The attacks on Malaysia Today

The MCMC has in the past failed to silence Malaysia Today officially through blocking it in August 2008. Now, with even more revelations of various scandals of the government exposed through this site, we can't help but suspect that there is a more significant force, a hidden hand at play aimed at bringing down Malaysia Today.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

First of all, I have received tons of happy birthday messages via SMS, Facebook, e-mails and postings on this site. Initially, I tried to reply to all these messages one by one but as the messages flooded in I found it impossible to reply to each and every message individually. Therefore, I would like to say thank you and at the same time apologise to all those I was not able to personally reply to.

Now, you may have noticed that of late Malaysia Today has been ‘off the air’ almost every day, sometimes for a stretch of many hours. This has been going on for more than a week. The man leading our technical team thought that maybe we should inform our readers about what is happening so that you can be kept abreast of the developments. Rest assured we are doing everything we can to solve this problem.

Nevertheless, there is just so much we can do. Money, of course, is one issue that we have to address, as what would be required does cost us quite a sum. Money aside, though, if they choose to continue the attacks, even money can’t solve the problem. We just have to pick ourselves up and start all over again whenever we are hit and bear the disruptions to the site with a stiff upper lip.

Anyway, let our technical team explain what is the problem we have been facing.

What happened to Malaysia Today

By Malaysia Today’s technical team

With so much confusion and speculation making its rounds about what is happening to Malaysia Today over more than a week, we are compelled to offer our explanation so that the record can be set straight. Only limited technical details will be mentioned to allow you to appreciate the scale of challenge the site is facing.

You may now be aware that the site has been up and down since Friday, 17 September 2009. This was due to malicious activities by those behind the effort to cripple Malaysia Today. This is just one of the many rounds of cyber-attacks that we at Malaysia Today have had to face for more than a year now.

Coincidentally, this latest round of attacks started immediately after RPK’s explosive expose two weeks ago on Tuesday regarding the Malaysian Cabinet's knowledge and 'approval' of the PKFZ scandal long before it became public knowledge. Suspicious activities against the site happened as early as Wednesday, but the first damage was done in the afternoon of Thursday, which brought the site down.

The site was quickly recovered and by 6.00pm we were up and running again although with some loss of data. The attack revolved around the long-time problem faced by the site - a rather old version of Joomla content management system and the use of third-party components.

Lack of resources (financial, manpower, etc.) has always been a challenge faced by Malaysia Today, which affected the maintenance and operations of the site. During the recovery process, we locked down the site to reduce the danger of further compromises.

The next wave of attacks came the following day on Friday. This time it was in a wave of DDoS traffic crippling one of our nodes at Singapore. The Singapore node operates with about 30Mbps of bandwidth, a luxury by Malaysian standards but far short if we need to match any serious DDoS attacks. The node was basically choked with illegitimate traffic. Typical of DDoS network attacks, the origin of the attacks is difficult to pinpoint and sometimes pointless as the attack agents/zombies are likely compromised systems themselves.

We then activated our resources at our US node to recover the site. The process required optimisation of the site to cope with demand. (The demand on the site seemed much higher, possibly due to the interest on the PKFZ expose.) Hence the intermittent site outage, due to either overloading or optimisation process.

Being a service provider of a larger scale and sophistication, the US node has a higher capability of sustaining the attacks. Still, the attacks persisted on a daily basis and we tried deflecting them as far as we could. The DDoS traffic we suffered ranged from 227Mbps to 835Mbps, a mammoth scale for anyone familiar with maintaining Internet sites. The attacker does not appear interested in defacing the website, typical of self-styled college hackers. He/she just deleted articles published on Malaysia Today, literally one by one, with the single-minded aim of erasing all the explosive stuff on the site.

Further complicating the trace of attacks is the use of free proxy servers, on random basis, by the attackers. This is an irony, as we have been advising our users to use such proxy servers to overcome any potential content filtering by the government.

All the malicious activities and behaviours bear the hallmark of professional, for-hire hackers. These are certainly no amateurs, judging from the persistence and frequency of the attacks, with the main objective of making the content of Malaysia Today inaccessible to the public.

We believe that there is NO explicit blocking of the site by the various Malaysian ISPs. The inconsistent and intermittent accessibility of the site in the past many days are the result of the situation described above, although we must caution that it is almost impossible to detect any clandestine censorship.

The MCMC has in the past failed to silence Malaysia Today officially through blocking it in August 2008. Now, with even more revelations of various scandals of the government exposed through this site, we can't help but suspect that there is a more significant force, a hidden hand at play aimed at bringing down Malaysia Today.

MACC fails to halt inquest

(Bernama) - The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today failed in its attempt to stay the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock after the Court of Appeal here ordered the hearing to proceed.

Justice Datuk Wira Low Hop Bing, who led the panel comprising Datuk K N Segara and Datuk Ramly Ali, said the court did not wish to disturb the proceedings at the Shah Alam High Court and the MACC could continue to call the other witnesses.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor C K Wong, appearing for the MACC, applied for an interim stay of the inquest pending the MACC's appeal against the Petaling Jaya High Court's refusal of its application to expunge the testimony of a witness, T Sivanesan, who had testified that he had been abused and tortured by MACC officers during an interrogation last year.

Low said the court would hear both matters together as the written grounds of judgment of the Petaling Jaya High Court was not ready.

"The registrar of the court will fix an early date to hear both matters together. The registrar is also to write to the secretary of the Petaling Jaya High Court Judicial Commissioner for the grounds of judgment to be supplied on an urgent basis," he said.

Wong said that if Sivanesan had completed his evidence, the appeal would become academic.

Sivanesan had given evidence earlier but had yet to be questioned by the MACC.

The inquest is fixed for tomorrow to hear the evidence of the other witnesses.

On Sept 10, Judicial Commissioner Datin Yeoh Wee Siam dismissed the MACC's application for a revision after ruling that there was nothing illegal, incorrect or improper in the coroner allowing Sivanesan to testify at the inquest.

She also rejected the MACC's application for a stay.

On Sept 9, Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas riled that the police report lodged by Sivanesan dated Sept 11 last year, alleging that he was abused and tortured by a group of MACC officers, was relevant to assist the inquest in determining Teoh's cause of death.

He then allowed Sivanesan to testify and accepted the police report together with a set of photographs of alleged injuries tendered in court.

Following that, the MACC filed for a revision of the coroner's decision.

Teoh, 30, a political aide to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after having given a statement as a witness to the MACC over allegations of misuse of funds by Selangor state executive councillors.

Counsel Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo are appearing for Teoh's family and counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Azmah Yunus, for the Selangor government.

IPF prepared to remain a 'BN coolie'

(Bernama) - The Indian Progressive Front (IPF) has pledged its support to the government even though it had yet to be accepted as one of Barisan Nasional's (BN) component parties and is being labelled as BN coolie by the opposition.

IPF president Jayashree Pandithan said the party's pledge of support to the government was not made for fun, but was prompted by the commitment shown by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to uplift the status of the Indian community in the country.

"Though the opposition parties have labelled us as BN Gurkha or coolie and said that we will never be part of the coalition, we will wait patiently until our application to join BN is finally accepted.

Will submit application again

"In fact, we will submit another application to join the BN soon and we are confident that the BN leadership will give it a fair consideration," she told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the party's 17th general assembly here Sunday.

When asked whether IPF, which has 300,000 members nationwide, would join the opposition pact if the application was rejected by BN, Jayashree said such an idea had never crossed their minds as they would continue supporting BN.

"We are a strong supporter of BN. No doubt about that because (the late) Tan Sri MG Pandithan (IPF founder and former president) had supported BN and we will follow in his footstep.

"There is no question of going to any other party or the opposition pact. We are loyal supporters of the BN," she added.

BN component parties told to reform before general election

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 28 – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has urged the leaders of Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to follow the government’s lead in bringing transformation to the people.

The Umno deputy president believes this will change people’s perception towards the coalition.

“Under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the process of change can already be seen. New government policies have been announced from time to time and the process of transformation by the government has already begun.

“The effects can be seen but reform at the party level is too slow,” he explained.

He added that component parties must take the initiative to solve internal problems and strengthen party unity.

Muhyiddin fears that the people will lose their trust and confidence in the government and BN if the country does not experience any visible changes.

“For us, that is important because if the process is not done urgently, then we are worried that the people will say that there has not been any change,” he said

Muhyiddin pointed out that Umno has began the process of reforms by amending the party’s constitution.

“Maybe some might find the amendment to the constitution not important but this will reshape Umno’s image,” he said.

He reiterated that public perception will play a pivotal role in the next general election.

Appeals panel upholds caning sentence on Kartika

KUANTAN, 28 Sept – The Kuantan Syariah Court's appeal panel has upheld the caning sentence imposed on part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor.

Pahang Islamic Religious Department chief syariah prosecuting officer Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar said the decision was made after the panel reviewed the judicial proceedings on the case today.

However, the date for carrying out the punishment had yet to be decided by the panel, which also included Syariah Chief Judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman, he said when contacted here.

Kartika was fined RM5,000 and ordered to undergo six strokes of the rotan by the Kuantan Syariah High Court on July 20 after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol at a hotel in Cherating near here on July 11 2008.

The caning sentence became a subject of controversy when it drew mixed response from the public with even international organisations commenting on it.

It was to be carried out last month but was deferred as a mark of respect for the holy month of Ramadan. – Bernama

Najib continues courting Indians

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid - The Malaysian Insider

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 28 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak indicated today a possible increase in government allocation for Tamil schools despite having already allocated a staggering RM100 million under his second stimulus package programme for this purpose.

Najib also announced the development of a multi-racial hostel for secondary students in the Klang Valley area in a bid to foster better racial integration as part of his 1 Malaysia concept.

The decision appears to be part of with Najib’s ongoing effort to win back for the Barisan Nasional (BN) the lost support from the Indian community.

Speaking at a press conference held after chairing a Cabinet committee meeting on the Indian community here, Najib said the Tamil schools allocation had been temporarily stalled to give way for a revision due to the increase in cost.

“The cost of each classroom has increased to RM125,000 from what was originally estimated, the relevant ministries have been asked to look into this,” said Najib.

On other matters discussed during today’s meeting, Najib said the government’s quest to provide better education and employment opportunities is right on track.

The percentage of Indians working in the public sector and government-linked companies have significantly increased and efforts have been undertaken to transform the Indian community into a pool of skilled labourers and be commercially driven.

Some 2,600 Indians have been trained in various fields like aircraft maintenance by the Human Resources Ministry, said Najib, adding that the government had also taken measures to ensure small commercial loans and government contracts are accessible.

Currently there are more than a thousand Indians or four per cent of the total number, employed in the public sector ,but the government will do its best to meet its seven per cent target in the near future, he said.

On the education front, Najib said more and more Indian students are also receiving government scholarships.

The government, said Najib, will continue to monitor the progress of these programmes closely in order to ensure its success.

Present at the press conference today were several MIC leaders, including president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu.

Muslims, the real ‘going back’ —Nazir Khaja

SEPT 28 — Every Muslim talks about the Golden Age of Islam, and is nostalgic about it. Rightly so. In terms of science, medical progress, scientific achievements, and philosophical, religious inquiries, Islam and Muslim societies were recognised as the gateway to knowledge. While the Muslims derive great satisfaction in recounting the past glory of Islam, no one is interested in answering the questions as to how these things ended? There must be a reason for this. Why Islam suddenly went into a deep freeze intellectually speaking. The process of going from religious commitment to religious confusion begs understanding and inquiry especially by Muslims themselves.

Critical to the understanding of the problem is to note the attitude of the early Muslims; if they had actually been insular and resistant to the ideas and beliefs of other cultures, there never would have been the flowering of philosophy, poetry, ethics, and mysticism, influenced by the best thinking of the surrounding cultures. Their main mission was to lend Quranic authority to contemporary social struggles and engage with local customs, culture and traditions to synthesize and evolve a dynamic culture of their own. The Quranic framework became the matrix of their society and social moral values.

This they could have hardly done without critical thinking and a spirit of free inquiry. In their mind were questions about freedom and tradition. What is it that they were inheriting, as well as what capacities they had for critiquing that inheritance? These questions were in their face as much as they are now in the face of contemporary Muslims. Yet the earlier generation did not falter. They pursued knowledge relentlessly and with an open mind. All of this resulted in the glory of that Islam which the Muslims now pine for and refer to as “going back to”.

The historical imprint left on the minds of subsequent generations of Muslims unfortunately has led to the fostering of an attitude that Muslims are actually the highest manifestation of humanity, a people whose way of life was established not by human convention but by God. How can this claim of Muslims be supported in view of what Muslims and Islam are going through?

The problem here is that even though Islamic doctrines according to how Muslims believe are Revelational, Trans-historical and Eternal, the ummah or Muslim fraternity is contingent and historical. Muslims have become identified with Islam and Islam with Muslims through inescapable historical and cultural processes. This is the reality the Muslims need to acknowledge. The world at large perceives the issue in this manner. At the time of Islam's rise and spread to distant parts of the world, the people understood and accepted Islam through the conduct of the Muslims of that time. Why should it be any different now?

How should Muslims leaders and scholars begin to engage the Muslim masses in a rational, spiritual and social framework referenced by The Quran and the Prophet’s example?

Ideologues whose aim is to uncritically glorify the Muslims in history at the expense of other groups remain in control of the mosque pulpits. Through the fog of deliberate misrepresentation they create an illusion of the unity of the Muslim fraternity or ummah.

Reconciliation of the Quran’s charter of universalism with Muslim claims to be a distinct people or “the best nation” is a serious undertaking, which needs fresh insights. Remaining adherent to outmoded approaches and ways of thinking cannot accomplish it. This is the responsibility of the present generation of educated Muslims and cannot be left to the preachers in the mosque pulpits.

The Muslim societies are under control of leaders with vested interest in maintaining control over the community. They marginalise its value system or spirituality, and promote status quo, opposing any change or co-operational efforts with other communities.

It is not a matter of doubt that the Muslim societies are in need of reform .This will come about only if the Muslims are able to understand the significance of the universal, inclusive paradigm from which the Quran demands the society to be governed with. People who maintain centrality of the value system over historically and culturally conditioned thought, processes and ritual system are less likely to develop attitude of hostility towards each other and also other religions.

At the moment the process of reconciliation and synthesis, if any, remains in the hands of mostly state appointed authorities and few individuals who remain adherent to rigid rules and outmoded methodology of the bygone era; nothing original reflecting the onward progress of history and culture has been added for many centuries. The Muslim masses, adherent to a superficial understanding of their own faith and concerned mainly with performance of rituals and the reward in the hereafter, remain under the spell of these leaders. These scholars and leaders in most instances have very little knowledge of the workings of complex and evolving challenges that modernity brings. It is no surprise that Muslims now find themselves relegated to the margins of social, political and scientific developments.

This lack of critical thinking and holding on to application of old thought-out solutions to present-day problems has given rise to great vulnerabilities and host of issues for which Islam is blamed for in the media; from gender inequality, to failure of social and economic progress, to rights of minorities all are being piled up in Islam’s column. It is obvious that there is an urgent necessity for re-thinking Islam. Ways of reconciling or developing a conception of freedom that incorporates a role for tradition will help in making community and tradition more meaningful and yet not falling into the clutches of control and coercion

Concerned Muslims who have the capacity to think for themselves need not be intimidated and remain silent or marginalised. They need to step forward and engage in this critical task of reconstruction. They have to act nimbly and tactfully if they are to have any influence at all in retaking the lost ground. This is the "real going back to" that Muslims always dream about. — Islamic Information Service

Dr Nazir Khaja is chairman of the Islamic Information Service.

Uthaya sedition trial: Bid to recuse judge fails (Star online)

nurbaiti@thestar.com.my KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court has denied a verbal application by P. Uthayakumar to recuse judge Sabariah Othman from presiding over his sedition trial.

Uthayakumar, who represented himself on the dock, said Sabariah should withdraw herself from the case as an application was filed on Sept 10 to transfer the case to the High Court.

The transfer application was made on the grounds that the High Court was more competent to hear the sedition case that has international human rights elements as it contains serious allegations of ethnic cleansing.

“This court should be allowed to postpone pending a decision by the High Court. With these reasons and no disrespect, I ask you to withdraw yourself from the case,” said Uthayakumar.

Uthayakumar made lengthy arguments for the recusal although he and his counsels were repeatedly reminded that the court would only consider a written application to withdraw Sabariah.

Uthayakumar also added that he had yet to receive a response for an application filed on Sept 23 to obtain all documents pertaining to an alleged racial attack in Kampung Medan in 2001 under 51(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“These documents would enable me to defend myself in this sedition charge regarding ethnic cleansing. The Kampung Medan case is the basis for me to enter defence,” he said.

Sabariah said she only received a letter informing her of the application for the Kampung Medan documents but the defence counsel had erroneously submitted the application document to the High Court.

“I have repeatedly told you to make an (formal) application if you intend to recuse me. Until that application is filed and heard, this hearing continues,” she said as she dismissed the recusal application.

She added that the Sessions Court could still continue despite the pending hearing date for the transfer application at the High Court.

“If the High Court orders a transfer, I would gladly oblige but in the meantime, this hearing needs to continue,” she said, adding that any records or ruling made by the Sessions Court would be “null and void” if the High Court made the decision for a transfer.

“That would not be prejudicial to anyone unless we delay this hearing,” she said.

The application to withdraw Sabariah was made by Uthayakumar just as the first witness, DCP Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani from Bukit Aman, was called to the stand.

“Why is it so hard to continue with the trial? We have wasted time from morning until evening. The witness has waited from 9am to 4.30pm because of these numerous applications,” said Sabariah, who was visibly annoyed.

A war of word also broke out when DPP Noorin Badaruddin made a passing remark, saying “Oh grow up!” to counsel N. Surendran who was making his submission to the court.

“You can’t say that in front of the judge! Aren’t you going to rebuke her, Your Honour?” he said.

Sabariah told Surendran to concentrate on more serious matters such as the applications.

Uthayakumar then made an application for a stay of proceedings, to which Noorin objected.

The court was adjourned to Tuesday to decide whether to allow the stay or otherwise.

Uthayakumar, legal adviser to the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) movement, was charged with publishing a seditious letter on a website, an offence which carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment up to three years or both upon conviction.

The letter dated Nov 11 was from Hindraf and addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No 10, Downing Street.

P. Uthayakumar’s Urgent Appeal at Kuala Lumpur High Court (28/09/2009)

In P. Uthayakumar’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ Sedition trial by Civil Sessions Court Judge Sabariah binti Othman today (28/09/2009), the Judge had refused to recluse herself despite submissions of a perception of bioussness by Counsels M. Manogar, N. Surendran and the accused P. Uthayakumar also representing himself as submitted hereinbelow:-

1) The Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Patail who is a member of the Legal and Judicial Services Commission is also an employer of the said Sessions Court Judge. The Attorney General also decides on her promotion, demotion, salary increase, transfer etc. Despite appearing in person to ‘vindictively prosecute P.Uthayakumar under UMNO’s instructions, the Attorney General was allowed to conduct the proceedings by the said learned Judge. It was submitted that the Judge may not have been able to decide without fear or favour.

2) On the date of charging on 11/12/2007 the bail allowed at RM 50,000 and P. Uthayakumar’s International passport impounded was excessive. This Bail sum was ten (10) times the maximum fine under this Sedition charge which is highly unusual and unprecedented. This was rightly turned down on appeal subsequently by the High Court Judge to RM 10,000.00 and the return of his pasport. Also submitted was the fact that in Karpal Singh’s Sedition case a bail of a mere RM 2,000.00 was imposed and Karpals’ passport was never impounded.

3) No submissions were heard or allowed especially to P. Uthayakumar’s Defence Counsel on this excessive bail sum and the impounding of the passport condition.

4) In Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s case all proceedings in the Sessions Court was stayed pending the disposal at the High Court but which was denied by this Sessions Court Judge in P.Uthayakumar’s case here despite having been informed that an application had on 10/9/2009 been filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court but still then no adjournment was allowed on this ground.

5) Counsel M. Manogar had informed the Court that another application had also been filed for amongst others the first information report, Investigation papers on the Kg Medan ‘ethnic cleansing’ case and the Attorney General’s conclusion that there be no criminal prosecution for murder of the five innocent Indians of Kg Medan who had been murdered and the 100 over inflicted with grievous bodily harm by a mysterious malay muslim mob believed to be sponsored by UMNO and who are from outside Kg. Medan in 2001.

6) The ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Kg. Medan has to do with P. Uthayakumar’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ letter to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the subject of the charge against P. Uthayakumar.

7) This is a criminal prosecution but why is this civil court Judge hearing the same especially so when this is not a part heard case.

In the authority of Lennon v Metropolitan Properties 19691 QB 577, it was held by Lord Denning that on the mere perception of biouness by the members of the public or the accused the Judge ought not sit in the case. IF the judge sat his decision cannot stand. Despite the above the learned Judge had from 9.30a.m onwards insisted and persisted in going on with the proceedings ‘at any cost’ and had refused to grant an adjournment despite being informed that the High Court Judge who is scheduled to hear this appeal was still on leave and would be back tomorrow and that the High Court file No 44-157-2009 had already been opened. Counsels M.Manogar and N. Surendren after a lengthy persuation process managed to see the Judge in Chambers with the Deputy Public Prosecutors but had not made any headway with this ‘bioused’ Judge.

When the matter resumed at 2.30p.m and after lengthy submissions the Judge however had refused to recluse herself and insisted that the matter went on. Further submissions were also made by both Counsels and also P. Uthayakumar right up to about 5.00 p.m. Despite giving an undertaking that an appeal would be filed first thing tomorrow morning to the Kuala Lumpur High Court and for a stay of proceedings until the appeal at the High Court is heard and disposed off, this Judge refused to grant the adjournment but insisted in proceeding tomorrow (29/09/2009) at 12.00p.m.

Justice must not only be done but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. This is the case in the England and almost all other civil societies but this may not apply to Prime Minister’s Najib’s One Malaysia.

Mahathir right on Isa but wrong on PR

Umno’s choice for Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election appears quite set – and the latest indication is the “advice” by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, asking former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad not to “interfere” and “embarrass” the Umno leadership with any more public statements on the question of by-election candidature. (Sin Chew)

Mahathir is right on Isa when he said that the issue is not just Bagan Pinang by-election but the next 13th general elections.

As Mahathir conceded, if Umno fields a candidate who is not clean, it might win in Bagan Pinang but would lose in other constituencies as the people throughout Malaysia want to know whether Umno is serious about eradicating money politics and corruption.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak seems so desperate for a by-election victory in Peninsular Malaysia after seven consecutive by-election defeats after the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year that he is prepared to face the hazards warned by Mahathir.

But Mahathir is wrong when he painted a picture of disaster if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general elections, claiming that it will not be administering the country but that DAP, PAS and Keadilan will be fighting each other.

However, the latest Pakatan Rakyat controversy in Selangor over Selangor PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr. Hasan Mohamed Ali’s public attack on the Select Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) and the Speaker Teng Chang Khim has placed Pakatan Rakyat under a new stress and provided ammunition for Mahathir’s forecast of doom for PR.

The establishment and public hearings of Selcat are major and laudable steps in the campaign for public accountability, transparency and good governance although there is room for improvement in its functioning and operations.

What is unacceptable is that guidelines agreed by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership to deal with internal PR problems are not given serious attention, as this can only result in greater loss in public confidence in PR cohesion, sustainability and viability unless these problems are properly addressed and resolved.

Waytha wants to come home

SAD FAREWELL: A picture of Waythamoorthy and his daughter,taken after their breakfast in Singapore, before he departed for UK yesterday

SINGAPORE: P. Waythamoorthy, exiled in the United Kingdom, wants the Malaysian government to give him back his passport so he can come home and, if need be, face the music.

“I’m prepared to take responsibility for my actions. They can detain me under the ISA if they want to. But first, I want my passport back. And the government owes me an apology.”

Waythamoorthy said that he is not begging for his passport.

“What has been taken from me dishonourably must be returned to me in an honorable manner.”

Waythamoorthy holds Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, the former Home Minister, responsible for revoking his passport.

“The government owes me an apology. What they did to me on April 19 last year was the most humiliating thing in my life,” he said.

That day at Gatwick Airport in London, returning from a conference in Geneva, the British immigration authorities informed Waythamoorthy that the Malaysian government had revoked his passport.

“I could not believe it. In fact, I had to ask the British authorities to seek a confirmation with the Malaysian government that my passport was, indeed, being revoked.

“They did and two days later, on April 21, I was forced — because of the revocation and my stateless position
— to seek political asylum, which was duly given to me.”

Waytha is sore that the former Home Minister had continued to deny having revoked his passport.

He has written to the government to reinstate his passport “but the current government and the current Home Minister” have remained silent about it.

According to Amnesty International Director in Washington, Waythamoorthy was the first human rights lawyer to have his passport revoked while out of the country.

Waythamoorthy was in Singapore when he spoke to Malay Mail. He said he travels under the Geneva protocol now.

“I can go anywhere, including Israel, but I can’t return home to Malaysia.”

He spent nearly two weeks here when we secured the telephone interview. His family — wife, seven-year-old
daughter and his twin sister — had travelled from Malaysia to be with him in Singapore.

He left for London, where he is now based, yesterday, after seeing off his family to Malaysia.

Waythamoorthy also met P. Uthayakumar, another ringleader of the banned Hindraf, on Saturday night.

Uthayakumar was detained under the ISA for his role in a massive antigovernment demonstration in 2007
and a highly-provocative memorandum from Hindraf to the UK government alleging ethnic cleansing of Indians in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak released him and two other Hindraf leaders in May, a month after becoming Prime Minister.

Balik-lah, says Syed Hamid

SYED HAMID: Waythamoorthy did not want to return to Malaysia

“NOBODY is stopping P. Waythamoorthy from returning to Malaysia, if he wants to. He is, after all, a Malaysian citizen.”

This was the response of former Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar when told of the ex-Hindraf leader’s wish to return to Malaysia after spending the last one and a half years in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom.

To this day, Waythamoorthy still holds Syed Hamid responsible for his passport being revoked, but Syed Hamid denied he had ordered it.

When contacted yesterday, Syed Hamid seemed perplexed by Waythamoorthy’s claims that he is unable to return home.

“Nobody is stopping him from returning to Malaysia. He can come back if he wants to. He is a Malaysian citizen, it is his right to do so.”

He said he did not order for Waythamoorthy’s passport to be revoked but to be returned to its owner
instead.

Syed Hamid said the Home Ministry wanted to revoke Waythamoorthy’s passport, even before he
became Home Minister last year.

“But after I joined the ministry after last year’s general election, I had ordered for his passport to be returned to him. However, I was subsequently told that Waythamoorthy had surrendered his passport to the Malaysian High Commission in the UK, via his lawyer. I don’t knowwhy he did that, or if he did it at all,” he told Malay Mail.

Syed Hamid said the matter of Waythamoorthy’s passport was dealt between the Malaysian police force and the British authorities.

However, he said when Waythamoorthy had his passport taken from him by the British authorities
at the Gatwick Airport in London in April last year, the latter should have just returned home.

“He should have come back then. The British authorities should’ve sent him back.

“But from what I understand, he didn’t want to return to Malaysia, he wanted to stay there. And the British authorities allowed it. They even gave him documents for him to travel everywhere,” said
Syed Hamid.

On the possible repercussions that Waythamoorthy may face if he returns to Malaysia, Syed Hamid
said it would be up to the relevant authorities to decide.

“If there is an arrest warrant against him, or if the government has determined that he had committed
an offence or a crime of any sort, then of course the possibility of him facing whatever repercussions is there.

“If the police or Attorney- General want to take action against him, it would be up to them.

“But if he says he is willing to face the music , then by all means , balik-lah ( come back).

I don’t think anyone would stop him from doing so.”

WAYTHA: MAKKAL SAKTHI IS NO HINDRAF

SINGAPORE: P. Waythamoorthy says the new Makkal Sakthi party, formed by his former Hindraf counterpar t R.S. Thanenthiran, which will be launched on Oct 10, may not represent the original ideals of Hindraf but is an interesting development back home.

"Thanenthiran was my national coordinator back then, but here he's gone his way," he said.

Waythamoorthy spoke to Malay Mail before leaving Singapore for London yesterday. He was in the republic
for close to two weeks to rendezvous with his wife, seven-year- old daughter and his twin sister.

He also met P. Uthayakumar on Saturday night.

"The Makkal Sakthi party has nothing to do with us," he said.

Waytha said he viewed the formation of the new party as interesting.

"You must agree that people are more aware of the (Indian) society's plight since Hindraf," he said.

Hindraf was declared an illegal organisation on Oct 15, 2008, by then Home Minister Datuk Seri (now Tan Sri) Syed Hamid Albar. The decision was made under Section 5(1) of the Societies Act after the ministry was satisfied with facts and evidence that Hindraf had and was being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order and morality.

*******

Don’t vote, Indians told

Stay away from Bagan Pinang, for both BN and PR have let us down, says Human Rights Party

NAJIAH NAJIB

Monday, September 28th, 2009

THE main issue discussed by Human Rights Party Malaysia (HRP) leader P. Uthayakumar and Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) chairman P. Wathyamoorthy in Singapore yesterday was the Bagan Pinang by-election
in Negri Sembilan.

HRP media liaison officer S. Jayathas was also present at the meeting.

“We took a stand to remain neutral in the Bagan Pinang by-election. We urge all HRP members, Hindraf activists and Indian supporters not to vote,” Uthayakumar said when reached after the meeting.

He said it would not make a difference if Indians did not vote, as they did not believe the government, be it Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, would fight for their rights.

“Because Umno sidelined us for the last 52 years, we decided to vote for Pakatan Rakyat in the last general election. But after Pakatan won its States, it sidelined us as well,” he said.

“Soon after Pakatan took over Perak, it gave plenty of land to the Malay and Chinese communities, and refused to grant State land for Hindu temples and schools,” Uthayakumar added.

In Selangor, he said, the Pakatan government was still unable to resolve the “cow head issue” and the Sri Maha Mariamman temple relocation, which had disheartened the Indian community.

He also said the current issue of villagers being evicted in Kampung Buah Pala in Penang was certainly not helping the situation.

Uthayakumar said HRP was contacted by Pas yesterday, which had asked to meet up with the group.

“Before this, it (Pas) never invited us for anything. Why does Pas want to see us now, just before the by-election?

“Until we see some changes that will benefit us, this is the stand we have taken towards both parties. And we urge all our supporters to do the same.”

Training for elected reps

THE Human Rights Party Malaysia (HRP) is hoping to produce a new breed of parliamentarians and State assemblymen through an internal training programme it launched last Monday.

“Our programme focuses on grooming the youth and supporters to become future parliamentarians and State assemblymen,” its secretary-general P. Uthayakumar said.

“This is in line with our goal of creating an Indian majority in 15 parliamentary and 38 State seats we’ve identified,” he said.

Among the parliamentary constituencies it has identified are Padang Serai (Kedah), Batu Kawan (Penang), Tebrau (Johor), Cameron Highlands (Pahang), Ipoh Barat (Perak) and Kota Raja (Selangor).

Uthayakumar said the HRP training programmes were being conducted at its headquarters in Bangsar.

Climate signs "surpass worst-case scenarios" - Anil Netto

The signs are there that climate change is surpassing the worst-case scenarios scientists predicted just two years ago, reveals The Climate Change Science Compendium 2009, a UN report released on 24 September.

The report, released on 24 September, analysed 400 scientific reports released through peer-reviewed literature or from research institutions, according to a Reuters report.

An yet, here we are merrily continuing with our corporate-driven unsustainable development as if global warming doesn’t concern us and thinking that we and our future generations will be somehow immune from its effects.

Thus, climate chaos doesn’t figure in our economic planning or our unsustainable development models. So we can continue building more highways, clearing rainforests, spreading our concrete jungles and focusing on unsustainable GDP growth above all else. It is as if climate chaos is just an unsubstantiated theory for environmental nuts.

It would seem that nothing can stop the profit-driven corporate agenda and our consumerist, materialistic life-styles – even when the very survival of our planet is at stake.

BN Government mulls Benz, BMWs as Proton delays new Perdana

From Malaysian Insider

Despite the moribund economy, the government is mulling the use of imported luxury cars for the Najib administration and top civil servants to replace its leased fleet of ageing Proton Perdana V6 Executive vehicles which are no longer in production.

The cars — Mercedes Benz S class, BMW 5 series, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord — are likely to be leased for four years from Spanco Sdn Bhd, which has a 25-year concession with the government ending 2018 that is now worth RM80 million a year.

The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the judiciary has decided on using the Mercedes Benz and that perk could extend to ministers.
“The Mercedes Benz cars are already being assembled now in Pekan in anticipation of the lease,” a government source told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the assembly plant in the prime minister’s constituency.

The new cars could raise heckles as Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers had objected to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administrations in both Perak and Selangor for opting to use Toyota Camrys over the Perdanas, accusing them of being unpatriotic and disloyal to the national carmaker.

The BN government that ousted PR in Perak later put the Camrys on the auction block early this year.

The BN government in Terengganu also raised eyebrows last year when it ordered 14 Mercedes Benz E200 Kompressors for RM3.43 million to replace the Perdanas, citing costly maintenance for the national car.

Proton is already looking at a new model next year to replace the flagship Perdana, which was launched in 1995 as the badge-engineered version of the seventh-generation Mitsubishi Eterna. The current Proton Perdana V6 Executive used by the government is 10 inches longer than the standard model.

Another government source said the new cars had competitive lease rates, reducing initial costs but he reckoned Spanco can turn in a tidy profit from maintenance charges.

“The lease for each car is four years and maintenance charges are a bit high but they do everything from A to Z. So on paper, it’s worth it for the government,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

The government stopped buying cars for the administration and senior government officers since January 1994 by agreeing to lease from Spanco which initially provided Mercedes Benz and Volvo models.

But the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration stopped that in 1997 under its austerity drive during the height of the Asian financial crisis.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha told Parliament last year that apart from cars for official government use, Spanco also leased saloon cars for the various ministries and federal departments.

“Under the agreement, Spanco is responsible for supply, maintaining and repairing all cars leased by the government.

“In return, the government pays for the cost of rental, maintenance and repairs to Spanco on a monthly basis based on the number and type of cars leased,” he said in reply to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) who wanted to know the cost and benefits of leasing Proton Perdana V6 as official cars of the government.

He said until July 2008, a total of 8,341 cars were leased of which 105 were for use by members of the government administration.”The average yearly maintenance cost (not including repairs) for the Perdana V6 cars was RM2,373, which was 55 per cent less than RM3,693 for the standard yearly maintenance cost of a Mercedes,” he said, adding that the government found using the Perdana V6 to be very practical as it seldom had serious technical problems.

Apart from the Perdana as a standard car for government servants, Spanco also provides the Proton Waja. Spanco was given the contract to lease and maintain vehicles for the government for 25 years as part of the government’s privatisation exercise. It was seen a good deal as many government departments, such as the police force, had thousands of cars, and leasing and maintenance was not Spanco’s core business.

In 2004, the Finance Ministry asked Coopers & Lybrand to review the Spanco deal in the belief that the government had paid too much. The contract sum was then reduced by 20 per cent from RM100 million a year to RM80 million a year.

The decision to renegotiate the Spanco contract came after the then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that the government would look into lopsided concessions.

Najib, who succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister last April, had added the government would learn from its mistakes to ensure that it did not get the short end of the stick when negotiating deals with the private sector.

ISA

1. There is much talk today regarding the Internal Security Act. Having released people and having detained people under the ISA, I think I know something about this act and its application.

2. Firstly one must remember that it is a preventive law, that is it is to be applied before a crime is committed. The law cannot be applied after the crime is committed. For this there are other laws.

3. Secondly it can be applied only in certain specific cases, as for example when there is a threat to the security of the country.

4. A possible armed uprising or possibility of civil violence would constitute a threat to the security of the country.

5. However it had been used in the past to incarcerate political opponents, as when Aziz Ishak was detained.

6. At this point visitors to this blog are likely to say I did the same. I admit I did detain people under the ISA in the 1987 Ops Lalang. But it was not because they were members of the opposition. The police had informed me that there was likely to be racial clashes over the issue of Chinese education and the intention of some UMNO members to hold a million strong demonstration in K.L.

7. The people detained were not only members of the opposition but included UMNO members. As soon as the threat passed the detainees were all released. The issue was not political opposition to the Government but the threat to national security.

8. I don't expect this explanation would be accepted by my detractors. But that is normal. Detractors would never admit to being wrong.

9. On the ISA, it seems odd that some who were detained under the ISA supports this preventive laws. I am sure they don't support abuses of the law though.

9. When the so-called war on terror was launched by Bush and Blair, they did not hesistate to detain so-called suspects without even being sanctioned by any law. They were so critical about our ISA before but not only did they detain thousands of the so-called suspects, they actually tortured the detainees when they felt threats to their security. I will not talk about their invading Iraq and Afghanistan and the killings of thousands of innocent people.

10. The so-called protagonists of human rights were clearly critical when others resort to preventive detention. When they felt threatened they not only detain people but they did this without any law which provides for such act.

11. Just because our critics are hypocrites does not mean that we should retain the ISA. But there is a need for preventive detention in Malaysia simply because without this threat racist extremists would undermine the stability of this country. That extreme racialism can lead to violence is not something we can take lightly. We must value our stability because it has made it possible for this country to develop much faster than other countries.

12. Can the ISA be replaced by a court hearing. In Malaysia courts take a long time to pass judgement; months or even years. By then the violence would have taken place, i.e. the court action would have failed to achieve the prevention that the law is meant for.

13. Still there is need to review the ISA. I don't think it should be done away with but there must be a clear cut provision as to when it could be used. We cannot have people being detained for three days and then released because the detention was for the detainee's safety.

14. Perhaps the period should be shortened to one year and the six monthly review be carried out by properly qualified individuals who have the country's interest heart besides a desire to maintain human rights.

Najib & the Makkal Sakhti Party - a loss cutting, money-greased ploy to split votes?

by Nathaniel Tan

There are no less than 5 articles on MIC and the Makkal Sakhti Party this morning on Malaysiakini - a large part of the interest garnered by how Najib himself is set to launch the party.

I suppose Ben Suffian is closest to the money:

“Perhaps this strategy is meant to stem the flow of Indian votes to the opposition. If it means diluting the vote (in a three-corner fight), then so be it.”

We might even look at this positively. Perhaps no less than the PM himself has seen the futility of winning back the Indian vote, and has opted to try and split it instead.

I think it’ll get real interesting if we see him starting to prop up alternative Chinese parties with the same goal :P

Well, I’ll always support the right of any group to organise politically and pursue their agenda.

It’s obviously a bit sad to see ex-Hindraf elements suddenly cosy up to BN, but I think in my ‘older’ age, these things become less unexpected.

It may be my ‘older’ age as well that has a better appreciation of how easily people fall to temptation.

This picture of spic and span, suit-clad Thanethiran looks so different from his orange street fighting days.

I know not the insides of any man’s heart, and will be the first to admit that the following is all pure speculation, but I somehow find it easy to imagine conversations in some cozy office, with Najib saying all the right things about the Indian interest (to put the perhaps slightly guilty feeling man more at ease), making vague allusions to sums that would be confirmed by underlings later.

After Perak and all, one gets the feeling that Najib is a master of this game. Many suspect sums of money that the individuals involved would never, ever have comprehended before in their lives. I guess it’s not an easy thing to refuse (often, along with the carrot, there is also the stick - think MACC investigations).

So, we have another community crusader who has likely fallen. It’s sad, but we leave them behind and press on I guess.

I think there can be no compromise - all race based political movements must eventually go if the country is ever to really be united. Anyone who genuinely hopes Najib, Umno and gang will give two hoots about the genuine interests of others (while being part of an entire generation steeped in supremacist thinking) beyond fishing for votes, is in for a sad awakening.

I know it’s often more difficult in the Indian community, being the smallest minority on the Peninsular - but purely defensive, siege-mentality communal instincts will never surpass a certain limit of achievement.

Needless to say, Pakatan could do a *whole* lot more to address issues concerning such minorities, and put their house in better order to build a more overreaching confidence in the coalition and its prospects.

Makkal Sakthi Will Not Be Alternative Party - MIC Youth

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- MIC Youth will not allow Makkal Sakthi, which will be launched on Oct 10, to become an alternative party to the Indian community.

MIC Youth chief T.Mohan said although the party would be launched Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the movement would not compromise if it was aimed at replacing the MIC in BN.

"Datuk Seri Najib, as the prime minister, has every right to launch any new party but it is not appropriate if is aimed at decimating the MIC, which had served BN for 63 years," he told a news conference here Monday.

Makkal Sakthi Malaysia is headed by R.S. Thenenthiran, 47, a founder of Hindraf, which had been declared an illegal organisation.

"MIC Youth will certainly protest if any new party is to replace the MIC (in BN) for whatever reasons. There will be no compromise," said Mohan.

Mohan said many new parties would emerge but they would not be able to gain the confidence of the people and the MIC's contributions would not be forgotten.

On the Bagan Pinang by-election, he said the movement would organise a telematch, a carnival and a concert in Indian majority areas, namely in the Siliau, Bradwall and Antherton estates.

Uthayakumar Presses On To Disqualify Judge

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- The Sessions Court hearing a sedition charge against lawyer P. Uthayakumar was all riled up on Monday when his counsels continued to insist that Judge Sabariah Othman recuse herself from hearing the case, despite being repeatedly told to file an application.

One of the counsels, N. Surendran, was also engaged in a heated exchange with Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin after he asked whether the prosecution was instructed to ensure Uthayakumar was convicted to prevent him from contesting in the next general election.

After lengthy arguments, Sabariah allowed Uthayakumar and his counsels, Surendran and M. Manogar, to submit why she should disqualify herself.

She said she would decide by noon tomorrow whether to allow the application or order the hearing to continue.

Uthayakumar said Surendran had filed an application at the High Court Criminal Registry on Sept 10 for the sedition trial to be transferred to the High Court.

He claimed the High Court was more competent to hear the case, citing the allegation against him involved complicated issues.

Another application was filed on Sept 23 to obtain more documents under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code on police investigations into the 1999 Kampung Medan issue.

"So far, we did not receive any document from the prosecution on the Kampung Medan issue and this court should wait for the High Court to hear the application for the transfer of the case before continuing with the trial.

"I don't understand why this court is insisting to go on with this case where the High Court might decide in favour of my application," said Uthayakumar who spoke, in addition to his counsels.

This earned him a ticking off from Sabariah who pointed out that the trial had been postponed several times for various reasons since he was charged on Dec 11, 2007.

"This case is fixed for hearing for three days and the case is still within jurisdiction of this court and I will continue with the hearing," she said.

Noorin told the court the prosecution had handed over more than 160 documents to the defence and that she was not aware of the two applications filed by Uthayakumar's counsel.

"We were not informed about these applications and the court should not allow the case to be postponed since there are four witnesses present in court, with two who had to travel from Sarawak," she said.

Noorin submitted that under Article 154 of the Federal Constitution, the Attorney-General had the power to prosecute anyone and there was nothing extraordinary about Uthayakumar's trial to be heard before the High Court.

Even before the first prosecution witness, Bukit Aman deputy management director DCP Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani appeared in court, Uthayakumar told the court that he had another verbal application for stay of hearing.

Uthayakumar, 48, is charged with publishing a seditious letter on a website, an offence which carries a fine of up to RM5,000 or maximum three years' jail or both.

The letter dated Nov 15 was from the Hindu-based activist group, Hindraf, addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No 10, Downing Street, London

MESSAGE FROM TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN'S GREAT GRAND DAUGHTER

Tunku Abdul Rahman's great granddaughter
Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24
Conservationist

"Both my parents are Malay. My mum's heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a chinese.

I'm happy that I don't have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up "Are you Chinese or Malay"

Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer "Malay" but now I'm trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.

There's this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I don't have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that I'm older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesn't define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or ALI and still be a Christian.

I've heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we don't need to be told to be united. We've come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.
For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. It's tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about 'us' and 'them' and focus on 'we', 'our' and 'Malaysians' .

No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, "I don't feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I don't feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there.
I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. I'm a fourth generation Malaysian. If I am Bumiputra, why can't they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.

I think the main reason why we still can't achieve total unity is because of this 'Malay rights' concept. I'd rather 'Malay rights' be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.

For my merdeka wish, I'd like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.

I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia. Malaysians to lead - whatever their ethnic background. Only ONE NATIONALITY -MALAYSIAN. No Malays, No Chinese, No Indians - ONLY MALAYSIANS. Choose whatever religion one is comfortable with.

WELL SAID LADY.......YOU JUST DID YOUR GREAT GRANDPA PROUD.

Iran tests missiles amid nuclear tension

(CNN) -- Iran tested a missile-launching system and several types of short- and medium-range missiles Sunday, the state-run Press TV said.

A short-range missile is test-launched during war games in Qom, Iran, south of Tehran, on Sunday.

Earlier, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had said it would stage missile exercises beginning Sunday to promote the armed forces' defense capabilities.

The tests, which are expected to last until Monday, are code-named "Payghambar-e Azam 4" or "The Great Prophet 4," Press TV said.

The missiles, fired at targets around the country Sunday, included the Fateh-110, a short-range ground-to-ground missile, and Tondar-69, a short-range naval missile, the station said. Several models of medium-range Shahab missiles were tested at night, Press TV reported.

The final stage of the tests will be held Monday morning, when Iran plans to test the long-range Shahab missile, the station said.

In May, Iran said it tested a surface-to-surface missile that is capable of reaching parts of Europe.

At the time, a White House official said actions in Iran were noteworthy.

"Of course, this is just a test, and obviously there is much work to be done before it can be built and deployed. But I see it as a significant step forward in terms of Iran's capacity to deliver weapons," said Gary Samore, special assistant to the president on nonproliferation.

The latest test follows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disclosure Friday that Iran was building a second uranium enrichment facility.

The United States and Israel believe that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program.

Iran has denied the allegation.

Ops Sikap Degenerating Into “Oops! Silap!

by M. Bakri Musa

It is now a practice that with every festive season the authorities would go into high gear aimed at reducing the horrifically high rates of traffic accidents and fatalities. Judging by the results however, these initiatives are more show than substance. These “Ops Sikap” (a contraction for Operasi Sikap – Operation Attitude, as in changing the attitude of road users) are now more “Oops! Silap!” (Oops! I goofed!)

There has been no change to the dreadful trend since the series was stated over eight years ago. That should not surprise anyone. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect to have different results. The surprise is that the authorities have not yet figured this out; this latest Ops Sikap essentially replicated what was done during previous twenty operations. There is minimal effort at learning from earlier experiences; the program lacks innovations.

This latest edition began on September 13 and just ended two weeks later today. It registered 238 fatalities. As with past years, the overwhelming victims were motorcyclists.

The Ops Sikap I over Christmas Holidays of 2001 saw 223 deaths, averaging about 15 per day. At the midpoint mark, Ops Sikap X covering the Chinese New Year Holidays of 2006, there were 226 deaths. Again, the average was about 15 deaths per day. With this latest Ops Sikap XX over the current Hari Raya season, the average is already 17 per day. That figure may yet climb as we expect deaths from those currently hospitalized for their injuries.

There you have it: three different festivities but same tragic consequences!

No matter how we look at the figures, there is no denying that they tell a grim story, and with no relief in sight. Yet that did not stop the Director-General of the Road Transport Department (RTD), Solah Mat Hassan, from reassuring the public that based on per 10,000 vehicles registered, the accident rate has actually declined!

The Director-General is obviously misreading the statistics. He is basing his conclusion on the annual and overall number of accidents and fatalities, not on the atrociously high spikes during the holiday seasons. To get a clearer picture of the impact of the heavy traffic of the holidays, he should be looking at the comparable two-week period immediately preceding and following the Ops Sikap. Unfortunately neither his department nor the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS) collects or publishes such figures.

In America, heightened traffic surveillance over holiday periods extends only over a three-day period, as Americans do not have the luxury of extended holidays. Nonetheless the figures are illustrative. Take the typical three-day American Labor Day weekend. From 2003 to 2008, the fatalities nationally ranged from 473 to 508, with an average of 490. The fatalities over that three-day period represent about 13 percent of the month’s total, only slightly over the 10 percent that would be expected based simply on the prorated number of days (3 days out of 30). That represents a percentage increase of only 30 percent (from 10 to 13 percent).

The statistics look even more impressive if we look at the number of deaths in the comparable three-day period immediately before and after the holidays: they average about 423 over the six-year period. Meaning, the long holiday weekend saw the accident numbers spiked from an average of 423 to 490, an increase of only 15 percent. That is remarkably low increase considering the visibly much heavier traffic volume during the holidays.

To me, that is the more meaningful figure on which to gauge the effectiveness of the measures instituted during the festive season. Although RTD and MIROS do not collect these comparable data, nonetheless we can get a rough estimate from newspaper reports. My guess is that the figures of the comparable two-week periods before and after the Ops Sikap are considerably lower, more likely in the region of about 50, or about 3 a day. Thus the increase during the holiday season is a horrific jump from 3 per day to 15, a five-fold (500 percent) increase, in contrast to the 15 percent we see in America.

That figure that should shock everyone and push us even harder at reducing it.

There are three variables to traffic safety: the road users (drivers, pedestrians, and motorcyclists), the road, and the vehicle. MIROS listed the four E’s to better road safety: education, engineering, enforcement, and the environment. Certainly, attention to these factors would enhance overall road safety and reduce accident rates. These measures have been successfully introduced elsewhere; they are well tested and highly effective. We need not reinvent the wheel; just follow the best practices set elsewhere and modify them appropriately to suit local conditions and audience.

Take education for example. All too often public service announcements and billboards carry and repeat the same annoying message that has the effect of turning people off. “Be careful!” “Be considerate!” “Be patient!” “Use your seat belt!” I have yet to see a public service announcement that would educate drivers on what is the safe space to keep between your car and the one immediately ahead of you if you are going at 40 MPH as compared to 60 MPH. That is one example. Another would be to educate drivers on entering merging traffic and in avoiding distractions, as in using hand phones. In California it is illegal to use hand phone while driving.

Also along the line of education, in view of the disproportionate number of accidents that are alcohol related, in addition to frequent sobriety roadside checks, many judges now sentence drunk drivers to spend time visiting the morgue to see the mangled bodies caused by drunk driving. Along the same line, a night in jail is now mandatory for drunk drivers.

We have however, to differentiate between those measures that would reduce the overall accident rates (as with attention to the four E’s) versus those that are specific to days of especially high volume traffic, as during festive seasons.

Consider enforcement. On any holiday weekend, an hour’s drive on an American freeway and you are likely to meet at least three police patrol cars. Such high visibility of law enforcement personnel keeps drivers on their toes. On one particularly heavy holiday period, the highway patrol resorted literally to having convoys on the freeway, with a police car with all lights flashing leading the way. That kept everyone in line; nobody dared to speed up or overtake.

A few years ago the Malaysian police instituted a novel experiment of actually having a policeman (or woman) ride on express buses. That was highly effective. Today all lorries and express buses are mandated to have speed monitors, thus obviating the need for an on-board human monitors.

Roadside sobriety checks are now a common feature on American roads and streets during high traffic days, as with holidays and special events. It seems that if you have been “stopped checked” or seen someone subjected to it when you are driving, that has a salutary effect that seems to last. You tend to be more cautious for the rest of the trip, and perhaps beyond.

I suggest that at the next Ops Sikap, the authorities introduce some innovations. One would be to have highway convoys and another, random police checks at toll booths. I would also urge the collection of better statistics so we could draw meaningful conclusions and thus devise better strategies and interventions to ameliorate the situation. Again we need not reinvent the wheel. There are already many models in place, the one used by the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov) is one.

The tragedy to the lives lost and bodies maimed in these accidents is that the victims are almost always previously healthy and productive citizens, often in the prime of their life. The nation cannot afford such losses. While to the bureaucrats and statistic keepers Ops Sikap may be Oops! Silap!, to the families of the victims, they are needless tragedies and the beginning of their nightmares.

A day with the “deviants”

By Shanon Shah
thenutgraph.com

"FROM what we see, Islam [in Malaysia] appears like a one-way religion. But in the Quran, it's not like this. Even if someone apostates, it's not another human being's right to persecute them," Ainul Yakin Muhd Zin, 41, tells The Nut Graph. Perhaps this is why the sect that Ainul leads, the Jemaat Ahmadiyah Muslim of Malaysia, was branded a "threat to national security" in a 3 Aug 2009 Kosmo! report.

In fact, Ainul says that in 1975, a fatwa by the Selangor Islamic authorities declared Ahmadiyah to be outside Islam's fold. The fatwa also asked for Ahmadiyah followers to be killed by the sultan. Why indeed are Muslims and the Islamic authorities so afraid of Ahmadiyah?

After all, according to Ainul, there are only around 2,000 Ahmadiyah in all of Malaysia. In the Klang Valley, there are maybe 600 Ahmadiyah followers only, and most of them are Malay Malaysians. This, then, was what The Nut Graph aimed to find out on 4 Sept 2009 at the Ahmadiyah headquarters in Batu Caves, Selangor.

Difference in beliefs

Perhaps before answering the question of why there is so much hostility towards Ahmadiyah, we must look briefly at how Ahmadiyah differ from Sunni Muslims who make up the dominant group of Muslims in Malaysia.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (pic courtesy of Jemaat
Ahmadiyah Muslim Malaysia)

Ahmadiyah believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, their founder from late 19th century Qadian in present-day Pakistan was a prophet in his own right. However, they acknowledge Muhammad as the last of the law-giving prophets sent by Allah. Sunni Muslims, however, see this as an unforgivable deviation — there can be no prophets after Muhammad in Islam, full-stop.

Ahmadiyah also have their own caliphate. Their current caliph is the fifth succeeding Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whom they count as their first caliph. In terms of doctrine, they also differ by arguing that the prophet Isa, or Jesus, died a mortal death and was not raised to heaven by God.

Ahmadiyah also believe in Darwinist evolution to a certain extent — to them, Adam was not literally the first human being, but rather the first evolved human being.

Unverified allegations

So in this sense, it is easy to see why Sunni Muslims have problems with Ahmadiyah doctrine. But the allegations against Ahmadiyah practices and beliefs do not stop here. "They say our prayers are mixed-gender. They say our kiblat (direction of prayer) does not point towards Mecca. This is all untrue," explains Ainul. In fact, none other than Selangor religious exco Datuk Dr Hassan Ali claimed that Ahmadiyah "do not need to pray, do not fast during Ramadan and do not perform the haj".

Ainul, however, says, "First of all, there are Muslim governments that prevent us from performing the haj in Mecca when they find out we are Ahmadiyah." During the asar (late afternoon) congregational prayer, The Nut Graph also observed the Ahmadiyah's kiblat was no different from the conventional kiblat. When asked if any journalist from the traditional media came to verify this fact, Ainul said they hadn't.

"And do you see any women praying beside us? We observe purdah (gender segregation) very strictly," says Ainul. That was indeed clear. In fact, The Nut Graph had to request repeatedly to interview some women Ahmadiyah because they were nowhere to be seen.

"All just a misunderstanding"

Afiatunnur

But Ainul is good-natured enough to entertain this request. On 9 Sept, The Nut Graph met with two women Ahmadiyah leaders in Malaysia — Afiatunnur, 34, the Kuala Lumpur women's chief, and Najmul Laila, 38, the moral outreach secretary. Najmul is also Ainul's wife. Both women are Indonesians married to Ahmadiyah Malaysians.

Afiatunnur and Najmul attest that things were once peaceful for them in Indonesia — Ahmadiyah even had protection from the state. But all this changed in 2005, when the Indonesian Ulama Council issued a fatwa calling for a government ban on Ahmadiyah. Violence then ensued. In July 2005, the Ahmadiyah headquarters in Bogor was attacked, causing it to be shut down. Attacks then spread all across Java, until today.

In 2008, even former President Abdurrahman Wahid appealed for calm and for protection of Ahmadiyah, but his plea was ignored. In June 2008, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto, and Attorney-General Hendarman Supanji signed a decree outlawing Ahmadiyah from spreading their faith.

But Najmul and Afiatunnur are nothing if not forgiving of such persecution. "It's all just because they misunderstand Ahmadiyah teachings," says Najmul.

Najmul

"Even here in Malaysia, my family was renting from a house owner who was not happy that we are Ahmadiyah," says Afiatunnur. "But once they saw that we are just like anybody else, they became okay with us."

Najmul elaborates, "But then the others in their community think these people are suddenly nice to us because we have bewitched them!"

But is this forbearance and humour from these two women too good to be true? When asked, for example, if women are obliged to cover their hair, both women agree fully. But are there Ahmadiyah women who do not cover their hair?

"Yes, a few," Najmul admits. Are these women then encouraged to cover their hair? "Yes, we advise them." What if they still do not cover their hair after this advice? Are they forced to cover their hair? Najmul is scandalised. "Of course not," she says. "But we just keep advising them, that's all."

Just another day

Breaking fast

This chill-out attitude pervades other aspects of Ahmadiyah life as well. Yes, they fast. And when they broke their fast, the meal was simple, and they did not dilly-dally before performing maghrib (dusk), and then isya (night) and terawih prayers in congregation. And yes, they have a 10-point pledge of allegiance, or baiat, that followers have to accept, calling for strict observance of morality, piety and worship.

But Ahmadiyah are not fussed if there are those who do not accept the creed, or who want to leave the community. As Jariullah Ahmad, another Ahmadiyah spokesperson in Malaysia, explains, "If I leave the Ahmadiyah community, then I leave. The Ahmadiyah community will survive and go on. God will find a replacement for me among Ahmadiyah."

In fact, Ahmadiyah claim they have nearly 200 million followers worldwide. Their communities flourish especially in secular Canada and the UK, where they are recognised and visited by ministers and Members of Parliament.

Ahmadiyah Quran translation

How do they deal with negative attitudes towards them, though? Ainul gives an example. In December 2008, he says the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) ordered them to remove the kalimah syahadat, or Islamic creed — "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God" — from their headquarters.

"I said we cannot bring ourselves to do this, because this is truly what we believe. But if you believe we are wrong, then you need to be the ones to remove the kalimah yourselves," he says. According to him, MPS then left the kalimah alone.

There are, of course, even more sinister threats, and Ainul says that he has made several reports to the police and other authorities about these threats. He says, though, that until now no action has been taken based on these reports. "Why is this so? And if we are considered non-Muslims from the 1975 fatwa, why do the authorities continue to harass us? Why do they not leave us alone like the Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and other non-Muslims in Malaysia?" asks Ainul.

Jariullah takes this questioning a step further. "Can the authorities just declare openly if they are able to protect our basic rights? If they admit they truly can't, then at least we can plan our lives accordingly."

Kg Buah Pala: Release Pakatan exco minutes too - Anil Netto

There’s still quite a bit of unfinished business in this saga.

Why is it so important? First, land which is now said to be worth RM80-100 per sq ft was alienated to the Koperasi for RM10psf or RM3.2 million by the previous BN administration. Millions of ringgit that could have gone to the people of Penang was effectively handed over on a silver platter to the Koperasi-Nusmetro in exchange for peanuts. The big issue was, could the Pakatan state government have stopped the deal in its tracks?

Was the new state government in Penang unaware of the Kg Buah Pala crisis during the crucial period from when they came into power on 8 March 2009 until the land transfer was effected on 27 March 2008? Let’s zoom in on this period.

March 2008

8 – Opposition parties sweep to power in Penang.
13 – Buah Pala villagers meet the new Penang Chief Minister and inform him about their situation.
14 – But the very next day, the state government accepts final payment of RM2,247,000* for the Buah Pala land, nearly a year after the last payment, and almost 10 months after the Land Office asked for final payment.
15 – The villagers are tipped off that final payment has been made.

16 – The villagers alert their lawyer that final payment has been made.
17 (or thereabouts) – Their lawyer meets a senior DAP national leader.
21 – The villagers meet the Penang Chief Minister again. They alert the state government that final payment was made and are informed that a panel of inquiry would be set up to look into such dubious deals. They are given assurances and they come away from both meetings feeling euphoric.
22 – Penang state government announces a special panel to investigate land scams comprising deputy chief minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, deputy CM II Dr P Ramasamy and exco member Phee Boon Poh.
27 – The Land Office registers the transfer of Buah Pala land to the Koperasi giving it a temporary title, which prohibits transactions with third parties.

* First payment of RM642,000 made on 16 March 2006, second payment of RM321,000 on 22 March 2007

The state government says by the time it took over, it was a done deal and it couldn’t do much. Really?

It is obvious the state government was already aware of the deal in March 2008. Did it try to delay the final land transfer? After all, the issue of compensation to the villagers had not been settled and the Koperasi had received a RM3 million discount mainly for this purpose. Moreover, two high-level state investigative panels were set up to probe the deal, one in March 2008 to probe land scams in general and the second one this year to probe the Buah Pala case. What are the outcomes of those investigations? Had the investigative committees done their work, they might have found out that the land was not the Penang state government’s to sell, as the High Court had indicated. In which case, could the deal have been aborted – before the transfer of ownership was registered with the Land Office – on the grounds that the BN exco’s approval was null and void?

And did the last payment (on 14 March 2008) require exco approval – as some have claimed – as it was received so late? A full disclosure of the Pakatan state government’s exco minutes would help to clarify some of these lingering questions. In the interests of transparency, that’s the least the administration could do.