Court strikes out former ruler's petition

The New Straits Times
by V. Anbalagan

PUTRAJAYA: A final legal challenge to contest the proclamation of Sultan Muhammad V (Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra) as Kelantan ruler by his father in the civil court has come to an end.

Federal Court judge Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sherif, who led a three-man bench, struck out Tuanku Ismail Petra Sultan Yahya Petra's petition.

Tuanku Ismail, meanwhile, was unrepresented.

Lawyer Sunil Abraham, who represented Sultan Muhammad, said they had, on Jan 28, informed the petitioner about yesterday's proceedings.

"We sent a copy of the respondent's (Sultan Muhammad) submission on the striking-out application," Abraham said.

Veteran lawyer Raja Aziz Addruse and legal firm Messrs Rashid Zulkifli, had discharged themselves from representing Tuanku Ismail last month.

Abraham said yesterday that the petition filed by Tuanku Ismail Petra last September was no longer sustainable as the conduct of Sultan Muhammad was not a matter for the Federal Court to decide.

"The petitioner has no locus standi to institute action under the Kelantan Constitution," Abraham said.

He said the proper forum was the Special Court, provided the petitioner had obtained consent from the attorney-general (A-G).

"The petitioner has not obtained the consent of the A-G to institute the present proceedings against the ruler," he said.

Sultan Muhammad was proclaimed ruler on Sept 13 last year following his tenure as regent after his father (Tuanku Ismail) was incapacitated from May 2009.

Tuanku Ismail had earlier filed two petitions challenging Sultan Muhammad in his capacity as regent on grounds that he had appointed new members to the state council of succession and had acted beyond his powers as stated in the state constitution.

However, on Nov 26 last year, the Federal Court dismissed the petitions and gave its opinion that a regent, once appointed, enjoyed and assumed the powers of a sultan.

Raja Aziz Addruse and legal firm Messrs Rashid Zulkifli had discharged themselves as the Federal Court had refused to fix the hearing date in mid-March as sought by them.

Lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail, who filed an affidavit in support of the application, said Tuanku Ismail appointed Raja Aziz and the firm to represent him.

Rashid said Raja Aziz fell ill during the course of the petition and was required to undergo treatment in a hospital in Singapore.

The treatment would be completed in early March.

‘Tiga artikel Raja Petra memfitnah peguam’

Berita Harian
Oleh Ahmad Johari Mohd Ali

KUALA LUMPUR: Mahkamah Tinggi semalam, memutuskan penulis blog Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin bertanggungjawab terhadap tiga artikel disiarkan dalam laman web Malaysia Today kerana ia mengandungi pernyataan yang memfitnah peguam Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi, Datuk John Louis O'Hara membuat keputusan itu selepas membenarkan permohonan Muhammad Shafee untuk mendapatkan penghakiman berhubung saman fitnah dikemukakannya terhadap penulis blog berkenaan.

Katanya, perkataan yang digunakan dalam tiga artikel itu dan ulasan orang ramai terhadap artikel berkenaan adalah bersifat memfitnah.

Beliau berkata, jumlah bayaran ganti rugi akan dinilai Timbalan Pendaftar kelak dan membenarkan kos guaman RM5,000 kepada peguam S Ravindran, yang mewakili Muhammad Shafee.

O’Hara berkata, sama ada Ravindran akan berjaya mendapatkan jumlah berkenaan bukanlah urusannya kerana Raja Petra diisytiharkan muflis.

Terdahulu, peguam Raja Petra, J Chandra membantah cadangan Ravindran supaya kos ditetapkan pada RM10,000, berasaskan kepada kedudukan anak guamnya kini seorang yang muflis dan tidak berada dalam negara.

Sehubungan itu, katanya, pihak terbabit perlu menanggung kos mereka sendiri seperti diperintahkan Mahkamah Rayuan berhubung hal-hal berkaitan saman itu. Permohonan peguam itu dibuat mengikut Aturan 14A Kaedah-Kaedah Mahkamah Tinggi 1980 bagi memutuskan isu berhubung fakta bahawa perkataan dan komen dalam tiga artikel didakwanya disiarkan Raja Petra di laman web Malaysia Today mengandungi unsur memfitnah.

Muhammad Shafee menyaman Raja Petra pada Ogos 2008 kerana mendakwa menyiarkan tiga artikel yang memfitnahnya pada 6, 7 dan 11 Ogos 2008 bertajuk ‘Shafee Abdullah: Extraordinaire Sodomologis’, ‘Wang, Kuasa Dan Seks: Apa Yang Memberi Kuasa Kepada Lelaki’ dan ‘Dalang Sebenar Di Sebalik Tuduhan Liwat Anwar,’ yang didakwa memfitnahnya.

Pada 13 Ogos 2008, Muhammad Shafee memperoleh injunksi sebelah pihak daripada Mahkamah Tinggi yang memerintahkan Raja Petra mengeluarkan artikel itu serta komen mengenainya daripada laman web berkenaan. 

Two Quakes Hit Indonesia's Celebes Sea

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 (Bernama) -- Two earthquakes, of magnitude 6.3 and 6.7 on the Richter Scale, occurred in the Celebes Sea of Indonesia at 10.39 pm and 10.42 pm, respectively, yesterday, the Meteorological Department reported.

It said in a statement the epicentre of the quakes was 351 km northeast of Manado in Indonesia and 532 km southeast of Kunak in Sabah.

"Tremors were felt in southeastern Sabah," it said, adding that there was no possibility of a tsunami.

Hosni Mubarak 'may step down'

Thousands thronged to Tahrir Square after the army's statement, in anticipation of Mubarak possibly resigning [EPA]

The Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces has met to discuss the ongoing protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak, the president.

In a statement entitled 'Communique Number One', televised on state television, the army said it had convened the meeting response to the current political turmoil, and that it would continue to convene such meetings.

Thurday's meeting was chaired by Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, rather than Mubarak, who, as president, would normally have headed the meeting.

"Based on the responsibility of the armed forces and its commitment to protect the people and its keenness to protect the nation... and in support of the legitimate demands of the people [the army] will continue meeting on a continuous basis to examine measures to be taken to protect the nation and its gains and the ambitions of the great Egyptian people," the statement.

The army's statement was met with a roar of approval from protesters in Tahrir Square, as tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters poured in. Thousands also gathered in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, our correspondent reported.

Earlier, Hassan al-Roweni, an Egyptian army commander, told protesters in the square that "everything you want will be realised".

Protesters have demanded that Mubarak immediately stand down as president.

Hassam Badrawi, the secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), told the BBC and Channel 4 News on that he expected Mubarak to hand over his powers to Omar Suleiman, the vice-president.

"I think the right thing to do now is to take the action that would satisfy ... protesters," Badrawi told BBC television in a live interview.

Ahmed Shafiq, the country's prime minister, also told the BBC that the president may step down on Thursday evening, and that the situation would be "clarified soon". He told the Reuters news agency, however, that Mubarak remained in control, and that "everything is still in the hands of the president".

However, Anas el-Fekky, Egypt's information minister, denied all reports of Mubarak resigning.

"The president is still in power and he is not stepping down," el-Fekky told Reuters. "The president is not stepping down and everything you heard in the media is a rumour."

State television has announced that Mubarak is due to deliver an address to the nation on Thursday night from the presidential palace in Cairo.

It also reported that Mubarak was meeting with Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, at the presidential palace.

'Witnessing history unfold'

Mahmoud Zaher, a retired general in the Egyptian army, said that Mubarak's absence from the army meeting was a "clear and strong indication that [Mubarak] is no longer present", implying that the Egyptian president was not playing a role in governance any longer.

In short comments ahead of a scheduled speech at Northern Michigan University, Barack Obama, the US president, said the US was watching the situation in Egypt "very closely".

"What is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold," he said, adding that this was a "moment of transformation" for Egypt.

"Going forward, we want ... all Egyptians to know that America will continue to do everything that we can to support an orderly and genuine transition to democracy."

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has played a key role in helping protesters get organised, said on the microblogging site Twitter on Thursday evening: "Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians."

He added shortly after, however, that protesters should "wait and see" before reaching any conclusions.

Jacky Rowland, our correspondent in Tahrir Square, described the atmosphere as "electric", with "standing room only" in the central Cairo area. She said that thousands gathered there were "celebrating a victory which has been anticipated, rather than actually achieved".

In Alexandria, Jamal ElShayyal, our correspondent, described the atmosphere as "festive and joyous".

Some opposition groups, however, have said that they are concerned about how Mubarak would hand power over to, were he to resign.

"It looks like a military coup," said Essam al-Erian of the Muslim Brotherhood, the banned but tolerated group which is the biggest organised opposition party in Egypt. "I feel worry and anxiety. The
problem is not with the president it is with the regime."

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Amin Eskander, the leader of the Karama opposition movement said that he believed that Mubarak would stand down. He also said that he was not concerned if power was handed over to the military for an interim period, as he said the army was working in the interests of the people.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, responded to reports that Mubarak may resign by saying that he hoped whoever replaced him would uphold Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, according to an Israeli radio report.

Labour union strikes

The developments come as the 17th day of pro-democracy protests continued across the country on Thursday, with labour unions joining pro-democracy protesters.

Egyptian labour unions held nationwide strikes for a second day, adding momentum to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo and other cities.

Al Jazeera correspondents in Cairo reported that thousands of doctors, medical students and lawyers, the doctors dressed in white coats and the lawyers in black robes, marched in central Cairo and were hailed by pro-democracy protesters as they entered Tahrir [Liberation] Square.

The artists syndicate and public transport workers, including bus drivers, also joined the strikes, our correspondents reported.

"It's certainly increasing the pressure on the government here," Al Jazeera's Steffanie Dekker, reporting from Cairo, said.

"I think it's worth making the distinction that the strikes going on are more of an economic nature, they are not necessarily jumping on the bandwagon of the protesters in Tahrir Square.

"Many of them are not actually calling for the president to step down, but fighting for better wages, for better working conditions."

Pro-democracy supporters across the country have meanwhile called for a ten-million strong demonstration to take place after this week's Friday prayers.

Hoda Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo, said that the mood in Liberation Square was "one of defiance, and if we judge by what is happening today, then I think ... many more people will heed that call and turn up".

She reported that some protesters had drawn up a list of demands beyond simply the exit of Mubarak. They included the formation of a transition government, which would include a council of presidents, representation from the army and well-respected judges, for the period of one year.

They demanded that parliament be dissolved and that a temporary constitution be put in place while a new one was drawn up by legal experts.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin in Cairo reported that at least five government buildings, including the governor's office and the office for public housing, were set alight in two straight days of riots in the northeastern town of Port Said. The situation in the city had calmed by Thursday evening, he said.

Protest investigation

Meanwhile, an immediate investigation has been launched and possible criminal charges could be brought against the senior officer who ordered the firing on protesters during protests on January 28 protests, Moyheldin said.

The ministry of interior also announced the sacking of the head of security in the New Valley governorate, Moyheldin said.

Also on Thursday, Mahmoud Wagdy, the interior minister, announced that the police were back at work on the streets of the capital.

Meanwhile, Suleiman, the country's vice-president, said on Thursday that his comments to American television station ABC had been taken out of context.

In his interview, Suleiman suggested that Egyptians were "not ready" for democracy. He had also earlier said that if protesters did not enter into dialogue with the Mubarak government, the army may be forced into carrying out a coup.

According to a statement released to a government news agency, Suleiman "emphasised that some sentences in his remarks ... were understood in the wrong way, especially his remarks regarding democratic transition in Egypt".

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said the death toll from violent clashes during protests has reached 302 since January 28.

Egypt's health ministry has denied the figures, saying official statistics would be released shortly.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Hindraf’s support for Anwar Ibrahim, PKR & PR only when Hindraf 18 point demands fulfilled in Kedah, Penang and Selangor. Indian mandore role rejected. HRP to go solo with Project 15/38 irrespective – P.Uthayakumar.

(Media Statement 10/2/2011)

Online newsreports and the Tamil media have in the last three days reported on whether Anwar Ibrahim will engage Hindraf in the next general elections.

For 50 long years an Indian mandore political party for personal gains sold out the Indian community to UMNO and gave on a silver platter for “free” some 90% of the Indian votes to UMNO/ B.N of which Anwar Ibrahim had once upon a time served as the No 2.

In the aftermath of the 25th November 2007 100,000 people Hindraf Rally, believing that PKR, DAP and PAS would “save” the Indian poor, Hindraf gave unconditional political directions and some 90% of the Malaysian Indians broke the 50 year pro B.N loyalist mindset, “turned turtle” and voted for PKR, DAP and PAS when P.R unprecedentedly won in five West Coast states (including Wilayah Persekutuan of Kuala Lumpur where P.R. won ten out of the 11 Parliamentary seats) and broke UMNO/BNs’ 50 year monopoly on their two thirds majority in Parliament.

But alas P.R was very little different from UMNO in particular in the three P.R. states of Kedah, Penang and Selangor and in their role vis a vis the Opposition benches at the Federal level.

Having come to power, P.R. refused to even address the land for all Hindu temples and cemeteries, all 58, 28 and 98 Tamil schools in Kedah, Penang and Selangor and Indian villages/settlements deemed squatters problem all in one go which they have 100% powers to deliver. This would in effect have solved half the Indian poor problems in at least Kedah, Penang and Selangor.

In a blatant act of betrayal, within months of coming to power the DAP Penang state government “ethnically cleansed” the defenseless Kg Buah Pala Indian poor, the last Indian traditional village in Penang.

What we regretfully saw in the post March 8th 2008 General Elections was in effect a continuation of the UMNO agenda of especially using the P.R. Indian mandores to circumvent addressing even the most pressing Indian poor problems. Thus HRP’s Project 15/38 as per P.Uthayakumar’s book “Indian Political Empowerment strategy – the way forward” which was launched on 19/7/2009.

For the records Hindraf and HRP had from the word go never asked from P.R. and neither were we offered any appointed positions like Senators, Directors of state G.LCs’, Councillors, Village Heads etc. Because our struggle ab initio was in the public interest Hindrafs’ 18 point demands and never the aforesaid showcase and showpiece Indian mandore positions or anything for personal gain.

And when P.R refuses to fulfill at least even one of Hindrafs’ 18 point demands in at least the three P.R ruled states are they going to do so when they get to Putrajaya? ….. is plain and obvious!

It is our unwavering political agenda to end UMNOs’ racist and supremacist 54 year old continuous grip of power. In the present circumstances we would very much like to support P.R. taking over the seat of power at Putrajaya and for Anwar Ibrahim to be the next Prime Minister. But we are not prepared to trust Anwar Ibrahim, PKR, DAP, PAS or PR with a “blank cheque” or a “rain cheque” for that matter to Putrajaya.

Neither will we take up the Indian mandores role in P.R a la MIC vis a vis UMNO/B.N. We want to be an empowered part of the decision making process at Putrajaya with the view to spearhead policy changes at the highest political level and to do so without fear or favour to at the very least undo the injustices having been inflicted on especially the Indian poor in over the last 54 years.

If Anwar Ibrahim rejects this our political agenda, we will be left with no alternative but to go solo with HRP’s Project 15/38. The least we ask is for P.R. not to be spoilers in these 15/38 seats but to make way for HRP in our common political agenda to oust UMNO out of the seat of power at Putrajaya.

Rights not Mercy.

_______________

P.Uthayakumar

Secretary General (Pro tem)

Now, Jakim to launch anti-Valentine’s Day campaign

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 — The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) will launch an anti-Valentine’s Day campaign tomorrow in a bid to curb youths from celebrating the occasion next Monday.

The campaign will begin with a talk called “Caution! Valentine’s Day trap” at Jakim’s headquarters in Putrajaya tomorrow night.

Campaign director Saimah Mokhtar told The Malaysian Insider that the campaign aims to remind youths of the danger in celebrating Valentine’s Day, a commercial festival that has its origins in the martyrdom of St Valentine, the Christian patron saint associated with lovers.

“We want the youths to not go, even remember or bother to take part in Valentine’s Day. It is not in the Malay or Muslim culture. It is against the teachings of Islam,” she said.

The Jakim family, social and community division director added that the campaign will remind them of the fatwa issued by the National Fatwa Council banning the celebration of Valentine’s Day for Muslims.

The ruling in 2005 said that the celebration has Christianity elements and the “practice is mixed with immoral acts contradictory and forbidden by Islam.”

“Muslims in this country no longer have any respect for the National Fatwa Council and we must remind them of the fatwa,” Saimah said.

She added that Jakim will distribute leaflets in universities on the dangers of Valentine’s Day, and mosques around the country will hold programmes for youths on that day.

Minister for Islamic Affairs Senator Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom also told reporters today that television channels should air programmes that will encourage Muslims to appreciate and respect the teachings of Islam on Valentine’s Day.

However, Jamil did not condemn plans attributed to PAS Youth to have a crackdown on Muslims during the celebration.

“We need to know how they are going to control. We don’t want a situation where there will be crowd problems which will cause the police to intervene,” he said.

PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hasan has come under fire from the leadership in his own party after he announced that state governments in Kedah, Kelantan and Selangor had directed the local authorities to work closely with the police and Rela to check on immoral activities that day.

He was quoted by the Agence France-Press news agency as saying that in Penang, PAS Youth would work with the state Religious Department to monitor the celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Nasrudin was quoted as saying that the programme was part of an attempt to promote a sin-free lifestyle among the public.

But Nasrudin told party paper Harakah today that the news agency had misunderstood his remarks and the respective state governments have their own authority to conduct their own plans against the celebration.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said Nasrudin had not been authorised to speak on behalf of the state governments, and pointed out that enforcement of Islamic laws were carried out independently by religious departments.

Khalid, who is also a member of the PAS national political bureau, also confirmed that Nasrudin’s remarks were personal views and had not been brought up during the party’s recent political bureau meeting.

DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) chief Loke Siew Fook also rejected the crackdown, saying that PAS Youth’s stand on Valentine’s Day celebration was not shared by other members of Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Ustazah: Don’t emulate ‘sinful’ Christians

A religious teacher has asked Muslims not to celebrate Valentine's Day, advising them not to emulate such Christian vices.

PETALING JAYA: An ustazah has asked Muslims to refrain from celebrating Valentine’s Day, urging them not to emulate the vices of Christians.
The ustazah, Siti Nor Bahyah Mahmood, 47, had made the remark during an Islamic educational programme aired on TV9, which is owned by the Umno-linked media conglomerate Media Prima.
A video-clip of the programme, posted on YouTube, had sparked off a raging debate. [watch video below]
Although the programme was posted about a year ago, it is only now the video clip is being widely circulated and posted in numerous blogs.
In the clip, Siti claimed that it was the Christians who normally indulged in vice, such as frequenting discos and dating.
“Selalunya buat maksiat, pergi disko… couple, couple, bersunyi-sunyian, ini adalah tradisi bagi masyarakat yang beragama Kristian bukan agama Islam…,” she had said.
The video, which had been viewed more than 80,000 times, also had the ustazah warning Muslims that celebrating Valentine’s Day would mean “supporting Christianity and the English”.
Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) president Thomas Philips said no religion should be belittled due to a lack of understanding.
“We should not belittle any religion just because we don’t understand it. Her comments were not in context as she wrongly understood that Valentine’s Day was a Christian festival,” he said.
“I believe we as a society are all matured and we know what’s wrong and what’s right. Christians know what’s right and wrong too.
“Valentine’s Day is a day where people express their love, I don’t see what’s wrong with letting people have that freedom. It’s all individual choices and we should be above all this,” he said.
‘This amounts to sedition’
Meanwhile, Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar said that Siti’s comments were uncalled for and insensitive.
“It borders on religious extremism and is borne out of a narrow minded view,” he said.
Uthayakumar also claimed that since it was aired on national TV, it meant that Siti’s comments were state sanctioned.
“We should not have a government that interferes with the rights of Malaysians to practice their own religion, we should not restrict Muslims from their private affairs.
“In Indonesia, where 90% of the 230 million population are Muslims, a girl can convert from Islam to marry a non-Muslim; but why are we different,” he asked.
Uthayakumar said that Article 5 and Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantee liberty of person and freedom of religion should be respected.
He added that if the Malaysian standard was applied on Siti, her comments amount to sedition.
“This does not augur well for the 1Malaysia policy that our prime minister is promulgating,” he added.

Mahathir is a liar, says Mohamad Sabu

A PAS leader says any detention beyond 60 days requires the endorsement of the home minister, who was none other Mahathir himself.

PETALING JAYA: Several opposition MPs trained their guns on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for attempting to absolve himself from any wrong-doings over the infamous “Ops Lalang” arrests in 1987.

Calling Mahathir a liar, PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu said the former prime minister could have released the detainees if he had wanted to.

“He was also the home minister then. I think he is trying to hide something,” said Mohamad Sabu.

In a book penned by Tom Plate titled “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad”, Mahathir blamed the police for the crackdown in 1987.

He reportedly said, “Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary…

“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone.”

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, however, took a swipe at Mahathir yesterday for trying to pin the blame on the police alone, accusing the long-serving premier of spinning untruths.

Lim was one of those detained in the crackdown.

In Mahathir’s defence, the-then inspector-general of police (IGP), Haniff Omar, told an online portal today that the crackdown was entirely a police decision and the former premier had actually opposed the arrests.

Dastardly act

Mohamad Sabu said though the law allowed the police to detain anyone under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for a maximum of 60 days for questioning, any extension after that requires the endorsement of the home minister.

“That is why I do not believe Mahathir’s recent statement at all,” said Mohamad Sabu, who was detained for more than a year.

Suaram director, Kua Kia Soong, sarcastically said it was good that finally Mahathir now seemed to be ashamed to be affiliated with the arrests.

“And he should feel so after more than two decades of trying to justify the dastardly act,” he added.

Kua, who was also a former detainee, took potshots at Haniff for absolving Mahathir from the act.

“What do you expect of a former IGP who, upon retirement, was prepared to walk straight into a corporation that makes its money from gambling?”asked Kua, referring to Haniff, a Muslim, working as a director in a casino in Genting Highlands.

He added that Mahathir had craftily pounced on the ignorance of his interviewee (Plate) that a two-year detention needed his endorsement as the home minister.

“If the interviewee had asked him that, neither Mahathir nor Haniff would be able to wriggle out of that,” said Kua.

In a text message to FMT, fellow detainee, Kepong MP Tan Seng Giaw admitted that he had met Mahathir a few days before the crackdown but it was to discuss other matters.

“He is ultimately responsible for the arrests as he was in charge then,” said Tan, who was detained for eight months.

Downright lie

Another detainee, DAP’s Karpal Singh meanwhile labelled Mahathir’s remark as “a downright and unadultrated lie”.

He stressed that the police had acted as directed by Mahathir.

“He should not forget that he personally signed the detention orders … blaming the police now does not speak well of his maturity and credibility as a former premier,” he said in a statement.

Karpal added that Mahathir’s lie was futher nailed by the fact that he (Karpal) was rearrested under the ISA after Mahathir himself had signed the second detention order.

“I would advise Mahathir not to, in his twilight years, to make a spectacle of himself by lying through his teeth. I would have thought Mahathir would have retired peacefully,” he added.

In October 1987, the government invoked the ISA to arrest over 100 people, including politicians and activists, to curb mounting political tension due to racial provocations.

Two dailies, The Star and Sin Chew Jit Poh, also had their publishing licence suspended at the time.

1Malaysia in name but not in deed

Despite the government's new catchphrase, racial and religious tensions are higher today than when Mr Najib took office in 2009. Indeed, they are worse than at any time since 1969, when at least 200 people died in racial clashes between the majority Malay and minority Chinese communities.

By John Malott (Wall Street Journal Asia)

MALAYSIA'S national tourism agency promotes the country as 'a bubbling, bustling melting pot of races and religions where Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony'.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak echoed this view when he announced his government's theme, 1Malaysia.

'What makes Malaysia unique,' Datuk Seri Najib said, 'is the diversity of our peoples. 1Malaysia's goal is to preserve and enhance this unity in diversity, which has always been our strength and remains our best hope for the future.'

If Mr Najib is serious about achieving that goal, a long look in the mirror might be in order first. Despite the government's new catchphrase, racial and religious tensions are higher today than when Mr Najib took office in 2009. Indeed, they are worse than at any time since 1969, when at least 200 people died in racial clashes between the majority Malay and minority Chinese communities.

The recent deterioration is due to the troubling fact that the country's leadership is tolerating, and in some cases provoking, ethnic factionalism through words and actions.

For instance, when the Catholic archbishop of Kuala Lumpur invited the Prime Minister for a Christmas Day open house last December, Ms Hardev Kaur, an aide to Mr Najib, said Christian crosses would have to be removed. There could be no carols or prayers, so as not to offend the Prime Minister, who is a Muslim.

Ms Kaur later insisted that she 'had made it clear that it was a request and not an instruction', as if any Malaysian could say no to a request from the Prime Minister's Office.

Similar examples of insensitivity abound. In September 2009, Minister of Home Affairs Hishammuddin Hussein met with protesters who had carried the decapitated head of a cow, a sacred animal in the Hindu religion, to an Indian temple. Mr Hishammuddin then held a press conference defending their actions.

Two months later, Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told Parliament that one reason Malaysia's armed forces are overwhelmingly Malay is that other ethnic groups have a 'low spirit of patriotism'. Under public pressure, he later apologised.

The leading Malay-language newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, prints what opposition leader Lim Kit Siang calls a daily staple of falsehoods that stoke racial hatred. Utusan, which is owned by Mr Najib's political party Umno, has claimed that the opposition would make Malaysia a colony of China and abolish the Malay monarchy. It regularly attacks Malaysian Chinese politicians, and even suggested that one of them, parliamentarian Teresa Kok, should be killed.

This steady erosion of tolerance is more than a political challenge. It is an economic problem as well.

Once one of the developing world's stars, Malaysia's economy has underperformed for the past decade. To meet its much-vaunted goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020, Malaysia needs to grow by 8 per cent per year during this decade. That level of growth will require major private investment from both domestic and foreign sources, upgraded human skills, and significant economic reform. Worsening racial and religious tensions stand in the way.

Almost 500,000 Malaysians left the country between 2007 and 2009, more than doubling the number of Malaysian professionals who live overseas. It appears that most were skilled ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians, tired of being treated as second-class citizens in their own country and denied the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, whether in education, business or government.

Many of these emigrants as well as the many Malaysian students who study overseas and never return - again, most of whom are ethnic Chinese and Indian - have the business, engineering and scientific skills that Malaysia needs for its future. They also have the cultural and linguistic savvy to enhance Malaysia's economic ties with Asia's two biggest-growing markets, China and India.

Of course, one could argue that discrimination is not new for these Chinese and Indians. Malaysia's affirmative action policies for its Malay majority - which give them preference in everything from stock allocation to housing discounts - have been in place for decades. So what is driving the ethnic minorities away now?

First, these minorities increasingly feel that they have lost a voice in their own government. The Chinese and In-dian political parties in the ruling coalition are supposed to protect the interests of their communities, but over the past few years, they have been neutered. They stand largely silent in the face of the growing racial insults hurled by their Malay political partners.

Today, more than 90 per cent of the civil service, police, military, university lecturers and overseas diplomatic staff are Malay. Even TalentCorp, the government agency created last year that is supposed to encourage overseas Malaysians to return home, is headed by a Malay, with an all-Malay Board of Trustees.

Second, economic reform and adjustments to the government's affirmative action policies are on hold. Although Mr Najib held out the hope of change a year ago with his New Economic Model, which promised an inclusive, affirmative action policy that would be, in his words, 'market-friendly, merit-based, transparent and needs-based', he has failed to follow through. This is because of opposition from right-wing militant Malay groups such as Perkasa, which believe that a move towards meritocracy and transparency threatens what they call 'Malay rights'.

But stalling reform will mean a further loss in competitiveness and slower growth. It also means that the cronyism and no-bid contracts that favour the well-connected will continue. All these send a discouraging signal to many young Malaysians that no matter how hard they study or work, they will have a hard time getting ahead.

Mr Najib may not actually believe much of the rhetoric emanating from his party and his government's officers, but he tolerates it because he needs to shore up his Malay base. It is politically convenient at a time when his party faces its most serious opposition challenge in recent memory - and especially when the opposition is challenging the government on ethnic policy and its economic consequences.

One young opposition leader, parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, has proposed a national debate on what she called the alternative visions of Malaysia's future - whether it should be a Malay nation or a Malaysian nation. For that, she earned the wrath of Perkasa, and the government suggested her remark was 'seditious'.

Malaysia's government might find it politically expedient to stir the racial and religious pot, but its opportunism comes with an economic price tag. Its citizens will continue to vote with their feet and take their money and talents with them. And foreign investors, concerned about racial instability and the absence of meaningful economic reform, will continue to look elsewhere to do business.

The writer was the US ambassador to Malaysia from 1995 to 1998.

Who’s lying, now?

Mahathir is blaming the police for the arrests of 106 under the ISA during Ops Lalang in 1987.
And today, ex-IGP Hanif Omar has come out to corroborate Mahathir’s claims, reports Malaysiakini.
“You can’t blame him. He is right. As a matter of fact, it was entirely the police’s decision. It was not his (Mahathir’s) decision. Mahathir was actually opposed to it… He was against Ops Lalang”,  Hanif is reported as saying.
In October, 2004, after he had been released from Sungai Buloh the previous month, after his appeal to the Federal Court in respect of his Sodomy I conviction was allowed, Anwar spoke at the Bar Council auditorium.
After he had spoken for about an hour, during Q&A, I reminded Anwar that in 1986, Musa Hitam had resigned as deputy prime minister, citing differences as opinion with his boss, Mahathir, on several issues. I then reminded Anwar of several incidences that had occurred from the time he had joined Mahathir’s administration in 1982 up to his sacking, including the matter of Ops Lalang, and asked what Anwar had done to avert all of these incidences and if he had done nothing, why had he not, like Musa resigned?
On the matter of Ops Lalang, Anwar said that on the eve of the day that the arrests were carried out, he went to see Mahathir to implore him not to carry the same through. Anwar said that Mahathir responded by saying that he (Anwar) had little understanding of matters of national security.
The explanation proffered by Anwar is simply at odds with Mahathir’s claim and Hanif’s corroboration.
Who’s fibbing?
My gut feel is that Mamak Kutty is, but the question then arises, why is Hanif jeopardising his own reputation for this past-the-shelf-life politician?

Sibu Hospital : A sad story of Sarawak

Letter by Mimi

This is a sad story of Sarawak and the Sarawakians.

What went wrong in Sarawak?

From the photos taken at the Medical Ward at the Sibu in Hospital, no one would believe Sarawak is one of the largest contributors to the Federal fund.

End of Dec 2010, I spent some time caring for a relative who was admitted at the Sibu Hospital. From the outside, this hospital looks like a 3 star resort. However, inside the hospital, the story is totally different.

This is 2011. How come there is no air conditioning in the Medical ward (I didn’t have the time to check out the other wards)? During the day, the ceiling fans are merely swirling warm, muggy air in the ward. It’s so hot & balmy that the patients leave their tops unbuttoned (yes, even the female patients).

Some patients brought their own table fans but were still too hot and did not wear their hospital blouse. In the afternoons when the heat is most unrelenting, the patients sweat and wet their pillow cases and bedsheets, especially those who are unconscious or unable to turn on their own.

Judging from the time I spent at this hospital, at least 80 per cent of the patients are natives from the interiors of Sarawak. Many of these patients are illiterate. They don’t know the definition of “standard of living”. Whatever the condition of the hospital, they quietly accept it. Do they have a choice?

At night, practically all the native carers sleep on the floor. If they had come from the interior via public transport, they wouldn’t have brought with them their own cumbersome lounge chair (if they could afford it in the first place). The ward has plenty of unusable lounge chairs dumped in the store room. We were lucky we could afford to buy a decent lounge chair.

The restroom inside this Medical ward is wet and stinks of urine 24 hrs a day. There’s no toilet paper or soap. The soap dispensers are devoid of liquid soap. It’s ironic that there are posters above the soap dispensers reminding people to wash their hands but there’s no soap provided.

The restroom outside (opposite the lifts) has no toilet paper either and it also stinks of urine. By the way, there are only 2 toilet cubicles in both the Men’s and Ladies’ Restroom. The ladies toilet near the lifts are dimly lit. The only light is above the mirror. The blown light bulb remains unchanged (it is now Feb, maybe the bulb has been changed).

The corridor outside the Medical ward is very wide but not a single chair was in sight. It was a sorrowful sight to see such the relatives of the patients huddle together on the floor. They probably came from too far interior to go home and they were taking turns to care for the patient. There is restricted number of visitors allowed to care for each patient by their bedside.

Is Sarawak so short of funds that it is not possible to make the Sibu Hospital (and other district hospitals in the state) more hospitable?

I suspect the state of the hospital has been left status quo for many years because majority of the patients who come here are really poor and not knowledgeable or even illiterate, hence, they don’t complain.

Yet, when it comes to garnering for votes, our PM Najib Razak so blatently dangled RM5 million in front of the noses of the people of Sibu.

I had sent these pictures to the Star and the New Straits Times however, neither of them were interested in the story.

Perhaps Mr. Wong can look into this. We must really improve the Sibu Hospital and other government hospitals in the state. We contribute so much in petroleum revenue. Why should our hospitals be in such a sorry state?

Thank you.

Apa Pun Boleh


Pictures :

Admirable Vision & Mission

Carers sleeping on the floor

Carers of patients resting on the floor

Carers sleeping on the floor

Carers sleeping on the floor

Carers sleeping on the floor

The ONLY usable lounge chair on night of Jan 1, 2011

The rest of the lounge chairs – spoilt

This lounge chair is spoilt too

Posters all over regarding washing hands

Soap dispenser that has no soap

Wash hands with soap poster but dispenser is soapless

Ladies toilet in the dark

The light above the toilet cubicle has blown

The only light is at the sink
img src=”http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5433286210_87c19cef82.jpg” width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”6. Wide corridor outside the medical ward but nothing for visitors to sit” />
Wide corridor outside the medical ward but nothing for visitors to sit

Just outside the Medical Ward, no chairs

No air-con, it is unbearably hot & balmy during the day

Two Foetuses Found In KL In Less Than 24 Hour

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Two aborted foetuses were found in separate locations in the city today.

One was found at a sewerage plant in Kepong and the other behind a private clinic in Jalan Ipoh.

The first foetus, believed to be five months old, was found by an Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) technician when he was inspecting the plant at 11.05am.

Sentul police chief ACP Zakaria Pagan when contacted said initial investigations on the foetus found that it was a girl with injuries in the back of the head, besides a broken left leg.

He said the foetus was believed to been washed through a sewer pipe from the nearby area about 12 hours ago.

Zakaria said the second foetus, on the other hand, was found by a boy, who then notified a nearby hawker, Nurmaini Rafiee, 50, at about 2.30pm.

"When I arrived at the scene and saw that foetus, I immediately alerted the police patrol unit who were passing the area," Nurmaini told reporters at the scene.

Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman when contacted, confirmed the discovery of the second foetus.

"The foetus, however, had decayed and we could not determine its physical form," he said.

Both foetuses were taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for post mortem.

Are we living in a police state?

'Dr Mahathir Mohamad said even he was not in total control of the police force when he was the PM.'

Pregnant woman identifies female cop in 30 seconds

Anonymous_3fc4: This is going to be a litmus test on the new IGP (police chief), let's see what is going to come out of this identification parade.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has remained elegantly quiet even after the police have been proven to have crossed the lines of proper conduct, abused their power and took the law into their own hands. Hishammuddin should do the right thing by ordering a thorough investigation of the errand police officers involved.

Pity Him: This is about the police bullying the people. Worse still, when they are in plainclothes.

Common sense tells us that this woman cannot be lying that she was slapped. Police are not respected at all, I was badly treated by a cop only yesterday at Jalan Petaling. This fellow used aggressive gesture to direct me away from my intended route.

1Malaysian: I wonder what the confiscated video recording will show. Or will they say that it had mysteriously been erased or malfunctioned when the cops took it back. I bet you anything that the recording will never see the light of day.

Tailek: Well done, Chow Soo Meng for standing up for your rights. Don't be intimidated by the police. Take this matter all the way up to the home minister, if necessary.

Cala: One interesting outcome of Chow's response to the 'illegal raid' of her store is to do with her admission of possessing contraband cigarettes, meaning cigarettes which are imported illegally from foreign countries without paying the tax.

If such is the case, one needs to ask what the level of efficiency of our Custom Department? Or is it to do with unrealistic tax structure that encourages tax evasion of imported cigarettes?

Abahpenang: There is another issue here apart from the rogue cops. Chow was keeping illegal goods, meaning that she was no angel either. The cops who stole her money, if it is true, thought that she wouldn't do anything because the goods were illegal. Both were wrong - the rogue cops and her.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The woman, even as a suspect, is entitled to her rights. Is that so difficult for the police to understand? It's fine to use reasonable force to enter her shop if you suspect that she has or is committing a crime. But act professionally.

Take an inventory of the contraband, confiscate the cash, take pictures, etc, and carry out your investigations properly. There is no need to slap her or abuse her. This raid should have been done by the Customs Department and not the police. That is why it is important to enforce a code of conduct for the police to regulate such matters.

The IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) ought to have been set up to investigate allegations of police abuse or misuse of powers. But so far there is no political will from the BN. That is why the police are now behaving like a bunch of vigilantes, like a law unto themselves.

In the process, the police are becoming public enemy No 1.

AlexToo: Dr Mahathir Mohamad said even he was not in total control of the police force when he was the PM. Matilah, we all. We are living in police state. This is confirmed.

Anonymous_3e86: Basically, the police officers have not followed standard procedures in making the confiscation of the money and the arrest. The discrepancy in the amount seized is now disputed by both parties.

Seizure of items - the money, liquor and cigarettes - must be recorded and signed by both parties. The officers' failure to do this is against the law, more so when done without a search warrant.

In the past, it is a known practice that many unrecorded seized items end up being shared amongst the raiding party members. I'm not surprised that this is also the case. Robbers in uniform...

Sentinel: How can the police weed out the bad hats if they continue to protect these crooks in uniforms within its organisation?

If the PDRM do not want the IPCMC and wants to 'police' itself, then prove to us Malaysian taxpayers and voters that it is serious in doing so and will show no mercy against the bad hats in its own organisation. Otherwise, have the IPCMC!

Malaysian First And Malaysian Always: Forget all this. What Malaysia needs is a independent police commission for police abuse and corruption. If BN allows this commission to be formed, I guarantee it will get its two-thirds majority back in Parliament. But BN must do it now and not dilly dally.

Concerned Citizen 1e05: Don't write off the whole police force. In any organisation, there bound to be bad apples. PDRM must tighten its procedures and improve, yes, but give credit where it is due.

Anonymous: I had one policeman asking me for money just weeks ago when I claimed my stolen car. No, I don't think this problem is due to few bad apples unless you are willing to believe all police horror stories your friends and relatives told you and reported in alternative media are all false.

Firefighting approach will not work. It has to be reformed from the core.

Confused: It has come to a point that we do not know who we should run away from - the police or the robber.

Dr M: More racial polarisation now

(Malaysiakini) Eight years after giving up power, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad he thinks that there is more racial polarisation now than during his 'time'.

And the main culprit for that, he claimed is the increasing freedom of speech and expression in the country.

" 'We, we should be more liberal', (the critics) argue, and permit more discussion of controversial issues, like race relations, for example.

"The moment they do that, they go back. They go back to discussing this (kind of) thing and getting emotional, and getting angry with each other. And now, we have become more separate than we were during the time when this was going on.

"During my time, people didn't discuss, and therefore they didn't get heated up," he was quoted as saying.

In the most recent book on Mahathir (left), 'Doctor M: Operation Malaysia - Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad', American journalist Tom Plate interviewed the former premier of 22 years between mid-2009 and mid-2010, spread over four sessions.

Plate then asked: "So is Malaysia tensing up again? You mean, you think there's more polarisation now?"

"Yeah. Yes. More, much more," Mahathir replied.

"And, that's due to... why is that?"

"Well, because you allow people to talk. And, of course they will say things which will hurt the other side."

"And you didn't allow that."

"At that time we didn't allow that. You want to talk about these things, let's have a closed room, let the leaders talk, and you'll settle it, that's what you can do," said Mahathir.

Despite current PM Najib Abdul Razak propagating the 1Malaysia slogan to foster racial unity , it is known that Mahathir has his reservations about the concept.

Preventive laws gluing the country

Mahathir, a known advocate of preventive laws and detention without trial, also further defended his enforcement of the laws when asked about Malaysia's multicultural balance.

"Oh, you take early action. You do things before they happen. You know, a lot of things have been said against these preventive laws. But preventive laws are laws meant to prevent crimes, or whatever, from happening, because they are meant to deter people from doing something...

"When you see people getting over-emotional in a multiracial country, you know that sooner, and sooner rather than later, they would be fighting each other. They would actually be killing each other, and this happened in 1969," he said.

Sabah’s defeatist mentality the biggest hurdle

Years of listening to BN's mantra has left Sabahans with a deep-seated fear of looking beyond, says former chief minister Yong Teck Lee

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans’ defeatist mentality is the single biggest challenge to bringing change in the state.

Former chief minister Yong Teck Lee sees Sabahans facing a bleak future where they will continue to be mistreated under unfair federal policies because of this ingrained “Sabah mentality”.

“Ordinary Sabahans are defeated mentally… they say even if we (SAPP) win, we still cannot govern.

“After 47 years we have been brainwashed to believe that we cannot do it on our own.

“So defeated is the mentality of some that many in Sabah too believe in the BN (Barisan Nasional) leaders’ mantra that Sabah is BN’s perpetual fixed-deposit as far as election is concerned,” said Yong, who is also the president of Sabah Peoples’ Party (SAPP).

In a candid exclusive interview with FMT recently, Yong said the perceived strength of the ruling BN and its alternative, Pakatan Rakyat, has sunk so deep into the minds of the people that they feared looking further and as such, accepted the shabby conditions in the state.

(According to a World Bank Report, Sabah, with its abundant natural oil and gas resource, is the poorest state in Malaysia.)

“Economically speaking, I don’t think ordinary people have money here… it’s the same in the Peninsula. This Chinese New Year, for instance, has been very quiet.

“The dragon dance companies here received less than half their usual bookings… everything is expensive now,” he said.

But can the once strong opposition capitalise on the consumers’ angst against rising prices, corruption and land grabs?

Yong thinks not. He is worried that the opposition will be unable to take advantage of any revolt against the status quo.

“It is important to have a combined (opposition) force here before the election so that we can remove the (BN) fixed-deposit tag here which in turn influences the people in the Peninsula.

“But if the polls is called now, we are definitely not ready” he said.

Two-faced DAP

Another thing that worries Yong, who is known as “taiko” or master, is the clout DAP has over the Chinese voters.

Last year’s Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election was an eye-opener for political pundits when most of the Chinese votes went to PKR candidate Ansari Abdullah, a controversial figure, and not to Yong, as many had expected.
“In Batu Sapi, they proved a point that DAP can move considerable number of Chinese votes,” Yong said.

He added that men like DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and other DAP Chinese leaders “did a fantastic job of attacking” him instead of BN, two days before the polling.

Yong said that Batu Sapi is now a reference point on how the opposition shot itself in the foot.

“I was up against BN and Pakatan’s combined force,” he said, adding that this was why he eventually finished third behind winner Linda Tsen of the BN and PKR’s Ansari.

Yong said that before the Batu Sapi polls, there was some understanding that SAPP and DAP would “worked together where possible” but things had changed since then.

“All our relationship now is with Pakatan. We are friends, not Pakatan coalition partners.

“As far as we are concerned, all DAP leaders were formerly from other parties including SAPP… like Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew (King Chiew) and Jimmy Wong (Sri Tanjung assemblyman)” he said.

Yong, who himself was once with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) for many years before forming SAPP, said that the local opposition is formulating an election plan.

“Our plan is being crystallised. By March or April, we will have a plan.

“We are working towards having a one-to-one fight with BN, but I cannot guarantee this 100% because Pakatan has three components (PKR, DAP and PAS).

“Maybe there will be DAP-sponsored candidates against SAPP this time (too).”

New twist in Sabah politics

Yong may be hinting at the possiblity that local opposition parties may band together to form a united front in a new twist to Sabah politics.

Is it coincidental then that another influential Sabah leader, Jeffrey Kitingan, had recently announced that he will be forming a new political party by March?

Jeffrey’s United Borneo Front (UBF), an NGO, has already reached some an understanding with leaders in Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP). SNAP in turn is aggressively wooing Dayak-majority parties to back Jeffrey’s Borneo Agenda.

In an interview with FMT recently, Jeffrey had hinted that SAPP would be a local partner in UBF’s campaign to collectively wrest 56 seats in Sabah and Sarawak.

Said Yong: “I am quite familiar with Jeffrey’s struggle but am not very clear on his methodology… his political vehicle… we will know soon.

“But what I do know is that no peninsular party will survive in Sabah without the support of a local component.”

Asked what his reading was on the current political climate in Sabah, Yong said the frequent visits by political leaders from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak “points to unease at the top”.

“Peninsular leaders used to ignore us, now they are coming here so often.

“There is uneasiness among the BN elite that the Borneo electorate may be seeing a new window of opportunity,” said Yong.

BN crumbling within

Yong said that a seemingly calm Sabah is not good for BN, which is already saddled with internal problems. BN Sabah comprises PBS, PBRS, Upko, LDP and peninsula-based MCA and Gerakan.

He recalled that in 1985 when he was still with PBS “people looked down on us in PBS but in our three-week campaign we created a change”.

“There are situations here… Upko will not leave BN, but Upko’s grassroots will leave, making it a hollow party.

“The same with PBS. PBRS is gone. MCA (supposedly a Chinese party) relies on Malay votes and mixed areas,” he said.

With Sabah and Sarawak together contributing 56 (including Labuan, 57) of the 222 parliamentary seats in Malaysia, many are convinced that the battle for control of Putrajaya will be fought in the Borneo states.

Most believe that it will be a stalemate in the Peninsula with seats shared equally by BN and Pakatan after the 13th general election.

Yong, meanwhile, who is known for his wily ways, hasn’t missed a trick.

His Batu Sapi adventure can be seen as a “testing of the waters” as he moves towards making SAPP relevant in Sabah.

Don’t blame BN for Indian woes, Pakatan told

An ex-PKR leader and MIC's information chief disagree with PKR vice-president N Surendran's claim that BN is to be blamed for marginalising the community.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat states do not need financial aid from the federal government to resolve the Indian community’s woes, said former PKR leader N Gobalakrishnan.

“Poverty among Indians can be resolved by using the Land Act itself,” the Padang Serai MP told FMT.

He was responding to PKR vice-president N Surendran who blamed Barisan Nasional for the Indian community’s problems.

“It is very unbecoming for a senior PKR leader to blame BN for this,” said Gobalakrishnan.

Using the Coalfield estate issue as an example, he said the federal government had provided RM30,000 for the estate workers but there was nothing forthcoming from the Selangor government even though the estate was within Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s Ijok state constituency.

Gobalakrishnan also blamed Khalid for not providing land for the Coalfield estate workers.

Don’t play blame game

Meanwhile, MIC information chief S Murugessan called on PKR to stop playing the blame game and concentrate on providing for the people instead.

He said Surendran was just attempting to respond to DAP vice chairman M Kulasegaran who warned that Pakatan should forget about capturing Putrajaya if did not arrest the declining support among the Malay and Indian communities.

Murugesan said that even Hindraf Makkal Sakti leader P Uthayakumar had dismissed Pakatan’s track record of serving the Indians as being worse than BN’s.

Will PAS fail the test again?

It depends on how well it has learnt its lessons from recent by-elections

PAS’s campaign strategy in Merlimau will tell us whether it has learnt any lesson from the losses it suffered in the last three by-elections it contested. It lost in Bagan Pinang in 2009, in Galas in 2010 and in Tenang last month.

Unlike Bagan Pinang and Tenang, Galas was a PAS seat in a PAS-controlled state and the party was confident of retaining it when the by-election was declared. Ironically, its defeat there was the most acceptable of the three losses.

It is hard to think of any candidate who could have won against the charm of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who led the Barisan Nasional campaign there. Appointing him as BN election director was one of the most inspired acts that Umno has done in recent years.

The Bagan Pinang loss was the result of PAS’ overconfidence. It was sure that it could snatch the seat from BN because Umno’s candidate, Mohamad Isa Abdul Samad, had the taint of money politics on him. (In 2005, Umno’s disciplinary board found him guilty of buying votes in party elections.)

Instead, Umno’s winning margin was wider than the one in March 2008.

In Tenang, PAS went in knowing that it would lose. All it wanted was to boost opposition morale by reducing Umno’s majority. It didn’t make this intention public, but it was not a secret to party workers.

Well before the nomination of candidates for the Bagan Pinang by-election, PAS leaders told their colleagues in PKR and DAP not to make too much noise about Isa’s money politics. The idea was to trap BN into fielding him as its candidate so that the taint could be used as campaign ammunition.

Apparently, the PAS leadership was not aware that Isa was such a godfather to people in the Bagan Pinang area that they would not give two hoots to whether he had been found guilty of anything.

Not even the Negeri Sembilan PAS leaders seemed to know about Isa’s immense popularity. Neither did they do their homework when it came to choosing their candidate for the by-election.

The choice—Zulkefly Mohamed Omar—was an unknown in Bagan Pinang although he was PAS commissioner for Negeri Sembilan. Teluk Kemang PAS chief Ramli Ismail would have been a much better candidate. He enjoys some popularity there.

Strangest of all was the apparent reversal of the initial strategy to harp on Isa’s money politics. Instead, PAS campaigners went for petty local issues like clogged drains, filthy food stalls, and even an uncompleted bus stop.

Some PAS stalwarts have alleged sabotage by the group supporting the idea of cooperation with Umno in a unity government. They say it was the unity-government faction that plotted the strategy to draw Isa into the contest because it wanted to break Pakatan Rakyat’s winning streak.

They point out that the backbone figures of that faction were hardly seen during the campaign for Bagan Pinang.

Red tape

Other critics speak of too much red tape in PAS’ campaign organisation. PKR leaders especially suffered from this. Several of them could not give last minute ceramahs because the PAS information department stuck rigidly to its requirement of at least a day’s notice. However, this rule was relaxed for PAS leaders.

That was why Nurul Izzah Anwar, for instance, could not speak at a function in Batu 8, Telok Kemang. The local PKR leader who arranged for Nurul Izzah’s ceramah was livid.

“Short notice should not be a big deal,” he said. “It’s fine if the speaker is unknown, but Nurul Izzah is popular and a crowd puller.

“I have done my best to help PAS; if this is the type of bureaucracy they practice, then I have no comment.”

A senior PKR leader from Malacca said the scenario in Tenang was similar.

“There were cases in which Chinese PKR leaders were not allowed to deliver ceramahs in Malay majority areas,” he said.

It is not known whether PAS’ post-mortem of its Tenang defeat considered the effectiveness of such restrictions on the PKR machinery. Certainly, PKR would want it to re-consider the strategy as the Merlimau by-election looms.

Tenang has made it obvious that the so-called soft approach in wooing Malay voters to PAS does not work in Umno strongholds.

PAS should realise by now that although it has some support from rural and conservative Malays, urban Malays who are disillusioned with Umno are likely to be more comfortable with PKR than PAS. This is mainly because of the large presence of former Umno leaders and supporters in PKR.

The recent defeats should force PAS to rethink its strategy in trying to win more Malay support. After all, it was a change of strategy and rhetoric that has resulted in its winning over some Chinese and Indians.

Above all, it must be seen to be an integral part of Pakatan Rakyat, which means it should discard the practice of working as if it is a completely separate entity, like it did in Bagan Pinang and Tenang.

Caned for not filling up a form

Two Form One boys from longhouses in Sibu are in a state of shock after a hostel warden punished them over a trivial matter.

SIBU: An angry father of a Form One boy has filed a police report against the chief warden of a hostel for caning his son, who allegedly forgot to fill an application form requesting to become a boarder.

Gumbang Tegap, the father of Nicholas Novy, claimed there were bruises on his son’s buttocks from the caning and that the boy was now too traumatised to return to school.

Gumbang, who approached activist Johnny Kieh for assistance, said he only learnt of the incident when Nicholas and his friend Sylvester Ansam Stephen, who was also caned, were ordered to return to their longhouses in Nanga Mangut and Kanowit and given a form each to complete.

The form was a “request to stay in the school hostel” (borang untuk tinggal di asrama sekolah).

Said Kieh: “I was shocked when the father told me that his son and another were caned in front of other students for failing to fill up the form.

“This should not be the case as teachers, being professionals, should have emotional intelligence. They should not be emotional or react in such a manner as their actions could affect students psychologically.”

Kieh said the boys told Gumbang that their hostel warden had caned them once on the buttock with a rattan.

Upset with the incident, Gumbang lodged a report at the Sibu central police station here on Monday.

Both Nicholas and Sylvester were later sent to Sibu General Hospital for medical examination.

Letter to Najib

According to the police report, Gumbang had claimed that the boys had already submitted the hostel application form to their homeroom teacher.

Gumbang had also claimed that Nicholas and Sylvester had suffered bruises on their backs due to the caning.

According to the report, the incident took place at aboout 9pm last Sunday during a night class at a school in Durin.

Kieh said that Gumbang has also called for an investigation into the incident and action against the cane-wielding warden.

The angry father has also sent a letter about the incident to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the Education Ministry.

The letter was also copied to the Sarawak Education Department director and the district education officer.

Attached to Gumbang’s letters were copies of the Nicholas and Sylvester’s medical and police reports.

Speaking to Borneo Post, Kieh said: “We hope the government will expedite its investigation into the matter and take appropriate action if the teacher was in the wrong.

“We do not want this incident to send a wrong message to the public that teachers, entrusted with the responsibility of moulding the cream of the nation, are prone to acting rashly instead of rationally.”

Throw the book at lecherous politicians

The law must redeem itself and take holders of public office who rob women of their dignity to task.

COMMENT

Power and impunity are being abused to cover up wrongdoings, especially those that involve sexual violation against women by senior politicians of this country. Be it extramarital affair or sexual harassment or rape cases, senior ministers have found all the time to commit them.
And by their “personal first and public later” attitude, these politicians through their deviant behaviour have proved that sex, and not public welfare, is first and foremost on their mind, which is most unfortunate because these politician-ministers have shown no respect to the very people who chose them as leaders.
Take former health minister Dr Chua Soi Lek. He was involved in an extramarital affair with a woman he claimed was a “personal friend” until their rendezvous was exposed in December 2007.
On Jan 2, 2008, Chua, the then health minister and vice-president of MCA and also the Member of Parliament for Labis, resigned from all his posts. A day earlier he had admitted he was the person featured in a sex DVD that was widely circulated in Johor.
To save face, Chua claimed that his downfall was due to his dedication to his work as health minister and MCA vice-president, both of which caused his rivals to grow suspicious of him. But having given up his medical practice for full-time politics, Chua was not one to give up.
Despite the sex scandal, he returned to politics in March 2010 and contested the MCA president’s post, edging out incumbent Ong Tee Keat and former president Ong Ka Ting.
The year 2010 came to an end amidst news that Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim had in 2007 raped his domestic helper, an allegation which Rais took two weeks to refute.
And like Chua, the 69-year-old Rais said the allegation was to tarnish his name and his efforts in promoting the Barisan Nasional policies,particularly Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.
Rais added that the rape accusation was to divert attention from the bigger crimes involving opposition leaders, such as sodomy.
Intense pressure
Rais, the Jelebu MP, asked that the public not speculate on this allegation pending the outcome of the on-going investigation. However, the PKR-linked group, Malaysian Youth Solidarity, had lodged a police report over the allegation.
Two days after Rais denied the allegation, Najib, after intense pressure, broke his silence only to question the timing of this accusation. A sad day for Malaysia when its prime minister, instead of being troubled by such a serious allegation, chose to be nonchalant, questioning why was the issue raised only now.
But then Najib’s reaction leaves little room for surprise. Was he himself not the man besieged with accusations of having had an affair with a Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was later gunned down and her body blown to bits in a jungle at Puncak Alam in Shah Alam in October 2006?
A private detective in his statutory declaration alleged that Najib had “passed” Altantuya to his best friend Abdul Razak Baginda because the former knew he would become prime minister and wanted to avoid shame.
But shame it is because although there were numerous witnesses and evidence connecting Najib to the affair, he was never questioned or put on the witness stand. And like all good wives, Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor too remained cool as a cucumber throughout the ordeal surrounding Najib and Altantuya.
Travesty of justice

Back in 1994, the then chief minister of Malacca, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, was reported to have raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl (under Malaysian law, sex with a minor constitutes statutory rape). Lim Guan Eng, currently the chief minister of Penang and the then MP for Kota Melaka, spoke out against the rape of a minor after the girl’s grandmother-cum-guardian, who was also Lim’s constituent, turned to him for help.
However, far from deserving justice, both Lim and the schoolgirl received their “dues”. Lim was jailed for three years for speaking up against the rape while the girl was given three years “protective custody”. As for Rahim, because of the rape and pending corruption charges, he was forced to resign, after a 12-year stint as Malacca’s chief minister.
But the judiciary saw Rahim escape punishment for a crime committed; this came about after the public prosecutor withdrew the charge citing lack of evidence. The corruption charges against Rahim were also dropped.
The travesty of justice is such that on Feb 28, 1995, Lim was thrown into jail after he was charged under the Sedition Act for prompting “disaffection with the administration of Malaysia”.
On March 17 the same year, he was slapped with another charge under the Printing Presses and Publications Act for “maliciously printing” a pamphlet containing “false information”, specifically that Lim had used the term “imprisoned victim” to describe the schoolgirl who was raped.
As a result of his trying to seek justice for the rape survivor, Lim was barred from holding public office for five years, making him ineligible to contest in the 2004 general election.
As for the underage rape survivor, she was initially detained for 10 years without parental consent. She was subsequently sentenced to three years “protective custody” in a house for “wayward girls”. During Lim’s trial, the girl gave evidence that she had sex with a minister.
With such lecherous politicians in our midst, the safety of girls and women – be they our sisters, daughters, mothers and foreign female workers – is at risk. There is no telling which politician is waiting to sexually assault the girls and women in this country. What is annoying is the fact that the crime is easily dismissed by threatening and buying the silence of the victim.
In Rais’ case, if the rape had never taken place as he claimed, then what made his domestic helper of eight years to suddenly pack her bags and leave for home in Indonesia? If he has been such a kind and generous man as his former domestic helper claimed when retracting her allegation of rape, the question of her quitting her job would not arise. There is no doubt something is amiss here, no matter how much Rais denies it.
In the case of Rahim, he was never convicted and continues to enjoy life while Lim spent three years in jail and the the rape survivor was sentenced to three years in a house for “wayward girls”. What wrong did the girl do to end up in a house for wayward girls while the perpetrator, Rahim, walked a free man? Where was justice when it was desperately needed?

Respect women
Politicians must learn to respect women. Be they mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and women in general, they must be accorded the respect worthy of a human being. And any abuse of that right must never be viewed lightly, what more, dismissed.
The wives of Malaysian politicians are women with a big heart. Chua’s wife never openly cried her heart out nor did Rais’ wife Maznah opt to lead a separate life after learning about the rape allegation involving her husband. It is perhaps that these women are a forgiving lot or that they dared not go against their respective husbands.
And just as shameful is to see the silence from the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil in defending the domestic helper who was allegedly raped by Rais. The ever playing-safe Shahrizat decided it was best to safeguard her political career rather than to jeopardise it by speaking up against her colleague.
Likewise, Shahrizat decided to keep quiet when another colleague, Jamaluddin Jarjis, was accused of sexual harassment by a female worker at a restaurant in a five-star hotel in 2008. Within hours, the worker retracted her complaint, saying she was used to Jamaluddin’s “rough” ways and jokes. What a misfortune it is for Malaysia that Jamaluddin who has stooped so low has been despatched to the United States to serve as the Malaysian ambassador.
Also, whatever happened to the narcissistic Dr Mahathir Mohamad who, after his retirement from politics, has decided to so-call champion the rakyat’s rights? Did he too have nothing to say about the lecherous politicians masquerading in the Malaysian political arena and who have given the country a bad name?
The silence from the “powers that be” when politicians sexually assault women speaks of the indifferent attitude adopted by the country’s government in according respect to its women, who are both taxpayers and voters. And it is also evident that the abuse of power succeeded in silencing the injustice done by such unscrupulous politicians. Such abuse must no longer be tolerated. It is time for the law to redeem itself and take such people to task.

The Sarawak opposition dilemma

The opposition in Sarawak is so divided that it appears like Barisan Nasional is going to rule the state forever. This is because of the ego of the opposition leaders and because all want to lead the opposition so that if the opposition wins this opposition leader can become the new Chief Minister.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

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Ops Lalang: Kenyataan Mahathir amat memalukan

(Harakah Daily) - Penjelasan mantan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang mempersalahkan polis atas Operasi Lalang yang menyebabkan 106 ditangkap di bawah ISA pada tahun 1987 lalu, jelas merupakan kenyataan yang amat tidak bertanggungjawab dan memalukan.

Selain itu, kenyataan itu juga boleh dilihat sama ada Mahathir telah lupa dengan apa yang telah dilakukan atau mahu menutup imejnya yang buruk semasa menjadi Perdana Menteri dahulu yang amat banyak melakukan tangkapan di bawah ISA.

Ahli Jawatankuasa Kerja PAS Pusat, Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa menegaskan, selaku eksekutif atau Perdana Menteri di negara ini ketika beliau menjadi Perdana Menteri dulu, mustahil Mahathir tidak tahu dengan tangkapan ISA dan membiarkan pihak polis yang bertindak sendirian dalam hal itu.

Menurut beliau, pada hal, penggunaan ISA ke atas seseorang itu bukan berada di bawah kuasa polis, tetapi di bawah Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN), manakala Menteri Dalam Negeri pula ketika itu adalah Mahathir sendiri.

"Untuk menahan seseorang itu di bawah ISA, ia mestilah ditandatangani oleh Menteri Dalam Negeri yang juga Perdana Menteri ketika itu iaitu Mahathir sendiri. Jadi macam mana Mahathir boleh kata dia tak tahu menahu perkara itu dan polis telah bertindak di luar perancangannya atau lain dari yang ingin dilakukannya?" katanya ketika dihubungi Harakahdaily hari ini.

Jadi, menurut beliau, kenyataan Mahathir itu tentunya tidak boleh diterima oleh sesiapa sahaja yang berakal waras kerana semua tindakan yang dilakukan itu adalah di bawah tanggugjawab beliau sendiri selaku Perdana Menteri, apatah lagi dalam masa yang sama turut menjadi Menteri Dalam Negeri.

"Malah jika benar apa yang dikatakan oleh Mahathir itu, ia jelas merupakan sesuatu yang ganjil, memalukan dan kegagalan Mahathir sendiri dalam melaksanakan tanggungjawabnya selaku Perdana Menteri ketika itu," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas kenyataan Mahathir yang mempersalahkan polis atas Ops Lalang yang menyaksikan 106 orang termasuk seteru politiknya ditangkap mengikut Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) pada tahun 1987.

Dalam buku terbaru mengenai Mahathir yang berjudul 'Doctor M: Operation Malaysia - Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad', bekas perdana menteri yang meneraju Malaysia selama 22 tahun itu mengakui bahawa beliau berang dengan tindakan polis itu.

"Ya, saya akan tangani secara berbeza, tetapi polis ingin melakukan hal-hal ini (tangkapan ISA) kerana mereka menyatakan ia perlu.

"Saya sebenarnya berjumpa dengan semua ahli pembangkang (terlebih dahulu) dan menyakinkan mereka bahawa mereka tidak akan ditangkap. Dan awak tahu apa yang polis lakukan? Polis menangkap mereka. Kredibiliti saya hilang," kata Mahatahir.

Tom Plate yang mewawancara Mahathir dan mengarang buku itu kemudiannya bertanya kepada Mahathir dengan lebih lanjut sama ada beliau marah atau tidak dengan tindakan polis itu.

"Yeah, tapi apa yang boleh saya lakukan? Saya perlu menerima hakikat bahawa mereka adalah orang-orang yang membuat keputusan. Saya memberikan kuasa umum kepada mereka untuk bertindak," jawab Mahathir.

Semasa penangkapan besar-besaran pada 27 Oktober 1987, lebih seratus orang ditangkap. Sebahagian besar daripada mereka yang ditangkap itu terdiri daripada pemimpin pembangkang dan segelintir ahli politik dari Umno dan MCA. Selain itu, permit penerbitan untuk akhbar The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh dan Watan telah ditarik balik.

Kerajaan kemudian menawarkan penjelasan bahawa tangkapan ISA yang kedua terbesar sejak rusuhan perkauman 13 Mei itu adalah 'perlu' bagi membendung 'ketegangan perkauman' yang semakin memuncak, akibat protes besar-besaran berhubung pelantikan pengetua bukan berpendidikan Cina di sekolah-sekolah vernakular Cina.

Umno pula kemudiannya membalas dengan mengadakan protes besar-besaran juga yang diketuai oleh ketua pemudanya ketika itu, Datuk Seri Najib Razak di Kampung Baru, beberapa hari sebelum tangkapan beramai-ramai dibuat.

Mengulas perkara itu dengan lebih lanjut, Dr Mujahid menegaskan, kenyataan Mahathir itu bukan sekadar membuktikan kegagalannya dalam melaksanakan tugas sebagai Perdana Menteri, tetapi juga amat mengejutkan.

"Mahathir tidak sepatutnya menyalahkan pihak polis atau pihak lain dalam hal itu kerana dialah sebenarnya yang bertanggungjawab dengan semua itu.

"Semasa menjadi Perdana Menteri dulu, Mahathir sememangnya banyak melakukan tindakan yang bercanggah dengan demokrasi termasuk penggunaan ISA, menarik balik permit akhbar, menyekat kebebasan rakyat memberikan pandangan, menyekat kebebasan bersuara dan menyekat kebebasan akhbar," katanya.

Kini setelah sekian lama bersara, menurut beliau, barulah Mahathir sedar kesalahannya itu dan mahu menutup kesalahannya dengan membuat kenyataan seperti itu, walaupun ia lebih memalukan dirinya sendiri.

Malay Chamber: Bumi Economic Stake Can Hit 30% by 2015

(Bernama) - The Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM) is confident that the setting up of the Bumiputera Agenda Driving Unit (Teraju) can increase the share of Bumiputera in the economy up to 30 percent by 2015 from about six to seven percent presently.

DPMM president Syed Ali Alatas said the target would be achievable through full cooperation between the chamber and Teraju.

"Firstly, ownership. Settle debts between traders and banks using a new financial method. If not, these traders may have to close shops," he told a press conference here today.

He was sure that with support from Malaysia Building Society Bhd and local banks, a comprehensive and more effective financing program could be introduced.

He said the government should draw up also a new land policy with a view to reducing bureaucracy to speed up the land approval process for development projects.

State governments, meanwhile, should introduce a new formula to improve the land management system, he said.

Syed Ali said DPMM fully supported the setting up of Teraju to drive the Bumiputera agenda.

It was in line with DPMM's initiative through its Bumiputera Socioeconomic Laboratory to strengthen the effectiveness and achievement of Bumiputera economy, he said.

"The focus on Bumiputera economic development is timely so that Bumiputera participation can be promoted under the government's Economic Transformation Programme," he said.

He hoped that with the Bumiputera Socioeconomic Laboratory, the Bumiputera economic community could generate economic programmes with game-changing characteristics.

"It is DPMM's hope that the game-changing environment will bring the Bumiputera trading and industrial community to a world of business which places greater importance on the effectiveness of Bumiputera participation without quota, subsidy or crutches," he said.

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