Civil servant’s IS involvement a grave matter: Zambry

The civil servant from Perak was said to be involved in contributing funds to Malaysians who wished to join the IS in Syria.

FMT

IPOH: The Perak government views seriously the suspected involvement of its civil servant in the so-called IS militant group, says Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

He however, said that he had yet to receive the full report about the arrest of the civil servant and request it from Perak police chief Datuk Osman Salleh.

“I view seriously the involvement of the state government’s civil servant in the IS. Appropriate legal action should be taken against the suspect,” Zambry told a press conference after chairing the state executive council meeting in Ipoh, Wednesday.

He was commenting on the arrest of three individuals, including a woman, for suspected involvement in the IS group’s activities in Johor, Perak and Kuala Lumpur recently.

The civil servant from Perak was said to be involved in contributing funds to Malaysians who wished to join the IS in Syria.

-BERNAMA

DAP's Teluk Intan MP dies

 

DAP's Teluk Intan MP Seah Leong Peng died this morning due to cancer.

The 48-year-old's politician’s death was announced by the party on its official Twitter account.

This paves the way for a sixth by-election since the May 5, 2013 general election.

In the 2013 general election, Seah defeated Gerakan's Mah Siew Keong and independent K Moralingam with 7,313 majority in the last general election. Mah is currently Gerakan president.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Seah passed away at University Malaya Medical Centre at about 7.30am

Ipoh Timur Member of Parliament Thomas Su said Seah was found to be suffering from cancer in February.

"Since then, his condition worsened and he received treatment in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

He said Seah's remains was expected to arrive at his residence in Teluk Intan this afternoon.

The late Seah was also Pasir Bedamar state assemblyman for three terms since 1999.

Will Perak squatter issue ever be solved?

On Friday night, DAP Ipoh Barat members and I met with the residents Kg Tai Lee to hold discussions on finding a solution to the plight that they have been facing.

There is a pending court case to evict them in the High Court. The case has been heard for three days and is now fixed for final hearing in September.

The residents had built their houses with assurances by the initial land owner that they could stay there as long as they wished.

The village, which is located on private land within the Ipoh City area, is now comprised of 50 houses and 75 families who are the third generation Kg Tai Lee residents.

All the residents are from the lower income group. They are all worried that they will be evicted and become homeless.

Just before the 2008 general election, the residents were informed by the Ipoh Land Office that they would be relocated in Pusing, but this has remained an empty election promise till today.

There were also repeated assurances that the residents would be given state housing lots, but all these too have never materialised.

Sometime on Jan 3, 2010, there was a gotong-royong event organised by the state government with the Kg Tai Lee residents. At the gotong-royong, the Perak Mentri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir ordered the local council of Ipoh (MBI) to find a solution to settle the issue faced by the residents.

However, nothing has happened so far.

We have written to both the mayor and the mentri besar of Perak to find a permanent solution to the plight of the residents and let’s see if the BN government can live up to their ‘Janji di Tepati’ slogan.

In fact, sometime in 2000, the former mentri besar of Perak, Tajol Rosli Ghazali, had assured all that Perak would be squatter-free by the year 2005. But 2005 has passed by and there are thousands still in squatter settlements in Perak.

Recently Zambry has apparently promised 2015 as the new date for Perak to be declared squatter-free. The ‘goalpost’ keeps on changing all the time!

Presently there are over 14, 000 squatters in Perak, according to the Perak Economic Planning Unit. When will the issue of squatters be ever resolved?


Obviously, the state government lacks political will power to attend to the homeless.

It’s no use declaring a date which the state government cannot fulfill. What is needed is real commitment to a ‘blue print’ policy decision on this matter.

We suggest that the state government set up a high level committee to formulate a new policy and ways to settle squatter issues in Perak.

---

M KULA SEGARAN is MP for Ipoh Barat and DAP national vice-chairperson.

Perak Speaker Ganesan sues for defamation over lewd VCD

(The Star) - Perak state assembly speaker Datuk R. Ganesan on Wednesday filed a RM25mil suit for defamation against five Opposition lawmakers over a VCD with a lewd picture of him and a woman on the cover

He named assemblymen V. Sivakumar (Tronoh), A. Sivasubramaniam (Buntong), Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (Sitiawan), Nga Kor Ming (Pantai Remis) and Lim Pek Har (Menglembu) as the defendants in the suit.

“I have lodged a police report on Dec 22 for investigations to be carried out and I have stated then that I will take stern action against those who have defamed me.

"On Jan 15, I issued a letter through my lawyer demanding that these parties retract their statements and apologise to me on certain terms but until now I have not received anything.

"Therefore, I've decided to file a defamation suit to clear my name," he told reporters at the High Court.

On Dec 22, Sivakumar and Sivasubramaniam claimed they received a brown envelope outside the state assembly, apparently containing a VCD with the lewd picture.

The contents in the VCD could not be verified as the recipients claimed they had not watched it and decline to show it to the media.

There was also a printout of an image from a blog and an envelope with the sender's address as “Perak MIC liaison body”.

Perak power struggle - pause or game over?

Zambry (left) and Nizar will soon know if the BN takeover of Perak in 2009 is rejected by the people

THE people of Perak are waiting expectantly to cast their vote in the 13th general election for a very special reason.

The first shock for the people was when the Barisan Nasional (BN) state government fell in the 2008 general election for the first time since independence in 1957. Then, they had a second shock when the new Pakatan Rakyat state government fell in a dramatic tussle just one year later.

It was to escalate into a serious constitutional crisis involving the palace, Election Commission, courts, security forces and a very physical session in the state legislative assembly.

At the end of the turmoil, the BN took control of the state once again and the coalition has ruled for about four years since then.

But that was not the final word on the crisis. The ousted menteri besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin mounted a series of court challenges to reclaim the seat of government. However, after a full year, the Federal Court ruled that the BN's choice of menteri besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir was the rightful holder of the post.

The contest for control of the state erupted when three state assembly members, from the 32 that were from the Pakatan coalition, became BN-friendly independents thus changing the balance of power in the 59-member legislature.

Pakatan leaders stoutly maintained that the BN state government had no mandate to rule because they had not been voted in by the people. This was hotly debated at all levels of society, from the coffeeshops to cyberspace.

A common view was that the next general election would be a sort of referendum on whether the BN's action to take control of the state has the support of the people.

Of course, this view is not uniformly heard among the voters. Among the Chinese, a frequently aired opinion at the time of the crisis was that the Pakatan government was denied justice.

This could be because the Chinese were among the direct beneficiaries of a number of policy changes adopted by the Pakatan government. In particular, the decision to award land titles to holders of temporary occupancy licences (TOL) generated much goodwill for the new government. This was especially because the Chinese living in New Villages had been pressing for permanent titles since before independence, with little success.

A veteran political observer, Chong Soo Choon, 67, a long-time columnist for a Chinese daily, who provided in-depth analysis during the Perak power struggle, endorses this observation.

"Until today, the Chinese community around Ipoh think that the Pakatan government was unjustly overthrown, and people still talk about it during tea sessions," he said.

Chong, who lives in Ipoh, said that most of the Chinese he meets are of the opinion that if the Perak government had continued to be run by Pakatan, it would have performed on par with the Penang government and their living conditions could have improved as a result.

However, his ground observation shows that the Malays are split on this issue, with the older generation staunchly supporting the BN, and the younger generation rooting for change.

Undoubtedly, the BN government has tried to win back the people's support with a series of public-oriented programmes. Last year, the Perak government had restructured its water assets to pay back its RM1 billion debts to the federal government. The state government managed to reduce its debt to RM326million.

Also, more than 8,000 acres of land were allocated to Chinese independent schools, religious schools and Tamil schools, so that revenue generated from the land would be used to fund the schools. The Chinese educationists welcomed the allocation as this was seen as systemic funding to the school.

A BN leader, who wished to remain unidentified, expressed confidence that the coalition will win in the next general election as it has been working very hard to serve the people.

"We have not been any less effective than the Pakatan government," he told fz.com in a phone interview.

It is pertinent to ask whether voter sentiment about the change of government remains as strong today as it was during the period of political upheaval in 2009. This is especially because there have been a constant round of sensational political developments on the national stage in the intervening years, including allegations of grand corruption.

Feelings were certainly running high during the period of the political crisis. No one would have imagined that when Zambry was going to the Perak palace in Kuala Kangsar to be sworn in on Feb 6, 2009, he would be greeted by a boisterous protest of about a thousand people, mostly Malays, who were trying to block his motorcade.

However, as the BN state government settled into the job, the people became used to the new status quo and the Pakatan leaders decided to abide by the Federal court verdict in 2010.

Neverthess, Nizar believes that the high drama that took place in the state assembly sitting on May 7, 2009, when the rival coalitions literally fought for control of the legislature, remains freshly imprinted in the minds of the people, especially the Chinese.

"That particular incident will be a major factor for them (the Chinese) to give their support to Pakatan. They are in total disagreement with the BN because of the power grab," the ousted menteri besar said in an interview with fz.com.

However, Nizar admitted that the Malays and Indians do not share similar sentiments because of the manoeuvres by Perak Umno and the influence of the mainstream media.

He pointed out that the BN had justified the takeover by claiming that the Pakatan government was Chinese-led and that the BN had brought the Malays back into power.

As for the Indians, Nizar observed that the sentiment is quite split. Some of them are still supporting the BN, "but the community had shifted their support to PR now, with the help of not only our PR component parties but also Indian NGOs."

Perception war in Malay rural heartland

The Pakatan is fighting a perception war in the Malay rural heartland, where alternative sources of information are lacking. Nizar fears that the BN would use issues pertaining to the Malays' rights and the position of the Sultan to create fear among the Malays.

In the takeover issue in particular, even though the Perak Sultan's role was hotly debated among the Malays, most of them continue to respect the Sultan.

"One of the worrying issues now is that the BN is harping on the cooperation among PAS, PKR and DAP. This is used to haunt the Malays by saying that (if Pakatan takes over Putrajaya) the PM could be a non-Malay or a Christian and we are going to become a Christian state," said Nizar.

"The other issue the BN may insinuate is that PAS could commit treason against Tuanku Sultan (Azlan Shah)," he said.

This fear proved to be true during the Bukit Gantang by-election in April 2009, when the BN played up the perception that Nizar had committed treason against the Sultan. The BN's strategy was based on a phrase that Nizar had used when rejecting the Perak Sultan's order to step down during the takeover crisis.

In responding to the Sultan, Nizar had replied "Patik Mohon Derhaka" (Your servant begs to commit treason) arguing that it was not in the Sultan's power to issue that command since the head of the state government is chosen by the legislative assembly.

This became fodder for the BN's campaign during the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election. In the end, Pakatan garnered fewer Malay votes than in the 2008 general election, although Nizar still managed to win the seat.

Nizar pointed out that the BN's strategy was to make the Malays believe that Umno would take care of the Malays, "therefore if Umno is ruined, your future is also ruined. So PAS, PKR and DAP will ruin your future."

There is no doubt that the support of the Malays in Perak is crucial to the Pakatan. Of the 59 state seats in 2008, there are 19 seats with more than 70% Malays and 12 seats with more than 70% Chinese.

The rest of the 28 seats are mixed seats. Among them, 17 seats have 50-70% Malay voters.

It is worth noting that in the 2008 general election, the 15 seats that were won by slim majorities consisted of more than 60% Malays. Of these, nine seats were won by BN and 6 seats by PR. These are the seats that would decide the fate of both coalitions.

Pakatan's rural challenge

As young voters are said to hold the key to the outcome of the next general election, understanding their views will be crucial for the parties to plan their polls strategy.

For Mohd Faiz Mohd Arshad, 26, a recent graduate, it is important for the Pakatan to explain the takeover issue to the electorate in the rural areas, because the incident involves complicated constitutional matters and the law.

Mohd Faiz, who is from Kampar, pointed out that many people may not feel strongly about the takeover crisis now as many people, especially those in the rural areas, do not understand the issue clearly.

"The incident involves law and many people don't really understand the real issue," he said.

During Nizar's legal challenge against Zambry, the main questions argued in the court were whether the Perak Sultan could order the menteri besar to resign and whether the loss of confidence in a menteri besar could be determined outside of the state assembly.

Mohd Faiz, who faced a charge of participating in the Kuala Kangsar gathering, pointed out that the incident had faded from people's memories because the media did not dwell on the issue. He said that the Pakatan should revive the issue to refresh the people's memories.

Political observer Chong also pointed out that although the BN could retain its Malay base in the remote rural areas, he believed that the younger generation is more inclined towards democratic change.

He opined that for the past one or two years, the growth of popular movements in the Arab countries had sparked an urge for democracy and change.

"They felt that there is a need for a regime change, and this has affected the Chinese and younger Malays," he said. This was his reading after talking to some younger Malays near the Ipoh area.

As both Umno and PAS had their bases in the Malay areas, the middle ground would decide the winning party, he said.

It is a matter of months before a definite answer will emerge to the question of whether the Pakatan's interrupted rule will be restored by the winds of change.

Yen Yen’s High Standards of Wastage

By Martin Jalleh

Reminder of Perak constitutional crisis — Koon Yew Yin

OCT 2 — As the next general election is fast approaching, almost every day the newspapers publish stories of Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders giving away goodies to win votes. Unfortunately Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders cannot afford to give away any goodies. Since the general election is near, we must not forget how PR lost control of Perak to BN.

You will remember that when the High Court on May 11, 2009 recognised Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful mentri besar of Perak, the Court of Appeal lost no time in granting Zambry Abdul Kadir a stay of execution on the High Court decision. It did so within a few hours, in fact.

On May 22, the appellate court overturned the High Court judgment favouring Nizar, and instead ruled that Zambry was the legitimate mentri besar.

Malaysian courts have created a record with their supersonic speed in disposing of cases.

The BN is so unfair and unjust to depend on three defectors to govern the state, especially when two of the three defectors were under investigation for corruption.

During the Perak constitutional crisis, I wrote a few articles. As a reminder, I think it is worthwhile to reproduce this excerpt.

“There are many contentious points in the Federal Court’s ruling which have already been debated by other observers better versed in Malaysian constitutional law than me. However, to me, perhaps the most contentious argument was that the Sultan of Perak does not need to act on the advice of the executive council in the matter of dissolving the state legislative assembly and it was at his absolute discretion. This argument, which smacks of a system of absolute monarchy, will take Perak and the country backwards rather than forward.

“But let’s assume that the Federal Court ruling on this is correct. Is this the end of the matter? In my humble opinion, no — and I would like reiterate that the only way out of the present legal quagmire is to return the vote to the people.

“To safeguard the interest of the country and the institution of the monarchy, the voice and will of the rakyat must be respected. It has to be called on to be heard — in one way or another — because though the wheels of justice grind slowly, they grind exactingly.

“To the letter of the law a government must be answerable, and the one standing above politics must be accountable as well. In my humble opinion, Perak will regain its shine and the people’s trust when the Sultan accedes to the dissolution of the state assembly.”

As you all know Sultan Azlan Shah did not dissolve the state assembly.

My view is not an isolated one. A poll of registered voters in Perak conducted by the Merdeka Center for Public Opinion on February 8, 2009 shows that:

● 76 per cent of respondents felt that “the people through elections” should decide who forms the government in Perak. The breakdown by race was 60 per cent Malays, 88 per cent Chinese and 98 per cent Indians.

● 74 per cent of the respondents felt that the state assembly should have been dissolved after the defection of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers. The breakdown by race was 59 per cent Malays, 85 per cent Chinese and 88 per cent Indians.

● 68 per cent of respondents said that the preferred option of settling the political crisis is either to hold three by-elections or state wide polls. The breakdown by race was 46 per cent Malays, 88 per cent Chinese and 80 per cent Indians.

● 66 per cent of the respondents did not accept state governments formed through defections of state assemblymen. The breakdown by race was 46 per cent Malays, 87 per cent Chinese and 73 per cent Indians.

● 62 per cent of the respondents felt that the “role of the palace in this decision” means that it does not recognise the will of the people.

● 59 per cent of the respondents felt that the political crisis in Perak would decrease support for Barisan Nasional.

Taken together, the poll by the Merdeka Center suggests that Zambry and BN may occupy the seat of government but a significant number of the citizens of the state do not accept their legitimacy to hold power.

Clearly, from the survey findings we can infer that while our politicians may have difficulties clinging onto principles and the democratic system, the rakyat know right from wrong.

They cannot stomach politicians who get voted into office on one party’s ticket and then decide to jump ship, causing that party’s popular state government to topple. They do not believe that the status of a government should be decided behind closed doors. And they want the Sultan to use his “absolute discretion” to invoke the will of the people.

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

Perak’s ‘defected 4′ keen on contesting

The four Pakatan reps who contributed to BN's political coup in the state are hoping for another shot in the coming national polls.

TAIPING: The four former Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons who contributed to the fall of the Pakatan state government in Perak in 2009 are now planning for a new lease of political life in the coming general election.

The four BN-friendly independents are Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering), Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Keshvinder Singh (Malim Nawar).

The first three played a vital role in destabilising the elected Pakatan state government into falling into the hands of BN while Keshvinder left after the fall due to political differences.

While there was much speculation that the four had jumped ship due to monetary gains, they however denied this.

The four claimed they shifted alliance to BN because they were unhappy with their respective parties’ administration.

FMT spoke to them recently about their intention to remain active in politics.

“Yes! I shall definitely stand again in Jelapang for the third time on a BN ticket,” exclaimed an excited Hee, who is also the state assembly deputy speaker.

Hee had contested and won the Jelapang seat twice under the DAP banner in three-cornered fights in 2004 and 2008.

When told that Jelapang was a MCA area which may not be given to her and the alternative may be for her to stand as an independent candidate, she said: “Our BN leadership wants a performing, likeable and winnable candidate which qualifies me for the seat.”

“Anyway a four-cornered or five-cornered fight (in Jelapang) does not scare me as I have already faced two three-cornered fights before,” she added.

Asked about the alleged monetary gains for jumping ship, Hee retorted: “You think I am money gila [crazy] like them?”

“I left because I was unhappy with the party leadership of the two cousin brothers (DAP state chief Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga Kor Ming),” she added.

She also said that her relationship with the Jelapang voters remained good despite DAP’s political propaganda to tarnish her name after her defection.

“You must remember that the two PKR assemblymen (Osman and Jamaluddin) had left earlier and BN had the majority in the state assembly before I resigned from DAP.

“My relationship with the Jelapang voters is good as I am constantly attending to their problems and needs,” she explained.

‘Voters want me’

Keshvinder, meanwhile, said his voters had urged him to stand in the Malim Nawar state seat again.

“They (voters) are happy with my good service and want me to contest again. The problem is that Malim Nawar used to be a MCA seat and they might not give me the seat again,” he added.

On whether he might stand as an independent if not given the BN seat, he said: “The possibility is there but we will wait and see.”

On the other hand, Osman was more bold and stressed that he would stand as an independent candidate in Changat Jering if BN failed to choose a winnable Umno candidate for the state seat.

Jamaluddin, however, just laughed and said his constituency belonged to MIC and he did not know whether he would be given this seat.

He stressed that it was still early and he had not made up his mind yet whether to contest as an independent if denied the BN seat.

According to BN sources, the proposed allocation of state and parliament seats for Perak had been sent to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for his approval.

Old Perak: Taiping’s environmental history

A former Taiping resident has contributed these nuggets about the environmental history of the historical town.
Did you know that over a hundred years ago:

• abandoned mining pools were turned into Malaysia’s most famous botanic gardens with iconic rain trees.
• there was a law protecting the mangrove forests allowing for only sustainable harvesting of bakau wood for building and charcoal.
• the hill range was proudly protected with the forest reserves extending to the fringes of the town.

That was Taiping, the town that means ‘everlasting peace’ … the Matang coastal area and Maxwell, now Larut, hills). In fact, the Malayan Nature Society(MNS) was born in Taiping.
The former resident said he grew up there and spent a 16 wonderful years growing up in an multicultural environment. There was also a big commonwealth military base with Fijians and “Rhodesian” and even the only Parsi cemetery in the country.
Share your recollections of Taiping history especially its natural environment and charming town, in the comments section below.  Send old photos using the ‘submit photos’ link at the top of the page. - Anil Netto

Nizar to drop federal seat in battle to regain Perak

Nizar said his decision to forego the Johor constituency was not linked to his recent run-in with the state palace. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin will not defend his parliamentary seat in the next general election, saying today he will instead focus on winning back Perak from Barisan Nasional (BN).

The outspoken PAS vice-president, currently Bukit Gantang MP and Pasir Panjang state assemblyman, was appointed as Perak mentri besar when Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won 31 out of the 59 seats in the state assembly back in 2008.

A spate of defections later saw BN taking over Perak, with Umno’s Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir sworn in as mentri besar on February 6, 2009.

“After serving for four years, I thought that I must concentrate my efforts on winning the state. All this time, my efforts and time have been divided between my state and parliamentary seat,” Nizar told The Malaysian Insider.

“If you look at it, Bukit Gantang was not really an election. It was an instant decision, someone passed away, and by the grace of God, I was given the responsibility to defend the seat.

“What I want right (now) is to prioritise, and the priority is on Perak,” he said.

Nizar won the Bukit Gantang by-election on April 7, 2009 where he defeated Umno’s Ismail Saffian and independent candidate Kamarul Ramizu Idris in a landslide victory.

The popular PAS leader denied, however, that his decision to not contest the Bukit Gantang was due to the ongoing controversy over his remarks about the “WWW 1” vehicle registration number that was won by the Johor Sultan in an open tender.

“Frankly, it has nothing to do with it, there is no connection, it’s just prioritising,” Nizar stressed.

Nizar earned the Johor’s palace wrath last month for suggesting the RM520,000 winning bid placed by the state Ruler could be better used to the aid the needy.

He has since apologised and requested an audience with the Sultan of Johor to explain his May 28 remarks that he posted on micro-blogging service Twitter.

Today, Nizar dismissed suggestions that his decision would affect confidence in PR, saying BN would be the most “affected” party in the matter.

“BN will be in a much more difficult decision to face... my decision will mean a greater focus on state, and they will have to step up their game,” Nizar added.

But public anger over BN’s 2009 takeover of Perak appears to have dissipated, with a recent PR poll showing it will win fewer seats in the state now than if snap polls had been called then.

An opinion poll conducted by the state PR shortly after February 2009 found that the coalition would have swept to victory in 40 seats, or with a two-thirds majority in the 59 seat assembly currently controlled by BN with 28 assemblymen and four “friendly” independents.

A similar survey by Perak PR earlier this year showed it would only win 33 seats if polls were held now.

Perak to build two Hindu crematoriums

The BN-led state government has set aside RM2 million to build the two crematoriums in Buntong and Taiping.

IPOH: The lay Hindu public uproar on the Perak Barisan Nasional government to build crematoriums for the community has worked.

Two modern crematoriums are in the pipeline to be built in Buntong and Taiping Hindu cemeteries.

Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir’s special advisor on Indian affairs, S Veerasingam said that the state government has set aside RM2 million to build the two crematoriums.

He said some RM1.5 million would be channelled to build a modern crematorium in Ipoh’s largest Hindu burial ground in Buntong.

The remaining RM500,000 will be used to build similar Hindu cremation structure in Taiping cemetery.

The fund has been set aside under the state Budget 2012 which was tabled and passed at the state assembly late last year.

“Early this year the state executive council has approved the project to be implemented by this year,” Veerasingam told FMT.

The Hindu Devastana Paripalana Sabha – the temple management committee of Sri Maha Mariamman Devastanam is the administrator of the 2.8ha cemetery site in Buntong, an Ipoh hamlet dominated by Tamil Hindus.

The Sabha became the caretaker of the cemetery in 1919 by virtue of a gazette issued by the then colonial government.

The graveyard caters the burial needs of some 200,000 Hindus living in the state capital.

‘Build before GE’

Previously the state government has set aside RM14.7 million to build a non-Muslim modern crematorium in Buntong graveyard, which the temple management committee initially agreed.

The state government told the temple committee then to surrender 0.2ha of the graveyard to build the crematorium.

However, due to strong objections by local Tamil community and technical discrepancies in the land title, the state government shelved the plan.

“Since the graveyard has been gazzeted as Tamil cemetery in the land title, the state government could not build a non-Muslim crematorium anyway,” explained Veerasingam.

Hindraf national secretary P Ramesh (photo) said the movement would up its pressure on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Zambry to ensure that the crematoriums be constructed before the next general election.

He said the state government, Ipoh City Council and Taiping Municipal Council have respective statutory duties to “preserve, maintain and develop” Hindu cemeteries under the National Land Code and Section 94 of the Local Government Act.

“The state authorities must build the modern crematoriums in Buntong and Taiping to cater Hindus burial rights and needs,” he told FMT.

Who’s Hee? Get to know your MP

A little under 2 weeks ago, I was invited to join a meeting of a group of PJ Selatan voters who wanted to initiate an effort get to know more about our sitting MP, Yang Berkhdmat Hee Loy Sian.

I have long been in favour of citizens taking responsibility for what happens in this country.

Taking ownership of their constituency and its electoral process is, in my view, a positive step in that direction.

This effort by this group, I felt, was just the sort of thing we need to get the voters of PJ Selatan to step up and do the right thing.

I attended that meeting.

A second meeting followed a few nights ago.

What has since followed illustrates how a few good people coming together can achieve so much.

People Power!

Representatives from this group have secured a first meeting with YB Hee this 30th March.

Good on you, YB.

Amongst other things, they will be discussing with the parliamentarian a forthcoming town hall-style meeting between the MP and PJ Selatan registered voters.

A facebook group, ’105 – Petaling Jaya Selatan voters’, has been created, to help outreach to as many PJ Selatanites who might be keen to get involved in this initiative.

And for those who might not be in facebook, there is an email address to which you might send your inquiries.

105pjselatanvoters@gmail.com

In 2007, a group of PJ Selatanites started a ‘PJ Selatan get to know your MP’ initiative.

Then, of course, Donald Lim, was the MP.

We had fun with him, didn’t we, PJ Selatanites?

Zahid Urges Umno Perak To Maintain BN's Power

KUALA KANGSAR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged the state's party members to help Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir Barisan Nasional (BN) maintain its power during the 13th general election.

Speaking at the opening of the Bagan Datoh Umno Youth Transformation of the Mind course in Ulu Kenas, he said apart from, Minister of Finance II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz were both also responsible for ensuring that two-thirds of the BN seats were won in the general election.

He called on all the BN component party machinery to double their efforts saying it would be a narrow fight for the Rungkup and Hutan Melintang state assembly seats and Bagan Datoh parliamentary seat.

He emphasised that the bitter experience of losing power to the opposition for 11 months during the 12th general election should be a lesson to all.

Therefore, he told the Umno branch and division leaders in Bagan Datoh to work hard and regain the seats for BN this time.

Under the Democracy Tree: Remembering Perak power grab

Perak Pakatan reps gathered under the Democracy Tree in Ipoh on 6 February to recall the third anniversary of the power grab in the state.

Photograph: Kinta Kid

Remember how Speaker Sivakumar was literally dragged out of his chair?
Kinta Kid has the full story with pictures here.

Nizar: Malays are back with us

Perak's former menteri besar says that PAS is gradually reeling in the Malay votes there.


KUALA LUMPUR: Malay majority areas in Perak have been fierce battlegrounds for Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat for the past three years.

With most of the 24 marginal state seats located in these areas the Malay electorate’s support is vital for the opposition coalition to reclaim the government that it lost in February 2009.

Pakatan suffered not only an excruciating handing back of the state to BN but also a sharp blow to the reputation of its menteri besar, Nizar Jamaluddin, who was scorned as a “DAP puppet” and a “traitor” to the Perak sultan for refusing a royal order to vacate his post.

Pakatan scrambled to get back on its feet but a year later Nizar admitted that both he and the coalition were unable to enter remote Malay areas where they most needed to set the record straight.

At the time Pakatan gauged that its popularity among rural Malay voters had dipped 7-8 % from the 40% it had enjoyed in the previous general election.

In February last year, PAS state treasurer Abdul Rahim Ariff was quoted in a Wikileaks report as saying that if elections were held there and then, Malay votes would split evenly between Umno and PAS unlike in March 2008 when there was a clear swing of Malay votes towards PAS and PKR.

Tide is changing again

But the tide appeared to be changing yet again. In an interview with FMT last week, Nizar said that PAS’ steady groundwork was paying off with Malay electorate support flowing back in its direction.

The Bukit Gantang MP and his party had finally broken the seal on the doors into Felda and Felcra where they were going all out to keep it open.

“There is a taskforce within PAS and PKR focusing solely on Felda issues and working closely with the Felda central committee,” Nizar said.

“We’ve been working on six Felda sites so far and are slowly inching deeper into the region. And what we’ve found is that the objection towards PAS isn’t as strong as before.”

Three elements lie behind this shift. The first is the relationship PAS had forged with the second generation of Felda settlers who were currently living outside their settlement and exposed to news sources beyond the mainstream spectrum.

“These youth are those who are bringing back our messages to their parents and convincing them to take a different point of view,” Nizar said.

The second element is the redemption of PAS and Nizar’s image through the re-telling of the coup d’etat through Pakatan’s eyes.

“Umno’s justification was that I represented a Chinese government and it would retain a Malay one,” Nizar stated. “Remote Malay village communities agreed and condoned Umno’s actions.”

“Over time they forgot about it but we have been reminding them through VCDs, flyers and ceramahs. And when we explained it in their language they began to understand. So this issue would continue to be the prime agenda of all our ceramahs.”

NFC scandal is a bonus

The third element is a bonus delivered by BN through the recent NFC scandal with which many Felda settlers could comprehend and identify. And this, Nizar stated, “tremendously boosted” Malay support for PAS.

He nevertheless warned his compatriots against basking in overconfidence particularly when BN’s top guns were making frequent descents upon the state.

“(Prime minister) Najib (Tun Razak) has been spending a lot of time in Perak and (Deputy Prime Minister) Muhyiddin (Yassin) is there twice a month,” he said.

“Four federal ministers were transferred to Perak last month where they gathered 12,000 civil servants for a ceramah in Kuala Kangsar. There is money being thrown around but I believe that the people would take it without giving their votes in return.”

Nizar added that PAS had also learned from its past mistake of neglecting to assure the Malays that their interests wouldn’t be upstaged by those of the non-Malays.

The Malays community forms 54% of Perak’s electorate with the Chinese at 32% and Indians at 13%.

PAS’ provision of new hectares of land to Chinese communities, schools and associations was understandably met with unhappiness by the Malays who felt that their rights and privileges were being usurped by their new government. This further convinced them that only Umno was able to protect their interests.

“At the time we only had Barisan Alternatif and we built a state government based on which party won the most seats,” Nizar explained. “And since DAP won 18 seats most of the cabinet members represented the party.”

“But we now have an understanding within Pakatan of the importance of a balanced government. We have felt the negative implications of not showing a fair distribution among the communities and will now work on creating a balance based on racial composition.”

Fireworks guaranteed at Perak assembly sitting

BN is set to keep the budget sitting on Monday short and sweet, coupled with sufficient dose of ammunition to hit at Pakatan reps
COMMENT

It has been more than two years since the Perak power-grab orchestrated by BN enabled them to take control of the Silver State on Feb 5, 2009.

Since then, the Perak State Assembly sittings have always been chaotic affairs due to the antics of the BN-installed Speaker who never fails to switch-off the microphones of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers.

The upcoming Perak State Assembly sitting on Monday Nov 21 promises to be exciting as the court-installed Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir will be presenting the Perak 2012 Budget.

It must be mentioned that the Perak State Assembly is the only one of its kind in the world after the BN-masterminded power grab. Moreover, the BN speaker silences the voice of the PR lawmakers by switching off the latter’s microphones.

In a Machiavellian and well-executed move planned during the 2009 Chinese Lunar New Year period, three state assemblymen from PR declared themselves to be BN-friendly and that was the coup-de-grace that toppled Perak.

Subsequently, the court battles between the PAS Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and the BN-installed Menteri Besar Zambry ended on Feb 9, 2010 with the Federal Court’s 5-0 decision in favour of Zambry as the legal and valid Menteri Besar.

Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Arifin Zakaria, who read out the decision said the Bench found that the Court of Appeal was justified in reversing the High Court decision which had earlier declared Nizar as the rightful Perak Menteri Besar.

That the Court Of Appeal’s decision was expected was not surprising but what was surprising was the 5-0 verdict as many had expected it to be a close verdict of 3-2. Nizar had labelled the verdict as the death of democracy.

Be that as it may, a recap of state assembly sittings post-Feb 5, 2009, revealed that after the coup on that said date there has been nothing but constant bullying of the Pakatan state assemblymen by BN lawmakers making it difficult for the Pakatan men to fulfill their duties.

One of the most famous events that should be remembered by all those who fight for democracy is the Democracy Tree Assembly held on March 3, 2009, where the PR state assemblymen were forced to hold the Dewan sitting by assembling under a huge rainforest tree near the Perak DAP HQ due to being locked out of the State Secretariat Building where the Dewan sittings take place.

The road leading to the State Secretariat Building was being barricaded by hundreds of FRU and police force personnel on March 3, 2009 in BN’s show of force in clamping down on democracy.

This solemn yet moving assembly under the rainforest tree was really a people’s assembly as it was held alfresco with members of the public being present in the Dewan itself, standing together shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pakatan state assemblymen as the Speaker, DAP’s V Sivakumar called the assembly to order according to proctocol proceedings.

Many of those present were moved to tears at this event which was later made into a DVD entitled ‘The Democracy Tree DVD’. A plaque mounted up at the assembly spot commemorating the event was vandalised and broken up but the broken fragments were later auctioned off for the purpose of fund-raising and Pakatan managed to collect a tidy sum of about RM40,000.

Black Thursday

Another memorable event was the ‘Black Thursday Incident’, otherwise known as ‘The Chair Incident’ which occurred on May 7, 2009.

Black was the colour worn by those in solidarity with the PR state assemblymen to symbolize mourning for democracy which has died.

Scores of people were arrested by the police for wearing black. Among those arrested were Wong Chin Huat (a university lecturer and social activist of Bersih), Pakatan MPs and state assemblymen from outside Perak and members of the public.

This incident was also known as the ‘The Chair Incident’ due to the chaotic incident surrounding the Speaker’s Chair.

While there was chaos outside the State Secretariat Building due to the mass arrests of protesters in black, inside the Dewan there was pandemonium as well.

Dewan Speaker Sivakumar of Tronoh together with his chair was forcefully bundled out of the Dewan not only by Dewan personnel who took instructions from Zambry but also by ‘unidentified forces’ (there were many unidentified people in the Dewan at that material time) and locked up in the store room for about an hour while BN ‘installed’ MIC’s Ganesan as Speaker in an investiture ceremony (putting the Speaker’s robe on him).

All hell broke loose as the Pakatan side protested strongly against what was going on although the situation was very intimidating with hundreds of policemen inside and outside the Dewan.

It was absolute shambles on May 7, 2009! A black event indeed.

There was also a nasty incident on Oct 28, 2009 called ‘The Ambush In The Tunnel’. In this incident, the PR state assemblymen were not allowed to enter the Dewan using the main door but were instead instructed to enter the Dewan via the tunnel from the car park.

While walking in the tunnel passageway towards the Dewan, the Pakatan state assemblymen were beaten up and the worst to suffer were Sivakumar who was strangled and punched in the stomach while DAP’s Nga Kor Ming (state rep of Pantai Remis) had his testicles grabbed during the melee. Nga subsequently made a police report in regards to that.

All the Perak State Assembly sittings after the BN power-grab has been lop-sided affairs.

Only the BN lawmakers are allowed to participate as the Pakatan side have been silenced due to their microphones being switched off.

These acrimonious sittings have also provided BN with an excuse to indulge in name-calling with Zambry calling Nizar ‘bangang’ and ‘bahlol’ (translated as ‘moron’ and ‘ignoramus’ respectively) in the state assembly sitting in April this year.

Short meetings

The assembly sittings during Zambry’s tenure also tend to be short, sometimes lasting about three hours only as the BN lawmakers took the opportunity to bulldoze everything through especially Supply Bills where additional allocation of funds are disbursed.

These Supply Bills are an excuse for BN to obtain their budget allocations.

During Nizar’s 11-month tenure, he managed to keep the books in the black but now the BN state government has already incurred a budget deficit although this was vehemently denied by Zambry who stated that the state had plenty of reserves.

Zambry had claimed that the state had high reserves valued at more than RM800 million according to book value in the form of investment stocks and fixed deposits while Pakatan state assemblymen claimed that Perak has a record budget deficit of almost RM104 million.

Under the BN administration, besides financial fiascos, there were other not-so-common mishaps (besides an increase in road mishaps) leading to loss of lives.

Among these not-so-common mishaps were an old building which crumbled and fell on two Malay youths killing them while three Indian female pupils lost their lives doing a night crossing on the Kuala Dipang bridge in a school excursion and three Chinese youths lost their lives swimming in the waterfalls.1Malaysia indeed! All these catastrophes happened in the later part of 2009.

However, the greatest loss of lives occurred was in the Simpang Pulai bus crash in in 2010 where 28 people (mostly tourists from Thailand) died in one of Malaysia’s most horrific road accidents in history.

In regards to mismanagement, the proposal to turn Perak into a ‘shoe city’ for tourism purposes in December last year seem to have fizzled out from the radar.

And the most recent fiasco was in early May 2011 where Zambry blamed the state’s investment arm, Perak State Development Corporation for failing to brief him on the now-cancelled memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a company from Hong Kong which had intentions to mine rare earth in Bukit Merah.

Zambry being the said corporation’s chairman should have known what is going on and this indicates that he does not attend the board meetings eventhough this is such an important agency under his supervision.

This whole incident simply shows that Zambry is sleeping on the job.

Besides the above fiascoes, the more recent one earlier this year involves a snake. A village representative from Kampung DBI named S Subramaniam presented Zambry with a python as a means of attracting attention to their woes and also to seek assistance from the state authorities to get rid of the snake menace troubling the villagers and endangering their lives.

Sightings of snakes are common in the village and according to online news portal TV Selangor, a villager had died recently after being bitten by a snake. The state authorities’ inaction despite many complaints was the cause of the villagers presenting Zambry with the python.

It is high time Perakians wake up and vote in an efficient government if they want their problems solved quickly and the state’s finances to remain healthy, snakes notwithstanding.

By the way, the forthcoming state assembly will predictably end up in shambles no thanks to BN running it in a haphazard manner. Imminent bombardment is in store for the PR lawmakers, though.

Selena Tay believes that Pakatan Rakyat will be better at governing the nation. She is a FMT columnist.