Dr M kecewa pilih Najib jadi PM, tarik balik sokongan

Mahathir: Najib soft and silent on critical issues

ISIS Separated “Young and Pretty” Yazidi Women

The real War on Women has always been Mohammed’s thousand year Rape Jihad.

By Daniel(frontpagemag)

As the militants with the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State surged into the area from surrounding Arab villages two weeks ago, snaring those who had not managed to flee, they showed a marked interest in detaining women, notably the youngest and prettiest, according to witnesses, relatives and in some instances the women themselves.

Women were separated from men, then younger women were separated from older ones and most were shunted off in buses or trucks.

The Sinjar Crisis Group, formed by Yazidi activists in Washington, has compiled a list of 1,074 names of female captives reported by their relatives to be in the custody of the Islamic State.

Once at the school, the eyewitness said, the youngest women again were parted from older ones and driven away, along with a dozen or so boys between ages 10 and 12 who had apparently been detained with their mothers.

Why were the boys detained? It’s an open question, but the UN recently condemned ISIS for raping teenage boys.

The Washington Post story tries to put ISIS in the best light and denies that any rapes have taken place.

The women “are considered apostate, and it is haram [forbidden] for Muslims to marry a non-Muslim,” said Hoshyar Zebari, a senior Kurdish leader who until recently served as Iraq’s foreign minister. He puts the number of women detained at more than 1,000.

That’s not really true. And it’s certainly true that non-Muslim women can be taken as slaves and raped. Mohammed did it frequently.

Conversion by force is how Islam expanded. Kill the men. Threaten to kill the women unless they convert. ISIS is showing us how Islam began.
_______________________________________________________________________

Daniel Greenfield 

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Iraq crisis: Isis militants plan to 'marry' captured Yazidi women

The fate of more than 1,000 Iraqi women captured by Isis militants remains unclear, as Kurdish troops moved closer to the city of Mosul, which was taken by Isis in June.

 

Witnesses said that the  captured women, who were of the Yazidi faith, were divided into groups of younger and older women.

The witnesses said they were not aware that Isis had maltreated either group but it appeared that the younger women were intended as so-called brides of Isis fighters if they converted to Islam.

Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces were moving towards targets around Mosul last night and claimed to have taken the strategically important dam on the Euphrates river. It is the largest in Iraq and controls water and electricity supplies to a large part of northern Iraq.

Isis was hit repeatedly by US air strikes, which enabled the Kurds to advance. The US Central Command said a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones launched 14 strikes near the dam, after nine strikes on Saturday.

Kurdish forces are also believed to have recaptured the mainly Christian towns of Batmaiya and Telasqaf, 18 miles from Mosul., the closest they have come to the city since Isis fighters drove government forces out in June.

David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should consider an alliance with Shia Iran to deal with the Sunni extremists of Isis, saying they were seeking to create a “terrorist state” stretching from Iraq to the Mediterranean that could pose a threat closer to home.

He warned that Isis should not be viewed as “a problem miles away from home”, saying it would “only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain”.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-isis-militants-plan-to-marry-captured-yazidi-women-9674922.html

 

Three workers feared trapped in MRT guideway collapse

Three men are believed trapped under rubble following an incident which occurred at the MRT worksite within the former Rubber Research Institute near Kota Damansara tonight.

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has revealed that "while construction of the parapet was being carried out on the elevated guideway, a span of the guideway had dislodged from its piers and fallen on the ground below."

The span, which was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders, was 38 metres in length and weighed 300 tons.

An emergency response team, police and the Fire and Rescue Services were mobilised to the site shortly after the 8.30pm incident.

The company confirmed that three workers are unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped underneath.

"The three workers are Bangladesh nationals Mohamad Faruk Khan, Mohammad Elahi Hossain and Mohammad Alauddin Mollik.

"Rescue efforts are currently on-going and an emergency response team is on standby at the site.

"No members of the public were involved in the incident as there is no access to the site. The location of the incident site is within the former RRI land near the future Kwasa Damansara MRT Station.

“Investigations are currently being carried out. An update will be issued with further details," MRT Corp said in a statement.

The company also informed that all work along Package V1, where the incident occurred, has been suspended until further notice. The work package contractor for Package V1 is Syarikat Muhibbah Perniagaan dan Pembinaan Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid expresses deep regret over the incident.

“Although investigations are under way, MRT Corp assumes full responsibility for the incident. Once investigations are completed, action on those responsible will be taken,” he said. – August 18, 2014.

Polis keluarkan waran tangkap terhadap N.Surendran

Beliau akan dihadapkan ke mahkamah kerana mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa kes Fitnah 2 adalah satu konspirasi politik terhadap Anwar yang melibatkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

PETALING JAYA: Polis telah mengeluarkan waran tangkap terhadap Anggota Parlimen Padang Serai N. Surendran, peguam Ketua Umum Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dalam kes rayuan Fitnah 2.

Beliau akan dihadapkan ke mahkamah Jalan Duta esok, Selasa 19 Ogos jam 9 pagi di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa kes Fitnah 2 adalah satu konspirasi politik terhadap Anwar yang melibatkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Terdahulu dua Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Barisan Nasional (BN) Pulau Pinang bersama 15 individu hari ini mendesak polis mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap Surendran yang didakwa membuat tuduhan tidak berasas terhadap Najib.

Adun Sungai Acheh Datuk Mahmud Zakaria berkata tindakan anggota Parlimen daripada PKR itu dilihat bertujuan menghasut orang ramai agar meragui sistem kehakiman negara ini.

“Polis perlu menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan segera ke atas Surendran yang telah membuat tuduhan melampau terhadap perdana menteri dalam kenyataannya di Istana Kehakiman, Putrajaya baru-baru ini.

“Kenyataan beliau juga memberi maksud seolah-olah perdana menteri telah menyalahgunakan kuasa sehingga menyebabkan pertuduhan ke atas (ketua pembangkang) Anwar,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media.

Selangor crisis: Let the people decide

A plea is made to Khalid to refrain from dissolving the state assembly.

By P Ramakrishnan

There is a possibility that in order to spite Pakatan Rakyat, Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Khalid Ibrahim will call for the dissolution of the state assembly.

He may not be concerned about the rules and laws and norms that must be observed to overcome the present predicament that Selangor is embroiled in.

How ironic that Selangor is in this mess because of him.

With PAS’ unanimous decision to stick with Pakatan, it is crystal clear that Khalid can no longer pretend he has the majority support. Forty-three assemblypersons stand solidly together opposed to him continuing as the MB.

What he has are the 12 Umno assemblymen and himself. This does not even amount to 25% of the assembly.

Pakatan has more than 75% support, which is a whopping majority. This majority must be recognised and respected when arriving at any decision.

We do not have a hung situation in the assembly to consider a unity government or a minority one. The situation does not even warrant the dissolution of the assembly as a way out.

A solution is staring at us, which is in accordance with democratic tradition.

Khalid has no alternative but to step down and concede that Pakatan has the sole right to form the next Selangor state government.

The party commanding the majority in the state assembly must be called upon to form the next government. If we are law abiding and respect the rule of law, then we must observe this simple democratic principle and allow Pakatan to form the government.

To ensure that democracy prevails, NGOs and civil society must speak up and call for the appointment of the next MB from Pakatan to replace Khalid.

Either a civil society organisation or Pakatan must launch an online petition calling for the norms of democracy to be observed by demanding the appointment of the Pakatan candidate as the next MB.

If 100,000 people were to take up this call, it cannot be ignored.

Let the will of the people be known.

P Ramakrishnan is an executive committee member and former president of Aliran.

Khalid should quit now, no need for royal audience

Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim called off a monthly meeting with Selangor civil servants in Shah Alam this morning – a regular affair for the Selangor menteri besar since taking office in 2008.

With good reason too. He has just lost PAS's support for the top post. PAS has joined PKR and DAP to endorse Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the state's top job.

Khalid has acknowledged the loss of support and said yesterday he would seek an audience with the state ruler to decide his fate.

Here's the thing, the Sultan of Selangor only returns from holidays next week.

But why wait for the sultan to decide his fate? Why hide with palace protocol?

When a leader loses majority support as clearly as Khalid has done over the past few weeks, the honourable thing is to quit his job and let someone with the confidence of the majority take over.

After all, Khalid has sacked the PKR and DAP executive councillors in his state cabinet because they don't support him. He now has to do the same for the PAS executive councillors.

That leaves him without the minimum of four state executive councillors to run the country's wealthiest state. Support from the 12 Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblymen is not enough.

All signs point to the fact that Khalid has lost his job. That he should go. He should inform the state ruler of that immediately and not wait to seek an audience.

Why should Selangor suffer a week or two more with a menteri besar in name but without any support?

Should the civil servants follow his directives because he still holds office until the Sultan lets him go?

Khalid can do the right thing after this drawn-out affair that has taken the shine off him and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Not only can, but he must.

He can send his quit letter now and declare himself the caretaker MB until the Sultan decides whether to accept PR's nomination of Dr Wan Azizah as Khalid's replacement.

Or the Sultan can dissolve the state assembly on the advice of Khalid.

Either way, Khalid must make the honourable move of resigning from the MB's post first. There is no need to wait for the Sultan to decide that. – August 18, 2014.

Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Turns on Najib

Don’t turn your back

The emperor, Mahathir says, has no clothes.

After months of behind-the-scenes criticism, Malaysian former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has publicly withdrawn his support for the current premier, Najib Tun Razak, likening Najib to the fable of the emperor with no clothes.

Mahathir delivered a blistering verdict on his blog, Che Det, in Malay language, citing a litany of sins on the part of Najib, who came to power in April of 2009 – after Mahathir led a successful months-long charge to get rid of his own successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. As the story unfolds, Najib is overseas on a controversial holiday in the Cote d’Azur, Sardinia, Rome, London and other waypoints.

It has long been thought that Mahathir has held his fire on Najib out of loyalty to Najib's father, Tun Abdul Razak, who rescued Mahathir from the political wilderness after he had been kicked out of the United Malays National Organization for attacking Tunku Abdul Rahman, "Bapak Malaysia," the country's first prime minister and founder. It now remains to be seen how much clout the 89-year-old Mahathir retains after having left the premiership in 2003 – 11 years ago – after serving as the country’s leader for 22 years, seeking to break the power of Malaysia's sultans and pushing through controversial security legislation.

Some political analysts believe he will now crisscross the country, as he did in his campaign against Badawi, delivering criticism of Najib. He appears surprisingly sprightly for his age, reportedly, insiders say, from visits to doctors in Switzerland. But so far, none of UMNO's leaders have publicly stepped up to support Mahathir’s gambit.

There is some speculation that Mahathir won’t push for Najib’s defenestration but will use his public stance to push the prime minister in ways he wants him to go. He has been critical of the government’s decision to nationalize the badly ailing Malaysian Airlines in the wake of two tragic crashes that took more than 500 lives, reportedly trying to give the airline to an unnamed businessman. Najib has apparently also ignored a request to build a bigger airport in Kedah, where Mahathir’s son serves as chief minister.

Ironically, Mahathir’s denunciation and the furor it is raising also takes the pressure off opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who for weeks has faced a rebellion in his own coalition over his attempts to name his wife the chief minister of Malaysia’s biggest state.

“Mahathir doesn’t have the organization, and he doesn’t have the money to go after Najib,” said a high-ranking opposition figure. “But this has the effect of delegitimizing him.”

Ironically, according to one Malaysian politician, Mahathir has sought to bring down virtually every prime minister who preceded him and all who succeeded him. He was kicked out of the party for his criticism of Tunku Abdul Rahman and worked to end the career of Hussein Onn as well, whom he succeeded in 1981.

However, Najib so far has appeared unassailable after having won reelection handily as head of the United Malays National Organization, the biggest ethnic party in the ruling national coalition, without opposition last October – in the process leading a coalition that defeated Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, for a seat as one of UMNO’s vice presidents.

Muhyiddin Yassin, the 67-year-old deputy prime minister and deputy party head, has indicated he would like to retire. After Muhyiddin, there appear few rivals within UMNO who can challenge Najib. Hishamuddin Hussein, 53, the defense minister, has been mentioned although privately within the party he is perceived as somewhat lackluster. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the home minister, is considered to be too volatile as a former ally of Anwar Ibrahim who jumped ship to go back to UMNO.

Mahathir has long been critical of Najib behind the scenes because of the ruling national coalition’s performance in the 13th general election in May 2013, in which the coalition lost the popular vote on a 47.38 percent vote to 50.87 percent for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim. However, gerrymandering and the first-past-the-post electoral system allowed the coalition to take 133 seats in the parliament to 89 for the opposition.

With former finance minister Daim Zainuddin as his sidekick, Mahathir last year deployed a small army of bloggers to criticize Najib, with one likened him to a “flattened bug on the windshield” in August of 2013 because of the election performance of the United Malays National Organization, which leads the ethnic coalition. Mahathir and Daim went after Najib over his strategy to attempt to reach out against the country's minority Chinese and Indian races in the May election.

The mainstream media, all of which are owned by parties connected to the ruling coalition, have kept a blackout on Mahathir’s criticisms of the prime minister, leaving them to blogs and opposition websites like Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today. Now, however, as Mahathir has gone public some observers believe the mainstream media will be more forthcoming.

Mahathir and Daim advocated a strident Malay nationalism to attempt to lure ethnic Malays, who make up 60.1 percent of the population, to the polls. However, on the Malaysian peninsula, ethnic Malays voted in large numbers for the opposition Islamic party PAS and Anwar’s moderate Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The Barisan was only saved from worse defeat by ethnic voters from Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.

It is Najib’s performance since, especially in the past few weeks, that has particularly raised not just Mahathir’s anger but that of a considerable segment of the electorate. As prime minister he has appeared surprisingly indecisive. And, after flying to Amsterdam aboard a private jet to deliver an eloquent speech in remembrance of the victims of the shooting down of MAS Flight 17 over rebel-held Ukrainian territory, Najib, his wife and a flock of cronies went on holiday to Crete, Sardinia, Rome, Paris and other locales.

Najib is due to return to Malaysia on Aug. 22 for a day of national remembrance for the victims. However, he has delayed requests to have the bodies of the victims sent back so that they can arrive when he does, according to well-placed source in Kuala Lumpur. That has reportedly infuriated Mahathir.

In his blog, Mahathir referred to the tale of King Canute, who put his throne on the beach facing the sea and commanded the waves not to get him wet, as well as to the fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes, written by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson, whose courtiers were frightened to tell him the new suit he thought he was wearing made by a rascally tailor was actually not there, and that he was naked until an unawed little boy pointed it out, an apparent reference to the timidity of the courtiers in the administrative capital of Putrajaya courtiers to point out Najib’s shortcomings.

He accused Najib of using government funds to buy voters’ support during elections, of favoring imported goods and neglecting local industry, of increasing the minimum wage regardless of cost-of-living increases, of damaging race relations and causing economic and financial damage to the country.

Nik Aziz bersyukur Pakatan Rakyat kekal

Kajang Move’ is ready to go to Shah Alam – Tan Eng Bee

Finally, PAS has sealed the fate of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim with its concluded meeting on today that the party is not concerned with Khalid but has endorsed either Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah or Azmin Ali as the next menteri besar of Selangor.

While some would think otherwise, I have maintained that PAS's decision was expected as its continuous political survival lies in its affiliation with Pakatan Raayat, failing which, the party may face a backlash at GE14, had the party chosen to support Khalid.

For PAS to leave the the coalition partnership is a sure political suicide as the coalition was given a strong mandate at GE13.

This is another episode which shows that when it comes to the core issue of survival of the coalition party, DAP, PKR and PAS have no alternative but to close rank and opt for a compromise that will see to their continuous survival in the political arena where only the fittest will survive.

The stage is set for Khalid to seek an audience with the Sultan of Selangor and gracefully tender his resignation as he has lost the majority support of his political friends in the state assembly.

To dissolve the state assembly is not an option but merely an unnecessary tedious process as there is a very strong mandate for the present state government under PR to continue except for the change of the menteri besar.

I hope Khalid will not even think of proposing the option to the Sultan as his former political masters are still in the driver's seat and due respect should be given to them to continue without hindrance.

To tender his resignation is the right and honourable thing to do so as to safeguard his stature and dignity as a politician.

Khalid has said that he wants to see that procedures are followed as far as his removal is concerned. I am sure the signs are there for him to take note and to do the right thing at this juncture where the people of Selangor want to get on with their lives and not to contend with another state by-election.

Khalid has prolonged his stay by doing whatever it takes to ensure every option was explored and exploited to the fullest to see that he lives another day in the highest seat of power in Shah Alam.

The day has come where he has no alternative but to bow out gracefully and honourably in a manner that is expected of a man who was sacked and who has lost the support of the majority in the state assembly.

The stage is set to bring the entire episode to a close. There is no returning. It is about moving the state forward.

It is about the welfare of the people of Selangor and not about an individual. The welfare of the state supersedes and is paramount above all other personal or political considerations.

As one residing in Kajang, may I say this: Kajang is ready to send its newly-elected representative, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah to Shah Alam.

The people of Selangor are tired of what had transpired and are ready to welcome the person who is slotted to take over, the person who was put into office though "Kajang Move."

"Kajang Move" will steer the state to higher heights and the nation will benefit too once the richest state in Malaysia is politically stable, secured and unwavering in its endeavour to serve the people and to bring further developments and progress to the state.

"Kajang Move" is ready to go to Shah Alam.

And please do not fail the people who have put you into office.

Be committed to the call the people have placed on you when they elected the whole lot of you into office at GE13. – August 17, 2014.

* Dr Tan Eng Bee reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Keep it colour blind

The Star

Legally Speaking by Roger Tan

As published in ©The Star on 17 Aug 2014.

Our judges, regardless of their race and religion, must always be mindful that they have taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution not for some but for all Malaysians.

I HAVE wanted to write this for some time – my tribute to the late Sultan Azlan Shah who passed away on May 28, 2014. Not so much because he had been reading my column, but rather on two occasions which I had the honour of meeting him, he had encouraged me to keep on writing.

I was also troubled that when he passed away, he had not been accorded the appropriate recognition by leaders of our legal profession of his contribution to the administration of justice in this country.

This could be due to some differences with the Sultan’s decision not to call for fresh state elections when Pakatan Rakyat lost the majority control of the Perak state assembly in February, 2009. I had at that time written extensively that the Sultan’s decision was constitutionally correct.

Interestingly, the Federal Court’s judgment which subsequently endorsed the correctness of his royal decision is now being relied upon by his then most vociferous and sometimes insolent critics in Pakatan Rakyat to justify replacement of the embattled Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim without the need for a state assembly sitting or the dissolution of the assembly.

Sultan Azlan belonged to the generation of great Malaysian jurists including the likes of Tun Mohamed Suffian Hashim and Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader. He was, after all, the youngest ever appointed High Court Judge and Lord President.

Not many knew that whenever the Malaysian Bar stood up for the independence of the judiciary, he was always there with and for us.

I still remember the keynote address he gave at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference on October 29, 2007; of which I was the organising chairman.

The conference was held one month after 2,000 or so lawyers walked for justice from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s office to hand over a memorandum asking the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the V.K. Lingam video tape which implicated the then chief justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

At that time, the Malaysian Bar was aware that Tun Fairuz was said to have asked for an extension of an additional six months, allowed under the Federal Constitution, when he turned 66 on Nov 1, 2007 – the mandatory retirement age for judges. Needless to say, it was an open knowledge then that the Bar was dead against this. When my committee and I had an audience with Sultan Azlan inviting him to deliver the keynote address, this was made known to him.

In an obvious act of retaliation, I received a letter from the judiciary a few days before the conference that judges would not be attending the conference due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

A High Court judge from Ipoh who was supposed to deliver his paper had to pull out in the last minute. Nevertheless, I am grateful that the then Industrial Court President, Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid sent most of the Industrial Court chairmen to participate in the conference.

As a result, only a handful of senior judges turned up at the opening of the conference and also the dinner later in the night hosted by then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. One senior judge who was noticeably present was the then President of Court of Appeal, Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad who subsequently became the chief justice. He appeared to be a keen supporter of the Bar at a time when the relationship between the Bar and the judiciary could be said to have reached its lowest ebb.

On my part, I accorded him every courtesy and opportunity being the most senior judge present to be seated close to Sultan Azlan and the Prime Minister during the photography sessions and at the dinner.

He did not appear to me to be upset with the Bar Council and I was appreciative that he had turned up with the full knowledge, of course, that he might just succeed Tun Fairuz if the latter did not get the extension. Hence, his recent criticisms of the Bar Council came rather as a surprise to me.

In his keynote address, Sultan Azlan broke tradition and expressed his sadness over the state of our judiciary then. He also called for judicial reforms.

For the sake of posterity, the following important excerpts of his speech ought to be reproduced in which he said:

“In matters concerning the judiciary, it is the public perception of the judiciary that ultimately matters. A judiciary loses its value and service to the community if there is no public confidence in its decision-making.

“Sadly, I must acknowledge that there has been some disquiet about our judiciary over the past few years and in the more recent past. In 2004, I had stated that it grieved me, having been a member of the judiciary, whenever I heard allegations against the judiciary and the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary.

“I am driven nostalgically to look back to a time when our judiciary was the pride of the region, and our neighbours spoke admiringly of our legal system. We were then second to none and the judgments of our courts were quoted confidently in other common law jurisdictions. As Tun Suffian, a former Lord President of the then Federal Court, said of the local judges who took over from the expatriate judges after Merdeka that the transformation was without ‘any reduction in standards’.

“There is no reason why judges with the assured security of tenure they enjoy under the Constitution should not discharge their duties impartially, confidently and competently.

“Countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, who have a similar legal system and who share similar laws, and whose judges and lawyers are trained as ours, are ranked in these surveys as amongst the best in the world (Hong Kong is placed first and Singapore ranks as fourth in the world).

“There is one further important point that I feel compelled to say. This deals with a judge’s quality in decision-making. We in Malaysia live in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. Our founding fathers accommodated this diversity into our Constitution that is reflected in the social contract, and saw this diversity as strength.

“Judges in Malaysia must be ever mindful that they are appointed judges for all Malaysians. They must be sensitive to the feelings of all parties, irrespective of race, religion or creed, and be careful not to bring a predisposed mind to an issue before them that is capable of being misconstrued by the watching public or segments of them.

“I am reminded of the proud accolade of the late Tun Suffian in his Braddel Memorial Lecture in 1982, when speaking of the Malaysian judiciary to a Singapore audience he said: ‘In a multi-racial and multi religious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion – so that nobody reading our judgment with our name deleted could with confidence identify our race or religion, and so that the various communities, especially minority communities, are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot.’ ”

No doubt, he received a standing ovation for his landmark speech. After the conference, the palace called up the Bar Council Secretariat for more information regarding leaders of the Bar, and he was kind enough to confer one of them with a Datukship.

Indeed, our judges, especially those at the apex court, regardless of their race and religion, must always be mindful that they have taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution not for some but for all Malaysians.

If their decisions especially on sensitive racial and religious issues are predictable because of their race and religion, then they have failed miserably to measure up to the standards set by Sultan Azlan and Tun Suffian. If that is so, then I am afraid issue of race has become the sine qua non for appointing a judge in this country.

In this respect, I have written that judicial diversity and meritocracy should go hand in hand, and a judiciary that does not reflect society’s diversity will ultimately lose the confidence of that society. (See Judicial diversity creates confidence, The Sunday Star, Nov 13, 2011)

Singapore just celebrated her 49th national day and they have already overtaken us in this regard by leaps and bounds as both their Attorney-General and Chief Justice are Singaporean Indians – Vijaya Kumar Rajah, 57, and Sundaresh Menon, 52.

But sadly in Malaysia, it is an unthinkable thing for any qualified non-Malay even of exceptional capability to be appointed as the Attorney-General or the Chief Justice.

Of course, words are easy compared to putting them into practice. But it remains my fervent hope that the above wise words of Sultan Azlan will be a constant reminder to all our judges whenever they dispense justice in our beloved land.

Similarly, our judges who sit at the apex court should never abdicate from their powerful position as the guardians of our Constitution whenever there is any infringement of constitutional rights in any segment of our society.

They, as Abdoolcader once pointed out, must not just stand there and fold their arms and do nothing; otherwise they might as well “hang their heads in sorrow and perhaps even in mortification in not being able to at least entertain for consideration on its merits any legitimate complaint of a public grievance or alleged unconstitutional conduct.”

> The writer was the organising chairman of the 14th Malaysian Law Conference.

‘Lawyers not violating ethical principles’

The Star
by RAZAK AHMAD, MARTIN CARVALHO, RAHMAH GHAZALI, WANI MUTHIAH, A. RUBAN, AND TASHNY SUKUMARAN

PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Edmund Bon has not violated any ethical principles of the legal profession, said Andrew Khoo, co-chairperson of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee.

Khoo was commenting on elections watchdog Bersih 2.0’s statement that lawyers Bon and New Sin Yew were violating human rights principles by representing Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in his complaint with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) against PKR for wrongful dismissal.

“Every litigant has a right to seek a lawyer of his or her choice. Lawyers, in taking up the cases, should not be necessarily seen as identifying or agreeing with the cause of the client.

“Even for an unpopular cause, clients have the right to legal counsel.”

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah recently said that both Bon and New, who is a member of Bersih’s steering committee, were violating the very principles they claimed to champion.

She also denounced Khalid’s recent actions as a betrayal of those who had voted for PKR, and called the ROS “fundamentally against” the freedom of expression.

Members of the legal fraternity have both criticised and thrown their support behind Bon, who recently tweeted “Since many are sidetracked by critique (regarding) lawyers, please read the Basic Principles of Role of Lawyers.”

Last week he also posted “I have said time again there are some lawyers who are politicians (in parties) and some lawyers only. I choose the latter. I have no conflict.”

Cooperative Boost For New Generation Of FELDA Settlers

SERDANG, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday the government is prepared to consider the participation of the FELDA Vision Generation Alliance (GWGF) in the FELDA Investment Cooperative 2 (KPF 2).

The prime minister said GWGF had shown interest in the cooperatives sector and was confident that its participation would benefit the settlers investing in the cooperative.

"We are prepared to consider the sound ideas and proposals of GWGF.

"Hopefully, the cooperation will bring greater progress to the FELDA community," he said at the Aidilfitri reception organised by GWGF at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang.

KPF 2, a cooperative specially for the new generation of FELDA settlers, was approved in 2011 and is set to be an economic development model for the new generation, complementary to the FELDA Investment Cooperative.

Najib said GWGF was the best example of a non-governmental organisation that promoted government policies pertaining to development of the rural community and eradication of poverty.

As such, he invited GWGF to provide sound inputs and proposals to the government for the continued improvement of the income and standard of living of the FELDA community.

On another matter, the prime minister welcomed the setting up of a golf academy at UPM, citing it as an appropriate measure to uncover talents from among the children of FELDA settlers.

"The first generation of FELDA settlers were not good at golf; they probably played marbles, tops or sepak takraw. However, the second generation are a talented lot with potential and can become champions of golf (like in the GWGF annual golf championship 2014 held yesterday)," he said.

Also present at the reception were FELDA director-general Datuk Faizouli Ahmad and GWGF president Tan Sri Rozali Ismail.