NGO mahu Najib boikot Sri Lanka

Sekiranya kerajaan tidak memenuhi tuntutan ini, pimpinan Najib akan tumbang dalam pilihan raya umum ke 13

PETALING JAYA: Sebuah NGO tempatan iaitu Angkatan Kemajuan Tamil meminta Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak memboikot kerajaan Sri Lanka yang didakwa `membunuh kanak-kanak dan wanita Tamil’ di negara itu.

“Kerajaan juga perlu memboikot Sukan Komanwel yang akan diadakan di Sri Lanka sebagai tanda Malaysia tidak menyokong perlanggaran hak asasi manusia, pembunuhan kejam terhadap masyarakat awam yang tidak bersalah,” kata Presidennya, M.A Kalaimugilan.

Katanya, kerajaan juga perlu menghentikan hubungan ekonomi dengan Sri Lanka dan mengisytiharkan sekatan ekonomi sebagai tanda menghormati masyarakat Tamil.

Beliau mendakwa, tuntutan tersebut selari dengan tuntutan masyarakat Tamil di Malaysia.

Katanya, untuk itu kerajaan perlu menghormati perasaan dan kehendak pengundi Tamil yang berada di negara ini.

Beliau menambah, sekiranya kerajaan tidak memenuhi tuntutan ini, pimpinan Najib akan tumbang dalam pilihan raya umum ke 13.

“Kami akan berusaha untuknya (menumbangkan BN),” tambah beliau.

Clogged arteries take PI Bala out of GE trail

The discovery that he has three clogged arteries in his heart has forced former private eye P Balasubramaniam to suspend his participation in the general election campaign for Pakatan Rakyat.

PI Bala, as he is better known, has been warded for treatment at a private hospital in Selangor since March 3.
He first experienced chest pains while campaigning in Kota Bharu on March 1.

Although he had felt better after a painkilling injection then, he experienced more pain on his way back from Kelantan, he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Bala said he had shrugged it off and gone on to another speaking engagement in Damansara, Selangor, on March 2 but that he had felt worse that night.

"I was very tired. I was sleeping, but early (the next) morning at about 5, I couldn't breathe. If I (sat up, I could breathe) okay, if I (lay) down I (couldn’t)," he related, saying he decided to go for a check up at the hospital.

Since his return from Chennai, India, late last month, Bala has been hitting the ground, campaigning for Pakatan.

His role has been to explain what he knows about the alleged involvement of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and those close to Najib in the events surrounding the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Najib himself has strenuously denied any such involvement.

Bala came to prominence after filing two contradictory statutory declarations relating to Altantuya’s murder and then fleeing the country, ostensibly for his own safety.

Members of his family, who had flown in to visit him, were in the hospital room with him.

Bala, who sported a slightly unkempt beard, appeared to be high spirits despite his weak physical condition.

"(When) the doctor (says) one part of your heart has stopped beating, what would you feel?" he asked, still managing to flash a smile.

He pledged to continue serving in Pakatan's GE13 campaign if he was able to.

"No, no, this is not going to stop me from campaigning. I am definitely going to come back... This is a small matter," he said.

However, Bala was practical enough to concede that, if there were health complications, he will not be able to do so.

He has already missed speaking engagements in Johor Bharu on March 6 and in Sabah on March 9.

Silver lining

Due to be discharged today, Bala will return to hospital for a follow-up check after a week on medication to reduce clotting in his veins.

His doctor will then decide if he needs to undergo stenting or open heart bypass surgery to correct his condition.

If Bala only requires stenting - a procedure to introduce mesh 'tubes' to open up his clogged veins via small incisions - he may be able to return to campaigning.

If a heart bypass is required, the recovery time could stretch beyond the date of the GE, which must be held by June 28.

Bala said he had just become comfortable with talking to a mass audience after his maiden appearance at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on Feb 28.

He believes that the people’s support for Pakatan is stronger than ever and will lead to its electoral victory.

The doughty former police Special Branch officer also sees a silver lining in this grey episode.

"This is good. If I didn't come back for the campaign, I might not have known (about my heart condition). I might have stayed in India. I might have died silently."

Kin denied inspection of custodial death victim's body

The family of M Ragu, who died in custody at the Kampar district police station, is crying foul for being prevented from inspecting the body for injuries or recording their findings on camera.

Ragu's (right) nephew M Veeganes said the police ordered him to keep his mobile phone in his pocket when he was at the mortuary at Kampar Hospital to check on the body.

"If there is no suspicion about my uncle's death, why are they preventing me from using my (mobile) phone to take pictures of my uncle?" Veeganes said when contacted.

He said that he was only allowed a brief glance at the body, which was completely covered in a white cloth, with only the face exposed.

There was no visible injury on the face but Veeganes was not able to check whether there were injuries on other parts of body.

Police: Buy the pictures from us

When contacted, Kampar district police chief Ng Kong Soon explained that the family could not touch the remains as "evidence can be disturbed".

Ng said only the forensic team was allowed to perform any examination of the body.

On barring Veeganes from taking photographs, Ng said this was a standard procedure.

"The family is not allowed to take pictures. The police have a team of professional photographers to do so. It is not an easy job.

"The court will query where, when and what camera model was used when the photographs are submitted," Ng told Malaysiakini.

However, Ng said Ragu's family could write in to request to purchase the police photographs.

Police chief: No foul play

On March 6, Ragu, who has a history of a mental illness, quarrelled with and assaulted a shopkeeper.

Subsequently, he surrendered to the police and two days later was sentenced to eight months' jail and fined RM2,000.

Ragu was found dead in the Kampar district police headquarters lock-up on Sunday morning, just before he was to be transferred to prison.

According to The Star, Perak deputy police chief A Paramasivam said Ragu died of "pulmonary embolism".

Paramasivam classified the case as "sudden death" and said there was no sign of trauma or external injury.

Lawyer P Uthayakumar (left), who is representing Ragu's family, said the family wants a second post-mortem conducted, if necessary abroad, since the independence of local hospitals was in question.

Uthayakumar said police officers were never charged for murder in custodial death cases and this worrying problem has gone unabated.

Parents file lawsuit to remove yoga from a California school district

Washington (USA) : A civil lawsuit has been filed against a school district in California seeking to suspend a controversial yoga programme which parents feel "unlawfully" promotes religious beliefs.

Not seeking any monetary compensation, the lawsuit filed by National Center for Law and Policy, on behalf of aggrieved parents, urged the San Diego Superior Court to immediately suspend "Ashtanga Yoga" programme of the Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) and restore traditional physical education.

Writing in support of the lawsuit, Harvard educated religious studies Professor Candy Gunther Brown said that the Ashtanga yoga programme is inherently and pervasively religious, having its roots firmly planted in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, and Western Metaphysical religious beliefs and practices.

As such, the programme violates California constitutional provisions prohibiting government religious preference and religious discrimination, alleged the lawsuit.

"EUSD's Ashtanga yoga programme represents a serious breach of the public trust," attorney Dean Broyles alleged.

"This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney.

"The programme is extremely divisive and has unfortunately led to the harassment, discrimination, bullying, and segregation of children who, for good reasons, opt out of the programme," Broyles alleged.

The school district introduced yoga in its schools after it received a USD 533,720 grant from the KP Jois Foundation for the purpose.

The programme sparked controversy among parents who feel Ashtanga yoga infringes on their religious beliefs.

The EUSD Superintendent Dr Timothy Baird has argued the yoga programme is far from unconstitutional.

"To be unconstitutional, we would have to be promoting religion and religious instruction in our programme. That just isn't happening," Baird said.

Instead, she argued that through yoga the school system is promoting physical activity and overall wellness.

The School District has selected the instructors and have designed the curriculum.

"There is no religion in this curriculum," Baird said.

Jois Foundation's CEO, Eugene Ruffin, denied the allegation by parents, saying, "there's a ton of positives of yoga. We know it works. But we're not pushing a particular brand of yoga," he said.

Shariah Police in Aceh Arrest Dozens in Weekend Raids

Shariah police question a young couple. (Reuters Photo/Damir Sagolj)

Banda Aceh. Authorities in Banda Aceh rounded up dozens of people over the weekend, mostly   women, for allegedly violating the province’s ultraconservative Islamic bylaws on indecent conduct.

The series of raids was carried out late Saturday night and early Sunday by the Wilayatul Hisbah, the so-called Shariah police, with help from regular police and soldiers.

Effendi, a WH official, said two couples were arrested at a hotel in Banda Aceh during one of the raids, and had been taken into custody for violating a bylaw prohibiting khalwat , the practice of unmarried couples being alone together in private.

“The four individuals are still being questioned by our officers,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday afternoon.

“If they refuse to see the error of their ways, we’ll have to charge them under the bylaw, for which they could be punished with a public caning.”

In another raid led by Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal, Banda Aceh deputy mayor, WH officers arrested 15 women from a cafe on the outskirts of the city.

Officials said the women were arrested for wearing tight-fitting clothes and for being out late at night.

No men were arrested in that raid.

A third raid, at a boarding house in a densely populated part of the city, netted one man and three women.

Effendi said the man was believed to be a pimp. He said WH raided the house after receiving complaints from residents about “un-Islamic activities” taking place there, but declined to elaborate.

He added that the three women found at the scene were arrested for wearing tight clothing.

“We’re continuing to question these four people because we have strong reason to believe that the man is a pimp and that the three women are ‘comfort women,’ ” Effendi said.

Three more women were arrested in a further raid on a late-night eatery in the Banda Aceh outskirts for wearing tight-fitting clothes, forbidden under Aceh’s partial adoption of Shariah law.

Effendi said all the women arrested for this violation were released into the custody of their families after promising not to repeat their conduct.

Illiza said the raids were necessary to “keep Banda Aceh clean from the stench of vice.”

“We’re carrying out these raids to crack down on those that are violating Shariah law,” she said.

“We raided several places tonight, mostly hotels and cafes. It’s very sad that we keep finding people doing these things, no matter how often we conduct these raids.

“Most of those we caught tonight were committing khalwat, so we hope we can return them to the right path.”

Lancaster Islamic girls' school sex assault: Men arrested

Three men arrested following an alleged sexual assault and false imprisonment at an Islamic girls'

The secondary school has more than 400 pupils

school have links with the school, police said.

Officers are investigating a single alleged incident last Tuesday involving a small number of girls at Jamea Al Kauthar in Lancaster.

A Bolton man, 40, and a Blackburn man, 30, have been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and false imprisonment.

A Blackburn man aged 53 was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment.

Searches are being conducted at the school by female officers.

The alleged incident was reported to police on Saturday and a search warrant was executed on Sunday.

Police will not confirm the details of the men's connections with the establishment, but said they were arrested at the school.
Concerned parents

Lancashire Police said it does not have the identities of all the girls and it is trying to find out if the alleged victims are current or former pupils.

Supt Andy Webster said: "We are still at the very early stages of what is a complex investigation and we have dedicated officers working to establish the full facts.

"Our aim at this stage is to respond to the information given to us in a proportionate and sensitive way.

"We will seek to minimise the impact and the disruption to the school and our local communities while we investigate the allegation."

A spokesman for Jamea Al Kauthar said: "The school is aware of the allegations that have been made and at the present moment the school is fully co-operating with the police with their investigations into the matter.

"We expect the matter to be cleared up soon."

Lancashire Police has set up a dedicated phone line for concerned parents of pupils to call.

The secondary school, on Ashton Road, was established in 1996 and has more than 400 pupils.

Police said a "significant number" of pupils at the independent boarding school are international students.

Saya sayang Saiful hingga akhir hayat

Pro-BN groups throw eggs, sticks at PKR supporters

Manila, Kiram clan discuss ‘disengagement’ of Sulu force

Police search two men detained at Tanjung Labian, in Lahad Datu, March 6, 2013. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― Manila has revived talks with the Kiram family over the possibility of withdrawing the Sulu Sultanate’s fighters from Sabah to end the month-long armed conflict with Malaysia, Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said today.

According to several reports in the Philippine media, Roxas held a two-hour closed-door meeting in Quezon City this afternoon with Bantilan Esmail Kiram II to discuss the “disengagement” of the Sultanate’s combatants.

Esmail is the younger brother of the self-proclaimed Sulu “Sultan” Jamalul Kiram III. Another brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, is believed to be still in hiding in Lahad Datu, Sabah, where Malaysian security forces are conducting an operation flush out the rebel group.

According to ABN-CBS News, Esmail said the Kiram family would weigh the option but wanted to know what would happen to the Sultanate’s followers should they lay down arms.

“We are all deeply concerned about what’s happening in Lahad Datu, Sabah,” Roxas said in the network’s online report.

“I updated them (the Kiram clan) on the Philippine government’s actions via the DFA’s (Department of Foreign Affairs) negotiations with the Malaysians to protect those who are innocent,” he added.

The Sulu incursion in Sabah has so far resulted in the deaths of 63 people, including 54 Filipino militants, eight Malaysian policemen and one teenage boy.

The Sultan’s brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, led a group of over 200 armed rebels to Lahad Datu on February 9 to lay the Sultanate’s claim over the resource-rich territory in north Borneo.

The network reported that Roxas would not divulge more information on his talk with Esmail and merely confirmed they had discussed “disengagement” for the sake of protecting the lives of Filipinos in Sabah who were not involved in the incursion.

The secretary pointed out that it was already public knowledge that the Malaysian government wanted the Sulu militants to surrender unconditionally, but said the Kirams were concerned over how this would be done.
Jamalul had sought a ceasefire but was told to order his fighters to surrender unconditionally. — Reuters pic
The Kiram family called for a ceasefire last Thursday upon receiving reports that more of its men were falling from battles with Malaysian forces but Putrajaya rejected the appeal.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in an immediate reaction, told the invaders to surrender unconditionally or face death.

Roxas noted that the only peaceful option open to the Kiram family was to accede to the call to surrender, adding that Esmail was also aware of the efforts by the Philippine government to ensure the conflict does not claim more lives.

“So, Esmail is very much aware of the efforts undertaken by the government to prevent the firefight since the crisis started on March 1,” Roxas said.

The secretary also said today’s meeting has the blessing of the ailing Jamalul, who is currently undergoing dialysis treatment in Manila.

Esmail has also been asked by the Malaysian government to act as intermediary between the Sultanate and government negotiators, Roxas claimed.

The first firefight between Malaysian forces and the Sulu gang started on March 1 and resulted in the death of 20 Sulu militants and eight Malaysians. The Kiram family has labelled the clash as the “March 1 massacre”.

Reeling from the loss of Malaysian lives, Putrajaya launched Ops Daulat last Tuesday to flush out the rest of the Sulu invaders, sending in battalions of armed troops and mounting an aerial airstrike on the gunmen.

As of this afternoon, the Sulu incursion in Sabah has resulted in the deaths of 63 people, including 54 Filipino militants, eight Malaysian policemen and one teenage boy.

Agbimuddin had first led a group of over 200 armed rebels to Lahad Datu on February 9 to lay the Sultanate’s claim over the resource-rich territory in north Borneo. It is not known how many of the group now remain.

PI Bala: I wasn’t promised RM700,000

Raja Petra Kamarudin is writing bullshit stories, says private investigator P Balasubramaniam.

PETALING JAYA: Private investigator P Balasubramaniam swears he was not promised payment for the 2008 statutory declaration (SD) linking Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.

Bala said this in response to claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had personally promised the private investigator RM700,000 if he agreed to come up with the first SD by July 1, 2008.

Citing a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) source, Raja Petra had said Anwar wanted the SD to implicate Najib, who was then defence minister, so that his Sept 16 plan of becoming prime minister would succeed.

“I swear on my mother, I do not know anything about this RM700,000. All these accusations against me are bullshit,” Bala told FMT today.

“In fact, I had only met Anwar twice: once in 1994, when I was on official duty, and the second was the day I signed my first SD during the [July 3, 2008] press conference. I never met him again afterwards, either.”

Bala stressed that the question of money never came up in his preparation of the first SD, denying even the RM100,000 he allegedly received from lawyer Puravelan.

“My purpose has always been the truth, never money. What can I do with money? I can’t bring it to my grave,” he said.

But Raja Petra had claimed that Bala had contacted businessman Deepak Jaikishan after he did not receive the full payment of the RM700,000 – an encounter that eventually led to the second SD, which reversed all claims made in the first one.

Responding to this, Bala said: “Raja Petra has nothing to write about, so he comes up with bullshit. He’s my friend, but I don’t know how to advise him.”

He conceded that he had met with Deepak, but reiterated that the ensuing second SD was done out of duress.

“I changed my statement out of duress, but then when Najib became prime minister in 2009, I openly said what happened to me, and my statement has been consistent since then.”

Bala also admitted to having received payment from Deepak after making the second SD, and said that the money had been used for travel, food expenses as well as the education of his children.

Not paid by PKR

Meanwhile, Bala dismissed rumours that his return to Malaysia was paid for by PKR, whom he had pledged support for.

“The flight back to Malaysia was my own money, because some of the money Deepak gave me, I kept. Nobody paid for my trip,” he said.

“I’m not a Pakatan [Rakyat] member. I’m not affiliated with any party in the coalition, not with DAP, PKR or PAS. But I support them because my heart says Malaysia needs change.”

‘Anwar promised RM700,000 to PI Bala’

However, Raja Petra says the money was not paid in full and this resulted in Balasubramaniam contacting Deepak Jaikishnan.

PETALING JAYA: In his latest posting, Raja Petra Kamarudin has revealed how private investigator P Balasubramaniam was allegedly conned of the RM700,000 promised to him by Anwar Ibrahim.

Citing a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) source who quoted carpet businessman Deepak Jaikishnan’s statement to the MACC, the Malaysia Today webmaster claimed that Balasubramaniam was promised the amount in return for his first statutory declaration to implicate Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

In July 2008, Raja Petra said a prominent lawyer introduced Balasubramaniam to lawyers R Sivarasa and Americk Sidhu.

“Sivarasa then arranged for Balasubramaniam to meet Anwar to discuss signing a SD to directly implicate Najib and Rosmah in Altantuya’s murder.

“Balasubramaniam met Anwar twice, the first time a few days before the SD was signed and the second time on the SD day itself wherein he sat beside Anwar and gave his press conference flanked by his lawyer,” he added.

The first time the prominent lawyer brought Balasubramaniam to meet Anwar, Raja Petra said he was promised RM700,000.00 if he agreed to come up with the SD by July 1, 2008.

“Anwar had agreed to pay the RM700,000 through the lawyer and the payment was to be made in two stages – Part A, RM200,000, immediately and Part B, RM500,000, after the press conference.

On July 1, 2008, Balasubramaniam made the SD and proceeded to conduct the press conference on July 3, 2008, organised by Anwar and his lawyers at the PKR headquarters.

“Unfortunately for Balasubramaniam, after the press conference, the lawyer only paid him RM100,000 although he had received RM200,000 from Anwar.

“The lawyer told Balasubramaniam that Anwar had instructed for the balance to be paid after a few days. The balance of RM500,000 – the lawyer pocketed all to himself without Balasubramaniam knowing,” he added.

‘Perfect timing’

Raja Petra said a vexed Balasubramaniam then tried to contact Anwar through Americk and other people he knew in PKR such as Sivarasa.

However, he added that Anwar never responded at all to him because the latter believed that Balasubramaniam was fully paid.

At the same time, Raja Petra said Balasubramaniam started getting calls from the Brickfields police station and he became worried.

“He started to panic as Anwar was not responding and the lawyer had just cheated him of his only income to enable him and his family to leave Malaysia. Balasubramaniam didn’t know that the lawyer cheated him.

“Balasubramaniam, the next day after waiting for Anwar or his lawyer to call him, realised that he had been cheated of his promised money. He then contacted Deepak [Jaikishan] through a mutual friend, Suresh, and asked to meet Deepak so that he could relate what had happened. Deepak informed Suresh that he would first discuss this matter with Rosmah and get back to him as soon as possible,” he added.

That afternoon, Raja Petra said, Rosmah called Deepak regarding the SD matter and the discussion got to Balasubramaniam.

“Deepak told Rosmah what he had found out from Suresh and she asked Deepak to try and help to resolve the attempt to frame her husband with the murder case.

“Deepak told Rosmah he would speak to Balasubramaniam directly and get a true picture of the entire events and how this thing can be resolved. Deepak spoke to Balasubramaniam on the phone number given by Suresh and asked him if he was prepared to tell the truth about the SD conspiracy, which was now being exploited as a political asset by Najib’s competitors.

“However, Balasubramaniam was reluctant to do so as he said he didn’t want to trust any politicians as Anwar had cheated him on the amount of money promised and at the same time he was worried that Najib’s people were going to get him arrested again like during the Razak Baginda case.

“Deepak told Balasubramnaim don’t worry because if he was willing to tell the truth he would be protected and would not be harassed by the police. He can get this assurance,” he added.

According to Raja Petra, Anwar asked Balasubramaniam to make the SD to stop Najib from taking over the prime minister’s post then.

“The timing was perfect and Anwar wanted this whole thing to implicate Najib and Rosmah to prevent him from becoming PM and thus allowing him to succeed with his Sept 16 plan to get the MPs in Sabah to defect so that he could become PM as they were demoralised at that time under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration,” he said.

Bala recently came back to Malaysia after being away for some years and has since his return been involved in PKR roadshows to implicate Najib with Altantuya.

800,000 Filipinos may be sent home

Those who became Malaysian citizens under Project IC will be the most affected.

MANILA: The majority, if not all, of the 800,000 Filipinos based in Sabah may be sent back to the Philippines on the premise that they had acquired their Malaysian citizenship illegally over the past 20 years under a controversial systematic granting of citizenship to foreigners dubbed Project IC (identity cards).

Project IC, which is blamed on former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad, was said to be among the factors that led followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to “invade” Sabah in February. Most of the Filipinos who benefited from the project in the past are Tausugs from the nearby islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The Manila Times reports that unknown to many, the Malaysian government has begun an investigation into the “phantom” project, which Mahathir denied ever existed.

On Jan 14, or just two weeks prior to the sultanate army’s incursion of Sabah, the Royal Commission of Inquiry began its hearings on Project IC.

Amid the offensives against the followers of Kiram, the royal commission was supposed to conduct another hearing on March 5.

Overshadowed by the skirmishes was the fact that in June 2012, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the federal government formed the royal commission to investigate problems related to illegal immigration in Sabah, mostly targeting Filipinos and Indonesians who comprise the bulk of non-Malaysian natives on the island.

Malaysian news reports quoted former Dewan Rakyat senator and state assemblyman Chong Eng Leong as saying that in 2012, there were 700,000 “Project IC citizens” and that 200,000 of them are on the state electoral list.

There are about 1.7 million foreigners, mostly Filipinos and Indonesians, in Sabah whose population is only three million. Based on a 2010 survey, foreigners comprised over a quarter of Sabah’s population.

Sabah has 926,638 voters, according to a June report by The Star.

Demographic pattern

It was alleged that Mahathir, who headed Malaysia for over two decades from 1981 to 2003, devised the scheme to alter the demographic pattern of Sabah to make it more favourable to the ruling government and certain political parties.

Under the project, Mahathir allegedly granted citizenship to immigrants (including those who are illegal) by giving them identity documents known as the identity card and subsequently, MyKad. Another term used is Project M, where “M” stood for Mahathir.

It has been said that Project IC was a secret policy of the Barisan Nasional coalition and its affiliate, Umno, to attain political domination in the state using the votes of immigrants.

Mahathir admitted that Filipino immigrants were granted citizenship in Sabah, but insisted that everything was done legally.

The project was said to have begun in the early 1990s after the entry of Umno into Sabah politics. However, there were also allegations of mass immigration and naturalisation of migrants in the 1970s under the United Sabah National Organization government, and in the early 1980s under Berjaya government. The two parties eventually merged to form Umno.

Crackdown

Prior to last year’s formation of the RCI, there had been several government operations to deport illegal immigrants. These operations serve to deport immigrants without proper documentations such as ICs or a valid work permit.

The RCI, headed by former Sabah and Sarawak chief judge Steve Shim, is investigating the reasons behind Sabah’s population growth which can be attributed largely to the influx of Filipinos.

Among others, the RCI aims to investigate the number of “stateless” foreigners in Sabah given identity cards or citizenships.

According to some observers, the skirmishes between Malaysian security forces and followers of Kiram may result in two possible scenarios: it could hamper the ongoing RCI investigation and save hundreds of thousands of “illegal” identity card holders from early deportation; or it may speed up the process, especially since Sabah-based Filipinos are now returning to Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces by the hundreds daily.

“These refugees could be those who were still waiting for their ICs but decided to just leave out of fear,” one observer said.

The Kiram family and Philippine government officials reserved comment on the matter .

- Agencies

Penang state assemblyman under fire

MIC Youth, furnishing two letters as proof of abuse of power by RSN Rayer, questions DAP's silence on the matter.

KUALA LUMPUR: A state assemblyman from Penang has come under fire for alleged abuse of his power.

Penang MIC Youth chief J Dhinagaran, furnishing two letters to FMT, claimed that they were proof that the state assemblyman was involved in abuse of power, among other things.

“The first letter was from a Pakatan Rakyat supporter to the DAP national leadership. In his letter, one Rahman Mohd Zainal claims that RSN Rayer’s secretary, who goes by the name of Sivalingam, misused state education funds by allocating the money to his relatives.

“The second was penned by Rayer himself. In it, Rayer admitted to have donated a microwave oven to a particular department of the Penang northeast land and district office. He also admitted that the oven was donated to show gratitude for ‘finishing up several projects’ in 2012,” said Dhinagaran.

“I believe it is a case of you scratch my back, I scratch your back… both Rayer and the district office are guilty of corrupt practices,” he added.

Dhinagaran said such a donation was clearly a crime under Section 17(b) of MACC Act 2009 and asked why the DAP has remained silent on the issue although letters had been sent to the party’s top leadership.

“We believe [secretary-general] Lim Guan Eng and DAP refrained from taking action against Rayer because they did not want to hurt [DAP chairman] Karpal Singh’s feelings. Rayer is a strong supporter of Karpal,” claimed Dhinagaran.

He also wanted Rayer to explain the allegations levelled against his secretary, Sivalingam.

“Apparently Sivalingam has given RM6,000 to his niece and another RM3,000 to his relative who is from Ipoh. He spent the state education fund for this with Rayer’s knowledge. We want Rayer to come out and clear the air,” he added.

The MIC man also said a report would be filed with the MACC on the matter within a week.

Sugumar’s family refuses to give up

The family of Sugumar insists on a second post-mortem and will fight till the end for justice.

PETALING JAYA: The family of C Sugumar, the 40-year-old security guard who died in police custody almost 50 days ago, refuses to give up and is still waiting for the second post-mortem to be conducted.

Sugumar was allegedly chased, handcuffed and beaten to death on Jan 23 by policemen and several members of the public, after which turmeric powder was smeared on his face.

The first post-mortem from Selayang General Hospital showed that Sugumar had died due to a heart attack.

The family’s lawyer, N Surendran, also PKR vice-president, claims that the family insists on fighting till the end to obtain justice for the deceased.

“They don’t want to bury the body until the second post-mortem is conducted; they are willing to fight till the very end for justice,” said Surendran.

He said that till today, there is no response from the government or the Prime Minister’s Department.

“We are trying to pursue the matter with the Prime Minister’s Department; only Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak can resolve this issue,” he said.

“Thai forensic expert Porntip Rojanasunan’s ban has not been lifted; the family has been waiting for far too long and something has to be done as soon as possible,” he added.

When asked if Sugumar’s case will fade with another death in custody yesterday, Surendran said, “Definitely not; in fact, I think there will be more attention drawn to this case now.”

He also said that there is no other way the hospital or the government can dispose of the body as it does not have the legal rights to do so.

“The body of Sugumar will be left at the morgue until the second post-mortem is allowed and the ban on Porntip is lifted; nobody has the legal right to dispose of the body other than the family,” said Surendran.

A Solution to the Blueprint-Manifesto ‘spat’

It is also very evident that pre-election promises are seldom kept by politicians from both sides of the political divide. As such HINDRAF feels that it is all the more important that a binding agreement is in place so that history does not repeat itself.

Paraman Subramaniam

There has been much heated debate going on in the reluctance of PR to have a binding endorsement with HINDRAF regarding its 5 year blueprint. The HINDRAF blueprint which is based on social justice as the foundation had proposed a specific, pointed and targeted program of rehabilitation measures, quite similar to existing Felda settlers program, to a specific group of community, Displaced Estate Workers (DEW).

This covers proposal for intervention in 6 major problem areas that transcends racial and religious barriers:

1) 800,000 internally displaced estate workers.
2) 350,000 stateless people.
3) The denial of adequate and equal educational opportunities.
4) Unequal employment and business opportunities.
5) The impunity of the Royal Malaysian Police.
6) The standards of Human Rights practices.

PR leaders had agreed in principle to the blueprint but fell short of giving a binding agreement citing certain wordings and languages need to be reviewed. HINDRAF had reciprocated by not only agreeing to go through with the PR team to review these issues but were even willing to debate allocations of the necessary budget to be allocated for the realization of the various programs in the blueprint proposal. Ironically PR till date has failed to come forward to iron out these details with HINDRAF.

Recently Anwar Ibrahim had to do a damage limitation exercise of claiming that PR will include specific details of the Indian community’s needs into the PR manifesto. This was in response to pressure from mainly HINDRAF leaders who slammed the manifesto for leaving out specific concerns of the Indian community while mentioning almost all other races. Anwar claims that PR will now include 5 points into the manifesto:

1) Resolving the ‘long standing issue of stateless people’ in Malaysia, without excluding Indians, in the first 100 days of Pakatan’s administration.
2) Technical training and job opportunities for school leavers, stressing the major beneficiaries to be the Indian community.
3) Ensuring all Tamil schools will be fully funded and infrastructure comparable to the national educational standards.
4) A government National Housing Board to build affordable homes that includes focus on helping build freehold homes for ex estate workers around the country.
5) The setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

These points appear to have been taken in part from the HINDRAF blueprint but are not comprehensive in nature. It also does not explain how it will be implemented considering the huge ‘BTN brain washed UMNO bureaucracy’ hurdle that it will need to overcome to do so. On the other hand the HINDRAF blueprint spells out clearly how to overcome this.

Both PR and HINDRAF are not willing to give in regarding the requirement of a binding agreement of the HINDRAF blueprint to bring about a political electoral pact in the coming General Elections.

HINDRAF particularly are aggrieved that for the Tsunami that they created for PR in 2008, there has not been even a single attempt by PR in the past 5 years to engage with them into drawing up plans for the grouses of the 1.5million marginalized Indians that they represent.

It is also very evident that pre-election promises are seldom kept by politicians from both sides of the political divide. As such HINDRAF feels that it is all the more important that a binding agreement is in place so that history does not repeat itself.

A solution to this predicament lies within the PR’s Buku Jingga itself which PR claims is their comprehensive and holistic policy document. It proposes a set of policies to lead the nation to a new and better future.

A clause under the heading ‘Prosperity, solidarity and social justice with PR’ clearly states that PR will ‘set up a council of experts to formulate and change existing national policies with regard to key economic, political and social challenges’. The HINDRAF blueprint falls well within this jurisdiction and as such PR must activate the clause within the Buku Jingga and accept it as after all PR leaders have already claimed to have accepted it in principle. Failure to do so may invite doubts of credibility on the very foundations of the Buku Jingga. PR will also be able to prove to the nation that it has raised the bar in its credibility to its election promises.

Cracking the Vatican Code

Infiltrating and exfiltrating, pepper spray and all

Which one's got the camera?

As the world waits for a new Pope to emerge later this week, a cryptic spy-vs-spy game is brewing behind the scenes. And the business world has a lot to learn from the experience of the Holy See.

Amid all the speculation, the 115 cardinals converging at Vatican City took just 30 minutes last Friday to choose 12 March as the date to start the medieval process, rich in tradition and freighted with solemnity, of electing the next pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

"The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013. A pro eligendo Romano Pontifice Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica that morning. In the afternoon, the cardinals will enter into the Conclave," according to a press release posted by the Vatican Information Service on 8 March.

The 115 red-capped prelates will begin the secret anonymous balloting after filing into the Sistine Chapel.

I have a confession: I have sinned. The Sistine Chapel was the place where I tested some of my devices to covertly capture images of the famed ceiling: tiles of the great works of Michelangelo, under the supposedly watchful eyes of the guards and plainclothes police - including members of the Vigilanza, the Vatican's police force.

In the hour I spent playing 007 with the vast frescoes of the Papal Chapel, the images were transmitted to friends halfway across the world and promptly greeted with messages via a hidden smartphone - I did the same with the statue of David in The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence... sorry Michelangelo, but it shows how much I admire your works.

This has relevance because a client once asked me to sweep his office for any hidden bugs. Not just any eavesdropping devices deliberately planted but also to remove anything that could present the same risks, he said. Given the intrigues inside the Catholic Church over the past decade, it is understandable to assume the 115 Cardinals may be just as vulnerable as my client was.

I was not sure if he - or they - truly understand the inconvenient truth and consequences of what he meant. Apart from scanning for any spy devices, the client would have to rid his office of many other things, including his landline phone - those VoIP phones can be manipulated to eavesdrop on and off the hook - fax machine, router, telephone lines, etc. And anyone in his office, including himself, must either leave the smartphone outside or remove the SIM card. All visitors would also have to be scanned from head to toe before entry.

These incidents played out vividly in my mind as I digested news of the latest developments at the Vatican, where its history with spies and espionage activities over the centuries has been well documented. Think how much harder it would be to deal with security needs with 115 scheming potential prelates in the room.

In Spies in the Vatican, author David Alvarez gives insights into another clandestine world of espionage, of how covert activities and intelligence gathering reached the highest level of the Vatican over the past two centuries.

The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage by Eric Fratinni explains how the Vatican used a secret spy service called the Holy Alliance to carry out its will for over 5 centuries - "Holy Alliance" was then renamed "The Entity" in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.

Paranoia strikes deep at the ecclesiastical state Vatican City. The most recent episode was the "Vatileaks" scandal last year when the butler of Benedict XVI, Paolo Gabriele, photocopied and leaked secret documents to Italian reporter Gianluigi Nuzzi, alleging corruption in the Holy See. The butler, who used public phones to contact Nuzzi for security reasons, reportedly told the journalist "the cameras inside the Vatican are so powerful that they can even read the lips of people."

One would then expect The Entity and the Vigilanza to be in full swing combing and sweeping frantically in the days leading to the announcement of a new pope.

So I was glad to read a Reuters story on Saturday about how a closed door secret balloting is not enough "in the face of tweeting cardinals and a year of crushing leaks." Hence the security measures taken to sweep for bugging devices and block any signals from sipping out of the 15th-century chapel before the black or white smoke signals.

The corporate world may well relate these to the same paranoia that surrounds highly confidential business meetings. One landmark case involved US computer giant Hewlett-Packard back in 2006 when then chairwoman Patricia Dunn, suspicious of certain members of its board of directors, ordered a secret campaign, codenamed Operation Kona, by hiring investigators to identify the source of an information leak - relating to corporate strategies - from the high-level board meetings.

Anyway, I know of another security lapse at the Vatican City.

During my last visit, the security scanners at the entrance to the Vatican museum set off an alarm. It must be the little bottle of pepper spray my Bella kept in her makeup pouch. I tried to distract their attention by confessing that it must be my phone, watch or belt. But the fierce-looking mustachioed Italian guard shouted "Not you. It's her!" and pointed at my Bella.

"What is that?!" he asked, pointing at the bottle.

"It is... for spraying the face," said Bella.

She was not lying but I stood dumbfounded. Somehow the guard took her word - and believed it was a bottle of facial mist - and we were allowed to go through the gate. And I managed to use my hidden devices at the Sistine Chapel.

Now I pray for those 115 cardinals entering the Conclave tomorrow.

(Vanson Soo runs an independent business intelligence and commercial investigations practice specialized in the Greater China region. Blog: http://vansonsoo.com. A different version of this ran in The Standard of Hong Kong)

Pengerusi Pekida Perak Tengah isytihar sokongan kepada Pakatan

Mohd Arif Juhani

PERAK 11 MAC: Sekalipun Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah (Pekida) kerap dikaitkan dengan Umno BN, Pengerusi Pekida Perak Tengah, Sabri Ahmad tidak gentar untuk mengisytihar sokongan padu kepada Pakatan Rakyat pada Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) ke-13.

Beliau yang menjadi ahli Umno sejak 1978, mengakui Pekida umumnya kerap dikait dengan Umno BN tetapi beliau tetap mahu menyokong Pakatan.

“Pekida adalah NGO, bukan parti politik. Jadi, tiada sebab kenapa perlu pertikai sokongan saya kepada Pakatan. Sokongan saya kerana yakin dengan kemampuan Pakatan untuk mentadbir negara selepas PRU 13,” kata kakitangan sebuah agensi kerajaan di Batu Gajah, Perak.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada Keadilan Daily, sehari selepas beliau menyarung mafla kepada Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada satu program sempena Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat ke Perak, semalam.

Sabri juga mengakui bukan mudah untuk menyatakan sokongan kerana pendirian beliau itu menyebabkan pihak tertentu yang tidak senang dengan tindakannya, cuba merampas kedudukannya dalam Mesyuarat Agung Tahunan Pekida.

“Pernah rampasan kuasa cuba dibuat pihak tertentu dengan mengadakan Mesyuarat Agung Tahunan Pekida tanpa pengetahuan. Tapi, mana boleh mesyuarat agung diadakan tanpa kehadiran pengerusi?” katanya.

Beliau juga mengakui ramai ahli Pekida termasuk pemimpin utama peringkat negeri itu, menyokong Pakatan tetapi enggan mendedahkan identiti mereka.

(FZL)

Home Biodata Publication M’sia Scores A First in Movie Ratings

By Martin Jalleh

Dr Mahathir: PAS' Biggest Achievement Is Creating Hatred Against Umno

KULIM, March 11 (Bernama) -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the biggest achievement by PAS is the approach taken by the party to create public hatred against Umno and declaring those who do not support the party as infidels.

The former prime minister said the approach was adopted by PAS leaders to scare the people so that they would not support Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN).

"PAS also taught its supporters to hate those who do not support or vote for PAS as non-Muslims," he said at the programe 'Together With Statesman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad', here Monday.

The programme was organised by the Kulim/Bandar Baharu Umno division with the cooperation of Kedah BN and was also attended by Dr Mahathir's wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Kedah Umno Liaison chairman, Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah and about 5,000 leaders and members of the state BN component parties.

According to Dr Mahathir, many PAS supporters were now leaving the party because they realised that the approach adopted by the party all this while contradicted with the teachings of Islam.

He said that PAS was actually a weak party because it needed the support of other parties in the opposition pact to the extent that it was prepared to drop its struggle for an Islamic nation and implement the hudud law when threatened by its own allies.

He said the people should be able to evaluate the achievements of the opposition pact after five years of ruling four states beginning 2008.

Dr Mahathir said in jest that he was campaigning now to repay the deeds of the earlier people who had supported him to become prime minister.

"People say I'm too old, and unable to do anything but I have to repay their deeds," he said to loud applause from the audience.

Speaking to reporters later on talks about the tussle for the post of Kedah Menteri Besar if the BN were to win in the 13th general election, the former prime minister said such talks would not affect the BN chances because party members had been reminded about it.

"There are people asking whether my son (Mukhriz) is a candidate for the MB (Menteri Besar) post. I said let him contest first, DUN (State constituency) or Parliamentary (constituency), it's alright. What is important is that all members give their assurance that they will support whoever is selected by the prime minister as candidate.

"The people of Kedah have experienced...PAS has not contributed anything to the state, in fact, they did more damage," he added.

On the call by DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang that the Prime Minister dissolves the Parliament, Dr Mahathir said there must be an interim arrangment first to dissolve Parliament.

Anti-Anwar protesters create ruckus outside PKR HQ (Videos)

A group of anti-Anwar protesters created a commotion outside the PKR headquarters in Tropicana this evening. See videos below.



A PKR source claimed they later hurled eggs, sticks and traffic cones in the direction of the office and a few of these projectiles were reported to have hit several PKR supporters. The Damansara Police Station is just a couple of doors away from the PKR office.

Who exactly are these protesters? They are reportedly from a few ‘NGOs’. I have my own theory on this, but all I can say from this video is they seem to be very familiar with the lyrics of patriotic songs.

Is Kulasegaran upping the ante as a proxy for Pakatan?

COMMENT I write this note in response to the article by M Kulasegaran titled, ‘Hindraf is no longer the force they were’.

From the slant of the article it looks like Kulasegaran is upping the ante as a proxy for Pakatan. We do not believe that statements such as this can come from someone high up in the hierarchy without sanction from the party leaders.

If this is the case, then Hindraf challenges the Pakatan leadership to come clear and  say that they do not need the support of Hindraf in the forthcoming elections. If what we are saying holds no basis, then we want the Pakatan leadership - Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Hadi Awang and Lim Kit Siang - to come forward and refute what Kula has just said.

In the absence of any statement to this effect, we will proceed with our conclusion that Pakatan is issuing this statement through Kula as a proxy.

There are quarters among our people who speculate that Kula could be putting out such statements to prevent the Pakatan-Hindraf relationship from developing so that he can preserve his position in Pakatan.

He has not done one constructive thing in the interest of the relationship - not getting involved in the discussion on the Hindraf blueprint or coming up with alternative plans to supplement or complement Hindraf’s blueprint or anything that would really help develop the relationship. Yet he so readily and abundantly criticises Hindraf and runs Hindraf down tirelessly. So, what is his real agenda, they ask?

We have made it clear from all our meetings with the joint Pakatan leadership, and separately, that we would back up Pakatan by mobilising  our election volunteers to campaign nationwide provided Pakatan endorses the Hindraf blueprint. This requires effort on everyone’s part.

The issue of seat allocation to Hindraf was never discussed in any detail as Hindraf had insisted that the blueprint be endorsed first before we moved to the final seat allocation discussion as this was our order of priority. Kula was nowhere in any of these meetings to appreciate this.

Has Pakatan now sanctioned Kula to be their mouthpiece on their relationship with Hindraf?

Whatever the case may be, we want the Pakatan leadership to come out in the open about their stand vis-a-vis Hindraf.

---

P RAMESH is national secretary, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi.

Waytha begins hunger strike for Hindraf blueprint

In a drastic move, Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy has embarked on a solo hunger strike to press BN and Pakatan Rakyat to endorse Hindraf’s five-year blueprint to solve the problems of the marginalised Indian community.

“The purpose (of the hunger strike) is for them (BN and Pakatan) to acknowledge that the human rights of Indian (Malaysians) have been violated.

“Both have to sign it (the blueprint). If both do not sign it, they don’t respect human rights,” Waythamoorthy (right) told reporters after prayers at the Rawang Hindu temple last night, before beginning the hunger strike.

He said BN has not been in touch with Hindraf to discuss the blueprint, while in Pakatan’s case, the discussion between Hindraf and the opposition coalition had reached a stalemate.

Disappointed at Pakatan’s lack of a definitive answer to endorsing the blueprint in the coalition’s manifesto last month, Waythamoorthy announced that he would embark on a hunger strike.
The purpose of the strike is to press home the need for "permanent and comprehensive solutions to these serious problems".
He said he would be limiting his intake of water during the duration of the hunger strike.

According to his wife K Shanti (left), Waythamoorthy took a vegetarian lunch yesterday, before starting his fast.

“I’m a bit sad, there is no need for him to do this… but I am blessed as I have a husband like him,” Shanti told Malaysiakini, adding that the family was throwing their full support behind Waythamoorthy’s struggle.

Waythamoorthy’s daughther, W Vwaishhnnavi, also expressed worry over her father’s fasting stint.

“(But) I feel very proud… My friends like my father because he helps the poor Indians,” said the Standard Five pupil before Waythamoorthy began his prayers yesterday.

Amid the fragrant of burning incense, some 80 people attended the prayers at 8.30pm.

Coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri, the crowd appealed to the Lord Shiva to ensure the success of Hindraf’s struggle.

Under the guide of a priest, Waythamoorthy, garbed in white, the crowd sprinkled light-blue flowers and nine types of grains to pay the homage to Lord Shiva.

After an hour of prayer, the crowd sang the Hindraf anthem Tholvi nilayane ninaithal (Failure isn't permanent) and hoisted Hindraf’s signature orange flag.

Waythamoorthy said he would continue the hunger strike for as long as his body could endure it.