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• 2012 Budget Highlights
• Greenpeace Speaks Up In Support Of The Vet Taib’s Assets Campaign!
• Najib, what’s it to be? Free and fair elections after electoral reforms, or Tahrir Square?
• ‘Truth In Advertising’ – Ta Ann Exposed!
• It's hard for me to say I'm sorry
• How The Hunter Became The Hunted
• Rakyat mahu bersatu, tetapi bersatu di luar BN
• Like the RFS, Taib cannot stop the RARA getting into Sarawak

2012 Budget Highlights Posted: 07 Oct 2011 04:17 PM PDT * Government will introduce other transformation programmes, culminating in the National Transformation Policy, effective 2011-2020. * RM232.8 billion allocated to implement all government development plans, focusing on the well-being of the rakyat, with RM181.6 billion for operating expenditure and RM51.2 billion for development expenditure. * RM13.6 billion allocated to the social sector, including education, training, health, welfare, housing and community development. * Government will implement a special stimulus package through private financing initiative, through which total projects amounting RM6 billion will be carried out. * 2012 announced as the year of National Innovation Movement, with a RM100 million allocation to implement several strategic initiatives. * RM50.2 billion for the education sector, with a development allocation of RM1.9 billion for the Education Ministry to be spent on all types of schools. * RM1 billion to be provided through a special fund for the construction, improvement and maintenance of schools, particularly to cater to their immediate needs. * Abolition of RM24.50 and RM33.50 for co-curriculum, internal test papers, Malaysian Schools Sports Council fees and insurance premium involving students in primary and secondary schools respectively, beginning the 2012 school year. * Financial contributions from companies and individuals to upgrade school facilities to be eligible for tax deductions, to encourage more charitable activities. * Existing National Agrobusiness Terminal (TEMAN) in Wakaf Che Yeh (Kelantan) and Gopeng (Perak) will be developed as Rural Transformation Centres pilot projects, with four more RTCs to be developed in Kedah, Johor, sabah and Sarawak. * Establishment of Professional Services Fund to encourage professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants to set up firms in small towns, with BSN providing RM100 million for soft loans with an interest of 4 per cent. * RM110 million for the implementation of the Rural Mega Leap Programme covering 6,500 hectares in 11 Agropolitan Projects nationwide for the cultivation of commodity and cash crops as well as cage fish culture. * RM140 million to implement RISDA's new planting and rubber re-planting programmes benefiting 20,000 smallholders. * RM5 billion proposed to strengthen the development of rural basic infrastructure in a more comprehensive manner. * RM500 million to continue implementing projects to upgrade basic infrastructure under "Projek Penyelenggaraan Infrastruktur Awam" and "Projek Infrastruktur Asas", providing opportunities for 29,000 Class F contractors registered with the Contractor Service Sector. * RM50 million to expand rainwater harvesting programme to Sabah. * RM400 million to upgrade water supply infrastructure in selected Felda areas, besides RM50 million to connect the reticulation system in estates to the main pipes. * RM150 million to be provided to the Public Transport Development Fund in the SME Bank to enhance bus services for the rural community. * RM90 million for the provision of basic necessities which includes expanding the clean water supply project as well as income generating programmes for the Orang Asli community. * Introduction of the New Civil Service Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) to replace the current scheme. * Improving the salary of civil servants through a single-tier structure with additional increments to enable civil servants to continue receiving annual increments over a longer period. * Annual increment of civil servants to be increased between RM80 and RM320 according to their grades, beginning 2012. Those who opt for the SBPA will receive an annual increment of between 7 per cent and 13 per cent. * With the implementation of SBPA, more than 600,000 government pensioners will benefit from a pension adjustment involving an allocation of RM600 million. * Effective 2013, the government will implement an annual pension increment of 2 per cent without having to wait for any review of the remuneration system or salary adjustments. * Extension of compulsory retirement age from 58 to 60 years old to optimise civil servants' contribution. * Additional bonus of half-month salary with a minimum payment of RM500 for civil servants and an assistance of RM500 for government pensioners, to be paid together with December 2011 salary. * RM120 million to offer 5,000 Masters and 500 doctoral scholarships for eligible civil servants, including teachers. * The government will offer 20,000 places for diploma teachers to pursue undergraduate studies. * A special one-off payment of RM3,000 to 4,300 individuals who have completed their contracts with the Department of Special Affairs (JASA) and Social Development Department (KEMAS). READ MORE HERE

Greenpeace Speaks Up In Support Of The Vet Taib’s Assets Campaign! Posted: 07 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT The Chief Executive Officer of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Dr Linda Selvey, has personally written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, backing requests by the Bruno Manser Foundation, PKR and Sarawak Report for an investigation into the Taib family's string of investments in that country. These include investments by Hamed Sepawi's Ta Ann in a major logging concern in Tasmania, as well as numerous companies and properties owned by the Taibs, Taib's brother in law, Robert Geneid, and related companies and assets. Greenpeace support for an enquiry into Taib Mahmud's affairs  Growing anti-timber corruption campaign puts world governments on the spot over Taib Dr Selvey states in her letter:     "As research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown and as many other journalists and independent bodies and individuals have demonstrated, Taib has abused his office consistently throughout his 30 reign as potentate of Sarawak in Malaysia.  This has come at a high cost to the people and environment of Sarawak, a region of immense cultural and environmental significance on the island of Borneo" She continues:     "There is significant evidence to indicate that the Taib family might have laundered and reinvested large amounts of money, procured through corruption in Australia" Pointing out Australia's obligations to identify and address international corruption under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Greenpeace Chief Executive goes on to urge Gillard to direct the Attorney General's Department to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the conduct and affairs of Taib, his family and associates on the basis of the material provided by the Bruno Manser.   Dr Selvey ends her letter by calling on the Australian Government to "stand up for the rights of the people of Sarawak to protect their culture, their land and their environment". [click for Radio ABC Australia's broadcast today on the problem of money laundering in Australia by corrupt foreign politcians] Wilderness Society also joins protest again Taib logging in Tasmania Tasmanian tree fern - unique, slow-growing and endangered. This is being destroyed by the clear felling in Tasmania to provide wood for Ta Ann Equally hard to ignore will the the backing by another of Australia's major environment organisations, the Wilderness Society, for the stand being taken against Ta Ann's logging of virgin jungle in Tasmania. Ta Ann has been at the centre of destruction and controversy in Sarawak.  A devastating report this week by the local Huon Valley Evironment Centre has now catalogued the company's destruction of areas that the Australian Government has been trying to protect in Tasmania.   READ MORE HERE.

Najib, what’s it to be? Free and fair elections after electoral reforms, or Tahrir Square? Posted: 06 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT These were the  electoral reforms for which thousands of Malaysians converged on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to send a strong message to Najib's government : we, the rakyat, are not prepared to have another general election until we have the reforms we have demanded. You will all recall that between the BERSIH 2.0 event on 19th June to announce the rally of 9th July, and the days after leading up to the rally itself, Najib, his ministers,Ibs and Perkasa, UMNO bloggers and the mainstream media were in complete denial that our 8 demands for electoral reforms had any basis. The sheer numbers, the determination and the solidarity of the rakyat out there on 9th July, notwithstanding the blockades to prevent thousands getting into the city that day and the brutal treatment meted out by the FRU on those who managed to get into the rally, however, must have sent a chill down Najib's spine. On 15th August, Najib announced the intention of the government to form a parliamentary select committee to look into reforms to our electoral system. "Recently there have been demands for free and fair elections. The government's response is that we will propose the setting up of a parliamentary select committee soon, which will be made up of members from both BN and opposition…The committee will discuss all electoral reforms that needs to be implemented in order to achieve bipartisan agreement without any suspicion that there is manipulation by the government," , Malaysiakini reports Najib as saying. Najib is also reported to have said that he will not form a government unless it is truly elected by the people. "Don't think that we do not want a clean process of electing the government, we are committed to the tradition of parliamentary elections," he is reported to have said. Two days later, Nazri Aziz brushed aside demands from the opposition that assurances be given that no general election will be called until the requisite electoral reforms are put in place. "They are a minority and this is the right of the government. They cannot dictate to us," , Malaysiakini reports Nazri as saying. Two days later, as reported in Malaysiakini, Najib reiterated what Nazri had said : the next general election can be held anytime and is not bound by the work of the parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms. Since then, rumours abound that the 13th GE is imminent. 11th November, 2011, cause Najib is fixated with the number 11. 5th November, cause, it seems, that is Rosmah's preference. On 3rd October, Parliament passed a motion to establish the parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into electoral reform. Malaysiakini reports that Nazri Aziz, who tabled the motion in Parliament, when winding up the debate on the same, said that "PRU-13 (the upcoming 13th general election) will not be the last GE for Malaysia and after that the world ends. If a snap election is called, the PSC's recommendations can be implemented in the 14th, 15th, 16th and GEs thereafter." In other words, even as the committee discusses and discovers serious flaws in our electoral process, we, the rakyat, are expected to acquiesce to UMNO and BN going ahead to hold the 13th GE without those flaws being first put right. Read more at: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/najib-whats-it-to-be-free-and-fair-elections-after-electoral-reforms-or-tahrir-square/

‘Truth In Advertising’ – Ta Ann Exposed! Posted: 05 Oct 2011 10:15 AM PDT The report, published today by the Huon Valley Environment Centre of Tasmania, spells out Ta Ann's hypocrisy and it is uncompromisingly titled "Behind the Veneer: Forest destruction and Ta Ann Tasmania's lies". [click for report] Over 50 pages, the troubling expose details how the Sarawak timber giant's decision to invest in Tasmania was specifically aimed at targeting the growing market for environmentally friendly, sustainable wood products, but has ended up deceiving consumers. Why Tasmania? "EIDAI is proud of our ECO-friendly flooring product" – Japanese advertisement for Ta Ann veneer panels sourced in Tasmania As Ta Ann boss, Hamed Sepawi, himself confessed in 2006, Sarawak has almost completely run out of accessible timber, after 30 years of unrestrained logging by his own cousin and benefactor the Chief Minister. Tasmania still has extensive hardwood jungles however, and remains one of the most important areas of natural wildlife world wide. Even more crucially, Australia has received limited accreditation for sustainable timber, compared to Sarawak which is notorious for its destruction of the Borneo jungle. Hence the constant highlighting of Tasmania as the source of Ta Ann's new 'environmentally conscious' operations. However, as the investigation makes clear, NONE of the wood that Ta Ann has so far used from Tasmania qualifies as sustainable. In fact, ALL of the logs so far taken by the company have come from old growth forests, many in high conservation value areas that form crucial habitats for some of the world's most endangered species.  These include Tasmania's Wedge Tailed Eagle, the Quoll and the Tasmanian Devil. And NO plantation wood is being used by Ta Ann in its veneer processing mills in Tasmania.   READ MORE HERE.

It's hard for me to say I'm sorry Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:33 PM PDT Perhaps UMNO and BN think getting Lim Guan Eng to apologise represent a major coup. If UMNO BN thinks this represent a significant political triumph and would swing loads of votes from Pakatan, I am not fully convinced. If all politicians have to apologise for all private statement and personal opinion, then they would have no time to service the rakyat properly. Do we not all have public and private opinion that differs? Do we not bitch behind clients/bosses/colleagues/spouse/relatives? If a Singaporean got robbed in Malaysia and bitched about it in Stomp, can UMNO BN be consistent enough to chase the Ah Beng down and demand an apology? If UMNO BN thinks Voyeurism politics is the way to go, then let's make that an official election manifesto for voters to identify with. I love my hometown of Seremban. I mentioned to my friends that Port Dickson is a boring holiday place and I preferred Phuket and Langkawi. Do I need to apologise for my personal opinion? Isn't democracy about differing opinions? Shouldn't the federal and state administration that are empowered and enabled to develop Port Dickson should apologise for failing to deliver? UMNO-BN demanded, and the Johor Sultan gotten the apology from Guan Eng. The fact that Lim Guan Eng apologized, showed that maturity, humility and an awareness the world does not revolve around his own ego. If you want apologies and remorse, look no further than the following events and wonder if an apology from the culprits would ever be forthcoming.       1)  Noh Omar, then as Deputy Education Minister http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com/2007/07/bad-apples.html In 2007, when Ean Yong Hian Wah submitted a fairly innocuous memorandum to the then Deputy Minister Noh Omar with regards to violent conduct by a teacher in a secondary school on behalf of the abused student's parents, Noh Omar appeared to lose control of his faculties and verbally abused Ean Yong, crumpled the official memorandum and threw it away, before it was picked up by his officer. He accused Ean Yong and the DAP of interfering in a school disciplinary matter. Noh Omar even exclaimed at one stage that he will not handle any case referred via the party. ·         Should Noh Omar apologise for his violent and uncalled for behavior which did not solve the issue at hand and probably terrified the young student who went there as a bully victim seeking help? 2)      Ahmad Ismail, the wonder drug for BN harmonyin Penang http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arWnZtE3TdA Ahmad Ismail called Chinese "penumpang" obviously inconsistent with so many recent (i.e. close to GE time) praises from Najib and Nazri about the appreciated role of Chinese as main tax payers. Penumpang? Malaysian Chinese purchase their property in accordance with laws passed by UMNO-BN law makers and unless in cases of default, paid every ringgit and sen for their property. You can see in the video, Ahmad Ismail's recalcitrant and arrogant refusal to apologise and the unruly supporters behind him. Should he apologise to all who are offended by him? Since he has failed to apologise, should the UMNO higher up do so for him for the sake of a few more Chinese votes? 3)      That legendary Najib video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwNLT428PqU In the Sibu by-election, Najib's legendary speech "you help me, I help you" seems to infer to me that perhaps he agreed to some lousy advice that Chinese in Sibu are easily bought and equate their sacred vote to by election dead man angpow. The Chinese there have replied by voting against BN, should Najib apologise for underestimating them and painted to the world, an extremely regrettable of how democracy is being played out in Malaysia? 4)      Temple demolition http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/106706 Before UMNO BN lost Selangor, according to the Hindraf source above, numerous Hindu temples were demolished, defaced, relocated next to sewerage tanks, burnt to the ground, deities forcibly removed, police report ignored and what not. While UMNO BN have signal to "retake Selangor at all cost", a simple apology and pre-election promise of not to do this again seems to be beyond them. Read more at: http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-hard-for-me-to-say-im-sorry.html#more

How The Hunter Became The Hunted Posted: 03 Oct 2011 09:44 PM PDT Once upon a time before GE 12, Pakatan Rakyat had the luxury of attacking the government (and its leaders) with an endless array of issues. In fact, they never seemed to run short of ammunition to attack the government  which was on the defensive, busy defending themselves and warding off blow after blow. Naturally, the internet was aflame with the corruption scandals which plagued the Malaysian government while the MSM had a field day painting picture perfect scenarios on the ground to create a 'feel good' ambiance in total indifference to the prevailing sentiment in cyberspace. In the country's 12th GE, opposition parties took 82 seats in the federal parliament, compared to 20 seats in the 11th GE (2004). Significant political casualties for the coalition included the minister of works; the minister of women, family and community development; and the minister of information. Five of the 13 state legislatures also fell to opposition control. Since Pakatan Rakyat clinched the tsunami victory in 2008, they seem to have run out of steam. In reality, it is not easy to maintain that level of being on the offensive all the time. Eventually, Pakatan slowed down in their offensive as they also had to cope with the brass tags of governance. However, what they did not expect was how the government has turned around and started attacking the opposition and in a bitter twist of fate, it is the opposition that is busy defending itself now as the government is giving them a taste of their own medicine. What we see today is the slow decapitation of Pakatan Rakyat whereby the status quo is slowly, steadily and stealthily weakening the coalition by their continual onslaught on selected leaders, starting with Anwar Ibrahim, Mat Sabu and now Lim Guan Eng. Who is next? Initially, the opposition worked closely with the 'alternative media'. And then the reversal of fortunes began when Pakatan gradually became a bit sombong and seemed to have regarded some in the alternative media as the enemy. So, the alternative media and Pakatan have taken separate routes which do not seem to converge at all. Since then, BN-Umno have mobilised the pro-govt Blogs and alternative media into a coordinate force and theirs will be a force to be reckoned with! The harsh reality is that today, BN is where Pakatan Rakyat used to be a few years ago! If one were to scrutinize the situation, BN has recognised the value of the alternative media. They learnt their lesson well from the result of the 2008 GE where BN got an unforgettable whacking. In the mean time, Pakatan has left the alternative media behind or left them out of their plans. In fact, some perceive that Pakatan, however, views the alternative media as a nuisance and would rather distance itself from it.   READ MORE HERE.

Rakyat mahu bersatu, tetapi bersatu di luar BN Posted: 03 Oct 2011 09:39 PM PDT Di dalam negara kita dini hari kita sedang melihat keruntuhan dan kejatuhan tahap perhubungan kaum yang merbahaya. Perhubungan di antara kaum ini kini sudah sampai keperingkat yang terendah malahan lebh rendah dan merbahaya dari keadaan sebelum 13 Mei 1969 dahulu. Laungan dan bisikan rasis yang di amalkan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin yang tidak berkepimpinan merupakan penyebab utama kenapa penyakit membenci di antara satu kaum dengan kaum yang lain sudah sampai ke tahap yang sangat menyakitkan. Oleh kerana kelemahan pimpinan yang tidak di hormati oleh rakyat berbilang kaum maka parti-parti yang rasis yang menganggotai BN sedang sibuk memukul gendang perkauman untuk mendapat sokongan kaum yang mereka masing-masing pimpin. Semasa kepimpinan negara mempunyai kredibiliti yang tinggi kerana sifat 'magnanimity' mereka yang tinggi dahulu, mereka berani untuk mengambil sikap yang jelas untuk melakukan usaha mencapai penyatuan rakyat. Tun Abd Razak berjaya membawa semua pemimpin berbilang kaum kemeja perundingan dan menyatakan dengan terus terang yang 'national unity' itu ada matlamat terakhir bagi negara kita. Tun Razak dan pimpinan beliau berani menyatakan perpaduan kaum itu adalah perkara yang terpenting untuk dicapai. DAN itu pun 'ultimate' negara. Kepimpinan semasa itu berani mendapatkan persetujuan semua pemimpin kaum di negara ini untuk negara melalui dasar-dasar yang jelas bagi mencapai matlamat perpaduan kaum itu. Pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO sebagai parti yang utama semasa itu faham tentang keresahan rakyat yang menyebabkan berlakunya kejadian 13 Mei '69 itu. Di sinilah lebihnya pemimpin pra Mahathir. Mereka mampu menyelami masalah rakyat yang berbilang kaum ini. Apabila mereka tahu dan faham semua masalah rakyat ini maka barulah mereka lakukan tindakan dengan menggubal dasar-dasar yang boleh menyelesaikan masalah itu. Ini memang asas ilmu pengurusan; 'one has to understand problems up to specific even before thinking of solving them'. Pemimpin kita berjaya menyelami segala masalah rakyat yang berbilang kaum, maka pimpinan pun dengan mudah menggubal dasar-dasar untuk membentuk proses-proses ke arah matlamat 'national unity' itu. Tun Razak dan barisan kepimpinannya berjaya mendapat sokongan semua kaum untuk beliau melaksanakan DEB dan pencapaiannya ialah melalui beberapa proses yang telah dipersetujui oleh semua kaum. Pertamanya untuk membasmi kemiskinan tanpa mengira kaum. Keduanya untuk menghapuskan cara mengenali satu-satu kaum itu melalui fungsi ekonominya. Kerajaan tidak mahu lagi Melayu di kenali sebagai pekebun dan petani kecilan yang duduk di desa-desa. Kaum Cina tidak hanya dipersepsikan sebagai gulungan peniaga sahaja dan kaum India tidak digambarkan sebagai hanya pekerja ladang kepunyaan bangsa asing dan taukay besar-besar sahaja. Ketiganya untuk merapatkan jurang pendapatan di antara yang berada dengan tidak berada. Keempatnya untuk membesarkan serta melebarkan kek ekonmi negara dan menyusun pembahagian harta kekayaan negara mengikut kaum secara equitable (bukan equal). Bumiputra di berikan kemudahan dan galakan untuk mencapai 30 peratus penyertaan di dalam bidang ekonomi dan industri dan bukan bumiputra sebanyak 40 peratus dan selebihnya untuk bukan rakyat Malaysia. Dasar ini telah di persetujui oleh semua pihak termasuk yang bukan bumiputra kerana proses pembahagian dan menambah penyertai bumiputra itu bukannya dengan mengambil alih atau merampas hak bukan bumiputra tetapi sebaliknya dengan membesarkan kek ekonomi tadi untuk bumiputra mengusahakan pencapai matlamat pegang kekayaan serta equiti negara sehingga 30 peratus menjelangnya tahun 1990. READ MORE HERE

Like the RFS, Taib cannot stop the RARA getting into Sarawak Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:02 PM PDT Last week, following the launch of the Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA) roadshow in KL on 19th September, 2011, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) took its RARA roadshow to Sabah and Sarawak. On 27th and 28th September, we successfully held forums in Kota Kinabalu and Tawau respectively. To read the news report following the forum in Tawau, click on the news clipping here. On 29th, September, 2011, as you all might already know by now, I was refused entry into Kuching, Sarawak where, at 7pm that same night, MCLM was to host its RARA forum at the Grand Continental Hotel. The show, nonetheless, went on. READ MORE HERE

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Samseng bermotor serang ceramah Mat Sabu Posted: 07 Oct 2011 03:50 PM PDT Kemeriahan Program Pelancaran Kempen Mansuh Hutang Peneroka dan NGO baru di bawah Anak, Gerakan Kebangkitan Peneroka Felda (Bangkit) itu dicemari gangguan melampau sekumpulan remaja bermotosikal sehingga menyebabkan kecederaan di muka seorang anggota Jabatan Amal Johor. Difahamkan, kira-kira 50 penunggang motosikal itu muncul secara-cara tiba dan berlegar-legar menganggu orang ramai yang hadir mendengar ceramah Timbalan Presiden PAS, Mohamad Sabu. Mereka mengacukan rantai besi dan membaling objek keras ke arah orang ramai di kawasan ceramah. Presiden Anak, Mazlan Aliman ketika dihubungi hari ini mempersoal sikap polis yang seakan-akan 'melepaskan' mereka membuat gangguan di tempat ceramah. "Saya sangat dukacita dengan gangguan malam tadi dalam pada program itu dapat permit polis. "Bagaimana polis menjalankan tugas sehingga kumpulan bermotor itu dapat masuk dengan senang sedangkan sekatan jalan raya diadakan," katanya yang juga Pengerusi Lajnah Tanah dan Pembangunan Wilayah PAS Pusat. Ada dalang Tanpa mengetahui motif gangguan, Mazlan yakin ada dalang di sebalik insiden tersebut. "Saya yakin ianya dirancang dan kita boleh cari siapa dalangnya tapi saya serah kepada pihak polis untuk menyiasat," katanya. Dua laporan polis dibuat iaitu oleh mangsa sendiri yang hanya ingin dikenali sebagai Amer, 29, dan satu laporan lagi daripada petugas Jabatan Amal yang lain kira-kira jam 1.40 pagi tadi. Akibat serangan itu, Amer yang dikejarkan ke Hospital Segamat terpaksa menerima tujuh jahitan di bahagian muka. Mazlan dalam pada itu meminta pihak yang tidak berpuas hati dengan pihaknya tampil berbincang, bukan membuat serangan sedemikian. "Kalau nak buat bantahan atau nak serah apa-apa memorandum kepada kami, silakan sebab PAS bersikap terbuka.Jangan gunakna budak-budak buat kerja tak sihat begini," katanya. Beberapa hari lalu, insiden serangan turut berlaku di program ceramah Mohamad Sabu di Rembau.

Perkasa marah Namewee kebal undang-undang Posted: 07 Oct 2011 03:40 PM PDT "Namewee ini bebas buat apa sahaja selepas dimaafkan," katanya. Menurutnya, pandangan beliau itu bukan kerana Namewe seorang yang berketurunan Cina. Beliau bertanya adakah Namewee dihukum atas kesalahannya mempersendakan  lagu Negaraku dan azan? "Jawabannya tidak. Namewee terus kebal, tiada tindakan diambil ke atas penghinan Negaraku sehingga kini. "Mengapa dia begitu kebal,? tanya Nurul. Namewee pernah mencetuskan kontroversi pada tahun 2009 apabila menyanyikan lagu Negarakuku ketika belajar di Taiwan. Contoh buruk Beliau berkata, pendirian Wira Perkasa mengenai perkara itu adalah jelas dan konsisten. Katanya, Namewee adalah contoh yang buruk untuk diikuti oleh READ MORE HERE

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• Replace Your Priorities In The Budget Or You Will Soon Be Replaced!
• Something is not right at all!
• No Malaysian university in Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12
• Tax reliefs: Hidden subsidies that favour the rich
• Grassroots Support The Key To Forming The Next Government
• The Pinnacle of Human Stupidity - The Darwin Awards
• The Bersih Truth Hurts
• Malaysia In The Next Era
• Maybe UMNO should court HINDRAF
• Freedom House Calls For Release of Egyptian Blogger

Replace Your Priorities In The Budget Or You Will Soon Be Replaced! Posted: 07 Oct 2011 06:49 PM PDT By Teo Nie Ching Najib Razak took two hours to deliver his Budget speech in Parliament yesterday - his longest speech ever since he was appointed as the PM of Malaysia. As expected, the goodies and sweeteners made the headlines in all the mainstream media but beneath the surface, the real extent of the Government's practice of cronyism and misplaced priorities is revealed. In the 2011 Budget tabled in October 2010, Najib announced a five-year freeze on toll rates on four highways owned by PLUS Expressways and in January this year, Najib again told us that several toll operations have been restructured following a review of transportation costs aimed at easing the people's burden. But the truth is, the compensation paid out to toll concessionaires has increased from RM200 million in 2011 to RM343 million, amounting to an increase of 71.5%! Therefore Najib's so-called grand transformation and restructuring plan is nothing but a scam as the Government is simply passing on the financial burden of motorists to all taxpayers in Malaysia. In Budget 2012, Najib also announced that all primary and secondary school fees will be abolished, beginning with the 2012 school term and RM1 billion will be allocated for the betterment of school premises. But what he conveniently chose not to mention in his speech was that the Federal Government's total development expenditure for education and training has been reduced from RM12 billion (2010) to RM8.5 billion - slashed by nearly 30%. As a direct consequence, there is less allocation for building new schools. According to the guidelines set out by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Peninsula Malaysia, in areas with a population of 7,500, a primary school should be built while a secondary school should be built in areas with a population of 15,000. In line with this ratio, we need 9 new secondary schools and 18 primary schools by the year 2015 in the areas that fall under the authority of Majlis Perbadanan Kajang. That's not all, our country needs more special education institutions for disabled children. Currently there are 21 special education institutions for the disabled in Singapore but there are only 32 in Malaysia despite the fact that Malaysia is approximately 500 times larger than our southern neighbour. I find it even more disturbing that the Federal Government's total development expenditure for defence has increased from RM2.6 billion to RM3.6 billion. Malaysia does not face any immediate threats to its national security. BN should review its priorities, failing which its position as the Government of Malaysia could soon be replaced.   TEO NIE CHING is MP for Serdang

Something is not right at all! Posted: 06 Oct 2011 11:24 PM PDT J. Ong Prior to the presentation of the 2012 Budget by the PM in the Dewan Rakyat, Najib had a closed door meeting with his top aides of the Finance Ministry and the presence of Bank Negara Governor and the Chief Secretary to the Government. What we do not understand is what the f**k is the pseudo "First Lady" Rosmah among the attendees? She has no locus standi to be there, except if she wanted first-hand knowledge of the Budget, which is supposed to be confidential until and unless it has been presented to the Parliament. She wants to make sure her own pet projects are safely there, as she does not trust her husband's words! Is she telling us that she rank pari pasu with the other top cats, or even higher? No previous Finance Minister had their wife around during such private previews before Budget is presented. Not even Tun Dr Siti Hasmah. This woman is definitely going to cause the downfall of Najib and nullify all the hard work of Najib walking around among the Rakyat recently. UMNO insiders will not tolerate such behavior by Rosmah, and before Mahathir blows his trumpet of disapproval, I am beating Dr Mahathir to the gun, this time. **************************************************** NAJIB CHECKS ON FINAL 2012 BUDGET PREPARATIONS PUTRAJAYA, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tonight monitored final preparations involving Finance Ministry''s staff ahead of tomorrow''s tabling of the 2012 Budget. Najib, who is Finance Minister, spent about one hour at the ministry, during which he also chaired a closed-door meeting with senior ministry officials. Present were his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Deputy Finance Ministers Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin and Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai. Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan as well as Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz were also present. Najib is scheduled to table Malaysia''s 2012 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat at 4pm. In remarks made ahead of the event, the prime minister said that it would be a transformational budget for all Malaysians in line with the concept of 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now.

No Malaysian university in Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12 Posted: 06 Oct 2011 10:08 AM PDT By Lim Kit Siang The release today of the Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, where not a single Malaysian university is included, has punctured the elation and euphoria just two months ago over the QS 200 World University Rankings 2011/12 which saw University of Malaya making it to the top 200 Top Universities moving 40 places to 167 compared to 2010. In the QS World University Rankings 2011/12, four other Malaysian universities slid down the rankings – University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) ranked 279 this year compared to 263 in 2010; Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) ranked 335 (309 last year); Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) ranked 358 (319 last year) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at between 401 and 450 (365 last year). But in the just-released THE 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, none of the Malaysian universities made it into the placings. For the first time, Harvard (with Stanford) is at number two, failing to take the top spot in the list's eight-year history – with California Institute for Technology named the best university in the world. The rest of the Top Ten spots are Oxford (4), Princeton (5), Cambridge (6), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (70), Imperial College London (8), Chicago (9) and California (Berkeley) (10). The top Asian universities in the THE World University Ranking 2011/12 are: 30 – University of Tokyo (Japan) 34 – University of Hong Kong (HK) 40 – National University of Singapore (Singapore) 49 - Peking University (China) 52 – Kyoto University (Japan) 53 - Pohang University of Science and Technology (S.Korea) 62 - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong) 71 – Tsinghua University (China) 94 - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea) 108 – Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan) 119 – Osaka University (Japan) 120 – Tohoku University (Japan) 124 – Seoul National University (South Korea) 151 – Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) 154 – National Taiwan University (Taiwan) 169 – Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) 192 – University of Science and Technology of China (China) 193 – City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) Worth noting is that while not a single Malaysian university made it into the Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World Universities, Thailand through Mahidol University is ranked in the final category between 351-400.

Tax reliefs: Hidden subsidies that favour the rich Posted: 05 Oct 2011 05:53 PM PDT Tax reliefs are a very regressive form of government subsidies to the taxpayers. The richer the taxpayer, the more subsidies she receives from the government. Thus it is unfair and inequitable, writes Subramaniam Pillay. In the past couple of years, there has been a lot of talk on subsidy rationalisation i.e. the removal of subsidies for basic items like cooking oil, sugar, flour and petrol. The argument is that it subsidises the poor as well as the rich; it is unfair to provide subsidies for the rich, so we must eliminate the subsidies and let market forces work. Many of these subsidies help the poor and the rich equally. For example, if a family consumes 5kg of cooking oil per month, they get the same subsidy regardless of their wealth and income. Usually, consumption of basic food items does not increase with increasing wealth and income. However, there is a large hidden subsidy which favours the rich over the poor that has been conveniently forgotten. And this comes in the form of the various tax reliefs offered to taxpayers. In this week, before the 2012 budget is announced, there have been numerous calls to increase the tax relief for various items including premiums for medical insurance, educational insurance and life insurance. Tax reliefs are is a very regressive form of government subsidies to the taxpayers. The richer the taxpayer, the more subsidy she gets from the government. Thus it is unfair and inequitable. Tax relief for purchase of books Let us illustrate this with an example. Currently, there is a tax relief of RM1000 for the purchase of books and magazines that is available to all taxpayers. Ostensibly, this is to encourage the reading habit among Malaysians. A high-income earner who is at the top tax bracket will pay a marginal tax rate of 26 per cent i.e. for every extra ringgit she earns, she will pay 26 sen income tax. On the flip side, every ringgit of tax relief that she claims will reduce her income tax by 26 sen. If she now buys books and magazines worth RM1000 for herself or her children, she can claim the full relief and lower her tax bill by RM260. In other words, this high-income person is getting a government subsidy of RM260 to purchase books. Now let us take the case of Mr X, the average citizen of Malaysia whose income is so low that he does not pay taxes. (It has been reported that only 1.7m residents have tax files with IRB which means the remaining 12m-15m working adults are either earning too little to pay income tax or evading paying income tax!) If Mr X now buys RM1000 worth of books to improve his and his children's knowledge to enable them to have a better life in the future, he receives no subsidy as he is not entitled to any tax relief. If Ms Y, a middle income Malaysian has a marginal tax rate of 12 per cent, she will get a subsidy of only RM120 for the RM1000 worth of books she buys. The irony is that it is the families in the lower-income group who need the books more as it will enable them to earn a better income in the future. They need the book subsidy more than the rich. But our tax relief system rewards the rich more than the poor thus widening the income and wealth disparity in this country.   Tax relief for medical insurance premiums An even more unfair tax relief is the one offered for purchase of medical insurance. Using the same reasoning as above, the government is subsidising the rich with 26 per cent of the cost of the medical insurance premium while the poor will be unable to even think of buying medical insurance as they cannot afford it. This subsidy should rightly be diverted to the health care budget so that the public sector health care system can do a better job in terms of delivering quality health care on a consistent basis. The beneficiaries of this medical insurance tax relief (or subsidy as it should be correctly labelled) are not only the high-income taxpayers but also the private medical insurance companies and the profit-seeking private hospital sector.   Why are tax reliefs popular? Given this glaring inequity and unfairness of the tax relief system, why is it popular in many countries? The beneficiaries are well educated and vocal enough to influence politicians to give these reliefs. Industry groups which benefit from these reliefs (e.g. insurance companies, private hospitals, and private education providers) are also powerful lobbies in many countries. The poor on the other hand are voiceless and their welfare is usually neglected. For example, few top leaders in all segments of our society use public hospitals; in fact many go abroad for medical treatment, so they don't see the need for consistently high quality health care from government hospitals which most Malaysians have no choice but to use. Another reason is that the subsidy in the form of tax relief is revenue foregone and not visible directly; it is not recorded anywhere in the government's income and expenditure accounts. On the other hand, a subsidy for cooking oil turns up as an expenditure item in the accounts. So when the government thinks of tightening its belt, it tends to focus on how to cut spending and not how to enhance revenue by removing all these indirect subsidies which favour the rich more than the poor. It is also easier to quantify direct subsidies whereas revenue foregone through tax reliefs is more difficult to estimate and is thus less visible. Given these reasons, it is not going to be easy to get rid of the unjust and massive inequitable subsidy that occurs through tax reliefs in our government budgets.   Dr Subramaniam Pillay is an economist who has just retired from academia. He is also a member of the executive committee of Aliran.

Grassroots Support The Key To Forming The Next Government Posted: 05 Oct 2011 05:51 PM PDT By LH Chew Really, the battle for the hearts and minds of the Malaysian voters come GE13 is not the educated and internet-savvy voters but in the grassroots, deep in the kampungs, new villages and estates. The Sarawak state election held a while back proved that statement. And I am sure our Pakatan Rakyat brothers and sisters knew that. No amount of mud-slinging and korek would unseat the BN government. The BN machinery is just too slick working effectively in the rural areas. If you think about it, this is actually the reverse in Thailand where the elites and educated and urbanites worked hard to exclude the parties that have the support from the rural population (the have-nots) from forming the government. Your guess is as good as mine, eventually, the elites and internet-savvy still have to give way to the grassroots. The recently completed Singapore elections also proved this point. It was touted as an internet election with young voters reading up on the alternative media before deciding who to vote but alas, it was the mainstream media that won, according to a survey conducted jointly by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Nanyang Technological University (see link to the story http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20111005-303216.html). That is the reality in Malaysia and those who are internet-savvy can be easily counted with our ten fingers versus the masses in the kampungs, new villages and estates. BN knew this is where the battle will be fought and won and they knew this is one of the main oppositions' weaknesses. As for me, like many of you, I would like to see reforms, hopefully by voting in a new government. Unfortunately, facts are not on our side. I wonder if our pakciks, makciks, ah peks, ah sohs, aunties, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers ever know what is Pakatan Rakyat because to many of them, they only swear by the dacing symbol. The opposition parties have to unite and go to the grounds, not squabbling who is going to be the Prime Minister and whether hudud is the way to go. They need to take a leaf from the Workers Party in Singapore where their party members worked the grounds for many years in one of the areas they contested despite losing in several elections and eventually they won it in last year's election, along the way knocking out one of the most prominent Cabinet minister. And now this party is working on a long term plan to replace the PAP government. Well, you can laugh at it. At least they are already working on that plan.     It is a tough journey and whether BN can be voted out, depends on how organized the opposition parties are.

The Pinnacle of Human Stupidity - The Darwin Awards Posted: 05 Oct 2011 05:46 PM PDT I was thinking, luckily no Malaysian has ever won this award before, so we must be smarter than this, at least. By Socrates It's that time again. The DARWIN Awards are out. The annual honour is given to the persons who did the gene pool the biggest service by killing themselves in the most extraordinarily stupid way. Last year's winner was the fellow who was killed by a Coke machine which toppled over on top of him as he was attempting to tip a free soda out. This year's winner was a real rocket scientist ... HONESTLY! Read on ... and remember that each and every one of these is a TRUE STORY!!! And the nominees were: Semifinalist #1 A young Canadian man, searching for a way of getting drunk cheaply, because he had no money with which to buy alcohol, mixed gasoline with milk. Not surprisingly, this concoction made him ill, and he vomited into the fireplace in his house. This resulting explosion and fire burned his house down, killing both him and his sister. Semifinalist #2 Three Brazilian men were flying in a light aircraft at low altitude when another plane approached. It appears that they decided to moon the occupants of the other plane, but lost control of their own aircraft and crashed. They were all found dead in the wreckage with their pants around their ankles. Semifinalist #3 A 22-year-old Reston, VA, man was found dead after he tried to use octopus straps to bungee jump off a 70-foot rail road trestle. Fairfax County police said Eric Barcia, a fast-food worker, taped a bunch of these straps together, wrapped an end around one foot, anchored the other end to the trestle at Lake Accotink Park, jumped and hit the pavement. Warren Carmichael, a police spokesman, said investigators think Barcia was alone because his car was found nearby. 'The length of the cord that he had assembled was greater than the distance between the trestle and the ground,' Carmichael said. Police say the apparent cause of death was 'Major trauma.' Semifinalist #4 A man in Alabama died from rattlesnake bites. It seems that he and a friend were playing a game of catch, using the rattlesnake as a ball. The friend - no doubt a future Darwin Awards candidate - was hospitalized. Semifinalist #5 Employees in a medium-sized warehouse in west Texas noticed the smell of a gas leak. Sensibly, management evacuated the building, extinguishing all potential sources of ignition; lights, power, etc... After the building had been evacuated, two technicians from the gas company were dispatched. Upon entering the building, they found they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none of the lights worked. Witnesses later described the sight of one of the technicians reaching into his pocket and retrieving an object that resembled a cigarette lighter. Upon operation of the lighter-like object, the gas in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of it up to three miles away. Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter was virtually untouched by the explosion. The technician suspected of causing the blast had never been thought of as ''bright'' by his peers. And now, for the winner of this year's Darwin Award Award: (As always, awarded posthumously): The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at the scene. Police investigators finally pieced together the mystery. An amateur rocket scientist had somehow gotten hold of a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off, actually a solid-fuel rocket) that is used to give heavy military transport planes an extra 'push' for taking off from short airfields. He had driven his Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to the car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO! The facts as best could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala hit the JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the scorched and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20 -25 seconds. The driver, and soon-to-be pilot, would have experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, causing him to become irrelevant for the remainder of the event. However, the automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock. Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable. Epilogue: It has been calculated that this moron attained a ground speed of approximately 420-mph, though much of his voyage was not actually on the ground. PEOPLE LIKE THIS WALK AMONG US, AND THEY ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE KIDS AND VOTE!! ######################################################### I was thinking, luckily no Malaysian has ever won this award before, so we must be smarter than this, at least. Then, an awful thought struck me. Perhaps, as individuals we may not have reached this moronic level, but we certainly take the cake when we look at it from a national angle. I mean, for letting the UMNO/ BN Government rape and plunder our country, Malaysia, for over 40 years, resulting in near bankruptcy in the near future, and if we are still voting them into power in GE13 we must win the Darwin Award for being the GE13, most moronic population in the world, bar none! Certainly, I shall put forward Malaysia as a candidate for the Darwin Award if there is no change in the government after the GE13. To prevent Malaysia from winning this shameful award, VOTE OUT BN in the GE13!!

The Bersih Truth Hurts Posted: 05 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT By Douglas Tan via Malaysian Digest While our Prime Minister receives accolades from most quarters for the repeal of archaic acts such as the Banishment Act 1959 and the Restricted Residence Act 1993, questions must be asked about when the true reforms would be made. Only now has Najib Razak instructed the Attorney-General to draft the two pieces of alternative legislation to the Internal Security Act (ISA), and he has continued to chide the opposition for claiming to be the champions of the repeal of the act. Clearly, the Prime Minister has not come prepared by announcing that the ISA would be abolished without having anything prepared to replace it. The circus does not stop there. The Medical Device Authority act gives the police the authority to seize any medical devices as evidence with the approval of the Health Minister. In our system where Ministerial authority for criminal matters should be diminished, the wide scope of the act shows that this Barisan Nasional (BN) government is as authoritarian as ever, and has no intention to change. Question Time was intriguing as it forced Ministers to come clean with the information behind their recent actions. Actions are not without consequences, and as it transpires, the justification given for their actions are nothing short of laughable. No rally has been publicized as much as Bersih 2.0, branded by the mainstream media as the July 9th illegal rally. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has been put under an enormous amount of scrutiny as to how the event was handled, and now the spotlight has been redirected at him as he attempts to explain the actions taken and the cost. As we all now know, there were over 11,000 police personnel at a cost in excess of RM2 million borne by the taxpayers. This enormous figure compared with their official claims that only 6,000 people turned up for the rally and that almost 1,700 people were arrested smacks of inefficiency and waste in itself! Or could it be that there were really 50,000 on the ground that day and the police presence and cost was a proportional response to keep public order? The Home Ministry can argue about the facts, but when it comes to footing the bill, it becomes difficult to justify the sheer cost of it all. Repealing the ISA would make Malaysia the best democracy in the world, chimes the Prime Minister, but the Home Minister continues to deem Bersih as an illegal organization as they intended to "overthrow the government". This line of reasoning is a result of paranoia rather than fact. The intent was to reform the electoral system, not to overthrow the government! This is not a justification, rather just a convenient, albeit farfetched, explanation to defend the indefensible. Finally, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai once again has egg on his face. After his public denial that no teargas or chemical laced water was shot at Tung Shin Hospital, the Home Ministry report conceding that the police has breached their own Standard Operating Procedures is a massive slap on the face. After all the fuss about Lim Guan Eng apologizing for his gaff about Johor security, can we also expect an apology from the Health Minister? Or shall we expect more excuses, and the same holier-than-thou hypocrisy that we are used to? Either way, BN have displayed their true colors yet again by failing to walk the talk. With these half-hearted measures taken to reforms, they are asking for punishment from the Rakyat in the looming General Elections.

Malaysia In The Next Era Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT By LH Chew Sometimes it makes me wonder if we really have the guts to take the first step to make the change. We like to lament how bad things are, how the government took us for a ride, how innocent people who simply wants to see reforms were 'terrorised', the corruption, the money leakage, and all sorts of ills, yet we still want to stick with BN election after election. Yes, BN had ruled for more than 50 years, and we have been eating the same set of dishes for that long, should we not have a different taste now? Previously, I wrote in my article 'A New Dawn In Malaysia, Hopefully' which was published in Malaysia Today last December and I mentioned if we voted an alternative government into place and they do not perform as what the rakyat expected, we can always kick them out in the next election. But if we do not even try, will you see any changes? If there is no change, there is no change. Sure, changes come with risks, as it has been proven in many other countries when they changed the government, but if we do not take risks, do you expect your life is going to improve? There is no such thing as a free lunch and we know that. Take Taiwan for example. It was ruled by KMT for more than 50 years and the people voted for a change in government in 2000. Unfortunately what they got was a miserable 8 years under the rule of the new government. The new government became even more corrupt and they abused their power more than the previous government. But the civil service did improve and the civil servants for once really became a 'servant' to the people, they became more polite and humble. After experimenting with an alternative government, Taiwan decided to vote back KMT because during those 8 years in the wilderness, the KMT transformed and reformed and listen more to the people. In other words, they suddenly became more people-friendly. We need to keep ourselves in mind that there is no such thing as a perfect government and we cannot expect when we are given a drumstick, we want the whole chicken. With a reformed KMT back in power, there was less turmoil in the society and the economy did get going and the peoples' lives did see improvement. So, if our Pakatan Rakyat brothers and sisters claim they can do a better job than the BN government, let them try. If they do not live up to what they said they can do, we will simply kick them out in the next election. But we first must bite the bullet and let them form the government. What is the point of complaining about the state of affairs if we continue voting in the BN government. If we do so, then we should just shut up and take all these unpleasantness in our stride. We have already read in the alternative media, the exposures related to abuses of power that were swept under the carpet and selective prosecution. We want all these 'crooks' to see the light of the day. We want a fairer society. But if we keep sticking with the BN government, we are not sure if we can see some remedies to these ills. Indeed Pakatan Rakyat do have some good people in their line-up and hopefully when they form the government, they will live up to their expectations. Yes, there were many 'kataks' too as back in 2008, Pakatan Rakyat just grab any live bodies to stand for them but these unworthy members should have been weeded out when they jumped ship. We want to see those who remained in Pakatan Rakyat prove their worth. So, hopefully come GE13, we can all wake up to a new government. Let us not just talk about it, just do it!

Maybe UMNO should court HINDRAF Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:10 PM PDT PR had a free ride under the HINDRAF banner for GE12 and yet today they won't even engage with them. People are not blind and they do understand what racism is.  By Jakun Malaysia   With the election on the horizon, everyone seems to be wary of the direction of the nation with the usual politicing taking centre field. The public who seems to know everything that happens around us which ends up in kedai kopi gossip seems to read too much into the gimmickry both by UMNO and PR. The showdown comes and goes and nothing changes for the general public in terms of policies or the betterment of the society. UMNO, having castigated HINDRAF with anything and everything that they could find under the advice of their mandores was eventually brought down in GE12 with unexpected loses in the election. They even went to the extent of legalising and inaugurating the superficial political movement that calls itself MMS within a month of its application although MIC would have naturally been against it. Imagine how desperate UMNO was?  As far as PPP is concerned, it is a shade of its originators, the Seenivasagam brothers, so it does not even deserve a mention like other Indian-based parties like IPF and god knows how many more Indian party splinters. Let's look at Sabah & Sarawak; you have four different parties in each respective state being a part of the coalition with guaranteed either parliamentary or state seats. Looking into the decision-makers in West Malaysia which is definitely multicultural, official coalition partners with some chicken feed by the UMNO supremos are only MCA, MIC, GERAKAN & PPP. Now you have twenty-one other officially registered parties and one unregistered party ie (HRP). Naturally, you can guess whose affliance the leaders of these parties are fed except for PSM. You don't see them much in public until election time. PR thinks with its three (3) parties they have the cat in a bag although if not for the uprise of HINDRAF they would be standing high and dry like what happened in 1990 & 1999. PR had a free ride under the HINDRAF banner for GE12 and yet today they won't even engage with them. People are not blind and they do understand what racism is. UMNO may have committed atrocities, courtesy of Dr Mahathir in the past, but they had their brothers in arms ie the rest of the elite and cari makan middleclass non-Malays who equally neglect the poorer brethren of their society. I don't know whether UMNO has learnt its lesson, but I can see that they are trying to make amends like accepting a superficial party like MMS into their fold and approving PSM and KITA. Maybe UMNO wants to make a change, maybe it was misdirected by their mandores like how PR is, who knows, when it is a bread and butter issue for the society?   In semblance to Suqiu, if many would remember, their demand was similar to HINDRAF back in 1999 but naturally eclipsed by the one and only Dr Mahathir after inflicting fear and favor in exchange.     Fortunately HINDRAF is immune to fear and favor, and that carried the spirit of consciousness for the community and the torch is still there after 4 years by its spirited followers. If PR thinks that this is not relevant, then I think it is high time UMNO makes an attempt to engage HINDRAF and lay down a blueprint if they feel that even after 54 years of faults and errors through their mandores, they have the humility to ensure they are the best movement to ensure the progress of its people irrespective of origin.

Freedom House Calls For Release of Egyptian Blogger Posted: 03 Oct 2011 06:39 AM PDT On the eve of his appeal hearing, Freedom House condemns the unjust imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad and calls for his immediate release. Mr. Sanad was sentenced to three years in prison as a result of his criticism of the military's brutal treatment of protestors. During his trial, he was accused of spreading false information and insulting the military. He was convicted in a summary procedure without the presence of a lawyer or the ability to contact his family. Makail Nabil began a hunger strike in August to protest his imprisonment and intends to continue this strike until he dies or is released.  "Mikael's trial and hasty imprisonment by a military tribunal on charges of insulting the armed forces is a violation of his right to due process as well as a betrayal of the principles of democracy the Egyptian military claims it wants to uphold," said Charles Dunne, Freedom House's senior program manager for MENA. "The appeal hearing on October 4 is a clear opportunity for Egypt's ruling military council to set right a gross injustice." Egyptians have been the victims of an increasing crackdown on public debate, including the reinstatement of the Ministry of Information, a ministry that does not exist in most democracies and is viewed as restrictive by many activists. At least 12,000 civilians have been tried in military courts since February 2011, according to Human Rights Watch. Bloggers, journalists and those critical of the military have been arrested and restrictions have been placed on publication or broadcast of information or opinion about the military. In August 2011, activist and blogger Asmaa Mahfouz was arrested and charged with inciting violence against the military for her social networking posts. Egypt is ranked Not Free in Freedom in the World 2011, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2011. For more information on Egypt, visit: Freedom in the World 2011: Egypt Freedom on the Net 2011: Egypt Freedom of the Press 2011: Egypt Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

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Allow me to respond Posted: 06 Oct 2011 06:26 PM PDT Below are just some of the many comments in my article 'So, teach me the 'jalan yang betul' then!' I would like to respond to them as I feel further debate or clarification is required so that we can 'clear the air' on this matter that appears to be dividing us and threatens to break up the opposition like it did once before about a decade ago. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin Dear RPK Recently your posts have become more convoluted with everything ending up in a paradox. Bear in mind I believe the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset, If they weren't they won't even bother visiting. I'm afraid if this continues, such tedious yet complex arguments may deter the growing viewership might plummet to the depth of the ocean. Malaysia Today is the instrument of the third force as you claim so cater to the third force. Stop this nonsensical bashing and continue to direct people to the right path. I feel that Malaysia Today has entered another stage of in its struggle for freedom. I'm pretty much aware that most of the people that visit have realized the Injustice that they are living in yet we are still confused on what to do. Yes, we know the system is corrupt, so what do we do? Do we just quit our jobs and protest everyday on the street or just keep on and increasing our political bashing on the net. Therefore I hope you could focus your efforts on the next step, which is showing the people what to do next. written by Almassy, October 07, 2011 05:39:22   MY RESPONSE: The fight for reforms or change is not a 'single-focus' job. It is 'multi-prong' job. We have to do, as what in the IT world they would say, multitasking. So we do not talk about just one issue. We take about many issues because there are so many things that ail Malaysia. We continue to reveal the transgressions of those in the corridors of power -- although due to the 'selective prosecution' policy that is being practiced in Malaysia (where those close to the powers-that-be are 'immune' from the long arm of the law) very little is going to come out of this effort other than merely 'educating' the Malaysian public so that at least they get to know their government better. To you, getting to the bottom of the hudud matter may be nonsense. As you said: 'Bear in mind I believe the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset….' I suppose this also means you. However, judging by the quality of the comments that you read in Malaysia Today, does this give you the impression that 'the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset'? The impression I get is that the reverse is true. Anyway, we should not just focus on the comments to form our opinion. Can 100 readers who comment give you a good yardstick when more than a million others who read Malaysia Today do so quietly without commenting? What about the private e-mails and phone calls I receive from readers who express their opinion and their opinion is they are not sure yet whether they are going to vote for Pakatan Rakyat come the next election? So we need to respond to what people say. This is because other people may get influenced by what is being said. For example, some are of the view that if hudud is implemented, pork, gambling, liquor, etc., will be banned. So we have to counter that. Some are of the view that if they vote Pakatan Rakyat then for sure hudud is going to be implemented. Again, we have to counter that. So we need to constantly rebut and reply to negative comments because, if we don't, then people might believe these comments to be true and Pakatan Rakyat is going to suffer a serious erosion of support come the next election. We are not talking religion here. We are talking about politics and reforms. But when religion is being dragged into politics, then we have no choice but to face it head on and address the issue. And that is what I am doing: engaging the religionists who want to treat this matter as if it were a religious issue when in fact it is a political issue. ****************************************** Pete, You are learned man and I sense that as you are getting old and perhaps been 'exile' for such a long time you are getting 'religious' in your posting. Also most of the posting are for argument. When one gets older he tends to be closer to his God or his beliefs. But Pete, MT is getting too 'religious'. Its time you go to Malaysian politics and as our election is looming you may have to use your MT to drive in some message of changes so that readers will be more updated about what is going on with our political parties. You have deep throat around and of course you always get the wind first. written by neilahmad, October 07, 2011 08:10:55   MY RESPONSE:  I think I have covered most of the points in your comment in my response above. I just want to add one more point. Malaysia Today is not getting more religious. Religion is being used more now than before to gain political mileage. And this hudud issue has set the opposition back a wee bit and has given Umno a slight upper hand (which can escalate if we are not careful). So we avoid addressing this matter at our own peril. ****************************************** RPK, I would like to say that even you are not in the position to comment about Hudud unless you know more than the others. Why not we let people know what hudud is all about. Its not merely chopping off people hands... written by monty, October 07, 2011 09:29:10   MY RESPONSE: Hudud is not about religion. It is about the law and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. And people well versed in the law and the constitution ARE addressing this matter. (See here: 'Right to question hudud law' and 'At variance with the Constitution') But then the religionists (in this case the Islamists) are shouting them down and telling them that they should not talk about hudud and that only religionists should talk about it. This is where we have to 'out-shout' them. Is hudud a religious issue or a legal cum constitutional issue? I say it is a legal/constitutional issue and it not only affects the constitution but democracy as well (if the minority pushes it down the throat of the majority). ****************************************** RPK, I think you should stop wasting time in changing or bashing the Malay Muslim. They are not going to change since they are brought up in such narrow minded. Don't talk about ordinary people even the educated Malays also sometimes act very funny when comes to religion. You should continue write about Islam because I believe more non-Muslim are starting to understand the beautiful of Islam and how open is Islam is. written by DR Politics, October 07, 2011 09:35:13   MY RESPONSE: Ah, this is my favourite topic. The non-Malays and non-Muslims lament that the 'noisy minority' is screaming their heads off while the 'silent majority' is keeping quiet. "Where is the silent majority Malays-Muslims?" they ask. "Why are they keeping quiet? They should speak up!" Well, I am one of those in the 'silent majority' that you are talking about -- only that I am not silent but I speak up. Do you want me to keep quiet and just let the noisy minority go on screaming? I can, if you wish. At least the Malays would not become so angry with me, like now. ****************************************** Most of the Malays can't even understand Arab language, what more to say understanding Hudud? They are depended to Ustaz, Imam and etc. Ask that particular Malay, does he fully understand Islamic law or the Quran? written by Meh, October 07, 2011 10:49:02   MY RESPONSE: There is nothing complicated here. Hudud laws, as the name implies, are about the law. The question is: which laws do we want for Malaysia? My answer is: parliament makes the laws. That is why we call them lawmakers. So, can we let parliament do its job? Now, if you are not happy with parliament, then vote the parliamentarians out of office. Install a new parliament. Just hope that the new parliament is better than the old parliament. And that is our job as voters. ****************************************** Conclusion : All Muslims are taught to think that way, but some like Azmi dare to risk his life and question the religious teachers and the Quran. That is the argument about. If no one question Islam, then the nation will be like Somalia and the Islamic nations. Saudi and Brunei had the money and their countries are built by infidels or kafirs or using kafir's technologies. What is there to be proud of? And for the information, today a Nobel peace prize may be awarded to a Muslim, but a woman, for questioning the Islamic authorities. Are you going to say that the Nobel committee had intended to insult Islam? In a democracy, we question all things and are free to think and follows our faith or believe in anything we want to believe. Sadly Malaysia is a false democracy - a semi theocratic and racist nation. How much longer are we going to lie to the world? written by earthman, October 07, 2011 11:09:43   MY RESPONSE: And this is the crux to the whole matter. In a democracy, we have a right to question and to express our views. However, when it comes to hudud, suddenly we have lost that right. Why is that so? Because, according to the Islamists, hudud is God's law so we cannot question it. So, are you saying that we need to suspend democracy? PAS introduced the slogan 'PAS for all'. 'All' would mean non-Muslims as well, right? Or is PAS going to change its slogan to 'PAS for all-Muslims only'? Malaysians have a right to defend their democratic right to question and to disagree. PAS should be the first to recognise this since it is accusing Barisan Nasional and Umno of being undemocratic. ****************************************** There are highly intellectual Muslims who support Hudud. Not just narrow minded ones. Why we support? We have digested in our mind that Islam is the correct religion. Then it follows the Quran is the word of God. And since the Quran says Hudud is just as wajib as solat and fasting we support Hudud. A lot of people do not even understand Islam how do we expect them to understand Hudud. The least they could do is to follow Dr Tan the Catholic Archbishop and study the Quran. Dr Tan after studying the Quran supports Hudud. But these people think they are cleverer than Dr Tan, the Catholic Archbishop. He is a well read intellectual with a PhD! I rest my case. written by johann, October 07, 2011 11:33:48   MY RESPONSE: I have already responded to this above. Hudud is about the law and the constitution, not about religion. You don't need to understand Islam to understand that. ****************************************** Generally it is true that an expert of any subject or skill is more knowledgeable than the non-expert. That is true for a Hudud expert when compared to the layman. However, in this case and the main point of Azmi Haron's contention is not about the contents of Hudud but rather 'In a democracy, EVERYTHING can be questioned'. If Hudud and its limits cannot be questioned because it is divine and God's law, then it should not be proposed for implementation in a democratic nation like Malaysia. Even if it is not democracy, normal human rights should grant permission to any human to question everything as a critical thinker. To demand that one should not question Hudud because one is not a Hudud expert is beside the point, irrelevant and a 'strawman' to the point debated in that article. As normal human beings with basic human rights, we need not be an expert on Hudud to question its effectiveness and impact on society. One need not be a professional engineer, theologian, drug scientist or gambler to raise questions when there are negative impacts arising from their activities. One can apply out-of-the-box critical thinking techniques besides employing other experts to handle the in-the-box questions. It is very easy to tackle the Hudud question. If one must insist on God-commanded-Hudud, prove God exists first. If one cannot prove God exists, then one should keep God & Hudud private for psychological/emotional reasons and not bring it into public where it can effect (in grey cases) non-believers negatively. No immutable laws carved in stone tablets for 2011 onward pls written by TMT, October 07, 2011 14:57:09   MY RESPONSE: I doubt I need to add anything more to the above. He/she took the words right out of my mouth.

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