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• Tengku Adnan: It's a shrine, not a temple
• Ulama set to dominate PAS
• Trust in ‘reformer’ Najib, Zaid tells Chinese community
• Former deputy minister denies involvement in Project IC, calls witness “untrustworthy”
• Time for Ulama to reign – PAS
• Zamboanga attack: Malaysia goes on security alert
• Illicit outflows fleeced India, Asian nations of billions
• Malay bible not ‘authentic’ Christian holy book, says Perkasa veep

Tengku Adnan: It's a shrine, not a temple Posted: 08 Sep 2013 07:27 PM PDT (The Star) - The Sri Muneswarar Kaliamman Hindu temple should be identified as a shrine rather than a temple, according to Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. He said he understood the difference between the two and the one currently embroiled in a struggle over 2.43m of land between it and an ongoing project construction located in the Golden Triangle area here, is a shrine. "I am a pious man. I would not want to break something which others pray to," he said, adding that there are laws that govern such matters and people should abide by it. The temple, located at the corner of Jalan P. Ramlee and Jalan Tengah, is said to have been built in 1911 and has been fighting the demolition order that was first issued on June 13 by the Federal Territories Land Office. It is situated on reserve land and is being partially reclaimed in order to built a walkway and drain. Last week, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) staff had gone into the temple and removed the deities from its altars. Hoarding was then erected around the area but the temple committee brought it down late last week. Tengku Adnan said people should stop using religion for personal gains. He also said that some temples in Kuala Lumpur were being monitored for illegal activities, but he did not elaborate further. Tengku Adnan said the temple would be beautified in line with its surroundings. "We will also be gazetting the land for use as a shrine," he said, adding that not all the land it currently occupied would be allocated.

Ulama set to dominate PAS Posted: 08 Sep 2013 04:38 PM PDT (The Star) - A formidable force that wants the ulama presence to be dominant is set to make waves at the PAS elections in November. The Ulama Haraki (galvanising ulama) have started their campaign ahead of the 13th general election and is said to be a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming PAS muktamar. At its previous party polls in 2011, PAS saw an erosion of the ulama influence with massive defeats of these candidates in favour of the non-ulama and the Anwaris factions (the latter being aligned to Opposi­tion Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim). This time around some key Anwaris stalwarts risk being ousted, among whom are central committee members Dr Hatta Ramli, Dr Dzulkefli Ahmad and Khalid Samad. All three are parliamentarians. Dr Hatta, the Kuala Krai MP, is facing resistance for saying PAS should be willing to sacrifice seats for the Anwar-headed PKR in the spirit of comradeship. Dr Dzulkefli, of Kuala Selangor, was targeted for making controversial statements pertaining to religious pluralism. A statement by Khalid, the Shah Alam MP, that PAS members were not obligated to abide by decisions made by the Syura Council as they were not "divine revelations" has been posted on the Facebook page, Kami Bersama Ulama Muda Haraki. The passion and strength of the undercurrent movement is expected to be gauged at the upcoming Ulama Haraki Spearheading Victory forum in Kedah, due to be held at the state PAS headquarters in Kota Sarang Semut on Saturday. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said that the ulama should rise again in the party. "Now is the time to show the ulama are not just 'punching bags' that could be yelled at, questioned, ridiculed and used as pawns and tools," he said, adding that they should move out from their comfort zone and rise to the challenges faced by Muslims and the Islamic movement. PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. This essentially means that the current party deputy president does not have the blessings of Nik Aziz although Mohamad Sabu had said that he would defend his post. Meanwhile, Hadi would face potential challengers in Padang Serai PAS chairman Fauzi Tahir and party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa. Fauzi had openly offered to contest while Husam's supporters had used Facebook and flyers to gauge support for the Salor assemblyman. The recently-created Facebook page Anak Muda Menyokong 100% Husam Musa Sebagai President PAS has so far collected 1,124 'likes'.

Trust in ‘reformer’ Najib, Zaid tells Chinese community Posted: 08 Sep 2013 04:04 PM PDT Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, once among the protagonists who lobbied against Datuk Seri Najib Razak's appointment as prime minister, is now urging for undivided support for his leadership, and understanding in the difficulties he faces from his detractors within Umno. In a blog posting on the coming Malaysia Day celebration, Zaid said Malaysians — especially the Chinese — should place their trust in Najib if they want the prime minister to be more effective in all aspects, including uniting a racially divided Malaysia. He said if Najib were indeed an extremist, he would never have adopted 1 Malaysia but would have embraced Perkasa's Malay-Muslim-centric ideals. "On reflection, it's always easier to criticise others when we are not in the hot seat ourselves," Zaid wrote in the posting. "He (Najib) is a reformer who needed to pace his efforts lest he became another victim of his own party," he said, referring to Umno, the ruling party he quit from in 2008 after growing disillusioned with its direction. Zaid reasoned that it was difficult for Najib to implement policies when there are "powerful forces" from within that are intent on slowing him down or derailing him off the course entirely. "This is a man who must walk the tightrope at all times and you have to be in Umno to fully appreciate the difficulties he faces," he pointed out. Zaid cited some of Najib's reformist measures as examples to prove the prime minister's worth, such as the repeal of several preventive laws, 1 Malaysia, his economic plans and the newly-launched national Education Blueprint. "I believe that beneath his skin he is a liberal and a democrat, despite his Umno theatrics that reject pluralism. "He will not bring about racial discord nor will he condone racist politics. He will not issue ICs to foreigners to win elections. "He is a moderate, which is rare for a Malay leader still holding power in Umno. His economic plans deserve support despite huge implementation problems that are sure to unfold in the coming years," he said. Zaid recently sang similar praises for Najib, saying that despite the persistent criticism against the latter's purported lack of political willpower, he was still the country's best man to unite a racially polarised Malaysia. The prime minister had been severely criticised for his controversial statement blaming the Chinese community for the ruling coalition's dismal electoral showing but according to Zaid, Najib has not shown any bias towards any particular race amid escalating tension between Malaysia's two biggest ethnicity. The former Umno man, who defected to opposition party PKR and left after a fallout with its leadership, also noted that Najib had displayed a balanced performance and moderate politics, citing as an example his "tempered" handling of ultra-Malay groups like Perkasa despite leading Umno, a party with a conservative Malay powerbase. "PM is moderate in his conduct and remarks, and even his dealings with Perkasa are tempered. You must remember he is in Umno so he has to please other factions too," Zaid said in a brief interview with The Malay Mail Online. "The subject of racial polarisation is quite a serious subject, a challenge we have to take. I still think he is the best person to deal with this subject. "Judging from how he handled issues in the past, his temperament, he is more suited," he added. Racial polarisation in Malaysia has worsened in recent years and analysts have linked this to the ruling coalition's struggle to avert a stronger opposition by exploiting racial issues. Tension heightened after Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN) failed to win a parliamentary supermajority and lost the popular votes in Election 2013 as Umno's far right blamed the coalition's record losses on the Chinese. Najib had recently said he would embark on a national reconciliation programme but the idea has been met with much scepticism in light of the continued attacks on the Chinese community.

Former deputy minister denies involvement in Project IC, calls witness “untrustworthy” Posted: 08 Sep 2013 03:59 PM PDT Lee Shi-Ian, TMI A former deputy Federal Minister denied ever meeting Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub or being involved in Project IC, claiming he had only heard of it a year ago when the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah was established. Datuk Muhammad Yahya @ Yahya Lampong, a former deputy Rural and National Development minister, said the allegations made by former Sandakan district chief officer Hassnar Ebrahim (picture) were baseless and concocted by an untrustworthy person. Yahya also said he had no intention of filing a law suit against Hassnar. He told the five-men RCI panel led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong that there was no point in taking legal action against an untrustworthy person. Shim asked Yahya his thoughts on Hassnar making such allegations against him and implicating him in Project IC. Yahya said he knew Hassnar as they had previously been in the same political party but did not have close ties with him. Hassnar was the MP for Kota Belud during his time as a member of the Berjaya party. Hassnar had previously told the RCI that he and Yahya had met Megat Junid, the former deputy Home Minister in the 1980s. The reason for the meeting was to discuss strengthening the rights of Malays in Sabah. "I am not involved in Project IC nor have I ever profited from the issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants. I don't know why Hassnar is making such an allegation against me," Yahya said, answering another question from Shim. Despite being in the civil service in the 1980s and also serving in Sabah in various capacities, including as private secretary to former chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh, Yahya claimed he had never heard of Project IC until the RCI was established in September last year. Yahya, however, said that even if Project IC was true and illegal immigrants in Sabah had been issued identity cards, it would not have an adverse effect on the poll results. READ MORE HERE

Time for Ulama to reign – PAS Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:25 PM PDT   (Malaysia Times) - Supporting Nasrudin is PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who  had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan has expressed that it is the ulama should rise again in the party. The passion and strength of the undercurrent movement is expected to be gauged at the upcoming Ulama Haraki Spearheading Victory forum in Kedah, due to be held at the state PAS headquarters in Kota Sarang Semut . He said, "Now is the time to show the ulama are not just 'punching bags' that could be yelled at, questioned, ridiculed and used as pawns and tools," Nasrudin added that they should move out from their comfort zone and rise to the challenges faced by Muslims and the Islamic movement. Supporting Nasrudin is PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who  had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. This essentially means that the current party deputy president does not have the blessings of Nik Aziz although Mohamad Sabu had said that he would defend his post. Meanwhile, party's president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.would face potential challengers in Padang Serai PAS chairman Fauzi Tahir and party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa. Fauzi had openly offered to contest while Husam's supporters had used Facebook and flyers to gauge support for the Salor assemblyman. The recently-created Facebook page Anak Muda Menyokong 100% Husam Musa Sebagai President PAS has so far collected 1,124 'likes'. A formidable force that wants the ulama presence to be dominant is set to make waves at the PAS elections in November. The Ulama Haraki has started its campaign ahead of the 13th General Election (GE13) and is said to be a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming PAS muktamar.

Zamboanga attack: Malaysia goes on security alert Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT (The Star) - KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia has gone into security alert along its sea borders with southern Philippines following Moro rebels attack on Zambonga city. The security alert in Sabah was to check on possible spill over of the trouble that broke out in the southern Philippines on Monday morning. About 400 armed men of a break away Moro National Liberations Front (MNLF) group launched an attack on Zamboanga City, about 460km away from Sandakan in the east coast of Sabah. According to latest reports, the Moro rebels claimed it has captured seven villages and has asked the Indonesian embassy to intervene in the on-going encounter. The reports stated that at least one Filipino cop has been killed, several injured and some 30 people held as "human shields" with Malacanang condemning the attack. Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad toldThe Star Online that the military was taking measures to strengthen the sea borders while monitoring developments of the fighting in Zamboanga. "We have informed our security and defence to be on the alert and Esscom is also coordinating with security forces following the incident," he said Sabah's close proximity to the southern Philippines raises fears that the rebels might flee towards Sabah in a bid to escape capture by pursuing Philippines forces. MNLF led by Nur Misuari who was left out of last year's peace deal between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been restive and on Aug 13 had declared independence for the southern Philippines region which included Sabah. Misuari, a former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, claimed independence for Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and even North Borneo (Sabah) while stating that they did not want to be part of Philippines. Many officials in Manila took lightly the ageing Misuari's declaration of independence as they saw it as a move to threaten the Philippines government  to include MNLF as party to the Malaysia brokered peace process for Mindanoa. They felt that Misuari did not have the support of enough Moro fighters to achieve his independence plan. In 2001, Misuari was arrested by the Malaysian authorities when he entered Sabah and deported to Manila where he was placed under house arrest for a failed rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga. He was later freed MILF had broke away from MNLF following the 1996 peace agreement brokered by Indonesia and Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) for autonomous region of Mindanoa.

Illicit outflows fleeced India, Asian nations of billions Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:19 PM PDT   (Big News Network) - India, Malaysia and Indonesia were fleeced to the tune of $517 billion through illicit financial outflows over the past decade, Washington-based research and advocacy organisation Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has said. "India suffered illicit financial outflows of $123 billion, Malaysia haemorrhaged $285 billion in illegal capital flight and Indonesia lost $109 billion in dirty money," GFI said in a report. GFI, which seeks to promote transparency in the international financial system, also said Russia "experienced illicit inflows and outflows totalling $764.3 billion since the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Our research shows that illicit financial flows are one of the biggest hindrances to economic growth and one of the primary drivers of inequality in rich and poor nations alike," said GFI president Raymond Baker. "The global economy is at a very tenuous place right now with major emerging economies like India, Brazil, and Malaysia in turmoil, China showing signs of slower growth and European nations just beginning a very fragile recovery," Baker added. GFI said its research has shown that tax haven secrecy, anonymous shell companies and trade-based money laundering facilitated the illegal outflow of roughly $261 billion from the Greek economy in the lead-up to the European debt crisis, drained $3.79 trillion from China between 2000 and 2011, and tax haven abuse is estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $150 billion per year. Read more at: http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/216919704/scat/2f7c7b2b71fcfcd0

Malay bible not ‘authentic’ Christian holy book, says Perkasa veep Posted: 08 Sep 2013 11:34 AM PDT Perkasa head Ibrahim Ali flanked by other Perkasa members.  (The Malay Mail Online) - As Malaysia's "Allah" dispute heads back to court, Perkasa's Datuk Zulkifli Noordin has batted for the Home Ministry, saying the Malay version of Christianity's holy book is not "authentic" because it is only a far-removed translation. In his attempt to dismiss the historical claim forwarded by Christians here on their right to use the Middle Eastern word for god, the vice-president of the far right Malay group also painted a dire outcome for the mainly Muslim nation that has become religiously conservative over the years even as it seeks to turn into a global economic force by 2020. "A fundamental thing I got after reading the Al-Kitab, the Malay version of the Bible is that actually it is not the Injil as Muslims understand. It is actually the translation of the book called the Bible from the English version. "This means the Malay-Indonesian language version of the Al-Kitab Bible does not deserve to be called the original holy book, instead it is only a translation," Zulkifli wrote in an opinion piece published today in Umno-owned Malay broadsheet, Mingguan Malaysia. In making his case, the lawyer moved to link Muslims, Christians and Jews as coming from a common religious history as members of the same Abrahamic family upon which the divine message had been revealed. Apart from the Quran, Muslims believe in the existence of three other holy books, Zulkifli said and named them as the Taurah, the Injil and the Zabur. According to the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, the Taurah -- also called the Tawrat -- refers to the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, and is commonly associated with the divine message as revealed to the Jews; the Injil refers to the Gospels of Jesus and the Zabur refers to the Psalms of David. "Whatever it is, we must realise that Moses and Isa were Jews. Therefore the original holy book as revealed to them was certainly in Hebrew or Aramaic," Zulkifi said. He added: "Meaning that which can and qualifies to be called the holy book are texts in Aramaic, the language used by Moses and Isa. That is the book that should be the authority. As the Quran in Arabic is for Muslims." However, Zulkifli said Muslims believe the original Taurah and Injil are gone, with the Quran being the sole divine message revealed, which was why Muslims regard it as sacred. In contrast, Christians regard the Bible as their word from god, but the former federal lawmaker cast doubt over its authencity, claiming the book was actually a combination of two separate texts, the Old Testament that was originally written in Aramaic for the Jews, and the New Testament, originally penned by a Christian cleric of Roman ancestry named Saul. "This book was in Greek. The Church then combined these two Testaments and labelled it the Bible. The Old Testament was translated into English from its original texts in Aramaic while the New Testament was translated into English from the original Greek. "This English language Bible was the source of translation for the Malay-Indonesian Bible Al-Kitab," Zukifli said, and further argued that the Al-Kitab was so far removed from the original that it could no longer be regarded as anything but a thrice translated text, having passed through Aramaic, Greek, old English, new English before appearing in Malay and Indonesian. He insisted that if anyone were to debate the divinity in the Christian faith, he or she must refer to the original texts in Aramaic or Hebrew. "So allegations that the Malay-Indonesian language Bible or the Al-Kitab is the original and authentic holy book are completely without basis. It is only a translation!" he said. In his preamble to his article, the 51-year-old who has repeatedly drawn attention to an "aggressive" conspiracy to convert Muslim Malaysians to Christianity, pushed for Christian s to be denied any claim to "Allah". "Their latest demand is for the right to use the word 'Allah'in  their book and publications! What will be the effect of christians are allowed to use the word 'Allah' in our country?" he asked. "Can we guarantee that when our children say 'La ila ha illalah -- There is no God but Allah'; are we convinced our children is referring to Allah as understood by Muslims to be Allah Almighty? Or is he referring to Allah the Three In One Trinity that Christian missionaries have tried to graft onto us -- Allah the Father, Allah the Son and Allah the Holy Spirit! "This is what we must understand. This is a direct effect that will happen if Christians are allowed to use the word Allah in this country," he warned. To back his argument that Muslim Malaysians may become a religiously confused lot if non-Muslims were allowed to use "Allah", Zulkifli pointed to an event at an inter-creed marriage in an unnamed neighbouring. The groom was Muslim and the bride, a famous artiste, was a Christian, he said. After their wedding, he related that the bride was asked if she would follow her husband and embrace Islam. "The answer of this famous and beautiful actress should serve as a lesson for us: Why should I change my religion! Isn't my god and his god the same," Zulkifli said, and added, "Allah! Na'zubillah minzalik!" The last phrase in Arabic is a prayer often invoked by Muslims asking for protection from a future disastrous event.

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Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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• How far are we distant from each other?
• A fight to keep Gerakan relevant
• Kenapa Anwar gagal? (Bhgn 2)
• Why pick on Indians?
• Blind Spots in the Malaysian Education Blueprint
• To keep or to change Jalur Gemilang?
• Hysterical hostility

How far are we distant from each other? Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:53 PM PDT The Chinese community must get rid of the figure dispute and find a way to narrow the perception gap, as well as resolve the internal conflicts and the conflicts with the government, to find a way out for Chinese school students. Tay Tian Yan, mysinchew  The gaps among 210, 240 and 270 minutes are actually the perception gaps of the Chinese on languages, as well as their ambivalence for Bahasa Malaysia. For many existing and past Chinese school students, Bahasa Malaysia is a nightmare. Future students do not seem to be able to escape the fate, too. Could you still remember those days? We have to memorise vocabulary and idioms while learning "pantun", restructuring sentences, palace language, ancient language, etc. Wow! It was like learning an alien language. There were always students being punished during Bahasa Malaysia lesson in primary school. Some were asked to stand in a row outside the classroom while some were asked to stand on the table. They were punished for not being able to make sentences with a particular word, not doing their homework or failing tests. Well, it was all the language's fault. Why is Bahasa Malaysia so hard to learn? What is the use for learning it? These are frequently asked questions. Many thinks that Bahasa Malaysia is all about "apa apa" and "sama sama" as English, instead, is used in colleges or universities. And except for public service departments, the language does not seem to have much usage in workplaces. Why should we master Bahasa Malaysia then? However, when Chinese primary school students with poor Bahasa Malaysia skills continue their studies in secondary schools, their misfortune begins. More than 80% of Chinese primary school students continue their studies in national schools using Bahasa Malaysia as the teaching medium for almost all subjects, particularly after the abolition of the teaching Science and Mathematics in English policy. Even if they choose to study in Chinese independent high schools, they still cannot run away from learning Bahasa Malaysia. Thus, classes become more and more boring while the syllabuses become more and more difficult. Life becomes harder and harder. About 25% Chinese students drop out of school after Form 3 and half are eliminated after Form 5. Bahasa Malaysia is their fatal wound and the future of many Chinese students has been destroyed because of it. Since they possess no SPM certificate, they are not qualify to apply for any colleges or universities. They wouldn't have a chance even to enter vocational schools. Guess what they do then? Well, I think we wouldn't have to guess. XXX So, is it important to master Bahasa Malaysia? As nationals, of course it is important as it is the national language. However, we will not discuss this part today. From the typical Chinese mentality point of view, mastering Bahasa Malaysia may not be so important. It is not the mother tongue and its economic value might not be high either. For many people, it is the third language after Chinese and English, the sequence differs for different people, of course. However, it is still very important. It is the only official language and the country's first language. The government wants to expand its usage and improve its standard through education policy. It is the common language of the Malays. It is also their icon and soul, just like the Chinese language for the Chinese community. Therefore, the Malay community defends and promotes it. It is where the contradiction lies. The Chinese community thinks that it is not so important and might put it at the third place, but for the country and Malays, it is very important and must be prioritised. The Chinese community thinks that Bahasa Malaysia is having a limited practical value for the long run, but the immediate problem is, poor Bahasa Malaysia skills do not only affect learning in secondary school but it could end the hope to enter universities and destroy the future, too. Whether it is important to master Bahasa Malaysia or not, is also a problem of perception gap. XXX This brings me back to the 210, 240 and 270 dispute. Almost all Chinese groups and Chinese-based political parties oppose to the proposal of increasing the Bahasa Malaysia learning time for Chinese primary schools to 270 minutes. They believe that it would affect the characteristics of the schools and even change their nature. The Education Ministry, however, argued that many Chinese school students are facing problem to catch up in secondary schools and it resulted in serious dropout rates. To improve their skills of the language, of course the learning time must be increased. Moreover, the learning time for learning Chinese language has not been affected as the time is appropriated from the abolished lessons of learning Science and Mathematics in English. There are also some voices from the Malay community. They think that the Chinese's opposition to the increase of Bahasa Malaysia learning time is a move of rejecting the language, not respecting its status and affecting national unity. This is the perception gap. Chinese groups, such as Dong Zong and Jiao Zong oppose to the 270 minute proposal and cannot accept the 240 minute proposal. Dong Zong even accused that it is intended to change the nature of Chinese primary schools. Amidst the wave of opposition, they have actually neglected the fact that Chinese primary school students are indeed having difficulties to catch up when they continue their studies in national secondary schools. For many Chinese groups, the questions of how to improve Chinese school students' skills of Bahasa Malaysia and how to overcome the early dropout problem are not the focus of their concern. From the point of view of their ideology, the Education Ministry is having some hidden agendas and therefore, they must resist to defend Chinese primary schools. However, while they are concerning the future of Chinese primary schools, they should at the same time care about the schools' future. While adhering to their philosophies and ideologies, they must also take reality into account. As for the Education Ministry, to enhance Chinese primary school students' Bahasa Malaysia skills, not only the learning time should be emphasised, but more attention should be paid on teaching method and teacher issues. It has neglected the question of how to cultivate students' interest in learning Bahasa Malaysia and strengthen their confidence. Moreover, have they set the standard too high for Chinese primary school students? It is a question that must be taken into account. The more difficult the syllabuses are, the greater the learning pressure would be and the lower interest and confidence the students would have. This is not the way to enhance students' skills of the language. READ MORE AT : http://www.mysinchew.com/node/91100

A fight to keep Gerakan relevant Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:42 PM PDT The next leader of Penang Gerakan will either be a 'fighting cock' or an idealistic lawyer, both of whom hope to keep the party from sinking into oblivion after two disastrous general elections. Joceline Tan, The Star  GERAKAN politician Teng Chang Yeow returned from abroad only on Saturday night. The former Gerakan secretary-general arrived at the Penang party headquarters in the morning yesterday with a big delegation to hand in his nomination papers to contest the chairmanship of Penang Gerakan. It was definitely a show of strength on his part. His Gerakan friends and local reporters had not seen him for quite a while because he had been spending time on work and business after his party was again wiped out in the general election. His business takes him abroad a lot, mostly to China and Taiwan. Chang Yeow is about to make a comeback in Gerakan politics after resigning all his political posts on the night of the general election as a way of taking responsibility for his party's disastrous performance. His hardcore supporters are delighted. They not only think that he is the man to lead Penang Gerakan, some even think he should go for the Gerakan presidency later this year. But that would be like trying to make an omelette before the egg is laid. First, he has to secure the Penang chairmanship against the other contender, Baljit Singh. Baljit was a no-show yesterday although his nomination papers arrived at the headquarters. His absence was quite strange but he is holding a press conference today on his bid for the top post. His candidature came as a bit of a surprise even though some party members had been talking about it for several days. He is a lawyer who is in charge of the party's legal and human rights bureau and is supposed to be Gerakan's version of Karpal Singh. Like Karpal, he is quite fearless, with a booming voice and sound opinions but just as there will never be another Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu in Penang, there will also never be another Karpal Singh. The party will decide on the new Penang leadership line-up at the state convention on Sept 15. A total of 14 others are vying for the six exco posts. Lawyer Rowena Yam won the Wanita leadership uncontested and Hng Chee Wey also won uncontested as Youth chief yesterday. Although the top contest is between Chang Yeow and Baljit, most see it as a proxy fight between Chang Yeow and outgoing Penang chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan. The two are known as the "young Teng" and the "old Teng" and the feud between them has been going on for so many years that people can't even remember how it started. The Dr Teng camp had apparently approached several other people, one or two of whom would have given Chang Yeow a good fight. But they had given up on politics while another potential candidate Dr Thor Teong Ghee claimed that he wanted to focus on his medical practice. That was how Baljit ended up being the fall guy. No one really expects him to win but those behind him are hoping he will be able to embarrass Chang Yeow by getting at least 35% of the votes. The "old Teng" camp does not want Chang Yeow to win uncontested because that would make him too powerful. Chang Yeow has an aggressive political style and he has accumulated his share of enemies through the years. In fact, the proposer for Baljit's nomination was Dr Lim Boon Han who hails from a powerful Gerakan family in Nibong Tebal. Chang Yeow had made an enemy out of Boon Han during the general election when he contested the Bukit Tengah state seat which Boon Han had been eyeing. "The contest is less about ideology or principle than personal feuds," said a party insider. Shortly after nomination closed at noon yesterday, Chang Yeow held out an olive branch to the other camp and said he wished to work with them. He admitted that there were differences but that should not prevent them from working as a team. His camp had also contemplated approaching Baljit to come on board with them. But too much water has flowed under the bridge and Baljit has told people that members should have a chance to choose. Wong Mun Hoe, the Gerakan coordinator for Bayan Baru, rightly pointed out that this is his party's last chance. The new leadership, he said, will be responsible for deciding the direction and fate of the party. "The party has hit rock bottom. Whether the party is heading to oblivion or if it will remain relevant will depend on the new batch of leaders. There is a lot riding on this election. "Whoever wins next week, I hope he will be big enough to accommodate everyone. For a party to survive, we need to accommodate dissenting voices," said Wong.

Kenapa Anwar gagal? (Bhgn 2) Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:27 PM PDT   Anwar seharusnya keluar terus daripada bayang-bayang Umno dan serahkan perjuangan parti itu kepada golongan muda yang tidak pernah menjadi ahli atau menyertai Umno.  Sudah tiba masanya, pemimpin muda seperti Rafizi Ramli dan Nurul Izzah diberi peranan yang lebih penting dalam memilih bakal-bakal pemimpin akan datang.  Oleh Musli Oli, FMT  Rumusannya pada PRU 1969, 1999 dan 2008, parti-parti pembangkang menyertai pilihan raya  tanpa seorang general yang hebat tetapi masih mampu menggugat kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Berbeza dengan  PRU 2013,  parti-parti pembangkang telah berpengalaman dan cukup bersedia serta mempunyai seorang general perang yang berpengalaman dan dianggap sebagai ikon kepada perjuangan reformasi.. Tetapi masih gagal. Persoalan besarnya kenapa? Jika soalan itu ditanya kepada pemimpin PR, rata-rata jawapan yang diberikan – proses pilihan raya tidak telus. Keputusan BN menang telah ditetapkan. Suruhan Jaya Pilihan Raya atau SPR menipu!. Itulah jawapan dan alasan yang paling mudah. Jawapan yang tidak memerlukan satu post mortem  mengkaji dimana kelemahan dan kesilapan parti pembangkang. Tanpa disedari, dengan memberi alasan seperti itu, kesan negatif bukan kepada pemerintah tetapi kepada parti pembangkang. Alasan bahawa SPR menipu hakikatnya adalah senjata yang memakan tuan. Seminggu selepas pilihan raya, penulis bertemu dengan  seorang aktivis muda yang menyokong  DAP. Pertemuan itu berlaku disebuah kedai gunting rambut di Luyang, KK, Sabah. Kawasan Luyang termasuk dalam DUN dan parlimen yang dimenangi DAP. Anak muda itu menceritakan bagaimana mereka sanggup balik ke Sabah dengan perbelanjaan sendiri dan menggunakan wang ringgit serta kepakaran mereka untuk membantu menangkan PR khususnya DAP. "Ada yang datang dari Australia, Canada, Australia dan Amerika. Kita betul-betul buat kerja dan banyak pakai wang sendiri" "Kita mahu sokong PR kerana mahu negara Malaysia baru yang lebih adil pada semua bangsa. Tapi bila sudah kalah Anwar cakap, SPR tipu! Kalau tipu, apa guna balik Sabah? Apa guna buang duit? Next time, kita diam-diam. Tak payah balik Sabah. Apa guna? Kalau SPR tipu, bagus sokong BN la. Sama-sama cari makan" Reformasi Apakah anak-anak muda yang mendokong reformasi telah putus asa? Barangkali tidak. PR masih mendapat sokongan di kawasan bandar dan pinggir bandar. Masih ramai di luar sana inginkan satu gerakan perubahan yang menyeluruh yang boleh memberi "new deal" yang lebih baik kepada golongan muda. Persoalannya, Apakah Anwar Ibrahim masih boleh menjanjikan kejayaan terhadap gerakan reformasi setelah gagal pada PRU lalu? Apa kurangnya Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah yang pernah menentang Umno dan BN? Seperti Anwar Ibrahim, Ku Li juga menjadi mangsa politik Tun Mahathir. Mungkin tidak dipenjarakan, tetapi Ku Li masih mendapat simpati dari orang Melayu kerana teraniaya seperti Anwar. Ku Li  dipinggirkan Umno Baru setelah Umno diharamkan. Ku Li dikatakan menang pada pemilihan 1987 tetapi tidak menjadi Presiden Umno kerana permainan politik kotor Tun Mahathir. Ku Li menubuhkan Semangat 46 dan berjaya menggabungkan parti pembangkang PAS dan DAP dalam APU. Ternyata APU mendapat sokongan daripada semua kaum. Malah kelebihan kepada Ku Li berbanding Anwar Ibrahim, ialah partinya mendapat sokongan daripada parti PBS yang memerintah negeri Sabah pada ketika itu. Tetapi Ku Li gagal menumbangkan BN. Faktor utama kegagalan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ialah kegagalan beliau dan partinya menarik minat golongan muda dan pengundi baru untuk sama-sama menentang BN. Ku Li masih berpolitik dalam ruang lingkup  UMNO. Memilih pemimpin-pemimpin daripada Umno bukan orang-orang baru yang mendokong perubahan. Dalam pemilihan calon-calon, orang-orang yang sama dipilih. Anwar Ibrahim mengulangi kesilapan besar Tengku Razaleigh bila buat pertama kali sebagai Ketua Pembangkang mengetuai PR dalam PRU yang lalu. Secara umum, Anwar Ibrahim mendapat sokongan padu daripada golongan muda. Pakej yang dijanjikan kepada orang muda amat menarik seperti mansuh PTPTN dan sebagainya. Secara keseluruhan populariti Anwar kepada pengundi baru dan "silent majority" lebih bagus berbanding Ku Li. Tetapi bila tiba masa yang amat penting, seperti Ku Li, Anwar Ibrahim terus dibayangi Umno. READ MORE HERE

Why pick on Indians? Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:14 PM PDT   Why haven't the names of gang leaders from other communities been made public?  Frankie D'Cruz, MMO  The naming of alleged Indian gang leaders publicly is one of those upsetting stories from which nobody emerges well. Certainly not those named. Not those who came out with the list, which has proved embarrassingly naive. Not the Indian community that seems to be the only ethnic group in the country that commands the underbelly of society. Why haven't the names of gang leaders from other communities been made public? How did law enforcement come out with a list with the "actual" number of gangsters from the various ethnic groups with Indians topping the roll of shame? Oddly, Indians headline gangsterism in Malaysia despite the police saying such ruthlessness is ethnically spread. If the gang leaders are a serious threat to society, why are they still on the loose? This column has always professed a steely resolve to act against the whole continuum of gangsterism. That means no soft-pedalling or negotiation with those threatening violence against us. But with the unwavering resolve by the authorities, shouldn't we display moral clarity to ensure this menace is effectively defeated? The issue of crime and ethnicity is often devoured by politicians and anti-crime activists who are inclined to stir sociological and political controversies. In the face of public fears over security, I can't fathom why Indians are in the spotlight. Why do Indians get more attention from the police at roadblocks these days? Over the weekend, a friend and his pals in Alor Star — all Indians, all professionals in their 50s and 60s — despite identifying themselves to police officers had their personal details noted at a checkpoint enroute across the border to Danok. They were told by the cops that they were acting on instructions to note the details of all Indians going into Thailand.  Criminal profiling? Associate professor P. Sundramoorthy of Universiti Sains Malaysia holds that if Indians appear to represent 71 per cent of gangsters in Malaysia, that does not necessarily mean that other ethnic groups are not dominant in gangland activities. Sundramoorthy, who is with the research team on crime and policing, School of Social Sciences says: "The probability is that the type of gangland activities involving Indians might be more visible and violent, thereby drawing tremendous public attention. "By the same reasoning, selective types of gangland criminal activities classified as low visibility and less violent may be committed disproportionately by other ethnic groups but they go undetected or are difficult to investigate. "Obviously, they receive less media and public attention, leading many to believe that Indians are the dominant characters involved in gangland activities in this country." In the United States, he says, the same scenario applies to African-Americans and Hispanics as the type of gangland criminal activities these two ethnic groups are involved in are extremely visible from a criminological perspective. "Unfortunately, this has led to unwarranted negative labelling, stigmatisation, feelings of prejudice and acts of discrimination." He shared a personal experience to illustrate the point he was making. "Recently, I was driving my Nissan Frontier truck with Kedah registered plates towards the Botanical Gardens in Penang when I got stuck at an intersection due to heavy traffic. "On the other side of the road, parallel to my car, was an old Kembara with a male in my age group but from a different ethnic group. "I was smoking, with my windows open, and about to shake my head as a gesture of frustration about the traffic flow when he started to wind up his windows and pressed the locking mechanism in his car. He appeared to have a sense of either fear or uncertainty about me. "It was obvious from his facial and body expression that he was profiling me. I had this urge of wanting to point my index finger at him but decided otherwise to avoid any conflict. "At the same time, I may have also been over-reacting based on the current publicity of Indians and gangs." He says criminal profiling based on ethnicity can be abused and misused although profiling as a law enforcement intelligence gathering tool is extremely useful if used prudently and responsibly. "Irrespective of the various factors that are associated with crime, the association of ethnicity with crime is both weak and strong," says the disciple of criminology of more than 30 years. Sundramoorthy says some crimes appear to be ethnically defined "but in reality there is no single type of crime in this nation that is committed by one single ethnic group". He adds: "Our personalities and behaviour are nurtured by various socialisation agents in our day-to-day environment. "The choice of crime committed, even by a specific ethnic group, may be related more to lifestyles rather than biological or genetical composition. "Thus, it is crucial that in a multiracial society, we do not demonstrate our feelings and acts of discrimination by blaming ethnicity as the cause of crime. There are many socio-economic factors that contribute to criminality." Clearly, the law of unintended consequences haunts our deeds. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

Blind Spots in the Malaysian Education Blueprint Posted: 08 Sep 2013 12:23 PM PDT   Like the other blueprints of the past, including "Vision 2020", this latest effort is full of the language of educational correctness – "improving access to education, raising standards (quality), closing achievement gaps (equity), promoting unity amongst students, and maximising system efficiency"…  Dr Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser The Malaysian Education Blueprint acknowledges that education standards in the country have deteriorated so seriously that we have fallen into the bottom third amongst countries in the global indices that measure achievements in maths, science and other such basic competencies. Our achievements have even fallen below that of Thailand! Like the other blueprints of the past, including "Vision 2020", this latest effort is full of the language of educational correctness – "improving access to education, raising standards (quality), closing achievement gaps (equity), promoting unity amongst students, and maximising system efficiency"… Sounds good but can it deliver? Allow me to allude to some blind spots and contradictions that I have noticed in the blueprint. These have impeded Malaysian education and national unity for many years and unless remedied, we will surely not achieve the noble aims of the blueprint. 1.       SECULARISM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION One of the reasons often quoted by observers for the unattractiveness of national schools is their increasingly religious slant: "The dominance of religion within the national school system is why non-Malays are increasingly removing their children from the environment, said former Umno minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim." (malaymailonline, 21.8.2013) Malaysia's Education Philosophy was formulated in 1988 when the country was in the grip of the terror of "Operation Lalang" and many dissidents were at Kamunting detention camp: "Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God…" To begin with, such a formulation contradicts the stated aim of inclusiveness in the blueprint for it excludes all devotees of pantheistic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism as well as those who practice ancestor worship, including many Chinese, Orang Asli and other indigenous people. Under international human rights law, parents have a right to have their children educated in a way that is consistent with their religious or philosophical beliefs. This means that schools are obliged by international law to provide a safe respectful space for students to come together in their diversity of faith. By honouring such an inclusive aim in practice, there would be no implicit or explicit attempt to indoctrinate children with religious beliefs that conflict with those of their parents. The recent case of Orang Asli children who were slapped for not reciting the doa provides stark evidence of a reality that is the polar opposite of the stated aim of inclusiveness. (Malaysiakini, Oct 26, 2012) And as we have seen in the recent "canteen" school case, we should also bear in mind that children have rights over and above those of their parents.    The stated aim of inclusiveness is not simply a phrase for appeasing Malaysian minorities; it embodies the important principle that for our education system to be on par with the best in the world by 2025, it must be secular in philosophy and practice. Thus, a progressive school system would respect all pupils equally and teach in a neutral, objective way about the different faiths that people have. The role of Malaysian schools is to bring diverse children together and teach them subjects that have a basis in scientific fact, like mathematics, languages, geography, history and critical thinking. These provide the knowledge and skills that are vital to their performance in the global achievement indices, TIMSS and PISA that the blueprint benchmarks. For this to happen, teachers need the autonomy to teach their subject/s freely without any interference regarding their religious affiliations, or lifestyle choices, and be free to answer questions of ethics, beliefs, etc. in an objective way. Progressive education is about character building which is more meaningful through literature and music rather than through didactic moral education. 2.       EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY The blueprint has neglected democracy. It has failed to reinstate our Independence heirloom of an elected local government which involves a decentralised education system engaged with and responsive to the needs of the local community. Many have forgotten that local education authorities were part and parcel of elected local councils, as was the case before these elections were abolished in 1965. Decentralising education can serve to make the education system more efficient as well as more democratic. Decentralising power away from the ministry of education and dispersing it to elected councils creates the conditions for better public services and a more robust society. Local councils are then responsible for the fair distribution and monitoring of funding for the different language streamed schools built according to need, rather than political preference. They are responsible for the co-ordination of admissions and allocation of places available at each school. They are the direct employers of all staff in schools and have a responsibility for the educational achievement of school children. Although the blueprint espouses objectives to encourage creative and independent thinking students, it lacks the concrete programmes and other activities needed to enable students' self-governance and exercise their assertiveness, at least at upper secondary level. 3.       MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL SYSTEM There is a glaring contradiction in the blueprint's commitment toward promoting unity and inclusiveness for it hardly considers the development and growth of the SRJK schools and Independent schools within the national education system. Considering Chinese and Tamil schools were part and parcel of the national education system at Independence 56 years ago, there is no reason why sustaining them today, in our much more developed state should be a problem. There is also no reason why the Malaysian education system cannot accommodate some English-language streams for those children whose mother tongue is English, when we have had so much experience handling English-language education since colonial times. Although the education minister keeps insisting that the government has no intention to do away with Chinese and Tamil education, the reality shows that these schools have been treated like step children in the national education system all these years and government leaders continue to denigrate these schools as being obstacles to integration. Under Section 17.11 of the Education Act 1996, all schools in the National Education System have to use Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction: "17. (1) The national language shall be the main medium of instruction in all educational institutions in the National Education System except a national-type school established under section 28 or any other educational institution exempted by the Minister from this subsection." The Education minister has just said that the existence of the vernacular schools has been guaranteed under section 28: "28. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister may establish national schools and national-type schools and shall maintain such schools." The Chinese and Tamil schools that were established before the 1996 Act – practically all of them- exist only at the pleasure of the minister. They have not actually been formally exempted by the minister from using Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction. And how many "national-type schools" have been established by the minister under section 28 since 1996? The fact remains that whilst the population of the Chinese and Tamil Malaysians today has doubled since Independence, their mother tongue schools have decreased in absolute numbers – from 1350 to 1285 Chinese schools, from 880 to 550 Tamil schools. The scandal of overcrowding in these schools makes a mockery of the lofty aspirations in the blueprint. The BN government's claim of achievement during the GE13 was allowing ONE secondary school to be built by the Chinese community in Kuantan. That is the sad reality of section 28 of the 1996 Education Act. The gross discrimination in financial allocation to the Chinese and Tamil schools (less than 5% of total allocation to all schools) through the years further demonstrate the lack of commitment by the government to mother tongue education of the non-Malays as a cornerstone of inclusiveness. 4.       TEACHING BM AND ENGLISH IN SRJK SCHOOLS The blueprint does not make any positive statements about Chinese and Tamil schools, nor does it point out special challenges that they face and need to overcome, such as learning Bahasa Malaysia (and English) as a second language rather than sharing a common curriculum with the SK schools. Learning second languages effectively is not simply a question of increasing the contact hours for the students. The proposed 240 minutes of BM and the same number of contact minutes of English for Chinese and Tamil schools smacks of a quantity fixation rather than quality learning of second languages. As with the previous curriculum of learning maths and science in English, the amount of curriculum time in the Chinese and Tamil schools for this, has been arrived at through political horse trading rather than the demands of effective language teaching. Has any thought been given to the effect of all these extra hours that Chinese and Tamil primary school children will have to endure under the new curriculum? In the UK, where second languages are taught, the standard is a one 40-minute French lesson a week. The UK may not be the best example of second language teaching and a 40-minute lesson in a foreign language is hardly enough. But by the age of 11, pupils are expected to speak the language in sentences with appropriate pronunciation, express simple ideas with clarity and write phrases and short sentences from memory. They will also be expected to understand basic grammar and be acquainted with songs and poems in the language studied. In the rest of Europe, children begin to learn a foreign language from the age of 8-10, but elsewhere they begin earlier. Less than 10% of total teaching time is generally devoted to learning foreign languages in European primary schools, a figure which improves for secondary education. In Singapore where English is taught as a first language, Malay, Chinese and Tamil are taught as second (mother tongue) languages. Schools adopt differentiated teaching approaches to cater to pupils from different home language backgrounds. In Singapore, Mother Tongue Languages are taught for functional purposes, with an emphasis on listening, speaking and reading skills. Nonetheless, teaching is tailored to meet the different learning needs of pupils, with more engaging and appealing teaching materials that capture pupils' interest. Pupils take a Core Module, while those with little or no exposure to the second language may take Bridging Modules. Pupils with the interest and ability to go further can take the Enrichment Modules.  Thus, the teaching of BM and English in Chinese and Tamil primary schools should be carried out in a more thoughtful way to ensure effective learning and not to impose an even heavier curriculum on our already stressed out kids through quantitative horse trading. 5.       INTEGRATION THROUGH EDUCATION The blueprint recognises that "it is imperative for students to interact with and learn from fellow students and teachers of every ethnicity, religion, culture, and socio-economic background". However, programmes like the Student Integration Plan for Unity, or Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan (RIMUP) which fosters interaction across different school types through co-curricular activities have floundered because "funding for RIMUP has dropped significantly, reducing the frequency and intensity of these programmes." There should be a greater commitment by both the government and the Chinese and Tamil school lobbies to create such activities that promote closer integration. It would be the responsibility of local education authorities to provide state-of-the-art-facilities for the common use of schools of the different language streams in an education precinct. These should include libraries, IT centres, and stadiums, concert halls and common activities organised to include all the different school streams in a precinct. The Chinese schools of Malaysia have managed to survive for nearly two centuries mainly because of community involvement in their well-being. This has included the school board, alumni association, as well as parents and teachers' organisations. This can serve as a model to be emulated elsewhere, in the blueprint. Such community involvement and engaged peoples' organisations are key to the success of local government initiatives and must be encouraged rather than controlled by the whims and fancies of the Registrar of Societies. Integration can only be achieved through a consensus that is built through an objectively constructed history and literature recognising the contributions of all the ethnic communities in our country. It will fail if school text books present prejudiced reconstructions by bigots who try to spread their ideology of racial dominance. The Education Blueprint will only inspire Malaysians if it can convince us that the blind spots that have been pointed out can, and will be put right.

To keep or to change Jalur Gemilang? Posted: 08 Sep 2013 11:36 AM PDT   The sole function of any flag is to deliver a message. The on-going controversy on the Sang Saka Malaya flag is not so much about the flag design, as a matter of fact; it is about the other version of the history about the fight for the country's independence.  Khoo Ying Hooi, TMI  A Merdeka eve incident involving the raising of the Sang Saka Malaya flag led to Datuk A. Samad Said's controversial midnight arrest. Earlier, Hishamuddin Rais and Adam Adli Abdul Halim were also detained for the same incident and both are being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948. In fact, this is not the first time that the authorities have taken action under the Sedition Act 1948, on those caught raising the Sang Saka Malaya flag. Last September, the police arrested two youths for allegedly flying the Sang Saka Malaya flag during the countdown to the eve of the 55th Independence Day. Red and white are historically the colors of the archipelago Malays. The Sang Saka Malaya flag was used by the first Malay party, Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), that was established in 1945 and had fought against the colonial British for the country's independence. It is a red-and-white flag with 12 yellow stars set in four columns and was proposed as Malaya's national flag back in the 1940s. Flag debates are, however, not new. In Australia, for example, there is a constant dispute over whether the Australian flag should be changed. The main issue concerned the removal of the Union Jack symbol in its design. The main intention is to move on from the British heritage. Interestingly, the former prime minister of Australia, Paul Keating in 1992, had also publicly supported a change in the flag. Australia is one of the few countries in the world where a change of the design of the national flag is advocated. Those who advocate the flag change in Australia are convinced that an alternative flag design would be more suitable in representing Australia than the flag that they are currently using. However, until today, such proposals for change have not received full acceptance from its citizens. Reflecting on this, the call for flag change in Malaysia and Australia share one common similarity, that is, the historical explanation. Similarly, the flag debates also happen in New Zealand. It is not unusual that the national flags change over time, normally in such occasions; it contemplates major change in the country's constitutional arrangements or it could be due to a change of government. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/khoo-ying-hooi/article/to-keep-or-to-change-jalur-gemilang

Hysterical hostility Posted: 08 Sep 2013 06:21 AM PDT Some of our politicians seem to be seeing shadows behind everything where there is none. From their perspective, there is intrigue, a hidden agenda and suspicious motives everywhere. Wong Chun Wai, The Star THERE seems to be no end to politicking in Malaysia. We thought the campaigning that reached its peak in the run-up to the general election in May would slowly wind down once the people had decided. But that was only wishful thinking. We still are in election mode, judging by the endless bickering, growing suspicion over what everyone is saying, and the perception of a hidden agenda behind each issue. After the polls, there were more ceramah and protests. Taking disputes to the courts was not enough in the battle to conquer the court of public opinion. And we all thought, naively, that everyone would just take a breather. We all suffer from political fatigue. To be blunt, most of us probably feel nauseated. Surely the politicians, who are humans too, would want to get a break and make up for lost time with their spouses and family members. But no, they can't seem to stop. Everyone is talking about crime, the increase in the cost of living and the looming financial slowdown. Well, we are also talking about Bosnian sperm. But there seems to be a wide disconnect between our lives and that of our politicians, regardless of their political affiliation. We do not see any of them explaining to us why our ringgit is weakening and how we should face the problems, even if there are external factors beyond our control. Those with children studying overseas are probably watching the exchange rates with eagle eyes and they certainly want to know what the future will hold. Malaysians would also like to hear how we should gear up for the softening market as businessmen grapple with escalating costs and declining revenue and profits. It is not just a worry for those who run companies but also for their workers. Instead, politicians are trying to outdo one another, trying to score points by making some pretty outrageous demands just to get their name and pictures in the media. The main political parties in the country's ruling coalition – Umno, the MCA and the MIC – are all holding their party polls very soon. PAS is having its internal polls too while the DAP is conducting a fresh election after its earlier vote tally blunder, which it continues to blame on a technical glitch. In the case of the three main Barisan Nasional parties, we are talking about elections at all levels – from the branches to the divisions right to the top hierarchy. We are pretty sure, judging from the activities on the ground and the desperate insecurity demonstrated by some politicians, that they are not doing much these days except to ensure their party positions are secured, or to get back a position. Many have attempted to be champion spokesmen of their communities, flexing their political muscle, with some espousing views that smack with racial overtones. Even the movies are not spared as politicians make laughable statements when they have not even watched the films and are unlikely to do so. But speak they must, and so they do. Some of our politicians seem to be seeing shadows behind everything where there is none. From their perspective, there is intrigue, a hidden agenda and suspicious motives everywhere. Reaction to the movie Tanda Putera is one example. The hysterical hostility towards the movie is unbelievable. I was among the earliest to be invited by Datuk Shuhaimi Baba, the director, to watch the show and to give my views. I told her there should be more films like this because the world is beginning to think that we only watch movies about gangsters, ghosts and wife-beating husbands. In Tanda Putera, the Chinese were not blamed for the riots but the communists and political activists were. This is the big difference which the politicians do not want to understand. So is the unnerving reaction to The New Village. It is a period movie about new villages set in 1949, when most of us were not even born and the country was caught in a fight with the communists. We are now in the year 2013, yet we are still grappling with the ghosts of the past! The communists in China have all become capitalists, drinking fine French wine, enrolling their kids in British boarding schools, keeping mistresses and becoming corrupt, as ordinary politicians in a democratic system do! The only thing commie about the ruling elite in Beijing now is that they still carry party membership cards and uphold the red ideology to avoid a real election! Anything else red would be red wine and Manchester United. We are still unsure if The New Village will ever make it to our cinemas. After all the party polls are over, perhaps. Maybe by Christmas, although by then it would really be good luck to the producer because who would care about new villages in December and January as many of us would want to go on holidays and celebrate the year-end! The holiday season is all about parties – celebratory ones, not political parties – and we just want to be silly, more than some politicians, as we usher in the coming year. And we really hope that in the coming year, we will finally see the end to mindless politicking. And can we please appeal to our politicians that they remember why we voted them in – to run the country, make us feel safe, plug financial leakages, seriously fight graft, postpone expensive projects and, if possible, stop using taxpayers money to put your faces on billboards?

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Johor must fall in order for Pakatan to rule Posted: 08 Sep 2013 08:52 PM PDT I must admit that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Johor did not successfully deliver the desired 13th general election victories in the state to see PR itself become the new host in Putrajaya. In order to topple the ruling party, Johor has to yield and only then can PR successfully occupy the seat of federal government. Johor is the birthplace and stronghold of Barisan Nasional's anchor party Umno, and Johor PKR and PAS have to make enough inroads here for PR to capture Putrajaya. Nonetheless, Johor DAP should not be blamed for PR's poor showing. In many circumstances, we [DAP Johor] are more than willing to share resources and information to provide strategic advice. Nonetheless, in most circumstances before the last general election, much of our sincere advice and genuine information had fallen on deaf ears. Worst of all, certain quarters in PAS and PKR were actually more inclined to believe Umno and BN's orchestrated propaganda that DAP is a "Chinese chauvinist party" and that Malay dominance is at stake if DAP wins "too many seats". Let's not hide the fact that PKR and PAS prefer to treat DAP's slightly bigger number of seats in Johor as a threat to their dominance than accepting a new scenario where a concerted effort is need to break the Umno hegemony at all cost. Umno hegemony does not equal the people's sovereignty . Many of our own state and national leaders have failed to appreciate the changing trend where, in PR, it is impossible to have dominance by a single party unlike in BN where Umno is the boss. In other words, PR itself is not mentally prepared or willing to accept a new political scenario if Umno hegemony were to be broken. Any attempt to replace Umno hegemony and dominance with another form of partisan hegemony is not only unethical but also unrealistic. DAP would not be the government Some conservative quarters within PR itself even believe in Umno's propaganda that DAP is getting too strong and a threat to Malay and Islamic dominance in the country. It is most unfortunate that key opposition leaders have been taken in by the nationalistic agenda of Umno. They fell into the trap rather than trying to escape Umno's divide-and-rule racial rhetoric. On the other hand, DAP has long appreciated the fact that our party would not be able to form the government either at the national or state levels apart from in Penang. Besides the previous proactive interactions between PAS, PKR and DAP at the Johor state level to simulate the possible formation of a joint state government, we were the first state to announce joint PR memorandums, joint alternative state budgets, joint manifestos and the like. But what had gone wrong for PR before the GE13? I was seen as the "bad guy" for open defiance but from my point of view, it was like a surgeon who was trying to resuscitate a bleeding patient on the verge of collapse. Swift and determined top-level intervention was needed to resuscitate PR Johor at the eleventh hour in order to deliver the desired results for PR to capture Putrajaya. Many within PR itself failed to appreciate this fact. We had been dragging our feet the past two to three years due to unnecessary squabbles over the seats allocation among PR component parties. DAP Johor had a winning formula in mind for PR. We suggested that PAS give in by allowing PKR to contest more state seats in order to convince the more pragmatic Johor Malays of the feasibility of our coalition. In return, DAP should be allowed to contest one or two more parliamentary seats. Seat allocation and a joint effort in determining credible candidates should have been carried out much earlier in order to kickstart our groundwork for GE13. Getting a grip on 'Change' Politics is about good governance and bettering the lives of the people. One has also to be pragmatic to understand the pragmatic Johoreans, especially the Johor Malay Muslims. Johor Malays may not come out openly to oppose fundamental religious viewpoints but it does not mean that they support these views. Mind you, balloting is secret anyway. According to surveys done in two Johor parliamentary constituencies before GE13, 90 percent of Malays were generally concerned about bread-and-butter issues such as the domination of the economy by the elite ruling class, corruption, low wages as compared to the high cost of living, and so forth. The remaining 10 percent Johor Malays were those Muslims who were actually interested in religious issues. Nonetheless, many failed to appreciate the true political repercussion of championing hudud on pragmatic Johorean Malays. The PAS usual religious rhetoric may work well in other states at certain times but it certainly works the other way around with Johoreans. One has to accept the fact that if we cannot win the hearts of Johor Malays, it is impossible to win big enough to capture Putrajaya. Don't take non-Malay support for granted When Umno realised that overtly playing with racial issues might not be so fruitful, the party outsourced its Malay ultra-nationalist image to NGOs like Perkasa & Co. Umno fighters no longer raise the keris now to display their nationalist credentials. Instead Perkasa do the job for them. Hudud for PAS is like the keris symbolism for Umno. It is something that may work either way. Ultra-nationalism once brought political dominance for Umno when non-Malay minorities tolerated it during the 1980s and 1990s economic booms. Now, the non-Malays tolerate the PAS Islamism for the sake of political change. It is only a transient sociopolitical phenomenon. My repeated advice is that one should not take it for granted. Nonetheless, PAS has to convince pragmatic Malays in Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang that it is a sensible political party which is concerned about social justice and fairness in wealth distribution as well as able to improve the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people. Negotiations stalled in Johor Perhaps ever since 2008, I have been systematically portrayed by certain quarters as "arrogant" and someone difficult to work with. This attempt to undermine my public image was done to bolster the political influence of certain fiefdoms within the PR. Both PKR and PAS have disappointed us from the very beginning through their refusal to accept the recommendations of Johor DAP on the seat distribution between our three parties. Fact has proven that Johor DAP's suggestions were for the benefit of the coalition. Both PKR and PAS would have won more seats if they appreciated the strategic reasons behind Johor DAP's many suggestions. Johor DAP was accused of trying to force three-corner fights when on the contrary, on nomination day, it was PAS and PKR who fielded their separate candidates for the Panti state seat in Johor and elsewhere across the country. It was a bad sign of distrust as well as lack of coordination that contributed to the opposition's defeat in Kota Damansara, Selangor and the overlap of candidates in a few other seats elsewhere. Johor DAP had called the attention of the national leadership to the fact that five out of 11 winnable Johor parliamentary seats were in PKR hands including Batu Pahat, Muar, Ledang, Pasir Gudang and Tebrau. If we had not won most of these "winnable" seats, we would have not been able to capture Putrajaya. Biased interpretation of a few polling streams did not help PR gain more seats in Johor either. Did the attacks against me and Johor DAP as being anti-PKR and racist launched by our own coalition partners bring them any political advantage? I was even more upset than many within PKR itself as I believe they could and should have done much better if only they had treated their PR counterparts as allies and not as mere competitors. PKR would have done much better if a different strategy was deployed. Game of Democracy Any party can make inroads in the non-traditional areas if it employs effective strategies. PAS was successful in making inroads in both rural (DUN Parit Yaani) and urban (DUN Puteri Wangsa) mixed areas. One should study the strategies employed in making these small but politically significant breakthroughs. Controversial and divisive issues such as hudud will not only be damaging to our internal relations but it would not help PAS itself to make any inroads in southern Malay states such as Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, and especially among the Johor rural Malays. On the other hand, we just need to convince Johoreans that we are better and more sensible than the BN. There are far more weighty issues of common concern that PR needs to address instead of hudud. Democracy is essentially an expression of what the ordinary man wants, which is not forcing religious law upon people who do not belong to the said religion. Yes, if Pakatan wants to survive in the game of democracy, it is our duty as politicians to articulate the needs of the people. We need to go to the ground to survey what they really need, and not simply draft election strategies that are mere paperwork. It is unfounded to say that PAS could not gain non-Malay support and DAP is only supported by the Chinese electorate. It is even more absurd to presume that PKR can win both Malays and non-Malay support without a proper political organization and structure in the state. Drawing board for winning strategies Johor Umno noticeably fielded two-thirds new candidates in GE13. As one senior Umno member indicated to me, it was in response to Johor DAP's strategy where 70% of our candidates were first-timers. Unfortunately, it was our political foe who appreciated Johor DAP's strategy and effort more than our own allies. That bold strategy of using a large number of young blood gave Johor Umno a new lease of life. One has to appreciate the existence of political psychology where people in general expect new blood rather than spent and stale forces in bringing about political reform. By using young Turks, Johor Umno managed to convince the Johor Malay ground that they could reform. For PR to make more breakthroughs in Johor or even nationwide, we have to groom more young and energeticpejuang than depending on old warhorses, and prepare them earlier for the next battle. Unlike DAP and PAS which are bogged down by historical and ideological baggage, PKR being a young party has the advantage of flexibility to model itself into a pan-Malaysian force. Yet it was PAS and DAP Johor that won mixed seats with roughly 40 percent of both Chinese and Malay electorates. Debunking the BN race propaganda The BN belief is that race is still a major factor. Yet PAS state assemblymen Dr Mohd Taslim (DUN Maharani) and Dr Sheik Ibrahim Salleh (DUN Sungai Abong) won two state seats that are mixed. Both incumbents retained their seats with a bigger majority in 2013. Another two PAS state assemblymen in the Puteri Wangsa and Parit Yaani DUNs won in urban-suburban and rural mixed areas respectively. DAP won two non-traditional urban mixed seats Johor Jaya and Pengkalan Rinting on the back of substantial Malay support, especially among young and first-time Malay voters where certain voting streams registered Malay support as high as 60 percent and above. Small but significant victories by PAS and DAP in the mixed seats have successfully debunked the BN propaganda. Johor's GE13 election results overturned the prejudice that DAP is a Chinese party and PAS an Islamist party that are confined only to their own distinct communal bases. The winning strategy for PR is to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. We cannot win the federal government by blaming Pakatan allies and crediting Umno with successfully scaring rural Malays into a state of sinophobia. PR's lost self-confidence has to be rekindled. Our component parties must be willing to reject the Umno propaganda that Malay dominance is necessary and that this dominance is at stake should PR gain the upper hand. The writer is Johor DAP chairman.

RON95/Diesel price increase: let me try again Posted: 08 Sep 2013 03:32 PM PDT Essentially, they said I made false, incomplete or irrelevant comparisons. Since some such comments were written by people whom I know are capable of thinking well, I felt compelled to review what I wrote. I've concluded they responded as they did because I either didn't make my points clearly or I assumed too much willingness on their part to try to connect the dots. I've decided to try again. Fuel price comparisons I mentioned the fuel price in the Netherlands because being there made me more sensitive to how much difference there is in fuel prices across the globe. If I had returned from Iran, I would have stated that petrol is virtually free there. So, the point is not the price in the Netherlands, the point is that all nations have to fix the price of fuel, taking into consideration many factors. Consider the price of petrol and diesel in 9 countries in our region which foreigners often consider investing in. According to a source which I have not verified, this is the price-at-the-pump, in Euros in August 2013: Petrol: China 1.25; Singapore 1.25; Cambodia 1.08; Thailand 0.95; India 0.92; Philippines 0.91; Vietnam 0.89; Indonesia 0.72; Malaysia 0.64. Diesel: China 1.25; Singapore 0.95; Cambodia 0.92; Indonesia 0.80; Vietnam 0.77; Philippines 0.75; Thailand 0.72; India 0.65; Malaysia 0.53. Does the following surprise you? The price of fuel in China, the world's source of "cheap goods," is about double that in Malaysia. In case you're wondering, for the USA: petrol 0.71; diesel 0.77 (Euros). Despite the low price of fuel in Malaysia, we're losing investment to the other countries. In some countries diesel isn't cheaper than petrol. Again, a caveat: I've not verified the data, and I am concerned that it's hard to find fresh local articles on this subject in on-line media. Am I wrong to expect reporters/journalists to consider the big picture and to do the verification? Thanks in part to the 'low' (!) price of fuel in China, the Chinese are abandoning their bicycles, while the Dutch with their expensive fuel, even cycle daily to work. (There are many reasons for this, fuel taxes and bicycle lanes are amongst them.) Which countries subsidize fuel? According to Wikipedia (i.e. unverified), the following 12 countries subsidize RON95 petrol: USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Burma (sic), Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Trinidad and Tobago, Brunei and Bolivia. Recall that the USA is widely considered not only a wasteful society, but also a society which shamelessly proclaims its 'right' to waste the earth's resources. Recall also that the 11 other countries in the list are rarely considered models of good nation building. Minimum wages & salary levels In all the "discussion" I reviewed in the course of writing my essay, I couldn't find a single media article which listed minimum wages and median incomes. I'll leave you to speculate why. Do you agree with the following? Just like the discussion of fuel prices, discussion of minimum wages should be multi-dimensional ('nuanced'), not just "us versus them." Not all nations with fuel more expensive than in Malaysia offer unemployment benefits, health care and retirement benefits. The imposition of Generalized Service Taxes (GST), price controls, the general level of income taxes, etc. should also be considered when discussing subsidies. I was silent about higher wages and salaries in the Netherlands. My critics are silent about the higher deductions in the Netherlands for income taxes and welfare benefits. READ MORE HERE

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Stop baseless accusations over use of “Allah” Posted: 08 Sep 2013 04:32 PM PDT The Christian Federation of Malaysia As the hearing date of 10 September 2013 for the appeal by the Government of Malaysia against the decision of the High Court of Malaya to allow The Herald newspaper to use the word "Allah" fast approaches, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) notes with grave concern the calls by various groups to "defend" Islam from being insulted and threatened. In particular, we refer to a television programme in which untrue and unsubstantiated accusations were made about so-called Christian plots to convert Muslims, and to the official Friday sermon (khutbah) written by JAKIM (the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia or Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia) and delivered on 6 September 2013, which called for "action" ("tindakan") in defence of Islam by Muslims over the use of the word "Allah" for God by Christians, and that such defence was a "holy struggle" ("perjuangan suci"). The issue then is whether such calls would become the catalyst and the incitement of reactions which may result in public disorder. Even a cursory examination of these accusations and statements will clearly show that they are emotional and without factual basis. However, the call for "action" by some Muslims is incendiary and alarming to ordinary Malaysians. Worst of all, there appears to be no action or statement whatsoever from any governmental authority in our nation, calling for calm or even ordering a stop to such stoking of anger and heightening of feelings. Let it be made clear once again that: 1. The word "Allah" to refer to God is used by about 60% of the approximately 2.6 million Christians in Malaysia. Bumiputra Christians, who only have Bahasa Malaysia as their common language for worship and prayer, have long used the Bahasa Malaysia Bible containing the word "Allah" for God without any uproar, resistance nor objection. 2. The word "Allah" to refer to God has been in use for hundreds of years in various translations of and from the Bible (please refer to the CFM Fact Sheet issued on 16 May 2013). 3. Only in Malaysia is the use of the word "Allah" to refer to God by Christians a problem for Muslims. Christians in the Middle East freely use the word "Allah". There is no confusion. 4. The repeated accusations that the use of the word "Allah" is a device that is part of a Christian conspiracy to convert Muslims has never been substantiated. Such irresponsible accusations must stop. This is blatant scaremongering and provoking of religious tensions. The CFM invites our Muslim sisters and brothers in Malaysia to reflect, understand and appreciate the context of how, when and why Christians use the word "Allah". This use has carried on for centuries through our shared history without any problem and we have lived in relative peace and harmony for many years whilst this use has been on-going. In dealing with the issue of the use of the word "Allah" for God, as indeed with other inter-religious issues, there is a need for the truth, i.e. facts and evidence, to be looked at, instead of an appeal to purely emotional rhetoric or use of base insults, or talk of plots and alleged conversions. The CFM vigorously calls upon the Malaysian Government, which represents ALL Malaysians, to ensure, uphold and protect freedom of religion in Malaysia. Let not JAKIM be the only voice purporting to speak on behalf of the Government of Malaysia that has said that it represents Malaysians of different faiths and ethnicities. The CFM requests all Christians to continue to pray for peace and justice. May God bless and protect our beloved nation, and grant peace to all Malaysians. - September 9, 2013. * The Christian Federation of Malaysia is an umbrella organisation of Christian churches and groups in Malaysia.

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