The Sikh who almost became VC of UM

COMMENT When my enigmatic and soft-spoken uncle passed away recently, aged 82, little did I expect it would set me off on an all-consuming journey to trace his life.

My beloved uncle is Professor Dr Satwant Singh Dhaliwal; a leader and teacher, one who never hungered for the limelight but was revered nonetheless by his family, friends and fellow academics from around the world.

Yes, he never made it as vice-chancellor of the University of Malaya (UM), but he did serve as acting vice-chancellor for a while. Son of a retired postmaster in Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan), he worked his way up to the upper echelons of academic greatness in his lifetime.

A Nelson, who was Satwant’s varsity mate, adds, “When I first met him he had the gait of an army general! We got along famously and stayed together at the newly-opened Dunearn Road Hostel (in Singapore) in 1953.

An upstanding gentleman, he was a great scholar who was ferociously dedicated to his passion for science. He did not compromise on standards. Many fellow students were jealous of him because he was a very bright spark. We had lecturers from all over the world and the University of Malaya was regarded as among the top 20 in the world then!”

Celebrated historian and Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim, who is four years his junior, remembers Professor Dhaliwal clearly during their school days. “He was always so brilliant and a top student, from ACS Teluk Anson to his days at the University of Malaya in Singapore to Professor of Genetics at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.”

At 23, after earning his BSc First Class Honours in Zoology, Satwant was one of two Sikhs awarded the Shell Research Fellowship at the University of Malaya in Singapore.

In early 1957, for the first time in Malaya, the Queen’s Scholarships were awarded to two Sikhs: Chatar Singh Data (aged 27) and Satwant Singh Dhaliwal (aged 24); Chatar in Physics and Satwant in Zoology. Satwant was preparing his thesis on the genetics of Malayan rats for his Master of Science degree in Systematics and Genetics.

That same year, on Vaisakhi day, the two were honoured by the proud Sikh community before their departure to the UK, at a grand farewell party hosted by the Naujawan Sikh Association.

Eventually, Satwant completed his doctorate at University of Edinburgh, obtaining a PhD in Genetics, a first for a Malaysian! His thesis was on Mutation Studies on Mouse Tumour Cells.

Ex-Business Times bureau chief for Malaysia, S Jayasankaran, who did Genetics for a year under Prof Satwant, says, “He was regarded by many of his peers as a world-class geneticist.”

Member of Parliament for Subang YB R Sivarasa, who was also his student, shares, “I was the beneficiary of his dedication to excellence as he worked tirelessly to put the Department of Genetics at the University of Malaya on a solid footing.” Sivarasa went on to pursue law at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.

Illustrious students

Quite a few illustrious students crossed his path and his generous nature endeared him to many including Professor Dr Suraiya Hani, daughter of our third prime minister the late Hussein Onn.

Lord Gathorne Cranbrook, the 5th Earl of Cranbrook (County of Kent), who was a colleague of Prof Satwant at the University of Malaya, emailed last week, “Prof Satwant Dhaliwal’s discipline in genetics was complementary to mine (zoology). But we shared supervision of some of the best students, including the late Dr Ho Coy Choke and Prof Yong Hoi Sen.

“Satwant was always a convivial member of the small group of lecturers in those days. I have nothing but happy memories of that formative time in my career as one of a friendly team of staff, among whom Prof Satwant Dhaliwal was a significant figure, charged with leading the discipline of genetics.”

Another colleague, Professor Dr Jose Furtado also emailed, “Satwant’s academic achievements were there for all to see. For us, he was the organiser of hockey games and a social life that was the envy of many in the University.

“Even the then-vice-chancellor Professor Alexander Oppenheim (just before Prof Ungku Aziz’s term as VC), understood a bit of boisterous behaviour as long as productive work got done - and that was a remarkable feature of Satwant; after a late night he was up early in his lab or giving lectures. Eccentricity is tolerated in British universities but not in many other places.”

For the uninitiated, Alexander Oppenheim was a top global mathematician and had formulated the now famous ‘Oppenheim Conjecture’.

All along, he relished his academic career at the University of Malaya and chose to stay with UM in Malaysia when the university was separated from UM in Singapore in January 1962. But he was only 32 and quickly discovered you had to be 35 to get a professorship at the University of Malaya, so he waited another three years even though he was already travelling the world on behalf of the nation.

As the youngest professor in the country, he went on to set up the newly established Faculty of Science, served as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Master of Second College, developed highly acclaimed curriculums and published numerous journals and conference papers.

Professor Satwant was contentious, but never boring!

In the early 1960s, Prof Satwant was invited for lecture tours to the United States under the auspices of the Asia Foundation and the US National Institute of Cancer. He had many sabbaticals doing major research work around the world, was a speaker at Unesco seminars in Japan, the Pacific Science Congress in Canberra and was Malaysia’s regular representative to the Council of Pacific Science Congress for nine years.

In April 1965, Prof Satwant was one of seven lecturers and a librarian who completed a two-week course at the Siputeh Territorial Army (Wataniah) training centre near Ipoh on military tactics and warfare. Graduating as a sergeant, he quickly rose through the ranks to become captain and commanding officer of the University Infantry Battalion.

In 1980, his research work took him to the Pasteur Institute, Lille and Paris, under a grant from the French government for half a year. In 1981, he was the organising chairperson of the 4th International Congress of the Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researchers in Asia and Oceania held in Kuala Lumpur.

Disdain for the mundane

His ‘unreasonableness’ and disdain for the mundane made him shine like a beacon in the night. He never said much, he didn’t have to, but was clearly a formidable genius. A very large pool of scientists remember him as their teacher.

In the 1970s, Prof Satwant was part of a team of scientific thinkers who worked on part of a paper titled ‘Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics. He researched mainly in genetics and how it affected cancer and cancer cells.

Bryan Perera, current president of the Royal Selangor Club, recalls, “As a Queen’s Scholar he was indeed a great tutor and mentor to many of his students while he was professor and dean of the Faculty of Science. Many of his students later were admitted as members of the Royal Selangor Club.”

The man who helped translate scientific terms and names in fields like Zoology, Chemistry and Botany into Bahasa Malaysia for generations of students till this day, remained a legacy till the end.

His place in the annals of scientific accomplishments in Malaysia is undeniable. In the eyes of many global scholars of genetic science, Prof Satwant was a giant in science and one of Malaysia’s finest sons.

He was awarded the Kesatria Mangku Negara (KMN) in 1972 by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the same ceremony the late Mohamed Rahmat, one of our previous information ministers, was accorded the same.

Carrying on his passion for genetics, Prof Satwant’s grandson Kharan ‘Kurry’ Vanmali recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Genetics at the University of Cape Town!

Thank you, Uncle... for letting us stand on your shoulders,For living 25 hours a day,
For letting us walk in your shadows,
For saying No to mediocrity,
And most of all, thank you for being You!

---

SLEDGEHAMMER aka HARMANDAR SINGH aka HAM has been a columnist for The Star for over 10 years, writing on advertising and marketing issues.

 

Najib must stop Khairy-Shafee anti-Anwar tirade

The onus is on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or his deputy to deny Umno/BN’s involvement.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The nationwide roadshow to character-assassinate and smear the name of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was the brainchild of Umno Youth Leader and Minister for Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, who announced at the first stop of the roadshow in Kelana Jaya last Tuesday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) was launching the campaign, featuring Sodomy II lead prosecutor Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to explain the February 10 Federal Court judgment as it had “kept silent for six years because the trial was in progress”.

Will the Chief Justice of Malaysia also be leading Federal Court judges to join the nationwide roadshow to justify and win in the court of public opinion on their decision against Anwar which has not found support among the majority of thinking Malaysians?

“Malaysia has become a very strange and abnormal country, where the strangest of things can happen,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.

Unless the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister is prepared to come out openly to deny Khairy’s claim that the BN is behind the Shafee roadshow against Anwar, warned Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, “Malaysians can only conclude that the Umno/BN leadership is continuing its vile and vicious vendetta against Anwar even after incarcerating him for the fourth time in his life”.

It’s not enough that a few Umno leaders have expressed reservations about Umno/BN involvement with Shafee’s anti-Anwar tirade.

It’s not enough for Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan to claim that the campaign to smear Anwar was not funded by Umno or the government.

Who is a Deputy Minister or unnamed Umno leaders to rebut the announcement and admission of a full Minister like Khairy Jamaluddin?

Lim noted that Mohd Azmi Abdul, the president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations, in his article in malaysiakini “Let’s stop this ‘Sodomy Politics’, now” summed up not only the objection but the repulsion of ordinary Malaysians at the depths plumbed by those in authority in the vile campaign of character-assassination against Anwar, when he asked:

“Shafee’s character assassination of Anwar at the forum, with Anwar having no opportunity to defend himself, was despicable, unethical, unIslamic and cowardly.

“How can one sink so low! The roadshow shows how disconnected Shafee and Khairy (Jamaluddin) are from the teachings of Islam, resulting in them losing their moral compass.”

In the second stop of Shafee’s nationwide roadshow on Saturday night in Permatang Pauh, the media were told that they were banned from reporting the event, which was even more unfair to Anwar as it meant that the lawyer was at liberty to say anything he liked against the jailed leader while hiding from the media.

Shafee’s roadshow against Anwar, continued Lim, to have a second bite of the cherry as he could not win in the court of public opinion, is also an admission that the Federal Court’s 5-0 unanimous opinion convicting Anwar in the Sodomy II case and sentencing him to five years jail lacks credibility whatsoever.

“Although the five Federal Court judges found Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan a credible witness, the court of public opinion does not find the Federal Court decision a credible one, which also means that the court of public opinion does not agree with the Federal Court and holds that Mohd Saiful is not a credible witness.”

The Shafee roadshow, reiterated Lim, must be halted immediately.

RCI needed to address plight of ‘underclass’ Indians

.02The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, the ad hoc apolitical human rights movement working across the political divide, has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the plight of the “underclass” Indians in the country who have been left in the twilight zone by independence and fragmentation of estates.

The underclass, according to Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, is made up of at least 800,000 displaced estate workers and 300,000 stateless people. Earlier figures cited were as high as 850,000 and 350,000 people respectively.

Statelessness keeps the people affected as a readily-available domestic pool of slave labour who don’t figure in official records.

“Only an RCI can establish the tragic reality behind these figures and the plight that has led to marginalization,” said Waytha in revisiting his exit from the Federal Government last year, after a brief few months, over a 5-year RM4.5 billion Hindraf-Barisan Nasional (BN) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on underclass Indians.

Waytha, at that time, had blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the failure of the MOU to take off. It was used by Najib to slash Indian support for the Opposition in 2013 to 55 per cent, down from the 85 per cent in 2008. “The Government has been in complete breach on the MOU and only a RCI can help rectify this,” he said. “The RCI’s recommendations should be incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan.”

The emphasis in the MOU was on making land available for agricultural pursuits, training opportunities for the acquisition of marketable skills, scholarships, recognition of degrees of universities abroad which Indian students attend, and personal documents under Article 30 of the Federal Constitution.

The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country and leading to many deaths in police custody.

Waytha expressed regret that with Hindraf out of the Government, the BN has gone back to its old ways of dishing out crumbs to Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition, to keep Indian voters away from the Opposition, if there’s resistance against supporting it.

The Government, he pleaded, had obligations, responsibilities and duties towards all citizens and urged that it adopt a needs-based approach instead of playing to the gallery on race and religion in the hope of remaining in power for as long as possible. “It’s not the done thing to live in a state of denial on the plight of a large number of people in the country and only pay lip service every General Election.”

The Government, he reiterated, was barking up the wrong tree by continuing to place its hopes on the discredited leaders of Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition. “This approach has been tried since independence in 1957 and has not worked. It’s no use throwing good money after bad or down a bottomless pit.”

Group wants second legal body

The Star
BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PETALING JAYA: Disappointed with the Bar Council for its criticism against the judiciary, legal volunteer group SukaGuam wants to hold roadshows to gather feedback from the legal fraternity on the prospect of forming another legal body.

SukaGuam chairman Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat said having a second body would give lawyers the freedom of choosing the entity which they want to belong to instead of forcing theminto a situation where they are implicated along with the negative actions of the Bar Council.

“We will meet not only practising lawyers but also law graduates to get their views on the possibility of setting up another body for the legal fraternity,” he said.

On Saturday, some 100 members said they would seek the resignation and ask that the Attorney-General initiate contempt proceeding against Bar Council president Christopher Leong if he does not retract his statement on the Federal Court’s decision to uphold Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction.

Senior lawyer Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman who spoke on behalf of the lawyers said they were concerned that the Bar president made such remarks about the judicial system and the courts “in the name of representing the Malaysian Bar”.

Leong, in response to the group’s demand, had welcomed their views and encouraged them to attend the Malaysian Bar annual general meeting on March 14 to raise the matter. The Bar Council has almost 16,000 members.

Yesterday, the 100 practising lawyers, known as G100 said they were not associated with SukaGuam and had not mandated anyone or group other than its official spokesman to issue statements on their behalf.

“As much as G100 as a group of concerned, independent, individual members of the Bar is calling for fellow members to support of the petition regardless of their political leanings or beliefs, this effort and exercise is not headed or arranged by any organisation, political or otherwise,” the group said in a statement.

More Responsible MP In Permatang Pauh If Voters Choose BN - Liow

BENTONG, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Voters in Permatang Pauh will have a more responsible Member of Parliament (MP) if the Barisan Nasional's (BN) candidate is given the chance to represent them through a parliamentary by-election expected to be called soon.

MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said although Permatang Pauh was deemed PKR's stronghold, the residents were clearly in need of a representative who could really serve them and BN was prepared to do so and to give them the opportunity to make a change.

Liow, who is also Transport Minister, said this to reporters after attending a Chinese New Year do at Sungai Penjuring Community Hall here Monday.

He said although Penang was being ruled by the opposition pact, it was no secret that the component parties were having domestic crisis.

"They have not been able to reach an agreement or find solutions to several issues, such as the implementation of hudud law and local government elections," he said.

Liow said the situation clearly differed in BN which had always showcased solidarity in every issue for the sake of the multi-racial and multi-religious people in the country.

Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election is expected to be called as the seat held by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may be declared 'officially vacant' soon.

The Federal Court on Feb 10, threw out Anwar's appeal against charges of sodomising his former aide, Saiful Bahari Azlan in 2008, and upheld his five-year jail sentence.

The Permatang Pauh incumbent had 14 days from the date he was convicted and sentenced for sodomy, to file a petition for royal pardon, but has not made any move so far.

-- BERNAMA

Muslim boy 'forced' to lodge report against Hindu dad

A 14-year-old schoolboy has alleged that he was locked up in a room in an Islamic missionary centre in Negri Sembilan for more than three hours.

S Thiyaggurudeen said he was locked up before being forced by two of his teachers to lodge a police report against his Hindu father, who is trying to change the boy's religion from Islam to Hindu.

The boy, who goes to a school near Port Dickson said two Muslim teachers took him out of the school on Feb 13 and made him drink some 'air penawar' before forcing him to sign the police report blindly.

He was forced to sign the police report against his father at the Lukut police station, the boy said.

In Malay traditions, 'air penawar' commonly refers to water which is prayed over giving it healing properties.

He related this in a police report he lodged on Feb 17 on the incident, sent to Malaysiakini by PKR leader S Jayathas.

The boy said he was taken to the missionary centre where he was grilled for more than three hours by a group who claimed to be Islamic affairs department officers.

He was eventually rescued by his father who managed to track down the boy's whereabouts.

The teenager is still listed as a Muslim on his MyKad identity card although his father is a Hindu and his mother an Indonesian Muslim.

His father, S Ganesan, had applied to the Syariah Court to change his son's religion but was told he needed to wait until the boy is 18 years of age to obtain his consent.

Hindu, Muslim, back to Hindu

Ganesan said the police report the two teachers forced his son to sign alleged that Ganesan had been physically abusing the boy since 2012 to ensure the boy left Islam.

"Until now, I have not received an explanation from the school as to why the teachers acted in such a manner," an unhappy Ganesan told Malaysiakini.

Ganesan himself was once Muslim. He converted to Islam when he married a Muslim woman in 1982 but was successful with his apostasy application in 1987 along with his wife and three kids.

His second wife, an Indonesian Muslim, left for Indonesia with the couple's second child after divorcing him.

Thiyaggurudeen is the eldest child from Ganesan's second marriage and has faced problems with his identity card and birth certification ever since.

Ganesan tracked down his son after being tipped off by a security guard at his son's school.

Both the teachers, when confronted, denied any suggestion that they took the boy anywhere, Ganesan said.

Teachers or religious officials?

"About three weeks before the incident, the school had acknowledged my request not to teach my son Islamic Studies after I explained his status and his situation to them," he further said.

Ganesan said he lodged a police report regarding his son's ordeal on the night of Feb 13, while Thiyaggurudeen lodged his own police report at the Seremban police station on Feb 17.

Jayathas said that the teachers had acted in an "improper manner" by bringing the child about without the father's consent.

"There is rule of law in this land. There is no need for teachers to behave like religious officials," he said.

Watch: Arab Children Harass Jewish Visitors to Temple Mount

New tactic: Islamists encourage kids to shout 'Allahu Akbar', wave PLO flags in faces of Jewish visitors to Temple Mount; police do nothing.

By Uzi Baruch, Cynthia Blank

As is commonly the case, a group of Jews who ascended the Temple Mount Sunday were forced to endure provocation and harassment at the hands of Muslims - an all too common occurrence on the Mount.

What was surprising, however, was that instead of the "usual culprits", this morning's disturbances were caused by Arab children, seen chanting "Allahu Akbar" at Jews, shouting insults at them and waving the PLO flag in their faces.

The "Hozrim LaHar" (Returning to the Mount) movement condemned the new crop of harassers, noting that, "the children rioting on the Temple Mount are undergoing a stage to become terrorists."

"In a few years we will see the same faces stabbing soldiers and running over civilians," the organization said, alluding to a spate of terror attacks across Israel, but particularly in Jerusalem, in recent months.

"Police must stop the children now before it is too late," Hozrim LaHar warned.

A man named Yair, who witnessed the incident said that "it seems the terrorists don't have enough money to hire older women to provoke Jews ascending to the Mount, so they moved on to employ children to do that job."

Recently investigators from the Shin Bet and elite police unit Lahav 433 exposed two organizations - "Al-Fajr" in Nazareth and "Muslim Women for Al-Aqsa" in Jerusalem - who finance Islamist thugs and rioters on the Temple Mount.

The so-called activists come daily to the Temple Mount and stand in the area designated for visitors and tourists. When groups of Jewish visitors arrive, the activists use both physical and verbal violence against them.

According to Hozrim LaHar, the police did not question or arrest any of the children involved in this provocation.

ISIS vow to take over Rome and ‘throw homosexuals off of your leaning tower of PIZZA’

• Message was posted by Twitter account used to publicise ISIS activity
• ISIS supporter threatened to conquer Rome and bring shariah law to city
• Also warned terrorists will 'throw homosexuals off leaning tower of pizza'
• Comes after jihadist spoke of plans to takeover Italian capital in ISIS video
• Threats sparked flood of mocking tweets and memes from Italian public

By Stephanie Linning for MailOnline

Hapless Islamic State militants have vowed online to take over Rome - and 'throw homosexuals off the leaning tower of pizza'.

In the message, posted by a Twitter account linked to the terror group, the ISIS supporter also threatens to bring sharia law to the Italian capital.

It comes just days after masked jihadists warned of their intention to conquer the city in a video that showed the mass beheading of 21 Christians in Libya.

But rather than spark widespread panic, the threats have triggered a flood of mocking responses - with dozens taking to social media to make fun of the jihadists and their takeover plans.

In the threat posted today, Twitter user Abu Abdullah Britani, who openly publicises ISIS activity, wrote: '#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome with slaughter'.

The message was soon followed by one that read: '#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome, we will conquer & establish the justice of #shariah. We will use your leaning tower of pizza to throw off homosexual'.

The terrorists have previously thrown men off of buildings for 'being gay'.

Earlier this year, images emerged that appeared to show militants hurling one man off a building in the town of Tal Abyad in Raqqa as supposed punishment for having a ‘homosexual affair’.

This most recent threat appears to indicate the terrorists intend to bring their barbaric practices to Europe - and plan to repeat the horrific scenes off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It appears the tweeter is unaware the tower is in Pisa, not Rome.

The hashtag #We_Are_Coming_O_Rome has been used by Islamic State supporters to discuss plans to reach Rome after the city was mentioned in a sickening video released earlier this week.

The footage, which lasts five minutes, shows the Egyptian Christians dressed in jumpsuits being marched one by one along a lonely beach, each held by a fighter clad in black.

The captives, their faces uncovered, are made to kneel before being forced to lie down. The masked jihadists then behead them simultaneously.

In the video, one of the militants warned: 'Today we are south of Rome. We will conquer Rome with Allah’s permission.'

They claimed their prisoners had been beheaded in Libya - just 220 miles south of Italy.

In the wake of the threat, Italian security chiefs have approved plans to put 4,800 soldiers on the country's streets and post them to 'sensitive sites' to help prevent terrorist attacks.

Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963229/ISIS-vow-Rome-throw-homosexuals-leaning-tower-PIZZA.html

Quran schools not involved in spreading Isis ideology, says association – Bernama

The Selangor Association of Quran Memorising Institutions (Pitas) rejects the perception that such educational institutions (tahfiz schools) in Selangor were involved in spreading the Isis militant group's ideology in the country.

Its chairman Ashri Lateh Al-Muqril said the 160 registered tahfiz schools in the state had never encouraged their students to join any militant group, including the Isis.

"The militant group not only contravenes the tahfiz education philosophy but has also deviated far from the true teachings of Islam," he told Bernama today.

He said there were about 10,000 students in 130 tahfiz schools affiliated to Pitas, while another 30 were not part of the association.

Those affiliated to Pitas followed the syllabus provided by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and Pitas was constantly monitoring their developments, he said.

"Jihad in tahfiz studies is not about taking up arms and going to war, but seeking knowledge like memorising and understanding the Quran which is a bigger jihad," Ashri said.

He added that tahfiz schools were to produce a generation of Quran students who were knowledgeable and well-rounded individuals, and were not training grounds for militants.

On a 14-year-old female tahfiz student who was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for allegedly trying to join the Isis group in Syria, Ashri said this was individual in nature and an isolated case.

The girl from Muar, Johor was reportedly a student of a tahfiz school in Shah Alam.

However, Ashri said, the girl's case would be discussed at the Pitas annual general meeting next month while it would also discuss and seek ways to prevent the Isis ideology from influencing and poisoning the minds of tahfiz students. – Bernama, February 22, 2015.

Jude Pereira keeps mum, wants people to judge

The investigating officer in the Sodomy II case, Jude Pereira, has refused to make any further comments apart from a handwritten account published in the Malaysia Today blog, alleging an attempt to subvert the case's trial by My Watch chairperson R Sri Sanjeevan.

Jude told Malaysiakini that he would not becommenting on the matter, and refused to answer queries on whether he had lodged a police report regarding the attempt to subvert the trial.

He also refused to respond to Sanjeevan's claims that the whole allegation was a "complete lie".

"Sorry, I am not making any more comments. Let the people judge," Jude said when posed with the queries today.

In his handwritten note, Jude claimed that Sanjeevan - who is also a PKR member - had requested him to release a press statement alleging a conspiracy in the Sodomy II investigations, which would subvert the trial.

This supposedly happened before GE13, when the case was still pending in the Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, Sanjeevan - when contacted - emphasised that he would only be lodging a police report if Jude is confirmed as the man who made the allegations.

Jude's handling of the evidence from the scene where the sodomy tryst allegedly took place in 2008 was extensively questioned by Anwar's lawyers throughout the seven-year legal process - which ended with Anwar being sentenced to five years in prison earlier this month.

In his account published in Malaysia Today, Jude wrote that he had met both Sanjeevan and former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan over the attempt to subvert the trial.

Jude did not sign the press statement alleging the sodomy charge to be a conspiracy, as reportedly requested by Sanjeevan.

Musa had previously confirmed the incident to Malaysiakini, claiming that Sanjeevan had made the offer to Jude, but that Jude was advised against it by Musa when the two met later.

We'll see what happens, Mahfuz says of Sirul plan

Whether Sirul Azhar Umar would be having a teleconference session will only be known tomorrow, said PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar.

The Pokok Sena MP said this was in regard to recent news reports which stated the Australian Immigration Department would not be allowing the former police commando to give an interview.

Last Friday, Mahfuz (left) announced that he would be holding a press conference via telephone with Sirul for 15 minutes at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur at 11.33am tomorrow.

“Only tomorrow we would know what happens. All this while I have spoken to him through the phone, and emailed him as well.

“After getting his prior agreement, that is when I made the announcement on the press conference,” he told Malaysiakini.

Sirul fled to Australia before the apex court’s decision on charging him and his compatriot, Azilah Hadri, for killing the Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

Sirul also told Malaysiakini he is considering the possibility of revealing all on the case after being approached by several Australian media organisations for interviews.

Sirul’s exposé that he was just acting under orders which was dismissed as “utter rubbish” by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has also garnered more public interest on the case.

Rafizi to explain tweet about sodomy case judges

PKR secretary-general agrees to give statement at Bukit Aman tomorrow

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Rafizi Ramli, hauled up as part of a police sedition swoop on critics of the Anwar Ibrahim judgement, is to make a statement at Bukit Aman, the federal police headquarters, tomorrow.

The statement will be about a message posted on Twitter the day the federal court delivered its judgement on opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in his appeal against conviction on a sodomy charge.

Rafizi is alleged to have posted an image of a judge’s ceremonial wig with dollar signs in each ringlet.

Among others arrested for allegedly seditious remarks about the judgement were cartoonist group activist Lawrence Jayaraj and Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S. Arutchelvan.

In a statement today, PKR said Rafizi will also hold a media conference tomorrow morning about Altantuya’s murder and Anwar’s case.

Govt doctor’s death: family to exhume body for tests

Second post-mortem exam to find cause of death, four years later

FMT

PETALING JAYA: The family of a Langkawi government doctor has been given permission to exhume his body after four years for a new post-mortem examination into the cause of death.

An Australian pathologist engaged by the family will conduct the post-mortem examination tomorrow together with a local pathologist, depending on the condition of the body, the Malaysian Insider reported.

Dr Sebastian Joseph, 30, a medical officer at a government clinic in Kuah, Langkawi, was found dead in his quarters at Padang Matsirat in November 2010. He was found in a kneeling position with his hands clenched, the Insider reported.

The family’s lawyer, M Visvanathan, was quoted as saying the family hoped it would be possible to determine the cause of death. Last month, the High Court in Alor Star had granted an application for an inquest.

After the original post-mortem at Langkawi hospital, by a general practitioner (GP) and not a pathologist, the cause of death was stated as “unascertained”.

The doctor’s mother, Santaamal Philip, was quoted as saying her son had told her previously he had wanted to make a report about patients being prescribed Panadol for many ailments, and the clinic pharmacy’s lack of various medicines which he had prescribed.

PKR’s Nik Nazmi arrested for Anwar rally

After being freed on Saturday, 10 police personnel turn up at his home in Shah Alam

FMT

SHAH ALAM: PKR Youth leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was arrested at his home near here tonight for the Saturday public rally in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, in support of the jailed party leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“Nik Nazmi was with his wife and children when the police came to the house,” said Fahmi Fadzil, the party’s communications director.

He was the third person to be arrested in connection with the rally under Penal Code provisions for illegal assembly.

Nik Nazmi, who is assemblyman for Seri Setia, Selangor, was taken to Jinjang police station.

Yesterday police had arrested activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim and PKR supreme council member Fariz Musa at the rally on Saturday. They were freed on police bail after being held overnight and their statements recorded.

Nik Nazmi had been pulled away by supporters when police attempted to arrest him at Dang Wangi station on Saturday. He had said earlier today that arrests will not stop the rallies in support of Anwar.

Call on all Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including PAS President Hadi Awang, to focus single-mindedly on how to save Pakatan Rakyat and discourage efforts and elements within our ranks who are prepared to destabilize and even destroy PR

By Lim Kit Siang Blog,

In my Chinese New Year Message on 17th February, I had said that many issues will jostle as the top Malaysian concerns and conversational topics during the Chinese New Year.

This is the third day of the Chinese New Year, and I confess that I had expected Anwar’s conviction and five-year jail sentence for Sodomy II by the Federal Court and his fourth incarceration in his 47-year political struggle as the No. 1 conversation topic of all Malaysians in the Chinese New Year.

I was however wrong, for another issue caught up and gained an edge over Anwar’s conviction and 5-year jail sentence to compete for the No. 1 Chinese New Year top conversation topic – another Federal Court decision concerning a nine-year-matter, the heinous murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu and the blowing up of her body with military C4 explosives in the Shah Alam bushes on Oct. 19, 2006.

On the day I issued my Chinese New Year Message on 17th February, Sirul Azhar, one of the two convicted murderers of Altantunya who had absconded and is seeking asylum in Australia, told Malaysiakini that he was mulling over the possibility of “telling all” about the Altantuya murder as he was only acting “under orders”.

The fast-paced five-day developments of the Altantuya murder case from the Sirul perspective, threatening to reveal “all” in a video conference from Australia tomorrow (Monday) morning, catapulted the issue into a greater cause celebre during the Chinese New Year family re-unions, get-togethers, discussions and coffee-shop talks than the Anwar case – although both these cases were unchallenged as the two top-most first and second conversation topics in the Chinese New Year.

These two high-profile cases highlighted a common defect in our system of governance – a deep rot in the leadership of the 130,000 strong police establishment to allowing the men and women in blue to act efficiently, independent and professionally to uphold what is right and lawful rather to be subverted to glorify “might is right”’ and the shocking lack of commitment and quality of performance by the political leadership and public service to provide good governance.

I am thoroughly shocked and outraged at the failure of our system of administration of justice in both these high-profile cases in keeping with the maxim to ensure that “justice is not only done, but seen to be done”.

There were several burning issues which qualify to be described as the concerns and top conversation topics of all Malaysians on the occasion of the Chinese New Year of the Goat in the past few days, and among those competing for the second tier level of the Chinese New Year concerns and top conversation topics are:

3. Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri’s racist call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses and the impotence and lack of political will and commitment to 1Malaysia by the Najib premiership to resolve the issue in a satisfactory and acceptable manner despite the passage of some three weeks.
4. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s intensification of his campaign to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister of Malaysia and UMNO President. People are speculating whether Najib could survive as PM till the end of the year, or even by mid-year or even earlier.
5. The massive 1MDB Scandal;
6. The continued educational, economic and environmental decline in the country and the unchecked deterioration of all the indices of good governance, threatening to end up with Malaysia as a basket case joining the ranks of the “failed states”.
7. Rearing of the ugly heads of extremism, bigotry and intolerance in the public domain, with the voices of moderation remaining muted and silent, resulting in the country seeing the worst racial and religious polarization in the nation’s history.
8. Unchecked corruption, greed and abuses of power in top decision-making circles.
9. The far-reaching consequences of the implementation of GST from April 1.

There were other ongoing developments and issues competing for attention as the top Chinese New Year concerns and conversation topics, including:

1. The fate of Pakatan Rakyat, with Anwar back in jail and the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz, whether PR component parties could take stock, regroup and reunify to “return to the basics” to be guided by the two fundamental principles of PR Common Policy Framework and consensus operational principle which had brought success to PR in the 12th and 13th General Elections, or whether PR would explode and disintegrate.

2. The escalation of crackdown on human rights and fundamental liberties as witnessed by the arrest of human rights lawyer, Eric Paulsen, cartoonists Zunar, social activist Lawrence Jayaraj, student leader Adam Adli Abdul Halim, DAP Penang Exco and Wanita DAP chief Chong Eng, PSM Secretary-General S. Arutchelvan and impending arrest of DAP for Taiping, Nga Kor Ming.

It is most outrageous and scandalous that the Malaysian police showed neither respect nor sensitivity whatsoever when three cops appeared at Perak Pakatan Rakyat Chinese New Year Open House in Ipoh this morning to publicly serve Nga with the official notice to show up at Bukit Aman police headquarters tomorrow at 11.30 am to have his statement recorded with regard to a sedition probe against him.

Why such high-handedness, selectivity of treatment and even harassment of PR leaders when police want to conduct investigations as compared to the servile and submissive police attitude when faced with UMNO Ministers, a former Deputy Minister and activists who were accused of making racial and religious hate statements or speeches?

The UMNO/Barisan Nasional would be sorely mistaken if the think they could cow and subdue patriotic critics and dissenters with such boorish and insensitive attitudes.

Clearly, the country needs a change but the past 18 months after the 13th General Elections have exposed one stark reality – that such change is not possible under the present Umno/BN government, whether Najib or anyone else.
In fact, we have one of the weakest Prime Ministers in the nation’s history, as Datuk Seri Najib is even weaker than his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Badawi. But he is a powerful UMNO President who is not easy to be dislodged or removed inside UMNO. And if Najib can continue as UMNO President, he position as the sixth Prime Minister is safe.

Najib has lost the sense of national direction, as exemplified by the fact that he now hardly talked or promoted his three key official programmes – the 1Malaysia Policy, the National Transformation Programme founded on a New Economic Model (NEM) and his initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates.

This is why there is even greater hope among Malaysians that the Pakatan Rakyat would be vehicle for national change among Malaysians of all races, and that the 14th General Elections would provide such an opportunity after it was stolen away in the 13th General Elections because of undemocratic electoral constituency delineation despite the Pakatan Rakyat winning a majority of 52% of the national vote.

However, the Pakatan Rakyat is facing the greatest crisis in its seven-year history, which has been aggravated by the imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim and the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz.

Can the Pakatan Rakyat ride through the crisis and emerge even stronger than ever or would it disintegrate and die?

This a question awaiting answer not only by Pakatan Rakyat leaders but supporters as well.

I want to appeal to all Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including Pas President, Datuk Seri Ahmad Hadi Awang, to focus single-mindedly on how to save Pakatan Rakyat and discourage efforts and elements within our ranks who are prepared to destabilize and even destroy PR.

The latest political developments and the death of Nik Aziz has revived the UG (Unity Government) idea of certain UMNO strategists out to divide and destroy PR and it is most likely that UMNO will not contest the Chempaka by-election in the Kelantan State Assembly arising from the death of Nik Aziz.

In today Mingguan Malaysia, UMNO’s mouth piece, former Chief Justice, Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad said PAS and Umno must unite to save Barisan Nasional (BN) should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) win the 14th general election, making the baseless and wild allegation that the DAP will destroy the rights of the Malays and Islam’s special position if it gained power.

It is most irresponsible for UMNO quarters to stir up and indoctrinate Malays particularly in the rural areas with racist smears and racialist outrages in the rural areas, where there is adequate access to internet and which is one reason why they are so vulnerable to such false and base attacks.

Who will be the next Opposition Leader? It is premature to talk about it now, as under the Constitution, Anwar is still MP for Permatang Pauh and Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

However, if there is need for a new Opposition leader, I believe there is no shortage of talents from three PR parties to helm this position.

In DAP, there is Lim Guan Eng Penang Chief Minister and the coterie of young but tested DAP leaders; in PKR there are Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Datuk Azmin Ali, Nuruk Izzah; and in PAS there is Hadi Awang and new generation of PAS leaders.

The paramount task is for every PR leader to jointly save PR by adopting an Eight-Year Roadmap reaffirming the secret recipe of the PR success in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, namely adherence to the PR Common Policy Framework which binds all three parties and the operational principle of consensus requiring the consent of all three parties before any policy or issue could represent that of PR.

There have been dissenting voices, like those who said that the immediate implementation of hudud cannot be compromised and must be effected.

This is why PR will miss Nik Aziz greatly. Firstly, it was because of his staunch opposition to UG idea that the concept did not get very far.

Secondly, Nik Aziz will be able the see the Big Picture on the need to endorse the eight-year PR Roadmap to ensure the survival, success and victory of PR in the 14th General Election.

Nobody doubts that Nik Aziz would himself want to see the immediate implementation of hudud, but he is realistic enough to know that it was not part of the PR Common Policy Framework and that any insistence without arriving at a PR consensus to implement it would lead to the disintegration of PR.

Nik Aziz would have understood the arguments that the implementation of hudud is not a top priority issue as compared to ensuring the survival and success of PR, the defeat of Umno/BN and in capturing Putrajaya Federal Government in the 14th GE to immediately implement policies which will restore freedom, justice, human dignity and good governance in Malaysia.

Nik Aziz had given great support to the formation and sustenance of PR, although hudud is not part of the PR Common Policy Framework.

This is why I cannot buy the argument that it will be going against Islamic principles if hudud is not implemented, for it would mean that Nik Aziz and all Pas leaders and members had betrayed Islamic principles for six years from the 12th to 13th General Elections when the issue of the implementation of hudud was not presented as one of the core principles of PR in the 13th General Elections.

I earnest hope that the PR leaders can single-mindedly work on a formula to save Pakatan Rakyat, which will at the same time save the country as well as save Anwar from five-year incarceration followed by another five years of disenfranchisement of his civil and citizenship rights to stand for elective office and even to cast his vote.

Let us do what we can to achieve three Ss – Save Pakatan Rakyat, Save Malaysia and Save Anwar!

Speech at the Penang DAP Chinese New Year Open House held at Penang Chinese Town Hall on Sunday, 22nd February 2015 at 8.30 pm

Drive Carefully, Says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has advised Malaysians traveling home after the Chinese New Year holidays to drive carefully.

In his posting on his Facebook account tonight, Najib said: "I believe that many are now on their way home after the Chinese New Year holidays.

"Drive carefully so that you will arrive at your destination safely."

Traffic flow on several major highways experience congestion since this afternoon as Malaysians begin their journey home after the long break.

Among the highways affected were the North-South Expressway (NSE) from the north to Kuala Lumpur, and the East Coast Expressway (ECE).

IGP demam, patut jumpa doktor, saran Mahfuz

Woman Maltreated By ISIS For Having Sexy Eyes

ISIS morality Police have attacked a young Syrian woman dressed in a full burqa and face veil because they thought her eyes were sexy and too exposed.

Oluwatobi Bolashodun

According to Lailas Blog, the woman was arrested and maltreated in Albuhamal, east of the country, along with two men who tried to defend her. Women who live in ISIS controlled areas are being beaten with iron rods when they offend the militant group’s strict dress code.

Women living in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria and Iraq are made to follow strict rules, which they claim are based on Sharia law.

The group orders women to wear double-layered veils, loose abayas and gloves.

When they go out dressed like this the poor women end up looking like Ninjas and they are also made to go everywhere with a male guardian.

It would be recalled that the Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria publicly beheaded a man for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

Isis infighting: Tensions rise over use of Yazidi sex slaves, loss of Kobani and poor services in areas controlled by group

Yazidi sex slaves, the loss of Kobani and the struggle to keep infrastructure running in areas captured by Isis are believed to be causing friction among militants in the group.

Recent reports suggest infighting is growing between the ranks of foreign fighters as Isis tries to recover from bombing campaigns against its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

The Jordanian airforce recently claimed to have degraded Isis’s capabilities by 20 per cent after air strikes against militants were intensified in retaliation for the death of pilot Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh. Isis is also believed to be suffering financially of late as their supply routes between core territories are damaged.

Sajad Jiyad, Research Fellow and Associate Member at the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform, said one of the biggest issues to have caused friction between fighters in the past surrounded the decision to keep Yazidi children and women as sex slaves.

Mr Jiyad told The Independent that many supporters had been in denial about the trafficking of kidnapped Yazidi women, who were captured when Isis flooded Mosul and sold off as sex slaves to fighters.

“It shows that not all supporters understand the nature of the organisation,” he said.

Harrowing accounts have since emerged of trafficked women being beaten, raped and even forced to give blood by militants.

Isis’s propaganda magazine Dabiq published an article in October justifying the practice of selling women and children. It condemned Yazidis as "pagans" and "infidels” and claimed they were divided among Isis members “according to the Sharia”.

Mr Jiyad said: "Their supporters were in denial until Daesh confirmed it in a magazine; some had said before the revelation that they wouldn’t do such a thing as it was vile, but then were left with egg on their faces."

Tensions are also believed to have risen after Kurdish troops aided by US-led coalition airstrikes retook the Syrian border town of Kobani, which Mr Jiyad says caused some “internal criticism”.

“I read things on forums where blame was being apportioned, but the higher leadership has kept a lid on it."

Some mid to high level commanders were killed without Isis releasing any "grand press releases", he added, which could indicate that their deaths were the result of an internal feud.

The recent arrest of an Isis cleric who objected to the burning to death of the Jordanian pilot has led to speculation that the group’s increasing brutality could be proving too much even for some of its members.

But Mr Jiyad believes this is unlikely to have proved a divisive issue for core members of the group.
"It may be the case with people close to them or supportive of them, like the cleric, but not its own men," he said. "It is more operational issues that involve local populations and control that are likely the cause of divisions.

“Tensions do seem to be on the rise because Daesh has stepped up the arrests and killings of its own men. But it has proved to be incredibly resilient so far under intense pressure so I don’t think the internal divisions will lead to the group's downfall."

Mr Sajad said tensions are more likely to be growing because of the living situations of those still in areas under the group’s self-declared caliphate.

“The poor services are due to a lack of funding, equipment, resources and because the towns under their control are being cut-off from central government. The blame obviously is placed on Daesh by local populations because they are responsible for the upkeep of services. It is only intimidation that keeps the frustration from spilling over."

Meanwhile, Abu Mohammed Hussam, of the Syrian activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, says relationships between Iraqi and Syrian fighters and those arriving from the Gulf are becoming increasingly strained.

"They say that all the Syrians do not know anything of the Islamic religion," he explained.

Family vital in preventing youth from joining Isis, say groups, experts

Families play a key role in preventing youths from being lured to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) by teaching them the meaning of jihad and detecting changes in their behaviour, Muslim groups and academics said.

After reports that police arrested a 14-year-old as she was about to join the group, experts said the onus should not be on the police alone to nab the young suspects as the family was the closest entity to them.

Ahmad El-Muhammady, a lecturer from the International Islamic University Malaysia, and one of the panellists in the ongoing White House summit on countering violent extremism, said the family institution plays a key role in preventing youngsters from being exploited as family is the closest entity to them.

"They can detect changes in their thinking and behaviour. Parents also need to monitor their children’s Internet activities,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“Second, their peers also can play a role in detecting changes in behavioural orientation. They have to report this matter to the relevant authorities, especially police for further investigation.”

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the 14-year-old girl who was arrested on Tuesday was influenced to join Isis through propaganda on social network site Facebook.

Intelligence sources told The Malaysian Insider last year that the Isis militants have mastered social media as their main channel to recruit fighters from around the world, including Malaysians, unlike the early 2000s where recruitment was done through religious schools.

Some, like former Kedah PAS Youth information chief Lotfi Ariffin who was killed in Syria, had not only posted his activities with Isis on Facebook, but had posted call-to-action messages too.

One blog that gained attention was that of an Isis member called “Shams”, who claimed to be a 26-year-old woman doctor from Malaysia, and was in Syria using her medical skills to help fighters and had married an Isis fighter.

Terror cells could be created virtually, as jihadists shared and spread ideological beliefs, raised funds, justified and created motives for violence online, said an intelligence source.

The source said some youths in Malaysia were being targeted for recruitment via skewed religious interpretations.

Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) president Amidi Abdul Manan said that parents and teachers had to ensure children understood that jihad, or holy struggle, did not mean taking up arms and using force against others.

“They must explain that jihad means to strive, and should be practised in all aspects of our lives. If we strive to become better people, and understand Islam, that is already jihad.

“So the parents and teachers must teach this, but they must also understand the teenager’s spirit and deal with it wisely. Teenagers tend to be idealistic and stubborn, and are still considered children.”

Zaid Kamaruddin, vice-president of non-governmental organization Ikram, said the government should form a specific agency for the public to refer to if they suspected anyone of being interested in joining Isis.

The agency should comprise counsellors equipped with religious knowledge who could engage with those at risk of joining Isis, he said.

“If we just arrest the people suspected of joining Isis and punish them, the Isis members in Malaysia may end up attacking our own country.

“So we should take pre-emptive measures instead. Get the professionals to rescue those at risk of joining Isis, and engage with them. Right now everything is rather ad hoc,” he said.

Meanwhile, Perlis mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (pic, right) proposed that the government provide alternative activities for those who wished to join Isis.

“In this day and age, if we prevent someone from doing something, they will just find their way around it. So we have to give them alternatives,” he said.

He suggested that Putrajaya allow more volunteers to provide relief to Muslims in need abroad, on the condition that they remain monitored by the government.

“There are many international non-governmental organisations who visit war-torn countries to provide aid. They do not go to war, but they help and provide welfare.”

He also suspected that many of those interested in joining Isis were simply motivated by the thrill of a challenge, rather than any spiritual calling.

“It’s possible that some of them are going simply because they are looking for a challenge, I think, because it would be inaccurate to link Isis to Islam, as what Isis is doing is not in line with the meaning of jihad,” Asri told The Malaysian Insider.

“Jihad in Islam means to elevate Allah and Islam, but what Isis is doing is giving a negative perception of Islam. We don’t know what Isis is trying to defend or what its agenda really is.”

Police arrested the 14-year-old as she was about to board a Cairo-bound flight at the KL International Airport on Tuesday evening.

Khalid said the girl planned marry a 22-year-old Malaysian student in Cairo and would go to Istanbul before securing passage to Syria.

Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division principal assistant director Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayob Khan said investigations revealed that the Muar-born girl’s trip was funded by a man in the city, according to a report in The Star.

He said she received RM2,000 and the plane tickets and was about to leave the country on the pretext of furthering her studies in Egypt.

He said that police were in the midst of identifying the so-called benefactor and trying to ascertain if she had other sponsors or if the man had funded other would-be militants.

A counter-terrorism expert, meanwhile, said the girl should be enrolled in a rehabilitation programme as she was underage.

“This would be the best solution to make sure that her future is not marred by the ‘mistake’ she made for trusting those who tried to lure her into joining Isis,” said the expert.

He said although she is currently detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, charging her and putting her behind bar would be too ‘brutal’ and could affect her future.

“Rehabilitation programme would be best. Make sure that she is in a good environment and monitored throughout the programme,” said the expert.

He said the girl was too naive to process and to understand the consequences of her action.

“She needs guidance. A study needs to be done on her background and see how the authorities can help guide her onto the right path,” said the expert.

Since early last year, police have arrested more than 20 people in various parts of Malaysia over alleged links to the terror group.

Thirty-nine Malaysians have been officially identified as being involved with Isis in Syria, whose aim is to set up an Islamic caliphate in the region.

A few Malaysian women reportedly went last year to Syria and Iraq to engage in "jihad al-nikah" or "conjugal jihad" for fighters there. – February 21, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/to-stop-youth-from-joining-isis-families-urged-to-play-active-role#sthash.h4sHkx4I.dpuf

Hindraf members in fear of sedition dragnet

Hindraf members now fear coming under the sedition dragnet, after the Home Ministry took a copy of a book which contains writings by its leader P Uthayakumar.

The book titled Torture in Malaysian Prisons: Who You Didn’t Know and Need to Know to Act is a compilation of letters, memoranda and commentaries written by Uthayakumar about prison living conditions.

Hindraf supporter M Varatharajoo, who had compiled the contents, said an officer from the Home Ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text Division had first asked for copies of the book from the typesetter.

The typesetter cum printer then gave Varatharajoo’s number as he did not have any copies of the book left.

Varatharajoo said the officer, named Zulkepli Mat Hashim, had called him and they subsequently met at his office on Wednesday (Feb 18).

“But I told him I only have three copies, so I could only give him one,” he told Malaysiakini today.

He further pointed out that 500 copies of the book had been sent out, including to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, all ministries and MPs, as well as relevant non-governmental organisations and media organisations, in October last year.

Book 'will not be returned'

“They (the Home Ministry) must have one copy of the book. Otherwise, how did they know the typesetter’s address?” he said.

Varatharajoo added that the officer however claimed that he did not have a copy and when asked, said he will not be returning the copy.

The officer also did not give a reason as to why he had taken the book.

Varatharajoo said that the book was not seditious and that they were simply pushing for better living conditions for prisoners.

“Although an inmate might be a murderer or a gangster, he is still a human being. The government should take care of their welfare,” he said.

Stressing that all Malaysians should know what was happening in the country’s jails, he also proposed that a group of retired judges and human rights groups pay a visit to prisons every six months before coming up with a report and submitting it to Parliament.

The Home Ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text Division is in charge of banning books it deemed unsuitable.

Although Varatharajoo cited concerns about sedition, the book might likely be banned, instead.

Uthayakumar who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for sedition, had recounted various “horrors” he experienced in prison during the two years in prison.

In an interview with Malaysiakini after his release, he had claimed that five inmates were forced to share one toothbrush.

He also said the same dipper which they used to eat out of, functions as the container used to wash their wounds and soak their underwear.

Australia may give green light to Sirul’s tell-all

Australia’s Immigration Department said that it has not ruled out the possibility of convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar giving tell-all television interviews provided proper application processes were met.
                          
"Generally, the department does not facilitate interviews within detention facilities for operational reasons," a spokesperson for Immigration minister, Peter Dutton, told Australia’s The Age newspaper.

The unnamed spokesperson was reported yesterday to have said that the department has not approved any television interviews with Sirul, a 43-year-old police commando who has been sentenced to death in Malaysia and is currently held at Sydney's Villawood detention centre.

According to The Age, Sirul would need top-level approval for a media interview in Villawood's maximum security Blaxland unit, where he has been held since his arrest in Brisbane, Queensland, on Jan 20.

Malaysiakini has earlier reported that Sirul was being approached by a number of Australian television stations for interviews to reveal who allegedly ordered him and his compatriot, Azilah Hadri, to kill Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

Both men were part of then deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s security detail and on Thursday, Prime Minister Najib rubbished Sirul’s claim that he was ordered by his superiors to kill Shaariibuu.

"Utter rubbish," Najib said when questioned by a Malaysiakini reporter during a Chinese New Year’s open house.

No motive mentioned

Numerous questions have surfaced pertaining to the murder case. Chief among them was that the prosecution and courts failed to establish a motive for the grisly murder.

Najib has repeatedly denied ever meeting Shaariibuu (right) and even swore in the name of God that he had nothing to do with the matter.

His former aide de camp, deputy superintendent Musa Safri, who reportedly told Azilah to help Razak Baginda on the night of the murder, was however not called to testify in the sensational trial.

This was one of the reasons cited by the Court of Appeal in freeing both Azilah and Sirul in 2012, only for its decision to be reversed by the Federal Court last month.

Azilah, who was present when the apex court delivered its decision, was immediately led to death row to await his execution while Sirul fled to Queenland.

The government had vowed to file an application to extradite him despite Australian law dictating that a person facing the death penalty in his or her home country cannot be sent back.

Survey: M'sia's polls boundaries worst in world

 

Malaysia has the worst electoral boundaries in the world and among the worst set of election laws, the Electoral Integrity Project (EIP) found.

This places Malaysia among countries with 'low electoral integrity' ranking 114 out of 127 nations surveyed along with the likes of Angola, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Egypt, EIP's 2014 report said.

It trails far behind neighbour Indonesia, which ranks 51^st for its presidential elections. The Philippines and Thailand rank 91^st and 88^th place respectively.

Malaysia was dragged down by its score for voting boundaries, where it scored 28 out of 100 – the worst in the world. The average global score was 64.

International and domestic experts who responded to EIP's survey after GE13, said Malaysia's electoral boundaries discriminated against some parties, favoured incumbents and were not impartial.

Similarly, Malaysia was in the bottom five in electoral laws by scoring a dismal 33, far behind the global average of 64, the report found.

It was only better than Syria, Belarus, Tajikistan and Equitorial Guinea.

Repondents were asked to rate Malaysia's laws for fairness to smaller parties, whether the laws favoured governing parties and restricted citizens' rights.

Malaysia, however met the world average for voting process, with respondents saying there were few cases of violence during polls or fraudulent votes case, a simple voting process, and option to vote for overseas Malaysians.

Zaid sets up a web platform for moderates

'Sensible' place for push back against racial and religious extremism

FMT

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has now become a publisher and media owner, in addition to being a lawyer, author, blogger, newspaper columnist and anti-highway activist.

He has set up a “sensible” news and commentary web site called Nasionalis at www.nasionalis.my, with four staff, to provide a platform for moderates to speak up.

“I wanted a 100% Malay-language portal focussing on political education and issues the country needed to talk about, especially among the Malay community,” he told Malaysian Insider.

Zaid said he was concerned that the Malays were being influenced by ideologies of racial and religious extremism which he felt would be detrimental to both the community and the country in the long term.

“I believe we need to do something to bring all the races together. There’s no reason for different races to fight and there will be no end to this. We need to move on because I believe we are still being dragged by this religious and racial problems. It is dangerous and unnecessary,” the Star quoted him as saying.

“I encourage especially the Indians, Chinese, or the Kadazans write in Bahasa for us and I will publish them…this is an exciting project,” he said.

Anti-terrorism bill ready for Parliament

New law to be tabled at the next sitting in March, says Wan Junaidi.

FMT

KUCHING: A new law on prevention of terrorism will be ready for tabling in Parliament next month, says Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said the law is crucial to curb the influence of terrorists because existing provisions mostly deals with matters after the fact.

The new Prevention of Terrorism Bill was drafted after Parliament debated and approved a government White Paper on combating the threat of Islamic State, in November.

Fears have been expressed that the new law would incorporate measures for detention without trial, similar to those provided under the now-repealed Internal Security Act, which was frequently criticised for being used against political dissidents under the cover of national security.

Wan Junaidi said preventative laws were needed “so that we can take action even before acts are committed”. He said terrorist groups that misused Islam as a political tool were a threat to all Malaysians, not just Muslims.

“They are influencing the youth, our children. They use multiple approaches. They go to universities, to schools. This is a big challenge for the Government,” Junaidi was quoted as saying on Thursday after a 14-year-old girl was detained on suspicion of trying to join Islamic State fighters in the Middle East.

The girl, from Muar, was arrested under the new security offences law on Tuesday before she could board a Cairo-bound flight.

Ex-IGP, activist deny Anwar trial conspiracy claim

Businessman's account of meeting 'a complete lie' says anti-crime activist Sanjeevan

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Anti-crime activist R Sri Sanjeevan has denied being part of an alleged attempt to subvert the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy case, while the former Inspector-General of Police, Musa Hassan, denied trying to find out about any conspiracy to convict opposition leader Anwar who is now serving a five-year jail sentence.

In a statement today, Sanjeevan described the allegations made by a businessman that he had asked Jude Pereira who is the investigating officer of the case to subvert the trial as “a complete lie”.

Sanjeevan acknowledged that he had met Pereira in April 2013, just before the general election. The meeting was arranged by Musa, then patron of the MyWatch group which Sanjeevan headed.

“I wish to state that it is a complete lie to suggest that there was an attempt to subvert the trial,” he said, according to Malaysian Insider.

“The meeting was to confirm from Jude himself whether there was a conspiracy in Anwar’s case, however, unfortunately since Jude was not willing to go on record, it ended there. I have never met nor contacted Jude since then,” he said.

The article claimed that Sanjeevan had said that he was close to Anwar Ibrahim, but Sanjeevan said Anwar had nothing to do with the meeting, adding that it was his own effort to find out the truth about the sodomy case.

“There was no attempt to subvert the trial as this meeting happened after Anwar was acquitted in January 2012 and the trial was over. I should have known better than to trust these two individuals i.e., Musa Hassan and Jude Pereira,” he was quoted as saying.

Musa was quoted by The Star as saying that the businessman’s article at Malaysia Today was wrong. He said he had met Jude Pereira but “I never asked him (Jude) if there was a conspiracy in Anwar’s case”, he was quoted as saying.

Musa said Pereira had told him later that he had met Sanjeevan and was asked to issue a statement about there being a conspiracy against Anwar, and that he had commended Pereira “when he told me that he refused to issue the press release,” The Star reported.

According to the article in Malaysia Today which was written by Raggie Jessy, Pereira related the incident where he met Musa who asked whether there was any conspiracy in the investigation against Anwar. He replied that the statements from the witnesses showed distinctly that there was not a shred of conspiracy.

Jessy’s article also mentioned that Pereira said that Sanjeevan had asked him, at a meeting in Petaling Jaya, whether he would make a press statement to say that there was a conspiracy in the investigations against Anwar and mentioned that he would be taken care of, should the opposition win the election. However, Pereira said he refused to do so as his investigations showed no conspiracy or government interference, according to the article.

Sirul Azhar the ticking time bomb

Will convicted Altantuya killer blow up Najib? Wait for the Ides of March, says Ariff Sabri

FMT

Convicted killer Sirul Azhar’s sojourn in Australia, and a promised “tell-all” interview with the Malaysian press on Monday, has got tongues wagging about the kind of support he has obtained, and what he may say.

Does he have anything explosive to reveal? Will the former police commando blow up? Will Najib Razak, who has been indirectly linked to the woman, survive the Ides of March?

Questions have been popping up ever since it was revealed that Sirul had quietly left the country in the months before a Federal Court decision on his conviction and death sentence for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2008.

Fresh demands have been made for the Altantuya case to be re-opened, after Sirul told Malaysiakini last week that he had acted under orders when, with chief inspector Azilah Hadri, he carried out the killing of Altantuya, aged 28, by shooting her in the head and blowing up her body with plastic explosives.

Najib has pooh-poohed Sirul’s insistence that he was merely acting under orders (an aide to Najib was named in his original cautioned police statement but not at the trial) and that the real killer had not been punished. “Utter rubbish,” the prime minister had said.

Now the MP for Raub, Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, has asked in a speculative article on his blog whether Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning about the Ides of March would become a reality.

Ariff questioned why Najib had reacted so pointedly to Sirul’s remarks, as the Attorney-General had previously stated, before Sirul and Azilah were put on trial, that no others were involved.

“Let’s wait for March,” Ariff said. “Let’s see if Dr Mahathir’s warning comes about. Let’s see if Najib can survive after March.”

The “Ides of March”, a phrase from Shakespeare, refers to warning given by soothsayers to Julius Ceasar that senators led by Brutus were conspiring to assassinate him.

In a separate article, lawyer Haris Ibrahim speculates that Dr Mahathir may have helped Sirul to disappear to Australia, and could be the unseen hand behind Sirul’s willingness to reveal more about the murder.

Ariff makes no direct link to Mahathir as Haris does.

However, Ariff also speculates that Sirul may have been influenced by Australians to now speak up, as no Malaysians have access to him at the immigration detention centre where he is being held while awaiting the Australian government’s decision whether to extradite him as requested by Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir and his supporters have led a campaign against Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, especially lately with a barrage of criticism directed towards the government-owned investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd, where Najib is an adviser.

Ariff reasons that Sirul’s reluctance to speak up about the order received from a high place during his trial may have been out of fear of “custodial death”, as speculated by Razak Baginda, a former policy analyst and associate of Najib, who was a co-accused but was acquitted without his defence being called.

“And Razak is an honourable man,” Ariff sarcastically points out, in the manner that Julius Ceasar’s friend Mark Antony referred to Brutus.

The Raub MP also speculates that Sirul may have met important people before he left for Australia and spoken about the events of the time.

For his protection, he may have prepared written depositions, attested to by people of impeccable integrity and credentials and Ariff asks if these will surface in March.

He reasons that someone under the threat of death would want to save his soul, and Sirul deserves to be given a chance.

Sirul cannot continue to equivocate about the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu but must show genuine remorse for the killing under orders if he wants Malaysians and the world to be equally outraged at his betrayal by the murder “mastermind”

By Lim Kit Siang Blog

The latest from former police commando Sirul Azhar, one of the two convicted murderers of the Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu who is in Australia challenging the bid of the Malaysian government to extradite him to return to the death row in Malaysia, is that he had never admitted to the murder of Altantuya.

Sirul has been maintaining in his telephone conversations with Malaysiakini that he had acted under orders and was being made a scapegoat.
He told Malaysiakini on Chinese New Year on Wednesday, 19th February – the day the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, blurted “utter rubbish”, “total rubbish” to Sirul’s claim of having acted “under orders”:

“There are no witnesses to the murder until today. All this is based on circumstantial evidence linking me (to the murder).
“I understand that circumstantial evidence is not strong as direct evidence.”

Sirul should come clean and admit to the heinous murder of Altantunya under orders.

Sirul cannot continue to equivocate about the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu but must show genuine remorse for the killing under orders if he wants Malaysians and the world to be equally outraged at his betrayal by the murder “mastermind”

It is true that Sirul had never admitted to killing the Mongolian during the prolonged nine-year trial and appeals on the murder of Shaariibuu from 2006 – 2015, but he was very specific in admitting to the killing of Altantuya by providing explicit and graphic details of the gruesome murder of Altantunya together with another former police commando Azila Hadri and blowing by her body by military C4 explosives in Sirul’s first statement to the police on November 9, 2006.

On Feb. 3, 2009 a tearful Sirul asked the Kuala Lumpur High Court not to sentence him to death for Altantuya’s murder, saying he was like “a black sheep that has to be sacrificed” to protect unnamed people who have never been brought to court or faced questioning.

Sirul said: “I have no reason to cause hurt, what’s more to take the life of the victim in such a cruel manner. I appeal to the court, which has the powers to determine if I live or die, not to sentence me so as to fulfil others’ plans for me.”

Sirul has the support of decent human beings, whether in Malaysia, Australia and anywhere in the world, in feeling outraged that as a pawn in the killing of Altantuya, he had to pay the supreme penalty of “death penalty” while the murder mastermind could get off scot-free.

But Sirul cannot be equivocal, trying to have the best of both worlds, claiming that he had never admitted to the murder of Altantuya and yet want the world to sympathise with his outrage that he was being punished for loyally carrying out orders while the the mastermind who issued the order gets away scotsfree.

Sirul should stop equivocating. The murder trial is fully over with the Federal Court decision on January 13, 2015 finding Sirul and Azila guilty of the murder of Altantuya and sentenced them to death.

Sirul must confront the facts: Was Altantunya murdered in Mukim Bukit Raja, Klang between 10 pm on Oct. 19, 2006 and 1 am on Oct. 20, 2006; was she murdered by him and Azila, both of whom used military explosives to blow up her body to destroy the evidence; and were they acting “orders” when murdering Altantunya?

If Sirul claims that he is innocent of the murder of Altantunya, then he should not be claiming justice on the ground that he had murdered under “orders”, but that he had been wrongly convicted of Altantunya’s murder when he is totally innocent.

Sirul should think through his statements and actions so not to be caught in a web of his own making.