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• And the prince makes his move…
• Najib, the Queen and the Pope
• Malaysia's Sub Scandal Resurfaces
• Taken to the cleaners
• My daughter Sara graduated today with a B.A. in Marketing Communications
• Social Media Plays Major Role in Motivating Malaysian Protesters

And the prince makes his move… Posted: 20 Jul 2011 05:46 AM PDT Tengku Razaleigh's Amanah has sent the speculation mills into overdrive. Has the prince given up on Umno? Or will he now lead the third force? (Free Malaysia Today) - The new organisation set up by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may signal the Kelantan prince's disenchantment with Umno, suggested a prominent blogger. He also believes that the veteran politician will not defend his Gua Musang parliamentary seat under the Barisan Nasional ticket. In his blog MSOMalaysia, Mohd Sayuti Omar said Razaleigh's Amanah (Angkatan Amanah Merdeka) reflected his frustration towards Umno and that the latter no longer believes he can reform the party from within. "The question is what is the purpose of Amanah? "Will it move to support Umno or go against Umno? Will Amanah that is said to be based on the legacy of Tunku Abdul Rahman forge cooperation with the opposition in the coming election? "The logic is Razaleigh will not be enthusiastic about leading the NGO if it is not to repair Umno… (but) he has given thought about his future and has lost confidence in Umno. I can see from this that he will not contest under the BN ticket anymore," he added. Amanah to lead third force? Amanah, to be launched this Friday, aims to rekindle the spirit of unity, justice and good governance as espoused by the country's founding fathers which Razaleigh said is the duty of Umno to preserve. The Gua Musang MP, however, has been critical towards the ruling party and made statements that Umno has deviated from its original struggle and is now corrupt. The setting up of Amanah is seen as a platform to pursue this objective while some observers claim that the NGO may potentially be the leading platform for a third force given Razaleigh's calibre as a respected politician. A news report quoted Amanah central committee and PAS member Wan Saiful Wan Jan as saying that the NGO will have "prominent leaders" on its committee. It is understood that the 15-20 member committee will also include leaders from BN as well as Pakatan Rakyat. "You might be surprised when you see who is in the committee," Wan Saiful said. 'Those who lost faith in Najib' Commenting on the composition of the committee, Sayuti said while there are no details, he is however confident that it will include Umno politicians who have lost faith in the party's struggle. "It will also comprise ex-top civil servants who no longer believe in Umno's struggle and the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. "Who are they (members of the committee)? There are a few Umno veterans with Razaleigh and his loyal supporters. It also includes the children of Umno leaders who no longer believe in Umno, which has gone astray from its original struggle," added the blogger. Razaleigh was touted as the best candidate to lead the country next to his former Umno comrade, current Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, and was said to be in talks with Pakatan over such a prospect, but he denied the speculation. READ MORE HERE

Najib, the Queen and the Pope Posted: 19 Jul 2011 02:09 PM PDT (The Diplomat) Marrying the demands of international diplomacy with the political realities of home is a tough ask for most countries and their foreign ministries. The two can be a difficult fit, as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has found out all too well. Some back home seem determined to provide an unwanted backdrop for his whistle-stop European tour designed to shore-up his country's vastly improving relations with the West and bring in some much needed foreign investment. However, echoes of the Bersih movement and their demands for electoral reform have dogged Najib and his entourage from London to Rome, while the prime minister's own supporters have provided the nastiest thorn in his political side with wild and unsubstantiated claims of unwanted foreign meddling in domestic affairs. Much of the initial fault lies with Najib. He declared the July 9 Bersih rallies in Kuala Lumpur and across the country illegal and failed to muzzle his own party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), and fringe elements threatening what should have been a simple and peaceful march. The police moved in with a heavy hand. Protesters were baton charged, tear gassed and beaten. People wearing yellow, the colour synonymous with the Bersih movement were arrested. Najib defended the police action, deeming it necessary to keep the peace while attempting to demonize what was as much a mums and dads rally calling for clean elections as an opposition attempt to topple the government. Playing to a home audience, his government quickly blamed prejudices in the international media for the negative portrayal that made headlines around the world, and Najib was probably hoping the mess would be quietly forgotten as he packed his bags for England. No such luck. Supporters of Bersih, which means clean in Malay, in London booed Najib as he went to Downing Street for lunch with his British counterpart David Cameron. He and First Lady Rosmah Mansor later met with the Queen, who surprised all by wearing yellow against a backdrop of yellow flowers. The choice of outfit from such an astute and experienced head of state was widely interpreted as a sympathetic sign of support for Bersih, although the Queen's dress sense seemed to escape the attention of fashionistas on state-linked newspapers in Malaysia. Read more at: http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2011/07/19/najib-the-queen-and-the-pope/

Malaysia's Sub Scandal Resurfaces Posted: 19 Jul 2011 01:30 AM PDT French prosecutors edge closer to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak The French prosecutors are not expected to investigate Altantuya's death as such. Instead, they are following the case on the basis that it is illegal to pay or take kickbacks in France. If the €114 million is found to be a kickback, the French prosecutors can act, Bourdon said.  John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel  The noose could be tightening on one of Malaysia's greatest military procurement scandals, the US$1 billion purchase of French-built Scorpène submarines commissioned by then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak in 2002. The latest developments come at a time when Najib, as prime minister, has been touring Europe, meeting with Queen Elizabeth and Pope Benedict XVI in an effort to repair an image battered by an ugly crackdown on July 9 against tens of thousands of protesters asking for reforms of Malaysia's electoral system, which is regarded as rigged to keep the ruling national coalitoin in power. The scandal allegedly involves French politicians, the giant state-owned DCNS defense contractor and politicians and military procurement units across the world. The scandal netted a company owned by Najib's close friend Abdul Razak Baginda, €114 million in "commissions," according to testimony in Malaysia's Parliament. Some of the money is rumored to have been kicked back to French and Malaysian politicians. French investigators have been poring over DCNS records for months in connection with the larger scandal. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has declined to investigate the scandal, maintaining that the giant commission was payment for legitimate services. "It is likely that in September we should have access to the first police conclusions from all the investigations that have taken place over the last 18 months," Paris-based lawyer William Bourdon told Asia Sentinel Tuesday. "We know that the police seem to have obtained quite crucial documents." Bourdon, the leader of a team of lawyers investigating the case, is to visit Kuala Lumpur on July 20 to confer with Suaram, the NGO that has filed a complaint with French authorities over the scandal. The question in France is whether under French law an NGO can act as a complainant. That will be decided in coming days by a French judge, Bourdon said. He added that he is confident that he will succeed. For years, Malaysian authorities have been trying to keep the scandal under the carpet. The matter broke into the open in 2006, however, with the gruesome murder of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu, who had served as a translator for part of the submarine deal. She had been shot in the head and her body was blown up with military explosives, Her last words, according to a confession by one of her killers, was that she was pregnant. The fact that her body was blown up has led to suspicions that the killers were trying to hide evidence of who the father might be. The French prosecutors are not expected to investigate Altantuya's death as such. Instead, they are following the case on the basis that it is illegal to pay or take kickbacks in France. If the €114 million is found to be a kickback, the French prosecutors can act, Bourdon said. According to Altantuya's final letter, which was found in a hotel room after her death, she was supposed to have received a US$500,000 fee for her work. After a whirlwind courtship in which she was given thousands of dollars and whisked off to Paris and other destinations by Razak Baginda, who is married, according to testimony, Altantuya was jilted by and ended up in front of his Kuala Lumpur house, calling him a "bastard" and demanding that he come out to face her. Shortly after that, a sedan full of Malaysian police officers pulled up and took her away. She was never seen alive again. In the letter left behind at her death, she said she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda, at that time a well-connected political analyst. Two of Najib's bodyguards have been convicted and sentenced to death for her murder. Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted in a trial seemingly held to make sure top government officials' names would not come out. He fled to the UK and has not been back to Malaysia since. French investigators have been going through the state-owned DCN's records for months. In France, the scandal has major implications. Tied to the global sales of weaponry have been deaths and scandal not only in Malaysia but in Pakistan, Taiwan and France itself. Allegations of kickbacks being examined by French prosecutors go clear up to former French President Jacques Chirac, former Prime Ministers Dominique de Villipin and Edouard Balladur and the country's current president, Nicholas Sarkozy in addition to an unknown number current and former French defense executives. Military procurement officials in Taiwan, India, Chile and Brazil may be involved, in addition to Malaysia. READ MORE HERE

Taken to the cleaners Posted: 19 Jul 2011 01:15 AM PDT Political affray in Malaysia An overzealous government response to an opposition rally None of this bodes well for Malaysia. The heavy-handed police tactics have provoked a lot of anger; the government has conceded an official investigation into claims of police brutality. In one instance (caught on film), police seemed to fire tear gas and water cannon into a hospital where protesters were sheltering from a baton charge. The Economist MALAYSIA is one of South-East Asia's stabler nations; but a rally in Kuala Lumpur on July 9th in demand of electoral reform turned surprisingly nasty, leading to the arrest of more than 1,600 people. The police fired tear gas and water cannon into the crowd, and one man died of a heart attack. All those arrested were released fairly quickly, but Amnesty International, a London-based human-rights group, called it "the worst campaign of repression in the country for years". The government's reaction showed a lot of nervousness about how much opposition it can tolerate. In fact the crackdown started a few weeks ago after "Bersih 2.0" announced that it was going to stage the rally. Bersih, also known as The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, is a loose alliance of NGOs and activists (bersih means "clean"). It argues that all candidates should be given access to the mainstream media and that indelible ink should be used to stop people voting more than once. It all sounds uncontroversial, but not to the government. Bersih was declared illegal on July 1st and about 200 activists were rounded up. The march itself was then banned, although the authorities offered Bersih a stadium to meet in—and then withdrew the offer. Perhaps the government was looking back nervously to the first Bersih march, in 2007. On that occasion, too, thousands protested against the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government and demanded reform. Subsequently, in the 2008 general election, the BN lost its largest share of votes since 1957 when it started ruling the country after the British left. The current prime minister, Najib Razak, deputy prime minister in 2007 before taking over the top job in an internal party coup, must have feared that the second Bersih rally might be a similar portent. He has to hold an election before 2013, but wants to do so earlier to win his own mandate. Opposition politicians were quick to join Bersih. The pre-eminent leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, was shoved to the ground and injured in the affray. None of this bodes well for Malaysia. The heavy-handed police tactics have provoked a lot of anger; the government has conceded an official investigation into claims of police brutality. In one instance (caught on film), police seemed to fire tear gas and water cannon into a hospital where protesters were sheltering from a baton charge. Few old laws were left untouched in the attempt to round up suspects before the march. It was reported that 30 people arrested in Penang were investigated under Section 122 of the Penal Code for the charge of waging war against the king. Dragging in the constitutional monarch, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, seemed particularly desperate, reminiscent of the abuse of the monarchy's position in neighbouring Thailand. On the eve of the rally, the king came out with a statement reminding everyone that "street demonstrations bring more bad than good, although the original intention is good." Mr Najib defended the police and accused the marchers of sowing chaos. Dismissing the motives of Bersih, he cast it as a desperate attempt by Mr Anwar to grab power. The immediate upshot is that Mr Najib may choose to delay calling for an election for some time, to let things settle down. He presumably hopes that if he waits long enough, people will have forgotten about this ugly incident. But the longer-term effects are hard to judge. It might also help to unite a fractious opposition against what they portray as an assault on democracy.

My daughter Sara graduated today with a B.A. in Marketing Communications Posted: 19 Jul 2011 12:52 AM PDT

Social Media Plays Major Role in Motivating Malaysian Protesters Posted: 18 Jul 2011 06:11 AM PDT Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have played a major role in motivating some of the demonstrators in the run-up to the rally, which went ahead despite a police ban and lockdown imposed on sprawling Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the July 9 protest.  Simon Roughneen, Media Shift Less than a week after Malaysian police fired teargas and water cannons at thousands of demonstrators seeking reform of the country's electoral system, a Facebook petition calling on Prime Minister Najib Razak to quit has drawn almost 200,000 backers, highlighting the role of social and new media in Malaysia's restrictive free speech environment. One contributor to the page wrote: "The world is full of multimedia and electronics; the things we so call camera and videocam ... And photos and videos were already being uploaded on the Internet but 'it' still denies the truth and makes stories and lies until today." Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have played a major role in motivating some of the demonstrators in the run-up to the rally, which went ahead despite a police ban and lockdown imposed on sprawling Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the July 9 protest. The demonstration organizer, Bersih 2.0 -- a coalition of 63 NGOs (non-government organizations) that wants changes such as updated electoral rolls and a longer election campaign period -- has its own Facebook page, attracting a similar number of "likes" as the page urging Najib to step down, with 190,000+ fans at the time of this posting. The latest notable update is another petition, requesting 100,000 backers for a Bersih 3.0 -- although organization head Ambiga Sreenavasan has said she does not foresee any similar protests in the immediate future. Clearing Distorted coverage Along with online news sites such as Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today, social networks have helped get around partisan coverage by newspapers close to the government, where accounts of the rally did not square with what I witnessed. Protestors flee as police prepare to fire tear gas. Photo: Simon Roughneen. Coverage in Utusan, the pro-government Malay-language daily and best-selling print newspaper in Malaysia, was explicitly hostile to the protest and has remained so in the days since. Just this week, the paper came out with an editorial claiming that Jewish groups would use the opposition to infiltrate the Muslim country. The day after the rally, the front page of the English-language New Straits Times (NST) showed a single protestor, face covered with a scarf, looking set to hurl something at someone or something, minus the surrounding street scene. The photo was headlined "Peaceful?" and was devoid of context, the implication being that Kuala Lumpur was beset by thousands of other would-be anarchists on July 9 and the police acted with heroic restraint in the face of relentless provocation. The NST is linked to Malaysia's main governing party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which has ruled uninterrupted since independence in 1957. As observed at several locations around the city center, the protest was peaceful, multi-ethnic (Malaysia's demographic breakdown is two-thirds ethnic Malays, a quarter ethnic Chinese, and the remainder mainly Indian/Tamil), though it was impossible to know how many in the gathering were affiliated with the country's opposition political parties versus how many were ordinary, disgruntled Malaysians who were galvanized into action by Bersih's exhortations. With police roadblocks and checks emptying the usually bustling city by Friday evening, the only other people on the streets on Saturday morning -- before the demonstrators' emergence -- were expectant journalists and lost-looking tourists. When the protestors came onto the streets, the police wasted little time in firing teargas into the crowds gathering at various locations in an attempt to march to the Merdeka (Victory) Stadium, where the country declared its independence from Great Britain. Despite allegations of police aiming tear gas or water cannons directly at protestors or at a hospital in the city, print newspapers praised the police response, as did the government. That, in turn, has drawn criticism from Malaysia's online news sites. READ MORE HERE

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Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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• RPK Sarbaini expose prompts new police report
• Bersih warns of rally for EO6
• PKR: Police tried to kill Anwar
• Malaysian 'teapot cult' woman loses Islam legal bid
• VC: Ibrahim Ali award not approved yet
• Utusan: Anwar working with Indons to topple Putrajaya
• No contact made by cops in brutality probe, say Bersih activists
• Prove you’re not a lame-duck minister, Pua tells Liow
• PSM: Police not probing EO6 for Red ties
• ‘Catholics won’t now suddenly change’
• Suhakam: Call it advance voting, not postal voting
• Umno Youth to meet EC next week over electoral reforms
• Behind bars, Jeyakumar says remains socialist
• Ku Li backs Bersih’s demands
• Home ministry: Only the false parts were blacked out in Economist article

RPK Sarbaini expose prompts new police report Posted: 19 Jul 2011 07:15 PM PDT   By Yow Hong Chieh and Syed Mu'az Syed Putra, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed's family will lodge a new police report on his death following claims that the Customs officer fell after being forced onto a window ledge by anti-graft investigators. Sarbaini family lawyer Awtar Singh said police must reinvestigate the case as it was "impossible" for Sarbaini to fall from the third-floor window of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office on Jalan Cochrane here on his own accord. "I am not saying he was killed but there might have been negligence," he told The Malaysian Insider today. "We suspected from early on that two suspects were involved." He added that the family might ask the inquest to return to the scene of Sarbaini's death to re-enact a likely scenario of what might have happened. Raja Petra Kamaruddin alleged on his website today that Sarbaini fell accidentally from the third-floor pantry window of the Kuala Lumpur MACC office after being forced onto the ledge by a senior MACC investigator. The popular blogger claimed the investigator was incensed that Sarbaini wanted to retract his earlier confession, allegedly obtained under duress, and wished to punish the assistant Customs director by making him stand on the ledge. "(The investigator) wanted Ahmad Sarbaini to ponder and reflect on his actions while standing on the edge as 'orang macam kau ni lebih baik mati dari hidup menyusahkan orang lain' (people like you are better off dead than alive and troubling others)," Raja Petra said. "Nervously, Ahmad Sarbaini climbed onto the windowsill as ordered (by the investigator) who continued taunting and abusing him with insults. (Another MACC assistant superintendent) merely looked on. In that split second, Ahmad Sarbaini's belt got stuck on the outer part of the window and he lost his balance and his life."     READ MORE HERE.

Bersih warns of rally for EO6 Posted: 19 Jul 2011 05:26 PM PDT By K Pragalath, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 today denied that the six detained Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members were prime movers of its July 9 rally and raised the possibility of another rally to demand their release. "The allegation has no factual foundation," Haris Ibrahim of the Bersih steering committee said in reference to a police response to affidavits submitted by families of the detained. He called for their immediate release. The six, held without trial under the 1969 Emergency Ordinance, are Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, PSM deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sugumaran, Youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan. "They were never part of the steering committee," Haris said. "Neither were they involved in planning or mobilising the crowd" for the rally. "Don't force us to rally for the release of the six," he added. In attempting to justify the arrest and detention of the activists, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kamarul Zaman Mamat said police had to prevent the July 9 rally because a similar rally in 2007 had caused public disorder. The police are confused, according to Dr Subramaniam Pillay, another member of the Bersih 2.0 steering committee. He pointed out that the Bersih 2.0 steering committee had no members coming from any political party, unlike the committee for the 2007 rally.   READ MORE HERE.

PKR: Police tried to kill Anwar Posted: 19 Jul 2011 05:20 PM PDT   By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — PKR has accused the police of attempting to murder Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the July 9 Bersih rally. Party leaders said today that light strike force personnel had fired tear gas canisters into the tunnel the opposition leader and other Bersih supporters were marching through. They claimed policemen had aimed to kill Anwar who was pulled back and protected by his bodyguard who took a canister directly to his face, shattering his cheekbone. "They aimed directly at Anwar's head and a direct hit from one of these canisters can kill. We want this case classified as attempted murder," said vice president N. Surendran who accompanied the opposition leader's bodyguard Fayyadh Afiq Albakqry to lodge a police report at the Dang Wangi headquarters today. Fayyadh, accompanied by Surendran, Subang MP R. Sivarasa and other PKR lawyers had lodged the report today as he was only discharged from hospital yesterday. He said he had five titanium plates inserted into his cheek after the incident where PKR says almost a dozen canisters were fired into the tunnel and three, including Fayyadh and PAS's Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad were hit directly in the head. "The amount of tear gas fired could also have caused the air in the tunnel to become lethal if those gathered were not able to get out," Surendran added. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have also accused the police of "waging war" on those who gathered to call for free and fair elections, citing a Bar Council report claiming that police "had "arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively" fired from water cannons and launched tear gas canisters at close range and at eye-level at demonstrators.   READ MORE HERE.

Malaysian 'teapot cult' woman loses Islam legal bid Posted: 19 Jul 2011 04:35 PM PDT Kamariah Ali has already been tried for apostasy in the Islamic courts (BBC) - Malaysia's civil court has refused a woman permission to leave Islam to avoid being jailed for apostasy. Kamariah Ali, 60, says she should not be tried under Islamic law because she is no longer a Muslim. She follows the Sky Kingdom sect, known as the teapot cult because it built a giant teapot to symbolise its belief in the healing purity of water. But judges ruled that only Malaysia's Islamic courts could decide on the case because Ms Kamariah was born a Muslim. Malaysia's Islamic courts have authority over only Muslims - the rest of the population are not bound by their rules. The BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur says Ms Kamariah's case is one of a growing number of legal challenges brought by those caught between the Islamic authorities and the civil courts. Ms Kamariah had asked the civil courts to declare her freedom to worship, as guaranteed by the constitution. But the judging panel said she had to go through the Islamic courts system in order to renounce her faith - something that is rarely granted, our correspondent says. The group's buildings were attacked in 2005, but the teapot survived The dual-track system has created problems for people who want to convert to another religion from Islam, or in child-custody battles involving Muslims and non-Muslims. The most high-profile case involved a Muslim father who secretly converted his children to Islam. He gained custody through the Islamic courts while the mother, a Hindu, was granted guardianship under civil law. The Sky Kingdom sect, based in the strongly Muslim state of Terengganu, is regarded as heretical by the Islamic authorities. It claims to promote harmony between religious groups, and its leader Ayah Pin believes he is the saviour of the world. In 2005 many of its members - including Ms Kamariah - were prosecuted by the Islamic authorities. Ayah Pin is believed to have fled to Thailand.

VC: Ibrahim Ali award not approved yet Posted: 19 Jul 2011 04:03 PM PDT The university's vice-chancellor has clarified that the award is still at its proposal stage. (Free Malaysia Today) - Two days ago UiTM announced that nominations were open for its newly introduced Ibrahim Ali award. Today its vice-chancellor, Professor Sahol Abdul Hamid, clarified that the award is only in the proposal stage. UiTM's Institut Pemikiran dan Kepimpinan Melayu (Impak) had put up detailed information on the award which was mooted by Ibrahim during a unity forum with Impak last October. According to Impak, the award would be granted to students who have displayed "clear and consistent" principles in upholding their race. They will receive a cash prize of RM5,000 sponsored by Ibrahim himself. The independent Pasir Mas MP had studied in UiTM from 1971 to 1974 during which he was involved in anti-government protests and detained for two years under the Internal Security Act (ISA). But Sahol explained via Facebook this morning that the award was solely Ibrahim's initiative and that the university had no hand in making the recommendation. He also said that the award proposal had to be brought to the senate for approval before being presented to the board of directors for endorsement. "This isn't an easy process and it will take time as every debate in the senate is an in-depth one," Sahol stated. "The senate comprises 60 professors, two deans and campus rectors. Each will make an individual decision." "There will be no lobbying or coercion. The senate is the strongest and highest body in UiTM. It knows what is best and will make appropriate suggestions as to the award's title. But before this could take place, a department's website had already begun promoting the award." A check on Impak's website this morning, however, revealed that the announcement of the award has since been removed. READ MORE HERE

Utusan: Anwar working with Indons to topple Putrajaya Posted: 19 Jul 2011 03:59 PM PDT Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia claims that Anwar is strengthening links with his Indonesian counterparts to put pressure on the Malaysian government. (Free Malaysia Today) - Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia is at it again. After the tirade against the Christians and Bersih, it was quiet for awhile. Now, the newspaper is back to its stirring best by claiming that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is working hand in glove with Indonesia. The paper claims that Anwar is strengthening links with Indonesia to put international pressure on Putrajaya. The article is among the many published by the Malay daily in an apparent attempt to paint the PKR de facto leader and the Pakatan Rakyat bloc as "foreign agents". In an article titled, "Anwar bina rangkaian di Indonesia? (Anwar establishing links in Indonesia?)", Utusan quoted an unnamed source who said that the former deputy prime minister had embarked on a series of dialogues with civil society groups there. "Anwar is believed to be active in strengthening his ties with the Indonesian Republic to put pressure on the Malaysian government," said the article which carried no byline. The source in the report said Anwar had targeted the lower income group, students, NGOs, the Indonesian media, ministers and former politicians for his dialogue sessions. "Anwar is active in spreading 'Anwarism' especially the political target group that is the 70% of the people who are from the middle to lower income group. "These groups are badly in need of attention by the Indonesian government but are made into targets for political exploitation and manipulation," the source was quoted as saying. READ MORE HERE

No contact made by cops in brutality probe, say Bersih activists Posted: 19 Jul 2011 02:58 PM PDT By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Bersih 2.0 rally organisers and observers today confirmed that their accounts of police brutality have not been recorded by investigators, raising doubts if their complaints will be fairly assessed in the ongoing police probe on what transpired during the rally.   Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar had announced yesterday that the probe, conducted by six newly-formed committees, was nearly complete and that findings would be revealed in public "very soon". "As far as I know, I do not think that anyone has been called. If anyone is called up to speak to the cops, the steering committee members are usually kept informed on an email thread," said Dr Subramaniam Pillay, one of  Bersih 2.0's steering committee members. "But on this matter... so far, nothing. We have not been asked to surrender videos or pictures, not that I know of." The Inspector-General of Police had told a press conference at the Bukit Aman headquarters yesterday that the probe would include a careful study of all videos and pictures of the rally and interviews with police officers on duty that day, the general public and rally participants or eyewitnesses. Bar Council vice-president Christopher Leong confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that none of the council's over 100 rally monitors had been called up to aid investigations although the probe commenced last week. "I have spoken to our CEO Rajen Devaraj and as far as we know, the police have not contacted the council or our monitoring team to get any input. We have not been asked to surrender videos or pictures," he said when contacted. The council's monitors have compiled their own observations in a special report released after the rally, concluding that the police had "arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively" used unnecessary force on Bersih 2.0 protestors. Apart from the Bar Council, human rights group Suhakam had two commissioners and more than 30 staff members on the ground during the protest, while PAS had deployed more than 5,000 unit amal members. "I am very sure that none of our people were called to offer our views. As far as I know, no one has told us anything about this," Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam told The Malaysian Insider when contacted. PAS MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, who was in the thick of the chaos on July 9, also confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that the police have yet to seek input from any party member.   READ MORE HERE.

Prove you’re not a lame-duck minister, Pua tells Liow Posted: 19 Jul 2011 02:39 PM PDT By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — DAP's Tony Pua challenged Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai today to divulge details of his ministry's probe into alleged police attacks on Tung Shin Hospital during the Bersih rally. Despite public pressure, the health minister has refused to specify a disclosure time-line, in fact he has not even confirmed if the said committee had been formed and its terms of reference.  "It appears that Liow has been forced to rescind the set up of the investigation committee by the Ministry of Health under instructions from his political masters to cover up the incident, prevent an admission of guilt and to stop further embarrassment to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government for its clumsy, oppressive and incompetent handling of the Bersih rally, where the sanctity of hospital grounds was desecrated," said Pua in a statement today. "If true, then Liow is once again abdicating from his responsibility as the Health Minister by not proactively protecting the hospital and its patients under his care," added the Petaling Jaya Utara MP. Liow had ordered an investigation on July 14 after 11 medical specialists wrote to the media, refuting the hospital board and police's claims that no gas canisters or water cannon were fired directly into the hospital compound. He had initially agreed with the city hospital, but then ordered the probe stating that patient security and hospital safety was paramount.   READ MORE HERE.

PSM: Police not probing EO6 for Red ties Posted: 19 Jul 2011 02:37 PM PDT   By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) has challenged de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's claims that six party members are being detained for links to communism. PSM lawyer Edmund Bon said it was "very clear" from the 37 affidavits served to the party yesterday in reply to a habeas corpus application that the police were only investigating them for their role in the Bersih rally. They  are being held under the Emergency Ordinance (EO). "Don't talk about socialism, communism, all that kind of nonsense," he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) here. "All these are lies because the police themselves have not mentioned a single word about socialism, have not mentioned a single word about communism, have not mentioned a single word about Chin Peng." Bon accused the government of trying to use the six detainees — which include Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar — as "scapegoats" to instil fear in the public so they would not join the Bersih rally, which went ahead without police permission. He also argued that, from a legal standpoint, the PSM six had no part in planning, organising or promoting the Bersih rally, as attested to by Bersih 2.0 steering committee members Haris Ibrahim and Dr Subramaniam Pillay, who were also present at the press conference. Bon urged the Najib administration to "have the good sense" to release the six before the habeas corpus hearing this Friday and not let the matter drag on. "If it goes to court, the government will be... dragging in another institution to be part of this whole fiasco that the government has created," he said. Dr Jeyakumar was among 30 PSM members arrested on June 25 for allegedly planning to "wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong" and revive communism in part of a dragnet leading up to the July 9 Bersih rally. Police found in their possession T-shirts bearing the likeness of former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leaders Chin Peng and Rashid Maidin. Police later dropped all charges but immediately rearrested Dr Jeyakumar and five others under the EO on July 2 and charged the remaining 24 for possession of Bersih material and involvement in an illegal organisation.   READ MORE HERE.

‘Catholics won’t now suddenly change’ Posted: 19 Jul 2011 12:27 PM PDT   (FMT) - LAHAD DATU: A former Sabah chief minister has scoffed at the idea that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican City this week would endear him to the Christian majority in Sabah and Sarawak.   Downplaying Najib's meeting with the Pope, Yong Teck Lee claimed it was "nothing out of the ordinary" and was purely a diplomatic event. He dismissed attempts to paint the visit as a fence-mending trip following last year's religious tension in the country between Muslims and Christians. He said the visit by Najib would in no way raise his profile among the Christians and Catholics in the country, especially in Sabah and Sarawak where Christians form a sizeable population. He said Najib's visit should not be seen as a damage control exercise by the federal government after what was seen as an attempt to curb religious freedom following a series of faux pas by the authorities pandering to demands by certain Islamic leaders. These were exposed at the time as bearing the hallmark of political manoeuvring. "The Catholics in this country will continue to do what they have always done. "Sabahans have always been very tolerant of other religions and they won't suddenly change," Yong said. Yong was responding to FMT on Najib's visit in the light of the government's ban on the use of the word "Allah" in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible and the detention of thousands of copies of the holy book in Sarawak and in the peninsula earlier this year. Planned ahead Yong, who is Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, said that even the reported tension following the ban on the word "Allah" and the arson attacks on churches in the peninsula in January last year were not a true reflection of the feelings of the people in the country. He believes the whole issue was played up by political activists and was ignored by ordinary Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who continued to practise their faith as they had always done. "This (visit to the Vatican) was a government head-to-head exercise. People should not read too much into the visit as it was something that would have taken a lot of time to prepare. "I believe the visit must have been already planned far ahead of the the sudden flare-up of religious tension in Sarawak. "There would have been government-to-government preparations… what to say, what not to say… you know… the diplomatic needs," he said. On Catholic Archbishop Murphy Packiam's role in aiding Najib in his call on the Pope, he said: "Some people are saying Archbishop Pakiam should not have accompanied Najib as it would be seen as taking part in politics.

Suhakam: Call it advance voting, not postal voting Posted: 19 Jul 2011 12:21 PM PDT   By Minderjeet Kaur, NST KUALA LUMPUR: A Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner yesterday suggested that the term "postal voting" be corrected and changed to "advance voting" as ballot papers were no longer mailed to the army or police personnel. The suggestion also received support from the Election Commission, which explained that although the the mailing of ballot papers to service personnel ended in 1990, the term postal votes remained until today. Suhakam Commissioner Shaani Abdullah said postal votes described the method of voting in an election with ballot papers distributed and returned by post, while in truth, the army and police personnel were allowed to vote in advance. "They cast the votes a day or two earlier and it is then sent to the polling stations, not posted." He added that advance polling is held to allow every citizen who might not be able to vote on election day to vote. It is also held to increase participation and relieve congestion at polling stations on the election day. EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar echoed his sentiment and said the correct term was advance voting. He said the first postal voting exercise was carried out during the country's 1959 general election with the ballot papers sent via the postal service, but it it was discontinued because the boxes often did not arrive at the counting stations on time. "It was such a waste. There were too many ballot papers not counted as votes. A review later discovered that the post offices did not have enough time to mail all the ballot papers to the respective counting stations. "Since then, ballot boxes are flown in through military or police courier once it is verified and checked by the officers and the candidate's representatives. At the counting stations, the ballot boxes are again checked by the returning officers, who are mostly district officers or council presidents, for verification." Wan Ahmad said the commission was also in the process of developing a software to allow all house owners to check the number of voters in their units. "This will allow them to check if there are other voters registered under their address. Sometimes, the names of their dead parents or grandparents might still be in the electoral roll as the families often fail to inform the National Registration Department of their deaths. "In early days, most citizens register as voters by writing their names and addresses. Their names are still in the system because family members did not update the NRD records. Now people say these are phantom voters". But once the software is implemented, he said EC would be able to keep their records updated. "It will eliminate the perception that we plant phantom voters." At present, registered voters key in their MyKad 12 digit numbers for details of their voting centres at the EC's website available online.

Umno Youth to meet EC next week over electoral reforms Posted: 19 Jul 2011 11:39 AM PDT   By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Umno Youth will meet the Election Commission (EC) next week to discuss how to improve the current electoral system. "Umno Youth will be meeting the EC next week over suggestions to improve the current electoral system," the wing's Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin told The Malaysian Insider. Khairy said that the government should not ignore improvement suggestions. Among the things which will be discussed are the eight electoral reform demands made by election watchdog Bersih. Bersih is pushing for a free and fair election system, and has listed eight demands which includes the need for automatic registration, use of indelible ink when voting, and the need for a longer campaigning period. "But this is not to say that all the eight demands are valid," said the Rembau MP. Umno Youth executive committee member Lokman Nor Adam said that some of the wing's proposals are already being utlilised by the EC. "Some of our proposals have already been suggested by the EC, like the biometric system. We are also going to co-operate with the EC to find ways to avoid dead people ending up on the voting list," he told The Malaysian Insider. READ MORE HERE.

Behind bars, Jeyakumar says remains socialist Posted: 19 Jul 2011 11:33 AM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar has insisted he will not waver from his socialist beliefs despite being held under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for allegedly attempting to revive communism. In a statement released late yesterday, the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader said that current economic practices both locally and globally were an unsustainable "race to the bottom." "This is not the world that I wish to bequeath my grandchildren. That is why I am a socialist and intend to remain so despite the EO arrest," he wrote after three weeks in detention. Dr Jeyakumar was among 30 PSM members arrested on June 25 for allegedly planning to "wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong" and attempting to revive communist in part of a dragnet leading up to the July 9 Bersih rally. Police found in their possession T-shirts bearing the likenesses of former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leaders Chin Peng and Rashid Maidin. Police later dropped all charges but immediately rearrested the lawmaker and five others under the EO on July 2 and charged the remaining 24 for possession of Bersih material and involvement in an illegal organisation. In the aftermath of the chaotic rally, Bersih and opposition leaders as well as human rights activists have pushed for the release of the six. This comes as the Najib administration has embarked on a damage control exercise due to the stinging tone taken by the international press over its handling of the demonstration calling for free and fair elections. In his statement yesterday, Dr Jeyakumar called for a "workable alternative to an economy driven by corporate greed." He maintained that despite the general opinion that socialism "has been assigned to the dustbin of history" and is only championed by "deluded people," it was still crucial in "averting a collosal economic-ecological disaster that will occur within the next 30-60 years." "The global owners of capital and technological expertise who control market access are a relatively small number of corporations – about 500 to 1000. They have become all powerful in the unipolar world of today and can "bargain hunt". Even the biggest governments can't control them," he wrote. He specifically pointed out that Malaysia's policies to attract investors, including lowering corporate tax, allowing contractualising of labour and weakening unions as well as privatisation of basic services such as healthcare and tertiary education, was piling pressure on the poorest 70 per cent of the population. The National Economic Advisory Council has said that 40 per cent of Malaysian households are still living on RM1,500 per month or less. READ MORE HERE.

Ku Li backs Bersih’s demands Posted: 19 Jul 2011 09:51 AM PDT By Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT PETALING JAYA: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah backed Bersih 2.0′s call for electoral reforms, describing them as "fair demands". This puts him on collision course with the party's official line, which deems the polls watchdog as illegal and insisting that the country's election system is clean. While many of his party members including Prime Minister Najib Razak are hellbent on demonising Bersih, the Kelantan prince said the demands made by the loose coalition of 62 NGOs should be heeded if the present administration genuinely advocates justice and fairness. "I don't know what their intentions are. I don't know them personally but as a democrat… given that Umno itself had vowed to protect democracy in this country, it is a must to consider all their demands," he told a press conference in Gua Musang on Sunday. "It is not like they are looking to topple the government," he added, referring to the repeated accusation by government leaders that Bersih's planned rally was a masked coup d'etat attempt. The Najib administration also accused Bersih 2.0 of being an opposition stooge while Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia had gone as far as accusing the NGO of being "foreign agent" in a Western conspiracy to wrest federal power. Razaleigh, affectionately known as Ku Li, suggested that it was normal for the opposition to support the group's demands. "They want to put in their candidates and contest too so let the voters decide. If they decide to vote for the opposition, what can we do? That is the democratic right of the voters." 'How are we developed?' READ MORE HERE

Home ministry: Only the false parts were blacked out in Economist article Posted: 19 Jul 2011 09:41 AM PDT (The Malaysian Insider) - PUTRAJAYA, July 19 — Only the false and misleading parts of The Economist's article on the Bersih rally were blacked out, the home ministry said today.   Abdul Aziz Md Nor, publications control and Quranic text division secretary at the ministry said the identified parts may misinform readers, according to The Star. He said the instructions were passed to the publisher of the British based magazine after consultation with police.   READ MORE HERE.   You can read the online version of that article here.

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Is Bersih the death knell of tyranny? Posted: 19 Jul 2011 05:09 PM PDT   By N H Chan The picture on the front page of the Sunday Star, 10 July 2011 spoke louder than words. It showed the huge crowd of peaceful but bold Bersih supporters flying in the face of the cowardly might of the police who were decked out in full riot paraphernalia. They must be daunted by the sea of placid, mostly young, people facing them. Those in the front rows were seated on the road and those at the back were standing. All were unarmed and none were menacing the police. They were all peaceful demonstrators who were trying to put across to the imbeciles in power the people's right to peaceful assembly and to show that they were united in their call for a clean and incorrupt general election. The BN regime may say anything they like but the fact that the common people could come out in large numbers in silent protest only goes to show that the regime has lost its credibility. The regime and its underlings the police behaved as expected of tyrants – typical of all bullies they were afraid of their own shadow – they saw the ghosts of the insurgency of Chin Peng and the CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) being revived; see the Sun of Friday, July 8, 2011 where the former Perak chief police officer and Special Branch commander Yuen Yet Leng gave his thoughts to Maria J. Das in an interview. He said: If you are going to sport a picture of Chin Peng on your t-shirt, you are only asking for trouble. How do you expect the police not to take action? I agree with what the Special Branch had done. This problem has been thrown in the police's lap and involves national security and public order. The CPM has the same ideology as … Mao Zedong who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle, and not a political struggle. He must be joking! I am astounded by the man's naivety. I think he is still living in the past which is a pity for one of our country's heroes (but then I also have the same problem, I could remember the past vividly but I could not remember what I said or promised yesterday). He was the CPO Perak when I was a Judicial Commissioner in Ipoh back then in 1970. He was one policeman I have admired for his dedication to make Ipoh safe from criminals. He brought down the crime rate in Ipoh. I remember the occasion when he told me that at a police road block at Simpang Pulai which is on the outskirts of Ipoh, the police had arrested the occupants of a car when they found weapons for committing armed robbery hidden in its boot. On interrogation they admitted they were en route to Penang because it was perilous for them to commit the crime in Ipoh as there was a fierce Chinese judge there. To be fair I must also point out that Mr Yuen was supportive of the reason for the people's negative perception of the police. For example: Das: … many people question why the police seem to act against only certain parties, while others who make seditious comments and threats get away. Won't the public equate this with police persecution? Yes and no. The police usually back the effort of the incumbent government of the day so long as it acts by the rule of law, but they need to be more courageous to act when supporters of the government go too far. When they are hesitant, they are bound to be accused of being unfair. Being balanced will earn the police some respect. He also said: … there is nothing wrong with Bersih 2's demands and the incumbent government must hear the genuine worries of the people. They need to pry things apart and deal with people who are sincere with their concerns. Then legitimate complaints can be looked into.  … the timing is such that there appears to be a united front against the government, and this frightens them. Returning to the hullabaloo of the police on the involvement of national security and public order, don't they know, as all of us already know, that communism as an ideology had collapsed with the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union? There is no more threat from any idea of communist expansionism from Chinese communists as China has turn to capitalism and has prospered as the world's second largest economy next to America. It is true that China is still being governed by an oligarchic regime. One must be a member of the communist party to form the government because it is the ruling party as China is a one party totalitarian state, just as Malaysia has also become an oligarchy with the Umno led Barisan Nasional remaining in power for some 54 years. To say that this country is a democracy is laughable. Democracy has become an anachronism in Malaysia. As in China the ruling BN coalition will not tolerate dissent in any form as the Bersih episode on 9 July 2011 had graphically exposed to us common folk that the police have used excessive physical force to quell the rally of peaceful protestors who were only asking for the reformation of the electoral system to a fairer and incorrupt one – so that when the crowd was heard to have shouted "reformasi" it did not mean that they were for the opposition party PKR. We have read about police brutality against peaceful demonstrators from eyewitnesses account in loyarburok and in Malaysiakini and we also see them in graphic detail as the incidents of the use of excessive force by the police on the hapless protestors were recorded live on mobile phones by those who were there for all the world to see on Youtube. Yet in the Star, Monday 18 July 2011, the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin said that what had emerged through the alternative media and YouTube were scenes that seem to show the police had acted in a cruel manner. "What was not shown were prior scenes where the police were provoked and taunted", he said. Obviously the deputy prime minister has never heard of the well known proverb, 'sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me'. In any case, a policeman should be patient and tolerant when conducting crowd control. They should try to defuse the anger instead of being short tempered and responding with unequal force. However, I think the negative public perception of the police in this respect will be difficult to erase. In any case, one notices the glaring difference in the integrity of the government in the UK and ours. In the hacking scandal involving the News of the World and the London police we do not see the prime minister or the home minister or any minister coming out to defend the police. Instead they were embarrassed and concerned so much so that an emergency session of parliament was called. Even Britain's police chief had to resign. On the other hand, in Malaysia, we have the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin coming out in defence of the police when in fact he should be concerned and should suggest an investigation into the heavy handed conduct of the police in handling the crowd. In this country we throw integrity to the wind! Even our police chief did not resign – the fact that in some areas the police had responded and reacted with unequal force should have made him responsible as a commander. The police have justified their hash crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators of Bersih for the reason of national security and public order. But as I have explained above any prospect of a revival of a communist insurgency in this country is a myth. To say that the CPM has the same ideology as Mao Zedong (whose idealogy should have died with him) who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle and, therefore, there is every danger of an armed insurrection being revived in this country is an unjustifiable assumption in this day and age. Only imbeciles could have imagined that! That is why I say these people are afraid of their own shadow. If you are afraid of your own shadow then you must be a coward. You are also a coward, if not a madman, if you donned your suit of armour like Don Quixote who battled imaginary dragons in the form of windmills or riot gear ready to do battle with unarmed and peaceful street protestors to quell a whimsical or imaginary insurrection in the farcical interest of national security and public order. To be fair, it is reported in the Star, Wednesday 13 July 2011 under the headline No plans to hold another Bersih that the Bar Council has said something nice about some policemen: The Bar Council thanked Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar for allowing the council's monitoring teams to observe the rally and for acknowledging the council's impartiality in conducting the observation exercise. "Many of our monitors noted a significant number of police officers were polite towards the leaders of the public rallies, participants and the monitoring team," council president Lim Chee Wee said … However, the council said unnecessary physical force was used in some instances. I suppose not all policemen are the bad guys. There are some decent ones still around. Just as there are some decent Umno guys around like the chief of Umno Youth Khairy Jamaluddin who has shown magnanimity to Ambiga. When we leave matters to the younger generation we do not find animosity and recrimination. They are prepared to talk and discuss on how the country's electoral system could be reformed. Bravo and I salute them. Next, there is this pithy assessment from the Star, Thursday 14 July 2011 by Baradan Kuppusamy: Awakening the young voters The Bersih 2.0 rally was a success by some measure because Pakatan Rakyat supporters braved police restrictions, roadblocks and barbed wire to gather in the city centre calling on the Government to institute electoral reform. There eight-point demand included issues that the opposition had been campaigning on for many years, like a clean electoral roll, reforming postal voting and a minimum of 21 days campaigning. These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable. Saturday's rally, therefore, had an unprecedented impact on society at large and on the election system While Saturday's rally was smaller in size compared to Bersih's first rally in November 2007, the effects were the same – the awakening of young people to political action to rally for a basic right in defiance of the police. The rally proved its point that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite police action, and march peacefully. The message of Bersih is unequivocal, the people, especially the young people, of this country have been awakened and are no longer afraid of being intimidated by a bullying police force and they will take political action to rally for their basic rights in defiance of the police who they know are the minions of the avaricious people who are greedy for power. For after all, the awakened young people are only exercising their universal right of assembly that has been endorsed by the United Nations as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says that "Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association". For after all the Bersih demands are not outrageous nor are they extravagant or unusual – most are matters that the opposition has been canvassing in Parliament perennially. As the writer of the above article has said, "These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable". Yet the Bersih movement and those who support them are being suppressed by those people who are clinging on to power and their minions the police force. Decent and normally law abiding citizens are suppressed just for voicing out their grouses for electoral reforms. The answer is plain for all to see. When we, the people, see our elected representatives failed us in Parliament; when our grouses or grievances have fallen on deaf ears in Parliament where the majority is the errant BN coalition which has been clinging on to power for more than half a century; when all else failed in the legislative process, the common people of this country have no other choice but to resort to political action of their own and the only avenue that is available which can carry their massage across most effectively is to rally for their cause even to the extent of open defiance of police action against them. Strange as it may seem, the powers that be seemed to have missed the point. The point is that the Bersih movement does not belong to or support the opposition or any political party. It is an apolitical movement. But it supports democracy which is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. When a government does not listen to the people's grouses and does not take action on them then it is not a government for the people. And a government which is not for the people is not a democratic government, it is a dictatorship. The message of Bersih, which is in fact the people's message, is loud and clear – we, the people of this country, do not want a dictatorship! Since we do not want a dictatorship, at the next general election we will vote the dictators out of office and replace them with a new coalition even to the extent of voting in the opposition. And if the new order were to fail the people too, then we will replace them at another election. And finally if any of our political parties were still to fail us again then, as a last resort, we may have to vote only for individuals who are for the people and who are incorruptible. There must be plenty of suitable candidates to choose from for our representation in Parliament from the Bersih movement itself. Like Ambiga I do not have the stomach for politics in this country. There are much braver souls around. Having said all that, one may still ask, what is the point then for a street demonstration albeit a peaceful one? The point is to bring out the people's dissatisfaction and their grouse for a clean and incorrupt government. The multitude's belief is that the only way to attain their goal is for a clean and incorrupt forthcoming general election. And when that had fallen on deaf ears the only avenue left for the people to voice their discontent is to rally in an orderly and peaceful demonstration like the Bersih walk to Stadium Merdeka although they never made it there as they were blocked by the police. Now that you know what is at stake, my dear readers, you can go straight to Loyarburok.com to read about how the police have used excessive force on the peaceful demonstrators. In particular, do read this article "Ambushed like Animals, I Had to Walk-Crawl". Here is an excerpt: There was no sense of danger because the police had so far let us go ahead. Sure, we all knew that eventually they would arrest the BERSIH and political leaders but we had no clue of how inhumane it was going to be. When we found ourselves manoeuvred into the tunnel, we started running as fast as we could. Even if we had never imagined that we would be tear-gassed in the tunnel, there was that imminent danger. I was in the middle of the crowd when I reached the end of the tunnel, relieved to be out of the ominous place. But by then, there was screaming because the FRU had started shooting tear gas straight towards at us. I saw it with my own eyes, the FRU was aiming directly at the people, and not over our heads. The message was clear to me: to hurt and maim as many as possible, even though these were peaceful demonstrators, many of whom are respected political leaders of our country. It was only after that I had heard that Anwar Ibrahim and his bodyguard were badly hurt for being shot at, along with another PAS politician who was in front of the crowd. After reading this you should also read the other articles about the Bersih rally in loyarburok. After you have read all those articles in loyarburok, do you want to support Bersih? We should not be afraid of threats and coercion anymore. Bersih is not a society or association or club. There is no subscription or membership. You don't have to join it. It is a movement and whenever there is an outcry by the people we can show our support for the movement by voting out the incumbent government of the day at the next election. We have the power of the people. You don't have to be loyal to any political party. Always be ready to tell those in government that they are our servants who should serve the people. We, the people, have put them there and we the people can remove them in the next election. Any government must be for the people. It is not to be a government for those in authority or in power. That kind of attitude among those who governed us will no longer be tolerated by the people who had put them there in the first place. Shortly stated, we do not want a dictatorship at all. It is democracy that the people want and that means the government must always be for the people. A government for the people does not incarcerate its citizens without a trial or on trump up charges or use draconian laws to terrorize and overawe its citizens or to stifle dissent. A government for the people are not intolerant of the people's grouses. A government for the people does not shoot tear gas cylinders directly at peaceful demonstrators nor would it use physical force on them — they should not copy the violent methods used by the dictators of the Middle East on their own people. I could go on and on. But I think you have got the picture.

The changing media terrain Posted: 19 Jul 2011 12:07 PM PDT   By Karim Raslan, The Star A FASCINATING special section in last week's The Economist magazine explores the new media terrain post – Tahrir Square (in Cairo). As we now know, social media can be instrumental in toppling governments. Unfortunately, our leaders seem to have equated Malaysia with the Middle East – not realising that the conditions on the ground are totally different. Indeed, paranoia seems to have clouded the judgment of perfectly intelligent people. The magazine's analysis is all the more telling given the global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's highly embarrassing and value-destroying, phone-tapping debacle in the United Kingdom. The Economist outlines the extraordinary expansion and radical democratisation of the news industry as technology up-ends traditional business models. They argue that the global news industry is in the midst of a dramatic transformation – something that we in Malaysia are also experiencing. However, the survey begins by describing how the news was generated and then circulated centuries ago. In the era before the advent of newspapers, people exchanged news face-to-face at coffeeshops, warungs and markets. As a result, genuine news was mixed with gossip. Inaccuracies abounded and individuals were left to determine for themselves the relative veracity of what they were hearing. Obviously this is the tukang cerita's kind of world – an environment where the truth is in short supply and charlatans are poised at every corner. Anyhow, according to The Economist the news industry is facing a surprising return to the past. However, the random market gossip has been replaced by a torrent of chatter emanating from social media – from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In short, the volume is phenomenal. It is also loud, vociferous and intensely personal. The wall of noise will end up fracturing the public debate as a mass of disparate voices swamp the mainstream media. This will be matched by a challenge to the traditional media. Nonetheless, The Economist dates the rise of the newspaper industry to the launch of The Sun newspaper in New York in 1822. Combining advertising and objective journalism, The Sun was to reach an unprecedented 15,000 circulation within just two years – giving birth to an entire industry. Of course the subsequent travails of the newspaper industry have differed from country to country, reflecting underlying cultures. The Internet has had its most dramatic impact on British and American newspapers, all of which have been affected in circulation and revenue whereas German and Japanese titles haven't been badly mauled. Interestingly, there is still growth in newspaper circulation in emerging markets in India, Brazil and Indonesia. Another major exception to the overall negative trend in newspaper circulation is the general success of local media – newspapers with deep community roots that work hard at reporting and representing the various voices on the ground such as Sin Chew Daily and Sinar Harian. From a political perspective, the industrialisation of news-gathering resulted in the centralisation of influence. Those who owned newspapers quickly became very powerful with men such as William Hearst, Beaverbrook and indeed Rupert Murdoch trading favours with politicians and other businessmen. Understandably, politicians disliked and distrusted these powerful individuals and in many cases they did their utmost to curb their reach. However, in countries such as Malaysia, with our draconian newspaper licensing regulations, the balance of power is tilted very clearly in favour of the authorities. At the same time the actual control and ownership of newspaper titles by political parties and their allies was a major source of Barisan Nasional's lock on power. But times change. We are now presented with a very curious and unique scenario in Malaysia. We have a media that is split in the middle – with the mainstream (conventional) media supporting Barisan and the web-based predominantly supporting Pakatan. A relaxation of government controls will boost newspaper credibility immediately but tragically this is an unlikely eventuality. Denied access to the mainstream media, Pakatan politicians are being forced to learn how to navigate the new and increasingly complex media terrain. They've become leaner and meaner. By way of comparison, (with the exception of Khairy Jamaluddin who switches through all media formats, relentlessly pushing his agenda like any ambitious politician), Barisan figures prefer to stick to the mainstream media. As such they aren't learning how to manage the new challenges.

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