ISIS Forcefully Circumcised Assyrian Christian Men in Mosul, Sold 700 Yazidi Women

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on a Christian home in Mosul.

(AINA) -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10.
Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.

• There are no Assyrians/Christians remaining in Mosul, all have fled to the north, to Alqosh, Dohuk and other Assyrian villages.
• All Christian institutions in Mosul (churches, monasteries and cemeteries), numbering 45, have been destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or shuttered (story).
• All non-Sunni Muslim groups in Mosul -- Shabaks, Yazidis and Turkmen -- have been targeted by ISIS. Most have fled.
• Water and electricity have been cut off by ISIS. The water shortage in the areas surrounding Mosul is now a full-blown crisis. Residents have been forced to dig wells for drinking water. Water tankers are providing some relief.
• Mosul is now governed under Sharia law.
• 200,000 Assyrian have fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul.
• 150,000 Yazidis have fled from Sinjar and Zumar. 40,000 trapped on Shingal mountain. Thousands have died from exposure. Thousands have been killed by ISIS.

The following is a summary of the events that have unfolded in Mosul.

• August 14: ISIS orders all former Assyrian church guards to surrender their weapons (story).
• August 13: ISIS forces child patients at the cancer hospital in Mosul to hold ISIS flags and then photographed them for propaganda purposes. ISIS completely loots and plunders all homes in the the Assyrian Christian towns of Telsqof and Bashiqa. 100,000 Yazidi refugees are now in the town of Khanak without food, water or shelter (story).
• August 11: ISIS orders all families in Mosul to obtain approval before burying their dead. ISIS provides gasoline to Assyrians in Nineveh Plain to facilitate their departure. ISIS continues kidnapping women, with female ISIS members helping (story). Iraqi general says 70% of Yazidis on Mount Sinjar are dead (story).
• August 9: ISIS forces all women in Mosul to wear the veil, including the full head cover. ISIS establishes black markets for goods to raise funds. (story).
• August 8: Iraqi Parliament passes resolution accusing ISIS of genocide (story).
• August 8: ISIS captures Baghdede Bartella and Karamlis and moves north into the Nineveh Plain, causing 200,000 Assyrians to flee their towns and villages (story).
• August 7: Assyrian Patriarch Pleads to the United Nations on Crisis in Iraq (story).
• August 6: Kurds and ISIS clash outside Baghdede; ISIS begins using Yazidis as human shields; All the Assyrians from the villages of Bartella, Bashiqa, Bahzany, Tel Kepe, Batnaya and Telsqof flee (story).
• August 5: ISIS shells assyrian town, 1 killed; Yazidis in desperate state (story).
• August 4: Leader of Iraq's Yazidis issues distress call, appeals for help against ISIS (story).
• August 4: Assyrians flee as ISIS approaches Assyrian villages in the Nineveh Plain (story).
• August 2: ISIS Captures Yazidi towns, kills two 2,000 Yazidis, causes 200,000 to flee (story).
• August 2: ISIS loots 8 million dollars from Assyrian farms (story).
• July 29: ISIS destroys or occupies all 45 Christian institutions in Mosul (story).
• July 25: ISIS destroys the tomb of the Prophet Jonah (story).
• July 22: ISIS and Kurds clash near Assyrian town, 2000 Assyrian families driven from Mosul (story).
• July 19: ISIS plunders Assyrians as they Flee Mosul; families march 42 miles (story).
• July 18: ISIS in Mosul marks Christian homes with the Arabic letter "N" (for the word Nasrani, which means Christian) (story).
• July 17: ISIS issues statement ordering Christians to convert or die (story).
• July 15: ISIS Stops Rations for Christians and Shiites in Mosul (story).
• July 10: ISIS bars women from walking the streets unless accompanied by a male. Nearly all barber shops and womens' salons are closed (story).
• July 8: ISIS Removes Cross From Church in Mosul (story).
• July 3: ISIS seizes the house of the Chaldean Patriarchate and the house of Dr. Tobia, a member of Hammurabi Human Rights Organization and an Advisor to the Governor of Nineveh on Minority Affairs and General Coordinator with International Organizations (story).
• June 28: ISIS kidnaps two nuns and three Assyrian orphans. They are eventually released (story).
• ISIS begins confiscating the homes of Christians and non-Sunni Muslims. ISIS rounds up many of the security agency members of the police and army in Sabrine Mosque and asks them to declare "repentance" and surrender their weapons and other military equipment. After doing so, all of the prisoners are tried and sentenced according to Sharia law and executed. ISIS has prevented delivery of government food rations to Tel Kepe and other areas not under their control (story).
• June 26: Kurds Clash With ISIS Near Assyrian Town East of Mosul, forcing nearly 50,000 Assyrians to flee (story).
• June 25: ISIS limits water from the plants in Mosul to one hour per day. Residents in surrounding areas are forced to dig wells (story).
• June 23: ISIS Rape Christian Mother and Daughter, Kill 4 Christian Women for Not Wearing Veil (story).
• June 21: ISIS begins imposing a poll tax (jizya) on Assyrians in Mosul (story), orders unmarried women to 'Jihad by sex' (story), destroys the statue of the Virgin Mary at the Immaculate Church of the Highest in the neighborhood of AlShafa in Mosul, as well as the statue of Mullah Osman Al-Musali. Shiite Turkmen in the villages of AlKibba and Shraikhan flee after receiving threats from ISIS. ISIS arrests 25 village elders and young men who are Turkmen in the village of AlShamsiyat; their whereabouts is still unknown. (story) ISIS orders Christian, Yazidis and Shiite government employees not to report for work in Mosul (story).
• June 19: ISIS destroys statue of the famous Arab poet Abu Tammam (story).
• June 18: ISIS Cuts Off Water, Electricity, Destroys Churches (story).
• June 15: Kurds attempt to remove an Assyrian council leader in Alqosh and replace him with a Kurd (story).
• June 14: Assyrian, Yezidi and Shabak Villages come under Kurdish Control (story).
• June 12: ISIS issues Islamic rules for Mosul (story).
• June 10: ISIS captures Mosul, occupies the Assyrian village of Qaraqosh, enters the St. Behnam Monastery, bombs an Armenian church (story).

Crack unit of female soldiers hunting Islamic State kidnappers

Heavily armed women from the Turkish PKK have gone into into Iraq to tackle the jihadists

A crack unit of female soldiers is on the trail of Islamic State killers who have captured 3,000 innocent women in Iraq.

Thousands of non-Muslim women and girls have been kidnapped by Islamic State thugs on the rampage in the country over the past two weeks.

They face the terrifying prospect of being forced into marriage, sold as sex slaves or shot if they do not convert to Islam.

Now hundreds of women from the Turkish PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ party) have crossed into Iraq to help push the IS fighters out of the north of Iraq.

They are striking fear into the hearts of the Jihadist thugs who believe if they are killed by a woman in battle they will not reach heaven.

Heavily-armed female fighters joined hundreds of men from the PKK and fought against the insurgents under U.S. air cover.

They are working with the Iraqi Kurdish region Peshmerga forces around the regional capital of Erbil and the Sinjar mountains, where thousands from the Yazidi religious minority have been trapped by the rapid advance of Islamic State fighters.

Peshmerga means ‘those who face death’. Once mountain guerrillas fighting for Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq, these forces are now working for the Kurdistan regional Government against the Islamic extremists.

“Our support is just as important for the peshmerga as these US strikes - bombings alone cannot get rid of guerrilla groups,” said Sedar Botan, a female PKK veteran commander. We will keep fighting until all of Kurdistan is safe.”

The Kurds are one of the world’s largest stateless groups and their population spans parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The PKK’s decades-long war for autonomy from Turkey has gained it international notoriety.

Loathed by millions of Turks for its campaign against the country’s police and conscript army, it has executed unarmed recruits and placed roadside bombs that have killed women and children.

But PKK guerrillas are assisting in the Kurdish ground offensive in conjunction with U.S. air attacks to retake the Mosul Dam from IS units.

Read More.............

Listen to Dr M’s advice, Umno grassroots tell Najib

While support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak remains strong among the Umno grassroots, the party president would do well to heed the concerns raised by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, grass-roots leaders of the Malay-based party said.

They told The Malaysian Insider there were grouses among members over Najib’s “soft” stance towards his opponents, but added the sentiment was not strong enough for a call to replace the prime minister.

“I think Dr Mahathir was right, Najib is too soft. And in this day and age, if you let sensitive issues fester without reigning it in, it would be very bad for everyone.

“Whether he likes it or not, he must be swift and firm,” said Umno Taman Melur branch chief Mohd Aznam Mohd Zin.

“And if he continues like this, it’s not entirely impossible for him to have to step down. So he has to make changes, and not allow this to go on like what happened with Pak Lah,” he added, referring to Najib’s predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In a blog post yesterday, Dr Mahathir declared he was with withdrawing his support for Najib, adding that the prime minister was performing worse than Abdullah.

Dr Mahathir said his criticism had fallen on deaf ears, and blamed Najib’s administration for worsening inter-racial ties, the economy, and the country’s finances.

But Aznam was quick to say that Umno members still overwhelmingly supported Najib, and he interpreted Dr Mahathir’s blog post as just criticism.

“For me, there is nothing wrong with criticising Najib, because even I as a leader notice the growing tension over issues of insults.

“As far as I know, Dr Mahathir was not withdrawing his support but just reproaching him. Even the blog post is titled ‘Criticism’ (Menegur).”

Umno Cheras division leader Datuk Syed Ali Alhabshee also attempted to soften the blow of Dr Mahathir’s post and likened it to the scolding a father would give to his son.

“If there are criticisms, it is not a sign of hatred but a reminder to improve the party and administration of the government. If Dr Mahathir did not love Najib, he would not have made such criticisms,” he wrote on his blog.

But he urged Najib and all Umno leaders to accept the former prime minister’s views with an open heart, saying: “When a father like Dr Mahathir gives out such a reminder or criticism, there must surely be a lesson there.”

He also agreed with Dr Mahathir’s views that people below Najib may not give him an accurate depiction of the situation, as they were too eager to win him over.

“Those who have positions in the party and government should give their sincere views to the prime minister.”

BN Youth executive secretary Zaidel Baharuddin told The Malaysian Insider that Dr Mahathir’s views were reflected among some members of the party.

“There are definitely some people who are unhappy. And there is a concern over what Dr Mahathir said, and that he had to openly say it himself. So Najib would have to take this into account.

“But is the unhappiness strong enough to remove him? No.

“It not the same as what happened with Pak Lah, or even what is happening to Hadi Awang,” he said, referring to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

But, Datuk Rizuan Abdul Hamid, the Umno Kepong division chief, dismissed Dr Mahathir’s criticisms outright, and said he was confused by the former prime minister’s words.

“I have no problem with Najib. He is a firm leader and has conducted himself well, especially in light of MH17 and MH370.

“We should give Najib a chance. It’s fine to criticise him if he’s doing badly, but he is actually improving by the day.”

Rizuan added that Dr Mahathir’s own premiership was fraught with challenges, and as a veteran leader he should lend his full support to Najib.

“He is not a prime minister anymore, he should support Najib. Before, he criticised Pak Lah, and now he is doing the same to Najib. Just let them do their work.”

Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor today played down Dr Mahathir’s blog post, and reiterated their support for their party president.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/listen-to-dr-ms-advice-umno-grassroots-tell-najib#sthash.43PUuBOv.dpuf

Hishammuddin defends ‘brave’ Najib against Dr M’s criticism

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has to come to the defence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying he is doing his best in administering the country.

The defence minister cited accomplishments such as the handling of the remains from the MH17 tragedy, where he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini that Najib succeeded where US president Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had failed.

"If Najib did not take the brave stand of facing the separatists, I may not be standing here today to organise the arrival of the corpses (of Malaysians)," Hishammuddin (pic) was quoted as saying by the portal.

"Ask if Obama could do it, ask if Putin is able to do it."

Najib’s handling of the MH17 tragedy allowed investigators to access the crash site and bring back the remains of the MH17 victims.

Hishammuddin was responding to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism of Najib’s leadership yesterday, where he said he withdrew his support for Najib as his criticism had fallen on deaf ears.

“I have tried to give my views to him directly, which are also the views of many people who have met me," said Dr Mahathir in his popular blog, chedet.cc.

"I have no choice but to withdraw my support. This has not been effective so I have to criticise," he said, adding that Najib was no better than his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Dr Mahathir also said his criticism against Najib was not personal and it did not mean that the prime minister should resign. But, he did not agree with Najib's policies as they did not bring any benefit to the country.

"No, I am not asking him to resign. I just do not agree with his policies," he said, and accused the country's chief administrator of being "soft", with a tendency to keep quiet when faced with problems.

Hishammuddin said Dr Mahathir's criticism was his personal opinion, and that he respected the former prime minister's views.

"But at the same time, I do not want to belittle Dr Mahathir's views as he has always had his own stand and views." – August 19, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/hishamuddin-defends-najib-against-dr-m-calls-him-courageous#sthash.pRvCxyRY.dpuf

DAP urge Putrajaya to justify RM108 million spent on 80 medical students

Putrajaya must come clean on how Malaysia gained from spending RM1.35 million per student in the now "failed medical romance" with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said DAP.

Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today that the federal government must explain since the collaboration with the prestigious American medical school cost RM107.91 million for only 80 students.

"The public will also be interested if the 80 students are all Malaysians and the critiria applied for their selection.

This full accountability is especially important when the federal government has made limited offers to only 418 brilliant students to take up medicine at local public universites," he said in a statement.

Lim was referring to deputy education minister P. Kamalanathan saying yesterday that the limited number of offers is due to an oversupply of new doctors, where only 418 out of 1,163 students, who obtained top marks were selected for medicine.

Lim, who is also Penang chief minister and Bagan MP, said this was not the first time an alliance with a world-renowned university have failed.

He cited a case involving the prestigious Massachusettes Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Malaysian University of Science and Technology some 10 years ago.

He said a grant of RM100 million was set up in 1999 for the Malaysian university to mirror MIT but the partnership failed when MIT pulled out in 2004.

Lim said this latest case had reinforced the culture of mediocrity in Malaysian educational standards and the sad reality that there was no room for excellent institutions or brilliant students.

"This is symptomatic of the failure of the Barisan Nasional federal government’s transformation programme to pursue excellence and the creative city concept due in part to reluctance to embrace the critical success factors of talent, technology and tolerance," he said.

Lim said the 3Ts of talent, technology and tolerance must co-exist in an eco-system that can engender creativity.

Malaysia might have the talent and readiness to invest in technology but the general reluctance to permit tolerance of different ideas and lifestyles had proven to be too big a hindrance for the country, he said.

He also blamed such weaknesses as the reasons why Malaysian universities have become mediocre and local talents have migrated to greener pastures overseas.

"What is equally worrying is not just that the elite excellent foreign universities are abandoning Malaysia, but that the federal government is also abandoning our top students," he said.

Lim said as a first step, the Putrajaya must win back the confidence of top local students by giving them university places for their preferred courses before trying to attract top foreign universities to Malaysia.

"Why go on with the Sijil Tinggi Peperiksaan Malaysia (STPM) when our top students are denied places and their choice of courses?"

He cited the case of straight A's STPM student from Klang Ng Li Ying, who was denied courses in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy despite applying to nine local universities and was offered nursing instead.

There were also two straight-As students from Ipoh, who opted for dentistry and medicine in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, but got nursing in Sarawak and veterinary studies in Kelantan respectively.

"Another top student in (MCA president and Transport minister Datuk Seri) Liow Tiong Lai's own Bentong (parliamentary) constituency was offered nursing in Sarawak as well."

Another STPM student from Perak with four As failed to get into a pharmacy programme in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) despite being offered the same course by Monash University, Australia, which is ranked 8th in the world by the 2014 QS World University Ranking for pharmacy and pharmacology, he said.

"Someone must have forgotten to tell the whole world that USM is better than Monash University," Lim added. – August 19, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-urge-putrajaya-to-justify-rm108-million-spent-on-80-medical-students#sthash.7ptDcet9.dpuf

Azmin’s name added after Hadi met Sultan, says PAS Youth chief

PAS proposed PKR deputy president Azmin Ali as a second candidate for the Selangor Menteri Besar post in order to pre-empt the possibility that the Sultan of Selangor may reject Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, its party's youth chief said today.

‎Suhaizan Kaiat said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang made the decision after an audience with the Sultan of Selangor on Ju‎ly 31.

"The PAS president has a rather good relationship with the Selangor palace. On the fourth day of Syawal, he was called for an audience with the Sultan.

"As a result, the president decided that an alternative name should be presented in anticipation of any eventuality involving the palace and Dr Wan Azizah," said Suhaizan in a press statement.

He said the party took the middle path by choosing Azmin, and pointed out that it could have easily‎ nominated a member of its own party instead.

"But on the basis of loyalty to Pakatan Rakyat, PAS could not make such a decision," he said.

On Sunday, the Pakatan Rakyat Presidential Council announced that Dr Wan Azizah was the coalition's sole choice to replace Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor menteri besar.

Anwar told a press conference after attending the council's meeting on Sunday that PR had set aside PAS's proposal to nominate Azmin as well because the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman was bound to PKR's decision of Dr Wan Azizah.

A PR source told The Malaysian Insider that PAS's secretary-general, Datuk Mustafa Ali, had argued in the one-hour meeting to include Azmin's name "until the very end".

We must understand in this context that PAS's tahalluf siyasi (collaboration) is with PKR and DAP, not with Khalid the individual. So PAS took a new path by rejecting Khalid. – Suhaizan Kaiat

But the majority view was that there was no need to pre-empt the palace's decision by putting forward two names, the PR leader said on condition of anonymity.

Suhaizan today also denied accusations that PAS had made a U-turn by agreeing to Khalid's removal, adding that the Shura Council's decision to maintain him was no longer in the equation since he was sacked from PKR and no longer a PR member.

"We must understand in this context that PAS's tahalluf siyasi (collaboration) is with PKR and DAP, not with Khalid the individual.

"So PAS took a new path by rejecting Khalid. This is what I call PAS dynamics in making decisions," he said.

He likened the change to a drink that may initially be halal to consume, but becomes non-halal if the contents become alcoholic.

"Regardless, PAS's new path still has the party moving forward, and is not a U-turn like what the pro-Umno media are trying to depict."

He added that PAS had patiently withstood accusations that it betrayed PR when it directed the four remaining PAS executive councillors to remain in the state government.

"PAS's intention is good, which is to save the government before the new MB is appointed...

"Based on this spirit, I humbly urge all my friends in PR and all the rakyat to support PR and not doubt or cast suspicion on PAS." said Suhaizan. – August 19, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/azmin-was-alternative-choice-after-hadi-met-sultan-says-pas-youth-chief#sthash.SuJHsqNU.dpuf

I’m paying the price for integrity, says Khalid

'I decided to be a politician; so I have to bear it.'

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim says he is paying the price for being a man of integrity.

“I decided to be a politician; so I have to bear it,” he said today in obvious reference to his sacking from PKR.

Khalid made the remark as an aside as he acknowledged the presence of reporters while delivering a speech at a conference on integrity organised by the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) in Shah Alam.

The speech proper was devoid of any reference to politics, but delved into the subject of integrity in the holding of public trust.

After delivering the speech, he left the hall with more than a dozen security personnel, who prevented reporters from asking questions.

Zam: Dr.M stirring up discontent in Umno

Mahathir's message is a clear challenge to all Umno members to stop sucking up to their leaders.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad hopes to create waves of discontent in Umno with his announcement that he is withdrawing his support for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, according to former information minister Zainuddin Maidin.

Zainuddin, also known as Zam, points out in his latest blog article that Mahathir made the announcement in the midst of Umno divisional meetings nationwide and ahead of the Umno General Assembly scheduled for late November.

He says Mahathir hopes to bring to the surface the latent currents of discontent among Malays, who have lost confidence in a leadership that is indecisive and unable to safeguard their future.

“These waves will become a storm that will hit the Umno General Assembly, which Najib expects to be quiet because the overseas impression of Malaysia is one of splendour and a strong economy, which reflects well on him.”

He says Mahathir’s message is a clear challenge to all Umno members to stop sucking up to their leaders.

Quoting Mahathir, he says, “It is not enough to simply be willing to criticise behind one’s back, but you must be brave enough to come forward and publicly reprimand Najib at the Umno General Assembly later, but also now at the divisional meetings.

“I accept this responsibility and am willing to face the consequences because I am very disappointed in him having given him so much personal advice, and I now represent all the people who have not received consideration and have been ignored by Najib.”

Pakatan ‘injured’ by Selangor MB crisis

Lim KIt Siang says the coalition must meet frequently to restore public confidence.

PETALING JAYA: Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said today Pakatan Rakyat (Pakatan) leaders must face reality. He said the coalition must now work at restoring public confidence which was eroded by the prolonged Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) crisis.

Lim, who is the MP for Gelang Patah, advocates that the Pakatan leadership must meet frequently to find ways to restore public confidence.

He said many have been following the worst crisis faced by Pakatan in its six-year history.

Lim said he received an email from veteran politician, Goh Cheng Teik, who wrote:

“I am sick. I had to struggle to compose my thoughts.

“I have been looking at the newspaper reports about Selangor. Selangor is a democracy. Its legislative assembly have been properly elected. Whoever commands a majority in the house of Selangor should lead the government as MB.

The political boardroom works on the same principle as the corporate boardroom. If a person can obtain more than 51% of the shares in a company, he rules. Khalid knows this well enough. If he is a gentleman he should gracefully withdraw.

“Wan Azizah is a capable person. If she becomes the MB, she will surprise everybody with what she can do. As the wife of a very controversial opposition leader, she has over the years learnt much more about politics from real life than those who learn politics from books. She is a trained medical doctor. Tun Dr. Ismail was a doctor and he proved to be a good political leader. So were Dr. Lim Chong Eu and Dr. Tan Chee Khoon.”

Lim said the general consensus among Malaysians was relief that Pakatan had not broken up as a result of the prolonged MB crisis.

He said that Pakatan leaders all over the country and at all levels should not delude ourselves into thinking Pakatan had emerged unscathed from the prolonged MB crisis.

Lim said the crisis had gravely undermined the great trust and confidence which people from different races, religions and regions placed on Pakatan.

“There is however one silver lining. The Selangor MB crisis has highlighted the great and even fundamental difference between Pakatan and Barisan Nasional.

“Pakatan is a coalition of equals, as every component party in Pakatan has equal say in the future direction of the coalition – and any difference or disagreement will have to be resolved or thrashed out with a great deal of patience and stamina.

“If the three component parties cannot resolve their important differences in Pakatan, it will mark the immediate end of the coalition,” he said.

Lim said DAP leaders are not stooges of PAS and PAS leaders are not puppets of DAP – similarly, PKR are not stooges or puppets of DAP or PAS.

“We in DAP, PAS and PKR are not in politics for profit or self-gain but because of our political principles and convictions, for which many of us has paid a heavy personal price, unlike the Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders and politicians.

This is why the Pakatan coalition is completely different from the Barisan Nasional coalition model,” he concluded.

PAS khianat amanah Allah

Jeg Hui, The Malaysian Insider

Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Hussein Obama II pernah berkata “There is no short-cut to peace” (tidak ada jalan pintas untuk keamanan) apabila Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (PBB) menganjurkan kenaikan taraf Palestin sebagai ahli pertubuhan itu.

Kenaikan ini sekaligus akan menyebabkan Palestin diterima dunia sebagai sebuah negara yang berdaulat dan ini ditentang hebat Israel dan kuncunya Amerika Syarikat.

Tanggal 17 Ogos 2014. Sebenarnya hari itu adalah hari yang pahit buat Malaysia. Sama ada rakyat mahu sedar atau tidak, terpulanglah kepada mereka.

Bagi saya, tarikh ini sangat menduka-citakan sehingga air mata jantan ini menitis mengenangkan perbuatan segelintir pemimpin.

Sudahlah Dato’ Menteri Besar Selangor dikhianati dan dizalimi, PAS yang kononnya menegakkan keadilan dan kebenaran atas nama Islam gagal dalam ujian integriti yang Allah SWT berikan.

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim kini seorang diri dalam menegakkan yang benar tentang dirinya.

Alim ulama berjanggut, bermisai, berserban yang sebelumnya mempertahankan beliau berubah fikiran dalam masa yang singkat.

Hanya kerana Khalid tidak lagi bersama Pakatan Rakyat. Eh, tidak tahu lagikah? Khalid dibuang parti secara tidak adil kerana tidak diberi peluang memperjelaskan apa-apa pun.

Bukannya dia sendiri yang mahu tinggalkan Pakatan Rakyat.

Saya yang beribu batu jauhnya pun boleh merasakan betapa ruginya PAS setelah menolak peluang untuk bersatu demi Islam dan Malaysia.

Mungkin ada yang kata saya ini isti’jal (tergesa-gesa) dalam mahukan keamanan negara melalui kesatuan ummah. Ingat, Obama berkata “there is no short-cut to peace”.

Perkara pertama yang terlintas di fikiran saya apabila disuruh jangan isti’jal adalah kata-kata Barack Obama yang zalim terhadap rakyat Palestin ini.

Bagi saya, “Peace should be made as a priority and there is ALWAYS a short-cut to peace” (Keamanan itu adalah utama dan jalan pintas SENTIASA ada untuk keamanan).

Jadi, apa kena-mengena keputusan PAS dengan keamanan Malaysia yang saya mahukan?

Tidak tahulah bagi anda tetapi tidak jemukah soal-soal agama dan perkauman dijadikan alat bagi memecah-belahkan rakyat Malaysia?

Tidak pernah sebelum ini laungan azan masjid dipersoalkan, lembu dijadikan sembelih korban boleh menjadi kontroversi, kalimah “Allah” dipolitikkan, masjid, gereja, kuil Hindu dan Buddha dibakar, kepala lembu dijaja bagi mencabar rakan beragama Hindu, Ramadhan dipelawa dengan bak kut teh, pemimpin menyokong umat Islam diberikan kebebasan murtad, yang berbangsa India dipanggil “Peria”, yang Cina dipanggil babi, yang Melayu dipanggil orang hutan, agama Kristian dipermainkan, kitab bible dijadikan wadah politik, fatwa tentang perkara yang jelas berbeda-beda dan lain-lain lagi.

Saya ini tidaklah begitu tua tetapi sepengetahuan saya, perkara-perkara ini menjadi-jadi apabila rakyat Malaysia tidak bersatu sejak tahun 2008.

Sebelum ini saya ada menulis tentang pentingnya umat Islam bersatu supaya rakyat Malaysia bersatu dan peluang besar ini gagal digenggam PAS.

Katanya Umno itu jahat (PKR tidak jahat), Umno itu kafir (DAP tidak kafir), Umno itu korup (PKR, DAP tidak korup), Umno itu mengamalkan kronisme dan nepotisme (PKR, DAP tidak).

Ketua Umum PKR mahukan isterinya jadi Menteri Besar Boneka Selangor dan sanggup menikam sahabatnya yang saya sendiri akui sebagai menteri besar yang terbaik Selangor pernah ada.

Apa lagi yang tidak jelasnya? Khilaf juga?

Saya tidak setuju dengan kenyataan beberapa pemimpin yang berbaur perkauman.

Umat Islam bersatu tidak bermakna yang bukan Islam akan dihina, dicerca, dihukum, dianak-tirikan sampai tidak boleh “angkat muka”.

Islam mengikut sejarah yang ada tidak pernah melakukan diskriminasi berdasarkan agama dan kaum.

Yang dicanang penulis Barat tentang kezaliman negara Islam berkenaan Jizya (cukai kepada yang bukan Islam) tidak menyebut tentang adanya Zakat (cukai untuk yang beragama Islam).

Nabi Muhammad mengharamkan riba’ kepada penduduk Yahudi dalam negara Islamnya bukan bermaksud diskriminasi.

READ MORE HERE

Defaming Khalid, defending human rights

Kua Kia Soong

If you have never occupied a position of responsibility, you would probably never run the risk of being defamed. The leader of Pakatan Rakyat knows what it is like to be defamed as an alleged sodomist and he has taken at least one defamation suit against those who have defamed him through the press. I have been defamed as the former Principal of New Era College when the directors of the college alleged that some monies were missing when in fact, they were not and I have initiated defamation suits over the liars who defamed me to achieve their private agenda.

Now, the fledgling Menteri Besar of Selangor, Khalid Ibrahim has likewise initiated a defamation suit against those who have alleged in the press that he was involved in various cases of impropriety. He has engaged the legal services of well-known human rights lawyer Edmund Bon to be his advocate in this case. Edmund Bon in turn has been denounced by some human rights activists for taking up Khalid’s case as his defending lawyer.

The key issue here, for all human rights defenders, is that of determining the appropriate balance between the right to freedom of expression and the need to protect one’s reputation. Individuals have the right to protect their reputations against “injury” by suing persons or media deemed to have: lowered the esteem in which the individual is held within the community or which have exposed that individual to public ridicule or hatred. They should know better since SUARAM with a few other NGOs recently sued the New Straits Times for defaming us as “foreign agents” and the case would have gone to court if the NST had not published their “mother of all editorial apologies”.

As a legal advocate, Edmund Bon is legally obliged to accept the brief if approached to do so by Khalid. In this case, both Khalid and his accusers too have human rights. It is up to the courts to decide whether there is substance in Khalid’s complaint and simultaneously, whether there is substance in the allegations against him. We would expect Edmund Bon to perform to his professional best in presenting his client’s case – questioning the motives of lawyers in representing their clients have nothing whatsoever to do with human rights.

Justice in the Justice Party

As an aggrieved party member who feels he has been unjustly sacked by his party, Khalid is also entitled to appeal against PKR for wrongful dismissal with the Registrar of Society (ROS) in the same way other party or society members have done before him. In the past, this has included parties within the Pakatan Rakyat. If those who uphold human rights have a position that we should have nothing whatsoever to do with the ROS, then why are PR parties registered with the ROS? Should we then boycott ALL institutions in the Malaysian Civil Service including the police and the courts?

Defamation laws protect people from untrue, damaging statements. They provide important recourse for people whose careers, reputations, finances and/or health have been damaged by such harmful statements.

Monitor the issues, never mind the politics

As informed “progressive” advocates & representatives of civil society, one might expect our “fair-minded” attention would stay focused on the principles involved in the Menteri Besar fracas, without fear or favour. By taking such a neutral position of fairness, we would then logically demand that the “dossier on Khalid’s improprieties” be opened for our examination to see if these allegations have any credibility or not.

In contrast, it is astonishing to observe that while the alleged improprieties are considered serious enough to insist that Khalid vacates the MB seat, they do not render him ineligible for the post of Selangor State Economic adviser, as proposed by other PKR leaders, such as Tian Chua, if he agreed to step down.

Why were these alleged improprieties not considered serious enough for anybody in PKR to make a police report or MACC report? And what exactly are Khalid’s transgressions? Maybe some of our NGOs are privy to some intelligence which is not available to others. But if innuendoes, insinuations and unsupported allegations can count for reasons to suspend a leader, then all leaders of all organisations – NGOs included – had better watch their backs from now on.

The trouble with Wan Azizah is…

By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Aug 18, 2014

The people who doubt Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s suitability as Selangor menteri besar (MB) and who claim that Malaysia is not ready to accept a woman to govern either the state, or the nation, are wrong. Step forward, the self-appointed ‘First Lady of Malaysia’ (FLOM), Rosmah Mansor.

In the past, many people, especially those from Umno Baru, despised the FLOM because they believe that she was masquerading as the FLOM when she was really the prime minister. Najib Abdul Razak, they said, is her proxy. So, are the critics of Wan Azizah afraid that the top echelons of political power will become too crowded with women? So, who are the groups which are sabotaging Wan Azizah?

Many people claim they want change, but when faced with opportunity for change, which is to have Wan Azizah as the MB, they develop cold feet. They fear uncharted waters. Dr Wan Azizah is not unfit to be MB, but Malaysians are afraid of change.

The trouble also lies with the indecisive politicians, in Umno Baru, BN, Pakatan and PAS, and the conservative people who want to retain our patriarchal society.

The people who currently hold the reins of power know that when Wan Azizah turns the country around, they will be in trouble. They know they will lose power, status and wealth, and be punished for their past crimes.

The men who fear a woman at the top are probably afraid that a woman will show up their weaknesses.

The rakyat is fed up with the current administration which puts in minimal effort to help uplift the lives of women. A few years ago, Najib nominated himself as the women, family and community development minister but failed to bring any meaningful changes for Malaysian women.

Najib could not even force himself to sack his predecessor for her role in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal. Was he afraid of what she could do to him? An honest person can never be conned. Likewise, a person who has nothing to hide does not fear the skeletons tumbling out of his closet.

Malaysians want something done about the many crimes against women – the gang rapes, the child marriages, the increase in domestic violence, the abuse of maids, sometimes by women themselves, women being infected by HIV/Aids by their husbands, women who are abandoned by their polygamous husbands, the abandoned babies and the single mothers with no lifeline.

Why are Malaysian men, principally Malay men, averse to women holding senior and important roles in society, especially in politics?

Are they afraid that women in power might behave like the wife who has discovered her husband’s cheating and will curtail both his nocturnal and extracurricular activities? Will the Malay men fear that Wan Azizah may force a complete overhaul of the syariah law, in Malaysia, to gain more protection to Malay women?

‘Priority to her husband’s needs’?

Do Malay men have the same opinion as the vice-president of the Obedient Wives’ Club (OWC), Rohaya Mohamad (left), who in 2011 said that women should be “high class whores in bed” to prevent their husbands from straying. Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali certainly thinks so. He said, “From a Muslim perspective, the wife has to drop all of this (cooking, etc). She must give priority to her husband’s needs.”

If only Rohaya realised the struggles of Malayan fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who in the early 1900s, valued education. They fought for the right of education for their daughters. They did not think that to become whores was the full extent of an education. They wanted to empower their daughters.

The trouble with Wan Azizah is that compared with other Umno Baru women, she is educated, well-travelled, sophisticated and squeaky clean; but that does not stop people from making up lies about her, like former PKR Youth secretary Lokman Nor Adam, who jumped like a frog to Umno Baru and defamed Wan Azizah with claims that she led an extravagant lifestyle and had a penchant for expensive suits.

Around the world, there are women who had to take charge of multi-million dollar enterprises when their husbands died. These women, who had previously not known how to pay an electricity bill, were able to make their companies more successful.

If they did it, why can’t Wan Azizah be MB? Many of her detractors claim that she lacks experience, but is this really such an impediment? She will have an army of advisers, including economists, lawyers, security experts, bankers, academics and industrialists to assist her.

Wan Azizah may not be good at ‘investing’ like a former Umno Baru politician, who corralled public funds to secure the purchase of many luxury condominiums. Wan Azizah may not have the financial wizardry of one Umno Baru wife, who is able to purchase multi-million ringgit jewels and handbags, because she began saving when she was a teenager.

PAS acted like a dithering adolescent with its wishy-washy endorsement of Wan Azizah. They must learn that one can be committed to democracy and equality, and still be a true Muslim.

The opposition to Wan Azizah is not because of her sex, her educational background, or that she is Anwar’s wife. She could be perfect in every way, but her detractors will always be able to find a reason for her unsuitability.

The only reason people oppose Wan Azizah is that they do not want the floodgates to be opened, for the empowerment of women. They fear the moment when Malaysians discover that Malaysian women are as good as, or better than, men, at ruling, promoting justice and equality, ensuring peace and harmony, and providing opportunities for all.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Poverty No Hindrance To Achieving Success, Says Najib

PETALING JAYA, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Poverty is no hindrance if there is passion and a strong desire for success, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday.

He said courage, patience, working hard always and being ambitious were the key drivers for success, and all these went beyond one's material wealth.

"It's not whether you are poor in material, but what is most important is you are rich in your character, rich in your spirits, rich in your endeavour, your passion and in your dream.

"These are more important than material facilities, financial success. If we have the spirit of courage and determination ... it is fundamental to success," he said when launching the television programme, 1Malaysia Ikon, here.

Najib said Malaysia was a blessed country because of the many opportunities created by the government for the people of diverse backgrounds to change their lives for the better.

The prime minister said the opportunities would be meaningless if the people did not take advantage of them and use them as best as they could.

"Malaysia is a land of opportunities. We create the opportunities without regard to socio-economic background, so long as the people work hard and use their brains to succeed.

"On the other hand, if there are opportunities but there is no spirit, then the opportunities will be wasted," he said.

On the 1Malaysia Ikon TV programme, Najib said all the 13 icons were exemplary of how an individual from a poor family achieved success through hard work.

"The spirit of perseverance and determination is so fundamental to our successful icons, regardless of whether they had to share a bed in their younger days, they contracted malaria at the age of five years or they were beaten by their fathers.

"Whatever the obstacle, they were able to overcome it because they never gave up. They followed their dreams and never once gave up," he said.

Najib expressed his commitment to continue supporting the 1Malaysia Ikon programme and said he hoped that more personalities could be portrayed in the future.

"I believe this programme contributes a great deal to our efforts to showcase the younger generation so that they can achieve success," he said.

The 13 icons showcased in the programme comprise Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu (Malaysia's special envoy for infrastructure to India and South Asia); Datuk R. Doraisingam Pillai (Lotus Group chief executive officer); Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz (former International Trade and Industry Minister); Tan Sri Sharil Samsuddin (Sapura Group president and chief executive officer); Tan Sri Vincent Tan (Berjaya Corporation chairman and chief executive officer).

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (Air Asia Bhd (AirAsia) Group chief executive officer); Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department); Tun Daim Zainuddin (former Finance Minister); Datuk Jimmy Choo (renowned shoe designer); Datuk Marina Chin (former national athlete); Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (International Trade and Industry Minister); Datuk Ahmad Kemin (Mutiara Motors Group executive chairman) and Datuk Yusof Haslam (film personality).

The 13-episode documentary programme will be broadcast over TV1 of Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) from Aug 22 to Sept 16 from 7 pm to 8 pm.

Dr M kecewa pilih Najib jadi PM, tarik balik sokongan

Mahathir: Najib soft and silent on critical issues

ISIS Separated “Young and Pretty” Yazidi Women

The real War on Women has always been Mohammed’s thousand year Rape Jihad.

By Daniel(frontpagemag)

As the militants with the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State surged into the area from surrounding Arab villages two weeks ago, snaring those who had not managed to flee, they showed a marked interest in detaining women, notably the youngest and prettiest, according to witnesses, relatives and in some instances the women themselves.

Women were separated from men, then younger women were separated from older ones and most were shunted off in buses or trucks.

The Sinjar Crisis Group, formed by Yazidi activists in Washington, has compiled a list of 1,074 names of female captives reported by their relatives to be in the custody of the Islamic State.

Once at the school, the eyewitness said, the youngest women again were parted from older ones and driven away, along with a dozen or so boys between ages 10 and 12 who had apparently been detained with their mothers.

Why were the boys detained? It’s an open question, but the UN recently condemned ISIS for raping teenage boys.

The Washington Post story tries to put ISIS in the best light and denies that any rapes have taken place.

The women “are considered apostate, and it is haram [forbidden] for Muslims to marry a non-Muslim,” said Hoshyar Zebari, a senior Kurdish leader who until recently served as Iraq’s foreign minister. He puts the number of women detained at more than 1,000.

That’s not really true. And it’s certainly true that non-Muslim women can be taken as slaves and raped. Mohammed did it frequently.

Conversion by force is how Islam expanded. Kill the men. Threaten to kill the women unless they convert. ISIS is showing us how Islam began.
_______________________________________________________________________

Daniel Greenfield 

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Iraq crisis: Isis militants plan to 'marry' captured Yazidi women

The fate of more than 1,000 Iraqi women captured by Isis militants remains unclear, as Kurdish troops moved closer to the city of Mosul, which was taken by Isis in June.

 

Witnesses said that the  captured women, who were of the Yazidi faith, were divided into groups of younger and older women.

The witnesses said they were not aware that Isis had maltreated either group but it appeared that the younger women were intended as so-called brides of Isis fighters if they converted to Islam.

Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces were moving towards targets around Mosul last night and claimed to have taken the strategically important dam on the Euphrates river. It is the largest in Iraq and controls water and electricity supplies to a large part of northern Iraq.

Isis was hit repeatedly by US air strikes, which enabled the Kurds to advance. The US Central Command said a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones launched 14 strikes near the dam, after nine strikes on Saturday.

Kurdish forces are also believed to have recaptured the mainly Christian towns of Batmaiya and Telasqaf, 18 miles from Mosul., the closest they have come to the city since Isis fighters drove government forces out in June.

David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should consider an alliance with Shia Iran to deal with the Sunni extremists of Isis, saying they were seeking to create a “terrorist state” stretching from Iraq to the Mediterranean that could pose a threat closer to home.

He warned that Isis should not be viewed as “a problem miles away from home”, saying it would “only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain”.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-isis-militants-plan-to-marry-captured-yazidi-women-9674922.html

 

Three workers feared trapped in MRT guideway collapse

Three men are believed trapped under rubble following an incident which occurred at the MRT worksite within the former Rubber Research Institute near Kota Damansara tonight.

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has revealed that "while construction of the parapet was being carried out on the elevated guideway, a span of the guideway had dislodged from its piers and fallen on the ground below."

The span, which was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders, was 38 metres in length and weighed 300 tons.

An emergency response team, police and the Fire and Rescue Services were mobilised to the site shortly after the 8.30pm incident.

The company confirmed that three workers are unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped underneath.

"The three workers are Bangladesh nationals Mohamad Faruk Khan, Mohammad Elahi Hossain and Mohammad Alauddin Mollik.

"Rescue efforts are currently on-going and an emergency response team is on standby at the site.

"No members of the public were involved in the incident as there is no access to the site. The location of the incident site is within the former RRI land near the future Kwasa Damansara MRT Station.

“Investigations are currently being carried out. An update will be issued with further details," MRT Corp said in a statement.

The company also informed that all work along Package V1, where the incident occurred, has been suspended until further notice. The work package contractor for Package V1 is Syarikat Muhibbah Perniagaan dan Pembinaan Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid expresses deep regret over the incident.

“Although investigations are under way, MRT Corp assumes full responsibility for the incident. Once investigations are completed, action on those responsible will be taken,” he said. – August 18, 2014.

Polis keluarkan waran tangkap terhadap N.Surendran

Beliau akan dihadapkan ke mahkamah kerana mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa kes Fitnah 2 adalah satu konspirasi politik terhadap Anwar yang melibatkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

PETALING JAYA: Polis telah mengeluarkan waran tangkap terhadap Anggota Parlimen Padang Serai N. Surendran, peguam Ketua Umum Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dalam kes rayuan Fitnah 2.

Beliau akan dihadapkan ke mahkamah Jalan Duta esok, Selasa 19 Ogos jam 9 pagi di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa kes Fitnah 2 adalah satu konspirasi politik terhadap Anwar yang melibatkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Terdahulu dua Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Barisan Nasional (BN) Pulau Pinang bersama 15 individu hari ini mendesak polis mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap Surendran yang didakwa membuat tuduhan tidak berasas terhadap Najib.

Adun Sungai Acheh Datuk Mahmud Zakaria berkata tindakan anggota Parlimen daripada PKR itu dilihat bertujuan menghasut orang ramai agar meragui sistem kehakiman negara ini.

“Polis perlu menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan segera ke atas Surendran yang telah membuat tuduhan melampau terhadap perdana menteri dalam kenyataannya di Istana Kehakiman, Putrajaya baru-baru ini.

“Kenyataan beliau juga memberi maksud seolah-olah perdana menteri telah menyalahgunakan kuasa sehingga menyebabkan pertuduhan ke atas (ketua pembangkang) Anwar,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media.

Selangor crisis: Let the people decide

A plea is made to Khalid to refrain from dissolving the state assembly.

By P Ramakrishnan

There is a possibility that in order to spite Pakatan Rakyat, Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Khalid Ibrahim will call for the dissolution of the state assembly.

He may not be concerned about the rules and laws and norms that must be observed to overcome the present predicament that Selangor is embroiled in.

How ironic that Selangor is in this mess because of him.

With PAS’ unanimous decision to stick with Pakatan, it is crystal clear that Khalid can no longer pretend he has the majority support. Forty-three assemblypersons stand solidly together opposed to him continuing as the MB.

What he has are the 12 Umno assemblymen and himself. This does not even amount to 25% of the assembly.

Pakatan has more than 75% support, which is a whopping majority. This majority must be recognised and respected when arriving at any decision.

We do not have a hung situation in the assembly to consider a unity government or a minority one. The situation does not even warrant the dissolution of the assembly as a way out.

A solution is staring at us, which is in accordance with democratic tradition.

Khalid has no alternative but to step down and concede that Pakatan has the sole right to form the next Selangor state government.

The party commanding the majority in the state assembly must be called upon to form the next government. If we are law abiding and respect the rule of law, then we must observe this simple democratic principle and allow Pakatan to form the government.

To ensure that democracy prevails, NGOs and civil society must speak up and call for the appointment of the next MB from Pakatan to replace Khalid.

Either a civil society organisation or Pakatan must launch an online petition calling for the norms of democracy to be observed by demanding the appointment of the Pakatan candidate as the next MB.

If 100,000 people were to take up this call, it cannot be ignored.

Let the will of the people be known.

P Ramakrishnan is an executive committee member and former president of Aliran.

Khalid should quit now, no need for royal audience

Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim called off a monthly meeting with Selangor civil servants in Shah Alam this morning – a regular affair for the Selangor menteri besar since taking office in 2008.

With good reason too. He has just lost PAS's support for the top post. PAS has joined PKR and DAP to endorse Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the state's top job.

Khalid has acknowledged the loss of support and said yesterday he would seek an audience with the state ruler to decide his fate.

Here's the thing, the Sultan of Selangor only returns from holidays next week.

But why wait for the sultan to decide his fate? Why hide with palace protocol?

When a leader loses majority support as clearly as Khalid has done over the past few weeks, the honourable thing is to quit his job and let someone with the confidence of the majority take over.

After all, Khalid has sacked the PKR and DAP executive councillors in his state cabinet because they don't support him. He now has to do the same for the PAS executive councillors.

That leaves him without the minimum of four state executive councillors to run the country's wealthiest state. Support from the 12 Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblymen is not enough.

All signs point to the fact that Khalid has lost his job. That he should go. He should inform the state ruler of that immediately and not wait to seek an audience.

Why should Selangor suffer a week or two more with a menteri besar in name but without any support?

Should the civil servants follow his directives because he still holds office until the Sultan lets him go?

Khalid can do the right thing after this drawn-out affair that has taken the shine off him and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Not only can, but he must.

He can send his quit letter now and declare himself the caretaker MB until the Sultan decides whether to accept PR's nomination of Dr Wan Azizah as Khalid's replacement.

Or the Sultan can dissolve the state assembly on the advice of Khalid.

Either way, Khalid must make the honourable move of resigning from the MB's post first. There is no need to wait for the Sultan to decide that. – August 18, 2014.

Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Turns on Najib

Don’t turn your back

The emperor, Mahathir says, has no clothes.

After months of behind-the-scenes criticism, Malaysian former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has publicly withdrawn his support for the current premier, Najib Tun Razak, likening Najib to the fable of the emperor with no clothes.

Mahathir delivered a blistering verdict on his blog, Che Det, in Malay language, citing a litany of sins on the part of Najib, who came to power in April of 2009 – after Mahathir led a successful months-long charge to get rid of his own successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. As the story unfolds, Najib is overseas on a controversial holiday in the Cote d’Azur, Sardinia, Rome, London and other waypoints.

It has long been thought that Mahathir has held his fire on Najib out of loyalty to Najib's father, Tun Abdul Razak, who rescued Mahathir from the political wilderness after he had been kicked out of the United Malays National Organization for attacking Tunku Abdul Rahman, "Bapak Malaysia," the country's first prime minister and founder. It now remains to be seen how much clout the 89-year-old Mahathir retains after having left the premiership in 2003 – 11 years ago – after serving as the country’s leader for 22 years, seeking to break the power of Malaysia's sultans and pushing through controversial security legislation.

Some political analysts believe he will now crisscross the country, as he did in his campaign against Badawi, delivering criticism of Najib. He appears surprisingly sprightly for his age, reportedly, insiders say, from visits to doctors in Switzerland. But so far, none of UMNO's leaders have publicly stepped up to support Mahathir’s gambit.

There is some speculation that Mahathir won’t push for Najib’s defenestration but will use his public stance to push the prime minister in ways he wants him to go. He has been critical of the government’s decision to nationalize the badly ailing Malaysian Airlines in the wake of two tragic crashes that took more than 500 lives, reportedly trying to give the airline to an unnamed businessman. Najib has apparently also ignored a request to build a bigger airport in Kedah, where Mahathir’s son serves as chief minister.

Ironically, Mahathir’s denunciation and the furor it is raising also takes the pressure off opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who for weeks has faced a rebellion in his own coalition over his attempts to name his wife the chief minister of Malaysia’s biggest state.

“Mahathir doesn’t have the organization, and he doesn’t have the money to go after Najib,” said a high-ranking opposition figure. “But this has the effect of delegitimizing him.”

Ironically, according to one Malaysian politician, Mahathir has sought to bring down virtually every prime minister who preceded him and all who succeeded him. He was kicked out of the party for his criticism of Tunku Abdul Rahman and worked to end the career of Hussein Onn as well, whom he succeeded in 1981.

However, Najib so far has appeared unassailable after having won reelection handily as head of the United Malays National Organization, the biggest ethnic party in the ruling national coalition, without opposition last October – in the process leading a coalition that defeated Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, for a seat as one of UMNO’s vice presidents.

Muhyiddin Yassin, the 67-year-old deputy prime minister and deputy party head, has indicated he would like to retire. After Muhyiddin, there appear few rivals within UMNO who can challenge Najib. Hishamuddin Hussein, 53, the defense minister, has been mentioned although privately within the party he is perceived as somewhat lackluster. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the home minister, is considered to be too volatile as a former ally of Anwar Ibrahim who jumped ship to go back to UMNO.

Mahathir has long been critical of Najib behind the scenes because of the ruling national coalition’s performance in the 13th general election in May 2013, in which the coalition lost the popular vote on a 47.38 percent vote to 50.87 percent for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim. However, gerrymandering and the first-past-the-post electoral system allowed the coalition to take 133 seats in the parliament to 89 for the opposition.

With former finance minister Daim Zainuddin as his sidekick, Mahathir last year deployed a small army of bloggers to criticize Najib, with one likened him to a “flattened bug on the windshield” in August of 2013 because of the election performance of the United Malays National Organization, which leads the ethnic coalition. Mahathir and Daim went after Najib over his strategy to attempt to reach out against the country's minority Chinese and Indian races in the May election.

The mainstream media, all of which are owned by parties connected to the ruling coalition, have kept a blackout on Mahathir’s criticisms of the prime minister, leaving them to blogs and opposition websites like Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today. Now, however, as Mahathir has gone public some observers believe the mainstream media will be more forthcoming.

Mahathir and Daim advocated a strident Malay nationalism to attempt to lure ethnic Malays, who make up 60.1 percent of the population, to the polls. However, on the Malaysian peninsula, ethnic Malays voted in large numbers for the opposition Islamic party PAS and Anwar’s moderate Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The Barisan was only saved from worse defeat by ethnic voters from Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.

It is Najib’s performance since, especially in the past few weeks, that has particularly raised not just Mahathir’s anger but that of a considerable segment of the electorate. As prime minister he has appeared surprisingly indecisive. And, after flying to Amsterdam aboard a private jet to deliver an eloquent speech in remembrance of the victims of the shooting down of MAS Flight 17 over rebel-held Ukrainian territory, Najib, his wife and a flock of cronies went on holiday to Crete, Sardinia, Rome, Paris and other locales.

Najib is due to return to Malaysia on Aug. 22 for a day of national remembrance for the victims. However, he has delayed requests to have the bodies of the victims sent back so that they can arrive when he does, according to well-placed source in Kuala Lumpur. That has reportedly infuriated Mahathir.

In his blog, Mahathir referred to the tale of King Canute, who put his throne on the beach facing the sea and commanded the waves not to get him wet, as well as to the fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes, written by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson, whose courtiers were frightened to tell him the new suit he thought he was wearing made by a rascally tailor was actually not there, and that he was naked until an unawed little boy pointed it out, an apparent reference to the timidity of the courtiers in the administrative capital of Putrajaya courtiers to point out Najib’s shortcomings.

He accused Najib of using government funds to buy voters’ support during elections, of favoring imported goods and neglecting local industry, of increasing the minimum wage regardless of cost-of-living increases, of damaging race relations and causing economic and financial damage to the country.

Nik Aziz bersyukur Pakatan Rakyat kekal

Kajang Move’ is ready to go to Shah Alam – Tan Eng Bee

Finally, PAS has sealed the fate of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim with its concluded meeting on today that the party is not concerned with Khalid but has endorsed either Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah or Azmin Ali as the next menteri besar of Selangor.

While some would think otherwise, I have maintained that PAS's decision was expected as its continuous political survival lies in its affiliation with Pakatan Raayat, failing which, the party may face a backlash at GE14, had the party chosen to support Khalid.

For PAS to leave the the coalition partnership is a sure political suicide as the coalition was given a strong mandate at GE13.

This is another episode which shows that when it comes to the core issue of survival of the coalition party, DAP, PKR and PAS have no alternative but to close rank and opt for a compromise that will see to their continuous survival in the political arena where only the fittest will survive.

The stage is set for Khalid to seek an audience with the Sultan of Selangor and gracefully tender his resignation as he has lost the majority support of his political friends in the state assembly.

To dissolve the state assembly is not an option but merely an unnecessary tedious process as there is a very strong mandate for the present state government under PR to continue except for the change of the menteri besar.

I hope Khalid will not even think of proposing the option to the Sultan as his former political masters are still in the driver's seat and due respect should be given to them to continue without hindrance.

To tender his resignation is the right and honourable thing to do so as to safeguard his stature and dignity as a politician.

Khalid has said that he wants to see that procedures are followed as far as his removal is concerned. I am sure the signs are there for him to take note and to do the right thing at this juncture where the people of Selangor want to get on with their lives and not to contend with another state by-election.

Khalid has prolonged his stay by doing whatever it takes to ensure every option was explored and exploited to the fullest to see that he lives another day in the highest seat of power in Shah Alam.

The day has come where he has no alternative but to bow out gracefully and honourably in a manner that is expected of a man who was sacked and who has lost the support of the majority in the state assembly.

The stage is set to bring the entire episode to a close. There is no returning. It is about moving the state forward.

It is about the welfare of the people of Selangor and not about an individual. The welfare of the state supersedes and is paramount above all other personal or political considerations.

As one residing in Kajang, may I say this: Kajang is ready to send its newly-elected representative, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah to Shah Alam.

The people of Selangor are tired of what had transpired and are ready to welcome the person who is slotted to take over, the person who was put into office though "Kajang Move."

"Kajang Move" will steer the state to higher heights and the nation will benefit too once the richest state in Malaysia is politically stable, secured and unwavering in its endeavour to serve the people and to bring further developments and progress to the state.

"Kajang Move" is ready to go to Shah Alam.

And please do not fail the people who have put you into office.

Be committed to the call the people have placed on you when they elected the whole lot of you into office at GE13. – August 17, 2014.

* Dr Tan Eng Bee reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Keep it colour blind

The Star

Legally Speaking by Roger Tan

As published in ©The Star on 17 Aug 2014.

Our judges, regardless of their race and religion, must always be mindful that they have taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution not for some but for all Malaysians.

I HAVE wanted to write this for some time – my tribute to the late Sultan Azlan Shah who passed away on May 28, 2014. Not so much because he had been reading my column, but rather on two occasions which I had the honour of meeting him, he had encouraged me to keep on writing.

I was also troubled that when he passed away, he had not been accorded the appropriate recognition by leaders of our legal profession of his contribution to the administration of justice in this country.

This could be due to some differences with the Sultan’s decision not to call for fresh state elections when Pakatan Rakyat lost the majority control of the Perak state assembly in February, 2009. I had at that time written extensively that the Sultan’s decision was constitutionally correct.

Interestingly, the Federal Court’s judgment which subsequently endorsed the correctness of his royal decision is now being relied upon by his then most vociferous and sometimes insolent critics in Pakatan Rakyat to justify replacement of the embattled Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim without the need for a state assembly sitting or the dissolution of the assembly.

Sultan Azlan belonged to the generation of great Malaysian jurists including the likes of Tun Mohamed Suffian Hashim and Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader. He was, after all, the youngest ever appointed High Court Judge and Lord President.

Not many knew that whenever the Malaysian Bar stood up for the independence of the judiciary, he was always there with and for us.

I still remember the keynote address he gave at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference on October 29, 2007; of which I was the organising chairman.

The conference was held one month after 2,000 or so lawyers walked for justice from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s office to hand over a memorandum asking the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the V.K. Lingam video tape which implicated the then chief justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

At that time, the Malaysian Bar was aware that Tun Fairuz was said to have asked for an extension of an additional six months, allowed under the Federal Constitution, when he turned 66 on Nov 1, 2007 – the mandatory retirement age for judges. Needless to say, it was an open knowledge then that the Bar was dead against this. When my committee and I had an audience with Sultan Azlan inviting him to deliver the keynote address, this was made known to him.

In an obvious act of retaliation, I received a letter from the judiciary a few days before the conference that judges would not be attending the conference due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

A High Court judge from Ipoh who was supposed to deliver his paper had to pull out in the last minute. Nevertheless, I am grateful that the then Industrial Court President, Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid sent most of the Industrial Court chairmen to participate in the conference.

As a result, only a handful of senior judges turned up at the opening of the conference and also the dinner later in the night hosted by then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. One senior judge who was noticeably present was the then President of Court of Appeal, Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad who subsequently became the chief justice. He appeared to be a keen supporter of the Bar at a time when the relationship between the Bar and the judiciary could be said to have reached its lowest ebb.

On my part, I accorded him every courtesy and opportunity being the most senior judge present to be seated close to Sultan Azlan and the Prime Minister during the photography sessions and at the dinner.

He did not appear to me to be upset with the Bar Council and I was appreciative that he had turned up with the full knowledge, of course, that he might just succeed Tun Fairuz if the latter did not get the extension. Hence, his recent criticisms of the Bar Council came rather as a surprise to me.

In his keynote address, Sultan Azlan broke tradition and expressed his sadness over the state of our judiciary then. He also called for judicial reforms.

For the sake of posterity, the following important excerpts of his speech ought to be reproduced in which he said:

“In matters concerning the judiciary, it is the public perception of the judiciary that ultimately matters. A judiciary loses its value and service to the community if there is no public confidence in its decision-making.

“Sadly, I must acknowledge that there has been some disquiet about our judiciary over the past few years and in the more recent past. In 2004, I had stated that it grieved me, having been a member of the judiciary, whenever I heard allegations against the judiciary and the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary.

“I am driven nostalgically to look back to a time when our judiciary was the pride of the region, and our neighbours spoke admiringly of our legal system. We were then second to none and the judgments of our courts were quoted confidently in other common law jurisdictions. As Tun Suffian, a former Lord President of the then Federal Court, said of the local judges who took over from the expatriate judges after Merdeka that the transformation was without ‘any reduction in standards’.

“There is no reason why judges with the assured security of tenure they enjoy under the Constitution should not discharge their duties impartially, confidently and competently.

“Countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, who have a similar legal system and who share similar laws, and whose judges and lawyers are trained as ours, are ranked in these surveys as amongst the best in the world (Hong Kong is placed first and Singapore ranks as fourth in the world).

“There is one further important point that I feel compelled to say. This deals with a judge’s quality in decision-making. We in Malaysia live in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. Our founding fathers accommodated this diversity into our Constitution that is reflected in the social contract, and saw this diversity as strength.

“Judges in Malaysia must be ever mindful that they are appointed judges for all Malaysians. They must be sensitive to the feelings of all parties, irrespective of race, religion or creed, and be careful not to bring a predisposed mind to an issue before them that is capable of being misconstrued by the watching public or segments of them.

“I am reminded of the proud accolade of the late Tun Suffian in his Braddel Memorial Lecture in 1982, when speaking of the Malaysian judiciary to a Singapore audience he said: ‘In a multi-racial and multi religious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion – so that nobody reading our judgment with our name deleted could with confidence identify our race or religion, and so that the various communities, especially minority communities, are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot.’ ”

No doubt, he received a standing ovation for his landmark speech. After the conference, the palace called up the Bar Council Secretariat for more information regarding leaders of the Bar, and he was kind enough to confer one of them with a Datukship.

Indeed, our judges, especially those at the apex court, regardless of their race and religion, must always be mindful that they have taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution not for some but for all Malaysians.

If their decisions especially on sensitive racial and religious issues are predictable because of their race and religion, then they have failed miserably to measure up to the standards set by Sultan Azlan and Tun Suffian. If that is so, then I am afraid issue of race has become the sine qua non for appointing a judge in this country.

In this respect, I have written that judicial diversity and meritocracy should go hand in hand, and a judiciary that does not reflect society’s diversity will ultimately lose the confidence of that society. (See Judicial diversity creates confidence, The Sunday Star, Nov 13, 2011)

Singapore just celebrated her 49th national day and they have already overtaken us in this regard by leaps and bounds as both their Attorney-General and Chief Justice are Singaporean Indians – Vijaya Kumar Rajah, 57, and Sundaresh Menon, 52.

But sadly in Malaysia, it is an unthinkable thing for any qualified non-Malay even of exceptional capability to be appointed as the Attorney-General or the Chief Justice.

Of course, words are easy compared to putting them into practice. But it remains my fervent hope that the above wise words of Sultan Azlan will be a constant reminder to all our judges whenever they dispense justice in our beloved land.

Similarly, our judges who sit at the apex court should never abdicate from their powerful position as the guardians of our Constitution whenever there is any infringement of constitutional rights in any segment of our society.

They, as Abdoolcader once pointed out, must not just stand there and fold their arms and do nothing; otherwise they might as well “hang their heads in sorrow and perhaps even in mortification in not being able to at least entertain for consideration on its merits any legitimate complaint of a public grievance or alleged unconstitutional conduct.”

> The writer was the organising chairman of the 14th Malaysian Law Conference.

‘Lawyers not violating ethical principles’

The Star
by RAZAK AHMAD, MARTIN CARVALHO, RAHMAH GHAZALI, WANI MUTHIAH, A. RUBAN, AND TASHNY SUKUMARAN

PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Edmund Bon has not violated any ethical principles of the legal profession, said Andrew Khoo, co-chairperson of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee.

Khoo was commenting on elections watchdog Bersih 2.0’s statement that lawyers Bon and New Sin Yew were violating human rights principles by representing Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in his complaint with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) against PKR for wrongful dismissal.

“Every litigant has a right to seek a lawyer of his or her choice. Lawyers, in taking up the cases, should not be necessarily seen as identifying or agreeing with the cause of the client.

“Even for an unpopular cause, clients have the right to legal counsel.”

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah recently said that both Bon and New, who is a member of Bersih’s steering committee, were violating the very principles they claimed to champion.

She also denounced Khalid’s recent actions as a betrayal of those who had voted for PKR, and called the ROS “fundamentally against” the freedom of expression.

Members of the legal fraternity have both criticised and thrown their support behind Bon, who recently tweeted “Since many are sidetracked by critique (regarding) lawyers, please read the Basic Principles of Role of Lawyers.”

Last week he also posted “I have said time again there are some lawyers who are politicians (in parties) and some lawyers only. I choose the latter. I have no conflict.”

Cooperative Boost For New Generation Of FELDA Settlers

SERDANG, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday the government is prepared to consider the participation of the FELDA Vision Generation Alliance (GWGF) in the FELDA Investment Cooperative 2 (KPF 2).

The prime minister said GWGF had shown interest in the cooperatives sector and was confident that its participation would benefit the settlers investing in the cooperative.

"We are prepared to consider the sound ideas and proposals of GWGF.

"Hopefully, the cooperation will bring greater progress to the FELDA community," he said at the Aidilfitri reception organised by GWGF at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang.

KPF 2, a cooperative specially for the new generation of FELDA settlers, was approved in 2011 and is set to be an economic development model for the new generation, complementary to the FELDA Investment Cooperative.

Najib said GWGF was the best example of a non-governmental organisation that promoted government policies pertaining to development of the rural community and eradication of poverty.

As such, he invited GWGF to provide sound inputs and proposals to the government for the continued improvement of the income and standard of living of the FELDA community.

On another matter, the prime minister welcomed the setting up of a golf academy at UPM, citing it as an appropriate measure to uncover talents from among the children of FELDA settlers.

"The first generation of FELDA settlers were not good at golf; they probably played marbles, tops or sepak takraw. However, the second generation are a talented lot with potential and can become champions of golf (like in the GWGF annual golf championship 2014 held yesterday)," he said.

Also present at the reception were FELDA director-general Datuk Faizouli Ahmad and GWGF president Tan Sri Rozali Ismail.