MIC wants local 'Guantanamo Bay' shut down

MIC wants the government to close down the infamous Simpang Renggam detention camp in Johor, dubbed Malaysia's Guantanamo Bay, as it has outlived and probably deviated from its purpose of rehabilitating inmates.

Party president S Samy Vellu said MIC felt the detention camp built in 1986 to act as a rehabilitation centre, has become a "breeding ground" for more criminals, especially among the Indians, instead of rehabilitating them.

"Petty criminals who are sent there (the camp) graduate to become hardcore criminals," he told reporters after opening the MIC Youth workshop on crime prevention among Indian youth in Petaling Jaya.

To a question, Samy Vellu said he was aware that several non-governmental organisations also wanted the camp to be closed.

The camp houses detainees held under the Emergency Ordinance and the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985, as well as convicts and remand prisoners.

Relocate inmates to modern prisons

Former detainees, the Bar Council, and the parliamentary caucus on human rights have described poor conditions of detention, overcrowded cells, inedible food infested with worms, limited access to fresh air or exercise, and unhygienic living conditions.

Samy Vellu who visited the camp in 2007 as the then works minister, pointed out that the camp was also overcrowded and inmates were living in "filthy conditions".

It was reported that the camp could only accommodate 2,000 inmates but was now catering for more than 4,000 inmates.

Samy Vellu suggested that inmates who were serving their jail sentences, be relocated to modern prisons such as in Sungai Buloh, while inmates who were yet to be charged in court be brought before the courts to face punishments.

"For inmates who could not be charged in courts for various reasons, we feel they should be made to do community service and transferred to another rehabilitation camp with modern facilities," he said.

The former works minister said during his visit to the camp, he had personally talked to several inmates who complained that they were supposed to be detained for two years, but claimed that the authorities had extended their remand.

Samy Vellu said he was confident Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein would consider the MIC's request or find an alternative solution to it.

HRP forum at DAP Cameron candidate’s house today (11/12/09).

HRP forum at DAP Cameron candidate’s house today (11/12/09). Book launch” Malaysia Indian Political Empowerment Strategy The Way Forward by P. Uthayakumar”.

PAS MB Kedah: Don’t demolish Kuala Ketil hindu crematorium

PAS MB Kedah: Don’t demolish Kuala Ketil hindu crematorium. Appeal is by P. Uthayakumar, Secretary General (pro tem) of the Human Rights Party (Tamil Nesan 11/12/09 at page 2).

No DBKL land for Bangsar TNB hindu temple. UMNO’s racist religious extremist and supremacist policies.

No DBKL land for Bangsar TNB hindu temple. UMNO’s racist religious extremist and supremacist policies.

But UMNOs’ Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would not grant land to this hindu temple. Going by past records, in a matter of time UMNO would break down this hindu temple with impurity under their racist, religious extremist and supremacist policies (ref Tamil Nesan 10/12/09 at page 10). UMNO would not grant this hindu temple and thousands of other hindu temples their land and gazette it accordingly as a Hindu temple reserve as has been done for all the suraus and masjids over the last 52 years with the starting point help being from the JKKK, District and Land Offices, the State Menteri Besars and the UMNO Federal Government. However for in particular these hindu temples, a different set of rules apply in direct and blatant contravention of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law. And neither would the local PKR MP for Lembah Pantai or any of the 10 out of 11 Pakatan Rakyat MPs’ in Wilayah Persekutuan ever raise this hindu temple land issue or any other hindu temple land issue and the same not being gazetted problem in K.L. There has been no or very little changes vis a vis the hindu temples even in the Pakatan ruled states of Kedah, Penang, Selangor and earlier in Perak and despite the Indians voting in the 82 PKR, DAP and PAS MPS.

P. Uthayakumar

How many Malaysians will agree with Attorney-General that Phang, Stephen and Tan are “big fishes” in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail yesterday said that former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C.Phang, Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. Chief operating officer Stephen Abok and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect charged with multiple counts of criminal breach of trust and cheating are “big fishes” in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

How many Malaysians will agree with Gani that these three are the “big fishes” in the PKFZ scandal?

Guilty or otherwise, there can be no doubt that the trio are mere “cogs in the wheel” of the “mother of all scandals” and the authorities concerned have still to bring the “big fishes” to justice.

Gani said that investigations into the PKFZ scandal are ongoing and more people would be brought to book.

What Malaysians want to see are not just the prosecution of the “cogs in the wheel” but the masterminds of the PKFZ “mother of all scandals”.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PcW) investigations and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiries have laid building blocks for the full whole sordid tale of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to be told to Malaysians, right from the beginning of the PKFZ land acquisition in the nineties, and for all those involved in the intricate and complex conspiracy to be revealed.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should “walk the talk” of his commitment to combat corruption and abuses of power by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate and reveal all about the PKFZ “mother of all scandals” or he would have failed his first KPI test of placing “fighting corruption” as one of six priority sectors.

...suggestion on Utusan article issue

By now i am sure you are aware of the latest Utusan Malaysia acticle that condemns not only Msian Indians but also all the Indians around the world. As an Indian, i feel offended by their harsh words, by labeling us kaki kecoh etc.

This is not the first time and it will not be the last time either. MIC/Pakatan/NGOs have made few police reports on this issue but as we all know, no further action will be taken. Well this only happens Bolehland.

So here I would like to propose a suggestion on how to tackle this problem from repeating. As a Tamil say "engge adicha valikummo, angge thaan adikenum" (hit there, where it pain more), my suggestion will be similar to that. As for now, Indians are the main distributor for newspapers in Msia.

I propose that KL/Selangor Indian Newspaper Vendors take this role to teach Utusan a lesson. Boycott the newspaper distribution until they appologise. It can be start in KL/Selangorn then move to whole Msia.

If my suggestion seems to be a liitle harsh, I am sorry. I dont have any confidence on police/Home ministry/AG to take action on this matter.

I hope you can you your influence to request for this boycott. I have tried contacting the President of the association but im getting the " nombor yang anda panggil tiada dalam perkhidmatan' message only.

I hope this will teach them a nice lesson. Show them the powers that we have. Already showed them during 2008, now let's show again.

Hope you can propose this suggestion to the relevant parties.

- bsvanan -

Amnesty slams Iran's rights record

Iranian authorities deployed the Basij militia and Revolutionary Guards to suppress poll protests [AFP] Human rights violations in Iran are as bad as at any point in the last 20 years, Amnesty International, the human rights group, has said. Amnesty's report, released on Thursday, examines allegations of torture, rape, death threats, forced confessions, intimidation, cover-ups and unlawful killings in the period after the country's disputed presidential election in June. The rights group called on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, to allow United Nations human rights experts to visit the country to help carry out an investigation. Official inquiries to date "seemed to have been more concerned with covering up abuses than getting at the truth", the report said. Iran has dismissed previous criticism of its human rights record. Action urged "Members of militias and officials who have committed violations must also be promptly held to account and on no account should anyone be executed," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme, said in a statement on Thursday. In video Iranian photographers flee country after disputed presidential election Official figures say 36 people died in post-election violence, but Iran's opposition says around 70 people died. More than 4,000 people were arrested after the poll, and around 200 remain in prison. The report claimed "patterns of abuse" before, during and after the election, when authorities deployed the the Basij militia and Revolutionary Guards to suppress mass protests against its disputed outcome. Mass demonstrations against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, plunged the Islamic Republic into crisis. However, opposition rallies no longer muster the huge crowds that flooded the streets immediately after the June 12 ballot. Mirhossein Mousavi, a defeated election candidate, has alleged that the vote was rigged. Some of those detained during the protests have since been forced to flee the country, the report said. One former detainee says he was held at the Kahrizak detention centre for about 58 days, kept in a shipping container throughout and only allowed to contact his family after 43 days, the report said. "Anyone who is arrested or detained must be protected from torture or other ill-treatment, prisoners of conscience must be released and those convicted after unfair trials - including the "show trials" which made a mockery of justice - must have their cases reviewed, or be released," Sahraoui said. "All death sentences should be commuted, and others not yet tried must receive fair trials."

PKFZ: OC Phang charged with CBT, claims trial - Malaysiakini

In the first indictments over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project, former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager OC Phang and two others were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and making false claims in the Klang Sessions Court today.

The other two were Steven Abok, chief operating officer of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, the turnkey contractor of the project, and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect, the project consultant.

All three pleaded not guilty before judge Yong Zaridah Sazali. Prosecution was done by deputy public prosecutors Manoj Kurup, Dzulkifli Ahmad and Hashley Tajudin.

The trio were brought to the court at about 1.55pm after they were arrested earlier today. Phang wore a turqoise coloured dress while Abok and Tan wore face masks.

Phang, represented by Ng Aik Guan, faced three charges of CBT amounting to RM254.85 million. She was granted a RM350,000 bail, with one surety. The case will start on Jan 12, on which date Phang has been asked to surrender her passport.

Abok and Tan were jointly charged with two counts making false claims involving a total sum of RM5.417 million.

Tan is also charged with together with another person still at large with 24 counts of making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million.

They claimed trial over the charges and bail was set at RM250,000 for Tan and RM200,000 for Abok, both with a surety each. Their case will be mentioned on Feb 4.

Lawyer Tan Hock Chuan appeared for Abok while George Varghese represented Tan.

Ex-transport minister also named

The PKFZ controversy arose after the cost to develop the massive 400-hectare integrated cargo distribution hub spiralled from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion.

Phang, a former civil servant, was the first woman to head PKA. She helmed the authority from 2001 until last year.

Phang was blamed for the ballooning cost of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. She was accompanied by husband and daughter to the court.

A parliamentary probe by the Public Accounts Committee last month had recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and police investigate Phang and former transport minister Chan Kong Choy, who held the portfolio from 2003 to 2008, for criminal breach of trust over the scandal.

The PAC probe also highlighted that certain procedures were carried out without the authorisation of the finance ministry.

The report said the PAC was informed by the Attorney-General that three support letters issued by Chan and three letters of undertaking issued by Phang were implicitly a form of guarantee from the government to ensure that there would be allocations for PKA to enable it to meet its obligations under the development agreement.

PKA has since filed over a billion ringgit worth of suits against Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and BTA Architects and also sued Phang for breach of duties.

Police have frozen several bank accounts of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd.

The government has also set up an 11-member special taskforce headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan to determine misconduct and to restore the project.

[With additional reporting by Yip Ai Tsin]

_________________________________________________________________________________

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail today said that more people will be charged in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, starting with an engineer with Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd who will face charges on Monday.

Earlier today former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager OC Phang and two others were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and making false claims in the Klang Sessions Court.

Abdul Gani said in a statement that the action taken against the three today was a result of joint effort put in by the AG Chamber with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in the past few months.

"There are lots of issues involved - legal and factual, which are not only complex but require substantial amount of evidence gathering," he said.

He added that as a result of the joint effort by the three agencies, Phang, chief operating officer of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd which was the turnkey contractor of the project Steven Abok and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect were charged this morning.

Engineer to face charges on Monday

An engineer with Kuala Dimensi, Law Jenn Dong will be charged on Monday with making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million. He is alleged to have committed the offence with Tan.

"They must be made answerable for their roles and actions. I decided to prefer charges against these individuals today as I could not wait for the authorities to complete their investigations into the whole scheme as that would take a long time.

"The charging of other individuals will come in stages," promised the AG.

Phang was charged with CBT amounting to RM254 million to which she claimed trial. She was granted a RM350,000 bail, with one surety. The case will start on Jan 12, on which date she has been asked to surrender her passport.

Abok and Tan meanwhile were jointly charged with two counts making false claims involving a total sum of RM5.417 million.

Tan was also charged with together with another person still at large (Law Jenn Dong) with 24 counts of making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million.

They claimed trial over the charges and bail was set at RM250,000 for Tan and RM200,000 for Abok, both with a surety each. Their case will be mentioned on Feb 4.

Lawyer Tan Hock Chuan appeared for Abok while George Varghese represented Tan.

Anwar: Go for the big sharks too

The PKFZ controversy arose after the cost to develop the massive 400-hectare integrated cargo distribution hub spiralled from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion.

Meanwhile Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today welcomed the case preferred against the trio but added that the bigger players should not be allowed to escape.

"We welcome this although it is a small move. I hope this is not the beginning of a cover-up on the issue," he told reporters in Parliament.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang also urged the authorities to start preferring charges against the main persons behind the PKFZ's failure.

Ong Tee Keat: Job not done yet

Meanwhile Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat, who was pivotal in probing the PKFZ scandal, said the decision to charge was an indication that the government does not take such scandals lightly.

"It also proves that the government walks the talk when it comes to upholding accountability and transparency... today's decision to charge three individuals show the government does not cover up wrongdoings," he wrote in his blog from Hanoi where he is attending Asean Transport Ministers' meeting.

He also said that his work in regards to PKFZ was not completed "just because a few people have been hauled up in court".

"We need to work closely to resolve outstanding administration and operational issues at the PKA and PKFZ levels.

"PKA would work very closely with the PKFZ super taskforce to ensure that the eventual results of the entire exercise will bring about positive results which are in the best interests of the public," he said.

Of noisy Indians and 'keling' blood: Utusan strikes again - Malaysiakini

The Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia has once again trampled on racial sensitivities, earning it another two more police reports.

The reports were filed by MIC Youth's racial integration bureau chief MT Padmanathan and PKR Batu Youth member V Ravindran with the Sentul police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Both parties were incensed by a column published yesterday under the heading 'Alkishah India di India dan India di Malaysia' (The tale of Indians in India and Indians in Malaysia).

Among others, the writer Zaini Hassan said Indians in India and Malaysia are "loudmouthed and always making noise."

He then zeroed in on DAP MP M Kulasegaran for 'making noise' over the special privileges accorded to the Malays.

Zaini penned: "Dia tahukah apa yang dia cakap? Tapi yang pasti kenyataannya itu cukup sensitif dan akan membuat kumpulan lain marah. Tapi seperti biasa orang Melayu marahnya tidak lama."

(Is he aware of what he is saying? One thing is for certain, his statement is very sensitive and will anger others. But as usual the anger of the Malays will not last for long).

"Tak apalah. Orang Melayu tidak seperti orang India, walaupun ada juga Melayu yang darah keturunan keling (DKK), tapi darah Melayu yang lembut banyak menguasai mereka."

(Never mind. The Malays are not like Indians, although some of them have 'keling' blood, but the 'soft' Malay blood in them is more overwhelming).

Noisy...that is their culture

In the article, Zaini also related his experience in visiting India recently, where he witnessed the hustle and bustle of the densely-populated nation.

"India tetap India. Orang India ialah masyarakat yang begitu unik. Jika kita sering tengok wayang Tamil atau Hindi, itulah budaya mereka. Kecoh, kecoh dan kecoh."

(India is India. The Indians are unique. If we watch Tamil or Hindi movies, that is their culture, noisy, noisy and noisy).

"Namun, kita di Malaysia pun ada orang India. Kecohnya pun lebih kurang sama. Mereka ini rata-ratanya terdiri daripada ahli-ahli profesional, peguam dan kini menjadi ahli politik."

(There are also Indians in Malaysia, and the noisiness is about the same. These are the professionals, lawyers and now politicians.)

Last year, Zaini had also attacked DAP MP Teresa Kok, whom he accused of ordering a mosque to lower the volume of its Azan prayers.

The issue had even led to her brief detention under the Internal Security Act.

Kok, who denied the allegation, subsequently filed a suit against the writer.

Public apology sought

In his police report, Padmanathan said the article contained elements that degraded the Indian community.

"Utusan Malaysia has crossed the line. Such statements not only ridicule the Indians, but have the potential of stirring racial unrest," he said, adding that Indian Malaysians are enraged by this.

Padmanathan urged the writer to publicly apologise to the Indian community here.

Meanwhile, Ravindran stated in his police report that the article reeked of racism and went against the 1Malaysia concept espoused by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Also present was DAP's Teluk Intan parliamentarian M Manogaran.

This morning, Human Resources Minister and MIC vice-president Dr S Subramaniam also criticised the daily for using offensive words.

In a related development, Malaysian Hindu Sangam president RS Mohan Shan also urged Utusan to apologise.

He also countered Zaini's statement that Indians in Malaysia were troublemakers.

"We are not troublemakers. We are willing to work with anyone. Zaini is the troublemaker," he said.

Mohan also defended Kulasegaran as a legislator who was defending the rights of the Indian community.

"You cannot consider him a troublemaker. He and the rest of the Indian legislators were only defending our rights," he said.

No temple for 900 Hindu and Chinese families in PPR flats Kg. Baru Air Panas, Kuala Lumpur

No temple for 900 Hindu and Chinese families in PPR flats Kg. Baru Air Panas, Kuala Lumpur.

With the above 900 families (600 Indian and 300 Chinese) there are about 4,500 Hindus and Buddhist (Toaist) who are in need of a place of worship in this poor and working class neighbourhood. There is an adjoining masjid though.

This morning 10/12/09 at about 10.00 a.m 40 Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officers, three trucks and one van came to demolish the local PPR Flats Kg. Baru Air Panas Hindu and Chinese (Toaist) shrine.

With the Hindraf and HRP Setiawangsa Division officials resisting, these officers went away and vowed to come back in one week time to demolish these shrines.

How could the K.L. City Hall approve the building plans for this low cost PPR flats when a place for the building of a Hindu and Chinese temple was never allocated and built accordingly.

The Federal Territories Deputy Minister had early this year announced in Parliament that no more places of worship would be demolished in Kuala Lumpur. But the ground reality shows otherwise.

Had it been England this Ministerial statement which is a lie in Parliament would be national issue. But not in Malaysian democracy because even the opposition 82 PKR, DAP and PAS would not bother making this an issue or addressing the same in the first place.

The Setiawangsa HRP Division Chief Mr. P. Sivalingam would on 15/12/09 at 2.00 p.m be holding a peaceful protest outside the K.L. City Hall Mayor’s office to uphold the residents religious rights further to Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

S.Jayathas

HRP Information Chief

PKR Subang Indian MP mandore’s Tamil school political gimmick, peanuts RM 7k.

Yet again another PKR Subang Indian MP mandore does a wayang kulit. He announces a Tamil school in Kota Damasara planned to be built and RM 7, 000.00 from the Selangor State and another RM 1, 000.00 of his personal donation. This is to divert attention away from the real issue ie where is the land title for this Kota Damansara Tamil school and this local Tamil school and Selangor state government land for all 97 Tamil schools, all hindu temples and hindu crematoriums in Selangor which is the very basic needs of any community. This Indian PKR mandore MP is not able to deliver these land titles. How then is he different from his predecessor UMNOs’ mandore from the MIC in Subang Parliament? Get to the point Y.B!

P. Uthayakumar

Water & electricity to estate workers cut off by UMNO linked KL/ Kepong.

Water & electricity to estate workers cut off by UMNO linked KL/ Kepong.

Estate workers denied water & electricity by UMNO’s K.L. Kepong conglomerate (ref Tamil Nesan 10/12/09 at page 3).

This is how cruel UMNO could get against the Coalfield Estate, Selangor, Indian plantation workers who are now homeless (ref The Star 10/10/09 at page N55). These plantation workers should have long ago like for the poor malay muslims have been rightfully granted the 10 acre land ownership schemes in Felda, Felcra, Risda, Fama and Agropolition. But just because this poor and working class victims are Indians, the weight and force of UMNO’s racism, religious extremism and supremism goes at full speed and gear against these poor and working class Indians.

P. Uthayakumar