Flat buyers told to pay RM82,000 extra

Flat buyers are shocked when the developer told them to pay an extra RM28,000 for a parking lot and RM54,000 to install kitchen cabinets, apart from the RM72,000 in the affordable housing scheme in Penang.

GEORGE TOWN : Buyers of low-medium cost flats under the affordable home scheme in Penang are feeling cheated by the state government for imposing extra charges for parking lots and kitchen cabinets.

The buyers said they were shocked when the developer told them to pay an extra RM28,000 for a parking lot and RM54,000 to install kitchen cabinets, apart from the RM72,000 for a flat in Bukit Gegulor.

A group of 10 buyers, holding placards and banners, protested outside the state government’s office in Komtar this morning urging state housing committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo to look into the matter.

One buyer even knelt outside the office pleading for chief minister Lim Guan Eng to intervene to solve the matter.

The group’s spokesman, Muhd Amir Abdul Kadir, handed a letter to the state government’s officer-in-charge during the two-hour demonstration.

The 31-storey apartments, comprising 780 units, is located near SK Bukit Gelugor.

Norlida Masturo, 44, who was close to tears, said she could not afford the extra charges.

“How can we afford these extra charges for a RM72,500 unit? ” she asked.

She said the developer told the buyers that the RM28,500 was for a parking lot while another RM54,000 was for an “upgrade package” which included the installation of kitchen cabinets and tiling.

Jagdeep said he would meet the developer soon to get a clearer picture.

“If it is true then the developer will be taken to task.

“I don’t want the buyers to feel that they had been taken for a ride and start blaming the state government,” he added.

Last December, Jagdeep told the press that the land office would monitor, control and enforce the state government’s latest regulations to restrict sale of properties, including low-medium cost flats.

Jagdeep, who is in charge of housing, town and country portfolios, said the state government would also explore ways and means to improve the regulations from time to time.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced recently that the new housing regulations on land and property sales and purchase agreements would take effect on Feb 1.

The rules were intended to curb the property bubble, price speculation and ensure affordable homes to Penangites, especially first-time buyers.

The new rules include a five-year moratorium for affordable homes bought below RM400,000 on the island and RM250,000 on the mainland, and a 10-year moratorium for low and low-medium cost housing units priced up to RM72,500.

Fight back against threats with aggression, Muslims told

(MM) - Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) today urged Muslims nationwide to be aggressive in defending Islam, which it claimed is under attack from certain bands of non-Muslims.

In a video posted on its YouTube page, the group urged Muslims to emulate the prophet Muhammad in all his aspects, including waging war, instead of just offering the prophet’s message of peace.

“When faced with an issue, Islam will use the appropriate wasilah (vehicle) to tackle the problem,” said Isma vice-president Muhammad Fauzi Asmuni in the 16-minute video titled “Islam diancam, kita perlu agresif” (Islam is under threat, we must be aggressive).

“If people try to bring down Islam using poetry, Islam will fight back with poetry. But if people try to bring down Islam using swords, Islam will not fight back with poetry anymore. Islam will use swords as well.”

Fauzi said unnamed anti-Muslim groups were baiting the country’s Muslim majority and causing the current racial and religious tensions in the country.

He also slammed Muslims who tried to deal with anti-Muslim groups through diplomacy and dialogue, saying the former had misinterpreted Islam by only reading stories about the Prophet Muhammad’s kindness.

“Let us try to combine all the sirah (biographies). The prophet forgave and pardoned people, but at the same time he ordered the Battles of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq,” he said, listing down three key battles led by Muhammad.

“The prophet undertook aggressive action. After the Khandaq war, he was no longer attacked, instead it was him who attacked others.”

According to Fauzi, when faced with a massive enemy, like the Coalition of Human Rights NGOs (Comango), it is not enough to rely on just Friday sermons and articles printed in Malay dailies Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian.

Comango is made up of 54 local NGOs and had worked with Putrajaya on human rights issues for over 5 years before being declared “illegal” by the Home Ministry last month.

“If we see the reality in Malaysia, even if Muslims tolerate with utmost tolerance, there will still be people who want to harm Islam,” Fauzi added.

Isma warned last month that Muslims in Malaysia are facing real conspiracies coming from Christians and “chauvinists”.

“Muslims are facing threats from evangelist Christians and chauvinists who are becoming more aggressive and rude by insulting the faith, practices and tradition of Muslims,” Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman said in a statement.

“Nobody can deny that the agenda of liberalism, religious pluralism, total equality and Christianisation were brought to this country through various approaches, through proxies and certain networks linked to international Jews, Freemasons and evangelist Christians.”

Isma has also been at the forefront of attempts to discredit Comango, which has also come under fire from other Muslim activists who claim the group’s human rights recommendations to the United Nations ran counter to the “true” teachings of Islam and the Federal Constitution.

Wanita hina Sultan Selangor di FB ditahan

(KL Post) – Seorang wanita ditahan bagi membantu siasatan berhubung sebuah blog yang menyiarkan pautan Facebook mengandungi hasutan, cacian serta fitnah melampau terhadap Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
Wanita berusia 27 tahun itu ditahan di rumahnya di Kajang pada kira-kira pukul 1 pagi tadi.
Dia kemudiannya dibawa ke Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Shah Alam untuk diambil keterangan, lapor Utusan.

The Saga of the Big Slap

By Kee Thuan Chye

It all started with a slap threat.

A Muslim group took exception to a satirical video produced by an Opposition MP who also appeared as a talk show host interviewing panelists played by actors, so they held a street protest and offered a RM1,200 reward to anyone who would slap the MP and show proof of having done it.

The group alleged that through the video, the MP and her fellow party leaders had insulted the Government, the King, Islam and Malay dignity, but those who had seen the video swore there was nothing of that in it.

Political observers said the group was mad for inciting violence. They called on the police to take action against the extremists.

The home minister, however, said there was no need for that. He said offering money to slap someone was not a threat. He said, “If they had issued a death threat, then it would be a threat. Slapping is not.”

Political observers believed that he responded this way because he was probably abused a lot as a child, and likely by his mother. So he was now getting his own back at society, and especially women.

One observer said the minister needed to have his IQ tested, because any person with just an average IQ could have seen that the threat on the MP was indeed a threat.

The next day, when the minister was walking out of a five-star hotel after having been treated to a sumptuous meal there, a burly citizen with biceps bigger than Popeye’s came up to him and slapped him hard on the cheek. It made the minister do a dozen pirouettes like a ballet dancer before he swayed about like a halal drunkard and eventually slumped onto the floor like a character from Looney Tunes.

The citizen later declared to the media that he was the one responsible for slapping the minister. But he said it was not an assault and that he was not a threat to anyone. Slapping a person, he asserted, was not killing them.

He said he slapped the minister because of these reasons. First, for not respecting a woman. Second, for not respecting a fellow human being. Third, for not respecting the law against violence. Fourth, for discrediting his own office. Fifth, for discrediting the prime minister for having appointed him minister.

When asked how he managed to develop such big biceps, he said it was because he ate kangkung.

The public speculated that the minister must have suffered severely from getting such a whopping slap, but no one could verify the extent of the injury because the minister was whisked away immediately after the incident. One of his aides who declined to be identified said the minister lost consciousness for at least an entire day, and after he regained consciousness, he was scared shit of going out.

Inside sources from the dental clinic that attended to him revealed that at the moment of impact, all but one of his teeth receded totally into the gum – and the one that didn’t, flew out of his mouth. That tooth was now being preserved for when he became prime minister whereupon a memorial could be built for it, somewhat similar to the one for the Buddha’s tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

It was said that the minister had aspirations of becoming PM, which explained why he had been saying numerous stupid things of late. As the people had now come to realise, saying stupid things was a requisite for becoming PM.

One of the things he said was telling the police to “shoot to kill” gangsters. He also said there was no need to ask questions first. On numerous occasions, because of his appearance and his tough-talking stance, he came across like a gangster himself. No wonder he did not consider the threat on the MP a threat. After all, gangsters are used to punching people and fracturing their noses, among other things.

Speaking of the police, they did not hesitate to initiate investigations into the video produced by the MP. They said it might have contributed to public mischief. They even called in for questioning the actors who had participated in the video. Political observers called it an attempt at intimidation.

At the same time the actors were being interrogated, the Inspector-General of Police was giving a public talk on the integrity of the police force. He assured everyone present that the police were professionals, that they were not beholden to the ruling party, and that they were fair and colour-blind in carrying out their duties.

When he had finished, a portly, stocky woman with a huge and high hairdo carrying a Hermes bag went up to him. He smiled in recognition and with great delight, as if thoroughly pleased to see the woman. She reached out her hand and he thought she was going to shake his, but instead the woman landed a tight slap on his face that turned his smile into a permanent twist. Not only did his cheek turn red, it sustained a deep dent caused by the impact of the diamond ring the woman was wearing on her middle finger, tilted downwards to deliberately scar the IGP’s face.

The IGP sank to the floor and passed out. His twisted lip, though grotesque in appearance, seemed to fit his face perfectly. The audience in the room were too shocked to react. The woman coolly walked out.

Mouths wagged afterwards that she was an artiste who did impersonations of famous people, but no one could guess whom she was impersonating when she slapped the IGP. They also wondered if black magic had been employed in rearranging the IGP’s lip.

A note was found stapled to the IGP’s neck. The note asked why the police were so quick to investigate the MP’s video when it had done nothing on other, more serious cases, like the video in which a ruling party-backed Muslim MP had insulted Hindus. It also asked why the police had not even taken any action against the extremist group that started the idea of slapping.

The note explained that for the double standards practised by the police, their head honcho deserved to be slapped. It warned that the IGP would get slapped again and again till kingdom come if the police continued to be unfair. Its last words were: “Don’t play play. This is a real threat.”

After this incident, fear gripped the nation’s decision-makers and officers of the law. Everyone looked to the prime minister to make a statement that would help bring back sanity. But the PM said nothing.

Then one day, when he was at a function handing out envelopes containing goodness-knows-what to retired civil servants, an 88-year-old man who looked more Indian than Malay accosted him with a smirk and gave him a slap so hard that it detached his ruby-red lips from his face.

The assailant scolded the PM loudly in front of everyone for being weak, for keeping quiet all the time, for not stopping the extremist groups at home although he promoted moderation in the world whenever he spoke overseas.

All the PM could do was gape, especially now that there was nothing but a void where his lips used to be.

People wondered how the old-timer could have had so much strength to inflict so much damage on the PM’s face. Then a newspaper published an exclusive report disclosing that the man received regular injections of sheep placenta extract at a clinic in Switzerland. This was the secret to his regular rejuvenation.

When news of what had happened to the PM broke out, people in high office panicked. None of them was safe any more. They took out insurance on their facial parts, regardless of the high premiums they had to pay. The prime minister’s wife took out a policy insuring her hair.

Cabinet ministers argued over what needed to be done to stop the slapping mania. The poor PM merely sat and listened, because he had no lips and could not speak.

One minister proposed creating a law that would define slapping someone as a matter of life and death. By that token, a call to slap someone would now be legally considered a threat.

The first one to support the proposal was none other than the home minister. Who of course was now totally toothless. And, said his aides, totally gutless.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the book The Elections Bullshit, available in bookstores.

Father wins suit over son's death in prison

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: A father of an inmate who died at the Sungai Buloh Prison after he was attacked by a group of inmates won his suit against the Home Ministry secretary-general, the prison director and four others.

High Court judge Justice Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad ruled that M. Ghaur Chandram, 57, had succeeded in proving his claim against the defendants.

She said there was a breach of care on the part of the defendants and the deceased, Uthayachandran, who indisputably died in the custody of prison authorities. He was 23.

Justice Nik Hasmat said it was not a normal practice for an inmate to be brought down when a food rationing exercise was carried out and “Pintu B” at the ground floor was not closed, allowing a group of prisoners to attack Uthayachandran.

She said there were six or seven wardens who were not equipped to look after more than 700 inmates in the prison.

“The deceased died as a direct result of the attack on him by fellow inmates. The court merely rules that there was breach of care and degree of negligence on the part of the defendants which resulted in his death.

“Accordingly, I allow the plaintiff’s claim of special damages for funeral expenses and loss of dependency, exemplary and general damages to be assessed later,” she said in her judgment yesterday.

The court fixed March 20 for the hearing on the quantum of damages.

In his suit filed on June 1, 2009, Ghaur Chandram named the Home Ministry secretary-general, the Sungai Buloh Prison director, the prison hospital’s medical officer, wardens Mohd Rosaizi and Tuan Azhar Mohd and the Government as defendants.

Ghaur Chandram, who was a taxi driver, sought RM3.6mil in general and exemplary damages and interest on the general and special damages.

In his statement of claim, Chandram alleged that the Sungai Buloh Prison director, the prison hospital’s medical officer, the wardens and the Government who were responsible at the prison were negligent and his son was beaten to death by a group of prisoners.

He claimed that the defendants failed or refused to inform his family on his son’s death when Uthayachandran’s welfare was their responsibility.

Uthayachandran was detained for a drug-related case and died on May 18, 2008.

PBB's Capability Rules Out Umno Spreading Wings To Sarawak - Muhyiddin

KUCHING, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The structure of administration established by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) in Sarawak rules out the need for Umno to set foot in the state, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said here Thursday.

He said the PBB in Sarawak, similar to Umno in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, had become a parent body for the other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties which gave their support to bring about political stability.

"The role played by the PBB is similar to that of Umno in the peninsula and Sabah, which can continue," the Umno deputy president told a news conference after attending a closed-door dialogue with representatives from the Sarawak associations of consumers, hawkers and suppliers, here.

Muhyiddin said the Sarawak BN, helmed by the PBB and with the other component parties, had achieved the objective shared by Umno.

"I feel it is unnecessary to duplicate what has been achieved. What is important is not the party but the objective. It (PBB) has achieved what we (Umno) want to achieve ... unity, progress, prosperity and stability. This is what's happening in Sarawak," he said.

On Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who has announced that he would retire as the Sarawak chief minister on Feb 28, Muhyiddin said the veteran leader had made a huge contribution to the state and nation, especially in fostering unity among the people of various races and religions.

He said that during the 33-year tenure of Abdul Taib as the chief minister, Sarawak did not face any racial issue in spite of the state having a large number of ethnic groups which subscribed to various cultures and religions.

He also said that Abdul Taib had successfully brought much development to Sarawak as the leader of the state government administration.

"Thirty-three years of service is a long period, and he has fulfilled this with excellence. In fact, that period will become a treasured legacy, particularly for Sarawak," he said.

Muhyiddin said he hoped that the next chief minister, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, would be able to continue with the excellent example that Abdul Taib had set.

On the closed-door meeting he had last night with the leaders of the Sarawak BN component parties here, Muhyiddin said it also touched on the preparations for the next state elections, due in June 2016.

"What is important are the steps that we have to take to ensure that Sarawak remains the stronghold, and not just the fixed deposit, of the BN," he said.

Muhyiddin said he was confident that based on Abdul Taib's leadership and the new leadership under Adenan, the people's support for the BN in the state would grow stronger.

"It is vital for Sarawak to remain a BN stronghold," he said.

Negara aman kerana pembangkang tak bertindak balas, kata PAS

UGLY EUROPE: ETHNIC MOROCCAN WOMAN OPENS UP WINE BAR AND RECEIVES DEATH THREATS…….

Elou Akhiat: 

“I want to be who I am: That’s how I teach my children that they should be in the world, instead of the one I grew up with that opening a wine bar might be contrary to Islamic culture, but I feel good. I want to do what I want, I’m autonomous and independent. “

Moroccan Woman who Opens a Wine Bar Receives Death Threats

Elou Akhiat, a Moroccan woman who opened a wine bar in Rotterdam received death threats. In view of the extreme character of some of the threats, police are following the affair closely. Last year, Dutch columnist Ebru Umar published a critical column about freedom of opinion in Turkey. She received thousands of death threats.

BNFTN

Moroccan wine bar threatened with death

Moroccan businesswoman Elou Akhiat (40) is threatened with death because of the opening of its wine bar in Rotterdam last weekend.

The Moroccan Elou Akhiat has hundreds of death threats received in response to the opening of her Dolce Uva Wine Bar in Rotterdam. Through internet threats rained Friday after being in the Rotterdam Metro section of her story did. Meanwhile, the police keep a close eye on the matter.

Akhiat showed the article to know that she is aware of the friction there is, because it starts in alcoholic beverages as a Moroccan company. 

[...]

An avalanche of responses followed. Positive but also negative. Akhiat which veiled walked up six years ago, has been overtaken by the message flow. She shows mostly calm wanting and is silent about the threats. The severity of some reactions was the reason police Saturday night, to keep. opening night, an extra eye “There is nothing strange happened around the opening., 

More here

12 killed in Shama Cinema blast in Peshawar

Volunteers and rsecurity officials investigate the cinema after the attack. PHOTO: AFP

 PESHAWAR: Three explosions occurred inside Shama Cinema in Peshawar on Tuesday, Express News reported.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) condemned the blast and claimed that they had nothing to do with it.
Twelve people were killed and 23 injured in three hand grenade explosions inside the Shama Cinema in Peshawar.
Security forces and the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) reached the scene shortly after the incident. Rescue teams reached the location and the injured were taken to Lady Reading Hospital for treatment.
At least 50 people were inside the cinema hall at the time of the explosion.
Shama Cinema
According to sources in the city, the cinema was once owned by senior minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour. The cinema, it is believed, is now managed by close relatives of the Bilour brothers.
When contacted by The Express Tribune in 2011, Aziz Ahmed Bilour said he had been busy doing public service in Islamabad since he left Peshawar two decades ago. He said he has not gone to the cinema since then. Aziz also insisted he does not own any cinema and does not know who owns the Shama Cinema.
The cinema was known for showing pornographic films in one of its auditoriums.

Countries with hudud laws fail to reduce crime, says former top judge

Muslim countries which have implemented Islamic capital punishments, or hudud, have not been
successful in reducing crime rate, former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad said today.

Speaking at a public talk in Petaling Jaya, Abdul Hamid (pic) compared several Muslim countries practising hudud laws, which form part of the Shariah system, with non-Muslim nations, noting that they were far behind in terms of tackling crime and establishing peace and justice despite the existence of hudud laws.

“So far, countries that have implemented hudud such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Sudan, are still far behind in comparison with countries that did not implement it, like Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Japan,” he said in his lecture at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) today.

He said the implementation of hudud in the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina should also not be a yardstick to determine the effectiveness of Islamic laws.

“Those who go there for the Hajj are there once in their lifetime and they have brought sufficient money. These people want to perform an accepted Hajj and are mostly the elderly and repentant,” he said.

“Clearly they would not commit crimes,” he added.

State governments in Malaysia have the authority to implement laws governing Muslims, but such laws could be extended to non-Muslims if the case involves abetting a Muslim in committing an offence.

Hudud was proposed by the current PAS government in Kelantan as well as in Terengganu during the party's rule, but to date, it has not been enforced.

Abdul Hamid noted that prior to implementation of any laws, legislators should also be aware of the repercussions and not merely focus on enforcement.

“The implementation of laws does not end with enforcement,” he said.

“What is more important is how it was done, what are the effects and as an end result, would it bring about better standards of living, peace and prosperity? Would it improve the standards of justice in this country?” he added. – February 11, 2014.

Man dies in custody 24 hours before court appearance

Police urge public not to speculate as no injury was found on the dead detainee.

NIBONG TEBAL: A lock-up detainee was found dead in the Nibong Tebal police station this morning, just a day before he was to be charged in court for theft.

Seberang Prai Selatan OCPD Supt Shafien Mamat said the detainee, A Punniyanathan, 40, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.

Shafien said post-mortem result showed that the deceased had died of lung infection.

“Punniyanathan and another man, believed to be a friend of his, were arrested by village folks in Sungai Bakap and subsequently handed over to the police on Feb 5 after they were allegedly caught red handed stealing iron rods meant for construction in the village.

“In remand, Punniyanathan was seen to be acting peculiarly; lock-up police reported that he was seen talking to himself and would remove his lock-up attire and walk around in the cell naked in a restless manner, believed to be caused by alcohol deprivation as he was said to be an alcoholic.

“When the police were doing their rounds at about 6.20am this morning, they found the deceased sprawled motionless, stark naked,” he told a press conference at the district police station here today.

Shafien added that the officer in charge of the police station then contacted the Sungai Bakap Hospital and a team of paramedics who arrived shortly confirmed that Punniyanathan had died at about 7.20am. His body was then taken to the hospital for a post mortem.

Shafein urged the public not to make any speculation as there was no injury found on the body of the deceased.

“The deceased had been charged in court before under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and Section 324 of the Penal Code for assault but was subsequently relieved of both charges

“We gathered that the deceased had a serious alcohol addiction and was a very heavy drinker,” he said

He said Punniyanathan was a bachelor selling scrap metal.

Police, he said, had classified the case as sudden death.

‘Syaitan’ Man Namblast arrested

Man Namblast, the Facebook user who described Hindus as 'syaitan' was arrested by police yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: The Facebook user, Man Namblast, who had described the Hindus as ‘syaitan’ or demons during the recent Thaipusam festival was nabbed by police yesterday.

The arrest was confirmed by Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Khalid Abu Bakar through his twitter account yesterday at 6.50pm from Kuching, Sarawak.

Khalid’s tweet reads: “Akhirnya Man Namblast yg muat kata2 berunsur hasutan semasa upacara Thaipusam tempoh hari berjaya ditangkap tadi,” which translates into: “Finally, Man Namblast who made seditious remarks during the Thaipusam festival has been arrested”.

However no further details were revealed by Khalid on the arrest.

Man Namblast (not his real name) had on Jan 17 posted a picture on his Facebook account with a caption that read: “Berpuluh ribu syaitan sedang berarak menaiki Bt Caves”, (in translation: tens of thousands of demons are marching up the stairs of Bt Caves)

Though the Facebook account was deactivated, a screen shot of the posting had gone viral on the social media and it enraged the Hindus here.

Hundreds of police reports were made against Man Namblast and also against another Facebook user called Mohd Hidayat, who defended Man Namblast’s posting.

In relation to this case, MIC Youth information chief C Sivarraajh will be holding a press conference tomorrow at the party headquarters.

“We will explain the current status of the case to the reporters,” he told FMT.

Last week, Sivarraajh offered a RM5,000 reward to anyone who can help identify and locate Man Namblast after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission(MCMC) failed to track him down.

On the other hand, the police is still unable to track down Mohd Hidayat, though MIC’s Youth wing had provided his personal details to them, including his residential address.

MIC leader defends party polls results

MIC CWC member V Subramaniam says that there were only 1,453 delegates in the party election conducted last year, which did not exceed the 1,500 mark.

PETALING JAYA: An MIC leader today dismissed claims that the party polls conducted last year had more delegates than the number allowed under the party constitution.

“This is rubbish. There were 1,453 eligible delegates but only 1,427 turned up to cast their ballots. So I don’t know where they got the 1,523 number from,” said MIC central working committee member V Subramaniam.

Yesterday, a party insider claimed that the last MIC election was invalid as the number of delegates had exceeded the maximum 1,500 allowed in the party constitution.

The party insider also gave a breakdown on the delegates as follows: 127 from national body which is, one party president, one deputy president, two vice presidents (as Dr S Subramaniam had been promoted to deputy president), 31 CWC members including nine appointed CWC members, 38 delegates each from Youth and Women wings and 16 delegates representing Puteri MIC.

“Taking the election committee’s official number into account, the total number of ordinary delegates was 1,361. This does not include 35 delegates from Tanjung Malim and Kuala Selangor divisions who were not allowed to vote in the election after their division were suspended.

“By adding it, the number will increase to 1,398 and adding another 127 from national body, then the number would be 1,523, which clearly violates article 74.1 and 74.2 of the constitution,” the party insider was reported saying.

However, Subramaniam, who is also known as Barat Maniam, dismissed the insider’s claims and insisted the number was below the 1,500 mark.

He also said that the Kuala Selangor and the Tanjung Malim division were suspended from voting in the polls.

“The election this time around included the president, deputy president, two vice presidents, CWC members and delegates from Youth and Women Wing,” said Subramaniam.

He also said that the Puteri Wing was disallowed from voting, based on the decision made by the CWC back in October last year.

On why the Puteri Wing was disallowed, Subramaniam said that it was due to some problems in the movement.

On claims that a former youth CWC member MP Shanmugam being allowed to vote despite not being a delegate, Subramaniam insisted that former was a delegate.

“The MIC’s management working committee endorsed Shanmugam as a delegate. Plus, the proposal to make Shanmugam a delegate came from Dr Subramaniam himself,” he said.

Hong Kongers Flee the Heat from a China Sex Raid

Baidu “heat map” shows thousands headed out of Dongguan fast

Baidu, the enormously popular Chinese-language version of Google, launched a “heat map” before the Lunar New Year to show trends of where Chinese travelers were heading to and coming from as hundreds of millions headed for their homes for the traditional holiday, which began Jan. 31.

But Baidu and the police didn’t expect that it would show a massive and hurried migration out of the Pearl River delta city of Dongguan Sunday afternoon, when vast numbers of people fled for all points – as the police cracked down on the city’s notorious red light district.

It is estimated that 10 percent of the floating population of the sprawling factory city of 7 million people are engaged in the world’s oldest profession. By one estimate anywhere from 500,000 to 800,000 people are in some way employed in the sex trade. A staggering 300,000 sex workers, known locally as "technicians" according to the South China Morning Post, are thought to ply their trade in thousands of side-street massage parlors, exclusive hotels, spas and neon-lit karaoke bars.

Apparently that finally got too much for the Chinese authorities. In two news broadcasts, the state-owned CCTV television network charged that police had ignored prostitution in the city and allowed the industry to thrive for five years since the last crackdown. After viewing the CCTV reports, Guangdong's party secretary Hu Chunhua ordered the raids.

The crackdown netted two suspended police chiefs, the shuttering of 12 “entertainment venues” and the arrests of scores and presumably left thousands of Hong Kong housewives questioning where their husbands had been on Sunday.

That prompted an exodus from the city in all directions – although, according to Baidu’s heat map, a full quarter of the departures headed for Hong Kong in a hurry. According to the Tech in Asia website, Baidu gathers data from smartphones with Baidu Maps and other apps using its location-based platform to create the heat map. Baidu Maps alone has more than 200 million registered users and receives 3.5 million position requests every day, according to Tech in Asia. The heat map updates every four to eight hours, showing the most popular destinations, points of origin, and travel routes.

According to the map, in a report made public in the Hong Kong-based Marketing.trade publication, other cities that were destinations for the fleeing tourists were Ganzhou, Jiangxi, Guangxi Yulin, Chenzhou, Hunan and Zhejiang Ningbo. The Baidu live map visualizes the hottest migration routes. From 12 noon to 8 pm, the rush was on.

Is Najib and Cabinet really seriously about national reconciliation and national consensus rising above partisan differences to end national drift and loss of leadership and direction?

By Lim Kit Siang,

I have addressed three Open Letters to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet before three Cabinet meetings in January last month urging the end of national drift and loss of leadership and direction in the past nine months since the 13th general elections last May.

I also appealed to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to accept the olive branch offered by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership “to love and save Malaysia” by preserving and promoting national unity, harmony and tolerance in the country and to ensure that no nefarious and treacherous plot to cause racial chaos and religious conflagration could succeed in Malaysia.

After the January 29 Cabinet meeting, Najib announced a Cabinet green light for a Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation and national consensus, claiming that he had first mooted the idea of national reconciliation after the last general election but various parties were not responsive to his appeals to come together.

For the past six months, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have been urging for Barisan Nastional/Pakatan Rakyat talks on national reconciliation and national consensus in view of the unprecedented slew of major national crises faced by the country, including the quintuplet of national crisis covering nation building and national unity, economic, educational, security and anti-corruption. The PR leadership never proposed the idea of “national unity” government.

I do not think claiming credit for the first to moot national reconciliation talks will the country very far if there is no sincerity, commitment or political will to come to the roundtable to achieve national reconciliation and national consensus.

I felt significant progress was made when Najib announced on Jan 29 that the Cabinet had given the “green light” for national reconciliation and national consensus talks with Pakatan Rakyat.

Najib had spoken of the “four thrusts to national reconciliation plan” namely social, political, government and international relations.

These “four thrusts” would serve as a useful proposal for a working agenda by a joint BN/PR Leaders’ Summit Secretariat which should have been formed to finalise the agenda and other details of the BN/PR Leaders’ Summit.

It is therefore most shocking that two full weeks elapsed with no follow-up action whatsoever to the Cabinet meeting of Jan. 29 which gave the greenlight for the BN/PR Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation and national consensus.

Neither the Pakatan Rakyat nor any of its three component parties, PKR, PAS and DAP, received any official communication on the National Reconciliation and National Consensus talks.

I was most shocked when I found out the reasons for this procrastination.

Yesterday, the Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told The Malaysian Insider that “the much-publicised national reconciliation talks between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat will not be taking off anytime soon as Umno has still to get the green-light from its allies in BN”.

“We are going to have our first meeting and we need to engage the other parties in this effort as well” said Tengku Adnan, adding that only Umno has so far agreed to the talks.

“We are BN, and we work on a consensus basis as a multi-racial party, so we need to include the rest in it.”

I find this the height of irresponsibility for two reasons.

Firstly, Adnan had been appointed by the Cabinet to liaise with the Pakatan Rakyat on the proposed national reconciliation and national consensus talks.

Why is Adnan still dilly-dallying on the issue after two full weeks have passed.

Isn’t he aware of the urgency and priority of the bi-partisan national reconciliation and national consensus talks, especially as there are irresponsible and reckless elements – though a minority – who are trying to up the ante to destabilise the country through incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension whether through demonstrations, provocative banners or extremist utterances, including raising the spectre of another May 13 riots.

Secondly, is Adnan suggesting that there are BN component parties which opposed the proposed national reconciliation and national consensus talks with PR?

Why hasn’t the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council convened in the past two weeks to give full authorisation and mandate for the holding of a BN/PR Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation and national consensus?

What is the stand of MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties on the proposed national reconciliation and national consensus talks with Pakatan Rakyat?

In fact, I want to specifically ask the new top MCA leadership of Datuk Seri Liow Liong Lai and Datuk Wee Ka Siong elected some two months ago why they are not in the forefront requisitioning an urgent meeting of the BN Supreme Council meeting?

Or are the new MCA leaders only interested to get back to the Cabinet and government so as to be appointed Ministers or Deputy Ministers but totally unconcerned about the great burning national issues facing Malaysians?

Tengku Adnan said once BN coalition members agree to the talks, he will contact PR to fix a date.

When will the BN Supreme Council be meeting? And when will Adnan be contacting the PR?

The Cabinet, at its meeting, should review the non-progress in the national reconciliation and national consensus talks in the past fortnight, which has virtually reduced the whole subject into a national joke.

The question all Malaysians are entitled to ask is whether Najib and the Cabinet are really seriously about national reconciliation and national consensus rising above partisan differences to end national drift and loss of leadership and direction?

Let Najib and Cabinet furnish the answer to all Malaysians after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 11th February 2014)

Bar Council: Putrajaya encouraging tensions

Free Malaysia Today 
by Lisa J. Ariffin

KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya’s inaction over the cash reward for anyone who could slap MP Teresa Kok is seen as encouraging incitement and a threat to public order.

“The Bar Council is of the view that the demonstration by the group of NGOs that day is an incitement and a threat to public order,” chairman Christopher Leong told a press conference here today.

“The fact that the authorities are dragging feet over this incident contributes to the unease that is currently prevailing in society and may even be seen to be encouraging such incitement,” he added.

Leong slammed the government as being “wholly irresponsible” for not taking immediate and firm action against the group of Muslim NGOs, who have accused the Seputeh MP’s controversial ‘Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014′ video of fanning racial hatred.

Bloody Incident In Simunul, Semporna Still Fresh In Villagers' Memory

By Siti Zubaidah Abdullah

SEMPORNA, Feb 11 (Bernama) -- For residents of Kampung Sri Jaya Simunul located at the outskirts of Semporna town in Sabah's east coast, March 2, 2013 will always serve as a grim reminder of a bloody tragedy.

That was when a bloody tragedy occurred, leaving Malaysians reeling in shock, 19 days after a group of armed terrorists from southern Philippines landed in the village of Tanduo, Lahad Datu.

It began with the armed aggression in Tanduo, a remote village located approximately 140km off Lahad Datu town, which later turned into a battlezone between Malaysian security forces and the terrorists, spreading to other areas, particularly the village of Sri Jaya Simunul.

Recalling the incident in Tanduo on March 1, days after negotiations to drive the terrorists out without bloodshed failed, clashes took place between security forces and the terrorists, which saw two armed VAT 69 police commandos killed in action.

A day after, Kampung Sri Jaya Simunul saw a bloody encounter that left six policemen killed in an ambush by the foreign intruders. It transformed the water village, which is usually serene and quiet, into a state of chaos.

Today, calm has returned as villagers go about their daily life and related activities in peace and harmony. Nevertheless, the tragedy is still fresh in the memory of some Kampung Simunul villagers.

A villager, Mohd Zainal Marasad, 18, who was a witness to the bloody battle between Malaysian armed forces and the terrorists, said he could still recall the incident which occurred during Maghrib prayers.

He said, at the time of the incident, he was with his family at their house, located next to a house which was the location of the attack.

"We saw the light and heard the sound of gunfire. After the gunshots, we were crouching in fear...and power supply was cut for a while," he told a Bernama journalist and photographer who visited the scene recently.

Clearly traumatised by the incident, Mohd Zainal said it was difficult for him to put behind the horrific episode.

A village head, Abdul Rahim Mangsahirun, 58, said villagers were currently carrying out their daily chores as if nothing happened.

"...There is no disturbance and without fear, I can walk from one end of a bridge to the other. But if I begin to recall the bloody incident, I feel like it had just happened yesterday," he said.

Abdul Rahim who has been the village head since Jan 1, last year, assumed the position from his late brother, Ramlee Saraman. As village head, he has to maintain the security of the village and monitor the situation, should there be reports on sightings of strangers.

He said the bloody intrusion by the terrorists had left an indelible mark on his life.

A resident, self-employed Karman Karno, 57, said the tragedy was not easily be forgotten by the people in Semporna, but it taught him to be more alert and cautious.

"We feel safe now with frequent patrolling of police and security forces in our area. Although it has been a year now, the villagers will not forget the tragedy easily," he added.

Following the terrorist intrusion, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the establishment of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESScom) on March 7.

ESScom, led by Datuk Mohammad Mentek, was established to strengthen maritime security in the eastern part of Sabah.

'What if I offered RM1,500 to slap Zahid?'

10-year-old girl granted divorce by court

An Iraqi court decided to divorce a 10-year-old local girl after she was forced by her father to marry a much older man, becoming the youngest divorcee in the Arab nation, an Iraqi news network reported on Monday.

The girl reported her father to court in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyyah after he forced her to marry without considering her small age.
“The girl complained to court about her father and the scholar who performed the marriage contract.

“The court decided to divorce the couple after they married outside court,” Nasiriyya news network said.

It did not mention whether the father and the scholar would be prosecuted but noted that persons performing marriage outside court could be jailed for at least six months.

Man rapes sister herding sheep

A Moroccan man waited for his sister to go out for herding her sheep in a desolate place and raped her before fleeing, triggering a massive police manhunt.

The woman, who is married with several children, has just left her house in the western town of Azemmur when she was attacked by her 25-year-old brother.

She told police that he raped her in a “violent and obscene” way before fleeing the area, according to newspapers.

Pakistan Taliban Preps 500 Female Suicide Bombers, Aziz Says (1)

 

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) committee member Maulana Abdul Aziz, center, speaks duirng a press conference in Islamabad on February 7, 2014. Photographer: Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images

The Pakistani Taliban has as many as 500 female suicide bombers ready to act, a representative of the group involved in peace negotiations said, underscoring the risk of further violence if talks fail.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan -- known as the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP -- sees no urgency to reach an agreement with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government, Maulana Abdul Aziz, one of three negotiators representing the TTP, said in a Feb. 7 interview at his Islamabad seminary. The two sides started talks last week.

“You should know that at the moment they have at least 400 to 500 female suicide bombers in Waziristan and other tribal areas,” said Aziz, former head cleric of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, referring to the TTP. “The government should realize the situation and their demands.”

Sharif revived peace talks with the group as pressure grows for a military strike after attacks last month killed more than two dozen soldiers, part of violence that caused the deaths of 40,000 Pakistanis since 2001. Failure to reach a deal would threaten Sharif’s efforts to bolster the $225 billion economy as the U.S. reduces troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Imran Khan, whose party runs a province bordering Afghanistan, predicted in an interview last week that terrorist attacks would prompt the talks to fail, and a military operation would start soon afterward. Khan turned down an offer from the TTP to sit on the same committee as Aziz.
‘Exaggerated Figure’

Aziz said the Taliban is most interested in implementing Sharia law in Pakistan. The U.S. military presence in Afghanistan is “a very small factor” in the fight, he said, disputing statements by Khan and others.


“They are fighting for the implementation of Sharia,” Aziz said at the seminary, where some 1,300 female students are studying. “It’s the law of nature that when people don’t get their rights, they pick up arms.”

The Pakistani Taliban has demanded the withdrawal of troops from tribal areas and the release of prisoners, Dawn newspaper reported today, citing officials it did not identify. The demands stemmed from a meeting of TTP clerics over the weekend, the report said.

The number of female suicide bombers mentioned by Aziz “is a very exaggerated figure,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. “The Taliban are way ahead in the propaganda war, and they have given a tough time to the state,” he said. “Female suicide bombers have been used, but not too many.”

Aziz’s brother died in 2007 along with at least 100 others when former President Pervez Musharraf ordered troops to storm the Red Mosque to end a challenge by pro-Taliban clerics seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital. The move sparked demonstrations and reprisal attacks.

Aziz, who was jailed for two years after the Red Mosque raid, last week temporarily withdrew himself from the talks because the government insisted the negotiations be held under the constitution and avoid including the imposition of Islamic Sharia law, a key TTP demand. He will remain on the TTP’s committee, he said.

“The Taliban are in no hurry,” Aziz said, when asked whether the group wanted a deal soon to avoid a military strike. “They say they are not worried about it. They have been in a state of war for the past 10 years.”

Sharif won an election last year after pledging negotiations with the TTP, a loose group of militants operating along the Afghan border. While Sharif received the backing of all political parties in September to begin talks, the two sides had postponed meeting amid a series of suicide bombings and a U.S. drone strike that killed the TTP’s leader.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who leads the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, has called on Sharif to take a tougher line against the militants. He said in a Jan. 28 Twitter post that Sharif was following a “policy of appeasement.”

In 2009, Taliban militants took control of Swat district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, which forbade girls to attend schools. They beheaded local officials and burned schools in a two-year fight that uprooted 2 million people from their homes before a 10-week army offensive ended their rule.

Suicide bombers have been used frequently in the conflict, including two that killed more than 80 people at a Christian church in Peshawar in September. Aziz justified the use of suicide bombers, saying that they believed in the cause and were willing to sacrifice.

“If the military has weapons and air power, they have suicide bombers,” Aziz said of the Taliban. “You cannot match them. Suicide bombers even destroyed the power of America in Afghanistan.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Augustine Anthony in Islamabad at aanthony9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

'Waytha's quitting no impact on Indians' - Malaysiakini

Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) leader P Waythamoorthy continues to receive flak from Indian leaders following reports that he has quit his deputy minister’s post, which he has for some seven months.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said he was not surprised by Waythamoorthy's decision, condemning the latter for taking the Indian community on a ride when he joined the Prime Minister' Department after the May 5 general election last year.

Ramasamy said with this latest development, PHM and Waythamoorthy would be marooned in the twilight zone, becoming irrelevant to the community they are supposed to represent, in which the community has placed trust in the struggle for equal opportunities for Indians.

Waythamoorthy's resignation stunt has no impact on the Indian community, he said, as he had betrayed their trust when he gave PHM’s support to BN, Umno and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

'Joining BN has all come to naught'

"It is sad that this has happened to the Indian poor, a very marginalised community. After the high drama of joining Najib and asking the community to support him in the general election, it has all come to naught, to zero," Ramasamy said.

"Is he planning to join Pakatan Rakyat now?" asked Ramasamy, saying it would not be possible to accept someone who has lost the trust of the Indian community.

Two days ago, PHM issued a statement announcing that Waythamoorthy would resign from his posts as deputy minister and senator, effective today, because the BN has failed to fulfil its promises in a memorandum of understanding it signed with PHM in April last year.

During the May 5 general election, PHM called on the Indian community to support BN, after it signed an 18-point MoU with the BN to uplift the status of the Indian community.

Ramasamy said the Indian community was not surprised by Waythamoorthy's decision to quit his posts.

"Are we supposed to be surprised that Waythamoorthy is resigning from his posts because he found out that BN and Umno cannot do anything for the Indian community? " the DAP’s Prai assemblyperson asked.

"I would have told him so before he decided to throw his support for the BN and Najib, at the same time taking the Indian community for a ride."

Ramasamy said PHM and the likes of Waythamoorthy have deviated from the organisation's original path of making BN and Umno accountable for the Indian community's plight.

He recalled that the original Hindraf had organised a large scale people's rally in Kuala Lumpur in November 2007 to highlight the community's demands and to make BN and Umno accountable for marginalising the community since Merdeka in 1957.

"Hindraf started well then but now PHM has destroyed the people's trust by colluding with the powers that are responsible for the community's woes," Ramasamy added.

"Waythamoorthy made all kinds of promises, like being able to solve the community's problems in five years... but we learnt that Najib did not even consult him or PHM and provided no allocation for their programmes."

Zahid tak patut keluar kenyataan macam penaung Perkasa

Saya minta Zahid bercakap sebagai Menteri Dalam Negeri
UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: PAS bertegas bahawa Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi tidak sewajarnya menganggap tawaran wang berjumlah RM1,200 untuk menampar Ahli Parlimen DAP Teresa Kok sebagai bukan satu ancaman.

Memerli kenyataan Zahid tersebut, Ketua Penerangan PAS Datuk Mahfuz berkata Zahid tidak sepatutnya mengeluarkan kenyataan seperti penaung kepada Perubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa).

“Saya minta Zahid, rakan baik saya ni sepatutnya bercakap sebagai Menteri Dalam Negeri, bukan sebagai Penaung Perkasa, ataupun penaung kepada NGO-NGO yang agak ekstrim dan rasis ini.

“Dia mesti bercakap sebagai Menteri Dalam Negeri yang dibawahnya ialah institusi keselamatan iaitu polis yang sepatutnya memberikan jaminan keselamatan kepada semua orang tanpa mengira kaum sama ada perkara yang dilakukan seseorang itu betul atau tidak,” kata Mahfuz dalam satu sidang media di Ibu Pejabat PAS disini hari ini.

Menurutnya lagi, jika Teresa didapati melakukan kesalahan, tindakan undang-undang harus diambil, bukan dengan membiarkan orang menampar Teresa.

“Tindakan mesti diambil melalui saluran undang-undang yang ada. Tetapi hingga hari ini tiada tindakan yang dibuat pihak polis sedangkan bagi saya soal nak mengecam orang itu mudah.

“Sedangkan, dalam (himpunan) Bersih dulu boleh pamerkan gambar-gambar orang yang dikehendaki pihak polis untuk menyerah diri. Jadi saya minta Datuk Zahid bercakap seperti menteri, bukan seperti penaung NGO-NGO yang keluarkan provokasi yang boleh timbulkan ketegangan antara kaum,” katanya lagi.

Beliau turut mengingatkan Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar untuk berbuat perkara yang sama.

“Takkan nak tunggu orang pergi tampar Teresa baru nak ambil tindakan?,” katanya.

Menurutnya, beliau bimbang Menteri Dalam Negeri dan KPN sendiri dituduh sebagai dalang kepada perkara ini.

“Saya bimbang persepsi masyarakat nanti seolah-olahnya dalang kepada kumpulan NGO yang buat ugutan dan sembelih ayam ini ialah Menteri Dalam Negeri dan KPN. Jadi saya harap mereka dapat melakukan tindakan yang segera,” katanya lagi.

Baru-baru ini, sebuah badan yang menggelar sebagai “Majlis NGO Islam” menyembelih dua ekor ayam dan menawarkan RM1,200 kepada sesiapa yang dapat menampar Teresa sebagai simbol kemarahan terhadap pemimpin pembangkang yang didakwa menghina kepimpinan Melayu dan Islam.

Mereka juga mencalit darah ayam yang disembelih ke atas kertas rentang yang terdapat gambar Kok, Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng, penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang dan Dewan Undangan PKR Machang Bubuk, Lee Khai Loon.

Dalam pada itu, Mahfuz berkata pertengkaran antara Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim dan Timbalan Presiden PKR Azmin Ali hanyalah isu yang dihangatkan oleh media arus perdana.

“Saya pasti Khalid dan Azmin akan ‘all out’ pastikan kemenangan PKR di Kajang nanti,” katanya.

Ibrahim marah

Sementara itu, Presiden Perkasa, Datuk Ibrahim Ali menyifatkan kenyataan Mahfuz bahawa Zahid sebagai ejen Perkasa adalah ”kenyataan orang tidak sekolah”.

Katanya, tak hairan Mahfuz berfikiran cetek dan cakap ikut sedap.

“Sememanglah itulah kerja budak jaga trafik kapal terbang dan memang patutlah beliau kalah bertanding jawatan Naib Preaiden PAS,” katanya kepada FMT.

Beliau yang juga bekas ahli parlimen Pasir Mas menambah perwakilan PAS memang bijak menolak pemimpin yang riak dan tidak layak dijadikan pemimpin.

“Apa kena mengena Perkasa dengan Zahid Hamidi atas kenyataannya mengenai Teresa Kok? Orang macam ini, elok saya jawab macam ini,” katanya.

Ibrahim menasihati Mahfuz supaya lain kali beliau bercakap sebagai seorang Islam yang istiqamah, cerdik dan tidak emosi tanpa bersebab.

MIC polls: More irregularities surface - FMT

Fresh evidence point towards alleged irregularities in MIC's party polls last year.

PETALING JAYA: MIC president G Palanivel is once again dragged into controversy as fresh evidence emerged pointing towards alleged irregularities in MIC’s party polls held last year.

In the latest twist of events, a new set of documents has surfaced indicating that the election results could be declared null and void as the requirements of the party’s constitution were not met.

This is despite Palanivel confirming that the party’s central working committee (CWC) had accepted the results and that requests for a re-election would not be entertained.

It has been brought to FMT’s knowledge that during the CWC meeting last week, the election committee was shocked when the vice president M Saravanan alleged that the total number of delegates eligible to vote during the polls exceeded 1,500.

Saravanan had then produced a set of documents in the meeting to support his claims.

A CWC member forwarded the documents to FMT which showed that the total number of delegates during the election was 1,523, which is more than that allowed under the party’s constitution.

Articles 74.1 and 74.2 of the party constitution state that the total number of delegates entitled to attend the General Assembly shall not exceed 1,500 at any one time.

A party insider, who declined to be named, said that the party’s constitution allowed only 1,500 delegates to vote in order to elect their leadership.

“The breakdown of delegates for the election was as follows: 127 from national body which is, one party president, one deputy president, two vice presidents (as Dr S Subramaniam had been promoted to deputy president), 31 CWC members including nine appointed CWC members, 38 delegates each from Youth and Women wings and 16 delegates representing Puteri MIC,” he said, adding that the rest were ordinary delegates.

“Taking the election committee’s official number into account, the total number of ordinary delegates was 1,361. This does not include 35 delegates from Tanjung Malim and Kuala Selangor divisions who were not allowed to vote in the election after their division were suspended,” he added.

“By adding it, the number will increase to 1,398 and adding another 127 from national body, then the number would be 1,523, which clearly violates article 74.1 and 74.2 of the constitution,” he said.

He stressed that although the Puteri wing was not allowed to vote this time, the party must take the wings’ delegate numbers into account as it was a gazetted body in MIC.

“The party members are really shocked with the CWC’s decision to uphold the election results without investigating this allegation,” he said.

“However, we plan to bring this matter to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) for further investigations,” he added.

Another letter to ROS

Meanwhile, former MIC Puteri chief Usha Nandhini is the latest party leader to lodge a complaint against MIC to the ROS as her wing was stopped from running their election and electing 15 delegates to the MIC’s General Assembly that was held in Malacca on Nov 30 and Dec 1last year.

The complaint was lodged on Feb 4, alleging that the party’s leaders had violated the rights of Puteri MIC members.

This was the fourth report lodged with the ROS by MIC’s disgruntled party leaders.

Previously, MIC’s former treasurer-general Jaspal Singh and former Youth chiefs SA Vignesvaran and T Mohan had also lodged reports to the ROS, urging it to investigate the election irregularities.

Anwar to EC: Watch TV3 and read Utusan - FMT

The candidate for Kajang rejects accusations that his ceramahs are unlawful.

PETALING JAYA: Anwar Ibrahim today accused the Election Commission (EC) of being one-sided in its insinuation that he was breaking the law in delivering speeches in Kajang before the start of the campaign period for the March 23 by-election.

“Don’t they watch TV3 or RTM and read Utusan?” he said in response to a Berita Harian report quoting the EC chairman as saying that early campaigners could be charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Speaking at a press conference here, Anwar asked whether the EC was speaking for Umno or itself.

TV3, RTM and Utusan Malaysia have been carrying reports and interviews that are critical of Anwar since it became known that he was contesting in the Kajang by-election.

Anwar had his first ceramah session last Wednesday in Taman Kajang Baru, Sungai Jelok.

Asked to comment on a statement by Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kasim that the EC should act against him for his “early campaign”, Anwar said his detractor should instead “ask TV3 whether they have not launched any vicious campaign.”

He also said “new leaders” were emerging “every day” to speak against him and accused them of receiving “high payments”.

SULTAN SELANGOR MACAM ANJING SIAL BODOH, KATA JOSEPHINE MARY DARI GEREJA HOLY FAMILY, KAJANG!!!

 

Berdasarkan kepada kenyataan-kenyataan yang dikeluarkan betina ini sebenarnya baru sahaja memeluk agama Kristian dan perasan dia sudah jadi orang putih dan statusnya telah tinggi berbanding masyarakat India yang sebangsa dengannya.

Dan berdasarkan kepada kenyataan-kenyataannya juga, betina ini merupakan antara barisan muda DAP yang sedang mendapatkan perhatian daripada masyarakat Kajang khususnya. Tidak mustahil sekiranya, paderi yang dimaksudkan, yang terdapat dalam senarai 'friend'nya merupakan antara sumber penggalak untuk dia merangsang kemarahan masyarakat Melayu-Islam.

Betina ini barangkali tidak tahu bahawa akaun Facebooknya boleh diakses dengan sepenuhnya. Berdasarkan kepada tahap Bahasa Inggerisnya yang sangat lintang pukang, selain Bahasa Melayunya dengan kosa kata terhad kepada anjing, babi, sial, lembu dan tahi, Josephine Mary besar kemungkinan merupakan salah seorang pelajar Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil yang terletak di kawasan yang sama.

Antara kata-katanya ialah:

"Selagi Islam Melayu Malaysia ini ada negara ini tidak akan maju... melayu bodoh nak hancurkan agama kristian... menteri, sultan semua bodoh makan tahi anjing sial."

"Saya Josephine Mary dari Kajang Tamah Megah, saya pergi ke Gereja Holy Family Kajang. Paderi kami, George Harrison ajar kami dalam Melayu Allah, kenapa Melayu Islam isukan hal kalimah Allah ini... saya tak puas hati la, memang Melayu Islam Malaysia bodoh makan tahi... sultan menteri semua bodoh melayu sial."

"Sultan Selangor pun macam anjing sial bodoh dengar cakap orang... allah milik orang kristian, islam melayu malaysia nak rampas konon, melayu anjing sial."

 

Barangkali, dengan mendekatnya PRK DUN Kajang, Josephine Mary mungkin akan selamat memandangkan kawasan tersebut akan dipenuhi pelbagai jenis pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat. Namun selepas PRK DUN Kajang, Josephine Mary barangkali tidak mungkin dapat bertahan lama di Taman Megah, Kajang!!!

Namun berdasarkan kepada tarikh 'pertembungan' peristiwa yang memburukkan diri sendiri pada 27 Januari, tidak mustahil juga sekiranya akaun ini telah diakses oleh penggodam dan digunakan untuk memburuk-burukkannya!

 http://theflyingkick.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/sultan-selangor-macam-anjing-sial-bodoh.html

Kajang polls are key in Pakatan’s plans for GE14

Malaysiakini

Pakatan Rakyat’s decision to field Anwar Ibrahim in Kajang ignited a firestorm and drew many dissenting views.

But for Pakatan to break out from the stalemate since the May 2013 election, this is a brave and strategic move.

Kajang could be the fiercest battle in Anwar’s decades of political career, as well as his riskiest bet – it certainly appears that the daggers are out for him. But these are necessary birth pangs as we search for a post GE13 breakthrough.

My political scientist friend Wong Chin Huat reminded me that in 2005 I had mooted the idea of Anwar contesting a state seat in Selangor.

The logic was to gun for Putrajaya by first controlling Shah Alam. However, at that time Anwar was barred from contesting until after April 2008.

There were two reasons for the Putrajaya via Shah Alam route.

Firstly, although the menteri besar holds limited powers, as far as the Malaysian public is concerned, the MB position befits a high profile almost on par with the prime minister.

An internal GE13 post mortem by the Pakatan secretariat found that among Malay voters, there was no nationwide voting trend.

In Terengganu and Perlis, due to Umno infighting over the respective MB’s post, Pakatan’s popular votes increased. In Kedah dissatisfaction against the late MB Azizan Abdul Razak (right) cost Pakatan precious votes.

In other states, Pakatan’s Malay support increased as well as decreased without a unified voting pattern. In several states Pakatan’s lack of a clear MB candidate also proved to be a chink in its armour.

The point is that state politics is very important in the minds of the Malay voters.

Huge difference

Secondly, the ground often shifts faster than we think. There is a huge difference between the political scenario in 1998 and that of 2005, the stark contrast between Reformasi and the post-Mahathir era.

In former prime minister Abdullah Badawi’s (right) heyday, BN controlled 91 percent of seats and 64 percent of the popular vote – it was a bleak season for the opposition post-GE 2004. Hence I mooted the idea for Anwar to go for Shah Alam.

By the time the embers of 2008 smouldered, ten years had passed since Anwar was the deputy prime minister, something the younger generation of voters are too young to remember. Hence the need for Anwar to reinvent his political legacy.

The GE14 must be held before or by 2018. By then, a child who was one year old when Anwar was sacked in 1998, would have reached the voting age. It would have been 20 years since the ‘98 Reformasi era.

In 2008, there were 10 million (10,740,227) registered voters with 76 percent turnout on election day. In 2013, the total number of registered voters was 13 million (13,268,002) while another three million or so had reached 21 years, but had yet to register as voters.

Each year there are about 500,000 Malaysians turning 21. All in, total number of voters could potentially reach 18 million in 2018, almost double that of in 2008.

To reach this generation of new voters, we need to translate the idealism and spirit of 1998 into practical policies and results.

In the current soul-searching period since GE13, both BN and Pakatan are seeking for a point of breakthrough.

Public anger

Prime Minister Najib Razak struggled and failed to find a way out and he has nothing new to offer to the discourse.

As Najib’s (right) handling of economic matters has aroused public anger, his approval ratings have taken a nosedive and left him vulnerable to attacks from the usually racially charged pro-Mahathir camp.

After GE13, Anwar too seemed to be stuck politically. At the same time it would not be prudent for the Pakatan-rule Selangor leaders to continue its public spats. Something serious must be done now.

In politics, standing still is as good as losing ground. Although in GE13 Pakatan managed 51 percent of the popular vote, it was not good enough to win federal power.

Pakatan needs to demonstrate a breakthrough in terms of discourse and results as to maintain that margin, and gain more fence-sitters’ votes.

People actually ask, is the timing right? To me, if we need to start over, it is better to do so now than wait for another two years. If we wait further to make this move, then it would really be too late.

For those who question whether Kajang is a ‘demotion’ for Anwar, I will say this: Anwar is Pakatan’s candidate for prime minister, and the move to raise his profile as a state leader before aiming for national leadership is a strategic move for this season, in line with our overall strategy.

Cat out of the bag – MCA clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campagn against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam

By Lim Kit Siang,

Now the cat is out of the bag.

MCA is clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campaign against DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video, “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and therefore deserving not only downright condemnation by all right-thinking Malaysians but also the fullest punishment whether under the laws of the land or the law of the jungle.

I have come to this conclusion after reading the Bernama report of the statement by the MCA deputy president, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu last night, where he advised Teresa to apologise for her video clip “for the good of Malaysians”.

Present at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu were the Sabah Yang diPertua Negeri, Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Urban and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

What interested me was the presence of Apdal, the first UMNO/BN leader to open up the attack on Teresa on the video on the completely baseless grounds that the video “Onederful Malaysia” lampooned the Malaysian security forces and the Lahad Datu incursion tragedy.

When it was pointed out that the video contained no reference whatsoever to the security forces or the Lahad Datu tragedy, then one UMNO Minister after another joined the fray and accused Teresa’s video of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Who misled Apdal into opening the attack on Teresa’s video, when clearly Apdal could not have understood the Mandarin or Cantonese dialogue in the video, and who were responsible for misleading other UMNO Ministers and leaders, as well as Muslim NGOs into believing that Teresa’s video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam – like the six NGOs which styled themselves the “Council for Islamic NGOs” which conducted the disgraceful blood-splattered “chicken slaughtering” demonstration last Thursday, committing a slew of offences such as sedition, criminal intimidation, incitement of another May 13 riots as well as incitement of violence against a woman MP when RM1,200 was publicly offered to anyone who slapped Teresa Kok?

I have right from the beginning suspected that there were “unseen hands” manipulating UMNO Ministers, leaders and so-called Islamic NGOs, to launch a vicious demonization campaign against Teresa on the ground that her video was anti-Malay and anti-Islam, for two reasons: (i) the allegations that Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam were completely baseless; and (ii) the many UMNO Ministers, leaders and “Islamic NGOs” taking umbrage raises questions as the language in the dialogue in the video was in Cantonese and Mandarin.

I made a standing invitation more than a week ago to be “educated” as to how Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and this invitation remains open and valid – for I really want to know how Teresa’s video could be described as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Teresa would be going against DAP principle and policy if she produces a video which is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, as the DAP had always stood for a Malaysia for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

In fact, when the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin repudiated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s signature 1Malaysia policy in early 2010 and declared that he was “Malay first, Malaysian second”, I proudly declared in Parliament that I was “Malaysian first, Chinese second”.

This basic principle remains unchanged and unshakeable – and as I have said many a time, DAP leaders, whether Members of Parliament or State Assembly members, must always regard themselves as “Malaysian first and race and religion second” – as we are first and foremost Malaysian patriots and not race champions!

In pursuit of this long-standing DAP principle and objective of being a party for all Malaysians, I have no doubt that Teresa Kok would have no hesitation in withdrawing and apologising for the “Onederful Malaysia” video if there are portions which are anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

But Teresa and DAP leaders have been waiting for someone to come out into the open to point out and substantiate the allegation that Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, but no one has been able to do so in the past two weeks.

If Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, why is it so difficult for someone to point this out publicly?

This is in fact the best proof that while one can disagree with Teresa’s video – with some particularly in MCA and Gerakan claiming that it is in bad taste to produce such a CNY video with stinging criticisms of the Barisan Nasional government in failing to resolve the people’s hardships and grievances arising from price hikes, fall in educational standards, high crime rates and rampant corruption in the country – it could not be faulted for being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

I have always suspected that UMNO Ministers and leaders have been led by the nose and “poisoned” by Chinese leaders in MCA and Gerakan as the Teresa video issue as they do not understand the dialogue which is in Mandarin and Cantonese, and misinformed into believing that Teresa’s video was a most ferocious and aggressive attack on the Malays and Islam.

Wee’s statement at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner appears to be “the smoking gun” that it is the MCA who are the “unseen hands” misleading UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campaign against Teresa’s video on the completely false allegation that it is anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Wee and the top MCA leadership should cease and desist, and not be so unprincipled and unscrupulous as to stoop so low to “poison” and mislead UMNO Ministers and leaders into believing that Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam when there is nothing anti-Malay or anti-Islam in the video.

If Wee believes that Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, then let him declare how Teresa’s video is anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Otherwise, has Wee and the new MCA leaders including the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai got the courage, ethics and principle to declare publicly that there is nothing anti-Malay or anti-Islam in Teresa’s video and that UMNO Ministers and leaders have been completely misled.

It is public knowledge that Wee and the top MCA leaders are only pre-occupied with one issue – how to get back to Cabinet and government after being out in the wilderness for nine months.

They should be more concerned about political principles and honour.

They should ask the Prime Minister and Cabinet to repudiate and reprimand the Home Minister, Datuk Ser Zahid Hamidi for condoning and absolving the self-styled “Council for Islamic NGOs” in their slew of crimes, including criminal intimidation, sedition, incitement of violence against woman, incitement of violence against a Member of Parliament, incitement of another May 13 riots, and declare that unless the Prime Minister and Cabinet repudiate and reprimand Zahid for his irresponsible stand that there was nothing for the police to investigate against “Council for Islamic NGOs” despite police reports lodged by DAP and Pakatan Rakyat MPs and State Assembly members , there is no purpose of MCA returning to be Ministers and members of such a disreputable and dishonourable Government.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 10th February 2014)

Let the law take its course, Zahid told

The Star 
by NEVILLE SPYKERMAN AND CHRISTINA TAN

PETALING JAYA: Various groups have called on police to continue the probe against the group offering a reward to slap Seputeh MP Teresa Kok over her video.

MCA Youth Legal Bureau chairman Eric Choo Wei Sern said both police and the Attorney-General should be free to act against the group.

Expressing its disappointment over Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement in dismissing the threat, bureau chairman Eric Choo Wei Sern said the Home Minister must let the law and procedure take its course.

“Should the A-G decide to prosecute, the finding of whether there was a crime committed should thus be made by the courts of law,” he said, adding that the statement was issued despite police having started investigating the group for inciting others to commit an offence and criminal intimidation.

On Saturday, Dr Ahmad Zahid had said that offering the reward was not a threat and there was no need for an investigation.

Bar Council Human Rights Committee co-chairman Andrew Khoo said the minister’s statement was akin to interfering in police investigations.

“It’s clearly wrong and tantamount to abuse of power,” he said.

By doing nothing, Khoo said, the authorities were condoning the group’s action, adding that this was contrary to the Government’s call for moderation and reconciliation.

RIGHTS Foundation chairman Yusmadi Yusoff said the Home Minister was supposed to be the guardian of public security and should know his role.

“In cases like this, the Government should intervene and send a strong message before the situation deteriorates,” said the former Balik Pulau MP with PKR.

Jihad for Justice chairman Datuk Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim described the statement as “unbecoming”, adding that not taking action would only encourage others to carry out similar acts.

“This is not good for racial harmony and unity,” he said.

Malaysia Should Be Proud Of Its Healthcare System, Third Best In The World - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today said Malaysia should be proud as its healthcare system has been listed as third best in the world.

The prime minister on his Twitter page tonight said: "Malaysia scores third best out of 24 countries in International Living's Annual Global Retirement Index 2014. We should be proud!"

A study by the American publication, International Living, rates Malaysia's healthcare system as the third best out of 24 countries in its 2014 Global Retirement Index, beating Spain, Italy, Ireland and New Zealand, among other countries.

Malaysia was listed as third place after it scored 95 out of a possible 100 points. The top two countries, France and Uruguay, scored 97 and 96 points respectively.

The index, which was recently released by the Baltimore-based magazine, praised Malaysia's healthcare as the medical expertise of Malaysian healthcare practitioners is "equal to or better than what it is in most Western countries".

Meanwhile, Najib in another tweet urged parents to spend time with their children in surfing the 1BestariNet website.

He said through this website, parents could benefit from the online learning system from wherever they were.

1BestariNet is a project initiated by the Education Ministry in collaboration with YTL Communications, of equipping 10,000 schools nationwide with high-speed Internet access.

It is also a cyber learning platform aimed at narrowing the digital gap between rural and urban students.

This government initiative will also make Malaysia the first country in the world which is equipped with 4G mobile Internet access and Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at all its schools.