Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Sabah RCI: What next?
- UTHM Prof Amir Hashim (UMNO) brainwash student committee to support BN!
- Abbas rejects Malaysian PM visit to Gaza saying it divides Palestine
- PM explains Gaza visit
- Under fire, Perkasa says bible-burning threat meant to prevent violence
- 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About
- The war begins!
- PAS - from Progressive to Pythonic
- UKEC Projek Amanat Negara 2013
- Man gets 5 years for insulting Islam on Facebook
- Remember your roots, Mahathir
- Jeffrey: Tell RCI the truth, Anwar
- Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, says retired judge
- For God, King and Racism
- Dr M must be stopped
- Prosecute Ibrahim Ali over bible-burning call, Bar Council urges
- Citizenship-for-votes probe stirs outrage
- Subpoena Dr M, Anwar, Sabah RCI told
- Allah issue: ‘Pakatan stands by Hadi’
- Rakaman video bukti Umno halang Nik Nazmi ceramah di Sri Stulang, Johor Baharu
| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST
Does it not boggle the mind that in the face of such incontrovertible evidence of this massive illegal operation, Mahathir would still deny its existence? What gave him the courage to do so, if not for the fact that the Royal Commission's proceedings have virtually been blacked out by the mainstream media, while his statement of defence would be given prominence?
Kim Quek
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad finally admitted – in the face of overwhelming evidence – that he granted citizenship to the illegal immigrants who have flooded Sabah, but quickly added that the citizenship was granted legally.
He said: "Many of them in Sabah were not there for a day or two, but 20 or 30 years and can speak Malay. They have the right to be citizens".
Is that all there is to the infamous "Project M" (M stands for Mahathir) that has brought untold miseries to Sabahans: the mere granting of citizenship to qualified immigrants in the normal legal way?
To get to the truth, let us hear some top officials of the Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) who gave evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry looking into the population explosion of Sabah.
INCONTROVERTIBLE EVIDENCE
· Sabah NRD assistant registrar Kee Dzulkifly Kee Abd Jalil said the special unit he was working in, illegally issued some 100,000 blue identity cards (IC) to the immigrants (blue cards are meant for citizens only), in addition to issuing 200,000 letters of approval for birth certificate for the children of immigrants. With these approval letters, they would get their birth certificates from the hospitals or district offices. These immigrants, who are all Muslims, are mainly from southern Philippines and Indonesia.
Kee Dzulkifly, together with some of his fellow officers who also gave evidence collaborating Kee Dzulkifly's evidence, was subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for two years from 1995 to 1997, for engaging in these illegal activities.
· Tamparuli NRD chief Yakup Damsah said that upon instruction from then Sabah NRD chief Abdul Rauf Sani, he and his colleagues were flown from Sabah to Kuala Lumpur, where they operated a clandestine operation in the house of Mahathir's then political secretary Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin at Kampung Pandan to illegally issue blue ICs to immigrants. Yakup said the purpose of the operation was to boost Muslims voters and to ensure they vote for Umno in the Sabah state election. His group issued 40,000 blue ICs within a month. Yakup was subsequently detained under the ISA for his illegal act.
· Sabah NRD chief Ramli Kamaruddin, who succeeded Abdul Rauf, said that two weeks before the 1994 Sabah state election, he met then deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub (then home minister was Mahathir) at Hyatt Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, where he was instructed to issue temporary IC receipts to immigrants. These receipts, in the names of voters who never voted, would enable the immigrants to vote on polling day, so as to ensure a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory. Also present at the hotel was Osu Sukam, who later became Sabah chief minister in 1999. Ramli Kamaruddin was also detained under ISA for two years from 1995.
· Sabah NRD deputy director Mohd Nasir Sugip testified that the department carried out the clandestine "Ops Durian Burok" from 1992 to 1995 under instruction from the state Election Commission (EC) to provide unqualified immigrants with blue ICs so that they could vote in an election. With the new ICs issued in accordance with the details provided by the EC, these Philipino and Indonesian Muslims were then planted as voters in strategic constituencies (classified as 'black' or 'grey' for BN) across Sabah to help BN win in elctions. At one time, Sabah EC director Wan Ahmad Wan Yusof handed over a list of 16,000 names and asked for these to be converted into 'Bumiputra Islam" voters. Mohd Nasir was later detained under the ISA.
BLACK OUT BY MAIN STREAM MEDIA
All these evidences were presented to the Royal Commission on Jan 16, third day of the hearings; whereas Mahathir claimed his innocence on the next day, Jan 17.
Does it not boggle the mind that in the face of such incontrovertible evidence of this massive illegal operation, Mahathir would still deny its existence?
What gave him the courage to do so, if not for the fact that the Royal Commission's proceedings have virtually been blacked out by the mainstream media, while his statement of defence would be given prominence?
Despite such connivance from the mainstream media and Mahathir's brazen denials, there is no way that such staggering breach of law can be buried in this Internet age of ubiquitous information.
Equally impossible to deny is Mahathir's link to these acts of treason.
The two key political leaders featured in the evidence – Aziz Shamsuddin and Megat Junid – were Mahathir's closest confidante, who were also well known for their roles as henchmen to execute some of his more unsavoury schemes.
At their level of political influence and status, these two henchmen would have neither the courage nor the reason to embark on such a bold venture of high treason that could easily have led their journey to the gallows, without the protection of the highest political leadership.
It is as clear as daylight that these two political minions were only carrying out the wishes of their political boss.
MAHATHIR IRRETRIEVABLY LINKED
Project M is unparalleled in modern history in that it is a clandestine operation that has succeeded in robbing the sovereign rights of a people by massive infusion of illegal immigrants and pervasive contamination of the electoral roll with illegal voters (known as the phantom voters).
The success of Project M has ensured Umno's hegemony in Sabah for almost two decades. And the original Sabahans will continue to be subjected to such rule unless the illegal immigrants and phantom voters menace is resolved.
What is even more alarming is that the phantom voter cancer continues to grow right up to this day, not only in Sabah, but there is ample evidence that its malignancy has been spreading in Peninsula Malaysia, as exemplified by the thousands of dubious registered voters that surface continually, particularly in the state of Selangor.
The latest evidence was uncovered by a survey carried out by the Selangor government. In a house-to-house check on the half a million newly registered voters, 135,000 of them could not be traced, for which the EC has not given any valid answer.
In fact, our greatest problem is our EC, which has unabashedly acted as a political arm of Umno.
Take the case of the explosive expose' uncovered by the Sabah RCI. In any democracy, the election commission would have immediately swung into emergency action, and in conjunction with other agencies such as the NRD, police and attorney general's chamber, would seek out the criminals and rectify the huge damage to restore integrity and public confidence to the electoral system. But not our EC. The latter has chosen not to react on the lame excuse that any comment would be 'subjudice' and any action would also be premature, as the RCI has not completed its findings.
BONANZA FOR OPPOSITION?
The same deaf and dumb tactic has also been adopted by Prime Minister Najib Razak and the component parties of Barisan Nasional. EC and BN's strategy seems to be: do nothing until the next election which will be held in probably two months' time. (Parliament stands dissolved on April 28, and polling within 60 days thereafter.)
And opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat and civil society will have to decide whether to stage another mass rally, both to force some urgent and basic electoral reforms including cleansing of electoral roll, as well as to gain political capital by swinging the middle ground further towards them.
Whatever the decision on the mass rally, the opposition will certainly leave no stone unturned to publicise the moral and political bankruptcy of the incumbent political power in resorting to means most foul at perils of destroying our democracy so as to cling on to power.
Thus, the Sabah RCI is turning out to be a last minute gift to the opposition after all, whatever its findings.
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| UTHM Prof Amir Hashim (UMNO) brainwash student committee to support BN! Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:48 PM PST Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that there is no brainwash programme held in any university in Malaysia, how is our higher education minister gonna explain this 3 min clip on a BN supporter/Lecturer at UTHM asking the student committee to "SUPPORT BN OR QUIT YOUR POSITION" Watch video at: http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/y2/r/5l8_EVv_jyW.swf?v=398336883554408&ev=0 | ||||
| Abbas rejects Malaysian PM visit to Gaza saying it divides Palestine Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:26 PM PST
(Al Arabiya News) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced on Wednesday the Malaysian prime minister's recent visit to Gaza, saying that it "enhances division and does not serve the Palestinian interests," reported local news agency WAFA. "The Palestinian presidency announces its rejection and condemnation of the Malaysian prime minister's visit to Gaza," a statement said.Abbas's bureau called on the Malaysian government to provide "clarification," saying that Prime Minister Najib Razak called Abbas earlier and told him that Malaysia was going to provide humanitarian aid to the strip, and that he will meet a Palestinian delegation in Cairo afterwards. "[The visit] undermines Palestinian representation and reinforces the division and does not serve Palestinian interests," it continued. Read more at: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/23/262086.html
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| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:24 PM PST
(The Star) - "Fatah was uneasy with my visit to Gaza but we explained to them that I had to make a stand to visit the area. The issue of the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza is something very close to Malaysian hearts," he said. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said his visit to Gaza was a humanitarian gesture of solidarity with the plight of the people in the occupied territories and should not be misconstrued as an attempt to interfere in domestic Palestinian affairs. The Prime Minister said he had explained this to Palestine's WaqafMinister Mahmoud Habash in Cairo on Tuesday evening after returning from Gaza, following criticism over his visit by the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is opposed to its Hamas-led rivals who control Gaza. "My trip to Gaza was based on humanitarian grounds and to show our strong support for the struggle of the Palestinians. "It must not be misinterpreted as interfering with the internal affairs of Palestine but to show our concern to Palestinians especially during the eight days of violence committed by Israel in its attack in Gaza late last year," Najib told Malaysian reporters here yesterday before departing for Davos, Switzerland, where he is scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum. Hamas and Fatah have been in dispute since 2007, resulting in Gaza being controlled by Hamas and the West Bank, the other territory, which also makes up Palestine, under Fatah. Najib said besides conveying Malaysia's position to the Palestinian Minister, he had also contacted PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas by telephone on Monday night to explain the reasons for his Gaza visit before he went to the Palestinian territory the following day. "Fatah was uneasy with my visit to Gaza but we explained to them that I had to make a stand to visit the area. The issue of the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza is something very close to Malaysian hearts," he said. The Prime Minister said his original intention was to visit both Gaza and the West Bank. He explained that he was unable to go to the West Bank because unlike the Egyptian controlled border into Gaza, the entry points into the territory under Fatah were under the purview of Israel. He said Israel would have only allowed him entry if Malaysia accorded Israel official recognition, something that was against Malaysia's policy. Najib said his visit to Gaza and his meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi also allowed him an opportunity to express Malaysia's support to the Egyptian initiative to bring Hamas and Fatah closer. The rival groups signed an agreement in May last year to discuss the aim of setting up a unity government in Palestine. "Hamas and Fatah need to set up a unity government as soon as possible for their common struggle to succeed. In all my meetings, I stressed the point repeatedly that accord between the West Bank and Gaza was a precondition for the Palestinians to achieve their goal," he said. On a separate matter, Najib expressed his condolences to the family of the Malaysian killed during the hostage drama in Algeria. "I sympathise with the family. This is something that can happen and is very hard to predict. I hope his family remains strong in facing this tragedy," he said. Najib said there had been discouraging reports about the fate of the second Malaysian hostage reported missing, adding that Wisma Putra was keeping a close watch on the developments.
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| Under fire, Perkasa says bible-burning threat meant to prevent violence Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:18 PM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - Despite facing heat for Datuk Ibrahim Ali's bible-burning remark, Malay rights group Perkasa have insisted their president's words were actually a "wake-up call" to prevent possible violence against distributors of bibles containing the word "Allah" and other Arabic scripts.
The group's secretary-general, Syed Hassan Syed Ali, said Ibrahim has no problem facing the consequences of his remarks, including being questioned by the police due to the reports lodged against him. "To the Perkasa president, he is sure not worried about these reports... because the investigation will surely be based on truth and justice," he said in a statement sent to The Malaysian Insider. But Syed Hassan maintained that Ibrahim's statement was more to prevent possible physical violence and other untoward incidents, should these Malay-language bibles get into the hands of Muslim students. If this is seen by Muslims who view this as an attempt at apostasy, the Perkasa leader said violence could be used against the book's distributor. "I very much understand my president's statement because it is as a 'wake-up call' to all parties to prevent these untoward incidents. "This is what the president fears because then there would be a physical attack between those of different faiths... this is not good for the nation," he said. Syed Hassan also confirmed that Ibrahim has been contacted by the police over the reports lodged against the latter by several parties, including DAP chairman Karpal Singh. Investigations will commence in another day or two, he added. Karpal lodged the report on Tuesday in a bid to press Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to kickstart an investigation against Ibrahim, who came under fire after making the remarks in Penang over the weekend. The fiery Malay rights leader had called on Muslims to burn Malay language bibles that contain the words "Allah" and other religious Arabic scripts should it come into their possession. But when continuing his defence of Ibrahim's remarks here, Syed Hassan said that Perkasa has never in the past attacked Christianity. He said the group was merely protecting Islam and its position, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, and this includes rejecting those who insult the religion and who try to spread their own faiths to Muslims. "Before this, all other races lived in peace. But today, simply because there are parties using this for political expediency, they are willing to flare the sentiments of others," he said. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/under-fire-perkasa-says-bible-burning-threat-meant-to-prevent-violence/ | ||||
| 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:01 PM PST
In the gangsters' role as the political bosses of North Sumatra (a province of 14 million people) they have continued to celebrate themselves as heroes, reminding the public of their role in the massacres, while continuing to threaten the survivors – and they have done so even as governors, senators, members of parliament, and, in the case of one prominent veteran of the 1965-66 genocide, as the perversely named, "Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights". DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT By Joshua Oppenheimer Beginnings In February 2004, I filmed a former death squad leader demonstrate how, in less than three months, he and his fellow killers slaughtered 10,500 alleged 'communists' in a single clearing by a river in North Sumatra. When he was finished with his explanation, he asked my sound recordist to take some snapshots of us together by the riverbank. He smiled broadly, gave a thumbs up in one photo, a victory sign in the next. Two months later, other photos, this time of American soldiers smiling and giving the thumbs up while torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners, appeared in the news (Errol Morris later revealed these photographs to be more complex than they at first appear). The most unsettling thing about these images is not the violence they document, but rather what they suggest to us about how their participants wanted, in that moment, to be seen. And how they thought, in that moment, they would want to remember themselves. Moreover, performing, acting, posing appear to be part of the procedures of humiliation. These photographs betray not so much the physical situation of abuse, but rather forensic evidence of the imagination involved in persecution. And they were very much in my mind when, one year later, I met Anwar Congo and the other leaders of Indonesia's Pancasila Youth paramilitary movement. Far away or close to home? The differences between the situations I was filming in Indonesia and other situations of mass persecution may at first seem obvious. Unlike in Rwanda, South Africa or Germany, in Indonesia there have been no truth and reconciliation commissions, no trials, no memorials for victims. Instead, ever since committing their atrocities, the perpetrators and their protégés have run the country, insisting they be honoured as national heroes by a docile (and often terrified) public. But is this situation really so exceptional? At home (in the USA), the champions of torture, disappearance, and indefinite detention were in the highest positions of political power and, at the same time, busily tending to their legacy as the heroic saviours of western civilisation. That such narratives would be believed (despite all evidence to the contrary) suggests a failure of our collective imagination, while simultaneously revealing the power of storytelling in shaping how we see. And that Anwar and his friends so admired American movies, American music, American clothing – all of this made the echoes more difficult to ignore, transforming what I was filming into a nightmarish allegory. Filming with survivors When I began developing The Act of Killing in 2005, I had already been filming for three years with survivors of the 1965-66 massacres. I had lived for a year in a village of survivors in the plantation belt outside Medan. I had become very close to several of the families there. During that time, Christine Cynn and I collaborated with a fledgling plantation workers' union to make The Globalization Tapes, and began production on a forthcoming film about a family of survivors that begins to confront (with tremendous dignity and patience) the killers who murdered their son. Our efforts to record the survivors' experiences – never before expressed publicly – took place in the shadow of their torturers, as well as the executioners who murdered their relatives – men who, like Anwar Congo, would boast about what they did. Ironically, we faced the greatest danger when filming survivors. We'd encounter obstacle after obstacle. For instance, when we tried to film a scene in which former political prisoners rehearsed a Javanese ballad about their time in the concentration camps (describing how they provided forced labour for a British-owned plantation, and how every night some of their friends would be handed over to the death squads to be killed), we were interrupted by police seeking to arrest us. At other times, the management of London-Sumatra plantations interrupted the film's shooting, "honouring" us by "inviting" us to a meeting at plantation headquarters. Or the village mayor would arrive with a military escort to tell us we didn't have permission to film. Or an "NGO" focused on "rehabilitation for the victims of the 1965-66 killings" would turn up and declare that "this is our turf – the villagers here have paid us to protect them." (When we later visited the NGO's office, we discovered that the head of the NGO was none other than the area's leading killer – and a friend of Anwar Congo's – and the NGO's staff seemed to be military intelligence officers.) Not only did we feel unsafe filming the survivors, we worried for their safety. And the survivors couldn't answer the question of how the killings were perpetrated. Boastful killers But the killers were more than willing to help and, when we filmed them boastfully describing their crimes against humanity, we met no resistance whatsoever. All doors were open. Local police would offer to escort us to sites of mass killing, saluting or engaging the killers in jocular banter, depending on their relationship and the killer's rank. Military officers would even task soldiers with keeping curious onlookers at a distance, so that our sound recording wouldn't be disturbed. This bizarre situation was my second starting point for making The Act of Killing. And the question in mind was this: what does it mean to live in, and be governed by, a regime whose power rests on the performance of mass murder and its boastful public recounting, even as it intimidates survivors into silence. Again, there seemed to be a profound failure of the imagination. Within Indonesia more generally, such openness about the killings might be exceptional. But in North Sumatra, it is standard operating procedure. For there, the army recruited its death squads from the ranks of gangsters. Gangsters' power derives from being feared, and so the thugs ruling North Sumatra have trumpeted their role in the genocide ever since, framing it as heroic struggle, while all the time taking care to include grisly details that inspire a constant and undiminished disquiet, unease, even terror of possible recurrence. (In East Java and in Bali, the death squads were recruited from religious groups, while in Central Java and elsewhere they were members of the Indonesian special forces. Unlike gangsters, those groups' power is not necessarily based on their being feared.) In the gangsters' role as the political bosses of North Sumatra (a province of 14 million people) they have continued to celebrate themselves as heroes, reminding the public of their role in the massacres, while continuing to threaten the survivors – and they have done so even as governors, senators, members of parliament, and, in the case of one prominent veteran of the 1965-66 genocide, as the perversely named, "Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights". Read more at: http://theactofkilling.com/?page_id=52 ---------------------------------------- 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About I was 10 minutes late when I quietly sneaked in to a room crammed with people sitting tightly to their chairs. Their eyes fixed to the screen. I have been to many independent film screenings, but this one was not like any other. There was no sign whatsoever to indicate that there's a film screening inside. It was meant to be clandestine due to the nature of the film, entitled "The Act of Killing," an award-winning documentary by British-based American filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer. Instead of the orthodox way of making documentary by combining interviews and footage, Oppenheimer creatively re-enacted what Anwar did in the past and shot them in the film. Anwar starred and acted in a film where he re-enacted all his mischievous deeds. It's like making a documentary about Adolf Hitler and asked Der Fuhrer to act as himself in a staged scene. | ||||
| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 11:57 AM PST
KL SENTRAL LRT STATION, 830 am, 23 Jan 2013 - BNYV (Youth Volunteers) is currently distributing the brochures below condemning the 2013 Alternative Budget to LRT passengers at KL Sentral Station. Changing our Mindset They should be distributing the details of Government's 2013 budget to convince the people that the government's budget is the best but they did the opposite instead. Read the PR alternative budget HERE (http://rafiziramli.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Belanjawan-Pakatan-Rakyat-2013-vAkhir.pdf)
  
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| PAS - from Progressive to Pythonic Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:40 AM PST
KTemoc Konsiders Pythonic is the adjectival form of python. And we all know a python is a:
(a) boa constrictor (snake) which kills its prey by constriction (wakakaka), or (b) spirit or demon (louder wakakaka). I'm afraid those are what non-Muslims, especially Chinese Malaysians, currently view PAS as, a demon which if it comes into power, will 'kill' its prey (the non-Muslims, wakakaka) by constricting their non-Muslim social, cultural, religious and general freedom through PAS intrusive version (interpretation) of Islamic laws and policies. As such, I wasn't surprised by The Malaysian Insider's news item Pakatan fears PAS puritans putting non-Muslim vote at risk which tells us: 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. Yes and no to the causes of their concerns and the likely political impact. Firstly, most Chinese (I can't say for the Indians) aren't too concerned about the restriction in the use of the Allah word per se. Really, why should they when the prohibited use of the Allah word doesn't affect their Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian or folk religious practice. It's only the Christian Chinese and some civil liberty activists who are. I'm sad to say the civil liberty activists are unfortunately in the minority. And I am equally sad to say most Chinese aren't sympathetic to the Christian religious issue - incidentally I am also one, indeed one who actually opposes the use of the Allah word in the Malay language Bible (al Kitab) - sorry. However, they have been deeply concerned about PAS' version of Islamic rules which directly affect them, such as the recent gender segregation rules (unisex hair dressing salons; couple holding hands), PAS own interpreted moral values in taking action against 2 non-Muslim men in a car watching aeroplanes taking off at KB airport, and again PAS own interpreted Islamic values in its intrusive dress codes for Chinese New Year concerts ...
... which in turn evoke earlier ugly pictures of PAS being intrusively against non-Muslim entertainment events, and the harsh draconian edicts such as stoning to death that Pak Haji Aziz threatened against unmarried mothers abandoning their newly born babies, without understanding the social issues and environment driving those women into doing so, ... ... and miscellaneous provocative issues such as prohibiting the sale of beer at non-religious associated shops (7-11) or the caning of Muslims caught drinking (because of who could be next - the non-Muslims?), etc.
Secondly, regarding possibly losing PR's non-Muslim vote in GE-13, that's already well & truly lost in Kedah. In a previous post PAS 'blesses' MCA I wrote about ..... my discussions with quite a number of Kedahans here in Australia where I have been informed that their voting families and relatives have grumbled about being 'cheated' by PAS, a belief gained from their 'experience' under a PAS Kedah government, and that they won't ever vote for PAS again. Mind you, neither my Kedah mateys nor I can say that UMNO or MCA will be the direct beneficiaries of their disgust (not just disappointment) with PAS. Those Chinese voters may well end up playing non-halal mahjung or p'ar kau all day on GE-13 election day, wakakaka, which I suppose will indirectly benefit UMNO.
I am of course not saying PAS won't be the next Kedah state government again, but they can take it from me they will have to achieve that minus the support of non-Muslim Chinese. Again I can't say about the voting preference of Indian Malaysians in Kedah - maybe my Indian visitors can help enlighten us on this. In November last year I posted The python hanging around the ceiling fan reflecting my concerns about a pythonic (wakakaka) PAS, and its increasing arrogance as it senses hitherto unpossessed federal power within its reach.
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| UKEC Projek Amanat Negara 2013 Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:12 AM PST
RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN to talk at the Projek Amanat Negara (PAN) National Symposium of Malaysian Students 2013 Organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC) Theme: "Malaysia: Restoring Confidence, Paving the Way" Session: Public Policy Topic: 13th General Elections: Scrutinising Public Policy Date: 27 January 2013 (Sunday) Venue: Thistle Marble Arch, London Time: 4.10PM - 5.20PM SEE MORE HERE: http://www.facebook.com/ukeconline
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| Man gets 5 years for insulting Islam on Facebook Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:47 PM PST
Members of Indonesia's Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) rally on the streets in Jakarta July 30, 2011. Members of the FPI are demanding the government to disband Ahmadiyah sect. Indonesia's Assembly of Indonesian Muslim Clerics (MUI) considers the Ahmadiyah sect to be 'heretical' for believing that Mohammad was not Islam's final prophet. — PHOTO: REUTERS (The Jakarta Post) - The Bandung State Court has decided to add one more year to the prison term of Sebastian Joe, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment for blasphemy of Islam by the Ciamis District Court in West Java. The state court decided on Tuesday to slap a higher sentence as it used the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law as a lex specialis (special law), instead of the Criminal Code (KUHP) used by the district court, said Sebastian's lawyer, Anang Fitriana, as quoted by tempo.co on Wednesday. Sebastian was reported by the Ciamis chapter of the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) last year for a Facebook status he made, which they considered insulting to Islam. Anang said that he planned to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
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| Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:31 PM PST NGO tells the former premier that he would not have been a Malaysian if Tunku had not granted citizenships to non-Malays during Merdeka G Vinod, FMT If Tunku Abdul Rahman did not grant citizenships to non-Malays during Merdeka, Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not have been a Malaysian, claimed an NGO. Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (Mipas) chairman A Rajaretinam made this known during a protest in Brickfields against Mahathir's call to probe citizenships given during Independence. The former premier said this in reaction to the damning revelations made in the Sabah RCI, which implicated his administration in granting citizenships to foreigners to reside in Sabah. Rajaretinam was hinting at Mahathir's Indian heritage, where the latter's father was an Indian Muslim immigrant. Rajaretinam said that not only did Mahathir insult the Tunku with his statement but also the entire Indian community. He added that the Indians in Malaysia got their citizenships by sacrificing their blood, sweat and tears for the sake of national development, as opposed to the immigrants in Sabah. "Our ancestors were not refugees. We were brought in by the British government to Malaya to build the country. "When you talk about plantation, railway and building roads, you will see our ancestors' sacrifice for the country," said Rajaretinam.
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| Jeffrey: Tell RCI the truth, Anwar Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:25 PM PST The Sabah strongman says Anwar, being the second most powerful leader in Umno then, could not have been ignorant of what was happening in Sabah. K Kabilan, FMT Sabah's veteran politician Jeffrey Kitingan today expressed hope that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim would "tell the truth" if he ends up testifying in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing the "Project IC" in Sabah. "I am glad he has said that he has no problem in testifying in the RCI probing into citizenship granted to immigrants in Sabah. "However I do hope he would tell the truth about his own role in the citizenship fiasco," Jeffrey told FMT today. "From what I know, he was indeed in charge of Sabah [for Umno]. He was the director of operations and was involved actively in the citizenship project," he added. "I am very sure he was in the know of what was happening in Sabah at that time." Earlier today, Anwar told reporters that he was ready to testify at the RCI but quickly added that he was also in the dark about the project. "I have no problem whatsoever. I knew for a long time the project was under the prime minister, that it did not involve a Cabinet process, so it is the full responsibility of the prime minister and finance minister. "When I was there, even I was not briefed on the issue [of providing citizenship to immigrants]," Anwar said. He also said that the RCI had not summoned him because "they know I have nothing to do with it". Yesterday, Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak had challenged Anwar to tell the truth about the illegal immigrants to the 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". In recent weeks, various quarters have asked for both former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar to be summoned by the RCI to testify on the citizenship-for-vote issue.
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| Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, says retired judge Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST
(Bernama) - Despite criticisms and accusations on the transparency and independence of Malaysia's judicial system, a retired Federal Court judge, Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong Matjeraie, said never in his years in service did anyone try to influence him in his decisions. "I have been working as a judge for 15 years and not on one occasion did any of my bosses said: 'Sulong, you decide this way and not that way'. It never happened. "In the Federal Court, there are five judges and one of us will write the judgment and then pass it to the rest of us. If we don't agree, we will be dissenting. There is no such thing where you have to follow. "Definitely, we uphold the independence of the judiciary," he told Bernama here recently. Sulong, 66, the first Sarawakian appointed as Federal Court judge, clocked out for the last time at the Palace of Justice last Friday. "To be able to administer justice according to the law is something we hold dear." As a judge, you must make sure you serve justice and ensure justice is achieved. I think we have done that," he added. Sulong said the transformation of judiciary in the country had also reduced the backlog of cases in courts. "We have been working hard. There was too much of a backlog that we had to sacrifice our personal time to clear these cases. We have to ensure justice is done expeditiously. All of us work our guts out to make sure we finish our cases," he said. Sulong was born to a humble family in 1947 in the rural town of Saratok, about 140km from Kuching. As a boy, he used to help his father to tap rubber trees and sell "kuih" in the village to earn extra pocket money. "My late father always wanted me to be an agriculture assistant where I could get 'free uniform'. I never dreamt of becoming a lawyer or a judge. "My late father always said: 'Sulong, learn to plant rubber trees. when you get older, you will have your own plantation'. "As a judge, I get free uniform too," he smiled wryly. The fourth child in a family of nine, Sulong started his working career at the tender age of 17 when he was appointed a probationary Sarawak Administrative Officer (SAO) in the Sarawak Civil Service. That was in 1964. When he was 23, Sulong was appointed the District Officer (DO) of Bintulu -now an oil and gas town. The appointment gave him the distinction of being the youngest District Officer in Malaysia. Sulong started his career in the judiciary when he was appointed a Judicial Commissioner in September 1998 in the High Court of Malaya in Johor Baharu. Two years later, he was a High Court Judge in the Kota Kinabalu High Court, Sabah. In 2007, he was a judge of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya and in April last year, he was appointed a Federal Court Judge at the Palace of Justice, here. "My only regret was not having my father around when I was made the Court of Appeal and Federal Court Judge. He passed away few months before I was appointed as a judge," he said. Sulong's interest in law was stirred when he was in the civil service, where one of the requirements for an administrative officer to be considered for promotion was to pass the law exam. From there it was all history. To read law, Sulong went to London on a Sarawak government scholarship to study at the Inns of Court School of Law in 1971. "I am always grateful to the Sarawak state government for giving me that opportunity to further my studies. Otherwise, I don't think I could become a judge. I'm lucky. But then again, all you need to do is work hard and you can achieve any dreams you have," he said. Sulong obtained his Master of Law Degree in Mercantile Law at the University of Southampton in 1977 where the law study was made possible by his wife who supported him financially. "I'm thankful to my wife who supported me to do my Master. She was working and I was studying," he added. Sulong served the state government in various capacities, including as General Manager of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation from 1979 to 1980 and as the General Manager of Bintulu Development Authority from 1980 to 1983. Sulong left the civil service in 1983 and set up his own legal firm under the name of Messrs Sulong Matjeraie & Co. in Kuching the same year. On his future and what he would like to do, Sulong said he would like to sit back first before deciding what he would like to do. "I will take a break first before beginning to do something else. Actually I have no future plan yet. First thing I will do though is rest. It has been a long journey. It has been 49 years of working," he said. His words to the Malaysia's judiciary: "They are doing a good job. I'm sure the judiciary of Malaysia will be second to none in years to come. The people here are very dedicated."
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| Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:01 PM PST
RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN to talk at the Cambridge University Southeast Asia Forum (CUSEAF) For God, King and Racism Date: 30th January 2013 (Wednesday) Time: 5.30pm Venue: Mill Road Lecture Room 4, Cambridge University Religion, Race and Royalty are the 'three Rs' of Malaysian politics. Both sides of the political divide have played up the issue of race, religion and royalty to the hilt for more than 55 years since independence or Merdeka. The March 8, 2008, general election was hailed as a watershed in Malaysian political history. Fast-forward five years and we are once again anticipating another general election. How has Malaysia changed, if at all? Raja Petra will speak on the upcoming general election expected over the next two months or so, and on whether Malaysians are finally beginning to shift away from race and religion to focus on other substantive issues. SEE MORE HERE: http://www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/ | ||||
| Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:19 PM PST
Zaid Ibrahim If we follow the actions and thinking of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his supporters, then we must rectify the "errors' of the past, even if it means violating established principles of the Constitution, laws and good governance. According to them, bringing in more Muslims into Sabah in the 1990s and making them citizens was not a cynical move to help the ruling coalition win elections (although that was the immediate benefit), but to correct the mistakes of history. Simply put, the country needed to have more Muslims – even if they were foreigners from the Philippines, Pakistan or Indonesia – because Tunku Abdul Rahman "gave away" citizenship to the Chinese and Indians as part of the Merdeka agreement. Dr M somehow blames the Tunku for making citizenship "easier" for non-Malays, which he believes justifies his call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Tunku's decision 60 years ago. His ranting could be ignored if it weren't for the fact that it's dangerous. Dr M destroyed UMNO when it did his bidding and we must not allow him to destroy the country too. To advocate reviewing all past policies and disowning our former leaders' great sacrifices is highly irresponsible. The country's design and constitutional make-up is not like the latest Proton model for him to change at whim. Our heritage and history are ours, not his. He has lost all sense of proportion in trying to gain traction for his wayward political views to change the outcome of the General Election. Dr M was a member of the Alliance, which agreed to adopt the principle of "jus soli" in granting citizenship to non-Malays. It was a social contract that the Malay Rulers agreed to, and which the rakyat also supported, as evidenced by the Alliance's overwhelming victories in the 1955 and 1959 elections. Yet Dr M has no compunction ridiculing our pioneering leaders' great effort to forge a nation. He is bent on making race a divisive issue in this General Election and he will destroy this country if his views are not accepted.
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| Prosecute Ibrahim Ali over bible-burning call, Bar Council urges Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:11 PM PST
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malaysian Insider Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali should be charged under the Sedition Act for his remarks advocating the burning of bibles, Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee said today, backing an similar call by an opposition lawmaker. Lim said that although the Bar maintains the law deemed a political weapon to silence dissent, should be repealed, it must be impartially applied against Ibrahim given that authorities have charged opposition leaders under the same Act. "If sedition charges were brought against Karpal Singh, equally charges should also be brought against Ibrahim Ali ... Whilst the Bar calls for the repeal of the Sedition Act, if it were to be applied, it must be applied fairly and without discrimination. "This incident together with the contemptuous statement by another Perkasa leader against a judge and the judiciary suggest that Perkasa is allowed to behave with impunity," Lim said in a statement. Karpal, who is DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP, in on trial for sedition over remarks made pertaining to the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009, for which he was accused of making statements challenging the authority of the Sultan of Perak in dissolving the Perak state assembly. He had earlier been acquitted of the charge by the High Court in 2010, but the Court of Appeal subsequently ordered him to enter his defence upon a successful appeal brought by the Attorney-General's Chambers. Lim added that if the authorities do not wish to charge Ibrahim under the Sedition Act, the Penal Code may also be applied on the Perkasa chief. "This statement by Ibrahim is an incitement or abetment to commit criminal offence under Section 107 of the Penal Code, whilst the seizure and burning of bibles is an offence under Section 441 of the Penal Code," he said. Section 441 of the Penal Code states that "Whoever enters unto or upon property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy any person in possession of such property; or having lawfully entered into or upon such property, unlawfully remains there with intent thereby to intimidate, insult or annoy any such person, or with intent to commit an offence, is said to commit 'criminal trespass'." "The public must be warned that this is probably a criminal offence," Lim said.
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| Citizenship-for-votes probe stirs outrage Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST The opposition and election-reform advocates allege massive fraud in voter rolls nationwide and have seized on the testimony as proof of government vote-tampering. By Julia Zappei, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: For years, charges have swirled that a secret Malaysian scheme gave citizenship to huge numbers of illegal migrants in a politically important state in exchange for votes for the ruling coalition. Now, an inquiry is finally airing detailed allegations that have the government on the defensive ahead of elections that pose the greatest threat yet faced by the ruling bloc that has controlled Malaysia for 56 years. A Royal Commission of Inquiry opened last week with ex-officials admitting they gave citizenship to Filipinos and Indonesians in resource-rich Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on jungly Borneo island. One former official said some 100,000 identity cards (ICs) were handed out in 1993 ahead of a crucial state election, Malaysian news reports said. Another admitted signing hundreds of thousands of ICs in the 1990s. The testimony has revived accusations of treason against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is alleged to have masterminded the scheme to shore up support for his government. As head of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, Mahathir dominated Malaysia for 22 years with his famously hardball political tactics until he resigned in 2003. Current prime minister Najib Tun Razak is now battling to rally support for the BN ahead of polls he is expected to call within months, in an era when the coalition's power grip has slipped. But outrage over "Project IC", as the alleged scheme is widely known, is undercutting his claims that the national electoral roll is free of fraud. The opposition and election-reform advocates allege massive fraud in voter rolls nationwide and have seized on the testimony as proof of government vote-tampering. "What we are concerned about is that this is still going on. That's what we want to stop," S Ambiga, head of the clean-elections activist coalition known as "Bersih", or "Clean", told a press conference Tuesday. The outlines of "Project IC" have been whispered about for three decades and have bolstered the view of Sabah as a reliable "fixed deposit" of votes for the BN to help it weather challenges elsewhere. The government allegedly targeted Muslims from neighbouring Indonesia and the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines. Sudden growth in population More than half of Malaysia's 29 million people are Muslim ethnic Malays, but indigenous tribes, many of them Christian, predominate in Sabah. They have bridled at the foreigners, blaming them for crime, drug abuse and economic competition, and alleging their homeland was being stolen. Najib last June gave in to calls for an inquiry, but the move could backfire, said Ibrahim Suffian, head of independent polling firm Merdeka Centre, calling the revelations "explosive". "It probably will create a wave of resentment and dissatisfaction among native Sabah voters. This confirms their worst fears," he said. The population of Sabah, a region of rugged mountains and powerful rainforest rivers that is about the size of Ireland, has surged from some 600,000 citizens in 1970 to more than three million — more than double the national growth rate.
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| Subpoena Dr M, Anwar, Sabah RCI told Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:48 PM PST It will be an invaluable opportunity to uncover the black operations behind elections in Malaysia, says Suaram's Kua Kia Soong. Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT Suaram today called on the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to subpoena Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim in its ongoing probe into illegal immigrants. Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong said the RCI "must spare no effort" in revealing how citizenships had been given out clandestinely to illegal immigrants and refugees under the Mahathir administration. Anwar was then in charge of Sabah operations. "This RCI on immigrants in Sabah is an invaluable opportunity for us all to uncover the black operations behind elections in Malaysia," Kua said in a statement. "The perpetrators of this electoral deceit must be brought to justice," he added, reiterating the need for the RCI to subpoena Dr M and Anwar. Kua then claimed the current Najib administration had only acceded to Sabahans' demands for an RCI for political mileage ahead of the 13th general election. "The RCI had been demanded by Sabahans for years… Umno just couldn't evade their demand anymore," he said. "Sabahans have had it up to there. And that is why (Najib) had to accede to their demand for a RCI if he was to try and keep his 'fixed deposit' in Sabah," he added. Implement recommendations Kua cautioned the failure of the RCI to bring this inquiry to a satisfactory conclusion "will forever bring into question the legitimacy of elections in Malaysia".
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| Allah issue: ‘Pakatan stands by Hadi’ Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:26 PM PST Anwar Ibrahim is firm that Pakatan Rakyat will allow non-Muslims to use the word 'Allah'. Anisah Shukry, FMT Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that Pakatan Rakyat was firm in its decision that non-Muslims were allowed to use the word "Allah". "Pakatan Rakyat in the past meeting looked through the statement made by PAS president [Hadi Abdul Awang] carefully and we took the stand that we agreed to give room [for Allah to be used by non-Muslims], but to also remind people to not misuse it," said Anwar. "So we follow what the PAS president says. And if he does not revise that statement, then that is Pakatan's decision." He was referring to a statement by PAS president Hadi Awang after the opposition pact's presidential meeting on Jan 8. Hadi had said that "Allah", which is written in the Quran, is special and cannot be translated properly to other languages. "That's why Muslims of all races refer to God as Allah. So non-Muslims can use the holy word although it may not reflect the original meeting," Hadi had said. But the PAS Syura Council said last week that non-Muslims should prevent the use of the word "Allah" in translations of their religious text. "Translating the word God or Lord from any non-Muslim religious texts to the word Allah cannot be allowed because it is wrong from the aspect of meaning…. therefore, it has to be prevented," PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said in a statement. Commenting on this, Anwar said: "I've read the PAS Syura Council's statement. Its concern is the problem of the term 'Allah' used for other purposes, and that is probably where there is a difference of opinion…" But he said the difference of opinion was small and the issue as a whole had been interpreted differently by various Muslim scholars.
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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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