Sleepless night preceded Jackson's death

(CNN) -- Michael Jackson couldn't sleep.

A coroner preliminarily has concluded Michael Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, court documents say.

Maybe it was anxiety over his upcoming comeback concert series in London, England. Perhaps his body was trying to process too many different medications.

The reason may never be known, but a sworn affidavit makes clear that the King of Pop couldn't get rest the night before he died on June 25.

The affidavit, from Detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department, outlines probable cause for search warrants on the offices of doctors who are thought to have treated Jackson.

Yet it also opens a window into Jackson's final hours, revealing information about the singer's treatment and the drugs given him by Dr. Conrad Murray, his personal physician, before his death.

Based on interviews, visits to Jackson's home as well as records and documents gathered during the investigation, the affidavit provides the following account of Jackson's last days:

In May, Jackson hired Murray, a cardiologist. The singer was spending long days rehearsing for concerts that he saw as crucial to reviving his career.

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For six weeks, Murray told police that he treated Jackson for insomnia. He said he had been giving the singer an intravenous drip with 50 milligrams of propofol, diluted with lidocaine, every night to help him sleep.

Jackson was already familiar with propofol, a powerful anesthetic, Murray said. The singer even called it his "milk" because of its milky appearance, he said.

With the concerts approaching, Jackson started to need these drugs every night, Murray said -- and the doctor said he worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to propofol. He wanted to wean Jackson off the drug.

Three days before Jackson's death -- on June 22 -- Murray gave the singer a combination of drugs that he hoped gradually would move the singer off propofol.

That mixture involved propofol, the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam (known by its brand name, Ativan) and midazolam (known as Versed). It succeeded in helping Jackson to sleep for that night and the next, Murray said.

But by the night of June 24, Jackson again apparently was unable to sleep.

At 1:30 a.m. on June 25, Murray decided to forgo the propofol in favor of 10 milligrams of Valium. Half an hour later, with Jackson still awake in bed, Murray injected the singer with two milligrams of lorazepam.

It still wasn't working.

At 3 a.m., Murray gave the singer two milligrams of midazolam, pushed slowly into his IV. And two hours later, with Jackson still awake, Murray administered another two milligrams of lorazepam through Jackson's IV.

The drugs did nothing to help Jackson sleep.

At 7:30 a.m., Murray gave the singer another two milligrams of midazolam in his IV.

By that point, Murray wasn't even leaving Jackson's room anymore, let alone his bedside. The doctor told police he sat next to the singer in his bedroom, monitoring Jackson's pulse and oxygen levels.

More than three hours later, despite a night of medication and doctor's care, Jackson remained awake.

Jackson was repeatedly asking -- even demanding -- that Murray give him more propofol to help him sleep, the doctor told police. So Murray finally administered 25 milligrams of propofol diluted with lidocaine via Jackson's IV drip.

The singer now had his "milk," and it worked. After a restless night, Jackson was finally able to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Murray told police he watched Jackson sleep for about 10 minutes before going to the bathroom. It had been a long night for both of them.

The trip to the bathroom took less than two minutes, Murray told police. But when he came back, he said, he saw Jackson wasn't breathing.

He started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but it didn't work.

Jackson was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead later that afternoon.

According to court documents released Monday, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, the chief medical examiner-coroner for Los Angeles County, concluded Jackson died of an overdose of propofol.

Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to a search warrant and affidavit unsealed in Houston, Texas.

The coroner's office would not comment on the statements in the affidavit. But Ed Chernoff, Murray's attorney, took issue with some of the information included in the court documents.

"Much of what was in the search warrant affidavit is factual. However, unfortunately, much is police theory," Chernoff said, specifically referring to media reports the coroner would rule Jackson's death a homicide.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said it has not yet seen a police report on the case, and no criminal charges have been filed.

The Home Ministry needs to carry out study before caning Kartika, says Hisham

(The Star) PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry needs to study the proper procedures before carrying out a caning sentence on a woman according to Syariah law, minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said.

“We don’t have the expertise, I have to admit.

“I will not allow the sentence to be carried out if we do not have the knowledge to do so. This needs to be discussed with the relevant authorities first,” he said at a press conference at his ministry, here, yesterday.

Part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, who was fined RM5,000 and ordered to be whipped six times for consuming alcohol in a hotel last year, had her sentence deferred until after Ramadan as a mark of respect.

Serious issue: Hishammuddin (right) stressing a point at the media conference at his office in Putrajaya Tuesday. Looking on is his deputy Datuk Abu Seman Yusop.

Hishammuddin said caning sentences, meted out by the Syariah courts, were different.

“I have ordered the Prisons Department to find out how long it would take to train someone to do it,” he said.

“At the moment, we are not ready.”

On another matter, Hishammuddin said community-based security, funded by property developers, could become the norm in the future.

He urged developers to include police beat bases in all new housing projects and install closed-circuit televisions.

Hishammuddin also said the national key result areas (KRA) secretariat, led by SAC II Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd to reduce street crimes by 20% by the end of 2010, had been formed.

He added that the secretariat was formed to achieve one of the six national KRAs announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak last month.

PAS No 2 rejects Bar Council’s idea to cull caning

Nasharuddin not in agreement with the bar council. - Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa broke a long silence to come out and reject the Bar Council’s idea to do away with caning in a brewing controversy over Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno’s punishment for drinking beer.

Saying he was willing to discuss the matter with the Bar Council, Nasharudin went on to explain that punishments in Islam is to educate and create awareness to Muslims not to repeat crimes either by criminals or ordinary citizens, adding whipping is mentioned in the Quran and hadiths.

“We have to reject the Bar Council’s move to urge the government to do eliminate whipping for any offence,” the Bachok MP said in a statement today.

Kartika, a 32-year-old mother of two and a part-time model, received a reprieve from caning last Monday due to the Ramadan fasting month. She has paid a RM5,000 fine but Pahang syariah authorities have said she will be caned after Ramadan but there are moves now to rescind the sentence.

“The reasons given by the Bar Council to support its proposal is inaccurate and not strong. Each punishment stated in the country’s laws is logical and is to teach the wrong-doers and citizens,” he said.

Nasharudin only surfaced publicly in the recent Permatang Pasir by-election after being criticised within the Islamist party for supporting unity talks with rivals Umno that were mooted by party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. The party has since dropped the idea.

The party’s Islamic stance has not stopped it from winning yesterday’s by-election despite the significant Chinese minority there and Barisan Nasional’s campaign to portray it as either a puppet for the DAP or a hardline party.

Nasharudin also linked weak enforcement of punishment to Malaysia’s rising crime index, noting that people are no longer scared to commit crimes as the punishment does not give a psychological impact or frighten people and wrongdoers.

He also said Kartika had accepted the syariah court’s judgment and wanted the punishment as she regretted her offence, adding she has rejected moves to sue any parties and wanted the caning to be carried as soon as possible.

“I hope she has really repented and wants to be a pious person,” Nasarudin said.

He also hoped the Bar Council will review its proposals and said PAS is willing to discuss the issue with them, calling on syariah lawyers to have dialogues with the Malaysian Bar to explain Islamic jurisprudence.

Pakatan will move forward but on PAS’s terms

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The high turnout at the Permatang Pasir by-election yesterday and PAS’s convincing victory has only strengthened the Islamist party’s position in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

It was the latest example that for PR to move forward, it has to be on PAS’s terms.

Yesterday, some 47 per cent of the 20,350 voters in the Penang state constituency voters came out to make Mohd Salleh Man the new Permatang Pasir assemblyman.

Compare this to the Penanti by-election in late May where PKR only attracted 39 per cent — despite weekend polling — of some 15,000 voters to elect the new Deputy Chief Minister of Penang Mansor Othman.

The two results confirmed the suspicion of many, even among PKR leaders, that the multi-racial party has a long way to go in developing a strong support base in Malay areas.

It is true that Umno’s refusal to contest in Penanti had partly caused the low turnout, but the difference is just too huge for it to be caused by the Malay nationalist party alone.

It was during the Penanti campaign also that state PAS leaders demanded to contest the seat after it was vacated by Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin who had earlier quit his government post in a very suspicious manner, a decision described by many including those in state PAS as irresponsible.

Local grassroots leaders even threatened to boycott the campaign to show PAS’s strength in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency and yesterday’s high turnout proved that PAS does have strong machinery.

And the attempts by certain party leaders to promote stricter implementation of Islamic laws might have made many people within PR unhappy fearing that the coalition would lose the support of the non-Muslims, but that did not happen yesterday.

Just one day before polling Selangor PAS chief and the state executive councillor Datuk Hassan Ali announced that mosque officials will be empowered to arrest Muslims caught consuming alcohol, thus risking the support of more than 5,000 non-Muslim voters in Permatang Pasir.

But the results did not indicate any major shift of support from PAS and shows almost a similar pattern as in March 2008.

Clearly, making the right noise, acceptable to the so-called liberals from the Malaysian middle class does not translate into votes.

PAS has the undisputed ability to mobilise supporters for street protests, public rallies and as seen yesterday, to attract the election-fatigued voters of Permatang Pasir on a weekday.

Permatang Pasir by-election result – devastating blow for Najib’s 144 days as Prime Minister

By Lim Kit Siang,

The strong and decisive victory and majority of the PAS and Pakatan Rakyat candidate Mohd Salleh Man in the Permatang Pasir by-election in Penang yesterday is a devastating blow to Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his 144 days as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

It is a powerful reaffirmation of the support of the voters of Permatang Pasir for the Pakatan Rakyat partnership by DAP, PKR and PAS and endorsement of the Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang despite desperate and dangerous attempts by Umno/Barisan Nasional in unscrupulously playing racial and religious cards in their old game of “divide-and rule”.

Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders had tried their utmost to turn Permatang Pasir by-election into another Manek Urai where they can claim “victory in defeat” but yesterday’s by-election has proven Manek Urai as an aberration from the momentum for national change set off 18 months ago by the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year which saw Umno/Barisan Nasional trounced 7-0 in all the by-elections held in Peninsular Malaysia.

Umno/BN attempts to break Pakatan Rakyat support from all the ethnic groups in the constituency had proved a failure, with Malay voter support remaining intact while Chinese voter support even increased by some 5 per cent, as illustrated by the Kampong Cross Street polling station which has 79.59 % of Chinese voters and saw PAS popular vote increasing from 70.56% in the last general election to 75.77% yesterday – an increase of 5.21% in total votes cast.

The Permatang Pasir by-election result should be serious food for thought for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

For Barisan Nasional, are its leaders prepared to admit that its seventh consecutive by-election defeat in Peninsular Malaysia since the last general election is the result of triple flaws – a flawed candidate, a flawed campaign strategy headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and a flawed 1Malaysia policy proclaimed by Najib on becoming Prime Minister.

Permatang Pasir by-election is the first electoral outing where Umno/Barisan Nasional campaigned on Najib’s 1Malaysia’s slogan. However, the sea of 1Malaysia billboards, buntings and posters which flooded the constituency could not camouflage or overcome the hollowness and hypocrisy of the theme with Umno/BN leaders competing with each other to divide and polarize the voters according to race and religion.

The Permatang Pasir by-election should be a contest and competition as to which coalition best stood for a 1Malaysia objective.

But there was no real contest – as it was Pakatan Rakyat comprising DAP, PKR and PAS which by words and actions represented 1Malaysia while Umno/BN symbolized the very opposite with their desperado politics of race and religion!

But there are also lessons to be learnt by the Pakatan Rakyat – how the strengths of the multi-racial multi-religious alternative to the Barisan Nasional could be further leveraged while the weaknesses and strains removed or minimized.

The greatest challenge for the Pakatan Rakyat parties is its ability and capacity to build on the Permatang Pasir by-election victory in the march to Putrajaya in the next general elections.

Social Contract between the Malays and UMNO

By Hussein Hamid

My friends we are witnessing the slow and messy end of Najib and gang, who for reason best known to themselves, have decided to commit Har-rah-kee-ree in public. Whether this was ordered by a greater authority (ahem…Mahathir?) as a form of punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonourable and certain death at the hands of an enemy (Us and Pakatan Rakyat!!) is anybody’s guess. But this particularly painful act of self- destruction is being acted out now even as I write but it is being done without honor, courage, moral character and etiquette which is an integral part of such an act as practised by the code of Bushido and the discipline of the Samurais of Japan. But then again with those familiar with the ways of UMNO, this lack of finesse is nothing out of the ordinary for UMNO.

Today I want to talk as a Melayu – without the constrains of having to worry about what anybody else in Malaysia will feel. Without having to worry about good manners, politeness and being nice – all the qualities that we Malays are noted for. With that out of the way I will begin.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as a Melayu I knew this for as a fact. The Chinese were from China. The Indians from India. The others were from where they came from. As a Malay, this is my country. The Malays control the Army, The Police and all facets of Government. The Chinese only the business and the economy. With the Dasar Ekonomi Baru (NEP) we had twenty over years to catch up with everybody else. Together we (the Malays and UMNO) would slowly but surly claim back our rightful place in our own country which has been taken away from us by the British.

We (the Malays and UMNO) started of well. After the May 13th Riots it could only get better! Education, rural development etc – all the relevant apparatus for the success of the DEB/NEP started to be put in place. Words such as “The Malay Agenda, “Malaysian Social Contract” started to be used with much frequency by UMNO. Business became the ‘buzz word’ in every Malay vocabulary and always that word “Bumiputra” keeps coming up in any discussions we had with the others when talking about business. There was Bank Bumiputra. OUR bank. Pernas was formed to encouraged Malay business. Petronas was there to go head to head with Esso, Mobil, Shell and Caltex. The rapid and very high profile establishment of Petronas Petrol Stations was a source of pride to us Malays.

How do we match the non Malays in population growth? Easy – bring in the Indonesian initially as pendatang asing – to provide the country with much needed cheap labour – then give them PR status – then citizenship.

What about winning elections for the Malays/UMNO? Suffice for me to say with the Election Commission we were able to manipulate the election process for our own gain. The one man one vote principle was conveniently neutralized.

So far so good. So what went wrong? Fast forward to today.

The most significant shift in the equation of the Malay being UMNO and UMNO being Malay is that right from its early days, the “SOCIAL CONTRACT” between the Malays and UMNO has become a means to an end – rather then the end to which we should have all worked towards.

It was the means through which UMNO, not the Malays achieved unheard of richness, sated their greed for all things materials and achieved, during the time of Mahathir, complete dominance over all things Malaysians. Because UMNO had the inclination and the opportunity, this power that they had in their control was used not for good but for evil. UMNO went on a reckless binge of acquiring money, money and more money on the fringe of lunacy. Those whom the Gods wants to destroy, he first makes mad. As a Malay I felt used and there is anger in myself for letting UMNO do this to me and my race.

The Indonesians brought in to bolster the Malay population has now become a social problem because like many Government policies, the pros and the cons of assimilating them into the local population was not thought of in detail. No checks and balances were in place to ensure that they will fit into the Malay scheme of things.

Now I am done talking as a Malay.

That is why today I, as a Malay, am done with UMNO. A lot of Malays are done with UMNO. Without the Malays to support them UMNO is on its way out – bar the time left before the next elections. Will they use what time they have left to regroup and galvanized what they have left to try and turn their fortunes around? Not possible. UMNO has become the sum of what its members and leaders need and want. What they need and want is not compatible with what we need and want – Justice, freedom and the right to live a decent life. So we will not be spared the spectacle of an UMNO committing Har Rah Kee Ree in public for they know not what they do. When they are almost done, we will be their Kaishaku or assistant, and cut off their head to spare them too much sufferings. Amen.

Oh Maika, I am but a fool…

Malaysia Today.com,

By Hakim Joe

Would you jump at the chance of purchasing a GLC share for RM5.00 if that particular share is actively trading at the KLSE at RM6.15? What if you were offered 10 million of that GLC company shares?

Let me calculate a bit here. Every share I take up would reap me an automatic profit of RM1.15. If I were to sell the share immediately at a loss of 5 sen (at RM6.10) at the KLSE and after the subsequent deduction of the 0.15% remisier’s commission (brokerage fee) and 0.05% clearing fee, I would still end up earning RM1.028 per share. I could even negotiate with my remisier as to his commission if I were to trade 10 million shares, possibly down to something like 0.05% because he will still be making RM30,500 from these transactions – not a bad payday from one customer but not as good as the owner of the 10 million shares who potentially could make RM10.28 million.

Maika Thirudan Sothinathan Sina Goundar is contesting for MIC deputy presidency. Expect at least 200 MIC fools to vote for him

On 29 September 1990, Maika Holdings was specially offered 10 million Telekoms shares at RM5.00 per share by the Malaysian Government. Then Finance Minister DSAI told Parliament that Maika informed the Finance Ministry that they only had the financial resources to take up 1 million shares and proposed that the remaining 9 million shares be allocated to three MIC-linked companies of which the Government acceded to (3 million shares each).

The three companies were Clear Way Sdn Bhd, a RM2 shell company incorporated in October 1988 with two shareholders (Reman a/l Subramaniam and Muniady a/l Sadayen), S.B. Management Services Sdn Bhd, a RM2 shell company incorporated in December 1989 with two shareholders (S. Balasubramaniyam a/l M.S. Survei and Sothinathan a/l Sinna Govinder) and Advance Personal Computers Sdn Bhd (RM250,000 paid up capital) with four shareholders (S. Balasubramaniyam a/l M.S. Survei, Sothinathan a/l Sinna Govinder, R. Selvendra and Isphare Kumar).

SBMS and APC shares the same office at Damansara Town Centre and the same shareholders whilst R. Selvendra is a director of Maika Holdings.

It was also discovered that as on 6 October 1990, the Arab-Malaysia Merchant Banking Berhad had approved a RM50 million loan to finance Maika’s acceptance of the entire 10 million RM5.00 Telekoms shares from the Finance Ministry. Two days later on 8 October 1990, the Maika Board of Directors decided that they were able and willing to take up the entire offer of the10 million Telekoms shares.

In February 1992, rumors abounded that Maika did not obtain the entire 10 million Telekoms shares that was allocated by the Finance Ministry. A journalist from Watan disclosed that “there could have been some hanky-panky in the allocation of Telekoms shares to Maika Holdings.” This was followed up in April 1992 by a Tamil magazine, Thoothan which disclosed that there could have been some discrepancy in the distribution of the 10 million Telekoms shares allocated to Maika by the Finance Ministry.

Until the declaration by then Finance Minister DSAI in Parliament on 6 May 1992 after being questioned by DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, nobody knew that 9 million Telekoms shares had been diverted to three companies instead to Maika. MIC President Samy Vellu immediately left the country “on sick leave” to America. (Tun Daim Zainuddin was the Finance Minister in 1990.)

On 8 May 1992, the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) led by Federal Territories ACA Director, Nordin Ismail, raided these three companies.

On 10 May 1992, Deputy Finance Minister Abdul Ghani Othman said that it was entirely up to these 3 companies “to ensure that the Indian community benefited” and that it was Maika that had recommended these 3 companies and not the Ministry of Finance, and henceforth did not question the status of these 3 companies.

On 11 May 1992, Maika Chairman, Tan Sri G. Pasamanickam held a news conference to publicly announce that he knew nothing about the allocation of the 9 million Telekoms shares to the 3 companies. He also said that he “might bring up this matter” in the monthly Maika board meeting which was scheduled to be held two days later (on the 13 May 1992).

On 12 May 1992, MIC Working Committee member, Dr K.S. Nijhar called for the resignation of the Maika Board of Directors.

On 14 May 1992, Maika members were assaulted when peacefully picketing outside Maika Holding’s HQ in Petaling Jaya. MIC Selangor Assemblyman for Seri Cahaya, S. Sivalingam, was allegedly the leader of a group of Indians that assaulted the Maika members.

On 15 May 1992, MIC President Samy Vellu held a conference (after his return from the US) and said that Maika has never recommended that the 9 million Telekoms shares be allocated to the 3 aforesaid companies. Furthermore, SV said that Maika was never allocated the entire 10 million Telekoms shares but only a part of it due to its past dismal performance. SV also claimed that as of 5 October 1990, Maika had abandoned the offer of the entire 10 million shares but instead approved the purchase of only 1 million Telekoms shares. He also said that the allocation of 3 million shares each to Clear Way, SBMS and ACP were decided by the Ministry of Finance and that none of these companies belonged to him or any of his family members and that he did not have an interest in any of these 3 companies. He also informed the press that these 3 companies had pledged to donate the entire net proceeds of the share sales to Tafe College and proceeded to issue documents of these share sales and the Tafe College building accounts. When as by the press why he sold these shares, SV stated for a fact that he panicked after the trading price of Telekoms fell to RM5.30. As for the assault of Maika members, SV declared that he would himself have “walloped” the Maika shareholders if he had been at the scene then.

It was also later discovered that all these 3 companies had loans from CIMB (through Rashid Hussein Nominees Sdn Bhd) to purchase the Telekoms shares, utilizing these shares as collateral and with conditions that the share prices cannot dip below RM6.50.

On 7 November 1990, CIMB invoked this clause and force-sale the 3 million Telekoms shares held by Clear Way at RM5.95 per share. Telekoms was trading at RM6.00 at that time. CIMB did the same for the other 5.5 million Telekoms shares held by APC and SBMS at between RM5.75 and RM5.95 per share. Wait a minute here! Why only 5.5 million and not 3 million shares each? Well, APC/SBMS managed to hold back 500,000 Telekoms shares. How it was able to do so if CIMB was invoking their loan clause to force-sell these shares is unbelievable but Samy provided no explanation (APC/SBMS sold another 420,000 of these Telekoms shares on April 1992 at RM11.20). Another thing, why did Samy say 6 million shares and not 3 million shares each? Are these supposedly two companies in fact operating as one?

On 17 May 1992, Maika Managing Director, Tan Sri Rama Iyer, contradicted Samy Vellu saying that the latter has not “told the truth” in his explanation of the Maika Telekoms Scandal. Rama Iyer said that he had personally called the Treasury (after being instructed by Arab-Malaysia Merchant Banking Berhad) and had verbal confirmation from Munirah Abdullah Ng (Treasury Officer) that Maika has been allotted 10 million Telekoms shares by the Finance Ministry and that she had a letter to that effect. Rama Iyer also said that he immediately dispatched a senior Maika officer to collect this letter which was dated 27 September 1990 and then approached AMMBB Managing Director Datuk Malek Merican on 4 October 1990 to raise the loan of RM50 million to finance the share allocation in full.

Rama Iyer also said that then Maika Chairman, Tan Sri C. Selvarajah concurred with his actions and asked him to inform the MIC President to tell him of the share allocation by the Ministry of Finance, which he did the next day (at 6.10am). However, during the telephone conversation, SV told Rama Iyer that “there must have been a mistake as the offer to Maika was just for 1 million Telekoms shares and not 10 million Telekoms shares. When Rama Iyer contradicted SV stating the Finance Ministry letter, SV told him that the other 9 million Telekoms shares were for allocation to “other MIC bodies” and that he would contact the Finance Ministry to clarify the matter.

On 6 October 1990, Maika received a letter dated 5 October 1990 from AMMBB offering RM50 million to finance the purchase of the 10 million Telekoms shares. On 8 October 1990, the entire Maiko Board had a meeting and officially approved the purchase of the entire 10 million Telekoms shares. A few days later, Maika received a letter from the Finance Ministry stating that the initial letter of offer for 10 million Telekoms shares was officially retracted and that only 1 million Telekoms shares were on offer for Maika.

On 20 May 1992, Opposition leader LKS produced evidence that Paari Vel was in fact the managing director of APC. In an APC namecard bearing Paari Vel’s name and designation as the MD, the London office address was listed at K.K. Marketing Limited of 12, Whittington Road, Wood Green, London N22 4YD, England. (K.K of K.K Marketing stands for Kumar Kandasamy whose son Isphare Kumar is listed as a shareholder of APC.) BTW, Paari Vel is Samy Vellu’s son.

Also on this day, LKS proceeded to tear apart SV’s documents on the share sales of the 3 companies. One, Clear Way’s accounts did not specify the 0.05% clearing fee. Two, its share financing interest was documented at 14.75% when CIMB was only charging 11.25%. On the SBMS cum ACP accounts (no trouble was taken to separate them), it was stated that some of the proceeds of the sale of the Telekoms shares were used to purchase 3 million Renong shares (no mention at what buying price) and this time the share financing interest was calculated at 14.5%. No reasons were also given as to why SBMS/ACP was able to retain 500,000 of the Telekoms shares.

As for the Tafe College Building (TCB) accounts, LKS questioned the validity of these accounts as simple arithmetic (like addition) were done incorrectly (much like the Home Ministry’s recent poll on ISA). The total income of RM15,468,003.73 were tabulated as from the Federal Government (RM8 million), donations from MIC branches (RM300,000), Clear Way contribution (RM2,318,003) and from SBMS/ACP (RM4,850,000). The correct figures should be RM15,468,003 not RM14,468,003.73 – where did the 73 sen come from? The total expenditure is even worse! The TCB accounts stated that a total of RM24,662,528 were used. The correct addition comes to only RM24,112,528. Where did the difference of RM550,000 go?

Additionally SV stated that the total expenditure incurred was RM24,662,528 and the total payments made was RM15,690,808 and the outstanding is RM9,914,524.27. Simple subtraction of the two figures show an outstanding of RM8,971,720 and not RM9,914,524.27. If indeed the total outstanding is RM9,914,524.27, where did the additional RM942,804.27 go?

Lastly, the trading price of Telekoms shares had never fell to RM5.30 as stated by SV during the press conference on 15 May 1992. Between November 7th and November 15th, Telekoms traded at a low of RM5.85 and a high of RM6.15 and Between November 16th and November 27th, Telekoms traded at a low of RM6.00 and a high of RM6.90. From December onwards, Telekoms never traded under RM7.00.

It must be also noted that the remisier handling these transactions was also a director to both SBMS and ACP. By the way, the brokerage fee for the 8.5 million Telekoms shares came to a total sum of RM505,470.00.

On 24 May 1992, Maika’s offices were broken into and their offices ransacked. Documents in pertinent to the Telekoms shares allocation went missing. The guard was also assaulted. Earlier in the week, employees of the weekly Thoothan magazine were attacked at their Jalan Ipoh office premises (this magazine was giving prominent coverage to the Maika Telekoms shares Scandal and on one of its headlines, the magazine called SV a liar and a thief).

In 1994, then chairman of MIC public claims committee, V. Subramaniam (also known as Barat Maniam) made a startling public accusation. He charged that the accounts were fabricated to make it appear as if all the profits from the sale of Telekom shares were channelled to Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED). V. Subramaniam declared, "I have come out with this statement to prove that Samy Vellu is a thief. He has stolen (Telekoms) shares from the Indian community."

In 1999, SV appointed his son Vell Paari (of the K. Sujatha fame) as CEO of Maika Holdings. From a high of RM106 million in 1984, Maika’s assets fell to about RM32 million in 1992 (after the Telekoms shares scandal) and is in the process of selling off all its assets today (due to massive debts). Vell Paari remained as the CEO of Maika Holdings until today and said that he would step down once “he has cleaned up Maika…” (more like clean out though).

SV was cleared by the ACA over the Maika Scandal and nobody was arrested over it. The 66,000 Maika shareholders are still holding their breath waiting for an explanation by the Maika Board. As for the Maika-Telekoms share scandal, nothing was ever heard of it. S. Sothinathan is now the MIC vice-president and MP for Teluk Kemang.

In October 2006, the MIC Johor assemblyman for Tenggaroh, the late S. Krishnasamy assaulted the DAP MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kulasegaran at the Maika annual general meeting at the Legend Hotel in KL. Even though Kulasegaran lodged a police report, no action was taken against Krishnasamy.

A bit about Maika. Maika Holdings was once touted as the miraculous economic vehicle to elevate the Indian poor from the shackles of poverty. Launched by MIC in 1982 as their investment arm, the original plan was to ensure that at least RM30 million worth of shares were subscribed to but so successful was the promotion campaign that by 1984, RM106 million was raised from almost 66,400 shareholders with SV being the largest shareholder with 2.8 million shares. From then onwards, it was downhill all the way.

Let me continue the song, “Oh Maika, I am but a fool, Darling I love you, though you treat me cruel…..”

PKR Not Capable Of Uniting Its Members: Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- The act of the Lunas state assemblyman Mohd Radzhi Salleh of quitting Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and becoming a independent showed that the party was not capable of uniting its members.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said the crisis of confidence in PKR's leadership started in Kedah and snaked through Penang now returned to Kedah.

Mustapa, who is also Minister of International Trade and Industry said the party also was the party of choice of Malays and Malaysians were frustrated with the party's promises.

"We struggle for one Malaysia where the people are put first but PKR struggles for one person only," he said after a gathering to distribute 'bubur lambuk' to staff of his ministry here on Tuesday.

Before this the state assemblymen for Buki Selambau, Kedah, V. Arumugam, and Penanti, Penang, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin both of PKR had quit their seats and caused by-elections in the two areas in April and May.

At the same ceremony, Mustapa's deputy Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said the action of the PKR state assemblymen quitting the party proved that PKR members did not have one ideology to hold fast to.

"We can see the manifestation of differences in that party leadership's line-up especially when such crisis happens," he said.

Najib: BN To Study Causes Of Defeat In Permatang Pasir

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Barisan Nasional (BN) will study the causes of its defeat in today's Permatang Pasir state by-election in Penang.

He said that the BN lost the by-election despite having tried its best due to certain factors.

Najib, who is Umno president, said he knew what the factors were but declined to elaborate.

He said that the BN would take stock of the situation and ensure that the party would do better the next time around.

"We should look into the factors which we can improve on," he said when asked to comment on the result of the by-election today.

PAS retained the seat with a 4,551-vote majority.

Its candidate Mohd Salleh Man, 52, polled 9,618 votes while BN's Rohaizat Othman, 38, garnered 5,067 votes.

Najib also took note of the fact that the BN managed to reduce PAS' majority in the area.

In the 2008 general election, PAS candidate Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman defeated BN's Ahmad Sahar Shuib with a majority of 5,433 votes.

The by-election was called following Mohd Hamdan's death on July 31.

TBH inquest: Lawyer grills 'snoozing' officer

Vasanthakumar hurt by spy claim, wants explanation - Malaysiakini

Hindraf activist and ex-ISA detainee K Vasanthakumar wants the movement's prominent leader P Uthayakumar to reveal the identity of the special branch turncoat implied in the latter's newly released book.

Vasanthakumar is perturbed that his fellow ISA-detainee Uthayakumar could be referring to him (Vasanthakumar) as the police spy.

He said that while Uthayakumar, who is the pro-tem secretary of the newly launched Human Rights Party, has not named anyone in the book, his previous statements have mentioned Vasanthakumar as being a possible spy sent to break Hindraf.

Uthayakumar's book 'Malaysian Indian Political Empowerment Strategy: The Way Forward' was written during his ISA detention. He was detained along with Vasanthakumar and three other Hindraf lawyers in December 2007 and released last May.

"Uthayakumar must clarify the contents on page 45 and 46 of his book with evidence immediately within a week. I expect him to reveal the turncoat at the Sri Meenatchi Amman temple in Simpang Empat, Pulau Pinang," Vasanthakumar told Malaysiakini yesterday. Uthayakumar has a function at the temple this weekend.

"Show this proof through the media. Two million Indians want to know the real story behind these allegations," added Vasanthakumar.

He said that the relevant parts of the book stated that a special branch officer had infiltrated Hindraf to create leadership confusion in the movement.

"This special branch now claims to be a top Hindraf leader without even myself or Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy ever having appointed him as Hindraf leader.

"He is believed to be assigned by Umno/special branch to create and lead 'Team B' within Hindraf to create confusion, split up and destroy Hindraf," wrote Uthayakumar, who had added that "we do not really know this SB plant".

Uthaya's letter produced

Vasanthakumar however believes that it was him who was implied as the special branch agent.

This was based on previous allegations by Waythamoorthy while Vasanthakumar was in ISA detention.

In addition, Vasanthakumar also produced a letter, allegedly written and signed by Uthayakumar, implicating him as a special branch agent.

He said that the letter was circulated amongst Hindraf supporters when he was in detention.

Showing a copy of the letter, Vasanthakumar showed parts where Uthayakumar had named Vasanthakumar as a "special branch plant" and that he will "sort it out when he is out".

Vasanthakumar claimed that such accusations and now the reference in the book has caused him much distress.

He added that he would be initiating a defamation suit amounting to RM1 million each against the Uthayakumar and Waythamoorthy if they failed to reveal the turncoat.

He also dismissed the allegations of him being a police spy as "rubbish and malicious".

"The accusations are not only tarnishing my reputation but also that of my family and supporters. We want Uthayakumar to stop as it confuses the community and breaks Hindraf's supporters," he said.

When contacted for comment, Uthayakumar said he was not worried over Vasanthakumar's suit and would not make any comments of the matter.

"The Inspector-General of Police should be the one revealing the identity of the spy whom they had put in Hindraf," he said when met for comment in his office.

Writing his own book

Vasanthakumar also said that he knew the reasons for Uthakumar to make the allegations but refused to divulge them.

"I will expose the reasons next week," he said, adding that he was a Pakatan Rakyat supporter.

He also revealed that he was preparing a 10-point memorandum to the state governments of Perak and Kedah on ways to uplift the living stands of the Indian community in the two states.

He is also on the midst of writing a book on his experiences as an ISA detainee. The book would be launched early next year.

Okay, what about this then?

Stay tuned for the next episode in this series of articles when we publish documents to show how the MACC, PDRM, and AG’s Chambers ‘buried’ cases in spite of overwhelming evidence of crimes having been committed.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Poison pen letter fit for trash bin, says MACC's lawyer

The Malay Mail, 25 August 2009

POLICE investigations into the “mystery letter” that caused the Teoh Beng Hock death inquest to be adjourned last week have concluded that four out of five allegations in the letter cannot be proven.

Counsel Tan Hock Chuan, appointed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to assist in the inquest, told the hearing yesterday that allegations not proven or supported in the unsigned letter dated Aug 5, said to be from Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission officers, are:

● That MACC’s Selangor deputy director (Hishamuddin Hashim) had instructed MACC officers involved in the case to not include him;

● The MACC Selangor deputy director had his own style of questioning.

● The MACC Selangor deputy director had given his DNA swab in his own room and not in a meeting room like the other MACC officers.

● That the same deputy director had instructed his officers to wipe off fingerprint marks from a window on the 14th floor. Tan said the only part of the letter that could be proven was that the MACC Selangor deputy director had not clocked out on the morning of July 16.

“Parties can question him later when he is called up. But the coroner should take note of the CCTV video evidence, which showed him leaving the building at 6.26am on July 16.”

Tan has no plan to bring up other contents of the letter, which he said were not related to the inquest.

On allegations that the deputy director had given his DNA sample in a separate room, Tan said Dr Seah Lay Hong of the Malaysian Chemistry Department refuted it as she was present when the samples of all officers involved were taken.

Tan said fresh samples had been taken from 12 individuals, including the MACC Selangor deputy director, which was witnessed by Dr Seah — and they were exact matches with the DNA samples taken earlier.

He said the swab tests taken from the 12 people, including the MACC Selangor deputy director, did not match with that of the unknown male contributor found on Teoh.

Dr Seah in her testimony earlier said she conducted a swab test on Teoh’s belt and the DNA profile derived from the swab taken at the tear region of the belt consisted of a mixture of male DNA types belonging to Teoh, one unknown male individual and at least another unknown male contributor.

Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding the watching brief for Teoh’s family, said the explanation should come from the investigation officer, not from Tan.

“I have the right to cross-examine the investigating officer, who must give evidence on this and the inquest should not make any conclusion. Some things we can say are true. But Dr Prashant (pathologist from the University Malaya Medical Centre) had said there is evidence of disturbance at the window. This letter contains very damning information,” Gobind said.

Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, who is holding a watching brief for MACC, said MACC’s stand was that the mystery letter is a poison letter and it should not be entertained.

“In the past, such poison letters were put into the trash immediately,” Razak said.

Tan said the letter should not be marked as an exhibit but be kept in the court file. Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas later decided that the letter would not be marked as an exhibit.

“In due course, I think when witnesses are questioned and there is evidence to show that the letter is relevant to the case, it would then be marked. For now, it will not be marked,” Azmil said.

*************************************************

The MACC regards unsigned or anonymous letters as ‘poison pen’ letters fit for the dustbin. I was expecting them to say that and was waiting for this statement. And they have said exactly what I had thought and hoped they would say because this allows me to raise an issue that I have been harping on for more than two years since early 2007.

The issue I am talking about is the 12 Statutory Declarations that Malaysia Today published in 2007 and which, recently, we rehashed. These are not poison pen letters or surat layang. These are legal documents, sworn statements signed by 12 people, six whom are police officers. If they signed false Statutory Declarations they can be arrested and charged in court and if convicted can be sent to jail for quite a long time. False Affidavits or SDs is no small matter. It is considered a serious crime.

If the MACC is concerned with only legal documents and does not wish to layan (entertain) unsigned or anonymous letters, then why have they not looked into these 12 SDs? And, I repeat, six were signed by police officers.

Instead of looking into what these six police officers said in their signed SDs, the police are taking disciplinary action against them. Some have been arrested and charge for ‘abuse of power’. The government views these SDs as an abuse of power. What crap!

How do you expect the MACC officers to put their names to that ‘anonymous’ letter when those who did put their names, not only to a letter but to a Statutory Declaration, got into trouble. SDs are more than just letters. SDs are stronger. And they put their names to the SDs. And now they are in trouble.

Okay, the MACC does not want to layan anonymous letters. Never mind. Let us then publish some signed documents. These are not unsigned. These are not anonymous. These are signed declarations. These are exchanges of letters between government officers, Ministers included. Let us see what the MACC does about these. What excuses are they going to now offer for doing nothing?

Stay tuned for the next episode in this series of articles when we will publish documents to show how the MACC, PDRM, and AG’s Chambers ‘buried’ cases in spite of overwhelming evidence of crimes having been committed.

The MACC (PDRM and AG as well) is full of shit. And we are going to prove it.

Screw you, Syed Hamid Albar; I was right, you are wrong

What is important, though, is that justice has finally been served to that very lovely girl named Maslinda Ishak who was wronged by the government. She may have been a GRO but she was doing an honest job and should not have been photographed naked and asked to consent to sex to secure her release.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Ex-GRO gets RM100,000 for Rela man's frolic

New Straits Times, 25 August 2009

PUTRAJAYA: The government has to pay RM100,000 in damages to a former guest relations officer as it was vicariously liable for the act of a Rela member who took a picture of her relieving herself in a lorry.

In allowing the appeal by Maslinda Ishak, the Court of Appeal yesterday said the respondents -- the director-general of Rela, the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department's (Jawi) enforcement officers and the government -- were jointly and severally liable.

On Sept 11 last year, the High Court ordered Mohamad Tahir Osman to pay Maslinda RM100,000 for his conduct in taking the picture six years ago. Judge Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said what Tahir did was outside the scope of his duty and he did it purely on his own accord. Therefore, he was wholly responsible for his action on Maslinda, 32, now a dental nurse, which had injured her emotionally.

The incident happened after Maslinda and several colleagues were arrested by Jawi enforcement officers and Rela members during a raid at Kelab De Vegas, Jalan Imbi, here about 11.30pm on March 21, 2003.

After the arrest, they were led into a lorry. At 12.50am, when the vehicle was in Jalan Jejaka 5, Taman Maluri, Cheras, Maslinda asked to go to the toilet but her request was denied. Instead, Maslinda was told to relieve herself inside the lorry. She did exactly that, shielded by a scarf held by her friends, but Tahir then came, pushed her friends away and took her photograph with his camera.

Maslinda brought a RM5 million suit in damages against Tahir, the Rela director-general, Jawi and government.

Tengku Maimun ruled that the Rela director-general, Jawi and the Federal Government could not be associated with Tahir's action.

Maslinda appealed on ground that the other three were also equally liable to pay damages.

Lawyer Karpal Singh, who was assisted by Sangeet Kaur Deo, told the Court of Appeal that Tahir's act was done in the course of employment and the three respondents were equally liable.

He said Tahir did not appeal against the High Court order, that he was "a man of straw" and Maslinda could not get any compensation from him.

"Tahir had also pleaded guilty for invasion of privacy and was sentenced to four months' jail in a magistrate's court," he said.

Federal Counsel Amarjeet Singh said what was done by Tahir was a frolic of his own.

"He was not authorised by the three respondents. So the government cannot be held liable," he said.

Judges Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar, Datuk Feffey Tan Kok Hwa and Datuk Sulaiman Daud heard the appeal and made the unanimous ruling.

Karpal later said he would enforce the judgment on the government since the respondents were all from federal agencies.

*************************************************

Last year, I revealed the above. And I did so at the request of Maslinda Ishak’s husband who had asked to meet so that he could relate what happened. What I wrote last year was exactly what the court said and what the New Straits Times reported above.

The husband asked me what he should do. I advised him to get himself a lawyer and sue the government. I also suggested that Malaysia Today reveal what happened to ensure that the whole thing does not get swept under the carpet, as what happens in most cases that do not favour the government.

My argument was that all parties involved -- Rela, Jawi and the Malaysian government -- are equally guilty since the Rela officer concerned was on an official government operation and not ‘on a frolic of his own’. So I advised my friend to sue all parties concerned, not just the Rela officer.

Actually there was more that did not surface in the court hearing. The Rela officer proposed that if Maslinda were prepared to have sex with him then he would let her go. If not, then they would charge her for the ‘crime’ of working in a place that sells liquor.

Maslinda of course refused and because of that they subjected her to a photography session where she was made to pose in various sexy positions while they photographed her -- sort of like what they do in girlie magazines.

My contention is this was an operation headed by the religious authorities to arrest all those Muslims working in places that serve liquor. They also got the Rela people involved so that they had enough manpower to conduct the arrests. So it is an operation that was conducted in the name of Islam. Therefore, photographing the women naked while taking a pee and demanding sex in exchange for getting released smears Islam and gives Islam a bad name. People who did not know any better would think that this is what Islam is all about.

Anyway, the long and short of it all is the government decided that my article insulted Islam rather than insulted those government officers who hide behind Islam to do their perverted and evil deeds. And, for my crime of ‘insulting Islam’, the Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, detained me without trial under the Internal Security Act and sent me to Kamunting.

Two months later, the Shah Alam High Court declared my detention as illegal and it ordered my release. The government was not happy about that and they appealed the decision. They want me back in Kamunting so that I could be subjected to ‘religious rehabilitation’.

In fact, there are many Malays who are of the opinion that I am jahil (ignorant) about Islam and that I should be rehabilitated so that my soul can be saved and I can go to heaven. They are adamant that I must go to heaven and they are bent on making sure that I do go to heaven. The only trouble is they do not even know whether they are going to heaven, yet they are so bloody concerned about whether I am going to heaven or not.

Actually, they are very confident that they are going to heaven. That is why they are more concerned about my fate and not worried about their own fate.

Anyway, as I said in an earlier article: justice may be delayed, but it can never be denied. It might take hundreds of years like in the case of Galileo Galilei. Eventually, however, justice comes to those wronged. In my case it did not take 450 years like in Galileo Galilei’s case. It took only one year. Today, the truth emerges. I was right. The government was wrong.

Nevertheless, the government still wants to detain me under the Internal Security Act and send me to Kamunting. I am still accused of insulting Islam. What is important, though, is that justice has finally been served to that very lovely girl named Maslinda Ishak who was wronged by the government. She may have been a GRO but she was doing an honest job and should not have been photographed naked and asked to consent to sex to secure her release.

And, most important of all, those officers working for the religious department should not have used Islam to satisfy their perverted sexual needs. That is what I whacked. I never whacked Islam. And I will never stop whacking Muslims who give Islam a bad name. These are the real enemies of Islam, not the Jews. In fact, with the ‘good’ job that the Muslims are doing, the Jews need not do anything. All they need to do is sit back and watch Muslims destroy Islam.

PAS wins by big margin

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid - The Malaysian Insider

PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 25 – PAS’s Mohd Salleh Man has won the Permatang Pasir state vote here in Penang by a big majority of 4,551 votes.

Official results show Mohd Salleh polled 9,618 votes while Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Rohaizat Othman received 5,067 votes.

The win for PAS was widely expected as the seat is within Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Permatang Pauh parliamentary stronghold.

Despite a massive onslaught by BN/Umno that was marked by heightened racial rhetoric, Rohaizat’s campaign had been a disaster from day one.

On nomination day, it was revealed that he was a disbarred lawyer because of misconduct involving a client’s funds amounting to RM161,000.

The entire campaign was dominated by the scandal with BN on the defensive.

But PAS’s majority today, just short of last year’s 5,433 margin when the turnout was higher, suggest the status quo in terms of support for both PR and BN remains the same.

Today’s turnout was 73.1 per cent compared to last year’s 82.57 per cent.

PAS’s handsome win also appears to indicate that in PR’s own backyard, they are unbeatable.

The win also comes despite Umno’s attempt to portray Anwar as a traitor to the Malays, while simultaneously playing the race and religion card.

If Permatang Pasir is any gauge, Umno’s attacks have not gained much traction on the ground except among its own core supporters.

The results of today’s by-election suggest a hardening of support on both sides of the political divide as PAS’s relentless attacks on Rohaizat’s candidacy also did not seem to have gained the party more votes.

Today’s win marks the seventh win out of eight by-elections PR has contested in since the March 2008 general elections.

Most of the contests had been in PR-held seats, while the one vote in which BN won was in Batang Ai in Sarawak, which the ruling coalition had held.

Rohaizat saddened by unfulfilled vows of Chinese support

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid - The Malaysian Insider

PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 25 - Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Rohaizat Othman today hinted that one of the factors that could have caused his defeat was the “failure of the Chinese community to fulfill their promises of support”, in an indication that the racial rhetoric played and used against their rivals by the ruling coalition may have backfired.

Rohaizat lost to PAS Penang commissioner Mohd Salleh Man by a 4,551 majority. The former garnered 5,061 votes while the PAS leader more or less retained their majority, considering the drop in voter turnout compared to the general elections last year, by raking in 9,618 votes.

Speaking to a press conference here, Rohaizat revealed that his campaign's observation indicated that the support from the Chinese community here was dissapointing.

“I am saddened by the fact that the Chinese community here have failed to fulfill their vows of support. They have failed to understand the concept of development that BN is trying to bring to the people of Permatang Pasir,” said Rohaizat.

The Umno man, however, refused to elaborate why he thought Chinese support was not forthcoming, saying that he would leave it to the central leadership to conduct a post-mortem to reveal the reasons.

“It's premature for me to give any reasons now,” he added.

The Chinese make up 27 per cent of Permatang Pasir's population. BN have engaged in a vigorous attempt to regain much of the non-Malay votes that went to Pakatan Rakyat.

BN have tried to depict their election rival PAS as a threat to the Chinese by using sensitive issues like the pig abbatoir closure in Kedah and beer sale issue in Selangor against the Islamist party.

Analysts believe BN were making inroads among the Chinese here but efforts to translate them into votes faltered after Rohaizat's disbarment apparently became a deterrent.

But as for the Malay votes, Rohaizat said the number of votes gained by both sides showed just a slight difference from that of the general elections outcome.

The former Permatang Pasir assemblyman, the late Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman won with a 5,433 majority when he gained 11,004 votes against BN's Ahmad Sahar Shuib who managed to garner 5,571 votes.

“So today's result show that as far as Malay support is concerned, it is still very much the same,” he said.

BN deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin also thought that, in terms of Malay support, their voting pattern remained the same but claimed the ruling coalition had made slight gains.

“Our studies have shown that there is not much difference in voting pattern. There are slight differences but are nominal ones,” he said, adding that the ruling coalition accepted the defeat with an open heart.

Don’t twist and turn – MACC Chief Commissioner Ahmad Said should state whether MACC has interrogated Muhyiddin for his corrupt practice of using RMAF

By Lim Kit Siang

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan should stop twisting and turning and give a straight and simple answer whether the MACC has interrogated Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his corrupt practice of using RMAF Nuri helicopter to officiate Umno division meetings in Sabah totally unrelated to his official duties as Deputy Prime Minister. By Lim Kit Siang

Both Sin Chew and Nanyang Siang today reported the MACC’s response to my earlier query whether it had started investigations into the allegation of Muhyiddin abusing his powers as DPM in using RMAF Nuri helicopter to officiate Umno division meetings in Sabah two weekends ago.

However, I was surprised to be contact by a reporter of another newspaper who asked for my reaction to Ahmad Said’s statement today that I should lodge a report on the Muhyiddin case if I have any evidence for the MACC on this case.

This is a most ridiculous statement from Ahmad Said. Hasn’t Ahmad Said read the reports in all the mainstream media about Muhyiddin abusing his powers in flying the RMAF Nuri helicopter to officiate Sabah Umno divisions two Sundays ago which were totally unrelated to his official duties?

If Ahmad Said does not have these media reports, I am prepared to send them to him!

All these media reports are sufficient evidence for the MACC to open investigations and to interrogate Muhyiddin for his abuse of power, if the MACC is an efficient, independent and professional commission committed to eradicating corruption and all forms of abuses of power without fear or favour, even as in this case where it involved the No. 2 in the country.

Malaysians will not easily forget Muhyiddin’s immediate reaction of utter contempt when informed that an official report had been lodged against him for abuse of powers in flying the RMAF Nuri helicopter for Umno rather than official purposes – where Muhyiddin declared that he was just not “scared” at all of the report or the MACC.

This is all the more reason why Malaysians want to know from Ahmad Said whether the MACC has started investigation into Muhyiddin and whether the Deputy Prime Minister had been interrogated by the MACC.

Or do we have a situation where it is not DPM Muhyiddin who is “scared” but MACC Chief Commissioner Ahmad Said who is “scared” to say anything about the issue, let alone even to breathe any word as to whether the MACC had interrogated Muhyiddin?

Ahmad Said could give no credible excuse for not daring to answer as to whether MACC had interrogated Muhyiddin over the RMAF Nuri helicopter abuse of power while MACC officers had never been reticent about actions against Pakatan Rakyat leaders and elected representatives.

In February, even before the official launching of the MACC by the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Ahmad Said made the totally uncalled for announcement that the MACC had “good and strong evidence” that Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had misused his powers over the now infamous “Car and Cows” allegation!

The MACC’s “Car and Cows” escapade, causing the MACC to acquire the derogatory and derisory term of “Malaysian Agency for Car and Cows”, was in fact Ahmad Said’s first show of hand that the MACC had deviated from its statutory objective to declare an all-out war against corruption and its being hijacked to become the catspaw of Umno/Barisan Nasional to declare an all-out war against the Pakatan Rakyat.

The MACC has repeatedly proven that it could see corruption involving Pakatan Rakyat where none exists, as in the case of Khalid over the MACC’s “Car and Cows” caper while failing to see corruption which is evident to all Malaysians, as in the case of Muhyiddin’s abuse of power in flying the RMAF Nuri helicopter for Umno division meetings which were completely unrelated to his official functions as DPM.

Let me ask Ahmad Said whether he would concede publicly that it is a clear case of abuse of power by a Deputy Prime Minister to fly RMAF Nuri helicopter to officiate Umno divisional meetings completely unrelated to his duties as DPM?

If this is not an abuse of power by Muhyiddin, can Ahmad Said explain why the MACC prosecuted former third-highest ranking policeman in the nation, former Commercial Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Ramli Yussoff on a charge of corruptly misusing his position in having used a police Cessna Caravan aircraft in June 2007 to survey two plots of land in Lahad Datuk unrelated to his official duties?

Furthermore, why is the MACC appealing to the High Court against the decision of the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court which acquitted Ramli of the charge?

Isn’t this case the best proof of the double standards of MACC and that it has failed the test of efficiency, independence, integrity and professionalism of an anti-corruption commission acting without fear or favour to eradicate corruption from whatever quarter?

Malaysians would want to know whether the 42 MACC Panel members of the five oversight committees are demanding accountability and integrity from Ahmad Said for the MACC’s double standards in the handling of the Muhyiddin and Ramli cases or whether the five oversight committees are just “paper tigers” which should just be dissolved for being utterly ineffective and impotent to exercise the necessary checks-and-balance to prevent abuses of power by MACC?

If Ahmad Said cannot answer why he is applying double standards in the two cases involving Muhyiddin and Ramli, this will be the first question to be posed in Parliament when it convenes for the budget session after the Hari Raya Puasa holidays.

MIC Elections 2009: Businessman pulls out of MIC veep race

NST,By B. Suresh Ram

KUALA LUMPUR: Klang businessman K.P. Samy has withdrawn from the MIC vice-presidential race to focus on his bid for a seat in the party's central working committee.

The decision by the supporter of former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam, who is again vying for the number two position in the party, reduces contestants for the three vice-presidential slots to seven.

Samy, whose full name is K. Palanisamy, filed nomination papers for both positions on Saturday.

The Shah Bandaraya branch chairman said he will also campaign for Subramaniam who is going against incumbent Datuk G. Palanivel, who has party chief Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu's endorsement.

(The other candidate for the deputy presidency is incumbent vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan.)

"I am going for the lesser post as the race for the three vice-presidencies will see party heavyweights contesting against each other. I feel my chances of winning a seat on the CWC are brighter," he said.

Samy is a former two-term CWC member who did not make it to the decision-making body in the 2006 party elections.

Candidates for all posts up for grabs have until today to withdraw from the race.

Islam kejam atau Islam rahmah?

Oleh Norhayati Kaprawi
thenutgraph.com

(Bir oleh enjindeniz / sxc.hu; Kartika © Bernama)

SEBAGAI seorang Islam, saya tertanya-tanya wajah Islam bagaimanakah yang Malaysia mahukan? Negara Islam, Islam madani, Islam hadari, atau Islam "hududi"?

Apa pun jenamanya, tentu yang kita mahukan adalah Islam yang adil, rahmah, berihsan, penyayang, mesra kepada orang perempuan, prihatin terhadap orang yang kurang bernasib baik, dan Islam yang sentiasa bersangka baik pada manusia.

Akan tetapi, cara mahkamah syariah di Malaysia menangani kes Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor tidak mencerminkan Islam yang kita impikan itu.

Bertambah malang lagi apabila ada orang Islam dan pemimpin-pemimpin yang mengaku memperjuangkan Islam, bersorak gembira dengan hukuman keras yang dijatuhkan terhadap Kartika.

Selama ini, ulama dan pemimpin Islam begitu petah dan rancak sekali bila berbicara tentang keadilan dalam Islam. Namun, apabila timbul masalah sebenar di dalam masyarakat, nampaknya ramai yang kelam kabut dan teraba-raba mencari sinar keadilan itu. Kelihatan sukar sekali mereka menterjemahkan konsep adil itu dalam menangani realiti kehidupan masyarakat.

Sesungguhnya, ini adalah kesalahan pertama Kartika dan beliau telah pun mengaku bersalah. Maka, mengapa dia dikenakan hukuman maksima?

Adakah lebih berat sesuatu hukuman itu, maka semakin Islamlah ia?

Perbandingan dan persoalan

Bandingkan kesalahan Kartika yang tidak memudaratkan sesiapa pun dengan kesalahan mat-mat rempit dan peragut beg yang menjejaskan keselamatan orang ramai dan telah menyebabkan kematian. Dan juga dosa Kartika dengan dosa bapa-bapa tidak bertanggungjawab yang tidak membayar nafkah sara hidup anak-anaknya.

Selepas hukuman dijatuhkan, Kartika terus membayar denda RM5,000 yang dikenakan tanpa banyak soal. Justeru, adakah adil, berhikmah dan berihsan apabila mahkamah kemudiannya menambah lagi hukuman penjara tujuh hari di penjara Kajang?

Adakah orang yang selama ini mengaku memperjuangkan agama Allah dan menegakkan negara Islam mahukan Islam yang sadis, keras dan tidak berihsan?

Lupakah mereka tentang Khalifah Umar Al-Khattab yang berihsan sekali dan tidak menghukum pencuri yang mencuri akibat kemiskinan? Lupakah mereka tentang nasihat Allah: "Maka barangsiapa yang bertaubat sesudah melakukan kejahatan itu, dan memperbaiki diri, maka sesungguhnya Allah menerima taubatnya. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang." (Al-Quran, Surah Al-Maidah: 39)

Malah, banyak lagi ayat Al-Quran yang memberikan peringatan yang sama sepertiSurah An-Nahl: 119 dan 125, dan Surah Al-An'am: 54.

Patutkah Jabatan Agama Islam Pahang yang telah memasukkan Kartika ke dalam van untuk dibawa ke penjara Kajang, tiba-tiba menukar fikiran dan memulangkannya semula ke rumahnya? Kemudian, ahli majlis mesyuarat kerajaan Pahang Datuk Mohd Sahfri Abdul Aziz mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa Kartika akan disebat selepas bulan Ramadan pula. Apakah pantas Kartika dilayan seperti haiwan sarkas yang dimasukkan ke dalam sangkar, dilepaskan dan ditangkap semula sesuka hati?

Umat Islam harus jujur bertanya pada sanubari diri di bulan Ramadan yang mulia dan penuh rahmah ini — adilkah hukuman dan layanan ke atas Kartika?

Norhayati Kaprawi
Aktivis wanita Muslim
Petaling Jaya
24 Ogos 2008

Probe alleged RM10m donation: MCA divisions

Suspend Ong’s authority until the truth is established, urge Perak MCA reps at a press conference this morning – Photos by Kinta Kid

Representatives of half a dozen Perak MCA divisions today signed a memo addressed to Ng Cheng Keat, the chair of MCA’s disciplinary committee, calling for a probe into the alleged RM10million donation to party president Ong Tee Keat.

The memo calls on the committee to “to grant an order with immediate effect to cease and suspend (Ong’s) authority” until the truth is established and his name is cleared.

The memo was signed by Lee Kon Yin, the deputy chairman of the Batu Gajah MCA division, who was also the spokesman during a press conference this morning. The other MCA divisions that signed the memo included Ipoh Timor, Ipoh Barat, Tambun and Bagan Datoh.

Ong has denied receiving such a donation and filed a RM500 million defamation suit against Sarawak tycoon-cum-politician Tiong King Sing.

Meanwhile, check out a speech by Nizar here.

Corporal Punishment Should Be Last Choice In Syariah Enforcement - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Corporal punishment in enforcing syariah law, especially on women, should be the last choice, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said enforcement of syariah law should first go through the process of educating the offenders and tempered with mercy and compassion, and that the authorities concerned should not make women the victims.

"There are already too many cases involving divorce and maintenance claims where women are the victims when there is no enforcement of the decisions made by the syariah courts," he said at the launching of the National Women's Day 2009 celebrations, here, tonight.

Najib said sympathy, compassion and the "tarbiah" (education) process were the essence Islamic teachings that were practised and enjoined by Prophet Muhammad, and which Muslims should follow.

"We must not go overboard...we must look at Islam as a religion that is fair, just, merciful and compassionate and above all, it gives the opportunity to redeem and correct oneself, which is more important than punishment.

"I hope the right people would hear what I have just said."

On another note, Najib said the government was committed to pursuing the empowering and development of women agenda in line with the National Women's Policy, so that women could occupy at least 30 per cent of the top decision-making positions.

He said although women's achievements in various fields and their ability to compete with the men were commendable, there was still room for improvement.

"I've heard Datuk Seri Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil)'s suggestion loud and clear that women's participation in politics, government administration and corporate sector be increased.

"I believe this will, in stages, become a reality," he said.

At the fnction, Najib also launched the National Women's Policy 2009, which is a continuation of the policy that was formulated in 1989 to spur government efforts in putting women in mainstream development.

"The main aspect stressed in this policy is providing a conducive or enabling environment for women to play an active and effective role in the national development process.

"We must also ensure that women are free from any form of gender discrimination and this requires changes to the procedures or laws, or a change in mindsets so that we do not see women as weak but equal with men."

He said the government was committed to empowering and developing the potential of the country's 13.4 million women.

"Indeed, investing in women is smart economics, because according to a study by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), the region's economy lost about a RM289 billion each year when women dropped out of employment or business.

"So, if we take this into consideration, women can make even bigger contribution than what they have now to the future of this country," he said.

Also present at the dinner function were Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.