Pembeli rumah tuntut geran rumah

Selain daripada itu pembeli juga tidak puas hati apabila harga rumah dinaikkan tanpa dimaklumkan kepada pembeli.

SENAWANG: Lebih 30 pembeli rumah pangsa di Taman Sri Mawar di sini kecewa dengan Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan kerana kegagalan kerajaan negeri menyerahkan geran hak milik rumah walaupun telah selesai membuat pembayaran.

Selain daripada itu pembeli juga tidak puas hati apabila harga rumah dinaikkan tanpa dimaklumkan kepada pembeli.

Pembeli rumah Mohd Nawi Ibrahim, 55, berkata beliau membeli rumah pangsa secara sewa beli pada tahun 1991.

“Dalam surat perjanjian rumah ini berharga RM25,000. Saya membayar ansuran sebanyak RM138.22 selama 20 tahun.

“Bagaimanapun beberapa tahun lepas secara tiba-tiba saya mendapati harga rumah dinaikkan menjadi RM33,000. Kami tidak dimaklumkan dan saya hanya mendapat tahu ketika membuat pembayaran ansuran bulanan.

“Walaupun tidak puas hati atas kenaikan harga rumah tanpa alasan kukuh, saya tetap membayar ansuran bulanan dan mengikut kiraan ansuran saya sejak 1991, sepatutnya hutang saya sudah habis.

“Saya ada menuntut geran hak milik tetapi pejabat Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri memberi alasan geran hanya akan diberi selepas kesemua 48 pembeli rumah selesai membuat pembayaran.

“Ini tidak adil kepada pembeli rumah seperti saya yang membayar ansuran secara tetap dan sudah melangsaikan keseluruhan kos pinjaman rumah tersebut.

“Bayangkan ada beberapa pembeli rumah (sewa beli) di blok ini yang baru setahun tinggal. Tak kan saya kena tunggu dua puluh tahun lagi (tunggu pembeli ini melangsaikan pembayaran penuh) untuk dapatkan geran hak milik saya? Sedangkan saya tidak ada sumber pendapatan tetap lagi kerana telah bersara. Ini tidak adil kepada pembeli rumah yang sudah melangsaikan pembayaran secara sepenuhnya,” kata Mohd Nawi.

S Xavier , 42, turut menyatakan perasaan kecewa beliau apabila Kerajaan Negeri menaikkan harga rumah yang asalnya RM25,000 kepada RM33,000 tanpa perbincangan dengan pembeli rumah.

“Saya juga tidak puas hati dengan alasan pejabat Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri yang berkata geran hak milik hanya akan diberi kepada apabila semua pembeli rumah selesai melunaskan kos rumah tersebut.

Tunggu semua bayar

“Bayangkan ada 48 pembeli rumah dalam satu blok. Logikkah kalau saya kena tunggu kesemua 48 pembeli rumah ini selesai membuat pembayaran untuk menerima geran hak milik? Bagaimana dengan keadaan ada kes pembeli rumah lari begitu sahaja?

“Apakah kerana ada pembeli rumah yang liat tidak mahu membayar ansuran maka pembeli rumah yang selesai pembayaran jadi mangsa?

Xavier berkata ada tujuh blok rumah pangsa dan setiap blok mempunyai empat tingkat dengan 48 unit rumah.

Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Senawang dari DAP, P Gunasekaran yang mengatur lawatan media ke rumah pangsa untuk menemui pembeli rumah tersebut mendesak agar Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan turun padang dan bertemu dengan pembeli rumah ini untuk mengetahui situasi sebenar yang membelenggu pembeli rumah ini.

“Sepatutnya geran hak milik dikeluarkan dulu kepada pembeli rumah yang telah melunaskan pinjaman rumah pangsa tersebut.

“Ini juga secara tidak langsung memberi motivasi kepada pembeli rumah melunaskan pinjaman rumah pangsa tersebut dengan secepat mungkin.

“Jika hendak menunggu semua pembeli rumah lunaskan bayaran, baru hendak beri geran hak milik, ini memang tidak adil,” ujar Gunasekaran.

Sementara itu berlaku sedikit kekecohan apabila seorang wanita yang mendakwa mewakili Umno di kawasan rumah pangsa tersebut mempertikaikan kehadiran Gunasekaran di rumah pangsa tersebut.

Wanita tersebut kedengaran berkata kepada Gunasekaran bahawa Gunasekaran tidak sepatutnya masuk ke kawasan rumah pangsa itu dengan alasan kerajaan sudah ganti bumbung rumah dan mengecat bangunan rumah pangsa tersebut.

Gunasekaran pula berkata beliau adalah wakil rakyat untuk kawasan itu dan beliau datang pun atas aduan dan jemputan pembeli rumah yang tidak puas hati dengan Kerajaan Negeri.

Gunasekaran memperjelaskan kepada wanita itu bahawa pembeli rumah pangsa Sri Mawar mengadu kepada beliau kerana masih tidak dapat geran hak milik walaupun sudah selesai membuat bayaran balik pinjaman membeli rumah.

“Tak apa, awak buat kerja awak, saya buat kerja saya,” kata Gunasekaran kepada wanita itu.

This is my country, I’ll not balik Tong San

By right, Malaysia should today be a rich, progressive and prosperous nation. But why is it not so?
COMMENT

By Chua Jui Meng

After 55 years of greed, plundering and emptying the national coffer, the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno government is now living off borrowings.

According to Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Mukhriz Mahathir, the federal debt is at about RM800 billion.

That is why our economy is in tatters with the value of the ringgit shrinking fast (now at RM2.50 to S$1), cost of essentials and living rising and the people living in misery having to struggle to make ends meet daily.

That is why the rakyat (people) is at a political crossroad and have no choice but to change the corrupt BN-Umno before economic disaster befalls us as a bankrupt country.

Sabah’s RM40 million Musagate involving the state’s timber revenue and Sarawak’s multi-billionaire Taib Mahmud are two clear cases of super rich BN-Umno chief ministers who need not be accountable to their current wealth.

Malaysia is a blessed country with rich natural resources, including oil and gas, and the 26 million citizens should be reasonably comfortable financially. But they are not, especially the rural and urban poor.

In 1992, when I was in China, there were no cars on the roads, only bicycles and motorcycles. Not even Proton cars, don’t talk about Mercedes Benz.

After two decades, China has overtaken Japan as the biggest economy in the world.

BN-Umno leaders and their cronies can continue to tell us, the Chinese, to Balik Tong San (Go back to China), but I will not.

I was born in Malaysia, I reside in Malaysia and Malaysia is my country.

The Chinese in Johor must rise to give solid support to Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election for a more secure future.

We cannot rely on MCA anymore as it has proven to be only a “Yes Man” party to Umno. They only know how to continue to kiss the hands of Umno leaders for crumbs.

The Chinese must replace MCA with Pakatan parties whose New Development Policy will see restructures in both Small Medium Industries (SMIs) and Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs).

Chua Jui Meng is a PKR vice-president and Johor PKR chief. He is also a former MCA vice-president and an ex-Cabinet member.

Perkasa wants boycott of Jaclyn Victor

Jaclyn Victor's song, Harapan Bangsa, is claimed by Perkasa as an insult to Islam.

PETALING JAYA (Oct 18): Perkasa has called for a blanket boycott of local singer, Jaclyn Victor by Muslims nationwide over her song which it claims is an insult to Islam.

The song Harapan Bangsa was uploaded on YouTube on Jan 3, 2012 and contains religious connotations pertaining to the Christian faith.

It isn’t clear however when the song was recorded. None of her five albums released since 2004 includes Harapan Bangsa and the song isn’t listed as a single either.

The YouTube video was created by a Kathryn Barry and features Christian imagery, Malaysia and its various races with Harapan Bangsa as background accompaniment.

There were no images, however, of Jaclyn performing or recording the song in a studio. In an accompanying write-up, Barry said that she had created the video to "share this beautiful and meaningful song about Malaysia and Jesus".

In a statement today, the right-wing Malay NGO said it condemned both Jaclyn and the songwriter for their “insensitivity and disrespect” to non-Christians in the country.

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali referred to a particular line in the song that reads: “Bapa, engkau lah harapan negara ini” (Father you are the hope of the nation) and said that it was a clear insult to Islam as the country’s official religion.

“There is also another line that says “Kau lah satu-satunya harapan di bumi Malaysia” (You are the only hope on Malaysian soil) and this is insulting to all non-Christians since she refers to Malaysian soil,” he said.

“Do all Malaysians believe in and place their hope in Jesus? The songwriter should have been more aware of the fact that Malaysia is made up of more than just Christians and has a Muslim majority.”

Syed pointed out that yet another line says “Yesus engkau lah harapan segala bangsa” (Jesus, you are the hope of all races) and questioned why the lyrics were written as such since Muslims have never worshipped Jesus.

He then expressed bemusement over Jaclyn’s insensitivity towards her Malay fan base especially when her success rode on their shoulders.

“Perkasa is not seeking an apology from her,” Syed clarified. “What is needed is a compulsory boycott by all Muslims of her albums and performances nationwide.”

“We also want the Information Ministry to ban her appearance on all electronic media. Let her feel the pain of her insensitivity. It will be a stern lesson for her.”

Jaclyn, 34, became an overnight sensation after winning the inaugural Malaysian Idol in October 2004.

Her debut album, Gemilang, achieved gold status a week after its release. She has since gone from strength to strength and has built for herself a multiracial fan base.

At the time of writing, fz.com has been unable to reach the singer who is currently preparing for Muzika Ekstravaganza held tomorrow in Singapore.

In an immediate reaction, Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa has rapped Perkasa for “disrupting the multicultural fabric of society” by exploiting issues that could potentially create racial tension in the country.

The son of the late PAS president, Yusof Rawa, was responding to Perkasa’s call for Muslims to boycott local singer, Jaclyn Victor, over a song that purportedly insulted Muslims.

But Mujahid, who has yet to see the YouTube clip, said that he has never known of any songs by Jaclyn that humiliated other faiths.

“The first question is whether she was the original singer of the song,” he pointed out. “And secondly, for what purpose and occasion was the song written?”

“I will reserve my (comments) on the lyrics as I haven’t heard the song yet but you know, anything can be uploaded on YouTube by anyone.”

Mujahid, who is also the chairman of the PAS National Unity Bureau, however added that he wasn’t surprised that Perkasa was riding on this issue as it was typical of the NGO to exploit issues like this.

“Our country has gone into the dark depths of politics where anything is being used for narrow purposes,” he said. “Even singers are not spared.”

He also warned that it would be “a very bad thing” if the exploitation of this issue was planned for the purpose of creating tension among the country’s different faiths and races.

Mujahid further noted that Perkasa’s harping on racially sensitive issues has had little success, even among the Muslims.

“Perkasa has never ever represented anyone of us,” he emphasized. “We are Muslims who give honour to others and don’t manipulate issues for narrow purposes. Perkasa does not represent us, please tell the world this.”

Former Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, when contacted, told fz.com that the reaction from Muslims depends on where the song was played.

"If it is played in public maybe it is not appropriate. But if it is a song to be played in church, then no one can say anything because it is between them and God.

"In Malaysia, we have a law where non-Muslims cannot refer to God as Allah," Mohd Asri said, adding that he heard that song was not new, but from five years ago.

"So (if in this song), you called upon God within the Church among Christians, we have no right to disturb. If you call God and ask whatever you want and it is not against public interest, that is between you and God," he said.

Meanwhile Jaclyn’s recording label, KRU Music, has confirmed that Harapan Bangsa is not part of its catalogue. The singer signed with KRU last September after her contract with Sony Music expired.

A KRU representative told fz.com that at this juncture, Jaclyn Victor has recorded only two songs with KRU, namely Jagalah Diri and Sebelah Jiwaku.

The Murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

(Asia Sentinel) Six years on, troubling questions remain about the Mongolian beauty's death, and who ordered it

It will be six years tomorrow since bodyguards for now-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak dragged the Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu out of a car in a patch of jungle near the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam. As she begged for her life and apparently that of her unborn child, they knocked her unconscious, then shot her twice in the head.

That was Oct. 19, 2006. According to court testimony, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, members of the elite Unit Tindakan Khas, both assigned to Najib’s office, then wrapped Altantuya’s body in C4 plastic explosives and blew her up, possibly to mangle her remains so badly that the fetus would be destroyed.

Sirul Azhar was interrogated by police shortly after the murder was discovered. He was informed that anything he said could be held against him, in accordance with the law. In his cautioned statement, as his confession was called in Malaysia, he told authorities he and Azilah had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman and her two companions, who were causing highly public embarrassment for Abdul Razak Baginda, Najib’s best friend. The 28-year-old Mongolian woman, in a letter found after her death, wrote that she was sorry she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda.
If French police records are to be believed, Razak Baginda was allegedly central to a massive bribery case in which a total of nearly €150 million in payments were steered to two Razak Baginda companies, Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Hong Kong Ltd.

As Asia Sentinel reported earlier this year, records seized by the French police show that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe were aware of the transactions. Memos obtained by Asia Sentinel show the French expected at least part of the money to be steered to the United Malays National Organization, Malaysia’s biggest ethnic political party.

Sirul’s confession was never admitted in court despite its seeming legality. And, despite a 14-month trial, neither the prosecutors, the defense nor the judge asked who had offered the RM100,000 payment to the two men. Najib’s chief of staff, Musa Safri, reportedly dispatched the two policemen to pick up Altantuya and her companions, who mercifully weren’t around when the two murderers abducted Altantuya, or presumably they would have died with her, As nearly as can be detremined from official records, Musa Safri was never questioned about the matter, nor was Najib.

This recounting is important because in recent weeks Najib’s government has embarked on a concerted legal campaign to discredit a long string of political reform and independent news organizations who have kept the Altantuya story and others concerning corruption and political misdoings alive in Malaysia. Instead, the government and UMNO leaders have accused the reformers of being the tools of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, or of foreign powers, out to destabilize Malaysia. The presumptive foreign powers are shadowy ones, sometimes German, sometimes American, sometimes Israeli, sometimes unnamed. Enormously long blogs have been written calling into question the French documents, which were published by Asia Sentinel.

But whoever these foreign powers are, they are cast as out to hoodwink Malaysia’s voters out of the government that is best for them in national elections to be held sometime next year, probably in April. This is an old story, peddled by a long string of disreputable governments across the world when reformers get too close, and it may hold sway again in Malaysia.

But there is one incontrovertible fact. Altantuya Shaariibuu is dead, and she appears to have been killed at the behest of someone with considerable clout in Kuala Lumpur. If her dying statement to Sirul Azhar, as he recounted it in his confession, is to be accepted, she appeared to have been carrying the baby of someone, perhaps high in power in Malaysia.

And, despite indignant denials from the powers that be, Altantuya appears to have had inside knowledge of the later events in France when Razak Baginda and Najib Tun Razak visited to deal with matters surrounding the purchase of Scorpene submarines from the French contractor DCN.

Although pro-government critics have denied she had ever visited France, according to testimony given by Abdul Razak when he was under investigation for ordering the two bodyguards to kill Altaantuya, he himself told investigators he traveled with her to France in 2005.

Records seized by French investigators from DCN, the defense contractor that sold Malaysia the submarines, bear that out, According to French investigators’ records, Abdul Razak Baginda and Altantuya met with Jean Marie Boivin, the alleged French fixer who helped to organize “commissions” for friends in high places to pick DCN’s submarines on that same trip. Boivin arranged to pay for a jaunt by Altantuya and Abdul Razak to Macau.

Najib has sworn on the Quran that he never met Altantuya, although she was in France at the same time as he was, accompanying Najib’s best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda. On June 11, 2005, Najib gave a press conference after having visited the site where the Scorpene submariners were being trained.

“As a maritime nation, (the) acquisition will give our navy the added capabilities,” he told the media. Earlier, in the port city of Brest, Najib visited a naval base where Malaysian navy submariners were training, and, according to the log of an Australian submariner association, presented jackets made available by Perimekar – Abdul Razak Baginda’s company – to the crew.

Back in Kuala Lumpur when it was realized that Altantuya was missing, her cousin lodged a police report and sought help from the Mongolian embassy in Bangkok. The Malaysian police found fragments of bone, later verified as hers, in forested land near Shah Alam. The honorary Mongolian consul in Malaysia was given a packet of pictures of Altantuya in Paris, apparently recovered from her hotel room. She had posed in front of the Louis Vuitton headquarters and a variety of other Paris sites. Altantuya’s cousin said she had been shown a picture of the dead woman at a dinner with Najib. If it existed, it was not included in the packet made available to the Mongolian consul, who forwarded the rest of them to Asia Sentinel.

After the arrest of Razak Baginda and the two policemen, there ensued a carnival of a trial in a Malaysia high court, in which prosecutors were switched at the last minute; in which Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted without having to put on a defense; in which nobody in Najib’s office was called to testify about who offered to pay the RM100,000; in which Sirul’s confession was never introduced, nor was he asked about any of the facts in it; in which nobody ever asked why immigration records for Altantuya and her two companions disappeared; why or how the two policemen were able to get their hands on C4 plastic explosives available only to the military in the bid to destroy her body. The honorary consul was never asked who gave him the pictures, nor if there others that might have shown more than just her.

On Feb. 3, 2009, Sirul pleaded with the court not to sentence him to death, describing himself as "a black sheep that has to be sacrificed" to protect unnamed people. "I have no reason to cause hurt, what's more to take the life of the victim in such a cruel manner .... I appeal to the court, which has the powers to determine if I live or die, not to sentence me so as to fulfill others' plans for me."

Eventually the two bodyguards were convicted and packed off to prison. They launched appeals, then other appeals. Their appeals were supposed to have been heard in February this year, eight months ago. Mysteriously their appeals have been delayed. They were supposed to be heard in August. They have been delayed again, and the suspicion is that they will be delayed until after the next election, or perhaps forever.

Altantuya Shaariibuu continues to await justice. Birnam Wood still may come to Dunsinane.

Priority is to break back of worsening problem of Indian youth gangsterism with a high-powered Commission of Inquiry to highlight that it is a national problem

This Parliamentary Roundtable on Indian youth gangsterism is most pertinent and timely, not only because the problem has become even more acute and serious in recent years but also because it has been two-decades in the making.

I remember that twenty years ago in April 1992, I had devoted my speech in the debate on the Royal Address in Parliament calling on the government to hear the cry of despair and hopelessness of the Malaysian Indians so as to address the fundamental problems confronting nation-building in Malaysia.

I had spoken of the growing sense of deprivation of the Malaysian Indians, who felt that the government had not been able to do much to improve the plight of the Malaysian Indian estate workers in particular and the Malaysian Indians in general.

For the increasingly displaced and alienated Indian estate workers, the alternative they faced in moving out of the estates was low-productivity jobs in the urban areas – which launched them on the vicious socio-economic cycle resulting in the very serious phenomenon of Indian youth gangsterism today, aggravated by poverty and long-standing socio-economic and educational marginalisation and discrimination.

The problem of Indian youth gangsterism has worsened in the past few years, underlined by the fact that the crime rate and the criminal involvement of Indian youths are completely out of proportion with their numbers and Indian percentage in the multi-racial Malaysian population.

We must aim at a two-prong major breakthrough to this problem, viz:

• Firstly, to convince all stakeholders and power-holders in the country that this is not just an Indian problem but a national problem; and

• Secondly, to break the back of the worsening problem of Indian youth gangsterism which needs a holistic approach involving socio-economic and educational dimensions.

Towards this objective, I would propose that the government set up a high-powered Commission of Inquiry, involving all sectors of Malaysian society, to highlight the causes and solutions to the problem as the first step to break the back of this worsening problem of Indian youth gangsterism in our country.

(Remarks by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang at the Parliamentary Roundtable on Indian youth gangsterism held at Parliament House on Thursday, 18th October 2012)

Mandatory sentencing is wrong

Malay Mail
by Lim Chee Wee

MINISTER in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz announced that Section 376 of the Penal Code, which carries a minimum jail sentence of not less than five years and a maximum of not more than twenty years and whipping, for rape, including statutory rape, would be amended.

It would be amended to provide that Section 294(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives judges discretionary powers to give a lighter sentence to first-time offenders, including binding over, which means no imprisonment, would not apply to statutory rape cases.

Statutory rape means sexual intercourse between a man and a woman under sixteen years of age with or without consent.

Such a knee-jerk reaction of legislative amendment to impose mandatory sentencing, to the two recent controversial decisions, is a wrong approach.

It fails to consider the complexities of sentencing where no two cases are exactly the same, that the two decisions are pending appeal, and sentencing council is a better answer than mandatory sentencing.

The decision in the bowler case is not unprecedented because Australia witnessed a similar result in its case involving Olympic cyclist Mark Jamieson.

Consider the young love situation

There are two competing interests of the criminal law, one being its protective role in protecting the emotional and physical wellbeing of children and the other is unnecessary or arbitrary interference in the private lives of young people.

This amendment fails to consider young love (Romeo and Juliet) relationships, such as between two 15-year-olds, or between a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old. Whilst the 15-year old may be sent to rehabilitation school, the 18-year-old will go to jail.

The young love situation is recognised in England and Wales where the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Legal Guidance on the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA) does explicitly state, “that prosecutors may exercise more discretion where the defendant is a child” and cites Lord Falconer in Parliament stating, “where sexual relationships between minors are not abusive, prosecuting either or both children is highly unlikely to be in the public interest”.

The public interest requires the prosecution of an offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, unless exceptional circumstances exist.

The CPS will have regard to:

The age of the defendant will be highly relevant. Even if the defendant is over 24, a prosecution may not be in the public interest if he had reasonable cause for believing that the girl was over 16.

The relevant ages of the parties;

The emotional maturity of the girl and whether she entered into a sexual relationship willingly;

The relationship between the parties and whether there was an existence of a duty of care or breach of trust (refer to the section on Abuse of Trust in Sexual Offences Act 2003, elsewhere in Legal Guidance).

IN summary, a man who is considerably older than the girl is likely to be prosecuted, especially if he owed her a duty of care; whereas it may not be necessary to prosecute a young man with whom the girl has been having a consensual relationship.

Baroness Hale said this in a House of Lords decision R v G (2008) UKHL (UK House of Lords) 37 involving statutory rape, which is a stern warning to men:

“Every male has a choice about where he puts his penis. It may be difficult for him to restrain himself when aroused but he has a choice. There is nothing unjust or irrational about a law which says that if he chooses to put his penis inside a child who turns out to be under 13 he has committed an offence (although the state of his mind may again be relevant to sentence) ... in principle, sex with a child under 16 is not allowed.

“When the child is under 13, three years younger than that, he takes the risk that she may be younger than he thinks she is. The object is to make him take responsibility for what he chooses to do with what is capable of being, not only an instrument of great pleasure, but also a weapon of great danger”. (Para 46).

Sentencing council promotes consistency

The four aims of sentencing are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation.

In attempting to achieve these aims, the established judicial principles of sentencing include that the court shall pass a sentence that is proportionate to the offender’s degree of culpability and consistent with other sentences for similar offences.

Consistency and proportionality of sentencing are the two most difficult aspects of sentencing and as both history and recent events demonstrate.

One of the most common ways of resolving this dilemma and achieve consistency in sentencing is the establishment of a sentencing council which would promote consistency by having guidelines for judges to decide on the appropriate sentence to reflect the crime committed and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence.

The sentencing guidelines for individual offences set out sentence ranges reflecting different levels of seriousness and within each range, a starting point for the sentence. The guidelines also provide guidance on factors the court should take into account that may mean a more or less severe sentence should be imposed.

The jurisdictions which have it include England and Wales, Scotland and Australia (New South Wales and Victoria).

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales promotes greater consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary, produces guidelines on sentencing for the judiciary and aims to increase public understanding of sentencing.

The composition of these councils includes judges, prosecutors, civil societies, defence lawyers and academics.

LIM CHEE WEE is the Malaysian Bar president.

Suaram denies French court rejected civil party application

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Suaram has denied claims that a French court rejected its application as a civil party to the Scorpene judicial inquiry.

“There were obstacles in getting admitted as a civil party, but we were granted it eventually,” said lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who represents Suaram, at a press conference at the Chinese Assembly Hall.

She added that the human rights NGO was made party to the proceedings on April 11 and showed reporters a document from the tribunal de grande instance in Paris, addressed to Suaram director Kua Kia Soong.

The Malaysian Young Journalists Club president Dzulkarnain Taib was quoted by a Malay daily last week as saying Suaram’s application to be party to the case had been “rejected completely” and that Suaram’s claim otherwise to was a lie.

Suaram secretariat member Cyn­thia Gabriel said Suaram had never misled the public in its statements about the case and a proper understanding of the French judicial system was important in order to understand the development of the case.

She added that the judicial inquiry conducted by the Paris tribunal de grande instance, equivalent to the High Court, began this April and could take up to two years.

Only Six Victims In Roof Collapse Tragedy - Police

SHAH ALAM, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Police have confirmed that the actual number victims of the roof collapse tragedy in Section 7 here is six and not eight as reported earlier.

Shah Alam ACP Zahedi Ayob said a colleague of the victims identified as Supardi informed the police that only six people were affected by the roof collapse at the bungalow that was undergoing renovation.

The last victim was saved by rescuers at 10.15pm Thursday night.

The man who was identified only as Kasmuji was sent to the Sungai Buluh Hospital for treatment.

He was found after a second crane was used in the rescue operation.

A victim identified as Totoj Mohamad Anthony died in the incident while those injured were Afifin, Waras, Kabir and Ghadami(one names only were given), all Indonesians in their 30s.

The rescue operation is still going on to find two more victims who are trapped under the rubble.

Malaysiakini feels the heat

Malaysiakini, a leading independent news portal, and Suaram, a human-rights organization, have come under heavy government pressure in the run-up to what is expected to be a hotly contested general election in Malaysia. 
 
Both independent groups have reported on politically damaging scandals surrounding Prime Minister Najib Razak and his ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.

In particular, Suaram has exposed and Malaysiakini reported allegations of irregularities in the procurement of Scorpene submarines from France at a time when Najib served as defense minister. The murder of a Mongolian woman, allegedly the lover of a Najib aide connected to the deal, has raised the political stakes of the scandal.

Full article on Asia Times Online website

Najib malukan wanita Umno

Suaram: We're still party to Scorpene inquiry in France

Mosques in Buddhist Sacred place, Conversion of Tamil Hindus into Islam, Islamic Insurgency surfaced in Sri Lanka. Threat to Buddhist-Hindu Culture of Sri Lanka.

United Buddhist-Hindu people in Sri Lanka must fight Islam to protect their existence from a clutch of Arab Expansionism.
Upsurging Islam in Sri Lanka: A Great threat to Buddhist-Hindu Culture of the island.

~Upananda Brahmachari.

Even we don’t want to realize this simple moral: When you quarrel someone else gains. The quarrel between Tamil Hindus and Sinhala Buddhist in Sri Lank paved the way to a huge rise of Islam in Sri Lanka as a threat to a Buddhist-Hindu Culture of Sri Lanka.

Even tender children read the fables of that two cats dispute the sharing a cake, while a monkey comes to settle the matter and finally ate whole of the cake left nothing for those cats. But, the world leaders of the most revered and ancient two religions i.e. Hindu and Buddhism do not care for an unity of them to fight against those Islamic Monkeys now trying a debacle in some districts of Sri Lanka in a regular fashion.

In the month of April (2012) last there were some die hard agitations by Muslims in the suburbs of Dambulla, Kurunegala and in the month of May (2012) it was in Dehiwala over the disputes for renovations of Mosques, where Sri Lanka Govt. ordered to shift those impugned Mosques so erected upon sacred Buddhist places. In the dispute over a Dambulla mosque government planed to relocate it. It had not gone down well with Sri Lanka’s Muslims and the country’s main Muslim party in the Govt coalition, Sri Lankan Muslim Congress protested a little bit, but the hard-liners as Sri Lankan Muslim League confronted with the Police and Administration with tooth and nail.

Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) told reporters that he believed President Mahinda Rajapaksa was an experienced and mature leader and so there was no question of SLMC leaving the ruling coalition.

After an unusually packed Friday prayers (on 27th April, 202)in nearby mosques at the Colombo city, hundreds of mainly Muslim young men thronged the street protesting against the shifting of the mosque at Dambulla because it’s allegedly built on land declared sacred by Buddhists. The police and the special combat force faced many difficulties to disperse the crazy people gathered in that Save Mosque congregation.

Such type of Islamic shows of rowdyism are becoming common in Muslim concentrated areas of Sri Lanka. The problem is related to the growth of Muslim population in Sri Lanka in recent times. Muslim percentage 0f 7.5% in 2001 census, has crossed the limit of 10% in 2011 as reports say. But, Muslims claim that they are 17% of the total population of Srilanka and they also demand apportioned participation and reservations in Govt Administration, Police, Military and Finance.

A news published in Colombo Telegraph in recent, narrates that: “The vast majority of the Sri Lanka island’s

Sri Lankan Muslims protest after Friday prayers outside a mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, April 27, 2012

Muslims are the descendants of Persian and Arab traders who settled on the island. Official estimates put the Muslim population of the country at around 7 percent, although Muslims believe their share of the population is much higher, perhaps as much as 17 percent of the total population. In Sri Lanka, such numbers are important because funding from the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs is spent proportionally on each religion.”

It goes further that: “During, the 30-year civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam and the central government, the island’s Muslims, though Tamil-speaking, sided with the government against the LTTE. This was in part a result of thousands of Muslims being ejected from Jaffna in the early 1990s. During the conflict, the Sinhalese Buddhist majority courted the island’s Muslims, and many Muslims rose to prominent bureaucratic positions, while a handful even served in the Sri Lankan armed forces. “

Upon such act of imprudence to prop up Islamist in Sri Lanka, the Muslim problem in the island has been grown up in such a height that may be fatal for checking a force of Quran loving fanatic people over the Buddhist – Hindu culture in Sri Lanka including the Buddha Sasana in the State.

The Muslims of the island are now engaged into conversion activities by alluring poor Hindu-Tamil people in the island.

Imams of mosques in Ampaa’rai district are engaged in converting members of poor Tamil Saiva families to Islam with financial inducement. Poor Tamil families from Chiththa’ndi, Mu’rakkottaancheanai, Chanthive’li, Kiraan and Ko’rakkallimadu who go work in rice mills, textile shops and brick making centres owned by Muslim businessmen are being coerced with inducements from the business owners according to sources.

About seventy five Saiva families of Nainaakdu have been converted to Islam. A mosque has also been constructed at the village for the use of converted Hindu-Tamil people.

Not only that, Tamil girls who are employed in textile shops owned by Muslims along Kalmunai-Akkaraippaththu road are also allegedly being sexually abused and used for prostitution, according to a report published in TamilNet.

This nature of Muslims towards Non-Muslims has been propounded by the orthodox Islamic views through their practice of Quranic doctrines.

Police in Akkaraipaththu and Kalmunai have failed to take action against complaints made related to prostitution as the Police officers are also being allegedly bought over by financial inducements from the Muslim organizers of the prostitution rings, local sources said.

Today the Hindu-Tamils are being victimized by the Sri Lankan Muslims. They are being converted into Islam by allurement. The Saiva -Tamil girls are victim of prostitution by an Islamic conspiracy. But, these also be a problem of Buddhist people in Sri Lanka. An upsurging Islam in Sri Lanka cannot be trusted anyway.

Sinhala-Buddhist people and Tamil-Hindu people in Sri Lanka must be united to fight against Islamic expansionism in this island. Lord Buddha, the principal embodiment of Bodhi, is highly esteemed by Hindu people as an incarnation of Bhagavan Vishnu. For thousand of years these two ancient Dharma-Dhamma-belief fulfilled the space of spirituality all the time. With this natural bond, they have to come close together to fight against a deadly Arab doctrine through eliminating all superficial differences.

Through this page, we expect a great initiatives of all Respected Buddhist Acharyas including Dalai Lama and The Hindu Saints including Shankaracharyas to draw a active strategy to maintain peace and amity in Indian sub-continent without any interference of brutal Islamic Jihad so far.

We also advocate for restoration of Bamiyan Buddha Statutes immediately there. These world famous Buddhist sculptures were destroyed by Taliban Muslims in Afghanistan in March, 2001. These dangerous people will destroy all non-Muslim culture everywhere, if they get any chance. Islam is dangerous. we have to understand it and must fight Islam unitedly.

UN-FPA STUDY IN ARABIC SAYS SOME ARAB MIGRANTS IN ISRAEL USING SEX WITH JEWISH WOMEN AS A FORM OF JIHAD……..

Sure they do, and it’s highly telling of the UN to keep the report from the English speaking world. Thanks to the Elder of Ziyon for fleshing this telling tid-bit out into the open.

Arab workers see sex with Jewish women as a form of “jihad”

According to a 2010 study done by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and supported by the UN, some Arab laborers in Israel regard having sex with Jewish women to be a form of jihad, or holy war.

Yesterday, I reported that Gulf News published an absurd story claiming that a Palestinian labourers working in Israel are at a high risk of sexual harassment by Israeli women, based on a supposed report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Since then, the Gulf News report has been picked up by other media, none of which bothered to find the original “report” to see if there was any truth to it.

So I looked again – and actually found the study (in Arabic).

Not surprisingly, it says something quite different than what is being reported.

[...]

But there is one other factor that some use as justification to have sex with Jewish girls: Jihad.

According to the study, some of the Arabs regard sex with Jewish girls as a form of “jihad” – as a way to punish the Jews! As one puts it, this is a form of “revenge” on Israelis.

Read it all here.

Man jailed for cutting off girlfriend's tongue

A man has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years' jail for severing a woman's tongue.

Mohammed Tasleem Tahir was in a relationship with Catherine Skinner in Adelaide, and when she moved to the Gold Coast, he followed her.

The Southport District Court heard in November 2010, the then 21-year-old attacked Ms Skinner in her apartment.

The Crown prosecutor told the court Tahir smashed an empty bottle over the 20-year-old's head several times, fracturing her eye socket.

Tahir then dragged a knife across her face, cutting her mouth and severing her tongue, the court heard.

Judge Katherine McGinness sentenced Tahir to eight-and-a-half years' jail.

She ordered he be eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence.
A woman in the public gallery gasped when the judge explained that, due to time already served, Tahir could be released in September next year.

Shocking Video: Muslim Women Drinking Camel Urine for ‘Good Health’

A video just appeared further substantiating my recent report, “Sharia-Medicine: Egyptian Clinic Treats People with Camel Urine,” which documents how several Islamic authorities praise the practice of drinking camel urine for good health—based on the advice of Muslim prophet Muhammad—and how in Egypt there is now even a clinic that treats people by giving them camel urine to drink.

The video appeared on Dream TV, with talk show host Wael Ibrashi narrating. It shows men collecting camel urine in buckets and giving it to people who are, in Ibrashi’s words, “looking to be healed from influenza, diabetes, infectious diseases, infertility,” etc.

Several women are shown drinking camel urine—and doing all they can to keep it down and not vomit.

Ibrashi concluded by saying he is not airing this video to mock or disgust but to determine “whether we are moving forward, or whether we are moving backwards.”

Indeed, the growing popularity of drinking camel urine is but the latest example of the true nature of the “Arab Spring.”

AG report won’t affect voter mindset

Political analysts say the report has little implication on BN's reputation and is not an indicator of the GE13 announcement.

KUALA LUMPUR: Political analysts believe that the newly released Auditor-General’s (AG) report will not play a big role in swinging votes to Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat.

Political analyst James Chin felt that the unnecessary spending and wastage in the AG report will do little to affect public opinion.

“There is nothing new in the report. Both sides seemingly provide ammunition for the other, whereby they will pick up whatever bad things left behind for the other.

“The AG report will not place a major dent on BN,” Chin further added.

Mohammad Agus Yusoff, a UKM political science professor, said the increased government revenue mentioned in the report is good news for the country.

However, he said that revenue collected by the government is only a matter of numbers.

“The people don’t really bother about the numbers but what is more crucial to them is whether the numbers really benefit them in their daily lives.

“If it does benefit the people then it is a successful achievement for the government. The government should use this revenue as the medium to balance and pay off the national debt instead of adding more debt to the country,” he added.

Agus said the AG report is not instrumental in affecting voting trends.

“In order for the people to vote a certain party, they have to feel the impact. They have to feel that they are actually getting something that will benefit them,” he said.

Parties should be accountable

Regarding the issue of negligence and poorly managed projects which were highlighted in the report, Chin said that responsible parties should be held accountable.

He said however little will be done to address the issue.

“It is usually the same thing each time. People will be very noisy about it, the typical commotion ensues but then later everyone forgets about it,” he said.

Agus agreed.

“So far there has not been any firm action taken against those who are responsible; so far there has not been any prosecution.

“Usually in the initial phase, there will be noises here and there but after the noise dies down, there has not been any substantive action taken against those involved: Any follow-up action has never been done,” he said.

The AG report highlighted increased government revenue of 16.19% and improved ratings for many ministries and government agencies.

However, along with the positive reports, there were also several issues of inefficient projects and wastage of public funds.

For example, the military housing projects awarded to sub-par contractors and road construction projects in Sarawak which do not meet deadlines and are wanting in safety standards.

Not an indication of polls

Both analysts agreed that the AG report was not an indicator that the GE13 will be announced.

“We can’t solely use this AG Report as the indicator for the general election date. There are plenty more indicators that should be taken into account,” he said.

“If the government gives out all the promised handouts early, then the general election should be soon but I think the government will hold the GE-13 date announcement,” he added.

Chin said that the uncertainty of the election date was an old issue.

“The elections are very much supposed to be coming now, if not very soon. The AG report definitely does not have any relation to it.

“Some, if not all the states are ready for the election. Even if they were to hold the elections tomorrow, it would be of no problem,” he added.

MIC must open its accounts book

Explaining where the funds went and who benefited from it would go a long way in winning the hearts and minds of the 900,000 Malaysian Indian voters.
COMMENT

Since Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak took the helm of the country and the ruling Barisan Nasional, he has been going the extra mile to shore up support for the coalition, which had ruled the nation since independence in 1957.

Najib was forced to concentrate more on building support, compared to his predecessors, because of the 2008 general election, which required the BN to back-peddle and once again work to regain trust of Malaysians.

At the 2008 electoral outing, BN, then under the leadership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, lost its long held two-thirds majority in Parliament.

It also lost four state governments – Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Kelantan has traditionally been in the hands of PAS, a member of the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat, made up of PAS, DAP and PKR.

Pakatan lost Perak after four state assemblymen became independents, allowing the BN to regain power in the state.

One of the main reasons, cited by political pundits and analysts alike, for BN’s fall in 2008 is that the Indian community, which used to rally behind the ruling coalition since independence, had deserted the BN in the historic polls.

Although the nearly two-million community is not the majority in any of the 222 parliamentary seats in the country, the community could swing results of a particular seat if Malay and Chinese votes are split.

With the Chinese community continuing their support for the opposition and Malays starting to swing towards the BN, Indian votes have now become crucial.

Burning questions

With this scenario, Najib has gone the extra mile to win the hearts and minds of the Malaysian Indian community.

He has splashed nearly RM900 million for the community over the last two years.

Now, some burning questions have popped up. Where have all the announced funds gone? How and who was it spent on? These crucial questions can only be answered by the MIC, which claims to be the largest Indian-based political party in the country.

Being a BN component, the G Palanivel-led MIC is spearheading the government’s efforts in winning over Indian support and as such, it was entrusted to bring issues besieging the Malaysian Indian community to the government. The onus is on the party to “settle” these questions.

FMT learns that the Education Ministry had allocated nearly RM287million for 370 partially-aided Tamil schools in the past two years.

On March 22, 2012 during a parliamentary session, Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan, who is also MIC central working committee member, admitted that the government had allocated RM287 million in 2011 and 2012 for Tamil schools.

The MIC Putera coordinator had also thanked Najib for a supplementary RM100 million for partially-aided Tamil schools when the prime minister presented the 2012 Budget.

While the Education Ministry had recently said that it dispensed RM10 million out of the RM100 million, what happened to the remainder RM90 million remains a “mystery”.

It has also been reported that the country’s top Indian tycoons had contributed another RM20 million for Tamil schools via a community chest, established by them.

Apart from Tamil schools, Najib had also announced RM180 million loans for Indian entrepreneurs.

Who is telling the truth?

Despite MIC and other BN friendly non-governmental organisations hosting roadshows to inform the community of the special fund, a DAP leader recently lodged a police report claiming that the RM180 million allocation was a hoax.

D Kamache, who lodged the report, claimed that the so-called special allocation was an “eye wash” to gain Indian votes and MIC was trying to become the “champion of the community” by “selling something that does not exist”.

The Indian community is now eagerly waiting for MIC to clear the air. However, the party is still acting like an ostrich putting its head in the sand at the first sign of trouble. The party is shrouded with secrecy especially when it came to funds.

There is no leader in the party who can declare the accounts of the funds announced by the government.

This brings another question: Who is telling the truth? Is it the DAP or MIC? Do the funds really exist?

Another matter MIC needs to clarify is the Tekun business loan. Najib in presenting Budget 2012 last year, had announced a RM30 million allocation for Indian businesses.

He also announced a RM100 million loan facility, under the Amanah Ikthiar scheme, meant for Indian women entrepreneurs.

Other important funds announced by the prime minister were RM50 million for housing loan for plantation workers (Budget 2011), RM8 million under the Tukar programme, and RM6 million for NGOs and temples

In general, Najib has gone out of the way to please the community allocating nearly RM900 million during his short three-year tenure. But where is the money? With the amount announced, the community should have witnessed vast changes but this is not visible on the ground.

Indians continue to go from bank to bank trying to get loans for their business. They still face hardship. Tamil schools are still plagued with infrastructure issues. Temples are still applying to the authorities for funds.

Even if the RM900 million was given to the 350,000 Indian households in the country, each would have at least obtained RM2,500.

The MIC, being the sole Indian representative in the country, has the duty to explain the channelling of the funds. Although the party could say that it was not dispersing the funds, it cannot run away from its duty of being the government’s mouthpiece for the community.

Spending money or announcing fund after fund is not going to bring in the votes. Explaining where the funds went and who benefited from it, would go a long way in winning the hearts and minds of the 900,000 Malaysian Indian voters, crucial in deciding who forms the next federal government.

Police still probing MIC-PKR brawl

The Home Ministry said the police are investigating the case under the Penal Code for using criminal force and illegal assembly.

KUALA LUMPUR: The police are still investigating the brawl between MIC and PKR members that took place outside the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in May.

The Home Ministry said this in a written reply to PKR MP S Manickavasagam’s question on why the authorities had yet to take action against those responsible for the scuffle.

“The police had taken statements from several witnesses for now,” said the ministry.

On May 2, some 100 PKR members gathered at the PMO to highlight the plight of a 17-year-old youth who was deprived of a blue MyKad.

A group of MIC members also arrived at the scene, and a brawl took place among some of the party members.

Puchong PKR division chief S Murali sustained injuries on his face in the scuffle.

The Home Ministry said that the case was being investigated under Section 352 of the Penal Code for using criminal force.

“We are also probing the case under Section 143 and 147 of the Penal Code for illegal assembly and rioting.

“We will submit the investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers soon for further action,” said the ministry.

The ministry also assured Manickavasagam that the police would investigate the case without fear or favour.

“Those responsible for causing the ruckus will not escape the long arm of the law.”

Scorpene briefing: Other side invited as well

Both Suaram and DCNS's lawyers have been invited to explain the progress of the Scorpene probe in the Malaysian Parliament.
UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers from the French company involved in the multi-billion ringgit purchase of the Scorpene submarines have also been invited to Malaysia to explain their side of the issue.

“It’s an invitation to both sides to give their versions of what is transpiring in France and what is the progress of the inquiry,” said Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel.

“It is certainly not a one-sided affair. It is an invitation to both Suaram’s lawyers and DCNS to come to provide a briefing to Parliament,” she added.

The former finance director of the French company, DCNS, had made a claim for two million euros allegedly used to bribe Malaysian officials in the purchase of the submarines, Suaram had said.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had earlier this month invited Suaram’s lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Breham to brief the Malaysian Parliament on the latest status of the Scorpene probe.

The lawyers accepted Anwar’s invitation, and are now awaiting approval for their visas.

No reason to stop them

Asked whether DCNS’ lawyers had also accepted the invitation, Gabriel said she did not know as the invitation was issued by the parliamentarians.

But she hoped lawyers from both sides could give their briefings before the current Parliament session ends on Nov 22.

“It was an invitation sent out with the hope that the lawyers would be able to set foot into Malaysia without obstacle and hindrance with the sole objective of briefing elected representatives on the progress of the case.

“Why? Because this is an issue of major public interest. It is an issue that involves Malaysian taxpayers’ money and it runs into millions and millions of ringgit.

“So elected representatives have a right to know. They should be pursuing this case in Parliament and asking the right questions,” she said.

Garbiel urged the government to be open about receiving the lawyers, pointing out that as French citizens, neither Bourdon – who had been deported during his last visit here – nor Breham required visas to come to Malaysia for at least three weeks.

“This time, they are taking greater pains to apply for a working visa to visit their clients as well as to provide a formal briefing to Parliament,” she said.

“We urge the Foreign Ministry, the Home Ministry and the government not to obstruct their travel into Malaysia because it is a very legitimate reason that they are coming.

“What is there to fear? What is there to stop them? These are questions that the government needs to answer.

“Instead what we have seen so far are police reports lodged against members of parliament and against Suaram for foreign interference. It really doesn’t make sense to us,” she added.

Suaram refutes pro-govt NGOs’ claims

Meanwhile, Suaram founder and director Kua Kia Soong rubbished claims that France wished to interfere in Malaysia’s affairs, as alleged by pro-Barisan Nasional groups such as the Young Journalists Club and Jaringan Melayu Malaysia.

“Do you think the French really want to interfere with the Malaysian government? DCNS is a state company funded by French taxpayers, and their government is only interested in probing claims of corruption within their own country.

“They have absolutely no interest in interfering in Malaysian affairs,” he pointed out.

Secretariat member Fadiah Nadwa Fikri also refuted claims by the same NGOs that Suaram had misrepresented itself as a plaintiff in the inquiry.

Dzulkarnain Taib, president of the Young Journalists Club, had told reporters earlier this month that the French court had thrown out Suaram’s case over the Scorpene deal on March 12.

“We view the claim that Suaram has been accepted or recognised as a ‘civil party’ [plaintiff] as the biggest lie in the country’s political history,” he had said.

But Fadiah showed court documents dated April 11 naming Kua as the plaintiff in the case.

“It is a malicious accusation and total lie that we aren’t party to the investigations. These court documents from April 11 show we are plaintiffs and that we are definitely part of the judicial inquiry,” she said.

In April this year, the Tribunal de Grand Instance in Paris began its inquiry into Suaram’s claim that French naval firm DCNS had paid some RM452 million as a bribe to Malaysian officials to obtain a contract for two submarines.

Suaram had filed the complaint with the French courts in 2009.

Educationists: Blueprint too rushed

Why is the government rushing the education blueprint? educationists ask.
UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Local educationists have repeated the claim that the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 does not reflect Malaysia’s multicultural society.

As such, 25 groups forming the Coalition on Plan of Action for Malaysia (GBM) demanded that Putrajaya extend its deadline for the blueprint’s feedback period to March 31, 2013.

They argued that the current deadline – Oct 20, 2012 – is too rushed for the public to comment on a plan that will be in force for 12 years.

GBM policy adviser Lim Teck Ghee said: “A blueprint written by officials, meeting in secrecy, without providing statistics and selectively choosing feedback, is the wrong road to take.”

Lim said that the government appeared to be worried with the popularity of vernacular education, and as such deliberately left this part out of the blueprint.

With this in mind, GBM presented 31 recommendations that they hoped the government would consider before setting the blueprint in stone.

Among the recommendations presented today at the KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall were:

the inclusion of vernacular, religious and private schools as part of the programme;

delaying History from being a compulsory pass subject for the SPM examination until key reforms were made to the existing curriculum;

including the appreciation of multiculturalism and human diversity into the curriculum;

addressing the issue of school drop-outs;

upgrading technical and vocational training institutions;

decentralising public education, with the focus of education resting solely on the federal government; and

addressing the growing problem of racial and religious prejudice in schools.

Today, many of the groups claimed that the blueprint did not seem to address many of these concerns. Some even alleged that education was being politicised.

Speaking on history, GBM executive committee member Thasleem Ibrahim said that the blueprint did not cover History as a compulsory pass subject, which he claimed was being “bulldozed” into the system.

“Their political decisions,” he said, referring to government officials, “seem to be overtaking the concerns of the people.”

Thasleem then asked Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to follow through with the depoliticisation of the local education system, telling the premier to “walk the talk”.

He also suggested that the implementation of the blueprint be delayed until at least 2014, adding that the government needed to review it thoroughly.

Adding to the politicisation of education, Lim said that the blueprint was not a document that appeared overnight, and went through several layers of vetting before it would come through.

As such, he alleged that a political agenda was very strongly inherent in the blueprint.

GBM exco member K Arumugam then asked why the government blueprint failed to take mother tongue education into account.

“Assimilation is not a problem. All of us don’t have a problem with Bahasa Malaysia, but what is wrong with English or Chinese education?” he asked.

GBM members today also got the impression that the government seemed worried with the rise and growing popularity of Tamil and Chinese schools.

The group’s chairperson, Tan Yew Sing, said that Malaysia has an interesting position with its cultural diversity, especially with the rise of China, India and the Islamic world on the global stage.

“Malaysia is blessed to get the advantage of next stage of development,” he said, stressing that government officials needed to take a stronger view on multiculturalism.

Najib unveiled the blueprint on Sept 11 this year; an initiative, he said, would see reforms carried out in 11 “shifts” over 17 years.

Nazri: Let ‘em come, it’s a free country

Lawyers from both parties involved in the Suaram-initiated Scorpene inquiry can provide a briefing in the Dewan Rakyat, says the minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz today said that he is open to having lawyers involved in the Suaram-initiated Scorpene inquiry provide a briefing in Dewan Rakyat.

In a press conference this morning, Suaram said lawyers from the French company, DCNS, involved in the multi-billion ringgit purchase of the Scorpene submarines, had been invited to explain their side of what is transpiring in the French courts.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had earlier this month invited Suaram’s lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Breham to brief the Malaysian Parliament on the latest status of the Scorpene probe. The lawyers had accepted Anwar’s invitation, and were now awaiting approval for their visas.

Asked on his views regarding this matter, Nazri, the de facto law minister, told FMT:” Sure. I have no problems with that. It’s a free country.”

The minister asked all relevant parties to contact the Barisan Nasional’s backbenchers club to make the necessary arrangements in Parliament.

In April this year, the Tribunal de Grand Instance in Paris began its inquiry into Suaram’s claim that French naval firm DCNS had paid some RM452 million as a bribe to Malaysian officials to obtain a contract for two submarines. Suaram had filed the complaint with the French courts in 2009.

The government, particularly the Defence Ministry, had been evasive when questioned in parliament over the issue. It had said that that an investigation was vastly different from a trial.

Several pro-government quarters accused Suaram of working with the opposition to play up the issue for political mileage.

Suaram had also recently come under intense scrutiny over the running of its organisation. It had been accused of having a “foreign funded” agenda of toppling the government, a claim which Suaram denied.

Bar raps cops for harassing lawyers

In a related development, the Malaysian Bar voiced concern that a lawyer acting for Suaram, Chan Weng Keng, was served with a written order by the police to produce documents relating to Suaram.

Bar Council vice-president Christopher Leong said the police were harassing lawyers and obstructing them from executing their professional duties.

He added that the police were disregarding the legal principle of solicitor-client confidentiality,

“Such action by the police is oppressive, and constitutes blatant intimidation. It is an intolerable incursion on the independence of the Bar and a severe interference with a lawyer’s obligation to advise and act for clients without fear or favour,” he said.

Describing the police’s action as “appalling and unacceptable intrusion”, he said it showed a grave lack of respect for the criminal justice system.

Leong said that the concerted mobiliation of various agencies in investigating Suaram gave the perception that the issue was due to the Scorpene affair.

“This selective application of resources and legislative provisions, and the clear abuse of our criminal procedure rules will, in the long term, undermine respect for the system of law and order, and damage the proper administration of justice, in this country,” he warned.

The Bar called on the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar to put an immediate halt to the repeated cases of lawyers being harassed, intimidated and interfered with by the police.

Leong also asked stern action be taken against police officers guilty of such behaviour, saying “bullying tactics must not go unchecked.”

Musa Hassan denies joining PAS, says no link to Anwar suit

(The Malaysian Insider) - Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan denied today speculation that he would be joining PAS or any other political party, following an apparent trend that has seen several government pensioners signing up with the Islamist opposition party this year ahead of the 13th general elections.

The rumours were false, he told Sinar Harian Online today, adding that it also had nothing to do with his decision yesterday to drop a defamation suit against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the infamous 1998 “black eye” incident and Sodomy I trial.

“That is not true,” he told the Malay newspaper when asked about the rumours circulating on the web.

“Anyway, whether PAS or Umno, nobody has come to meet me to offer membership,” Musa told Sinar Harian.

The retired police veteran was reported as saying he had never been involved nor supported any political party ever since joining the force.

But he declined to comment when asked if he would become a member of PAS if given the chance.

“I cannot speak about the future.

“For myself, I am independent and my vote is confidential if asked which party I will choose in the general elections,” the 60-year-old told the newspaper.

Musa’s name came to the fore once again recently after several Malay political news websites, including PAS-owned portal, Harakah Daily, published word that a former IGP would be joining the Islamist party over the weekend, citing an anonymous party insider as the source.

A recent trend in Malaysian politics has seen several high-ranking Muslim government pensioners, including high-ranking officers such as former secretary-generals, ex-envoys and those from the police and armed forces joining PAS after the end of their service.

Among them are former CID chief Datuk Fauzi Shaari, former Land and Cooperative Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Nik Zain Nik Yusof and Datuk Ramli Buyong, the deputy vice-president of Felcra Berhad.

Musa had lauded Fauzi’s move to join PAS in a previous exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider, but said he would not make a similar move.

“After this he can teach PAS about the country’s laws and rules,” Musa said of Fauzi then, adding he had rejected overtures from a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component party. Apart from PAS, the other component parties are PKR and DAP.

“It’s better for people like me (former IGP) not to join politics,” he told The Malaysian Insider in July.

Speak Malay, PM tells Chinese community

Najib said people have taken the country’s adoption of the Chinese education system for granted. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 ― The Chinese community should embrace Bahasa Malaysia as it is the country’s national language, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said this morning.

Speaking on Mandarin radio channel Melody FM, Najib also reassured listeners that Chinese education will be part of the exercise to improve quality of education under the National Education Blueprint.

Responding to demands by pressure group Dong Zong, the United Chinese School Committees Association, the premier reminded listeners that Malaysia has always recognised Chinese schools.

“We are the only country outside China which has Chinese education as part of the national system. We have recognised Chinese education in Malaysia, and I think that is of huge, great significance.

“Please see that in that context, in that perspective, that we have recognised Chinese education as part of the national system,” he said.

Najib also added, “I believe we don't have any kind of stigma. My own son, Ashman, speaks fluent Mandarin.

“I believe it is good for the Malays to learn Mandarin just as it is important for Malaysian Chinese to be fluent in Bahasa (Malaysia) as Bahasa, of course, is our national language.”

He also revealed that the Cabinet is looking into implementing an eight-point plan to address the shortage of teachers for Chinese vernacular schools, drawn from roundtable meetings involving various stakeholders including Dong Zong.

The implementation will be overseen by one of the two deputy ministers from the Education Ministry.

In March, Deputy Education Minister Dr Puad Zarkashi had branded Chinese educationists “racist” for demanding that only qualified Mandarin-speaking teachers be allowed to teach in Chinese vernacular schools.

The group accused the Education Ministry earlier this year of “deliberately” creating a dearth of trained Mandarin-speaking teachers as part of a larger conspiracy to re-engineer the identities of vernacular schools.

Dong Zong had last month submitted a memorandum on the matter to the prime minister.

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz later stated that the demands were reasonable, but this view was dismissed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as “a personal one”.

In today’s talk show, Najib also revealed that the neighbourhood night patrols announced in Budget 2013 will be launched early this December.

Replying to a caller, the prime minister clarified that 1,000 police officers on motorcycles will be patrolling in pairs in select neighbourhoods, and that RM20 million was allocated for the programme.

During the #TanyaNajib event on YouTube earlier this month, Najib also told viewers that he was excited for the crime-fighting initiative as it was his idea.

Later in the radio programme, Najib, who is also finance minister, reiterated that only 1.7 million Malaysians out of 12 million workers were paying income tax.

In Budget 2013, Najib announced a 1 per cent tax cut for workers with taxable incomes of between RM2,500 and RM50,000. Analysts see the move as paving the way for the goods and services tax (GST) that the Najib administration has been weighing but was forced to delay due to fears of voter backlash.

Najib also insisted that middle class Malaysians do reap indirect benefits from government policies, through subsidies such as for RON95 petrol.

“Although we pay slightly more (for car purchases) initially, but because of the large amount of subsidies, you end up paying much less than your counterpart after five years of use,” he said.

Does the withdrawal of the defamation suit close Pandora’s box that Musa opened?

Since last December, I have been waking up to, breathing and going to bed with nothing but ABU! ABU! ABU!so much so that, last Monday, when I returned from overseas and, finding out that the Musa vs DSAI defamation trial was to kick off the following day, I felt a little gratitude that, I might have a brief respite from work for a day or two to partake of a once familiar ‘court room’ excitement, albeit from the public gallery.

Yes, I was going to make time to sit in on the trial to witness first hand the demeanour of the plaintiff as he was subjected to what I expected would be gruelling and relentless questioning by cross-examining counsel to get at the truth to the issues before the court.

Alas, as had happened with my plans to join other Spurs fans to watch the MU vs Spurs game a little over two weeks ago, lack of sleep over the last few days put paid to my hopes to witness this drama unfold.

Never heard the alarm, woke up well after 10am Tuesday morning, quick shower and with a cup of coffee in hand, thought I’d do a quick check on the news before dashing off to court.

Damn!

The case was no more.

At least the MU vs Spurs game played out to the end, even if I missed the sheer joy of watching that famous victory with fellow Spurs fans at the usual hang out ( sorry Jaya and other ManUrites, just could not resist it ).

Musa had thrown in the towel!

Of my 20 years of legal practise, almost 15 years was in the area of defamation law, mostly acting for defendants and, so far as my practise went, withdrawal of suits by the plaintiff were a rarity.

Off hand, I can only recall one instance when the plaintiff withdrew the action on the morning that the trial was due to start.

The plaintiff had alleged that the defendant had published the allegedly defamatory matter to one individual, a Mr. Z.

The defendant denied publishing the allegedly defamatory matter to Mr. Z, meaning that the plaintiff would have to call Mr. Z as a witness to prove publication.

3 weeks before the trial date, Mr. Z died.

Case withdrawn.

When cases are settled because the plaintiff has accepted a proposal from the defendant, even if there are no dollars and cents involved in the settlement, it would be common for, at the very least, some statement of regret, on the part of the defendant for the publication of the words complained of and, often, some undertaking not to repeat the libel complained of.

If, however, it is not so much a matter as the case being settled in the manner I have outlined above, but a withdrawal of the action of the plaintiff, based on my own experience, I can only think of only 3 plausible reasons.

First, some extraneous considerations, like pressure being brought to bear on the plaintiff from parties not named in the suit but somehow connected with the issues, or who might be adversely impacted by the finding of the court.

Second, when the case for the plaintiff has been so badly prepared that it is doomed.

Finally, when the defendant’s case is on solid ground, and the plaintiff, and his counsel, well know this.

Now, what was Musa bitching about in this defamation case that he filed in relation to statements by Anwar in a police report dated 1st July, 2008?

In gist, that Anwar had alleged his involvement in Anwar’s black eye beating, that Musa had been implicated in the falsifying and fabrication of the report of Hospital Kuala Lumpur pathologist Dr Abdul Rahman Mohd Yusof’s relating to Anwar’s ‘black eye’ injury and its probable cause, and that Musa had been involved with the fabrication of evidence adduced at Anwar’s corruption and sodomy trials in 1998/1999.

And in all of these, Anwar contended that Musa was in cahoots with Gani Patail.

Whilst Musa took legal recourse, Gani, it seems, was content to just sit back and do nothing.

What line of defence did Anwar take to Musa’s complaint?

No doubt, the usual array of defences in the alternative but, the most significant, in my view, was that he would justify the ordinary and natural meaning of the words complained of.

In other words, Anwar would prove that what he had said in his police report, and of which Musa, in his suit, complained as being both untrue and defamatory of him, was in fact and in substance true.

Now, where a defendant pleads justification and proceeds at trial to try and prove this defence, and fails, he will very likely suffer a double whammy.

Damages for the publication complained of, and further damages for adding insult to injury by pursuing the defence of justification.

In other words, you do not pursue this defence unless you are on sure ground.

I have it on good authority that had the trial proceeded, justification was the principle defence that would have been taken to the plaintiff.

Now the events that unfolded outside court after the case was withdrawn were bizarre in the extreme and, for me, quite telling.

According to Malaysiakini, Musa said that the filing of the suit was premised on some ‘misunderstanding’.

“We have discussed and revisited the point of contention in this civil suit. I am made to understand there is a misunderstanding brought by certain people, resulting in this case related to the black-eye incident being brought to court today.” , Musa is reported to have said.

Misunderstanding?

Of what?

Brought about by certain people?

Who?

I regard both counsels acting for the plaintiff as friends, but more importantly, I think both enjoy reputations with fellow members of the Bar as competent and sound practitioners of the law.

Misunderstanding?

Bizarre!

Musa’s next statement turned out to be most contentious.

“Hence, I accept the settlement outside court as proposed by them (the defendants)”.

Ah, so the withdrawal turned on a settlement as proposed by the defendant.

Somewhat like the first scenario I depicted above.

But, if indeed so, that this was a resolution upon a proposal from Anwar, was no statement of regret for the words complained of sought from the defendant?

No undertaking to the plaintiff, or better, to the court, to not repeat the words that the plaintiff felt had so reviled him that he was moved to go to court to exonerate his name?

It would seem not.

Malaysiakini, in another report later to that referred to above, reports that lawyers for Anwar, in a press release, refuted Musa’s claim that the withdrawal of the suit followed his acceptance of a proposal for settlement put forth by Anwar.

“The withdrawal was initiated by Musa or his representative. At all times, Anwar was ready to proceed with the case. The withdrawal against our client was unconditional and there was no out-of-court settlement as alleged by Musa. Our client is satisfied with the unconditional withdrawal and hence did not seek for costs” , the statement read.

And then, for me at least, the fatal blow that puts paid to Musa’s assertion of a settlement at the instance of Anwar.

Malaysiakini goes on to report that “Anwar’s lawyers said Musa’s withdrawal had vindicated their client, who is standing firm by his police report”.

This statement, in my view, is nothing short of an assertion by Anwar, through his lawyers, that he stands by and reiterates the truth of what he had said in his police report that became the basis of the suit, now said to have been settled by Musa.

Anwar pleaded justification to Musa’s complaint.

He was prepared, I am reliably informed, to take that defence full throttle to trial.

And now, after that trial is aborted, duly withdrawn, Anwar reasserts the truth of the words complained of.

Case filed due to a misunderstanding?

Withdrawn, the defendant’s proposed settlement having been duly accepted?

Only for the defendant to visit upon the plaintiff the very same charge, even before the inked ‘kes dibatalkan’ on the court file has fully dried?

Were strangers to the suit, working with unseen hands, behind the withdrawal?

Or had the plaintiff sought to avert the total and irredeemable annihilation of what little regard any uninformed Malaysian might still have for him, by the unavoidable disclosure, in cross-examination, of the sordid details of his guilt?

Case closed without judgment pronounced?

Before Justice Asmabi Mohamad perhaps, but not so in the court of public opinion.

If from the withdrawal of the suit last Tuesday spews forth the foul stench of Musa’s sins, the odour emitting from Gani’s chambers is starkly similar.

Well, perhaps a tad worse.

KEADILAN desak tangguh AES sehingga kajian teliti selesai

KUALA LUMPUR 17 Okt: KEADILAN mendesak kerajaan Umno BN menangguh pelaksanaan Sistem Penguatkuasaan Automatik (AES) sehingga kajian teliti melibatkan semua pihak, dibuat.

Bercakap kepada Keadilan Daily, Naib Presidennya, N Surendran berkata, ia berikutan pelaksanaan AES dibuat tergesa-gesa tanpa mengambil kira pandangan rakyat.

Tanpa menolak usaha untuk mengurangkan kemalangan jalan raya, beliau berkata, pendekatan kerajaan tidak harus membebankan rakyat.

Malah, katanya, pelaksanaan AES banyak kelemahan termasuk pemasangan kamera di lokasi tidak sesuai, papan tanda amaran yang tidak tepat dan banyak lagi.

“AES bukan bertujuan mendidik tetapi hanya meraih keuntungan. Rakyat tak puas hati kerana ia bukan mahu kurangkan kemalangan tapi untuk meraih keuntungan,” katanya.

Apatah lagi, Surendran berkata, perjanjian kontrak dengan syarikat pengendali meragukan apabila sejumlah RM800 juta dilabur untuk pemasangan kamera dan RM3.8 bilion untuk penyelenggaraan selama lima tahun.
“Kos ini tak masuk akal. Kroni Umno BN raih keuntungan dari projek ini sedangkan ia melibatkan wang rakyat,” katanya.

Sebelum ini, Pulau Pinang bertegas tidak akan meneruskan pemasangan AES kerana sehingga kajian terhadap pelaksanaan projek itu, selesai.

 *** Gambar dipetik dari pengguna facebook

Deeper Debt

Police mull use of stink bombs

The Sun
by Radzi Razak

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16, 2012): Police are considering deploying "stink bombs" at riots and demonstrations in the future for more effective crowd dispersal.

The police liaison officer at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry into Bersih 3 rally, ACP Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman, said police are looking for alternatives to the use of water cannon and tear gas.

He said the stink bombs would emit smells which would not wear off easily.

"We are thinking that as a deterrent, we might use very smelly substances on rioters.

"The chemical substances really stink. The rioters can't even visit a shopping complex, so they would go home," he told Suhakam commissioners who were visiting the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) base in Cheras today.

However, Jamaluddin, who is from the police Internal Security and Public Order Department, said everything was still in the planning phase.

Suhakam inquiry panellists Prof Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid and Detta Samen were also present as part of the public inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses during the Bersih 3.0 rally.

During the visit, an FRU personnel was asked to step on sheets of paper, so that his boot prints could be compared with those found on the T-shirts of Bersih 3.0 protesters who had alleged that they were stomped by the police.

Jamaluddin and FRU Unit 1 commanding officer Supt Zahari Mohd Yusoff also showed some of the equipment used during the Bersih 3.0 rally, including barbed wire, tear gas shells, and the FRU command vehicle.

Commenting on the events of the rally on April 28, Jamaluddin said the police gave ample warning and time for the crowd to disperse, including using a speaker that could be heard more than 100m away.

"When we gave the warning, the crowd cheered. That meant they heard us but chose to react differently," he said.

He said the FRU had been given orders to exercise restraints when handling the crowd.

He said the FRU fired more than 900 rounds of tear gas over five hours to disperse the crowd that day.

Workforce With Certified Skills Must Be Increased On Urgent Basis, Says Muhyiddin

PETALING JAYA, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- The percentage of the workforce with certified skills in Malaysia should be increased on an urgent basis, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

He said that it was of utmost important as currently about 72 per cent of Malaysia's workforce were with low or without any skills.

"Malaysia needs to develop its human resources with the right and relevant knowledge as well as ideas to achieve the objectives of Vision 2020," he said at the Malaysian Employers' Federation (MEF) annual dinner.

The text of his speech was read out by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin.

Muhyiddin said certification will pave the way for the country's smooth shift from labour-intensive industries to a higher value-added economy.

He said a skilled and certified workforce will, in the long-term, wean Malaysia off its dependence on foreign workers.

"The strategy is to mainstream and improve accordingly technical education and vocational training. Plans are underway to increase the number of diploma programmes in public universities, especially in technical universities," he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that education was an important catalyst for industry transformation.

In this regard, he said, the government has taken a bold step by comprehensively reviewing and revamping the education system so that the future generation will transform into a thinking, problem-solving and innovative workforce.

"In short, the government acknowledges the need to prepare the future generation and the workforce, physically and intellectually, for highly-niche jobs or jobs that are yet to exist today," he added.

Meanwhile, MEF President Tan Sri Azman Shah Haron said besides issues such as minimum wages and the global economic challenges facing employees, the federation was very concerned with the lack of skilled workers in the country.

He said approximately 107,000 Malaysians joined the labour force at the lowest entry level every year without any certified skills whatsoever.

The federation felt in order for Malaysia to be productive and competitive the skills of its employees must be certified.