IGP: Police not given notice on rally against DBKL

Pakistani Hindu Refugees in India.

Report: Forced Sterilization Of Women Widespread In Uzbekistan

A new report on forced sterilization of women in Uzbekistan at government clinics says the practice remains widespread across the country.

BBC Central Asia correspondent Natalia Antelava, the author of the report by the U.S.-based Open Society Foundations, says medical professionals throughout the country are under government pressure to perform sterilizations as a means to combat population growth.

Presenting the report to the press in Washington on December 13 and earlier this week in New York, she said all women of reproductive age who had delivered two or more children were potential targets for forced sterilization.

"The sterilization campaign by the government is still carrying on, it's happening everywhere, across Uzbekistan," Antelava told reporters on December 11 in New York. "So, it is not that individual regions are targeted, rather across the country clinics and hospitals are performing the procedures. It hasn't shown any sign of slowing down in the last five years."

She said that women with lower socioeconomic status and representatives of ethnic minorities were the most likely to be sterilized.

The sterilizations -- through removal of the uterus or cutting of the fallopian tubes -- happen without the patient's knowledge and often is not learned of until much later.

"The typical story is that the woman gives birth, then tries to get pregnant again, fails to get pregnant, then goes to a doctor and finds out that she has been sterilized," Antelava explained.

Antelava also said that local health administrators attempted to outperform one another in order to please the central authorities.

"It's very clear that there are certain quotas on the number of sterilizations that doctors perform but it is very difficult to trace these quotas up to Tashkent," she said.

"So, while the country is extremely centralized, there is also a real sense of competition between lower down the chain of command, between the local bureaucrats, local hospitals, and local doctors to outperform each other."

Since 1999, Uzbekistan's ongoing and systematic forced-sterilization program has affected tens of thousands of women, Antelava added.

Malaysian Catholic church leader behind Allah appeal retires, no successor yet

Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam (pic) retired last week after reaching age 75, unable to see through another appeal to Malaysia's highest court against a government ban on Catholics using the Arabic word Allah to describe God.

Pope Francis accepted Pakiam's resignation as he had reached the age limit, the official Vatican website reported on Friday. But it did not name a successor for the priest who turned 75 on December 6.

In 2007, Pakiam filed for a judicial review after the church's weekly, Herald, was ordered to stop using Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia edition by the Home Ministry.

In 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court overturned the ban but the ruling was suspended pending an appeal which Putrajaya won last October.

Church lawyers filed for leave at the Federal Court on November 12 to appeal the Court of Appeal decision, citing 26 reasons. There is no date for the decision.

A week after the Court of Appeal's October 14 decision, Pakiam issued a statement saying that that the three appeal court judges were grossly misinformed when concluding that the word Allah was “not the essential or integral part of the religion of Christianity”.

"It is to be noted that for centuries the Bahasa Malaysia translation and the Arabic equivalent of the one God, is the sacred word Allah, which the Christians have been using peacefully.

"Hence, to conclude that the word Allah is not essential to the Christian faith would be a grave denial of the fundamental right of the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian community to use this word in prayer, worship services, prayer books, the Al-kitab and other publications. This would be tantamount to signalling a form of persecution," he had said.

But the immediate task for the church now is to elect a successor.

The process will begin with the selection of an administrator for the diocese in the interim period, to be elected by a group of local senior priests, Herald editor Rev Fr Lawrence Andrew told The Malaysian Insider.

Under the church’s law, the senior priests must name an administrator within eight days from the acceptance of resignation by Pope Francis.

The office of the diocesan administrator ceases when the new Archbishop takes over.

According to Andrew, the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia Archbishop Joseph Marino is now in the process of sending three names to the Vatican for the Pope to choose from in appointing the new Archbishop.

"The Holy Father will then decide, and it can take up to a few months," he said.

Andrew, who attended a celebration last Friday to mark the archbishop's 75th birthday, said Pakiam told his staff that when he took the post, the office and other facilities were already in place.

Pakiam had noted that this was not the case for the late Archbishop Dominic Vendargon, the first Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.

"At that time, there was only one person in the office, as the Archbishop was busy building churches in the Archdiocese.

“When Archbishop Soter Fernandez took over, he added more offices to facilitate the administration of the diocese as well as to continue his work in building communities. So when he retired and I took over, there was not much in terms of additions that needed to be done," Pakiam had said.

Pakiam had also explained to his staff that having reached 75, it was the church's law that required bishops to submit their resignation to the Pope.

He was a priest for 49 years, a bishop for 18 years and is the third Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.

Also present that day for the birthday celebration was Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez, his predecessor. - December 14, 2013.

Dr M conveys Najib's message to Mandela's family

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who joined other world dignitaries in paying their last respects to former South African President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria on Thursday, was there as a personal representative of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

In a statement released in Kuala Lumpur today, the Foreign Ministry said Mahathir also led his delegation to convey their condolences as well as Najib's personal message to the family of the late anti-apartheid icon.

Mandela, 95, died at his home in Johannesburg on Dec 5, after battling a prolonged lung infection.

"The late Nelson Mandela and Dr Mahathir enjoyed a very close relationship, dating back to the challenging times when South Africa was under the apartheid regime," the statement said.

It noted that Malaysia played a supporting role in South Africa's preparations for its democratic election in 1994, which saw the country voting Mandela in as its first black president.

Mahathir was accompanied on the trip to South Africa by his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Malaysian High Commissioner Kennedy Jawan, business figure Lim Kok Wing as well as senior officers from the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry.

- Bernama

Threatened KL temple submits plan to gov't

The Sri Muneswarar Kaliyamman Temple, hoping to avoid further demolition, has presented its development plan to preserve the place of worship in the heart of KL to the federal territories minister.

The temple's legal adviser, M Manogaran, said that the temple committee members met Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor at "a short but amicable meeting" and the minister agreed to look into their suggestions.

This included gazetting land to the temple in return for giving up objections to the building of a walkway between the temple grounds and Menara Hap Seng, a skyscraper built next to the temple on Jalan P Ramlee.
The temple's representatives have been at loggerheads with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) since September, when DBKL officers launched a sudden operation and demolished the temple's annexes.

DBKL said it was taking back a slither of state land for development.
The temple cried foul, pointing out that it has occupied the area and used it as a place of worship for nearly 101 years. Defenders of the temple also said Tengku Adnan had acted outside the the law.

In his response, Tengku Adnan claimed that he was not out to destroy the temple but to beautify it.

At the meeting, Adnan told the committee that he would submit their architectural drawings to the committee in charge of non- Muslim places of worship for consideration.

Two PKR MPs - N Surendran and R Sivarasa - were thrown out of Parliament last month for trying to defend the temple, saying that tearing it down was an insult to Hindus in the country and to their religion.

‘Dr Subra should take charge’

MIC leaders feel that the party's number two should be responsible and clear the current confusion in the party.

PETALING JAYA: MIC leaders want party deputy president Dr S Subramaniam to take a bold move and clear the current confusion in the party, which resulted from irregularities in the MIC polls held two weeks ago.

A party leader, who did not want to be named, said the Health Minister was in the best position to clear the air on matters related to the polls, which has been marred by various allegations of irregularities.

“Those who contested and lost are claiming foul play. They have alleged a lot of things. Some have filed appeals to the party election steering committee and the party central working committee (CWC).

“The CWC — the party’s all powerful decision making body — will have to decide if a re-election is warranted. Only after the CWC decides, then members can take their case to the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

“Keeping mum or pointing his finger at the president is not right. He should take a stand on the matter,” said the leader.

He said complaints being made by some candidates at the polls were against the MIC president Palanivel.

“Palanivel will have to excuse himself from the CWC when they hear the appeal as some complaints are against the president. The newly elected vice presidents — S Sothinathan, M Saravanan and KS Balakrishnan — too, should not be in the appeal hearing as they were party to the polls.

“That leaves Dr Subramaniam. He is in the best position to solve this problem and put it to rest once and for all,” he added.

MIC held its internal election to select three vice presidents and 23 CWC members on Nov 30. A total of eight candidates contested for the vice president race while 88 aspirants fought for the 23 CWC seats.

The polls was marred by various irregularities with some candidates going public with their allegations.

Barely 24 hours after the election, Palanivel flew out of the country for a holiday. He is expected to return tomorrow. The MIC president has yet to appoint anyone for the party secretary general, treasurer general and information chief positions.

MIC headquarters sources revealed that the party have yet to gazette the election results and the ballots, which were cast on Nov 30, as the ballot papers and documents has still not been received or delivered to the headquarters.

Dr Subramaniam early this week said he would leave it to Palanivel to answer all allegations pertaining to the polls.

“Ask the president,” was his answer to reporters when asked about the party’s election debacle.

A party veteran speaking to FMT revealed that former leaders are keeping watch of the situation in the party and many have expressed unhappiness over the MIC state of affairs.

“As a deputy president he should take charge. Dr Subramaniam won the post uncontested. He has nothing to worry about or hide.

“If these leaders love the party more than their positions, then they would surely speak up and find an amicable solution to the problem,” said a party veteran, who declined to be named.

He said veteran leaders were alarmed by the move of some leaders, who lost in the polls, wanting to hold a protest in front of the party headquarters if the matter was not solved fairly.

“We worked hard to get rid of this protest culture. This culture died down after (S) Samy Vellu (former president) left. It did a lot of damage to the party at one time. But now, we might just witness the comeback of this protest culture.

” This is not good for the MIC and Barisan Nasional in general. This is the time for MIC to pick up Indian votes which are coming back because the community realises that the opposition cannot do much for Indians. Instead of shoring up support, MIC is busy involved with infighting.

“And the lack of bold leaders who can take the bull by the horn is a stumbling block for the MIC,” a veteran leader summed-up.

Meanwhile party secretary general A Sakthivel confirmed that the party had received five official complaints on alleged irregularities in the polls.

“I will be passing the complaints to the election steering committee for further investigations,” he added.

However, last week a MIC election steering committee member and a party veteran leader have pointed out that the MIC election steering committee was powerless to act on the matter.

A election steering committee member, who did not want to be named, told FMT that the MIC election by-laws specifies that the party CWC must decide if a re-election is warranted or otherwise.

The party secretary general also claimed that out of the 96 candidates who contested in the polls only five have lodged official complaints and that it was “not a big issue.”

Sakthivel however said he was not in a position to clarify matters on the election as he too was a candidate in the polls.

The Puchong division chief contested one of the 23 CWC posts and won.

He said this at a press conference for the Tamil dailies. Although it was called a press conference, reporters were not allowed to ask questions.

However party sources reveal Sakthivel should not have called for the press conference as the party president had yet to announce the new MIC national line-up following the Nov 30 elections.

“The secretary general, treasurer general and the information chief have yet to be announced. Sakthivel, himself does not know if he is the secretary general this term. He is former secretary general until and unless Palanivel re-appoints him.

“Legally he has no locus standi to speak on behalf of the party. Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam are president and deputy president respectively. They should be making the announcements, whatever it may be. Otherwise, Palanivel must make the appointments and let the new office bearers to talk on his behalf,” said a party leader.

Sources claim that Palanivel was already planning to replace Sakthivel but the secretary general has asked for six months before vacating the seat.

‘We will protest if silence continues’

A group of MIC leaders are planning a “huge” protest outside the party headquarters soon, as the MIC leadership continues its silence over the party's recent election.

PETALING JAYA: Disgruntled MIC leaders would hold a protest in front of the party headquarters if the party does not respond to allegations of malpractice in the just concluded party polls.

A MIC leader, who declined to be named, said a group of party leaders were planning the protest to pressure the MIC leadership to break its deafening silence over the allegations.

The MIC polls held on Nov 30 in Malacca, was marred with allegations of fraudulent votes being cast, among others.

The polls process came under close scrutiny after candidates found disparity between votes cast and ballots counted.

Several quarters have also alleged that the total number of delegates who voted to pick three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members were not identical.

The MIC held its internal elections to pick three vice presidents and 23 members to the party’s all powerful central working committee. A total eight candidates contested for the veep positions while a whopping 88 aspirants fought it out for the CWC seats.

Todate several leaders have tendered their appeal to the party leadership to declare the polls null and void due to the discrepancies.

Party president G Palanivel has yet to make an official stand on the matter. The president has also yet to appoint the party secretary general, treasurer general and the information chief.

Palanivel’s silence has thrown the party into confusion as leaders and members are unsure if the new leaders picked on Nov 30 are the actual office bearers of the party.

“Everyone is in the dark. We just cannot be issuing press statement one after another. The president must wake up and answer all the allegations. Otherwise, we have to wake him up by holding this protest.

“We know it is bad for party image. But we do not mind as our agenda is to save the party from sinking to a new low,” said the leader who declined to be named.

The leader also slammed Palanivel labeling him as “selfish and not fit to lead the party”.

“The party is in a crisis but Palanivel is enjoying his holidays overseas,” he said.

He said Palanivel was doing nothing to get back the trust of Indian community instead was only keen in holding on to the party presidency.

Meanwhile, when contacted, former MIC youth chief T Mohan confirmed that he has also sent in his appeal to the party headquarters demanding for a recount of votes.

Mohan said while he accepted defeat he was not satisfied the way the election was conducted.

“I strongly believe the election was not clean,” “For now I will wait for the president’s response. If he does not respond, I will discuss with other candidates on our next step,” he added.

Mohan contested the vice president post but lost coming in sixth of the eight candidates.

Syariah laws for our nation?

How can we ask non-Muslims to accept our sacred laws so that they can abuse it to escape capital punishment, asks the writer in his usual satirical nature.
COMMENT

Going by the reasoning of PAS politician Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi lately, Malaysians should sigh with relief that Barisan Nasional won the last election. Past actions by PAS have shown clearly that they are neither here nor there.

Some PAS leaders think that in order for them to climb the ladder; they have to be seen to be more religious than others, especially now that party elections are around the corner.

This is reflected by the Erdogan/Ulamak controversy where certain PAS leaders feel that their pact with the PKR is not producing the desired results.

Syariah laws have already been in force in this country for many years. But Nasrudin has suggested that syariah laws should replace the pagan secular laws in this country.

Secular laws are inadequate to curb crime, according to him but the Home Ministry has just reported that serious crimes have been on a downward trend since 2008.

How can we ask non-Muslims to accept our sacred laws so that they can abuse it to escape capital punishment? Would they have to be instant Muslims by reciting (mengucap) so that they can be tried under Islamic laws?

Doesn’t he know that non-Muslims do not have the sacred privilege to be judged under syariah laws unless they profess Islam? It would be taboo if non-Muslims were to opt for trial under syariah laws just so that they can escape capital punishment if they were judged under secular laws.

Wouldn’t losing a limb less heavier than being hanged?

And to add to the confusion, Nasrudin says that non-Muslims can have the option to be tried under their own laws if they feel that the punishment under syariah appears heavier. That’s really bewildering.

Umno-BN’s consistency

At least Umno and BN had the decency to divide and separate these laws for the respective races.

Nasrudin must understand that there will always be reservations and resistance towards syariah laws by non-Muslims as they are simply non-Muslims. Those who have no reservations about syariah laws would have become Muslims by now.

He is wrong to say that syariah laws would deter crime. Syariah laws are already in place but crime in this country has not decreased. Is he saying that the increase in the crime rate is perpetrated by non-Muslims in this country?

He concurs that secular laws have failed because it lacks spirituality but how are non-Muslims going to achieve spirituality if they don’t convert?

No doubt, syariah laws have been successfully implemented in many great countries like Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and in first world countries like Brunei, and it would also be wonderful if Malaysia becomes syariah compliant.

Overnight, there would be no more sinful businesses like massage parlours, karaoke bars, night clubs, mountain top and floating casinos, Sports Toto, rock concerts and pubs.

There will also be no more sexual harassment as all planes, trains, buses, cinemas, swimming pools, supermarkets and concert halls would be gender segregated. There will also be no more dark and dimly-lit parks or coffee houses.

While rock concerts and sexily dressed singers would be a thing of the past.

The country would experience a new cool and calm atmosphere interlaced with the soothing sound of the azan. But such a Utopic scenario is not going to happen unless everyone becomes Muslims.

The downside is that we may see many limbless VIP’s who had their hands once too often in the till.

But then, the syariah law with hudud punishments is limited to crimes which are related to robberies, murder, rape, adultery and alcohol consumption.

What about corruption, graft, treason, sedition and computer fraud? Are we going to revert to British laws then?

What happens then to democracy, secularism, human rights, the rule of law and the Federal Constitution if we go ahead to implement such laws?

Separation of politics and religion

Umno is already doing a good job protecting Muslims with the banning of the word ‘Allah’ from being misused by unscrupulous parties and PAS should not try to be more religious than Umno.

Umno with its professionalism and experience in religious matters is perfectly capable of running the country without PAS trying to outdo Umno.

When will PAS realise that many moderate Malays will continue to stick with Umno because they cannot stand the stifling loss of personal freedoms which they perceive will occur if PAS comes to power?

Is it a wonder why Umno won 88 seats to PAS’s 21?

Seriously, we should leave the non-Muslims alone to their paganistic worship than to have them tainting our sacred laws. Neither do we want them to comment, abuse or question the syariah law when they lack the spirituality,

Syariah laws are already in place and governing the lives of Malaysian Muslims, be it PAS or Umno. It won’t be fair to Muslims if syariah laws can also be utilised by non believers as there would be a possibility of gross abuse.

The call for an Islamic nation does set a worrying trend especially with the non-Muslims. It is not syariah laws that people are worried about, but it is the PAS version of syariah laws.

PAS is a political party fighting for the betterment of the nation and it should stop mixing politics with religion. If they are so passionate for an Islamic nation, they should resign their posts and embark on a gross missionary outreach to convert more non-Muslims to be syariah compliant.

Progressive, rational thinking and moderation should replace fanaticism and radicalism in our society. We should learn to respect each other’s religious belief and not trample on the rights of others just because we happen to be the majority. Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians and not to us Malays alone.

We are now in the 21st century, a globalised, economic driven world and in an era of computers, Ipads, internet and rocket-ships. We really cannot afford to be left behind.

Tour consultant, sports pilot and naturalist Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing a few years now. He is a FMT columnist.

BN and Pakatan fail to settle polls petition, wait for apex court to rule on election law

A proposed out-of-court settlement between the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to withdraw election petition appeals for the May 5 general election in the Federal Court has fizzled out.

Confirming that the "global settlement" on 19 election petition appeals had failed, PR lawyers and politicians said they would now allow the apex court to make a ruling on questionable election laws.

(A global settlement refers to an agreement between the parties after they have addressed or compromised on the matter accordingly.)

It was reported last month that BN and PR lawyers were in talks to resolve the matter amicably.

PAS lawyer Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (pic) said PR wanted the Federal Court to decide and bring certainty to election laws.

"We won’t know the legal position of some of the contentious issues if we opted for a global settlement," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Hanipa, who is also Sepang MP, said the party may disagree with the court’s decision but that was the only channel to seek remedy.

"Anyway, we will now know which procedures in the election laws litigants must follow strictly so that petitions will not be knocked out on technical grounds."

Parti Keadilan Rakyat lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah, who is said to have headed the PR team in negotiations with the BN legal team, declined to go into the specifics of the negotiations.

He said both parties had tried to reach an amicable settlement but that it did not materialise.

"The court has started hearing the appeals after we informed the bench that both sides are not withdrawing their cases.”

Sivarasa, who is Subang MP, said he hoped the costs factor could be settled between BN and PR even after the Federal Court decided on the appeal.

On Tuesday, lawyers appearing for BN and PR informed the Federal Court bench that a global settlement could not be reached and pending appeals would proceed.

However, BN lawyers had asked for more time to decide on whether to proceed with their appeals for the Lembah Pantai and Batu parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur.

The apex court has fixed mention on December 19 for both cases.

So far, the court has allowed an appeal brought by PKR to nullify BN’s victory in the Machang parliamentary constituency to be remitted to the election court for trial.

The court had also set December 23 for a decision on the appeals of election petitions for the parliamentary constituencies of Bagan Datoh, Sungai Besar, Tapah and the state constituency of Lubok Merbau.

It had also dismissed five other appeals brought by BN for the Bachok parliamentary seat and the Jelawat state seat in Kelantan and by PAS for the three state seats of Pasir Panjang, Manong and Rungkup in Perak. – December 13, 2013.

The Islamic race

And this is what is going to determine the outcome of the next general election. The Malay vote is going to decide the government. And Malay here means Islam, both culturally and constitutionally. Hence to win the hearts and minds of the Malays you will need to do it via Islam. And those who are seen as more Islamic will be the ones to win the hearts and minds of the Malays.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In the past, we would hear a lot of talk about the arms race between the USSR and the US, especially during the Cold War period. Now that the Cold War has ended, the USSR no longer exists, the Berlin Wall has been brought down, and so on, there is no longer much talk about the arms race.

Nevertheless, the arms race still exists. It is just not discussed as often as before, that’s all. And it exists in the Muslim world.

Political Islam is viewed as a threat to the western world. Why then do they arm the Muslim countries at an alarming rate? Today, Iraq is seen as a problem, as is Iran. But was it not the west that armed both these countries? And was it not the west that created the Taliban so that Russia can be kept in check during the Cold War?

All the problems from the Muslim world were western creations. And they knew that one day these monsters they created would come back to haunt them. Why create these monsters in the first place then?

I suppose this is for two reasons. One would be that arms and wars are big money. And the west controls the arms industry so they can make a lot of money selling their arms to countries that have plenty of money. And countries that have deep pockets and can waste billions on arms they may never use in the end would be the oil producing Muslim countries.

Secondly would be about a balance of power. If the west arms the Muslim countries and these countries were constantly on war footing then they would not be such a nuisance or a threat to the west. They would be so busy watching each other they would not have any time to disturb the west.

Furthermore, the west sells arms to only those who are friendly to them. So Muslim countries need to be friends of the west to get approval to buy arms. And if your neighbour is arming itself, then you, too, need to arm yourself. And you can only do this if you are a friend to the country that is supplying the arms.

One thing I have talked about in the past -- which was not well received -- is that other than the arms race there is also the Islamic race. And the Islamic race exists not only in the Middle East but in Malaysia as well.

Of course, when I first raised the issue of the 3Rs it was pooh-poohed by most people. Some even accused me of playing the race card. It is something they would rather not hear about and they resented the fact that I raised it because then it reminded them that the 3R issue does exist, and that it is a problem, and that it is going to become a bigger problem as time goes on.

Over the last week or so we have been swamped with news regarding the Shia issue, especially regarding Mat Sabu of PAS. Now there is talk about creating a Sharia Police that is going to enforce Islamic laws on ‘deviants’. Islam appears to have just become the flavour of the day for Malaysia. And it is going to get worse before it becomes better, trust me on this.

Zurairi AR’s article in The Malay Mail (In religious contest, PAS Youth chief sees a win for Malaysians), quoting PAS Youth chief Suhaizan Kaiat, explains it quite well (READ HERE). PAS and Umno are involved in an Islamic race to see who can be more Islamic than the other. And PAS sees this as healthy and beneficial to Islam.

I have said this many times before and I will say it again. Islam is not just a religion. Islam is a political system, the administration of the ummah or community, in short, a government.

Anwar Ibrahim is fond of saying that Islam is an adeen or way of life. And Anwar is right. In fact, the Quran refers to Islam as the way of Abraham and further says that all those who follow the way of Abraham, whether they are Yahudi (people of Judea or Yahuda) or Nasrani (people of Nazareth) -- meaning Jews and Christians -- are the true submitters.

We must remember that Judaism and Christianity, at the time of Prophet Muhammad, were political and administrative in nature. Today maybe these two religions are merely ritualistic but back in the year 600 this was not so. When Islam first emerged, Judaism and Christianity were a form of government.

In a way, Judaism and Christianity have deviated from what the founders of these religions had originally intended. Judaism and Christianity are no longer a form of government like how they were when they first emerged. Islam, however, has held true to its course. And this is what non-Muslims cannot seem to comprehend.

It is not that Islam has become more militant. It is that Judaism and Christianity have become less militant. And this is not the fault of Islam but the fault of the Jews and Christians who have abandoned their true faith and have allowed their religion to become watered down so to speak.

There is no such thing as liberal Islam. That is a concept created by the liberals who would like to see Islam run the same course as Judaism and Christianity -- meaning deviate from what was intended by the founders of these religions. There is only one Islam. And Islam is certainly far from liberal because in Islam there are strict rules you need to follow to qualify calling yourself a Muslim.

I have warned you about the Islamic race between PAS and Umno a long time ago. No doubt, at that time, you thought I was hallucinating or was probably on some illegal substance or smoking weed. Today, we can see the truth in what I said back then. PAS and Umno are trying to outdo each other to see who can be more Islamic than the other.

And this is what is going to determine the outcome of the next general election. The Malay vote is going to decide the government. And Malay here means Islam, both culturally and constitutionally. Hence to win the hearts and minds of the Malays you will need to do it via Islam. And those who are seen as more Islamic will be the ones to win the hearts and minds of the Malays.

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

Why is Saudi Arabia buying 15,000 U.S. anti-tank missiles for a war it will never fight?

No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles that has Saudi-watchers scratching their heads and wondering whether the deal is related to Riyadh's support for the Syrian rebels.

The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over US$1 billion.

Regardless of how this purchase of anti-tank missiles relates to Syria, it's undoubtedly part of a larger Saudi arms build up that has been going on for nearly a decade. From 2004 to 2011, according to a 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service, Riyadh signed US$75.7 billion worth of arms transfer agreements -- by far the most of any developing nation. The United States was the major benefactor of this Saudi largesse, as the deals bumped up U.S. arms sales to a record US$66 billion in 2011 alone.

How the Saudis plan to use many of these weapons is a mystery. And it's not just the anti-tank missiles whose purpose remains unclear. Riyadh recently bought advanced fighter jets from the United States for a whopping US$30 billion -- but the Saudis' lack of pilots and ability to maintain them means that it's an open question how long they can keep them airborne, said William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.

But purchasing the weapons, rather than any intent to use them, may be the point for the Saudis. At a time when they are at odds with Washington over the Obama administration's diplomacy with Iran and non-intervention in Syria, the kingdom's deep pockets can at least make sure their ties to the Pentagon remain as strong as ever.

"There was a [Washington] lobbyist who used to say, 'When you buy U.S. weapons, you're not just buying the weapon -- you're buying a relationship with the United States,'" said Hartung. "I think that's kind of the concept."

Read more : http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/12/why_is_saudi_arabia_buying_15000_us_anti_tank_missiles_for_a_land_war_it_will_ne#sthash.v7YblEqs.dpbs

Has the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 become “Miracle Education Blueprint”?

By Lim Kit Siang

The 2012 PISA results assessing 510,000 15-year-old students in 65 countries in mathematics, science and reading have been hailed as “wake-up” calls in the United Kingdom and the United States provoking much national soul-searching about the mediocrity of their education systems compared to top-performers like Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

In Malaysia, however, the government and the education authorities are very complacent and continue to slumber away although Malaysian students are far behind their peers in UK and US in the assessment in all the three subjects.

Compared to the 2009 PISA, Malaysia improved in math but fell in scores for science and reading: math 421, science 420 and reading 398.

These compare unfavourably with the scores for 15-year-old students in UK (math 494, science 514, reading 499) and US (math 481, science 497, reading 498).

Based on the difference of 38 points on the PISA scale being equivalent to one year of schooling, the 2012 PISA results indicate that Malaysian 15-year-old students are 1.9 to 2.7 years behind their peers in UK in the three subjects: math behind by 1.9 years; science behind by 2.4 years and reading behind by 2.7 years.

It is not only Malaysian 15-year-olds who are 1.9 to 2.7 years behind their peers in the United Kingdom in math, science, and reading (and three to five years behind their peers in Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Macao and Japan), it is clear that the Malaysian political leaders and education planners are many years behind their counterparts in UK and US in their poor response to the 2012 PISA results.

For instance, up to now, there is not a single word from the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, with regard to Malaysia’s poor performance in the 2012 PISA!

Muhyiddin cannot just fall back on the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (MEB), for the 2012 PISA results have exposed the utopian nature of its objective to make a double quantum jump from the bottom third to the top third of the PISA assessment by the 2021 PISA – a feat no nation had achieved in four triennial PISAs.

May be the MEB should more appropriately termed “Miracle Education Blueprint” for expecting the Malaysian education to achieve a miracle by 2021.

Malaysia is presently stuck in the bottom third of the PISA system for all three subjects, i.e. 421 for maths, 420 for science and 398 for reading, when Malaysia needs to achieve scores of 450 for maths, 442 for science and 446 for reading to get into the middle third and scores of 532 for maths, 511 for science and 508 for reading to get into the top third of the PISA assessment.

This is based on 2012 PISA as from the four triennial PISA tests of 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, the threshold for each third of the assessment rises, for instance, the top performer in maths in 2003 was Hong Kong with a score of 550 while Shanghai topped the 2012 PISA with 613.

Similarly, the top performer in science in 2003 was Finland with a score of 548 while the top performer in 2012 PISA is Shanghai with a score of 580; and the top performer in reading in 2003 was Finland with a score of 543 while Shanghai topped the 2012 PISA with 570.

Based on the 2012 PISA without taking account that the thresholds for each level would be raised in the next ten years, Malaysia would have to improve a minimum of 111 points for math, 91 points for science and 110 points for reading between the 2012 PISA and the 2015, 2018 and 2021 PISA to get into the top third of the assessment.

This is virtually asking for a miracle from the Malaysian education system, why the MEB is more fit to be described as “Miracle Education Blueprint”.

As a result of constant bombardment and criticism for the 2012 PISA since its publication on Dec 3, the Education Ministry has announced a special committee to “elevate” the ranking of Malaysian students in PISA.
The first thing that this special PISA committee should examine is whether the MEB objective for Malaysia to make the double quantum jump from the bottom third to the top third of the international education benchmarking by 2021 PISA is a realistic and achievable one, or whether it is too utopian and impossible to achieve and should be scrapped and replaced by another more practical and realistic target.

Toll Rate Hike Next Year Unavoidable - Abdul Wahid

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (Bernama) -- The toll rate hike next year is unavoidable as it is an express condition in the concession agreement between the government and highway concession companies, according to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

He said the toll rate should have been revised in 2011, as stated in the concession agreement.

"However, the rate was maintained, but the government had to fork out RM400 million in compensation from taxpayers' money, which could have been used for other purposes.

"And now it's time to fulfill the condition," he told reporters after presenting prizes to winners of a colouring and drawing competition held in conjunction with the Parliament Building's 50th anniversary celebration here Saturday.

He said the hike was therefore a fair measure for taxpayers, coupled with the fact that highways were alternative routes which they don't use everyday.

Word of the proposed toll rate increase followed Works minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof's statement that it would be revised next year to comply with the agreement between the government and the highway concessionaires.

A newspaper reported that the increase would likely be between 30 sen and RM1, involving 13 highways.

Meanwhile, Abdul Wahid said the inaugural celebration gave the public an opportunity to take a closer look at the uniqueness of the parliament building's architecture, which made it one of the icons in the federal capital.

"This celebration is also to correct public perception that the parliament is a restricted area when it is actually open to visitors, by writing a letter for permission and through activities such as this," he said.