Behind bars, Jeyakumar says remains socialist

Jeyakumar: This is not the world that I wish to bequeath my grandchildren. That is why I am a socialist and intend to remain so despite the EO arrest.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar has insisted he will not waver from his socialist beliefs despite being held under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for allegedly attempting to revive communism.

In a statement released late yesterday, the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader said that current economic practices both locally and globally were an unsustainable “race to the bottom.”

“This is not the world that I wish to bequeath my grandchildren. That is why I am a socialist and intend to remain so despite the EO arrest,” he wrote after three weeks in detention.

Dr Jeyakumar was among 30 PSM members arrested on June 25 for allegedly planning to “wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong” and attempting to revive communist in part of a dragnet leading up to the July 9 Bersih rally.
Police found in their possession T-shirts bearing the likenesses of former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leaders Chin Peng and Rashid Maidin.

Police later dropped all charges but immediately rearrested the lawmaker and five others under the EO on July 2 and charged the remaining 24 for possession of Bersih material and involvement in an illegal organisation.

In the aftermath of the chaotic rally, Bersih and opposition leaders as well as human rights activists have pushed for the release of the six.

This comes as the Najib administration has embarked on a damage control exercise due to the stinging tone taken by the international press over its handling of the demonstration calling for free and fair elections.

In his statement yesterday, Dr Jeyakumar called for a “workable alternative to an economy driven by corporate greed.”

He maintained that despite the general opinion that socialism “has been assigned to the dustbin of history” and is only championed by “deluded people,” it was still crucial in “averting a collosal economic-ecological disaster that will occur within the next 30-60 years.”

“The global owners of capital and technological expertise who control market access are a relatively small number of corporations – about 500 to 1000. They have become all powerful in the unipolar world of today and can “bargain hunt”. Even the biggest governments can’t control them,” he wrote.

He specifically pointed out that Malaysia’s policies to attract investors, including lowering corporate tax, allowing contractualising of labour and weakening unions as well as privatisation of basic services such as healthcare and tertiary education, was piling pressure on the poorest 70 per cent of the population.

The National Economic Advisory Council has said that 40 per cent of Malaysian households are still living on RM1,500 per month or less.

“The issue here is not insufficient regulations but a misdistribution of the world’s wealth! To address this problem, the power of the corporations has to be challenged,” Dr Jeyakumar added.

He stressed that these patterns if left unchecked could “lead to an ecological, food or climatic disaster that will lead to a decimation of the world’s population.”

Gerakan wants ban revoked officially

Its Youth chief believes only the state executive council can decide on this matter and not PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

ALOR SETAR: The PAS-led Kedah government has not officially revoked the blanket Ramadan ban on entertainment outlets in the state, as many would have believed.

Kedah Gerakan Youth wing chief Tan Keng Liang wants the state executive council to do just that in its weekly meeting today.

Tan also wants the state government to revoke the ban without any unfair conditions attached.

“We are waiting to see whether the state executive council tomorrow will revoke the ban officially without any conditions.

“It will be unfair for the state government to impose conditions on the entertainment outlet operators,” he told FMT yesterday.

Tan said many have got it wrong that the state government had revoked the ban on the entertainment outlets, albeit with certain conditions.

However, cyber cafes, cinema halls and snooker centres are exempted from the ban.

The ban, imposed by the Pakatan Rakyat Kedah government last Wednesday, was said to have been revoked on Sunday by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, not Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak.

Tan said Azizan only gave some assurance to the Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall leaders on Saturday that the state government would consider lifting the ban with certain conditions imposed.

The assembly hall leaders have met Azizan at the Menteri Besar’s official residence in Mentaloon to submit a memorandum calling on the state government to revoke the ban unconditionally.

It is learnt that Azizan has promised the Chinese community leaders that the state secretariat officials would discuss the issue with entertainment outlet operators by Monday.

But Tan said as of last midnight, no meeting was held as promised by Azizan.
“It seems the Kedah government has yet to decide to revoke the blanket ban,” he added.

Abdul Hadi has said the ban applies only to Muslims and that entertainment outlet operators had agreed to the move.

He also said the operators were warned they risked losing their licences if they were found to have allowed Muslims to patronise their outlets.

Islamic officials would enforce the rule across the state, monitoring its more than 300 bars, discos, karaoke lounges and other clubs.

However, according to Tan, the revocation can only be done by the state government, and not Abdul Hadi.
He warned of legal action if the state government does not revoke the ban.

Today’s state executive council meeting in Alor Setar’s Wisma Darulaman will be the D-Day for the entertainment outlet operators.

Ku Li backs Bersih’s demands

The Umno veteran has put himself on a collision course with his party which regards Bersih 2.0 as illegal.

VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah backed Bersih 2.0′s call for electoral reforms, describing them as “fair demands”.

This puts him on collision course with the party’s official line, which deems the polls watchdog as illegal and insisting that the country’s election system is clean.

While many of his party members including Prime Minister Najib Razak are hellbent on demonising Bersih, the Kelantan prince said the demands made by the loose coalition of 62 NGOs should be heeded if the present administration genuinely advocates justice and fairness.

“I don’t know what their intentions are. I don’t know them personally but as a democrat… given that Umno itself had vowed to protect democracy in this country, it is a must to consider all their demands,” he told a press conference in Gua Musang on Sunday.

“It is not like they are looking to topple the government,” he added, referring to the repeated accusation by government leaders that Bersih’s planned rally was a masked coup d’etat attempt.

The Najib administration also accused Bersih 2.0 of being an opposition stooge while Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia had gone as far as accusing the NGO of being “foreign agent” in a Western conspiracy to wrest federal power.

Razaleigh, affectionately known as Ku Li, suggested that it was normal for the opposition to support the group’s demands.

“They want to put in their candidates and contest too so let the voters decide. If they decide to vote for the opposition, what can we do? That is the democratic right of the voters.”

‘How are we developed?’

Razaleigh, the Gua Musang MP, said one of Bersih’s demands – a 21-day campaign period to replace the current seven to eight day period – is reasonable.

He cited Sarawak whose interiors are hard to access making campaigning extremely difficult for the opposition given its limited election machinery compared to Umno and Barisan Nasional’s powerful resources.

He also said that it is rightful for the opposition to be given a level playing field in media coverage, which is also one of Bersih 2.0′s demands.

The government is forced to be on the defensive over its handling of the Bersih rally. The “heavy- handed” response to the July 9 peaceful gathering has compelled the authorities to go into damage control mode, with Najib himself having to deflect international criticism.

The clampdown on Bersih and opposition leaders received widespread coverage in the foreign media and brought negative international attention. Authorities used what Bersih leaders called “draconian” laws to arrest more than 1,700 Bersih supporters.

While most have been freed and some still being detained, Razaleigh criticised the use of such laws to quell dissent, saying it was a violation of human rights.

“How can we say we are developed when our mentality is not developed? Control here and control there… we can’t do this. It is against human rights,” he said.

WIKILEAKS: ANWAR IMPLICATES DPM NAJIB IN MURDER CASE

A private investigator's legal deposition, revealed by Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on July 3, implicates Deputy Prime Minister Najib in the high-profile Altantuya murder case. The deposition, based primarily on statements reportedly made by Altantuya and murder defendant Razak Baginda, indicates that Najib had an affair with Altantuya, Altantuya assisted Najib in the controversial purchase of French submarines, and Najib attempted to intervene on Razak Baginda's behalf at the time of his arrest. 

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000572

SIPDIS

FOR EAP/MTS AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2028

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, MARR, KDEM, KJUS, MY

SUBJECT: ANWAR IMPLICATES DPM NAJIB IN MURDER CASE

REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 570 - GOM DELIVERS PROTEST TO USG

     B. KUALA LUMPUR 563 - ANWAR ON OFFENSIVE

     C. KUALA LUMPUR 557 - ANWAR TAKES REFUGE

     D. KUALA LUMPUR 73 - PROSECUTOR DOWNBEAT ON MURDER CASE

     E. 07 KUALA LUMPUR 291

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark, reason 1.4 (b and d).

Summary

1.  (C) A private investigator's legal deposition, revealed by Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on July 3, implicates Deputy Prime Minister Najib in the high-profile Altantuya murder case. 

The deposition, based primarily on statements reportedly made by Altantuya and murder defendant Razak Baginda, indicates that Najib had an affair with Altantuya, Altantuya assisted Najib in the controversial purchase of French submarines, and Najib attempted to intervene on Razak Baginda's behalf at the time of his arrest. 

The investigator claims that this information was suppressed by police and ignored by prosecutors. 

Anwar's revelation of this information comes as he launches a political offensive following recent sodomy allegations, which he believes were instigated by Najib.  Meanwhile, Anwar and the Opposition coalition are set to begin a series of nationwide rallies, including a major gathering on July 6 near Kuala Lumpur. 

The national police chief announced the military would join the police in tackling illegal assemblies in an emergency situation, a role the military last played during the 1969 politically-inspired race riots. 

Najib and the government of Prime Minister Abdullah will need to respond, both to Anwar's explosive revelations, but also to the Opposition leader's political offensive, including plans to hold nationwide rallies.  End Summary.

Explosive Revelations

2. (SBU) On July 3, as the next step in his energized political offensive, former DPM and de facto opposition coalition leader Anwar Ibrahim released a statutory declaration (similar to a deposition in the U.S. system), made by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam on July 1, linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib to murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu (ref e) and implicating Najib in efforts to subvert the investigation of the case. 

(Najib's advisor Razak Baginda and two members of Najib's security detail are currently on trial for murder in this case.) 

Anwar produced the explosive affidavit during a press conference on July 3, with Balasubramaniam standing by his side.

3.  (SBU) Balasubramaniam bases his statement on conversations he had with Razak Baginda and with Altantuya; on events he witnessed acting as Razak Baginda's investigator; and his experiences under arrest and in the courtroom at the opening stage of the murder trial.  Among other things, the affidavit includes the following damaging allegations against Najib and others:

-- Najib and Altantuya had an affair and that Najib introduced her to Baginda.  (Note: Najib has repeatedly denied knowing Altantuya.  End note.)

-- Najib, along with Razak Baginda, was with Altantuya in Paris in connection with the negotiations for the purchase of French submarines, and that Altantuya believed she was due $500,000 for her services.

-- Najib asked Razak Baginda to take care of Altantuya, as Najib did not want Altantuya harassing him.

-- Najib, in a text message, told Razak Baginda he would meet with Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan to resolve the issue of Razak Baginda's impending arrest for murder.

-- Police omitted the above information that Balasubramaniam provided during his seven-day interrogation regarding the murder, and that prosecutors never addressed any questions to him during his court appearances.

4.  (SBU) Anwar stated it was evident the police and prosecution team, especially IGP Musa Hassan and Attorney General Abdul Gani manipulated the case to protect the DPM and hide any linkages of the DPM to Altantuya.  He declared that the declaration further confirmed a clear and consistent pattern of manipulation of the criminal justice system since 1998. 

Anwar continued by saying he is worried the IGP and AG will again manipulate evidence and statements during the probe into alleged sodomy charges against Anwar (ref A - C).  

5.  (SBU) Anwar's incendiary revelations follow a statutory declaration by controversial blogger Raja Petra in which he alleged that Najib's wife, Rosmah, was present at scene of Altantuya's murder.  In addition, on July 1 Anwar publicly accused Najib and Rosmah for being behind the current sodomy allegations against Anwar, which is now under police investigation.

Taking the Campaign Against Najib on the road

6.  (SBU) On another front, Anwar starts a nationwide tour with a rally in Penang on July 5 followed by an appearance at a rally in Shah Alam on July 6.  The Opposition hope to use the Shah Alam rally, originally intended as a protest against the fuel price hikes, as a show of support for their cause against the government. 

Anwar and other Peoples Alliance (opposition coalition) leaders are urging their supporters to attend and hope for a massive turnout (a minimum of 50,000 people) in order to send a message to the government and add credibility to Anwar's claims that he can bring down the government through the defection of enough government MPs by his announced target of September 16.

Police-Military Joint Exercise to Maintain Public Order

7.  (C) At a joint press conference between the Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan and Armed Forces Chief Abdul Aziz Zainal on July 2, Musa Hassan stated that the cooperation between the security forces is crucial because political parties, NGOs, and individuals were organizing more illegal assemblies.  They announced the police and armed forces began a joint training exercise to maintain crowd control and public order. 

Musa said the police and military would work together to tackle illegal assemblies only if absolutely necessary and in the event of a declared emergency.  The tabletop command post exercise began July 2 is expected to run until July 7.  Another joint exercise is planned in September (coinciding with the deadline Anwar set to bring down the ruling government). 

The last time joint police and military force was used to maintain public order was during the politically motivated 1969 race riots.  In 1974, a contingent of rangers was deployed to university campuses to control student protests (coincidentally led by then student activist Anwar Ibrahim). 

Police chief Musa Hassan stated use of military forces during a public disturbance would only take place after consultation with the Home Ministry and Defense Ministry.  A senior military staff member told the DATT that the military is not anxious to take on police roles, but is closely watching events.

Comment

8.  (C) Anwar and Najib have entered a very high stakes political game.  The risks to both men are tremendous, and not limited to their political careers.  Najib will be damaged by the latest serious allegations, coming on the heels of other statements implicating him and his wife in the murder, and the existing widespread public belief that the ongoing Altantuya murder trial has been the subject of political manipulation. 

Najib and the government of Prime Minister Abdullah will need to respond, both to Anwar's explosive revelations, but also to the Opposition leader's political offensive, including plans to hold nationwide rallies.

KEITH

It seems to me the recent Bersih rally could have sounded the death knell of tyranny and overnight Ambiga has become the people’s iconic hero for electoral reform

By N H Chan
 
The picture on the front page of the Sunday Star, 10 July 2011 spoke louder than words. It showed the huge crowd of peaceful but bold Bersih supporters flying in the face of the cowardly might of the police who were decked out in full riot paraphernalia. They must be daunted by the sea of placid, mostly young, people facing them.

Those in the front rows were seated on the road and those at the back were standing. All were unarmed and none were menacing the police. They were all peaceful demonstrators who were trying to put across to the imbeciles in power the people’s right to peaceful assembly and to show that they were united in their call for a clean and incorrupt general election.


The BN regime may say anything they like but the fact that the common people could come out in large numbers in silent protest only goes to show that the regime has lost its credibility. The regime and its underlings the police behaved as expected of tyrants – typical of all bullies they were afraid of their own shadow – they saw the ghosts of the insurgency of Chin Peng and the CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) being revived; see the Sun of Friday, July 8, 2011 where the former Perak chief police officer and Special Branch commander Yuen Yet Leng gave his thoughts to Maria J. Das in an interview. He said:

If you are going to sport a picture of Chin Peng on your t-shirt, you are only asking for trouble. How do you expect the police not to take action?

I agree with what the Special Branch had done. This problem has been thrown in the police’s lap and involves national security and public order.
…
The CPM has the same ideology as … Mao Zedong who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle, and not a political struggle.

He must be joking! I am astounded by the man’s naivety. I think he is still living in the past which is a pity for one of our country’s heroes (but then I also have the same problem, I could remember the past vividly but I could not remember what I said or promised yesterday). He was the CPO Perak when I was a Judicial Commissioner in Ipoh back then in 1970. He was one policeman I have admired for his dedication to make Ipoh safe from criminals. He brought down the crime rate in Ipoh. I remember the occasion when he told me that at a police road block at Simpang Pulai which is on the outskirts of Ipoh, the police had arrested the occupants of a car when they found weapons for committing armed robbery hidden in its boot. On interrogation they admitted they were en route to Penang because it was perilous for them to commit the crime in Ipoh as there was a fierce Chinese judge there.

To be fair I must also point out that Mr Yuen was supportive of the reason for the people’s negative perception of the police. For example:

Das: … many people question why the police seem to act against only certain parties, while others who make seditious comments and threats get away. Won’t the public equate this with police persecution?

Yes and no. The police usually back the effort of the incumbent government of the day so long as it acts by the rule of law, but they need to be more courageous to act when supporters of the government go too far. When they are hesitant, they are bound to be accused of being unfair. Being balanced will earn the police some respect.

He also said:

… there is nothing wrong with Bersih 2’s demands and the incumbent government must hear the genuine worries of the people. They need to pry things apart and deal with people who are sincere with their concerns. Then legitimate complaints can be looked into. … the timing is such that there appears to be a united front against the government, and this frightens them.

Returning to the hullabaloo of the police on the involvement of national security and public order, don’t they know, as all of us already know, that communism as an ideology had collapsed with the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union? There is no more threat from any idea of communist expansionism from Chinese communists as China has turn to capitalism and has prospered as the world’s second largest economy next to America. It is true that China is still being governed by an oligarchic regime. One must be a member of the communist party to form the government because it is the ruling party as China is a one party totalitarian state, just as Malaysia has also become an oligarchy with the UMNO led Barisan Nasional remaining in power for some 54 years.

To say that this country is a democracy is laughable. Democracy has become an anachronism in Malaysia. As in China the ruling BN coalition will not tolerate dissent in any form as the Bersih episode on 9 July 2011 had graphically exposed to us common folk that the police have used excessive physical force to quell the rally of peaceful protestors who were only asking for the reformation of the electoral system to a fairer and incorrupt one – so that when the crowd was heard to have shouted “reformasi” it did not mean that they were for the opposition party PKR. We have read about police brutality against peaceful demonstrators from eyewitnesses account in loyarburok and in Malaysiakini and we also see them in graphic detail as the incidents of the use of excessive force by the police on the hapless protestors were recorded live on mobile phones by those who were there for all the world to see on Youtube.

Yet in the Star, Monday 18 July 2011, the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin said that what had emerged through the alternative media and YouTube were scenes that seem to show the police had acted in a cruel manner. “What was not shown were prior scenes where the police were provoked and taunted”, he said.

Obviously the deputy prime minister has never heard of the well known proverb, ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me’. In any case, a policeman should be patient and tolerant when conducting crowd control. They should try to defuse the anger instead of being short tempered and responding with unequal force. However, I think the negative public perception of the police in this respect will be difficult to erase.

In any case, one notices the glaring difference in the integrity of the government in the UK and ours. In the hacking scandal involving the News of the World and the London police we do not see the prime minister or the home minister or any minister coming out to defend the police. Instead they were embarrassed and concerned so much so that an emergency session of parliament was called. Even Britain’s police chief had to resign. On the other hand, in Malaysia, we have the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin coming out in defence of the police when in fact he should be concerned and should suggest an investigation into the heavy handed conduct of the police in handling the crowd. In this country we throw integrity to the wind! Even our police chief did not resign – the fact that in some areas the police had responded and reacted with unequal force should have made him responsible as a commander.

The police have justified their harsh crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators of Bersih for the reason of national security and public order. But as I have explained above any prospect of a revival of a communist insurgency in this country is a myth. To say that the CPM has the same ideology as Mao Zedong (whose idealogy should have died with him) who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle and, therefore, there is every danger of an armed insurrection being revived in this country is an unjustifiable assumption in this day and age. Only imbeciles could have imagined that! That is why I say these people are afraid of their own shadow. If you are afraid of your own shadow then you must be a coward. You are also a coward, if not a madman, if you donned your suit of armour like Don Quixote who battled imaginary dragons in the form of windmills or riot gear ready to do battle with unarmed and peaceful street protestors to quell a whimsical or imaginary insurrection in the farcical interest of national security and public order.

To be fair, it is reported in the Star, Wednesday 13 July 2011 under the headline No plans to hold another Bersih that the Bar Council has said something nice about some policemen:

The Bar Council thanked Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar for allowing the council’s monitoring teams to observe the rally and for acknowledging the council’s impartiality in conducting the observation exercise.

“Many of our monitors noted a significant number of police officers were polite towards the leaders of the public rallies, participants and the monitoring team,” council president Lim Chee Wee said …
However, the council said unnecessary physical force was used in some instances.

I suppose not all policemen are the bad guys. There are some decent ones still around. Just as there are some decent Umno guys around like the chief of Umno Youth Khairy Jamaluddin who has shown magnanimity to Ambiga. When we leave matters to the younger generation we do not find animosity and recrimination. They are prepared to talk and discuss on how the country’s electoral system could be reformed. Bravo and I salute them.

Next, there is this pithy assessment from the Star, Thursday 14 July 2011 by Baradan Kuppusamy:

Awakening the young voters
The Bersih 2.0 rally was a success by some measure because Pakatan Rakyat supporters braved police restrictions, roadblocks and barbed wire to gather in the city centre calling on the Government to institute electoral reform.
There eight-point demand included issues that the opposition had been campaigning on for many years, like a clean electoral roll, reforming postal voting and a minimum of 21 days campaigning.
These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable.
Saturday’s rally, therefore, had an unprecedented impact on society at large and on the election system …
While Saturday’s rally was smaller in size compared to Bersih’s first rally in November 2007, the effects were the same – the awakening of young people to political action to rally for a basic right in defiance of the police.
…
The rally proved its point that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite police action, and march peacefully.

The message of Bersih is unequivocal, the people, especially the young people, of this country have been awakened and are no longer afraid of being intimidated by a bullying police force and they will take political action to rally for their basic rights in defiance of the police who they know are the minions of the avaricious people who are greedy for power. For after all, the awakened young people are only exercising their universal right of assembly that has been endorsed by the United Nations as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”. For after all the Bersih demands are not outrageous nor are they extravagant or unusual – most are matters that the opposition has been canvassing in Parliament perennially. As the writer of the above article has said, “These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable”.

Yet the Bersih movement and those who support them are being suppressed by those people who are clinging on to power and their minions the police force. Decent and normally law abiding citizens are suppressed just for voicing out their grouses for electoral reforms. The answer is plain for all to see. When we, the people, see our elected representatives failed us in Parliament; when our grouses or grievances have fallen on deaf ears in Parliament where the majority is the errant BN coalition which has been clinging on to power for more than half a century; when all else failed in the legislative process, the common people of this country have no other choice but to resort to political action of their own and the only avenue that is available which can carry their message across most effectively is to rally for their cause even to the extent of open defiance of police action against them.

Strange as it may seem, the powers that be seemed to have missed the point. The point is that the Bersih movement does not belong to or support the opposition or any political party. It is an apolitical movement. But it supports democracy which is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. When a government does not listen to the people’s grouses and does not take action on them then it is not a government for the people. And a government which is not for the people is not a democratic government, it is a dictatorship. The message of Bersih, which is in fact the people’s message, is loud and clear – we, the people of this country, do not want a dictatorship! Since we do not want a dictatorship, at the next general election we will vote the dictators out of office and replace them with a new coalition even to the extent of voting in the opposition. And if the new order were to fail the people too, then we will replace them at another election. And finally if any of our political parties were still to fail us again then, as a last resort, we may have to vote only for individuals who are for the people and who are incorruptible. There must be plenty of suitable candidates to choose from for our representation in Parliament from the Bersih movement itself. Like Ambiga I do not have the stomach for politics in this country. There are much braver souls around.

Having said all that, one may still ask, what is the point then for a street demonstration albeit a peaceful one? The point is to bring out the people’s dissatisfaction and their grouse for a clean and incorrupt government. The multitude’s belief is that the only way to attain their goal is for a clean and incorrupt forthcoming general election. And when that had fallen on deaf ears the only avenue left for the people to voice their discontent is to rally in an orderly and peaceful demonstration like the Bersih walk to Stadium Merdeka although they never made it there as they were blocked by the police.

Now that you know what is at stake, my dear readers, you can go straight to Loyarburok.com to read about how the police have used excessive force on the peaceful demonstrators. In particular, do read this article “Ambushed like Animals, I Had to Walk-Crawl”. Here is an excerpt:

There was no sense of danger because the police had so far let us go ahead. Sure, we all knew that eventually they would arrest the BERSIH and political leaders but we had no clue of how inhumane it was going to be.
When we found ourselves maneuvered into the tunnel, we started running as fast as we could.
Even if we had never imagined that we would be tear-gassed in the tunnel, there was that imminent danger.
I was in the middle of the crowd when I reached the end of the tunnel, relieved to be out of the ominous place. But by then, there was screaming because the FRU had started shooting tear gas straight towards at us. I saw it with my own eyes, the FRU was aiming directly at the people, and not over our heads.
The message was clear to me: to hurt and maim as many as possible, even though these were peaceful demonstrators, many of whom are respected political leaders of our country. It was only after that I had heard that Anwar Ibrahim and his bodyguard were badly hurt for being shot at, along with another PAS politician who was in front of the crowd.

After reading this you should also read the other articles about the Bersih rally in loyarburok.
After you have read all those articles in loyarburok, do you want to support Bersih? We should not be afraid of threats and coercion anymore. Bersih is not a society or association or club. There is no subscription or membership. You don’t have to join it. It is a movement and whenever there is an outcry by the people we can show our support for the movement by voting out the incumbent government of the day at the next election. We have the power of the people. You don’t have to be loyal to any political party.

Always be ready to tell those in government that they are our servants who should serve the people. We, the people, have put them there and we the people can remove them in the next election. Any government must be for the people. It is not to be a government for those in authority or in power. That kind of attitude among those who governed us will no longer be tolerated by the people who had put them there in the first place. Shortly stated, we do not want a dictatorship at all. It is democracy that the people want and that means the government must always be for the people.
A government for the people does not incarcerate its

Police will make report on rally public, says IGP

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The police probe into the Bersih 2.0 rally is almost complete and the findings will be made public.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said they would also screen some footage of the rally to the media.

“We expect to screen some videos and pictures of the rally by the end of the week,” he told a press conference at Bukit Aman yesterday.

“There are videos and pictures circulating on the Internet and YouTube which do not portray the exact situation clearly during the rally,” he said, adding that six committees had been set up last week to gather and analyse the content.

Ismail said that police had also interviewed its personnel on duty during the rally as well as members of the public.

It is learnt that the six committees would investigate occurrences at six separate locations within the city.

“We hope that the public will come forward and assist us in conducting our investigations.

“Anyone with video footage or pictures of the rally can forward it to us so that we can conduct a thorough investigation,” he said.

They can e-mail pusatmediapdrm@rmp.gov.my or contact 03-2266 8320 / 8321.

UK: Taxi driver shouts "All Jewish children must die" outside Jewish school

Avoid this man's cab

Taha Osman lost his temper and his Islamic antisemitism overflowed at those whom the Qur'an calls the worst enemies of the Muslims (5:82). "Why is that man shouting at you mummy? Taxi driver hurled racist abuse at mums outside Jewish school in Crumpsall," from the Manchester Evening News, July 19 (thanks to Barry):

A taxi driver ranted racial abuse outside a Jewish school after getting stuck in a traffic jam. Taha Osman shrieked ‘All Jewish children must die!’ after his car was hemmed in by parents picking up pupils outside King David School in Crumpsall.
Two mums on the school run and a teaching assistant were singled out in a foul-mouthed and ‘frightening’ tirade witnessed by kids, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Osman – an Iraqi Kurd who has settled in Britain – also shouted that Jewish people were ‘animals’ who ‘should not be allowed in this country’.

This too is Qur'anic: the Qur'an says that Allah cursed the disobedient Jews and transformed them into apes and pigs (2:62-65; 5:59-60; 7:166).
Projection Alert: It is Taha Osman who should not be allowed in Britain.

The 36-year-old denied causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress in a trial, but was found guilty by the jury. Sentencing him to a community order, Judge David Stockdale QC said it was a ‘particularly nasty offence’ – but did not warrant a jail sentence....

Bantah sokong Ambiga buta sejarah - Abd Hadi

Vatican visit alone won’t solve Christian problems, says MCA

Pope Benedict XVI receives a gift by Najib Razak (left) during a meeting at the Pope's summer residence in Castelgandolfo July 18, 2011. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — MCA said today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Vatican City visit was not enough to solve problems faced by local Christians.


MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said that although the prime minister’s visit “augurs well for the future,” the Najib administration needed to actively engage the Christian community.

“It cannot be denied that Christians do face problems which cannot be solved just by a diplomatic visit but with active engagement from the government.

“Meetings between the Church leaders and government must be held regularly as committed by the Najib administration,” he told reporters today.

PM Najib was received yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in only the second such visit by a Malaysian prime minister since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2002.

Although Najib’s delegation included Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, some quarters have criticised the visit as “an election ploy to gain support from Christians.”

Malaysia’s multi-denominational Christian community is believed to form close to 10 per cent of the 28 million total population, with Roman Catholics making up nearly one  million.

But most of the Christians in East Malaysia follow a few other denominations apart from Roman Catholicism, and Najib’s visit is seen to only assuage the concerns of the  Catholics, and not other Christians.

Putrajaya had limited the import of the Alkitab from Indonesia, with the seizure of 35,100 copies of the Malay-language bibles becoming a key issue ahead of the April 16 Sarawak election this year.

Delays in moving forward the legal tussles over the use of the word “Allah” to also refer to the Christian god has also stirred anger among the community.

Allegations from BN-controlled media, including Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, that Christians are working hand-in-glove with communist insurgents and opposition politicians to topple the government of the day and supplant it with a Christian prime minister have also stirred a storm of protests.

Nazri: EO needed to curtail communism

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz says communism is still around and that's why there is a necessity for the Emergency Ordinance and the ISA.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is justifying the continued use of the Emergency Ordinance by invoking the spectre of communism and saying communism is still a threat to national security.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said as long as communism is still around, preventive laws such as the Emergency Ordinance (EO) are here to stay.

He said although Malaysia was not experiencing an insurgency, these laws were still seen as a necessity to the government.

“The name of the law is just Emergency Ordinance. The communist (insurgency), even though it has been declared over, the EO is still in effect so that this (communism) will not happen,” he told reporters at a press conference at the KL Sentral Hilton.

Nazri was answering questions raised by human rights groups that the EO, along with other laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) were no longer needed.

Yesterday, the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) said that the six PSM activists detained under the EO – for allegedly being a national threat – on July 2 should have been given due process in court.

Proham added that sections under the Penal Code would have been enough for the six, which included Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar.

The movement also said that Malaysia’s security forces were no longer fighting against an armed struggle, and protested the use of the EO, which slaps people with a 60-day detention order.

Possession of communism t-shirts

Nazri however, disagreed with this sentiment, and maintained that communism was still a threat to national security.

“The Emergency may have expired, but the communism understanding (fahaman) is still around. It doesn’t mean that even though there is no armed struggle …that we have accepted communism,” he said.

The minister maintained that the belief in communism was still very much alive and well, saying that this was demonstrated by the T-shirts that the PSM activists supposedly possessed.

Nazri said that possession of the T-shirts showed that use of the EO was warranted.

“This is a security issue, a problem that needs police action. If the police feel that it is affecting (national) security, then it is left to the police (to decide) according to the law or under the EO,” he said.

Cops to come clean on Bersih rally

IGP Ismail Omar vows to reveal the findings of the special committees tasked with probing allegations of police brutality. The videos will also be made public.

KUALA LUMPUR: Investigations into allegations of police brutality during the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally are almost completed and the findings, including videos, will be made public soon, said Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar.

He said as soon as the six special committees formed to look into the various allegations have submitted their reports, he will make the findings public.

“We don’t want to hide anything, the people have the right to know what happened. We want to know too,” he told reporters at Bukit Aman this afternoon.

Ismail urged the public to be patient as the police will complete the probe as quickly as possible.
“From my observation, there were some videos and photos that were inaccurate and do not show the whole picture. We’re trying to clear that up. Meanwhile, we should not speculate and jump to conclusions,” he said.

It is understood that the police are in the midst of taking statements from those who were involved in making arrests and dispersing the crowd on July 9.

The six committees are tasked to look into the different areas where the rally took place, including Puduraya, Dataran Merdeka, and KLCC.

The focus of the probe, where Bukit Aman is working with the Kuala Lumpur police, is on the accusations that tear gas was fired into the Tung Shin hospital, overall crowd control as well as protester Baharuddin Ahmad’s death.

Ismail said that the teams, formed a week ago, have been working round-the-clock, including gathering evidence from the Internet.

“They are working 24 hours, and I’m confident we’ll come out with the findings soon,” he said.
Ismail urged more people to come forward with evidence, saying that the information can be passed to any police station.

Information can also be channelled to pusatmediapdrm@rmp.gov.my (03-22668321 or 0322668320).

Bersih hands over memo to King

The Bersih's eight-point memorandum was delivered to the palace on Friday by two members of the steering committee.

KUALA LUMPUR: Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 has finally delivered its eight-point memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Richard Yeoh and Liau Kok Fah, members of the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, gave the memorandum to an aide of the King’s private secretary on Friday afternoon.

“The memorandum called for electoral reforms,” Liau told FMT today.

Bersih 2.0’s eight-point memorandum calls for a cleaning of the electoral roll, the reformation of the postal ballot, using indelible ink, a minimum of 21 days for campaigning, free and fair access to media, the strengthening of public institutions such as the Election Commission, and putting a stop to corruption and dirty politics.

It also calls for the release of the six leaders of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), including Member of Parliament Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, who has been detained under the Emergency Ordinance.
The Bersih 2.0 rally held on July 9 saw tens of thousands people dressed in yellow taking to the streets to call for fair electoral processes.

However, the Bersih steering committee members were not able to march to the palace to deliver their memorandum as they had been arrested earlier by the police.

Islam tolak pluralisme agama

Hanya ada satu agama yang memiliki wahyu yang lengkap dan sempurna iaitu Islam.

PETALING JAYA: Islam menolak faham “pluralisme agama” yang mendakwa bahawa kesemua agama adalah sama baik dan sama benar, kata Pengerusi Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia (Ikim) Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Beliau berkata, hanya ada satu agama yang memiliki wahyu yang lengkap dan sempurna iaitu Islam, bertepatan dengan beberapa firman Allah SWT, misalnya ayat 3 Surah al-Ma’idah.

Firman Allah SWT bermaksud: Pada hari ini, Aku telah sempurnakan bagi kamu ugama kamu dan Aku telah cukupkan nikmatKu kepada kamu dan Aku redha Islam itu menjadi ugama untuk kamu.”

“Walaupun demikian katanya, Islam mengiktiraf bahawa masih terdapat hakikat, kebenaran, kebaikan, dan keindahan etika yang terkandung dalam agama-agama yang lain,” katanya.

Tun Abdullah, bekas perdana menteri, berkata demikian ketika berucap merasmikan Seminar Al-Quran dan Cabaran Pluralisme Agama: Pengajaran Masa Lalu, Keperihalan Semasa dan Hala Tuju Masa Depan di Dewan Besar Ikim, Kuala Lumpur pagi tadi.

Seminar ini adalah anjuran Ikim dengan sokongan Jabatan Perdana Menteri Bersempena Majlis Tilawah Al- Qur’An Peringkat Antarabangsa Kali Ke-53.

Beliau menegaskan, sementara Islam melarang sikap yang menjadikan agama sebagai bahan ejekan dan bahan permainan, Islam juga sentiasa mengalu-alukan sikap saksama, jujur, dan berintegriti dari manapun datangnya.

“Kebaikan dan keindahan etika ini seharusnya digembeling untuk menjulang masyarakat Malaysia ke arah yang lebih baik,” jelas beliau.

Menurutnya, perpaduan rakyat perlu dipupuk secara menggalakkan keunikan tradisi agama masing-masing sambil menggalakkan sikap saling bermuhibbah, saling berbelas-kasihan, dan saling berkasih-sayang sebagai saudara sesama jiran dan saudara sesama manusia yang berasal dari jiwa yang satu, walaupun menganut agama yang berbeza.

“Isu-isu antara penganut agama perlu diselesaikan dengan seadil-adilnya, secara saksama dan dalam semangat saling hormat- menghormati terhadap lunas-lunas agama yang universal sifatnya,” terangnya.
Beliau berkata, para penganut pelbagai agama juga harus digalakkan berlumba-lumba dalam melaksanakan kebaikan.

“Contohnya dalam bentuk membela golongan fakir-miskin dan golongan yang memerlukan, menyuruh yang ma‘ruf, dan mencegah yang munkar, sama ada kepada rakyat biasa ataupun kepada pemimpin, dengan kaedah yang wajar, sopan, jujur dan tulus,” katanya.

Malaysia's Sub Scandal Resurfaces

Najib: So help me, I never met the woman

French prosecutors edge closer to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak 

(Asia Sentinel)The noose could be tightening on one of Malaysia’s greatest military procurement scandals, the US$1 billion purchase of French-built Scorpène submarines commissioned by then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak in 2002.
The latest developments come at a time when Najib, as prime minister, has been touring Europe, meeting with Queen Elizabeth and Pope Benedict XVI in an effort to repair an image battered by an ugly crackdown on July 9 against tens of thousands of protesters asking for reforms of Malaysia's electoral system, which is regarded as rigged to keep the ruling national coalitoin in power.

The scandal allegedly involves French politicians, the giant state-owned DCNS defense contractor and politicians and military procurement units across the world. The scandal netted a company owned by Najib’s close friend Abdul Razak Baginda, €114 million in “commissions,” according to testimony in Malaysia’s Parliament. Some of the money is rumored to have been kicked back to French and Malaysian politicians.

French investigators have been poring over DCNS records for months in connection with the larger scandal. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has declined to investigate the scandal, maintaining that the giant commission was payment for legitimate services.

“It is likely that in September we should have access to the first police conclusions from all the investigations that have taken place over the last 18 months,” Paris-based lawyer William Bourdon told Asia Sentinel Tuesday. “We know that the police seem to have obtained quite crucial documents.”

Bourdon, the leader of a team of lawyers investigating the case, is to visit Kuala Lumpur on July 20 to confer with Suaram, the NGO that has filed a complaint with French authorities over the scandal. The question in France is whether under French law an NGO can act as a complainant. That will be decided in coming days by a French judge, Bourdon said. He added that he is confident that he will succeed.

For years, Malaysian authorities have been trying to keep the scandal under the carpet. The matter broke into the open in 2006, however, with the gruesome murder of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu, who had served as a translator for part of the submarine deal. She had been shot in the head and her body was blown up with military explosives, Her last words, according to a confession by one of her killers, was that she was pregnant. The fact that her body was blown up has led to suspicions that the killers were trying to hide evidence of who the father might be.

The French prosecutors are not expected to investigate Altantuya’s death as such. Instead, they are following the case on the basis that it is illegal to pay or take kickbacks in France. If the €114 million is found to be a kickback, the French prosecutors can act, Bourdon said.

According to Altantuya’s final letter, which was found in a hotel room after her death, she was supposed to have received a US$500,000 fee for her work. After a whirlwind courtship in which she was given thousands of dollars and whisked off to Paris and other destinations by Razak Baginda, who is married, according to testimony, Altantuya was jilted by and ended up in front of his Kuala Lumpur house, calling him a “bastard” and demanding that he come out to face her.
Shortly after that, a sedan full of Malaysian police officers pulled up and took her away. She was never seen alive again. In the letter left behind at her death, she said she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda, at that time a well-connected political analyst.

Two of Najib’s bodyguards have been convicted and sentenced to death for her murder. Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted in a trial seemingly held to make sure top government officials’ names would not come out. He fled to the UK and has not been back to Malaysia since.
French investigators have been going through the state-owned DCN's records for months. In France, the scandal has major implications. Tied to the global sales of weaponry have been deaths and scandal not only in Malaysia but in Pakistan, Taiwan and France itself. Allegations of kickbacks being examined by French prosecutors go clear up to former French President Jacques Chirac, former Prime Ministers Dominique de Villipin and Edouard Balladur and the country’s current president, Nicholas Sarkozy in addition to an unknown number current and former French defense executives. Military procurement officials in Taiwan, India, Chile and Brazil may be involved, in addition to Malaysia.

Lawyers for the families of 11 French engineers killed in a 2002 bomb attack in Karachi were quoted in April as saying they would file a manslaughter suit against Chirac, allegedly because he cancelled a bribe to Pakistani military officials in the sale of three Agosta 90-class submarines to that country’s navy. Sarkozy was Minister of the Budget when the government sold the subs, built by the French defense giant DCN (later known as DCNS) to Pakistan for a reported US$950 million.

Prosecutors allege that Pakistani politicians and military officials and middlemen received large “commissions” with as much as €2 million in kickbacks routed back to Paris to fund Balladur's unsuccessful 1995 presidential campaign against Chirac. As budget minister, Sarkozy would have authorized the financial elements of the submarine sale. At the time he was the spokesman for Balladur’s presidential campaign and, according to French media, has been accused of establishing two Luxemburg companies to handle the kickbacks.

It is alleged that when Chirac was re-elected, the president canceled the bribes to the Pakistanis, which resulted in the revenge attack on a vehicle in which the French engineers and at least three Pakistanis were riding. For years, the Pakistanis blamed the attack on fundamentalist Islamic militants, including Al Qaeda.

L'affaire Karachi, as it is widely known in France, has been called the most explosive corruption investigation in recent French history. It may well be far bigger than just the unpaid bribes to the Pakistanis. Executives of DCNS embarked on a global marketing drive to sell the diesel-electric Scorpène-class subs, a new design. They peddled two to the Chilean Navy in 1997, breaking into a market previously dominated by HDN of Germany.

DCNS also sold six Scorpènes in 2005 with the option for six other boats, to India, whose defense procurement agency has been involved in massive bribery scandals in the past. Defense Minister George Fernandes was forced to step down in 2001 after videos surfaced of procurement officials taking bribes. In 2008, Gen. Sudipto Ghosh, the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board, was arrested and seven foreign companies were barred from doing business in India as a result of a bribery scandal.
In 2008, DCNS also won a bid to supply four Scorpènes to Brazil. DCNS is to provide the hull for a fifth boat that Brazil intends to use as a basis for developing its first nuclear-powered submarine.

At about the same time the French engineers were murdered in 2002 in Karachi, Malaysia placed its US$1 billion order for two Scorpènes in the deal engineered by Najib. In exchange, a company wholly owned by Najib’s close friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, was paid the €114 million in “commissions,” according to testimony in the Malaysian parliament.

Although the Malaysians have done their level best to ignore the case, it remains alive in France. In April, Bourdon, Renaud Semerdjian and Joseph Breham filed a case with prosecutors in Paris on behalf Suaram, which supports good-governance causes and, Malaysian officials charge, is closely linked to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Any investigation into corruption at the levels now underway in France is inherently unpredictable given the interests involved. What began as a ripple in Paris may yet build into a tsunami threatening individuals and plans previously thought impervious to such a threat. Questioning Abdul Razak Baginda in the UK might be a place to start.

Najib or Anwar?

Reductio ad Absurdum by Chan Kheng Hoe | The Nut Graph

IN light of the recent Bersih 2.0 demonstrations, and the unjustified crackdown by the authorities, one may be forgiven if one were to be carried away in denouncing the current administration. They handled the demonstrations in an appalling manner, both in the run-up to the actual day and on the day itself. The conduct of the administration is shameful, arrogant, and senseless. The lies that are spewed to cover up the very public acts of violence add insult to injury.

In contrast, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has cleverly stepped in to support Bersih 2.0. It cannot be denied that Bersih 2.0’s demands, which promote fair play and a level playing field during elections, would end up favouring the federal opposition.

And except for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s gaffe in claiming that he could call off the demonstrations, the PR has generally allowed civil society to take the lead in this movement.

The dramatic unfolding of events on 9 July 2011, as broadcast to the world through social media, YouTube and international media, may lead one to conclude that clearly the PR is the better choice for the next elections. However, there is one major obstacle, to my mind: Anwar.

For all intents and purposes, and subject to the court’s verdict in Anwar’s sodomy trial, Anwar is the person put forward by the PR as Prime Minister designate. But is Anwar in reality a better candidate than Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be PM of Malaysia? With respect, I cannot at this juncture respond with a resounding “yes”.

Points for Najib

Grudgingly, I must admit that Najib has made some good moves as PM. The 1Malaysia campaign stands out as an extremely clever move. Yes, 1Malaysia means different things to different groups, but isn’t that part and parcel of the art of politics? And while many may belittle this campaign as nothing but empty talk, I beg to differ. As a practising lawyer, I have observed in the past couple of years an increase in the recruitment of non-Malay Malaysian personnel in the courts. Of course, this is anecdotal evidence, but the observation must be recorded.

The appointment of Datuk Sri Idris Jala to the cabinet is another outstanding feather in Najib’s cap. Idris comes with excellent credentials, and an enviable track record. I feel safe for Malaysia that someone like Idris is taking a hard look at the state of the Malaysian economy. I am comforted when Idris announces that Malaysia may potentially go bankrupt, because it tells me that at the very least, the authorities know the dire straits we are in. I would be much more alarmed if the authorities keep on insisting that Malaysia is on a fine growth track, and we are poised to be the next Asian economic powerhouse.

Najib has also eased much of the tension between Malaysia and Singapore, and that too is a good thing. Really, we have got to stop the rivalry between our two countries. Singapore can be very beneficial for Malaysia, and Singapore can gain much from cooperating with Malaysia as well. We have got avenues to strike win-win collaborations. Twenty years of demonising Singapore under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s rule is enough.

It’s time to move on.

Here’s another reason why I like Najib. He appears to be a man of the world. He does not pretend to be overly religious, or cite the scriptures wantonly. I don’t know him personally, but I suspect that he may have a quiet sip of Chardonnay on some nights. In Malaysia, there are so many politicians who want to claim the moral high ground, either by asserting religious or racial rights. That makes me exhausted. Sure, there would be occasions when Najib, too, would have to play to the gallery. But I imagine our PM is not reading books on political philosophy during his free time. One could imagine him sitting down on a quiet Sunday afternoon with his family watching The Simpsons, and actually appreciating the show.

Points against Anwar

In contrast, Anwar may speak much about unity, but he can never fully explain away his years in the Mahathir administration. Yes, imprisonment (usually referred to by Anwar as “solitary confinement”) can change a person. Nevertheless, I do not buy Anwar’s story of solitary confinement. I imagine the Malaysian prison to be a crowded and unpleasant place, and I imagine that Anwar was given his own cell due to his previous high position. Hence, what he touts as “solitary confinement”, I suspect to be a benefit accorded to him by the prison authorities.

Anwar promotes populist economic policies. He claims that the eradication of corruption would be sufficient to maintain subsidies for the Malaysian economy. I think this is a muddied approach. Yes, we need to install a social net for the poorest of the poor. But why should money saved from the eradication of corruption go towards maintaining subsidies? Why should the subsidy mentality be maintained?

Anwar was in the forefront of the fight to restore the use of Malay language in the teaching of Mathematics and Science. That is subjecting our education system to politics, and that is irresponsible. We are in a global village, and English is the lingua franca. Perhaps the policy to use English could have been better thought out. Perhaps there could be a dual system. And perhaps some schools may be given a choice. Anwar did not discuss any of these options. It appears as if he sensed an opportunity to score some brownie points with the populace, and he took the opportunity. Opportunists do not make great statespersons.

And finally, I sometimes cannot understand Anwar when he launches into his intellectual mode. An old proverb says, “When words are many, sin is not absent.” Have you heard Anwar when he tries to assert his intellectualism? Sure, bombastic words sound impressive. And when someone quotes multiple sources, he or she sounds credible. But in doing so, he or she forgets that 93% of communication comes from non-verbal cues. To me, in Anwar’s case, his words get so much in the way that I cannot sense his heart. And that makes me have reservations about him.

So what is the impact of Bersih 2.0? It has shown me that I have no credible choice in the next general election.

Najib/Hisham – have you lost all power over Utusan spin-doctors?

By Lim Kit Siang,


UMNO’s spin doctors in Utusan Malaysia are scraping the bottom of the barrel bringing out of the woodwork discredited personalities to weave lies which positively damage Malaysia’s national interests and international image.

The latest incident is the surfacing of the discredited Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor who gave an interview with Mingguan Malaysia on Sunday alleging the Bersih 2.0 rally could open the door to Jews and Israel to infiltrate Malaysia as there were parties who wanted countries like Malaysia that was against Jews and Israel to be toppled.


Although Rahim Noor established his professional career as Special Branch Director (just as he destroyed his service as IGP because of his criminal assault of Anwar Ibrahim in the infamous “black eye” episode in 1998), he could have no evidence for his sensational allegation in the Mingguan Malaysia interview apart from a very fertile figment of imagination.

However, based on Rahim Noor’s unsupported allegation, Utusan Malaysia carried an editorial yesterday as good as warning that the “Jew are coming” as a result of the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Either the Utusan Malaysia spin doctors have the full endorsement and a blank cheque from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to spin their worst, or the Umno spin doctors are totally out of control and neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister has the power to exercise any control over them even when they go on a rampage positively damaging Malaysia’s national interests and international image.

Which is which, Najib and Hishammuddin?

Have you ‘liked’ the ‘Free Jeyakumar’ Facebook page?

Hello people, have you “liked” the “100,000 Rakyat Malaysia Demand The Immediate Release Of MP Dr Jeyakumar” Facebook page already?


By now, most of you will have heard all about Dr Jeyakumar and his party colleagues, cruelly incarcerated without trial under the Emergency Ordinance.

Please publicise the Facebook page among your circle of friends. Free Jeyakumar and the others now.

Video of brutal Taliban execution of Pakistani policemen emerges

Warning: The video below is extremely graphic in nature. If you choose to watch this video, you will see the Taliban brutally execute more than a dozen bound Pakistani policemen. The Taliban then proceed to pump rounds into those who survived the initial firing.

Click here for Video

The Taliban videotaped the brutal execution of more than a dozen Pakistani policemen who were captured during last month's raid in a remote area of northwestern Pakistan.

The graphic video, which shows 16 Pakistani policemen who are lined up and then gunned down by Taliban fighters wielding AK-47s, was taken in early June in the Shaltalu area of the district of Dir in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani official and US intelligence officials who track the region told The Long War Journal. The executions were filmed after the policemen were captured during several days of heavy fighting.

The policemen were captured after the Taliban crossed the border from Kunar province in Afghanistan and attacked police outposts and villages in the Shaltalu area on June 1. The raid sparked a pitched battle that lasted for several days. Dozens of Pakistani policemen were taken hostage during the ensuing fighting, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. Pakistani officials claimed that 27 policemen and 45 Taliban fighters were killed during the raid, but Pajhwok put the number of policemen killed at more than 40. Raids by the Taliban on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border have increased this year as the terror groups have expanded their footholds in the region [see LWJ report, Taliban step up cross-border attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan].

The graphic video, which was published on the LiveLeak website, begins by showing the policemen, whose hands are bound behind their backs, in a line along a hillside. A Taliban commander tells the policemen they are responsible for the execution of six Pakistani "children" in the neighboring Pakistani district of Swat. Just prior to executing the Pakistani men, the Taliban leader gives a quick speech.

"These are the enemies of Islam who originated from Pakistan," says the Taliban commander, who is masked and has not been identified, according to a translation of the statement received by The Long War Journal. He describes the men as "murtards," or those who have abandoned Islam.

"They are the Pakistani police, soldiers, and their supporters who recently lined up six kids in Swat and shot them execution style," the commander continues. "These Pakistanis are now our captive and we will avenge the death of the children by doing the same to them."

The Taliban commander orders the policemen to remain still, then he and his fighters immediately open fire on the bound men. Most of the policemen are killed during the initial volley of Taliban fire. Several of the men are heard moaning as the Taliban stop shooting. The Taliban quickly move in to finish off the survivors at close range. The Taliban then travel up and down the line of bodies, pumping rounds into those still alive.

A Taliban fighter with a video camera tapes the entire execution and its aftermath. Later in the video, his shadow is cast over the dead bodies as he films them.

The video has not been attributed to a specific Taliban faction, however two major Taliban groups operate in the region, one commanded by Qari Zai Rahman, and another by Mullah Fazlullah.

Qari Zai Rahman is the dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan's tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand, as well as in Afghanistan's provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. ISAF and Afghan forces have been hunting Rahman for more than a year.

Mullah Fazlullah commands the Taliban forces in the district of Swat, which borders Dir to the east. Fazlullah's forces openly ruled Swat and neighboring districts from 2007 until April 2009, when the Pakistani military launched an operation to eject the Taliban. Fazlullah and most of his top leaders evaded the operation, however, and have since sheltered along the Afghan-Pakistani border, particularly in Dir.

The Pakistani Taliban routinely videotape executions of their captives. The most recent high-profile execution was carried out by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his followers. Earlier this year, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape of the execution of a former Pakistani military intelligence official known as Colonel Imam. Although Imam, a senior officer in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, was a favorite of the Afghan Taliban for his support of Mullah Omar, the Pakistani Taliban accused him spying against the terror group [see LWJ report, Video: Pakistani Taliban execute Colonel Imam].

Indonesian volcano rumbles again, spitting massive ash clouds

The Mount Lokon volcano spews thick smoke and 

ash into the air as seen from the town of Tomohon on Sunday.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian volcano erupted twice Monday, spewing thick ash clouds a day after the number of evacuees rose to 5,200.

The two eruptions occurred within 10 minutes of one another, spitting ash clouds as high as 600 meters (1,970 feet) into the air.

Mt. Lokon in the northern Sulawesi province first erupted Thursday night. Since then it has erupted several more times.

Authorities worry that the latest eruption sent smoke so high into the sky that it could affect flights at nearby airports.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Indonesia is located on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Gov't feels threatened, says Marina

(Malaysiakini) The Malaysian government feels threatened, is in a total state of panic and cannot think clearly, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's eldest daughter Marina Mahathir says.

“They do feel threatened because they underestimated Bersih in 2007 and then in the 2008 general election, they lost a lot of seats in Parliament and the state assemblies.

"And since then, they have been in a state of total panic and they can't think clearly at all. Now they are obsessed about how to win them back.

“You can win back people just by being nice. You can't win back people by being nasty. You can't say that those people who marched are hooligans. Maybe there was a handful, not all of them.

"The majority of them were professionals. The group was so diverse and it was really one Malaysia - young, rich, poor of every race, creed and every religion,” she told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview.

On July 9, Marina (right) took part in the Bersih 2.0 protest, with her daughter and friends.

They started from near Jalan Pudu (Berjaya Times Square) and walked along Jalan Hang Jebat (formerly Davidson Road) in front of Stadium Negara towards the Olympics Council of Malaysia building, where she encountered other friends.

She added that the people who marched were proud of the Bersih 2.0 movement. “I may not agree with your cause but you did a really good thing. We all became One Malaysia.

“Now, they are labelling us all sorts of names and let me tell you that they have lost all these votes. They may think they have lost them anyway, but let me tell you that there were a lot of people sitting on the fence and they have definitely gone to the other side. I see this clearly in the social media, especially email, on Twitter and in the blogs.”

Marina explained that the July 9 march had dented the image of the government and would obviously affect the ruling party “from the all the stupid statements that they are making and have been made by the government officials”.

She added: “Imagine saying that the police fired into the Tung Shin Hospital to protect the patients. It does not make sense. Again, they cannot think clearly and it is having an effect on the government.

“The prime minister came to give a briefing to 6,000 people the following day after July 9. If you are constantly surrounded by people who are telling you that you are wonderful and you are right, you are not going to get a true picture of what happened. You have to go and talk to people with different, not mutual views.

“If they refuse to listen to the people, the government leaders are going to be cocooned in complacency. And they are going to react in absolutely the wrong way.”

Putrajaya needs to respond to Bersih’s demands, says Ambiga

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The federal government needs to actively engage with Bersih and respond to its electoral demands instead of warning people against taking part in street demonstrations, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has said.

The Bersih 2.0 chairman today demanded to know the Najib administration’s response to the group’s concerns, saying that Bersih had not ruled out more demonstrations in the future.

Ambiga did not rule out more demonstrations in the future. — File pic

“There are reports that I said there will be no more rallies. This is not accurate and I see ministers repeating it. What I said was that there will be no more rallies in the near future. We do not take organising such rallies lightly.

 

“We will continue to take such steps to keep the pressure on in relation to reforming the electoral system but what we are hoping for is active engagement with the authorities on the subject,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Ambiga charged that the government was “missing the point” by issuing threats and more blanket bans against future rallies when what it should be doing was to address the valid concerns raised on July 9.

“What is the government’s response to our call for reform? To our call for a royal commission of inquiry? The government will do well to address the rakyat’s concerns rather than to just continue to threaten them.

“Simply put, is the government going to look at electoral reform or not?” she asked.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday issued a warning that the government will brook no further street demonstrations.

The July 9 Bersih rally has put the Najib administration on the back foot, and criticism of the way it suppressed the mass gathering has taken on a global nature.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived in the UK for a four-day visit last week and was greeted by a scathing editorial in The Guardian that compared his administration to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

On Tuesday, US national daily The Wall Street Journal said the government’s response to the Bersih 2.0 rally has created an environment of fear and repression in Malaysia.

Despite the efforts to prevent the rally from taking place, tens of thousands converged on the capital city in a march for free and fair elections.

The protest, which the government earlier declared illegal, turned chaotic close to midday when the police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protestors.

Between right and might

Whatever rationalisations Najib starts cooking up to defend the actions of the police during the Bersih 2.0 rally, little is going to help him gain the people’s trust.

COMMENT

July 9, 2011 is reluctantly tattooed in the memory of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. And for obvious reasons.

But more disturbingly, the date will haunt him as it signifies that the tide is turning against the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as shown by the 50,000 supporters of the “Walk for Democracy”.

For the rakyat of this country, after witnessing the happenings of last Saturday, they unanimously reached a conclusion – that their leader is is one who has no guts to walk the talk.

July 9 was the day when an election watchdog, Bersih 2.0, decided to “Walk for Democracy” as its way of pressing for reforms to the electoral system. It wants the polls to be conducted in a free and fair manner.
The walk or rally was meant to end with a memorandum detailing the eight demands being delivered to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. But on July 9 the memorandum never made it to the King’s hands.

And who made sure that never happened? It was none other than Najib who went on parroting his meaningless catch-phrase “people first, performance now” post-2009.

July 9 bears proof that the “people first” claim was never a truth and likewise the “performance now” too turned out to be a fallacy.

Instead, July 9 turned into a showdown between the right which stands for Bersih 2.0 and might which represented Najib and his men.

Whatever rationalisations Najib starts cooking up to defend the actions of the police during the Bersih 2.0 rally, little is going to help him gain the people’s trust.

The heavy-handed persecution carried out against the faces behind the Bersih 2.0 coalition has left the rakyat feeling nauseous. They are utterly disgusted at a leader who has failed in handling a simple request from an award-winning lawyer to engage in a “Walk for Democracy” with the rakyat before handing over the memorandum to the King.

Instead, the Bersih 2.0 rally riled Najib up, inflating his paranoia of losing that plush seat in Putrajaya, the nation’s administrative capital.

Sore loser, Najib

The massive support given by the people to the “Walk for Democracy” made Najib very angry. His blood is up as seen from the remarks he made post-July 9 of wanting to teach Bersih 2.0 a lesson.

If there is a worry, it is this that henceforth all actions taken by the Najib camp against Bersih 2.0 leaders will border on revenge. Truly unfortunate that with power and authority at his disposal, Najib is forgetting that he is no gift to the rakyat of Malaysia. He has feet of clay and all that power that Putrajaya accords him is “temporary”.

Like their boss, the police too declined to be held accountable for the violence that broke out during the July 9 rally.

But then what does the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar have to say to a remark made by national laureate and a supporter of the “Walk for Democracy”, A Samad Said, who witnessed the random firing of tear gas by the police?

“I saw them (the police) randomly firing tear gas at the crowd,” Samad had said.

The 76-year-old poet-activist was determined to lend all the support he could to the Bersih 2.0 rally that even after losing his shoes during a tussle at Kuala Lumpur Sentral, this senior citizen, whose eyes were bloodshot due to the tear gas and chemical-laced water, continued walking, barefoot. Dare they refute what he revealed?

What about the rally supporter who collapsed at the KLCC while running away from the tear gas fired by the police at the Bersih 2.0 supporters there. Baharuddin Ahmad, 59, was rushed to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The police as always washed their hands of this casualty.

Intead, they quickly blamed Baharuddin’s excess weight and three blocked arteries for his demise.
A husband and father is dead and the police took the easy way out by blaming Baharuddin’s lifestyle as the cause of his death. Hello, who is Ismail trying to con here? The rakyat knows better.

Najib, BN learn from July 9

The Bersih 2.0 rally is certainly a lesson in progress for Najib and party. The events of July 9 have blunted the edge of the BN administration, which stubbornly defies all claims of corruption and manipulation practised during the polls.

What remains now is to wait and watch what Najib and his Umnoputeras would do from the bashing that came from the people’s support of Bersih 2.0.

As the Malay saying goes, “Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga” (No matter how smart the squirrel is to jump, he will still fall to the ground).

The brutality shown by the police on July 9 confirmed the people’s worst fears – that the cops are only too glad to be trigger-happy and have no issues embracing violence to get the people to “do as I say”.

As of now, Umno bigwigs are afraid of their periuk nasi or rice bowl and amusingly are all singing the same tune of verbally bashing Bersih 2.0 and its chairperson S Ambiga.

What Najib and Umno dare not accept is that the July 9 “Walk for Democracy” was not devised by the opposition, more precisely Anwar Ibrahim. It simply was a walk to uphold democracy, which the BN government found detrimental to its survival.
When Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim declared that the Bersih 2.0 rally was a ploy to overthrow the government, he was simply shooting empty darts by talking gibberish.
Again, BN and Umno are affecting ignorance by claiming the rally was politically motivated. It was not.

Awakening of the rakyat

The rally was a “walk” by the rakyat to exercise their fundamental and democratic rights, which for a long time have been repressed by the BN government under the guise of various draconian laws.

Najib outlawed Bersih 2.0 and all else related to this coalition, including the colour yellow, which was a symbolic feature in the Bersih 2.0 rally vis-à-vis the T-shirts.

Supporters of the rally were barred from wearing the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, a yellow-colour outfit that lists down the eight demands of the coalition.

Yet, Umno, synonymous with malpractices and double standard, could not care less when Umno Youth under its “Patriot” guise was giving out free “Patriot” T-shirts during the rally. What was really going on here?

Also, all claims of the rally shooing away tourists from the city and the country had no basis, not until the police turned hysterical and started raiding hotels to look for “subversive elements”, which of course were no where to be found, for none exist.

What the Bersih 2.0 rally brought to light is the fear of the BN government and Umno, of the awakening of the rakyat who will without fear or favour go on to demand what is rightfully theirs.

Malaysia is home to all its 28 million children. The question, however, is, of that number, how many of them will go to any extent to protect their motherland from being devoured by the greedy hands?