Perkasa boss fires at ‘useless’ PAS leaders

Going ballistic at a forum last night, Ibrahim Ali blames PAS for destroying Malay unity and mocks the party leaders' education background.

KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali unleashed a verbal salvo during a forum here last night, targeting PAS leaders.

He also included Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and Bersih 2.0 chairman S Ambiga in his tirade.

Ibrahim blamed the raging controversy over Mat Indera’s role in the Bukit Kepong police station attack on PAS.

At the Perkasa-organised forum on “Communism, Mat Indera and Independence” in Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, he had accused “useless” PAS leaders of destroying Malay unity.

The controversy stemmed from a ceramah by PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu in Penang last month during which he hailed communist leader Mat Indera as a freedom fighter.

This drew flak from Barisan Nasional and government-aligned NGOs who pointed out that Mat Indera had led the attack on the Bukit Kepong police station that left 25 people dead.

“Mat Sabu’s speech has hurt and angered the armed forces,” Ibrahim told the 500-strong crowd. “He is trying to change history.”

“But the real issue is that he insulted the police who put their lives at risk to defend Bukit Kepong as well as (first premier) Tunku Abdul Rahman and (third premier) Hussein Onn by calling them ‘British officers’,” he said.

‘Our patience has limits’

The Pasir Mas MP further mocked Mat Sabu by referring to his educational background which he said was in art and design.

“What does an art and design (student) know about history and research?” he demanded, drawing laughter from the audience.

“Same goes for Kelantan Menteri Besar (and PAS spiritual adviser) Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who has very limited formal education.

“He has no knowledge of history yet he accused Mat Sabu’s detractors of the same thing. But I’m not surprised. This is someone who keeps changing his mind on fatwas in the state,” he added.

Training his guns on Ambiga, Ibrahim said the former Bar Council president had insulted the country by encouraging apostasy.

“Yet no action has been taken against her. Then we have Anwar and his sex video but no action has been taken against him either. We are patient but patience has its limits,” he warned.

Ibrahim urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to take stern action immediately against both the individuals.

“Do not let the people take the law into their own hands,” he added.

‘Perbetulkan fakta sejarah Sabah’

Semua pihak mengatakan usia kemerdekaan Malaysia ialah 54 tahun walaupun sebenarnya berusia 48 tahun.

SIPITANG: Fakta sejarah tentang kemerdekaan Sabah melalui pembentukan Malaysia perlu diperbetulkan agar generasi masa kini dan akan datang tidak terkeliru, kata Presiden Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP) Yong Teck Lee.

Katanya, Sabah mencapai kemerdekaan apabila bersama-sama Sarawak, Singapura dan Malaya membentuk Malaysia pada 16 September 1963.

Sabah tidak mencapai kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos 1957 kerana pada masa itu negara Malaysia masih belum wujud manakala Sabah yang dulu dikenali sebagai Borneo Utara masih berada di bawah jajahan British.

“Ketua Menteri Sabah Musa Aman juga tersilap apabila mengatakan usia kemerdekaan Sabah pada tahun ini mencecah 54 tahun sedangkan Sabah mencapai kemerdekaan melalui pembentukan Malaysia.

“Nasib baik seorang pegawai kanan Kerajaan Sabah iaitu Pengarah Arkib Negeri Sabah saudara Datu Tiga Belas memperbetulkan kenyataan Musa itu dengan mengatakan usia kemerdekaan Sabah sebenarnya ialah 48 tahun.

“Keberanian Datu Tiga Belas memperbetulkan fakta sejarah itu harus dipuji kerana tidak ada seorang pun anggota kabinet negeri atau pegawai kanan Kerajaan Sabah yang berani tampil memperbetulkannya,” kata Yong pada majlis Hari Raya Aidilfitri SAPP peringkat negeri Sabah di sini.

Katanya, semua pihak termasuk para pemimpin politik parti pemerintah Barisan Nasional (BN) di Semenanjung juga mengatakan usia kemerdekaan Malaysia ialah 54 tahun walaupun sebenarnya berusia 48 tahun.

Beliau berkata ada kalangan pemimpin pembangkang dari Pakatan Rakyat (PR) turut berkata Malaysia berusia 54 tahun dan salah seorang daripadanya ialah Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng, seorang pemimpin kanan DAP, salah sebuah parti komponen PR.

Yong berkata, kekeliruan mengenai kemerdekaan Malaysia harus diperbetulkan.

Terdahulu, Timbalan Presiden SAPP Haji Amde Sidik berkata, beliau mendapati 90 peratus pelajar salah sebuah institusi pengajian tinggi di negeri ini tidak dapat membezakan antara 31 Ogos 1957 dengan 16 September 1963.

Mengulas lanjut mengenai kemerdekaan, Amde menambah bahawa barisan terakhir lirik lagu Sabah Tanah Air Ku turut menjelaskan bahawa Sabah sebenarnya adalah sebuah negeri merdeka dan tidak sepatutnya dilayan seperti sebuah jajahan seperti yang diamalkan Kuala Lumpur pada masa ini.

“Barisan terakhir lirik lagu itu menyebut Sabah Negeri Merdeka dan ini bererti sesebuah negeri yang merdeka sepatutnya mempunyai kuasa autonomi dalam segala hal ehwal pentadbiran,” katanya.

Umno – the bane of Malays

Has Umno failed its founders and its mission to prepare Malays for the open world?
COMMENT

Umno alone is responsible for the regressive ideas of Malays. If they have been sleeping over eons, they now have been given sleeping pills to slumber along while the world passes them over.

Over the years, Umno leadership has caused the motivations and inspirations that moved an entire nation to degenerate into besieged paranoia and parochialism.

So before I go on, maybe it’s timely for me to remind Malay readers especially of what poet laureate Zaaba (Zainal Abidin Ahmad) said some time ago.

“I tell you not in mournful numbers

That the Malays are a dying race

I only want the soul that slumbers

To wake and work in these bright days

I tell you not in mournful numbers

The way in which to improve the Malays

I want that each Malay remember

Modest, contented shouldn’t be always.”

If I were to view objectively the clash between the world represented by Umno in 1946 and the new world represented by the Malayan Union, I would have to say things in the following manner.

Umno’s resistance and objection to the Malayan Union then was the result of the awareness of the Malay leadership in general – that Malays were not ready for the challenges of an open society.

Leaders with no interest in service

For that is what Malayan Union represented really – an open, competitive and democratic arrangement in the relations of the citizens of a modern world. Malays were not ready.

The mission of Umno then would have been only one – to prepare Malays to be ready for the open world. Equipped, competitive and having the tools to do so.

Umno’s mission was never to dig deeper into a trench and cocooned itself and Malays in general.

Umno can still embrace the founding principles behind the “betulkan orang Melayu” drive of Onn Jaafar.

He aspired to take Malays from the closed mind to openness, from debilitating traditionalism to modernism.

We could still expect these ideals that drove Umno 1946 to be refined and enhanced. Unfortunately, Umno has been taken over by a leadership of different material which is conditioned by different experiences, and having less service to the public motives in mind.

This may be a shocking admission, but it is a general perception of the Umno leadership that is getting stronger by the day.

Umno’s theory and the reality

The perception is that present-day Umno leadership consists of a bunch of sly politicians intent on making hay while it shines.

The gains from Umno’s original struggle are now hijacked and monopolised by the political elite.

The ordinary Malay man wants money in his hands so that he can determine how to apply it. The Umno mandarins want money to be entrusted to them to determine what is best for the ordinary folk.

We can see the increasing concentration of economic and political power in the hands of the elites instead of distribution to the rakyat.

Umno listens more to political intermediaries and lobbyists, who abrogate to themselves, an omnipotent wisdom to judge and interpret what the common man wants.

Obviously as the results (of the 2008 general election) showed, there is a huge crevice that separates theory from reality.
The common man does read in between the lines and is now capable of forming opinions and giving concrete expression to his opinions.

Spoils of war

Umno was once the empire, spanning its reaches into every nook and cranny of the country. It was born in 1946 on the resolve of the Malays to be architect of their own destiny.

It has been managed by an elite core in the form of a supreme council comprising a specific number of elected and anointed individuals chosen by the party and the president of the party.

We may very well call them the ruling clique overseeing the parcelling out not of real development but the spoils of war.

But like all empires, it is subject to the theory that “nothing lasts forever”.

On the other hand, if the theory is true, then the theory itself is not absolutely certain – therefore it too cannot rests on the qualification “forever”.

Something must have happened between 2004 and 2008 that made people reject Umno.

Perhaps it’s a question of leadership, perhaps it’s a question of conflicting interests between leaders and the rakyat.

The majority of the rakyat appears disillusioned with Umno and its policies. They are fed up with the Umno leadership.

I refuse to believe that this party founded on the trust, hopes and confidence of the Malays can no longer command the support of the Malays.

It must now regain the rakyat’s trust and faith. It has to re-engineer itself. The question now is, can it re-invent itself with the existing leadership?

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and a FMT columnist.

MIC chastises Lim for ignoring local Indian traders

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng owes an apology for sidelining their interests at the recent international shopping carnival, says MIC state Youth chief.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang MIC Youth chief J Dhinagaran accused the state government of neglecting local Indian businessmen when it held an international shopping carnival recently.

He said the state government allowed outsiders to come and reap profits through the carnival at the expense of locals, especially with Deepavali just around the corner.

“Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s administration priority should have been to create more business opportunities for local Indians,” said Dhinagaran.
He accused Pakatan Rakyat of running a profit-oriented, not people-oriented, political entity.

“He owes an apology to the local Indian business community for neglecting their interests. The Pakatan government has failed to walk its talk over its much-hyped CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) formula.

“Lim has neither been competent, accountable or transparent to Indian traders in Penang, especially in ‘Little India.’

“The ones laughing all the way to their banks are the organisers and traders from India who benefited from the carnival.

“It’s clear the state government’s policies favour outsiders more than locals, who had supported Pakatan which is now enjoying the full benefits of power,” added Dhinagaran.

He said that it would be foolish to expect local Indian consumers to do their Deepavali shopping again when they may have already purchased all their items during the carnival.

Dissenting voices

The Penang International Indian Shopping Festival 2011 was held between Aug 27 and Sept 4 at Penang Times Square and traders all over India took part in it.

Traders and exhibitors from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra and several Malaysians took part in the event which focused on Indian-based consumer products.

Dhinagaran said the state government should have listened to dissenting voices from the local business community before approving the shopping carnival.

He suggested the state government should have asked the organiser to hold the carnival after Deepavali.
Dhinagaran also claimed that this was not the first time that the state government had neglected the interests of local Indian businesses.

MIC Youth, he said, was not surprised that the state government’s leaders were insensitive to the sufferings of locals because of their non-Penang backgrounds.

“Lim is from Malacca while his deputy P Ramasamy is from Sitiawan. They aren’t bothered about local Indians,” claimed Dhinagaran.

PM to announce political, social and security changes in speech tonight

The Star
by WONG SAI WAN and MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Sweeping political, social and security reforms are among the highlights of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's Merdeka/Malaysia Day speech that will be aired on private and public TV channels live tonight.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce measures that will make it less restrictive for people to express themselves and those who have seen the speech say that it “will redefine the political landscape of Malaysia”.

“This is all about the democratic process. This is what the people have been clamouring for. The Govern-ment is listening to them.

“And it is all about the transformation process by the Government. We already have the Government and economic transformations. This is now the time for political transformation in line with current global developments,” said a source.

Najib is expected to make announcements on laws and practices that are deemed draconian and undemocratic by the people, including the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance.

While senior aides said that the ISA would not be repealed, they said Najib would announce measures to “update” it, including on the length of the detention period.

In what can be seen as an answer to criticisms on the Government's handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally, Najib is also expected to announce measures to relax control on the freedom of expression and the right to assemble.

A government official said the recent announcement of the formation of the parliamentary select committee to improve the electoral process was part of the reform process.

The Government is also expected to introduce reforms for media practitioners, including on censorship and the need for them to renew their permits annually.

“The Government needs to move on with the times and do ourselves a favour without having to control publications,” said another source.

Home Ministry deputy secretary-general (security) Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi said on Tuesday that the Government would be more open towards media practitioners by getting their feedback due to the changing global landscape and rapid information technology development.

He had said the ministry would also be studying legislation in other countries regarding demonstrations and assemblies, taking into consideration civil liberties as well as national security.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatimsaid the Prime Minister's address would be televised at 8.45pm.

“He will be speaking in front of about 800 people comprising Cabinet ministers, senior government officers, members of Barisan Nasional component parties and non-governmental organisations at Auditorium Perdana, Angkasapuri.

“He is expected to stress on key issues concerning major changes deemed crucial for the Government and the country,” he said after chairing a post-Cabinet meeting at his ministry at Wisma TV, Angkasapuri, here yesterday.

Old Penang: Chulia Street (another image)

A couple of fascinating images of Chulia Street, showing early modes of public transport.

Trolleybus turning out of Chulia Street onto Penang Road passing Leith St Police Station, circa 1926 - Postcard photograph provided by Ric Francis, from his book Penang Trams, Trolleybuses and Railways

A tram cruising along Chulia St circa 1918 - Thanks to Ric Francis for this postcard image from his collection; also appeared in his book Penang Trams, Trolleybuses and Railways

[/caption] This section of Chulia Street is likely to be between Chulia Lane and Love Lane. Notice the wide pavement for pedestrians. Unfortunately, the pavement is no longer there and instead, the space is used for car park bays. It’s a fascinating image. (Click twice to enlarge it to full-screen view.) Notice that a few people are wearing light-coloured shirts or vests and even white pants.

This photos has been circulating in cyberspace. I am not sure what year or even decade this is. Perhaps a pre-war image? This must be the section of Chulia Street between Love Lane and Chulia Lane.
Says mabis60 via twitter:

The road hasn’t changed very much except cars have replaced the rickshaws and the trolley bus elec lines have disappeared. I think the pic was taken somewhere near Cheapside A short lane where you can buy knife, axe, parang, changkul. I rode in one of those rickshaws during my young days in the early 1950s.

Yes, those were the days when the eco-friendly trams cruised up and down the streets.
Did you know a map of George Town in the late 18th century shows paddy fields located on part of present day Chulia Street? Most likely to provide the staple food for the early community of George Town, some of whom arrived from the Kuala Kedah area.
The majority of the early settlers at Chulia Street were South Indian Muslim traders while Chinese shopkeepers arrived in the late 19th century.
tunglang reminisces about old Chulia Street:

As I stare at this photo of Old World Charm Penang, I cannot help but go back to that photographic moment and savour the sights, the sounds and the smells of inner city George Town.
Standing at the junction of Love Lane looking down the street of old Chulia in the comfortable heat of the one o’clock in the afternoon, I am alerted by the sudden ringing of bicycles leisurely traversing from the side lane famed for Cantonese Carpenter’s Guild (Lo Pan Hang) towards the opposite side of main Chulia Street. It is lunch time and these carpenters on bicycles are so hungry for their favourite lunch at the Campbell Street Market as can be seen by their shaky, snaky pedalling.
The main traffic in this thoroughfare consists of rickshaws with running legs and two huge wheels. The quick-footed running and slow approach from the opposite direction as if rooted to the road really amuse me. But once it is 20 feet near, the speed of the rickshaw is amazing. I can hear the puffing of the rickshaw puller, face red with perspiration, like the horse power of the future car. Plus the rolling sound of hard wheel-rubber on hard road makes him look like the Six Million Dollar Man of the 1970s TV series. Not a minute passes by without the sight of this wonderful invention of the Chinese before the advent of the horse-power engines.
Already red faced from the heat of the afternoon, I walk to the five-foot way (Goh Kha Kee) to take in the cool breeze rushing along the corridor. I am now delighted to hear the cracking sounds of a British-made radio playing Cuban Cha Cha music from a Chinese medical hall. In rhythm with the music, I watch the rhythmic walking pace of pedestrians with black umbrellas going about their business. Even the sleepy dog beside me is wagging its tail to the tempo.
As I walk along the corridor, I am surprised by a familiar hawker’s call and the heavenly smell of the wan than mee. This hawker on a bicycle is precariously balancing his ride with one hand holding his bowl of hot mee and another flipping the twin bamboo sticks. Before he stops just in front of me, I can now see a rattan basket being lowered from a third-storey window above. I hear the half-yelling of a Canto Ah Mah Cheh.
Nodding and saying “Lei Loh” the hawker gingerly places his heavenly cuisine into the basket while taking the bronze coins in payment for the affordable Wan Than Mee.

Here's where you can submit those fading, nostalgic or interesting photos of Penang and other parts of Malaysia or other images of public interest. 1) Just scan the photo and upload 2) include in the subject field the caption for the photo, the approx year it was taken, and the name of the photographer, if you want it included, and then 3) click submit. Selected photos will be published on this blog.

Church sex-abuse victims urge ICC prosecution

Complaint filed against Pope Benedict and three Vatican officials by US-based group, alleging crimes against humanity.

Many victims say no senior church officials have been held to account for sheltering guilty clerics [EPA]         An international group for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests has asked the International Criminal Court to prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three other senior Vatican officials for crimes against humanity. The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said on Tuesday it had filed the complaint with the ICC with help from lawyers from the non-profit US Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR). They called on the court "take action and prosecute the Pope and three other high-ranking Vatican officials for their direct and superior responsibility for the crimes against humanity of rape and other sexual violence committed around the world". The Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sexual-abuse scandals and allegations of cover-up in Europe and the US in recent years. But this is the first time the sexual-abuse scandal has been brought to an international jurisdiction, marking a new approach by victims and rights groups. The three other Vatican officials the group is asking that they be investigated are Tarcisio Bertone, the cardinal secretary of state; Angelo Sodano, his predecessor; and William Levada, a US cardinal. Levada is head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the Vatican office designated to investigate sex abuse cases forwarded to it by bishops. Federico Lombardi, Levada's spokesperson, refused to comment. 'Direct cover-up' Pam Spees, a CCR lawyer, said in a statement that "the Vatican officials charged in this case are responsible for rape and other sexual violence and for the physical and psychological torture of victims around the world both through command responsibility and through direct cover-up of crimes. "They should be brought to trial like any other officials guilty of crimes against humanity". SNAP said it had submitted more than 20,000 pages of supporting material, but some international law experts have suggested the case might not go very far. "Firstly, a prerequisite for crimes against humanity is that it has to be perpetrated by a State, or 'state-like' organisation," Herman van der Wilt, a professor of international law at Amsterdam University, told the AFP news agency. "And secondly, ... the ICC would not be able to investigate any crimes committed before July 1, 2002, when its mandate commenced according to its founding statute." The ICC prosecutor has received nearly 9,000 independent proposals for inquiries since 2002, when the court was created as the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, and has never opened a formal investigation based solely on such a request. The ICC prosecutor's office said the evidence would be studied. "We first have to analyse whether the alleged crimes fall under the court's jurisdiction,'' it said in a statement. Meanwhile, attorneys for the Survivors Network argued that no other national entity exists that will prosecute high-level Vatican officials who failed to protect children. Speaking to Al Jazeera, David Clohessy, the director of SNAP, says that there are "only a handful of bishops who have been disciplined or demoted or even denounced by the Vatican officials for hiding child sex crimes, only a handful out of 5,000 across the globe. "Church officials take no meaningful steps. There are a lot of words, a lot of promises and a lot of policies on paper. But on a day-to-day basis, each bishop continues to act as the old of his own kingdom and protect priests and shuffle priests and do the absolute bare minimum he possible can to keep this under wraps. We have somewhat reluctantly come to the conclusion that it really will take secular officials on a global level to try to prevent this kind of violence on a widespread continuing basis." Rising anger Megan Peterson, a 21-year-old SNAP member who spoke publicly of her abuse for the first time last week, was among those backing the initiative. Describing her ordeal, she recalled: "When at age 15, I called the diocese to report the rapes they hung up on me." She called on the ICC to "take this case seriously and do the right thing". "I don't want any more kids to go through what I went through," she said. The Roman Catholic Church is struggling to deal with rising anger and a string of lawsuits after thousands of child abuse claims in Europe and the US. The latest major crisis came in July, when Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, launched a ferocious attack on the Roman Catholic Church's "absolutely disgraceful" failure to deal with years of sexual abuse of children by priests. Benedict has expressed shame and sorrow over the clerical sex scandal and has called on bishops around the world to come up with common guidelines against paedophiles by May 2012. But the issue shows no sign of going away. Nick Xenophon, an Australian senator, named on Tuesday a Catholic priest who allegedly raped a teenage boy in assaults dating back about 50 years, after the church refused his demand that they withdraw him from his post.

Source: Agencies

Mat Sabu saman Utusan, Muhyiddin menyusul

‘Najib must ban Merdeka fests, history books’

Two NGOs have asked the government to ban Merdeka celebrations and history books until an accurate account of the nation's past is compiled.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must ban Merdeka celebrations and history textbooks until an accurate account of the nation’s past is compiled.

In making the call, two Indian NGOs urged the government to set up an independent team of experts to research the historical facts.

Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (MIPAS) president A Rajeretnam said the government must do this since former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed that the information contained in textbooks was inaccurate.

Furthermore, he said the Majlis Professor Negara (MPN) also claimed that the country was never colonised by the British.

“The public are confused by these statements,” he told a press conference here.

As for the proposed independent team, Rajaretnam said it should comprise representatives from the opposition as well as NGOs.

“The major issues which should be looked into is why we celebrate independence day and why (first prime minister) Tunku Abdul Rahman is considered the ‘Father of Independence’ if we have never been colonised by the British,” he added.

He said the government must also clear the air over Malayan Communist Party member Mat Indera (Muhamad Indera) who fought against the British colonial masters.

“Datuk Naning, Tok Gajah, Mat Kilau, Maharaja Lela and others have been declared as national heroes. They did the same thing as Mat Indera, which is to fight against the British,” he added.

He urged Umno not to destroy the real history of Malaysia because of political interest.

‘Are Indians British citizens?’

Rajaretnam also urged Umno’s Barisan Nasional counterpart MIC to state its stand over the history controversy.

“It is important for MIC to come forward and explain the facts,” he said.

He added that if MIC agreed with Mahathir’s assertion that Malaysia was never colonised by the British, this would mean that the Indians here were technically still British citizens since they were brought here by the colonial power.

Meanwhile, National Interlok Action Team (NIAT) president Haji Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, who was also present at the press conference, said it was important to re-write our history books.

He said Malaysia was not made up of a single community and all races had played a role in building the nation.

“So due recognition must be given to all,” he added.

Commenting on the proposal to set up an independent team, Thasleem said: “If the Najib administration refuses to do this, then it is clear-cut Umno is a liar for claiming that Malaysia was colonised by the British.”

‘Kaum biaDAP may ruin Malays’

Independent MP Zulkifli Noordin warns that should DAP come into power, the Malays' faith in Islam and their moral values may erode.

FULL REPORT

PETALING JAYA: The faith and moral values of the Malays here will erode if the “kaum biaDAP” comes into power, said Barisan Nasional-friendly independent MP Zulkifli Noordin.

The Kulim Bandar Baharu MP, in his blog, made scathing remarks against a man whom he claimed had insulted Islam.

The individual, whom Zulkifli described as “cursed” (laknatullah), was allegedly a Singaporean who posted comments insulting Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page.

“There are no more boundaries to the accursed people… according to the records, the barua (bastard) who wrote those things lives in Singapore… maybe this is the work and teaching of (former Singapore prime minister) Caliph Lee Kuan Yew,” said the ex-PKR MP.

Linking the Singaporean Chinese leader’s influence to the Chinese-majority opposition party DAP, Zulkifli said:

“Probably, this is what will happen to our Malay children if the biaDAP (rude) party of (Penang chief minister and DAP secretary-general Lim) Guan Eng who is worshiped by the Anwarinas (Anwar Ibrahim’s supporters) was to rule this country.”

“With the current serious crisis of the (Islamic) faith, all of these new clowns are willing to share the usage of the term Allah with the Christians, and still do not know how to be united with each other in Islam. They still worship the traitors of Islam and ‘menjilat’ (kowtow) to the kaum biaDAP,” he added.

He also took a swipe at Islamic party PAS, whom he termed as “pak lebai” (pious person), for defending a “kaki liwat” (sodomite), “kaki zina” (adulterer), “kaki pembohong” (liar), “kaki penipu”, “kaki putar” (spin doctor), “kaki komunis” (communist) and “kaki sondol”, in an obvious reference to Anwar.

Zulkifli had been a harsh critic of PKR and Anwar, especially after he was sacked from PKR last year and turned Independent MP. The long-term Anwar follower accused his former party of not doing enough to protect Islam.

Remarks ‘uncalled for’

In an immediate reaction, DAP strategist Liew Chin Tong said his party condemned the “uncalled for” and “nonsensical” remarks by Zulkifli.

“What we want is reasonable discussions and debates about policies and the future of the country, and not such remarks which appeal to emotion without any basis,” said the Bukit Bendara MP.

Liew said Zulkifli’s argument took a “leap of logic” and he would not give it attention.

“This is part of his campaign against Pakatan Rakyat, from the day he left. And it is part of the bigger picture where in 2005 (then Umno Youth chief) Hishammuddin (Hussein) raised the keris as part of Umno’s attempt to win support and consolidate the Malay population,” he added.

The DAP leader said Umno was doing this at the expense of BN component parties and non-Malays in the country.

“These efforts are unlikely to bear fruit, because they are still struggling. Umno is not getting more than 60% of Malay support, that is their challenge at the moment. Many Malays have seen through Umno and its problems. They, like all Malaysians, also want a society which does not favour cronies,” he added.

Explaining how illogical Zulkifli’s argument was, Liew said that DAP ceased all relationships with the Singaporean People’s Action Party after the departure of DAP founder Devan Nair in 1967.

“Since then DAP has nothing to do with Singapore. But more importantly, what he said has no basis. We (Pakatan) are for a country which puts across the right values of governance, we want a government that is clean and elections to be fair…” he said.

“Zulkifli is part of this so called one-upmanship publicity blitz… what needs to happen is sensible people from both sides need to lead and provide alternative leadership,” he added.

Liew said it was unlikely that people would buy Zulkifli’s logic.

“I think Umno has even ignored the fact that rural people also have children in cities. To assume that rural folk are predominantly Umno supporters and willing to buy all this nonsense is just wrong,” he added.

Contacted for comment, PAS’ Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad could only laugh. “Hahaha. My God!”

“This guy does a great disservice to Islam while he reckons he is ‘championing’ the Islamic cause,” he added.

He said Zulkifli’s overzealous nature drives him into religious bigotry, prompting him to always portray Islam as being under siege.

“This enables him to justify his combative and confrontational default mode. Deplorable! It makes a mockery of Islam,” he said.

‘Mahathir ‘mastermind’ jatuhkan Najib’

Tun Mahathir memberi mesej bahawa Najib Tun Razak juga bukan merupakan 'calon boleh menang' dan secara tidak langsung merupakan liabiliti kepada Umno-BN.

KUALA LUMPUR: Naib Presiden PAS Dato’ Mahfuz Omar menyifatkan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sebagai ‘mastermind’ yang berperanan untuk menjatuhkan pentadbiran Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Beliau merujuk kepada kenyataan mantan perdana menteri itu semalam yang menasihati Najib agar pilihan raya umum (PRU) ke-13 dilewatkan bagi meneliti semula senarai ‘calon-calon yang boleh menang’.

Mahfuz yang juga Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena berkata nasihat Mahathir itu memberi mesej bahawa Najib juga bukan merupakan ‘calon boleh menang’ dan secara tidak langsung merupakan liabiliti kepada Umno dan Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Umno-BN berhadapan isu calon dan parti…..malah semalam Mahathir bagi mesej jelas bahawa Najib juga bukan calon yang dilihat boleh menang apabila menasihatkan Perdana Menteri itu untuk melewatkan PRU ke-13.

“Najib liabiliti bagi BN. Ini diakui golongan dalaman Umno yang cuba memberi tekanan kepada Najib untuk berundur sebelum PRU.

“Mahathir ‘mastermind’ Umno. Saya bimbang ada kumpulan yang menjadi telunjuk Mahathir ini seperti gerakan yang dilakukan ke atas Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dulu,” katanya dalam sidang media di Ibu pejabat PAS di sini hari ini.

Panel bebas

Dalam perkembangan lain, Mahfuz turut mencadangkan penubuhan sebuah panel bebas untuk mengkaji semula sejarah. Ini berikutan tercetusnya kekeliruan berhubung pandangan mengenai sejarah Malaya baru-baru ini.

Beliau berpendapat mana-mana pihak perlu bersikap terbuka berhubung kenyataan daripada Majlis Profesor Negara (MPN) bahawa Malaya tidak pernah dijajah.

“Saya tidak kata MPN itu benar tapi mungkin mereka ada fakta tertentu untuk menyokong hujah bahawa Malaya tidak pernah dijajah British.

“Mungkin betul, mungkin tidak…..maka kita perlu kembali kepada saranan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi (Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin) agar melihat kembali sejarah.

“Kita boleh panggil Mat Sabu (Mohamad Sabu) untuk kemukakan fakta sejarah dan bukannya timbulkan perdebatan politik untuk fitnah orang,” jelasnya.

Sementara itu, menyentuh mengenai cukai perkhidmatan yang dikenakan ke atas rakyat, Mahfuz mahu dasar percukaian kerajaan perlu diperbetulkan dan menurutnya, cukai dari lima peratus kepada enam peratus itu tidak wajar.

“Kenaikan cukai perkhidmatan itu merupakan isu besar yang menyebabkan pengguna menjadi tunggang langgang dan kerajaan perlu mengkaji semula fakta-fakta percukaian tersebut yang membebankan rakyat,” katanya.

A Filipino Beauty's Miss Universe Answer

What was the question again?

Or maybe it was the questions that were inane 

For the second year in a row, a Filipina beauty has been edged out as Miss Universe, allegedly because she gave the wrong answer to the all-important interview question from the judges. This time, it was the euphonically named Shamsey Supsup, a 5-ft 7-in beauty from General Santos City on the island of Mindanao. The puzzle is what was wrong with her answer.

The 25-year-old Supsup made it as far as the finals, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before she fell afoul of the question segment. A licensed architect who finished at the top of her class at the Diliman branch of the University of the Philippines, she was said to be a heavy favorite in the Telemundo online fan voting, only to flame out, according to news stories, because of her answer to the usual silly questions that judges pose to beauty queens.

She was asked if she would change her religion in order to keep the man she loves. The answer can be found here on Youtube.

No, she was reported as saying, “If the person loves me, he’ll love my God too.”

Asking someone to change his or her religion in the first place is an idiotic question. All over the world, people are dying or being beaten and tortured for standing up for their faith. Quite recently a howling mob of more than 1,000 people set upon members of the Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia and beat several of them to death. A Christian cabinet minister in Pakistan was shot dead by Islamic militants for espousing religious tolerance. It does not seem a beauty contest kind of question.

What Supsup should have said was: ‘That is a stupid @#$%&ing question. Find another one. I am a licensed architect who finished among the top 10 in my country in the licensure exam. You could ask me what, for instance, I think of the bizarre plan to put Donald Trump’s name on a 250-meter residential skyscraper in the middle of Makati. The thought of bringing together the American king of bad taste with the country that spawned Imelda Marcos is almost unimaginable to me.”

Miss Angola, a 25-year-old from Angola, won the pageant over Supsup and three other finalists by telling what, if any physical trait she would change if she could. None.

“Thank God I’m very satisfied with the way God created me, and I wouldn’t change a thing,” said the woman, Leila Lopes. “I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life.”

Lopes’ answer bears a strong resemblance to the answer that lost another Filipina the crown a year ago. That was the magnificently endowed Venus Raj, who was downgraded to fourth runner-up for answering the question whether she had ever done wrong in her life. “You know what, sir, in my 22 years of existence,” she said, “I can say that there's nothing major, major, I mean, problem that I've done in my life because I'm very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So, thank you so much that I'm here. Thank you, thank you so much!"

Venus Raj was born out of wedlock as a result of a Middle East union between her Filipina mother and an Indian father. She spent her girlhood the middle of a rice paddy in the Bicol region of the Philippines. She got herself through college, graduated with a journalism degree, bought her mother rice land on her beauty contest winnings and made it all the way to the world stage. It would seem that in her 22 years of existence, it would seem that she had done pretty well.

It is difficult to see just what either Supsup or Raj got wrong in their answers. There must be a special contest-speak that the judges know and listen for. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with real life.

What does have to do with real life are some spectacularly strange answers issued by the television commentators in the skyboxes as the contestants patrolled the catwalk in swimsuits. When Miss USA appeared, one of them chirped: “She’s a stunning redhead, but in real life she’s a blonde.” Miss Australia, another said, “holds a special interest in holistic health. In fact, health is the first section she reads in the newspaper. First of all, the fact that she’s even picking up a newspaper? Smart and beautiful.” Miss Netherlands, it was said, ‘wants to be a child psychologist. But right now, she’s a male psychologist.” That was met with the answer: “I know a lot of men that would want to lay on her couch.”

For the top ten awkward answers by television commentators during the swimsuit competition, you can click here. Then explain them to Venus Raj and Shamsey Supsup.

Economists no longer able to predict economic crisis, says ISIS chief

Mahani said there was now too much incentive for bankers to keep taking risks. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, September 14 — The global economy is now so unbalanced that economists are no longer able to predict crises, said Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) chief Datuk Mahani Zainal Abidin today.


This comes as the global markets continue to be plagued with uncertainty due to the lingering effects of the 2008 financial meltdown that hit the United States and Europe.

While Malaysia was spared from the financial crisis and has resumed economic expansion after the 2009 recession, its stock market has been rocked by global volatility, while inflation has soared due to pressure from high commodity prices. Property prices have also jumped dramatically owing to ample liquidity.

The think tank chief said that the problem was that the financial economy has become much larger than the real economy and admitted that assumptions used by economists no longer work.

“If you look at the world, economic theory has not kept up with what’s happening,” said Mahani at the launch of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011 today.

“We can’t predict the future as assumptions don’t reflect reality. The financial part of the economy is bigger than the real part.”

She added that a key factor was that financial institutions were now compensating their CEOs based on profits, which encouraged too much risk taking.

“You look at how much a top banker gets paid versus a good engineer. Good engineers studied very hard. What does a good banker do? Basically shuffling papers,” she said.

The former member of the National Economic Action Council that crafted the New Economic Model for the Najib administration said another factor was that financial products and services have become too complex, which made it easier for speculators to manipulate prices.

“These financial people are very clever,” she said. “All the best brains are going into finance. Financial engineering has become far more complex than real engineering. You look at the high price of gold and other commodities. It is not that we are eating more rice. It is because of financial engineering.”

Mahani also warned that the situation is expected to deteriorate further, with the ratio of the financial sector to the larger economy worsening and potentially causing social problems.

“It is easy to create money, you just print,” she said. “The US quantitative easing pumped in US$600 billion (RM1.8 trillion) just like that. But the effects are (destabilising) capital flows. First, the stock market will go up and down. Now, when I see the stock market go down, I don’t worry anymore. Second, it will bite into property. The non-bankers will no longer able to afford property. Only people who know how to manipulate money can buy property.”

She said that Malaysia was lucky in some respects as it had learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and was not “gung-ho” about financial liberalisation.

The ISIS head added that Malaysia needed to prepare for the future by building a balanced economy.
“Although we want strong exports we also need a strong domestic economy,” she said. “Don’t forget about agriculture. Last time agriculture was not interesting but now it is considered very important.”
She added that the country needed to take steps to tackle its household debts levels.

As a percentage of GDP, Malaysia’s household debt increased from 66.7 per cent in 2004 to 76 per cent in 2009, which is uncomfortably close to the levels seen in the US prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

“Households have large debts because we encourage consumption,” she said. “Then when there are external shocks, they cannot cope.”

Kecewa PM tak sudi jumpa blogger Umno ugut potong kaki Nawemee

Gambar diatas ialah gambar rakaman screen sebuah blogger tegar Umno, Blog RBF atau lebih dikenali sebagai Ruang Bicara Faisal ialah antara blogger tegar Umno yang telah menyuarakan kekecewaan terhadap Perdana Menteri kerana tidak dapat bertemu dengan PM walaupun mempunyai idea dan aspirasi, sedangkan Nawemee yang dikatakan telah menghina negara, bangsa dan agama diberikan peluang untuk bertemu dengan Perdana Menteri.

Dengan tajuk "Parang Panjang Untuk Potong Kaki Namewee Sudah Tersedia", sebuah blog penyokong kerajaan telah bertindak liar di atas ketidak-puas-hatian kepada Perdana Menteri, iaitu orang yang selama ini dipertahankan habis-habisan.

dalam blog tersebut jelas menyatakan;

Kawan-kawan sekalian, sepertimana yang anda tahu bagaimana saya serta kawan-kawan saya, siang malam, pagi petang kami berusaha mempertahankan kerajaan serta PM. Bukan setakat mempertahankan PM, malah terpaksa mempertahankan juga isteri PM daripada fitnah-fitnah yang dilemparkan termasuklah isu cincin 24 juta , tapi kami tidak pernah pun dijemput seperti namewee untuk berjumpa PM.

Tapi si bangsat tersebut sudah melakukan bermacam-macam dajal dan sial serta menghina kaum serta agama , tiba-tiba mendapat layanan istimewa untuk berjumpa PM. Mana pergi namewee ketika Rosmah difitnah beli cincin 24 juta. Kenapa dia tak buat lagu yang mengatakan tuduhan itu fitnah ?

Kawan-kawan semua, saya dah lama menyimpan impian untuk berjumpa PM bagi memberitahu beberapa perkara termasuk idea-idea, tapi tak kesampaian. Saya terfikir , siapalah saya ini untuk berjumpa pemimpin tertinggi negara. Kalau ada pertemuan dengan PM pun di majlis-majlis besar yang melibatkan ramai orang. Maka sudah tentulah sukar untuk kita bercakap di majlis-majlis seperti itu.

Tapi anak haram itu senang-senang sahaja dapat jumpa PM. Siapa yang tak berasap beb ?

Kekecewaan RBF dilihat tidak dapat lagi disorok apabila secara terbuka menempelak pimpinan sendiri beserta dengan satu ancaman bunuh terhadap Nawemee yang akan berjumpa dengan PM. Ia seolah-olah mencabar kewibawaan PM sekiranya mengambil tindakkan kepada RBF akan dilihat sebagai tidak prihatin ke atas bangsa sendiri tetapi membela Nawemee.

Mari kita lihat sejauh mana pihak berwajib berani mengambil tindakan dalam ugutan yang memang terang dan jelas ini.

Namun kemarahan blogger ini ada asasnya. Masih ingat kita bagaimana Nawemee yang dikenali sejak video klipnya mengolah semula lagu negaraku menjadi "Negarakuku" disiarkan di youtube. Beliau bukan saja berdepan dengan tindakan undang - undang tetapi media mengolah kebencian yang melampau dengan mengaitkan Nawemee dengan Pakatan Rakyat dan kebencian melampau diwujudkan dengan api perkauman sebagai asas bahan bakar.

Maka Najib (baca: pimpinan UBN) meraih sepenuhnya keuntungan dengan menunggang sentimen yang dibakar blogger dan 'ngo-ngo' ciptaan mereka tampil ke depan menyemarak kemarahan. Ingat lagi bagaimana Arman ketika itu dia ketua pemuda PERKASA mengamuk dan membakar barang di depan pagar dewan himpunan china dimana Nawemee berada didalam dewan untuk satu program.

Akhirnya setelah melihat semuanya gagal meraih sentimen majoriti rakyat malah di kelas pertengahan imej UBN menjadi lebih negatif kerana tindakan tersebut maka Najib telah tukar strategi. Nawemee diberi ruang membuat filem pula dan semalam bertemu secara peribadi dengan Najib sendiri.

Jika difikirkan kesian dengan kawan - kawan 'bawah' yang begitu emosi pada satu ketika dahulu dalam isu Nawemee ini dan akhirnya dia sendiri mendapat ruang istimewa.

Walaupun memahami kekecewaan kawan-kawan ini tetapi che'GuBard nasihat janganlah sampai ugut-ugut bunuh...itu kurang tamadunnya. Jadikan ini sebagai pengajaran berpada dalam tindakan.

Itu belum lagi mereka respon dalam isu 'agihan tak sama rata'. klik sini untuk baca lanjut.

Gerard Butler receives death threats over new movie

Andy Kropa/Getty Images

Hollywood star Gerard Butler increased his security team at the Toronto Film Festival over the weekend after receiving death threats.

The "300" star has been promoting his role in controversial movie "Machine Gun Preacher," a true-life story based on a Hells Angel who rescues orphans in Muslim-dominant Sudan after converting to Christianity.

Butler was forced to hire more bodyguards when he took to the red carpet at the Canadian festival after reportedly receiving a string of threatening messages.

A source tells Scotland's Daily Record, "It is quite a controversial subject and some people are upset by the strong religious theme. We are treating this matter seriously."

Indian forum all talk and no action

By MK Periasamy,


Having recently received a mass forwarded e-mail about an upcoming conference on the future of Indians, I was interested to see who had taken the initiative to organise this event. In any event, another conference is just BN's and Pakatan's delay tactics.

It seems to me that what needs to be done for the Indians is clear for all except the politicians and current Indian 'champions'. The promoters in the case of this conference are P Sivakumar, Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) president and Denison Jayasooria.

On Mr Sivakumar, I read with interest a letter from SA Kumaresan recently who correctly questioned the contributions of Miba since it was set up by Sivakumar more than 10 years ago now.

Miba has generated next to nothing for the Indian community apart from organising talk shop after talk shop, where like-minded people get together and lament dishonest politicians and poor delivery but never ever themselves step up to do anything about it.

He has managed Miba the MIC way, without holding proper elections and summarily dismissing people from his organising committee according to his whims and fancies. It would be a surprise to many if this Johor Bahru organisation of not more than 25 people pretending to be a national organisation ever achieves anything.

He has excluded the SMC and other notable Indian NGOs from this forum, NGOs that actually contribute to the Indian community. This clearly shows that Sivakumar's only motivation is to scale the social ladder and become yet another empty vessel calling oneself an Indian 'champion', content to occupy centre stage but unwilling to sacrifice in order to achieve.

Sivakumar is joined by Denison Jayasooria, the one time protégé of former MIC president S Samy Vellu. Over the last 10 years of Samy Vellu's reign as MIC president, Denison was his trusted brains and one-man think tank.

If anyone can recall any positive changes that were delivered to the Indian community over the last decade of Samy Vellu's reign, many Indians would be interested to know what these are as we all cannot recall any.

Among many other pending matters, how Denison and the MIC foundation, YSS, that Denison led spent RM30 million are still things that have not been cleared up. One thing Denison did do, while under Samy's watchful eye, was to organise conference after conference and conduct a lot of research that never ever amounted to actual improvement in the lives of Indians.

He regularly publishes books compiling the outcomes of the conferences he organises, books that are really not worth the paper they are printed on. The only reason he left Samy is because he was refused a seat and a deputy ministership when he personally approached Samy for this before the 12th general election.

More recently, he was also removed from the Special Implementation Taskforce of the BN government because he wanted to replace Minister Dr S Subramaniam as the chairman of the said taskforce.

In order to shore up his relevance, and rather than take risks and be bold as people like Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan have been, he has chosen to do research loudly i.e. to catch the public eye in hope of maintaining his dwindling relevance to the Indian community.

Furthermore, he and a group of has-beens regularly put out statements from a group called Proham on any issue of the day, content to comment but never to act.

If the initiative to chart the future of the Indian community is now left to people like Sivakumar and Denison and not with members of the Indian community who have actually achieved something real for themselves and for the community, then we Indians are really in trouble.

The BN and Pakatan will not honestly help us out, and if the above two jokers are what we are left with, then we really have to wake up and take notice.

Perkasa says let Lion Group leave

Ibrahim said Putrajaya must not “bow to such threats”. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Datuk Ibrahim Ali has urged the government to ignore the threat by Tan Sri William Cheng to move his Lion Group’s steel operations to Indonesia, stating that the national interest must come before that of “one or two greedy individuals.”


The Perkasa president was quoted by Utusan Malaysia assistant chief editor Datuk Zaini Hassan as saying that the decision by Blackberry smartphone makers Research In Motion to set up shop here proved that “Malaysia continues to be a destination for giant investors of the world.”

“The suggestion by Lion Group to move to Indonesia is a threat that should be ignored. What is important is that the government must be firm and not bow to such threats.

“The government must look at the interests of the country before the interests of one or two greedy corporate individuals (who believe) their interests are more important than that of the country and the public,” Ibrahim was quoted as saying by Zaini in his column titled “Is it wrong to be a Malay ultra?” today.

Lion Group chairman Cheng said earlier this week that he may consider moving Lion’s steel manufacturing operations to Indonesia if Putrajaya failed to levy tariffs on imports of hot-rolled coils from both Indonesia and Thailand, which in turn charged a 48 per cent and 43 per cent duty on the same product from Malaysia.

China Steel Corp, Taiwan’s largest steel manufacturer, has offered to buy Lion Group’s steel businesses, according to a Bloomberg report quoting sources.

China Steel had made a binding offer for Lion Group assets including Amsteel Mills Bhd and Megasteel Bhd in a deal that might be valued at more than US$1 billion (RM3 billion).

Ibrahim also added that the government should continue the Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia programme despite Cheng’s concern that the budget sundry shop was hurting other small retailers.

Responding to the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia president’s remarks, the Pasir Mas MP said “this group only cares about themselves” and “only looks out for businessmen but what about the interests of the public including poor Chinese and Indians?”

‘More needed to safeguard religious freedom’

A diplomatic cable from 2006, leaked by WikiLeaks, plays up the concerns expressed by US diplomats on religious intolerance in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Top US diplomats here had expressed their concerns over the widening gap between the “defenders of Islam” and the “defenders of the constitution”, and had hoped for a strong leadership from the Barisan Nasional government, according to a leaked US confidential cable from 2006.

“The Malaysian government will need to exhibit stronger leadership in order to safeguard religious freedom and tolerance,” said the diplomatic cable sent to the State Department in Washington on Aug 30, 2006.

The cable also stated that the Malaysian government should also reject clearly any calls for religiously-motivated violence.

In particular, the US diplomats were concerned over the threats issued against prominent Muslim lawyer and human rights activist Malik Imtiaz for handling the apostasy case involving Lina Joy.

The diplomats noted that Malik had faced severe backlash from many Muslims for his outspoken stance on religious freedom issues, adding that the criticism had become much more pointed and personal.

They gave examples of mosques being used to defend Islam against apostasy where prominent speakers hit out at non-Muslims and Muslims who interpret Islam wrongly, including Malik.

The diplomats added that speakers who had hit out against those “ignorant on Islamic issues” included former Bar Council president Zainur Zakaria and prominent syariah lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzzaman.

“(Malik) Imtiaz told us that he believes several newly established Muslim activist groups orchestrated the death threat (against him), but he did not provide us with specific information to support his statements,” said the cable.

The confidential cable also noted that the Malaysian government was silent on the threat against Malik apart from the prime minister’s calls to stop public discussion of Islamic issues.

The confidential cable was leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks to the Malaysia Today blog run by Raja Petra Kamarudin who posted it today.

HRP demands 23 seats from Pakatan

The Human Rights Party is threatening a 10,000 people protest if Pakatan does not give it seven parliamentary and 16 state seats.

PETALING JAYA: The Human Rights Party (HRP) is demanding that Pakatan Rakyat give up seven parliamentary and 16 state assembly seats to HRP to contest in the general election.

Failing which, the party’s protem secretary P Uthayakumar has threatened that at least 10,000 Indians will protest outside the PKR headquarters.
And that, too, on the first Sunday after Parliament has been dissolved.

Uthayakumar said the party came to this decision after Pakatan refused to have any dealing with HRP.
Speaking at a forum and fund-raising dinner at Sitiawan on Sunday, he said HRP would be contesting in seven parliamentary and 16 state seats in Indian-based constituencies.

The seven parliamentary seats are Padang Serai (Kedah), Batu Kawan (Penang), Ipoh Barat (Perak), Kota Raja (Selangor), Teluk Kemang (Negri Sembilan), Cameron Highlands (Pahang) and Tebrau (Johor).

The 16 state seats are Bukit Selambau and Lunas (Kedah), Prai and Bagan Dalam (Penang), Buntong and Hutan Melintang (Perak), Port Dickson and Jeram Padang (Negri Sembilan), Tanah Rata and Ketari (Pahang), Puteri Wangsa and Tiram (Johor) and Sri Andalas, Ijok, Seri Setia and Bukit Melawati (Selangor).

Uthayakumar said HRP is eyeing four state seats in Selangor because one-third of the Indian population in Malaysia live in Selangor.

“In the last general election, we gave Pakatan a chance where for the first time BN lost its two-third parliament majority and lost control of five states.”

But, he said Pakatan failed to address the problems faced by the Indian community.

“So, this time Hindraf would not give a ‘blank check’ and make the same mistakes. Our demand is very simple. Let’s work together and vote Umno out,” he added.

He said political anaylsts have predicted that the Indian votes will swing back to BN.

“This will not happen if the Pakatan leaders had looked into the problems of the Indian community.”
He claimed that HRP has already set up six operation centres in some Indian-based constituencies.

“What we have learnt is that the Pakatan administration is no different from Umno, especially when it comes to Indian issues.

“For example, the state government has a say in allocating land but Pakatan state governments have failed to grant land to 182 Tamil schools in Kedah, Selangor and Penang.”

“I cannot see any problems for the state governments to grant lands for the schools,” he said.

Ambiga says it again: I won't contest in next GE

Responding to speculation that Pakatan Rakyat had identified her as a formidable candidate for the 13th general election, Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan reiterated that she will not contest.

"My sole interest in the 13th general election is to ensure that it is clean and fair," she said when contacted today.

"I confirm I'm not running in the next general election."

The former Bar Council president is perplexed at how such speculaion could be raised, and repeatedly, because she was leading the electoral reform coalition.

Bersih gained momentum for organising the July 9 street rally to push for free and fair elections and since then, the mainstream media and ruling parties have been portraying Ambiga and Bersih with the opposition.

Yesterday, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth chief Fadillah Yusof urged Ambiga to clear the air on whether she intended to be a candidate in the next general election.

"The rakyat wants to know whether it is true that she has had negotiations with (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim.

"And if she had been offered a seat, then which constituency and under which party's banner would she contest?" New Straits Times quoted Fadillah as saying.

Fadillah, who is also deputy science, technology and innovation minister, was responding to speculation that Ambiga was among several leaders Pakatan has identified as candidates in the coming election.

Ambiga stressed that the eight electoral reform demands proposed by Bersih should be the focus of discussion.

"It is imperative that, at the very least, the eight demands by Bersih must be implemented before the next general election," she added.

Mat Indera: Harakahdaily disoal siasat

Dr M says ill-defined 1 Malaysia to blame for race problems

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that the different perceptions and interpretations of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept had led to a deterioration in race relations with more demands made against the administration.

He said the Malays now felt aggrieved while the non-Malays wanted Bumiputera rights abolished.
“It is difficult for us to think that there can be unity with just a slogan,” the former PM said in an interview with satellite broadcaster Astro Awani that was aired today.

Dr Mahathir has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks in what appears to be a push to pressure Najib ahead of an impending general election. — file pic

He pointed out that both the Malays and non-Malays felt the government was now favouring the other.

 

“Malays feel that the Chinese are being treated better while they get nothing. I hope the Budget will strike a balance between the treatment of the Malays and non-Malays.

“Then only will some of the anger against the government disappear.”
The prime minister will table next year’s Budget on October 7.

This could be the PM’s last Budget before the next general election expected by early 2012.

Najib is expected to table an election budget by introducing populist policies to tackle rising costs and address general unhappiness over the glacial pace of reforms.

Dr Mahathir has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks in what appears to be a push to pressure Najib ahead of an impending general election.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir suggested that Najib refrain from calling a general election soon, advising the prime minister to use the time to work on his preferred list of Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates instead.

He also said yesterday that “extremists” from each of the country’s three major races were making increasingly unwarranted demands, adding that such incidents did not happen during his tenure as prime minister.

The former PM said that Malays, Chinese and Indians needed to accept the fact that it was impossible for the government to fully meet each community’s demands.

Racial and religious tensions have continued to mount since 2009, following a High Court ruling that found the Catholic Church has a constitutional right to use the term “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of its newspaper The Herald.

The ruling sparked a series of arson attacks on churches and other places of worship.

A proposal to move a Hindu temple to a largely Malay area in Shah Alam also saw a protest in which the severed head of a cow was dragged openly through the streets of the Selangor capital. Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism.

Right-wing groups, such as Perkasa, have claimed that Malays are currently under siege, and that the government needs to do more to defend their rights that they maintain are being eroded.

A recent survey by pollsters Merdeka Center found that Malaysians believe inter-racial relations have deteriorated over the past five years due to distrust among the different races.

Dr Mahathir said in Astro Awani interview today that he still had confidence that Najib would be able to fulfil the hopes of both the Malays and non-Malays.

“I hope Datuk Seri Najib realises that the Malays feel aggrieved and alienated. He has to ensure he does not alienate the Malays while protecting the interests of the non-Malays,” said Dr Mahathir.

Former MIED CEO walks free

P Chithirakala was cleared of all three cheating charges as she had returned the RM4 million she had allegedly siphoned off from MIED.

FULL REPORT - FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Former CEO of MIC education arm, Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED), P Chithirakala Vasu, was cleared of all three counts of cheating MIED of RM4 million by the Sessions Court here today.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kevin Morais told judge Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh that Chithirakala’s counsel had written three representation letters to the Attorney-General Chamber’s (A-G), among others, stating that Chithirakala had returned the alleged siphoned money.
“The A-G’s Chambers has considered these letters and agreed to withdraw all the three charges against the accused,” Morais said.

“Therefore, the prosecutor offers no evidence against the accused on all three counts.”
Chithirakala’s counsel Salehuddin Saidin verified that the amount had been returned.

Che Mohamad later allowed the application by the prosecutors, saying that Chithirakala was “discharged and acquitted”.

A teary-eyed Chithirakala said that she was “thankful to god” when approached by reporters later.
Asked if she had siphoned off the money as she was returning it now, she merely ignored the question.

Charged dropped on Sept 6

On May 11, last year, Chithirakala, 40, claimed trial to cheating former MIC treasurer-general M Mahalingam, 75, a director and signatory of MIED Sdn Bhd, by inducing him to sign three cheques for RM1 million, RM1 million and RM2 million, respectively, in 2007.

She was released on a RM 30,000 bail.

She is alleged to have deceived him into believing that the payments, which were made to Silver Line Services Sdn Bhd, were loan repayments to one Abdul Rashid Manaf, 65.

If convicted, she would have faced a maximum of 10 years in jail, whipping and fined on each charge.
Met later, Morais said that the third representation letter was sent on Aug 4, stating that the money was returned on July 29 in one lump sum.

He added that the A-G Chambers decided to drop the charges on Sept 6.

The trial started on April 6 which saw former MIC president, S Samy Vellu and his son, Vell Paari, take the witness stand to testify against Chithirakala.

Chithirakala, a former blue-eyed girl of Samy Vellu, had a fallout with the veteran leader following alleged misappropriation of the funds from MIED.

MIED was set up in 1984 as a private, non-profitable organisation which administers an education loan programme to help needy Indian students.

Bersih 2.0 police brutality probe reports ready

The reports will be tabled to the Cabinet soon, says Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

PUTRAJAYA: Three special committees set up to investigate allegations of police brutality during the Bersih 2.0 illegal demonstration on July 9 have completed their reports which will be tabled to the Cabinet soon.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said although he personally felt that the reports should be made public, it was up to the Cabinet to decide whether to do so or otherwise.

“In his issue, I would like to remind the police not to be biased. What is right, is right. What is wrong, is wrong. They must hold on to the standard operating procedures.

“If there are certain quarters who did not adhere to the procedures, they should be disclosed,” he said after meeting with former Inspectors-General and Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, including Haniff Omar, Norain Mai and Hussin Ismail, at his office here today.

Also present were Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar and Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam.

Bukit Aman had set up the special committees to investigate six allegations of police brutality during the illegal demonstration in Kuala Lumpur.

On today’s meeting, Hishammuddin said it was aimed at finding ways to empower the police force, including looking into the welfare of the police personnel.

Bernama

Dusta kerana terdesak, kisah Najib dibongkar pelajar Malaysia di Perth

Ia bukan lagi rahsia Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak sedang behadapan dengan saat-saat genting. Beliau dan pentadbiran beliau beserta parti UMNO telah terperangkap dalam penipuan- penipuan yang tidak berpenghujung. Namun begitu, mereka seolah-olah tidak mempunyai niat apa-apa untuk menghentikannya atau ia telah menjadi tabiat mereka dan mereka tidak lagi mampu mengelaknya.

"Mereka telah menjadi orang-orang yang pendusta bersiri - tiada ubatnya," Ahli Parlimen PKR, Gopeng Lee Boon Chye; seorang doktor yang terkenal, memberitahu Malaysia Chronicle.

Insiden terbaru melibatkan Najib, yang telah dilihat keluar secara senyap-senyap dari negara ini untuk berehat sebentar di Perth Australia pada Hari Kebangsaan Malaysia , 31 Ogos yang lepas.

PM tidak membuat apa-apa pengumuman sungguhpun dari segi protokol beliau dikehendaki untuk berbuat demikian. Walaubagaimanapun, malang baginya, pesawat - jet kerajaan Malaysia telah dikesan mendarat di lapangan terbang Australia.

Diselamatkan oleh FBC Media dan Bernama

Apabila digesa untuk berterus terang mengenai perkara itu dan ditanya jika beliau menyalahgunakan wang rakyat untuk kemudahannya pergi bercuti peribadi; agensi berita nasional Bernama melakukan beberapa kerja PR yang mewah untuknya.

Pada hari Ahad, Bernama mendakwa Najib telah pergi ke Perth untuk menghabiskan Hari Raya bersama pelajar Malaysia di sana. Ini berlaku pada hari Sabtu, Hari Raya telah jatuh pada hari Selasa dan beliau berangkat pada hari Rabu, iaitu pada Hari Kebangsaan.

Perkara itu menjadi lebih teruk, apabila Bernama berkeras mendakwa pelajar di Perth telah menemui beliau dan mengatakan bahawa ucapan Najib 'menjadi sumber inspirasi' mereka.

"Sangat hebat mendengar Perdana Menteri kita berucap, dan beliau sangat mengagumkan," Bernama melaporkan seorang pelajar Curtin, Lim Jian Min, dari Kedah berkata. "Dia menaikkan semangat kita dan memberikan jawapan yang baik kepada semua persoalan kami."

Bernama juga memetik beberapa pelajar lain yang memuji PM. Dalam ucapannya, Najib telah menjelaskan konsep 1Malaysia yang tidak berfungsi itu lagi dan faedah kepada negara dan rakyatnya. Beliau juga berjanji bahawa akan ada beribu-ribu pekerjaan yang menunggu mereka apabila mereka pulang ke tanah air.

"1Malaysia bertujuan untuk menyatukan negara kita dan untuk membawa semua bangsa bersama-sama mencapai kemajuan dan kemakmuran. Sebahagian daripada anda mungkin mahu untuk tinggal disini selepas tamat pengajian untuk mendapatkan pengalaman bekerja di Australia. Itu tidak mengapa. Tetapi sila kembali ke Malaysia kerana kita akan memerlukan anda , "kata Najib.

Dusta lagi!

Tetapi semua usaha-usaha untuk menyelamatkan Najib sia-sia belaka.

Seorang pelajar Malaysia yang juga merupakan pegawai kerajaan yang menghadiri majlis makan malam Najib telah menafikan yang dia telah memuji ucapan Perdana Menteri. Malah, beliau mendakwa bahawa Bernama telah memutarbelitkan kata-kata nya.

Semasa dihubungi, pelajar berikut terkejut dengan laporan itu kerana pelajar tersebut sebenarnya telah membuat komen itu sebelum ucapan Najib.

"Mereka benar-benar telah mengubah dan menokok tambah apa yang kita kata kerana saya tidak pernah berkata seperti yang telah dilaporkan. Segala-galanya telah dilakukan sebelum ucapan dan bukan selepas ucapan itu. Saya rasa ia tindakan bodoh dan tidak perlu," Malaysiakini melaporkan pelajar tersebut sebagai berkata.

"Mereka dimasukkan benda-benda yang kita tidak penah ucapkan dan mengubah kata-kata kami. Kami tidak berkata apa-apa yang buruk, jadi saya tidak nampak mengapa mereka perlu berbuat demikian."

Apabila diminta untuk memberi komen, pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat hanya mampu menggelengkan kepala dan ketawa. Mereka menegaskan selepas dimalukan di pentas antarabangsa baru-baru ini apabila Najib didakwa membayar RM58 juta wang rakyat Malaysia kepada perunding FBC Media UK bagi mereke laporan palsu yang menggambarkan imej positif dirinya, pentadbirannya dan projek-projek mereka kepada penonton seluruh dunia.

Pihak berkuasa UK sedang menyiapkan siasatan terhadap FBC Media dan boleh melancarkan enkuari awam besar-besaran kerana FBC telah menjual berita palsu kepada rangkaian seperti CNN, CNBC dan juga BBC. Najib dan FBC diselar kerana cuba untuk 'menipu' penonton global, manakala pemimpin pembangkang Malaysia telah berjanji untuk bertanya kepada beliau di Parlimen mengenai jumlah sebenar yang dihabiskan untuk publisiti palsu tersebut.

"Ini jelas menunjukkan sebuah rejim yang berada di ambang kehancuran. Apabila anda mendengar kata-kata seperti 'hebat' dikaitkan dengan Najib, anda benar-benar cenderung untuk merasionalkan apa jua laporan tersebut" naib presiden PKR Tian Chua memberitahu Malaysia Chronicle.

Malaysia Chronicle

Federal Court: Findings of RCI into V. K. Lingam video clip not ‘reviewable’

The Star 
by M. MAGESWARI

*This is the first time that the country's apex court, the Federal Court, has answered a question on whether the findings of the Commission of Inquiry is reviewable and this may have implications on the findings of other RCIs.

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court ruled Tuesday that the findings of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the controversial V.K. Lingam video clip cannot be reviewed, saying the commissioners had merely made findings and not a decision.

Lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam had sought a review of the RCI's findings that he had committed criminal misbehaviour, which he said was a grave attack on his reputation.

He had contended that although he had not been prosecuted, his reputation had been gravely tarnished and injured and that it was his fundamental right under the Federal Constitution to safeguard his reputation.

Justice Raus Sharif ruled Tuesday that Lingam and two former chief justices were not adversely affected by the findings of the commission.

Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin chaired a three-man panel. With him were Justice Raus,who is court of appeal president, and Federal Court judge Justice Abdull Hamid Embong.

This is the first time that the country's apex court, the Federal Court, has answered a question on whether the findings of the Commission of Inquiry is reviewable and may have implications on the findings of other RCIs.

Najib: Affirmative Action Will Remain For Bumis But More Market Friendly Now

By Nor Baizura Basri & Samantha Tan

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said affirmative actions to help Bumiputeras, which were introduced under the banner of New Economic Policy (NEP), would remain but have shifted to become more market friendly and merit based.

Najib, who is also the Finance Minister said the current government strategy of creating more opportunities for the Bumiputeras rather than imposing quotas on others, have also attracted the non-Bumiputeras.

"What we found out is that this way (affirmative action under NEP), firstly, has not been very popular with the market. And secondly, is not really helping the Bumiputeras.

"What we are trying to do now is to shift that - affirmative action remains - but it should be more market friendly and it should be more on the basis of merit," said the Prime Minister at the 11th Forbes Global CEO Conference here Tuesday.

"In other words, we create opportunities for them to grow rather than imposing quotas on others. So that's a general philosophy, we are moving towards and it's becoming better and has better attraction to the non-Bumiputeras," he said.

Najib was sharing his insights on the country's performance and challenges since taking the helm in 2009.

The 45-minute dialogue was chaired by Forbes Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Asia, Steve Forbes.

On whether it was time for Asean to look into a new currency, Najib said Asean countries were still open to the idea over the longer term, but the approach must be in a steady manner to avoid disruption in the currency and financial market.

"I do accept the fact that in the short and medium term, the US dollar will continue to be the major international currency and Euro will also be an important international currency. I don't see that picture changing in the short and medium term.

"But in the long term, it (the idea of new currency for Asean) is still open. But let us approach it in a steady manner so that we do not disrupt the currency and financial market," Najib said.

He pointed out that Malaysia was one of the first countries to use local currency to conduct business and trade with China.

On the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), Najib said the government has instructed the Inland Revenue Board to set up the system to enable its implementation.

He said it was important to be prepared as there would be glitches and further reassessment when it comes to the time of implementation.

"The question is the timing of it. I guess when the time is right, in the near future... probably after the next general election, we will introduce the GST," said Najib.

At the same time, he said there has been a growing acceptance among the people on the implementation of the GST.

Of the 12 million people, only 1.2 million people are paying taxes, said the Prime Minister.

"Our plan is to reduce our fiscal deficit from 5.6 per cent to 5.4 per cent this year and down to about three per cent in the next few years. So once we reduce our fiscal deficit, then there will be greater confidence in the economy and we should be able to see stronger fundamentals in Malaysia," Najib said.