12 killed in West Virginia mine blast

(CNN) -- Twelve miners died Monday and more than a dozen were unaccounted for after an explosion erupted inside an underground mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, the mine's parent company said.

Another 21 miners were injured in the blast at the Upper Big Branch Mine, according to Michael Mayhorn, emergency dispatcher for Boone County, which was called in to assist in the response.

The explosion apparently occurred during an afternoon shift change, witnesses and officials said.

At least 20 ambulances and three helicopters were dispatched from surrounding counties, and the state medical examiner was heading to the scene, Mayhorn said. At least one miner was evacuated by helicopter, according to Mayhorn.

Don Blankenship, the chief executive officer of Massey Energy Co., which oversees the mine, said in a statement that the company is "working diligently on rescue efforts."

"Our prayers go out to the families of the miners," he said. "We want to assure the families of all the miners we are taking every action possible to locate and rescue those still missing."

The explosion happened about 4:30 p.m. at Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. mine in Whitesville, West Virginia, 30 miles south of Charleston, West Virginia, CNN affiliate WCHS reported.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, but methane gas has been blamed in several deadly mining accidents in recent years, including the 2006 explosion at the Sago mine, also in West Virginia, that killed 12 people. Five miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, were killed five months later in a methane gas explosion in Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, however, said spring is an unusual time of year to see such explosions, which typically occur in winter as barometric pressure changes occur inside mines.

Manchin said he had spoken to Blankenship, who told him that the mine was equipped with rescue chambers, a safety measure put in place following several deadly accidents in 2006. The chambers are stocked with such supplies as first-aid kits and oxygen tanks in the event of an emergency.

"We're very hopeful that the miners who are missing were able to make it to those rescue chambers," said Manchin, who was on his way to the site.

Manchin also spoke to President Barack Obama, who offered his condolences and federal government assistance in the rescue effort.

Miners paced outside the mine shaft, trying to help emergency responders treating their injured colleagues, said Shawn Kline, a reporter for CNN affiliate WVVA.

"The look of worry is on just about everyone's faces," Kline said as dozens of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars streamed into and out of the site.

Eric Martin, who works the day shift at the mine, told WVVA that his father is one of the missing.

"It's like I got hit in the gut right there real hard (and) I just keep getting hit," he said.

At least one miner was evacuated by helicopter and two others by ambulance, officials said.

CAMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Pellegrin said the hospital received one person from the mine via a helicopter at 6 p.m. That patient is getting treatment in the hospital's intensive care unit, she said, declining to elaborate on the person's injuries.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said in a statement Monday that he is "working with state and federal officials to get as much information as possible and ... doing all I can to help make sure all resources are made available for this rescue effort."

Massey Energy Co., based in Richmond, Virginia, has operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. It is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, it said in a statement.

Three other deaths have happened in the Upper Big Branch Mine in the past 12 years, according to federal records.

In 1998, a man was killed when a beam he was constructing collapsed; in 2001, a worker died after a rock fell on him; and in 2003, an electrician who was repairing a shuttle car was found dead, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Monday's explosion is the latest in a string of problems for Massey Energy, which operates 44 underground and surface mines and controls 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Massey's Web site.
It's like I got hit in the gut right there real hard (and) I just keep getting hit.
--Eric Martin, miner

The company has been fined for several incidents, some fatal, at its facilities in recent years, including a 2006 fire that killed two miners in Aracoma Coal Company's Alma Mine No. 1. Aracoma is a division of Massey. The company pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges in connection with the fire and was fined $2.5 million in 2009.

In 2000, a coal sludge impoundment owned by Massey Energy broke into an abandoned underground mine, oozing more than 300 million gallons of coal waste into tributaries in eastern Kentucky.

Also in 2000, a series of accidents at Massey facilities killed eight miners during the course of the year, according to Davitt McAteer, former director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Clinton administration.

"Massey has had difficulty with their accident records and their numbers of citations and penalties that have been issued against them," McAteer said. "There is a problem here, and it's a problem that we hoped had gone away."

A post on the Massey Web site touts the company's 2009 safety record, saying it "marked the sixth consecutive year and the 17th year out of the past 20 years in which Massey's safety performance was stronger than the industry average."

The U.S. mining industry in 2009 saw its safest year in the history of American mining with 18 deaths. Prior to Monday's explosion, two deaths had been recorded for 2010.

Cabinet moots inter-faith panel to solve disputes

By Debra Chong - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The Cabinet has finally agreed to form an inter-faith panel to foster religious understanding and harmony disturbed in the past few months by bigots and the controversial “Allah” ruling.

The Malaysian Insider understands the Cabinet, under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had earlier this year appointed Datuk Ilani Isahak to bring religious leaders to the table in an attempt to peacefully iron out conflicts.

The idea for an inter-faith panel was first mooted in the early 1980s but was spiked following objections from Muslim groups such as the Islamic Development Department, better known by its Malay acronym Jakim.

According to sources, the objection was because an inter-faith council would place Islam, the nation’s official religion, on equal footing with the other religions.

Various attempts have been made to revive the idea over the years, but have come up against a wall, until now.

A former Kota Baru MP, Ilani who is now with the religious affairs division in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), was handpicked to head the inter-faith panel. She was a member of the National Unity Advisory Panel under the Abdullah administration.

Ilani declined to comment on the issues raised when first contacted by The Malaysian Insider but promised to do so later. She did not specify when.

Religious representatives who have spoken to Ilani told The Malaysian Insider that she is very tactful and sympathetic to the non-Muslim communities on their problems which have been piling up over the years.

Reverend Hermen Shastri, secretary-general of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) greeted the Najib administration’s latest overture with cautious optimism.

He noted that rise of inter-religious disputes pitting Muslims against the non-Muslims in the last few years over a number of issues, most notably burial rights and conversions.

One of the most bitter controversies is the case of kindergarten teacher, M. Indira Gandhi, a Hindu who is battling her Muslim-convert ex-husband, Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, for custody of their youngest daughter.

While a civil High Court in Perak had earlier this month awarded the mother custody of 22-month old Prasana, a Syariah high court had granted custody to the father.

The inter-faith panel first met last February 12 after a spate of street protests and attacks on houses of worship following the New Year’s Eve High Court ruling over the use of the word “Allah” showed the need for all religious groups to face the problem straight on.

Although the “Allah” issue is before the courts, some 28 religious leaders, including Muslim officials from Jakim and the Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) were present at the first talk to discuss the disputes.

Suggestions were made then to split the main panel into several smaller committees to better manage the disputes, namely: religious conversion; places of worship; burials and cemeteries; proselytisation; and use of religious terminology.

Another idea mooted was to set up an action team comprising respected civic leaders who could immediately step in, in an emergency, to deal with conflicts on the ground.

Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) president Reverend Thomas Philips, said the inter-faith committee will be meeting again today for the Cabinet’s feedback on the various proposals made.

Review power, toll deals, wages for NEM

By G. Manimaran - The Malaysian Insider
Bahasa Malaysia Editor

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The government must review power and toll concessions, and also introduce a minimum wage, if it wants Malaysia to be a high income nation under the New Economic Model (NEM), an economist said last night.

Bank Islam chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin urged the Najib administration to make an in-depth review of the toll concession and Independent Power Producers (IPP) contracts, saying both were direct burdens to the people.

“The consumers’ expenses have a big potential ... where it can be generated to contribute to the country’s growth,” he told an NEM forum organised by the Dewan Bahasa Pustaka (DBP) here.

The government last week unveiled the NEM to turn the country into a high-income nation and do away with subsidies and rent-seeking practises while ensuring affirmative action was needs-based.

But Azrul Azwar said there were direct methods to achieve the NEM aims.

“I propose that the government review concessions for the highways and IPPs so that the people won’t be burdened with regular hikes every two to three years,” he said, adding a minimum wage policy would also accelerate the NEM goals.

The economist said both his suggestions would go towards reaching the NEM target of raising the per capita income from US$7,000 (RM22,628) to US$15,000 by 2020.

Statistics show that some 80 per cent of the workforce has only SPM-level certificate which limits income potential and Azrul Azwar said any hikes would adversely impact workers.

“When there is a price hike, workers will feel the rise in cost of living and will be careful in spending money,” he pointed out.

But the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) chief executive officer Dr Mahani Zainal Abidin said she could only agree to a minimum wage policy if the employers are given the mandate to sack workers who fail to meet productivity targets.

Mahani also said not all developed countries subscribe to a minimum wage.

“There are countries who do not follow the minimum wage system, including Singapore,” she said, adding there should be a salary hike mechanism agreeable to the government, employers and workers.

“For me, a minimum wage is possible with conditions,” said Mahani, reiterating the need for productivity targets and the employers’ right to dismiss workers who do not meet such targets.

Demands for the government to have minimum wage policies and review the concessions have cropped up over the years since it embarked on a privatisation programme in the 1980s particularly for tolled road projects where rates are adjusted annually and hikes implemented every three years.

In cases where there are no toll rate hikes, the government will have to compensate the toll concessionaires directly.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said last month that the first phase of a toll road rate restructuring programme has been completed and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is in talks with the toll concessionaires and other quarters over the matter.

Nor Mohamed said the government was looking for the best mechanism to ensure the restructuring exercise will not impact on the low-income groups.

State power utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) last year proposed the government to review the power production agreement with the IPPs to ensure it benefits the people.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh had said that any savings from a renegotiation of rates with the IPPs would lead to lower tariff rates for the consumers.

NEM: whose child?

Is the New Economic Model a private venture that will eventually evaporate into thin air?

By Liew Chin Tong (MP Bkt Bendera)

That seems to be the case in view of the parliamentary reply by Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop to my question late evening on Thursday 1st April 2010.

I asked Tan Sri Nor while he replied questions raised by MPs during the debate of the Motion of Thank to the Royal Address why wasn’t the New Economic Model and the Report by the National Economic Advisory Council be tabled in Parliament.

The Report by the NEAC was first made public at the Invest Malaysia Conference on last Tuesday 30th March 2010 at Shangri-la Hotel after the speech by the Prime Minister to the Conference. It was made available online subsequently.

However, up until this very moment, it has not been tabled in Parliament.

The NEM is touted by government propaganda as the most important policy initiative since the implementation of the New Economic Policy forty years ago.

It is only fair that it is debated in the parliament as it is the highest forum of the country supposedly representing all Malaysians.

To my surprise, Tan Sri Nor replied that

“Model Ekonomi Baru …adalah sebuah dokumen yang disediakan bukan oleh kerajaan, oleh NEAC dan diserahkan kepada kerajaan. Jadi, tidak ada locus standi untuk kerajaan membentangkan laporan itu ke dalam Dewan…”

“Laporan itu bukan satu laporan kerajaan, bukan seperti Rancangan Malaysia Kesepuluh yang kita bawa ke Parlimen. Ini bukan laporan kerajaan.”

I am confused, as many Malaysians would.

The Malaysian public has been bombarded with news and comments relating to the New Economic Model for at least the past two weeks.

Suddenly, we were told that it is merely a view of private advisors not endorsed by the Government. Something is very wrong here that the Government must address immediately.

Liew Chin Tong

Rais: Allegations against mainstream media baseless

(NST) PUTRAJAYA: The opposition and media channels they back, including some websites and blogs, have been pushing for the mainstream media to be sidelined only because their lies had not been entertained.

Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said allegations that the mainstream media tended to spin its articles to suit the government's agenda were baseless, as truths reported often did not augur well for their own agenda.

"If a mainstream media does not publish or broadcast their point of view in full, it does not mean that democracy is crumbling.

"The opposition now has its own newspapers and blogs and you can see they don't even have one good thing to say about the government of the day.

"They even ridicule something as novel as 1Malaysia," he said when asked to comment about an email circulated widely over the Internet calling for a one-day boycott of the mainstream media yesterday.

The chain email, which appealed for support, claimed that there would be "greater things to come" in the boycotting process.

Universiti Teknologi Mara Faculty of Communications and Media Studies' Professor Dr Mokhtar Muhammad said mainstream newspapers in the country still played the crucial role of nation-building via its thorough coverage of the government's agenda and policies that served the interests of the people.

'To say that the mainstream media which joined forces with the nation in the struggle to attain independence is irrelevant today is unacceptable, as they remain the mainstay public reference for information.

"They are one of the main and reliable channels where the people could learn of what and how the ruling government is charting ways for the country to move forward and so on.

"Mainstream newspapers play a role of more than disseminating news. They help readers to gain knowledge, including good language."

He said repeated attempts by the anti-mainstream media propagandists to label the mainstream media biased could also backfire as the public would in turn see that the alternative media was on its own, serving their masters in its reporting.

Mokhtar also said the society could not distance itself from the mainstream media as even those disinterested in political reportage would still seek newspapers for other types of news that they believed were reliable.

Ampun Tuanku, Patik mohon bersembah…

In the recent linking of 1Malaysia with 1Israel and the bashing of MPs all around in Parliament over this issue, I am truly sad to see that valuable time, money (you know, they get paid to JUST be in the house) and resources are wasted over unnecessary conflicts.

By avancc

I don’t give a damn if our 1Malaysia concept is borrowed from 1Israel. If it works well for us, what’s wrong with borrowing ideas? But the main issue here is not about copying ideas. It’s about putting IMPORTANT NATIONAL INFORMATION INTO THE HANDS of foreign powers who may manipulate it at wish as and when it could be utilized. In simpler terms, OUR LEADER COULD BE SELLING OUR COUNTRY TO A FOREIGN POWER! NOW WHO IS BEING DERHAKA?

It hurts me more seeing that we do not “sell” our national secrets to them. We PAID them to TAKE our secrets! And it’s OUR money these people are using to pay them with. Talking about betrayal, talking about business, talking about profits; this is totally beyond understanding. Why would anyone with a straight mind pay someone else to break into one’s own house? Unless of course he has some bigger plots behind the scene – like making an immense insurance claim. And what is the likeliness of him continuing to do so when it has been revealed that he hired the man to break into his house?

I still cannot understand the reason the company is hired. Up until now, they have not denied taking the services. Yet, they do not enlighten us on what the foreign company does for them. So our leaders are hiding truths from us. If not for Malaysia Today, we wouldn’t even know, no matter how long we waited, even up to our graves. Putting that aside, what bothers me more now is:- Do we really need to pay so much of our money to profit foreigners (who could even manipulate us in return) to play with our secrets? Does Malaysia’s political, social and economic situation justify the need to hire them? If we need people to re-make our country’s image, to rebuild our reputation, why not just do the straightforward thing?

1) Do what you preach – really improve your performance, and prove that you really are serious in the changes (this is the more direct, and straightforward method. And it is the most effective).
2) Hire local people of caliber to handle each task, and not based on rank, or relationship. Just look at our education sector. For so many years, what improvements has it promised? Look at the government offices, what services are shown? Look at the power supply in Johor, or the Telco services we are having. And just recently, look at the arson events. What did the home minister do? With such people being promoted to be in charge, you will still fail even if you hired the best consultants in the world. SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU NEVER HEEDED SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD ADVICE AND DO THE VERY OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE PEOPLE NEED. So your performance can be cosmeticized, but it will still remain an illusion. The moment people wake up from that illusion, you are doomed.
3) If you cannot find local people of such capabilities, SEND THEM TO BE TRAINED. AND ENSURE THEY RETURN WITH WHAT THEY SHOULD KNOW by setting up rules, and tests and tasks to assess them. THEN ONLY CAN YOU CALL THAT “PERFORMANCE NOW”. I’m sure the courses would not cost as much as the prices you are now paying for foreign PR services.

As the MPs and relevant people still refuse to take action, or even respond to the issue, I am hoping that our Royal Rulers would read this. Your minister is giving away your country, and paying them at the same time. Are you going to just sit there and wait for your (as well as our) country to fall apart?

Ampun Tuanku, beribu-ribu ampun, sembah patik harap diampun. Tuanku, hati patik tergores melihat situasi Negara Tuanku. Adalah harapan patik untuk berjasa, and menyumbang tenaga kepada Negara. Namun dalam situasi begini, patik sekalian tidak akan dapat berbuat apa-apa kalau Tuanku juga tidak bersuara, kalau tuanku tidak menghalang rahsia Negara kita jatuh ke tangan kuasa asing. Hati patik hampa kalau Negara kita semakin mengundur. Bagai digores pisau sakitnya, Tuanku. Ampun Tuanku.

Suspicion and anxiety greet Adenan's comeback

By FMT Staff

KUCHING: Adenan Satem has returned to the Sarawak Cabinet after an absence of six years, and not everyone is happy.

The controversial politician assumed his new duties last Friday following a state cabinet reshuffle announced last March 25.

He is now Special Advisor to the Chief Minister, holding the status of a state minister. He is also in charge of information and broadcasting. That is a powerful position indeed, and is cause for concern and uneasiness not only to ambitious politicians, but also to the Ibans, whom he has insulted more than once.

Adenan, who is the state assemblyman for Tanjong Datu, was once tipped to replace Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, but fell out of favour with the latter in 2006 and spent the next four years in cold storage.

Before that falling out with Taib, he was a rising star and his detractors sarcastically called him the Raja Muda of PBB.

Many are asking why he is coming back. Does Taib really need an adviser? Or is he being groomed once again to take over the leadership of the party? What is so special about Adenan?

Only Taib knows the answers.

The one thing that is certain is that his comeback has caused uneasiness among supporters of Abang Johari Tun Openg, Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang and Awang Tengah Ali Hassan. The former two are deputy presidents in PBB. Awang Tengah is senior vice-president.

The supporters of these three have been going around in the past few months talking openly about the possibility of one of them replacing Taib, who looks frail and unhealthy after an operation.

As Taib has not named his successor, any of the three would be eligible to take over should any thing happen to the chief minister.

Thus the sudden re-appearance of Adenan is not only going to add to the number of contenders, but is likely to cause anxiety to them and their supporters.

A cut above

Compared to the three, Adenan is noted for his shrewdness and has all the experience and qualities that put him a cut above. He has had held various portfolios in the state administration, including Land Development (1987-1992) and Social Development (1992-1998).

In 2004, he left the state cabinet and joined the federal cabinet as Natural Resources and Environment Minister. He resigned in 2006, hoping to replace Taib, but Taib refused to step down even though he had already promised Adenan he would do so. And this led to the fallout between them.

As for the Ibans, they are worried about Adenan making a comeback because he was at the centre of the notorious Balai Ringin land dispute when he was Assistant Minister of Land and later Minister of Land Development between 1987 and 1992.

Several lots of Iban-owned land at Balai Ringin were given to new owners who ostentatiously went to collect their titles in expensive cars.

In the Supply Bill 1989 debates in the state legislature, Adenan used such expressions as agitators, trouble-makers, land plunderers, pseudo-champions and racists to describe the Ibans.

Following violent protests by land owners, the government had to return the land to their original owners. But the damage to the government’s image had been done.

As if labelling the Ibans with unsavoury names was not enough, Adenan also poked fun at their ritual chanting whenever he addressed a gathering by starting his address with “Oha, oha, oha.”

He might have been innocent of the religious implications, because such expressions are used only when Ibans start their sampi (prayer) or bebilau (miring ceremony).

Adenan stopped the mocking in his addresses only after he was told by an Iban PBB leader that the expression was used by the Iban lemambang (bards) to call on their gods to come down and eat the offerings, probably out of fear. When gods come down and find no offerings, they will get angry; so they will turn on the caller and eat him up.

Adenan paid the price for his blunders when the Ibans in PBB turned against him in his contest for the post of PBB deputy president against Abang Johari in 1998.

Courting the Ibans

By now Adenan must have learnt a lesson or two. Without Iban support, he may not be able to become the president of PBB, and even less likely to be an effective chief minister.

He knows their support is crucial.

Nevertheless, the Ibans are still worried over Adenan’s appointment, for it may worsen the already knotty tussle between the state government and the Native Customary Rights land owners.

“The Ibans cannot forget,” says a political observer.

Nurul Izzah slams Rosmah's 'insincere' offer

By Stephanie Sta Maria - Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar has issued a challenge to first lady Rosmah Mansor to build a Pusat Permata Negara (PERMATA) centre in Hulu Selangor even if PKR wins the by-election.

Rosmah, who is Permata policy executive committee chairman, said that a PERMATA centre had been planned for the district to provide opportunities for rural children to receive a good education.
She also claimed that the plans have been temporarily derailed following difficulties in acquiring land and securing a suitable premise.

Utusan Malaysia, however, reported that Rosmah only planned to set up the centre if BN won the Hulu Selangor seat. This has led to Nurul Izzah slamming the plan as 'insincere' and 'a clear sham'.
“Benefits aside, the mere fact that it's tied to BN's win smacks of political meddling,” she told FMT.
“Its disgraceful when politics seeps into early childhood education. I challenge the first lady to put words into action instead of strategically mentioning this plan just weeks before the by-election.”

“PERMATA has been allocated RM20 million to provide early education facilities and aid to all districts. It shouldn't be manipulated as a means to political victory,” she said.

Rosmah had also said that the other options under consideration include using the Jabatan Kemajuan Masyaratkat (KEMAS) premise as a centre.

Nurul Izzah pointed out that this would be the obvious solution because the KEMAS premise had been recently upgraded
.
“The first lady has cited unavailability of land as an impediment to setting up the centre when it already has a ready premise.

“The main issue here is securing a location not building a new one. I urge the government to put the children's welfare ahead of its political or personal gains,” Nurul Izzah said.

Harapan - Haris Ibrahim

Is that KJ unabashedly displaying SABM’s “Semua anak kita, ngapa harus beza?’ T-shirt?

What gives?
Click the image to find out

Perception vs fact in the judiciary

"FOR any decision, the losing party will say it's unfair, the winning party will say it's fair," says Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi. He says as people tend to root for the underdog, decisions favouring the government tend to be viewed as a result of government bias.
In the second and final part of an exclusive interview on 26 March 2010, the chief justice shares his views on the Judicial Appointments Commission, the courts' role in upholding human rights, and what he intends to achieve in his 17 more months in office.
TNG: Do you feel the setting up of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) went far enough in improving the appointments process of judges?
It's not for me to say. The decision to establish the JAC was the government's decision. They consulted the judiciary, we gave our views and they made this decision.
So you would not like to comment on whether there should be a representative from the Bar Council, or whether the process should be more independent?

No, I don't want to comment on that. The government passes the law, we implement it. If the government wants our opinion, we give it.
Has it been working well, and has it improved the judicial appointment process?
I think so. As I said in my address at the opening of the legal year 2010, I feel the responsibility on my shoulders as chief justice regarding the appointment of judges is lighter. They passed the JAC Bill before I became chief justice.
Formerly, appointments were between the chief justice and the prime minister. Now, I act on the JAC's advice. So my work becomes much easier.
Even with the JAC, we're not always sure whether our recommendations to the prime minister are right or wrong. Only time will tell whether we have selected the right people.
Are you able to comment on whether most of your recommendations have been taken up?
The JAC has rejected a few of my recommendations. I cannot go into the details. Do not assume that the JAC members are easy to deal with. They have their own views.

Even assuming the [four serving judges] are unanimous in our recommendations, convincing the other four independent members — Tan Sri LC Vohrah, Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Datuk Seri Ainum Mohd Saaid and Tan Sri Steve Shim — is not easy. They ask a lot of questions. They want to know the nominees' background, how many judgements they have written, how many unwritten, the quality of the judgement, all sorts of things. We also provide samples of judgements for them to read.
But one thing they don't go into is whether the judge has decided for or against the government. That, they don't ask.
How about recommendations to the prime minister?
So far, there has been no issue with the prime minister.
Do you think the courts have stepped back from their previous stance on issues of human rights, especially in relation to freedom of religion and assembly?
It would be better to ask the academicians. I shouldn't comment on this. As a [sitting] chief justice, I cannot. If a case comes before us, the facts might be different, and we might decide differently [from what I state here]. But the public might perceive that I have [been inconsistent].
Are you able to comment on whether the courts have a role in upholding fundamental liberties?
Yes, no doubt, it's been going on for many years. During the war, the Emergency, with ISA (Internal Security Act) detentions, people still bring habeas corpus applications to court. Why? How I view it is because they still have confidence in the court. Not many applications succeed, but I released two [detainees] a few months ago. I found that their detention was unlawful.

So the courts should be the last bastion where people come for their rights to be protected?

Yes, it must be. Last week, someone challenged the Datuk Bandar's decision. The Datuk Bandar argued that we cannot [review] his decision. We said, no, they're wrong. So we dismissed the Datuk Bandar's appeal. If the Datuk Bandar is wrong, he's wrong, there's nothing we can do.
But the perception of bias is still there. Not only in Malaysia, but all over the world. People always want to fight for the underdog. If the underdog wins, people say the court is fair. If the court decides against the underdog, it's wrong. But the law is the law, whether there is a beggar or multi-millionaire before us, the law is applied equally. The only difference is perhaps a multi-millionaire might be given a higher fine, so they feel the pinch. That's about it; otherwise it's the same.
You have about one and a half years left before you retire. What would you like to see done during this time?
One is to clear the backlog. It's improving, but it's still there. It'll take another one or two years to clear. Even then, the lawyers complain. They say, "Justice hurried is justice buried." But now, as I said, they're quite happy with it. Clients are happy because their cases are proceeding.

Marshall (Wiki commons) The second thing is, the little perception of bias that is still left. It would be good to get rid of that perception. (Singapore's former chief minister) David Marshall once said in the 1970s, "I do not know of a single judge or magistrate in Malaysia and Singapore who is corrupt." When you read that, you feel very proud. If we can go back to that status, and I feel confident we can, that would be good. Not free from financial corruption, but also free from political influence.
I must stress, if at all, it is only perception. I would deny there is any bias in favour of the government or in favour of the party in power. The losing party will continue to accuse. But I ask the lawyers, read the cases, analyse them. Ask the academicians who can give their honest view, without any interest one way or the other.
If you don't know the law, if you are not a lawyer, you can say a lot. I bet 90% of the people who comment on blogs are not lawyers.
Is it only lawyers who can comment on the judiciary?
The lawyers are the ones who can analyse whether the judges' reasoning is reasonable or not.
It's very difficult for anyone to say whether a decision is right or wrong. Because for any decision, the losing party will say it's unfair, the winning party will say it's fair.

But shouldn't people have a right to comment?
Of course you can comment. But if someone who doesn't know the law makes a comment, [what if] another person comes along and reads it and assumes it's the truth?
I've stopped reading blogs because I think it's full of rubbish. But there was one blog I read, [there were one or two statements made], but the third statement was a total error. Completely false. After that, the fourth comment onwards started commenting on that untrue statement.
By the time you get to the tenth statement, it says, "Zaki is a very bad guy." I can't remember what the exact issue was. My point is, people pick up things and they write whatever they like, without any basis, whether maliciously or innocently because of ignorance. The next person goes, "Oh ya..." and then it continues from there.
New South Wales
Spigelman (Public domain) Chief Justice (James) Spigelman said in 2006: "Most of us can only truly serve the public interest by maintaining a level of toughness in the face of those rages and enthusiasm. That is not to suggest that what we do is above criticism and cannot profit from public debate. It is just that so much of what passes for debate is ill informed, formulaic and unhelpful." I think this statement truly reflects my views on bloggers who comment on cases without knowing the background.
But is there room for reasoned comment?

Of course. Read the academicians' articles. They criticise judgements all the time. There were certain issues. We all thought the law is already quite established. Then a lawyer comes along and says that law is wrong, we should consider it in different ways. And we are ready to listen to the reasons; maybe he [or she] is right.

From PERKASA to pekasam?

by Azly Rahman

I am following with interest the development of the collaboration between non-governmental organisations and political parties. I try to analyse the role of local NGOs and international NGOs viz-a-viz the parties they augment or even sabotage.

In a free country such as Malaysia, we will see more of the interplay between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forces as they deal with angelic or demonic political groups.

It is not easy to read this as we members of the public are always presented with perceptions in this endless game of invented realities. I wish Malaysians are by now well-equipped with the skills of critical media analysis and in political economics to engage in intelligent discussions on the politics of the day.

How would one read the media hype over Perkasa? How might one read Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s patronage of this interesting group? How about the pledge by the retired and aged Umno leader to uphold the struggle on the rights of the Malays? How do these go with the neverending story of the present regime to hold on to power as the 13th general elections greet us?

The image of Perkasa and its members brandishing the keris must have terrified Malaysians again – as if there is no repentance, remorse, and shame in the way the Malays conduct their war on perception. I feel that these constructed set of Malays are merely an embodiment of a crude image of an insignificant and diminutive group, disengaged from the larger group of Malays that are now global, cosmopolitan, and multicultural in its outlook.

The image of Perkasa is akin to a propped up image of Hang Tuah made of marshmallow.

At a time when 1Malaysia seems to be desperately promising the gradual phasing out of all race-based political parties, a return to multicultural Malaysian Malaysia, and a close monitoring of hate-groups and fascist-leaning NGOs, Perkasa seems to be an organisation which need not have to be born.

At a time when the people of Malaysia are more aware of the decades of race-based divisive politics that has made the concept of tolerance and unity daunting, Perkasa might be perceived as a fermentation of the concept of ketuanan Melayu. In other words, it is a pekasam, as the Malays themselves would call it – a ferment that is offensive in smell to those who loves good things in life, and a great and addictive delicacy for those who love fermented food.

Perkasa a tool

In an age wherein NGOs are fashionable creations to carry out whatever that political parties cannot achieve and NGOs can help do with good funding, Perkasa is a perkakas or an instrument/tool of parties that are pushing the ketuanan Melayu agenda desperately – to what conclusion we are yet to see. As many NGOS can be created – 10s. 100s, 1000s, etc. – the more the louder – although not necessarily making the argument for racial superiority more intelligent.

In an age wherein Malays are now questioning everything – themselves, truth, religion, government, media, and even their “Malayness” – NGOs like Perkasa are an easy target for the philosophical reflection of Malayness.

These days Malays are asking: who is Perkasa and will it be an embarrassment to the image of the progressive and thinking Malays? How much will it cost to create a Perkasa ? would be another question, Malays in general might ask.

As a keen observer of Malaysian culture, I am interested in seeing the process of fermentation and fragmentation of the Malaysian mind as a consequence of the interplay between technology, culture, and politics.

The level of consciousness of Malaysians in the early 1970s is different than now, 40 years later. It is not easy to incite violence based on truncated race-based arguments on who owns this or that and how many percent of the economic pie should that be. Today, it is the classes of this or that race that determine the nature and structure of poverty and wealth.

It is the mainstream media controlled by the ruling parties that are still primitive in analysing the causes of the wealth of Malaysians. It is the controlling interests behind the production of perception that are still creating conditions of poor visibility in telling Malaysians what actually is the nature of stratified society they are in.

“The centre cannot hold/things fall apart,” as the poet William Butler Yeats once wrote – verses that can aptly describe what is happening in Malaysian politics as we witness the age of uncertainty dawning upon us. But maybe in the case of Perkasa we are seeing it fermenting after all, into a pekasam wherein the image of Hang Tuah, the immoral historical-obedient fool in the court of Malacca, is slowly becoming uglier as in the portrait of Dorian Gray, slowly melting as in a propped up marshmallowed-mannequin in all its uselessness of the semiotics of ketuanan Melayu – an assertion of idiotic pride and an anti-thesis to Umno’s own 1Malaysia, a slogan that is desperately in need of blind followers.

May this nation be spared of hate groups.

Pendatang

Apco: PAS gesa Majlis Raja-Raja campurtangan

Najib left out Indians in 44 areas

By Athi Shankar - Free Malaysia Today

GEORGE TOWN: Pro-Barisan Nasional diehard supporters among Malaysian Indians showered lavish praises over the past few days on Najib Tun Razak’s one-year rule as the country’s sixth prime minister.

Some claimed that the Malaysian Indians were happy with the Najib administration and predicted that the community would flock back to BN after deserting the coalition virtually en bloc in the last general election.

It would not be an overstatement to dismiss such claims as a frivolous hope of desperation rather than a viewpoint of ground reality, if Human Rights Party (HRP) assessment of Najib’s rule is anything to go by.

HRP pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar slammed the Najib administration for excluding Malaysian Indians from 44 areas of national mainstream development.

Uthayakumar said Najib's propagation of the “IMalaysia” concept was contradictory to the Umno-dominated Putrajaya administration’s racist, religious extremist and supremacist national policies, which continue to omit the Indian community on a day-to-day basis.

“Najib’s first 14 days as prime minister was reflective of his one-year rule,” he added.

Uthayakumar said when he first took office, Najib attempted to placate the anger of the two-million strong minority Indians in the country by releasing Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) lawyers.

However, since then, he said Najib’s government had only carried out pro-Malay Muslim action plans, leaving out the much-maligned Indians, majority of whom needed the government’s assistance to compete with others on equal footing.

'Most racist country'

Uthayakumar said Malay-Muslim absolute poverty rate was reduced from 50% in 1957 to 1.8% in 2008 through the New Economic Policy.

But after 53 years, he alleged that about 90% of Indians remain impoverished.

As an example, he said the government allotted RM1 billion for TV digital broadcast, but did not set aside a single sen to drag out Indians from poverty.

He added that the federal government had spent billions over the years to upgrade the education standards of Malay-Muslims, including millions spent to buy seats in world-class universities in Cambridge and Oxford.

“But Tamil schools remained deprived of government funds,” he said.

Uthayakumar alleged that 1,000 foreign Muslim medical officers were hired to work in the country, but Malaysian Indians with medical degrees from India, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Indonesia were not recognised.

He pointed out that Indians are deprived of job opportunities and career growth in the public sector.

Unlike Malay-Muslims, he said Indians were denied equity and operational licences to own and manage foreign-owned hypermarkets, petrol stations, fast-food franchise outlets, the lucrative highway R&R stalls and EON sales outlets and service centres.

He said Indians were not issued scrap metal, car wash, taxi, heavy lorry, bus and limousine permits.

“If the government had been fair, the Indian crime rate would reduce by 90%,” said Uthayakumar, an outspoken advocate of working class Indian rights in the country.

He said about half a million foreigners, mostly from Muslim countries, were employed in various sectors, depriving Indians of skilled job opportunities.

He said Malaysian Indians, including many newborns, were denied birth certificates and identity cards, leaving them to rot stateless.

Citing many cases, he said the community was being continuously denied of government welfare aid, business soft loans, agro-land, technology training, education funds, religious rights, housing and many more.

“Najib’s Malaysia is today the most racist country in the world after apartheid ended in South Africa some 20 years ago in 1990,” said Uthayakumar in an email today.

UMNO’s affirmative action stays under NEM, but Indian poor still excluded

UMNO’s affirmative action stays under NEM, but Indian poor still excluded

The New Straits Times on 5/4/2010 headlines reported affirmative action stays. But policy will be more merit-based, says Prime Minister.

But the Utusan Malaysia headlines on 5/4/25010 reads “ Dasar afirmatif kekal. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak memberi jaminan kerajaan tidak akan menghapuskan polisi tindakan afirmatif (yang membantu bumiputera) tetapi melaksanakannya dengan adil dan telus.”

Malay-sian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the government will not do away with its affirmative action policy but will carry it out in a fairer and more transparent manner to improve the lives of Malaysians in the bottom 40 per cent of the population..

We have read such headlines many times before but it has never been put to practice. We estimate 70% of the Malaysian Indians are either in the hardcore poor or poor category.

This would effectively mean that 70% of the Malaysian Indians would be in this bottom 40% that Najib had announced.

Najib, as the very first step in furtherance of his transparency pledge should admit all the 817 Tamil school pupils who had scored all 7As’ in UPSR a place the elite Maktab Rendah Sains Mara and fully residential schools which has 12,440 places. Why not 817 places for these poor Tamil school pupils who have in any event excelled academically anyway with 7As? whereas Malay students only take a maximum of five subjects.

Then and only then will Najib be taken seriously to implement all the other critical Indian problems.

P. Uthayakumar

PKR S’gor M.B grants 108 Chinese ex mine workers land. Zero land for estate workers.

PKR S’gor M.B grants 108 Chinese ex mine workers land. Zero land for estate workers.

PKR Selangor Menteri Besar grants land to 108 ex Southern Kinta Consolidate Bernam (Chinese) mining workers at Hulu Selangor (Sinar Harian 4/4/2010 at page N4). We are happy for the Chinese mine workers.

But for the thousands of Indian estate workers who had been promised houses under the Estate Workers Housing Scheme, PKR despite over two years of rule in Selangor has, yet to fulfill this promise. The other Indian housing settlements like Kg Bengali, Rawang being the clearest example has been denied freehold land titles. Race matters in PKR’s state policies. But otherwise PKR, DAP and PAS all preach multi-racialism and accuse Hindraf of having a racist agenda when they raise issues such as these. Why?

Because Indians are soft targets with no or very little political power. This very same Sinarharian two months ago reported a Hindu cemetery being demolished and the bones scattered all over. There is zero solution from Pakatan.

The only thing PKR wants from the Indians are their votes. PKR, DAP and PAS not interested in this and scores of the other Indian problems.

P. Uthayakumar

Click the image to enlarge

UMNO’s Hulu Selangor, MIC Mandore’s wayang kulit: curtain is up for PKR, DAP and PAS abandons IC & BC solving Secretariat at their State Secretariats.

UMNO’s Hulu Selangor, MIC Mandore’s wayang kulit: curtain is up for PKR, DAP and PAS abandons IC & BC solving Secretariat at their State Secretariats.

The Sinar today (29/3/2010 at page S 25) carries the MIC Mandore’s 53 year old wayang kulit, supposedly dishing out Mykads’, welfare help and free clinics by the mobile National Registration Department, Welfare Department and the clinic. This wayang kulit drew 300 participants.

Only 10 Indians without Identity Cards were merely identified, let alone the same being solved. What about the estimated 150,000 Indian children nationwide who have been denied their birth certificates and another 300,000 of their parents who have similarly also been denied their Identity Cards cum Malaysian citizenship?

Critics from both sides of the political spectrum in UMNO for 50 long years repeatedly warned us about raising these “sensitive issues”.

And now the ex-17 year UMNO Opposition Leader joins the bandwagon but accuses Hindraf and HRP of their ‘racist’ agenda. Raising instances of injustices and discrimination is considered ‘racism’?

Malaysia is about the only country in the world where the struggle against racism is deemed to be racist even by the supposed “multiracial” Anwar Ibrahim. A struggle for a place under the Malaysian sun is deemed racism by Anwar Ibrahim. But this very same Anwar Ibrahim has zero records of condemning UMNOs’ worst forms of racism because he would lose Malay votes.

Anwar Ibrahim, DAP, PKR and PAS could practice non racism but they won’t. For example he could for a start direct the PKR Selangor State government to open up a Birth Certificate and Identity Card solving Secretariat with one Director five Regional Heads of Department, Ten Managers, twenty supervisors and 100 staff within the State Secretariats in Selangor, Penang and Kedah and under the direct supervision of the Menteri Besars and Chief Minister with the view to solve this 53 year old problem created and allowed to compound by UMNO.

These state governments could undertake the task to liaise and if need be take the Federal UMNO government to court in seeing to it that the denying of BCs’ and ICs’ by UMNO is put to an end at least in these three P.R ruled states. This would in effect mean that about 40% of the 150,000 and 300,000 BC and IC problems could be solved. But Anwar Ibrahim his PKR, DAP and PAS would not undertake actions against these UMNOs’ injustices. Because the victims are merely the soft target Indians with no or very little political power.

So now who has the racist agenda, Anwar Ibrahim, PKR & DAP, or HRP and Hindraf?

Karunai Nithi @ Compassionate Justice

Hulu Selangor Hindu cemetery demolished at will but Chinese muslim and Christian cemetery preserved

Pray tell us of one Hindu cemetery that looks even remotely like in the photo above in The Star 5/4/2010 at page T 6 22.

Unlike the economically powerful Chinese, almost 90% of the Indians are in the poor, poor or low income group and thus they cannot afford to buy up land like for the Chinese cemeteries. Similarly the Christian Muslims cemeteries are almost as well maintained and preserved.

But when it comes to Hindu cemeteries, they are demolished at will. The latest being the Ladang Batu Pekaka Hindu cemetery by the PAS Kedah government. Similarly the PKR Selangor state government demolished the Hulu Selangor Hindu cemetery two months ago (posted herein) and SinarHarian reported that bones were found scattered around. Of course almost all of the Hindu cemeteries were historically given by the British for the Hindu communities use unlike for the muslim cemeteries these land for Hindu cemeteries were never alienated nor gazetted accordingly.

The duty and responsibility to maintain cemeteries in any country is with the local authorities and or the state governments. But only in Malay-sia the local authorities push the buck back to the Hindus to maintain their own cemeteries while the muslim cemeteries are maintained by the government or their agencies.

Even with the two over year rule of Kedah, Penang and Selangor all these Hindu cemeteries have still been denied state government land and refused to be maintained. These Hindu cemeteries are meant to be temporary by both UMNO/BN and also by the PKR/DAP and PAS. Where then is the change promised by PKR, DAP and PAS? As it stands it is clear that they only want the Indian votes and not Indians problems.

P. Uthayakumar

MIC Attack Dogs strike Business Consultant

Monday, April 05, 2010

A prominent Maika holding shareholders crusader, S Nadaraja, was pounded by MIC attack dogs yesterday at a meeting attended by Samy Vellu at Sungai Cho, Rawang.

Two Tamil dailies – Makkal Osai owned by Subramaniam and Tamil Nesan owned by Samy Vellu – provided entirely different version of the incident.

makkal osai

According to Makkal Osai Tamil daily, Nadaraja was savagely attacked when he questioned Samy Vellu on the status Maika Holdings.

“I’m a shareholder of Maika Holdings. The management is cheating the share holders by not having annual general meetings for the last three years. Samy Vellu is the founder and it is most appropriate to question him. That’s what I did”, Nadaraja apparently told Makkal Osai.

“Since 1984, Maika Holdings is in terrible state. They (Maika Management) don’t have the courtesy to explain to the share holders. Is it wrong to ask about my shares? When we ask, they come and whack us”, Nadaraja added.

Maika Holdings was an investment arm of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) started two decades ago, collecting money from impoverished plantation workers, with the hope of increasing Indian equity in Malaysia but the founder Samy Vellu, President of MIC and his son Vell Paari siphoned the bulk of the wealth and also hijacked lucrative projects offered by the government leaving the poor plantation workers further impoverished.

This was not the first time business consultant Nadaraja having an encounter with Samy Vellu.

Samy Vellu’s mouthpiece Tamil Nesan on the contrary branded Nadaraja as a rabble-rouser who often creates commotions at Maika AGMs.

The daily said, Nadaraja tried to attack their photographer and also used vulgar words that provoked Samy Vellu supporters to respond.

According to a source, former senator Ravichandran led the confrontation. Soon he will be rewarded with some other appointments.

Using violence against Samy Vellu Opponents is not new in MIC.  Many MIC members do that to please Samy Vellu who will not fail to reward them.

Deputy Minister Saravanan, former youth chief Vickneswaran and current youth chief Mohan Thangarasu are in that category.

Only, a week ago, Central Working Committee member K P Samy was confronted by Samy Vellu’s henchman Tharmalingam, former Portklang Authority (LPK) forklift driver, at Klang MIC divisional meeting.

This henchman Tharmalingam is a board member of Portklang Authority.

Meanwhile, sources said, Nadaraja filed a police report.

Scant details in new tender portal raise questions

By Lee Wei Lian - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Less than a week after its launch, the government’s new MyProcurement tender portal has come under criticism for its lack of details which makes it difficult for the public to justify some of the tenders that have been awarded.

One of the tenders is a contract to build a RM78 million hostel in Terengganu for 200 students that was awarded to Rafa Sepakat Sdn Bhd, a number that has flabbergasted some industry players.

“It works out to be about RM390,000 per student and my first impression is that you might as well buy each student a link house,” one developer told The Malaysian Insider. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

“But at least the government is brave enough to put the information out there for people to comment.”

He added that the most important thing is the specifications of the hostel — the size, whether there are canteens, swimming pools, libraries and so on.

“If it really works out to be RM390,000 per student, it must be absolutely luxurious,” he said. “But we need to know the specifications to judge. You can tell people you bought a car for one million but if you get a Mercedes S500, then it is ok. A normal hostel should typically cost only around RM50,000.”

Another developer told The Malaysian Insider that a hostel for 200 students should only cost about RM10 million.

The MyProcurement portal (myprocurement.treasury.gov.my) does not reveal detailed tender specifications, and this has already given rise to criticisms from the opposition.

Other tenders that could potentially raise questions are a RM6.5 billion deal to supply the army in Perlis, Kedah and Penang with food, and a RM42.9 million deal to supply lifeboats to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

Without knowing how the number of soldiers that need to be fed and the unit cost of each lifeboat, it will be difficult for the government to justify the expense.

In comparison, the Singapore governemnt’s tender portal (www.gebiz.gov.sg) contains a short and long description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price and total award value, and names and numbers of key ministry contact people, all of which are missing from MyProcurement.

The Singapore portal also allows the public to drill down into the various tenders and quotations to find the address of the winning bidders — whether it is a contract to renovate a hostel or to provide instruments to the school orchestra.

DAP MP Tony Pua today questioned MyProcurement’s accuracy and told reporters in Parliament today that the MyProcurement Portal launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last week severely lacked data “to make informed judgments with regards to a particular contract award.”

“While the value of (the RM6.5 billion) contract for food items would have certainly raised eyebrows, I’d like to believe that there are some decimal point errors involved,” said Pua.

Parliament Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said that the objective of the portal is transparency and if it was not sufficiently apparent, the pubic should demand more transparency and clarifications.

“If it is still not transparent, then people should demand,” Azmi, who is also the Umno MP for Padang Besar, told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.

“Weaknesses should be improved. The government needs feedback and it is up to the public to make suggestions. The portal was put up by civil servants and sometimes they don’t see things from the public’s perspective,”

MyProcurement is part of the Najib administration’s effort to introduce greater transparency in government tenders as part of its efforts to reform the economy and make it more competitive.

“In line with the government’s aspiration to eradicate corruption, we made fighting corruption one of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). Among the areas emphasised is the improvement of transparency and integrity in the government’s procurement process,” said Najib in his speech at the launch last week.

While some of hailed measures such as MyProcurement and say that it is a “good first step”, Pua criticised it saying that it has not gone far enough as the GTP roadmap called for all procurement contracts to be disclosed publicly, including directly negotiated contracts, which had not been adhered to.

“Therefore Datuk Seri Najib’s response towards publishing information of contracts which have been awarded without any tenders that they will not be made publicly available is most disappointing, and raises strong doubts as to whether he has the political will to carry out the necessary reforms to wipe out rent-seeking and patronage which is so entrenched in our government procurement system,” said Pua.

Matthias Chang admitted to Serdang Hospital

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Matthias Chang (picture), who opted to go to jail rather than pay a fine for contempt of court, was admitted to the Serdang Hospital today after going on a hunger strike.

A spokesman at the hospital, when contacted by Bernama, said Chang was admitted to the emergency ward at 11.59am before being transferred to the normal ward at 1.12pm.

The former political secretary of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s fourth prime minister, was reported to have gone on a hunger strike after he was taken to the Kajang Prison to serve a month’s jail in default on April 1, following his refusal to pay the RM20,000 fine for the contempt offence.

According to a statement posted on Chang’s website on Saturday, Chang had stated that he would persist with his hunger strike until judge Noor Azian Shaari stopped her alleged biasness in her dealings with litigants, and the authorities involved agreed to review legislation concerning punishment for contempt of court (Order 52 of the Rules of the High Court 1980).

Chang, 60, was cited for contempt on March 25 when he refused to apologise after a spat with Noor Azian and a lawyer during cross-examination in his breach of contract and defamation suit against American Express (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. — Bernama

Clarify laws on Orang Asli rights, govt urged

By Marc Jitab

KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer has blasted the government for its lackadaisical attitude when it comes to respecting the rights of the Orang Asli. He said both the federal and state governments were guilty.

Anthony Augustine, who heads the Bar Council's Orang Asli Affairs Committee, said the government needed to set up a body of legal experts to tend to Orang Asli concerns or else their representation in court would remain poor.

He complained that laws were not being clarified to match what the courts had ruled on the question of native land rights.

He said: “The highest court in the country respects natives' land rights; so why can't the government?"

Augustine was the legal adviser to the Task Force on Orang Asli Land Rights under the now ousted Pakatan-led Perak government.

He said Perak had been at the forefront of Orang Asli protection ever since it passed the Orang Asli Protection Ordinance in 1939, the first such law enacted in Malaysia.

“When they enacted the National Land Code in 1965, they must surely have known about Act 134, the Aboriginal Peoples Act in 1954," he said.

“So again, the government did not catch up.

"The government says, 'We want to give you this land.' But the Orang Asli are saying, 'You cannot give us this land, because you can't give us something that is already ours. Just recognise our right over it.'”

'Case of failed integration'

Unity, it appears, has emboldened the Orang Asli of late. The different tribes once thought of themselves as separate from one another, but the common banner of "Orang Asli"' has done much to augment their voice.

Augustine said "the best thing" that had happened to the indigenous peoples was the decision to call themselves "Orang Asli" instead of each identifying only with his tribe.

With this in mind, they formed the Perak Orang Asli Village Network, and the idea has been adopted as well in Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor.

Citing the recent protest at the Prime Minister's office, Augustine said it was important to note that the Orang Asli had stood on a common ground to demand their rights, not only over land, but also education, health, infrastructure and employment.

“And this is very important," he said. "After 52 years, there is yet to be an Orang Asli who heads the Orang Asli Affairs Department and this is clearly a case of failed integration.

“It's not that they are incapable of doing so. They are able to coordinate themselves well, as we have seen in Putrajaya two weeks ago, as well as in all the Orang Asli NGOs that have sprung up all over the country.

“The Orang Asli do not have many issues between themselves. Their issues are with external forces. Therefore, external forces like civil society should empower them and bring out the focal point of their struggle, which are land rights, education and employment.

"Their cultural heritage and tradition must be given support to flourish.”

Battle continues: Subra flays 'desperate' Samy

By FMT Staff

FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: The never ending feud between MIC president S Samy Vellu and S Subramaniam has resurfaced once again as the clock ticks down for the Hulu Selangor by-election.

The public spat comes at a crucial time, and could prove to be a detrimental factor in the by-election where MIC deputy president G Palanivel is expected to contest.

Palanivel, with the blessings of Samy Vellu, had defeated Subramaniam and another candidate S Sothinathan in the battle for MIC's number two post last year.

In a statement today, Subramaniam expressed anger over articles appearing in the Samy Vellu family-owned Tamil Nesan daily which implied that he and his supporters are undermining Palanivel's chances.

He said the articles, penned by anonymous writers, had a “sinister and ulterior political motive to sow the seeds of hatred and animosity among MIC and Barisan Nasional supporters”.

“These articles only go to show Samy Vellu’s desperate attempts in conspiring to find scapegoats and plausible reasons now itself in the event MIC is defeated in Hulu Selangor.

“Instead of using the by-election as an opportunity to unite the different factions in MIC to win the seat, Samy Vellu has created further animosity between supporters of MIC leaders, thereby damaging BN’s chances of securing a victory,” he said.

“He knows that a defeat or the failure of BN to secure Indian votes would only point to his failed leadership in MIC as he has lot of answering to do on the highly publicised scandals in Maika Holdings Bhd, MIED and Aimst University and on the attempts by some private individuals to hijack the prized assets of MIED.

“Despite all his failures and setbacks, Samy Vellu still wants to be the sole campaigner in Hulu Selangor on behalf of MIC and is clearly making a frantic attempt to save his leadership,” he added.

Subramaniam said the MIC president of three decades is worried that a possible defeat would accelerate his departure from MIC.

Two-pronged attack

According to the former MIC deputy president, Tamil Nesan had launched a two-pronged attack against him and his supporters.

“The first is that I am behind the moves which call for the Hulu Selangor seat not to be given to MIC or to Palanivel again.

“Everyone knows that these calls came from Umno and its leaders and the reasons cited by them clearly explain that MIC and its leadership are not in a strong position to win back the seat,” he said.

“These Umno leaders claim that a weak MIC, whose popularity among the Indian community is at its lowest today, is the reason why the seat should be given to Umno,” he added.

Subramaniam said by implicating him with the statements of Umno leaders, Tamil Nesan is insulting the intelligence and political wisdom of these Umno leaders.

“Even before the candidate is announced, is it necessary to start such a controversy on Palanivel in Hulu Selangor? Will it help the voters to support a BN candidate? Does Samy Vellu want to deny knowledge of this despicable act of Tamil Nesan which is in fact causing damage to BN’s chances in Hulu Selangor?” he asked.

Instigating independents

Secondly, Subramaniam said the daily also accused him of plotting Palanivel's defeat by instigating independent candidates to contest in the April 25 by-election.

The MIC leader said as of today, three individuals have publicly delcared their intention to join the fray as independent candidates.

One of them is former Hulu Selangor MIC division chief V Chandran, a former staunch ally of Palanivel, who was recently expelled from the party.

The second is Malaysian Indian Youth Council president A Rajaratnam while the third is T Ananthan, a former Tamil Nesan employee who failed to win a Central Working Committee (CWC) position in the last MIC elections.

Citing a recent interview, Subramaniam said both Chandran and Ananthan have declared that they want to “teach Samy Vellu a lesson”.

Subramaniam said Tamil Nesan had also implicated him in a report published today.

“While reporting about a ceramah by Samy Vellu in Hulu Selangor which was disrupted by one Maika Holdings shareholder S Nadarajah who raised the Maika Holdings issue, the paper took pains to link me with Nadarajah.

“People cannot be hoodwinked as everyone knows that Nadarajah has more than a 10-year history of feuds and court battles with Samy Vellu over the Maika Holdings issues,” he added.

Meanwhile, Subramaniam said the daily had also insinuated that he worked against Samy Vellu in the Sungai Siput constituency during the 2008 general election to engineer the defeat of the MIC president.

“I wish to point out here that when such insinuations and allegations on Sungai Siput appeared in Tamil Nesan a few months back, I had categorically denied them and filed a legal suit on this matter against Tamil Nesan which is pending hearing,” he added.

Constable: I saw Navindran hitting Kugan

PETALING JAYA: A constable told the Sessions Court here today that he witnessed accused constable V Navindran hitting car theft suspect A Kugan, who died while in police custody.

K James, 27, from the Subang Jaya police headquarters, who was then on duty guarding Kugan at the Taipan police station, said Navindran entered the interrogation room where the suspect was held after he and a colleague came out.

He said he was on duty from 4am to 8am on that day (Jan 16, 2009) and that Navindran had come to the station to be updated on the latest developments concerning the theft of luxury cars in which Kugan was alleged to be involved.

"Navindran came in at 7am. I then went out to get a drink at a nearby shop with my partner and assumed Navindran was on the 8am shift.

"When I came back, I headed back to the interrogation room and suddenly heard screams coming from inside it," he said.

James said he and his partner quickly rushed into the room and that was when they saw Navindran hitting Kugan.

"I tried to stop him by holding his hands and ordered him to get out of the room.

"Kugan whose hands were cuffed at the back was trying to avoid the blows by turning left and right," he said.

Asked by deputy public prosecutor Azlina Rasdi as to how Navindran hit Kugan, James said he noticed Navindran was holding a rubber hose when he tried to restrain the constable.

James, who is the prosecution's 15th witness, was testifying in the case of the death of Kugan in police custody on Jan 20, 2009.

Navindran, 28, had pleaded not guilty on Oct 1, 2009, to a charge of causing grievous hurt to Kugan, 23.

He is charged with committing the offence at the interrogation room of the Taipan police station, USJ, Subang Jaya, at 7am on Jan 16, 2009.

He has been charged under Section 331 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of 10 years and a fine upon conviction.

Navindran also pleaded not guilty to two alternative charges of causing hurt to Kugan at the same time and place under Section 330 of the Penal Code.

James, who is now attached to the Ampang Jaya police headquarters, further testified that he did not record in the station's diary as to what transpired on the grounds that Kugan did not make any complaints.

"I did ask him if he was okay and Kugan replied that he did not feel any pain or experienced any injury.

"We then told Kugan, who was dressed in lock-up clothes, to rest for a while after finding there were red marks at the back of his neck," he said.

When cross-examined by defence counsel Datuk P M Nagarajan, James told the court that he was not sure if he noticed Navindran bringing in the rubber hose into the interrogation room.

He also said Kugan did not experience any bleeding as result of the alleged assault.

The hearing before Judge Aslam Zainuddin continues tomorrow.

- Bernama

Najib, a tightrope he treads

By RK Anand - Free Malaysia Today

COMMENT A politician thinks of the next election, a statesman thinks of the next generation, said James Freeman Clarke.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who inherited a bruised and tattered coalition from his predecessor, has just celebrated his 365th day in office.

Even before he sat behind the desk that he was groomed for since his youth, Najib was haunted by the spectre of a beautiful woman, so brutally murdered.

Despite his repeated denials, swearing on the Quran, and the authorities finding no concerete links, the spectre refuses to be exorcised, no thanks to the opposition which never fails to remind the people not to forget that macabre episode.

Najib's reputation was dealt a blow, and no coffeeshop chatter about the premier is complete without mention of that lady who was blown up, and how the blood trail leading to Putrajaya was supposedly covered up.

Then again, the public has always been insatiable when it comes to conspiracy theories, no matter how far-fetched it might be.

A media muzzled by their political paymasters as well as a police force and judiciary perceived as being under the thumb of the government, ensure that more coal is shovelled into the furnace of speculation.

C4 explosives and seared flesh aside, Najib had, like his predecessor who promised to net the big fish swimming in the ocean of corruption, made many grand promises after taking oath of office.

Among them is to foster greater unity and a sense of oneness.

However, his critics claim that he has yet to make good on his words, apart from some cosmetic changes, a dab of lip gloss here, and a shade of mascara there.

Even his 1Malaysia brainchild is on the verge of becoming a victim of infanticide, with the opposition casting aspersions on who the real father is. According to Anwar Ibrahim, the DNA matches that of an US-company conceived, born in Israel, concept.

Soon after that, another onslaught was unleashed, with Najib's deputy finding himself trapped between a rock and a hard place with the challenge – race or nationality first?

Stuck in a difficult position

But this is not about whether Najib has delivered or not, but rather why it would be difficult for any individual in his shoes to walk the talk within the ambit of the existing political framework in Malaysia.

Lest we forget, a prime minister is also human, and like us, he too is ambitious and avaricious.

A prime minister is a man first. He does not descend from heaven, cast in a mould of all goodness. Just like the rest, he is susceptible to the very same desires and trappings of this material existence, the difference being that his shortcomings become public because of the public office he holds.

A prime minister is a politician second.

So he has to stratergise his moves carefully. For him each sunset heralds a new chess match, where the pieces have to be moved tactfully in order not to please one segment at the expense of peeving another. Simply put, he walks on a tightrope, balancing precariously between victory and defeat.

His vision pours forth through a pair of vote-tinted glasses. Every child kissed, every hand shook, every donation given and every event graced ultimately boils down to the ballot box.

In the Malaysian context, Najib is Umno president second.

This is indeed a difficult position to be in, when helming a multiracial nation. He is forced to play the role of a “political racist” in his party and a “political non-racist” elsewhere. He is constantly confronted with the problem of – do away with this, and risk raising the ire of one group, keep it in place, and incense another.

Throw religion into the equation, and the situation becomes dicier.

Like a ringmaster, Najib runs a collosal circus. He has to juggle the clowns, who provide comic relief at the expense of the coalition's credibility. The mighty elephants, which he must tame and make kneel at his command. And the lions, which grudgingly partake in the show and into whose jaws, he must insert his head.

In a world that is becoming increasingly globalised and borderless, the Barisan Nasional political structure remains entrenched in the dark ages, and politicians from its race-based parties are struggling to justify their existence.

As one wise man pointed out, racism in this country is institutionalised, constitutionalised, legalised and politicised to the point that it would take an herculean effort to reset the minds of her denizens.

And this is not only with the Malays, he noted. Have a Chinese or Indian prime minister, and the same thing would happen in reverse.

Simply because, no matter what Lim Kit Siang might thunder, for the majority of Malaysians it is still Malay, Chinese, Indian and whatnot first, and Malaysian second. (Not taking into account the sub-ethnic divisions within the ethnic divisions.)

Perkasa, boon or bane?

Imagine the likes of Perkasa, which some allege has been sub-contracted by Umno to tread where others fear to tread under the 1Malaysia sky, taking centrestage before a backdrop of towering skyscrapers, mammoth shopping malls, Formula One races and fancy nightclubs.

Malaysia, it seems, exists someplace between progressive and regressive. To quote the succint description of another wise man, it is a land with “First World infrastructure, Third World Mentality”.

Deviating a little, is Perkasa doing the Malays a service or disservice? Special privileges and NEP are the clarion calls of this pressure group.

But what pride is there in winning a rat race when the triumphant ones are given a headstart?

In the end, the system spawns generation after generation of rats who train to run a certain distance, while the rest train to run the entire length, giving the latter rodents a significant edge in the international circuit, while the former becomes complacent in the absence of true competition.

As noble as the intentions might be, the affirmative actions have only benefitted a few, while a sizeable portion of the Malay community still grapples with trying to make ends meet, a clear indication that the policy has been abused.

Perkasa should instead empower the Malays with the confidence that they can win the race on their own accord, and therefore work harder to discard the so-called “crutches”. They must be transformed into a race which realises that it is “special” not because of the letters in the constitution, but because of merits.

But such a scenario would not bode well for the politicians, for when the “crutches” are dumped into the bin, so would the leaders who provided them. And when the logic of politics is applied, it is easier to lord over those who limp than those who run.

Struggling to stay afloat

Rocked by the waves of such a complex and delicate political framework, Najib's 1Malaysia is struggling to remain afloat.

To his credit, Najib had recently proposed direct membership into BN in order to increase its multiracial composition, which must have left his component party leaders squirming uncomfortably in their seats.

It is a small step, but nevertheless one taken in the right direction and Najib should be lauded for this.

Anything bolder, and Najib runs the risk of stoking discontent in his party and coalition, ultimately paving the way for certain forces to bay for his blood. Some claim this is already happening.

For those who wish to see more radical reforms, do cut him some slack. He is after all, man first, Umno president second, prime minister third.

Happy anniversary and God Bless, Mr Prime Minister.

Ibrahim Ali: Gerakan parti tin kosong

Wong Shu Qi, Merdeka Review

Presiden Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA), Ibrahim Ali menyifatkan Gerakan sebagai parti tin kosong, kerana tidak mempunyai perwakilan dalam parlimen, malah perlu bergantung kepada saluran perlantikan senator untuk masuk ke dewan parlimen.

Ibrahim Ali (gambar kiri) juga menuduh bahawa Gerakan heboh membuat kenyataan kontroversi untuk mengembalikan sokongan masyarakat Cina kepada dirinya.  Dari kaca mata ahli parlimen Pasir Mas yang "bebas" ini, Gerakan berbuat demikian demi kepentingan politik dirinya kerana parti komponen BN ini sedang bersaing dengan DAP.

"Tapi, itu sudah terlambat," sindir Ibrahim Ali yang "bersimpati" kepada Gerakan.  Beliau berkata, "Saya bersimpati kepada Gerakan.  Mereka sekarang ni parti kosong, tin kosong.  Mereka tidak mempunyai perwakilan dalam parlimen, perlu bergantung kepada perlantikan senator (untuk masuk ke parlimen)."

Setelah diingatkan bahawa Gerakan masih mempunyai dua orang ahli dewan rakyat yang terpilih dalam PRU ke-12, Ibrahim Ali berkata, "Ya, mereka mempunyai seorang dua, tapi itu tak cukup, mereka masih memerlukan senator untuk mempertingkatkan bilangan kerusi mereka."

Biar rakyat menilai
Sebelum ini, Ketua Wira PERKASA, Arman Azha Abu Hanifah mendesak agar Naib Presiden Gerakan, Teng Hock Nan dan Timbalan Setiausaha Agung Pemuda MCA, Low Chew June meminta maaf berikutan tuduhan mereka terhadap PERKASA sebagai NGO yang bersifat perkauman, di samping mempertikaikan kenyataan bekas PM, Mahathir Mohamad ketika merasmikan Mesyuarat Agung Pertama PERKASA.

Walau bagaimanapun, kedua-dua Teng dan Low (gambar kanan) enggan meminta maaf.  Ketika mengulas isu ini, Ibrahim Ali memberitahu MerdekaReview, "Terpulanglah kepada mereka untuk memohon maaf atau tidak.  Rakyat akan menilai siapa yang betul.  Akhirnya, orang tahu Tun (Mahathir) adalah rasis atau tidak."

Ibrahim Ali memberi amaran, "Mereka akan kehilangan lebih sokongan.  Sokongan Cina tu penting, tetapi Melayu juga penting.  Mereka perlu menjaga tingkah laku mereka.  Kalau mereka terus dengan kenyataan kontroversi sebegini, mereka akan kehilangan lebih sokongan!"

PM memahami PERKASA
Selain itu, Ibrahim Ali juga menghargai kenyataan Perdana Menteri, Najib Razak bahawa PERKASA bukan kumpulan ektremis.  Ibrahim Ali berkata, "PM memahami PERKASA dengan baik.  Saya amat gembira dengannya (kenyataan PM).  Kerana beliau seorang Perdana Menteri, beliau tidak berkata sesuatu sesuka hati beliau, beliau semestinya mempunyai laporan, mendapat maklum balas, kemudian barulah berkata kepada rakyat."

Of course Perkasa is not so extreme, when compared to Najib

“Perkasa is not so extreme, if you listen to them carefully. They can shout about Malay rights as long as they are not extreme in their views, and you know, to the extent that we can accommodate Perkasa. And we can accommodate also the non-Malays as well”,

Najib is quoted in this Malaysiakini report as having said this in an interview aired on Al-Jazeera.
Najib might have a point here.
He did not say ‘not extreme’, but ‘not so extreme’.
All very relative.
In a post here on 18th June, last year, I had written :

“Was Najib at the UMNO youth rally on 17th October 1987?
Yes.
Was he leading that rally?
He was then acting UMNO youth chief. I’d say yes.
Did he raise the keris and issue words to the effect that the blood of the Chinese would be spilled?
Don’t know.
Even if he did not, was he not leading  a rally that had on display enough paraphanelia that spelt out the threat to spill blood of a particluar segment of our Malaysian community without the need for Najib or anyone else to vocalise it or brandish weapons?”



Sure, Ibrahim and Mahathir Kutty were recently seen prancing around on a stage, wielding keris like a bunch of pansy school boys, but no-one has reported them making any threats to spill the blood of any particular community.

Compared to what ole pink lips has threatened to do, and is said to have done, Perkasa are pussycats!
Posted by Haris Ibrahim

Rakaman Wawancara Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim Di LSE,18 Mac 2010

KL May Okay Sports Betting

From Straits Times
By Leslie Lopez, Senior Regional Correspondent

Allowing gaming concession will raise revenue for govt, but it faces potential backlash
THE Malaysian government, facing its most serious budgetary crisis in decades, is leaning towards allowing gaming tycoon Vincent Tan Chee Yioun to revive a potentially lucrative gaming concession.

Government sources and financial executives close to the businessman said Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration has agreed in principle to allow Tan Sri Tan, who controls the Berjaya Group, to proceed with the concession, which permits nationwide ‘off site’ sports betting.

But the government could face a potential backlash from the predominantly Muslim population, they added.
‘The economic rationale for allowing this is very compelling, but the PM has to weigh the political fallout because the opposition will have a field day,’ said a government official close to the situation. Mr Tan, one of Malaysia’s most politically well-connected businessmen, declined comment.

Bankers close to the businessman said that he had been actively lobbying the government for the past six months to allow him to activate his licence.


He told the government that it was losing hundreds of millions of dollars in foregone tax revenue to illegal betting syndicates.