Sabtu, 2 Februari 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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So what?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:31 PM PST

Hence do you think the majority of the Malays, like my family, are too concerned whether the stock market goes up or down? The government will make sure that those who invest in Amanah Saham will not lose. The government will guarantee that the returns will be higher than the bank interest. Boom or bust, those who invest in Amanah Saham do not face any risk. (We also have that secured investment scheme here in the UK).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Chua: Bursa will plunge if PR wins

(The Star) - Bursa Malaysia will drop 500 points if Pakatan Rakyat wins the coming general election, said Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

The MCA president said any change in the government would bring political uncertainty and would have a direct impact on the national economy.

He said the impact of Pakatan Rakyat rule would be adversed as its dominant partner, PAS, had little or no interest in the economy.

He said PAS was bent on implementing its brand of hudud law and setting up an Islamic state.

"PAS has also mentioned that it will close Genting (Highlands) and the Bursa. All these will frighten investors, be they locals or foreigners," he said after opening the 64th anniversary celebrations of the Federal Territory MCA here yesterday.

Dr Chua urged voters to assess the country's situation in a rational manner, taking into consideration its future before making a decision.

He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the national economy experienced an upward trend with foreign direct investments at RM34bil in 2011 against RM5bil in 2009.

Dr Chua, who is a member of the National Economic Council, said Pakatan's populist policy of pledging to abolish tolls and PTPTN loans, providing free education and a RM4,000 minimum monthly household income for 3.8 million families, would cost the government RM200bil a year.

"If and when this is implemented, it will bankrupt the country within two years," he cautioned.

Dr Chua thanked Najib and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the mutual recognition for 157 tertiary institutions in Taiwan and 121 tertiary institutions in Malaysia as announced by the Higher Education Ministry on Thursday.

"This has opened up more avenues for Chinese-educated students to further their studies and return home to serve the country," he said.

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

Chua Soi Lek was probably targeting a Chinese audience when he made that prediction above.

I am not going to generalise and speak for all Malaysians. I am not even going to speak for all the Malays. I will just speak for my immediate family. And when I say immediate family I mean my wife, my five children, my son-in-law and daughter-in-law, and my five grandchildren. That would make 14 of us altogether.

If I were to include my entire family then it would probably run into tens of thousands considering my great-grandfather had ten wives and scores of children, my grandmother being one of them. So allow me to speak on behalf of just the 14 of us.

Would it concern us if the stock market collapsed? Not likely. You see, we do not speculate or gamble on the stock market. What we do is we invest in unit trusts, specifically the government backed and government run Amanah Saham.

Each of us can invest RM250,000 or RM500,000 if we include both Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) and Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN). And that would mean our family can invest a total of RM7 million, if we happen to have that much money in our pocket.

Even if we did not have that much money it does not matter. We can always borrow the money from the bank -- and considering the interest we will be charged is lower than the dividends and bonus we will receive, it becomes viable to borrow the money to invest in Amanah Saham.

And we do not need any security, as the Amanah Saham itself is good enough as collateral. Hence we can practically borrow for nothing and the Amanah Saham can help pay back what we owe, at least after the third year or so. Hence we only need to worry about repayments for, say, the first three years of that, say, 15-year loan period.

Hence do you think the majority of the Malays, like my family, are too concerned whether the stock market goes up or down? The government will make sure that those who invest in Amanah Saham will not lose. The government will guarantee that the returns will be higher than the bank interest. Boom or bust, those who invest in Amanah Saham do not face any risk. (We also have that secured investment scheme here in the UK).

And if the government changes it will still be the same. Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat runs the federal government it is not going to change anything. Amanah Saham will still guarantee a good return no matter which government is in Putrajaya.

Do you think Pakatan Rakyat can afford to let millions of Malays lose their pants? There will be riots on the streets. There will be a revolution. Blood is going to flow. The government, no matter which government it is, must make sure that Amanah Saham stays profitable and pays at least 8% or 9% (or at the very least 7%) returns every year until the end of time.

Of course, if you were Chinese, then the collapse of the stock market would probably hurt you and hurt you bad. And that is why this statement is coming from the President of MCA and therefore targeted to a Chinese audience. Chua Soi Lek knows that the Chinese would vote based on financial and economic considerations. The Chinese would never vote for any government that will mess up the economy even if that government is the most democratic government in the entire world.

I first met the current Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, back when he was the CEO of PNB about 30 years ago. In fact, the first Amanah Saham was launched about 32 years ago, three months before Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over as Malaysia's Prime Minister. Hence it was Tun Hussein Onn who mooted this idea.

It was actually a brilliant idea, from the political angle, of course. According to the 2012 financial figures, PNB has assets of about RM120 billion. It also manages a total of ten unit trusts comprising 79 billion units of shares and involving nine million investors, Malays and non-Malays included.

ASB, for example, earned about RM6 billion in 2010 and paid out about the same to the nine million investors. In 2011 it saw a 21% increase in gross income. And it has consistently paid an average of 6%-7% every year for more than 30 years, in good times or bad.

If I were Malay, and if the economy was the factor that influences my decision who to vote for, then I would vote for the government that can ensure I will continue to receive a good payback every year for the rest of my life, as it has been doing since the days before Dr Mahathir became Prime Minister.

And I would not worry about the 'danger' of changing governments and whether this change of government is going to trigger a collapse of the stock market because the government, whoever it may be, will ensure that my Amanah Saham investment will stay secure and will continue to pay good dividends and bonuses every year -- even if DAP, PAS and/or PKR takes over the federal government.

But that would be something Chua Soi Lek can't say because he is talking to a Chinese audience and to the Malays that type of talk does not carry any weight.

 
Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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Would winds of change usher in hudud?

Posted: 02 Feb 2013 04:24 AM PST

Ali Cordoba, Hornbill Unleashed

With the general election drawing nearer, there is talk of negotiation and alliance.The question now is, would PAS and Umno lie on the same bed?

Is there any way possible for the Barisan National to snatch victory from Pakatan Rakyat in the upcoming general election? This is the question being asked by all and sundry in the country.

Nevertheless, a large number of organisations and nations across the globe see change as an inevitable thing in Malaysia, and would welcome a Pakatan victory.

Among them is Hamas whose top-most leaders are allies of Anwar Ibrahim.

During the entire Pakatan campaign in 2012, Anwar displayed images of the Hamas leaders in meetings with Egyptian scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qardawi, with Anwar himself at the centre of attention.

These images, applauded by the local folks all over Peninsular Malaysia and in Borneo, show the close relationship the Hamas leadership has with Anwar.

And suddenly, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak jumps onto the Hamas bandwagon and gets himself meddled in a diplomatic row with Al-Fatah. Yet, the surprise visit – surely arranged by some organisations acting as public relations and image polisher of the Malaysian prime minister – has had some reverberations.

The presence of PAS Syura Council member Ustaz Nasharuddin Mat Esa, since then ejected from the party, speaks for itself.

Was the trip to Gaza an attempt to gain the sympathy of local Islamic NGOs? Or was it an attempt to discuss future plans for the pro-Umno PAS members?

It would be stupid to dismiss the possibility of talks between Umno and PAS members. It is clear that a PAS member who joins an Umno prime minister's trip is either a toad or simply a negotiator.

Was it not expected that PAS would dismiss Nasharuddin after this display of love for the prime minister?

However, many observers believe the Malaysian prime minister's visit to Gaza, where he praised the Hamas movement, was not a simple visit. Despite the apparent diplomatic faux pas, there is more than support for Gaza in the visit.

This was certainly an attempt to reach Sheikh Yusuf, the mentor of Anwar. And do we care to know why?

Persistent rumours

Recently, Najib, with the syariah in mind, spoke of Southeast Asian Muslims leading a sort of Islamic revival movement. This was at the Nusantara seminar titled "Islam in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Hopes". The speech was read by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Jamil Khir Baharom.

Hudud has been the bone of contention between PAS and Umno in their talks for a future "Muslim-led" government.

At this stage, the BN has surrendered to almost all the demands made by the opposition. This includes getting rid of one of its most powerful tools, and that is the Internal Security Act (ISA).

While the pro-Mahathir groups are calling to reinstate the ISA, it is almost certain the draconian act is history.

Moreover, there is still room for talks between the parties in power and the strong opposition coalition. After the good showing of the DAP in Sarawak in the 2011 state election, there were talks of offers being made for the latter to join the BN.

There are persistent rumours in Malaysia that the government is thinking of taking in the opposition members in its Cabinet. Or that there will be a caretaker government that will be under the prime minister with opposition members joining in.

Such a caretaker government should naturally be in place after the dissolution of Parliament, anytime soon in Malaysia.

A caretaker government, if it is in place, will have no "emergency" powers to reinstate the ISA to please some Umno members.

Nevertheless, it will have the power to offer to the opposition one of the two possible scenarios:

1. The formation of a government of national unity in which the leadership will be under Umno with a large number of the opposition members in the government.

2. Throw the gauntlet to PAS with hudud or Islamic syariah laws made official in the states run by PAS.

The first possibility seems remote, since the ruling coalition will never allow Anwar to be a member of the Cabinet. This will be due to the outright opposition by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who promised Anwar will never be a minister or prime minister.

READ MORE HERE

 

Muslim youth warned of Valentine's Day trap

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:39 PM PST

(Bernama) - More than 300 volunteers between 19 to 25 years-old today joined a programme to make Muslims aware of the importance of not celebrating Valentine's Day.

The programme called "Jerat Hari Valentine" (Valentine's Day Trap) targets several locations in Kuala Lumpur, said director-general of Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Datuk Othman Mustapha.
 
"The young volunteers can advise and explain Valentine's Day to the Muslim community. This is the first time that Jakim is involving young people in addressing the Valentine's Day issue.
 
"They will target Muslim youths, parents and the community to create awareness about the importance of not celebrating Valentine's Day," he told reporters after launching the programme at Masjid As-Syakirin, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) here.
 
The programme involves locations around KLCC and Bukit Bintang, Masjid India, KL Sentral, Pudu Sentral and Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).
 
Jakim director of Family, Social and Community Division, Saimah Mokhtar hopes parents take the ban on Valentine's Day celebration seriously as it has elements of Christianity and mixed with vices forbidden by Islam.
 
The ban was issued at the 71st meeting of the National Fatwa Council Committee for Islamic Affairs in 2005.
 
Participant Siti Balqis Samsudin, 23, said the programme could help build confidence and courage to combat social ills among young people.
 
"The programme is also able to educate myself with knowledge to help other young people," said the university student.
 
Siti Wan Norain Mohammad Azman, 19, said despite feeling scared of advising others, she remained positive by lending support and aid to the programme.
 
Her goal was to educate young people who still do not know why Valentine's Day celebration is in conflict with Islamic teachings.

 

Selangor DAP leader may quit party to join BN

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:30 PM PST

Bernama) - A Selangor DAP leader is said to have expressed a desire to quit and join Barisan Nasional (BN) due to dissatisfaction with internal problems plaguing the party.

This was revealed by Kapar BN chairman Datuk Abdul Rahman Palil (picture) today who claimed receiving an SMS from the DAP leader  few days ago.  

He claimed that the DAP leader had lost faith in the DAP top leadership which appeared to be unrealistic in its political cooperation and struggle. 

"I cannot reveal more details. This matter is being discussed seriously," he told reporters here today.  

Commenting on reports that some Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) members are trying to topple Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Rahman said this is no surprise.


Pak Lah denies any role in Sabah's Projek IC

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:52 PM PST

The former PM says the accusation by Anwar Ibrahim was to cover-up Anwar's own wrongdoing.

(Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has denied opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's claim that he was involved in the 'Projek IC' in Sabah.

He said Anwar implicated him in the issue to cover his own wrongdoing.
 
"He (Anwar) is constantly blaming others. He will accuse other people and then he'll wash his hands off it. I know him too well," he told reporters after the presentation of 1Malaysia People's Assistance (BR1M) 2.0 to 262 Kepala Batas Chinese residents at the Tau Boin Temple Keong Hall here today.
 
Abdullah - who is the area's MP - was commenting on a press report which quoted Anwar as saying that the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should investigate Abdullah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their alleged involvement in the project.
 
Anwar who is also Permatang Pauh MP was also reported to have denied his involvement in the issue but said he was prepared to give his statement to the RCI.
 
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had earlier claimed that Anwar was directly involved in the project to issue citizenship and identity cards to ineligible foreigners in Sabah in the 90s.
 
He claimed that although Anwar did not give orders directly, he was always taking the initiative, sometimes more than was necessary.
 
Meanwhile, Abdullah said 12,060 people in his constituency were eligible for the first phase of the BR1M 2.0 and the distribution would be carried out throughout February.

 

So what?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:31 PM PST

Hence do you think the majority of the Malays, like my family, are too concerned whether the stock market goes up or down? The government will make sure that those who invest in Amanah Saham will not lose. The government will guarantee that the returns will be higher than the bank interest. Boom or bust, those who invest in Amanah Saham do not face any risk. (We also have that secured investment scheme here in the UK).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Chua: Bursa will plunge if PR wins

(The Star) - Bursa Malaysia will drop 500 points if Pakatan Rakyat wins the coming general election, said Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

The MCA president said any change in the government would bring political uncertainty and would have a direct impact on the national economy.

He said the impact of Pakatan Rakyat rule would be adversed as its dominant partner, PAS, had little or no interest in the economy.

He said PAS was bent on implementing its brand of hudud law and setting up an Islamic state.

"PAS has also mentioned that it will close Genting (Highlands) and the Bursa. All these will frighten investors, be they locals or foreigners," he said after opening the 64th anniversary celebrations of the Federal Territory MCA here yesterday.

Dr Chua urged voters to assess the country's situation in a rational manner, taking into consideration its future before making a decision.

He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the national economy experienced an upward trend with foreign direct investments at RM34bil in 2011 against RM5bil in 2009.

Dr Chua, who is a member of the National Economic Council, said Pakatan's populist policy of pledging to abolish tolls and PTPTN loans, providing free education and a RM4,000 minimum monthly household income for 3.8 million families, would cost the government RM200bil a year.

"If and when this is implemented, it will bankrupt the country within two years," he cautioned.

Dr Chua thanked Najib and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the mutual recognition for 157 tertiary institutions in Taiwan and 121 tertiary institutions in Malaysia as announced by the Higher Education Ministry on Thursday.

"This has opened up more avenues for Chinese-educated students to further their studies and return home to serve the country," he said.

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

Chua Soi Lek was probably targeting a Chinese audience when he made that prediction above.

I am not going to generalise and speak for all Malaysians. I am not even going to speak for all the Malays. I will just speak for my immediate family. And when I say immediate family I mean my wife, my five children, my son-in-law and daughter-in-law, and my five grandchildren. That would make 14 of us altogether.

If I were to include my entire family then it would probably run into tens of thousands considering my great-grandfather had ten wives and scores of children, my grandmother being one of them. So allow me to speak on behalf of just the 14 of us.

Would it concern us if the stock market collapsed? Not likely. You see, we do not speculate or gamble on the stock market. What we do is we invest in unit trusts, specifically the government backed and government run Amanah Saham.

Each of us can invest RM250,000 or RM500,000 if we include both Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) and Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN). And that would mean our family can invest a total of RM7 million, if we happen to have that much money in our pocket.

Even if we did not have that much money it does not matter. We can always borrow the money from the bank -- and considering the interest we will be charged is lower than the dividends and bonus we will receive, it becomes viable to borrow the money to invest in Amanah Saham.

And we do not need any security, as the Amanah Saham itself is good enough as collateral. Hence we can practically borrow for nothing and the Amanah Saham can help pay back what we owe, at least after the third year or so. Hence we only need to worry about repayments for, say, the first three years of that, say, 15-year loan period.

Hence do you think the majority of the Malays, like my family, are too concerned whether the stock market goes up or down? The government will make sure that those who invest in Amanah Saham will not lose. The government will guarantee that the returns will be higher than the bank interest. Boom or bust, those who invest in Amanah Saham do not face any risk. (We also have that secured investment scheme here in the UK).

And if the government changes it will still be the same. Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat runs the federal government it is not going to change anything. Amanah Saham will still guarantee a good return no matter which government is in Putrajaya.

Do you think Pakatan Rakyat can afford to let millions of Malays lose their pants? There will be riots on the streets. There will be a revolution. Blood is going to flow. The government, no matter which government it is, must make sure that Amanah Saham stays profitable and pays at least 8% or 9% (or at the very least 7%) returns every year until the end of time.

Of course, if you were Chinese, then the collapse of the stock market would probably hurt you and hurt you bad. And that is why this statement is coming from the President of MCA and therefore targeted to a Chinese audience. Chua Soi Lek knows that the Chinese would vote based on financial and economic considerations. The Chinese would never vote for any government that will mess up the economy even if that government is the most democratic government in the entire world.

I first met the current Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, back when he was the CEO of PNB about 30 years ago. In fact, the first Amanah Saham was launched about 32 years ago, three months before Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over as Malaysia's Prime Minister. Hence it was Tun Hussein Onn who mooted this idea.

It was actually a brilliant idea, from the political angle, of course. According to the 2012 financial figures, PNB has assets of about RM120 billion. It also manages a total of ten unit trusts comprising 79 billion units of shares and involving nine million investors, Malays and non-Malays included.

ASB, for example, earned about RM6 billion in 2010 and paid out about the same to the nine million investors. In 2011 it saw a 21% increase in gross income. And it has consistently paid an average of 6%-7% every year for more than 30 years, in good times or bad.

If I were Malay, and if the economy was the factor that influences my decision who to vote for, then I would vote for the government that can ensure I will continue to receive a good payback every year for the rest of my life, as it has been doing since the days before Dr Mahathir became Prime Minister.

And I would not worry about the 'danger' of changing governments and whether this change of government is going to trigger a collapse of the stock market because the government, whoever it may be, will ensure that my Amanah Saham investment will stay secure and will continue to pay good dividends and bonuses every year -- even if DAP, PAS and/or PKR takes over the federal government.

But that would be something Chua Soi Lek can't say because he is talking to a Chinese audience and to the Malays that type of talk does not carry any weight.

 

‘Probe Mahathir’s citizenship’

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:24 PM PST

A PKR leader said Mahathir was half Indian, so he and his ancestors might have obtained their citizenship through illegal means.

Leven Woon, FMT

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad should have his citizenship probed by the authorities, if he thinks that the granting of citizenship to Chinese and Indian prior to independence was wrong , said a PKR leader.

R. Suresh Kumar, the special assistant to Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, said this was because Mahathir was also a half Indian whose ancestors were given citizenship to become Malayan at that time.

"The full name of Mahathir is Mahathir Mohd Iskandar Kutty. The word Kutty suggests that his dad was an Indian Muslim.

"If he is questioning the granting to citizenship to Indians and Chinese before independence, then his ancestors must be investigated too. And also his own citizenship," he said at a protest rally against Mahathir in Brickfields today.

Last month, the former premier said the granting of citizenship to Sabah immigrants during his tenure could be equated to the same policy by Malaysia's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to Indian and Chinese immigrants prior to Independence.

He claimed that Tunku has awarded citizenship  even though it was not provided in the law at that  time.

"This situation came about because the Malays are generous and prepared to dilute their power, and this is very different from what happened in Sabah because they had the right to have citizenships," he added when asked to comment on the criticisms against him regarding the granting of citizenship to immigrants in Sabah.

Various opposition leaders have since condemned Mahathir's statements and labelled it  as inappropriate and misleading, while MCA chief Chua Soi Lek said he was unsure whether Mahathir was saying that in jest or not

Today, a group of 60 people from various NGO and political parties   staged a 30-minute protest  at the elephant fountain in Brickfields against Mahathir.

Holding up banners bearing Mahathir's portraits with the captions "The nation's traitor", "The biggest liar", "the most insulting individual", they demanded an apology from the former premier within a week.

The group later lodged a police report against the Mahathir for uttering seditious statements.
Tamil Action Force deputy secretary Kannan Ramasamy pointed out that Mahathir's claims was a non-issue because all British colonies that time had given citizenship to non-natives based on jus soli principle.

Jus soli is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state.

READ MORE HERE

 

‘My Side of History’ by Chin Peng

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:14 PM PST


Memoirs of Malaysian communist guerrilla leader holds many lessons for today

Peter Taaffe, cwi

This book is important from a number of points of view. The author was the leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), which he joined as a 15-year old schoolboy, and which played an important role in two guerrilla struggles - in the Second World War and in the post-war 12-year 'Emergency', in reality a war against British colonial rule in Malaya (now Malaysia). It therefore provides important insights into guerrilla war, in general, and in the struggle for national liberation in the colonial world. The book is also important because of the lessons of Malaya in the post-1945 struggle of imperialism, against what was then the colonial revolution in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The seemingly successful defeat of the CPM guerrillas in Malaya in the 1950s has been invoked, in the past and to some extent today still, as a 'model' of how counter-terrorist measures in the neo-colonial world can succeed. But former British Defence Secretary Denis Healey - once deputy leader of the Labour Party - commented on this in relation to the Vietnam War in the 1960s: "In fact the analogy with the Malayan emergency was misguided. In Malaya the communists belonged almost wholly to the Chinese minority; they were easily identifiable… The Viet Cong, on the other hand, were drawn from Vietnamese in the [Mekong] Delta; they had a long history of struggle against foreign domination, in which the Communist Party had played a leading role since the Japanese occupation in 1944."

Chin Peng is also quite clearly a striking character with an extraordinary story of self-sacrifice to tell. He became the CPM's leader at the ripe old age of 23. Between 4,000-5,000 CPM fighters lost their lives in the struggle against British imperialism, while some 200 members of the party were hanged by the British. A similar tale of repression has come to light recently in a very detailed account about the methods of 'democratic' British imperialism in the suppression of the Kikuyu uprising in Kenya. There, the British established huge concentration camps, employed torture and mutilation of Kenyans, and hanged more than 1,000 Kikuyu anti-colonial fighters.

World War Two

British imperialism in Malaya had, before the Japanese invasion in 1941, pursued a policy of jailing or banishing to China every suspected communist, ethnic Chinese "they could lay their hands on". A similar fate awaited those communists of Indian extraction who were summarily despatched to the 'homeland'. Notwithstanding this, following Britain's capitulation in 1941 - when the Japanese themselves, according to Chin Peng, were preparing to retreat - a war of national resistance was conducted with the CPM as its backbone. The British at first tried to find a counterweight to the CPM - because of the distrust of the social and class base of the party - but the attempt to find a sufficient number of Chinese who leant towards Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuo Min-Tang (KMT) failed to materialise. Once it was clear that the CPM was the only major force resisting Japanese occupation, the British threw in their lot, for the time being, with them.

The guerrillas initially were very weak but according to the author "could count on the particularly strong following the CPM enjoyed amongst Chinese villages throughout the coastal flatlands". This is a significant remark, indicating that, at this stage, the CPM drew most of its support from the ethnic Chinese. Although it was widened later to involve sections of the Malay and Indian population, this nevertheless indicates the Achilles heel of the CPM, which was to prove quite fatal in the struggle against the British - but more of that later.

Up to 1947, the leader of the CPM was an ethnic Vietnamese who, as Chin Peng comments, commanded "an essentially ethnic Chinese movement…Amazingly, it never became an issue in the day-to-day running of the party in those days."

This may have something to do with the fact that one of the central figures, as a Comintern [Stalinilst Communist International] representative, at the formation of the CPM in 1930, was Nguyen Ai Quoc, none other than Ho Chi Minh, who was destined to play a pivotal role in the Vietnamese revolution. However, Lai Te, the leader of the CPM from the late 1930s, was actually a 'triple agent'; first of the British, then the Japanese during the Second World War, and then of the British, once more, in the aftermath of that war!

The author makes a significant remark in view of the essentially rural guerrilla struggle that was to be pursued later on, when referring to the early period of the CPM's activity in the 1930s: "The party's initial operations centred, naturally, on Singapore as there was a far greater concentration of union movements on the island than anywhere else on the Malayan peninsula."

The arrest and banishment of indigenous Malayans, albeit most of them were of Chinese origin, left a space for an immigrant from Vietnam, Lai Te, to emerge as a leader of the CPM in 1938. Membership of the CPM at this stage, the early 1940s, numbered just over 3,000.

At the same time as having a firm industrial base, the party had also begun to dig roots amongst the peasant population. This became useful once the offer of Lai Te to the British to help them in resistance against the Japanese occupation was taken up. The first detachments of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) were in action against the Japanese occupying forces from 1 January 1942. Within a few weeks of imposing military rule in Singapore, the Japanese had targeted the CPM leadership. A number of key figures were arrested, including Huang Chen, "the CPM's top intellectual", who was eventually executed. This and other betrayals were quite clearly the work of the leader of the party itself, Lai Te, who quickly transferred his allegiances to the Japanese occupation force. This, however, was only discovered much later.

Circumstances during the war compelled the CPM to organise what was essentially a rural guerrilla struggle because industrial activity had collapsed throughout Malaya and Singapore due to the war and Japanese occupation. The CPM, therefore, set up jungle bases from which to harass and confront the Japanese, with incredible success, given the presence of a traitor in its ranks, moreover, one leading the party itself! This was not without cost to the CPM, as a number of its jungle bases were betrayed, obviously by Lai Te, to the Japanese, which led to the execution of many of its leaders. While the CPM developed its base amongst the rural population, at the same time, it did not neglect the working class: "In Sitiawan we had 40 to 50 members. Among the Kinta Valley mining workers we were soon baosting more than 500 members."

At this stage Chin Peng, already a 'mature' 19-year old, found himself appointed acting chief of the CPM in the Perak region of Malaya. In one area, the resistance troops operated from within a colony of a few hundred lepers. The Japanese feared going near the settlement and the police and troops happily gave the area a wide berth.

The collaboration of the Malayan national resistance forces, under the leadership of the CPM, with the British - from whom they received material support - worked successfully but it was always an arm's length collaboration. In 1943, Lai Te suddenly began to sanction more military activity against the Japanese, obviously expecting them to be defeated by the British forces, which were massing for an attack on Malaya. At the same time, clearly expecting a future conflict with the British, the CPM had prepared an underground army which stashed away 5,000 weapons in jungle caches, many of them previously supplied by the British for the war against the Japanese.

But, rather than preparing for a serious struggle against the British, the programme outlined by the CPM, under the pressure of the traitor Lai Te, was one which mollified them. The CPM received arms and military training but, at the same time, it led the party to water down its programme, from a Democratic Republic of Malaya, which would involve independence from the British, to "self governance".

Imprisoned by 'stages' theory

Chin Peng and his comrades were imprisoned by the Stalinist theory of "stages"; first bourgeois democracy and independence and only later could the social issues, and particularly socialism, be posed. However, only by linking the struggle of Malayan workers and peasants for independence with the social issues - freedom, especially from imperialism, land, peace and bread - would the possibility of real national liberation be posed.

The Russian Revolution had demonstrated at the beginning of the twentieth century that in "backward countries" the struggle to carry through completely the bourgeois-democratic revolution is only possible by linking this to the changing of society, eliminating both landlordism and capitalism. Chin Peng seems to recognise this belatedly when he states that their main demand was for a "democratic government through elections from an electorate drawn from all the races". Chin Peng states: "I realised the programme amounted to nothing more than a vapid move to appease the incoming British… [It] made no mention of the goal of self-determination for the nation." Lai Te, the secretary-general, was against the militant struggle by the CPM. He preferred a "political posture" involving "co-operation with the British coupled with a concentrated effort on the organisation of labour and the infiltration of the unions". The latter point was correct tactically and was carried out to some extent. But it was not a question of posing either/or, military struggle or "the organisation of the working class". Both tactics should have been pursued in the struggle against the re-occupation of the British.

In fact, the possibility was there for a short period in 1945, following the capitulation of the Japanese and before the arrival of substantial British forces, for the CPM to mobilise the working class and the rural masses to take power and carry through a social revolution. However, to achieve this, the CPM would have had to cut across the ethnic divisions cultivated before the war by the British and carried on by the Japanese. It seems that the majority of the Malay population - particularly in the rural areas - tended to be conservative and swayed by the Malay princes and landlords. But the working class movement in the cities under the banner of the CPM - and including the setting up of democratic committees of action - could have split the Malay workers and peasants away from the Malay grandees. This would have involved a call for the peasants to take the land and drive out the landlords. In other words, the CPM would have had to put themselves at the head of an uprising of the working class in the cities, supplemented by a peasant uprising in the rural areas - uniting Chinese, Malays and Indians - on class lines, with the goal of an independent socialist Malaya, linked to similar struggles throughout the region.

Would such an uprising have succeeded? Of course, nothing is certain in a deep, revolutionary struggle but such a movement had every chance of success. The British had not arrived and were, in any case, stretched militarily. The whole of Asia was in ferment. One thing is certain: the course followed by the CPM, both then and later, led to a defeat. The British bided their time and prepared for a showdown with the CPM, profiting from the mistakes they made.

The weakness of the democratic structures of the CPM - a hallmark of those parties based upon Stalinism - is underlined by Chin Peng. The unquestioning acceptance of the authority of the leadership, facilitated betrayals like those carried out by Lai Te. Incredibly, the "liberation forces" of the CPM and the MPAJA were transformed by the British into a "three-star army", with Chin Peng appointed as a number two officer of what was in effect a force under the control of the British. Chin Peng comments: "Once again, nobody questioned the wisdom of our Secretary General's views. He was the Comintern man and this aura had not left him despite the fact we knew the Comintern had been disbanded in 1943."

According to Chin Peng and contrary to popular understanding, fostered by British imperialism, the CPM was not in the pay at this stage of either the Russian or the Chinese 'communists'. Its funds in the 1930s, during the battle against the Japanese and in the subsequent struggle against British imperialism were raised due to its own efforts and by its own resources. And yet, the "aura" of the Comintern and the methods of Stalinism compelled an unquestioning obedience, which in turn prepared the ground for betrayals and defeats.

One consequence of these developments was the feelers put out by some Japanese military commanders and troops to the CPM for a bloc of "Asians" against the colonial white invader. This was rejected by the CPM leaders despite the fact that the "revolutionary spirit within the party had never run so high. The greater majority of our guerrilla units had, for seven days, been preparing for continuing armed struggle that now would switch to target the returning colonial power." However, the stand of Lai Te and the CPM leadership could not prevent 400 individual Japanese joining the ranks of the guerrillas. This could have become the starting point for agitation amongst the Japanese forces throughout Asia, by a conscious, particularly working-class, force. Unfortunately, the CPM was still in the grip of Stalinist methods and approach. This led subsequently, through orders handed down by Lai Te, to the tragic execution of most of the Japanese who had joined the CPM's guerrilla ranks.

Instead of this being the starting point for class solidarity across ethnic lines, the opposite took place. Even before this, the Japanese fomented clashes between Malay Muslims and local Chinese villagers. The CPM was drawn in to defend these villages from attacks by Malays, resulting in substantial deaths of Malays, not disguised by Chin Peng in his book. These events undoubtedly played into hands of the British, who subsequently fomented divisions between the different ethnic groups in Malaya. Chin Peng, however, stresses the attempts of the CPM to draw Malays into their ranks, which enjoyed some success even in the struggle against the Japanese, with the recruitment and training of some Malays.

However, because of the temporising of the CPM leadership, the British were able to begin to reconsolidate their rule with the establishment of a "temporary form of government" for the Malaya-Singapore region, to be known as the British Military Administration (BMA). Seeking to appease the CPM, some of its representatives were drawn onto the BMA, a just reward for not conducting a struggle against British re-occupation. The guerrillas' intentions were to demobilise with 4,000 weapons handed over while more were secretly buried in jungle caches for future use.

British occupation, however, came together with economic blunders by the British administration. The Japanese occupation currency was declared valueless, which reduced the vast majority of the labouring population to paupers. Food supplies dwindled, prices soared, and the crime rate surged. An embittered population became increasingly hostile to the returning colonials and Malaya became a "cauldron of simmering discontent". The CPM, rather than using this to organise national resistance against the British, "moved to impose a moderating effect and respect for order by encouraging the formation of Peoples Committees". At the same time, clubs and unions and workers' organisations, as well as those for women and young people, sprouted.

The actions of the British authorities provoked massive working-class opposition, with the first dock strike in Singapore, followed by wharf labourers coming out on strike. These strikes were for increased pay but also in protest against handling ships carrying arms for Dutch troops who were then fighting nationalist forces in the neighbouring Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). The BMA used Japanese prisoners of war and certain British military units as strike breakers. This upsurge in working class opposition resulted in the formation of the Singapore General Labour Union (SGLU) with a claimed strength of 200,000 members.

Women paraded through the streets demanding rice and a government subsidy of $20 to rescue families from destitution. The British authorities met this with force, shooting down demonstrators. Chin Peng comments: "For British troops to be called out to fire on white unarmed demonstrators demanding better living conditions in, say, Yorkshire or Cornwall, would , of course, have been unthinkable." Of course, British troops had shot down Welsh miners in 1911, under the orders of Churchill, whose government pursued a similar policy on a wider scale against Malayan workers then. Now, it was the 'Labour' government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee that was carryout the repression in Malaya.

It was in 1946, probably through the pressure exerted by the traitor Lai Te, when mass executions of Japanese prisoners of war were carried out by the CPM. Chin Peng states: "I was stunned by the callousness of Lai Te's orders." He points out that some of the Japanese "joined our guerrillas and became fighters once again, only this time not for the emperor but for world communism." Lai Te was later 'eliminated' by the CPM in collaboration with the Vietnamese Communist Party, but not before he had absconded with $1 million of the CPM's funds.

In the midst of all of this, Chin Peng received British accolades and awards. First came the Burma Star, then the 1939/45 Star, and, a little later, he was awarded an even higher accolade. When he arrived at his mother-in-law's house one day, he was informed, "'You have been given a very high British honour. The King has granted you an OBE'… 'The King has given me what?' I blurted, believing my brother was surely joking. I had no idea what an OBE - Order of the British Empire - might be."

But the attempt to placate the leaders of the CPM failed, as this holder of the OBE was not long after confronting the forces of the British Empire that had bestowed this honour on him in the first place.

READ MORE HERE

 

DAP has not accepted PAS stand on 'Allah': Karpal

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:01 PM PST

(The Star) - It is wrong to say the PAS' Syura Council's decision regarding the Allah issue is well received by non-Muslims, including DAP's leadership, said DAP national chairman Karpal Singh.

Karpal told a press conference here that he was disappointed with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's statement to this effect.

He was commenting on a news report quoting Hadi as saying the prohibition on non-Muslims from using the "Allah" word in their holy books was settled and that the DAP's top leadership had also accepted the explanation on the matter given by PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat during a brief meeting with him (Karpal Singh) in Penang last Monday.

Karpal stressed that nothing was discussed regarding the Allah issue when he met with Nik Aziz at the informal meeting.

He said the Syura Council should not stick firmly to its stand as it conflicted with the stand taken by Pakatan Rakyat which is made up of the DAP, PAS and PKR.

Karpal added that the DAP was not meddling in the internal affairs of PAS but instead was upholding a stand which had already been taken by PR.

 

High chance PAS may field ex-BN leaders in Election 2013, says Hadi

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:58 PM PST

PAS may list former rivals from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) bloc to run for both federal and state seats on the PAS ticket in Election 2013, its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has said.

But Hadi (picture) insisted the opposition party does not lack candidates to replace its maverick lawmaker Nasharudin Mat Isa and those who have left the Islamist party since Election 2008.

"It is not the time yet for me to make the announcement but there is a high probability that former BN leaders, who were ministers and deputy ministers, will be listed as candidates to contest parliamentary and state seats," the Marang MP was reported as saying by the New Straits Times (NST) today.

Nasharudin, who was once the party's deputy president, was booted out of the powerful syura council last month just ahead of the 13th general election due to be called by April and which PAS, a senior partner in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact, is hoping will form the new federal government.

Hadi said Nasharudin was still a member of the party but whether he will be fielded as a candidate in the polls will be decided by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is Kelantan mentri besar and the state's PAS commissioner. 

"Whether Nasharudin will remain as a candidate will be decided by Allah, even I do not know what is in store for me. That is why I would like to advise him to pray that Allah softens up Nik Aziz's heart to list him as a candidate.

"Don't ask me why he was dropped from the syura council, but if you ask me on whether he will be a candidate, that is my answer. Pray to Allah. The power to list the candidates (in Kelantan) is in Nik Aziz's hands," Hadi was reported as saying by NST.

READ MORE HERE

 

GE13: Are Indians rooting for BN?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:52 PM PST

Indians till to-date have failed to read that BN is cunning in practising gimmicks in order to obtain votes. 

Selena Tay, FMT

A very recent survey conducted by Pakatan Rakyat grassroots workers has revealed that Indian support for Pakatan has dipped below 50%.

Going by logical indications that the 13th general election is surely going to be held in March, this leaves Pakatan with only one month to work out a plan to regain Indian support.

What made the Indians swing back to Barisan Nasional was the hampers given by BN on a quite frequent basis lately. Most of the Indians who were surveyed commented that they were very grateful to BN for the hampers, especially during the festive occasions.

In fact, this "Hamper Culture" is an insult to the recipients and goes against morality and noble ethics as it is done only for the reaping of temporary gain by the giver. Perhaps the giver has not heard of the proverb: "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for the rest of his life."

It will be to the great loss of the ordinary citizens (the Indians themselves included) if they were to opt out of the movement for change thereby causing the nation to regress and the citizens who are poor to suffer with the implementation of the GST (goods and services tax).

For the GST will surely be implemented after the general election if BN wins and this will cause the prices of everything and the cost of living to rise rapidly.

Indians till to-date have failed to read that BN is cunning in practising gimmicks in order to obtain votes.

Therefore those Indians who think that BN will always help out with hampers had better think again as this type of assistance is extremely short-term.

Indians must start to think in a progressive and forward-looking manner. The recent incident in Selangor last month when Indians were seen crowding round the BN lorry waiting to receive bags of rice truly resembles a scene from a Third World nation.

It is the ultimate insult and Indians must therefore reject BN in order to salvage any pride.

Better future under Pakatan

Under Pakatan Rakyat, Indians will have lots more to gain. Many Indians in Selangor have been given property titles by the Selangor Pakatan state government whereas during BN's tenure, all that the Indians have got from BN was merely the Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL).

Indians, too, have obtained small business loans from the Pakatan state government's micro-credit business loan scheme and even BN has followed this model.

Certainly Indians have much more to look forward to under Pakatan. As of now, Pakatan has only administered Selangor for only five years this coming March. What is five years compared to BN's 55 years?

Will Indians stop to think how much they will forego if they were to support BN just because of some meagre temporary gain?

Have they stopped to think carefully how their vote will affect their children's and grandchildren's future in the long term?

Shortsightedness will definitely do in the Indians in the near future after BN wins the 13th general election. Another reason for the Indian change of heart in going back to supporting BN is due to the water crisis in certain areas of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

The Indians should realise that the water crisis is a BN strategy to obtain their vote and therefore should not succumb to this unethical tactic.

Indians must hold firm and go for change for a better government instead of regressing to the old unworkable methods and in the long run getting stuck in a rut.

This is because it is Pakatan which has ideas for betterment, not BN. Even the reduction in road tolls and the "Jom Shopping" projects are Pakatan's ideas which have been adopted by BN.

Why must Indians vote for someone who uses another person's ideas? Why not vote for the person from whom the ideas originate? Isn't that a better and smarter move?

READ MORE HERE

 

‘Truth will prevail, immunity or not’

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:42 PM PST

But the carpet dealer says he expects "some sort of immunity" after his Feb 6 meeting with Mahfuz Omar.

Anisah Shukry, FMT

Controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan said he would not remain silent even if Pakatan Rakyat was unable to guarantee him immunity from prosecution.

"I will do whatever is necessary to come out with the truth. Truth will prevail. It cannot go away," Deepak told FMT.

Deepak said this when asked to comment on PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar's announcement that he must "convince" the Pokok Sena MP as well as several legal advisors during their Feb 6 meeting that the immunity was necessary.

Deepak is banking on Pakatan Rakyat to provide him protection should the opposition coalition come to power this year.

The immunity is in exchange for incriminating evidence Deepak allegedly has which implicates Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the 2006 murder of Mongolian translater Altantuya Shaariibuu.

But Deepak said that regardless of the outcome of the meeting, he would still carry on with his slew of press conferences revealing the details of Najib's alleged hand in Altantuyaa's murder.

"If I were to remain silent, I will be guilty of complicity," said Deepak, quoting Albert Einstein.

"I cannot remain silent, so my press conferences will start immediately after my meeting with Mahfuz."

But Deepak said that he expected "some sort of immunity" from Pakatan which "would work within the legal system".

"I wish to thank Dato' Mahfuz, vice president of PAS, for granting me the opportunity to discuss my immunity request with Pakatan," he added.

"I am very very greatful [sic] for his vision for truth and justice and readily accept the invitation and will be at PAS headquarters on Feb 6 2013 at 11am."

'No promises of immunity for Deepak'

However, when contacted, PKR vice-president Tian Chua reiterated his stance that Pakatan could not directly promise Deepak immunity from prosecution.

"We promise a a legal and transparent process that will guarantee justice for people who wish to come up with the truth," said the Batu MP.

He said that Pakatan would try to explain this to Deepak during the Feb 6 meeting – a meeting that Tian Chua approved of.

READ MORE HERE

 

Malay Nationalism Before Umno: The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:34 PM PST

Translated by Insun Mustapha
Edited by Jomo K. S.


Publisher: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd
No. 1 & 3, Jalan 3/91A, Taman Shamelin Perkasa, Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-9285 6577

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF VERSION HERE (10MB)

http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/MH/THE-MEMOIRS-OF-MUSTAPHA-HUSSAIN.pdf

DOWNLOAD THE KINDLE VERSION HERE (3MB)

http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/MH/THE-MEMOIRS-OF-MUSTAPHA-HUSSAIN.mobi

Foreign Distributor: Singapore University Press Pte Ltd

Mybooks.com.my
Price: RM50.00 

 

LAAA... BUKAN NAJIB SORANG YANG PAKAI BAJU CINA MATI, CINA YANG MASIH HIDUP PUN PAKAI BAJU CINA ...

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:31 PM PST

The Flying Kick 

Kecoh di belah sana apabila beberapa blogger pro-pakatan mempersoalkan baju yang dipakai oleh Datuk Seri Najib ini:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c190.0.403.403/p403x403/22088_442338299171295_1967515575_n.jpg

Menurut beberapa komen daripada Facebook apabila melihat gambar di atas, Najib DIDAKWA telah memakai pakaian untuk cina mati dan bukan untuk perayaan Tahun baru cina.

Malah salah satu daripada komen tersebut turut memberi pautan sebuah laman webwww.yingruixiang.com, sebuah syarikat di China yang pakar dalam menyediakan pakaian dan kelengkapan untuk upacara kematian China.



Oklah, link www.yingruixiang.com PengundiBaharu tak boleh buka kerana keluar mesej berikut:"HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable.". Kita selidik link lain untuk kepastian.

Kalau diamati link http://shop65217672.taobao.com/ sepertimana yang dilampirkan oleh  Tiery Harry II menunjukkan baju yang dikata hampir sama dengan apa yang dipakai oleh Datuk Seri Najib itu sememangnya dijual bersama dengan alatan kematian seperti Keranda DLL.

Berikut adalah paparan website tersebut:



TETAPI,

kita mahu tahu juga adakah pakaian orang yang di bulatkan dibawah ini memakai baju tradisional cina atau baju cina mati? Corak, warna dan fashion hampir sama.



Dan apa yang aku bertambah pelik,

jika benarlah dakwaan bahawa Najib pakai baju cina mati, adakah mereka-mereka ini juga memakai baju cina mati dan bukan Baju tradisional cina...
 

 

Mirzan: I've no share in Petron Malaysia

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:23 PM PST

(Business Times) - Mirzan Mahathir, who is the second son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has reiterated that he does not own shares in Petron Malaysia.

 
 

"As one of the directors at San Miguel Corp, I admit that I have 1,000 shares in Petron Corp but only because I sit on the board. I have no interest in Petron Malaysia whatsoever," Mirzan told reporters here on Thursday on the sidelines of the Malaysia Strategic Outlook.

Mirzan was responding to allegations by opposition defacto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who said Mirzan holds substantial shares in San Miguel, formerly a brewery company which is linked to the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Petron Malaysia is part of the Petron Corp which in turn is owned by Philippines-based San Miguel group, which bought a 65 per cent stake in Esso Malaysia from ExxonMobil International Holdings Inc for RM1.8 billion in 2011.

In a statement released in September last year, Mirzan said he sits in the San Miguel board to represent an investment group QTech Alliance Holdings Inc which has investments in San Miguel.

 
Anwar has repeatedly played up the issue that Mirzan owns shares in Petron to the rakyat under his Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat rally campaigns
 

Will Hindraf Choose To Sleep With The Enemy?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:19 PM PST

Some of the demands are rather unrealistic and supremely difficult to attain, such as the one involving Article 153. Perhaps that's why they have since been revised by the current Hindraf leadership into a condensed five-year blueprint that was launched last November.

Kee Thuan Chye, Malaysian Digest

The Government has suddenly decided to lift its four-year-old ban on Hindraf, the Hindu Rights Action Force that took to the streets in late 2007 and inspired a massive drop in Indian support for Barisan Nasional (BN) at the 2008 general election.

Its timing is glaringly obvious. With the upcoming general election drawing near, BN is further intensifying its quest for Indian votes. It has been doing everything it can to woo the Indians since its 2008 debacle by making a myriad of promises to improve their lot, almost including throwing in the kitchen sink, and Prime Minister Najib Razak has managed to wriggle his way into some of their hearts; so now the next logical step seems to be to hold discussions with Hindraf and woo it as well.

However, since Hindraf had set the condition that discussions would not take place unless the ban was first lifted, the Government has now swallowed its pride for the sake of political expediency and fulfilled the condition.

Responding to it, Hindraf's chairman, P Waythamoorthy, seems inclined to go ahead with the talks although the movement will discuss the matter first. But the question is, should Hindraf entertain the Government?

Surely, Waythamoorthy is smart enough to see that the lifting of the ban amounts to legerdemain? Former Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar, who now heads his own Human Rights Party, does, and calls it "a political gimmick". In which case, how sincere can the Government be?

Besides, if Hindraf were to engage in talks with the very authority that outlawed it, what message would it be sending to its followers?

Waythamoorthy might want to recall the rough times Hindraf had to experience after its rally of Nov 25, 2007, which brought out 30,000 demonstrators to protest against, among other things, the ongoing marginalization of the Indians. The following month, five of his fellow leaders were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) while he was spared the ordeal because he was out of the country then. He nonetheless spent five years in exile after that.

More than the detentions and the arrest of 136 protestors during the rally, Hindraf was unfairly hyped up to be a terrorist organization and alleged to have had links with the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka as the Government distorted the truth to make Hindraf look dangerous in a way it was not.

If a government could do something like that, how could it be trusted?

How could Hindraf put these things behind it and still have credence in the ruling party that treated it so roughly?

Waythamoorthy should think about the many who sacrificed their safety to emerge on that day of protest out of belief and conviction to send a message to the powers that be that they would not be taken for granted any more. He should recall that instead of being met with understanding, these ordinary folks who came in peace, some carrying photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, were pummeled with tear gas and water cannons.

So, would meeting the party that gave the order for the hostile action not amount to selling short the people who struggled and suffered for the original cause?

At least, Uthayakumar and another former Hindraf leader, M Manoharan, know the score. They have come out to express their reservations about the lifting of the ban.

As Manoharan says, "the Government is doing this… to play with Indian sentiments. What we want are merely our fundamental basic rights."

He and Uthayakumar are uncompromising in wanting to see Hindraf's original 18 demands accepted and addressed. Among these are affirmative action plans for all poor Malaysians; stopping the victimization of and discrimination against Indians by the police and all other state authorities; compensation for hardcore poor Indians; ending Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees the special position of the Malays.

Some of the demands are rather unrealistic and supremely difficult to attain, such as the one involving Article 153. Perhaps that's why they have since been revised by the current Hindraf leadership into a condensed five-year blueprint that was launched last November.

The blueprint is predicated on the setting-up of a Minority Affairs Ministry which Hindraf proposes to administer in order to resolve the Indian stateless issue; provide equal job and business opportunities to Indians; stop police brutality and death in custody; set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC); etc.

During the launch, Hindraf National Advisor N Ganesan declared that if either BN or Pakatan Rakyat accepted it in a "formal treaty", that coalition would receive Hindraf's support.

One month later, Waythamoorthy announced that Pakatan had accepted it and was even ready to sign the agreement in January.

READ MORE HERE

 

Voting right by residency?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:13 AM PST

http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/x/www.malaysiakini.com/mk-cdn.mkini.net/537/260x235x53614ffb3f53b70a6cfc274039943090.jpg.pagespeed.ic.CexCBjWnr5.jpg 

Malaysians have been using biometric passports since 1998 – the first in the world – there is no stamped date of our entry and exit on our passports. How many overseas Malaysians would have kept a log of their movement in and out of the country – which is required in the registration form 1B? Will the immigration provide easy access to our travel records? 

Wong Chin Huat, Selangor Times 

AS published in the gazette on Jan 14, 2013, the Election Commission (EC) has changed the postal voting bylaw to extend postal voting rights to more – but not all – overseas Malaysians.

Both the two exclusionary criteria are based on residency.

First of all, ordinary Malaysian voters residing in Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and Kalimantan are not entitled to the postal voting facilities.

Secondly, even for other ordinary overseas Malaysian voters, they would have to first prove that they have been "in Malaysia, or returns to Malaysia, for a period of not less than thirty (30) days within five (5) years before dissolution of Parliament or any State Legislative Assembly in force".

Previously the only "absent overseas voters" who vote on postal ballots are civil servants and students and their wives. These rights are unaffected by the new changes but they are only a fraction of Malaysians residing abroad.

Well, if you insist on seeing a half-full rather a half-empty glass, you should cheer for the EC's move.

However, if one were to take a closer look at the amendment, it is not amusing at all.

To begin with, the residency in Malaysia requirement is worded exclusively for general elections, whether for federation or state.

As such, ordinary overseas voters cannot vote on postal ballots should by-elections take place after the General Election

Next, since Malaysians have been using biometric passports since 1998 – the first in the world – there is no stamped date of our entry and exit on our passports.

How many overseas Malaysians would have kept a log of their movement in and out of the country – which is required in the registration form 1B? Will the immigration provide easy access to our travel records?

And what about those who travel to Malaysia via Singapore or some other checkpoints, where more often than not the Malaysian immigration officials would pay no more than a cursory look at our passports and then do nothing to record our entry or exits?

Now, even if we move on to the exclusion based on country of residency, is it justified? Why is it assumed that those who live in Singapore are from Johor and not Kelantan or Sabah, or that someone who works and lives in Kalimantan must be from Sabah and Sarawak and cannot be from Penang or Terengganu?  

It is clearly ridiculous for the EC to assume that Malaysians living in a neighbouring country must be from the border town.

And in the case of Kalimantan, how many hours would one spend on the flight and transit from Tawau to Pontianak?

Or from Kapit in Sarawak to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, by whatever means of transport?

As a matter of fact, travelling from Sandakan to Santubung in Sarawak, let alone from either to Sauk of Perak, to exercise one's duty to vote is taxing in time and money.

Civil society has been calling for absentee voting facilities to be provided for domestic voters, at least between Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsula. Unfortunately all these have been falling on to the deaf ears of the EC.

As the custodian of the electoral process, the EC should do everything it can to encourage voter registration and voting.

If postal voting can get more of the 300,000 Malaysians residing in Singapore to vote, why should we indirectly suppress their turnout by forcing them to travel home to vote?

Similarly, if overseas Malaysians care enough to keep their citizenship, why should they be deprived of their right to vote but called upon to serve the nation only when we need their talents, money, skills and network? Why don't we also impose residency conditions in the TalentCorp programme and tell those who have not spent at least 30 days in the past five years to take a hike?

The disenfranchising of overseas Malaysians has no basis in our Federal Constitution.

Read more at: http://www.selangortimes.com/index.php?section=views&author_id=38&permalink=20130130160448-voting-right-by-residency 

 

Beating authoritarianism with consistency

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:09 AM PST

http://dinmerican.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/isa-and-dr-m.jpg 

Malaysia would not be a better, more democratic place if we incarcerated authoritarians under the ISA or charged them for sedition. We would thereby perpetuate authoritarianism ourselves.

Yin Shao Loong, Selangor Times 

LONG exposure to authoritarian, race-based politics has shaped who we are on a moral, intellectual, and cultural level, including our ideas about authority, argument, acceptable speech, group identity, and national destiny.

Shifting away from Umno and the Barisan Nasional's brand of soft authoritarianism will not be easy, but this is what is needed for democracy to deepen in Malaysia.

BN has been in power long enough to exert a strong gravitational force on the methods and principles of our political culture. Even their critics within civil society, the opposition, and the public sometimes resort to the very methods they otherwise stand against.

The Bar Council has been known as an opponent of the Sedition Act and a defender of constitutional democracy.

Last week however, the president of the Bar Council condoned the use of the Sedition Act against Datuk Ibrahim Ali for the latter's incitement to burn Bibles.

Additionally, Karpal Singh has filed a police report against Ibrahim citing violation of the Sedition Act even though Karpal himself is currently being prosecuted under the Act and his party has opposed it as a draconian piece of legislation.

This kind of inconsistent behaviour can fuel simplistic judgements that little difference exists between our present political alternatives. There are, of course, substantial differences, but a struggle waged on principle must strive for consistency.

Supporting the use of the Sedition Act against even Ibrahim Ali was a breach of principle. The broad definition of sedition within the Act makes it ripe for abuse by a government scared of accountability.

There are many non-authoritarian laws within the Penal Code that would serve equally well to handle Ibrahim's threats.

The provisions of the Sedition Act against raising ill-will and disaffection have traditionally been used to criminalise dissent against the government. This runs counter to the spirit of democracy where it should be legitimate to question power.

The call to use the repressive weapon of sedition is a symptom of a bigger problem in Malaysian political life where the authoritarian political culture promoted by Umno during its hegemony has influenced the behaviour of its critics.

Recently, some people wanted to lodge a police report against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his comments about Tunku Abdul Rahman's granting of citizenship to various Malayans prior to Merdeka being a bigger crime than Dr Mahathir's involvement in granting ICs for votes in Sabah.

Using a police report as a punitive measure is part of the old political culture of intimidation. Far better than lodging a report would be to expose Dr Mahathir's faulty grasp of historical facts and logic in public, as several writers have done.

The melodrama of filing a police report against someone annoying has become a staple of Malaysian political theatre. Rather than use more rational forms of debate and argument, the ritual of the political police report – backed by repressive laws such as the Sedition Act and the compliance of the police and judiciary with the powers that be – became a way for the threat of authoritarian state power to be used to silence dissent.

Police reports should be lodged if a crime has been committed. If there is a breach of the law, the police and the attorney-general are duty bound to take up the matter.

However, democrats should refrain from exercising those draconian laws that criminalise legitimate dissent and democratic freedoms.

Malaysia would not be a better, more democratic place if we incarcerated authoritarians under the ISA or charged them for sedition. We would thereby perpetuate authoritarianism ourselves.

Equally, if we stand against race politics we should move beyond the kinds of hate-speech and prejudice promoted by patriarchal, race-based politics.

Read more at: http://selangortimes.com/index.php?section=views&author_id=74&permalink=20130130160617-beating-authoritarianism-with-consistency 

 

The Fabrication of fz.com's "Pak Lah takes on Dr M in 'tell-all' book"

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:03 AM PST

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We are dismayed by the shoddy sensation-seeking reporting of Moshin Abdullah, who has fabricated a story without practicing basic professional ethics of checking his facts.

 

Bridget Welsh & James Chin

We write to express our concern with the unprofessionalism of reporter Moshin Abdullah on the forthcoming volume Tranformations: The Abdullah Badawi Years to be published later this year. This reporter fabricated a story on unnamed sources and did not confirm his analysis before going to press. The end result is an overly-sensational shoddy piece of journalism that misconstrues the collection and Abdullah Badawi's contribution.

 

By further describing the book as a "tell all" collection, he inappropriately mischaracterizes and demeans the collection and the contributors. We ask that fz.com apologize for failing to follow basic journalistic standards, retract the piece entitled "Pak Lah takes on Dr M in 'tell-all' book".

 

We are dismayed by the shoddy sensation-seeking reporting of Moshin Abdullah, who has fabricated a story without practicing basic professional ethics of checking his facts. The reporter did not follow professional ethics of confirming the story with the editors (who can easily be reached by phone and email). His story "Pak Lah takes on Dr M in 'tell-all' book" is a fabrication of his own imagination.  No attempts were made to check the facts or to contact the editors.

 

Transformations: The Abdullah Badawi Years is an academic publication of more than 40 essays and interviews reflecting and analyzing the five years of the Abdullah Badawi administration. It has nothing to do with "tell all" or an attack on Tun Mahathir. The collection provides a range of views analyzing Malaysia from 2003 to 2008. The core of book is about the Pak Lah administration, not Tun Mahathir. The claim that Abdullah's interview is an attack on Mahathir, as implied by the fz.com reporter, is not true.

 

We urge fz.com and journalists in Malaysia to follow basic ethical practices in reporting. Too much of what is being reported today in Malaysia is based on shoddy reporting. The Malaysian people deserve reporting based on credible sources and high professional standards.

 

Bridget Welsh & James Chin

 

‘Amalilio a nephew of Sabah minister’

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:58 AM PST

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(Philippine Star) - Manuel Amalilio is a nephew of the chief minister of Sabah, who blocked last week his repatriation to Manila where he is wanted for a P12-billion pyramiding scam.   

This is according to Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who called on his country's police to "act in accordance with law and not be seen taking orders from political masters."

"Yes, his mother is Musa's first cousin," Anwar told The STAR when asked for details about Amalilio's ties to Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.   

"Amalilio's real name is Kamal bin Said, born in Beaufort, Sabah," Anwar said. "The mother is Zubaidah Omar, cousin of Chief Minister Musa Aman. Haji Aman (Musa's father) and Haji Omar (Zubaidah's father) are brothers."              

One reason given by Sabah airport police in stopping National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents, at the last minute, from flying Amalilio to Manila is that he is a protected Malaysian citizen.

"Amalilio is married to a Filipina, and holds a Philippine passport," Anwar said.   

Amalilio is facing court cases for duping last year more than 15,000 Visayans and Mindanaoans in a get-rich-quick scheme of his Aman Futures. He is hot news in predominantly Muslim Malaysia because most of Amalilio's victims reportedly are from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.  

When President Aquino ordered his arrest last November, Amalilio fled to Sabah, where he reportedly was often seen in public.

Last week the Interpol branch in Malaysia arrested Amalilio, and promptly informed Manila.      

The NBI dispatched a team to pick up Amalilio the other Friday. But the agents came home empty-handed. Sabah police retook Amalilio at the airport minutes before the flight, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.       

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who had helped the thousands of victims sue Amalilio, revealed that no less than Chief Minister Musa intervened for the fugitive.         

Read more at: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/02/02/903893/amalilio-nephew-sabah-minister 

 

Would winds of change usher in hudud?

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:55 AM PST

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/najib-gaza1-300x195.jpg 

(FMT) - With the general election drawing nearer, there is talk of negotiation and alliance.The question now is, would PAS and Umno lie on the same bed?

Is there any way possible for the Barisan National to snatch victory from Pakatan Rakyat in the upcoming general election? This is the question being asked by all and sundry in the country.

Nevertheless, a large number of organisations and nations across the globe see change as an inevitable thing in Malaysia, and would welcome a Pakatan victory.

Among them is Hamas whose top-most leaders are allies of Anwar Ibrahim.

During the entire Pakatan campaign in 2012, Anwar displayed images of the Hamas leaders in meetings with Egyptian scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qardawi, with Anwar himself at the centre of attention.

These images, applauded by the local folks all over Peninsular Malaysia and in Borneo, show the close relationship the Hamas leadership has with Anwar.

And suddenly, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak jumps onto the Hamas bandwagon and gets himself meddled in a diplomatic row with Al-Fatah. Yet, the surprise visit – surely arranged by some organisations acting as public relations and image polisher of the Malaysian prime minister – has had some reverberations.

The presence of PAS Syura Council member Ustaz Nasharuddin Mat Esa, since then ejected from the party, speaks for itself.

Was the trip to Gaza an attempt to gain the sympathy of local Islamic NGOs? Or was it an attempt to discuss future plans for the pro-Umno PAS members?

It would be stupid to dismiss the possibility of talks between Umno and PAS members. It is clear that a PAS member who joins an Umno prime minister's trip is either a toad or simply a negotiator.

Was it not expected that PAS would dismiss Nasharuddin after this display of love for the prime minister?

However, many observers believe the Malaysian prime minister's visit to Gaza, where he praised the Hamas movement, was not a simple visit. Despite the apparent diplomatic faux pas, there is more than support for Gaza in the visit.

This was certainly an attempt to reach Sheikh Yusuf, the mentor of Anwar. And do we care to know why?

Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/02/02/would-winds-of-change-usher-in-hudud/ 

Don’t haggle with PAS over Islam, DAP and PKR told

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:53 AM PST

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(The Star) - DAP and PKR should not "haggle" with PAS over the Islamist party's decision on the issue of the word "Allah" or any matter concerning Islam, says PAS ulama chief Datuk Harun Taib.

"We are sticking by the (PAS) Syura Council's decision that the word Allah should not be used by other religious faiths," he said.

The party's information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party's decision on the matter was final.

He added that PAS would not entertain Pakatan Rakyat's recent decision that indirectly allows the word "Allah" to be used in Bibles in the Malay language.

"We will abide by the Syura Council decision. We will not change our stand on matters concerning the religion," he said, adding that PAS is not a flip-flop party that changes its stand for the sake of political expediency.

They said this in response to reports that DAP chairman Karpal Singhhad allegedly asked PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to ensure that the Syura Council abided by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council's recent decision to allow non-Muslims to use the word "Allah".

The Syura Council is the highest decision-making body in PAS that decides on the party's policies and direction.

On Jan 14, the council decided that the word "Allah" cannot be used to describe God in any non-Muslim publications.

However, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Pakatan's stand remained the same despite the council's decision.

Abdul Hadi had said earlier this year that Islam did not forbid people from other faiths from using the word "Allah" – provided it was not misused.

Joe the orphaned baby elephant 'wasting away' after mother was poisoned

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:49 AM PST

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(The Telegraph) - A baby pygmy elephant that was pictured nuzzling the body of its dead mother in a heartbreaking attempt to wake her up is said to be losing weight fast amid fears he may not survive.

The three-month-old calf, named Joe by wildlife officials, made headlines earlier in the week when the poignant photograph was published.

His mother was one of 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants that have been found dead of suspected poisoning in recent days in a series of fatalities that has shaken conservation efforts.

The decomposed remains of the latest known victim were located on Wednesday, said Laurentius Ambu, director of the wildlife department in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island.

Officials believe the animals may have been poisoned, possibly by substances left out by workers at nearby oil palm plantations to deter the animals from eating their palm fruit.

A wildlife official tends to Joe. Picture: SABAH WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT/AFP/Getty Images

They fear more dead pygmy elephants - an endangered species - could be found because they usually roam Borneo's jungles in herds of 50 to 60 animals.

Masidi Manjun, Sabah's tourism, culture and environment minister, warned it would be a "challenging task" to keep Joe alive as he was consuming only half his normal 30 litres (7.9 gallons) of milk daily.

"(Joe) is surviving, but it is going to be a challenging task," he told AFP news agency by phone from Sabah.

Joe is being kept in quarantine at a wildlife park and has lost 22 pounds after being traumatised by an 800 kilometre (497 mile) road journey to the park, the Star newspaper said Thursday.

Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/9842444/Joe-the-orphaned-baby-elephant-wasting-away-after-mother-was-poisoned.html 

 

Kumpulan Semesta CEO sacked

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:39 PM PST

Wan Ab Halim Wan Ismail has been on leave since November, and terminated from service last month.

Meena Lakshana, fz.com

Wan Ab Halim Wan Ismail, who is chief executive officer (CEO) of sand mining company Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), a subsidiary of the Selangor government, had been sacked effective last month for abuse of power and violating company procedures.

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When contacted, sources in the Selangor government confirmed to fz.com that Wan Ab Halim, who was appointed CEO in July 2010, had received notice of his firing in early January.
 
A Sinar Harian report today, quoting sources, said the KSSB board of directors fired Wan Ab Halim for abuse of power and violating operating procedures. 
 
The move came as a surprise for many quarters within KSSB as Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had extended the CEO's contract for another two years last July. The company, too, has been doing financially well under his watch.
 
The sacking follows an independent investigation by a firm appointed by the board of directors to look into financial operations of the company.
 
Sources close to KSSB told the Bahasa Malaysia daily that Wan Ab Halim was alleged to have sanctioned illegal sand mining last year.
 
Last November, he received notice to go on leave from the Selangor MB, and this was then extended till end-December.
 
The CEO position at KSSB was created after two of the company's directors, who are state assembly members, were investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2010.
 
Wan Ab Halim, 62, has wide prior experience with companies that are involved in the mining of mineral resources such as sand, tin, iron and gold.
 
KSSB was established on June 26, 2008 to pioneer the mining of sand and other minerals in the state.

 

Pak Lah takes on Dr M in 'tell-all' book

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:25 PM PST

'Elegant silence' no more. 'Mr Nice' is set to do battle with his predecessor over spiteful remarks.

Mohsin Abdullah, fz.com

Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is finally countering allegations hurled at him by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a "tell-all" book to be published after the coming Chinese New Year, say sources.

The book is edited by well-known academics and political analysts Bridget Welsh and James Chin.
 
If this is indeed true, then it will be the first time Abdullah is addressing attacks from his predecessor, which began soon after he took office in 2003. 
 
The attacks arose from what was seen as Abdullah "pushing aside" development projects started by Mahathir (including cancelling the "crooked bridge" link to Singapore) and unwillingness to continue certain policies.
 
The barrage of attacks escalated following Barisan Nasional's poor showing in the 2008 general election, which Mahathir blamed on Abdullah, accusing him among other things, of being "a weak leader leading a half-past-six government". And that was one of Mahathir's "softer" tirades.
 
Mahathir also openly called for Abdullah's resignation and famously quit Umno in May 2008, citing a lack of confidence in the party leadership. (Abdullah eventually stepped down in April 2009, to make way for current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak).
 
Abdullah's response to Mahathir's attacks was, well, a non-response – prompting former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, who agreed with the former's stance, to coin the now famous term "elegant silence".
 
And Abdullah or Pak Lah as he is fondly known, has stuck to his code of "elegant silence" religiously, at least in public. Until now. With the publication of the book the "elegant silence" will finally, it seems, be broken. 
 
"Well, it is done in Pak Lah's style which is different from Dr Mahathir's," said another source, who is privy to the publication of the book. This means whether it would "satisfy" those who expect a hard-hitting response from the veteran politician remains to be seen.

READ MORE HERE

 

Khutbah Jumaat menyeru untuk toleransi, tapi tegas tentang hak umat Islam

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:09 PM PST

Zurairi AR, The Malaysian Insider

Pihak jabatan agama Persekutuan menyeru umat Islam untuk menghormati bukan Islam, tetapi bersikap tegas untuk tidak berkompromi tentang kesucian agama itu.

Khutbah Jumaat minggu lalu yang memberi amaran bahawa terdapat percubaan dari "musuh Islam" untuk mengelirukan umat Islam mengatakan semua agama adalah sama.

Dalam khutbah hari ini, bersempena dengan Minggu Keharmonian Antara Agama, Jabatan Kemajuan Agama Islam (JAKIM) menyeru kepada umat Islam untuk menghormati dan melindungi penganut lain.

"Di antara butir-butir kesepakatan yang terkandung dalam Piagam Madinah ialah sesiapa yang hidup dan tinggal di wilayah Madinah, baik Islam atau pun bukan Islam, dengan syarat tidak berbuat zalim, khianat dan huru hara, maka hendaklah mereka dilindungi dan diberi keamanan di bawah kekuasaan Islam yang suci," menurut teks khutbah tersebut.

Bagaimanapun umat Islam harus "mengambil tindakan" sekiranya agamanya dipertikai atau persenda, seperti ditulis dalam surah Al-Mumtahanah ayat 8 dan 9.

"Allah tidak melarang kamu daripada berbuat baik dan berlaku adil kepada orang-orang yang tidak memerangi kamu kerana agamamu, dan tidak mengeluarkan kamu dari kampung halaman kamu; sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang yang berlaku adil.

"Sesungguhnya Allah hanyalah melarang kamu daripada menjadikan teman rapat orang-orang yang memerangi kamu kerana agama (kamu), dan mengeluarkan kamu dari kampung halamanmu, serta mereka membantu (orang lain) untuk mengusir kamu. Dan (ingatlah) sesiapa yang menjadikan mereka teman rapat, maka mereka itulah orang-orang yang zalim".

Khutbah itu juga memberi amaran kepada mereka yang memanipulasi agama untuk kepentingan sendiri, dan mereka yang berkompromi secara melampaui batas dengan agama lain.

"Namun perlu diingat, toleransi yang dimaksudkan bukanlah bererti kita mengakui doktrin keyakinan mereka kerana di dalam persoalan akidah, Islam tidak sama sekali berkompromi dengan kekufuran atau  kesyirikan. Toleransi yang dimaksudkan oleh Islam ialah kita tidak  melampaui batas dalam perkara yang telah dipersetujui," menurut khutbah itu lagi.

JAKIM memberi amaran toleransi melampau akan menjadi pemangkin kerosakan masyarakat itu yang akan melemahkan kestabilan sosio-politik.

Dalam khutbah itu juga, JAKIM memberi amaran kepada bukan Islam tentang apa yang sudah digariskan dalam Perlembagaan dan hak ekslusif umat Islam.

READ MORE HERE

 

Mahathir behind Project IC, says Anwar

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:54 PM PST

The opposition leader points his fingers at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed instead.

Anisah Shukry, FMT

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today reiterated his stance that he had nothing to do with the citizenship-for-votes granted to Sabah immigrants in the 1990s.

Instead, he accused former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of being responsible for the task force allegedly responsible for the citizenships granted to the immigrants.

He also claimed that the exercise was ongoing and suggested that the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) haul up Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as well.

"I am ready for the [Royal Commission of Inquiry]. You can ask all the ministers, it was never discussed with me in the Cabinet, there are no minutes no reports, no related records," Anwar said at a press conference today.

"Because the task force [to oversee Project IC] was managed by the then prime minister and handed over to (Mahathir's political secretary) Aziz Shamsuddin and (former Deputy Home Minister Tan Sri) Megat Junid (Megat Ayub)," claimed Anwar.

"This is Mahathir's method [to make accusations against me]; but can he deny that he is responsible for founding the taskforce? All the reports were to his knowledge. He must answer this first."

Yesterday, Mahathir had claimed his former deputy was the main man behind the so-called "Project IC", which is now under probe by the RCI.

He said that there were times when Anwar had acted without his orders, and that the exercise was Anwar's own initiative.

"He normally takes the initiative and sometimes do more [than is required]," online news portal Malaysiakini quoted Mahathir as saying.

"What happens on the ground is often different from the directive [from above]," added Mahathir.

Last week, Anwar had stated his willingness to testify in the ongoing RCI, but was quick to add that he was in the dark about the project.

He also said that the RCI had not summoned him because "they know I have nothing to do with it".

Today, Anwar again said that he would readily testify before the RCI.

"As I said from the beginning, I am prepared to be investigated," he stressed.

READ MORE HERE

 

Is Malaysia's monarchy “above politics”?

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:42 PM PST

monarchy-politics

Pak Sako, CPI

Speaking at the launch of a book on the Malaysian monarchy, Malaysian prime minister Najib bin Razak said that the Malay Rulers "are above politics" (see ' Najib: Constitutional monarchy fosters stability, prosperity ', The Malaysian Insider, 30 Jan 2013).

He said that the Malaysian monarchy "provides a solid foundation" for turning Malaysia into a high-income nation.

To be above politics means to not interfere in the political workings of the country and to take no sides in party politics.

To act as a foundation to the economy so that Malaysian citizens enjoy high incomes means abstaining from and disapproving the undemocratic use of the public's wealth and resources.

So is the prime minister's statement about the Malaysian monarchy true?

The evidence paints a different story.

A Negri Sembilan prince clarified that the royalty have and do participate in party politics and gave five examples (see ' Response to statements by Tunku Aziz and Anthony Loke ', The Malaysian Insider, 29 Jan 2013).

In his biography of Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Maverick (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2009), Barry Wain speaks about how the sultans of the nine states had "sometimes played politics, leveraged their positions for financial gain and indulged in fairytale-like extravagance at the public expense". Although the sultans were "not meant to engage in commerce, they were actually so deeply involved that they were resented by the business community".

Roger Kershaw's Monarchy in South-East Asia (Routledge, 2001) states that "in return for secure wealth and status", the Malaysian monarchy gives the ruling Malay elite a "more traditional kind of legitimacy" by proxy, in what is said to be an "important but unwritten 'social contract'" in contemporary Malaysia.

On this political relationship, associate professor Azlan Tajuddin in Malaysia in the World Economy (1824-2011) (Lexington Press, 2012) claims that when the constitutional article on royal immunity in 1993 was removed, "the real aim" of the government of seeking "full control of the monarchy" was "to ensure that the Malay royalty continued to serve a political function in preserving Malay electoral support for UMNO". The author says it should not be surprising "to find some of the sultans publicly generating support for UMNO or admonishing those who have been critical of the party".

He explains: "For the royals, the reward for subservience to the party [UMNO] would also sustain continued enjoyment of unsurpassed advantages... Several members of the the Malay royalty... have found their way into UMNO's circle of crony entrepreneurs... Many royally-run businesses have resulted in numerous bankruptcies... [but] as long as the Malay rulers remained staunch UMNO supporters, they would be assured their businesses stayed operational and are given access to lucrative commercial ventures".

Fadzilah Majid Cooke's The Challenge of Sustainable Forests: Forest Resource Policy in Malaysia, 1970-1995 (Allen & Unwin, 1999) notes that between 1987 and 1990 alone, the Pahang royal family was awarded logging concession licenses totalling 18,723.82 hectares (or 187 square kilometres) of forest.

READ MORE HERE

 

RPK: For God, King and Racism

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:21 PM PST

Malaysia Today editor blasts Umno for its distorted version of the country's history and debunks its claim of having fought for independence

To a stunned audience, Raja Petra claimed that the Malay nationalists and the Japanese had decided that the date for Merdeka would be Aug 17, 1945. This failed to materialise because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the eventual Japanese surrender on Aug 15, 1945.

Mariam Mokhtar, FMT

CAMBRIDGE: Raja Petra Kamarudin debunked Umno's version of Malaysian history and detailed Tunku Abdul Rahman's sorrow at the destruction of his vision of a multiracial Malaysia, when he spoke at Cambridge University South East Asia Forum (CUSEAF), first Lent term event on Wednesday evening.

Within a stone's throw of the Tunku's alma mater, St Catherine's College Cambridge, Raja Petra told the audience of 90 people, comprising mainly students in their 20s that, "the Tunku used to say he was the happiest PM in the world, but in a later interview, said, 'I wish I had died earlier…living to this age and seeing my fellow Malayans killing one another. It saddens me. This is not what I planned for my country.'"

According to the Malaysia Today editor, the Tunku died a heartbroken man and neither spoke to, nor forgave the person whom he blamed as the architect of the mess – Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He drew a sharp contrast between the rallying call of "God, King and Country" used during the English Civil War, with Malaysia's version, which encompasses Ketuanan Melayu, "God, King and Racism".

Charting the birth of the nation and the route taken, as well as the real fighters for Merdeka, he criticised the version of history being taught in Malaysian schools which he called Umno propaganda, and lamented the lack of works by original historians like Swettenham, Wilkinson, or Winstedt.

"In our schools, the history of Malaya starts in 1946. This is when Umno was born. Umno also claimed to have fought for independence from the British."

Raja Petra rubbished Umno's claims that they had fought for independence.

"Umno did not fight anybody. The real fight started in 1941 when the Malay nationalists got together, Pak Sako, Mustapha Hussain and Ibrahim Yaacob. We also had Chinese nationalists like Chin Peng who wanted to fight for the independence of Malaya.

"The fact that he was a communist is secondary. Ibrahim Yaacob was a socialist. Shamsiah Fakeh, a communist. Pak Sako, who is today celebrated as one of the greatest Malay writers, was a socialist."

He recommended that the audience to read, "The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain: 1910 to 1957: Malay nationalism before Umno" which details the journey of nationalism before the formation of Umno and how the Malay nationalists supported the Japanese to free the country from western imperialism.

Umno formed to resist Malayan Union

To a stunned audience, Raja Petra claimed that the Malay nationalists and the Japanese had decided that the date for Merdeka would be Aug 17, 1945. This failed to materialise because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the eventual Japanese surrender on Aug 15, 1945.

After WWII, he said that the British decided to educate the Malayans, in Britain, to groom them for independence. A bankrupted Britain needed to protect her economic interests in Malaya to help their country recover. The British also introduced the Malayan Union, in which the powers of the sultans would be reduced, thus diminishing the powers of the Malays.

"In 1946, Umno was formed not to fight for Merdeka but to resist the Malayan Union," said Raja Petra.

During the negotiations for Merdeka, the British wanted the Malays to persuade the non-Malays to join forces with them. "There was a trade off and so all non-Malays who happened to be in the country, were made citizens. The notion of "Pendatangs" stopped at the time of Merdeka. Merdeka was given to Malaya in 1957, for the Alliance party to administer, and not to Umno."

"With the new parliamentary set-up in 1959, the politicians started to mess things up. From 1959 to 1969, they played up various issues. One of the guilty people was Dr Mahathir, the author of 'The Malay Dilemma'."

Raja Petra blasted the propaganda aimed at the Tunku during May 13, the increase of religious intolerance, the resurgence of racism and talk of "pendatangs". He did not spare parties like PAS which felt that Malaysia was "not religious enough".

"Tunku felt that the country was messed up by Umno politicians who played politics using race and religion".

Reading an excerpt from the book he had earlier recommended, he said, "Mustapha was humiliated and labeled as "the Malay who brought the Japanese into Malaya" because he was negotiating with the Japanese for independence.

"Although Mustapha was already negotiating for Merdeka in 1945, Umno claimed that negotiations for Merdeka only took place in 1957. The 12 year difference is crucial.

"If Umno were to recognise that people like Mustapha Hussain, Pak Sako, Ibrahim Yaacob, as the real "pejuang Merdeka" or fighters for Merdeka, then Umno's legitimacy is gone.

"Umno cannot then claim they are the fighters of Merdeka anymore. They cannot then explain the history they have presented us, which is that Umno was formed in 1946 to fight for Merdeka. None of that happened."

BN and Opposition no different

Raja Petra said that certain people in Umno feared the Tunku's vision of Malaya; a more multiracial and less Islamic Malaya, and so they plotted to make the country more radical and ultra-religious. Their plans started in 1959, and they plotted continuously until the eruption of violence in 1969.

He regretted the entry of the "Young Turks" who grabbed power in 1969, which signaled the beginning of the end, for national unity. He said that from then on, both sides of the political fence played the 3Rs (race, religion, royalty), ketuanan Melayu, the NEP, Article 153 and continued the British policy of divide and rule.

READ MORE HERE

 

Ibrahim Ali and the Christians – Pray for those who hurt you

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:55 AM PST

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Ironically, a person like Ibrahim Ali provides a platform for Christians to become better Christians.

Anas Zubedy 

Let me explain.

Have you ever wondered why when Jesus wanted to liberate Israel from tyrannical Rome (the Government during his time) instead of asking Rome to change, he sought to persuade Israel to change? Jesus felt that without the change of hearts in Israel itself, liberation in any form is impossible.

Jesus at great length explained that the resentment and bitterness that his fellow brethren carried in their hearts was nothing short of suicidal. In fact he suggested that they be smart and read the signs of the times (e.g. in Luke 12:54-56) and not to follow the Zealots.

No… not just the Zealots, he told them not to even listen to their own leaders and priests, and he called them hypocrites (refer to Mark 12:13-17). He discerned the times and was wise in strategy on how he chose to act (refer to John 7:3-9). He suggested that the best way to liberate their enemies is to LOVE them. To do good to those who hate you and to pray for those who hurt you. 

Malaysian Christians must search deep within and ask, "Do I trust Jesus? Do I believe in his words? Am I willing to practice what he asks of me?

"But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!

Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you.

Pray for those who hurt you." - Luke 6:27-28

According to the Bible, without love and compassion all religiosity is empty and of no use.

"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbalIf I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Do you trust Jesus?

 

Human Rights Watch Report: Malaysia

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:50 AM PST

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In a nationally televised speech on Malaysia Day in September 2011, Prime Minister Seri Najib Tun Razak called for a Malaysia "which practices functional and inclusive democracy, where peace and public order are safeguarded in line with the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law and respect for basic human rights and individual rights." However he added that there had to be "checks and balances … between national security and personal freedom," and ensuing reforms have favored security over internationally recognized human rights.         

Parliamentary elections must be held no later than April 2013, and political tensions were already high in November with both the opposition and the government alleging engagement by their political opponents in election-related intimidation and violence.    

Preventive Detention

In his September 2011 speech, Prime Minister Najib pledged to replace the notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), which permitted long-term detention without trial, and other rights-restricting legislation. The Banishment Act 1959 and the Restricted Residence Act 1933 were the first to be rescinded, followed by three emergency declarations and the emergency-related laws they made possible. One of the rescinded laws, the Emergency (Public Order and Crime Prevention) Ordinance 1969, had been regularly used to hold criminal suspects indefinitely without charge or trial.

The Security Offences (Special Measures) 2012 Act (SOSMA) replaced the ISA on July 31, 2012. On a positive note, SOSMA reduced initial detention without charge from 60 to no more than 28 days, and required that a suspect be charged in court or released thereafter. However, other provisions reduce human rights protections, including an overly broad definition of a security offense, allowing police rather than courts to authorize interception of communications during investigations, and permitting prosecutors to conceal the source of evidence and to keep the identities of witnesses secret, thereby preventing cross-examination. Even if a suspect is acquitted under SOSMA, the law permits a series of appeals, with bail disallowed, that could result in a suspect's indefinite detention. Malaysian authorities, using transitional authority at the time SOSMA replaced the ISA, still hold 27 ISA detainees.

Freedom of Assembly and Association

In 2012, the government continued to violate rights to free association and peaceful public assembly. While Prime Minister Najib agreed in September 2011 to review section 27 of the Police Act, which mandated police permits for public assemblies, the government hastily drafted and passed a replacement Peaceful Assembly Act on December 20, 2011.

The new law rescinded the requirement for a permit but also introduced major new restrictions, including a broad ban on "moving assemblies" of any kind. Static protests are also prohibited closer than 50 meters from many prohibited sites, making it virtually impossible to hold an assembly in an urban setting. Other restrictions include empowering the police to set assembly conditions such as time, place, and date after taking into consideration other groups' objections or "any inherent environmental factor." Police were also given the power to use all "reasonable force" to break up a protest.

City and federal officials sought to prevent an April 28 sit-in sponsored by Bersih 3.0, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections. They barred Bersih from using Dataram Merdeka (Independence Square) in central Kuala Lumpur and barricaded the area. Nevertheless, marchers numbering in the tens of thousands walked peacefully toward the barricaded square and when the announcement came that the rally was over began a peaceful dispersal. However, a small group breached the barricades. The police reacted with excessive force in what became a four-hour onslaught of tear gas, water cannon, and indiscriminate beatings and arrests.

On July 1, 2011, Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declared Bersih an illegal organization under the Societies Act. On July 24, 2012, the Kuala Lumpur High Court overturned that decision, ruling that the original decision was "tainted with irrationality."

Freedom of Expression

Most major newspapers and television and radio stations remain controlled by media companies close to political parties in the government coalition. A recent amendment to the Evidence Act has raised fears that intermediary liability on the internet will further decrease freedom of expression. The provision creates a legal presumption that an owner, administrator, host, editor, or subscriber to a network service who has in their custody or control any computer from which any publication originates is presumed to have published or republished the content of the publication unless the contrary is proven.

The Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) retains its potency despite some reforms, such as ending the need to renew licenses annually and adding judicial oversight to what was the home minister's unchecked power to approve or reject license applications. New publications still require initial approval and licenses still may be arbitrarily revoked. Other means of control include calls from the ministry offering "advice" to editors and prison terms and fines for "maliciously" printing so-called false news. The home minister maintains absolute discretion over licensing of printing presses.

In 2012, Malaysian courts partially advanced the right of free expression. Malaysiakini, the largest online newspaper in Malaysia, had repeatedly and unsuccessfully applied to publish a daily print version. On October 1, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled the home minister's refusal was "improper and irrational" and the application should be resubmitted. In a significant statement contradicting the prevailing government view, the judge said that a license to publish was "a right, not a privilege." The attorney general's chambers and the Home Ministry appealed the court's decision.

Sisters in Islam, a local nongovernmental organization, also won a significant victory in July when the Court of Appeal dismissed a government appeal to overturn a 2010 High Court decision lifting the ban on Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, a book of essays originally banned in 2008.

A civil court's decision that the arrest of political cartoonist Zunar under the Sedition Act and the PPPA in September 2012 was lawful had a more negative impact, reinforcing the unwillingness of printing presses, publishers, and bookstores to be associated with controversial books.   

Police Abuses and Impunity

Human Rights Watch and local civil society groups have documented police abuses, including excessive use of force during arrests, suspicious deaths in custody, failure to adequately investigate such incidents and to hold accountable those responsible; and inadequate post-mortem inquiries and investigations. Victims of police violence reported few effective avenues for redress and decried an apparent culture of police impunity for mistreatment.

Read more at: http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/malaysia 

 

Ugly ferocious beast in Malaysia

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:45 AM PST

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More than half or a whopping 85 cases have been classified under 'No Further Action'. Twenty-nine cases are still under investigation.

KTemoc Konsiders 

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The Malaysian Insider - Man says cops shot his wife after car chase, demands explanation

Pua Bee Chun, a 22-year-old housewife, was killed by police in a similar scenario as suffered by Aminulrasyid Amzah. Her death by trigger happy police has been the latest in a string of unexplained or innocent deaths caused by police.

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14-year old Aminulrasyid Amzah

Just recently we read of the horrifying death of C Sumugaran who was reported beaten by several men allegedly including police members. His corpse was found handcuffed and with turmeric powder smeared on his face, a description consistent with the alleged brutalities prior to his demise.

These have not been rare occurrences but rather the rule to the exception, with Indians bearing the brunt of alleged police brutalities or police crimes.

fz.com reported that C Sugumaran's ... case is but the latest in a long line of deaths in custody highlighted in the media. In its written answer in parliament, the Home Ministry stated that there have been a total of 156 deaths in police custody from 2000 to February 2011.

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C Sugumaran

More than half or a whopping 85 cases have been classified under 'No Further Action'. Twenty-nine cases are still under investigation.

In 2007 I posted: Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob, the Chief Judge of Malaya, has expressed her deep concerns that 80 deaths in police custody occurred between January 2000 and December 2004 – that's an average of 20 people dying per annum while in police custody, or almost a frightening 2 per month for 4 continuous years - but only 6 inquests, less than 10% of the deaths, were even held.

The Chief Judge has been troubled that in some instances, deaths occurred hours after detention. As an example, mechanic Alias Othman was detained at 10 pm on March 22 allegedly for causing a disturbance at a mosque in Bachok, Kelantan, but just a mere 5 hours later, he was very very dead. Siti Norma wants answers why so many people had died under such circumstances.

She demanded to know why police had seen it fit to decide that inquests were unnecessary in 22 cases of such deaths. ... In fact, the Criminal Procedure Code specifically makes it mandatory to have inquests into deaths under police custody.

Yet the IGP has not addressed this unacceptable omission, a violation of the Criminal Procedure Code. The IGP must be held responsible and accountable for his failure.

And that's how we came to know of names like A Kugan, F Udayappan, etc. Their troubled souls still cry out for justice. But how to achieve justice when you have blokes like the former Home Minister Syed Hamid who didn't understand the fundamental principle of criminal laws that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The mafulat moronic minister alluded to A Kugan, a police detainee, as a criminal - see Syed Hamid: Don't see criminals as heroes, cops as demons.

(Then) Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang was unsurprisingly incensed by the shameless mindless insensible police minister's stupid attempt to diminish the terrible circumstances leading to Kugan's death in police custody, which the normally recalcitrant AG had even been moved to officially classify as a murder.

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In Malaysiakini Something wrong about Syed Hamid Lim blasted the Minister: "Malaysians, like people all over the world, do not regard criminals as heroes and the police as demons."

"But when a minister responsible for the police makes a shocking statement of this nature, it reflects that something has gone very wrong both with the police force and the home minister with regard to the most basic of government duties – to keep the people safe and to uphold law and order."

Then Lim roared: "Even if Kugan was guilty of the crimes alleged, the police cannot take the law into its own hands and continue to pile up the shocking statistics of deaths in police custody."

The current Home Minister is not any better.

Each time a death occurred (other than that for Aminulrasyid Amzah) the investigation would closed with NFA (no further action). And even in Aminulrasyid's case, the policeman found guilty of his death was subsequently released on appeal.

Read more at: http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/2013/01/ugly-ferocious-beast-in-malaysia.html 

 

SEB committing a bigger sin, says DAP

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:40 AM PST

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(FMT) - "About RM100 million worth of electricity consumed is not accounted for and the SEB has gone on a rampage trying to catch these electricity thieves. On the other hand, it thinks nothing of giving discounts to the tune of RM1.3 billion to four companies"

Giving discounts in the billions to favoured companies is worse than electricity theft committed by local factories and businesses.

 Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) in giving discounts in the billions to four companies is committing a worse sin than electricity theft by local factories and businesses, said DAP.

"About RM100 million worth of electricity consumed is not accounted for and the SEB has gone on a rampage trying to catch these electricity thieves.

"On the other hand, it thinks nothing of giving discounts to the tune of RM1.3 billion to four companies," said Chong Chieng Jen, the state DAP secretary.

"I think SEB has got its priority wrong. We do not encourage stealing of electricity, but if we look at SEB projects, it has given mega discounts to cronies and individual companies.

"The amount is more than 10 times the RM100 million it is attempting to recover. For example, the Murum dam which was initially valued at RM3.7 billion went up to RM4.52 billion."

"This alone is RM550 million over the budget," said Chong. "The second project is the tender for the construction of the 500KV backbone transmission line from Samalaju, Bintulu to Tondong in Bau."

"The project was to be awarded to a company allegedly owned by a son of Sarawak Chief Minister [Taib Mahmud] at RM1.15 billion, although the lowest tender was RM 1billion," he added.

Chong said that the SEB had entered into an agreement with Press Metal Bhd (smelting plant in Mukah) to sell electricity up to 600MW at a price of 10.5 sen.

"If you compare to what the local manufacturers, factory owners and businessmen are paying [at 10.5 sen per kw/hour rate], there is a discount of RM671 million per year to the company.

"For Tokuyama, SEB is selling 140MW at a price of 11.5 sen. If you compare this rate with what is paid by the local companies, it gives this company a discount of RM145 million.

"These figures add up to RM1.3 billion. This amount, given in the form of discounts, wastage or favourable rates payment to cronies is more than 10 times what the alleged theft has cost SEB.

"If SEB wants to make profits and reduce expenses, it should look into those over-run projects, fishy deals and mega discounts to individual companies instead of persecuting the public," he said.

Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/01/31/seb-committing-a-bigger-sin-says-dap/ 

The ugly battle for Selangor

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:37 AM PST

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A simple majority in Parliament will give the Barisan Nasional government – but not Najib – another term to lead the country. But taking Selangor back from Pakatan Rakyat will allow Najib to become the prime minister.

CT Ali, FMT 

Najib's political future lies in him successfully reclaiming Selangor in the next general election.

Is not our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak a man of principle?

From the time he entered politics as the youngest MP ever to everything that he has done since, he has been guided by this one principle – his "political survival principle".

Nothing demonstrates this more than what Najib is doing in the run-up to the 13th general election.

A simple majority in Parliament will give the Barisan Nasional government – but not Najib – another term to lead the country. But taking Selangor back from Pakatan Rakyat will allow Najib to become the prime minister.

And upon Selangor, Najib has staked his political future and the future of his FLOM. Najib as the Selangor Umno chief says that he will take Selangor back from Pakatan by winning at least 32 state seats out of 56. So he says. That means an increase of 12 seats from the present 20 held by Umno.

How can Najib be sure that he can have these 12 additional seats?

He should know because he has the "resources" and the political will to make it happen.

Remember, BN controls the federal departments and the state agencies within that state, and these federal departments and state agencies have been sabotaging PKR efforts within Selangor in more ways than you can cook an egg.

Not only have they made the work of government by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's administration difficult but, also more worrying, the effect at ground level is to make the electorate in Selangor question PKR's ability to deliver on good governance.

With their "assistance", the taking of 12 additional seats is not impossible given the vast resources at Najib's disposal.

Najib's resources

And how vast are Najib's resources?

For a start, we know about Umno's RM40 million election fund that has recently been brought to our attention. And that money, so Umno says, is for Sabah – a state not as important as Selangor is for Najib.

For sure this is but just the tip of the iceberg but what does BN need the money for?

BN does not need the money to buy airtime from any of the television or radio stations to get its messages out to the electorate because it "owns" these stations.

BN does not pay to advertise in any of the mainstream media. It "owns" these media, too.

Billboards? Nope. Maybe BN pays for the construction of the board and the artwork but not the rental of space.

So no television or radio ads to buy, no media ads to buy too, so what does BN do with the cash in hand?

Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/02/01/the-ugly-battle-for-selangor/ 

 

Malaysian Election Deadlock Seen Possible

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:34 AM PST

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(Asia Sentinel) One Malay businessman told Asia Sentinel recently that he plans to vote as early as possible on election day, which hasn't yet been announced, and then get on an airplane immediately to get out of the country until he sees which way the wind blows. Several of his friends have made the same decision, he said. 

Even before the election is called, the political scheming grows in volume

Malaysia's national elections, tentatively to be held sometime in late March or early April, are shaping up as a free-for-all that could end with neither the government's Barisan Nasional nor the Pakatan Rakyat opposition winning enough votes to take power, resulting in what is called a hung parliament, political observers in Kuala Lumpur say.

Actually however, the situation is fluid and, with polling a relatively inexact science in Malaysia, there is no clear idea which side will gather the most votes. The Merdeka Poll taken last month says 45 percent of the people think the country is going in the right direction, but that doesn't mean 55 percent think it isn't. The remainder are split into different camps and some academics have questioned the Mereka Poll's polling methods. 

Past predictions of close elections have been proven wrong as the Barisan has cruised home with majorities - although in 2008 that majority shrank dramatically. The apparent closeness of the race, however, has the business community on the edge. The lack of a clear mandate for one side or the other has raised fears of unrest. 

One Malay businessman told Asia Sentinel recently that he plans to vote as early as possible on election day, which hasn't yet been announced, and then get on an airplane immediately to get out of the country until he sees which way the wind blows. Several of his friends have made the same decision, he said.

That shouldn't be overblown. Malaysia's racial situation has been poisonous for decades, since race riots on July 13, 1969 took an estimated 400 to 600 lives in the wake of national elections in which the opposition gained 50.7 percent of the votes although the Barisan managed nonetheless to hold onto the parliament with 66 percent of total seats. Voter participation is likely to go well above 80 percent, according to academic Wong Chin Huat of the Penang Institute, as both sides pour on the resources in what is shaping up as a bitter contest. 

As many as 80 percent of the country's Chinese voters are expected to opt for the opposition, headed by Anwar Ibrahim, although the Indian community has shown signs of swinging back to the Barisan despite the disastrous condition of the ethic Malaysian Indian Congress, which is riven with factionalism and infighting. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has made a special effort to woo the Indian community, turning up at Indian festivals and other events. Indians make up about 7 percent of the country's citizens.

With the government's two lesser ethnic components - the Malaysian Chinese Association and the MIC - a shambles, the biggest political party, the United Malays National Organization, has largely turned to the ethnic Malay community, which makes up 60. 3 percent of the country. 

In doing so, the government has allowed Malay supremacist Ibrahim Ali and his Perkasa NGO to run largely wild in an effort to paint the Chinese as squatters in a Malay country. That, and a series of scandals and MCA party infighting, has driven the Chinese into the embrace of the opposition Democratic Action Party. It does raise hopes, however, that the racial situation is being manipulated artificially for electoral purposes and that once one side or the other wins, Ibrahim will shut up.

The question is how much of the Malay vote the other two component parties can pull away from UMNO. Parti Islam se-Malaysia has sought to soften its rural, fundamentalist Islamic stance to take moderate Malays away from the larger party. PAS has traditionally been the best organized of the three opposition parties. Whether painting itself as moderate turns off its traditional rural base remains to be seen. The party has banned the wearing of form-fitting cheong-sam dresses by Chinese entertainers in Kedah, then backed away from it, and barred women from cutting men's hair in Kelantan. 

Read more at: http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5154&Itemid=178 

 

Scrapping for every vote

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:28 AM PST

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(The Economist) - THE smell of fresh paint in Taman Sentosa, one of the poorer districts of Malaysia's capital, can mean only one thing: elections are at hand. And lest anyone forget to whom they owe their good fortune, prominent signs up outside every block remind them: the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government. 

THE smell of fresh paint in Taman Sentosa, one of the poorer districts of Malaysia's capital, can mean only one thing: elections are at hand.

The walls of the numerous public-housing blocks in the area are gleaming, all painted within the past year. The redecoration of one block, 1A Pinang, was finished only on January 3rd, and the lucky residents got some shiny new guttering as well. The caretaker says it is the first time the place had received any attention since it was built 20 years ago. And lest anyone forget to whom they owe their good fortune, prominent signs up outside every block remind them: the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government. The paint-job is a federally funded project in an opposition MP's constituency.

A general election must be called before the end of April, and it might be the tightest ever. The BN has never lost an election since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957. Last time round, however, in 2008, the party suffered its greatest rebuff at the polls, losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as five out of 12 contested state governments. This time the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR) and its allies, led by the veteran Anwar Ibrahim, hope to go one better, so the BN is leaving nothing to chance.

Taman Sentosa is in the Lembah Pantai constituency in central Kuala Lumpur, and what happens there will decide the fate of the election as a whole. It had always been a BN stronghold but was lost by a narrow margin in the electoral meltdown of 2008. The new MP was Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Mr Anwar, who won by just 2,895 votes. If the BN can wrest back this seat they will be safe; if the PKR win again they will know they have a chance of ending the BN's run in power.

It has thus become a totemic race, and Nurul Izzah believes that the BN are not only deploying paint brushes to give them the edge. The constituency used to have 149 postal votes, but the total has now jumped to 2,180, she says—all policemen, traditionally BN supporters. As in other urban constituencies the overall number of voters has risen since 2008, by about 15,000. Many of these live elsewhere but have registered to vote in Lembah Pantai, and Nurul Izzah claims that hundreds of these are known BN voters, which could make a big difference in a tight race.

Read more at: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21571191-general-election-due-shortly-and-first-time-it-could-be-close-scrapping-every-vote?fsrc=rss|asi 

 

Chua: Government to present Chinese schools a fixed allocation from next year

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:26 AM PST

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(The Star) - A fixed allocation will be given to Chinese schools from next year.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said he was informed of this by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, also the Education Minister, on Wednesday.

Dr Chua said Chinese primary schools had been allocated RM100mil last year and the same amount this year as development fund.

He warned that with the general election approaching, the Opposition had been going all out to mislead the people on the status of Chinese schools in the country.

Dr Chua said the DAP had to intensify such efforts this time around to counter the positive development for Chinese schools under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the last two years.

He added that the increasing demand for places in Chinese primary schools among the Chinese and other races also showed the people's confidence in the schools.

"Over 92% of Chinese send their children to Chinese primary schools now.

"Non-Chinese pupils comprise 15% of pupils in Chinese primary schools now, against 5% some 20 years ago," he said.

The expansion for Chinese primary schools between 1999 and 2010 also saw the building of 17 new schools, relocation of 75 schools to areas with high demand for places and the rebuilding of more than 1,000 classrooms, said Dr Chua.

"The people must be made aware of the development so that they will not fall prey to the opposition," he said after the ground-breaking ceremony for a new block of classrooms for SJK (C) Kopisan here yesterday.

Dr Chua said 820 tertiary institutions in China and 71 universities in Malaysia had mutual recognition.

Another 157 tertiary institutions in Taiwan and 121 in Malaysia also had similar recognition.

This, he added, had opened more tertiary education opportunities for students from Chinese schools, especially Chinese independent school students who hold the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) which is equivalent to STPM.

"The graduates are recognised in Malaysia," he pointed out, adding that this showed the Government had neither neglected Chinese education nor the students or belittled UEC.

Pending recognition for UEC, Dr Chua said the MCA and Government had been making all efforts possible to make tertiary education accessible to the students.

Every year, beginning last year, 50 top UEC scorers get a RM45,000 scholarship each without any bond, he said.

Dr Chua also advised Malaysians to strive to be multi-lingual to enhance their competitiveness.

Citing examples, he said many of the Chinese in China speak good English compared to 20 years ago.

Later in Ipoh, Dr Chua advised grassroots leaders in all divisions not to organise any overseas group holidays from now until after the general election.

"It is important to focus fully on our election preparations, especially in our services to the people and reaching out to them," he said after chairing the Perak MCA liaison committee meeting.

Sultan Selangor Ada Kuasa Tolak Nasihat MB Bubar DUN

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:22 AM PST

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(mStar) - Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah mempunyai kuasa menolak permohonan Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim untuk membubarkan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) itu bagi membolehkan pilihan raya diadakan.

Ketua Kluster Governans, Perundangan dan Pengurusan Awam Majlis Profesor Negara (MPN), Prof Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood berkata, Sultan Selangor mempunyai kuasa budi bicara untuk tidak memperkenankan permohonan Abdul Khalid sebagai Ketua Eksekutif di negeri itu bagi tujuan berkenaan.

"Berdasarkan sistem Raja Berperlembagaan, Ketua Negara iaitu Yang di-Pertuan Agong atau Ketua Negeri iaitu raja atau sultan mempunyai kuasa budi bicara dalam soal pembubaran Parlimen atau DUN.

"Agong atau sultan boleh untuk tidak bersetuju dengan cadangan Perdana Menteri atau Menteri Besar berdasarkan alasan dan pertimbangan tertentu mengikut budi bicara mereka," katanya kepada mStar Online di sini, Khamis.

Bagaimanapun Nik Ahmad Kamal berkata secara amalannya, agong atau sultan akan memberi perkenan untuk membubarkan Parlimen atau DUN sekiranya wujud permohonan daripada Ketua Eksekutif.

"Dalam kes Selangor, sekiranya Sultan Selangor enggan bersetuju sudah pasti ia akan menimbulkan satu konflik Perlembagaan dan menjadi 'precedent' kerana ia berlaku di luar amalan dan kebiasaan.

"Tambahan pula berdasarkan situasi semasa apabila tempoh matang DUN Selangor hampir tamat pada April nanti. Jadi pastinya akan menimbulkan masalah sekiranya permohonan untuk dibubarkan DUN ditolak," katanya.

Selain itu Nik Ahmad Kamal yang juga Penasihat Undang-Undang Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia berkata, jawatan Yang di-Pertuan Agong adalah berasaskan konsep Raja Berperlembagaan atau Constitutional Monarchy yakni raja yang sentiasa kena mematuhi nasihat Jemaah Menteri atau salah seorang yang mewakilinya (biasanya Perdana Menteri) seperti yang dikehendaki Perkara 40 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Bagaimanapun Yang di-Pertuan Agong boleh bertindak menurut budi bicaranya bagi melaksanakan tiga fungsi iaitu melantik seorang Perdana Menteri; tidak memperkenankan permintaan bagi pembubaran Parlimen dan meminta diadakan mesyuarat Majlis Raja-Raja yang semata-mata berkenaan dengan keistimewaan, kedudukan, kemuliaan dan kebesaran Duli-Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja, dan apa-apa tindakan pada mesyuarat itu.

Peruntukan yang sama dimasukkan dalam Perlembagaan Negeri menerusi Jadual Kelapan Perkara 71 sebagai peruntukan tetap yang menyentuh mengenai kuasa budi bicara seorang sultan.

Beliau berkata demikian bagi mengulas mengenai kenyataan Abdul Khalid bahawa Kerajaan Selangor sedia membubar DUN pada akhir Februari ini iaitu selepas sambutan Chap Goh Mei, jika Kerajaan Pusat tidak membubarkan Parlimen pada waktu itu nanti.

Sementara itu, peguam hak asasi manusia, Syahredzan Johan berpendapat Abdul Khalid tidak mempunyai saluran undang-undang sekiranya wujud situasi apabila Sultan Selangor menolak permohonannya untuk membubarkan DUN.

"Saya tidak dapat lihat secara realistiknya cara lain untuk Menteri Besar Selangor membubarkan DUN sekiranya baginda tidak membenarkannya.

"Perkara ini mungkin boleh dibawa ke mahkamah, tetapi saya tidak rasa ianya sesuatu yang Kerajaan Selangor ingin lakukan. Saya juga tidak yakin sama ada keputusan akan berpihak kepada mereka," katanya yang juga Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Undang-Undang Perlembagaan Majlis Peguam Malaysia.

Vote only for Muslims, says PAS rep

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:18 AM PST

http://fz.com/sites/default/files/styles/mainbanner_645x435/public/Datuk-Dr-Nik-Mazian-Mohamad.jpg 

(The Star)"If the PKR candidate is a non-Muslim, it is best for voters to vote for the Umno candidate to safeguard the interests of Islam" 

A PAS assemblyman has urged Muslim voters to vote for a Muslim Umno candidate if a non-Muslim PKR candidate is fielded in a seat in the general election.

PAS Gaal assemblyman Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad was quoted by online portal Mole.my as saying that it was better to vote for a fellow Muslim to ensure that Islamic principles are defended.

"In choosing between a Muslim Umno candidate and a PKR candidate, a voter must evaluate which candidate is better.

"If the PKR candidate is a non-Muslim, it is best for voters to vote for the Umno candidate to safeguard the interests of Islam," he said.

He also noted that Malaysian Muslims have two choices of leadership, the Islamic and non-Islamic governance, and it is vital for them to choose the party that fights for Islam.

However, Dr Nik Mazian stressed that between Umno and PAS candidates, it was wajib (compulsory) for Muslim voters to vote for PAS.

"Muslims in this country have a better choice for a government that upholds the Islamic principles.

"Only PAS has been upholding Islam in its struggle, unlike Umno and Barisan Nasional. It is a clear choice for Muslims," he said.

Asked why PAS had chosen to work with DAP which does not share the same principle of upholding Islamic principles, he told The Mole online that: "In democracy and politics, it is only wise for PAS to accept help from other parties which can help us to topple the Barisan Nasional Government.

"They can have their own opinion. We work together to ensure that the Barisan Government will be defeated."

Johor in dissenting gales

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:15 AM PST

(My SinChew)The opposition's landslide win in the by-election at Punggol East of Singapore might signify little to the central, northern and eastern Malaysians but was definitely an inspirational impact to the neighbouring Johoreans.

"Will this gale-force dissenting wind in Singapore a paragon for Johor state?" is the question posed by my politically aware acquaintances these days.

No definite answer is available though. Accurate prediction is wanting since the date for the general elections is not finalised and ballots are not cast.

My rejoinder could go as such: There definitely will be impact but I am not sure how strong it will be. One thing I am very sure of is that the some hundred thousand Malaysian workers in Singapore could play a crucial role in the next election.

Supposing the election is to be held after Chap Goh Meh as raised, then those working in Singapore will have to abandon their voting rights since they have to oblige office. But this is only a matter for conjecture notwithstanding reasonable basis.

Yet another undeniable reality is that the voters nowadays are in general politically aware. Under this dissenting umbrella, one thing I am sure of is that those who work abroad or in Singapore might take leave to exercise their civil right back home.

It could be a bit too far to travel back to east Malaysia but going back to west Malaysia for voting will not be that woeful in this transportation advanced age.

I believe those who work in Singapore are predominantly Johoreans. To these Johoreans, faring home to cast their ballots is not a trouble. The question is whether you are politically aware, taking this as an obligation.

The tricky question currently is, given that the mentioned permanent residents and workers of Singapore are politically aware, which party will they fancy, BN or Pakatan Rakyat?

Pakatan Rakyat has since taken these expatriates as their immediate supporters. The truth seems to be so nonetheless the MCA would argue as the result is still fluid. What's more, polling is strictly confidential.

The past election result in Skudai constituency probably can serve as a reference: in the 1999 general elections, Gerakan Rakyat's Khoo Kong Ek defeated DAP's Boo Cheng Hau with a majority of 11,245 votes. But in 2008, Boo was given the mandate contesting against Gerakan's Teo Kok Chee.

In these eight straight years, Skudai turned from BN's strong bastion to an indifferent neighbourhood. The reason, to a great extent, has something to do with Boo Cheng Hau's personal charisma and endeavour. Another inextricable element is, there are many expatriates working in Singapore and they exerted their crucial role in the 2008 elections in response to DAP's calling.

MCA president Chua Soi Lek stated last year that there wasn't any secured region in Johor for their party. The remark could be goading but under the 2008 dissenting wind blowing southward along with the forceful northward gale from neighbouring Singapore, MCA is set to confront a life-and-death fray, formidably.

Najib’s fate up to Umno if BN does not improve in polls, says Dr M

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 09:51 PM PST

Zurairi AR, The Malaysian Insider

It is up to Umno members to decide if Datuk Seri Najib Razak should step aside if Barisan Nasional (BN) fails to get a stronger mandate in Election 2013, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

But the former prime minister (picture), a staunch supporter of the administration, said Najib was unfortunately faced with the disadvantage of inheriting a weak government headed by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"I think he's trying to do better than Tun Abdullah. And I think he can," Dr Mahathir added.

Dr Mahathir said it was his personal opinion that Najib should give way to Deputy Umno president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin if BN only scores a slim majority in the elections.

"If he fails, he should move of course," Dr Mahathir told reporters during the 15th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference here.

However, he said that the decision ultimately lies with party members to decide the fate of their president.

The matter of Abdullah's weak cabinet cropped up several times during the event today, with Institute of Political and Economic Affairs (IKAPE) chairman Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad declaring that significant gain by PR in the last polls was a fluke, brought by a response against former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"It was more of a protest against the inept Abdullah administration of broken promises, infantile behaviour and abuse of power," he said in a forum discussing the outlook of Election 2013.

READ MORE HERE

 

Mahathir blames Anwar for Project IC

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 09:13 PM PST

The former premier says his then deputy was directly involved in granting citizenships to immigrants in Sabah, and accused the latter of acting on his own at times. 

(FMT) - Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad today claimed that his former deputy and current Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was the main man behind citizenship-for-votes to immigrants in Sabah in the 1990s.

Clearly disputing Anwar's previous claims of ignorance on the matter, Mahathir said the former was directly involved in the so-called "Project IC", adding that at times, he (Anwar) had acted without orders from him (Mahathir).

"He normally takes the initiative and sometimes do more [than is required]," online news portal Malaysiakini quoted Mahathir as saying at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

"What happens on the ground is often different from the directive [from above]," added Mahathir.

He said that Anwar and other implementing officers in Sabah had at times failed to follow instructions from him, adding that the government had taken action against these errant officers.

Mahathir was responding to questions if he had ordered Anwar to issue ICs to unqualified immigrants in Sabah so that they could be registered as voters who would support Barisan Nasional.

Mahathir responded by saying that Anwar had a hand in possible illegal actions and abuses, adding that he knew of possible wrongdoings by Anwar.

He also said that he will testify before the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegals in Sabah if called

Anwar claimed to be in the dark

Last week, 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".

Anwar's response had come following a call from Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak who had challenged the PKR leader 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".

Jeffrey: Anwar was in charge

Sabah's veteran politician Jeffrey Kitingan had also expressed hope that Anwar would "tell the truth" if he ends up testifying in the RCI.

"However, I do hope he would tell the truth about his own role in the citizenship fiasco," Jeffrey told FMT last week.

"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.

READ MORE HERE

 

Anwar directly involved in Project IC, says Dr M

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:35 PM PST

Hazlan Zakaria, Malaysiakini

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was directly involved in the project to issue citizenship and identity cards to unqualiified immigrants Sabah in the 90s, though without orders from him, claims former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

"He normally takes the initiative and sometimes does more (than is required)," Mahathir told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

NONE"What happens on the ground is often different from the directive (from above)."

Mahathir said Anwar (right) and the implementing officers on site in Sabah at the time took matters into their own hands and were not necessarily following instructions from the chain of command.

The veteran politician noted that the government had taken action against those officers involved.

He was asked to comment whether he ever ordered Anwar, then his deputy, to issue ICs to unqualified immigrants in Sabah.

"He had a hand in it," alleged Mahathir adding that what happened may have included illegal action and abuse of process.

The former PM added that while he may not have evidence that could be adduced in court, he "has knowledge" of the possible wrongdoings by Anwar.

NONEAsked how a strong prime minister of a strong government like his could have a deputy and underlings running around not following orders, Mahathir said that even if Superman is a prime minister, he will be hard pressed to be able to look at everything.

He said that he would testify before the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into illegal immigrants in Sabah if called.

"I'll stick to the facts," assured Mahathir.

Allegations of Anwar's involvement in handling the Sabah situation ran rampant when the opposition politicians began to call for an RCI into the immigrant situation in the state.

State BN leaders immediately came out decrying Anwar as the one behind such sheenanigans when he was Mahathir's deputy, though the allegations were downplayed by the opposition leader.

However, both sides agreed that an RCI was needed. Bipartisan pressure made possible the ongoing hearings into allegations that unqualified immigrants were handed out citizenships and ICs by those seeking electoral support from the grateful, newly-made citizens.

 

Fact File: The Selangor water crisis

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:06 PM PST

Tarani Palani and Stephanie Sta Maria, fz.com

THE latest water disruption due to breakdown of the Wangsa Maju water pump in late December has sparked a fresh round of finger pointing between Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and the Selangor state government over the state's long-standing water issue.

The Selangor government once again questioned Syabas' capability to cater to the needs of over seven million people in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Syabas on the other hand argued that the state has blocked essential funding to improve its piping and other important maintenance work, hence crippling its efforts to provide quality service. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has pledged to solve the water problem if BN wins back the state in the coming general election. 

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim announced on Jan 29 that the state government will take over all four water concessionaires – Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Holdings (Splash), Konsortium ABASS and Syabas – in 14 days. This will no doubt bring about another round of arguments on the matter. 

fz.com gives the low-down on the issue by retracing the stalemate and details of the relevant parties in the infrastrctural problem that has no resolve in sight yet. In the meantime, the people suffer while the bickering continues.

 

Go ahead, make an offer, Chin tells S'gor MB

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:01 PM PST

Stephanie Sta Maria, fz.com

Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Peter Chin has given the Selangor government the green light to make yet another acquisition offer to the state's four water concessionaires.

The four concessionaires are Syarikat Pengeluar Air Berhad (Splash), Konsortium Abbas, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad (PNHB).
 
"We have no objections," Chin said during a press conference at his ministry today. 
 
"Go ahead and I wish you luck. We have never prevented the Selangor government from making such an offer as long as it's on a "willing buyer-willing seller" principle and follows regulations."
 
Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim yesterday said that he has written to Chin's ministry to inform them that the state government would take over the state water service industry if Chin didn't respond within two weeks. 
 
The letter was sent yesterday and the move would be effective from Feb 14. 
 
Khalid said that the move was based on a recent statement by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the federal government had no objection to a takeover. 
 
Muhyiddin chairs the Special Cabinet Committee on the Selangor Water Issue which was set up in July 2012. 
 
Echoing Muhyiddin's statement, Chin said that previous letters from his ministry to Khalid had stated the same as he viewed it as an ordinary commercial offer that required the agreement of the relevant parties.
 
As such, Chin added, Khalid only needed to summon representatives from all parties for a negotiation rather than publicly discuss his takeover intentions and issue "warnings" to Muhyiddin and him.
 
"If there is an agreement, then report it to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and me," he said. 
 
"I hope Khalid will not blow up this issue anymore and make it seem like the Federal government is against Selangor's intention to make a takeover."
 
Chin however said that he wasn't privy to the details of Khalid's latest offer as he hadn't received any information nor Khalid's letter. 
 
When asked whether he would respond to Khalid upon receiving the letter, he answered, "Yes! I will respond and I will say exactly what I am saying today. I would also love to see the letter he has written to the concessionaires if he has even written one yet." 
 
According to Chin, there had been many unofficial meetings between him and Khalid over the water issue in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Chin said he had always maintained that the Federal government had no power to force the water concessionaires to sell their equity to the Selangor state government. 
 
He also pointed out that the Federal government had previously carried out successful water restructuring plans in six states, including Penang, and questioned why Selangor wasn't using this proven method.
 
Chin then criticised the Selangor government for being more interested in politicising the issue instead recommending solutions and said that the takeover offer would not resolve the real issue at hand. 
 
"The Selangor government's statements have created unease among many quarters and has spooked shareholders," he said. "Do I need to mention that Selangor has a stake in  Konsortium Abass, Splash and Syabas?" 
 
Selangor - through Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (KPS) and Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) - owns a 30% stake in Syabas, a 30% stake in Splash and a 55% stake in Konsortium Abass. 
 
The state government has made three previous takeover offers to the four water concessionaires between 2009 and 2012. All three offers were rejected. 

 

LGBT can be cured - Puad Zarkashi

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:54 PM PST

(NST) - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) is akin to a social sickness that can be prevented and cured, said Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

Puad said several non-governmental organisations had pledged to stop people from all walks of life, especially students in the secondary schools from getting involved in LGBT.

He said many people, including teachers had confessed to him that they were gays and managed to turn over a new leaf following repeated personal consultation.

"LGBT is curable so those who are in this category please seek help immediately," he said.

Puad was speaking to reporters while officiating a LGBT seminar to discuss ways of overcoming fears to get treatment.

Some 200 representatives comprising parents and teachers from 176 schools  in the Seberang Prai Utara and Seberang Prai Tengah districts attended the seminar at the Politeknik Seberang Prai here today.

Puad said the the seminar in Permatang Puah was the second of its kind to be held in Penang and similar events would continue nationwide. It was the 21st LGBT seminar in the country.

 

Anggota dan pemimpin PKR ‘buat kecoh’ dI JPN P.Pinang

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:45 PM PST

Kumpulan itu sebelum itu berarak sejauh kira-kira 400 meter dari Jalan larut ke kompleks itu di Jalan Anson sebelum merempuh halangan polis atas alasan untuk berurusan secara beramai-ramai di JPN di kompleks itu.

(Bernama) - GEORGE TOWN: Kira-kira 100 anggota Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) diketuai Naib Presiden PKR N.Surendran hari ini menimbulkan kekecohan di kompleks jabatan kerajaan pusat di Bangunan Persekutuan di sini apabila cuba menyerbu masuk untuk menganjurkan demontrasi "duduk dan bantah".

Dalam kejadian kira-kira 10 pagi itu, kumpulan itu sebelum itu berarak  sejauh kira-kira 400 meter dari Jalan larut ke kompleks itu di Jalan Anson sebelum merempuh halangan polis atas alasan untuk berurusan secara beramai-ramai di Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) di kompleks itu.

Turut serta dalam himpunan itu ialah Anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Batu Uban S. Raveentharan, Adun Pantai Jerejak Sim Tze Tzin, Adun Kebun Bunga Jason Ong dan Adun Komtar Ng Wei Aik.

Surendran berkata tujuan perhimpunan itu adalah sebagai membantah pemberian kad pengenalan merah yang didakwa terlalu lama kepada warga emas yang dilahirkan di negara ini sejak sebelum merdeka dan berharap mereka segera diberikan MyKad.

Katanya, selain itu mereka juga membawa 15 orang kanak-kanak berusia enam hingga 14 tahun yang tidak memiliki sijil kelahiran.

Kumpulan itu kemudiannya dibenarkan masuk ke pejabat JPN dan dilayan di kaunter khas.

Penolong Pengarah JPN negeri Noorhazlina Ishak yang menguruskan permohonan kumpulan terbabit bagaimanapun enggan mengulas kepada wartawan.

 

Police quiz Ibrahim Ali over ‘Bible-burning’ threat

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST

(Bernama) - Penang police have recorded statements from two Perkasa leaders — its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and information chief Roslan Kassim — over the alleged "festival" to burn Malay and Jawi versions of the Bible containing the word "Allah".

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said rumours had been spread that the "Bible-burning" gathering would be held at Padang Bandaran, Bagan Luar in Butterworth on the mainland last Sunday.

He said police recorded statements from the two Perkasa leaders yesterday and that the investigation report was ready.

"Police recorded statements from both the leaders here yesterday and they were co-operative. We have prepared the investigation report and will be submitted to the Attorney-General's office," he told reporters at the Penang police headquarters here today.

A pastor had lodged a police report in Penang last week over the distribution of anonymous pamphlets at a church, advertising a "festival" to burn Malay-language bibles at a field.

Police gave an assurance that there would be no such gathering to burn bibles as alleged at Padang Bandaran, Bagan Luar because such rumours were being spread by some irresponsible people.

Abdul Rahim said apart from the two Perkasa leaders, statements were also recorded from a number of individuals to assist investigations.

Muslim and Christian leaders here have been at loggerheads over the use of the Arabic word "Allah", with the former claiming it referred exclusively to the Islamic God.

 

NRD: ‘Send ICs to Sabah’ letter fake

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:51 PM PST

No letter was issued on that day and the NRD has lodged a police report over the matter, says its officer. 

Anisah Shukry, FMT

A letter purportedly from the National Registration Department (NRD) ordering that all uncollected identification cards (IC) be sent to Sabah is fake, an NRD official said today.

"That letter is a fake. There has never been a procedure to send uncollected ICs anywhere except to the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya," said NRD's public relations officer Jainisah Mohd Noor.

"We lodged a police report over the letter at the police station in Putrajaya yesterday," she told FMT.

Yesterday, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar told reporters that he had received a "suspicious" letter allegedly signed by NRD director (identification card) division Md Solehan Omar and addressed to NRD's state and district officers.

The letter, which was dated Dec 14 2012, said the auditor, who was temporarily in Keningau, Sabah would update the cards' status in the NRD's system from Sabah before sending the cards back to the NRD headquarters by Dec 31, 2012.

"If the contents of this letter is true, then it is possible that the ICs are sent to Sabah not for termination, but for manipulation," Mahfuz had said.

"The ICs could be passed onto others, particularly immigrants," the Pokok Sena MP had further suggested.

However, Jainisah said that division directors in NRD had no power to issue orders or sign letters to state and district officers.

"I'm not sure myself who is truly behind this fake letter, because all orders by NRD are issued and signed by the chief director alone.

"No division directors are given the power to issue such orders," she stressed.

She also said that the records kept by NRD showed the last letter issued within the department last year was on Dec 10, not Dec 14.

"This order on Dec 14 does not exist," she said.

Asked what further action would NRD would take over the fake letter, Jainisah said they would wait for the police to investigate.

Explain unclaimed ICs

Meanwhile, FMT's attempts to get a response from Md Solehan was unsuccessful as officers said he would be in Sabah until Monday.

But in a press conference this morning, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed Jainisah's assertion today that the letter was fake.

READ MORE HERE

 

Stop ‘thinking’ for the rakyat

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 11:33 AM PST

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/Vishwaroopam_poster.jpg/220px-Vishwaroopam_poster.jpg 

Where Malaysia's education goes, it remains a case of "teachers and lecturers speak and students listen passively". And where politics go, the government dictates and the rakyat nods, the latter's views dismissed unceremoniously.

Jeswan Kaur, FMT 

By declaring certain events, books and movies as 'harmful' to the country's peace, harmony, law and order only reveals the deep-rooted insecurity haunting the BN-led government.

How does one define a nation's development? Is it based on the impressive infrastructure or by the fact that its coffers are brimming?

What about the intellectual capacity of its people – does it count for anything as far as progress goes?

If the thinking ability of the people is the backbone of a developed nation, then Malaysia for one better re-think its claims of being a "successful" country by the year 2020.

Malaysia is deserving of the "developed nation" status only when it stops insulting the intelligence of the rakyat; in other words, do not underestimate the people's thinking power.

From brainwashing to indoctrination of submissive and unreliable dogmas, the federal government has done it all and that too by making schools and universities its prime targets.

So we have young Malaysians who are unable to think creatively or constructively. The era of "do as I say" continues, a sad reminder to the rakyat of the dictatorial legacy that came about during the premiership of the country's fourth prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Where Malaysia's education goes, it remains a case of "teachers and lecturers speak and students listen passively". And where politics go, the government dictates and the rakyat nods, the latter's views dismissed unceremoniously.

The government has decided to do the "thinking" for the rakyat; be it by way of banning books by "out of the box thinking" authors to labelling movies tackling sensitive subjects as damning to the nation's well-being.

The question that begs an honest answer is: just why does the federal government keep insulting the rakyat's intelligence?

By declaring certain events, books and movies as "harmful" to the country's peace, harmony, law and order only reveals the deep-rooted insecurity haunting the Barisan Nasional-led government.

It was not that long ago when all hell broke loose when "I speak my mind" writer-lecturer Irshad Manji flew down from America to launch her book "Allah, Liberty, Love" in Kuala Lumpur.

Prior to that, the federal government decided it was "dangerous" for an event that gave the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders a platform to converge and exchange information.

The authorities meanwhile started chanting "peace" as the reason for justifying such restrictions.

Not once were the rakyat consulted or their views deemed necessary before such prohibitions were enforced.

When will this madness stop?

Looks like the government of the day has no plans to stop meddling in what the people can see and read, that too without understanding and investigating the issues further.

The recent premature move by the Home Ministry declaring the Tamil movie "Vishwaroopam" as unfit for public viewing, claiming that it hurt the religious sensitivities of Muslims, is the last straw in taking the sound-minded rakyat for granted.

Malaysia has joined Singapore, Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu as countries that have outlawed "Vishwaroopam" on the basis that it gives the message that Muslims are terrorists.

"Vishwaroopam", a spy thriller, is directed and co-produced by South Indian superstar Kamal Haasan, who also portrays three main characters in the film.

The movie, released worldwide on Jan 25, revolves around s international terrorism, a reason fit enough by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's standards to impose a ban.

Back in Tamil Nadu where "Vishwaroopam" was barred from the theatres for two weeks, the actor-director took the matter to court.

To dispel the fears of the Muslim organisations back home, Kamal Hassan organised a special screening but this only worsened matters.

In Malaysia, within 48 hours of having received a memorandum from the Malaysian Indian Muslim Youth Movement, the Home Minister decided to outlaw the multi-lingual "Vishwaroopam".

The Film Censorship Board had no say when Hishammuddin ordered that "Vishwaroopam" be declared unsafe for public viewing.

Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/01/31/stop-%E2%80%98thinking%E2%80%99-for-the-rakyat/ 

BFM Uncensored - Deal Breaker?

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 11:32 AM PST

OgojEDJj5Oo 

Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan weighs in on allegations made at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal migration in Sabah against the Election Commission. Dubbed the "citizenship-for-votes" scandal, the allegations implicates the Election Commission in systematically subverting the electoral process in Sabah. BFM's Sharaad Kuttan asks Ambiga if voters should continue to participate in the electoral process. 

Or watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgojEDJj5Oo 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net
 

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