A badly needed message of hope

Khairy has set Umno Youth on a bold new path, but we'll have to wait and see whether he'll be true to his message of moderation.

FMT

Khairy Jamaluddin and Muyhiddin Yassin have hit the nail on the head. The speech the Deputy Prime Minister gave on Tuesday and the speech given by the Umno Youth chief coincide on several key points, not the least of which is the emphasis on the need for the party to go down – or rather go back – to the grassroots. They called for an end to useless rhetoric in favour of letting actions speak for the party.

Khairy’s unsurprisingly progressive speech reflects his move towards the middle ground, defensive of the enshrined rights of the Malays but recognizing that Malaysia belongs to both the natives and the immigrants who took up citizenship and, of course, their descendants. And citizenship, he sort of tells us, carries with it a responsibility: citizens are obliged to uplift one another.

The speech looks toward building the youth as a palpable moving force in the Malaysian polity, and takes a brutally honest look at why the Malays have not uplifted themselves despite the wealth of affirmation action programmes dealt out by the government.

Dose of reality

Khairy toes the government line on several points. Nevertheless, his speech is the dose of reality the assembly has been needing for a long time.

Any article claiming to sum up the speech has to view it in the context of its totality, which is a call to national unity. Yes, there was the usual chest-thumping over the need for Malay rights to be respected, the usual spiel about how much the Malays have sacrificed for non-Malays to become citizens of Malaysia, but all this was framed within a call to unity, boldly articulated: “We no longer bring up the matter of the citizenship rights that were accorded, and we accept the fact that our non-Bumiputera friends are people of this country as citizens. My country, your country, our country!”

While it may not be technically true (in fact, it may be an outright lie, but we’ll write it off as over-exaggeration) that there are no Malay voices questioning the citizenship rights of the non-Malays, for this kind of message to come out of an Umno general assembly is nearly unprecedented, to the point of being novel for it’s rarity. Though Khairy did harp a little on non-Malays not respecting the privileges of the Malays, it was nonetheless uplifting to hear an Umno leader acknowledge that this country also belongs to the non-Malays who know no home other than Malaysia. It was a step forward, and one that we could stand to see a lot more often.

His remarks on vernacular education also concurred with some of the opinions previously expressed in FMT columns, largely in regard to vernacular schools needing to do their part in fostering national unity. As previously noted in our columns, vernacular school students lack fluency in Bahasa, a grave oversight as it is the national language and thus the link between Malaysians of different cultural backgrounds.

Khairy’s blunt acknowledgement of the failure of Umno to uplift the Malays was also not disappointing as he did not fall into the familiar rhetoric of Chinese-bashing so common at Umno’s annual assemblies. Noting that there had been “lots of rhetoric” on the issue, he asked where the results were. A good question indeed. He pointed out that this extended beyond education and economy, all the way to social ills that plague newspaper headlines.

But the pertinent question is how Khairy intends to move forward with the issues. This is where his agenda and Muyhiddin’s truly converge – a reinvention of what the party needs to do to remain relevant. Both Muyhiddin and Khairy acknowledged in their speeches that rhetoric was not getting Umno anywhere and the party must return to the grassroots to discover what’s happening on the ground. Observe Khairy’s exhortation to action:

“I want to give all of you a task; a KPI. Please identify how many Malay professionals you have in your division; please count how many Malay contractors receive government contracts in your division; please count how many young Malays enter university in your division; find out how many young Malays are plagued by social ills in your division. Umno Youth will form a special secretariat at the central level to assist with the monitoring and the implementation of the Malay agenda at the grassroots level and introduce a Compliance Scorecard for this purpose. We always have plans but don’t do so well with implementation.”

In essence, Khairy is directing Umno Youth to set foot on the ground and reconnect with the Malay struggle. The struggles of a community change over time, and with the impending implementation of the GST, the removal of the fuel subsidy, the rising cost of living, the inability to afford housing, there is no more pertinent time to redefine what is the struggle of the modern Malay in Malaysia’s troubled socio-economic situation.

But now, we remove the rose-tinted glasses and try to look beyond the speech and at the politics behind it.

We must note that Khairy did mention to reporters that he had to change his speech once the deputy party president finished his at the joint Pemuda, Wanita and Puteri assembly launch as it touched on many topics that he himself intended to address. The political implications of that remark are interesting indeed, especially when you consider that Muyhiddin essentially declared himself Mahathir’s man in his speech last night, which challenged some of the party president’s policies and decisions.

Power shift

So what is Khairy’s game here? Is he sensing the tilting power shift in Umno and aligning himself with Mahathir? Or perhaps he truly did intend to address those topics all along, a departure from the party line he’s firmly toed during his tenure. Either way, he has to be cognizant of the implications of Muyhiddin’s speech, which sent Najib scrambling to Parliament instead of making his presence felt at the assembly. Khairy also knows better than anyone that standing in the way of Mahathir never bodes well, as seen during his fall from grace once former prime minister Abdullah Badawi was ousted from the post.

Either way, we must remind Khairy to be a man of his word. He has set Umno Youth down a bold new path, and deviating from it will earn him the scorn of constituents who have bought into the new politics he has been selling. In truth, Khairy has a lot of political capital among the youth – a support base that will mature into voters – and he must work to keep that support base intact should he wish to ascend to the prime minister’s seat. The image of the moderate and the actions to support that image are increasingly important to Khairy’s ability to appeal across the board, and a failure to uphold that image would be tantamount to political suicide.

After all, the fall of Najib’s credibility is largely seen in his failure to uphold his word and promises to the electorate, and he now stands on the brink of being deposed, with Mahathir’s machinery closing in fast. Najib’s quest for popularity, which he has carried on at the expense of showing the guts to take the issues by the horns, plays a big part in why his message of wasatiyyah is discounted as merely hot air to be blown at world leaders while the situation at home grows progressively worse.

But for now, we’ll give Khairy the benefit of the doubt and hold him to his word that he intends to lead with a message of “hope instead of destruction”. Do not doubt that there are many eyes watching the charismatic leader, and under that spotlight only he will determine if he is indeed our hope for sane governance.

Love For Sale in India

By Neeta Lal

One woman’s story of enslavement in the sex industry

India’s parliamentarians again are debating whether prostitution should be legalized or decriminalized. It is an argument that a 36-year-old sex worker in a brothel in New Delhi’s infamous GB Road is watching closely. She gives her name only as “Lata.”

The story of how Lata got to GB Road, Asia's largest and the world's second largest red-light district, housing an estimated 12,000 of India’s 3 million-odd sex workers, is a sad one lived by far too many of India’s girls and women and depressingly will inevitably be lived by more as more women enter the work force and a steadily growing economy gives men the money to visit sex workers.

Lata was born in the Etawah village of Uttar Pradesh, she says, ironically to school teacher parents.

She had no idea her life would take her, at the age of 16, to 20 years of prostitution. She had three siblings, she said, all of whom studied at a local government school where her father once taught.

But when she was in her 10th year of schooling, the wife of a rich farmer neighbour died in childbirth. He was Lata’s father’s friend. He offered the equivalent of U$4,000 for the 16 year old girl. Her father, an alcoholic, quickly accepted the offer.

“Mom wasn't too happy about the arrangement, but she capitulated as dad had threatened her with dire consequences,” Lata said. “I was mortified at the thought of marrying an old man but succumbed under familial pressure and the thought of how so much money would dramatically alter the lives of my brother and two little sisters. However, two days after the wedding, panic set in. I realized I'd rather die than live for the rest of my life with a husband old enough to be my father.”

Telling her family of her decision to run away would spell trouble, so she thought of suicide, she said.

“Then another thought crossed my mind -- why not run away to a different city? So in the dead of night, five days after my marriage, I ran away from my husband's home after packing in my clothes and some jewellery my mother had given me. I boarded the local bus to Delhi, hoping for a fresh, clean start.”

On the bus, she met what she described as an attractive young man who suggested she visit a women's organization in Delhi which could offer me vocational training and even a job.

"’A place to stay and food could also be a part of the deal,’" he said. “I was hooked. Upon reaching Delhi, the guy took me to this large old Haveli [a dilapidated mansion] on GB Road to meet the ‘manager.’ I had no clue what I was heading for. A few girls were learning Bollywood moves from a dance master on the premises wearing loud makeup and gaudy clothes.”

The manager, a woman in her 50s – the madam – told Lata that if she could learn to dance, she would line up stage shows in return for a commission.

“I didn't suspect anything as the lady was very nice. She gave me a room (a dingy one which I had to share with another girl) and food in exchange for doing housekeeping on the premises,” she says “Once I got acclimatized to my new environs, the madam gradually started sending me `clients'. At first I was repulsed by the thought of selling my body. But what other choice did I have? Going back home wasn't an option. Nor was I educated enough to get a job.”

Besides, she said, “the other girls told me the money was okay. Plus there were tips too.

People from all strata of society – politicians, students, professionals, rickshaw pullers – visit her and her confreres. “Some of them are decent while the others create problems by insisting on not using condoms. As madams hate to turn a client away, they occasionally force us to have unprotected sex. As rates for such encounters are double, few girls object.”

In India, sex workers hardly undergo the tests HIV/AIDS, which jeopardizes their lives. Worse, a major chunk of earnings (usually US$20 per client) is taken away by pimps who bring in costumers. These dalals further have to send hafta (bribe) to the police to run their businesses.

“The cops are another nuisance. They want sex – for free! If we refuse, we're harassed, or our regular clients prevented from visiting us or worse, beaten up.”

Every year in India millions of young girls go missing, fathers sell their vulnerable girls, husbands unconscionably sell their wives, traffickers inject steroids to young girls to make them look like adults...

“There are plenty of such horror cases in our brothel too,” Lati says. “Most of us come from the poorest states and from the lowest strata of society. Exploitation of sex-workers is a common practice as the sex trade is proliferating due to social media.”

As India has become famous for medical tourism, with westerners flocking to the country for inexpensive medical care, it is becoming famous for sex tourism, with many Indian cities turning into sex tourism hubs.

“The government isn't doing much to stop prostitution because poor lives have little value,” Lata says.

Another dark aspect of sex-trade industry is pornography. Though pornography in India is a punishable offence, thousands of such websites run unregulated. The business has gone virtual and pimps are increasingly shifting their work online for fear of being caught. Social networking sites are turning into virtual brothels.

“Obviously, the government isn't serious about tackling this issue,” she says. “More than the debate over legalization of prostitution, we need to remove pornographic websites as they set in chain an undesirable chain of events. Pornography fuels the demand for prostitution leading to an increase in trafficking of women and children. Some people feel that legalizing prostitution will check the exploitation of sex-workers from police and pimps while keeping AIDS in check. I don’t think so. Sex is a slavery in any form. The trauma and exploitation of prostitutes at brothels is unimaginable and legalizing the trade will only lead to increased trafficking of young girls.”

People say prostitution is the oldest profession in the world, she concludes. “Is it a profession? I'd say it’s the oldest crime committed against humanity. Rather than wasting time over debates and TV discussions, why doesn't the government focus on rehabilitating us and providing us some decent work. We should be integrated with the rest of society. All human beings deserve to live a life of dignity including us.”

Call for Parliamentary Select Committee to mobilise support for moderation and draft laws and measures to deal with the Islamic State threat

By Lim Kit Siang Blog

DAP welcomes the White Paper “Ke Arah Menangani Ancaman Kumpulan Islamic State” and the Prime Minister’s motion seeking Parliament’s support with Government’s efforts to deal with the Islamic State threat and to “menyeru semua lapisan rakyat Malaysia mempergiatkan usaha dan komitmen mereka untuk bersama-sama menyokong Kerajaan menangani ancaman berkenaan”.

Before I proceed further, let me state that the White Paper on the Islamic State is one of the three unfinished business which Najib should have completed in the present meeting of Parliament which ends tomorrow.

While welcoming the White Paper on Islamic State, I want to place on record the people’s disappointment and disapproval that the Prime Minister has refused to complete the other two unfinished business before Parliament adjourns tomorrow, viz:

Firstly, the Report of the Royal Commission of Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS), which is meant to end once-and-for-all the 40-year problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah which had multiplied 15 to 19 times in four decades from 100,000 in the seventies to 1.5 million to 1.9 million at present.

The Report of the RCIIIS was presented to the Federal Government on May 14, and the Prime Minister’s failure to present it to Parliament for more than six months and to allow for a full parliamentary debate, can only mean one thing – the complete absence of political will of the Barisan Nasional Federal Government and confirming that the RCI was just a Barisan Nasional ruse to secure votes from the Sabah voters for the 13GE in May last year.

The establishment of the Joseph Pairin Kitingan RCIIIS Report Review Committee – with no details as to who are its members, its terms of reference and time frame – is just the latest in a 40-year “merry-go-round” sleight-of-hand to kick the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah into the distant and indefinite future until the population of illegal immigrants in Sabah exceed the two million mark, completely changing the political demography and socio-economic landscape, reducing native Sabahans into strangers and a minority in their own land.

Twenty-eight years ago in Parliament in 1986, I had warned that if the illegal enfranchisement of illegal immigrants in Sabah continued unimpeded, in a matter of three years, the demographic distribution of the 48 state assembly seats with 21 Kadazan majority seats, 8 Chinese majority seats and 19 Malay majority seats would be so altered and gerrymandered that it could end up as 16 Kadazan majority seats, 2 Chinese majority seats, and 30 Malay/Filipino/Indonesian seats.

The people of Sabah are entitled to know whether the political demography would be further aggravated and worsened in another electoral constituency redelineation and this is one reason why immediate publication and implementation of the Report of the RCIIIS is imperative.

Although tomorrow is the last day of the current budget meeting of Parliament, it is still possible for the Report of the RCIIIS to be presented before Parliament adjourns tomorrow as the RCIIIS Report had been submitted to the Federal Government for six-and-a-half months, and I urge the Prime Minister to issue a directive for the Report of the RCIIIS to be tabled in Parliament tomorrow, followed by a parliamentary debate.

Secondly, a Ministerial statement by the Prime Minister –cum-Finance Minister on the roiling multi-billion ringgit 1MDB scandal and assurance that he is not trying to shut down public and parliamentary query and debate on the latest financial scandal by the threat of legal suit against the DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua.

In fact, Najib should give a public undertaking that his threat of a legal suit against Tony Pua will not be used to shut down any public questioning of any aspect of 1MDB deals.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister had asked: “Where have we gone wrong?”,

This is one aspect where the Barisan Nasional Government have gone wrong.

I can still remember vividly that when Hussein Onn was the third Prime Minister, he insisted on tabling a White Paper in Parliament in 1979 on the Price Waterhouse Report on the Bank Rakyat scandal, which involved malpractices, mismanagement and misuse of public trust and funds to the tune of RM65 million.

This sum is now chickenfeed, for financial scandals are in the tens of billions of ringgit which do not cause the Prime Minister or Finance Minister (or one who is both) to bat an eyelid!

If Hussein Onn was prepared to table a White Paper on a RM65 million financial scandal, why has Najib refused to submit to parliamentary accountability and to issue a Ministerial statement on the multi-billion ringgit 1MDB scandal?

Again, it is not too late as a Ministerial statement on the 1MDB scandal could be tabled in Parliament tomorrow, and I urge Najib to do so.

Coming back to the subject at hand, the White Paper on the Islamic State threat, Najib is probably the only head of government in the world to have publicly praised the Islamic State (formerly ISIL/ISIS) terrorists, when he exhorted UMNO members on June 24 to emulate what he described as the “brave exploits” of ISIL/ISIS for UMNO to survive.

Although Najib has since denounced Islamic State unambiguously and unconditionally at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 26, it had not been able to completely wipe out the horror of his ill-advised initial praise of Islamic State in June.

The White Paper indicated that the authorities had been tracking the activities of Malaysians suspected of being related to Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2012, and if so, Najib owes Parliament and the nation a proper explanation how he could be so badly advised as to publicly accord praise to ISIL/ISIS terrorists for their “brave exploits” five days before the declaration of the IS caliphate by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on June 29, 2014 – showing either poor security intelligence or abysmal judgment by the Prime Minister.

However, when Najib made amends and unambiguously and unconditionally denounced Islamic State when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27, 2014, I did not hesitate to immediately commend him for his speech and his call on the global community to defeat violent extremism and religious intolerance.

I had earlier urged Najib to unambiguously and unconditionally denounce Islamic State in his United Nations General Assembly speech for three reasons:

• Firstly, Najib’s laudatory first reference to ISIL/ISIS on June 24, akin to glorification, which sent out a wrong message about Malaysia’s stand against Islamic militants, extremists and terrorists. In fact, former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir was incensed by Najib’s initial praise for ISIL/ISIS, coming out with a downright condemnation of ISIS on August 16 while making the caustic comment “I do not know if he knew what he was saying, but if Malaysia emulates Isis, this country will not be stable. Malaysia will become a very violent country.”
  
• Secondly, the daily ISIS sadistic and horrific human rights violations, including targeted killings, trafficking, sexual abuse, abductions, forced conversions and beheadings which run contrary to the Global Movement of Moderates and Wasatiyah advocated by Najib to reject all form of violence and extremism, whether political or religious.
  
• Thirdly, as Prime Minister of multi-religious Malaysia, with Islam as the official religion, Najib should speak loud and clear to lead the world, including Islamic nations, to condemn the terrorism and inhumanity of ISIS, not only as an affront and anathema to Islam as a religion of peace but for its crimes against humanity.

It would have been better if Najib’s unqualified condemnation of the Islamic State militants and extremists had been made very much earlier instead of waiting for the UN General Assembly on Sept. 27, some three months after his foolish and ill-advised praise for ISIL/ISIS on June 24, but it was better late than never.

A day before Najib’s speech at the UNGA, an international coalition of Muslim scholars had delivered a withering condemnation of IS by unpicking its doctrine in an open letter and declaring its existence “an offence to Islam”.

More than 120 Sunni imams and academics, including some of the Muslim world’s most respected scholars, signed the 18-page document which outlined 24 separate grounds on which the terror group violated the tenets of Islam.

The letter, addressed to the head of IS, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, was significant not only because of its signatories but also its detailed references to the Koran and other Islamic texts to counter the justifications offered by the extremists for their bloody rampage across a swathe of Syria and Iraq.

The closely-argued document singled out the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines (which have since been followed by other atrocious executions, including the French Hervé Gourdel on Sept. 24, Britisher Alan Henning on Oct 3, American Peter Kasig on Nov. 16, as well as Kurds and Syrians) by saying the men were “emissaries” and their killings as “unquestionably forbidden”.

It also took ISIS to task over its countless acts of brutality and massacres under the guise of jihad, or a holy struggle. While acknowledging to Al-Baghdadi that “you and your fighters are fearless” and ready to die for their cause, the scholars stated their actions are “not jihad at all, but rather, warmongering and criminality”.

The documents cited multiple examples of atrocities committed by IS fighters, describing the murder of hundreds of ethnic Yazidis in northern Iraq as “abominable crimes” and describes its attitudes to women and children as morally repugnant.

The letter concluded: “You have misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder. This is a great wrong and an offence to Islam, to Muslims and to the entire world.”

The letter, whose signatories come from Sudan to Iceland and include the grand mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Shawqi Allam, and the mufti of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, was the latest from leading Muslims around the world condemning IS and its doctrine.

The White Paper said: “Malaysia berdiri teguh bersama masyarakat antarabangsa untuk menentang kumpulan pengganas ini kerana perjuangan IS mencermarkan nama baik Islam dan bertentangan dengan nilai kemanusiaan.”

In fact, the Global Movement of Moderates should be in the forefront of an international campaign to mobilise world opinion against the IS terrorists, as Najib had repeatedly made the clarion call in international fora, including thrice at the United Nations General Assembly, for “moderates of all countries, of all religions, to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalize the extremists”.

As Najib has repeatedly stated, “the real divide is not between East and West or between the developed and developing worlds or between Muslims, Christians and Jews; it is between moderates and extremists of all religions”.

Unfortunately, the Global Movement of Moderates initiated by Najib is unable to rise to the challenge of the times to mobilise national and international opinion against the violent extremism and religious intolerance in Syria and Iraq as it is desperately fending off attacks from extremists and intolerant right-wing groups in the country for being “seditious” as a result of a “white terror” spree by Najib’s government in the past few months through a sedition dragnet to stifle freedom of speech and legitimate criticism and dissent – which ironically granted immunity and impunity to the extremist and intolerant elements in the country for serious violations of the law.

Najib must align his domestic policies with his international pronouncements or he would forfeit all respect and credibility, whether at home or in the international arena.

Just as Islam is not under siege internationally, it is not under siege in Malaysia, and those who use the name of Islam to justify extremist and intolerant outbursts and actions must be contained, not only internationally, but also nationally.

This was why in my statement immediately after Najib’s speech at the UN General Assembly, I had made two proposals for Najib to align his domestic policies with his international pronouncements on moderation and the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM), namely :

• to end the “white terror” sedition spree in the past weeks through malicious and selective prosecution and investigation under the Sedition Act, drop all Sedition charges, and empower the Global Movement of Moderates to launch national and international initiatives to promote moderation and reject all forms of violence and extremism in the face of the IS threat; and
  
• move a motion when Parliament meets on Oct 7 to condemn in unambiguous and unconditional terms the extremism, violence and barbarism of IS.
  The motion to condemn IS now before the House, but Najib has still to align his domestic policies with his international pronouncements on moderation and the establishment of GMM.
  

In his first speech to the UN General Assembly on 27th Sept. 2010 when he first broached the idea of a Global Movement of Moderate (GMM), to promote international peace and harmony and counter Islamophobia which demonize Islam and offend the one and a half billion adherents of the religion, he praised the group of American Christians who had “worked tirelessly to prevent the threatened burning of the Quran with the compelling argument that it is in fact un-Christian to burn the Quran”.

Najib said at the time that this was a clear example of what can be achieved “when moderates in each faith stand up to the extremists that are trying to hijack the universal value of our religions”.

Yet, Najib was not prepared to come to the forefront to denounce Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali for his threat in January 2013 to burn the Malay-language Bible with the compelling argument that it was un-Islamic to burn the Bible or any other holy books of any religion – not to mention the double standards of his Attorney-General, refusing to prosecute Ibrahim Ali whether under the Sedition Act or other laws while sanctioning sedition prosecutions against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, activists and intellectuals like law lecturer Dr. Azmi Sharom and Ali Abdul Jalil, who had to flee Malaysia and seek asylum and protection in Sweden because of oppression from authorities and gangsters.

In his Aidiladha message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak reiterated that he would keep faith with the “moderation” pledge he reiterated at the 69th United Nations General Assembly in September this year.

Najib should realize that his wasatiyyah (moderation) campaign of justice, balance and excellence would have no credibility whatsoever unless he is seen as upholding all these principles not only in the international arena but also in his government policies inside the country.

This is why all eyes are on the UMNO General Assembly this week, as all Malaysians, Umno and non-Umno, Malays and non-Malays, are asking the question of “Where have we gone wrong” in promoting wasatiyyah not only under the present Prime Minister but in the 57-year history of the nation that a former Chief Justice (Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad) could deliver a keynote address (ucaptama) at the National Unity Convention of Malay and Muslim NGOs on Sunday warning that the Malays could suffer a fate similar to Red Indians in the United States unless PAS and UMNO unite to allegedly stop DAP from attaining federal power.

In the first place, DAP had never said or believed that it could attain federal power without being part of a Malay-dominated political coalition.
This is not the only falsehood or fallacy in the thesis of the former Chief Justice, which runs counter to all the three Wasatiyyah principles of justice, balance and excellence.

Is Najib, Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy UMNO President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the UMNO Vice Presidents, Hishammuddin, Zahid and Shafie Apdal admitting that UMNO as a party for the Malays, had failed the Malays after ruling Malaya and then Malaysia for 57 years under six UMNO Prime Ministers to the extent that Malays now risk suffering a fate similar to the Red Indians in the United States – and that this horrible outcome could only be averted and the Malays saved from such a fate if PAS unite with UMNO to save the Malays.

Will Najib and Hishammuddin admit that their respective fathers, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, had been such failures as the second and third Prime Ministers as to place the Malays in Malaysia under such a risk?

The “Red Indian warning” has been a favourite ploy of Tun Dr. Mahathir. Is Mahathir admitting that he had been such a n abysmal failure as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003 that he has left the Malays after over two decades of premiership risking the fate of Red Indians in the United States?

We are confronted with the challenge whether we are prepared to be moderates in our own country, which is the real test whether we can be true moderates in the world in a Global Movement of Moderates campaign to lead the battlecry to isolate and marginalize all forms of extremism, intolerance and terrorism.

After governing the nation for 57 years, UMNO should be more and more inclusive and less and less exclusive – but the reverse is taking place, becoming even more exclusive and less inclusive than in the past.

Is UMNO prepared to draw the line in the sand, and the UMNO General Assembly this week demonstrate that UMNO stands solidly for moderation to marginalize extremism, intolerance and bigotry in Malaysia”?

The motion before the House asked for support for government policies and efforts to deal with the threat from the militant Islamic State – “menyokong Kerajaan melaksanakan dasar-dasar dan usaha-usaha yang diperkenalkan menangani ancaman kumpulan militan Islamic State; melulus dan merestui dasar-dasar dan usaha-usaha yang diperkenal oleh Kerajaan untuk menangani ancaman kumpulan militan Islamic State” and “menyeru semua lapisan rakyat Malaysia mempergiatkan usaha dan komitmen mereka untuk bersama-sama menyokong Kerajaan menangani ancaman berkenaan”.

If the battle for moderation, the campaign of the Global Movement for Moderates, is to succeed nationally and internationally, in the face of the threat posed by Islamic State and such-like extremist, intolerant and terrorist organizations, it must be a national effort uniting all Malaysians of all ethnicities and faiths which transcend race, religion or politics.

For this reason, I call for a Parliamentary Select Committee to mobilise support for moderation and draft laws to deal with the Islamic State threat, for the threat by extremist, intolerant and terrorist organizations like Islamic State cannot be countered and won unless it is an all-Malaysian, and not just UMNO or Barisan Nasional, effort – especially at a time when the UMNO/BN Government is only a minority government with minority support from the people of Malaysia.

Such a Parliamentary Select Committee to mobilise support for moderation and to draft laws and measures to deal with the Islamic State threat should be formed before Parliament adjourns till March tomorrow.

[Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang on the Prime Minister’s motion on the White Paper on Islamic State in Parliament on Wednesday, 26th November 2014]

After four-year wait, Malaysia-born teen finally gets legal recognition as a citizen

Malay Mail
by JOSEPH SIPALAN

High Court ordered the federal government to recognise him as a Malaysian citizen and issue him a MyKad by the end of this year.

Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng ruled that the federal authorities had acted unfairly in rejecting two earlier applications by Navin Moorthy to be granted his citizenship, describing it as “unjust and too harsh”.

She said there is no provision under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution that expressly states that the marriage of a child’s parents must be officially registered to qualify for citizenship, as claimed by the National Registration Department and the Home Ministry.

Hue added that because there is no clear definition of the “special circumstances” outlined under Article 15A, it should be interpreted to cover the various protections afforded to children by Malaysia’s ratification of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“The primary consideration should be what is best for the child,” she said in her judgement, adding that there are several statutes in force in the country that abide by the convention’s requirement that puts the welfare of children as a priority.

Hue also rebuked the authorities for having “glossed over” the fact that a Malaysian passport — which was issued to Navin — can only be issued to citizens, and that the approval of the teen’s passport amounted to an implicit recognition of his citizenship.

In view of the authorities’ discrepancies, Hue ordered the National Registration Department (NRD) to immediately recognise the boy’s citizenship and to issue him a MyKad within one month from today.

Hue also ordered the NRD to pay RM8,000 in costs.

When met outside the court, Navin said he was overjoyed that he can now proudly say without any doubt that he is a Malaysian citizen.

“I feel very happy. It’s been four years of waiting... some people said I was a foreigner, but now I can prove that I am not a foreigner,” said the 16-year-old.

Navin, through his father Moorthy Ramiah Pillai, filed a civil suit last December against the director-general of the NRD, the Home Ministry, as it oversees the NRD, and the federal government over his citizenship status.

In his submissions, the teenager claimed that he was initially issued a birth certificate that listed him as a citizen when he was born on July 8, 1998, but found that his status was later changed to “Bukan Warganegara” or non-citizen.

Navin, who was born to a Malaysian father and Filipino mother, is also listed as a citizen in his Malaysian passport issued by the Immigration Department.

His businessman father, Moorthy, had applied twice with the NRD for his son’s citizenship, but claims that both applications were rejected by the Home Ministry.

Call To Maintain Sedition Act Dominates Assemblies Of Three Umno Wings

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- The issues concerning the proposed abolition of the Sedition Act 1948 dominated the assemblies of the three Umno wings - Wanita, Youth and Puteri - at the Putra World Trade Centre on Wednesday.

In fact, the three wings unanimously agreed for the Act to be maintained, empowered and added value.

All delegates even viewed the Act as the final fort to protect sensitive matters as enshrined in the Federal Constitution from being ridiculed after the abolishment of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the government should continue with the plan to introduce the National harmony Act, while at the same time maintain and improve the existing Sedition Act.

She said the proposed introduction of the National Harmony Act was aimed at promoting and boosting the the spirit of harmony and mutual respect among the multi-racial and multi-religious people in the country.

Meanwhile, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said if the Sedition Act were to be amended or improved, the government should maintain the main provisions that prohibit and permit punishment of seditious speeches or behaviour.

He said the provisions were power and shields, not only for Malays, but also for the general Malaysian public.

"Whatever that is being done on the Sedition Act and whatever name given to it later, we want the power in it to be maintained and become the shields for all of us," he said.

The Kedah Puteri Umno, on the other hand, called on the government to empower the Sedition Act to check the activities of keyboard warriors, who spread rumour via the new media with the aim to jeopardise national peace.

Kubang Pasu Puteri chief Rosliza Hasan said the government should amend several provisions in the Act so that the public could not use the media arbitrarily to create public anxiety.

"National harmony and solidarity must be preserved. Matters concerning religion as enshrined in Article 153 is very sensitive. The key to national development and progress is solidarity and harmony," she said.

The assemblies of the three wings were simultaneously opened by Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last night.

'Buruh paksa: Kementerian saling tolak tanggungjawab'

MP: Ministry flip-flops on Sungai Bakap Tamil school

For Indonesian Bishops, the state should register mixed marriages as a matter of religious freedom

by Mathias Hariyadi

The Bishops' Conference stands for civil rights, in particular with regard to mixed marriages. Muslims, Hindus and Confucians oppose changes to existing legislation that bans mixed marriages. Even members of the Constitutional Court are opposed to changes. For the Catholic Church, it is a fight for "human rights".

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) has renewed its fight for civil rights, particularly in the area of mixed marriages, which must always be recognised, guaranteed and protected.

This goes against existing legislation in the world's most populous Muslim nation. The former in fact requires that all couples must present the Civil Registry Office with a religious marriage certificate and must have the same religion for their marriage to be registered.

The principle of separation and religion and the practice of forced conversions, especially towards Islam, are at stake.

The Church, which has played a leading role in the fight for religious freedom, stands alone in this as Hindus and Confucians, like Muslims, oppose mixed marriages.

Under Law No. 1 of 1974 concerning marriages in Indonesia (Article 2 (1): "a marriage is legitimate if it has been performed according to the laws of the respective religious beliefs of the parties concerned."

In recent months, thanks to the work of academics and scholars from four law schools in Jakarta, the Constitutional Court has begun debating the possibility - and the opportunity - of changing existing laws.

Proposals submitted to the Constitutional Court in July 2014 centre on three issues: the inability to recognise a marriage unless it is performed by one of Indonesia's state-recognised religions, the ban on mixed marriage and the requirement that spouses belong to the same religion.

Last September, the then Minister for Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim confirmed the validity of the rules in place and excluded the need for any constitutional amendment.

In his view, before any legislative action is taken, religious leaders, in particular experts in Islamic law, should be consulted

The former president of the Constitutional Court also shut the door to possible changes, noting that "if a mixed couple insists on legalising their status, they should go abroad."

Asked for their opinion on the matter, the leaders of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) called on the Constitutional Court to reject calls for changes and maintain the status quo.

Prompted by parliament, leaders of religious minorities presented their respective positions, with the Catholic Church taking a lonely stance.

Indonesia Hindu Dharma Parisada, which represents the country's Hindus, came out against the legalisation mixed marriages.

Similarly, the deputy president of Matakin (the Supreme Council for Confucian Religion in Indonesia) said that "mixed marriages are not valid according to our teachings."

Catholic bishops have taken a different view. For Fr Purbo Tamtomo, expert in Canon Law at the Archdiocese of Jakarta, the union between a man and a woman is "an inalienable human right". Equally, the principle of separation between state and religion is the basis of the state.

In fact, he complained that many couples, married in Church, end up converting to other religions in order to have their union recognised by the state.

IS, militant groups received $120 mn in ransoms: UN

Kidnapping for ransom by IS and other terrorist groups continues to grow and they have received an estimated $120 million in ransoms between 2004 and 2012, Yotsna Lalji, a UN expert monitoring sanctions against Al Qaeda, warned in a meeting of the UN Security Council's counter-terrorism committee, Press TV reported on Tuesday.

Lalji added that terrorist groups operating in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have made kidnapping the core Al Qaeda tactic for generating revenue.

The IS has executed several Western nationals, including three Americans. A young American woman remains captive.

Many governments do pay ransom to release their nationals kidnapped by terrorist groups, Lalji said. However, the US refuses to change its position against paying ransom for American hostages.

Woman made to parade naked for not working well in Pakistan

Press Trust of India | Lahore

A 28-year-old pregnant Christian woman in Pakistan was allegedly paraded naked for not working up to the expectation of her employer.

The victim is a resident of Christian Colony Rana Town of Sheikhupura district in Punjab Province. She worked as a maid.

The victim claimed that she was made to walk naked for about half an hour for not up to the expectations of her employer.

She said her employer’s son dragged her outside and tore her clothes with his four friends.

She said the culprits left her naked in the corner of the street where an elderly woman gave her clothes. She was later shifted to hospital by her relatives.

Flanked by her husband and other Christian leaders, the mother of four, said: “I was two-month pregnant and I lost my baby in the incident. Police are not arresting the accused. I will commit suicide if I am not given justice,” she warned.

Her husband said the police had registered a case against the accused after medical report confirmed five injuries of his wife. However, the police had refused to include Anti-Terrorism Act charges in the FIR as demanded by the victim.

An FIR has been registered against Mobin Gondal and his four accomplices under various sections of Pakistan Penal Code, Station House Officer Rana Town Muhammad Khan told PTI.

“We are investigating the claim of the complainant that his wife was paraded naked by the accused,” Khan said, adding the police is trying to arrest the culprits.

Christian leader and Human Liberation Front head Aslam Sahotra warned the community would hold demonstrations across the province if the accused were not arrested.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/woman-made-to-parade-naked-for-not-working-well-in-pakistan/#sthash.gXFlrWOt.dpuf

If Umno loses, the Malays will be damned, says Najib

Datuk Seri Najib Razak today reminded delegates that the only way to ensure Malays are protected is to see the recovery of Umno.

The party president, in a strongly worded message, told a closed door meeting that the Umno machinery was not doing enough despite more than a year having passed since the 13th general election.

Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Ahmad Puad Zarkashi, who relayed the prime minister's message to the media outside the Merdeka Hall, said that Najib was clearly unhappy with efforts being made to ensure victory in the next polls.

"He raised the issue that the Umno machinery is still weak, slow and not moving fast enough.

"This is his bold rebuke in front of Umno leaders and he clearly shows that he is not satisfied with how things are moving after more than a year has gone by.

"He said that if Umno loses, the Malays will be damned. Those were his words. Not only that, he said religion will be at stake if Umno loses," he said.

Puad said Najib pinpointed the scenario of a defeated Umno and the Malay decline as a reminder to the delegates to be proactive and work towards rejuvenating the party.

He said he had never seen Najib, who is known for his calm approach, to lash out or use such strong words.

"I guess this is the party president at his angriest. Probably he is tired of just talking and decided to use stronger words this time to get his message across,"

The former Batu Pahat MP added that Najib also reminded that the party be open to fresh blood and wanted to see the implementation of online registration of new members.

"When the president announced that he wanted this to happen with immediate effect, he is signalling to all members that he is serious and does not want to hear stories of members driving away professionals and scholars from joining the party, he said.

Najib over the past few weeks have been telling party leaders to come to terms with current political realities and not to obstruct the young and professionals from joining and contributing to the party.

He said Umno must embrace youths if the Barisan Nasional wishes to restore its influence.– November 25, 2014

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/if-umno-loses-the-malays-will-be-damned-says-najib#sthash.68Bt8KWu.dpuf

Criticise Umno leadership at assembly, Dr M tells delegates

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called on Umno delegates to be critical and speak their minds at its assembly which begins tomorrow if the party is to survive and move forward.

He said Umno members must be brave in openly criticising their leaders, including their presidents, said Dr Mahathir, who was, at one time, the party’s longest serving president.

“Everyone knows that Umno now is not as popular as before. There are those who say Umno is not relevant.

“If Umno is defeated and wiped off the face of the earth, its leaders and members cannot deny that they had contributed to the downfall of the party that has done a lot for Malays and Malaysia,” said Dr Mahathir in a posting in his blog chedet.cc.

His message to Umno leaders and members comes a day before the country’s largest party is scheduled to hold its 68th assembly in Kuala Lumpur beginning November 26.

Dr Mahathir staunchly criticised Umno members in the past, and had gone on record to withdraw his support for president Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is also the country’s prime minister.

He said he did this after his recommendations to Najib fell on deaf ears.

Dr Mahathir’s most recent criticism was aimed at Najib’s policy of giving out cash transfers such as the People Aid Scheme and his management of debt-ridden sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

In calling for Umno members to be critical, Dr Mahathir said he himself had been openly criticised and even came close to losing the presidency.

The same, he said, happened to Umno’s first president Tunku Abdul Rahman, and his successors, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Tun Hussein Onn.

“Without criticism, leaders will believe everything they do is correct. But in reality, it may be wrong.”

Dr Mahathir also touched on his fallout with Najib, although he did not explicitly mention Najib’s name.

“I was advised to not criticise openly. In reality, I had given my criticisms repeatedly behind closed doors, especially on Bumiputera and Umno problems.

“But it did not work. So I am forced to criticise openly.”

Dr Mahathir also said the "warlord culture" among Umno branch and division leaders corrupted the party to the point where bright and talented members got sidelined.

This has led to the party’s grassroots's structure being dominated by mediocre leaders, he said.

“Umno only accepts new members who do not threaten the position of their leaders at all levels. Branches do not accept those who can challenge the position of branch leaders.

“This is because there are rewards for being branch leaders.

“These branch leaders are then only replaced by weaker and mediocre successors as they are the only type of people the leadership accepts.

“That is why when the question crops up, ‘Who will be Selangor menteri besar if Barisan Nasional wins?', there is no answer... even though Selangor is full of educated and talented Malays who do not have to use Umno to enrich themselves.

“These people are barred from entering Umno. Those who make it in are barred from climbing up as leaders.

“Because of this disappointment, those who have talent are going into other parties. Umno will fade and this sacred party will fade away.” – November 25, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/criticise-umno-leadership-at-assembly-dr-m-tells-delegates#sthash.3QfEVNzQ.dpuf

Muhyiddin: Time for Umno to do or die

It is now the last call for Umno to buck up or become irrelevant, and party leaders who stand in the way of its rejuvenation should leave, said Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Do or die! Don't place your own interests above the party's interests. I wish to remind myself and Umno leaders of all levels that if we have become a hindrance to the party's rejuvenation, then we should step down honourably.

"Our party must maintain relevance so that the Malay race is protected. The self is unimportant, what is important is the Malays and Umno," he said at the opening of its Wanita's, Pemuda's, and Puteri's wing general assemblies.

Previously, in the run-up to the Umno general assembly, many Umno leaders including party president Najib Abdul Razak, had slammed Umno leaders who kept youths from joining the party in a bid to secure their own positions.

Other salient points from Muhyiddin's speech:

• Seven steps proposed to improve the party’s appeal to youths, including creating youth leaders who are capable opinion leaders, seeking out young talents to join as active members of the party, and holding more volunteer programs for the people.
   
• Umno members should not be concerned with the party hierarchy, so that they can voice their own views without keeping an eye on their seniors, and avoid the image that Umno is a feudal party.
   
• Accusations that the New Economic Policy (NEP) is backward, drives away investment and causes brain drain is untrue, and are only accusations hurled by haters. Studies including those articulated in Khazanah Research Institute research director Muhammed Abdul Khalid’s book The Colour of Inequality, shows that it benefited all races and improved incomes. Nevertheless, ‘leakages’ have caused it to fall short of its goals.

Studies have also shown that Malay graduates are less likely than equally qualified Chinese Malaysian graduates to be called for a job interview in the private sector even with the same qualifications, and receive lower pay. Most (70.3 percent) of the unemployed are also Malays, including 66.9 percent of all unemployed graduates.

• The Bumiputera Agenda needs to be raised as a national agenda and not a racial one, because it cannot be executed in isolation from the rest of the economy and needs to cut across all economic sectors.
   
• A new ‘National Economic Policy’ is also needed to ensure income equality. Among others, there should be needs-based affirmative action policies for the bottom 40 percent income earners regardless of race.
   
• The practice of lodging police reports and holding protests in no longer an adequate answer to challenges against Islam such as liberalism and secularism.
   

Intellectual discourse on human rights and freedom from the perspective of Islam is needed instead of emotive responses, while Islamic institutions, NGOs, among others, need to be strengthened.

• · The Sedition Act needs to be retained with some amendments to counter prejudice in Malaysian society. These amendments include provisions barring people from questioning the position of Islam as the religion of the federation, the right of non-Muslims to practice their respective religions, the status of Malay reserve land, and maintaining the Royal Malay Regiment.
   
• Umno had been called as racists when championing Malay rights or Islam, but other races or non-Muslims are not called likewise when defending their kin. This has gone to the extent of Umno being portrayed as the oppressor, despite its contributions for the country.

MMA: Tinasha's parents entitled to medical report

 

Based on the standard operating procedure, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said that Assunta Hospital should hand over the medical report to deceased teenager G Tinasha's parents.

"As the girl is underage and under the custody of her parents, the medical report should be given to the parents directly according to the guidelines of the Healthy Ministry," MMA president Dr H Krishna Kumar told Malaysiakini.

He said the parents need not to abide by the private hospital's demand of sending in a formal write up through the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

"This is not necessary for the parents to follow. If the hospital fails to give the report to them, they can take legal action against them," he added.

Yesterday, the parents of the 14-year-old student filed another police report against the hospital after failing to obtain the medical report.

Tinasha's uncle I Ramesh claimed that the hospital was withholding the report because the family went to the media.

However, Assunta Hospital chief executive officer Peter TL Leong said that the family had to follow the proper channels.

Last Friday, Tinisha's parents I Uthayabavani and B Ganesan Rao had accused the hospital of negligence resulting in their daughter's death.

However, Leong had dismissed this, saying the medical staff followed procedure and accused the parents of not wanting to agree to an amicable solution.

MIC Youth: This is a shame

Meanwhile, MIC Youth criticised Assunta Hospital for delaying the medical report.

In a statement MIC Youth leader C Sivarraajh lambasted Leong for his "rude and arrogant" response.

"It is a shame that Assunta Hospital is behaving in this manner all because of one man who can’t handle the parents in their moment of grief.

"I have never heard of a 'proper channel' to get a copy of the medical report. I have also never heard of getting the medical reports through the Health Ministry," he said.

"They are prolonging the parents' anguish and bereavement by giving them the run around, which shows they are not transparent and professional," he added.

Sivarraajh said that MIC is also willing to offer help to the family including legal services.

---

KAMLES KUMAR is a trainee reporter with Malaysiakini.

Police deny foul play in detainee's death

 

The police have denied allegations that foul play was involved in the death of a 25-year old detainee in Pengerang, Johor recently.

Instead, Johor CID chief Hasnan Hassan said it was sudden death.

Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamad Nur died while being transferred from the Sungai Rengit police station to the Kota Tinggi police headquarters.

The deceased's family yesterday claimed that the unemployed youth's body was covered in bruises and "hole shaped puncture marks".

Hasnan (left), however, alleged that Syed Mohd Azlan was a drug addict with prior criminal records and sustained injuries when resisting arrest.

He was arrested in Kg Simon, Pengerang, at 3.30am on Nov 3, on suspicion of being involved in an armed riot with seven others at Kota Tinggi on Sept 19.

The police believe that Syed Mohd Azlan had brandished a gun during the incident, in which two people were seriously injured.

"When the arrest was being carried out, the deceased (Syed Mohd Azlan) acted aggressively to escape. This caused a struggle between the deceased and the police.

"A police report has been lodged regarding the arrest and the injuries sustained by the deceased and police," Hasnan said in a statement late last night.

Syed Mohd Azlan was then brought to the Sungai Rengit police station for further investigations.

Police then claimed that he had trouble breathing while being transferred to Kota Tinggi, and was rushed to the Bandar Penawar Clinic where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

"A post mortem was carried out at the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Bahru. The investigation has been classified as 'sudden death'," Hasnan said.

Brother: Why wasn't he treated earlier?

Commenting on the police’s response, the deceased’s brother Syed Mohd Shariff  questioned why Syed Mohd Azlan did not get medical attention earlier.

"He (Syed Mohd Azlan) had difficulty breathing since 5am.

"The Sungai Rengit clinic is just a few meters away from the police station. If he was injured, he should have been treated first," he said in text message to Malaysiakini.

The unemployed youth's father, Syed Mohamad Nur Ali, had lodged a police report over the death, and the police said that an investigation would be launched.

The 67-year-old farmer also claimed that when policemen questioned him in connection with his son's arrest, they had threatened him with a gun.

The police are also waiting for the full results of the post-mortem as well as the chemist report, before submitting their investigation report to the deputy public prosecutor.

Judges recuse themselves from AG's immunity case

 

Two judges at the Court of Appeal recused themselves from hearing attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail's appeal today.

The hearing is to set aside the High Court judgment that he is not immune from legal action, following suits brought by former Commercial Crime Investigation director Ramli Yusof and lawyer Rosli Dahlan.

The two suits are related to what is known as the Copgate affair.

The two judges who removed themselves from hearing the appeal were Justice Alizatul Khair Othman and Justice P Nalini.

Justice Alizatul recused herself as she was the KL High Court judge who dismissed Rosli's judicial review application to challenge the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission order for him to declare his assets.

Justice Nalini was one of the members in the Court of Appeal panel which upheld the KL High Court judg‎ment awarding Rosli RM300,000 in damages, following suits he filed against the MACC and New Straits Times for defamation.

Following this, the Court of Appeal has fixed April 1 next year to hear Abdul Gani's appeal before another panel.

Rosli was represented by Chethan Jethwani, while lawyer Harvinderjit Singh appeared for Ramli. Senior lawyer Cecil Abraham appeared for Abdul Gani.

Chethan had pointed out to Justice Alizatul at the start of today’s proceedings that she was involved in the judicial review application by Rosli, and this led to her recusing herself and Justice Nalini to also withdraw herself.

It was reported on April 11 this year that Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera has dismissed Abdul Gani’s application to strike out the two suits brought by Ramli and Rosli, where he ruled the AG was not immune to legal action.

‘AG has no total immunity’

Vazeer Alam wrote that the notion of absolute immunity for a public servant, even when mala fide or abuse of power in the exercise of their prosecutorial power is alleged in the pleadings, is anathema to modern day notions of accountability.

“I agree that deliberate abuse of power by a person holding a public office is tortuous and is referred to as misfeasance in public office.

“Such a tortuous act can arise when an officer actuated by malice, for example, by personal spite or a desire to injure for improper reasons, abuses his power,” the judicial commissioner had said in his lengthy judgment.

Ramli and Rosli named Abdul Gani, former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and the MACC officers claiming abuse of power, malfeasance in the performance of public duty, malicious prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct among others.

Ramli had filed a RM128.5 million suit, while Rosli had filed a separate suit amounting to RM48 million against the same parties.

At present, thi

Muhyiddin: ‘New’ NEP needed to bridge gap between rich and poor

(The Star) – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said that a ‘new’ National Economic Policy (NEP) is needed that treats the bumiputra economic agenda as a national agenda, and not a race-based one as Malays were still lagging behind other races economically.

“I would like to propose that a new NEP is designed to drive equality initiatives,” said the Umno deputy president.

He said most bumiputra were still trapped in the low-income group although Malaysia’s economic growth had reached 6.3% – one of the highest in Asia and recorded RM216.5bil in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013, the best in history.

“Do we keep our eyes closed and choose not to do anything if the bumiputra, which comprise 67.4% of the population are still in the low-income group; if four million from 6.5 million employees who contribute to EPF (Employees Provident Fund) earn less than RM2,000 a month?

“How about if the income gap disparity in our country is among the highest in the region; if the people are still not able to own their own home?” Muhyiddin told Umno delegates at Putra World Trade Centre here, Tuesday.

Muhyiddin, when officiating the annual gathering of Umno Youth, Women and Puteri wings, said the Government now faced with beliefs that opposed any implementation of bumiputra empowerment agenda, which he claimed deterred economic development.

“In fact, this kind of policy was used by developed countries more than half a century before they reached the level of developed nations,” he said, adding that the disparity in society was “terrifying” as Malaysians now competed in a more open economy.

He said it was time for the country to reassess the economic model although Malaysia’s economic record showed that the country was on track to become a high-income, developed nation by 2020.

“Therefore, we need to make the bumiputra economic agenda the national agenda, not the agenda of race,” he said, further suggesting that the policies and strategies of the economic agenda be made the main thrust in the 11th Malaysia Plan.

“The bumiputra economic agenda cannot be implemented separately from the framework of national economy. It needs to be implemented inclusively and comprehensively across all sectors of the economy.

Pak Lah: Umno must lead the country fairly

The political philosophy and formulas used by Umno must change to reflect the socio-economic situation in Malaysia.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, popularly known as Pak Lah, called in a blog post for Umno to manage the country fairly for the advancement of all races in Malaysia, not just Malays.

Addressing the upcoming Umno Annual General Assembly, Badawi said that while the party’s struggle was for race, religion, and country, it also exists to lead the rakyat.

Calling the party the “most important in Malaysia,” Badawi conceded that the political philosophy and formulas used by the party must change to reflect the socio-economic situation in Malaysia.

“Malay economic advancement does not need to be accompanied by suspicion or racial conspiracy theories. In pursuit of progress, the Malays do not have to point fingers or offend others,” he wrote, adding that he was saddened and worried that many people perceived Umno as having or supporting “racial extremist elements.”

He also wrote that he hoped the party would be more positive during the Assembly, asking that the delegates take a positive approach on the development of the Malays and light a spirit of struggle among the party, and not a “spirit of racism,” so that Umno’s agenda would be accepted by all.

“I believe the rhetoric and political philosophy of Umno needs to be updated immediately, in tandem with the development of the political philosophy of the people of today’s Malaysia,” he wrote, “I also hope that non-Malays will not misunderstand when Umno leaders discuss and argue about Malay affairs, and not make groundless accusations. While there may be a speech that seems offensive, Umno as a party is not racist.”

Badawi also encouraged the party to be less aggressive and more proactive to tackle the needs of the current geo-political situation, saying that he believed the rakyat truly wanted a party that understood their needs, tried to resolve their struggles, and was in touch with them.

Sarawak labeled as ” ground zero of deforestation’

NGO calls for replacement of top officials in Sarawak "who should have dealt with these problems a long time ago but failed to do so"

FMT

KUCHING: The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has called on the Sarawak Government in a statement to establish a Green Task Force “to deal with the urgent problems of corruption in the timber industry, deforestation and the loss of biodiversity”.

The Task Force, adds the NGO, should see the replacement of the top officials in Sarawak “who should have dealt with these problems a long time ago but failed to do so”.

The BMF call for the Task Force follows two events on November 17.

REDD-Monitor, an international body based in Frankfurt, Germany, labeled Sarawak as “ground zero of deforestation”.

November 17 is also the day that Chief Minister Adenan Satem apparently publicly humiliated the Big Six in the Sarawak timber industry by getting them to sign a Corporate Integrity Pledge worked out by the Malaysian Integrity Institute.

“This must have been bitter for Sarawak’s timber giants who have earned billions of dollars under Adenan’s predecessor, the notorious Taib Mahmud,” said the BMF statement.

While Adenan has since qualified the strong words he reportedly used in the presence of the Big Six and journalists, notes BMF, he did reiterate that corruption and illegal logging in Sarawak were “very serious“ and that Sarawak needed more protected forest areas.

Adenan reportedly told the heads of Rimbunan Hijau, Samling, Shin Yang, WTK, KTS and Ta Ann . . . “I will put the fear of God into people who are dishonest”, “don’t mess with me”, “I mean business” etc and/or words to that effect. The Chief Minister clarified the next day that the harsh words were actually meant for those working with the Big Six, the lesser mortals, and others in the Sarawak Government, not the heads of the Big Six.

“While the Bruno Manser Fund commends the new Chief Minister’s resolve to fight corruption and combat illegal logging, pledges alone will not be enough to save Sarawak’s’ threatened old-growth forests, which have been reduced to less than ten per cent of the state’s surface,” said the BMF statement.

The NGO called on Adenan to seriously consider, as among Task Force initiatives, an export ban like that imposed by Myanmar and Gabon on raw logs.

Among other measures, it advocates freezing of timber concessions over high-conservation value forests, the publishing of all forestry and plantation concessions in order to create transparency, as well as a comprehensive review of indigenous communities’ claims over forests in the light of the latest court decisions on native rights.

“It appears particularly important that indigenous communities who wish to protect their native lands from being logged or converted into plantations, should be allowed to do so without restraints,” said BMF.

It cited the proposed “Penan Peace Park”, a model that integrates forest protection with socio-economic development in Upper Baram, as a case in point.

Malaysia’s Najib Under Fire at AGM

No open rebellion, but Prime Minister faces a rebellion over Malay privilege

By Asia Sentinel

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak opened the United Malays National Organization annual general meeting Tuesday under siege on his own flanks, partly former from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and partly from his own deputy prime minister and party deputy chief Muhyiddin Yassin, who is increasingly openly challenging him.

Given Malay politics, where frontal opposition is rare, the attacks are obtuse and opaque. But the messages from both are clear: that under the party’s current leadership, the ruling Barisan Nasional, will lose the next election because the party, the biggest component of the national ruling coalition, is being deserted by ethnic Malays.

The conclave is expected to run through Saturday and can be expected to feature the usual fire-breathing attacks on other races and religions -- from the dais -- if things go as usual. But sources close to Mahathir say this one is also expected to feature rank-and-file efforts to pass a resolution telling Najib he can’t do away with the country’s colonial era sedition laws, as the prime minister has promised.

“That is a blow to the PM, who has pledged to abolish it,” the source said. The divisions won’t take on a growing scandal over the sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bd., he said, “because it is now a national problem. We don’t expect it to be discussed because most members don’t know what is going on. It’s too complicated.”

1MDB, however, is the elephant in the room to the leadership, a disastrously managed sovereign investment fund which has accumulated debts of RM36 billion, apparently because of a calamitous investment in a Saudi Arabian oil venture in which RM7.2 billion appears to have disappeared altogether. Subsequent attempts to cover the failed investment have driven debt through the roof. Mahathir has assailed the government over the operation of 1MDB, as has Daim and several bloggers who are loyal to Mahathir.

A source close to the Mahathir wing described the 1MDB investment as the biggest scandal the country has ever faced, a tall statement given that billions have been lost through disastrous and crooked loans from the state-owned Bank Bumiputera Bhd, the attempt to modernize the Port Clang seaport, attempts to corner the tin market, a failed steel mill and many others.

The bigger issue for this round is Malay privilege. Ethnic Malays dominate almost all of the top positions in the civil service, the military and the police. Malay-owned companies are given the lion’s share of government contracts. They are given preferential treatment in the number of positions in government universities, receive 7 percent discounts for new houses, have special reserve land in housing settlements and burial plots. A minimum of 30 percent equity must be given to Malays in all listed companies. Mosques and Islamic places of worship are fully funded. They receive special share allocations for new applications.

Nonetheless, Najib and the coterie surrounding him are under fire from Mahathir and organizations such as Perkasa, a Malay superiority organization headed by Ibrahim Ali, once described by a critic as “Mahathir’s Brown Shirts,” a reference to the shock troops of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, for giving away too much to other ethnic groupings, particularly the Chinese. Despite the perks given to ethnic Malays, the Chinese continue to dominate the economy.

Mahathir and his close associate, onetime Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, lambasted Najib for attempting to reach out to the minorities prior to the 2013 general election, in which a three-party coalition headed by Anwar Ibrahim won a vast majority of the Chinese votes. Anwar’s coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, won a majority of all votes in the election but lost parliamentary seats through gerrymandering and the country’s first-past-the-post electoral system.

Political rumor mills are buzzing over indications that Muhyiddin would make a move for the top job, although change is unlikely during the current conclave. But for months, Muhyiddin, a Johor-based Malay nationalist, had been telling associates and friends that he would like to retire. He is 67 and has said he is tired. He recently went on the haj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca, however and came back to say he feels rejuvenated.

Last week, he gave a series of interviews to local papers, saying he is afraid the party would lose the next election, which must be held before May 2017 because of continued infighting among leaders and because of corruption. He singled out UMNO Youth and the women’s division for criticism, which is telling because the heads of both are close allies of Najib’s. The youth wing is headed by Khairy Jamaluddin, a close lieutenant of Najib’s, and the women’s division, headed by Shahrizat Abdul Jamil, whom Najib saved from a massive scandal involving the loss of millions of dollars from a national cattle feeding scheme because of corruption and mismanagement.

Mahathir, in his blog Che Det, urged the rank and file to criticize party leaders, saying warlords are blocking fresh blood from entering party ranks and that ethnic Malay voters are losing faith in the party over its ability to defend them. Implicit in that attack is that Najib has given away too much political and economic power to ethnic Chinese, who make up 22.9 percent of the population against 60.1 percent for ethnic Malays.

Perkasa, which has become quite influential within UMNO held its own AGM recently to say that if UMNO continues to ”fail Malays,” Malays will teach UMNO a lesson by leaving the party in the next election.

Unfortunately these statements betray ignorance of the fact that Malays are turned off not so much by UMNO’s failure to protect them as by the fact that the party has grown sclerotic and is characterized by rent-seeking and outright corruption on a vast scale, with the party’s leadership enriching themselves while leaving the villagers in the kampungs with few benefits except at election time. One of Muhyiddin’s family, for instance, is rumored to have grown rich enough via government contracts to afford a private executive jet.

Most recently, costs for the construction of a new terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport is believed to have ballooned from RM1.7 billion to RM4 billion because of contract irregularities.

Malaysia reaping inequality, corruption and racial envy from race-based policies

Malaysia's affirmative action policies in the past 40 years have created a culture of dependency, corruption and racial envy, a prominent Malaysian economist said today.

‎Tan Sri Dr Kamal Salih, an adjunct professor of Economics and Development Studies at Universiti Malaya (UM) said that the‎ benefits of the development policies did not truly extend beyond the first 20 years of the New Economic Policy's (NEP) implementation.

"The problem over the decades involved has not been with the intent nor the content of the NEP and its successors, but the manner of their implementation, which have produced new inequalities, poverty and vulnerabilities in the development process.

"While no further progress has been made in reducing inequality in income distribution over the last decade, the NEP had resulted instead in creating a culture of dependency, corruption and racial envy."

Successive policies after the NEP, like the National Development Policy (NDP) and National Vision Policy (NVP), also had the same consequences as inequality in wealth distribution was not addressed, he said.

Kamal said this in his keynote speech at the launch of the Malaysia Human Development Report (MHDR) 2013‎ at the Pacific Regency Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.

Kamal was the lead author of the report, which revealed that‎ the formation of the middle class was fastest during the implementation of the NEP in the 20-year period involved.

"However, throughout the entire‎ period until now, the size of the middle class... has remained relatively small for Malaysia, trending around the 20% when in comparison in a typical developed country situation, the percentage is closer to 50-55%."

He said the middle class was defined by the World Bank as those households positioned between 20% of the median income.

Kamal added that NEP-based ethnic classification was becoming less relevant when tackling equity in development, noting that inequality in Malaysia went beyond race.

The policies were aimed at bringing Malays and Bumiputeras to be on a par economically with other ethnic groups.

But the study showed that inequality had also grown within ethnic groups. Wealth gaps between ethnic groups as a whole did close, but resulted in the creation of a class divide.

"While the bottom 50% has wages/salaries making up 97% of their purchasing power, the upper part of the middle class would exhibit a similar pattern to the upper 50% with contribution from wealth effects approaching 11% and increasing as they climb the income ladder.

"In other words, on the basis of household fiscal capability Malaysia essentially exhibits a two-class social stratification, with inequality diminishing between ethnicities but within-group income gaps rising more and more to obliterate the NEP-based ethnic classification as a relevant issue of equity in development.

"Income inequalities then become essentially a question of class. This would be good news for some, while not so for others!"

He added that the New Economic Model's (NEM) emphasis on the bottom 40% overlooked "vertical and horizontal equity" in development, such as institutional issues, corruption and rent-seeking behaviour.

"In my view, a piecemeal and project-oriented approach will not do the job, only a comprehensive reform of policies and institutions will set the course of the country's development in its proper path onwards to economic growth and social justice." – November 25, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-reaping-inequality-corruption-and-racial-envy-from-race-based-poli#sthash.zABzvRbm.dpuf

Questions over mystery death in custody of Johor man linked to firearms

Malay Mail
by JOSEPH SIPALAN

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The family of a 25-year-old man in Johor who died while under police custody demanded today the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar explain the questionable circumstances leading to the tragedy, highlighting an autopsy report of blunt force as the cause of death.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who is acting as counsel for the family of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur, said the police have not even informed the family as to why the victim was arrested nor did they explain how he ended up in the Kota Tinggi hospital morgue on November 3.

“We don’t know when he was detained or what was the reason. Based on what the father said, it appears to be related to firearms, but there has been no explanation,” he said at a news conference here.

According to the family’s account, Syed Mohd Azlan was last seen when he left their family home in Pengerang, Johor at around 9pm on November 2 to go shopping.

His father, Syed Mohamad Nur Ali, 67, said the police later came banging on his front door at 5am the next day, demanding to be let in to search their house.

Syed Mohamed claimed that no warrant was produced, and was only told after asking officers involved in the raid that they were looking for firearms.

The farmer said he legally owns a shotgun to protect his crops, and that he kept it in a strongbox under lock and key, adding that he owned no other firearms.

Recounting the events of that fateful day, Syed Mohamed said he was also summoned at 6am on November 3 to give a statement at the Sungai Renggit police station, where he believes his son was detained in a meeting room but denied permission to meet him.

It was only later in the afternoon at around 1pm when police told him that his son had died and his body kept at the Kota Tinggi hospital.

Gobind said a post mortem, carried out at the Sultan Ismail Specialist Hospital in Johor Bahru, found that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the chest.

The Puchong MP for DAP said he will write to Khalid giving him 14 days from today to give a full explanation as to what happened in Syed Mohd Azlan’s case, failing which they will proceed to raise the matter with the Attorney-General (AG) seeking an inquest.

Should they also fail to get the AG to launch an inquest, the family would then have no choice but to file a civil suit against those responsible for Syed Mohd Azlan’s death, he noted.

“The police didn’t even come to meet the father. We will continue to push this until something is done... those responsible must be brought to justice,” Gobind said.

Muhyiddin Says Appropriate To Maintain Sedition Act, But With Improvements

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday said that it is appropriate for the Sedition Act 1948 to be maintained with several improvements made because it serves to preserve unity and national harmony, and not aimed at protecting the interests of the Malays alone.

The Deputy Prime Minister said it was apt for the government to take stern action to curb quarters from making statements which touched on racial and religious sensitivities that could spark tension because prevention was better than cure.

Hence, he expressed the need for several provisions to be inserted in the law to prohibit anyone from questioning the provisions in the constitution that safeguarded Islam as the religion of the federation.

"This act is also needed to prevent anyone from questioning the rights of believers of other religious faiths to practice their religion.

"Likewise, with the position of the Malay reserve land and the Royal Malay Regiment which are part of the decisions by the Malay rulers that have to be protected from any acts of sedition," he said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, said this in his speech at the simultaneous opening of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri Umno assemblies in conjunction with the 2014 Umno general assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

He also reminded party delegates to be firm in opposing extremism and militancy which were rapidly influencing young people who wanted a short-cut to heaven.

"We will not compromise with those who attempt to twist the meaning of 'wasatiyyah' (moderation) which is synonymous with the Islamic principles of moderation by bringing deviationist ideologies, like liberalism and secularism," he added.

Muhyiddin said Umno could not remain at its old notch by making police reports or putting up banners in tackling pressures against Islam, but with knowledge.

"We have to have more discussions, publications and discourse on freedom and human rights according to the Islamic perspective and how Islam deals with secularism.

"We have to address secularism in religion by being steadfast in faith and sharpness of the mind, and not shrouded by blind emotions," he said, adding that Islamic institutions and law enforcement should be emphasised through cooperation with Islamic non-governmental organisations.

This, he said, was because Muslims were now in the post-modern world that regarded religion as an obstacle to human freedom.

He referred to last October issue of the 'Economist' magazine which stated that same-sex marriage, which was not accepted by almost all countries in the 1950s, was now recognised in 113 countries or 63 per cent of the countries in the world.