Kita punya INTEGRITI. Namun dalam dunia MODEN ERA GLOBALISASI kita mesti terus AKTIF, KOMITED dan DEDIKASI supaya OBJEKTIF kita tercapai dengan PRESTASI yang membanggakan. Hanya dengan itu kita mampu jadi masyarakat GLOKAL."
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| What unethical depths and bottomless pits are going to be plumbed by UMNO/BN leaders and their ... Posted: 21 Jan 2013 01:48 PM PST
Publishing lies and falsehoods already violate the most elementary ethics and canons of journalism, but to concoct lies and falsehoods just to extract political capital but utterly heedless of the pain and suffering they would cause to individuals who are already under great stress and pressure as NST had done to Wong Ho Leng and Irene Chang is a most wretched and contemptible deed, and only those who are inhumane and even inhuman can approve of such an action.
Lim Kit Siang Yesterday, I made a plea for an end to the politics of lies and falsehoods in the run-up to the 13th General Elections, which must be held latest in 156 days by June 27, but is expected to be held in less than 70 days.
I was referring to the latest defamation suit lost by UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia, this time to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, earning a rebuke by the judge, Justice V.T. Singham who found Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd and its chief editor Abdul Aziz Ishak as guilty of damaging Anwar's reputation and exposing him to ridicule and scorn.
In his judgment, Singham stressed that journalists and editors should be careful with what they write so as not to include comment, which may impugn somebody.
This was shown by another egregious lie and falsehood by the UMNO/BN mainstream media today – this time by New Straits Times in its false report headlined "Wife of ailing MP angry at DAP", (p.6) which was nothing but a pack of lies without an ounce of truth.
Quoting another rogue news portal, the NST claimed that Irene Chang, the wife of Sibu DAP member of parliament and Sarawak DAP Chairman Wong Ho Leng, "is said to have criticized the party for failing to provide or offer financial support to her husband, who has a brain tumour" and even quoting her as saying that "the party's leadership was heartless" and scolding DAP Secretary-General, Lim Guan Eng.
Publishing lies and falsehoods already violate the most elementary ethics and canons of journalism, but to concoct lies and falsehoods just to extract political capital but utterly heedless of the pain and suffering they would cause to individuals who are already under great stress and pressure as NST had done to Wong Ho Leng and Irene Chang is a most wretched and contemptible deed, and only those who are inhumane and even inhuman can approve of such an action.
What makes NST action most unforgivable is that Irene Chang had put the following clarification on her facebook yesterday: "I have been made aware of a certain article posted online and which reported me as having complained against our party leadership. "I am absolutely furious. There is absolutely no truth in this article. "I did not give any interview nor did I ever complain against our party or against anyone. More importantly, never did I ever feel, for a second that I have a cause to complain against our party or anyone in specific. " In fact, since my husband's medical condition was diagnosed, I have been too worried and concerned about his medical condition than to worry whether the party is providing any financial support or otherwise. "But having said this, I put on record that since our party leaders have been told of my husband's condition, each and everyone of them, have been unbelievably supportive and caring. "Both my husband and I have, in fact felt that we have been very blessed to know these people, who have somehow, crossed over the line from being political comrades to being very caring friends. "And my family and I have been very touched by the call for support for my husband by our Secretary General, YAB Lim Guan Eng, an appreciation of which was posted by our eldest daughter, Suzanne Gail Wong, in her facebook on 14th January 2013. "Therefore, it would be very unfair and unjust to let this article be passed around for people to pass judgment on our party leaders, our party and me, without any basis at all. I therefore strongly condemn this article for each and every sentence therein is a lie."
The question I want to pose to UMNO/BN leaders today is what unethical depths and bottomless pits are they and UMNO/BN mainstream media going to plumb before the 13GE? |
The concept of corruption is not so clear that if you see it, you would know it. 
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