Cops in cahoots with rowdy mob, alleges ABU

(Malaysiakini) The Anything But Umno (ABU) movement suspects the police of being in cahoots with a rowdy mob which halted their ceramah in Shah Alam on Saturday.

ABU as well as the co-organisers Hindraf lodged a report on the incident at Dang Wangi district police headquarters today.
“It is to be taken into account that the police officer at the scene was seen chatting with a person from the group that attacked the participants.

 “If it is true they (the police) have to be held accountable,” said Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin, who lodged the report on the behalf of movement.

“The residents in the area assisted us in identifying several people who were captured on video at the scene that day.

“According to them they are local Umno leaders who were watching everything.

 “If it is true, Umno must be wholly responsible for the violence,” said Badrul, who is better known by the moniker Chegubard.

 He told reporters that they have submitted photos, CDs and video recording of the incident to the police.
The co-organisers will also lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) at 11am tomorrow.
The movement’s ceramah at Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) hall at Jalan Kebun was disrupted by the mob even before it commenced its session.

Scores of supporters

According to eye-witnesses’ accounts one participant was “badly injured” and had to be hospitalised after a scuffle.
The ceramah was called off to ensure safety of the participants.
Badrul was accompanied by ABU coordinator Haris Ibrahim, Hindraf national coordinator W Sambulingam and PSM secretary- general S Arutchelvan, as well as scores of supporters.

Arutchelvan said that they choose to report the incident at the Dang Wangi police station, instead of where it took place because they “have no confidence” in the cops in charge at the Shah Alam district.

“This is not new hence we aren’t surprised. Every time we organise an event there will be provocation by police, plainclothes or otherwise... but in return we are the ones who will be accused of disturbing them,” lamented Sambulingam.

“If the police were efficient this could have been avoided altogether,” added Arutchelvan.

Haris added that the person who was allegedly beaten up in the scuffle, Krishnan, 33, was still recovering from the trauma at the Seri Sentosa Specialist Centre.

Selangor police chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah, refuted that there were any unruly incidents and that a person was injured as no police report was lodge soon after the event.

However, according to Haris one report was lodged on the night of the incident itself but not by the movement.

Another NGO group Aktivis 901 also lodged a police report along with ABU's today condemning the "racist slurs" of the intruders at the ceramah.

As for allegations by a blogger that the assailants were engaged by ABU, Haris laughed off the claim.

"Let the police arrest them and let them tell we are behind it. Since their faces are in the video and photos.

"We also want to know... who among us have so much money to hire gangsters," said Badrul.

High court directs Muslim man to return boy to his mother

MADURAI: Rejecting the claim of a Muslim man that he had adopted a Hindu boy as his son, the Madras high court today directed him to handover the boy to his mother.

"There is no concept of adoption known to Muslim Law," a division bench comprising Justices N Paul Vasantha Kumar and P Devadass said.

The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by S Mala, mother of Giridharan.

"It is a well settled proposition of law that creating a relationship of parentage by adoption was unknown to Mohammedan law as it was forbidden by the Quran. Besides the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 permitted adoption by a Hindu alone," the judges said.

Mala, in her petition, submitted that she had left her son under the care of Shaik Dawood in a children's home run by him and was paying for maintaining him in the home at Sangiliayandavarpuram in Tiruchi district.

Later when she had gone to the home to pick her son, she found Dawood had shifted her son to some other place and refused to give her son back. He also "threatened" her of dire consequence if she insisted on getting her son back, the petitioner said.

Mala said though she had filed a complaint to police no action was taken by them.

Dawood said Mala had given Giridharan to him for adoption. However, she denied that she had signed any such deed.

Cops in cahoots with rowdy mob, alleges ABU

Perkasa: Bigger Christian threat with MB Khalid in charge of Islam

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Perkasa today warned of renewed efforts by Christian groups to convert Muslims in Selangor with Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in charge of the state’s Islamic affairs.

The Malay rights group questioned the Selangor mentri besar’s religious credentials, comparing him to his recently axed state executive councillor in charge of Islam Datuk Dr Hasan Ali.

“The faith of Islam, of Muslims is under siege in Selangor... Perkasa is concerned of a more aggressive Christianisation attempt, especially with Khalid in charge of the exco portfolio for Islam,” Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali (picture) told The Malaysian Insider.

He described Hasan as a “Muslim warrior” who fervently defended Islam and ensured that Muslim apostates returned to their faith.

Hasan, a former Selangor PAS commissioner, gained notoriety last year for backing the Selangor Islamic department’s (JAIS) raid of a church over apostasy claims.

Weeks before Hasan was dropped as state executive councillor this month, he was spotted taking part in pub raids by religious authorities.

Like Perkasa, Hasan has consistently claimed there is a movement to convert Muslims to Christianity.

“Hasan was a firm exco, he is a religious man... but Khalid how is he to carry out his duties? He is also mentri besar and at the same time he lacks the religious credentials.

“What Perkasa can see is that Islam in Selangor will be weak if an unqualified person leads the state religious portfolio. If you look at any state, the exco holding this portfolio has to have an exemplary Islamic education,” said Syed Hassan.

Earlier this month, Hasan was sacked from PAS and dropped from the Selangor executive council for breaching party discipline.

He was axed after urging opposition supporters to avoid the rally on January 9 in support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the day his sodomy trial verdict was handed down by the High Court here.

Hasan’s Islamic affairs portfolio was taken over by PKR’s Khalid, who also appointed PAS lawmaker Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi to take Hasan’s place on the council.

Syed Hassan repeated a challenge made by Hasan to Khalid recently, and dared the Selangor MB to lead Friday prayers and deliver a sermon.

“With Khalid, vice will increase in Selangor,” Syed Hassan said, echoing the words of Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

Ibrahim claimed Khalid’s role was not to uphold the interests of Muslims but was instead a political ploy to curry favour with “immoral” business owners as snap polls loom.

Who is playing Chinese chess?

MCA uses PAS as a smokescreen to send flying daggers at the direction of DAP.
COMMENT

Chinese Chess is a terminology that is used by the Chinese to describe political maneuverings and plots to cause the opponent’s downfall.

This is the brand of politics that is being played by MCA against DAP as MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek and his son Chua Tee Yong (Labis MP) are daily attacking DAP although they are always attacking PAS using these points:-

Kedah and Kelantan which are helmed by PAS have not seen any progress nor development; and,

The implementation of hudud law by PAS will thwart development and have a great impact on the lives of non-Muslims.

Although the attacks are aimed at PAS, the real target is DAP. This is called ‘attack without attacking’ which is more like shadow-boxing.

This strategy of indirect attack is executed so that the Chinese will be unable to detect MCA as attacking DAP.

MCA being a Chinese party will surely incur the wrath of the Chinese if it is seen as attacking DAP because DAP is popular among the Chinese.

Therefore, MCA uses PAS as a smokescreen to send flying daggers at the direction of DAP but make no mistake about it: the target is actually DAP.

MCA’s father-and-son team have also challenged DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng to state who will be the Prime Minister in the event Pakatan Rakyat manages to capture Putrajaya.

Lim responded to the challenge by saying that if Pakatan captures Putrajaya, the Prime Minister will be Anwar Ibrahim but the Chua-and-Chua team then turned around and said that Lim was bluffing as the Prime Minister will be from PAS.

This twisting of words shows that Soi Lek and his son are both sneaky and sly as Lim was genuine in responding to their challenge.

Back to MCA’s first attacking point of the lack of progress nor any concrete development in Kedah and Kelantan as mentioned above, this point is always rehashed to show that DAP has associated with a backward party. This is to sway the support of the Chinese business community away from DAP.

Point No 2 pertaining to the implementation of hudud law is connected to point No 1 (no progress in Kedah and Kelantan) but hudud is given emphasis to scare the Chinese. MCA also stresses that hudud law will scare away investors.

High deception

MCA leaders also never fail to exhort DAP to state its stand on hudud law but to DAP this is a non-issue as PAS will never be able to implement it.

Besides making use of PAS as a decoy, Soi Lek also throws in a red herring by saying that Pakatan Rakyat has failed to keep its promises in states such as Penang and Selangor. This wide-angled attack is meant to show that MCA is attacking the whole of Pakatan and not targetting PAS alone so as not to anger the Malays.

This is deception at the highest order as Chua and Son’s actual target is still only DAP.

Another of Soi Lek’s ploy is to frighten the Chinese especially the business community and clan associations that without MCA’s representation in the government, Chinese voices will be muffled.

This is Soi Lek’s idea of a psy-war and the business community and clan associations may vote MCA due to being frightened in this manner although the layman or average Chinese could not be bothered about it.

So far, DAP does not seem to respond to MCA and treats MCA as a dog barking at the moon (also PAS’s party symbol).

This is DAP’s strategy – let MCA babble on because if DAP engages in a verbal battle with MCA, MCA will achieve prominence. Thus, it is better to let MCA sink into oblivion instead of giving them publicity.

In the world of politics, any publicity, whether good or bad is still publicity. Therefore, leaving MCA alone is DAP’s stance towards MCA and that is the reason why MCA is talking nineteen to the dozen everyday – to obtain publicity.

Copying strategies

Next, MCA also copies strategies belonging to Pakatan, albeit with great modifications such as the giving of RM100 to their party members who are senior citizens.

This idea was copied from Pakatan’s Penang state government whereby RM100 is given to the public senior citizens. Pakatan is giving to the rakyat unlike MCA who gives this sum to their own party members.

Another idea which MCA copied from Pakatan is the microcredit scheme which MCA wants to give to young business entrepreneurs but the keyword here is ‘young’.

MCA’s idea is copied from the brainchild of Pakatan’s Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s idea of ‘Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor’ where budding entrepreneurs will be enrolled in the microcredit scheme with no age criteria attached to it. MCA adds the age clause so as not to be seen as copying Pakatan.

MCA focuses on highlighting Pakatan’s faults but copying those Pakatan’s programmes which they think they can use to garner votes.

Is MCA then genuine in their intentions? If they were genuine, they would not criticise Pakatan only to copy the latter’s ideas.

Still, MCA has got a good level of support from the rural Chinese who are hellbent on voting MCA as it was done by their forefathers even before 1957.

To these rural Chinese, MCA is the be-all and end-all in their daily existence as in their minds the DAP is only an opposition party good in making noise. It is difficult for DAP to change the mindset of the rural Chinese because the latter only read the MCA-controlled Chinese dailies.

Therefore, wherein the rural Chinese are influential, for instance in Perak, Soi Lek himself is spearheading the war effort there in an attempt to woo Chinese support for BN.

DAP must never underestimate MCA. It is when the enemy seems to be down that he is at his most dangerous.

This is because the hudud issue can influence the rural Chinese while the lack of representation in government can greatly influence the clan associations and businessmen unless DAP can convince the Chinese that MCA’s voice in the BN federal government is nothing much to shout about.

Besides the above methods of attack, MCA’s latest ploy is to tell the Chinese that DAP is neglecting the Chinese to focus on pandering to the Malays by recruiting more Malay members.

Is MCA trying to imply that DAP wants to have a DAP Menteri Besar by recruiting Malays? MCA is sly in a subtle manner in the use of the race card as this DAP Menteri Besar issue will also frighten the Malays and prevent them from voting for DAP.

All in all, MCA is playing the politics of Chinese Chess – the politics of deceit, decoy and deception but will the rakyat be able to read their nefarious tactics?

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.

‘Urimai’ first, ‘nambikkai’ later

Hindraf wants the government to ensure the rights of the Indian community first before asking for their trust.

GEORGE TOWN: Ethnic Indians will never have “nambikkai” (trust or belief) in the Barisan Nasional as long as Umno continues to blatantly violate the community’s “urimai” (rights).

Hindraf Makkal Sakti supremo P Waythamoorthy reminded Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that nambikkai without urimai was meaningless like a headless human body.

“Najib can’t expect members of a marginalised community to pin their hopes on a government that had systematically discriminated, isolated, and sidelined them for more than 50 years.

“Indians want urimai first before nambikkai,” he told FMT here today.

Following the emergence of Hindraf as a voice for working-class Indians, he said the community has finally realised that the BN government can never be trusted.

Waythamoorthy said Indians knew that the Umno-helmed government has been pursuing racist policies merely to serve the interests of a single community at the expense of millions of others.

He added that Najib should not expect the working-class Indians to place their nambikai in Umno and its “jaaldra” (stooge), the MIC.

He was commenting on Najib’s call on Indians to have nambikkai in BN government to deliver the goods for their well-being.

Najib said the community should build a vision centred on nambikkai to bring it forward

Waythamoorthy questioned whether Najib has the political conviction to correct all the wrongs that his Umno government had committed on ethnic Indians.

“Until and unless he shows guts to recognise and uphold our urimai, he should not talk about nambikkai,” he said.

He added that ethnic Indians knew too well Umno’s racist policies.

“They know that these racist policies were implemented with MIC’s support.”

He said thousands of Indians remain stateless in the country of their birth while foreigners, especially Muslims, have been granted full citizenship.

Obvious discrepancies


Waythamoorthy also said MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam had claimed that the government had disbursed RM235 million to Tamil schools since 2008.

But he said Indians were sure that the cash did not trickle down to the schools.

Similarly, he said Indians would not believe Najib’s claim that the government had been investing some RM2 billion for Tamil schools since 2009.

“There are obvious discrepancies in the sums mentioned by MIC and Umno,” he said.

He proposed that Najib carry out pro-active policies for Indians if he wants their nambikkai.

For a start, he said the government should allocate free land to all landless Tamil schools and make them fully-aided schools.

Secondly, he said the Najib administration should also create Indian housing areas in the vicinity of Tamil schools, which would provide space for the community’s religious and cultural growth.

“Ethnic Indians are no longer going to trust in political propaganda. They had had enough.

“They want the government to walk its talk first.”

He also took a swipe at the appointment of MIC president G Palanivel as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Indian socio-economic development.

“It was just another typical mandore appointment to hoodwink the Indians,” he said.

Ibrahim Ali, politikus tua lagi kotor

"Siapa yang dapat melupakan bagaimana beliau mengkhianati PAS umpama parasit setelah parti itu memberi beliau tiket bertanding pada 2008," tegas Faekah Husin.

PETALING JAYA: Tindakan Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas Dato’ Ibrahim Ali mencampuri urusan pentadbiran Selangor dalam isu pelantikan Exco kerajaan negeri yang baru dan rombakan portfolio Hal Ehwal Islam menunjukkan beliau kehabisan modal.

Setiausaha Politik kepada Menteri Besar Selangor Faekah Husin berkata, tindakan Ibrahim yang juga Presiden Perkasa (Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia) itu untuk membuktikan dirinya masih relevan di arena politik tanahair walaupun sudah tua lagi kotor.

“Percubaan beliau melaga-lagakan PAS dan Kerajaan Selangor juga agak pelik apabila melihat sejarah beliau sendiri dengan PAS,” kata beliau dalam satu kenyataan media.

Faekah menegaskan “siapa yang dapat melupakan bagaimana beliau mengkhianati PAS umpama parasit setelah parti itu memberi beliau tiket bertanding pada 2008.

“Hari ini beliau terhegeh-hegeh pula dengan Umno sedangkan parti yang bakal tumbang ini pun melihatnya sebagai liabiliti dan tidak mempunyai sebarang kredibiliiti,” katanya.

Ujar beliau, “kita tidak mempersoal tindakan Ibrahim Ali yang kini begitu akrab dan bersekongkol dengan mantan Exco Agama Dato’ Dr Hasan Ali.

Hina Sultan Selangor

“Namun keceluparan Ibrahim mempertikaikan kedudukan (Menteri Besar) Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim sebagai Exco Hal Ehwal Islam merupakan satu penghinaan kepada Sultan Selangor yang sesungguhnya adalah Ketua Agama Islam di Selangor.

“Keputusan Abdul Khalid memegang portfolio ini adalah setelah berbincang dan mendapat perkenan baginda Sultan kerana pentadbiran di

Selangor mengamalkan konsultasi berterusan dengan pihak istana dalam banyak hal apatah lagi dalam soal hal ehwal Islam,” katanya.

Menurut Faekah, tuduhan Ibrahim Ali bahawa pelantikan Abdul Khalid sebagai Exco Hal Ehwal Islam hanya akan menyemarakkan rumah maksiat di Selangor amat keterlaluan.

“Kita ingatkan Ibrahim Ali bahawa keutuhan dan kesucian agama Islam di Selangor, pengawalan kegiatan tidak bermoral, termasuk perjudian dan rumah-rumah maksiat adalah di bawah bidang kuasa Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (Mais) dan Jabatan Agama Islam

Selangor (Jais) yang kedua-duanya dalam pemerhatian rapat Baginda Tuanku,” jelas beliau.

“Menuduh bahawa Tan Sri Khalid akan merelakan kegiatan tidak bermoral atas perkiraan politik seolah-olah mempersenda kedua-dua institusi agama tersebut termasuk baginda Sultan,” tambah beliau.

Khianati PAS

Katanya, pada perkiraan Ibrahim semua ahli politik akan menggadai maruah demi undi sebagaimana dirinya yang sanggup mengkhianati

PAS walaupun parti tersebut mengutipnya setelah dicampak oleh Umno.

“Selaku umat Islam seharusnya Ibrahim Ali mendoakan setiap pemimpin berkhidmat dengan ikhlas, mentaati hukum dan menggalas jawatan sebagai amanah Allah agar negeri menjadi aman sejahtera dan diampuni Allah swt.

“Sebaliknya, beliau sanggup menuduh bahawa Selangor akan menjadi negeri peliwat. Ungkapan yang menggambarkan betapa kotornya pemikiran politikus tua ini.

“Bercakap tanpa iman; penuh dendam dan nafsu serakah. Ini merupakan penghinaan kepada seluruh rakyat Selangor yang seharusnya Ibrahim Ali dihalang dari menjejakkan kakinya di negeri berdaulat ini,” katanya lagi.

Faekah menerangkan bahawa Menteri Besar amat memandang serius tohmahan jahat ini dan akan membincangkan isu ini dengan semua agensi terbabit dan Kamar Penasihat Undang-undang Negeri termasuk juga pihak Istana.

“Kita tidak akan teragak-agak mengambil tindakan terhadap Ibrahim Ali kerana keceluparan melampau beliau semata-mata mendapatkan publisiti murahan,” tegas beliau.

Are we having a popularity contest?

We want to know more than just who is winning the popularity contest. We want to know from both Najib and Anwar what are their strategies to make Malaysia self-sufficient in food production and how long is this going to take? We also want to know what are the back-up plans and contingencies in the event there is crop failure in our neighbouring countries and they refuse to continue selling food to Malaysia?

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Chua Soi Lek said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is ahead of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in the popularity contest. I did not realise that we were running a popularity contest.

This is what I was trying to say in my latest articles in ‘The Corridors of Power’. This is not a popularity contest. This is not about ‘do you love Najib?’ -- and if you do not then vote Pakatan Rakyat because if Pakatan Rakyat wins then you will get Anwar as the new Prime Minister to replace Najib.

Malaysia is not the US. It is not about two people contesting to become the country’s leader. It is about which government can better serve the country’s interest.

Malaysia’s Westminster system of government is modelled after the UK. In the UK, they vote for the party that can best serve the British voters. They talk about Labour or Conservative (care a damn who the leader is) although now LibDem is also on their lips. Most voters are not concerned about the party leader although I admit some do vote based on who is leading the party.

Okay, let’s say we want Anwar rather than Najib as the next Prime Minister. I have no problems with that. But why do we want Anwar rather than Najib? Is it because we hate Rosmah Mansor? (That’s a good reason). Is it because we believe that Najib is somehow involved in Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder? (That’s another good reason). Is it because of the rampant and blatant corruption? (That’s a damn good reason).

So, yes, we have our reasons as to why we don’t want Najib. But that is not enough. We can’t say we want Anwar because we don’t want Najib. We must say we want Anwar because we want Anwar.

So why do we want Anwar (other than because we don’t want Najib)? Let’s be clear in our minds about this. Even more important than that, let’s make sure Anwar too knows why we want him and not Najib (and not that we want him just because we don’t want Najib).

There are three things that are more important than Rosmah and Altantuya (and probably at par with our detest for corruption). And these are health, education and food.

When we are young (like my five grandchildren) we need a good education system (and good meaning comparable to global standards, not just Malaysian standards). I want to know that my grandchildren can survive, not only in Malaysia, but anywhere in the world -- and that they can compete with the more than seven billion world population. And, to do that, they will have to be damn smart and backed with a damn good education.

When you are old, like me, you need a good health care system. And at my age, 61, I am beginning to require all sorts of health care. I now fall down when I walk and bump into things and whatnot. I realise that I am getting old and unless I get good health care I will not last too long in this world. (And that is why I am taking all these courses in Oxford. I realise that my body is failing but I want to make sure that my mind remains sharp till the day I take my last breath).

And, to make sure that we all live to a ripe old age, we need food, good and nourishing food. And this is something that all Malaysians should be worried about because the country is not self-sufficient yet. Most of what you see in the market is imported. There is nothing that Malaysia produces that is enough, let alone surplus that can be exported.

Of course, we also need jobs, a house, transportation, some entertainment, a holiday now and then, some spare shopping money to go buy a Birkin handbag, and whatnot. But we will not die if we can’t do all that. We will if our health is not taken care of and we have no food to eat. And, without a good education, how do we support ourselves after we leave school -- unless we want to go to Indonesia to work as maids and construction workers (which one day might just happen, so don’t laugh too fast)?

Anwar was both Education and Agriculture minister at one time. What did he do when he headed these Ministries? Today, we complain about the state of affairs of our agriculture industry and our education system. Are not all these ‘inherited’ problems (they did not just happen recently)? These were problems prevailing since the time Anwar was the Minister. Nothing has changed.

I don’t want to know who is winning the popularity contest. Sukarno was also popular, more popular than Najib and Anwar combined. But was Indonesia heaven on earth when Sukarno was its President? He messed up the country good and proper.

So did his successor, Suharto, another very popular leader. Only now can Indonesia be said to be moving forward. In the very near future, Malaysia is going to be the poor cousin of Indonesia, just like East Germany was to West Germany.

We want to know more than just who is winning the popularity contest. We want to know from both Najib and Anwar what are their strategies to make Malaysia self-sufficient in food production and how long is this going to take? We also want to know what are the back-up plans and contingencies in the event there is crop failure in our neighbouring countries and they refuse to continue selling food to Malaysia?

We also want to know how the health and education systems are going to be reformed and when we can expect not just quality health care and education but also they being available FREE to all Malaysians.

Can we start with these three very crucial areas? Then, in that same breath, we can also talk about how to eliminate or reduce corruption. A popular leader is of no use to Malaysia if he does not have vision. So what is the vision and mission of both Najib and Anwar who are offering themselves as ‘the most popular leader of Malaysia’?

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

Najib always ahead of Anwar in popularity contest, says Soi Lek

(The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Seri Najib Razak has always been the preferred leader for Malaysians, says Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, rather than Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has lost support after “crying wolf” too many times.

The MCA president also believed that Anwar’s sodomy acquittal had vindicated the prime minister and not the opposition leader, as it proved the judiciary’s independence — a line that the Najib administration has used after the verdict was handed down on January 9.

As such, Dr Chua (picture) disagreed that the acquittal had placed both rivals on a level playing field and was unlikely to have a great impact on the results of the coming general election.

“To begin with, it has never been a level playing field and all the studies have shown that Najib, on his own, is more popular than Anwar.

“Their (the opposition’s) own studies also show that. So it never started with the same level playing field,” the MCA chief told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview here.

Following Anwar’s highly-publicised sodomy acquittal, analysts said both political rivals Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were now neck and neck in the contest for Malaysia’s middle ground.

They added that with the end of the sodomy trial, both sides could now focus their attention on the economy and reforms needed to ensure Malaysia remains competitive.

“The positive outcome of the case evens out the playing field,” Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Center had told The Malaysian Insider.

But Dr Chua said Anwar’s initial popularity when he re-entered the political scene had lost steam over the years.

“I think he has been calling bluff too many times. First, they said they would take over. I still remember receiving the SMS that the Agong was going to swear in Anwar as the new PM.

“So when you cry wolf or fire too many times, there will be a day when you actually catch fire and nobody pays attention to it,” he said.

Dr Chua was referring to Anwar’s controversial September 16 takeover attempt, when the PR de facto leader had boasted mass defections from BN would help the fledgling opposition pact claim Putrajaya.

The failed attempt haunted Anwar for years, with BN leaders trumpeting to the public that the incident showed the opposition leader’s penchant for lying to the public.

“Next, people can also see that what we call the ‘PM-elect’ (Anwar), apart from his rhetoric, what has he done?

“As RPK (blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin) correctly pointed out — in three years, he (Anwar) has gone overseas 60 or 100 times. Can you imagine? Hopping around the world, giving lectures... people can see whether you are just spinning, playing politics,” Dr Chua said.

In contrast, the former health minister said Najib has been concentrating on running his administration and transforming the economy.

“Whether you like Najib or not, he has paid a lot of attention to the economic transformation of the country and all the indicators show that in terms of foreign direct investment, we have done up,” he said.

Dr Chua said the business community are “practical people” who believe in delivery more than political rhetoric and in that respect, Najib has far surpassed Anwar in the popularity contest.

Buoyed by the feel-good factor following Anwar’s acquittal and cash handouts from Budget 2012, it is widely expected that Najib will call elections within months, ahead of the BN mandate expiring in May 2013.

Najib is due to celebrate the Chinese New Year later today in Penang, where the sizeable Chinese community voted in PR in Election 2008, paving the way for Lim Guan Eng to be chief minister.

Dei, s/o Mohamed Kutty, you empty your pockets first, lah

By Harris Ibrahim,

The cheek of this old bugger!


Malaysiakini has him supporting the call for public officers to declare their assets, but then takes Nazri’s position that such a disclosure should not be made to the public.

Yes, not to us.

Mahathir’s reasoning?

“… people will be focussed on that instead of unity and nation building”, he is reported to have said
This racist bigot who destroyed our national institutions and, with his cronies, plundered the wealth of the nation by playing the race card whenever it suited him, now speaks of unity and nation building?

He should be the first to make full and frank disclosure of what he owns.

Here and abroad.

In his own name and that of his next-of-kin.

Doc, please don’t die on us just yet.
I want to see the day when we strip search you to retrieve every single sen you have stolen from us.

Rakaman Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim Di Lembah Pantai 19 Jan 2012

Saudi: no cash from emerging economies until given more clout

By Andrew Torchia - Reuters


RIYADH (Reuters) – Big emerging economies such as China, India and Saudi Arabia will not aid the West in its financial crisis unless they are given more influence in running the global economy, a senior figure from Saudi Arabia’s ruling establishment said on Monday.

“The financial crisis and great recession were born in the West, developed in the West yet hit hard throughout the world,” former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said in a speech to a business conference in Riyadh.

He said this showed the need to give emerging economies more representation and more authority in global bodies such as the Group of 20 nations, a forum of the world’s major industrialized countries, and the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which discusses regulation of banks and financial markets.

So far, however, organizations such as the FSB “have yet to take these new realities into consideration,” while the G20 is making little headway in coordinating economic policymaking around the world, he said.

Big emerging economies’ lack of influence in international bodies reduces their willingness to contribute money to fight the global crisis, the prince warned.

The International Monetary Fund is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help countries deal with the fallout of the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.

“What we can be certain of is that large developing nations will not agree to provide additional funds without a greater say in the IMF, and this applies to all global economic governance organizations,” Prince Turki said.

The prince, who chairs the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, a major think tank, no longer holds government office but is still seen as influential, and his position outside government may give him room to speak more frankly in public than current Saudi officials.

He is a former ambassador to the United States and Britain.

ECHOES OF CHINESE CRITICISM

His speech criticized Western governments for “leveraging up” their economies over the past six decades and letting their financial sectors spiral out of control, saying the United States and the European Union would continue to struggle with debt problems for five or 10 years.

Much of his criticism echoed comments by officials in China, another emerging economy that is being asked to help fight the global financial crisis.

Oman’s central bank governor told Reuters last week that his country was prepared to increase its contribution to the IMF.

In general, however, officials in the Gulf’s rich oil exporters have indicated they are in no rush to contribute funds to bail out the West, and expect Europe first to do more to resolve its debt crisis.

Prince Turki noted that the Saudi central bank’s holdings of roughly $360 billion in foreign securities, most of them in the form of U.S. Treasuries, helped to underpin the value of the U.S. dollar and the stability of the global economy.

He said his country would continue to play a stabilizing role but added that because it faced its own challenges, including the need to create jobs for a young population and cope with political strains across the Arab world, it would need in the future to focus more of its resources domestically and within the Middle East.

The Arab Monetary Fund, a regional body which lends to governments, and Saudi development funds such as the Islamic Development Bank need to be strengthened to help the Middle East develop economically, he said.

“We will continue to support our neighbors where we are able, including financially, but now we also face new exigencies of our own,” Turki said.

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

Mallika Sherawat, Dhanush Voted Hottest Veg Celebrities 2011

CHENNAI, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat and 'Kolaveri' fame Dhanush have been voted 'Hottest Vegetarian Celebrities 2011' in a poll by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), overcoming competition from veterans Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini, among others.

"Thousands of people cast their votes to help PETA India determine the Hottest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2011, and Dhanush and Mallika Sherawat have been declared the winners," the animal rights advocacy group said in a press release.

National award-winning Dhanush and Mallika beat out early leaders Vivek Oberai and Vidya Balan and faced further competition from Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sonu Sood, Shahid Kapoor, and Kareena Kapoor, Press Trust of India (PTI)quoted PETA India.

"If I had to pick the very best thing about being vegan, it's my clear conscience", Mallika was quoted as saying.

While, Dhanush, who shot to national fame with his chirpy video "Why This Kolaveri Di" was quoted as saying he felt light and healthy being vegetarian.

"There's nothing sexier than someone who exudes passion and compassion - and our winners have plenty of both," PETA India's chief functionary, Poorva Joshipura, said.

The winners were chosen based on the total number of votes each celebrity received, plus other factors, the release said and advocated following a vegetarian style of diet, as it helped reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer "and saves animals from a lifetime of suffering on cramped, filthy factory farms."