Cops begin probe on death of Beng Hock

(Malay Mail Online) – Police have started investigations into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock while under the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2009.

This follows the Court of Appeal’s ruling this month which overturned the coroner’s court open verdict on Teoh’s death.

Deputy federal CID chief DCP Datuk Amar Singh said a team of officers were studying the files on the case, including the initial sudden death report, the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death, and the Court of Appeal ruling.

“There are three officers, including myself, studying the reports. We are halfway through them. It is taking some time as we have to be meticulous with every single detail,” he said yesterday.

All three officers were not involved in the case five years ago, and Amar believes this will enable them to look at the case “with a fresh perspective”.

He said the police would revisit the scene and question witnesses again after reviewing the files.

On September 5, a three-man bench at the Court of Appeal overturned the coroner’s open verdict on Teoh’s demise.

The bench directed Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Attorney General’s Chambers to reopen the investigation papers.

Teoh, 30, the former political aide of DAP Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, had been questioned at the Selangor MACC headquarters in Shah Alam when his body was found on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, which also housed the MACC office, on July 16, 2009.

BN menang besar di Pengkalan Kubor

Mat Razi berjaya memperoleh sebanyak 9,961 undi manakala calon PAS pula, Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim meraih sebanyak 7,326 undi dan calon Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary sebanyak 38 undi.

PENGKALAN KUBOR: Calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Mat Razi Mat Ail berjaya memenangi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) DUN N.01 Pengkalan Kubor mengalahkan calon PAS, Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim dan juga calon bebas, Izat Bukhari Ismail Bukhari dengan majoriti sebanyak 2,635 undi.

Pengumuman tersebut dilakukan oleh Pegawai Pengurus Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR), Mohd Sobri Ramli yang mengumumkan Mat Razi berjaya memperoleh sebanyak 9,961 undi manakala calon PAS pula, Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim meraih sebanyak 7,326 undi dan calon Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary sebanyak 38 undi.

PRK Pengkalan Kubor hari ini menyaksikan peratusan keluar mengundi sebanyak 73 peratus

Dalam sidang media selepas pengumuman SPR, Mat Razi mengucapkan terima kasih kepada pengundi di DUN N.01 Pengkalan Kubor kerana masih memberi peluang kepadanya untuk meneruskan legasi Allahyarham Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar.

“Saya juga berterima kasih kepada media kerana memberikan liputan sepanjang kempen PRK ini berjalan dan juga saya mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada jentera-jentera daripada akar umbi hingga pusat serta kementerian-kementerian yang turut bersama membantu saya berkempen.

“Saya juga berjanji akan memikul amanah Allah yang diberikan kepada saya dan saya berjanji akan meneruskan legasi Allahyarham Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar,” kata Mat Razi.

Dalam pada masa yang sama, Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin turut menyatakan keputusan yang diterimanya adalah diluar jangkaan dan ini juga sebagai petanda baik kepada BN untuk merampas Kelantan daripada PAS.

“Ini merupakan gelombang baru rakyat BN untuk mengembalikan Kelantan kepada BN,” katanya.

Muhyiddin turut menyatakan antara faktor kemenangan calon BN adalah jentera BN berjaya menjelaskan isu-isu semasa kepada rakyat.

“Faktor lain pula adalah faktor calon itu sendiri. Calon BN merupakan calon yang baik dan bersesuaian untuk rakyat Pengkalan Kubor.

“Masalah dalaman Pakatan Rakyat juga antara faktornya. Terutamanya krisis Menteri Besar di Selangor. Selain itu, cara jentera kita berkempen serta menerima sokongan daripada semua kementerian yang terbabit,” ujarnya.

Manakala, Pengarah PRK PAS, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man mengucapkan tahniah kepada Mat Razi dan berharap akan memikul amanah Allah yang diberikan sebaik mungkin.

“Saya berpuas hati dengan gerak kerja yang diberikan oleh PKR dan PAS serta seluruh jentera tidak kira di dalam ataupun di luar kawasan yang banyak membantu calon PAS Wan Rosdi,” katanya dalam satu rakaman suara kepada pihak media.

Tuan Man tidak menafikan faktor utama kekalahan calon PAS berpunca daripada hari mengundi yang diadakan pada hari bekerja.

“Ia menghalang pengundi terutamanya pengundi luar pulang ke kampung halaman untuk mengundi. Saya juga akan mengadakan ‘post mortem’ bagi mengkaji dan meneliti tempat-tempat yang kita selalu menang sebelum ini tetapi kita tewas,” katanya.

Turut hadir di Pusat Penjumlahan Undi, di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato’ Biji Wangsa adalah Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Ahli Majlis Tertinggi Umno, Tan Sri Anuar Musa, Pengarah Operasi BN PRK Pengkalan Kubor, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Timbalan Menteri Kewangan, Ahmad Maslan dan juga calon BN, Mat Razi Mat Ail

Namun demikian calon PAS, dan juga calon bebas tidak menghadirkan diri ke tempat penjumlahan undi.

DAP call for scrapping of re-sitting of UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister and his Ministry

By Lim Kit Siang Blog,

DAP calls for the scrapping of the re-sitting of the UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 Std. 6 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the shocking incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Ministry.

It is the height of irresponsibility and gross negligence of the first magnitude that the Education Ministry took13 days to announce the leak in the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers and the requirement for UPSR pupils to resit for these two papers on Oct. 9.

The Education director-general Datuk Dr. Khair Mohamad Yusof announced on Monday that the date was fixed after the Examinations Syndicate confirmed on Sunday that the papers sat by the UPSR pupils on Sept. 10 were leaked.

What boggles the mind is that after the disgraceful leak of the UPSR Science and English papers on Sept. 10 and 11, which were discovered on the very same day itself, it has taken the Examinations Syndicate, the Education Ministry and the Education Minister almost a fortnight to discover that the UPSR Tamil and Maths had also been leaked.

If this is not incompetence and lack of professionalism of the first order, I do not know what would qualify to come under the rubric of these two terms.

Muhyiddin shouted “sabotage” when the Science and English papers were leaked. Has he found any evidence that the leak of these two UPSR papers were part of an insidious political conspiracy to attack his integrity and that of his Ministry?

Muhyiddin’s allegation becomes even more intriguing when a former UMNO Minister recently blogged on the need to protect Muhyiddidn from being forced to resign by a faction in UMNO promoting “Queen’s English” UMNO leaders!
Is there any truth in this UMNO intra-party “cloak-and-dagger” intrigue?

Is Muhyiddin again shouting “sabotage” to undermine his integrity and that of his Ministry with the leak of the UPSR Tamil and Maths papers?
The Malaysian public are not interested in these UMNO political “fairy tales” but want to know why the Education Ministry has taken such an inordinate and even unconscionably long time to discover that the Tamil and Maths papers had leaked, when on Sept. 11 itself, the ministry had announced investigations into whether the UPSR Maths paper had leaked.

There can be no doubt that Muhyiddin had been most remiss in the discharge of his responsibilities as Education Minister.
Is he prepared to state publicly when he first learned about rumours of the leak of the UPSR Maths paper and when he was first informed categorically that the UPSR Maths paper had been leaked?

It is most unfair and unconscionable to put half a million Std. 6 pupils through enormous emotional stress and strain of re-sitting for the leaked UPSR papers, through no fault of the pupils.

Those responsible for the dastardly act of the leak of the UPSR papers for gain and profit must be brought to book without any mercy shown to them.

But those who, through their incompetence and utter lack of professionalism, had allowed such leak of UPSR papers to take place should not be allowed to escape blame and responsibility.

The least Muhyiddin can do to minimise the great emotional stress and strain he has brought on the half-a-million Std. VI pupils and their parents as a result of unbelievably great Ministerial incompetence is to take the immediate decision to scrap the re-sitting of the UPSR English paper on Sept. 30 and UPSR Maths and Tamil papers on Oct. 9.

BN's Win Due To Effectiveness Of Election Machinery - Muhyiddin

TUMPAT, Sept 25 (Bernama) - Barisan Nasional's (BN) win in the Pengkalan Kubor by-election is due to the effectiveness of its election machinery and the good background of the candidate.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the win was surprising because the majority of votes received by the BN candidate was more than the votes received in the general election last year.

"Contributing factors include good handling of issues including the oil royalty. Pakatan Rakyat's internal problems made many voters to become fed up with them," he told reporters after the announcement of the win by the BN candidate, Mat Razi Mat Ail at SMK Dato Biji Wangsa here, Thursday night.

Mat Razi received 9,981 votes to beat PAS candidate Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim (7,326 votes) and independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary (38 votes).

The BN won with a majority of 2,635 votes compared to a majority of 1,736 votes in the general election last year.

Pengkalan Kubor by-election was held following the death of Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar (BN) on August 20.

Muhyiddin said BN had already communicated the win to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is now in New York.

"The Prime Minister congratulated the BN election machinery and the candidate, Ustaz Mat Razi on the win."

He said BN would like to thank the voters in Pengkalan Kubor as the party only lost in three of the 12 polling district centres.

The win was also because BN by-election director Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed succeeded in repelling PAS attacks on issues including the petroleum royalty.

Muhyiddin said BN would deliver all the promises made such as upgrading of infrastructure adding the win was a catalyst to capture Kelantan from PAS.

He urged Mat Razi to serve the electorate regardless of race, religion and political affiliation.

Meanwhile, Mat Razi said he was grateful for the win and promised to continue the good work of former state assemblyman, the late Noor Zahidi.

"I would like to thank all those who helped me including the family of the deceased."

He said the win was beyond expectation adding that he would like to see Pengkalan Kubor properly developed.

Mahathir: Go ahead, arrest me for sedition

Woman leaves Turkey for ‘family-friendly’ ISIS

By The Associated Press | Istanbul


Asiya Ummi Abdullah doesn't share the view that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group rules over a terrorist dystopia and she isn't scared by the American bombs falling on Raqqa, its power center in Syria.

As far as she's concerned, it's the ideal place to raise a family.

In interviews with The Associated Press, the 24-year-old Muslim convert explained her decision to move with her toddler to the territory controlled by the militant group, saying it offers them protection from the sex, crime, drugs and alcohol that she sees as rampant in largely secular Turkey.

“The children of that country see all this and become either murderers or delinquents or homosexuals or thieves,” Umi Abdullah wrote in one of several Facebook messages exchanged in recent days. She said that living under Shariah, the Islamic legal code, means that her 3-year-old boy's spiritual life is secure.

“He will know God and live under his rules,” she said. As for the American bombs being dropped on the ISIS group, she said: “I only fear God.”

Ummi Abdullah's experience - the outlines of which were confirmed by her ex-husband, Turkish authorities, and friends - illustrates the pull of the ISIS group, the self-styled caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria that has sent shockwaves around the world with its bloodthirsty campaign. It also shows how, even in Turkey - one of the most modern and prosperous of the Muslim countries - entire families are dropping everything to find salvation in what Turkish academic Ahmet Kasim Han describes as a “false heaven.”

Ummi Abdullah, originally from Kyrgyzstan, reached the ISIS group only last month, and her disappearance became front-page news in Turkey after her ex-husband, a 44-year-old car salesman named Sahin Aktan, went to the press in an effort to find their child.

Legions of others in Turkey have carted away family to the ISIS group under far less public scrutiny and in much greater numbers. In one incident earlier this month, more than 50 families from various parts of Turkey slipped across the border to live under ISIS, according to opposition legislator Atilla Kart.

Kart's figure appears high, but his account is backed by a villager from Cumra, in central Turkey, who told AP that his son and his daughter-in-law are among the massive group. The villager spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he is terrified of reprisals.

The movement of foreign fighters to the ISIS group - largely consisting of alienated, angry or simply war-hungry young Muslims - has been covered extensively since the group tore across Iraq in June, capturing Mosul, threatening Baghdad and massacring prisoners. The arrival of entire families, many but not all of them Turkish, has received less attention.

“It's about fundamentalism,” said Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Kadir Has University. The ISIS group's uncompromising interpretation of Islam promises parents the opportunity to raise their children free from any secular influence.

“It's a confined and trustable environment for living out your religion,” Han said. “It kind of becomes a false heaven.”

Ummi Abdullah's journey to radical Islam was born of loneliness and resentment. Born Svetlana Hasanova, she converted to Islam after marrying Aktan six years ago. The pair met in Turkey when Hasanova, still a teenager, came to Istanbul with her mother to buy textiles.

Aktan, speaking from his lawyer's office in Istanbul, said the relationship worked at first.

“Before we were married we were swimming in the sea, in the pool, and in the evening we would sit down and eat fish and drink wine. That's how it was,” he said, holding a photograph of the two of them, both looking radiant in a well-manicured garden. “But after the kid was born, little by little she started interpreting Islam in her own way.”

Aktan said his wife became increasingly devout, covering her hair and praying frequently, often needling him to join in. He refused.

“Thank God, I'm a Muslim,” he said. “But I'm not the kind of person who can pray five times a day.”

Asked why she became engrossed in religion, Aktan acknowledged that his wife was lonely. But in Facebook messages to the AP, many typed out on a smartphone, Ummi Abdullah accused her husband of treating her “like a slave.”

She alleged that Aktan pressured her to abort their child and said she felt isolated in Istanbul. “I had no friends,” she said. “I was constantly belittled by him and his family. I was nobody in their eyes.”

Aktan acknowledged initially asking his wife to terminate her pregnancy, saying she was too young to have children. But when she insisted on carrying the pregnancy to term, Aktan said he accepted her decision and loved the child.

Meanwhile Aktan's wife was finding the companionship she yearned for online, chatting with jihadists and filling her Facebook page with religious exhortations and attacks on gays. In June, she and Aktan divorced. The next month, a day before her ex-husband was due to pick up their son for vacation, she left with the boy for Gaziantep, a Turkish town near the Syrian border. Aktan, who had been eavesdropping on her social media activity, alerted the authorities, but the pair managed to slip across.

Aktan says he hasn't seen his son since.

It isn't clear how many families have followed Umi Abdullah's path, although anecdotal evidence suggests a powerful flow from Turkey into Syria. In Dilovasi, a heavily industrial town of 42,000 about halfway between Istanbul and the port city of Izmit, at least four people - including a pair of brothers - recently left for Syria, three local officials told AP. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media, said that dozens of people from surrounding towns were believed to have left as well.

Aktan says he is in touch with other families in similar circumstances. He cited one case in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where 15 members of the same extended family had left for Syria “as if they're going on vacation.”

The ISIS group appears eager to advertise itself as a family-friendly place. One promotional video shows a montage of Muslim fighters from around the world holding their children in Raqqa against the backdrop of an amusement park.

A man, identified in the footage as an American named Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi, holds an infant who has a toy machine gun strapped to his back.

“Look at all the little children,” al-Trinidadi says. “They're having fun.”

___

Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

ISIS Living High Life in Raqqa, Using Yazidi Females as Human Shields

By Jewish Press

Terrorists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are preparing to defend areas they captured in northern Iraq after scores were killed last week in U.S. and French air strikes. The group has evacuated command-and-control centers in Mosul, Iraq and in Raqqa, Syria, according to a report posted by The Telegraph. They have also begun to use Yazidi women captives as human shields in other places, according to the report.

Raqqa is the informal “capital” of the ISIS “caliphate” and the site where the group has carried out three high-profile beheadings in recent weeks.

But it also turns out that in Raqqa, ISIS terrorists are still pretty much living the high life, when they are not busy with mass beheadings and capturing territory. It’s not a privilege they share with the locals, however.

The terrorists have taken over the governor’s ornate palace, and they are enjoying Western comforts brought to the palace by foreign fighters.

“Although there is a war on, Swiss chocolate is very popular with them,” one resident observed. “And you see some shops reserving Western food for the jihadists. I know that one of them asked a store to get an iPhone 6 for him. It cost $2,500 and was brought in from dealers in Turkey.”

Meanwhile, up to 100,000 Kurds and other local residents in the northern city of Kobane have fled to the Turkish border, where at least 70,000 had made it across by Monday morning in advance of a takeover of the city by ISIS.

Kurds who were moving in the other direction, however, to fight against ISIS, were equally concerned about the air strikes – not wanting to become targets themselves.

Abu Mohammed, a local activist quoted by the National Post and who runs the “Raqqa is being slaughtered silently” website, said, “People are afraid of the air strikes, that they might be used as human shields or be bombed.

“Many people fled to the countryside or to Turkey… When small planes for reconnaissance appear, the jihadists hide. They even lock the doors of their headquarters. They also moved their families, their women and children, outside Raqqa.”

Abu Mohammed added that locals don’t trust America any more than they trust ISIS. “If the U.S. is really against ISIS why did they leave them all that time, and why did they turna blind eye to Bashar al-Assad? He is a terrorist who is bombing us,” he asked.

Algerian militants issue video showing killing of kidnapped Frenchman

ALGIERS: Algerian militants have released a video that appears to show them beheading Frenchman Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped on Sunday, in what the group said was a response to France's action against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The video shows Gourdel, a 55-year-old tourist from Nice, kneeling with his arms tied behind his back before four masked militants who read out a statement in Arabic criticising France's military intervention.

They then pushed him on his side and held him down. The video does not show the beheading, but a militant holds the head up to the camera.

"This is why the Caliphate Soldiers in Algeria have decided to punish France, by executing this man, and to defend our beloved Islamic State," one of the militants says in the statement he read out.

Just before the militants gave their statement, the Frenchman briefly addressed his family.

Reuters was not able to authenticate the footage and there was no immediate confirmation from the French or Algerian governments.

The Caliphate Soldiers, a splinter group linked to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, had on Monday published a video claiming responsibility for the abduction and showed the man identifying himself as Gourdel.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had said then that the taking of a French hostage would not deter French participation in a U.S.-led coalition of nations against Islamist State militants.

The kidnapping had come after Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged the group's followers to attack citizens of the United States, France and other countries that joined the coalition to destroy the radical group.

France launched its first air strikes targeting Islamic State targets in Iraq on Friday. It has said all must be done to rid the region of the group.

Western diplomats and intelligence sources say they believe there are fewer than 10 Western hostages still held by Islamic State. The group has recently beheaded two Americans, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and one Briton, David Haines, and threatened to kill another Briton, Alan Henning.

The kidnapping was one of the first abductions of a foreigner by militants in Algeria since the North African country ended its decade-long war with Islamist fighters in the 1990s.

Gourdel, a French nature guide and photographer, was taken hostage when militants stopped his vehicle in the remote mountains east of Algiers where he planned a hiking trip.

Algerian troops had been searching the mountains in an area known as the "Triangle of Death" during the bloody days of Algeria's 1990s war with Islamists. Attacks are rarer, but al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other groups are still active in Algeria.

The Caliphate Soldiers group earlier this month announced it had broken with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, to back Islamic State, in another illustration of deepening rivalries between Islamic State and al Qaeda's core leadership.

AQIM central region commander Khaled Abu Suleimane, who claimed leadership of the Caliphate Soldiers, is a hardliner who always refused peace agreements with the government and traces his militant roots back to the 1990s war.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2014/Sep-24/271833-isis-linked-group-beheads-frenchman-abducted-in-algeria-video.ashx#ixzz3EHCei2sS

‘Sex blogger’ Alvin Tan seeking political asylum in the US

Alvin Tan, the blogger who had ran foul of authorities in both Malaysia and Singapore, claims to have fled to the United States, where he intends to seek political asylum.

The 26-year-old and his partner, Vivian Lee, 25, are facing criminal charges under Malaysia's Sedition Act as well as the Film Censorship Act for their controversial online uploads, including a photo deemed insulting to Islam on Facebook, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported today.

The couple, who came to be known as "Alvivi", were jointly accused of making a seditious posting on their Facebook page last year, when they uploaded a photo of themselves eating the herbal pork soup dish, bak kut teh, with the caption "Selamat berbuka puasa" (Happy breaking fast) as it was posted during the Ramadan month.

Speaking to a CNA correspondent today, via a personal Facebook account that the regional broadcaster had verified belongs to the “sex blogger”, Tan said: “I'm busy starting a new life here (in the US), apart from awaiting my final asylum hearing. I'm here to seek political refuge from the tyranny of Umno - simple as that.”

He added that he had first applied to the US authorities for asylum-seeker status in May, after disappearing from the public eye following a documentary shoot in Singapore.

CNA reported that he feels confident the US will grant him asylum, failing which, he feels he has no other choice but to continue posting "seditious material" online to strengthen his case.

"The State Department produced a Human Rights Report on Malaysia in 2013 which explicitly cites my case as a repression of internet speech rights," he told CNA.

"If all else fails, I can easily publish more 'seditious' materials on my Facebook to taunt the authorities and get them to be hot on the pursuit of me again, therefore creating an even more well-founded fear of political persecution to bolster my asylum claim.”

Tan and Lee first got into the limelight for the wrong reasons in October 2012, when their pornographic images on a blog created a storm of controversy on both sides of the causeway.

As a result, Alvin, who was studying law at the National University of Singapore under an Asean scholarship, was marked for termination by the university. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sex-blogger-alvin-tan-seeking-political-asylum-in-the-us#sthash.IsoItpfV.dpuf

Have ‘thicker skin’ when discussing religious issues, says interfaith Muslim speaker - TMI

A Russian Muslim speaker has raised concerns about the way religious minorities are being "demonised" in Malaysia as it paves the way for more divisiveness in the country.

Julia Sveshnikova, policy coordinator for non-governmental organisation (NGO) Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), said that interfaith interaction was under threat because people's minds were being cultivated to think less of others who are different.

"That is why it rings a warning bell when religious minorities are being demonised in the eyes of a religious majority, for instance, that attitude has paved the way to the resentment about the Shia sect in Malaysia," she said at a CCM Interfaith Ecumenical Conference public forum in Petaling Jaya.

Sveshnikova referred to the history of the Jews under the Nazi regime which cultivated people's minds to the point of dehumanising the "other". When people accepted this view, it was then sufficient to condone a massacre of the Jews.

"It is a very extreme example but we are concerned that this kind of practices should not take place anywhere else," said Sveshnikova, who is based in Malaysia researching political Islam.

She added that even among university students, there seemed to be a hesitation to speak up about how they really felt, more so when their views were different from the official stand.

More worryingly, she added, was the "authority of religion" that was used to deny citizens their rights on the basis of religious affiliation.

"Sometimes non-Muslims, for instance, are advised not to speak out against injustices on the grounds they are not qualified to judge on the matters of Islam, even if they are well-versed on the theme," she said.

She also said that the government adopted a dual track – promoting the concepts of religious moderation on one hand but not actively counteracting the right-wing extremists groups on the other.

She said that one of IRF's efforts was to try and move the country from a race-based paradigm to a human-rights paradigm with attention given to matters of spirituality.

"But considering the interrelations between religion and race in Malaysia, there is always a challenge for the proponents of change to be labelled as not adhering to the tenets of Islam.

"There appears to be a 'thin skin' approach to discussing racial and religious issues, where the moment someone felt annoyed or offended, the discussion has to stop and the law is invoked," she said.

Sveshnikova added that despite these challenges, IRF was committed to intellectual discourse to promote unity and peace-building and was continuously engaging with young people to promote non-discrimination and protection for minority communities.

The three-day conference in Petaling Jaya is a platform where Christian and Muslim groups have come together to discuss ways to promote interfaith dialogue in the country.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia has in recent years seen a rise in religious intolerance expressed both by certain politicians as well as ordinary citizens.

Critics blamed the government for failing to act decisively against conservative groups and for perpetuating tension, such as in its reluctance to conclusively resolve the "Allah" controversy. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/have-thicker-skin-when-discussing-religious-issues-says-interfaith-muslim-s#sthash.hT4fQaqR.dpuf

Don’t force resit of English, Tamil and Maths papers, urges parent lobby - TMI

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has called on the Education Ministry to do away with the resit of the English, Maths and Tamil UPSR papers as it is causing unnecessary pressure on some half a million Year 6 pupils.

PAGE chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the decision by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (MES) to have students resit the papers had disregarded the circumstances and had failed to take into account the negative impact on the pupils.

"It is unacceptable to UPSR pupils and parents who have no choice, no say, and are forced to accept a resit of the papers due to the shortcomings of the MES and the greed of certain people," she said at a press conference today.

"We urge MES and the ministry to accept the UPSR papers that have been sat which are English, Mathematics and Tamil and have the pupils sit for only Science since they have yet to sit for the paper."

She added that the ministry had shown a lack of compassion by not looking more deeply into the effects, stress and pressure that have been forced upon the students.

Noor Azimah, however, stressed that Page was not condoning cheating by making this recommendation but said they were concerned with the emotional toll the re-sit was taking on the Primary Six pupils.

"The children are traumatised, angry and they have already given their best. It was only a small number who were involved in the cheating.

"Besides, it is UPSR. Even if they fail, they all go to Form 1 anyway. It would not make a difference unlike the SPM and STPM," she added.

The first two leaks were found in the Science and English papers. Students had already sat for the English paper when the leak was announced. They will now re-sit the English paper and take the Science examination for the first time on September 30.

On Monday, the Education Ministry announced that pupils would also have to retake the Mathematics and Tamil language papers on October 9.

Both papers were found to have been leaked on September 21, said director-general of Education Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof.

Since the leak of the English and Science papers were revealed on September 10, police have arrested a total of 14 people to assist in investigations, including 12 teachers.

Noor Azimah lauded the ministry's swift action in arresting the suspected culprits but added that it should make known the steps it has taken to ensure that such leaks do not happen in future national examinations, including the PT3, SPM and STPM.

"Have we reached a level where our morals are so low that dishonesty becomes our culture?

"The Education Ministry must win back the trust of the parents. When it affects the future of their children, parents have long memories," she added.

Both education ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the deputy prime minister and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh have since issued public apologies over the leaks.

On September 12, Muhyiddin announced the suspension of Examinations Syndicate director Dr Na'imah Ishak and deputy director (operations) Dr Wan Ilias Wan Salleh with immediate effect.

However, this has been refuted by the ministry's secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad who said that they were not suspended but just re-assigned to other duties unrelated to the Examinations Syndicate to enable an independent committee to carry out its investigation. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dont-force-re-sit-of-english-tamil-and-math-papers-urges-parent-lobby#sthash.lxTJvJyw.dpuf

Mahathir: Go ahead and arrest me if I'm wrong

 

In his trademark fashion, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that he has no qualms being arrested if he has broken the law.

He was commenting on a police report lodged by a DAP lawmaker this afternoon, accusing the former premier of sedition.

"I can quote many more extreme statements by everybody, but I don't want to do that. As a politician, I don't expect people to please me all the time but (to) condemn...," he said.

Asked what if police launched an investigation, he replied: "Well, I am just an ordinary citizen now. If I am supposed to be arrested under the law, then go ahead."

In his report, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said Mahathir made seditious remarks against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang during the last general election campaign.

Earlier today, Kit Siang asked Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi if his vow to launch a probe within 24 hours into sedition reports applied to Mahathir as well.

Kit Siang was referring to the remarks made by the former premier when the DAP leader contested for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in the last general election.

He quoted Mahathir as saying that the DAP leader was contesting the seat because he wanted the Chinese in Gelang Patah and Johor to "reject working together and sharing with Malays", "to dislike and hate Malays" and to create "conflict and antagonism between the races".

Kit Siang raised this issue following PKR's revelation yesterday that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is being probed under the Sedition Act over remarks he made during a political rally three years ago.

Meanwhile, Lip Eng's police report also named Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak with regard to the latter's remarks during the 2010 Umno general assembly on defending Putrajaya till the end.

'Better to held under ISA than dead'

Meanwhile, on a related issue, Mahathir admitted that he had used the Internal Security Act against opponents.
　　

The man who governed the country for 22 years, however, defended his move by saying that at least ISA detainees are not killed.

　

"We only detained people under ISA, but they still alive, (we) don't pass judgement on absentee criminals and decide that criminals should be killed and executed.

　

"Nowadays, they have drone and sent it to kill people. I think that is worse than our record of keeping all our opponent in jail.

　

"During my time, I jailed everyone. This is what people are saying about me," he said jokingly.

　
Denying accusations of his iron grip in his trademark sarcasm, Mahathir said he had the "privilege of being a dictator" as it meant easier crisis-management.

"I normally line them up against the wall and kill them," he quipped.

　

Mahathir (above) was sharing his view on crisis management in a speech at 'CEO Forum: Surviving The Next Global Financial Crisis'.

　

On a more serious note, Mahathir said his training and practice as medical doctor prepared him for the non-medical crisis in the country.

　

As an example, he cited the 1997 financial crisis.

　

"I would have punch (currency speculator George) Soros in the nose.

"I did say nasty things about him. It's very unfair to an emerging country which our currency devalued," he said.

'Constitutional matters should be settled quickly'

Senior lawyer and constitutional expert, Cyrus Das has proposed that there be direct access for constitutional matters to be referred directly to the Federal Court.

He says this is practised in India where they have specialised constitutional courts to handle controversial cases.

At present, cases are filed at the High Court and they have to progressively make their way to the Court of Appeal and then the Federal Court, which is the apex court.

This is a process which could take several years.

“What we need is not a constitutional court - what we need is the equivalent of Article 32 of the Indian constitution for direct access to the apex court on matters of constitutional differences or controversy.

“This was proposed by the Reid Commission (for Malaya) when they were discussing remedies for enforcement of constitutional rights. Article 32 of the Indian constitution came up but it was shot down, because they thought we were not ready for that,” he said.

'Life and soul'

Cyrus, who is the managing partner in the Shook Lin and Bok law firm, said having direct access would stop cases being delayed as it is processed through the system.

“In India, the constitutional courts are described as the`life and soul' of the Indian constitution,” he asserted.

“If there is direct access for a case to be adjudicated, you would not have the delay we find happening in our courts. It is not solely about the setting up of a special body,” he said.

Cyrus was responding to questions from the floor at a three panel talk on the topic “Federal constitution of Malaysia after 50 years – What the future holds” on whether there was a need to form constitutional courts.

The senior lawyer compared to the formation of constitutional courts in South Africa in 1994 and also in Germany which are highly successful.

“In South Africa it is respected everywhere and its jurisprudence is applied worldwide,” he said.

“At the end of the day the court is only as good as the people who man it. In the end, what is more important is direct access to to the apex court,” he emphasised.

There are several constitutional cases which have taken years to reach the Federal Court, deemed the constitutional court.

The Perak constitutional crisis on the rightful MB for the state - the Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin (left) vs Zambry Abdul Kadir case - was the fastest, being resolved within a year.

However cases on religious conversion like Lina Joy's, as well as S Shamala vs Dr M Jeyaganesh, took years to progress.

There's also the Archbishop of the Catholic Church vs Home Ministry case on the use of the word 'Allah'. It began in 2009, and is still ongoing.

Lonely business dealing with constitution

Senior lawyer and constitutional expert Tommy Thomas described the frustration of dealing with these cases, saying it was a lonely business.

He said there are no more than 10 to 20 lawyers who often do constitutional cases. "And recently we have lost Raja Aziz Addruse and Karpal Singh (right)," he noted.

“It is a very lonely business as you seldom ever win. All your arguments are rejected and you ask yourself if you are the same lawyer who argues on company law cases (and win) but the next day you argue constitutional cases with the same ability (and lose)," said Thomas.

However academician and associate professor from Universiti Malaya Azmi Sharom responded cynically to the question on the need for a constitutional court saying: “Only after you have a fresh batch of constitutional judges.”

The three day international law conference was launched today by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

Expert: Even Queen Elizabeth can't choose PM

 

No ruler, not even Queen Elizabeth II, has the power to select the prime minister under the Westminster parliamentary system, says senior lawyer Tommy Thomas.

Using the British political crisis in 1990 and 1991 as an example, Thomas said, the Conservative Party wanted to get rid of Margaret Thatcher and John Major was appointed to replace her to lead the party.

And still, the ruler did not intervene and appointed Major as the next prime minister.

"Did Queen Elizabeth, as the constitutional monarch, have a choice and say 'I do not like Major (left) and I do not want him to be the PM', and 'I prefer (Michael) Hasseltine' to lead the Conservative Party?

"She is a constitutional monarch, she has no say in the selection of the leader of the Conservative Party," Thomas said at an international conference today.

Moving on to Australia, he said the governor-general also did not intervene in the Labour Party tussle involving Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

"Did the governor-general of Australia, who has the power of a constitutional monarch, have the discretion to say 'Gillard, I won't accept you and I noticed that you are a woman'?" Thomas (right) asked.

Like the two classic examples of the application of the Westminster systems in appointment of chief executives, he said, India’s president too did not have a say when Narendra Modi won the country's last general election earlier this year.

"The president of India couldn't say, ‘I don't like Mr Modi or I do not like the outfit he wears, give me three other names’," he said at the International Malaysia Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Thomas was responding to a question from the floor from a lawyer on what is taught in constitutional law classes and what is applied in the present situation, especially with the Selangor crisis.

Yesterday, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was sworn-in as Selangor menteri besar upon the sultan's selection, although his party nominated its president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

'Party chooses the leader'

Thomas said what was happening in Selangor was wrong.

“If this question is asked to Tun Razak or Tun Ismail and they have had difficult menteris besar during their time, they would ask,  'are you kidding?' The party chooses the leader and that is the end of the matter,” he said.

Thomas said this in response to a question from the floor from a lawyer on what is taught in constitutional law classes and what is applied in the present situation, especially with the Selangor crisis.

Yesterday, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was sworn-in as Selangor menteri besar, upon the sultan's selection, although his party and DAP nominated PRK president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to take ovcer from Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The Selangor sultan in a statement issued through his private secretary Mohd Munir Bani yesterday, said that the palace was not interfering in the choice of the menteri besar and the long wait was due to Pakatan Rakyat's inability to agree on who would assume the post.

To questions on which parts of the Federal Constitution would the three speakers at the conference  like to see amended, Universiti Malaya associate professor Azmi Sharom, said he would not amend anything.

“However, the judges need a constitutional law class and it would preferably be conducted at UM,” Azmi, who is one of those facing sedition charges, said, apparently in jest.

The other speaker, senior lawyer, Cyrus Das (right), said he would not amend the constitution but emphasised that respect for the fundamental rights of the citizens, as outlined in Part II, cannot be amended.

Das said the problem right now is that everyone has got their own ideas as to what the constitution should be.

If we looked at the basic document (the Federal Constitution) and the Reid Report, he said, we would like to see that the basic rights are maintained and undisturbed, no matter which party holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

On another question on how to educate the people on the correct position of the law with regard to the Selangor menteri besar issue, Azmi said there has to be a strong stand from the academia and Bar as to what the law actually says on the matter.

“The concept of constitutional monarchy is to hang on to certain history... and the role of royalty in this kind of system cannot be like in the past anymore. I don't think it is desirable.

“We just have to say  that the way you do it is different from what we have been seeing,” Azmi (left) said, adding he regretted that the mainstream media would not publish his views on this matter.

This, he acknowledged, was a continuous struggle that Malaysians should labour on.

Das said educating the people in this area was an impossible task as everybody would put forward a viewpoint that would be to their interests or persuasion.

“You can never get an objective view of this issues. I often see one cannot reach out that this is the actual constitutional position and not the other.

“So long there are politicians, each one of them will put their viewpoints forward and they will put that across to the wider public,” Das added.

'Reform constitution to avoid future MB crisis'

 

A day after Azmin Ali was sworn in as the new Selangor menteri besar following a protracted saga, a PKR leader has asked him to ensure that such a crisis does not recur.

To avert such situations in future, PKR supreme council member Gooi Hsiao Leung said Azmin must include "constitutional reform" on his list of important issues to tackle.

The Alor Setar MP said the state constitution must better define the role of constitutional monarchy in order to avoid "confusion" that has reigned during the crisis.

The Selangor Sultan, Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had exercised his "discretion" to appoint Azmin to the post, overlooking PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail even though the latter had displayed her majority from at least 30 assemblypersons in the 56-member state assembly in Selangor.

"The explanation put forward by the sultan’s private secretary on why Azmin Ali was selected instead of Wan Azizah does not hold any water whatsoever and is in fact a departure from the most fundamental constitutional principle- which is the majority in the state assembly," said Gooi.

"Furthermore, the manner in which the palace had been wrongfully advised in vetting potential MB candidates has also created public confusion as to the role of a constitutional monarchy as practiced in the Westminster parliamentary system," he added.

Gooi said that the serious question having been raised in the crisis is whether the MB is appointed by the sultan or the ruling party that is elected by the people.

"I urge the Pakatan Rakyat leadership, especially Azmin, to use his new role as the Selangor menteri besar, to initiate immediate constitutional reforms to avert another crisis in the future," he added.

Heritage village may be demolished

A 200-year-old Siamese village may be flattened to build a hotel.

GEORGE TOWN: A 200-year-old Siamese village is at risk of being demolished and flattened to pave the way for a mega hotel.

Residents of the living heritage, located on an acre of land in Lorong Bangkok, Pulau Tikus, received eviction notices from the new landowner, Five Star Heritage Sdn Bhd, in April with a compensation offer of RM30,000 for each family.

However after staging a protest against the eviction today, the developer is now applying for a court order to evict the residents instead.

DAP’s Pulau Tikus assemblyperson Yap Soo Huey has written to the MPPP and state government urging the authorities not to approve the hotel project, arguing that the residents wanted their cultural heritage to be preserved and recognised.

The village is home to some 40 families in 17 homes who have been residing there for six generations.

Deputy Chairman of the Penang Siamese Society, Boon Leua Aroomratana, 56, a Penang Port worker, who was born and bred in the village, said if the village was demolished, a major part of his life and childhood memories would be erased including close community ties nurtured through the years.

His father, Noo Wan @ Wan Dee Aroomratana, 93, who is a Thai cultural dance or Menora expert, shared his son’s sentiments.

He said a traditional Menora dance troupe was also born from the community and continued to perform nationally and regionally.

Noo Wan also explained that the residents were descendants of the Siamese, who migrated to Penang, and started family businesses in Pulau Tikus.

Many of the other Siamese families in the village recalled that their land was granted to the Siamese and Burmese communities by the East India Company on behalf of Queen Victoria in 1845.

The land was to be held in trust by four trustees that were elected and appointed from among the Siamese-Burmese community.

Early this year, the community was told their land had been sold.

The village is part of a four-acre piece of land with many heritage landmarks like the Buddhist temple Wat Chaiyamangalaram that houses a statue of the Reclining Buddha. There is also a Siamese cemetery within the grounds.

Agihan kerusi exco bidang kuasa MB, kata Anwar

The Way Asian States Interplay With US And China Will Determine Peace

WASHINGTON DC, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- The way Asian states interplay with the United States (US) and China will determine whether Asia's big rise brings a new era of co-operation and peace, said Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib said Asean, which speaks for 600 million people, will play a part in managing that relationship.

The Prime Minister said that Malaysia has a strong relationship with both the US and China and has a shared interest in stable, secure and peaceful region.

"I believe that by pursuing peace within our borders and co-operation in our region, we can show that Asia's remarkable growth can bring a better world, a safer, more sustainable world. We can honour the promise placed in us, by the people of Asia, and all those who look to Asia, in hope and expectation," he said in his keynote address at the Georgetown University, here on Tuesday.

Najib who in his speech outlined key issues affecting Asia's security said that there were several key questions and issues that would shape Asia's near future such as the rise of China, the US' pivot towards Asia and Japan's increasing engagement in the region.

Najib said the world had seen first-hand the astonishing economic development which had propelled China to its current heights and how the changes in China's economy had opened up new opportunities for its neighbours and partners.

However, he said that aside from trying to understand-and replicate-China's success, observers also wanted to know whether China's rise would be primary peaceful and economic, or martial and assertive.

"We welcome the peaceful rise of China. We have seen that a China which pursues peace, stability and mutual development is an invaluable partner for developed and developing countries alike," he said.

On the role of the US, Najib said Malaysia believed that America would remain a Pacific power, and in the medium term, America's continued commitment towards peace, stability and prosperity was welcomed by many Asian voices, who valued the friendship built over many years of bilateral and regional relations.

"But there is also concern that the stage is being set for a new 'great game', that Asia - and in particular, East and South East Asia - will find itself at the heart of a struggle between rival superpowers," he said.

Anwar latest target of sedition dragnet

Azmin janji pentadbiran konsep negeri pembangunan

Islamic State blows away Gulf qualms about joining U.S. military action

(Reuters) - It is more than 23 years since Arab countries last made common cause to join U.S.-led military action, and it has taken the threat of Islamic State to persuade them that any public backlash in an already turbulent region is a price worth paying.

Of the five Arab states named by Washington as supporting U.S.-led strikes against the jihadist group in Syria, Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed they had actually flown sorties. Saudi Arabia said it had "participated in military operations", and Qatar was believed to have offered only logistical or political support.

But association with the attacks, after years of U.S.-led wars that have antagonized Muslims around the world, is a risk these states are ready to run to quash a group that promises to refashion the Middle East as an Islamic caliphate.

"We see Islamic State as an existential threat. If we don't put a stop to it, it will expand into our area," said Sami al-Faraj, an adviser to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

The air and missile strikes were designed to undermine the military and organizational prowess of a group that controls large parts of northeast Syria and has seized swathes of Iraq since June.

As it sucks in support from other less successful rebel groups, and sophisticated American weaponry from routed Iraqi forces, Islamic State has made clear it seeks nothing less than to place the entire Muslim world under medieval-style theocratic rule - a message abhorrent to the Gulf's dynastic rulers.

Not since a multinational coalition ejected Iraq from Kuwait in 1991 have such a large number of Arab countries aligned themselves publicly with U.S.-led armed action in the Arab world.

"They are no longer active, influential neutrals, and are now fast becoming frontline states in a war that is likely to engulf the whole region," said British academic Christopher Davidson.

NEW CONFIDENCE

Although the Gulf states are heavy purchasers of Western military hardware, and Qatar and UAE lent military support to the Libyan forces that toppled Muammar Gaddafi with Western help in 2011, they are normally seen as reliant on the West for their defense in any emergency, as was the case with Kuwait.

The disclosure of Saudi Arabia's involvement in U.S.-led attacks also breaks with the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom's traditional aversion to any publicity, let alone on such a sensitive issue.

"The impression is that the Saudis are willing to trumpet their role," said Neil Partrick, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "That's a striking development, even though we don't know what their role is."

The kingdom's heir apparent and defense minister, Crown Prince Salman, said in a national day address carried by Saudi media on Tuesday that Riyadh needed to counter militancy more assertively.

"We are concerned because we have not done enough to protect our nation from extremism, and its youths from militancy and radicalism, leading some to adopt violence and replace the doctrine of tolerance with that of takfir (declaring to be an infidel)," local newspapers reported.

GCC adviser Faraj said Gulf Arab action now was "a message to the militants, and to the radicals among our own people, that we mean business about stopping the Islamic State".

The UAE also appears ready not only to take action but also to present a more confident and assertive front.

Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, chairwoman of the Emirates Policy Center in Abu Dhabi, told Reuters the UAE's support was in line with its growing capabilities. "It has become a military, economic and political power to reckon with," she said.

Asked about the risk of inviting attacks on the UAE, Ketbi said "terrorism" was a possibility, whether the UAE took part or not.

"There is nothing without a risk. But you are part of an international alliance and you cannot be inactive in the face of terrorism when you have all these resources," she told Reuters.

"GUARD DOGS FOR THE JEWS"

Islamic State itself has threatened to attack any state that supports the U.S. campaign.

Its spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani on Monday reiterated a threat to Saudi Arabia, and dismissed its rulers as "guard dogs for the Jews, and a stick in the hands of the crusaders to be used against Islam".

Riyadh has two big worries about Islamic State: that it will consolidate its rule in Iraq, creating a de facto haven for militants along the kingdom's northern border; and that it will encourage radicals inside the kingdom to mount their own raids.

Faraj said the level of alertness of security forces in Gulf Arab states had been raised for weeks and "today it is at the highest" because of the U.S.-led attacks.

He said security would be heightened in particular near air bases and at logistics and fuelling facilities.

But security is not the only kind of worry facing the Arab members of the anti-Islamic State alliance.

Maintaining a united front may also be hard, because of disputes between Qatar and some of its Gulf Arab neighbors about the role of Islamists in Arab politics.

Although the Gulf states are all opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia last year leaned heavily on Qatar to desist from providing money and weaponry to some of Syria's more radical Islamist rebels.

Qatar is therefore likely to have been unhappy about the raids' targeting of the Nusrah Front, a group linked to al Qaeda that it seems to see as an authentic Syrian opposition group, diplomats said.

A source close to the Qatar government told Reuters the overnight attacks would not solve anything. He said it was unfair to target only Islamic State when Assad "has been left to kill his people for years".

(Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi, Noah Browning and Amena Bakr, Editing by Kevin Liffey)

ISIS video: 'We will break your crosses and enslave your women'

A video released today by the Islamic State (IS) urges Muslims to "slaughter" Westerners from those
nations which are taking part in an international anti-jihadist coalition.

In a disturbing 42-minute address, spokesman for the terrorist group, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, says: "If you can kill a disbelieving American or European, especially the spiteful and filthy French, or an Australian, or a Canadian ... including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him.

"Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him."

Adnani says both civilians and members of the military are "disbelievers" and therefore "both of their blood and wealth is legal for you to destroy".

Also targeting President Obama, who is leading the fight against IS, Adnani mocks the administration's ruling that America will not enter into a war on the ground in Iraq and Syria.

"No, it will be drawn and dragged. It will come down to the ground and it will be led to its death, grave, and destruction" Adnani says, referring to the president as "the mule of the Jews" and ridiculing the suggestion that the Islamic State is not truly Muslim.

Adnani continues his threat against Westerners, saying : "You will not feel secure even in your bedrooms. You will pay the price when this crusade of yours collapses, and thereafter we will strike you in your homeland, and you will never be able to harm anyone afterwards.

"O America, O allies of America, and O crusaders, know that the matter is more dangerous than you have imagined and greater than you have envisioned," he adds.

"We have warned you that today we are in a new era, an era where the [Islamic] State, its soldiers, and its sons are leaders, not slaves.

"We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah, the Exalted."

The video follows French airstrikes against IS on Friday, which killed dozens of jihadist fighters in northern Iraq.

Other countries have also stepped up their responses to the militant group, with further air strikes expected from the US this week.

According to US Secretary of State John Kerry, more than 50 countries have pledged to join an international coalition against IS, which is thought to have between 20,000 and 31,500 members fighting to create an Islamic caliphate. The group now controls a large stretch of Iraq and Syria.

As part of the effort to eliminate the extremists, President Obama will this week urge the UN to pass a resolution banning would-be jihadists from travelling overseas.

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Man shot dead, two counter-terrorism officers stabbed outside Endeavour Hills police station

A TEEN terror suspect under investigation for making threats against Prime Minister Tony Abbott was shot dead last night after stabbing a Victorian police officer and a federal police agent.

The 18-year-old Narre Warren man, who was under surveillance over his threats against Mr Abbott and had been seen with an Islamic State flag at the Dandenong shopping centre, met police outside Endeavour Hills police station in Melbourne’s southeast about 7.45pm.

He greeted the two officers with a handshake before attacking them, police say.

He stabbed the AFP officer a number of times before twice stabbing the Victorian officer in the forearm, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said.

Mr Cornelius said the Victorian officer fired a single shot that killed the man.

“Our members had no inkling that this individual posed a threat to them,” he said.

“It’s absolutely clear to us that our members really had no choice other than to act in the way in which they did.”

The injured officers, both from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team, are in hospital in a stable condition.

Senior intelligence sources confirmed that the terrorism suspect had been among a number of people whose passports were recently cancelled.

Mr Cornelius said police had arranged to meet with the man because of concerns about his behaviour.

But an altercation started after he arrived at the police station, which led the teenager to produce a knife.

The dead man had acted on his own, Mr Cornelius said.

“The individual who has died, was invited and did come of his own free will to the police station,’’ he said.

“Obviously both members are in shock but we are doing everything when can to provide them with support and assistance in what is for any police officer an incredibly difficult and challenging time.”

Read more:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/man-shot-dead-two-counterterrorism-officers-stabbed-outside-endeavour-hills-police-station/story-fni0fee2-1227068293410?nk=1becb4e2afc862037945e79fb746f1e6

Army chief calls on public to be aware of Isis threat – Bernama

The public, especially those in the east coast of Sabah, should develop deeper level of understanding on the threats posed by the terror organisation, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), in their areas.

Chief of Defence Forces (ATM) General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin (pic) said Isis was a real threat and the authorities should take certain action to prevent it from turning into a major problem.

"Public awareness on Isis should be enhanced so that they can understand the issue. We need the support from the people to monitor militancy activities there so that they can help the ATM and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM)."

Zulkifeli said this to reporters in response to the threats posed by Isis to Malaysia after opening the Electronic Warfare Training Centre at the Paya Jaras Camp in Sungei Buloh today.

He said there were Malaysians involved in the militant activities in Syria and Iraq, thinking that they were fulfilling their obligations of jihad.

"I'm worried that when they return to Malaysia, they will do something that can threaten the safety of the country, especially after they established a network in neighbouring countries from Syria or Iraq," he said.

On the seminar, Zulkifeli said the ability and capability of defence forces in controlling information and electromagnetic spectrum were the key requirements in electronic warfare to preserve secrecy of information from outside threats.

"Without knowledge and skills in electronic warfare, the ATM will not be able to generate combat power and hence, will probably be exposed to outside threats," he said.

Zulkifeli said under the 11th Malaysia Plan, the ATM would acquire high-tech electronic warfare training system, which was expected to close the gap of electronic warfare skills between ATM and the armed forces in developed countries. – Bernama, September 23, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/army-chief-calls-on-public-to-be-aware-of-isis-threat-bernama#sthash.ZZyyhks5.dpuf

Police crackdown on Indian gangs reignites before Deepavali

Just a month before Deepavali, the spectre of Ops Cantas has resurfaced with a fresh police crackdown on Indian criminal gangs who are allegedly on an intensified prowl before the festive day.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic) said the peninsula-wide crackdown which was undertaken late last year needs to be re-energised due to a spike in extortion activities by the gangs in various towns and cities leading to Deepavali on October 22.

He added that the ministry has identified 23 gangs, including secret societies involved in illegal gambling and drugs, to be banned, in addition to 49 that are already in its black list.

“This is an extension of Ops Cantas,” he told reporters today.

“Several groups have heightened activities to collect ‘protection money’ leading up to Deepavali.

“The police have come to know about this and are tracing their movements,” he added.

“So we are working to weed out these gangs,” he said, stressing that the criminal activities are being done by predominantly Indian gangs.

He called on the public not to cave in to such extortion demands and immediately report cases to the police.

He said there is a tendency for gangs to increase activities to illegally collect money from communities when major festivals are approaching, and the police are keen to clamp down on this trend.

Ops Cantas was launched on August 23 last year. The ministry had announced that as the crackdown escalated, some 1.1 million people were screened and about 40,000 people were arrested in the process by the end of the year. Some 50% of those arrested were Malays, 30% were Indians and the rest from other races.

Wan Junaidi was speaking after attending the Penang state investiture ceremony at the Dewan Sri Penang in George Town. Also present was Penang Chief Police Officer Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi.

The ceremony, which was officiated by Yang diPertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas, was to honour police veterans who had served during the Emergency (from 1948 to 1960), the Communist Insurgency (from 1968 to 1989 in peninsular Malaysia and from 1962 to 1990 in Sabah and Sarawak).

A total of 185 veterans were awarded the Pingat Jasa Pahlawan Negara today, including nine who were honoured posthumously.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/police-crackdown-on-indian-gangs-reignites-before-deepavali#sthash.FUyPlV1S.dpuf

Cargo worker claims trial to 'mischievous' statement

 

A 24-year-old cargo worker claimed trial in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court to a charge of making a mischievous statement on Facebook, resulting in public fear over his alleged threat to bomb five places.

Syafiq Abdul Wahid is said to have made the statement on the Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu (PKGM) (The Association of Malay Secret Societies ) Facebook page.

He is alleged to have posted: "Amaran kepada pihak berkuasa: Kami dari jemaah Pekida dan beberapa NGO lain termasuk PKGM akan bom tempat yang dimurkai Allah Azzawajalla"

(Warning to the authorities: we from Pekida and several other NGOs including PKGM will bomb several places which have aroused the wrath of Allah.)

He further named those places as the Shah Alam liquor brewery; Pavillion, Kuala Lumpur; Bukit Aman; Batu Caves temple and the National Mosque.

Syafiq allegedly made the posting at a petrol kiosk in Taman Kinrara, in Bandar Kinrara within the Subang Jaya district.

The accused was represented by Mohd Radzlan Jamaluddin.

Sessions judge Yasmin Abdul Razak imposed bail at RM2,000 with one surety and fixed Oct 30 for mention.

It was previously reported that Syafiq was being investigated for sedition for the parody posted on his Facebook page.

The page chronicles the life of a fictional thug who goes by the monicker 'Ayah' (godfather).

If found guilty, Syafiq stands to face a maximum two years’ jail or fine or both.

Anwar latest target of sedition dragnet

VIDEO | 7.04 mins

The Sedition Act crackdown continues with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim being the latest to be investigated over remarks uttered three years ago.

According to PKR legal adviser Latheefa Koya, the probe concerns a speech he delivered during a political rally in Gombak.

Newly appointed Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali was also investigated over the same issue.

"Azmin's statement had already been taken in 2011, but looks like they (the police and the authorities) are re-opening the case," said Latheefa (right).

She said the police are scheduled to record Anwar’s statement on Friday at the PKR headquarters.

PKR's Padang Serai MP N Surendran, who himself is facing two charges under the Sedition Act, would accompany Anwar when his statement is taken.

The case has been classified under Section 4 of the Sedition Act.

Anwar was scheduled to launch the DNA (Datuk Najib Altantuya) campaign at the ceramah held near Taman Melawati on March 25.

Pandemonium erupted when the police light strike force stormed the ceramah some 15 minutes into his speech before an audience numbering around 1,500.

Anwar has already been sentenced to five-years jail by the Court of Appeal, which found him guilty of sodomy and overturned the earlier acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Besides Azmin, the police also recorded statements from Hulu Klang assemblyperson Saari Sungib and Batu Caves assemblyperson Amiruddin Shari.

A smear on moderate Najib's image

Meanwhile PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the sedition charge against Anwar reflected poorly on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's image as a moderate Muslim leader.

"His (Najib's) image consultants are busy labelling him as a Muslim leader who promotes democracy and moderation, even though these labels don't reflect reality," he said in a statement.

Quoting Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, Nik Nazmi added that Najib and his ministers have a moral responsibility to God and man to ensure the freedom of others.

"To be free is to protect the freedom of others and their dignities," he quoted Tariq as saying.

Ambiga’s NGO calls on Azmin Ali to make reforms

Azmin may have newly assumed his post, but C4 already has recommendations for him.

PETALING JAYA- The Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4), the new NGO headed by former Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, released a series of recommendations for the newly minted Selangor Menteri Besar (MB), Azmin Ali.

Saying that Azmin cannot be afforded a “honeymoon period,” C4 called upon Azmin to espouse “competent, credible and clean administrative policies” in order to regain the confidence of Selangor’s electorate, who had to endure eight months of political impasse between PKR and former MB Khalid Ibrahim.

The C4 called for eight key changes to be made in Azmin’s administration. Firstly, clean, transparent and accountable administration, calling into question Azmin’s past as an UMNO politician and “unflattering reputation”. They also recommended an open government relationship, which involves the government and civil society cooperating for better accountability. Public participation was also highlighted in C4′s statement, bringing up the heavy handed decisions of the previous administration on the Kidex highway and other projects.

Prudent financial administration was also called for, as Selangor had RM3 billion in it’s coffers from Khalid’s administration and must be used prudently and in an accountable manner.
C4 also demanded that the state’s Freedom of Information Act make available access to all important state projects. Local elections and open tenders were also part of C4′s recommendations, claiming local council had “inadequately qualified councillors tasked with making decisions they are incapable of,” and that an open tender system would eliminate cronyism and ultimately allow the public to keep an eye on the public service delivery system.

Finally, the C4 asked that a public service Ombudsman be implemented in the name of good governance. Describing it as an “independent oversight mechanism that is tasked to oversee and manage better public services in the State,” it would prove Selangor to be transparent, which is necessary for a “corrupt free state.”

Sultan played his cards skilfully

He is no novice in the game of thrones.

When PKR sacked Khalid Ibrahim from the party, the Sultan of Selangor knew that it was game over for the 14th Menteri Besar (MB) of Selangor. It was no longer a question of whether Khalid would have to go. It was a question of when and how plus who should replace him.

The Selangor State Constitution puts certain things beyond the control of a Sultan. However, there are certain things that fall within his powers and prerogatives.

He has very skilfully played his cards, so that his critics were only able to point out what he should “morally” do rather than what he should “legally” do.

And this was what all those senior lawyers and constitutional experts did when they spoke to the press. They constantly reminded the Sultan about what he should morally do in the selection of an MB to replace Khalid.

In terms of seniority, the other eight Malay rulers consider the Sultan of Selangor as second only to the Sultan of Kedah. This is because he became the Raja Muda of Selangor way back in 1960.

That was more than half a century ago. Hence, he is no novice when it comes to playing the game of thrones. He observed what the rulers did as well as the mistakes they made, which were many. And he swore that he would not blunder like they did.

No doubt it was Pakatan Rakyat that nominated Khalid as the Selangor MB in 2008. However, the Sultan made one thing clear to Khalid: the party can only nominate the MB but it is the Sultan who appoints him.

The MB does not pledge loyalty to the party. He pledges loyalty to the Sultan, the state and the rakyat. Once he is an MB, the party is no longer important to him.

And this was exactly how Khalid ran Selangor. He gave his allegiance to the Sultan, the state and the rakyat and practically ignored what Anwar Ibrahim and the party wanted.

And this was why Anwar and the party wanted Khalid out.

The Sultan, however, refused to accept Khalid’s resignation. He wanted to first resolve the issue of the successor. Only when Khalid’s successor had been decided would he agree to Khalid’s resignation.

The reason for this is that he would not accept an Anwar nominee. The new MB must be someone who, like Khalid, is prepared to pledge loyalty and allegiance to the Sultan, the state and the rakyat.

And that was why it took a long time to decide who the new Selangor MB would be.

Azmin knew he was going to get the job (which he had wanted even in 2008) only if he was prepared to agree to the Sultan’s condition that he be the MB of the Sultan and not the MB of Anwar or PKR.

We shall see over the next 100 days what type of MB Azmin is going to be. Is he going to be the Sultan’s MB or Anwar’s MB? And the way Azmin conducts himself will determine whether the MB’s office is going to have a good relationship with the palace or whether we are going to see conflict between the MB’s office and the palace every step of the way.

Can Zahid also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?

By Lim Kit Siang Blog

Yesterday, Malaysiakini in its report “Zahid swears to God sedition probes to go on” quoted the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi taking an oath to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint.

In a speech at an UMNO Lumut event on Sept. 20, Zahid said: “As the minister responsible for the Royal Malaysian Police, wallahi billahi tallahi (I swear to Allah) that if police reports are lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue, the police will start investigations immediately, if possible within 24 hours.”

Zahid said although he can promise an investigation, the decision on whether or not to prosecute can only be made by the attorney-general.

I want to ask Zahid whether he can also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?

For instance, former UMNO Minister and Selangor Barisan Nasional/UMNO Chairperson Datuk Noh Omar threatened “an uprising” at a gathering of some 500 people organised by a coalition of NGOs called Gerak Daulat in Shah Alam two days ago.

Will Zahid ensure that police will initiate investigations “within 24 hours” if a police report on sedition is lodged against Noh Omar.
Or even closer home, can Zahid undertake that police will initiate investigations “within 24 hours” if a police report on sedition is lodged against the Home Minister himself?

Zahid’s speech in the Pengakalan Kubor by-election yesterday, as reported by The Malay Mail Online “Zahid Hamidi calls Malays to defend rights, says ‘over our dead bodies’”, about what happened in Perak during the 2009 Constitutional crisis is clearly seditious in trying to incite inter-racial hatred apart from being a tissue of lies and falsehoods.

The Malay Mail Online report said:

“Zahid, who is also home minister, cited incidents surrounding the Perak constitutional crisis to back his claim that divisions among the Malays had given the predominantly Chinese opposition party the DAP space to pit the two races against each other.

“Zahid said the Perak crisis was a good example of how Malays have become so politically divided that it was willing to insult the monarchy, a symbol of Malay sovereignty.

“He suggested some Malays were willingly doing the dirty job for the Chinese by putting their lives on the line.

“’I remember during the Perak crisis, they were protesting (against the Barisan Nasional takeover) at the time, they tried to block the entrance to the state building. You know who were the ones lying down on the streets? All Malays.

“’Where were the DAP people? They were throwing stones at the Raja Muda… they also threw stones at my car. I was there. When they were doing this, those lying down on the road were all Malays,’ he said.”

I am shocked at Zahid’s most irresponsible, inflammatory and seditious speech which were based on lies and falsehoods.

Can Zahid give a public assurance that police investigations will commence against him “within 24 hours” of any police report lodged against him for committing the offence of sedition for such incendiary, inflammatory and seditious speech based on lies and falsehoods?

New Selangor MB Gives Assurance On Good Administration

KLANG, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- New Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali on Tuesday gave the assurance that the state government administration he heads would continue to drive sustainable economic growth and distribute wealth fairly to the people.

The administration would implement a concept of development of the state based on good stewardship, transparency and accountability, he told a press conference at the Istana Alam Shah here.

He pledged to discharge his duties with full responsibility, honesty and integrity to maintain Selangor as a developed, harmonious and united state.

Mohamed Azmin, 50, took his oath of office as the 15th menteri besar of Selangor before the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, at the palace.

The PKR deputy president took over from Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who had held the post for more than six years from 2008.

Asked whether he would carry on implementing the programmes planned by his predecessor, Mohamed Azmin said it was his responsibility to do so.

He explained that Abdul Khalid had laid a good foundation in the administration of the state and he would ensure that the new governance was implemented in a responsible and clean manner in the interests of the people.

"It becomes my responsibility to continue the people-friendly policies that emphasise fair distribution and a clean administration in the interests of the people," he said.

Mohamed Azmin said he would start work tomorrow at the State Secretariat in Shah Alam.

Later, at a thanksgiving reception at his mother's house in Kuala Lumpur, he said the new administration should focus and move forward.

"The (menteri besar) crisis has been going on for far too long. I feel we have the responsibility to end the crisis immediately and get to work as usual," he said.

Stating that he held no malice against anyone in Selangor, he said: "What's important here is that the rakyat (people) of Selangor will benefit from the development. We want to ensure all the agreements signed must be transparent and implemented."

Meanwhile, Umno Information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said there was nothing significant in the appointment of Mohamed Azmin as the new menteri besar for the administration would be riding on the success achieved by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government over 15 terms.

Ahmad, who is deputy finance minister, said the BN government had contributed 95 per cent of the development that the state had undergone.

He said the long-drawn 'political drama' in Selangor reflected the discord among the political parties of Pakatan Rakyat that he said began with the so-called 'Kajang Move' to have PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim appointed as the menteri besar.

"Nothing was gained out of the Kajang Move," he said, adding that there was only a waste of time and energy, flight of investors, unmanaged water resources and disorganised waste disposal, among others.