Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Wahhabism and Shia main threats, says Jakim official
- Former judge calls RCI judges ‘three blind mice’
- Nedunchelian still PKR member, says Kapar MP
- New Malay Bible shows up in Sabah interior
- A ‘political frog’ gift for Perkasa’s Ibrahim
- DAP says RCI report findings warrant new probe
- Biometric plan needs clarity and realism first, then firmness
- Decrease in Chinese population ‘purely arithmetic’
- Bald statement against draconian laws
- Another help me to help you deal?
- Allies cold to Selangor PAS’s seat-sharing proposal
| Wahhabism and Shia main threats, says Jakim official Posted: 30 Jul 2011 05:24 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Wahhabism and Shia Islam are key threats to Malaysia's security and should be kept under close watch to ensure they do not lead to extremism, a Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) official has said. The National Security Council (NSC) put a group of clerics on its terror watch-list last week for preaching Wahhabism, a puritanical strain of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia. Several Shia Muslims have also been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for their beliefs. "The biggest threat to the country at the moment is Wahhabism and Shia (Islam) ... extreme teachings," Islamic Training Institute of Malaysia's assistant director Zamihan Mat Zin told The Malaysian Insider before last week's NSC meeting. He said if the group was not watched, their teachings could potentially to threaten the ethics of Islamic affairs management in Malaysia. "(The government) needs to curtail them to harmonise Sunni teachings in Malaysia." Zamihan stressed that, if left alone, Wahhabism and Shia Islam could "sow the seeds of extremism as seen in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Indonesia and Chechnya". He said certain parties were now actively promoting both teachings with financial assistance from foreign missions here. "There are preachers who receive huge allowances every month... They will deny it if anyone asks them but we have proof," said the cleric who is in the Quran and core knowledge division in the institute. Zamihan added that, according to his research, Wahhabism and Shia Islam have about one million followers each in Malaysia. He previously claimed that Wahhabism receives protection from politicians and has made inroads into religious agencies at national and state levels. Zamihan also told The Malaysian Insider that the question of stopping the spread of Wahhabism should not be seen as a diplomatic issue but one of national security and mutual interest.
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| Former judge calls RCI judges ‘three blind mice’ Posted: 30 Jul 2011 05:10 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - A respected former senior judge has branded the three judges on the Teoh Beng Hock royal commission of inquiry (RCI) "three blind mice" for concluding that the political aide committed suicide despite lacking expert opinion. Former High Court and Court of Appeal judge Datuk N. H. Chan said the commission had "no business" forming such an opinion as none of the experts it called upon gave the opinion that Teoh committed suicide. He pointed out that this went against Section 45 of the Evidence Act 1950, which states that when a court has form an opinion on a point of science, the opinions of experts are relevant facts. "Without any relevant fact, that is to say, without an opinion from an expert, a court is unable to form an opinion upon... the scientific point that Teoh Beng Hock took his own life. In this case, none of the experts gave the opinion that Teoh took his own life," Chan said in an essay sent to The Malaysian Insider. "The commissioners must not substitute their own opinion for that of the experts! Yet this was precisely what the RCI did! By assuming the mantle of a forensic psychiatric expert it came to the conclusion that Teoh took his own life." He added that the finding that Teoh was driven to suicide after relentless questioning from Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers was also unfounded, and lamented the fact that the public still did not know how the political aide died. The RCI unanimously ruled that Teoh, aide to Selangor executive councillor and Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by anti-graft officers.
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| Nedunchelian still PKR member, says Kapar MP Posted: 30 Jul 2011 05:01 PM PDT
Nedunchelian says he officially resigned from PKR in January but S Manikavsagam says he is still listed as a member. (Free Malaysia Today) - The first Barisan Rakyat Independent Candidate (BRIC) to announce his candidacy ahead of the 13th general election, Dr Nedunchelian Vengu, has discovered that he is still a PKR member despite officially resigning from the party in January. Nedunchelian, 43, a dentist, announced last Friday that he will run in Kapar for the next general election. But incumbent, S Manikavasagam, queried Nedunchelian's standing under an independent ticket while he holds a PKR membership. "I checked the membership database and he is still a life member," Manikavasagam told FMT. "He joined in 2009 and his membership number is B18002745." "Nedunchelian was also appointed by the Selangor government as an Indian community leader in Sungai Pinang and I personally endorsed his application. So I was shocked to hear of his annoucement as an independent when he is still holding a Pakatan Rakyat-appointed post." Manikavasagam added that he had raised the matter with PKR vice-president, N Surendran, and hinted that the party could take disciplinary action against Nedunchelian. He, however, said that he bore no malice towards Nedunchelian's bid for the Kapar seat nor was this a personal attack against him. "Nedunchelian is a good, close friend of mine and I wish him all the best," he said. "Besides, I don't even know if I will be re-contesting the seat. It all depends on the party." "The seat doesn't belong to me and anyone has a right to run for it whether they are from PKR or not. I'm just concerned over the conflict between Nedunchelian's candidacy as an independent and his PKR membership." 'I resigned in January' Meanwhile, Nedunchelian confirmed that he resigned from PKR on Jan 3 but added that he has still not received any official acknowledgement of his resignation from the party. "As far as I am concerned, I resigned months before announcing my candidacy. Perhaps PKR hasn't updated its database yet," he said. Nedunchelian had openly disclosed his post as Indian community leader in Sungai Pinang during a press conference last week, but told FMT that he is considering stepping down from that post, too.
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| New Malay Bible shows up in Sabah interior Posted: 30 Jul 2011 04:52 PM PDT
Instead of 'Allah', the publishers have replaced it with 'Yahweh', the Hebrew word for God. (Free Malaysia Today) - The new Malay-language New Testament Bible sans the word 'Allah' is now in the Sabah market and costs RM100 per copy. The "Wasiat Baru," is published by the Living Stream Ministry, Anahiem, California and has been in the local market for sometime. Local engineer, Michael Samuel, said he bought the Alkitab for RM100 a soft cover copy. The born-again Christian said he secured the copy at the Keningau Tamu. This Malay version of the Bible preserves the Arabic names of the Biblical characters like Daud, Musa, Yusof, Yaakob and others. However the term 'Allah' is nowhere to be found in it. Instead of 'Allah', the publishers have replaced it with 'Yahweh', the Hebrew word for God. "I am happy because 'Yahweh' is the proper or specific name of the Judeo-Christian deity," he said. In January last year, the Catholic church won the right to use the name 'Allah' but the government has appealed the ruling. The government also announced that the term could be used by Christians in Sabah and Sarawak but not in the Peninsular, a decision which has been criticised for creating a double standard for a religious group in the country.
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| A ‘political frog’ gift for Perkasa’s Ibrahim Posted: 30 Jul 2011 04:49 PM PDT
A MIC branch chairman wants MIC to stop Perkasa chief Ibrahim from criticising BN component parties. (Free Malaysia Today) - A MIC division chairman caused a stir when he brought a frog to the MIC annual general meeting (AGM) here today to express his disgust with Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali. Calling Ibrahim a political frog, MIC Bukit Bintang division chairman T Ananthan took Ibrahim to task for questioning the non-Bumiputeras' loyalty to the government when the party criticised the Public Service Department (PSD) for not offering scholarships to deserving Indian students. "We are Malaysians. Why can't PSD offer scholarships to all deserving Malaysian students? Education is a basic need for everyone," said Ananthan, adding that the frog represents Ibrahim's political inclination. He also said that MIC should stop Perkasa, a Malay right-wing group, from criticising Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties. Speaking at the sidelines of the MIC annual general meeting (AGM) today, he said Perkasa should stop its tirade against BN parties and learn to respect non-Bumiputera rights in the country as well. Ananthan also urged BN component parties to swap seats among themselves to increase the ruling coalition's chances to win the next general election. "Maybe voters were fed up of the same party and candidate being fielded in a constituency in the past. For example, we held Sungai Siput and Teluk Kemang for 49 years," he said. He added that whichever seat MIC may contest, it would be the Malay votes that would determine the party's victory.
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| DAP says RCI report findings warrant new probe Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:53 AM PDT By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider The DAP wants a "high-level" special investigation team to find out the real cause of Teoh Beng Hock's death, saying the Royal Commission of Inquiry's (RCI) ruling of suicide was "speculation and not backed up by evidence." DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang charged today that the RCI report provides six reasons for a special probe to "bring to book" Teoh's killers. "These are revelations which would justify police re-opening investigations into TBH's death to find out who gave Hishammuddin the sense of immunity and impunity for breaking laws and committing crimes, going over the head of his superior in Selangor and in national headquarters resulting in TBH's death?" Lim said in a statement today. The RCI had stipulated that Teoh, a DAP political aide, had committed suicide in 2009 as a result of "aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation" by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers, particularly former Selangor MACC deputy director Hishammuddin Hashim and enforcement officers Arman Alies and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus The officers, described in the RCI as "Arman the bully, Ashraf the abuser and HH the arrogant leader", had wanted to pressure Teoh into becoming a witness in their case against his boss, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, for alleged abuse of public funds. "The TBH RCI report is fertile source for the formulation of multiple perjury charges against Hishamuddin and other MACC officers in giving false testimony at the RCI — a judicial proceeding under the definition of Penal Code Section 193 which provides for the maximum sentence of seven years jail and fine on conviction. "As the police had been lied to in police criminal investigations into TBH's death, this means that all the police statements given by Hishammuddin and the MACC Selangor officers (except for Azeem and Azian) about what happened to TBH in his three interrogations in MACC from 6 pm on 15th July to 3.30 am on 16th July were untrue, worthless and must be rejected — justifying a re-opening of police investigations into TBH's death," he added. The RCI had also found fault with the MACC's techniques, saying that the graft officers assigned to Teoh's case were not only brutal during interrogation but also had poor interview skills and viewed witnesses and suspects as "the enemy". The Ipoh Timur MP also said that RCI had stated that Teoh had been interrogated for a fourth time, between 3.30am and 7 am on July 16. Paragraph 229 of the RCI report said "By the time, the fourth or final stage of the interrogation was over, TBH would have been almost a mental and physical wreck." "Police investigations into TBH's death never knew about this "Fourth Interrogation" between 3.30 am to 7 am on July 16 – a second lead from the TBH RCI report on why police should re-open investigations. "In fact, it should also investigate whether there was a "fifth" interrogation between 7 am to 11 am – depending on the time of TBH's death," added Lim. The veteran leader said the special probe should also investigate into whether Hishammuddin had received specific instructions to carry out the "massive operation which resulted in the DAP aide's death. Lim also charged that based on evidence presented during the RCI hearings, MACC officers had already known about Teoh's death by 1pm on July 16 — when the latter's body was only found at 1.35pm.
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| Biometric plan needs clarity and realism first, then firmness Posted: 30 Jul 2011 10:29 AM PDT (The Star) - THE proper documentation of foreign workers is a serious matter any where. More so here, where illegal, undocumented workers alone amount to nearly 10% of Malaysia's population. It does not help when workers, employers and agencies ignore the requirement of registration and medical checks, preferring to risk prosecution instead. But when undocumented workers also need to be processed with the new biometric system as per the current re-registration exercise, the inevitable happens. There is a crush at registration centres, with scuffles and pandemonium, while work schedules are skewed and productivity lost. There have also been delays in implementation, besides uncertainty and confusion over which types of workers need to be processed. Industry requested an extension of today's deadline, and the Home Ministry responded positively. Employers found the two-week registration period too short, regardless of the slow response from workers in the initial days. Two weeks might have been sufficient had the procedures been without problems and the conditions and requirements been clear. Certainly, the official procedures can be made more streamlined, efficient and convenient for all. But suddenly there seems to be no deadline altogether. There must be no wild swing from a tight deadline to none at all. Surely the point is to deter all relevant parties from failing to register workers or delaying that responsibility. There is good reason for setting a reasonable deadline for such exercises – the authorities need to show that they are serious. That is precisely why it is important to set realistic deadlines in the first place, to obviate the need for extensions. Recruiting, transporting, handling and hiring undocumented workers seem both endemic and chronic in parts of the labour industry, despite their obvious illegality. Lack of firmness on the part of the authorities, whether real or perceived, can only magnify the problems. Repeated amnesties, with the routine processing of these undocumented workers, is then taken for granted by errant workers, agents and employers. It may be what industry wants, because it affords minimal disruption of work schedules. But it is also the surest way to encourage more illegals to enter the country, and in even larger numbers. This kind of "registration on arrival" must be eradicated forthwith. It promotes worker abuse, along with various socio-economic and health problems for the host country. |
| Decrease in Chinese population ‘purely arithmetic’ Posted: 30 Jul 2011 10:20 AM PDT By Mazwin Nik Anis and Lee Yen Mun, The Star PETALING JAYA: The Chinese population in the country has declined by 2% last year from the figure recorded in the 2000 population census. However, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the report did not necessarily mean there were fewer births. The percentage of Chinese might look like it was getting smaller when a census was carried out, but he stressed that this was "purely arithmetic". Even if the growth rate remained the same over the years, the fact that the latest census were compiled against the backdrop of a larger population base might change the proportion, he added. "Even if the Chinese are having fewer children, the implication on the figure is only minor," he said. According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census report, the Chinese constitute 24.6% of Malaysia's 28.3 million population while 67.4% were bumiputra, Indians (7.3%) and others (0.7%). In the 2000 population census, the Chinese made up 26% of the country's 23.27 million population. When the census was carried out in 1991, the Chinese community made up 28.1% of the country's 18.38 million population. The nationwide census, which was conducted by the Statistics Department between July 6 and Aug 22 last year, also showed there were 14,562,638 males and 13,771,497 females. It was reported in July that the number of Malays in Penang is increasing and they now outnumber the Chinese by 0.7%. A total of 670,100 or 41.6% of the estimated 1.6 million Penang population are Malays while 658,700 or 40.9% are Chinese. Chinese analysts attributed the decline to the community's preference for small families, marrying late and migration, as well as women professionals opting to remain single. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall president Tan Yew Sing said the declining Chinese population was a natural trend due to urban culture. He said more Chinese were moving to the urban areas, where they preferred to raise smaller families. "A significant portion of the Chinese community is also known to migrate overseas," said Tan. |
| Bald statement against draconian laws Posted: 30 Jul 2011 10:09 AM PDT By Tarani Palani, FMT PETALING JAYA: Seventeen people, three of them women, went bald today in Penang to protest against detention without trial laws. The event was initially to take place in three cities – Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang – to protest the detention of six PSM members who held under the Emergency Ordinance(EO). The PSM members were released unconditionally yesterday evening. Following this, the Ipoh and the Kuala Lumpur event did not take place. However organisers in Penang followed through with the plan despite their release. "Although the six were released, there are many others who are still being detained under draconian laws," said organiser, Lee Hui Fei. She said the event took place at 8am this morning at the Dayang Baru market in Penang. Among those who went bald were assemblymen The Yee Cheu (Tanjung Bungah), Koay Teng Guan (Sungai Pinang), Ong Jing Cheng (Suaram Penang coordinator), Loo Que Lin (Suaram Penang secretariat). Symbolic gesture PKR's Mohd Rashid Hasnon, sacrificed his beard in protest. The three women who went bald were Soh Sook Wah (a PSM member), Loo Que Lin and Yap Soo Hueng.
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| Another help me to help you deal? Posted: 30 Jul 2011 09:52 AM PDT (The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Seri Najib Razak offered a deal to the Indian community today. He said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government will bring them to the "mainstream of development" if they support the MIC.
And he named MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, bloating the Cabinet that he promised would be lean when he took office in April 2009. But it's the prime minister's right to name anyone to his Cabinet if he feels like it. We have no quarrel with that although that will bump up the emoluments bill at a time when government expenditure is far outstripping revenue. What is striking is the brazen quid pro quo that Najib proposed today. Indians deserve or for that matter Malays or Chinese or any Malaysians deserve help without any strings attached. This sounds like the Sibu deal in May 2010 during the by-election campaign. The one captured and uploaded on Youtube that sounded like a bribe although the Election Commission (EC) ignored the thought. Here's the rub. MIC doesn't represent all the 1.9 million Indians in Malaysia. After all, Indians lead and support other parties such as the DAP, PSM, PKR, PPP and Gerakan. So, if it can't deliver the Indian vote, will BN punish the Indians by keeping them away from development? Is that fair? Is it because they are a minority? Shouldn't the BN ask if MIC is credible enough to win the Indian vote without resorting to a blackmail of sorts. A leader of all Malaysians will always endeavour to uplift the standard of living of citizens and bring everyone to mainstream of development, without any strings attached.
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| Allies cold to Selangor PAS’s seat-sharing proposal Posted: 30 Jul 2011 09:49 AM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysia Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties are not keen on the state PAS's idea for the allies to be represented in each federal seat in Selangor in the next general election in an effort to make the pact an unified front. The Malaysian Insider understands this is made difficult as those allies — PKR and DAP — want to retain all seats won in 2008, leaving little room for swaps. PR dominated Selangor in the last general election, winning 17 of 22 parliamentary seats and 30 of 56 seats in the state assembly. Selangor PAS deputy chief Khalid Samad confirmed that he proposed for each parliamentary constituency in Malaysia's richest state to have candidates from other parties contesting state seats, during a seat negotiation meeting last week. "The idea is that if PAS is contesting the parliament seat, then DAP and PKR will each have a state seat in the constituency. This will help us work as and appear more of a coalition than three disparate parties," he told The Malaysian Insider. The Shah Alam MP also said that although the idea was only brought up in Selangor, it may be implemented in other states, especially those where the federal opposition were on the losing end. PR leaders had come to a consensus after a joint retreat earlier this month to project itself as a cohesive coalition and a proper alternative to Barisan Nasional (BN) after repeated feuds within the pact since it made record gains in 2008 and formed five state governments. The move came after controversy surrounding the PAS-led Kedah government's decision to ban entertainment outlets from operating during the fasting month from August 1 to 30. Under pressure from its PR partner DAP as well as the MCA and Gerakan to revoke the ban, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak chose instead to set operational conditions to limit the ban to Muslims.
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