Being Unreasonable

Quick update after a long hiatus

2008-05-27T09:48:00.002+08:00

My apologies for not writing in such a long time (as if my blog is read by so many people...hahahah!), but I had simply become lazy and have no idea what to write. Of course, the political scenario of our country is becoming more and more exciting since the days of March the 8th, but most of us would have been able to read about the multitude of events, as well as analysis of them, in various other blogs and news site.

As for myself, I have sort of eased back into the normal, boring, working life after being involved in 2 weeks of hectic campaigning. Our elected reps are working their butts off, and it's difficult to catch up with them compared to before...not because they want to be unreachable, but simply the work and time expected and required of them to serve effectively as elected representatives makes even making time for themselves seem impossible! That is not exactly a life the majority of us would envy, I guess...heheh!

After the initial boo-boos and stutterings, the Pakatan Rakyat state governments in the states of Penang, Selangor, Perak and Kedah seem to have found their feet. I would assume you already know about the various scandals and massive mismanagement of the previous BN governments unearthed by the new PR governments. Not surprising, but nonetheless shocking when you consider the scale and size. Clearing out of the EXCO offices (including PCs, stationeries, etc.) makes one wonder what those guys are trying to hide if they were really as clean as they claimed to be, especially that fella Khir Toyo who is now the opposition leader of the Selangor State Assembly.

Though finding out the scale of mismanagement, and drawing a clear line between the previous BN government and the current PR government, is important, what is even more important and crucial is for the PR governments to show to the rakyat that they can govern well, and govern better than the BN. The expectation is heavy, and in some cases unrealistic. But this is the one and only opportunity for PR. Failure, like what Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, has said, is simply not an option. Fail and we'll definitely be kicked out next round. Govern well, the rakyat will at least look at our governing record, and could give us another mandate.

Of course, there are plenty of talks now about whether Anwar really has the numbers required to form the Federal Government by September 16th this year, or just playing a psychological game with an already shaky and directionless BN. I'm ambivalent about party hopping, but definitely against any law that restrict or violate a citizen's constitutional right to freedom of association. The arguments for and against party hopping vary from one extreme to the other, showing just how complex this issue is and not as simple as black and white as most people think. Just as some think it is morally indefensible for one to leave a party for something else, especially during a time of uncertainty for a weakened party, it can also be argued it is morally indefensible to continue to prop up a government which has lost all credibility, directionless, visionless, and seem intent on sabotaging the economy of the various states instead of working for the greater good of the nation. Like many other issues affecting society and mankind, it is never really as black and white as many would like it to be. More often than not, issues are really coloured in grey, and various shades of grey at that.

So much for a short and quick update. As for me personally, I am trying to draw the attention of party leaders to the need for a more systematic talent management framework internally. This is more crucial now than ever considering we need to have a pool of competent technocrats to help the party govern well. With access to more opportunities in various state agencies, companies and statutory bodies, a system which mirrors the management trainee programs of reputable large MNCs could help create that needed pool. But much remains to be seen as there are more urgent tasks to be completed. In the mean time, I am back at work, still keeping a close eye on the political on-goings, and hoping for the best.

Reflections on 12th General Election

2008-03-10T13:34:00.002+08:00

I still couldn't sleep well last night. Not from worry, but more from euphoria and the feeling of pride for my fellow Malaysians. For the first time for so long I actually felt extremely proud to be Malaysian. Following from these feelings of pride, hope, and joy, a few things came to my mind.

The first was my daughter. She will be 2 this May and I felt this would be the best birthday present ever to her. I have played my part as much as I can within my constraints during this defining event of our country's history, and now I can see she will have a future as a fully empowered citizen of this nation, proud to be Malaysian.

Secondly, Adlan Benan Omar. I've never met this man, only read about him and his brilliance and dedication to the cause of a truly multi-racial and united Malaysia. Just reading about the accolades and respect heaped upon this exceptional young Malaysian made me feel hopeful of the youth of Malaysia being great leaders of tomorrow. He died on 22 January 2008 age 35, just missing the opportunity to see the fruit of his labour blossom on 8 Mar 2008. His comrades I am sure will dedicate this momentous event to him.

The third is my father. He is dead for 17 years now, and can't be considered a successful man career and material wise. But he left a very deep impression on me on the importance of right and wrong, on justice, as well as the plight of the poor. I still remember him ferrying me and my siblings into the estate labour quarters in the rubber estate where he worked, showing us their plight as well as their feelings of hopelessness. I still remember seeing him sneaking into a narrow alley next to a restaurant, slipping some money into an Indian man in rags, sleeping on the floor, oblivious to what is happening around him. It is this strong sense of right and wrong, and justice, which caused me to believe Malaysia should, could, and must have a better government that can look after each and every citizen according to their needs.

Fourth, whining Malaysians. I hope and wish that from now on, Malaysians will stop whining that they can't do anything about the sorry state of the nation caused by a rotten BN government, that they don't see any hope of change, that their votes don't count, and the only way out is to migrate to supposedly greener grass on the other side. Malaysians have shown, in an act of unity, on the 8th March 2008 that it is definitely possible for each and every one of us to effect change for the better in this beloved country of ours. Now is the time to work together and build a stronger, more united, and more prosperous and competitive Malaysia in which, in the words of Raja Nazrin, every Malaysian will believe he/she has an equal place under the Malaysian sun.

Finally, my wife. We had a few quarrels over my chosen involvement in politics. Which wife would want to risk his husband being sent to jail (of course, I'm just a small fry which the police couldn't be bothered with...hahaha!)? But I guess after this defining event, things will be slightly different ;-) since now she would be able to see that there is no futility in what I have chosen to do. Hopefully, she will become more supportive :p

Malaysians Have Waken Up After 50 Years!!!

2008-03-09T13:28:00.003+08:00

Thank you Malaysians! We have all finally waken up from a very bad dream of 50 years. Malaysians of all creed and colour decided that on the 8th of March, 2008, enough is enough! We dare to push the country in a new direction, dare hoping that there is no time to loose anymore. It's a matter of survival, and now we have done it! Denying BN 2/3 win in the Parliament as well as winning 5 states (unofficial yet) of Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak and Selangor is totally unexpected. Yes, we felt a wave of change was sweeping the nation, but never in our wildest dream that it was to be a tidal wave. But the time to rest is not now. In fact, the hard work has just begun. Now we must prove to all Malaysians that their hopes and faith are not misplaced. We must now prove that we can do a better job in all the states as well as prepare Malaysia for a better Malaysia, and to win in 2013. Indeed, a new dawn for Malaysia is upon us. A new dawn of hopes, dreams, and opportunities. A new dawn for a truly strong, united, prosperous "Bangsa Malaysia" Malaysia.

To all my personal friends who believed in walking the talk...I salute and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Personally, all the years of lobbying in internet forums, telling my friends and families the importance of change, starting a blog, as well as the last 2 weeks of hectic campaigning, it was well worth every bit of my time. This is the best birthday present I could give my kid!

Daulat Tuanku! Hidup Rakyat! Hidup Malaysia!

12th General Election

2008-02-14T11:04:00.004+08:00

Finally, the wait is over. The flip-flop PM who said "I work very hard, you know" told the press on Feb 12 that Parliament will not be dissolved on Feb 13. Barely 24 hours after that he announced on Feb 13, 12.30pm that the YDP Agong has consented to his request to dissolve the Parliament. Well, nothing to be surprised of considering this is not his first, nor last, flip-flop.

The Election Commission is having a press conference now, and the nomination date is on 24 Feb, with polling date on 8 Mar (other sources: The Star, NST). I will be taking leave to help out my party in campaigning and whatever else I could do. This is my small part in trying to effect a change for the better in this nation of mine. Better than sitting around bitching about things but not doing anything about it. DAP PJ is looking for volunteers, including polling and counting agents. If you're one who puts his/her money where your mouth is, please contact ericahew@gmail.com, or call/sms the DAP PJ Hotline at 016-2208867. We will get back to you soonest! All of us can, and should, make a difference, no matter how small. If not us, who else? If not now, when?

;-)

Another Chinese New Year...the year of the Rat

2008-02-05T10:49:00.001+08:00

Wow! It was barely a year ago when I was downing cans of beer and glasses of cognac, and munching on dried bbq pork. It's that time of the year again where I get to see my extended family, have drinks, food, and be merry. Hopefully this year the traffic will not be as bad as the last 2 years (I'll drive back tomorrow morning). With election fever in the air, I guess this is also a time for us to rest and relax, and reflect on the year ahead vis-a-vis the years behind, and put our money where our mouths are. Whatever it is, I just want to wish you all a very happy Chinese New Year, and Gong Xi Fa Cai! And not to forget, a safer and more prosperous Malaysia fulfilling all of its great potentials!

DAP's "Just Change It" Campaign Video

Not so happy New Year 2008

2008-01-14T12:07:00.000+08:00

New Year 2008 has come and gone. I have slacked in updating this blog, and not having a New Year post seems unacceptable to me (although it's 14 days too late!). So here is my first post for the year 2008, and I hope it's one which will make the reader think hard.

2007 has been one disaster after another for the Umno led government, and 2008 couldn't have started in a worse manner than the explosive video of Chua Soi Lek, ex-MCA Johor chief as well as ex-Health Minister. Despite preaching safe sex (including being faithful) to prevent the spread of HIV, he was seen in the video having a jolly good time with a 30-something "personal friend", and was like an energizer bunny (according to my friend lah!). I guess he had no choice but to step down (after refusing to do so initially) to save not only MCA, but Umno, further embarassment. Now the talk of the town is that he has been done in by no other than the MCA president. Reason? Chua has become a real political threat to him.

Anyway, my main reason for putting up this post is something else...something which affects me more directly. Last Friday Malaysiakini reported that Christian children books with illustrations of Biblical prophets have been seized by the Internal Security Ministry officers from 3 MPH bookstores in Ipoh, JB, and Senawang. The reason given was that the illustrations of Biblical prophets in the books are said to offend the sensitivities of Muslims. This totally unwarranted and insensitive (yes...have it ever occured to them that sensitivities go both ways?) action came hot on the heels of another controversial religious issue - that of withholding the printing permit for the Catholic publication "The Herald". In case you are not aware, the Umno government has decreed that the use of "Allah" in the Bahasa Malaysia articles of the publication is banned (same goes for any other printed materials in BM). Nevermind the fact that East Malaysian Bumiputera Christians have used the word since before Malaysia or Malaya even existed, as well as the fact that the Iban language Bible uses the word as well (after a similar ruckus was raised some years back).

The controversy over the Catholic publication was considered closed when the Internal Security Ministry issued the permit with no conditions attached. However, the joy was shortlived when the PM apparently ordered the Minister in the PM's department in charge of Muslims affairs to issue a press statement upholding the restriction on the use of "Allah" for Christian literature. Looks like the Catholic church has no option but to proceed with bringing the government to court over this issue. At the same time, the Sidang Injil Borneo is also bringing to court the matter of their Bahasa Indonesia children sunday school materials being confiscated by Customs officers.

Christians are but the latest religious group in this country to be facing an onslaught by the Umno government in increasingly restricting Malaysian's freedom of worship as enshrined in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution. Anwar has termed the phemonenon as Islamic-puritanism. The Hindus have been facing the problem of erratic demolition of their temples since years ago, as well as recent cases of conversions (Moorthy, Subashini, Revathi, etc.) which caused plenty of anxieties, as well as questions about the impartiality of our court judges. In Sabah, ex-Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat is fighting a battle against the state government for putting obstacles at every step of the way in his effort to build the tallest Mazu (a chinese deity) statue. Despite meeting the PM himself to resolve the one-half-year issue, nothing positive has come out of it and now he's bringing the state government to court. What is most controversial about the Mazu statue issue is that the state Islamic council allegedly issued a fatwa saying that such statues are against Islam and thus must not be built. And now we have the controversies affecting the Christians in this country.

The Christians in Malaysia have never been seen as a politically important group, namely because more often than not the churches have chosen to remain quiet regarding injustices perpetrated by the government. However, I see that is changing in recent times. Perhaps younger Christians are not content to just sit at the sidelines while seeing the world go by. The Internet has also opened up channels for them to voice their opinion, as well as question the position taken (or not taken) by the churches. Increasingly as well Christians cannot afford to continue being silent while their rights to worship is slowly being eroded. Christians have great difficulty getting approvals from local councils regarding building and renovating churches since long ago. They've gritted their teeth and depended on prayers. Now we see further more direct infringement on Christian rights, and maybe this time not only must Christians pray in faith, but also put their faith into action. And no better opportunity is there for Christians than now with the 12th general election coming very soon. Christian Malaysians really have to think and reflect hard, as well as pray for guidance, on what to do in the days leading to the election, as well as on the day of election itself.

OHMSI, run by K J John, has recently organized a forum discussing whether Jesus was political in his short earthly ministry. They're organizing another one with the title "The Christian and the General Election: Core Issues" on Jan 26. This is the opportunity for Christians who still think politics should be left out of the realm of their faith to have their assumptions challenged. We simply cannot afford to continue sitting idly while seeing our rights and freedom to worship being eroded by the day. We must never allow the situation to become too late. The warning and danger signs are there for all to see. Just as we need to always be on alert and prepare for the second coming, the same alertness and preparation must be present in facing this onslaught against out faith. Do not allow myopic, narrow-minded extremists hiding behind the veil of Islam Hadhari to destroy the social fabric of our country.

My wish and hope for 2008 is that a paradigm shift will occur in the political mindset and landscape of Malaysia. Do I have high hopes? Not really if I look at past elections as a gauge. But it is not impossible. The closest was in 1999 when the Malay votes swung, but the Chinese decided to play safe. This time round there are indications that a swing will occur for the 3 major ethnic groups. We can only hope and pray that the swing does occur, and that it will be big enough to set a new course for Malaysia - a course which will see Malaysia fulfill its full potential.

Happy New Year 2008.

Thoughts on the ISA arrests of Hindraf leaders

2007-12-17T10:04:00.000+08:00

There is an online petition movement to protest against the use of ISA to detain the 5 Hindraf leaders. In a departure from procedural norm, the 5 were sent directly to Kamunting detention center to serve 2 years without recourse to a day in court for an open trial. I've written earlier that I would not be surprised this will happen considering how the entire government machinery (TV, radio, newspapers, etc.) have been mobilized to demonize Hindraf in any way possible, including the ultimate specious claim of their links with the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). One of the leaders, V. Ganabathirau, is a fellow party member whom Tony Pua would vouch for his strength of character and integrity.

If there is anything positive to be gained from the incarceration of these 5 men fighting for the downtrodden fellow Malaysians it would be the awakening, finally, of the Tamil Indian Malaysians from their deep slumber. Enough of the false sense of hope and belief that MIC and Umno is there to help them, let alone be their only hope for salvation. If that has been the case, 30,000 of their fellow citizens would not have braved chemical-laced water cannons and tear gas on that fateful November 25th Sunday morning. Let this serve as a wake up call and alarm that Indian Malaysians need to break the political shackles they've been locked to all this while. Let them realize that their consistent votes for the MIC and Umno all this while has been in vain. Let them realize that it's time to break out and join other fellow Malaysians in supporting and bringing about a shift in the political paradigm to an inclusive multi-racial one. Let them support leaders and parties who have that vision and are the only real solution to the troubles inflicting our country now. If there is any indication of this change, let the recent PKR ceramah in Jalan Kebun last Thursday be that as apparently more than 80% of the crowd were Indian Malaysians (I got this piece of news from the print edition of Sinchew, 15 Dec 2007). But most of all, do not let the sacrifice of the 5 Hindraf leaders be in vain. Indian Malaysians must wake up, unite with other fellow Malaysians, and act together for a better Malaysia for all.

On HINDRAF

2007-12-07T09:55:00.001+08:00

I have not been updating my blog for a while due to my taking some time off for a short holiday in Singapore as well as running in my first half marathon in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. Having just started running in July this year, I have no complaints about my performance lah...heheheh! Anyway, it's back to work now, and I think I will write a few sentences on the hottest issue plaguing our country now - HINDRAF.

I guess by now you would have been numbed either by the wide coverage of the 30,000 strong HINDRAF rally on Nov 25 in blogosphere and online media sites, or the non-stop negative coverage in the mainstream media. A week after the momentous event the word HINDRAF is still prominently visible, nevermind the fact that again the mainstream media has been ordered by the Internal Security Ministry to play down their coverage. Personally I think it's good "advice" considering how the various papers and news channels seem to fall over each other trying to their damnest best in painting the most negative, obnoxious, and outrageous angle possible to the event, as well as to the coalition itself.

However, what takes the cake thus far was the assertion by the Attorney General in court yesterday that HINDRAF is linked to the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The AG has saw it fit to personally lead the prosecution in charging 31 participants of the rally for attempted murder of a single police officer (apparently the poor guy got hit in the head by flying bricks). One wonders why he didn't choose to do so for the even more explosive court hearing of Altantuya's murder. Whatever it is, the government seems intent on blowing the issue out of all proportions. Now the IGP himself (the guy who admitted in court during Anwar's trial that he will lie in a court of law if ordered to by his superiors) has come out to reiterate the alleged HINDRAF-LTTE link.

I will be short in what I think of the whole farce. The government is having a serious credibility issue. Whatever statistics and statements they have made thus far, as well as the reaction of the rakyat shows. Some of the more memorable ones are the insistence on an inflation rate of only 2.5-2.6% this year, the still wishy-washy stand with regards to the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Shock-A-Lingam tape as well as the sorry state of the judiciary, earlier promises of revealing toll concession agreements and methodology of arriving at the 18.9% bumiputera equity figure which comes to nought, and a host of others which I believe you're familiar with. And now we have the latest which is linking a loose coalition of groups highlighting and fighting against the institutional marginalization of one of the most downtrodden segment of society with a terrorist group.

Well, it was not too long ago that various leaders of the reformasi movement and PKR were detained under the ISA for being "threats" to our national security. The then IGP claimed that these folks (included Tian Chua and RPK) were planning a violent overthrow of the Mahathir government with grenades, rocket launchers, and other armaments. Of course, not a single shred of evidence were ever produced to substantiate such wild allegations. It looks like the same is happening now with the way the police is handling the HINDRAF issue. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the leaders would be detained under the same notorious ISA.

The thing is this. I personally do not support the wordings of the HINDRAF petition. The choice of words used such as "ethnic cleansing" really does not help in giving a good image of the leaders as being credible. Nevertheless, the key issues they are fighting for are something every Malaysians should support and recognize, which is the unfortunate marginalization of the Tamil Indian Malaysians as a result of blatant discriminatory implementation of the NEP as well as the racist Ketuanan Melayu ideology of Umno. Of course, there are other groups in Malaysia who are equally marginalized, if not worse, such as the Orang Asli and various non-Malay bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak, heck even the Malays themselves. But the way in which HINDRAF has responded is really a reflection of the deeply entrenched racial framework which has plagued the socio-political landscape of Malaysia for the last 50 years. Because their plight now is a result of racial policies and implementation, one really cannot blame them for responding in kind, especially considering how they've been backed into a corner for so long.

However, moving forward, HINDRAF really needs to take a less racial line, and start articulating the issues in a less confrontational manner. This is especially so when it comes to identifying their woes as a result of a particular race. Such stereotyping really would not help their cause. The key to all our problems now is because of a specific group of people - Umno. Instead of using a shotgun approach, they really should train their sight on the actual cause lest they risk alienating a whole group of non-Indian Malaysians who identify and understand the plight of their fellow citizens. Already, the way the mainstream media is being used to paint an increasingly negative picture of HINDRAF should ring alarm bells among the leaders to perhaps consider a more inclusive approach, as well as work with other NGOs and political parties. There is no point being heroes and martyrs while giving excuses for the rotten administration to lock them up in Kamunting. At this point of time the leaders should be with their supporters and people, and continue to lead them through this vital tipping point.

Some has suggested that Umno might take this opportunity to whip up sentiments among the Malays that these events are proofs that the Malays are under seige and attack, and thus reconsolidate their support base when all indications is that Umno has lost much ground. Really, why fall into such a trap and let them continue with their hegemony? In such interesting times, clear thinking and leadership should be the way. The people have marched. They have faced the brutality of the riot police. The entire country has stood up and take notice. Now is the time for HINDRAF leaders to see through their goals in a level headed manner.

Tuanku's "statement" on rally

2007-11-19T11:25:00.001+08:00

By now I think most of you would have been swamped with the spin by the mainstream media about how the Agong, through a chap called the "Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja" (i.e. the Royal Household Comptroller), regrets that some quarters have insinuated that His Majesty has either directly or indirectly supported the BERSIH rally on the 10 Nov. Well, in case you're disheartened, please have a read of the links I'm putting up later.

First of all, BERSIH has never stated that the Agong is either supportive or unsupportive of the rally itself. All it ever stated was that the Agong has asked for a list of the representatives who will receive the memorandum on 10 Nov. Besides, the press statement by the Comptroller touched only on the "legality" of the rally/march itself. It doesn't question the memorandum itself, its content, nor the Agong's response specifically on the matter of the memorandum itself. I think it's fair to say it's a measured response calculated to neutralize Umno's accusation that the Agong is supportive of unlawful acts (i.e. the march itself because it doesn't have a police permit).

Secondly, questions have been asked regarding the correctness of palace protocol to have the Comptroller to make statements on behalf of the Agong when the Keeper of the Royal Seal would have been the right person for statements of such gravity. Furthermore, in a departure from convention, the Comptroller actually called for a press conference when before this all statements from the palace have been by fax to the various media companies. All these raise questions on whether there are more to things that meets the eyes, not to mention why such a statement only comes about some 6 days after the event itself.

Whatever it is, I don't think we should be disheartened. If you look at it from a perspective of the dynamics of palace politics and national politics clashing with each other, with a mix of disinformation from the mainstream media thrown in, it is just another "normal" day in Malaysia. Instead, I would choose to be slightly more upbeat, considering how Pak Lah has been forced to finally set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the issues brought forth by the Shock-A-Lingam tape. Will have to see the full terms of reference before we can be really jubilant. Then again, considering what has happened to the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Police Misconduct, I will hold my horses.

Catch Malik Imtiaz squaring off with Nazri and KJ

2007-11-14T12:49:00.000+08:00

Updated! 16 Nov 11:15am Catch Rocky's take on the programme. I feel it's a bit too short for a substantive debate. Nazri was his usual self, denying everything and trying to assert his own warped sense of reality. KJ was his usual polished self trying to evade answering questions by changing the issue. Malik was perhaps a bit too soft spoken, but he just laid out the facts as he sees it. Nevertheless, I think by doing this programme, Al Jazeera managed to silence Zam-Zam's outburst and accusation that they don't ask for the government's views.

Original: On Al Jazeera (English) "101 East" programme. Was recorded last night (13 Nov), and supposed to have its first airing at 10.30pm Thursday (15 Nov). Catch it! Don't miss it! If I'm not mistaken, it's on channel 513 on Astro. Check out here for more details.

If you think we don't need electoral reforms, think again...

2007-11-14T10:47:00.000+08:00

This blog post by Yahya at Yahya's Yap has a detailed explanation on how screwed our electoral process has become by putting in facts and figures the distortion in the number of votes casted for various parties and the seats gained by them. If this is not convincing enough, then nothing will. Check it out at http://yahyasyap.blogspot.com/2007/11/freedom-from-tyrants-both-foreign-and.html.

Local media blackout on 10 Nov BERSIH Rally

2007-11-12T09:59:00.001+08:00

I have to post this up as there is a total blackout of the 10 Nov BERSIH rally in the mainstream media. Not only that, they even use RTM on the night of 9 Nov to falsely inform people that the rally was postponed. The police said only 4,000 people turned up and they've arrested 245 when in fact only some 40 people have been arrested, which included 25 who was arrested at Masjid Jamek after mayhem broke out caused by the FRU spraying chemical-laced-water and tear gas at the public. Read blogs, websites, and foreign media (Al Jazeera English gave wide coverage with live footage) to get the real information. I was there, and pics were taken by plenty of people. Read Jeff Ooi at here, here and here See for yourself!

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Bersih slams gov't over rally crackdown
Nov 12, 07 9:22am
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/74638

Opposition and human rights groups condemned authorities for attempting to suppress the biggest political rally in a decade with tear gas, water cannons and arrests.

The Bersih organisers also said that at least seven people were beaten and kicked by police and that some needed hospital treatment including one man whose leg was broken.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to shut down Saturday's rally, held to campaign for electoral reforms as the nation heads for polls expected to be held early next year.

Police locked down the centre of Kuala Lumpur, throwing up roadblocks, searching vehicles and shutting demonstrators out of Dataran Merdeka where they had planned to gather.

Despite the tactics and the use of tear gas and water cannons at one of the rallying points, 40,000 protesters marched to the royal palace where they were briefly addressed by dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

"Malaysians have spoken loud and clear," said parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang (right), part of an alliance of political parties and civil society groups which mounted the rally.

Lim ridiculed the police chief for claiming that only 4,000 people attended the rally and criticised the government for what he said was an order to the media not to cover the event.

"No newspaper dared to publish photographs of the mammoth peaceful gathering, which was a tribute to Malaysians for their love of peace and commitment to democracy," he said.

Sunday's newspapers instead ran photos of the traffic jams that the roadblocks generated.

"Abdullah should honour his pledge when he became prime minister four years ago to listen to the truth from the people, however unpleasant, and to introduce institutional reforms for justice and democracy," Lim said.

Police bloated number of arrests

Leading human rights group Suaram said that up to 40 people were arrested, far from the figure of 245 given by police.

"They are trying to portray an image of the gathering being unruly and chaotic and that's why they had to arrest 245 people, which is not true at all," said Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng (right).

"Seven people were injured by the police and one suffered a severe injury," he added. "One person said he was handcuffed and had already fallen to the ground when he was kicked in the head."

Protests are rare in Malaysia, and the last major rallies were seen in 1998 during the "Reformasi" or "Reform" movement that erupted when Anwar was sacked and thrown in jail on sodomy and corruption charges.

The sodomy conviction has been overturned but the corruption verdict stands, barring him from standing for public office until April 2008.

Bersih, a coalition of 70 political parties and NGOs, is calling for a reform of the electoral process including a review of the electoral roll, curbs on postal voting, which they say is being abused, and equal access to state media for all competing parties.

10 Nov 2007 - The Day I Marched

2007-11-10T20:54:00.005+08:00

I was there. I had to. I couldn't look into my daughter's eyes and tell her years from now that I was too indifferent, worried, scared, apathetic to do what many now consider the last practical channel in instituting real, far-reaching, and positive change to the way this country will be run. Changes that will determine if the country will have a second real chance in not only surviving, but thrive in this new brutal globalized world, or that it will head inevitably into being one of the many basket cases, failed states that pepper this globe. At least now my conscience is clear. My fellow concerned citizens and myself have made the choice to brave the rain and the police, the threats of the inept, corrupt, and utterly arrogant Umno regime, to accompany our leaders to hand over a petition to our Agong to intervene, for all our sake and the country's. We have done what we could. Now the ball is in the Rulers' courts. Their response and action will determine not only our future, but also of their own. Raja Nazrin has said before in his speech that the Rulers risk fading into irrelevancy if they fail to change with the times and to be in tune with the aspirations of the rakyat.

We headed down early by the LRT. Already the police were causing traffic havoc by setting roadblocks on every major arterial roads leading into KL. KESAS, Federal Highway, Old Klang Road, even the North South Expressway all the way up to the north as well as the east coast. They seem intent on stopping all people from traveling normally. And they have the cheek to say the rally will cause traffic inconvenience. But that didn't stop some 40,000 of us to march to the Istana Negara from four meeting points - Masjid Jamek, Sogo Shopping Center, Central Market, and Masjid Negara. However, at 2.00pm havoc was already wreaked by the police at Masjid Jamek by firing tear gas and chemical-laced-water. I was with the smallest group at Central Market and were having a face-off with the FRU at the bridge next to the Bar Council building. We then routed through a side road next to Bank Pertanian (if I'm not mistaken), averting a possible clash.

All the way from there to the Istana rain was pouring lightly. PAS volunteers (Unit Amal...they were heroes of the day as they stood their ground protecting people as well as even clean up the roads after we dispersed!) in clearly identified maroon uniforms were along the entire path to ensure traffic was disrupted as minimum as possible, and marchers are able to walk in a continuous stream. Thousands stream into the main road in front of the main gates of the Istana where the delegation was already waiting. Anwar Ibrahim had to hitch a ride on a bike to arrive due to the stopping of traffic on both directions. For the first time since 1998 when I saw Merdeka Square filled with a sea of people, I saw thousands and thousands of citizens wearing yellow, carrying ballons and the national flag, sitting in and peacefully shouting "Daulat Tuanku!" and such. It was close to 4.15pm when the delegation consisting of Anwar, Hadi Awang, Kit Siang, and Guan Eng managed to hand over the petition to the Agong's secretary at the gate. The original members of the delegation was changed in the last minute, I think, due to logistical issues brought about by the heavy presence of the police. They even have 2 helicopters hovering above us for some 10 minutes before flying round and round above us. A total waste of precious aviation fuel paid for by taxpayers.

At the end, the crowd marched back to the Masjid Negara and we dispersed. Rain has stopped by then (spots of it still occur once in a while). Along the way I had to update a few SMS queries. On the way back at around 5pm the Federal Highway was still jammed up no thanks to the police who has considered it of utmost priority to screen each and every vehicle that plies that road instead of solving growing crimes of robbery, murder, rape, and thefts. Once back I managed to find out exactly what had happened at Masjid Jamek through Al Jazeera news channel (one of their journalists have to suffer from the tear gas and chemical-laced-water). Central Market was total peace compared to what had happened there, and both locations were only a few hundred meters apart. The news at 9pm had more footage. Find your news from foreign wires, or the various blogs and online portals. There have been a complete blackout on the mainstream media, so don't expect to read, hear, or see anything about the rally in those traditional news sources.

Will Malaysia change for the better? Will the Agong act on our petition? I do not know. But at least I know that today, some 40,000 of my fellow concerned citizens and myself have felt it important enough to spend our Saturday risking a little bit of our wellbeing (at press time some 20 fellow marchers have been arrested earlier from Masjid Jamek, and currently held at the Pudu police station) and walk our talk. At least I know that when I face my daughter in the years to come, I can tell her that her dad had done all he could to ensure a better Malaysia for her and her friends.

We have talked enough. We have tell enough. We have cajoled enough. It's time we act. It's time we march. It's time we put our foot down and say enough is enough!

Hidup Rakyat! Hidup Malaysia! Daulat Tuanku!

Nik Aziz subtly hitting Pak Lah at the face

2007-11-02T11:36:00.000+08:00

I just have to copy and paste the entire speech made by the Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tuan Guru Dato' Haji Nik Aziz Nik Mat, during the launch of the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) by the PM Abdullah Badawi. For the first time, in the words of Nik Aziz himself, he gets to be on the same stage as the PM and his band of mini-stars as well as other Umno MBs, and gets to make a speech to be addressed directly to their face. In a nutshell, Nik Aziz's speech questioned the ability of the plans to be implemented, the massive funding of the 3 economic regions which could have funded the 9th, 10th, and even 11th Malaysia Plan, pointed out how many of the proposed projects have already been identified 7 years ago by the PAS state government with no responses from the federal government, as well as the ability to execute the plans without the usual leakages, corruption and such. It's a slap in the face for Pak Lah's current penchant to create feel-good factors which are just that - feel-good. And even that is increasingly a failure (do you feel good lately?). Below is the speech published in HarakahDaily (you could read a small excerpt translated into English in Rocky's blog).

Source: Sheih Kickdefella

---------------

Ucapan Nik Aziz di ECER - Tazkirah Mursyidul Am PAS kepada Presiden Umno
Harakahdaily
Tue Oct 30, 07 11:05:53 am MYT

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
"Sesungguhnya Allah menyuruh (kamu) berlaku adil dan berbuat kebajikan, memberi kepada kaum kerabat, dan Allah melarang dari perbuatan keji, kemungkaran dan permusuhan. Dia memberi pengajaran kepadamu agar kamu dapat mengambil pelajaran." (Maksud Surah An Nahl: Ayat 90).

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan
Salam Sejahtera

Yang Amat Berhormat
Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
Perdana Menteri Malaysia dan isteri;

Yang Amat Berhormat
Dato' Sri Adnan bin Haji Yaakob
Menteri Besar Pahang;

Yang Amat Berhormat
Dato' Seri Haji Idris bin Jusoh
Menteri Besar Terengganu;

Yang Amat Berhormat
Dato' Haji Abdul Ghani Othman
Menteri Besar Johor;

YB Dato' Seri Mohd. Effendi Norwawi
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri;

Yang Berhormat
Menteri-Menteri Kabinet;

Yang Berhormat
Ahli-Ahli Parlimen Serta Ahli-Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri;

Pegawai-Pegawai Tinggi Kerajaan Persekutuan Dan Kerajaan-Kerajaan Negeri;

Dif-Dif Kehormat;

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian,

Alhamdulillah. Dengan seizin Allah S.W.T., sekali lagi kita dapat menghirup udara nyaman pada hari ini.

Ini menandakan betapa kita masih terus dilimpahi nikmat dengan rahmat dan inayah dari-Nya untuk sama-sama menyaksikan pelancaran Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur bagi Negeri Kelantan.

Sesungguhnya pelancaran ini boleh dijadikan titik tolak ujian keikhlasan kedua-dua belah pihak dalam berkongsi anugerah Allah S.W.T. yang dilimpahi-Nya kepada kita semua baik di Kelantan atau negara Malaysia pada amnya yang sama-sama kita kasihi selama ini.

Bahkan, ia adalah detik bersejarah yang mengesahkan lagi penerusan wujudnya jalinan kerjasama akrab sekian lama khususnya sejak 17 tahun negeri ini diperintah oleh Kerajaan Negeri yang ada pada hari ini.

Tanpa pertukaran apa-apa, pelan yang bakal dilancar dan dilaksanakan nanti tidak memerlukan apa-apa perubahan nakhoda.

Kapal boleh berlayar dengan matlamat yang tidak berganjak yakni memakmurkan bumi Allah dengan segala ikhtiar yang tidak menyalahi syariat Ilahi.

Dalam semangat ini, mewakili Kerajaan dan rakyat Negeri Kelantan, izinkan saya mengalu-alukan kedatangan YAB Dato' Seri Perdana Menteri.

YAB Dato' Seri dan sidang hadirin yang dihormati sekalian,

Tugas pemimpin laksana dasar Allah

Ayat Al-Quran yang baru saya baca dalam muqadimmah tadi biasanya dibaca di atas mimbar Jumaat, saya membacanya pada hari ini di atas mimbar masyarakat.

ImageDi rumah Allah kita menjadi imam dan makmum, manakala di luar rumah Allah kita disebut pemimpin dan rakyat.

Orangnya masih sama. Khutbah dalam masjid menerangkan dasar-dasar Allah manakala ucapan di luar masjid adalah untuk melaksanakan dasar-dasar Allah.

Setelah 17 tahun saya diamanahkan untuk memimpin Kerajaan Kelantan dengan dasar Al-Quran Nul Karim sebagai Kalamullah, termasuk ayat yang saya baca sekejap tadi, petang ini saya dan Kerajaan saya seakan-akan terasa akan adanya perubahan baru.

Saya sedang berada di sebuah pentas buat pertama kalinya dengan pemimpin negara.

Alangkah manisnya hidup kiranya insan yang sengaja diciptakan Allah Azzawajalla dengan berlainan watak dan kerenah ini boleh patuh kepada ketetapan azali sejak Nabi Adam alaihissalam lagi.

Firman Allah S.W.T. ada membawa maksud berbunyi "Dan Kami berfirman: turunlah kamu! Sebahagian kamu menjadi musuh bagi yang lain, dan bagi kamu ada tempat kediaman di bumi, dan kesenangan hidup sampai waktu yang ditentukan. Kemudian (Adam dan Hawa) menerima beberapa kalimat dari Tuhannya, maka Allah menerima taubatnya. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Penerima Taubat lagi Maha Penyayang. Kami berfirman: "turunlah kamu semua dari Syurga itu! Kemudian jika datang petunjukKu kepadamu, maka barang siapa yang mengikuti petunjukKu, nescaya tidak ada kekhuatiran atas mereka, dan tidak (pula) mereka bersedih hati." (Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 36 - 38).

Mudah-mudahan langkah penyatuan pentas ini akan memulakan jalur-jalur gemilang yang sungguh-sungguh sebagai ganti kepada jalur-jalur hitam selama 17 tahun sebelum ini.

YAB Dato' Seri dan sidang hadirin sekalian,

Saya sempat juga mengikuti senarai projek-projek raksasa yang ada terkandung di dalam pelan induk yang disebut-sebut akan menelan perbelanjaan berjumlah RM112 bilion ini.

Antara lain ia akan memuatkan sebuah Universiti yang telah beberapa kali dilancarkan, Lebuh Raya Pantai Timur, Jeti di Tok Bali dan usaha untuk menaikkan taraf Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ismail Petra sebagai pusat penerbangan untuk rantau Asia Tenggara, termasuklah keinginan yang kuat untuk memunculkan satu kelas perdagangan dan perindustrian bumiputera.

Alhamdulillah, semua cadangan ini telah lama dikenalpasti dan menjadi sebahagian dari Pelan Jangka Panjang Pembangunan Strategik Negeri Kelantan yang telah kami dokumenkan dan tandatangani sejak 2 Mei 2000; kira-kira 7 tahun yang lalu.

Bahkan memahami pembahagian dan pengkhususan bidang kuasa antara Kerajaan Persekutuan dan Negeri melalui 2 rancangan lima tahun yang telah kita lalui.

Projek-projek cadangan ini telah dikemukakan kepentingannya untuk diberikan perhatian Pusat dari masa ke semasa.

Mungkin kerana kesuntukan kewangan, ia tidak diberikan perhatian.

Kali ini Kerajaan Negeri wajar berterima kasih kepada Kerajaan Pusat kerana telah sudi mengiktiraf apa yang kami kenalpasti sebagai projek-projek mustahak selama ini dan akhirnya telah diberikan perhatian.

Pastikan pelan ECER realistik bukan hipokrasi

Menyentuh tentang peruntukan yang mencecah RM112 bilion untuk ECER, RM177 bilion lagi untuk Koridor Utara dan RM47.6 bilion lagi di Wilayah Pembangunan Iskandar, rakyat menjadi sedikit kagum dengan jumlahnya.

Semakin hairan mereka apabila duit yang diisytiharkan ini boleh menjangkau Rancangan Malaysia ke 9, 10 dan boleh pergi sejauh RMK sebelas.

ImageApapun, jika duit ini memang ada dan tidak menjadi masalah, maka kita perlu mengucapkan sebesar-besar syukur. Alhamdulillah, syabas.

Dalam banyak buku ilmiah, saya ada juga terbaca bahawa sesuatu pelan yang berkesan ialah pelan yang dapat diterima tanpa curiga oleh kumpulan sasar.

Ciri pelan yang berjaya juga ialah pelan yang dapat dilaksanakan.

Biasanya pelan pembangunan yang baik harus bertolak dan bermula dari bacaan mengenai senario ekonomi dunia semasa yang teliti berasaskan unjuran yang tepat mengenai turun naik harga petrol, emas dan lain-lain komoditi yang utama.

Realiti dan waqi' persekitaran yang berubah ini biasanya akan menentukan pula angkubah-angkubah yang memungkinkan sebuah pelan yang realistik itu dapat diisytiharkan.

Saya berandaian, semua aspek ini telah diambil kira dalam segenap segi sehingga ia tidak menjadi sebuah impian dan bukan sekadar 'satu lagi pelan'. Sememangnya indah untuk berada sekadar di alam mimpi kerana ia mengasyikkan:

Anak Cina memetik selasih
Anyam rotan dibuat timba
Tiada yang indah dalam berkasih
Mimpikan bulan jatuh ke riba

Dalam banyak hal, apa yang mustahak ialah pelan yang dapat menghasilkan kenyataan.

Siapalah yang tidak bergembira untuk mendengar janji yang akan datang dalam ratusan bilion ringgit.

Ini lebih-lebih lagilah apabila janji itu dipenuhi.

Sudah banyak kita saksikan betapa janji yang indah kadang-kadang boleh menjadi musuh besar apabila ia gagal dipenuhi. Kebocoran, siling runtuh, rasuah dan pecah amanah, inflasi dan hipokrasi adalah antara musuh-musuh bersama yang boleh menghambat cita-cita murni.

Emas hitam anugerah Allah yang dipinggirkan dalam ECER

YAB Dato' Seri dan sidang hadirin sekalian,

Walaupun cadangan pendaratan gas dan minyak di pesisir pantai kita masih tidak diberi perhatian dalam ECER, saya masihlah memandang kepentingannya sebagai sesuatu yang bersifat mendesak.

Pada kami, ia sepatutnya diletakkan sebagai paksi asas dalam menjana pertumbuhan ekonomi negeri.

Seperti yang telah dikenalpasti oleh Kerajaan Negeri sejak 10 tahun lalu, kami masih merayu agar gas dan minyak didaratkan di Pantai Senok.

Bukan senang deposit emas hitam ini boleh terbentuk.

Dengan penuh susah payah Allah S.W.T. telah ratusan jutaan tahun memeram, mengatur dan memprosesnya secara sebab musabab jauh di kerak bumi.

Dengan segala percaturan kimia melalui mendapan humus, fosil dan tindak balas haba di perut bumi, Allah S.W.T. telah dengan segala ehsan menyimpan lalu menganugerahkan bumi Kelantan dan laut Kelantan dengan bahan semahal ini.

Mensia-siakan nikmat namanya apabila ia seolah-olah dibuat-buat 'terlepas pandang' dan tidak ditimbangkan untuk dimasukkan ke dalam pelan induk pembangunan Wilayah yang sebesar dan sepenting ini.

Setakat ini, kami hanya berputih mata melihat khazanah bumi kami dipunggah dan dihirup sepuas-puas oleh golongan amir politik tanpa didaratkan di pantai Kelantan sendiri walaupun sesudu teh.

Dalam feqah Islam, telah lama ditulis "hukmul fa il wal khu roji wa rriqaz".

Bahkan zakat yang dipungut daripada sesebuah perkampungan tidak boleh dipindah zakat itu ke tempat lain kecuali terlebih dahulu diagih-agihkan kepada al mustahiqiin tempatan.

Ini adalah hukum Allah dan Rasul. Tak disempurna di dunia oleh pihak al-umara', ia akan disempurna juga oleh Allah S.W.T. di akhirat kelak.

"Sesungguhnya hari keputusan (hari kiamat) itu adalah waktu yang dijanjikan bagi mereka semuanya." (Surah Ad-Dukhaan: Ayat 40).

Untuk menyatakan komitmen Kerajaan Negeri terkini, kita telah meluluskan penubuhan sebuah jeti penghantar (supply base) di Pengkalan Kubur, Tumpat, khusus untuk sokongan kerja penggerudian minyak dan gas di Joint Development Area (JDA) dengan Thailand dan Vietnam, di luar pesisir pantai Kelantan.

Kerja pembinaan Jeti tersebut mulai Oktober ini dan ianya akan menjadi pemangkin kepada satu industri yang dapat mengembangkan ekonomi negeri dan membuka peluang pekerjaan.

Dalam keadaan-keadaan yang seperti inilah, relevannya kita mengetepikan sentimen politik bersifat kepartian.

Tidakkah boleh kita menjadikan maudhu' ini sebagai perkara bersama untuk dikongsikan secara pintar bagi tujuan yang sama.

Saya masih ingat betapa murninya ketika KUB menandatangani persefahaman ini bagi pihak Pusat dizaman Tun Dr. Mahathir pada tahun 1996 dahulu.

Ini kekal terlipat dalam sejarah; kisah benar sebuah 'pelan indah' yang tidak menjadi hingga sampai ke hari ini.

Pembinaan modal insan tidak berjaya kecuali dengan tarbiyah Islam

YAB Dato' Seri dan sidang hadirin yang dihormati sekalian.

Dalam hubungan Kelantan yang telah dikenalpasti sebagai Pusat Pembangunan Modal Insan berteraskan ilmu pula, saya bermohonlah untuk memberikan sedikit peringatan.

Mustahil insan itu boleh dibina tanpa agama. Ilmu Al-Quran mengajar kita tentang adanya dua perkara dalam setiap insan itu yakni jasad dan roh.

Membina roh insan adalah memberi faham kepada mereka tentang dosa dan pahala, adanya taat dan maksiat, adanya malaikat dan adanya iblis, adanya hisab dan adanya hari pembalasan, adanya Syurga dan adanya Neraka.

Ini soal asas yang tiada khilaf. Ini konsep tarbiyyah bawaan Nabi-Nabi dan Rasul-Rasul alaihissalam serta para tabi'in dan wali-wali zaman berzaman.

Jika Kelantan mahu diiktiraf sebagai pangkalan terpenting modal insan, maka kita jangan abaikan aspek pembinaan roh.

Elemen rasuah, dedah, dadah, belasah dan menolak hukum Allah adalah manifestasi kekacauan fikrah.

Betapa kacau bilaunya acuan dan tertib tarbiyyah kita yang telah dirangka oleh negara selama ini.

Ikut cara kami bangunkan negara bersama Islam

Untuk itu, mari kita cuba menjadi lebih ikhlas dengan cuba sama-sama memperbetulkan keadaan, memikul amanah agama demi memulihkan manusia untuk kembali kepada nilai-nilai fitrah keinsanan sejati selaras dengan prinsip asal 'ubudiyyah' sejak asal kita semua dijadikan.

ImageBagi kami di Kelantan, kita telah lama mengisytiharkan konsep 'Membangun Bersama Islam', berasaskan dakwah bil hikmah wal mauizotul hasanah.

Dalam rangka konsep ini, kami memuatkan prinsip ubudiyyah yakni semua orang wajib kembali kepada pengabdian yang tidak berbelah bahagi kepada Allah S.W.T.

Bagi mereka yang belum Islam, mereka diajak untuk hidup dalam kesedaran ketuhanan.

Kami juga memuatkan prinsip mas'uliyyah yakni bekerja dengan penuh sedar bahawa setiap manusia tanpa mengira pangkat, bangsa dan budaya akan disoal jawab oleh Allah Taala sendiri tanpa sebarang jurubahasa.

Manakala Itqan yakni bekerja dengan penuh berkualiti untuk menghasilkan apa sahaja nilai amalan dan aktiviti dari jenis yang terbaik.

Seluruh sekolah milik Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan telah dan sedang merangka dan melaksanakan kurikulum dan kokurikulum untuk menggunakan ruang lingkup kesedaran yang keseluruhannya berteraskan ketaqwaan kepada Allah Robbuljalil.

Dalam semangat pesan memesan (Watawa soubilhaq watawa soubissobr), alangkah tepatnya jika pelan pembinaan insan yang termuat dalam ECER ini mampu dengan jujur membuat pengisian-pengisian yang semurni ini.

Jika tidak, percayalah walau secemerlang manapun pelan pembinaan insan kita, tanpa agama, rakyat akan hidup sebagai insan yang bermentalitikan haiwan kerana dia cuma takutkan polis dan BPR, undang-undang, tali gantung dan peraturan dan dia akan hidup dan mati dalam kekeliruan.

Di sana nanti dia akan terpinga-pinga dalam suasana yang salah menyalah "maka, berkatalah pengikut kepada pemimpin dan pemimpin kepada pengikutnya" sebagaimana yang telah dirakamkan di dalam Al-Quran Nul Karim. (Sila semak dan tadarrus sendiri maksud Surah Al-Baqarah dari Ayat 166 hingga 167).

Menyentuh tentang tumpuan pertanian yang khabarnya hanya akan diberikan tumpuan yang sangat minimum oleh Pelan Wilayah Timur ini, saya kira sekali lagi kami perlu membuat teguran.

Sejak dari dahulu, Kelantan dikenali sebagai negeri pertanian. Apa erti mengisytiharkan istilah-istilah seperti "halal hub" atau Jelapang Makanan Negara jika perhatian ke atas sektor ini sekadar bersifat batuk di tangga? Sekali lagi saya mengharapkan sesuatu yang lebih singnifikan dapat dilakukan ke arah pembetulan ini.

Mari bermuafakat elak ganggu Kelantan

YAB Dato' Seri, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian,

Sudah lebih 17 tahun kita menjalin hubungan kesetiakawanan dalam ikatan konsep persekutuan.

Setakat yang saya ingat, tidak pernah satu kalipun lagi terganggu sebarang projek yang diluluskan oleh Pusat di Kelantan baik kecil mahupun besar mengalami gangguan atau dihalang oleh Kerajaan Negeri.

Melalui permuafakatan dan rundingan, ia sentiasa disambut oleh kami dengan penuh keterbukaan.

Bagaimanapun beradablah ketika melangkah. Bukankah ini Wilayah Timur. Setiap rumah ada tuannya. Masuk berpintu. Keluar bertangga. Kadang-kadang, ya. Terasa juga.

Makan sirih berpinang tidak
Buah keranji atas perahu
Singgah tidak kenang pun tidak
Sampai hati buat tak tahu

Hanya inilah kali pertama saya diberi kesempatan untuk berucap di majlis yang dihadiri oleh YAB Dato' Seri Perdana Menteri. Apapun jua, syukurlah. Saya mengucapkan Alhamdulillah. Segala puji bagi Allah.

Sekali lagi saya ingin mengucapkan berbanyak-banyak terima kasih kepada semua pihak yang telah bertungkus lumus menjayakan majlis pelancaran ini.

Dengan nama Allah, saya sudahi dengan Wabillahi taufiq Wal hidayah. Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

(TEKS UCAPAN YAB TUAN GURU DATO' HAJI NIK ABDUL AZIZ BIN NIK MAT, MENTERI BESAR KELANTAN DI MAJLIS PELANCARAN PEMBANGUNAN WILAYAH EKONOMI PANTAI TIMUR (ECER) PADA 17 SYAWAL 1428/29 OKTOBER 2007, JAM 2.30 PETANG DI KOMPLEKS SEKOLAH-SEKOLAH WAKAF MEK ZAINAB, KOTA BHARU, KELANTAN) - mr

Samy fuming? More needs to be done than just fume, dey!

2007-11-01T10:03:00.001+08:00

Samy is said to be fuming...whether he's fuming against the insensitive and high-handed local authorities (Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam) in demolishing 200 houses and a 100-year old Hindu Temple (including a surau as well) at Kampung Rimba Jaya, or he's fuming at his own helplessness in such a situation, we'll never know. But for the first time for so long he has come out openly to say that the BN is risking the Indians' votes if they continue to ride roughshod over the rights of Hindus to freedom of worship. Four lawyers trying to assist the arrested residents were refused entry into the Section 11 police station, mandhandled, abused, and arrested. The right of an arrested person to access to his/her lawyer is a fundamental one under our laws which frequently is violated on the whims and fancies of the police force. Even when Suhakam keeps pointing these violations out, the government is like the proverbial 3 monkeys which see, hear, and speak no evil. Read more about this in Tony's blog.

To my Indian Malaysian friends. Would you continue to allow somebody as arrogant as the Umno led government to trample on your rights, and your fellow citizens down physically to the ground? We need to reflect deeply on our sense of right and wrong, and our perception of choices in this country of ours. You can view more pictures of Tuesday's demolition here.

Source: Tamil Nesan

Source: Makkal Osai

Something else to think about

2007-10-30T15:48:00.000+08:00

Have neglected to update my blog for some time (I believe it's close to two weeks already). One reason is due to lack of initiative. The other is due to feeling of utter "confusion" - anger, exasperated, perplexed, shocked, etc. - at the goings on of the nation. One particular case is the sheer stupidity and arrogance of a creature who deemed himself the de facto law minister (heck, he even consider himself the minister of the Chief Justice). If this interview of his in the New Straits Times is not convincing enough for you of the kind of sub-human we Malaysians put into Parliament and the government, then I think you seriously need to examine your whole self - in mind, spirit, and body. Anyway, the 3-men investigative panel into the Shock-A-Lingam tape has "done" their job. In the words of chairperson Haidar himself: "We (can) wash our hands off, then no more criticism". What job they have done, and what report they will write, I'm not the least bothered because they shouldn't even be formed in the first place.

Oh yeah, the 14th Malaysian Law Conference is underway now, and already tongues are wagging regarding the 11th hour no-show of the PM at the opening. HRH The Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah was there to officiate the conference. Have a read of his speech, contrast it with the PM's and Nazri's lampooning of the Bar Council and you might understand why the talk is that the PM purposely wanted to avoid meeting the Sultan at the event opening due to differences of views, causing a potential crisis in us having no Chief Justice by this November 1st. Maybe Pak Lah wants to one-up Dr M by having his own judicial crisis.

If you have been reading Malaysia Today, you would have read a series of articles written by RPK himself regarding the turf war in our very own PDRM involving the IGP on one side, the Commercial Crime Investigation Division on the other side, and into this mix the triads. There was also a lot of hoohaa about this RM27mil policeman, and how RPK pointed out this was all in retaliation for the policeman's temerity in going after the triad bosses. Well, the said policeman is none other than the chief of the Commercial Crime Investigation Division, and today in a sudden press conference he is making public his side of the story. Guess RPK wasn't writing "rumours", or rather once again, rumours in Malaysia has the uncanny ability to become facts in due time.

Yet, in the midst of all these sorry happenings, I was forced to once in a while put them aside, and reflect on certain things which are more personal to me. Things which I think would surely not be related in any way to how this country is being run. Recently my mum was diagnosed with leukemia and it certainly opened my eyes to the reality of the medical cost involved, especially if you are seeking treatment in a private hospital. It also forced me to think through the options (private vs public) and the implications. My family have personal experience with public hospitals as well, and naturally that figures in our decision making. Fortunately, the choice was made perhaps slightly easier due to availability of insurance. But that definitely is not a bottomless pit.

Amidst all the required decision making, as well as feelings of frustration and doubt, I can't ignore or deny the fact that if more resources and focus have been put into improving our public hospitals, as well as resolve the low morale of medical professionals and staff through more commensurate remuneration, me and my family would definitely have less headache and worries in deciding my mum's choices of medical treatment. The difference in options would have narrowed greatly, coupled with the fact that, even now, the public hospitals are still much better equipped in terms of facilities, equipment, and drugs. If we are having such problems even with insurance coverage, what of the countless of Malaysians who for all sorts of reasons do not have the means to have one? Even in such a personal issue for us, we can't seem to divorce it from the tentacles of policies, dictated by the government of the day.

The point I am trying to make is this - for too long and for too many times I have heard plenty of people telling me that they want nothing to do with politics, or that politics have nothing to do with them. Yet, if you really sit down and think deeply, is that really true? Is that a valid observation? Or is that just you trying to live in denial? Just to have this realization is already an important step. Acting on the realization would be an even more important one. I leave it to you to ponder upon.

By the way, anyone of you taking part in the upcoming Singapore Marathon?

Petition to Agong for a Royal Commission of Inquiry

2007-10-27T13:40:00.000+08:00

STICKY!

This post will stay up until the People's petition to the Agong regarding the dire need of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the deplorable state of our judiciary reaches its target of at least 5,000 signatories. As this is a serious piece of document, please, for the sake of our country and for our children and grandchildren, we must for once be brave enough to use our own names and our own IC numbers. This is the least you could do. All of us have complain enough in the pubs, kopitiams, mamak restaurants, in our homes. The time to act on our complains is NOW!

ORIGINAL: Haris Ibrahim of The People's Parliament has initiated a petition to the DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong to plead to his Royal Highness to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the rot that has seeped into and destroying our judiciary. As it is a document of utmost seriousness and sincerity, and it belongs to Malaysians, please use your real name and IC number when you sign the petition by sending an email to savethejudiciary@gmail.com

Below is the draft petition which I have signed:

------------

The People’s Appeal To His Majesty The Yang DiPertuan Agung

On 19/9/2007, the nation was rocked by another scandal, this time in the form of a video clip which exposed what appears to be a telephone conversation between senior lawyer VK Lingam and another person, allegedly fixing the appointment of ‘friendly’ senior judges.

A careful study of the monologue presented in the video clip leaves a very clear impression that the telephone conversation is indeed between VK Lingam and the present CJ, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and relates to the appointment and promotion of judges. Other judges are also named in the course of the conversation.

That Tun Ahmad Fairuz had, subsequent to the release of the video clip, first responded that he would need to first view the video clip before saying anything, then issuing a ‘no comment’ response and only lately and that too through a third party making a bare denial of being a party to the conversation leaves us, the rakyat with a sense that Tun Ahmad Fairuz has not responded with complete candour on this matter.

This scandal now casts serious doubts on the suitability of Tun Ahmad Fairuz to head the judiciary as well as on the propriety of the appointments and promotions, made on the recommendation of Tun Ahmad Fairuz, of several judges of the High Courts, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

We, the rakyat, no longer have any confidence whatsoever in the judiciary.

We, the rakyat have noted for some time that some very senior judges have been constantly overlooked in the numerous promotion exercises that have proceeded during the tenure of Tun Ahmad Fairuz, with junior judges being preferred.

We the rakyat have also noted that it was recently reported that Their Royal Highnesses acting through the Conference of Rulers rejected two nominations by Tun Fairuz for the position of President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Judge of Malaya although these positions had been vacant for a long time. It is rumoured that those nominated by Tun Fairuz were junior in comparison with many other more senior serving judges.

We, the rakyat, have further noted that there is at least one judge promoted to the Federal Court who, it is reported, has failed to deliver written judgments in up to as many as 35 cases, with the result that appeals by many who have been convicted of offences and are in prison are unable to have their appeals heard.

This most recent scandal also raises again real concerns about the sudden change of the trial judge in an ongoing murder trial in Shah Alam.

We, the rakyat, are also gravely concerned about the recent decisions in several high-profile cases and whether these were ‘fixed’ by Tun Ahmad Fairuz and, if so, the implications it has in relation to the other judges of our superior courts.

The reaction of the Prime Minister, other members of his cabinet and the Attorney-General to the matter of this video clip give us, the rakyat, no reason at all to believe that this scandal will be honestly investigated so that the truth of the matter will never be known.

We, the rakyat, do not believe that the Prime Minister and his present government are committed to getting to the bottom of this scandal and, if ascertained to be the truth, to take all necessary steps to restore the judiciary as a constitutional institution emplaced to independently defend the constitution, the rights of the rakyat, and to uphold the rule of law.

In this regard, the announcement on 25/9/2007 by the Deputy Prime Minister of a 3-man panel to be headed by one who was implicated in the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas in 1988 to now investigate this scandal fortifies our belief that the present government is determined that the truth in relation to this scandal never becomes known.

We, the rakyat, are gravely concerned that if this scandal is left to be investigated by the administration of the Prime Minister, the police or the Anti-Corruption Agency, the rakyat will only witness another cover-up, leaving us, the rakyat without any recourse to justice, ever suspicious whether the judiciary is to protect the rakyat or the interests of a chosen few.

This most recent scandal raises concerns whether the corruption that has become so prevalent in the management of this country has now also made its way into the judiciary.

For these many reasons, we, the rakyat, now pray that Your Majesty may be so moved and in the exercise of the full powers conferred on Your Majesty to :-

1. direct the establishment of a Royal Commission to inquire into, consider and/or determine whether in fact the conversation reflected in the said video clip did occur between VK Lingam and Tun Ahmad Fairuz and the veracity of the assertions made by VK Lingam in the said video clip and, if found to be so, that the Commission be further mandated to enquire into, consider and/or determine:-

1.1 the involvement of all those named in the said video clip in connection with the appointment and promotion of judges;

1.2 cases in which VK Lingam was involved and which were heard and / or decided by Tun Ahmad Fairuz and / or any of the other judges named in the said video clip;

1.3 all acts carried out by Tun Ahmad Fairuz during his tenure as Chief Judge of Malaya, President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice, more particularly:-

* the basis of the appointment and / or promotion of judges by Tun Ahmad Fairuz with particular emphasis on the other judges named in the said video clip;

* the manner in which the members of the panels of the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court were selected by Tun Ahmad Fairuz during his tenure as President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice; and

* the manner in which files were allocated to the panels of the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court by Tun Ahmad Fairuz during his tenure as President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice.

2. the Royal Commission having ascertained that the conversation reflected in the said video did occur between VK Lingam and Tun Ahmad Fairuz and assertions made by VK Lingam in the said video clip to be true, to :-

* direct the Prime Minister to take all necessary steps to appoint a tribunal under Article 125 of the Federal Constitution to remove Tun Ahmad Fairuz and/or any and all judges found by the Commission to have been implicated, directly or otherwise by the acts of misconduct of Tun Ahmad Fairuz; and

* direct the Prime Minister to take all necessary steps to suspend Tun Ahmad Fairuz and/or any and all judges found by the Commission to have been implicated, directly or otherwise by the acts of misconduct of Tun Ahmad Fairuz, pending the reference to and/or report of the tribunal.

3. direct the immediate establishment of an independent Commission for the appointment and promotion of judges to the High Courts, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

In celebratory mood?

2007-10-10T10:03:00.000+08:00

Considering Hari Raya Aidil Fitri is just 3 days away (Saturday 13 Oct), and I am taking leave as well, I don't quite feel the festive mood (not saying I am celebrating Hari Raya). There has been too many nonsense happening throughout last week and this week that most right-thinking Malaysians would just be appalled to find our nation has degraded to such an extent.

The three member investigation panel set up by Najib to only determine the authenticity of the Shock-A-Lingam tape is fast becoming a joke. With no powers to summon witnesses (in fact, Najib said they're not allowed to call any) and with a term of reference stating they can only rely on the investigative reports compiled by the police and the ACA, they are nothing more than high profile document clerks. Such a half-hearted, or worse, act by they government on a matter of such grave concern reflects the attitude of an administration which couldn't care less about Malaysians, as long as they are able to stay in power and control every possible arms of the state to ensure that.

As usual, instead of investigating the merits of a case as well as the alleged perpetrators, the authorities seem intent on going after the whistleblower. Attack and question the messenger, not the message. This is nothing new, just like when Ezam Nor was thrown into jail for releasing ACA papers convicting Rafidah Aziz of corruption on the pretext that those papers are protected under the Official Secrets Act. Or how the police officers who dare go after the triad bosses are now being harassed by their fellow police, albeit from a different camp.

All that talk about "truth" being the best protection, and how the ACA is able to protect the identity of informers comes to nought considering the fate that have befallen whistleblowers and informers of "lesser" cases. We are talking about very powerful and well connected men, as well as men placed in the highest echelon of power in the nation. Nothing short of a Royal Commission of Inquiry which has the full power vested by law to protect and ensure the safety of witnesses and whistleblowers will do. Unless that person (or persons) is totally reckless and have no families to worry about, nobody would be that brave to trust that "truth" will ensure the safety of himself and his family.

What did you say? That "Bodoh! Bodoh! Bodoh!" Minister Nazri says under the Witness Protection Act the whistleblower can have his identity changed, and even get a plastic surgery to change his looks? Well, the "Act" doesn't even exist! This time he was really talking through his arse. But, trust him to behave like all the other "goblok" ministers who made outrageous and stupid statements to the press, only to then blame the press (in this case we're not sure if he's blaming his Press Secretary) for "misquoting" or "misunderstanding" their original statements.

Speaking of "goblok", our rag-tag band of RELA boys have done it again! This time they have the temerity (of course, they have powers under the Emergency Ordinance which even the PDRM would envy!) to detain a wife of a member of the Indonesian diplomatic staff. Muslianah Nurdin, wife of an Indonesian diplomat was detained together with other "illegal" immigrants even after she showed her identification card. Maklumlah, maybe the RELA boys cannot read Bahasa Indonesian or English, thus unable to recognize any such things. This is actually confessed by Zaidon, the head honcho of the nearly-lawless RELA band-of-brothers in his "damage-control attempt. After a series of such mistreatment of Indonesians (remember the karate official who was assaulted by our very own PDRM?), we still have the cheek to call Indonesia our kin? Ask the Indonesians what they think about this "kinship".

While the police and ACA are busy trying to hunt for the Batu Buruk "rioters", the Lingam tape whistleblower, as well as going on a witch-hunt of their fellow policemen who dare touch the triads, the latest is that the PDRM wants to question the four Bar Council officials who were instrumental in organizing the 2,000 strong "Walk for Justice" march in Putrajaya recently. Very efficient indeed of the PDRM. Let's hope against all hope as well that the PDRM will be equally, if not more, efficient in hunting down the murderer(s) of Nurin Jazlin (which by the way, some very sick demons disguised as humans actually violate her again by distributing her post-mortem photos through emails), the demons who left a woman to die in Subang Ria park, as well as making sure an ex-colleague who have assaulted a woman and her children for the last couple of years will be kept under locks and not let loose again.

So much crap, so much insanity, so much nonsense. What can you do? For starters, reading about it and understanding the gravity of situation is already a very important step. Do not be like the proverbial monkeys which see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Do not be like those who have ears but do not hear, have eyes but do not see. Next, act on what you understand by voting with your conscience and your heart and your head. If you're not registered to vote, please do so now. It is a very simple thing to do. In addition, tell your families and friends why you choose to make such a stand, and explain the importance of them taking an active stake in this country of ours. Point them to the same information sources so that they will also open their eyes and ears and hearts. Sign petitions initiated by civil society. Cast away the fear that the authorities will come after you. Do not think yourself as so important in their eyes.

Lastly, stop being cynical of things political. Politics affect each and every one of us, directly as well as indirectly. Stop living in denial of this fact of life. Instead of being taken for a ride all the time by these plunderers, why not make a change this time (and next) to tell the current arrogant, inept, and incompetent Umno government that enough is enough. The time for a more representative and balanced Parliament is now. There is no other better time. Failure to make it happen this time will very likely create a point of no return for this country. Our collective failure will cause this country of ours to go down the path of the basket case, a failed state, and the misery of our children and grandchildren will be on us.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to my Muslim friends and fellow Malaysians. May our prayers touch God and the hearts of Malaysians to act before it's too late. Just a parting shot, good news among the bad. Hui Yi seems to be on the way to recovery from her 2nd heart transplant. Wish her all the best!

Free Burma!

2007-10-04T23:59:00.000+08:00

Show your support and solidarity by posting the above (click on the picture to bring you to the Free Burma! website) in your blogs and websites.

DAP PJ Fund Raising Dinner

2007-10-04T11:31:00.000+08:00

DAP Petaling Jaya will be holding a fund raising dinner on 1 Nov, Thursday at 7pm for its regular operations as well as for the forthcoming general elections. The dinner will have a host of speakers by DAP leaders, and it will be primarily in English and Bahasa Malaysia to start changing the perception of "chinese-ness" of the DAP. This will also include Halal food for our Muslims friends and supporters. Please check out Tony Pua's blog for more details. Once I have more details I will update the post. Block your calendars!

Petaling Jaya to Lead Malaysia Forward

Date: 1 Nov, 2007 (Thursday)
Time: 7pm
Venue: Damansara Palace Restaurant, Kota Damansara (Halal food will be made available for Muslims guests and supporters)

Speakers:
Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary-General
YB Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh
Tony Pua, Economic Advisor to DAP Secretary-General
Lau Weng San, Political Secretary to DAP Secretary-General
Dr Cheah Wing Yin, Former President, KL-Selangor Private Medical Practitioners Association

*Other potential speakers to be confirmed.

Special: Latin and Modern ballroom dance performance by the Malaysian dance champion and our representative at the Asian Games (to be confirmed).

A week of happenings

2007-09-27T10:10:00.000+08:00

It has been a hectic two weeks for me, which explains why I wasn't able to update my blog as frequent as I would have liked. Just got some breathing space now to write something.

I guess by now most of you would have heard, read, or at least have an inkling of the Shock-a-Lingam tape scandal. For those of you who have not been following the matter, read here for more details. Of course, since then there has been a whole lot more development. For example, after facing pressure to show that the government is serious in tackling the explosive issue (instead of questioning the authenticity of the tape, or that Lingam was play-acting, or that "no criminal offence" has been committed), Najib decided to announce that a 3-man investigative panel would be set up to investigate the authenticity of the tape. No details yet as to what is the proper term of reference of the panel, as well as to what extent the panel would go to dig up the truth. This falls far short of the calls from various quarters, including the Bar Council, for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to not only investigate the veracity of the tape, but also to look into the deep rot that has set into the judiciary ever since the 1988 sacking of Tun Salleh Abas.

For instance, it really boggles the mind of all right-thinking Malaysians as to how the Chief Justice, Ahmad Fairuz, who is in the middle of this scandal, can choose to say in black-and-white "no comment" to queries from Malaysiakini, yet immediately after that calling Nazri (that "bodoh" Minister in the PM's department) to deny his involvement. When pressed why the CJ sees fit to "deny" through him, Nazri answers without batting an eyelid "I am his minister". Wow! Talk about the subservience of the judiciary to the executive in Bolehland!

The Bar Council, in the face of previous failed attempts to push the executive into doing something, decided to organize a "Walk for Justice" yesterday (26 Sep). Some 1,000 lawyers and civil society turned up at the march, despite the heavy presence of FRUs, police (including a PDRM helicopter entertaining the crowd with the flying skills of the pilot), and overcast sky (the rain fell heavily when the crowd reached the PM office complex...the heavens are weeping for the sorry state of Malaysia?). In fact, 7 chartered buses ferrying some 200 lawyers were barred from entering Putrajaya, forcing the passengers led by Edmund Bon to start the walk early by walking 5kms to the "Istana Keadilan" (Palace of Justice). The Bar Council President and 3 of her office bearers managed to meet the PM's secretary Wan Farid and handed over two memoranda - one calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up, and another calling for the formation of an Independent Commission of Judiciary to promote and appoint judges in a transparent and accountable manner.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council has said they will give the 3-man inquiry panel a chance, but would still press for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry. Already there were reservations with the panel as it will be headed by a former Chief Judge of Malaya who played a key role in colluding with the powers-that-be to sack Tun Salleh Abas. The other 2 members are Lee Lam Thye (the ex-DAP MP who heads the National Service Council) and Mahadev Shankar (former Court of Appeal judge).

You can read more, and view photos, of the walk in various blogs. A whole list can be found in Lulu's blog here, and pictures here. Jeff has a series of excellent photos of the walk.

While we are facing a potential Constitutional crisis here, Burmese society led by thousands of monks have for the first time in 20 years since the brutal crackdown in 1988 showed defiance at the brutal military junta. What has started as pockets of demonstrations against the massive increase overnight of fuel prices (and consequent rise in prices of foodstuff and such) has evolved into a massive people movement led by the country's revered monks.

On Monday and Tuesday (Sep 24, 25), some 100,000 people led by the monks marched a few kilometers across Rangoon, chanting peace and democracy, and urging the military junta to seriously begin reconciliation with the Burmese people through their leader Aung San Suu Kyi (who has been under house arrest since May 2003 when a military-backed mob tried to assasinate her). Suu Kyi is rumoured to have been moved to the notorious Insein prison after she came out of her house on Saturday and greeted monks and supporters at the gates. The military junta has started to crackdown on the people on Wednesday (Sep 26), with reports starting to flow out of the closed-up country stating monks and civilians being injured critically and killed.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma/Reuters

The world is watching in bated breath, while condemning and urging the military junta to show restraint and not repeat the 1988 bloodbath where some 3,000 people were mowed down by bullets and batons and such. Whereas the world didn't get to see what happened in 1988, now with the limited Internet access into and out of Burma, the world is able to watch the events more closely. China is said to be exerting some influence which explains the military junta's relative restraint up to now. Burma's stability and peace is strategic to China's interest, and encouraging national reconciliation and eventual democracy for Burma is in China's long term interest.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar led by Zaid Ibrahim has called for ASEAN leaders to pile the pressure on the military junta, fearing an eventual bloodbath should the world and Burma's closest neighbours choose to keep silent over the recent developments. After all, a democratic, peaceful, united, and prosperous Burma is beneficial to ASEAN. The Burmese refugee issue we are facing in Malaysia is due almost entirely to the persecution of the Burmese people by the military junta.

Keep up to date on the developments in Burma through Google News. I do not foresee a revolution anytime soon, but I pray that this is the beginning of the tipping point for Burma and its people to free themselves from the clutches of a brutal and paranoid military regime which has ruled Burma since 1962. What is significant is that after spending 11 of the last 18 years in house arrest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains the leader and figurehead of the Burmese struggle for freedom. This has been re-affirmed when the monks successfully made contact with her on Saturday, and this moral affirmation by the revered monkhood would hopefully cement a more united front under her legitimate leadership to face the mounting pressure.

Just like how the BN government here tries to convince Malaysians of the irrelevance and non-threat of Anwar Ibrahim by blacking him out from the media, the military junta generals are doing much worse to Suu Kyi while at the same time vilifying her in any way possible, or blacking her out entirely from their monopoly of media in Burma.

"Please use your liberty to promote ours" - Aung San Suu Kyi

Phantom Menace

2007-09-20T10:59:00.000+08:00

Wah! And you think phantom voters are just daydreams of rabble-rousers who have nothing to do but complain about the Election Commission and the running of general elections in Malaysia? Tell Rocky about that! He just found out that he has been registered as a voter, without his knowledge, at a constituency which he has no idea where it is! But I know lar, since I vote in that same constituency. So, ladies and gentlemen, please check your status at http://www.spr.gov.my, and see if you're one of those phantom voters.

And that is not all. PKR just exposed an explosive 8 minute video of VK Lingam (that infamous lawyer linked with Tun Eusoff Chin, ex-CJ of Malaysia, and Tan Sri Vincent Tan) chatting with the current CJ Ahmad Fairuz over the phone in 2002 (then Ahmad Fairuz was Chief Judge of Malaya) on strategies to ensure his eventual elevation to his current position. Phantoms performing wayang behind the scenes! Read more about this in Jeff Ooi's blog, as well as here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

We have plenty of phantoms in this nation, doing all sorts of things which really makes them a menace to civil society and the betterment of this nation. What do you intend to do about them?

Petition to HRH The Yang DiPertuan Agong

2007-09-13T10:09:00.000+08:00

Raja Petra Kamarudin is preparing a petition to be submitted to His Royal Highness the Yang DiPertuan Agong. Essentially, it is to petition His Royal Highness to act in his position as Head of State on the increasingly dire situation our country is in currently, before the damage becomes irreversible. I suggest you sign the petition by sending an email to him at raja.petra.kamarudin@gmail.com, and please use your real name as a petition should reflect real Malaysians. I see too many people sign with their nicknames in the comments section, which I personally feel will do the petition a disservice. Read here for more information.

As an aside, still think the Budget 2008 is good? Read this and this.

More confusion over police brutality in Pantai Batu Buruk

2007-09-12T10:52:00.000+08:00

From a single shot, to two shots, now it has become FOUR shots. And the person who opened fire has changed from an FRU officer to just a general duty police constable. What else next? Grenades were launched at the FRUs?

The Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat considered it not urgent enough to be debated, saying "It is just a riot and the police are investigating." Yeah right, four shots of live rounds at a crowd who have gathered for a BERSIH forum (which has been held everywhere in Malaysia for the last few months) is not urgent, nor important, enough for Parliament to care two hoots.

Oh yeah, of course the mainstream media is trying paint it as if it's an opposition organized ceramah, never mind the fact that it's a blatant lie. Also, of course they have to keep on harping on half-truths and untruths about the mess in Pantai Batu Buruk, Kuala Terengganu...you can't expect Malaysians to know about the damning Auditor-General's 2006 Report which listed, among others, a payment of RM5000 for a car jack which costs only RM50. Couple that with a "pledge" for the ACA to investigate the contents of the report, and we have a government trying its best to hoodwink the rakyat with more feel-good factors.

What? Budget 2008 was good for the people? Read this from Zewt, and this, and this, and then decide if DAP's Shadow Budget 2008 is a better bet. Of course lar, don't be lazy...you have to read the entire PDF of the Shadow budget lar!

Confused enough by all that is happening caused by the current administration? Don't be! Read more from around the world wide web and keep your ears, eyes, and heart open. You will get a much clearer and less confused picture of our Malaysia!

Bullets used in Batu Buruk

2007-09-10T11:33:00.000+08:00

BERSIH, a coalition of opposition parties and NGOs dedicated to the reform of the electoral process in Malaysia to one which is fair, transparent, and respectable, has organized a forum in Batu Buruk, Terengganu on Saturday evening as part of their effort to educate Malaysians on the need for reforms. However, what was supposed to be a peaceful forum turned extremely ugly when the police sent in the FRU to disperse the crowd of some 500. The crowd was in no mood for compromises and the end result was 2 persons shot (one in the neck, the other in the chest) by a non-uniformed police personnel (the PDRM claimed he's an FRU officer...but what was the FRU officer doing running about solo?). Water cannon were used, tear gas, and now live bullets. And from the angry crowd, rocks were hurled. The Star claimed that even molotov cocktails and home-made-bombs were used (similar excuses given by some ex-IGP in 2001 to justify the arrests of key leaders of PKR under the ISA), and was less than truthful when it didn't even report that it was a BERSIH forum and not an opposition one. Of course, Najib had to come out quickly and claimed that the personnel used his pistol for self-defence. Of course, no prizes for realizing that if the police has acted as they did early this year in the peaceful anti-toll hike demonstration in Sunway Pyramid, this ugly fracas would never have happened. But increasingly the police seem adamant in hitting hard on anything they perceive as opposition-related. If only they would have been as ruthless against more serious and violent crimes that are threatening to wreak havoc in this country. Read more about this event in Liz Wong's blog here and here, as well as Malaysiakini's report. Lulu's take here and Malik Imtiaz's take here.

In the mean time, the Auditor General's report for 2006 is out. As usual, it contains plenty of damning examples and evidence of wasteful and corrupt practices which inflated prices of government procurement sky high. Yet, year in year out nothing has ever been done to prevent the recurrence of such wasteful practice. In fact, no substantive comments were ever really made by those in power regarding the report. As an example, a set of technical pens which has a market price of RM160 was procured at a price of RM1,147! Multiply that by 90 sets, and you would have an inkling on the scale of such fraudulent act. Read this, this, and this for a better appreciation of this chronic, yearly problem. RM10bil for the folks in Budget 2008 as frontpaged in yesterday's Sunday New Straits Times? Please clean up the nonsense in your own backyard first, Pak Lah! And before we forget, what has happened to the RM14.4bil "savings" from the reduction of fuel subsidy early 2006?

Pig spin by The Star

2007-09-05T13:52:00.001+08:00

From The Star:

Wednesday September 5, 2007

Breeders to cut number of pigs to reduce pollution

MALACCA: Pig breeders here have agreed to reduce the number of pigs reared in the state to 48,000 by Sept 21 to cut down pollution in rivers near the farms, Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Abu Seman Yusop said.

This was agreed on during a meeting chaired in the Masjid Tanah Umno District Office yesterday which was attended by Kota Melaka MP Wong Nai Chee; State Housing, Local Government, Environment and Transport Committee chairman Koh Nai Kwong; Information, Multimedia, Science and Technology Committee chairman Datuk Seah Kwi Tong, Human Resource Minister and Alor Gajah MP Datuk Seri Fong Chan Onn and Rural and Agriculture Development Committee chairman Datuk Hamdin Abdollah.

The four areas in the state involved in pig rearing are Paya Mengkuang, Manlok, Bukit Beruang and Air Molek. There are an estimated 148,000 pigs in these farms and there have been many complaints about the stench, the unhygienic conditions and the pollution of nearby rivers.

“Only Paya Mengkuang will be allowed to continue its pig farming activities. The other places should no longer be operational after Sept 21,” said Abu Seman.

Yesterday morning, personnel from the Federal Reserve Unit, police, Public Works Department, Malacca City council and Alor Gajah Municipal Council had gone to the four pig-rearing areas to cull the pigs.

Malacca police chief SAC 1 Datuk Mortadza Nazarene said holes were dug in Bukit Beruang and Manlok, but none were shot.

If you just read The Star propaganda, you would think that all is hunky dory, and that the pig farmers had an amicable meeting with the state authorities and have reached an agreement to sell 2,000 pigs daily to reach that magical number of 48,000. Never mind the questions on how that 48,000 figure was arrived at, and more bizarrely, who appointed the MCA fellas as spokespersons for the pig farmers, and given the mandate to negotiate on their behalf. Contrast the spin above with this report from Malaysiakini:

Tense stand-off over pig farms eases
Sep 4, 07 3:27pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71950

Police personnel pulled out of Paya Mengkuang New Village at 4.05pm, easing the worries of pig farmers who had expected to see all their animals forcibly culled today.

It is learnt that as part of a deal struck at a two-hour meeting between state authorities and MCA top leaders, the farmers will now voluntarily relocate at least 1,000 of their pigs to Johor and Selangor within the next few days. This could not be immediately confirmed.

Since this morning, about 100 villagers had faced off 300 enforcement officers in a tense stand-off over action to close their pig farms. The villagers had kept a vigil in the area since last night.

All major roads leading into Paya Mengkuang - about 30 minutes’ drive north of Malacca city - were cordoned off by the police, isolating the village. Numerous media personnel resorted to seeking local knowledge for off-road entrances to the area.

Fifty of the state enforcement officers stood by in plastic-suits, waiting for the state government’s order to move into the pig farms to kill the animals.

About 100 police personnel were also on stand by, of which about 50 of them were anti-riot personnel armed with batons, canes, revolvers, gas-canister launchers and automatic rifles.

Six excavators had been brought in to dig mass graves to bury the dead pigs while six police trucks including some with water cannon were stationed in the vicinity.

Human barricade

On the other side were the villagers - men, women and children forming a human shield at the main entrance to their farms. The barricade included a number of small trucks.

They were carrying a dozen national flags and two big banners commemorating the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence.

The state government had identified at least 15 farms to be closed to reduce pollution and the number of pigs.

Chief Minister Muhd Ali Rustam was reported to have told the state assembly in July that the pig population would have to be reduced to a maximum of 48,000 to control pollution emanating from the farms.

This will slash the number of pigs by two-thirds - there are currently 140,000 pigs in the state.

In addition to Paya Mengkuang, two other villages are affected by the directive - Ayer Molek and Bukit Beruang new villages. Police are believed to have pulled out of these areas as well.

The whole culling operation (which, at the end, was not carried out) was exercised like they were preparing for war. Which is expected considering how the authorities is handling the entire issue in the first place - from the extremely short notice given, no proper and viable alternatives provided, as well as the unmistakably political nature of this hot potato. The CM of Melaka is more likely than not trying to shore up political support for himself. Perhaps his series of antics in currying favour of the PM is not delivering the much needed effects and benefits.

At the end of the day, the CM is trying to rid Melaka of its entire pig population, but has been thwarted thus far. One wonders how long more efforts to put off this eventuality will succeed. The whole issue is political, not to mention racial and religious in nature. All the stench, pollution, and environmental concerns are but convenient excuses. After all, these are not a problem in large scale modern, clean, and odourless integrated pig farms in Germany, the US, and Taiwan. The "proposed" central pig farming location in Melaka was supposed to address these environmental problems. But does anyone know what has happened to that "proposal"?

As an aside, KTemoc has a series of blog entries on this Melaka pig saga.

All pictures from Malaysiakini

Anwar's 'New Deal'

2007-09-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

Borrowing from the title of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's series of programs initiated between 1933 and 1938, Anwar and his PKR gang unveiled the party's economic agenda called "The Malaysian Economic Agenda: Creating A New Deal". Reproducing it here from Malaysiakini (have been busy and having mental block...heheh!). Meanwhile, if you want to read a copy of the brochure outlining the new economic agenda, download it from here. This brochure may have now been superseded by the announced "New Deal". DAP is also planning to come up with a shadow budget. Their target is to announce it a day or two before the Sep 7 budget speech this Friday.

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Anwar's 'New Deal' to unite, liberate all M'sians
Terence Netto
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71974
Sep 4, 07 7:17pm

An introduction of meritocracy in education, a dose of aid in housing, and the dispersal of industry from high-density urban centers to low concentration ones, were the highlights of PKR’s economic agenda announced today.

"This is the 'new deal' that we will take to the voters in the coming general elections," said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim in comments made to malaysiakini following the unveiling of the party's economic agenda called 'The Malaysian Economic Agenda: Creating A New Deal.'

Details of the agenda were announced at a press conference today in Parliament House, jointly addressed by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and head of the party's economic brain trust, Khalid Ibrahim.

"Overall, the thrust of the agenda would see a more equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation," claimed Anwar.

"Thus far the distribution of the nation's wealth has been lopsided with undue concentration in the hands of the top 20 percent of the people. This is a recipe for economic oligarchies to spawn and for social discontent to spread among the have-nots," he contended.

Anwar explained that the party's programme would see fairer apportionment of wealth with the top 20 percent of the population controlling 35 percent of wealth (as compared to the present 51.3 percent), the middle class of 40 percent holding a 40 percent equity (as compared to the present 35.2 percent), and the bottom 40 percent sharing 25 percent (as compared to the present 13.5 percent).

Education

Clearly, PKR's de facto leader posits education - "the great leveller" - as the catalyst of economic redistribution and upward social mobility.

Under a PKR government, selection to 30 percent of university places will be based on merit regardless of candidates' household income. Also, a similar percentage of jobs in higher education will be awarded on merit.

"Education is the race between civilisation and catastrophe," opined Anwar."We have to plumb for meritocracy at this stage of our national development or risk seeing our country slide in economic competitiveness."

He added: "At least for close to a third of the places in seats and in jobs in higher education we have to go for meritocracy as otherwise we will become mediocre and lose out in the race to build a modern, civil society that is equipped to compete in the global village."

Anwar said the remaining 70 percent of seats in higher education would be awarded with affirmative action considerations in mind, with priority going to the poor provided they meet the minimum qualifications.

He said the education system would be the conduit for the strengthening of the concepts of parliamentary democracy, with the executive, legislature, judiciary and press existing in creative and critical interaction among them.

"Educational opportunity, entrepreneurial ingenuity, wealth distribution and social mobility are all facilitated better under a system of governance that is transparent and accountable with the traditional checks and balances provided by the third and fourth estates (judiciary and press)," he asserted.

Then in tones redolent of his decades' long search for a synthesis of the best that has been said and thought in the world of ideas, Anwar launched into a sonorous peroration:

"Democratic pluralism is not something that we will merely give lip service to but will practise in earnestness because it is the lifeblood of the system of parliamentary democracy. I'm Malay and Muslim but neither a smug ethnocentricism nor a narrow conception of Islamic rectitude will do justice to my human identity as a Malaysian, as an Asian, and as a denizen of the global village.

"The dogmas of our racially stratified past are inadequate to our globalised present. Since our challenges are complex, we must think afresh and act anew. We must first disenthrall ourselves."

Housing

Anwar said his party will not spawn neither will it coddle mediocrity.

"We will help people help themselves so that citizens would feel encouraged to give of their best in reasonable expectation of rewards for their labour. We will encourage the talented to flower for civil society needs multifarious talents to fructify to endure."

Clearly, housing for the underprivileged will be a priority because "shelter is a need which if not catered for would spawn a host of social ills from dysfunctional families to substance abuse."

Under a PKR government, a long-term inter-generational funding scheme spanning a 60-year borrowing and payback period will enable low-income earners to own a house that they might not have been able to afford otherwise.

As an alternative, low-income earners will be able to buy back basic housing units that can be sold back once they are ready to move up and acquire a better-quality house.

Complementing the drive for affordable housing, Anwar said a PKR government would cap development in high-density urban centers and provide incentives to entrepreneurs to invest in new townships to halt the rural-urban drift.

Healthcare

He said access to quality healthcare must be assured for the lower income group and viewed the shifting of that burden to the private sector as a measure that would raise costs and limit access only to those who could afford it.

"The provision of quality healthcare must not be allocated to the market only to accomplish. Government has an equitable role to play in its provision and must not shirk it," said Anwar.

Finally, Anwar addressed the question of a 'new deal' for the Malays who he said had benefitted from the New Economic Policy (NEP) but were now in danger of witnessing the opening up of a wide gap between a politically connected elite and the ordinary rakyat.

"We need a new needs-based NEP that will enable ordinary Malays to repossess opportunities and engage their energies and talents to acquire their share of the national wealth.

"We must free ourselves from the fallacious emotional baggage that the NEP, in the way that it has been implemented in recent times, is an avenue for Malay advancement. That is not true. The elites have railroaded the NEP for their own selfish gain while the vast majority is doled out the crumbs.

"This is a bogus NEP. PKR's new deal for the Malays would see the NEP impact on the Malay poor in such a way that it will empower and equip them with the means to use their rights for their genuine and lasting betterment."

Anwar also said the bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak would be given the full panoply of their rights without reservation of religion or ethnicity.

"Too often they have suffered from the tyranny of geography where their distant habitations from urban centers of development meant that they languished in neglect. PKR have heard their cry of neglect and will respond to help them."

In summation Anwar said PKR's new deal for Malaysians would unite the country and liberate its citizens by promoting "equity over privilege, talent over mediocrity, entrepreneurial energy over rent seeking, and genuine care for the needy over empty rhetorical pledges of aid."

Transforming Malaysia

2007-09-04T14:47:00.000+08:00

Don't have the inspiration to blog, but find this Merdeka message by DAP's Secretary General Lim Guan Eng refreshing. I reproduce it here:-

Transforming Malaysia
Lim Guan Eng
http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinionfeatures/71895
Sep 3, 07 2:54pm

In 1963 together with our brethren from Sabah and Sarawak, we started calling ourselves Malaysians. Our nationhood was based on the 1957 Merdeka social contract that promised us much but delivered little.

Fifty years ago, we were promised democracy. We were promised justice. We were promised equality. We were promised rule of law. We were promised integrity. We were promised to be treated with human dignity and we were promised freedom.

We are still awaiting these promises. Why haven’t these promises been fulfilled?

First, our fundamental human rights, civil and political liberties embodied in the Federal Constitution as the highest law of the land, were slowly but surely diminished, diluted and finally rendered meaningless by repeated amendments. The number of years of independence has been far exceeded by the number of times our constitution has been amended.

Second, those provisions that could not be amended were ignored and summarily shoved aside by a unilateral declaration by the prime minister on Sept 29, 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state. No heed was paid to the pronouncements made by our first three premiers prior to the 1980s or to the ruling of the highest court in 1988 that the Federal Constitution clearly defines Malaysia as a secular state.

Third, the promulgation of state interventionist economic policies led by the New Economic Policy (NEP) that promoted racial preferential quotas under the pretext of equitable wealth redistribution and sanctioned political patronage and self-aggrandisement under the guise of wealth creation. While the goal of the NEP was also to eradicate poverty regardless of race, the primary focus was the creation of bumiputera millionaires and an accelerated expansion of a bumiputera business community by all means necessary.

This primary focus gave NEP a bad name as a vehicle for corruption, cronyism and abuse of power especially when it was extended beyond its 20-year shelf life in 1990. US finance house Morgan Stanley has estimated that US$100 billion has been lost to corruption since the 1980s.

The NEP also alienated and angered many non-bumiputeras who could not understand why they had to sacrifice for the wealthy bumiputeras. Non-Malays are not angry with the NEP for helping poor Malays. Neither are Malays incensed with the NEP for helping poor non-Malays. What all Malaysians are furious about is that the NEP is used as a tool of crony capitalism and patronage to enrich the wealthy.

Finally, the insidious erosion of our national psyche by systematically dividing Malaysians by race and religion – bumis and non-bumis, Muslims and non-Muslims. While we can blame the British for introducing this divide-and-rule policy, the insidious fault lines created have sheared our souls and haunt future generations by creating many nations of different races within a nation-state. Ethnicity and religious beliefs, not universal values of justice, will shape outcomes.

Reclaim heritage

Unlike in America where everyone is an American, here in Malaysia we are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Iban. This is probably the greatest injustice of all in refusing to treat every Malaysian equally. Bangsa, agama dan negara is only directed at one community.

We continue to be divided by the colour of our skin or the beliefs in our hearts or our political affiliations even though our blood is of the same colour. Instead of one people, one Bangsa Malaysia in a secular state we have racial dominance and an Islamic state. What is so difficult about accepting Bangsa Malaysia which Mahathir described “as people being able to identify themselves with the country, speak Bahasa Malaysia and accept the Federal Constitution”.

Until we revert to Bangsa Malaysia and ketuanan Malaysia, can we reclaim our Merdeka heritage and the promises made? The damage done from such misguided policies is most obvious in the economic sphere. The foreign specialists of Malaysian affairs can not fail to be puzzled at the stubborn refusal of ordinary Malaysians, who are no less educated and intelligent than them, to see through the self-serving economic policies that are detrimental to the common good.

Perhaps such inertia explains why the European Union Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Thierry Rommel was moved to severely criticise the NEP as anti-competitive, a lack of a level playing field and an unacceptable cost of doing business in Malaysia. He added, “Together with an inefficient public service, corruption and the questionable and unchecked practices of Malay preferential treatment, it had also dampened the business environment and economy of the country.”

Even the government has conceded the defects of the NEP when it exempted investors in the Iskandar Development Region in Johor from its requirements. A million Malaysians who voted with their feet by emigrating overseas for the last 35 years provide the strongest indictment of the failure, injustices and discrimination of the NEP. Money lost can be earned back but the loss of human resources and brain power is irreplaceable.

These are among the many challenges we face in realising the promises of Merdeka 50 years ago. What has stopped us from overcoming them is the failure of leadership, the absence of moral courage and outrage as well as yes, the smallness of our politics.

We should look at the big picture. Globalisation is upon us and yet we are so unprepared. Looking at the big picture entails an international global mindset that empowers every Malaysian with equal opportunity and not one that entraps us within mediocrity and mindless slogans like ‘Towering Malaysian’, ‘Life-long Education’ and ‘Islam Hadhari’.

To lead Malaysia into the 21st century, we need intelligent, rational and unprejudiced Malaysians who respect diversity. There is no room for MPs who are foul-mouthed or who disparage minorities and demean women as sex objects. Only decent and competent Malaysians can make Malaysia better.

The new Malaysia

At a time when we are celebrating our 50th Merdeka celebrations, we should be looking forward to one national ideal grounded on democratic principles of justice, respect for human rights, freedom, integrity and human dignity. Let us transform Malaysia through ‘Malaysian First’, based on democracy, political equality, equal opportunity and social justice that ensures economic prosperity for all.

Let us transform Malaysia into crime-free neighbourhoods, especially for women and children. Malaysians should enjoy the four basic rights of security - to live, work, study and play in a safe and secure environment.

Let us transform Malaysia to pursue excellence and value our best and brightest students by rewarding them with university places and scholarships.

Let us transform Malaysia to share national wealth with workers who can live with dignity with a minimum wage.

Let us transform Malaysia into an environmentally-friendly place with sustainable living consonant with being one with nature and all beings created by God where orang utan, hornbills, pygmy elephants, tigers and rhinos roam freely.

Let us transform Malaysian sports and the football team into one that we can take pride in, which is praised rather than pilloried.

Let us transform Malaysia from what it is now to what it should have been as envisaged by our founding fathers by restoring the Merdeka Constitution. The original Malaysian Merdeka Constitution did not allow for preventive laws such as the ISA that sanction detention without trail. Neither were there repressive laws such as the Printing Presses & Publications Act and freedom of the press was sacrosanct.

Not only was there independence of the judiciary, there was independence of the Elections Commission where no gerrymandering was permitted and variances in voters between constituencies were limited to only 15 percent. And there were local government elections then unlike now.

Let us also transform Malaysia into a civil society that is inclusive. We can no longer rely on the traditional government and business sector to fulfill our expectations and needs. To ensure that every Malaysian is allowed to participate in the democratic and political process some of the elements of civil society must be evident: free association and expression; regulated, but open and market-oriented economies; aid to the poor, orphaned, elderly, sick, or disabled; and finally, civic cultures that cherish diversity and individual freedoms but also respect human needs for community and shared visions of the common good.

Our young people should be allowed freedom of expression in the famous words of the French philosopher Voltaire, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.". We may disapprove of their views but we should not eat our young for their courage in expressing them. Repressing their courage will finally result in a creativity deficit.

Can we discard our diverse ethnic background and different religious beliefs for Bangsa Malaysia? I have faith that fellow citizens have common decency, respect for diversity and proper sense of justice to believe that Bangsa Malaysia Boleh!

Only by transforming Malaysia through unification of all our hearts and souls as one Bangsa Malaysia, can we ensure prosperity and fulfill the promises made 50 years ago during those halcyon days when cries of “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!” rang throughout the land.

Aspirations without accomplishments mean nothing. We must commit ourselves to do our duty with faith and without fear to accomplish our aspirations of political equality and economic prosperity shared by all in a civil society that cherishes democracy, justice and the rule of law.

LIM GUAN ENG is DAP secretary-general.

Wear yellow and fly yellow above the national flag

2007-08-28T13:52:00.000+08:00

Raja Petra Kamarudin in his "No Holds Barred" article today on civil disobedience suggested a non-rebellious way for Malaysians to show their displeasure at the shenanigans of the current administration, as well as show support to His Royal Highnesses the Rulers who have lately been articulating the concerns and despair of the rakyat. He made two suggestions:

1) Fly a strip of yellow cloth on top of the national flag on 31 Aug (Merdeka Day) as well as on 16 Sep (Malaysia Day). Refer to the picture below for an illustration.

2) Wear yellow, which not only is the royal colour of all the Rulers, it is also a colour representing people's power in most ASEAN countries. Wear yellow on 31 Aug (Merdeka Day) and on 16 Sep (Malaysia Day).

These two suggestions are doable and practical. Whether Malaysians feel the fate of this nation is important enough for them to take part in this act of civil disobedience remains to be seen. If Malaysians can't seem to be able to understand Raja Nazrin's various recent advice and articulation on the need for national unity based on respecting the Constitution, ensuring only persons of integrity and trustworthiness helms the government, and claim the right to an equal place under the Malaysian sun, and put that understanding into action by voting wisely and not blindly, then Malaysians have only themselves to blame when the country crosses the point of no return towards a failed state.

Do you feel elated this 50th Merdeka?

2007-08-28T09:54:00.000+08:00

Consider the following series of news.

Pak Lah after hemming and hawing claimed that Malaysia is neither a secular nor a theocratic state. This after his dear old deputy claimed that Malaysia has never been a secular state, but an Islamic state. Yesterday in Parliament, in a written reply to Kit Siang's question, he changed tack and declared that Malaysia is a "negara Islam" (debateable if he meant Islamic state or Islamic country...perhaps he is just being intentionally vague, as usual), ruled base on Islam Hadhari (whatever that is). Not only that, he keep self-praising his Islam Hadhari saying

"Islam Hadhari is a guideline for the government to be fair and equitable to all communities in the country"

Yeah right, fair to the Klang Untouchables perhaps.

Also, as expected, Kit Siang's attempt to force an open discussion of the RM4.6bil bailout (the largest in Malaysian history) fiasco of Port Klang Free Zone in Parliament has been stalled by the Speaker. Kit has spoken to Capt. Yusof Ahmad (Ancient Mariner), an ex-PKA staff who has served his entire career with the port authority and has blogged plenty on this mega-nonsense, to get better information in preparation for the debate which never happened. Ramli Ngah Talib, the speaker of the house, claimed that since the government is looking into the matter, there is no need for the august house to discuss the matter. Yeah, right, looking into the matter of covering the whole matter up, giving a RM4.6bil "soft loan", and letting the perpetrators get off scot free (and obscenely rich).

And what about the unintentional spill-out made by newly minted Ijok assemblyman K. Parthiban? In an interview with Malaysiakini, he inadvertently mentioned that Selangor BN assemblyperson like himself get some RM2mil of annual allocation for "development" purposes. Wow! There are 54 BN state assemblyperson in Selangor, and that comes up to RM108mil annually, just for them to spend, entirely within their own discretion, with no way for anyone to check on their expenditure because DAP assemblyman for Sg. Pinang Teng Chang Kim says that money is not listed in the state budget. I wonder where the money comes from, and this is the fairness of Islam Hadhari of Pak Lah? Sg. Pinang and Sekinchan residents are lesser Selangorians so they don't need the RM2mil discretionary development fund?

Yesterday morning MTUC members gathered at Parliament to hand a letter of protest against the amendments to the Industrial Relations Act, scheduled to be the first bill to be debated. According to Liz Wong, what happened next is nothing short of disgraceful. One of the secretaries fo the Backbenchers Club came out to inform the unionists that they should come back some other day because the amendments to the above Act will only be tabled for discussion later because the Supply Bill (Additional) is to be debated first. And lo and behold, the first bill to be debated that afternoon was the Industrial Relations Act. This is what you call a government with integrity.

And lastly, the suspension of Makkal Osai, the Tamil daily aligned to S. Subramaniam, MIC's former deputy president and arch rival to Samy Vellu. The daily was suspended for a month after somebody inadvertently published an insensitive picture of Jesus Christ smoking and with a beer in one hand. The daily quickly apologized, suspended the said person, and even met with representatives from the MCCBCHS, various Christian groups such as Roman Catholic Church, Council of Churches Malaysia, National Christian Evangelical Fellowship which have all said the matter should be forgiven since they have already apologized. They are surprised that the ministry has gone ahead with the suspension, when more serious issue such as the mob which confronted a Catholic Church in Ipoh upon a rumour spread by none other than the Perak mufti has never been tackled by the government. The suspension smells more like a political ploy by forces aligned to Samy Vellu to make sure no dissent is raised over the controversial Maika AGM to be held tomorrow (30 Aug), as well as to eliminate the last remnant of challenge from his ex-deputy.

Do you still feel elated? I for one feel like weeping for this nation. 50 years and this is where we have ended up at. Is this the meaning of Merdeka?

More attempts at Islamisation of our judiciary

2007-08-24T10:12:00.000+08:00

Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz in a speech at the "Ahmad Ibrahim: Thoughts and Knowledge Contribution" raised the specter of removing our judiciary's practice of refering to the English Common Laws when making judgments. According to him, such a practice reflects our inability to remove the shackles of colonialism. In its place, he was suggesting using decisions made in Islamic courts (whatever he is trying to refer to), or Islamic principles, in interpreting our Constitution, Acts, and Enactments. If this is not another attempt at subtle pushing for a more far-reaching influence of Islam into the judiciary, perhaps the statement of the Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail regarding how it is about time for the judiciary to include Syariah principles so as to "strengthen" our judicial system will change your mind. Read YB Kit Siang's blog-entry on this matter for a more thorough view. Read this, this, this, and this for responses to the CJ's call.

Lynching of Wee Meng Chee continues

2007-08-22T10:34:00.000+08:00

After trying to be a hero in forcing the guy and his dad to make an apology to "those who are offended", requests people to accept that apology and move on, now MCA has done an about turn (non other than the Health Minister himself who humiliated the guy in front of national media) and now sings Umno's tune that Wee Meng Chee has to be punished by law. The Malay mainstream media seems to be on a witch hunt. Maklumlah, they have to lick and suck their political masters' dicks and balls. They have to manufacture this "issue" (even though the Internal Security Ministry has issued a gag order to the media in continuing this fiasco) to divert attention away from the really, really serious issues plaguing the country, caused by the administration, namely the PKFZ RM4.6bil bailout, the RM1.1bil new Istana (ballooned from RM400mil), the deaths of 20 bus passengers due to corruption and zero-enforcement, another potential Constitutional crisis, split in PDRM, blatant corruption, subversion of the supremacy of our Constitution, etc. No wonder they're doing overtime manufacturing all these "issues" which are nothing but "non-issues" in the first place. But are Malaysians aware enough to differentiate black and white?

Meanwhile, the MCMC has started investigating Negaraku-ku (hello MCMC, what are you guys doing about the SMS scams exposed by Jeff Ooi not too long ago in a series of blog entries?). Also, Rawang village residents affected by TNB's insistence on building high-tension transmission line over their houses have ended up in 4 arrests, and 4 injured women. Also, MCA's "heroic" antics during their AGM last weekend looked like nothing but hot air. Umno through Utusan Malaysia has started to put them down in their place again. Now MaChAi...sit boy, sit! Roll dog, roll! Beg boy, beg! Good boy! Nah, some crumbs for you, courtesy of your Umno masters.

Screwing Dubai in PKFZ, still hope they'll come to IDR?

2007-08-21T09:45:00.001+08:00

Public Accounts Committee chairperson Shahrir Samad expressed fears that the fiasco that is the PKFZ will have a spillover effect on the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) down south. The same group of Dubai based investors being wooed by the government will either have invested in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), or have close business links with others who have invested there. And we all know now how PKFZ's owner Port Klang Authority (PKA) have screwed Jafza which eventually pulled out of a 15-year contract to manage and market PKFZ. And nothing beats word of mouth in business, whether it's positive or negative. Meanwhile, The Sun has dug up more shit on this mega fiasco called the PKFZ. But will the government do anything about it? Of course it will! Bail it out using taxpayers' money to the tune of billions of ringgit, and the perpetrators will get off scot free! Malaysia Boleh!

The Straits Times article on Raja Nazrin

2007-08-17T11:06:00.000+08:00

Nothing much to say, except that this piece by Ooi Kee Beng, author of "The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time", captures the essence of what Raja Nazrin has been trying to do lately, and what he is trying to achieve by doing so. I reproduce it here.

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Royal voice for racial harmony
By Ooi Kee Beng, For The Straits Times
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=7333

ROYAL IMPACT: In a country where royalty is often silent, a vocal prince speaking about issues that interest the general public has been more than welcomed...The question that remains is: How far will he let himself go, and how far will he be allowed by the powers that be to go?

THE crown prince of Malaysia's Perak state, Raja Nazrin Shah, holder of a Harvard University PhD in Political Economy and Government, has always been a respected personage in Malaysia, but never nearly as much as he is esteemed at present.

Why this is so is explained by his choice of issues in a series of speeches he has been giving recently, and by how his focus earns ready response among common Malaysians.

In a real sense, this love affair acts as a painful reminder of what it is that ails the present regime in 50-year-old Malaysia.

Perhaps this new phase in Raja Nazrin's relationship with Malaysia's citizens started a fortnight after the annual meeting of the dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in November 2006 at which provocative remarks were made by party members against non-Malays despite the proceedings being telecast live.

Feelings ran high for a while, testing even the patience of non-Malay parties within the ruling coalition. Deeply concerned, Raja Nazrin pondered openly in a newspaper interview then that 'dividing lines of race' had become prevalent after the 1969 racial riots, eclipsing the perception first generation leaders held that national unity must come before all else.

Despite the enviable economic progress that Malaysia has enjoyed since 1969, inter-racial attitudes have indeed deteriorated from a give-and-take attitude to a belief that progress is a zero- sum game, which leaves little room for 'humility, generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity'.

The key question the prince asked was: 'Why has economic wealth not improved inter-ethnic relations?' His answers were as simple as they were clear: first, Malaysians no longer considered diversity a blessing; second, there were too many immature and irresponsible leaders using parochialism for their own ends; and third, racial and religious segregation was being encouraged and allowed from a very young age.

The nine months or so following that interview have seen the prince utilising a series of platforms to voice his worries and speak against the belief that national unity was achievable through domination by one race, one religion or one ideology.

He instead urged that mutual understanding, genuine respect, good role models and sound institutions were what a diverse Malaysia needed.

On April 3, he made an excellent speech (excerpts of which were published in these pages) to young Malaysians, calling for the Constitution, the Rukunegara (Principles of the Nation) and Vision 2020 to be 'defended and promoted'. Most noteworthy was his statement that 'Malaysians of all races, religions and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun'.

'The price of racial and cultural intolerance,' he added, 'must be made prohibitively high.' His great fear was that young Malaysians would, given present trying times, increasingly entertain 'cynicism and hopelessness'.

He reiterated his stand two days later at the Ave Maria Convent in Ipoh, calling on students to defend the 'unique identity' that had evolved out of racial diversity. He donated RM100,000 (S$44,000) to the Catholic school. The following week, he gave RM100,000 to Sam Tet Secondary School, and on that occasion advised teachers and parents to teach their children to reject 'racial extremism and religious fanaticism'.

Throughout May, the 50-year-old prince was busy with his marriage to Zara Salim Davidson. Not only was the news of the royal wedding welcomed, Raja Nazrin's advice to firms and individuals to avoid buying advertising space to congratulate him and his family and to donate the money to charity instead went down very well with his countrymen.

His popularity increased further when he declined a state offer to fund the wedding, saying that he would bear all expenses himself.

Raja Nazrin continued to develop his thoughts about reforming Malaysia further, and on July 30 he gave a speech in commemoration of the late Prof Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysia's most famous social scientist.

He spoke then against corruption, an issue that has concerned and frustrated Malaysians for decades, and warned that 'once corruption becomes widespread, it will no longer seem immoral and unlawful - just business as usual'. He called for regulatory and institutional curbs, and proposed that those with 'a chequered past or clear evidence of questionable morality' should not be allowed to take office.

Although the prince has always avoided criticising the present administration directly, his words nevertheless echo the widespread displeasure Malaysians feel about Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's lack of success, and will, in fighting corruption, and with the fact that many who are in power are tainted by allegations of corruption.

On Aug 3, speaking at the launch of the Malay translation of a book on Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Tun Dr Ismail (disclosure: I wrote the English original of the book, The Reluctant Politician) at Universiti Malaya, Raja Nazrin was overcome by emotion several times. He later told friends that it was because he was overwhelmingly reminded of the sacrifices that the late Tun Dr Ismail had made for the country, and of how much still needed to be done.

While the prince had spoken of the need for role models before, he had not provided any names to emulate. He seemed now to have found character traits worth promulgating in Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. Praising his commitment, integrity and openmindedness, he said that he saw in Tun Dr Ismail 'a statesman, an inspirational leader and a visionary...who envisaged a Malaysia for all without colour lines, without ethnic borders and without any one group feeling a sense of inferiority'.

Again, the prince's disappointment in certain leaders could be discerned: 'The citizens' loyalty to their leaders must not be defiled by the actions of leaders...driven by greed to obtain wealth for themselves and their families.'

He ended his poignant speech by declaring to Tun Dr Ismail's family that 'the country and the people are indebted to you'.

Two days later, the prince continued along the same vein when addressing the inaugural Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur. He asserted that rule of law, inviolability of the Constitution, economic and social justice for all, good governance and a thriving civil society were necessary for successful nation building.

He advised his young audience to familiarise themselves with the Constitution, seek inspiration from history, study past sacrifices made by exemplary leaders such as Tun Dr Ismail, take personal ownership over the well-being of the country, resist cynicism and opportunism, promote inter-ethnic activities and develop their personal capacity.

In closing, he reminded his audience that while expertise of all sorts could be imported, what could not be bought or hired was integrity.

In a country where royalty is often silent, a vocal prince speaking about issues that interest the general public has been more than welcomed. The approach the prince has developed over the last few months strikes a chord with many, even leading an opposition leader to request that he be made adviser to the prime minister.

The question that remains is: How far will he let himself go, and how far will he be allowed by the powers that be to go?

The writer is Fellow at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He is the author of The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time (ISEAS 2006). This is a personal comment.

In tomorrow's Review pages: Excerpts from Raja Nazrin Shah's speech at the launch of the Malay version of The Reluctant Politician on Aug 4.

Dr M's meet with bloggers yesterday

2007-08-16T09:56:00.000+08:00

Tun Dr Mahathir yesterday spent some two-and-a-half-hour making a speech addressing a group of some 100 bloggers who have gathered at the Perdana Leadership Foundation HQ in Putrajaya. There were already hints from Raja Petra Kamarudin earlier that the early hunky-dory story from Bernama on how Pak Lah and Dr M are buddies again after the Langkawi International Dialogue is nothing but a farce, and Dr M will show it in yesterday's event. Anyway, Dr M touched on a host of issues, including the call for bloggers to be united, not be cowed by the intimidation of the administration, and write with facts, figures and without fear. Calling bloggers and netizens as the only hope left in the face of an onslaught from a totally paralysed Umno (in terms of its inability to correct itself), he gave this advice:

“You have to gather force. You have to talk to people. Even if you are arrested, you go and talk... If you have only one person doing that, it’s not good enough.

“If you want to do something that is positive, you have to get everybody, as much as possible, and do it openly and say it loud and clear.”

Source: Malaysiakini

Rocky has quite a number of entries about the event (here and here), as well as Harakah who reported that Dr M said the Malays can't seem to break out of their tendency to vote for Umno. Malaysia-Today has a video recording of the event. Malaysiakini also provided a good overview of the various topics touched by Dr M (who called Malaysiakini a "pain in the neck" for him). I reproduce it below:

Malaysiakini was a 'pain in the neck'
Aug 15, 07 10:01pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71239

Below are excerpts of key topics covered by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his two-and-a-half-hour speech-cum-dialogue with about 100 bloggers today.

The event was organised by Warga Prihatin Malaysia (Prihatin) and was held at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

On the emergence of online dissidents

During my time, the pain-in-the-neck was Malaysiakini.com. I must admit I was very annoyed with them simply because I find that what they said about me was not right... was not true at all.

Of course, everybody assumed that I was corrupt. Even if I said I was not, people won’t believe you. Nowadays if you say you didn’t bribe, people will believe you.

But today, the number of bloggers are just so many, (this means) something must really be wrong (with the current administration). Otherwise, it would be Malaysiakini.com only.

I met Malaysiakini.com and I explained why I did those things before. I don’t know if they believe me or not. I may have committed sins. I don’t think anyone inside this hall has not committed sins before. We all commit some sins at some stage or other.

But if just because we’ve committed some sins therefore we feel shy about saying anything, then of course, others would continue with doing the wrong things.

On the 'rotten' state of the country

Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “There is something rotten in Denmark”. Maybe, our gathering today is because there is something rotten in the state of Malaysia.

The stench is so strong until we have to find a way to reduce the smell. We have to discuss the issues which caused the stench. But what is real about our situation? That would depend on your point of view.

If we were to follow the (reports of the) mainstream media, everything is very good. Everything smells very nice - from politics, to economy or even society.

On judicial appointments

The power (to appoint important judicial positions) is with the prime minister, not the Agung (king). The Agung must follow whatever advice given by the prime minister. When a PM is not brave enough to hold on to this basis, we will have a situation where it is very difficult to appoint a judge.

On a story in Sunday Star in which Khairy Jamaluddin was referred to as a ‘political son of Mahathir’

Spot on! I am a dictator remember? I had an administration that was cruel and harsh... that arrest people and put them under ISA (Internal Security Act) all the time, spend money on mega-projects until the country is bankrupt... that is Dr Mahathir and that is Khairy!

It’s a compliment to him, not to me. I’m grateful. I don’t have to say anything else. Next question?

On press censorship

I’m waiting for what’s going to happen to the editor of The Star (who) allowed the article by (the) former IGP (inspector-general of police Hanif Omar) to be published. I’m quite sure somebody is going to get blasted for letting that article to come out.

(In his article on Aug 12, Hanif claimed that there was a severe split in the police force with one group taking orders from the current IGP while another taking orders from the Internal Security Ministry).

On the purchase of a portion of MV Augusta by BMW

Somebody who bought from Proton and (later) sold Augusta to BMW made a profit... why didn’t Proton wait in the past? They could have been made offers by other companies such as BMW. Instead, they sold it for RM4 to Gevi.

Who is this Gevi? I’ve tried to find out. It’s not listed in the Italian stock exchange... This is a mystery. Not only is the smell bad, there is a lot of mystery about this smell. Bau busuk.

But we cannot question (the decision to sell MV Augusta) because the people involved were ‘very good’ - people with strong nationalist sentiments. That’s why they are willing to save Proton from losses by selling it for RM4.

(At this juncture, Mahathir was interrupted from the floor by former Proton chief executive Mahaleel Ariff who said that BMW paid RM446 million for MV Augusta)

Oh my goodness... tapi apa kira? (but so what?) we are capable of taking losses... RM300 million... RM400 million... it’s nothing to us...

On politics

I don’t want to say much about politics... Today, politics is not something that we can discuss because the people who are in charge of politics know everything already. So don’t ever suggest anything is wrong with Malaysian politics.

On selling water to Singapore

We don’t have to negotiate (with Singapore) to sell them 1,000 gallons of water for three sen. That is a reasonable price. If we were to buy nasi lemak for three sen, we might get three grains of rice.

Oil prices go up. Cigarette prices go up. But since 1927, the price of water for Singapore is still the same. Their ability to control inflation is so good that their price of water cannot go up. So we should pat ourselves in the back for our ability to control inflation.

On siding with the opposition

I don’t side with the opposition. I side with my country, my race, my religion and my party (Umno). When I say I side with my party, (it) doesn’t mean I side with the party leaders.

My turn to feel despair today...

2007-08-14T09:56:00.000+08:00

...after Lulu's despair yesterday. A couple of things:-

1) Suhakam has revealed a report on the sufferings and plight of the Penans in Sarawak after a detailed study and investigation was done when the Penans brought their plight to them. The Penans have been facing immense pressure from the Sarawak Government's complicity with logging companies to clear their ancestral land. They have fought the injustices as well as non-recognition of their plight and rights to the forest in the courts, but have not seen much success. What is worse, the Suhakam report actually found that the Penans have now lost legal avenue to claim their rights over their ancestral land because of the enactment and subsequent amendment to the Sarawak Land Code which do not recognize the Penan's historic custom ownership and stewardship of land. This despite the fact that the Penans are an indigenous group of Sarawak.

2) Potential biggest financial scandal of Pak Lah's administration in the RM4.6bil bailout of Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). Ronnie Liu of DAP was one of the very first people who exposed the sorry state of the huge PKFZ which was modeled after the Dubai Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza). The whole place resembles a ghost town, with barely a few companies taking up the space available. What is worse, the entire project has now been exposed, backed with documentary evidence, as a potential massive financial fraud involving senior figures of an Umno division, Port Klang Authority, Transport Ministry, and Finance Ministry. Also, Jafza pulled out of the whole thing after being frustrated with the various chicanery, politics, bureaucracy, and machinations of certain individuals which, in the words of Chuck Heath (a top official of Jafza),

"Unfortunately, without radical surgery in cutting out the above obstacles, we feel this project is doomed to failure."

Read Jeff Ooi's detailed blog entry on this massive farce.

3) The Election Commission's decision to use indelible ink in all the coming elections after countless pressure from Bersih should be a reason for joy. But this morning at 7am (my usual wake-up time for a run), I caught a few minutes of the RTM1 morning news and they were reporting on the EC's use of indelible ink. Part of the report involved going around town interviewing various people for their comments. And that was when my heart sank into despair. Out of 10 or so people interviewed, only TWO (2) understood fully the reasons why the use of indelible ink is being introduced, and how it will work. And they were Malays who responded in Bahasa Malaysia. The rest were mainly Chinese, with one or two Indians. These people spoke in English, and I was shocked when all of them start to describe that the use of the ink is for fingerprinting, and it helps to ensure that the identity of the voters are genuine. Worse, they even described how no two people on earth have the same fingerprints, thus making sure voters are unique and they can't vote twice. Harlo?!?!? The use of indelible ink is NOT to put your fingerprint anywhere. Besides, how the heck can the EC officials/workers compare two fingerprints and decide if they're matching or not, not to mention if the "multiple voter" goes to another polling station and vote there, again? I can understand if you use some form of biometric reader, but even then ALL of the readers in ALL of the polling stations would have to be linked to a central system to warn of duplicates. If these supposedly middle-class, English speaking, educated, urban Malaysians can't even understand a simple thing as the use of indelible ink in elections to prevent multiple voting, we better stop dreaming they'll understand issues of more substantive in nature. Malaysia seems doomed to be ruled by BN forever, if that is the case.

So please, how could I not despair for my country? How could I be in any celebratory mood this coming 50th anniversary of our independence? Shouts of Merdeka will ring hollow to me if we are still colonized and shackled by indifference to the abuses faced by our fellow citizens and Malaysians, apathy and ignorance to the corruption, abuse of power, and intimidation of the BN administration against Malaysians, and the "tidak apa" attitude and celebration of mediocrity among Malaysians who simply refuse and cannot see beyond their only goal to fulfill their own desires while unable to understand how the bigger picture affects their very means of that fulfillment. Indeed, like what Anwar Ibrahim has proposed, the slogan for this 50th Merdeka should be Selamatkan Negara Malaysia, Save Malaysia, and if we rakyat Malaysia cannot do it ourselves, perhaps the Rulers can change that.

Khoo's stinging rebuke of MCA

2007-08-13T10:52:00.001+08:00

Check out Khoo Kay Peng's stinging rebuke of MCA's role and relevance, especially against the backdrop of recent events, the latest being the manufacturing of an "issue" out of Namewee's Negarakuku. Again and again, countless questions have been raised about MCA's relevance and identity as a political party, and its role in the BN. The facts thus far have shown the MCA as nothing more than playing a supporting actor to Umno, as well as behaving more like a social organization than a political party with supposed influence and decision making voice. The way they have faltered in explaining away the extremist positioning of various leaders in Umno, from the keris waving antics of the Hishamuddin to the recent unilateral re-interpretation of the Federal Consitution by Najib, just reaffirm their real position as Umno's voice to the Chinese Malaysian, rather than the other way round which they always claim.

Meanwhile, Tun Hanif Omar in The Star has a stinging rebuke of the pathetic states our police force, Anti-Corruption Agency, and the Attorney General's office have slipped into. If this is not a voice of despair, nor the rakyat feels the same, then maybe our country will not be able to escape the certainty of becoming a failed state.

Also, following in the footsteps of Raja Nazrin's string of recent speeches aimed squarely at the problems facing this nation and what is required to overcome them, plus being a subtle rebuke of the present administration, His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor also expressed his concerns over similar issues, as well as expressing his desire for a politics-free Merdeka celebration. Perhaps the Rulers should really start playing a more active role to alleviate the concerns and despair of the rakyat over the excesses and corruption of the present Pak Lah administration.

No wonder Malaysia is ranked high for human trafficking

2007-08-10T17:20:00.001+08:00

NBC recently aired a documentary about the forcing of Filipino girls into prostitution in Penang, and how an American went there to eventually secure their release. It is almost bizarre if you read the following report on the documentary, especially the seemingly close link between the "businessmen" and the police. Not surprising considering Raja Petra's expose of the IGP. Anyway, for those who have a short memory, Malaysia was recently blacklisted by the US for failure to take concrete measures against human trafficking. In fact, we're considered one of the major transit hubs for this disgusting trade. Reproducing the Malaysiakini report here as I think it's very important for readers to understand the severity of the problem. Also, please do subscribe to Malaysiakini, in part to get excellent news and articles, as well as considering it as playing your part in supporting press freedom in Malaysia.

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NBC’s grim tale of sexual slavery in Penang
Aug 10, 07 5:06pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71038

Two months ago, Malaysia was blacklisted by the United States for the first time for its failure to take concrete action against human trafficking.

Malaysia joined other offenders - among them, Burma, North Korea and Sudan - in the US State Department's annual ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’.

In all, 16 countries were given the so-called ‘Tier 3' status in the 236-page survey of global efforts to combat human trafficking, which makes these errant nations eligible for US economic sanctions.

As if to underscore Malaysia’s abysmal record in human trafficking, top US television station NBC aired on Wednesday a gripping tale about an American who went to Penang to rescue his Filipino niece from the clutches of her captors.

The 30-minute ‘Dateline’ programme detailed the dark web of collusion between the Malaysian law enforcers - the police and immigration officers - and the human traffickers.

“The State Department says that human trafficking and the sex trade it fuels are rampant here. Yet in all of 2006, not a single trafficker was prosecuted,” said Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen.

They helped themselves to the girls

One victim, Anna, told Dateline that she went to Malaysian immigration authorities for help, a top official there advised her to “go back to work” and called her traffickers.

“I want them to help me - to rescue me - so I can go back Philippines,” she said.

According to Anna, some of the Malaysian police and immigration officials were clients of the clubs where she worked and helped themselves to the girls.

Dateline also revealed that Malaysian officials were notorious for turning a blind eye to trafficking.

“So much so that when victims like Anna show up looking for help, they are often brought up on immigration charges,” it said.

Anna, who sold her virginity for RM280 (US$80) on her first night in Malaysia, was eventually rescued by the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Dateline also told the grim tale of another Filipino girl, Lannie Ejercito, 22, (right) who was rescued by her American uncle, ‘Troop’ Edmonds.

Edmonds and his Filipino wife Ravina - Lannie’s aunt - were at home Oregon when they received a distressing phone call from Lannie to rescue her.

Edmonds, with the help of a retired Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) friend, Jerry Howe, with the Dateline crew in tow, flew first to Philippines and then to Penang in search of Lannie.

Hot on the traffickers’ trail

They discovered that Lannie and 15 other Filipinos were sent to Penang as singers. And when they can’t sing, they were forced into prostitution.

With the help of Malaysian police, which they said were not very helpful, they raided a flat near Universiti Sains Malaysia. But no one was there.
However, sensing that the two elderly 60-something Americans were hot on their trail, the traffickers decided to take Lannie to the police station to sign a statement saying that she was not being held against her will.

The two men rushed to the police station on hearing that Lannie was there.

“Lannie (photo, right) was brought to the police station by Kenny Kang (photo, left), one of the people who has been holding her captive,” said Dateline. “In fact, she's been saying all is well - she's fine.”

But the Americans were astonished to find the police interviewing Lannie with Kang sitting next to her.

Jerry Howe, who's conducted hundreds of interviews during his 26 years in the FBI, was shocked that the lead detective failed to separate the victim from the victimiser, said Dateline.

“And when I suggested that, it's like the light bulb went off in his head. ‘Oh, yeah, that's a good idea.’ And they'll move - they moved him away from her so she could speak. But she was still terrified,” said Howe.

Kang was finally sent to an adjoining room.

Hansen asked Howe whether it appeared to him that Kang had a “pre-existing relationship with some of the police officers” at the station.

Howe: Boy, did I ... I got that impression.

Hansen: And what gave you that impression?

Howe: Well, he's laughing. He's making phone calls. He's joking with the police officer that he's with. And we can see all this through the glass in the offices there.

With Kang in another room, Lannie eventually revealed that she wanted out.

Fear that everyone would end up in jail

However, Kang refused to hand over Lannie’s passport. An argument over the passport erupted at the police station.

Edmonds accused Kang of paying off the police, and at one point was worried that he and Howe would end up in jail.

“And just when it seemed things couldn't get any stranger, in walks a man who describes himself as Kenny Kang's business partner, a gynecologist named Ng Kok Kwang (left). The doctor says he has a side business supplying singers to work at various hotels and he insists he's not engaged in human trafficking,” said Dateline.

Ng demanded that Edmond reimburse him for the money he had spent transporting, housing and for the “singing lessons” which Lannie did take - altogether RM200,000.

“That translates to nearly US$60,000 - a sum so high it would take the average Filipino at least 20 years to pay it off,” said Dateline.

Eventually, Ng let Lannie go.

A few months later, Philippine officials staged a dramatic late-night operation and freed the 15 others (left) whom Ng and Kang kept locked up with Lannie.

For Malaysia to be removed from the US’ blacklist, the “government needs to demonstrate stronger political will to tackle Malaysia's significant forced labour and sex trafficking problems,” said the US State Department.

In April, in the bid to improve Malaysia’s record on human trafficking, the government approved a milestone anti-trafficking bill which introduces a 20-year jail sentence for offenders.

But it is not immediately clear whether this will help burnish the country’s image, especially with existing problems with enforcement, and corruption in the police force as well as immigration.

Full transcript and video of Dateline’s To the rescue (30 mins)

National Fatwa Council OKed indelible ink for elections

2007-08-09T09:59:00.000+08:00

Seems like the BN's attempt to prevent the Elections Commission from implementing the use of indelible ink for elections this country has hit a snag. Earlier, under the most ridiculous of reasons, the BN has thrown the request to the National Fatwa Council as they're worried that it will be unIslamic. Never mind the fact that it has been used in most countries with large Muslim population, as well as in largely Islamic countries. Even PAS couldn't resist laughing about it. But now it seems like the Fatwa Council has given the thumbs up for the proposal. Now the decision is back in the EC's court. Let's see if they will have spine to implement it, considering the vehement protests from BN who has the most to lose on preventing voters from multiple voting.

Rulers reject PM's choice for Chief Judge of Malaya

2007-08-09T09:44:00.000+08:00

Something seems to be brewing as this move is unprecedented (I may be mistaken...those in the legal fraternity might know better). The Conference of Rulers has actually rejected the PM's recommendation for the position of Chief Judge of Malaya, vacated after the retirement of Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob last year. It is believe that such a move was linked to the growing concerns that more and more junior judges are being promoted over more senior ones, with no proper transparency on how and why such promotions happen. Read more about it here. Perhaps as pointed out by Raja Petra Kamarudin earlier, maybe things are rumbling among the Rulers.

Going after a Malaysian for something in YouTube

2007-08-08T15:23:00.000+08:00

Updated! I've watched the YouTube video done by this Malaysian media communications student (named as "Namewee") in Taiwan's Ming Chuan University. It's in Mandarin, but you could get the English translation at The Cicak. To be honest, other than he could have been a little tactful in saying some of the calls of the azan for Solat Subuh waking people up sound like those of cockerels greeting the morning sun, I find the entire piece very creative, satirical (but mostly true) of the police force and government service, government policies with regards to economics and education, and catchy (the tune). But most important of all, the entire music video shows that no matter what, the beautiful people of Malaysia, its achievement and development, and its natural beauty, that is what makes Malaysians and Namwee himself love the country so much, and regardless of where they are still yearn to be back home. If his attempt to show his love for the country, albeit in a very different but creative manner, and might offend certain people, be considered seditious and unpatriotic, then we are surely headed for the dumps. All the more so if we consider patriotism as shallow acts of flying the little flag, keep saying "YES" to the BN government, and worse, the antics of KJ and gang. For more information, read here and here. But funny that the Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education Ministry said they need to investigate if the student is sponsored by the government because I thought Taiwan universities are not recognized by the Malaysian government. But then again, nothing from the government surprises me these days.

Update (9 Aug, 14:22): Check out The Star today for Namewee's response to the threats of prosecuting him for alleged insult to the national anthem, as well as PKR Youth's take on this. At least the PDRM has the good sense of not pursuing the issue. Besides, I think they're getting pretty tired of the Umno politicians lately in forcing them to haul up Nat and Raja Petra (even his wife Marina!) for nothing but to confirm the image among the rakyat of the PDRM as a paid goon of Umno.

Recent Federal Court judgement which reaffirms supremacy of Federal Constitution

2007-08-08T10:18:00.000+08:00

This has somehow escaped the radar of the media (either that or I am the only one who have missed it). On a recent case before the Federal Court on 25 July 2007, between Latifah Bte Mat Zin vs Rosmawati Binti Sharibun, the presiding judges (Justices Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Arifin Bin Zakaria, and Augustine Paul) unanimously declared in their judgement to the effect that returns the supremacy of the Federal Constitution, that the right forum to determine a court's jurisdiction on constitutional grounds is the Federal Court (apex of the civil courts), the fact that Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution was introduced not for the purpose of ousting the jurisdiction of the civil courts in all matters pertaining to Islamic law, and that the syariah courts in Malaysia inhabits a position within our judicial space which is inferior to the higher civil courts (i.e. High Court, Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court). This judgement is aligned with all the previous judgements made by various judges before that fateful case of Soon Singh vs Perkim (1999) which started the downhill of judges simply washing their hands off cases involving even a slightest hint of Islamic matters. Read Malik Imtiaz's blog on this (so far he has only written the first part), as well as this letter to Malaysiakini by a reader.

Perhaps as what the writer of the letter has said, maybe the PM's wishy-washy position recently on the nature of Malaysia is, in a way, useful afterall. Judges could now take the hint from the PM and start upholding their oath to protect and defend the Constitution once again, and for the nation to start putting a stop to the worsening religious divide and reverse the dangerous Islamic extremist trend. We should just stop debating the nature of our nation, and accept Raja Nazrin's advice which is to keep to the spirit of the Federal Constitution. Afterall, that is the very basis for this nation's existence, and very likely its progress as well.

Raja Nazrin's speech on nation building

2007-08-06T11:05:00.000+08:00

I just have to copy and paste Raja Nazrin's speech from The Sun, delivered at the first annual Student Leaders Summit 2007 on Aug 5, 2007 at Nikko Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Raja Nazrin, who is the next in line to the throne of the state of Perak (the current Sultan of Perak is Sultan Azlan Shah, ex-Lord President of Malaysia and Raja Nazrin's father), has been making all the right and relevant speeches regarding the challenges we are facing after 50 years of independence, as well as what we need to do to overcome these challenges and progress further. If he could just play a more active role in our national politics, our nation would have a much better prospect in overcoming these challenges. However, by virtue of his position, he could only do so much. But that doesn't mean the Rulers take a back seat to everything concerning the nation. They do have a role to play, especially one with respect to true national unity as well as ensuring the interests of the rakyat is not destroyed by an overpowerful executive. As Raja Nazrin himself has said before, the Rulers just have to change with the times and remain relevant. Otherwise they only have themselves to blame when the day comes when Malaysians start questioning their roles. Raja Nazrin has started to show the way, and it would be heartening to all Malaysians if the other Rulers start to follow in his footpath.

------------------

The Sun
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=18846

Keynote address by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, at the first annual Student Leaders Summit 2007 -- "Celebrating 50 Years of Nationhood" -- on Aug 5, 2007, at Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

I am delighted to be here this morning to deliver the keynote address at this Summit, dedicated as it is to Youth. All of you in this room are the creme de la creme of the young generation -- those fortunate enough and intelligent enough to benefit from the best education. You are the future leaders of this nation.

This morning, I want to talk to you about the challenges and prospects for nation-building. Nation-building refers to the structuring of a country, with the help of state power, to ensure a strong national identity that is viable in the long run. It is predicated on national unity and is a topic of utmost importance to all of us, not least the younger generation. Fifty years of the national relay race has been run. Soon the baton will be handed to those of you who will run the next lap. The Malaysia familiar to most, if not all, of you is the modern prosperous nation with its increasingly urban population and robust middle class; not the poor and predominantly agricultural society of 50 years ago. When Malaysia gained independence, we were on a par with countries like Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal in terms of per capita income. Today we have far surpassed these countries in economic growth and human development.

However, it is important to be aware that this was a far-fetched vision 50 years ago. The first Merdeka generation, almost overnight, found themselves tasked with an onerous job when Malaysia gained independence. The country was born against the backdrop of a virulent communist insurgency. Poverty was widespread, particularly in the rural areas. There was very little sense of unity and national identity. The states that made up the federation were only loosely integrated. Many people regarded themselves primarily as natives of their state rather than as nationals of Malaya. The enlargement of Malaya into Malaysia in 1963 was vigorously opposed by our neighbours, leading to confrontation with Indonesia. After the traumatic events of 1969, many predicted the imminent disintegration of Malaysian society.

That we have been able to forge a successful nation without resorting to the rule of the gun makes us something of an oddity in a region of coups, civil strife and people power. This has been due in large part to wise leadership, the innate good sense of the Malaysian people -- and a bit of luck. Today, the nine Sultanates, two Straits Settlements and the two states in Borneo have united in a tangible way despite historical separation and physical distance. Development policies and communication channels have managed to fuse together the myriad religions and ethnic groups and forged a sense of belonging and shared destiny.

Malaysia is one of the very few countries with a diverse mix of race and religion that have been able to do this. Our peace momentum is also demonstrated on the international arena. Malaysia played a seminal role in the creation Asean and its enlargement from six members to 10, then Asean plus 3. It still has a lead role in the first moves towards a regional architecture, particularly the East Asian Summit

Our group culture is very distinct from the individualism of the west. We participate actively in one another's cultural and lifestyle choices. We celebrate festivities together, we learn and speak one another's languages, we wear each other's traditional costumes, we appreciate different arts and types of music. A chat over teh tarik is an example of a typically Malaysian pastime that all races and ages take delight in.

However, every coin has two sides. Let us not be naive in thinking it is all a rosy picture. There is still much room for improvement. Interaction between the ethnic groups, to the extent that it exists, remains more of an urban phenomenon. In recent years, ethnic identities appear to have become more explicit. In some instances, what divides us has become more emphasised than what unites us.

When the New Economic Policy (NEP) was established, it was to address the problem of economic function being identified along the lines of ethnicity, and the problem of widespread poverty. All quarters of society came to an agreement that in order for nation-building to proceed, certain sacrifices had to be made to help the underperforming groups. But it was not a case where one party was to benefit at another's expense. Distribution was to take place within the context of a growing economy. It was meant to be a situation of give-and-take that would result in economic growth shared by all segments of society.

Today, the give-and-take attitude seems to have dissipated. Malaysians are exhibiting signs of polarisation along ethnic and religious lines. Some groups bear grudges against what is perceived as preferential treatment. Others regard preferential treatment as an indisputable entitlement.

Moreover, the impasse at the global level between Islam and non-Islam affects even a moderate country like Malaysia. Matters of faith are topics of immense controversy. They provoke overzealousness and coercive action, and drive Malaysians further and further away from each other. Our diversity was meant to be our unique asset. The Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara institutionalised living together in peaceful, harmonious co-existence. Yet years after Merdeka, we are still grappling with concerns about unity.

So what are the challenges to nation-building that we need to face head on? To me, the challenges are many, but the one that stands out is the need to balance change with continuity. The current phase of nation-building should be in tune with the temper of the times to reflect the new realities of the modern world. We are facing a globalised environment where excellence and meritocracy are the rule of the game.

Opportunities in the global world reward those with ability, regardless of colour or creed. A multi-ethnic country like ours has to be especially watchful. In the absence of a strong national identity, we are prone to polarisation and competition along ethno-religious lines. Therefore, a most expert balancing act is required to maintain socio-political stability while not losing out on global competitiveness.

As I have said elsewhere, to ensure sustained success at nation-building, Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun. Only when each citizen believes that he or she has a common home, is presented common opportunities, given due recognition and is working towards a common destiny, will he or she make the sacrifices needed for the long haul.

Managing change is not easy and nation-building does not occur naturally in any society, let alone a pluralistic one. Allow me to suggest three essentials for effective and sustained nation-building.

The first is the Rule of Law and the inviolability of the constitution. The constitution is the supreme law of the country which guarantees fundamental liberties to every citizen. A cleverly crafted document, it clearly provides for adequate checks and balances against excesses through the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches -- with each protected from encroachment by the other.

It has often been said that many a misunderstanding may be avoided if the principles embodied in the constitution are adhered to strictly. Upholding the Rule of Law is paramount. In this connection, I can do no better than to quote the words of Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, a leading jurist, when she delivered the Sultan Azlan Shah Law Lecture in Kuala Lumpur last month:

"Law is the bedrock of a nation; it tells us who we are, what we value. It regulates our human relationships one to the other and our relationships as citizens with the state. Law is cultural. It comes out of the deep wellsprings of history and experience within a country...

"The rule of law is one of the tools we use in our stumbling progress towards civilising the human condition: a structure of law, with proper methods and independent judges, before whom even a government must be answerable. It is the only restraint upon the tendency of power to debase its holders. As we know, power is delighful and absolute power is absolutely delighfful.

"We must be the protectors of those who are vulnerable to abuse. We have to stand up and be counted. We have to protect the things that make our nations great..."

The second element necessary in nation-building is economic and social justice for all. All groups in society, regardless of ethnic group, religion or gender, must participate in making decisions that affect their lives and livelihood. They must have a voice and a place in all sectors. They must carry equal responsibilities in making society work. The people we work and play with, the friendships we make, must never be constrained by ethnicity. Preconceptions, parochialism and chauvinism can be eradicated if we interact actively with others of a different ethnic group or religion -- even if it is just one teacher, one man or one schoolmate. In many areas, this is absent and it must change.

The third requisite to nation-building is good governance and a thriving civil society. Institutions of governance must demonstrate and generate norms and behaviour that are fundamentally efficient, productive and just. Only those who are capable, responsible and scrupulously honest should be allowed to serve in positions of leadership. Those who are inefficient, incompetent and, most importantly, corrupt should be held in absolute contempt. There must also be concrete anti-corruption measures and management practices based on efficiency, transparency and accountability. It is also very important that we have leaders who are earnest in maintaining unity, never resorting to religious or ethnic posturing to further their political careers at the expense of peace and security. Should they fail in this respect, they must be held accountable and answerable before the law.

What can you do to help promote national unity? I'm going to assume you are still at an age when you are still idealistic -- that you wish to improve the human condition. That you are patriotic. That you believe in friendship and peace. That you would rather build than destroy. You are in the best position to tenaciously forge this nation. Let me suggest a few ways how you can contribute towards Malaysia's continued success at nation-building.

First, get a copy of the Federal Constitution and familiarise yourselves with it. The constitution is the supreme law of the land. It guarantees the rights of every Malaysian. As such, the integrity of that document must be protected.

Second, study the nation's history, particularly the lives and works of past leaders who have sacrificed so much for this country. One such leader is Tun Dr Ismail. He was an exemplary Malaysian. He envisaged a Malaysia for all without colour lines, without ethnic borders and without any one group feeling a sense of inferiority. He recognised the importance of open-mindedness in addressing day-to-day issues and problems; the importance of listening and learning from others, particularly from those who are more advanced. He strongly believed in the principle of life-long learning, visiting other lands and adopting best practices without losing our core values and our identity as a nation. He had the interest of the nation at heart and went beyond the call of duty in the service of his nation. He put his country above himself and served till the very last day of his life. The leadership, sincerity, sacrifices and integrity of Tun Dr Ismail and other leaders of his generation should serve to inspire the next generation of leaders.

Third, you must take personal ownership over the wellbeing of the country. Do not succumb to indifference and apathy. Hold on to your ideals. Do not give way to cynicism and opportunism. Believe that you can make a difference. Channel your energies in a constructive manner to bring about positive changes around you.

Fourth, participate actively in community service that is geared towards promoting interaction between communities. Volunteer your spare time and energy to work with Malaysians from other walks of life and ethnic groups.

Fifth, be prepared to serve your country to the best of your ability. All of you represent the valuable future human capital this country needs. The outside world knows the value of our best brains, which is why they set out to attract our people, creating a brain drain for us. Do not exacerbate the problem of the brain drain. Also, do not be averse to building a career in public service. I believe all of us have some innate desire to serve. Always think nation first.

More than anything, Malaysia needs a future generation of leaders with unquestionable integrity. In countries where specialised expertise and technical know-how are lacking, they can be imported from elsewhere. But integrity, by definition, is something that cannot be bought or hired. You and the quality of leadership you provide are the key to continued peace and harmony in Malaysia. At a time when new powers like China and India are rising, we cannot afford to lose our harmony dividend. It is the anchor of this nation.

The Merdeka generation after a tough climb managed to make it to base camp. The summit lies ahead and I can guarantee you that it will be an arduous climb. But it can also be exhilarating. It will need climbers who are skilled, courageous, confident and above all, steadfast. To face the challenges ahead, you need a bedrock faith in what you and our country stand for. I wish all of you the very best in your future.

Will Singapore steal the show from Malaysia again?

2007-08-03T14:25:00.000+08:00

This time it is in something which Malaysia has considered itself as having the advantage compared to its neighbour down south - the brotherhood of Islam. Singapore seems intent on courting the Middle Eastern countries to use Singapore as the launchpad for their investment linked activities in the region. This includes positioning of Singapore as the region's center for Islamic finance. So far the effort has been marked by various high level diplomatic visits between Singapore and various Middle Eastern countries, as well as efforts in creating the right economic environment. This also included free trade agreements between the countries. This is all the more ironic considering that Singapore has diplomatic ties with Israel, which includes military cooperation. Check out this article in Asia Times Online for more information.

As with a lot of ideas and initiatives, Malaysia almost always is the first one in the region to have them. But time and again we seem to fail miserably when it comes to execution, and Singapore has almost always been able to latch onto the idea, execute it well, carry it further, and leave Malaysia scratching its head. And this time I think it would be no different. Malaysia's effort in trying to be the regional hub for Islamic finance as well as being the launchpad for Middle Eastern investment in this region may simply not be enough if it thinks it can rely on the goodwill of Islamic ummah. At the end of the day, the Middle Eastern businessmen are no different from the other businessmen of the world, and they will make their decisions - in typical business-like fashion.

Why IPCMC is needed

2007-08-03T10:41:00.000+08:00

Is this a familiar sight?

This happened in 1998 after Anwar Ibrahim was arrested by the UTK (Unit Tindakan Khas, or Special Action Unit) by storming into his house in the middle of his press conference. I still remember the storming as I watched it on TV in Hong Kong. Emerging after a few days being incarcerated by the police, as well as being promised by the then IGP that he is safe and sound, this picture became a symbol of the shame that has befallen the country. Which brings us to this sight:

Look familiar? 9 years after that shameful event, another one has been subjected to torture, beatings, and abuse at the hands of the police. Tung was accused of being involved in an armed robbery, and was arrested by the police on 9 July 2007. He was held up at various police stations, beaten up in various manner, refused medical attention even when it was approved twice by the magistrate, and was released on 17 July 2007. Read Tony Pua's take on this serious and shameful matter. If you think the IPCMC is just a fuss, or an impediment to police duty, think again. The PDRM actually need the IPCMC more than ever to clean up their totally battered image, and regain the rakyat's confidence once again.

Stories of 50 Refugees in Malaysia

2007-08-02T16:56:00.000+08:00

To celebrate 50 years of Merdeka. Got this from Nat's blog. 50 life stories of refugees in Malaysia, escaping persecution in their home countries, and struggling to be recognized as UNHCR refugees (Malaysian Immigration Act does not differentiate refugees from illegal immigrants). Ages ranging from a few days old to 50s, coming from 3 different countries and of 10 different ethnicities. We are celebrating 50 years of Merdeka this year, with plenty of material progression. Yet, have we really progressed in terms of our humanity?

From the website:

As at June 2007, there are approximately 37,000 Refugees registered with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) in Malaysia. Many more are asylum seekers who have yet to achieve Refugee status. This website tells the stories of 50 of them. Aged from babies barely a month old to grandfathers and grandmothers in their 50s, theirs is a varied background, coming from 3 different countries and 10 different ethnicities. Theirs is a heartwrenching story of detention, abuse, fear, neglect, and humiliation. But these are stories of resilience, courage, hope and love as well. Read their stories here. People who are of your age, or of your children's age, or your parents'. Normal human beings, of flesh and blood, hopes and dreams, like you and me.

Bernard Dompok has the guts

2007-08-02T14:05:00.000+08:00

And he has every right to have them. He again broke rank with his colleagues, especially the non-Umno ones, when during a speech at the launching of "The Merdeka Statement" by Centre for Public Policy Studies he said:

“I think my colleagues in the government will forgive me for saying that I will not agree that we are an Islamic state.”

This is the Minister who have not withdrawn the memorandum he and the other non-Muslim ministers submitted to the PM early last year to state their worry and concern over the erosion of non-Muslim rights, as well as to find a resolution to the worsening problem. His refusal contrasts with the others who quickly withdrew and distanced themselves from the memorandum when Pak Lah lost his temper. He is also the guy who recently resigned from chairing the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity citing conflict of interests between his role there and his role as a government minister. Whatever the case, him being East Malaysian is only airing the concerns and disgruntlement of East Malaysians at what they see as Umno's increasing encroachment and unilateral violation of the Malaysian Federation Agreement. A situation where they see themselves getting an increasingly short end of the stick. And Najib's recent pronouncement of Malaysia being an Islamic state serves only to entrench that feeling and belief.

Pak Lah's pledge to fight corruption has come to nought

2007-08-02T10:02:00.001+08:00

After making sweet election promises 3 years ago, Pak Lah's pledge to fight corruption all out has come to this: a suddenly super efficient AG who has cleared ex-ACA DG Zulkipli, and current IGP Musa Hassan, of corruption. All in one stroke of a pen. Talk about efficiency when the investigation into both were only started barely months ago. Maybe this same "efficiency" explains Eric Chia's acquittal last month as well. One of the reasons given for ending the investigations (Ramli, the ex-ACA officer who first blew the whistle against Zulkipli, have queried under which law can the AG order corruption investigations by the ACA be stopped) was for lack of documentary evidence. As if people when giving bribes sign documents proving money have exchanged hands.

Transparency International has called for the AG to reveal the full report of the investigations as well as the basis for the decisions made, arguing that the AG statements thus far seems lacking in terms of soundness. Read Steven Gan's editorial and Jeff Ooi's blog entry for a deeper treatment of this matter. Up to voters to judge if they still want to place their hope in Pak Lah and his goons, as they did in 2004. So far he and his cohorts have delivered NONE of their sweet promises. And I am pretty sure they'll try the same old tricks again this coming General Election. Would voters wake up finally, or will they continue biting and swallowing the hook, line, and sinker?

Monkeys of cyberspace

2007-07-30T10:28:00.001+08:00

Khairy says bloggers are monkeys. In the New Straits Times, he was quoted as saying

"It is the law of the jungle and we need to take action against one 'monkey'. I think the other 'monkeys' will also get scared,"

Maybe he is just trying to take a potshot at bloggers who have called BN MPs Monkeys of Parliament. And what he said seems to validate the view that the action against Nat and Raja Petra (and earlier the lawsuit against Jeff and Rocky) are meant to spread fear and doubt among Malaysian netizens. Whatever the case, seems like the Pak Lah administration (oh yeah, he's back in the country) is hell bent in clamping down on bloggers, regardless if they writing fact or fiction. The key thing is they just cannot afford to allow cyberspace to be influential enough, or get more influential, in determining how voters will vote. Not when their attempts at creating various feel-good factors seem to be exercises in futility. But are they actually misjudging the impact of cyberspace on Malaysian politics considering the still poor Internet penetration here, especially broadband? No doubt the impact of cyberspace, particularly those of blogs and alternative news-sites will grow as the years go by. What's more, it wasn't too long ago when they were ridiculing bloggers as unemployed housewives, digruntled ex-journalists, and liars. Perhaps it's a case of them trying to cut off the head of the serpent, but too bad, cyberspace is more like the Hydra where two more heads will grow when you cut off one. Which brings to mind Gandhi's words:

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.

No presents for guessing at which stage we're in now. And dare we believe Malaysian netizens/citizens will, and have to, win?

Mishandled African American threatens to sue

2007-07-30T10:18:00.001+08:00

As well as making sure his experience and his fellow African American's being herded by unidentified men (I suspect they could be Rela) into a truck and finally an immigration detention camp will be heard loud and clear in the USA. It is bad enough when Chinese tourist number had a significant drop after news of a mistaken Chinese tourist (turned out to be Malay Malaysian lady) was forced to do nude squats, and now the uncontrolled desire to weed out immigrants have caused potentially another furore. This time of another country. How many times more must we let such unlawlessness prevail before the image of this country is truly damaged beyond repair? We allowed legal Indian IT professionals to be herded like cattles, we allowed refugees to be herded, transported, and dumped at the border, and now they want to go after tourists as well. If Malaysians can't be bothered to knock sense into this government, perhaps a hard knock from a precipitous drop in tourist numbers will do the trick, as well as serious and sustained condemnation from the affected countries which matter. I reproduce below the experience of the American's ordeal.

Victim of racial profiling
Jan 4, 07 4:36pm
Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/61672

Despite being a well-decorated Gulf War veteran, retired US Navy Yahweh Passim Nam said he was scared after he was held by the immigration officers. Here is his story.

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 9, 2006 from Bali, Indonesia, traveling on vacation. I stopped in KL to see the wonderful Twin Towers.

On Nov 16, at 7.20pm I was walking in Chinatown in KL, going to a flower shop to purchase a vase for some flowers I had previously bought for the hostel manager at the Red Dragon Inn.

At that time, I was approached by two men each about 5 feet 11 inches tall in civilian clothes. One grabbed my arm on the left side with a firm grip and asked me to come with them, the other was asking for my passport. At this time I became scared thinking that I was about to be robbed. I told them my passport is in my hotel locked up in a safe place.

I thought I could manhandle them and raise my voice so that someone else could help me or break away or hopefully I would get the attention of a policeman in uniform. I asked the man to my left ‘who are you and why do you want me to come with you’, the man on my left said they were the police and they needed to see my passport.

At that time I pointed to my hotel which was just a block away from the flower shop and said ‘my hotel is just there’, which was the opposite way they wanted me to go. I told them in plain English ‘I am a US citizen, escort me to my hotel and I will proof this’. I was ignored as I walked about 20 feet with these men.

The firm grip on my arm became firmer and at this time both men were holding each arm and when I started to resist I noticed one of the men reaching for some handcuffs on his waist. I said in a loud outburst I am an American citizen before I go anywhere I want see some identification or a badge or something to proof that I was being escorted/carried off against my will by an official of the government.

At this time, a crowd had formed around me and the men. I thought finally someone has heard my cry. My eyes were almost in tears. I asked again, ‘please let me see some identification’. The man that was reaching for his handcuffs instead reached for his wallet and only showed me what looked like a fake ID card with no police insignia or a badge that looked official.

At this time I started talking loudly at people in the crowd to please help me. ‘I am an American citizen here on holiday and these men are trying to rob me, and my passport is my hotel within walking distance.’

One of the people in the crowd said to the men to take me to my hotel and let me get my passport. At this time, it was like the men became more on a mission to get me to go with them instead of believing what I was saying and what the crowd was telling them. I thought, well, if I was being robbed they would only get my credit card and my money because my passport was locked up in my hotel in a safe place.

I was taken to an unknown location under a bridge. This is where the story started to unfold a bit. There I saw a military truck of some sort with a big cage on the back of it containing about 10 to 15 African men, ages 18 and up and a congregation of Malaysian men with walkie talkies.

I was thinking either I was a victim of some sort of racial profiling or victim of some hate group that was killing all the Africans because I had yet to see something of proof that I was being arrested or taken in to custody by some official of the government.

I was scared! I had started to try and remember faces of the people involved but it was just so many men that looked like the same nationality/race. At that time, I was taken to what seemed to be the leader of the ‘klan’, also in civilian clothes. This man had a walkie talkie a bandanna tied around his head, and a official-looking badge hanging around his neck.

I said to myself finally, someone who looks like they are in charge or a government employee, I said to him in a calm voice ‘I am an American citizen. There must have been a mistake or something, my passport is in my hotel at the Red Dragon Hostel’.

These two men apprehended me and brought me here, if you need to see proof of my citizenship please escort me to my hotel and this misunderstanding can be rectified. It didn't seem as if he was paying any attention to what I was saying, just my skin colour and my facial features. He was answering his cell phone in one hand and a walkie talkie in the other hand talking in another language, all while looking at me with a facial feature of hate.

He said to me ‘where is your passport’ as if he didn't hear what I just said in plain English. I said again my passport was in my hotel and that I am an American citizen. ‘I arrived in KL from Bali, Indonesia on November 9.’ He said to me in a hateful voice ‘if you are an American citizen, why don't you have your passport on you?’ I told him ‘just in case I get robbed, I locked it in my hotel room. Please just escort me back there to prove this.’

Another man who seemed to be the second in charge said very loudly, ‘What is your passport number?’ (The two guys who escorted me there were still holding my arms with a tight grip.) I had to think for a minute ... social security number ... driver's licence number ... oh yeah, passport number.... hmmmmmmmmmmm I said while closing my eyes 1-2-1-0-4-5-...

By the time I got that out, I guess my time limit was up, he gave a signal to his goons to have me placed in the truck. After being locked up with all the other dark faces on the truck I knew the right to due process, including freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention had been violated.

I did my best to become relaxed. After being on that truck and being locked up like an animal, I started to assess the whole situation. It seemed obvious that this was some sort of unorganised mission/sting by the immigration officials of Malaysia to round up Africans.

Time stood still. I thought KL is definitely not a place in the world where I can feel free, sort of like I feel when I'm back home in the United States in Mississippi - the place where Oprah Winfrey was born. I hope she reads this.

Anyhow the truck began getting packed and more packed, some were kicking and screaming, and most were handcuffed. Most of the men were well-dressed and seemed to be coming from work, school, or walking with their girlfriends/wives before being entrapped.

I still did not give up. I thought I'm an American I'm not one of these guys, there has been a mistake. I kept trying to communicate through the screen cage, ‘I'm an American, you have made mistake’. That was when I heard a familiar voice coming from the dark in the back of the truck.

He said: ‘I'm American too. Let us out.’ I looked at him and asked where he was from, he said Maryland, Washington DC. ‘My name is Wayne.’ My eyes watered. I thought of the saying ‘true misery loves company’. We sat and exchanged stories on how we were ambushed and brought to the truck. His (experience) was little more rougher than mine but the fact remain we were unheard African prisoners.

After a couple of more failed and ignored attempts to say we were Americans and to let us out. I decided to lay down in the truck and save my breath, because it looked like we were headed for the long ride to the ‘Upper Room’.

After it seemed as if the immigration officers had met their quota, we were taken to another place to round up more individuals. The officers who seemed to be rent-a-cops with no badges went off to get something to eat, congratulating themselves on a job well done. We sat in that truck for a little over three hours being transferred from one place to another.

After we reached the third place which seemed like an alley in an undisclosed place, we were escorted off two by two handcuffed to each other. I was handcuffed to Wayne. We were asked to write our names and nationalities on a piece of paper. At that time Wayne produced a copy of his passport which was taken and disregarded like whatever. That was when I thought this was it. Death was surely at the next stop.

We were transferred to another caged truck. I still felt like this was all too strange and we were not being held by any government officials. No rights had been explained to me and at least five hours had passed.

By this time it was 1.30am. We were given sodas and bread was thrown into the cage. It was like trying to feed a freshly captured monkey expecting him to eat while passing him food through the little holes in the cage. I thought if this was a government agency and whether it was complying with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Okay, after another long, cold and bumpy ride with about 25 other men, we arrived at a place that looked as if it was a third world concentration camp. We waited at the gate for about 30 minutes because it looked like no one had the key to get in, like no one knew we were coming. After entering this compound, I noticed concertina razor and barbed wire along the tops of the fence. I said to Wayne maybe we were actually at a government agency. We were then escorted off the bus and locked into cages again, this time a huge cage.

I could hear the guards talking in another language, but I could not understand them. All I could understand was the hatred in the tone-of-voice used. I tried to remain calm but being a well decorated veteran from the Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm/Desert Shield 1990/91, I thought back to my military training and becoming a prisoner of war. Post-traumatic stress disorder had taken over again.

I started thinking of ways to escape and how to take out the guards. I thought to myself to remain calm and that this was all just a misunderstanding. I kept talking to Wayne about football/NFL and Dallas vs the New York Giants - anything to get our minds off the present situation.

We stayed in that cage until 9am Nov 17. With no toilets we were allowed to urinate outside the gate on the grass like animals, a demonstration of inhumane treatment. After looking around, I noticed that there were cages full of humans of all different races. We were then taken out of the cage and processed. Finger printing and picture taking went on.

We were also told to put all our belongings in a plastic bag. Finally we were told we would be there at least two weeks for processing and we would not be able to talk to an immigration officer until Monday because it was Friday. After we were told that, I kept trying to explain to the guard that I'm an American citizen and I would like to contact my embassy now. My cries were unheard again.

Then came the time to be escorted to the permanent holding area. Wayne was assigned to the B block and I was assigned to the A block. I told Wayne my email address and he told me his. We thought that this was it. My eyes watered again I asked the guard to see the immigration officer again, and somehow it seem as if he could feel my pain. I talked to the immigration officer and he obtained the number and address to the Red Dragon Hostel.

I talked with Jennie (the hostel manager) to get my passport out of my room and send it by cab. The officer also called Irene at the United States embassy in KL and she asked for my name, birth date and place of birth. Almost in tears of joy, I told her everything she asked for.

Irene asked if I had been physically abused, I said no besides from scratches from the handcuffs, the thought of (mental abuse) didn't come to my mind until I left the country and locked myself in my hotel room. I also said that there was another American already locked up. Then the officers went to get Wayne.

After she faxed the documents proving that I was an American, I was still in handcuffs. They still wanted me to produce a passport. The head immigration officer asked again why didn't I have my passport on me. I said because I read on the Internet that I was supposed to leave passports in the hotel safe. The city centre of KL has had several incidents of snatch thefts recently.

At about 4pm, Wayne and I were apologised to on several occasions by most of the staff at the holding camp and then transferred to the immigration office downtown where the immigration officers found our situation somewhat amusing. My eyes watered again but this time in disgust and anger. I told them this not a laughing matter. I was in business clothes I had wore the day before with no shower.

I told them to stop laughing because this was not a laughing matter. I was appalled at their behaviour. I wanted to get back to my hotel room and reserve the next flight out of the country. This type of humiliation and treatment will not be accepted by an American citizen. This incident will be heard. The treatment, and the conditions in that camp were both sub-standard and intolerable.

After I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov 19, I checked myself in my hotel room and locked the door behind me. I noticed that I had developed a xenophobia towards Malaysians.

My goal now is to make sure that this incident is seen on a worldwide scale and not ignored. My regards to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Lulu might be right that Mat Tyson is being set up...

2007-07-27T11:15:00.001+08:00

Lulu in her earlier post hinted that Mat Tyson might have walked into a trap designed to put a halt to his ambition of making a comeback. Such a possibility is high considering how Raja Petra and Husin Lempoyang have described the events that unfolded when Mat Tyson and his gang of 30 machais made the police report at the Dang Wangi police station. Do have a read of all the links, and you could decide for yourself if it was just a SNAFU on the part of Mat Tyson, sheer studipity, or something more sinister (aimed at Mat Tyson lah!).

Raja Petra interrogated for 8 hours...

2007-07-26T10:07:00.000+08:00

...and according to Pete, they didn't even bother about his alleged insult of Islam and the Yang Dipertuan Agong. All they were interested in were who posted some 12 comments which were attached to the police report made by Mat Tyson (Muhammad Muhammad Taib). As in the case of Nat's harassment earlier, it seems like the police want to take the easy way out by hunting for commentators in blogs by going after the blog owner. They failed to do it with Nat, and I am pretty sure they're gonna have a tougher time with Raja Petra.

However, Raja Petra is right that comments by readers could land him in jail if they could do a legal wriggle with the Sedition Act. But keeping in mind that there is a Umno funded cyber-troop who goes round posting racist and extremist comments on peoples' blogs, perhaps that is how they think they wanna go after these influential bloggers. Failing to rebut with at least some semblance of intelligence, the other more sinister method would be to post racist, seditious, and extremist comments and try to land the blog owners in hot soup. Bloggers really have to be vigilant about these troopers...moderate and delete comments, where appropriate. Anyway, Lulu has an interesting theory about Mat Tyson who could be walking into a trap without realizing it.

After Nat, now they're going after Raja Petra

2007-07-24T10:19:00.000+08:00

Updated! Raja Petra Kamarudin in yesterday's post in his Malaysia Today news site hinted that there are attempts to go after him and close down his site due to the explosive uncovering of various vile and despicable acts done by those who walk the corridors of power. Apparently, they are becoming increasingly worried that more and more people will be "turned over" by Raja Petra, and they would lose plenty of votes in the coming general election. Yesterday, the former Selangor MB Muhammad Muhammad Taib who could not understand English, made a police report against Raja Petra under the Penal Code, Sedition Act, and the Multimedia and Communications Act. He was accompanied by 30 goons. So, looks like after failing to intimidate Nat and the blogosphere, they're going after a "bigger fish" in the person of Raja Petra. But Pete has a message for them. In any case, if being held under the ISA before did not break him, why would they think they could break him this time? Like in Nat's case, blogosphere and the rakyat needs to rise up again. We have the right to free flow of INFORMATION, especially if they're FACTS and TRUTHS!

Update (24 Jul, 12:52): Tun Dr Mahathir believes that there is a concerted effort on the part of the Pak Lah administration to curb voices of dissent in the internet. When asked what bloggers should do in the face of such crackdown, he said to always stick to facts. And when asked if Raja Petra writes fact, as always in his witty self, he replied "If he is not, people wouldn't read it". Of course, it is to his benefit as well to ensure the internet remains free. Otherwise, where would he himself be able to speak out since the mainstream media has denied him his space.

Source: Mob's Crib

A vote for MCA is a vote for Umno's Islamic State

2007-07-23T10:19:00.000+08:00

If you still have doubts about that, take a look at this article. Hishamuddin aka Kerismuddin has warned ("beri amaran") MCA leaders to stop making statements that declare Malaysia is a secular state. MCA had gone to town sensing they're gonna lose even more votes now after Najib unilaterally made the announcement that Malaysia is an Islamic state, never mind the fact that his father Tun Abdul Razak was in the delegation that went to the UK to negotiate Malaya's independence as well as presenting memorandums on how the Malayan Constitution should be like, and one of that would be that the Federal Constitution would be the supreme law of the land and that Malaya/Malaysia would be a secular state. This has been affirmed as well by Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn.

However, subtle subversion of such a reality has now come out totally in the open. Umno has no qualms now in declaring Malaysia as whatever it likes it to be (although the Internal Security Ministry thinks otherwise). To hell with MCA, MIC and all the mosquito-sized parties that formed the BN. They be damned as keeping Umno in power is the most important. To them, this country can go to hell for all they care. No wonder since they could easily bail out and retire glamourously to Perth and other clearly secular states. As they said, rakyat Malaysia can go eat kuih! If MCA, MIC, Gerakan and the rest need a reason to quit sleeping with Umno, this is more than enough of a good reason. All the pre-merdeka goodwill and working together has come to naught after 50 years. And MCA Youth seems to begin to realize that (though questions remain if it will translate to actions). But would they have the spine to do it on their own? I think not, unless WE voters send a clear signal to them telling them to quit.

Source: Whattahack

Confirmed...NEP is nothing but a tool to keep Umno in power

2007-07-18T12:01:00.000+08:00

And this is from the "horse's mouth", so to speak. Khir Toyo, the Selangor MB and 1st generation Malaysia-born, in Kota Kinabalu said that Umno can only remain relevant if keeping the NEP was among its priorities. He even venture to say that without keeping such a policy, the Malays would switch their support to PKR and PAS. Well, this more or less confirmed the view that Umno's die-die-wanna-keep the NEP behaviour has nothing to do with protecting the interests of the Malays, or fighting for their rights. It is more to to do with keeping themselves in power for as long as they want, while at the same time use the NEP as an excuse to enrich themselves further. In short, what Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad said about the NEP being the legitimating ideology for Umno's hegemony and legitimacy is confirmed by Toyo himself. No wonder all their talk about Malays having to stand on their own and to stop looking for handouts are nothing but empty rhetorics, with no real intention on their part to stop perpetuating such a crippling system of patronage. Because at the end of the day, it's all about politics. It's all about keeping Umno in power.

Najib's turn to subvert the Federal Constitution

2007-07-18T11:02:00.001+08:00

Updated! After Tun Dr Mahathir unilaterally announced on Sep 29, 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state, MCA and Gerakan had a tough time trying to explain away the man's statement which was aimed at scoring political points against PAS. Ling Liong Sik was reduced to talking nonsense about how a rose by any other name is still a rose when trying to do damage control. Since then, we could see how the civil court has time and again washed its hands of the responsibility to uphold and protect the Federal Constitution. Yet now we have none other than Najib Razak, the DPM, making yet another pronouncement that Malaysia is an Islamic state based on some dubious reasoning. Click here for Haris Ibrahim's questioning of his pronouncement, as well as the deluge of responses from various people, including MCA Youth chief's language gymnastics to do damage control.

It's time for people to think hard that instead of falling for the trick that a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS's version of Islamic state, they have fallen deeper into BN's chicanery and machination because voting for MCA, MIC, Gerakan and the other mosquito supporting parties have come to mean voting for Umno's Islamic state. Najib has confirmed that from his unilateral pronouncement, in case you still have doubts. Of course, The Star spins Najib's words another way. You can't expect the MCA owned newspaper to create alarm among the insular English speaking Chinese Malaysians with Umno and MCA while all this while they've demonized DAP, PKR, and PAS. Regardless, come the next and subsequent general elections, do remember this - A Vote for BN is A Vote for UMNO's Islamic State!

UPDATE (18 Jul 13:49):Farish A. Noor has written on Najib's statement and question whether Malaysia is dangerously heading down the same path which has brought Pakistan to its basket-case status now.

More on Rural Air Services

2007-07-17T10:51:00.000+08:00

Tony in last saturday's The Star Biz pullout said that they never really wanted the Rural Air Services (RAS) routes, but landed up with them due to the local air route rationalization exercise. He gave some reasons as to why they choose to operate only 7 Fokker airplanes when MAS had handed over 10 to Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB), but realized later they should have gotten all 10 due to, in their opinion, the age and reliability of the planes. After the damning audit report on the deplorable condition of the airplanes by Fokker Services Pte Ltd, FAX decided to issue a statement to rebut them. Jeff Ooi has a more detailed writeup on this latest turn of events. Regardless, at the end of the day it looks like taxpayers will have to fork out money again to clean up this RAS mess. Let's hope that with MAS taking back the RAS this nonsense will stop, that is if they can run it like how they managed to run MAS into the black again.

Malaysians in Singapore...come back and vote

2007-07-16T12:48:00.000+08:00

In an informal discussion of the current political situation in Malaysia with a group of like-minded people, a guy shared his observation that Malaysians living abroad, particularly in Singapore, seem to have more passion about the current socio-political condition of their homecountry compared to Malaysians who remained here. They seem less insular, according to him, because they tend to be exposed to more sources information which are generally more accurate or critical of various socio-political issues that exist in Malaysia. For example, The Straits Times of Singapore has plenty of articles about Malaysia which you'll never read nor see in the mainstream press here. Of course, they would have their own agenda, but that is beside the point. The fact remains that Malaysians who work and live in Singapore tend to be more aware of the increasingly dire state we seem to be in, and they do show their concern by writing to Opposition leaders.

His observation of such a phenomenon ends with a challenge - would these concerned Malaysians be a good source of votes for change, and if so, what have the opposition parties do in order to target them. I think it is a valid challenge, and the opposition should plan on how to reach out to them, provided the message on the importance of their votes are clear to them. Singapore due to its proximity to Malaysia makes travelling home to vote less of a problem. Those who have not registered could just do a quick trip to any of the Johor Bahru post offices, as long as you have a valid Malaysian identity card. The key thing I guess is are these concerned Malaysians concerned enough to the point of actually making that trip just to cast their votes. I guess that is a question which my fellow Malaysians abroad would have to ask themselves. They've come so far in showing great concern for a country which they still see as home. They should consider taking just one more step to actually act out their concerns by making their votes count in this coming, and subsequent, general elections. If nothing else, they should do it for Nat's sake.

Going after bloggers, again

2007-07-16T11:35:00.000+08:00

UPDATE (18 Jul, 10:45am):
Nat is finally FREED! He was released on bail yesterday just after 5pm, and is required to report back to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) in KL on July 31. Until today nobody is sure on what specific grounds Nat has been remanded for and interrogated, other than the vague OSA reason given. Regardless, the most important thing is that blogosphere, opposition, and activists stood together, resolute in fighting this injustice, and showed to the authorities that such fear tactics and intimidation will not work. The forum (details below) is still on, and Nat will be there to speak of his experience. Come and hear him!

UPDATE (19 Jul, 13:45): Nat has written about his experience being under remand for 4 days. Click here to read the English and Bahasa Malaysia version.

Original Posting:
This time they've went for Nathaniel Tan, Anwar's secretary in Foundation for the Future as well as a PKR worker. They didn't state the grounds for his arrest/remand when taking him away from his office, took him to his house to grab his desktop and monitor (wonder why they want the monitor...perhaps the police department don't have spare monitors) and then whisk him off to various police stations in the city, playing cat-and-mouse game with his lawyers, his family, PKR, and NGOs. Finally got a 4-day remand order (after unsuccessfully getting a 14-day remand) in order for them to investigate him under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

The charge is supposedly for a comment left by a reader in his blog which reproduced some part of a mysterious website which appeared from nowhere alleging Johari Baharum, the Deputy Internal Security Minister, of corruption with regards to the freeing of 3 detainees under the Emergency Ordinance. The ACA has since then cleared Johari of the allegations, and Johari has ordered the police to nab the person responsible for this slander. How such material which alleged the corruption of a person be a state secret (logical implication since Nat is being investigated under the OSA) is beyond me. RPK in Malaysia-Today has linked to that mysterious website before, as well as speculating that it could be the work of insiders, a result from the tiff between Johari and the PDRM. In a sense this investigation of Nat could just be an excuse to find a fallguy or scapegoat.

In any case, Nat should be freed. The charges (which so far are not even clear) are really flimsy. Instead of being genuinely in the wrong (the alleged "secrets" were not even written by him but left by some readers in the comment section, which Nat sees fit to delete most of the content because of its nature but provided a hyperlink to the mysterious website) it is more likely than not that he is just a pawn trapped in the power play between Johari and Musa (whom incidentally Johari has asked the ACA to investigate regarding alleged links with triads). That itself is a good enough reason for the police to stop harassing him and free him. That is because they simply have no real reason to continue holding on to him. We, the rakyat, have to voice out and speak out. If we choose to cower in fear and keep quiet, it would be precisely what the government wants. Break that fear! Free Nat!

There will be a forum on Nat's persecution and experience this Thursday 19 July at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Nat is supposed to be freed this afternoon, according to his sister Cheryl, and Malaysiakini. Details below, and read more about it here.

Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Date: 19th July 2007 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30 pm
Admission is Free; Bring Friends

The panel of Distinguished Speakers include:

* Nathaniel Tan, Blogger & Aide to PKR Advisor
* Jeff Ooi, Protem Vice-President, All Blogs Malaysia
* Haris Ibrahim, Lawyer & Founder of The People's Parliament
* Nurul Izzah Anwar, Special Assistant to PKR Advisor
* Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General of DAP
* Tony Pua, Economic Advisor to DAP Secretary-General

Chairperson: Soon Li Tsin, Journalist & Blogger

We'll also be trying to leave as much time to the floor as possible, so as to enable greater interaction at the forum.

Courtesy of Mob's Crib

Half of Rural Air Services planes not airworthy

2007-07-13T11:17:00.000+08:00

After declaring loudly that they have no problems flying the local routes more profitably than MAS, looks like FAX (related to AirAsia through Tony) has run half the planes to the ground despite the availability of components and parts. This is according to the findings of the auditor which was part of the conditions MAS' Idris Jala laid down in order for MAS to take back the Rural Air Services from FAX. Remember that when the planes were handed to FAX they were all in working condition. Looks like in the rush to cut cost they see it fit to just let the planes be grounded and parts cannibalized for the ones still flying. No wonder people are complaining about the lousy or non-existing service. Do remember also that it was they (the "high-flying" company) who complained about MAS' initial monopoly on local routes, including RAS, and after getting them decided after a year to not continue with it. I hope MAS on a better footing now will run RAS like a commercial concern - profitable yet social-objectives based. No point taking it over and then be saddled again with losses which eventually requires taxpayers' money to keep it afloat.

Indelible ink requires National Fatwa Council to decide?

2007-07-13T09:34:00.001+08:00

Nazri, the minister in the PM's department who broke the record of shouting continually "racist" and "bodoh" at the DAP MPs in Parliament (while at the same time also have gone minum dan makan with them) said that the use of indelible ink in the elections, one of many requests by Opposition parties and BERSIH, will have to be referred to the National Fatwa Council for a decision because he worries that Muslims will not be able to wash off the ink for prayers later on. PAS' reaction to this? As the usual clown, this time he made PAS leaders tickled and in stitches. Never mind the fact that PAS was one of many which pushed for the use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting by the same person, as well as the fact that its use is widespread in other Arab and Islamic countries, as well as India. In fact, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin said it would be more substantial to ask the National Fatwa Council to decide on the legitimacy of "dead people" voting in our elections. Quoting him:

"What’s the hukum (religious judgement) on the existence of phantom voters after they have been recorded dead for many years? Now, this is something which the Barisan Nasional government should refer to the Fatwa Council."

My take on this? I think it's just a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, ... excuse by the BN government to not implement its use in the general elections. Since they can't find other more valid reasons, they're prepared to go the "Islamic" way by "influencing" the National Fatwa Council to make a declaration over such a trivial issue. I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to issue a fatwa saying NO to the use of indelible ink. After all, the issue is all about politics, and definitely not about religion.

Crime index up 8.7%

2007-07-11T09:57:00.000+08:00

This is from Pak Lah's written reply in Parliament. Not a fabrication by the opposition, or enemies of the state, as claimed by some in blogosphere when lately people have been fedup of the increasingly unsafe situation, lambasted the police for not doing enough, as well as taken up active citizenry by signing petitions against crime. Click here for more information. Meanwhile, Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Bahrum has instructed his officers to lodge a report with the ACA to investigate allegations of corruption against the IGP Musa Hassan. Musa has been alleged by Malaysia Today to have links with the Chinese triads, supported by copies of documents which provide the links. A tit-for-tat since Johari was also investigated by the ACA recently over allegations that he received RM5mil to free 3 figures from being detained under the Emergency Ordinances? A war seems to brewing between him and the PDRM. Perhaps Johari could take this opportunity to "advise" his boss the PM to push through the implementation of the IPCMC which is vehemently opposed by Musa Hassan.

Parliament becomes slaughter house

2007-07-11T09:47:00.001+08:00

As if it is not enough that our Parliament has been reduced to a zoo with animals heckling one another, shouting and making nonsensical sounds because they don't have a half a brain to string sentences together. Now the august house has been turned into a slaughterhouse, literally! The BN Backbenchers Club (BBC) decided to host a dinner last night to mark, in the words of the BBC chairperson Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, the "historic" recent marriage of the PM to his new wife. Claiming he has obtained approval from the Parliamentary officials, they brought in 6 cows and 10 goats to be slaughtered on-site under a shift-tent in the motorcycle parking bay. Nevermind the fact that there are Hindu MPs present and cows are sacred to them, let alone slaughtering them.

When grilled by journalists on this most shameful and idiotic incident, the BBC chief has the cheek to chide them for not fixing an appointment with his secretary (what happened to service to the rakyat?!?). When pointed out that his contention that slaughtering of cows and goats happened everywhere in government offices was wrong, he just shook his head. This is how sensitivity and tolerance towards people's belief is like in Malaysia...always a one way street. I think all sane Malaysians would not want this stupidity to happen again, more so when it is the Parliament we are talking about.

KJ John: Whither Malaysia?

2007-07-10T12:53:00.000+08:00

Updated! This opinion piece by KJ John captures the essence of the deteriorating religious problem Malaysia is facing in its 50th year as a nation. I reproduce it here (hoping he doesn't mind) because it is a must read for all Malaysians concerned at the rate our nation is heading towards a disaster if nothing is done to put a stop to the continual subversion of our Federal Constitution. Do check out Haris Ibrahim's blog as well for a look into the same problem from a legal angle.

Update (7 July, 1:47pm):You would have remembered that Tun Dr Mahathir in an interview had said that a Malay could renounce Islam as long as he/she is willing to also give up the special privileges due to them due to the way a Malay is defined in the Constitution. Now Pak Lah was apparently reported to say to reporters at the sidelines of an international Islamic seminar that we should not forbid Muslims from converting if that is what they want. Quoting him:

"I have always told the religious departments to listen to their grouses why they want to leave the religion. We have to be ready to listen and to resolve the problem," he told reporters on the sidelines of an international Islamic seminar.

"This is not something that cannot be done (leaving Islam). It has happened before. For those who don't want to be Muslim anymore, what can you do?"

The thing is, would his voice (after being in "elegant silence" for so long) regarding this increasingly worrying problem be repeated in our country, and be turned into action and put a final stop to all the mess created by self-righteous folks hell-bent in subverting this nation to suit their own religious agenda? Let's all pray and hope that he will act on his words, even if it is for this one thing only.

-----------------------------

Whither Malaysia?
KJ John
Jul 10, 07 12:17pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/69709

Something is going fundamentally very wrong in Malaysia today. We have a written 50-year-old Federal and Secular Constitution which clearly defines the limits of jurisdiction of Islamic or Syariah law as, it applies only to personal and family matters.

But, it appears that there are more and more cases of jurisdictional abuse by the religious or morality police, called the Majlis Agama Islam. The most recent cases were the “abuse” of a Malay singer in Ipoh for being improperly attired and the raid on Indian restaurants for displaying different religious symbols. These are not personal and family matters. They are civil and public square issues.

Last week, we had the release of M Revathi from an Islamic rehabilitation centre. She was born to Muslim parents, grew up as a Hindu with her grandparents, claims to be one and was married to another Hindu and the couple have a child. Recently she was taken into custody for rehabilitation for almost six months.

Her case in the Civil Court was up for hearing but she was released before that. The attempt to cleverly release her made the matter only an academic one, according to the judge. The matter is more than academic, and I am sorry that the judge found the easy way out.

The case involves fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and abused by the Islamic religious department. It also shows their insincerity and lack of willingness to test the jurisdictional issue before the federal civil courts of law. The religious police and the Syariah Courts have now given their views on the matter of her personal faith. To them she is and always will be Muslim.

She turns up in court clearly wearing the symbols of being a Hindu and has sworn that she is not a Muslim; and never was. But who is the definer of the truth and who is the enforcer? Now, to really enforce the decision, is it now the responsibility of the Syariah Department to set up a criminal division to enforce their law? How else can they do it? I thought this was the very reason that the police advised the state government in Terengganu not to enforce the so-called Syariah Islamic Administration in the state because the police have no authority to enforce it, under our Constitution?

Where are we heading?

What has really changed? Or, are we now saying that the Islamic religious department can enforce their ruling that she live with her grandparents? Have they become the new moral and religious police in the public spaces of Malaysia? But really, under which jurisdiction and is it still consistent with the Federal Constitution? Come on Malaysia, where are we really heading?

The word and concept of ‘secular,’ was always used by the Constitutional drafters to define our document of destiny. It does not mean being “anti-religious” or “anti-theistic” but rather denies that any one specific and particular religious worldview of right and wrong was the guiding and sole parameter for the rules and regulations of Malaysia. Another way to understand it is that the Federal Constitution is religion-neutral when enforcing its principle and articles.

Therefore, in the specific case of Syariah law, the ninth schedule clearly defined its status within the state enactments. It was designed to be limited to private and personal family matters, wherein such laws already exist for procedures to fulfill some Islamic teaching.

Therefore, while the Constitution is secular, in its reading and interpretation of rights, the framers’ worldviews were not atheistic. We can therefore view the secular as always a subset of a sacred worldview. The late Tun Suffian quote I used in the last column clearly defines that there is a clear and specific domain in which reason and logic of universal truth forms provide the underlying basis of laws and regulations, rather than the dictates of any one specific worldview.

Often, these guiding values are “the mores of the culture,” or the “morality” of that particular culture at any point in time is what reigns in public space. Such public space morality is always defined premised upon religious values, and especially originating from many religious value systems which are commonly accepted as agreeable by the culture. Usually they are a local, global and of universal value.

Secular system

As such, as crafted in our secular Constitution, even the words, “Islam as the religion of the Federation” cannot be used to create an over-riding value system for our civic rules and regulations. That would be arbitrary and careless to the spirit of the original Federal Constitution and all her related Articles. For, even within the same Article, the roles of every other religion of the federation and their concomitant freedoms of worship are equally protected and preserved. Moreover the freedom of worship is recognised as a personal and private matter in Article 11.

Therefore, whether we like it or not, our current Federal Constitution guarantees our multi-religious framework of existence and we can therefore only remain a secular system, in the purest meaning of what is secular.

Real politick would dictate that unless we can amend major segments of the Federal Constitution with a two-thirds majority; and the Rulers Council agrees, there can be no major changes in this specific construction of the Constitution. Thereby, even an idealist party like PAS may have to realistically refine their mission to realise that their vision of an Islamic state in Malaysia can only operate within the constraints of the current Federal Constitution. This is purely a rational and legal position on the subject.

The case of Revathi has now hit the world press and has demonstrated the current confusion in Malaysia’s judicial system; and the full and apparent existence of two standards of justice in the public spaces of life - one for Muslims, as dictated by the State Enactments, and another by profession for the non-Muslims by their choice of conscience. This was never intended by the framers of the Constitution.

How can we possibly have a case where a person who says she is a Hindu but is put in rehabilitation for six months under the Islamic Religious Department. The case is fundamentally really no different than the Lina Joy case, with a slight twist. Now that Revathi is released with certain conditions, my question is who is responsible to “enforce the decision?” What if her elderly parents cannot enforce the conditions; or do not want to enforce these conditions, do we put them in prison as well under rehabilitation?

After all, as she has stated, after her time in rehabilitation; she is not ever going to become a Muslim, try as much as they all want. What then is the real resolution? For her to migrate as well to another country? What about her personal rights and civil liberties as a citizen?

Or, is the government-based religious department willing to confine her to life imprisonment? Would that be within the law of the land? Is that what Islam is really all about; faith practiced through force and compulsion? Surely not, because there is no compulsion in Islam! How then does one rationalise all this that is happening in the 21st century? Maybe it is time for all civil-minded and moderate Malaysian citizens to hold a peace march for Revathi. Maybe it is time to stop our 50th year celebrations to think through the ugly nation we are slowly but surely turning ourselves into.

Seriously, this thing cannot go on; when the religious department officers become thugs and enforce their own non-public space rules. They have no federal power of the law on such matters which are not criminal but seem to treat people as if they are criminals. Things are really getting out of hand, and I believe that the nation must not be careless with what is happening, as we are fanning emotions among the Hindu adherents and all non-Muslim citizens, even as the world watches.

It is to our shame therefore that we claim to be a progressive Islamic nation when there is lack of integrity and credibility in how the Federal Secular Constitution is understood, interpreted and enforced in Malaysia. I hope the judicial system and the attorney general will take charge of the matter before it is too late. We are not an Islamic state and can never be one based on the current Constitution. The current crop of the Rulers’ Council are all well trained and studied in matters of the law.

Raja Nazrin, the Regent of Perak, has already made his very clear articulation to defend the dignity of the Constitution. Maybe the Bar Council must consider a civil action suit to test the Constitutionality of the Revathi case and many other cases wherein the Federal Constitutional rights and privileges of basic civil liberties which are guaranteed and protected, are being abused in the name of religion.

Anwar: Respect Revathi's decision

2007-07-09T18:02:00.000+08:00

From Malaysiakini today. Anwar earlier on when commenting on Lina Joy's controversial court judgement said that the judgement was correct in that "apostates" would have to go to the Syariah court and follow procedures. Somebody said that this is akin to "not potong queue". Well, Revathi has gone to the Melaka Syariah court on her own volition to precisely get an "approval" that she is renouncing Islam and she wants to remain a Hindu. Yet, after 180 harrowing days of being incarcerated at the Ulu Yam Rehabilitation Center, she has been told that she would not be allowed to leave Islam. Despite her insistence that nothing will change her mind, the Syariah lawyer representing the Melaka religious department insists they will be able to change her mind. Well, enough is enough. Procedures have been followed, the said person has stated in no uncertain terms what is her stand. As what Anwar correctly states now, Revathi's decision should be respected. She should be free to profess the faith of her choice and of her own conscience!

Revathi and daughter. (Source: Malaysiakini 9 July 2007)

4 year old missing girl in Penang is DEAD

2007-07-09T10:24:00.000+08:00

Updated! 4 year old Shearwey Ooi Ying Ying is dead. What is worse, her body was burnt using kerosene and her remains strewn over at least 4 different places - a cemetery, river, apartment dumpsite in Paya Terubong, and another river in Jalan Air Itam.

Source: The Star 8 July 2007

If this is not an indication of how sick and perverted our society has become, I don't know what is. I still remember the case of the 8 year old girl Ang May Hong who was brutally mutilated and murdered back in the 80s, and which the heinous murderer was never found until this day. Not too long ago we see in Johor the rape and murder of 10 year old Nurul Huda, and in Sabah the murder of 10 year old Hasirawati Saridi. All the cases involved little girls who are still kids who tend to trust adults and most vulnerable. Even boys are not spared.

Nowadays parents cannot afford to be not vigilant and alert anymore...as what Intel's Andy Grove said...only the paranoid survives. Do not even let your child be away from your sight and grip even for 1 second in public areas. 1 second is all it takes to grab away your kid.

Update (9 July, 1:54pm): Heads up from a friend. Apparently according to Nanyang Siang Pau, the detained woman relative referred to by The Star is in fact the little girl's own mother while the detained man is her boyfriend! The woman was supposedly in the process of divorcing her husband. This is also reported in China Press where apparently she created the story to mislead everyone. Utterly gobsmacked. Reminds me of the toddler boy who was tortured to death last year by the aunt and the boyfriend in Johor as well...sigh.

Source: The Star 9 July 2007

Update (10 July, 12:37pm): In today's The Star, the English press finally reported that the mother of the killed 4 year old has been arrested to help in investigation. Let's pray that the killer will be brought to justice so that the little girl would not have died in vain.

KL-Putrajaya Highway...is it privatised?

2007-07-09T09:51:00.000+08:00

As far as I could remember the KL-Putrajaya Highway which starts at the Kg Pandan Roundabout, goes through Sri Petaling and the Commonwealth Games Village, and ends up at the Elite Highway Putrajaya interchange link (the elevated portion that rounds around Cyberjaya) was supposed to be a toll-free road and funded fully by the government. That was one of the reasons why the project was shelved in the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998 due to lack of funds, and was only restarted sometime in 2002. This is the highway that is built perilously close to the houses in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling causing severe damage and such, and which the Parliamentary Accounts Committee led by Datuk Shahrir Samad made a visit to the site, confirmed the problems and suggested the project be stopped, raised the ire of Samy Vellu, and more recently suggested the government to repossess the affected properties and pay compensation.

All this mess came about because when the project was approved by EPU to begin in 1998, DBKL went ahead and approved the housing development project in that same plot of land with complete disregard to the alignment of the proposed highway, and did so because the highway project was postponed and they could have thought it will never happen. So, land was "lost" by the proposed highway to the houses, so to speak. You can read more on the plight of the Sri Petaling residents here. But what I want to ask is when was this supposed federal government funded RM1.2bil highway to Konsortium Lapangan Terjaya Sdn Bhd? According to the website of the concessionaire, the concession period is 33 years commencing from 28 Oct 2003. Maybe I have not been following the news on this controversial highway so I could have missed the privatisation announcement. I only realized it has become another private-tolled-highway when I saw what looked like toll-gates being constructed on the highway, and a big project signboard at the Putrajaya link stating it as a "projek pengswastaan". But it looks like the Sri Petaling folks know better...the concession agreement was supposedly signed in 1997. Maybe the perception that the highway was supposed to be toll free since it's fully government funded was a mirage after all, or I have mistaken it to be the same as that Highway 2020 which was to connect KL with Putrajaya as well.

Public Hearing on Crime in Klang Valley

2007-07-09T09:44:00.001+08:00

The Parliamentary Human Rights Caucus led by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (Caucus Chairman) will hold a public hearing on the worsening crime rate in Klang Valley on the 11 July 2007. This is the second of such public hearing after the first which was held in Johor Bahru. Concerned citizens should take the opportunity to make their voices and concerns heard so that the caucus could make a comprehensive report on the rakyat's grievances and anxiety and submit it to the government with recommendations. Details of the hearing:

Public Hearing on Crime in Klang Valley

by Parliamentary Human Rights Caucus

Date: 11 July 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.00pm - 11.00pm
Venue: Dewan Sivik (Civic Hall), Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya

"We want the public to take this opportunity to voice their suggestions and opinions" - Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department

Caucus MPs present include:
- YB Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Caucus Chairman
- YB Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader
- YB Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, MP for Permatang Pauh

Power of people prevailed in Broga

2007-07-06T17:24:00.000+08:00

It's official. After unofficial statements made by various business people and ministry officials, the government finally officially admitted that the controversial Broga incinerator (planned to be the largest of its kind in the world) is now scrapped. Now who says the normal rakyat cannot band together to force the government to hear their plight and influence its decision? Congratulations to the fighters of Broga!

Revathi free?

2007-07-06T16:17:00.000+08:00

"Because of their behaviour, I hate (benci) Islam even now"

This is what Revathi told reporters after being told by the Melaka Syariah court that she is freed from the Ulu Yam Rehabilitation Center where she has been incarcerated for 6 months. All because she went to the Syariah court (isn't this what the Federal Court majority judgement ordered Lina Joy to do?) to apply to leave Islam and to be recognized as a Hindu. Her initial detention of 100 days was extended for another 80 days by the same court with the reason that she was un-cooperative during the first 100 days. Her outburst was made where she described the rehab camp was akin to a prison and she was forced to wear a headscarf, attend religious classes, pray, and allegedly even forced to eat beef (which is forbidden by Hinduism).

However, is Revathi really free? She has been ordered by the court that she could only stay with her Muslim parents, and told that she could not convert out of Islam. Nevermind the fact that she time and again insisted she is a believing and practicing Hindu, has been brought up as Hindu, and after 180 days of "rehabilitation" remains convinced she still wants to be a Hindu. So what now?

If Lina Joy follows the Federal Court majority judgement that she needs to go to the Syariah court to get a certificate of apostasy, would she get it considering the limbo situation of Revathi now? In the face of all this, would not the Syariah ruling on Revathi violates her constitutional right to movement and abode as an adult with full control of her faculties, as well as her right to profess and practise the faith of her choice? Specifically in the context of Malaysia where the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and the Syariah enactments of the various states do not exist in a vacuum nor in isolation from the Constitution which first confer the rights to the state legislative bodies, wouldn't such ruling/enactments clearly in violation of the Constitutionally enshrined rights of citizens?

For the sake of the nation and our children, we really have to heed Dr Dzulkifli's call to "take the bull by the horn" and come to an acceptable resolution soon. And this same call should be heeded by Dr Dzulkifli himself as well.

Dr Dzulkifli's piece on Lina Joy

2007-07-04T16:26:00.000+08:00

In yesterday's opinion piece in Malaysiakini, Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, a director of PAS Research Centre, attempted to give a balanced and level headed angle to the controversial Lina Joy decision made recently in the Federal Court. Overall I think he has succeeded in putting forward the views of conservative Muslims in a level headed and well argued manner. However, one thing I was disappointed with was that he seem to have failed to tackle an issue which his article brings forth, which is the constitutionality of various state Syariah enactments, specifically with regards to the sensitive issue of apostasy. In so doing, while at the same time throwing the ball back to the Umno government's court, Dr Dzulkifli unfortunately has committed the same problem which he pointed out in the early part of his article, which is "for failing to take the bull by the horn".

I don't have much disagreement with his argument of the need for apostasy to be heard and dealt with in the Syariah courts. But he brought up an interesting part about how the State legislative assemblies' right to enact Islamic related enactments is conferred by the Federal Constitution under List II of the Ninth Schedule, as well as a federal act (The Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965) which gives power to the same assemblies to enact criminal Islamic laws. Such criminal laws however are bound by the ceiling set forth in the act - imprisonment not exceeding 3 years, fine not exceeding RM5,000, whipping not exceeding 6 strokes or combination of these. Such limitations on what punishment criminal Islamic laws can have and be enacted by state legislative assemblies would mean that in the context of our nation's status where the supreme law of the land is the Federal Constitution, the limits and boundaries of what Syariah enactments could be enacted, as well as the punishments meted out, do exist and are provided for by civil law, as laid down by the Constitution as well as related Federal Acts. This was, as I understand it, the reason why Zaid Ibrahim (the Kota Baru MP) brought the Terengganu PAS State Government to court in 2003 over the latter's attempt in enacting hudud enactments which clearly were beyond the set boundaries of the Constitution and Federal Acts. In effect, the Terengganu Syariah Criminal Offences (Hudud and Qisas) Enactment was ultra vires the Constituion.

Since it is the case where limits and boundaries on what can and cannot be enacted by the state legislative assemblies with regards to Syariah enactments exists, it necessarily follows also that the issue of apostasy with respect to Syariah enactments (or lack of it, as is the case with the Federal Territory) in the various states should not be treated any differently. To "take the bull by the horn" and arrive at a necessary solution to this ever pressing and stick issue, the hard question of whether the punishment (or silence) prescribed to the crime of apostasy, within the context of our existing system of Syariah courts and enactments, have in fact not exceeded the limits and boundaries set, particularly with respect to Article 11 of the Federal Constitution regarding the right of every person in the Federation to profess and practise his religion. This question is important as it will determine if existing state enactments on apostasy is in fact ultra vires the Federal Constitution, the same basis for Zaid's suit against the Terengganu PAS State Government as well as the fact that that Enactment never get to see the light of day.

There have been some attempts in the blogosphere to discuss the Lina Joy controversy from this angle, but unfortunately it is still very limited, and thus far no attempts have been made to bring it out to the open for more detailed discussion. I think it is really important to tackle the issue from this angle as all other attempts so far has not been fruitful. Even more important is that this question will really determine if Malaysia still uphold the supremacy of the Federal Constitution as per what our founding fathers have envisioned, or it is otherwise.

LKY orders MCMC to retract censorship letter

2007-07-04T10:01:00.001+08:00

Not the MM down south, but our own Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik. After the expose of the black-and-white directive from MCMC to private radio and tv stations to not give coverage and air time to the opposition, Lim Keng Yaik made the right and brave decision to order MCMC to retract such a lame-ass censorship directive. Good move Keng Yaik! However, wouldn't your brave move be contrary to what your boss just said during the Mass Media Conference 2007, organized by none other than the Internal Security Ministry which is headed by him? Regardless, Gerakan should really live up to their own calling of being "BN's conscience", which is more relevant and important now considering how pressing and precarious the situation of our country is today. There is no better time than to do it now, and do it fast, before Malaysia becomes a failed state.

The haze/smog is back!

2007-07-03T10:51:00.000+08:00

Just like the annual migratory birds, the haze/smog/smoke is back again this year! According to the Meteorological Services Department, there is now some 200 hotspots in Sumatera due to, again, forest burning. And due to the unfortunate position of Malaysia vis-a-vis its neighbour and the south-westernly monsoon wind, we are again seeing a degradation of air quality starting this week, and till God-knows when. During the weekend the moon was as orange as the one fruit I eat in most nights, indicating to all that the level of particulates in the air is inching higher and higher. Pretty soon we would get the full blown annual sorry state - extremely poor visibility, smell of smoke in the air, the sun is orange, no rain, hot, humid, dust everywhere, difficulty in breathing, and rise in ashmatic attacks. All thanks to a somewhat docile Malaysian government when it comes to dealing with big-cousin-Indonesia, despite the Indonesia President apologizing to its neighbours last year that all possible measures will be taken to prevent a recurrence. With the worsening impact of global warming, especially the predicted worse effect from El Nino this year which has caused the worst drought in 20 years in West Timor, I will not "hold my breath" in seeing any improvement from the Indonesian government. Also, don't expect our BN government to react towards them the same way they reacted every time towards that "little red dot" down south, just recently over MM Lee's statements on the IDR. In the mean time, do whatever you can personally to minimize the horrible effect from this annual transborder environmental pollution and disaster.

Private TV and radio stations must not give air to Opposition

2007-07-02T10:50:00.001+08:00

So, after Zam-Zam-Alakazam bashed the BBC for giving coverage to Malaysia's opposition leaders, now the BN government is lame enough to actually have the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), a regulatory body concerning electronic media and communications, issue a black and white letter instructing the private TV and radio stations not to give coverage to the opposition, as well as not to air speeches by them. Instead of such a lame arse attempt at muzzling the media further and try monopolise information in this day of the information age, the MCMC should instead buck up and stop the SMS scam which have been screwing consumers for ages. Instead of blocking legitimate information from Malaysians, please go stop the politically powerful from fleecing Malaysians. And that should be your main job, not being a peon following orders detrimental to the interests of Malaysians.

Time for RELA to stop arresting REFUGEES!

2007-06-27T10:08:00.001+08:00

The various Burmese ethnic minorities fleeing Burma to Malaysia are registered as refugees by the UNHCR. Most of them are waiting to be relocated to another country eventually, yet while waiting they are contributing to our economy by doing menial jobs which most Malaysians would not even think of doing. Yet, even with valid UNHCR refugee cards, RELA again choose to ignore all international laws and raided the Burmese refugees on Jun 25 around the Jalan Imbi and Jalan San Peng area in downtown KL. 228 refugees were arrested and thrown into the Semenyih detention camp, among which 5 are pregnant women, and 30 are underaged including children.

When will this idiotic frankestein-ian creation of the Emergency period start understanding the basic difference between a refugee and an illegal/irregular immigrant? These people are escaping political and military persecution back home, and recognized and registerd by the UNHCR as valid refugees. Yet because of ignorance or political reasons the Malaysian government has refused thus far to recognize the good work done by the UNHCR, even on the most simple humanitarian basis. It is even more frustating when the Malaysian government not too long ago chose to "recognize" only the Rohingya Burmese as refugees by providing them work permits, but this seems to have hit a bad patch of road as well. Already RELA is acting almost above the law (they can simply crash down your door on the basis of suspicion...heck, even the PDRM needs a warrant of arrest and entry to enter your premise), and yet this band of ignorant merry-men is clamouring for more power!

Ironically one of those arrested was recently featured in The Star as the co-ordinator of a recent Burmese cultural event held in the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Read here for a look into the lives of the refugees, many of whom are just children. Read Lulu's take on this unfortunate turn of events which keeps recurring. To understand the difficulties faced by such refugees, as well as their very human faces, please click here and here.

MTUC confrontational?

2007-06-26T13:13:00.000+08:00

Yesterday MTUC successfully held a couple of demonstrations around the Klang Valley, demanding that the government introduce a minimum wage for the private sector. What is ironic is that Najib made the following comment after "warning" MTUC not to hold the picket:

Meanwhile Bernama quoted Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as saying that the picket would only cause ill-feelings.

He said that MTUC should not adopt a confrontational stance in its fight for a minimum wage for private sector employees, adding that the matter should be resolved through discussions.

(for rest of article, click here)

The problem is MTUC has been calling for a minimum wage with plenty of attempts to seek negotiation with the government for more than 8 years. And nothing fruitful has come about. The picket is MTUC's last resort, and with a planned nationwide one-day strike I am not even sure if the government will even care two hoots. At best they would ignore them, at worst they would perhaps use the ISA on the leaders claiming they're endangering national security and creating ill-will among the people towards the government. Of course, on the contrary, the government could suddenly have a turn of heart and decides to sit down and negotiate fruitfully. That would be a smarter way to do things considering how near the general election is, as well as the fact that a lot of workers, especially in the plantation sector, who are still earning less than RM300 a month. Even an Indon maid would not work for that these days.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2007-06-26T09:39:00.001+08:00

Today I will talk a little about something which me and my family have been trying to do what little part we could in reducing the amount of waste generated per household as well as reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission. CO2 emission is a big, if not the major, contributor to global warming. I am no expert in knowing all the mechanics of global warming as well as solid waste management, but I believe each one of us should at least be aware that whatever seemingly insignificant decisions we make in our daily lives we could potentially make the already bad situation worse.

The government recently announced that the Housing and Local Government will present the Solid Waste Management Bill to Cabinet, which after it gets approved will be tabled in Parliament for passing. According to Ong Ka Ting, one of the focus of the bill will be the practice of 3R - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - which will go into reducing the overall amount of solid waste generated by each household in Malaysia. In what way would the bill enforce garbage separation, I have no idea as I am not privy to its details (readers who know better please provide us with details). The other focus of the bill seems to be on the creation of a single corporation that will oversee and manage the current solid waste concessionaires, determining KPIs as well as strategies to be followed by them. Local authorities will play the role of watchdog as well as enforce laws governing waste collection and disposal. There will be a consumer tribunal for complaints as well as a "reasonable" charge which Najib says will depends on "what we (the government) think the public can afford to pay".

First on the matter of 3R. This is where Malaysians would have the most role to play, yet the hardest to control and enforce from the point of view of the government. We have no lack of media as well as NGO campaigns regarding the importance of recycling as well as the benefits, but all of us know how pathetic the result have been. I am not sure what is the exact cause of the problem. Perhaps it's more of a combination of factors - apathy, ignorance, hassle, lack of institutional support. Apathy is one difficult animal to tackle as it is usually easier to move a mountain then to change a person's attitude. Ignorance and hassle could be removed if people are willing to listen and learn why they could and should practice 3R. With the proposed bill, perhaps institutional support and enforcement could be strengthened.

I guess most of us know the problems we are facing regarding solid waste management in this country. People have to understand that our waste problem does not end with our garbage bag collected by the trucks. The traditional method that our country has been doing is to use landfills for the disposal of these waste, and overtime bury them with soil. But landfills requires huge plots of land and usually fills up very quickly due to the evergrowing enormous amount of garbage we produce daily. We have seen our fairshare of big landfills which ultimately have been closed down due to them reaching their capacity, as well as the suitability of the locations which used to be far away from residential areas, but are not anymore due to population and township growth. Some examples are the Kelana Jaya dumpsite (now filled with condos, a stadium, and commercial development), Subang Airport road (used to stink badly whenever you use the road to the airport, but now a residential area with condos and houses), Sri Kembangan/Air Hitam (which I am not mistaken was closed end of last year), and the Selayang landfill visible from the MRR2.

Readers would remember as well that one of the alternatives to landfills decided by the government was the use of incinerators. Particularly of the gigantic type as per the still-unknown-status Broga incinerator in Semenyih which courted controversy due to questions on its location in a catchment area as well as the Japanese contractor which has questionable projects back in its home country. Nobody like to have a waste processing plant behind their backyard (remember that the incinerator was first proposed to be in Puchong but was relocated due to residents' and political pressure) but the truth of the matter is with the amount of garbage we generate, something has to be done to cope with its ultimate disposal. Remember, the problem of garbage does not end after we see our bins beeing emptied into the dumpster truck. Let's face it, we will continue to have challenges in disposing of the amount of garbage we have. The government is not lacking in trying to tackle that problem, even though the idea of smaller, more efficient and manageable incinerators would be a better idea than the biggest incinerator of its kind in the world. What each of us Malaysians could do to play our part is to reduce the amount of garbage we produce each day.

If you look around your household today, you would be surprised at the number of things which are either made from recycled materials, or are recycleable. The same goes with the usual things we discard without thinking most of the time. How many of you have dumped a whole stack of newspaper (The Sun, especially since it's free) into the garbage bin? How many of you have chucked away your can of Coke or 100PLUS once you've emptied it? And how many of you have dumped empty cartons of milk and juice into the bin without even blinking an eye? Or chucked away envelopes once we opened letters? Our culture is such that we dumped almost everything we automatically think as waste into the garbage bin, usually without even thinking or batting an eyelid. It is no wonder then why we seem to face the problem of evergrowing household garbage contributing to filling up landfills faster than ever before. If each and everyone of us would just stop and think for just 10 seconds or so before we instinctively throw things away we would be able to reduce as much as half of garbage generation.

Once you get into this habit of stopping and questioning before you open up the lid of the bin and throw things in, the battle is already half won. The next thing will be to decide if the thing you no longer want could be reused or recycled. The number of materials one could recycle is huge, and better still, these recycleable waste is worth some money! I list some of the more common items here, which, of course, you should clean before storing:-

- aluminium cans, tins, foils: soft drinks, beer, juice, chocolate wrappers, cooking foils
- tins, cans: milk powder, condensed/evaporated milk, milo, beverage, canfood
- aseptic and virgin pulp packaging: milk cartons, juice cartons, beverage
- glass: glass bottles, jars, drinking glasses, mirrors
- PET (plastic) bottles: water bottles, soft drink, beverage
- mixed plastic: toys, packaging, oil packs, toiletries packaging, etc. you could determine if the plastic could be recycled by looking for the common recycle symbol printed on most of them. However, my principle is that I lump all plastics together as most could be melted down.
- paper: newspapers, envelopes, brochures, books, magazines, printing papers, unwanted documents, shredded paper, etc
- cardboard: boxes of all shapes and sizes, cardboard fillers, food box packaging
- wood: could be collected as garden organic waste by concessionaire
- batteries: try to use rechargeable ones, but batteries could be collected and recycled as well
- metals: worth quite a lot nowadays...why do you think manhole covers are missing, water meters and gate ornaments are stolen?
- monitors, tv, electrical items: there are collection centers, sometimes in the neighbourhood, where these are either stripped down or refurbished.

One way to organize these items is to have separate bags or boxes to store and separate them - hence the idea of garbage separation. I use bags which I store in my back kitchen. I usually collect and separate for some 3 months before I bring all of them down to a Alam Flora (the solid waste concessionaire for central Malaysia) recycling center where they would be weighed and I will be paid. The amount is not much (Alam Flora's rate is available here) but what is more important is our contribution towards solid waste management by reducing the amount of garbage that has to be carried away by the dumpster. By practising this, you would start to notice that most of the waste that ends up in the garbage bin are organic in nature which would have less problem degrading in landfills, and easily incinerated. It is not rocket science, and all of us could and should play our role. It is a habit which could be cultivated easily. I am proud to say that our office also encourages recycling, especially paper which we generate huge amount daily. We have separate bins for paper, aluminium, plastics, as well as batteries. Sadly though, a lot of staff still do not practise it as I usually see soft drink cans and newspapers in their wastepaper baskets.

What about reducing CO2 emission? The obvious way is to reduce private use of vehicles, carpool as much as possible, and use the public transport. However, transportation in Malaysia presents its own set of problems which makes it almost impossible (especially in Klang Valley) to reduce private vehicle use daily. But there is one thing you could do in your household - reduce electricity use. Most of the time we have the habit of leaving electrical equipment, especially audio/visual related ones, on standby mode. By switching off the electricity supply to all these "standby" equipment you could reduce up to 10% of electricity consumption, according to some studies. Turn them on only when you need to use them. Electrical ovens in the kitchen are good candidates to not let them run on standby mode. Use energy efficient light bulbs and tubes throughout the house as they produce more light and use much less electricity compared to incandescent bulbs.

Airconditioning consumes high levels of electricity, but that is because Malaysians have this habit of lowering down the temperature to 16 degrees C (the lowest possible)! In almost all cases setting the temperature to 23-25 deg C would ensure a most comfortable and cold enough room. If you couple that with a ceiling fan switched to low speed of 1 or 2, the temperature of the room would go even lower. This simple act would have ensured the airconditioning compressor to switch on only half the time. Not only do you reduce your monthly electricity bill, but you and your household also contribute to lowering overall CO2 emission from electricity generation as new demand could be met increasingly with existing power plants.

Recycling has become a habit of sorts in European countries, and have succeeded in reducing overall amount of solid waste that is generated, thus making it easier to manage them. On the contrary, the Americans are behaving almost like us in that they would throw everything without pause. Education and information dissemination through media campaigns and government involvement is key to changing Malaysians' attitude and behaviour with regards to this. However, I believe the government could also use law and enforcement to produce the intended habit and behaviour as people are usually to set in their ways to change. This is especially so when the benefits from practising 3R are not that direct and visible to them. Thus, the other method to be employed would be a somewhat punitive one.

There has been talk by the government for some years about enforcing compulsory garbage separation. It is not an easy thing to do, and I am not sure if the newest bill has ways of tackling this. We could learn from the Taipei example where to encourage and enforce garbage separation and reduction, Taipei households could use only a special type of garbage bag, failing which the garbage would not be collected. These DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) garbage bags are expensive and is a form of taxation, or fee, for garbage collection and processing. The use of such bags produces a form of "pay as you throw" service. The idea is that you would think twice or thrice before you simply throw things into the expensive DEP bags. The DEP bags are the only non-recycleable waste garbage bags which the garbage collectors will collect. However, all other recycleable items can be separated and packed into other types of bags and they would be collected as well as long as the collectors could see that they have been separated. These separated and recycleable items are collected by special recycling trucks (not unlike the garden organic waste collection trucks we have now currently).

The Malaysian government could implement something similar here as the concept has proven itself. However, some of the challenges I see is the habit of Malaysians throwing garbage into a little corner or under a tree by the roadside. This is not only a problem in rural or urban squatter areas. In fact, in most middle class residential areas you will always have some social misfits who would insist in dumping by the roadside. I have seen similar cases in my area, and have even filed complaints with the local council. I cannot understand why these misfits and social scourge would not want to leave their garbage in their own garbage bin to be collected, but would rather walk the length of the road and dump them under a tree. But this is something which could be reduced by comprehensive enforcement, especially when the proposed bill is focusing on local authorities playing the enforcement and watchdog role in solid waste management. Residents could also play a role by always having a lookout for such misfits and report accordingly to the authorities. Trust me, the local authorities are more than happy to act on your complaints as long as it is informative and detailed enough. The Shah Alam City Council even has an online complain system which works, and acted upon effectively!

To recap, all of us can and should play our role in helping to reduce the amount of household garbage we produce daily. Pause and think before you instinctively throw things into the garbage bin. Reuse, and separate and recycle whatever that could be, and bring them to the various recycle centers run by solid waste management concessionaires. Use energy efficient bulbs, switch off completely electrical equipment not in use, and set the airconditioning temperature to no less than 22 degrees C. If possible, reduce private vehicle use for commuting to and from work. Be also a responsible Malaysian by not dumping garbage anywhere you want. Report such misfits when you encounter them to the local authorities. While we wait for the bill to be tabled in Parliament, we could do all this, and continue to do them after the passage of the bill.

Let's hope that the bill would include practical plans to ensure Malaysians would reduce and recycle as much as possible, while producing the intended habit and behaviour with respect to solid waste management through appropriate enforcement and "pay as you throw". Already the business of recycling in the private sector in this country has grown quite a bit as there is money to be made from "garbage". The remaining part of the equation is us, Malaysians. After all, we do not want our country to face a perpetual problem of opening and closing landfills, building mega incinerators instead of smaller ones which is more manageable and geographically distributed out evenly, and at the end of the day see the problem get worse because we, Malaysians, fail to play our part in reducing our garbage.

OR

Amnesty International Report on "Comfort Women"

2007-06-22T15:01:00.000+08:00

Something I got from Josh Hong's article. A very thorough report by Amnesty International in which it documents the unimaginable sufferings women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during WW2 have to endure, as well as how the Japanese government has repeatedly try to wash its hands off it by subverting history. Perhaps that will change when House Resolution 121 is finally tabled into the House of Representatives, and gets supported. It's time these women get the official apology from the Japanese government for these past atrocities, as well as reparation as per international law on war crimes. They have fought for so long just so they could bring a proper closure to this terrible chapter in their lives, and it is only right the Japanese government acts responsibly to contribute to that closure. It's time to admit to the stark truth of history, apologize unreservedly, and bring about its proper closure. But an ironic truth reading through the report is that similar modus operandi is being employed today to trick and abduct girls and women into the slave trade worldwide - by promising well paid jobs but upon arrival forced into the flesh trade. And this serious problem of human trafficking doesn't seem like it would end any time soon.

Welcome to Kelantan!

2007-06-20T13:39:00.000+08:00

Yeah, Tuan Guru Dato' Nik Aziz is infamous for real snafus when it comes to various statements. But actions speak louder than words. All pictures courtesy of Kickdefella Sheih. The last picture is of Husam Musa passing the money from the Skim Takaful Kifalah to help defray the funeral cost. Yes, the Kelantan PAS government has its fair share of problems. But the actions of its key leaders speak volumes compare to what we have elsewhere, especially when we have "Semuanya OK!" in "developed" Selangor.

Petition Against Crime in Johor Bahru

2007-06-20T10:50:00.000+08:00

There is a signature campaign for a petition to display Malaysians' anger, anxiety, displeasure, and increasing worry about the rising crime rate in the country, particularly in Johor Bahru where a spate of robbery-gang-rape incidents happened. This petition is organized by the Persekutuan Tiong-Hua Johor Bahru, and in case some of you jokers want to turn this active citizenship activity into something racial, please remember that the police fella in-charge of crime busting in Johor is a Chinese Malaysian, and he was booed off the stage during a recent dialogue organized by the same federation. Crime knows no colour, and the recently arrested gang suspected of the robbery-gang-rape crimes are Chinese. This is an issue which affects all Malaysians, regardless of your race, religion, or class. Even the previous IGP, Tun Hanif Omar, has written on this a few time, as well as pointing out how the police force should really buck up and regain the confidence of the public. But instead of being the protector of the public, the police force, ironically, chose to clamp down on the peaceful demonstration against the worrying crime rate outside the Johor Menteri Besar's residence, arresting two people for distributing flyers. It's time citizens stand up against crime, and show your support by signing the petition, as well as make your vote count in the coming elections. You could view the list of signatures here.

I was wrong...Kua's May 13 book will not be banned

2007-06-19T11:03:00.000+08:00

I was so sure the authorities will ban Dr Kua's May 13 book, especially when juvenile officials from the Internal Security Ministry decided to loot MPH MidValley and stalk the doors of Kinokuniya KLCC Suria to ensure the books were not sold there. However, in yesterday's written reply parliamentary question by MP Chow Kon Yeow, the PM has assured that the book will not be banned after it has been examined by the the ministry. I applaud such a decision, and I am happy that I was wrong. May I suggest that the PM who is also the Internal Security Minister order a review of the various banned books, including those by Karen Armstrong. After all, one can hardly expect Malaysians to achieve 1st world mentality if the government continues to decide what books we can read, and what information we can access, which is why the proposed Task Force to monitor websites must be treated by all Malaysians with concern, especially with the government's history of power abuse. For all you know, all blogsites such as this insignificant one could be blocked one day. Instead of following the Indonesian path, we could end up following Thailand's path.

UM stays put...

2007-06-14T16:21:00.000+08:00

...and I hope it's not only "for now". From The Star, Universiti Malaya has issued a statement to categorically deny that they are relocating, nor are they in any negotiations with any parties to discuss relocation. Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed also dismissed the earlier news as "absolutely not true", and claims it should be staying put due to its historic location. For now we can rest our heads better. Let's hope it stays that way always.

Universiti Malaya land is targeted

2007-06-13T15:55:00.000+08:00

Universiti Malaya, or UM, is synonymous with Lembah Pantai. Ever since it first started in its current location back in 1959, the place has been a haven of peace, serenity, and tranquility for the tens of thousands of students who have walked through the campus, as well as a haven for the thousands of academics to engage in their scholarly pursuits. The peace and tranquility of the campus is further enhanced by a lake right in the middle of its grounds, as well as a jungle within an urban area where wildlives still have a chance to roam freely. Development in the campus has thus far been very carefully done without changing the original landscape and terrain much, and to me it is a model campus which other new universities should emulate.

Alas, precisely because the campus land is situated right between two upscale housing and commercial development (Bangsar and Section 16, PJ), a developer has decided to entice the authorities to consider surrendering the pristine campus in return for a bigger piece of undeveloped land at Sepang. Apparently, according to a Business Times report yesterday, GuocoLand Bhd - which is owned by tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan of Hong Leong fame - has made a bid to turn the hallowed campus grounds into an upscale residential and commercial development township with an estimated gross development value of RM10 billion.

I don't know what to make out of this. Government policies thus far have seem to be favouring commercial property development over education or heritage. When so many cities in the world are synonymous with their universities which have their campuses in the cities themselves, and with pride in a rich history, we seem to think that it is better for an institution of higher learning and research to make way for more immediate profits. Nevermind the rich history and heritage of our nation's first university. Nevermind its model for campus development that leaves the natural terrain and foliage intact. Nevermind the fact that the close proximity of the UM campus to KL and PJ allows its students and academics to be more fully involved in societal activities. Maybe by moving them to a remote area the government thinks it will then be able to better control and police the students and academicians since that is what they have always aspired to do.

I hope against all hope that this would not happen, and would not be allowed to happen. But seeing past precedents on how even buildings of historical significance were torn down without so much as a fuss, I may be day dreaming. Perhaps appealing to the hearts and emotions of the countless of UM graduates to stand together and make an appeal against such an eventuality is the only way. I will end this with Dr Syed Husin Ali's appeal on this:

"The UM has developed into an institution with a strong historical and academic tradition. It has served higher education well and contributed considerably towards the process of nation building. A large number of its graduates have been and are important political and administrative leaders of the country. Universiti Malaya and Lembah Pantai are one, the same and inseparable. There should be no attempt to separate them, especially if entirely for commercial purposes that will enrich only a handful few who are already extremely rich."

Update: Rocky has a take on this as well. If this turns out to be true, very likely nothing will be safe. The national monument, lake gardens, zoo negara (there was a plan to move the zoo to Batang Kali or Sepang), muzium negara, etc will be easily swapped as well.

Swine industry in Kelantan

2007-06-12T13:12:00.001+08:00

Before readers, PAS members, and extremists start labeling me as anti-Islam, or trying to mock Islam, let me categorically state that I have no intention whatsoever to mock your religion, your beliefs, as well as to insult anybody. The reason why I brought this up is to propose to the Kelantan PAS government the potential to create a source of economic revenue, create jobs which are higher up the value chain, as well as re-cast the entire image of PAS not only in the eyes of Malaysians (especially non-Muslims), but also internationally. I would also like to state that this post is strictly my personal view and not my party's stand. I am not an economist, so my apologies if my take on certain things in this post is errorneous.

Pig, or swine, farming in Malaysia has traditionally been to fulfill mostly local consumption needs, with some exports to Singapore (before the Nipah virus outbreak in 1998). According to some statistics collected by the Perak Department of Veterinary Services, Negeri Sembilan used to have the largest number of pigs until 1998 when the entire industry in that state was wiped out. From then on, Perak has been consistently the largest producer of pork in the country. Total pig population in 2005 stands at 1.45 million, with Kelantan having only 450,000. What is interesting as well is that the majority (~60%) of pigs in 2006 are farmed in farms of sizes between 500-5000 pigs each, with only 18.8% farmed in >10,000 size farms. The number of farms in the 500-5000 pig population forms 73% of the total number of pig farms in the peninsula. Kelantan has no commercial-scale farms to speak of, having 95 backyard farms.

The Malaysian swine industry has always been having a less than favourable reputation. Issues such as environmental pollution, hygiene, health, disease, social, and more recently the use of banned growth enhancers, have plagued the industry for years. As far as I could remember (readers who are more informed on this issue, please correct me if I am wrong), the government has not been actively involved in monitoring and regulating the industry, let alone encouraging its growth. What has been more common, as in the case of Melaka, was in restricting the scale of the pig farms, placing very rigid conditions for continual operation, as well as closing down farms with the pretext of moving them to a special area. Perhaps the inability, or lack of incentives, to enlarge and modernize these pig farms is the main cause on why pig production levels in Malaysia is well below other pig producing countries in the region, as well as having a high production cost coupled with significantly lower quality pork.

However, if one is to look at the world's consumption pattern of meat according to a report, pork is the most consumed meat compared to any other. Although facing pressure from poultry, pork consumption is expected to rise due to improved efficieny in pork production, lower cost, as well as higher quality products. Although being the world's largest pork producer, China imports a substantial amount of pork from the EU, mainly in the form of specialized meat or byproducts. With the ascension of China into the WTO, tariffs on imported meat will fall encouraging more competitive pricing for imported pork and pork products. Moreover, with the growing affluence of China's urban population, demand for more pork products other than the traditional muscle is expected to grow. Exports of such products into China will be able to fulfill the demand since 80% of China's pork production is confined to small family operations mainly concerned with self-consumption. Even if pork imports is only about 2-3% of China's domestic consumption, when you consider a population of 1.3bil that percentage translates to some 26-39mil consumer base. This is an export potential which Malaysia could seize, especially if we take shipping distance into consideration (Malaysia is so much nearer to China compared to the EU or Americas).

Considering the potential of pork product export as well as the various production and social issues faced by pig farmers in almost all the states in Malaysia (specifically in the peninsula), the Kelantan PAS government should seriously consider bucking the trend to seize the opportunity, and set up a major pork production area which will set new standards in production cost and quality. The relatively low labour cost in the state is also a plus point towards lowering the production cost.

For a business plan to have a higher chance of success, minimizing threats is required, and it is due to this that proposing any other kind of livestocks would not be that viable. The BN state governments would easily be able to compete in the farming of other livestocks and Kelantan would be hard pressed to differentiate itself enough to attract investors. Therefore, choosing a livestock which is totally unexpected by the other competing BN states, and one which has high export potential, makes economical sense. A few key things to differentiate this area from the rest, and to ensure that current issues plaguing the industry could be resolved or prevented, will be to ensure the following:

- Large (>10,000 pigs) farms. Considering that most farms in Malaysia are small, a focus on larger farms will attract serious big players as well as reduce overall per pig production cost (economy of scale). This is also to avoid competing with the other states for farms of the size of less than 10,000 which forms the majority of farms in the peninsula.
- Farming facilities are modern and uses latest farming and veterinary technology, ensuring hygienic conditions and minimizing disease outbreak, increasing productivity level, as well as producing higher quality pork.
- Centralized, efficient, and effective waste treatment facilities for the entire area to prevent the usual problems of environmental pollution.
- Vertically integrated with dedicated feed mills, genetic selection instead of relying on imported breeding pigs, breeding units, veterinary care and research center, slaughter centers (humane processes), as well as packaging centers. This could also include other pork meat processing centers to product meat byproducts.
- Efficient and effective logistics and supply chain infrastructure to make it easy for products from the area to be distributed and exported.

Considering the amount of activities that would be required to make the above area a reality, one could see the economic potential for Kelantan. It will create jobs, create projects which could go to the local companies, attract investment, as well as carving a niche and name for Kelantan itself for an industry which the other states in Malaysia seem to want to discard. Bear in mind that when PAS came to power in Terengganu in 1999, the state government under Datuk Seri Hadi Awang actually lifted a 10 year ban on pig farming in that state. Granted that nothing much has happened since the lifting, such a suggestion to the Kelantan PAS government to seriously look into this industry with big export potential should not be seen as against the party's ideology. In fact, the one advantage I see the Kelantan PAS government gaining from adopting such a proposal will be in politics.

By creating a potentially large and profitable industry which benefits the state and its people, albeit an industry which is considered to be not inline with its religious ideology, PAS would have shown Malaysians, especially non-Muslims, and international watchers, that it is not the extremist and Talibanistic party which is usually in the mind of people. It will also show to the people that they are fully capable of implementing economic policies for the greater good of people regardless of race and religion, as well as potentially attracting foreign investments of other kinds in the longer run. The Kelantan PAS government would have a chance to prove the BN wrong that they are incapable of bringing economic progress to the state. Of course, Umno would then try to paint PAS as being "un-Islamic" in doing such a thing, but I think PAS would have no difficulty rebutting them.

PAS has been trying hard to repackage and reshape themselves to win more votes, but the most effective manner to do that would be to do something which is perceived as totally in opposite of their ideology. As they always say, actions speak louder than words. Their leaders have shown that they could walk-the-talk in their lifestyles by not living in grand official residences, which is by and large commended and respected by most people. Now they could also show that they can be practical in economic development as well. The Kelantan PAS government has an Economic Planning committee headed by Husam Musa which thus far have managed to bring in a China company in a JV to mine gold in Sokor, Tanah Merah. Perhaps they could also seek experts from China in development of modern pig farms or vertically integrated pork production facilities to kick start such a project, as well as to have good management and oversight over the entire development and running to ensure its success. With little or no help from the BN federal government, the Kelantan PAS government really have to think-out-of-the-box to bring better economic progress to the state, and that would mean serious consideration of any ideas, no matter how outrageous at first glance.

Note: The position regarding pig farming, albeit in a different manner, has been taken by Barisan Alternatif in 1999 in response to the Nipah virus tragedy that struck down the Negeri Sembilan pig farming industry. The press release concerning the tragedy specifically mentioned how PAS views the issue, as well as pig farming in general.

PKR was right about SMART

2007-06-12T11:03:00.000+08:00

From The Star today:

SMART toll set at RM2

KUALA LUMPUR: Users of the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) will be charged a RM2 toll from 11.59pm on June 14, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said.

He said the toll would be increased again in three years, adding that the price was right as the tunnel concessionaire had forked out RM640mil to build it.

Noting that there was no Government subsidy involved, he said: “In any part of the world where tunnels are built, the toll is higher.

(for full article, click here)

Looks like PKR was right after all on the toll rates for SMART as well as the fact that there will be an increase from 1 Jan 2010...some two half years (or 3 according to Samy) after commencement of toll collection. So Samy was indeed "right" for fuming at PKR!

Anyway, back to the main issue at hand, excuses are starting to fly regarding the Sunday evening flash flood. This is what the Drainage and Irrigation Department Deputy Director Ahmad Fuad has to say:

...the floods around Dataran Merdeka and Masid Jamek were caused by Sungai Kelang bursting its banks at the confluence of Sungai Gombak.

"A storm which causes the river to overflow – that is exactly what the SMART flood tunnel is being built to overcome," he said at a press conference organised by Kuala Lumpur City Hall here yesterday.

(for full article, click here)

The sad truth is that while the concessionaire was eager to open the road portion of the tunnel so that they could start collecting toll earlier, the floodwater diversion function would only be operational next month! Common logic would have it that the main focus of the concessionaire would be to complete the flood diversion components as fast as possible. They are now giving reasons that they have yet to complete the some 200 dams and retention ponds that form the floodwater diversion solution, and could only be ready next month. Yet no reasons seem forthcoming on why they could have the road portion operational so quickly and start toll collection when the main function of the tunnel is not even ready!

Meanwhile, while fingers start pointing around (nothing new in bolehland), Malaysians have to suffer the indignation of yet another damaging flood which was avoidable. Offices, houses, places of worship, carparks, goods, books, cars, and shops were damaged one way or another. Click here and here for more details. With the unpredictable weather we are facing this month and for some months to come, I do hope the PM's outburst would at least kick butts and ensure that tunnel will function as it's supposed to be ASAP, and prevent another devastating round of flood.

SMART toll while KL flooded, again!

2007-06-11T15:42:00.000+08:00

Not too long ago Samy Vellu said PKR could go to hell when PKR Youth Leaders held a press conference revealing details about the SMART tunnel toll structure, which, among other things, include the starting toll rate of RM2 and raising it subsequently by RM1 every four years after 2009.

Source: Malaysiakini

Looks like Samy Vellu could be excused for his outburst because he was genuinely upset that PKR could be right about what was supposed to be a state secret! Today he announced that the SMART toll will begin this Friday, with an announcement on the rate in one or two days.

When pressed if the toll rate will be reasonable, he insists he can't promise that since the tunnel costs RM1.9bil to build. Hence, I would be very surprised if he pulls a rabbit out of the hat by announcing a less than RM2 toll rate. Even if that is the case, don't expect the concessionaire to tremble in fear because whatever shortfalls will be paid by the government directly from taxpayers' money (as per all the other toll road concession agreements). By the way, since we're on this, we are still waiting for the government to live up to its promise to make public all the toll road concession agreements.

However, the main rationale for the construction of the SMART tunnel was and is to mitigate the devastating impact of flash floods across Kuala Lumpur whenever the Klang River or Gombak River overflow their banks. I am not sure if the storm water diversion "feature" of the tunnel has been put into operation, but the horrible flood in various areas of Kuala Lumpur last night shouldn't have happened, theoretically, if it is.

Source: The Star

If it is not in operation, why the delay compared to opening up the tunnel to traffic? If it is, in fact, operating, then last night's flash flood is but one in the series of problems and woes facing the construction industry, especially when related to government projects. Not enough with cracks, falling ceilings, and flooded rooftops, to have a multi-billion project fail to live up to its raison d'etre will be a severe indictment on the utter incompetence and inability of the government to make right decisions and ensure the right people do the right job.

For the sake of the nation, as well as for the sake of countless of KL motorists who have to face the nightmare of congestion and damaged cars due to the recurring flash floods, the government has to come clean on this matter. Bottom line is this - the SMART tunnel was built to solve the damaging recurrence of flash floods in KL. The tolled road running through it is but a creative method to fund for the construction of the tunnel as well as earn fat profits for the concessionaire from a multi-year concession period. If the tunnel cannot do its work, then the whole reason for the tunnel's existence in the first place would fall like a deck of cards. Not only will taxpayers and motorists be burdened with yet another privatised "toll-road", we would still have to live with the economic consequences of frequent flash floods in KL.

Public cord blood banking in Malaysia

2007-06-08T11:11:00.000+08:00

I was doing quite a number of read-ups regarding cord blood banking when my child was about to be born, and decided that private cord blood banks are more interested in making money by appealing to the parents' misplaced sense of "biological insurance". Almost all mainstream medical professional bodies are against the idea, while promoting that a public cord blood bank would be more beneficial and make more sense. Singapore is the first in this region to have a public cord blood bank, started in 2005, and thus far has proven to be a blessing for children having to undergo stem cell transplant as they would have a higher chance of finding a match in a blood bank consisting mostly of Asian donors. The Malaysian Ministry of Health has voiced concern over the public hype over these private cord blood bank, but what I find surprising is that they did not publicise the fact that a public cord blood bank has clear benefits and should be the way to go.

What is even more surprising, and I kick myself for this, is that there is already a public cord blood bank in Malaysia, run by the National Blood Centre! An NST article on this on 14 Aug, 2006 reported that at the time of print, the cord blood bank has only 1000 units donated by parents delivering at the KL General Hospital maternity ward. Since the benefits and potential of a public cord blood bank are proven (we could look down south across the causeway as the best example), the Ministry of Health, or the National Blood Centre should really ramp up their public awareness program on why parents should seriously consider donating their newborn cord blood to the cord blood bank.

As a start, they should at least get donors from all the general hospitals in the Klang Valley and the main hospitals in all the states. Then through public awareness programs using the media, talk shows, forums, they should encourage private hospitals to get onto the program as well. Afterall, providing an informed choice to parents is the least hospitals could do. Today, too many parents are not aware of what are facts and what are hypes around cord blood. The Ministry of Health, together with the National Blood Centre and the hospitals (public and private) should come together and have a coherent and effective plan to raise awareness and educate Malaysians on this matter, and at the same time build up the cord blood units in the national cord blood bank. It would be a waste and disaster if we have a real gem in the making, but have no will to grow it bigger and make full use of its potential.

Proton share price rises...

2007-06-08T10:23:00.001+08:00

...but VW and Sime Darby denies the earlier report in the Edge Financial Daily. VW has this to say when asked about the report:

"This report is definitely wrong and only rumor without substance," Andreas Meurer, a Wolfsburg, Germany-based spokesman of Volkswagen, said in a phone interview today. "We will have a round of talks soon."

Source: Bloomberg

So, it seems like the flip flop has not stopped, yet. But the VW spokesperson's admission that there will be another round of talks soon confirms Azman Mokhtar's statement that no decision has been made about Proton's partner yet, and that VW is asking for more talks. This despite Pak Lah's earlier outburst. My friend has been speculating that all this wayang could have been just an attempt to shore up Proton's falling share prices, but he wasn't brave enough to bet his money on his gut feeling. Looks like he missed out on a potential killing since Proton share price has shot up as high as 21% (it closed at 10% higher than previous day). But with the "denial" of VW, Sime Darby (which didn't say anything more) and the silence of Proton and Khazanah, it would seem that the Edge's "rumour" could very well turn out to be true after all, following the step of Pak Lah's romance story. For the sake of the country and Malaysian consumers, and to give Proton a chance to survive and grow, this "rumour" better be true at the end of it all.

VW and Sime Darby to rescue Proton?

2007-06-07T14:24:00.000+08:00

That is according to the Edge Financial Daily, picked up by Reuters here. VW is to take up a 51% stake in a new company, with remaining 49% owned by currently listed Proton. VW will have management control as well in the new entity which will be injected with Proton's current manufacturing, R&D, and engineering assets. Khazanah's current 43% stake in Proton will be bought by Sime Darby. So, after all the flip flop (what is new?) on making a decision on Proton, I hope this will bring final closure to the whole sorry story. Let's face it, Proton without a foreign carmaker who has proven itself to turn-around failing brands will be a dead duck some time this time next year. The estimated RM500mil in cash that they have will last them at most 1 year if they continue to see dropping sales. Already there were talks among certain quarters on a dreaded taxpayer bailout, which is not unlikely considering that to cut down on their dealer network they have been asking the government to pay RM300,000 each to dealers asked to close.

For all that misplaced talk about national pride, it is no pride to waste taxpayers' money on propping up a doomed company. A company which all the while has profited immensely from selling poor quality products to customers who are forced to have limited choices due to the government's protectionist policies. Whereas the other national car company took the initial opportunity given to build up their capabilities in churning out desirable, affordable, and good quality cars, Proton has chosen to continue selling 20-year old cars, churn out models which appeal to a very niche segment of car buyers, as well as not being able to come up with new models fast enough. Worse still, all attempts to carve a market for themselves outside of Malaysia were failures due to pricing, branding, and just lousy products. It is inevitable considering the global car market and industry today that Proton will fail as an independent car manufacturer.

Instead of complete closure of the company and factories causing a ripple effect down the supply chain, selling it off to VW with full management, engineering and production control will be a much better decision. That way at least jobs could still be kept, and good suppliers will still be around. Moreover, 49% of the new company to be created will still be in Malaysian hands and any turnaround of Proton will be beneficial to the Malaysian shareholders as well. Just as in the Skoda brand, nobody would question Proton as a Malaysian brand even if it is very likely that they will be variants based on VW platforms. At the end of the day it will be a win-win-win situation for all. Having a smaller piece of a much bigger pie will always be better than having a big piece of a tiny, or worse rotten and inedible, pie. I, for one, will be happy if Proton could survive and thrive with this new arrangement, albeit with a difference in character.

Another "rumour" and "lie" becoming true?

2007-06-06T12:27:00.000+08:00

Another newsbreak from Rocky's Bru who not too long ago was accused of spreading lies about the PM "collapsing" (Kickdefella Sheih insisted the PM "fell asleep" instead) in Lumut while giving a speech. Apparently the rumoured romance between Pak Lah and Jean Danker is proving to be true. According to Rocky, the Cabinet will announce after their Wednesday Cabinet meeting today that our PM and Jean Danker will wed this Saturday, 9 June 2007. Will this prove to be another "rumour" or "internet lie" becoming the truth eventually? Malaysiakini has this breaking news as well. Read Raja Petra Kamaruddin's take on this. He was the first who broke the "news" not too long ago about Pak Lah's relationship with Jean, or Jeanne, Danker. Other sources include Bernama, The Star, and the NST.

Courtesy of Malaysiakini

Idris plays hardball with Tony, again

2007-06-05T13:05:00.000+08:00

From The Star today:

MAS wants audit on planes

By WONG SAI WAN

VANCOUVER: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has asked for an independent audit on the 12 planes currently used by FAX to operate the Rural Air Services before it takes over the routes on Oct 1, its managing director Datuk Idris Jala said.

Idris said the audit was to ensure that the planes – seven Fokker F50s and five Twin Otters – were “in the same operational condition” as when MAS handed them over to FAX in August last year.

(for the rest of the article, click here)

After boasting that Air Asia will be able to run the local routes in a much more efficient and profitable manner than MAS, they did an about turn and "persuaded" the government to force MAS to take back the rural air services which was given to Air Asia in an air route rationalization exercise not too long ago. Hats off to Idris who showed he has the guts to stand up to such bullying by insisting that the planes servicing the rural routes be audited to ensure they are airworthy, as well as some taxpayers' money to be used to subsidise those loss-making routes. The subsidy in this instance would be justifiable since it is more of a social service rather than commercial service (I don't think anyone would be able to make money flying these rural routes), and MAS' turnaround success thus far is based on running it purely as a commercial entity. The independent audit, to my mind, is not only a business move (those who use them and potentially broken them must fix them), but also one which places the safety of passengers and crews at the top.

All in all, the leadership shown and decisions made by Idris are showing clear tangible results - a profitable airline again, and a Malaysian company which will make all Malaysians proud. As the plan unfolds further, let's hope that Idris and team will be able to resolve one major outstanding issue in this MAS saga - that of the ownership, purchase, and leasing of the planes themselves. These are currently financed and the losses borned by taxpayers through Penerbangan Malaysian Bhd (PMB). It is only right that when MAS is flying high again, they should have the responsibility to take the planes back, and correct whatever problems left.

Altantuya trial bombshell

2007-06-05T09:48:00.000+08:00

"Interference by third parties in my defence preparation and trial has put me in the position not being able to carry out my duty to defend my client to the best of my ability"

This is what Zulkifli Noordin, just-ex-defense lawyer for chief inspector Azilah Hadri, one of the accused in the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu, said to withdraw himself from representing his just-ex-client. He even added that the interference from third parties (whom he refused to reveal the names) went as far as attempting to interfere with the proposed defence of his client for the purpose of "protecting and for the benefit of certain parties". With so many sudden changes in such a high profile murder case, from the change of judge to the change of trial date to the change of lawyers and now change of prosecutors (which in turned caused a 2 weeks delay to the trial), one just cannot blame Malaysians from wagging their tongues furiously. Zulkifli, who was refused the opportunity to read his statement in the court by the judge, in fact made the situation even muddier with his allegations of interference. One can only speculate on the persons and level of interference (which I assume would not be too uncommon even in much lesser cases), but such a statement can only serve to feed further Malaysians' appetite for conspiracy theories.

Anyway, this delay has caused much frustration and shock among the defense lawyers, not to mention Altantuya's father and her 2 cousins who came here for an 8-day trip paid for by taxpayers. If not for anything else, such a series of turn of events is a blatant waste on taxpayers' money which could be better spent fixing the cracks and leakages in the newly opened Jalan Duta court complex.

Flip flop in Bahasa...

2007-06-05T09:44:00.001+08:00

From Bahasa Kebangsaan to Bahasa Malaysia to Bahasa Melayu, and now back to Bahasa Malaysia. Such a "groundbreaking" return to a more inclusive term for our national language, following logic, should have been trumpeted around town. But the odd thing is that it only appeared in 2 newspapers - The Star (English) and Sin Chew daily (Mandarin). Why no news about this at all in the Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Kebangsaan newspapers? Is it another blatant case of saying nice-to-hear things to targeted racial groups (as well as language groups) in order to earn some brownie points for the upcoming general election? YB Lim has more on this in his blog.

English Forum: Malaysia after Lina Joy

2007-06-04T16:26:00.001+08:00

Updated! The DAP will be hosting an English forum on the Lina Joy case, titled "Malaysia after Lina Joy". Details below. Please attend if you could.

Date: 7 June 2007
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Hotel Armada, Petaling Jaya (opposite the PJ Hilton, across the Federal Highway)

Speakers:
Ambiga Sreenivasan - Bar Council President
Yusri Muhammad - ABIM President
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim - PKR Secretary-General New!
Dr Azmi Sharom - Associate Professor of Law, Universiti Malaya New!
Leonard Teoh - Legal Advisor to MCCBCHS
Lim Kit Siang - Opposition Leader
Lim Guan Eng - DAP Secretary-General

Chairperson - Tony Pua

Admission is FREE. Do bring friends and concerned Malaysians. All are welcome.

Indelible ink for elections!

2007-06-04T11:19:00.001+08:00

Updated! A little late, but this was what was conveyed to DAP by the Election Commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman. The use of indelible ink as per many developing countries to prevent the incidence of multiple voting by a single person will be adopted for use in the coming general election. However, Abdul Rashid gave a caveat:

- if there is a need to amend relevant legislations such as the Election (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981.
- the material of the ink to be used as to make it impossible to be erased quickly.

This is most encouraging considering that the EC chairperson has made plenty of nice-to-hear statements before, but when pushed by the opposition and citizen election watchdog organizations, he would made an about turn and deny the EC has any problems running elections, or that the electoral roll is full of problematic voters such as dead people. In fact, he initially dismissed the proposal to ink fingers of voters as archaic. However, considering that the general election is speculated to very likely happen by end of this year, I wonder if the EC would be fast enough to "research" the two identified issues and come up with a positive decision to enable them to implement it in the coming round. The use of indelible ink would not resolve the issue of "dead" voters coming out of the grave to vote during elections, as per the various documented cases, but at least it would resolve a big portion of the major concern regarding repeat voters.

As an aside, a DAP delegation headed by SG Lim Guan Eng met up with the EC chairperson and team on Friday presented to the EC a 10-point memorandum on reforming the electoral system to ensure clean, free, fair and impartial elections. Click here to read more.

Source: Malaysiakini

Meanwhile, PAS who welcomed the EC decision has also stated that it will meet with the EC soon to discuss two other outstanding election issues which they argue are impediments to a fair and clean election. They are calling for the abolition of postal voting which has been controversial in all elections, as well as ensuring the integrity of the electoral roll.

Update (12:49pm): Just noticed that the Sunday Star has an article on how the BN parties are rejecting the use of indelible ink in elections. Such reaction is not surprising as any advantage that they have from the current way of running elections they would like to keep. Umno's excuse of using a biometric system (because our country should be "moving forward") is not too convincing. The EC chief has said that they have looked into the use of such a system but decided against it due to the cost involved (estimated at RM30mil) as well as it being used only every 5 years or so. Considering how fast technology evolves, such a decision is more than appropriate. Also, if you've watched a recent episode of the documentary "Mythbusters", fingerprint readers are not exactly that tamper-proof as they claim to be.

MCA has an even more interesting reason on why they consider the idea "does not make sense." - they are not sure of the material used in the making of the ink. Hello? The EC has stated this is one factor which requires studying. Isn't such a concern a bit presumptuous and jumping the gun? Does it also mean if the ink material is "acceptable", MCA would change its mind? Also, rejecting it because it's a common system employed in African nations (the last I remember, India uses it too) is not good enough a reason. If our EC can only run elections in a third-worldy manner, then it is important to use third-worldly methods to ensure at least some semblance of fair and clean elections.