Police abused power, claim residents

Bukit Jalil residents say police and City Hall workers vandalised their property despite a court injunction not to do so.

PETALING JAYA: Yet more police reports. This time against several policemen and City Hall officers. The Bukit Jalil estate action committee and individuals have now filed seven reports over a breach of a court injunction.

The 41 families residing at the estate obtained an ex-parte interim injunction from the Court of Appeal on May 13 to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) from demolishing their homes.

In its report at the Dang Wangi police headquarters yesterday, the committee claimed the DBKL officers and the police personnel had been in contempt of court as DBKL had been slapped with the injunction from entering the site.

On May 25, some 30 policemen and DBKL officers, led by an inspector known as Chandraratna had entered the estate, tore down their banners and broke several chairs in a guard post.

When the residents queried them, the officers allegedly intimidated and rained insults at them.
Despite being shown a copy of the injunction, Chandraratna had refused to acknowledge it.

The estate action committee treasurer K Balakrishnan called upon the police to suspend Chandraratna from service pending an investigation.

“If the police fails to take action against their men , then we will have no choice but to send a memorandum to Bukit Aman police headquarters,” said Balakrishnan who is also Hindraf Makkal Sakthi national coordinator.

DAP members joining MIC a ‘lie’

A local MIC leader claims only a handful of the 807 are former DAP members. The rest, he adds, are new recruits.

GEORGE TOWN: The claim that 807 DAP members had quit the opposition party to join MIC was a lie, alleged a local MIC leader.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the MIC leader claimed that only a handful of those who submitted their membership forms to party president G Palanivel were DAP members.

According to him, most of them were new recruits.
“We can count with our fingers the number of DAP members who joined MIC that day. Everyone knows it was a farce to show that MIC has regained confidence among the local Indians,” said the division leader.

The revelation, if true, would be a slap in the face for MIC leaders, who organised a major dinner to welcome the new members.

In his speech at the event, state MIC chief, Senator PK Subbaiyah, had claimed that they were all from DAP.

Palanivel, on the other hand, claimed that the departure of DAP Indian members to join MIC showed that Indians had lost confidence in the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

MIC also claimed that the exodus showed that Penang Indians had lost faith in the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy and other Pakatan Indian representatives. Ramasamy is the Prai assemblyman and Batu Kawan MP.

Under the Barisan Nasional electoral arrangement, MIC would get to contest the Prai and Bagan Dalam state seats. DAP’s A Tanasekharan was the current Bagan Dalam incumbent.

MIC was said to have shortlisted Penang MIC deputy chairman L Krishnan and Batu Kawan division chief R Muthiah for Prai, and secretary M Karuppan and youth wing chief J Dhinagaran for Bagan Dalam.

Political agendas

Another reliable MIC source said Sunday’s grand event was organised merely to show that MIC was back as a political force to reckon with in Penang after the electoral drubbing in the last general election.

However, insiders claimed that the fanfare also reflected the political agendas of certain MIC leaders.
The entry of new members, which would pave the way for the formation of at least 13 new branches, would be a major boost for Palanivel, who expects to face a strong challenge in the party presidential election next year.

It was learnt that Subbaiyah also wanted to form more branches across the state to give him more options to challenge certain division leaders in the state.

Insiders also claimed that the division chairmen of Tanjung, Jelutong, Bukit Gelugor and Balik Pulau, Batu Kawan, Nibong Tebal and Bagan were at loggerheads with Subbaiyah, the Permatang Pauh division chairman.

It was said that Subbaiyah could be planning to bring in new leaders to oust the current crop of division leaders whom he cannot see eye-to-eye with.

However, Subbaiyah might not find everything going his way because some division leaders were also plotting to replace him as state chief.

Insiders said the leaders might threaten the top leadership that they would leave the party with their supporters if Subbaiyhah was not removed.

"MIC Palanivel is a mega liar"

Current Bumi economic agenda not viable, says UDA chief

UDA was accused of sidelining Bumiputera concerns in the redevelopment of Pudu Jail. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Putrajaya cannot keep throwing money at agencies tasked with furthering the Bumiputera economic agenda without consideration for profit unlike in the past, says Umno leader Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.


The UDA Holdings Bhd chairman warned there will come a day when the government, whose finances were “being stretched over time”, would no longer be able to dole out grants to statutory bodies like Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) as it does currently.

He said this was particularly true now as the Najib administration grapples with ballooning subsidy costs and a widening budget deficit following a sharp rise in global crude oil prices.

“The money is to be used in a more efficient manner because the government cannot afford to give funds like it did before,” the accountant by training told The Malaysian Insider last night.

“It has to have a return as well because you need to reinvest whatever that was set aside for the Bumiputera so that the Bumiputera can have future sources of income... instead of being spent 100 per cent.”
The Pulai MP said the expectation that everything must be given on demand to further the Bumiputera cause must give way to a more nuanced allocation of funds.

UDA has come under attack from Umno and Utusan Malaysia for allegedly abandoning the Bumiputera agenda after it chose not to appoint Bumiputera joint-venture turnkey investors for the proposed Bukit Bintang City Centre, located on prime land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle.

Nur Jazlan (left) denied the accusations yesterday, pointing out that the corporatised government agency had no choice but be competitive to survive as it no longer received any direct assistance from the government.

“Most people don’t know that UDA Holdings no longer receives any form of special treatment from the government, whether in the form of grants or cash injections or sale of land at nominal prices,” he said.
The wholly-owned unit of the Finance Ministry, whose assets are estimated to be worth RM2 billion, is over RM900 million in debt and free cash flow of RM90 million now.

Nur Jazlan said UDA also “owes” the government RM104 million, paid market prices for the Pudu Jail land and still has to pay RM134 million in land premiums for the property by September.

He added that the company needed to be prudent and work with strategic partners instead of contractors as the cost of developing Bukit Bintang City Centre could reach as high as RM4 billion.

The UDA board has selected a partner to develop the prime piece of land but several disgruntled Malay businessmen fear it could go to a foreign developer instead of them, as part of the Bumiputera economic policy.

Price hikes top list of concerns

An online poll by FMT reveals that respondents are most concerned about escalating prices of essential items and least concerned about swapping refugees.

PETALING JAYA: The bread-and-butter issue of price hikes ranked above all other concerns such as the education system and race politics, according to an online poll by FMT.

The 10-day poll, which saw 3,786 respondents voting, closed at midnight yesterday.

A total of 1,913 or 51% of the respondents chose price hikes as their biggest concern while 1,002 or 26% picked “petty or race politicking”. Only 779 or 21% were worried about the standard of education.
Prices of essential items had been increased over the past several weeks as part of the government’s move to lessen the subsidy load, which is expected to double from RM10.32 billion to RM20.58 billion this year.

On May 4, the government announced that the price of RON97 fuel would be raised to RM2.90 – up 20 sen since the last increase in April. Five days later, the price of sugar went up by 20 sen to RM2.30 per kg, a 10% hike from the previous RM2.10 per kg.

Quelling concerns that the price of the more widely used RON95 petrol would also go up, the government last week announced that the prices for RON95, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas would be maintained for the time being.

On Monday, the government announced a 7% hike in electricity tariff beginning June. However, this would not affect about 75% of the population who utilised less than 300 kWh per month.

The refugee swap between the Malaysian and Australian governments seemed to be of little concern to readers. Only 1% or 48 respondents clicked on this.
Similarly, only 44 respondents or 1% said that they were concerned about errant motorists breaking traffic rules.

Living near a ticking time bomb

Residents of Taman Bukit Utama fear that Lot 541 will be next in line for a landslide.

KUALA LUMPUR: Each night Hajah Fatimah, 60, falls asleep with the same worry on her mind: Would the man-made slope in her residential area finally collapse tonight?

Known as the Lot 541, the nine-tiered slope sits adjacent to Taman Bukit Utama in Bukit Antarabangsa, Hulu Kelang, Selangor. Flanking it on one side is the Puncak Athenauem condominiums and on other, the now abandoned Highland Towers.

Fatimah led a quiet life in Taman Bukit Utama for 10 years until a landslide in 2008 claimed five lives from the neighbouring Taman Bukit Mewah.

Since then she and the rest of Bukit Antarabangsa’s community have kept a watchful eye on the hillslopes surrounding them. And right now Lot 541 is the centre of their attention.

“Look at those tilting trees!” she gestured to the row of trees behind a low metal fence that separated the slope from the residences. “If the soil beneath it crumbles we’re finished! And what if it happens in the middle of the night? Of course I’m scared!”

Fellow resident, Dr Rafick Khan Abdul Rahman, has graver concerns. The retired military doctor became a household name after fighting for the declassification of the Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide report.
He has since made it his mission to monitor the hillslopes of Bukit Antarabangsa and is adamant that Lot 541 is a ticking time bomb.

“The vegetation is overgrown and the drains are choked with debris,” he said. “This slope is meant to be cleared every two weeks but the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) only comes around once every two months or whenever we kick up a fuss.”

Ominous past

But it isn’t just the unkempt surrounding that has Rafick up in arms. Lot 541 has an ominous past. Its badly designed drainage system was responsible for the Highland Towers tragedy in 1993. The drainage has since been improved but poor maintenance has once again created a fertile ground for landslides.

“Erosion has already taken place at the foot of the slope,” Rafick told FMT during a site visit. “I’ve chased MPAJ for two years to monitor the soil movement and maintain this lot but I’ve been ignored.”

“None of my dozen e-mails to (MPAJ president) Mohammad Yacob and (MPAJ urban services and health director) Sarodin Shahri have been replied nor have they visited the site. So I will hold them both personally responsible if anything happens here.”

Rafick, however, has the ear of MPAJ’s slope division head, Zafrul Fazry Mohd Fauzi, who was also present that morning. Zafrul agreed that Lot 541 was in dire need of a clean-up but explained that the task belonged to Alam Flora.

“This is quite bad,” he said as he took in the waist-high grass, clogged drains and slanting trees. “The trees are tilting more than they should which indicates soil movement. And they are large canopied trees which adds weight to the soil.”

According to Zafrul, the Bukit Antarabangsa master plan indicated that the township is prone to water retention which makes irrigation of prime importance.
His division has responded by inserting large pipes into the slope to drain out the water but Zafrul said that more need to be done for water flow in the drains.

On whether Lot 541 posed any risk to Puncak Athenaeum, he replied, “Not if it is properly maintained and monitored.”

Critical condition

Geologist Professor Tajul Anuar Jamaluddin of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia was blunter. He described Lot 541 as “a high-risk slope in critical condition” as there was evidence of improper engineering.

“To make matters worse, it has been left unattended for a long while,” he added. “All the above observations are good ingredients and indicators of subtle slope movements.”

When contacted, Mohammad told FMT to liaise with Zafrul whom he said “knows everything about Bukit Antarabangsa”. Sarodin’s department, which has contracted Alam Flora to carry out the maintenance work, also issued a similar request.

“They always refer the public and media to me,” Zafrul sighed. “My role is checking slope stability but since poor maintenance is the cause of instability I end up being the spokesperson. I can’t comment on the contract with Alam Flora though, as I’m not privy to the details.”

Meanwhile, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, who has frequented Lot 541, is appalled at the condition and convinced that more funds are needed to continue stabilisation work in the area.

“We can’t just leave it hanging like this,” she said. “I’ve had no response from the Public Works Department on this matter and Alam Flora claims that it was never assigned to Lot 541.”
“This is a very serious matter and we’re all in the dark right now. I will bring this matter up during the next parliamentary session.”

Call for a clear definition of bumiputra status

The Sun
by Sulok Tawie

KUCHING (May 31, 2011): PKR Wanita vice-head Voon Shiak Nie has urged the federal government to amend Article 16 1A (6) (b) of the Federal Constitution so that it defines clearly the status of children of bumiputra fathers and non-bumiputra mothers.

“Under the Article, the children are not classified as bumiputras, but it has been the practice in Sarawak for years to classify them as bumiputras,” she told reporters today.

Voon said the state agencies recognise such children as bumiputras, but not the federal agencies.

“The amendment to Article 16 1A (6) (b) of the Federal Constitution should clearly state that these children are bumiputras,” she said.

Voon made the call in the light of the rejection of applications by Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) of two students whose mothers are non-bumiputras. Their fathers, however, are Iban.

One of the students, from Saratok, scored 8As and 2Bs, while the other, from Kuching, scored 10As in last year's SPM examination.

Voon said their applications to enter local universities were rejected because UPU classified them as non-bumiputras.

“The rejection was conveyed to their parents through phone calls from UPU officials,” she said, pointing out that it has nothing to do with their SPM results.

“If SPM results are to be taken into account, they certainly qualify,” she added.

“The rejection of an enrolment based on race status and the segregation of bumiputra and non-bumiputra is uncalled for in a multi-racial country, especially in a country which is supposed to uphold human rights and justice."

Voon believed that the cases involving the two students could be a tip of the iceberg as she has been informed that similar complaints have been received by Barisan Nasional leaders and ministers.

Renungan: 54 tahun Umno perjuang Ketuanan Melayu

eorang sahabat dalan laman facebook menyenaraikan sedikit ‘dosa’ Umno sepanjang ‘memperjuangkan’ ketuanan Melayu selama ini.

Adakah 54 tahun selepas suara-suara perjuang Ketuanan Melayu, Melayu jadi samakin kuat? Perdana Menterinya Melayu, majoriti Menteri Besar dan menterinya Melayu. Hampir 90% ketua jabatan dan agensinya orang Melayu. Namun apa yang terjadi?

Senarai 10 Individu Terkaya di Malaysia:

Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien (Kerry Group/Kuok Group) RM42.76b
Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan (Usaha Tegas) RM27b
Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng (IOI Group) RM11.92b
Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow (Public Bank) RM10.86b
Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (Genting Group) RM10.38b
Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (Hong Leong Group) RM7.09b
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary (Al-Bukhary Foundation) RM6.01b
Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua (Genting Group) RM4.4b
Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King (Rimbunan Hijau) RM3.5b
Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (Berjaya Group) RM3.2

Daripada 10 orang terkaya di Malaysia, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar hanya berada di tempat yang ke tujuh itupun masih jauh ketinggalan.

Melayu adalah yang paling ramai berada dalam kategori rakyat Miskin iaitu lebih kurang 88 peratus...OK ke macam ni??

2007, Akauntan Bumiputera hanya ada lebih kurang 7.0 peratus manakala Cina 87.4 peratus dan India 5.2 peratus. Begitu juga Jurutera Bumiputera hanya ada 28.2 peratus, Cina ada 62.5 peratus dan India 6.3 peratus.Macamana untuk bersaing dengan kaum lain? Bolehkah Melayu dipercayai dengan kekuatan sebegini?

Pemilikan Ekuiti pada tahun 1990, Bumiputera 19.3 peratus, Non-Bumi 46.8 peratus, Lain-lain 25.4 peratus dan Nominees 8.5 peratus. Manakala pada tahun 2008, Pemilikan ekuiti boleh dikatakan tidak berubah walaupun selepas 18 tahun.

Daripada 150,000 pelajar yang berada diluar negara, Bumiputera hanya 12 peratus iaitu sekitar 18,000 orang sahaja. Itupun pergantungan penuh kepada bantuan kerajaan.

Sahabat berkenaan melihat daripada sudut ekonomi sahaja. Itupun belum melihat kepada kemelaratan Melayu peringkat bawah akibat melonjaknya harga barangan keperluan sekarang. Jika seorang yang berpendapatan RM1,500 ke bawah dan mempunyai lima orang nak yang sedang bersekolah, kena bayar hutang bulanan rumah dan kereta lagi, mereka sudah terjumlah di kalangan orang miskin.

Aspek sosial lagi teruk. Melayulah juara dadah sehinggakan tiada kampung Melayu yang selamat daripada dadah sekarang. Gejala sosial, buang bayi, maksiat, murtad, makan rasuah, gangsterisme, hidup tanpa agama. Semuanya Melayu yang juara.

Sudah 54 tahun rakyat biarkan Umno memperjuangkan ketuanan Melayu, tanpa dicabar oleh sesiapa pun. Memang seronok dan ghairah bercerita soal Melayu, tetapi hakikatnya?

Apakah rakyat mahu Umno minta 54 tahun lagi baru untuk mengubah dan mengangkat ketuanan Melayu? Atau hanya tangkal azimat untuk mempertahankan kuasa? - petikan dari http://selamatkanpahang.blogspot.com/

Scholarship row: Extra spaces may be given

The Cabinet will discuss the possibility of providing extra spaces for overseas scholarships.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will deliberate tomorrow on proposals that extra spaces for Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarships be given to 86 students with 9A+ grades for this year.

The proposal was among the four categories of appeals made by leaders from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) component parties following allegations of unfairness in the scholarship awarding system, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said today.

He added that the proposals would be raised in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.

Approval to expand the overseas scholarships quota for the 86 students could set a precedent with wider implications for future distribution of grants which was limited to 1,500 spaces.

The move could be seen as a political stragety as BN geared up for a snap polls. It is likely that future qualified students left out from the quota would use this year’s leniency as basis for appeal. .

This was indirectly admitted by Nazri when he said that “expectations” for scholarships this year were high due to the issue being highly politicised.

“We go year by year,” he told reporters when queried on the possible repercussions.
Earlier, Nazri chaired a meeting with BN leaders including MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai and MIC vice-president SK Devamany.

Nazri also announced that from next year the PSD would hold annual press briefings to explain the mechanism behind the distribution of the scholarships to avoid future confusion.
“The media must cooperate and help us explain this to the public,” he said.

Nazri added that the scholarship controversy was largely caused by misunderstanding between BN leaders and confusion created by the media.

“Today, we have resolved everything,” he added.

Technical glitches

The government will also consider appeals that students with 9A+ grades – 67 of them for now – who qualified for scholarships in local diploma programmes be offered to do matriculation courses to shorten the time period for entry into degree courses.

PSD scholarships for local programmes are capped at 2,500.

Other appeals made for the Cabinet to consider are transferring qualified 8A+ students from diploma programmes to matriculation courses and rectifying technical glitches which saw scholarship being awarded for matriculation courses without the subject being specified.


The scholarship row was triggered when Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong revealed that 363 straight A+ students failed to get scholarships this year despite the promise made by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that all students scoring 8A+ and above will receive PSD scholarships.

The promise was made following a similar allegation of unfair scholarship distribution last year.
Wee also claimed that there are “little Napoleans” in the PSD who were directly acting against the Cabinet directive.

Nazri, who is in charge of PSD, denied the allegation.

Police report filed against Najib, Muhyiddin

HRP files a police report against the top two leaders over the race-based disbursement of scholarships and varsity seats.

KUALA LUMPUR: A police report has been filed against Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin over the race-based disbursement of government scholarships, study loans as well as matriculation and university seats.

The report filed by Human Rights Party (HRP) information chief S Jayathas at the Travers police station here also named Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khalid Nordin.

“We want the police to investigate Najib, Muyhiddin, Khalid and the government on violations of Article 8 and Article 12 of the Federal Constitution for denying Malaysian Indian students their basic right to education.

“This level of racism, religious extremism and supremacy does not exist in any other part of the world except in Najib’s 1Malaysia. Malaysia is the most racist country in the world,” he said.

“Please investigate this and reply to me in writing within two weeks, failing which I shall assume the contents of this police report to be true,” he added in the police report.

Jayathas noted that Article 8 of the Federal Constitution stated that all persons were equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law and that there should be no discrimination against citizens on the ground of religion, race and descent.

Whereas Article 12 of the Federal Constitution, with regards to education, reads, “Without prejudice to the generality of Article 8, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race and descent” in the admission to any higher education institution that is government funded.

Jayathas said that 2,237 top scoring Malaysian Indian students were denied the 10,500 local and 1,500 overseas scholarships, 40,000 matriculation seats and 847,485 public university seats as well as places in critical courses such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, aeronautical engineering, accountancy, law, bio technology etc.

“While Malaysian Indian students have been denied their right, Malay students with mere 2As and 3As are given seats and courses of their choice,” he added.

The HRP leader also pointed out that medical students studying in Russia, Romania, Ukraine, India and Indonesia had their valid and lawful medical degrees “maliciously derecognised on racial and supremacist grounds and with the intention of reducing the number of Malaysian Indian medical doctors when Malaysia is on the contrary facing a shortage of doctors by 100%.”

Apart from this, Jayathas said government PTPTN study loans were also denied to almost all Malaysian Indian students studying medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, law, accountancy, engineering, aeronautical engineering etc overseas and also even at the local Aimst University and other local private universities and higher education institutions.

“The ‘Certificate of No Objections’ requirement by the government for Malaysian Indian and Chinese students to study overseas is void, illegal, unconstitutional and an abuse of power by the PM, DPM and higher education minister.

“We also question how and why then were 360 students allowed to study medicine in Egypt in 2007 with only their SPM qualifications, as reported in the Star on May 31, 2007,” he added.

From the RM212 billion in 2011 Budget, Jayathas said, HRP urged the government to grant all students with 5As and above scholarships, matriclulation and university seats.

He said for students with 8As and above, they should be granted scholarships and given the course of their first choice.

“All students including law students in local private colleges and medical students in Ukraine, Russia, Indonesia, India etc be given PTPTN loans.

“Finally, we call upon the government to end all race and religious based award of PSD, Yayasan, Sime Darby, Petronas ect scholarships and PTPTN loans,” he added.

‘Detention without trial must end now’

Civil society movement are upset that three alleged motorcycle thieves have been charged under Emergency Ordinance and want it repealed

KUALA LUMPUR: Four NGOs -Suaram, Bar Council, Loyar Burok, Lawyers for Liberty- would be filing a judicial review to challenge the detention of three youths under the Emergency Ordinance.

Muhamad Arif Abu Samah, 20, was placed under EO in Mersing this month.Two brothers – Mohamed Ramadan Mohamed Ali, 22, and Mohamad Rafe, 20, were placed under EO in Chemor, Pahang and Kulim, Kedah respectively.

All three are suspects involved in alleged motorcycle thefts in the district of Gombak.They were detained on March 8. The trio also have been relocated under the same act.

Their EO orders were signed by Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop on May 16.

The Emergency Ordinance (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) 1969, a form of detention without trial as provided for under the Internal Security Act, had been used to detain youths for alleged involvement in gang fights.

The use of the declaration has apparently now expanded to include alleged motorcycle theft, an offence that is also punishable under the Penal Code.

“The filing of a judicial review could be the first of its kind because it challenges the jurisdiction of the Agong to repeal all Emergency proclamations,” said Loyar Burok co-founder Edmund Bon at a press conference held in Bangsar this morning.

He said that the review seeks to compel the cabinet to advise the Agong to repeal all emergency declarations and related laws.

However this would not have been the case if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has responded in favour of the lawyers who had written to him by the 6 June.

Solicitors for the three had written two letters both addressed to Najib dated May 13 and May 26 this year, respectively, to lift the declared emergency proclamation and free their clients.

They urged Najib and the cabinet to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to revoke the proclamation and also the EO within five days of receiving the letter, failing which it would be deemed a refusal to its application.

Another letter was sent on May 26 urging the prime minister to repeal the proclamations.
“There would not be application for judicial review if the Prime Minister had listened to our request,” said Edmund Bon.

The present trend

Bon and the rest of the representatives are optimistic that the Najib administration would accede to their request because Malaysia is currently seeking a re-election into the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

Apart from Bon, the press conference was also atttended by Andrew Khoo represented Bar Council’s human rights committee, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri of Lawyers for Liberty and the parents of the detainees along with lawyer Andrew Yong and Suaram by its coordinator E .Nalini.

Fadiah revealed that from her conversations with her client, Arif, the police had known the actual suspects who had paid the police off.

Khoo said that 5,000 people have been affected by the emergency laws based the findings of a UN report .
“By our count there are 1,500 people detained annually in Simpang Renggam. So on average, since 1969 and 42 years after that, thousands have had the EO implemented on them.

“The trend now is to detain youths for various allegations which cannot be substantiated like in the two cases,”said Bon.

“This is why we have sent letters to the PM asking to repeal the EO as this is a law similar to the ISA. If this is not done, we will use the three’s plight as a test case to secure their release,” he said.

Maybe the ‘mamak’ leaders can help Indians?

Its perhaps time for Malaysian Indians to emulate their Chinese brethrens and dump MIC.

COMMENT

The Malaysian Indians should emulate their spirited Chinese brothers. Once a leading member of the Chinese business community declared that the Chinese don’t need Chinese politicians and ministers to represent them.

That statement sapped the smugness off the MCA. Really, Indians too don’t need to be representation by the MIC.

Maybe they can do so through Nor Mohamad Yakob, Naina Merican, Azeez Rahim, Zambry Kadir?
They too can also talk direct to Malay leaders the way the Chinese do.

Just see how Tony Fernandes (AirAsia) does it and Ananda Krishna (Measat) seems to know how to do it. So to does Ravi Menon (Ara Corporation), Arumugam and G.Gnalingam (Westport). Even the one time driver Kenneth Eswaran (Maicci president) knows how too.

They ALL know how to talk to Malay leaders. So, forget MIC and forget its president G Palanivel.

Vigneswaran’s capitulation

They should now demand to know what actually happened to the RM100 million suit against Samy Vellu and the seven MIED trustees.

How much money was actually lost? And how will the Indian community be compensated for the loss?
High Court Judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim granted MIED’s application for leave to withdraw its suit over alleged mismanagement which it claimed caused the education arm of the MIC to incur losses.

The suit was withdrawn last Friday after former MIC Youth chief SA Vigneswaran, who initiated it, was appointed to sit on the MIED board as observer for one year from May 12.

Will the Indians now accept that their interest in the field of education has all this time been depending on the resolve of one Vigneswaran?

And now that he has wilted, their hopes are also dashed?

Don’t you want to graduate from being a seller of pirated CDs to owning airlines, from advertising salesman to owning ports, airports, controlling the media?

Vigneswaran agrees to withdraw because he is now appointed a board member as a mute observer.
You do know that an observer is not allowed to talk, unless invited by the board chairman to speak.

I think public spirited Malaysian Indians must now check up the story behind Vigneswaran’s capitulation.

Who’s behind Deloitte?

I think they should also check out who is behind Deloitte Corporate Solutions Sdn Bhd which has been appointed as the management consultants/management accountants for MIED.

MIED is now charged to adhere to full disclosure of major transactions and matters relating to MIED at board meetings.

Come again, did I hear this wrong? You mean all this time it hasn’t and that must be one of the reasons why Vigneswaran brought the suit in the first place.

How is Vigneswaran’s personal constitution? Is he of unimpeachable character?

Vigneswaran’s withdrawal must have brought relief to former MIC president S Samy Vellu, his successor, Palanivel and team-mates M Mahalingam, T Marimuthu, Dr SK Ampikaipakam, Karnail Singh Nijhar, K Kumaran and G Vadiveloo and audit firm Kumpulan Naga.

Counsel Gurupatham told reporters that his client withdrew the suit in the best interests of the Indian community so that MIED would be run in a transparent manner.

What about the RM100 million?

The other counsel for MIED, Vasanthi said the judge was pleased that settlement had been reached for the benefit of MIED, and granted the application to withdraw the suit with no legal costs.

In the suit, MIED claimed the defendants had breached fiduciary and statutory duties, and failed to discharge their responsibilities as trustees and auditors, which caused the institute to suffer huge losses.
How big was the loss to the Indian community?

MIED also wanted a court order to make Samy Vellu compensate all the financial losses incurred by the institute in the time he had administered MIED as its chairman as well as special and general damages over the alleged losses, which it claimed totalled RM100 million.

Is Samy Vellu going to return all monies or profits made from MIED, either by himself or through family members and close friends?

The excerpt is from the writer’s blog sakmongkolak47. The writer is an FMT columnist.

‘National service is a waste of time’

The seven-year-old National Service Camp (NSC) has lost its relevance and has failed to achieve its aim, says Senawang state assemblyman P Guna.

PETALING JAYA: A former National Service Camp (NSC) trainee has decried the value of the three months stint, saying it had deprived him of time in school.

The trainee, who was among the early batches in 2004, was in Lower Six when he was drafted to do the mandatory national service in Penang.

“I was in Lower Six when they called me to join the national service camp. I was shocked when my parents told me that my name was on the list.

“I was frightened that if I did not join NS they would put me in jail. So I left my Lower Six and wasted three months in the camp,” said the Indian Muslim trainee from Seremban, who declined to be named.
According to him after he returned from camp and joined school, he had trouble coping with the classwork.

“They sent me to a camp in Penang far from my home town. After three months, I came home and continued my studies but found difficulty in coping with the classwork.

“I fell behind on my work and failed to score excellent result in the exams.
“Today I am working in the private sector for a low salary.

“The whole experience was a waste of time. We learnt nothing. They gave us a one day lesson on how to handle a M16 machine gun. I have completely forgotten how to operate it now.

“They gave us a certificate but the Public Service Commission rejected it when I showed it to them in an interview.

“Just imagine, if the government is not serious about its own certificate, no need to tell about the private sector’s reaction to the certificate,” he said, adding that racial polarisation was also rampant at the camp he attended.

No more relevant

Meanwhile DAP’s Senawang assemblyman P Guna when contacted said that the NSC programme was no more relevant to school-leaving students.

Conceived in 2004 with the aim of instilling patriotism among the younger generation, foster national unity and develop positive character, the programme, Guna said, had failed to meet its objectives and was now merely a benefit to Barisan Nasional cronies​.

(According to Deputy Defence Minister Abu Seman Yusop until 2008 the government had spent RM2.37 bilionl to finance the programme.)

“There is no comparing our NSC programme with Singapore.

“In Singapore a participant must attend the programme for three years. Whereas here they attend the programme for three months only.

“What can they learn in three months? Also why are the 80 camps in Malaysia run by individuals and not the government?” he asked adding that most parents were unhappy with the way the programme was managed.

Guna added that the NSC also had a poor track record of safety.

“So far 17 detainees have died and numerous cases of injuries reported. They have also been few cases of sex abuse, racial brawls and harassment. These cases ministry has failed to solve, ” he said.

Why sometimes I like to sound racial and scream: CINA BABI!

MCA Wanita secretary-geneneral Chew Lee Geok said that the requirement for female journalists to don headscarves and barring skirts and dresses was discriminatory. PAS election committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman told The Malaysian Insider that he had not issued such a directive and refuted reports carried yesterday in the Chinese media.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
MCA flays PAS over muktamar dress code
MCA Wanita has criticised PAS for enforcing a dress code on non-Muslim journalists covering its annual general assembly over the weekend.

In a statement today, MCA Wanita secretary-geneneral Chew Lee Geok said that the requirement for female journalists to don headscarves and barring skirts and dresses was discriminatory.

“The choice of personal clothing is a fundamental and individual right. This is a clear example of PAS depriving people of their personal liberties.

“In a multiracial country, I absolutely respect the Muslim dress code, but we also want PAS to respect the non-Muslim customs and choices,” she said.

Chew said that the rule shows that PAS held “extreme beliefs” and are “controlling individual rights”. -- Malaysiakini
READ MORE HERE: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/165648

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

PAS denies headscarf rule on non-Muslims
PAS denied today that it had set rules forcing non-Muslim female journalists to wear headscarves when covering the party’s 57th muktamar this week.
PAS election committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman told The Malaysian Insider that he had not issued such a directive and refuted reports carried yesterday in the Chinese media.
“As far as I know, there is no such condition,” he said when contacted.
Committee officials later confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that only Muslim journalists are required to wear tudungs (Muslim headscarf) during the muktamar while the non-Muslims must dress neatly in non-revealing clothes.
“Both men and women are not allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts while the women cannot wear revealing clothes. Non-Muslim women are not required to wear headscarves,” said an official.
According to a report in the Chinese-language section of an online news portal yesterday, PAS had issued a circular ordering all non-Muslim female journalists to wear headscarves and forbidding them from wearing dresses and skirts.
The report irked Wanita MCA secretary-general Senator Chew Lee Giok who likened the rule today as a form of “extremism, conservatism and discrimination against women”. -- The Malaysian Insider
READ MORE HERE: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pas-denies-headscarf-rule-on-non-muslims/

Anwar Ibrahim’s Western Public Relations Effort Failing?

First, Anwar’s political touch is turning out to make a lot more lead than gold. Most recently, he has taken to excusing away his inability to move the needle in local elections, in the process doing critical damage to his coalition’s efforts in advance of the upcoming national elections by insulting a vital, potential ally.
Christopher Badeaux, Red State

In the West, we tend to ignore the Muslim countries of Southeast Asia too often in favor of the more rambunctious Middle East; whether this is because we are concentrating our limited energies on the larger problem spot, or ignoring places where things are going well, is probably a function of one’s particular outlook on life. Regardless of the source of this disregard, it is an error as great as choosing to ignore the safe streets in city planning in favor of the bullet-ridden ones. The good things don’t last without some tending of their own.
That leads to Malaysia, a moderate Muslim country with strong trade ties to the United States, that we too often ignore along with its other, moderate neighbors in favor of a pointless bombing campaign in Libya and other adventures in futility. Malaysia has done well for itself, holding fast to a moderate strain of Islam while continuing to grow energetically. It is not heaven on earth, but it is better than most Muslim nations, with religious minorities freely practicing their faith, and calls for extremism loudly and roundly denounced by most Malaysians. It is in and from this fertile ground that Malaysia’s current prime minister, Najib Razak, boldly decried the practice of suicide bombing, eschewing the usual Islam-means-peace pablum for a concrete denunciation of murder and suicide, explicitly calling them contrary to Islam and a mark of barbarism.
This is especially significant because English is the lingua franca of Malaysia, and so Najib’s Oxford speech was reported and understood at home. He cannot — and to his credit, does not — play the all-too-common game of tell-the-non-Muslims-what-they-want-to-hear, revert-to-death-to-the-Jews-death-to-America at home.
His political opposite cannot say the same.
I’m on the record having a low opinion of Anwar Ibrahim, but that’s only because he’s a virulent anti-Semite with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood who formed an opposition coalition in his country by recruiting a political party best known for calling for volunteers to fight with the Taliban against the United States. So, you know, little things. But what’s worse is how he has played the nasty demagogue at home, then played the good democrat in the West; and what’s worse than that is how the Western policy establishment has historically tolerated this.
This is one of those critically easy policy rules: If someone is blathering about the Jews being the source of the world’s problems, or, more particularly, his own, he is a very bad man, a nutter, or both. You don’t need to be a failed painter with a nasty little mustache, a figurehead president with alleged (and hastily denied!) Jewish ancestry, or a former military juntaist whom we have unaccountably not snuffed as he has gone on to destroy one of the most vibrant and productive economies in Latin America for this to be so. You can be an opposition leader trying to wrest control of your country’s parliamentary system from someone you casually describe as being controlled by the Jews.
Indeed, given his ready trafficking in old anti-Semitic (and anti-Christian) tropes, it is a wonder the extent to which Anwar has retained so much of the goodwill he managed to rack up in the late Nineties. People whom many of us (I include myself) have respected for years tend to shock us by excusing away Anwar’s disturbing tells. Probably the best, single example of this I’ve seen has been Jackson Diehl excusing the anti-Semitism as an unfortunately necessary means of political survival (while giving Anwar an on-the-record opportunity to explain away his minutes-long rant as the result of a slip of the tongue), and giving Paul Wolfowitz, who really should know better, a chance to provide Anwar some same-themed cover. That neither man would tolerate this sort of doublespeak out of, say, a Saudi prince is a telling indictment of their willingness to suspend their disbelief at inconvenient times.
Diehl and Wolfowitz are hardly alone. For years — since at least 2008, when Anwar first explained his failure to win a national election as the result of the American Jewish Lobby doing … something — Western policymakers and opinion makers have given the man a free pass, ignoring each round of particularly vicious anti-Semitism as it occurs. Anwar has helpfully made himself available without pause or cessation, ready to say one thing to any Western voice that would listen, and another at home; he has been his own best press agent.
A strange thing seems to have happened of late, though. Anwar is on trial for forced sodomy (mistakenly described by Diehl and others who should know better as consensual sodomy), and the judge presiding over the case has allowed it to go forward. In a matter of days, Anwar will have to present his defense, and will doubtless explain again to Western ears that he is a beleaguered democrat facing a political charge (something the Washington Post seems inclined to believe credulously), and tell audiences at home that this is because of the Jews, the Israeli special ops, and/or the Americans.
But as yet, there is no groundswell of spontaneous opinion writing in his defense. There is no remarkable wave of excuses and dire warnings about democracy in Malaysia. There is, instead, silence.
I would submit this is the result of two, critical factors.
First, Anwar’s political touch is turning out to make a lot more lead than gold. Most recently, he has taken to excusing away his inability to move the needle in local elections, in the process doing critical damage to his coalition’s efforts in advance of the upcoming national elections by insulting a vital, potential ally. He compounded this by accusing the people of Sarawak — where he carefully hid his ties with radical Islam during the local elections, to no avail — of racism for failing to support his ticket, a charge that is not merely not helpful, but has the added bonus of being based on a complete misunderstanding of the facts on the ground.
The Western press likes winners and canny underdogs. It’s not quite so hot on fools who cannot keep their feet from their mouths.
The second, critical element here is the Obama Administration’s approach to Malaysia. I have been a not-infrequent critic of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy — confused, overt deference to the genocidal People’s Republic of China, and a willingness to snub the world’s most populous democracy are not actually achievements of which Americans should be proud — but this is one area in which the Administration seems to have caught on more quickly than its outside supporters and critics. Not only is the Secretary of State praising Najib’s call for religious moderation, but the Administration as a whole is treating Anwar as a matter of secondary importance.
And as we learned during the 2008 Presidential campaign, the media are nothing if not sensitive to the directions open and implicit of this President.
The next few months will be interesting to watch. Anwar’s trial will conclude with a verdict of some kind, and Malaysia will move toward its next national election. In the face of dual pressure, it would seem reasonable to assume that Anwar will step up his availability and his lobbying of the Administration to build support either for his appeal (if convicted) or his election efforts (regardless of the trial’s outcome).
Whether his one-man public relations campaign yields the same willingness to ignore rank anti-Semitism and tolerance of Islamist lunacy will rest on the Administration’s willingness to stand by its prior positions (an open question) and whether Anwar continues to inject his foot into his mouth when blood libels are not leaving it.

A Nepali Woman's Horrific Birth Ordeal

'What can I do? My Husband Needs A Son Anyhow'

Hem Kumari Chepang, 42, has conceived 26 children during the last 30 years of her life in rural Nepal. "Have as many children as you can," she says her husband, Hari Chepang, 50, told her. "I will feed you [and the children] and [if you die in the process] I will take care of your cremation."

Chepang says that when she got married at age 12 she believed that frequent births were natural. "Some died in the womb, some within a few days of their birth and some after six months," she says. Only two of Chepang's 26 infants - a son and a daughter - are alive today. Chepang says that she often had no help during labor.

"One of my sons was positioned ectopically in the womb," she recalls. "His hands came out first, and I tugged him out myself. The placenta followed, and I almost died with the pain."

After her 23rd child, she suffered from uterine prolapse, which caused regular bleeding, dizziness and pain. But she continued to give birth. Eventually, her ability to move became limited to dragging herself to the toilet.

Chepang's ordeal fortunately may be consigned to the past ion much of Nepal. The country 's fertility rate has fallen to 3.1 births per woman in 2006 from 6.3 in 1976 thanks to family-planning promotion, according to a 2009 report by the nongovernmental organization Family Planning Association of Nepal. The percentage of women or their partners using contraception rose to 44 percent in 2006 from 26 percent in 1996, according to the government's latest health survey.

But those changes are less apparent in the countryside.

"It is still a big challenge to effectively spread awareness of family planning in the rural, remote and socially backward societies of Nepal," says Aswini Rana, a counselor with the Family Planning Association of Nepal. "There is a dearth of family planning services, methods and devices at the health posts."

Chepang's village in the Dhading district is less than three hours by car to Kathmandu, where family planning and maternal care services are abundant. But she says her husband once had to carry her for more than an hour to reach a health post.

Dr Kiran Regmi, director of the Family Health Division under the Department of Health Services, says Chepang's story is an exception and that family planning awareness is increasing in Nepal. "We have started to promote appropriate methods of family planning targeted towards those who do not understand and are hence averse to surgical measures of family planning," she says.

Family planning services used to be available only in the Kathmandu Valley, according to the government's health survey. But since 1968, the government has expanded the Nepal Family Planning and Maternal Child Health Project to all districts.

Sagar Dahal, the Family Health Division's senior public health administrator, says the government has initiated guidelines to further expand family planning services in rural areas. "This will take about six to seven months," he says.

The government believes that the radio is the most popular way to transmit family planning messages in rural areas, but women say they still can meet cultural resistance. Sarita Tamang, 27, from Chepang's district, says her body is tired after giving birth to three daughters. But she says that women in her village, who usually deliver at home, are too shy and embarrassed to go to the local health post to obtain contraceptives, which she learned about on the radio.

"What can I do?" she asks. "My husband has said that he needs a son anyhow."

Chepang says she also learned about an operation to prevent future pregnancies on the radio but that her husband told her that showing her private parts to others was shameful.

But then Kiran Gautam, assistant inspector general of the police, heard Chepang's story on the radio, thanks to a youth in Chepang's village, and offered to pay for the operation.

"Seeing a woman, who is barely 50, in such a state and knowing how she was compelled to lead this life of pain, I realised that the status of women in Nepal is still very lamentable," he says.

Chepang's uterus was surgically removed last year. "I had given myself up for dead and never believed that I could lead a normal life ever again," Chepang says, smiling. "I feel like I have been given a new lease to life by God himself."

Chepang now promotes family planning. "Sasu-aama [mother-in-law] has advised me not to have more than two children," Chepang's daughter-in-law, Sharmila, says shyly.

© Women's Feature Service.  This article is an adaptation of content published by the Global Press Institute. For original story, log on to: http://www.womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/110519/family-planning-hits-culture-gap-in-rural-nepal )

No Instruction Non-muslim Female Journalist Must Wear Headscarves - PAS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Bernama) -- PAS has denied that it had set rules requiring non-Muslim female journalists to wear headscarves when covering the party's Muktamar (general assembly) this weekend.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustapha Ali said some media organisation may have misunderstood the advice given by the organising secretariat as the requirement to wear headscarves only applied to Muslim female journalists.

"I believe it is a misunderstanding. Perhaps it was not stated clearly in the advisory," he said when contacted.

He was commenting on the statement by Wanita MCA secretary-general Chew Lee Giok who criticised PAS for enforcing a dress code on non-Muslim journalists covering its Muktamar from June 3-5.

Chew claimed the requirement for female journalists to don headscarves and barring skirts and dresses was discriminatory.

"The choice of personal clothing is a fundamental and individual right. This is a clear example of PAS depriving people of their personal liberties. In a multi-racial country, I absolutely respect the Muslim dress code, but we also want PAS to respect non-Muslims' customs and choices," she said.

On Monday, the PAS Muktamar organising committee sent out an advisory on the dress code during the Muktamar, which required those covering the muktamar -- both Muslims and non-Muslims - to dress neatly in non-revealing clothes.

Germany dumps nuclear energy

Germany will close all its nuclear power plants by 2022 while Scotland is aiming for 100 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources. And Malaysia is still thinking about nuclear energy?
This is an excerpt of a report by Tony Paterson of the Independent:

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-led coalition announced plans yesterday to close all Germany’s atomic power plants by 2022, in a move that put the seal on a dramatic policy U-turn in the immediate aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The decision – which makes Germany the biggest industrial power to completely renounce atomic power as an energy source – will include a planned 10 per cent reduction in electricity consumption and a doubling of renewable energy sources to 35 per cent by 2020.
Related articles
Announcing the move Chancellor Merkel, who only nine months ago put forward plans to extend the use of nuclear power, declared: “Our energy system has to fundamentally change and can be fundamentally changed. We want electricity to be safer and, at the same time, reliable and economical.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish government is already committed to generating the equivalent of 100 per cent of Scotland’s own electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. See this report from the Herald Sun.
And Malaysia is still thinking about nuclear energy instead of doing more research into renewable energy?

PKR files for court order to bar deregistration

Rajini in good condition, shifted to private ward

Here’s is good news for Rajinikanth fans! Reports are trickling in that the ailing superstar is in good condition and has been shifted from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a private ward.

As per the tabloids, the South legend Rajinikanth, who has been hospitalized at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore, for further treatment, is showing signs of improvement and is apparently.

The veteran luminary was kept under observation in the ICU, but when doctors attending on him found that his condition is improving, they moved him to the private ward yesterday.

However, the Mount Elizabeth Hospital authorities have made sure that Rajini is not troubled by his fans and outsiders in the special ward.

Rajini was taken to Singapore on Big B’s advice

The South megastar Rajinikanth and the Shehanshah of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan have worked together in a number of films and are closely associated off-screen also.

It’s heard that when Rajini’s family was not able to decide about the foreign hospital for the star’s treatment, then it was Big B who helped them out with his piece of advice.

Confirming the reports, Big B said, "I've been talking to Rajini and his wife Latha on his condition and on his welfare regularly. Latha wanted to take him out and asked me to recommend a destination. Of the many options that came up, I suggested Singapore."