Tribunal sought on 'Umno links' of EC head, deputy

Supreme Court of India orders Haj subsidy cut. Phase out Haj subsidy in ten years: SC to Govt.

India’s Supreme Court orders Hajj subsidy cut.

Every year, about 125,000 Indian Muslims (most of them are rich – Ed. HE) are subsidised to go on the Hajj.

BBC input:  Supreme Court o India has barred the government from giving subsidies to Muslim pilgrims going on the Hajj.

The court said the policy was “best done away with” and told the authorities to gradually reduce the subsidy and abolish it in 10 years.

The court also said that the government’s “goodwill delegation” to Mecca must not exceed two members. It currently has 30 people.

India provides billions of rupees every year to people going on the Hajj.

Pilgrims apply through the Hajj Committee of India and are offered a concessionary fare on the national airline, Air India.

Every year, about 125,000 pilgrims take the subsidy.

The pilgrims are charged 16,000 rupees ($302; £187) air fare. A regular Delhi-Jeddah flight would cost about double that.

Last month, the government told the Supreme Court that it had decided to restrict the subsidy to one pilgrimage per person.

At the moment, it is available to a Hajj pilgrim once every five years.

The government also said that priority would be given to pilgrims older than 70 and those who had never visited Mecca.
Phase out Haj subsidy in ten years, Supreme Court tells Govt: 10 big facts.

NDTV input: New Delhi | Reported by A Vaidyanathan | Updated: May 08, 2012 : The Supreme Court wants the central government to phase out its policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

Here are the 10 big facts of the case:

1. Directing the government to progressively “eliminate” its subsidy within a period of 10 years, a bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said today, “We hold that this (subsidy) policy is best done away with.” This interim order is also applicable to the Haj pilgrimage of 2012.

2. The bench also directed the government to reduce the number of its representatives in the Prime Minister’s goodwill delegation from 30 to two.

3. The court also said that it will look into the functioning of Haj Committee of India and its process for selecting people for the pilgrimage.

4. The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Bombay High Court judgement which had directed the Ministry of External Affairs to allow certain private operators to handle 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the VIP quota subsidised by the government.

5. The bench had expanded the purview of the plea and decided to look into the legality of the government’s policy on granting subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

6. Muslim members of Parliament have welcomed the decision. “The Haj subsidy of Rs. 600 crore is given to Air India and not pilgrims… Under this garb of subsidy, it (money) is going to Air India which is a sick airline,” Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi told reporters.

7. A senior member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Niyaz Farooqi, said that pilgrims do not get the benefits of the Haj subsidy. The government should shift focus on providing better accommodation and food facility to the pilgrims, he said adding, “Despite the subsidy, pilgrims have to pay extra for the trip.”

8. In an affidavit, the Centre had told the court that it has decided to restrict Haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to Muslims only as a “once in a lifetime” affair as against the existing policy of “once in five years”. It had said the new guidelines have been framed to ensure that priority is given to those applicants who have never performed Haj.

9. The government, however, had refrained from disclosing the amount of subsidy being incurred by it for 2012, saying, “The exact figure in respect of the travel subsidy to the pilgrims going through Haj Committee of India for 2012 will be known after the Hajis completed their Haj journey and return to India.”

10. India has a quota of 1.70 lakh pilgrims every year. Of these, about 1.25 lakh are selected through Haj committees. Rest of the pilgrims go through private operators. The government subsidy is approximately Rs. 40,000 for each pilgrim selected by the Haj Committees. (with PTI inputs)
“Politicising” Haj by permitting official delegations to accompany the pilgrims, for which the government offers huge subsidy, “is a bad religious practice.” – SC.

Phase out Haj subsidy in ten years: SC to govt.

HT input: The Supreme Court today struck down the government’s policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims and directed that it should be progressively “eliminated” within a period of 10 years.

“We hold that this policy is best done away with,” a bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Ranjana Prakash Desai held.

The bench also directed the government to reduce to two the number of its representatives in the Prime Minister’s goodwill delegation.

It said it will look into the functioning of Haj Committee of India and it process for selecting people for Haj pilgrimage.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Bombay high court judgement which had directed the ministry of external affairs to allow certain private operators to handle 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the VIP quota subsidised by the government.

The bench while hearing the plea of the Centre had expanded the purview of the plea and decided to look into the legality of the government’s policy on granting subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

During the hearing in the case, the Centre had defended the policy of giving subsidies to the Haj pilgrims and had said it had framed guidelines so that people get subsidies only once in their lifetime. Read details.
HINDU EXISTENCE WELCOME THIS VERDICT OF HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ON HAJ SUBSIDY CUT. WE WILL GO TO SC VERY SOON FOR GIVING IRRATIONAL AND UNJUSTIFIED IMAM AND MUEZZIN HONORARIUM BY GOVT OF WEST BENGAL. WE DEMAND COMMON CIVIL CODE FOR MUSLIMS IN INDIA. INDIA IS NOT A MUSLIM COUNTRY. HINDUS MUST NOT BE-FOOLED.

Central Java: Islamic extremists attack sanctuary of the Virgin Mary, repelled by police

by Mathias Hariyadi

For safety reasons, authorities suspend a function in program for yesterday. However, the place of worship, highly popular among faithful and pilgrims, will remain open. Attackers claim building does not have proper permit. The Archbishop of Semarang calls for calm: do not respond to provocation.

akarta (AsiaNews) - Tensions remain high in central Java, where a crowd of a thousand Islamic extremists have targeted a shrine to the Virgin Mary: For security reasons, yesterday the authorities suspended the programmed church service, while dozens of policemen and soldiers guarding the place of Christian worship, fearing further - possible - violence. According to the protesters, incited by Muslim extremists, the building has no building permit required by law (the infamous IMB) and, over time, from "simple house of prayer" it has become a real church. The faithful respond that "in more than 40 years" there has never been an incident of sectarian nature.

After the three Christian churches - two Catholic and one Protestant - were forcibly closed in Java in recent days (see AsiaNews 07/05/12 Extremist threats in Aceh: authorities close three churches), the attention of Indonesian Islamic extremists has now shifted to the shrine of Lady Mary in Sengon Kerep, Sampang sub-district in Gedangsari in Gunung Kidul regency in Yogyakarta (Central Java province). Sunday, May 6th a mob of a thousand fanatics tried to seal off the building, but the intervention of soldiers and police foiled the attack.

The full name of the shrine of the Virgin Mary (pictured) is Taman Maria Giri Wning Sengon Kerep and in local language, it means "The garden of the silence of Mary Sengon Kerep". Over the past three years the place of worship has undergone a major restoration work, and has always attracted a huge crowd of believers with one purpose: prayer.

Among other things, the sanctuary belongs to the Wedi parish in the district of Klaten, which is famous for the contribution it has made over the years to the Indonesian church and, more particularly, the Archdiocese of Semarang. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of priests, nuns, men religious from the area, supported with passion and devotion by the faithful. Even two bishops were born in the parish of Wedi. This is why there is special devotion and attention to the Marian shrine and the Catholic community will continue to be vigilant to preserve its integrity. In a message to the faithful Msgr. Johannes Pujasumarta Pr, Archbishop of Semarang, called for calm and for faithful not to give in to provocation: "Do not show or respond with violence - said the prelate - even if the tension continues to grow."

Bedouin girl from southern Israel locked in basement to force abortion

A girl from Israel was locked in a basement by her partner after she refused to have an abortion. (File photo)

By AL ARABIYA

An 18-year-old Bedouin girl from southern Israel was locked in the basement of a home in the city of Shfaram for a week after she rejected her partner’s demand to have an abortion, the Israel-based Ynet news website reported on Monday.

The girl, who was not named in the report, had told her partner she was pregnant a week ago. When he requested that she undergo an abortion, her boyfriend locked her in the basement “with the help of his friends,” then threatened to have her abort the baby by force if she refused to do so willingly, the website stated.

She managed to call a local police department after she had grabbed apartment’s owner’s cell phone in the brief instance he entered the basement to give her food.

“The girl could not tell the dispatcher where the house was located, but she did give police his [partner’s] name,” Ynet reported.

“The three suspects used violence against the girl and conspired to commit a crime. The complainant has been transferred to a women’s shelter,” the local police station chief told the website.

The boyfriend has been detained, although he has claimed that he has not been in touch with the girl.

The boyfriend’s two accomplices were arrested early Monday, the website added.

(Written by Eman El-Shenawi)

Four arrested over Nayati kidnapping

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Police have arrested three men and a woman over the recent abduction of 12-year-old Nayati Shamelin Moodliar, national news agency Bernama reported tonight.

The suspects were arrested in separate police operations in Perak and Selangor between Sunday and early this morning.

“The police have recovered more than RM100,000 which is part of the ransom money paid by Nayati’s father and mother,” a source told Bernama.

A special team from Bukit Aman also seized a laptop computer and a mobile phone that was used to communicate the kidnappers’ ransom demands for the Dutch boy (picture).

The source told Bernama that the police would now wait for Nayati and his family to return from an overseas holiday to identify the suspected kidnappers.

Nayati was abducted in front of Mont Kiara International School here two weeks ago.

He was released last Thursday in Rawang after the family paid a ransom.

The case had captured public imagination with posters of the boy appearing across the Klang Valley in various languages.

It was reported that Nayati, who was still in his school uniform, was abducted by two men in a black car on a short distance from his school.

The men were said to have grabbed the boy while he was walking to school, bundled him into the car and sped off.

Lustre of ‘being’ Anwar wearing off

Anwar Ibrahim can no longer depend on his 'charm and gift of the gab' to hide his personal failings that surfacing every time he's faced with choices.
COMMENT

Morally and ethically, Anwar Ibrahim failed himself many years ago when he chose to put his personal agenda before that of the rakyat.

But his charm and a gift of the gab have taken him to be the deputy prime minister of our country and when that failed, to become leader of the opposition.

In the interim, he rode through many of life’s conflicts that would have felled a lesser man.

He was convicted of corruption, went through two sodomy trials, made an inglorious attempt at bluffing his way into government by riding on the crest of an impossible victory at the 12th general election and generated many other distractions that were short on substance but riddled with political expediency.

All this caused Anwar and his PKR party to be reduced from the largest political entity in the opposition to now being its weakest link.

That charm and gift of the gab served him well, but it can no longer hide the personal failings that keep surfacing every time Anwar finds himself faced with choices.

Choices that could have made him the great man that everyone thinks is lurking just under that charming and confident exterior that he exudes or show him up for the man that he really is – all bluster and show, no substance, no morality and positively no ethics in his own self.

Now even that charm and gift of the gab can no longer excuse his latest folly of trying to hijack Bersih 3.0 to be his vehicle in his desperate attempt to goad (Prime Minister) Najib (Tun Razak) and the Barisan Nasional government into lashing out at the opposition so that he could again resurrect his “reformasi” days and take our country once again into chaos, conflict and harm.

Only this time our people and our nation will not allow Anwar to do as he will with the state of our nation as we have often seen him do to advance his personal agenda many times in the past.

If we look around us now, do we not see a nation polarised into racial and religious divides?

Anwar hijacked Bersih

Do we not see an opposition that is increasingly finding it difficult to accommodate a leader that understands there is no one else to lead Pakatan Rakyat but himself and yet abuses that need to serve himself and not Pakatan?

And more worrying, do we not see the leaders within Pakatan unable or unwilling to do the necessary to bring Anwar to heel because political expediency overrides all other considerations?

And why do I say all this? Because I think matters came to a head at Bersih 3.0.

I am not excusing the brutality inflicted by the police on our people. This is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for these uniformed personnel.

Give them the opportunity and they will go berserk, whacking our people left and right. The pity of it all is that Anwar gave the police the opportunity to do just that.

Anwar took it upon himself to hijack what is a popular people’s movement, with or without S Ambiga’s consent, and proceeded to make Bersih his own.

I expected more out of someone who is our prime minister-designate.

I expect the leader of Pakatan to not covertly use Bersih for his own purpose of getting political mileage locally and globally by announcing to the world that our government used the police to beat their own people senseless and spray them with nauseating tear gas and harass men, women, children, young and old at every opportunity they had.

We know what the police are capable of doing. But Anwar is partly to be blamed for provoking the former Inspector-General of Police to hit him (and this by no means absolved the IGP of any blame for what he did) but for him to put our people in the line of fire because it served his own political purpose, is simply not right.

We expect better things of Anwar. This was Bersih 3.0′s day, not Anwar’s. The people turned up in numbers to express their solidarity and sense of purpose with Bersih, NOT for Anwar.

Anwar in denial

Anwar will continue to be in denial of what he did to make Bersih 3.0 live in infamy for the things that the police did to their own people.

Anwar will continue to be in denial for his own ethical and moral lapses.

Anwar will continue to be in denial that Pakatan and PKR no longer need him as their leader because who needs a leader who no longer has the respect of his own people because he serves only his own cause, not the people?

You people have better not be in denial anymore about Anwar – not after Bersih 3.0.

He may be the pied-piper leading PKR but just look at where he is leading PKR to.

We know that there are many from PKR who are in Bersih but we must tell them that if they want to be with Bersih, then they must leave PKR out of Bersih.

And that goes for Anwar too – leave his Umno past and his PKR out of Bersih.

We can do without the duplicity and deviousness of using people for his own political agenda, especially when these people have not consented to be put into harm’s way for Anwar’s political agenda.

Things have changed in our times.

If we want answers from Najib for the abuses in the Defence Ministry (Mindef) during his time as its minister, then by the same token, we want Anwar to be upfront with us in the things that he does while being a leader of Pakatan.

Anwar ‘hanging’ himself

Anything less would be an insult to the intelligence of our people who can by now decide for themselves if the hijacking of Bersih 3.0 by Anwar for his own purpose is right or wrong.

Enough of this, Pakatan! If you continue to be in denial at the antics and deviousness of your own leader, then what do you expect the people to think?

Is Najib the lesser of the two evils when compared to Anwar?

Let me tell all you leaders of Pakatan that this is already happening. Give Anwar enough rope and he will hang himself, said Najib.

And Anwar seems to be doing that all by himself.

We now await his political demise in the very near future – if not at his own hands, then by (Lim) Kit Siang, (Abdul) Hadi (Awang), Najib or more certainly, by that of the people.

CT Ali is a reformist who believes in Pakatan Rakyat’s ideologies. He is a FMT columnist.

Domino’s: Prompt action taken against rude staff

The pizza parlour also regrets that its goodwill gesture in giving 10 free pizza vouchers has been misunderstood by the complaining customer.

PETALING JAYA: Popular pizza delivery company Domino’s Pizza today said it took immediate steps to terminate the services of a trainee staff who had uttered a derogatory racial remark to a customer.

The company has also issued a memo to all its staff to remind them of the company guidelines and the consequences of contravening actions.

It is also monitoring its Customer Service Centre operations more closely, said Shamsul Amree Ab Rahman, the deputy general manager of Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd, the operators of Domino’s Pizza.

He was referring to a FMT report yesterday in which former IT consultant C Kuna had complained that she was referred to as ‘keling’ by a staff at Domino’s when she had called to order a pizza on March 26. ‘Keling’ is considered a derogatory term by Indians.

Kuna had further said that while the operators apologised for the incident through a letter, she however felt insulted when they offered her 10 free Domino’s vouchers.

“This is ridiculous. Domino’s is an international brand and it is now obvious that they have a low opinion of the Indian community. An apology letter is not enough.

“They’ve insulted me by attaching 10 free pizza vouchers to the letter. They said it was a token of appreciation because I complained, but I’m insulted…they want to settle with 10 vouchers?” she had said yesterday. She also threatened to sue Domino’s Pizza over the incident.

Goodwill gesture

In a statement issued to FMT today, Dommal Food Services once again issued an apology to Kuna over the rude remark made by the trainee staff.

“Domino’s Pizza does not condone the use of any racist remarks by our staff nor do we discriminate based on creed, colour, national origin, or sex.

“To demonstrate how seriously we view this situation, within 24 hours of the said incident taking place, we took strict remedial action and terminated the services of the trainee involved and blacklisted this individual from future employment at Domino’s Pizza Malaysia,” said Shamsul Amree.

He added that its head of customer service K Atchuthan had contacted Kuna to personally apologise and explain all the remedial action that was being taken to ensure that such an incident was not repeated.

He also said that the 10 free pizza vouchers were given as a goodwill gesture, adding that the pizza company regretted any misunderstanding caused by this gesture.

“The gift was given as an indication of our goodwill. It was never our intention to treat the incident lightly or be insensitive to Kuna’s feelings,” he said.

He further clarified that based on the recording of the telephone conversation between Kuna and the trainee staff, Domino’s discovered that the staff had not uttered the word ‘lazy’ as claimed by the customer.

All calls through the company’s call centre are recorded for training and audit purposes.

“We recognize that it is Kuna’s right to proceed with any action she may decide to take.

“However, this incident is deeply and sincerely regretted by all at Domino’s Pizza as we believe that we have taken every step possible to effectively address the situation,” he added.

Student tortured mentally over Bersih, PKR claims

He was allegedly arrested and interrogated after presenting himself to police to assist in their investigations

PETALING JAYA: Police subjected a student to psychological torture after he presented himself at the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters to help them investigate violence during last month’s Bersih rally, PKR has alleged.

Khalid Mohd Ismath, a student at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), was one of several people whose pictures were published by local media with an announcement that police were seeking their help in investigations.

According to PKR leaders, he was arrested when he went to the police headquarters at about 10am on May 5 and was held for more than a day.

Speaking at party headquarters, PKR information chief Latheefa Koya said: “Khalid went to the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters together with his parents, family and lawyer.

“As soon as he went there, he was arrested. This was a trap. He was asked to assist in the investigations, but was immediately arrested.”

She added that the police then advised him to sign a form stating that his lawyer did not have to be present at interrogations.

Police accused him of beating a police officer during the April 28 protest and calling for the killing of policemen on his Facebook page.

Khalid, who was at today’s press conference, has denied both charges.

Latheefa said Khalid was taken to several police stations after his arrest. These included the Cheras, Dang Wangi and Jinjang police stations.

She said he was interrogated on matters that were irrelevant to the charges.

According to her, they asked questions such as these: “Why did you join Bersih? Don’t you know that Bersih supports the LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)? Did you know that Facebook is owned by the Jews? Did you know that your Internet subscription money is a contribution to the Jews? Do you like to masturbate?”

No physical violence

At the Jinjang police station, she said, Khalid was made to await a magistrate’s decision on a possible four-day remand extension and lawyers were kept outside. The magistrate rejected the remand request and Khalid was sent back to the Dang Wangi station, where he was detained from 11am to 3.30pm and where the interrogation continued, she added.

Khalid told reporters the police did not use physical violence on him.

Latheefa said: “How can we allow people to willingly report to the police (to assist in investigations) when this is what they’re going to face?”

PKR vice-president N Surendran attacked investigations aimed at finding violent Bersih protesters as “political propaganda”.

He said Rasah PKR leader R Thanggam was taken from the Dang Wangi police station to the Bukit Aman police headquarters and was questioned by a “special interrogation team” through the night.

Thanggam has since been charged with breaching a court order barring the public from entering Dataran Merdeka on Apr 28.

“It was endless interrogation,” Surendran said. “This is psychological torture. This is the use of terror tactics. Questions that were posed to Khalid were political questions. It was not an investigation into the alleged crime of violence during Bersih 3.0, similar to Thanggam’s case.”

He questioned the rationale of releasing photos of 49 people accused of Bersih-related violence to the media, saying it was an act of defamation.

He also said police this morning picked up two more people whose photos were displayed—Hulu Selangor councillor K Suppiah and PKR Youth member Farhan Ibrahim

“These are just normal people who went for a peaceful gathering.”

He demanded that the 49 photos be withdrawn and advised the police to send notices to the suspects if they already knew of their whereabouts.

Latheefa also revealed that a person named Muzazaruddin Mustapha was arrested on May 2 over a drug-related offence and lawyers had not been able to contact him since.

Murugiah on anti-BN speech: I was agitated

The former deputy minister seeks to clear the air over a video clip that has gone viral on Facebook.
VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Former senator and deputy minister T Murugiah has affirmed that he is still a loyal member of MIC and does not intend to withdraw his support for Barisan Nasional.

The question arose because a YouTube video shows him giving a speech that appears to be anti-Barisan Nasional.

The 15.09-minute clip, entitled “MIC people must watch this video”, was posted on YouTube early last week and has since gone viral on Facebook.

The video was shot last year during a prize-giving ceremony at the Lorong Jawa Tamil school in Seremban.

Murugiah was speaking in Tamil about problems in acquiring land for new buildings for the school. He is recorded in the video as saying: “If they felt the votes of 1,000 school children here were important, they would have granted the land and built the school.

“You as parents should decide what you want during the general election. How can I ask you to vote for BN? Tell the government to decide or you decide (whom to vote for).”

Speaking to FMT today, he said he was speaking in the heat of agitation.

“I was agitated. The headmaster was bashing MIC and the government and then someone from the audience said that they would not vote for MIC,” said Murugiah, who was a senator and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department until 2011.

The local Indian community had been asking for a new school on a new plot of land for the past 30 years. Murugiah said the parents and school staff were unhappy because the state authorities had been ignoring the request.

He told FMT he was blaming government agencies for failing to implement changes outlined by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

“The PM has done a good job. It is the government machineries that are causing these problems.”

He said he suspected that the person responsible for posting the video clip was out to tarnish his image.

MIC unity injured in Putrajaya brawl

The fracas involving MIC Youth members and PKR leaders last week has turned into a proxy war within the BN party.
COMMENT

The recent brawl in Putrajaya between PKR members and MIC Youth members over the MyKad issue has caused injuries not only to some people but also to unity in MIC among its rank and file.

The incident was given wide publicity in the Tamil media, with close-up shots of injured faces of PKR members. As soon as the incident was reported, MIC circles were abuzz with talks as to why should MIC Youth go there and cause trouble to protesting PKR members.

Some even expressed shock that such a brawl could take place in front of the Prime Minister’ Office and that too in the presence of members of the police force.

Comparisons were also made with the speedy action taken by the police over the Bersih 3.0 protesters: none of the people involved in Putrajaya brawl has been arrested so far despite some people having been injured seriously and several police reports lodged.

Even the photos of those involved in the brawl had been widely published in newspapers and Internet.

Some leaders like MIC central working committee (CWC) member Kumar Amman came out with a strong statement that the incident had tarnished the image of MIC. Some other branch leaders also echoed similar sentiments.

Pressured to show that the MIC leadership does not condone the incident and to reduce the continued public outcry over the incident, MIC’s disciplinary committee chairman KS Nijhar quickly announced that a committee would investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

Such a statement was seen as timely to show MIC as a responsible and fair-minded party. However, the inner political forces within MIC, especially those aligned to MIC Youth leader T Mohan, saw the move by Nijhar as an affront to the pride of MIC and a calculated political move to discredit Mohan in the eyes of MIC members and the public.

In defence of Mohan and his boys

Several leaders came out against Nijhar’s statement and in defence of Mohan and his Youth members. Among them were state chairman for Negeri Sembilan T Rajagobalu, Selangor state information chief Siva Subramaniam and former MIC Youth leader SA Vigneswaran.

However, the surprise entry was S Vell Paari, a CWC member and son of former president S Samy Vellu, who said in a statement that Nijhar had gone overboard and that a report should have been requested from Mohan before announcing disciplinary proceedings.

Tamil Nesan, a Tamil daily controlled by Vell Paari, also ran detailed statements issued by MIC leaders against Nijhar.

Such open and bold statements against Nijhar is surprising as Nijhar is known to be working closely with party president G Palanivel and everyone knew that Nijhar would not have issued such an important statement without consulting the leadership of the party.

Such confrontations among MIC leaders through press statements reflect the ongoing political undercurrent in MIC politics, which is being kept under wraps just because the general election is around the corner.

In recent times, the aggressive leadership style of Mohan is seen as conflicting with that of Palanivel, who prefers more subtle and compromising approach.

It can also be seen that Palanivel carefully avoids direct confrontation with opposition leaders and does not wish to engage in press war with the opposition.

Proxy war

“Mohan is seen as one of Samy Vellu’s protégées. He is also close to Vell Paari and is closely aligned to MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam. The undercurrent in MIC now is that Dr Subramaniam will mount a challenge for the presidency against Palanivel next year with the help of Samy Vellu,” an MIC source pointed out.

“MIC members and leaders are tight-lipped on this matter because of the coming 13th general election. Once the national polls is over, the political battles are expected to start.

“In the meantime, some see Nijhar’s announcement against Mohan and the Youth wing as the beginning of that battle and hence, the sudden ‘uprising’ to defend Mohan who is expected to play a key role in favour of Dr Subramaniam in the event there is a challenge for presidency,” added the source.

In view of the disunity among leaders of MIC caused by the Putrajaya incident, it will be interesting to see whether the MIC disciplinary committee under Nijhar will continue with its investigations or will drop it to avoid further conflicts and confrontations.

RJ Rajah is a veteran MIC leader who now likes observing the fun from the sidelines.

‘No one was provocative during Bersih rally’

Marina Mahathir also backs Proham's call for an RCI to investigate the violence between police and protesters.
VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Social activist Marina Mahathir has said that she hadn’t witnessed any provocation from Bersih 3.0 supporters during the massive rally on April 28.

The rally, which turned ugly an hour after it officially began, saw police shooting tear gas canisters and water cannons into the 80,000-strong crowd after a group of protesters breached the barricades surrounding Dataran Merdeka.

In the aftermath, videos and pictures of violence from police as well as protesters surfaced with both sides insisting that the other take responsibility for the rally’s outcome.

In a recent interview on business radio station BFM, Marina recounted walking up to the barricades at Jalan Lebuh Pasar where the police were gathered.

“No one was being provocative,” she said. “There were high spirits, many young people and the police was being very patient.”

“But having said that they suddenly brought out the trucks, and the guys in helmets and shields. We didn’t really understand why. I thought it was an intimidation factor, to just have them standing there.”

Marina added that while word of Bersih 3.0 co-chairperson, S Ambiga’s, directive for the crowd to disperse had spread, many “rally tourists” still wanted to get closer to the barricades for snapshots.

“I don’t think anyone is really going to know just yet who is responsible,” she mused. “We may need a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to get to them bottom of this.”

“The government should set up such a commission to clear its name, and everyone should support it because everyone has a stake in it.”

Last Wednesday, the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) had also urged Putrajaya to do the same in the light of conflicting reports on the violence between police and protesters during the rally.

No political hijacking

The police have defended their actions, saying that the situation would have worsened if they had simply stood aside. Marina, however, didn’t buy it.

“Horrible things happened (on that day) because they threw tear gas,” she pointedly said. “If they didn’t want people entering Dataran Merdeka then the tear gas should have been lobbed there instead.”

“Why shoot it straight into the crowd? I read one person’s account of being tracked by the water cannon so what’s that all about?”

Another claim that didn’t sit well with Marina was that of the opposition hijacking the rally and being ultimately responsible for the ensuing clashes.

According to her, the supporters were shouting for Ambiga and not for opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim. She also observed that isolated political chants were not taken up by the crowd either.

“So I don’t know whether that’s a fair charge to say about the whole rally,” Marina stated when asked for her thoughts on the rally’s link to the Pakatan coalition.

“They are politicians, that is their gain and that is what they do. If they were BN politicians, they would have done exactly the same thing.”

NST runs headline calling Nik Aziz 'father of kafir'

(Harakah Daily) - Hardly recovered from its libelous claim made against an Australian senator last week, UMNO-owned English-language daily New Straits Times today blasts a headline which says Kelantan Menteri Besar Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat "is father of kafir".

"Nik Aziz is father of kafir," reads the headline, which appears in single quotes without mention of its source. A smaller sub-heading however informs readers that the statement has been made by former inspector general of police Abdul Rahim Noor.

Kafir, the Arabic word for 'infidel', is a derogatory term used to describe those who reject God. A narrative attributed to Prophet Muhammad explicitly warns Muslims against labeling fellow Muslims as kafir, saying the label would return to the accuser.

Rahim is apparently peeved by Nik Aziz's argument defending those who participated at the mammoth April 28 rally for electoral reforms in Kuala Lumpur as fulfilling the Islamic obligation to enjoin good and forbid evil. Nik Aziz was responding to a statement Sunday by the government-controlled National Fatwa Council declaring anti-government demonstrations as haram (forbidden).

Rahim said the PAS Murshidul Am was misleading Muslims to believe that it was their religious duty to support Bersih 3.0.

In an immediate response, Kelantan PAS's legal bureau head Hisham Fauzi gave Rahim 24 hours to retract the statement or face legal action.

Last week, NST invited public anger when it used a fabricated statement to accuse Australian senator Nick Xenophon of being anti-Islam. The libelous story was also published on page 6.

Xenophon, who personally observed the events on April 28 and criticised the police's handling of Bersih 3.0 rally, has vowed to take legal action against the paper despite its apology.

 

'Father of dog'

Rahim (above), who resigned as the police chief in 1999, is best remembered for the infamous Black Eye incident involving former deputy prime minister-turned-parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Rahim said he "lost his cool" and delivered karate-like blows on a blindfolded Anwar who was detained at a cell in the Bukit Aman police headquarters on the night of September 20, 1998.

In comic exchanges with Anwar's counsel Karpal Singh at a Royal Commission of Inquiry set up amid public outrage over the 'black eye', Rahim claimed that he was provoked by Anwar who called him "bapa anjing" (father of dog). Karpal however pointed out that Anwar was blindfolded, and questioned if Anwar could have possibly made such remarks, unless he smelt the canine in the room.

Menang sorak kampung tergadai

Have a look at the video below. That is a specially edited video, which is being distributed through the Umno network. Maybe not every Malaysian, in particular Malays in the rural areas, uses the Internet. But they do have TV sets and DVD/VCD players. And if DNBN can distribute 200,000 anti-government DVDs to those in the rural areas who do not have Internet access, do you mean to say that Umno cannot also produce 1 million copies of the video below and do the same thing?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There was something very interesting that I experienced back in the 1970s. 

My wife and I made a trip to Golok with her mother in tow. We had just moved to Kuala Terengganu then. When we crossed the border, I jumped onto the back of a motorcycle while my wife and her mother took a trishaw. My mother-in-law was too big to fit on the back seat of the kap chai.

We agreed to meet in the Mer Lin Hotel.

Aha….I can see many of you smile. I am sure you too have fond memories of your stay in that hotel. Well, let’s talk about all that another time, maybe in more private surroundings.

I, of course, reached first, and hung around waiting for the rest of my party to arrive. As I sat there, a pimp approached me and enquired whether I would like a girl. Well, with my wife probably ten minutes or so behind me, I certainly had no choice but to decline. I just said, “Are you crazy? Today is Friday!”

It was Friday, the weekend for the East Coast, and I spoke in Malay, of course.

“No problem,” replied the pimp, “our girls are all Muslims.”

I could not help but chuckle at this retort. He assumed that since I pantang (taboo) on Friday then I must be a Muslim, although I looked Kwailo, and hence I would prefer a Muslim girl, being a ‘holy’ day and all that.

I again politely declined and said I do not want a girl, to which the pimp replied, “We also have boys. The boys are very young and sexy.” Ah, now he is talking.

He probably saw my eyes light up and thought he had a sale. Then my wife walked in and that ended our very interesting negotiation.

I suppose people are like that. They always assume and jump to conclusions. If they offer you a beer before dinner and you refuse, that means you do not drink. It could be you only drink brandy and you normally have a glass of brandy with your cigar after dinner, not before, like a more cultured person would.

If the waiter recommends the steak and assures you that it is the speciality of the restaurant and you decline, he would assume you must be a Hindu, since you do have a dark complexion. It could be you are actually a Christian and for health reasons you steer clear of red meat and only partake in white meat, which is what I also try to do. (As a rule, we only eat chicken at home and will not eat meat unless we go out for dinner, which may be once a month).

And this is the problem we are currently facing with regards to the Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim issue. You assume and jump to the conclusion that he is opposed to Bersih or he supports Barisan Nasional or he does not care for clean, free and fair elections or whatever. And that would be like assuming a person who does not eat beef must be a Hindu. 

Considering that Tunku Aziz was born before WWII, and being educated and intelligent and a person who knows history -- and more importantly, comprehends history -- he understands the implications of what we do. He knows that for every action there will be a reaction. And we may not quite like that reaction, especially if those reacting are more powerful and have more resources available to them. 

Tunku Aziz is opposed to violence, vandalism, mob rule, taunts, jeers, provocation, and whatnot. And being a man of his age, I really do not blame him. He is not a street fighter. He is not a physical man. He is not a man who will engage in fisticuffs even if it is a boxing match using Queensbury rules. Not every human being is prepared to settle a dispute with his or her fists.

Have a look at the video below. That is a specially edited video, which is being distributed through the Umno network. Maybe not every Malaysian, in particular Malays in the rural areas, uses the Internet. But they do have TV sets and DVD/VCD players. And if DNBN can distribute 200,000 anti-government DVDs to those in the rural areas who do not have Internet access, do you mean to say that Umno cannot also produce 1 million copies of the video below and do the same thing?

Now, I may be wrong, but quite a number of those who participated in the Bersih 3.0 rally on 28th April 2012 were quite young. That’s what the videos and pictures show. I suspect that many were born after Merdeka or probably after 1969. That means many would not know what happened in early May 1969.

Read the extract from Wikipedia below that video. I have checked its accuracy and I would say that there is not much error in the write-up. In fact, I too have written the same thing myself many times before and what I said in the past is not far from what the Wikipedia report said below. More importantly, I was 19 years old at that time and was a witness to the events of early May 1969. 

Now, do another thing. Take off your Pakatan Rakyat cap and pretend that you are a non-partisan Malaysian who holds no party allegiance. Then look at the video again, this time without any lenses, and tell me what you see. Can you see 28th April 2012 as a similar situation to 10th May 1969?

This is what many of those from the older generation, people such as Tunku Aziz, fear. Umno is desperate, just like how desperate they were back in May 1969. And if you were Umno would you not exploit what happened on 28th April 2012 to your advantage? If I were Umno I would. I would be a fool not to. 

Hence, what have we gained, if we were to gauge ‘success’ by the contents of the video below? There was a lot of dendam in May 1969. I just hope that 28th April 2012 has not also bred dendam. If it has, then, as the Malays would say: menang sorak kampung tergadai. 

Dendam is a very powerful motivation. My concern is not whether Pakatan Rakyat can win the next general election. There is certainly a good chance that it can in spite of the cheating and gerrymandering. (If not Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak would have called for the elections by now.) My concern is that Pakatan Rakyat does win the next general election and those who harbour dendam will want to take revenge on the taunts, jeers, insults, provocation, etc. 

I love history. But what I hate about history is for the tendency of history to repeat itself. That has always been the downfall of many -- not learning from the mistakes of history. We always seem to celebrate the winning of the battles and then mourn the defeat in the war. That is what menang sorak kampung tergadai means.

 

SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axQwPtLLKBo

Run-up to polling day

The causes of the rioting can be analysed to have the same root as the 1964 riots in Singapore, the event rooted from sentiments before the campaigning was bitterly fought among various political parties prior to polling day on 10 May 1969, and party leaders stoked racial and religious sentiments in order to win support.

The Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) accused the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) of selling the rights of the Malays to the Chinese, while the Democratic Action Party (DAP) accused the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) of giving in to UMNO. The DAP promoted the concept of a "Malaysian Malaysia", which would remove the Malays of their special rights under the Constitution of Malaysia. Both the DAP and Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP) objected to Malay as the national language and proposed multi-lingualism instead. 

Senior Alliance politicians, including Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, accused Singapore-based People's Action Party of involvement in the campaign, as it had done during the 1964 general election campaign (at the time when Singapore was part of the Malaysian federation between 1963 and 1965). 

The run-up to the election was also marred by two deaths: that of an UMNO election agent, who was killed by a group of armed Chinese youths in Penang and that of a member of the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM), who was killed in Kepong, Selangor. 

There was a contrast in the handling of these two deaths. The UMNO worker was buried without publicity, but the LPM casualty was honoured at a parade on 9 May when some 3,000 LPM members marched from Kuala Lumpur to Kepong, violating regulations and trying to provoke incidents with the police.

Election results 

Amidst tensions among the Malay and Chinese population, the general election was held on 10 May 1969. Election day itself passed without any incidents, and the results showed that the Alliance had gained a majority in Parliament at the national level, albeit a reduced one, and in Selangor it had gained the majority by cooperating with the sole independent candidate.

The Opposition had tied with the Alliance for control of the Selangor state legislature, a large setback in the polls for the Alliance. On the night of 11 and 12 May, the Opposition celebrated their victory. In particular, a large Gerakan procession welcomed the left-wing Gerakan leader V. David.

On 12 May, thousands of Chinese marched through Kuala Lumpur, parading through predominantly Malay areas, hurling insults, which led to the incident. The largely Chinese opposition Democratic Action Party and Gerakan gained in the elections, and secured a police permit for a victory parade through a fixed route in Kuala Lumpur.

However, the rowdy procession deviated from its route and headed through the Malay district of Kampung Baru, jeering at the inhabitants. Some demonstrators carried brooms, later alleged to symbolise the sweeping out of the Malays from Kuala Lumpur, while others chanted slogans about the "sinking" of the Alliance boat – the coalition's logo.

The Gerakan party issued an apology on 13 May for their rally goers' behaviour.

In addition, Malay leaders who were angry about the election results used the press to attack their opponents, contributing to raising public anger and tension among the Malay and Chinese communities. On 13 May, members of UMNO Youth gathered in Kuala Lumpur, at the residence of Selangor Menteri Besar Dato' Harun Haji Idris in Jalan Raja Muda, and demanded that they too should hold a victory celebration. 

While UMNO announced a counter-procession, which would start from the Harun bin Idris's residence, Tunku Abdul Rahman would later call the retaliatory parade "inevitable”, as otherwise the party members would be demoralised after the show of strength by the Opposition and the insults that had been thrown at them. 

READ MORE HERE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_May_incident

BERSIH 3 Pt 2

1. Some who condemned my piece on Bersih 3 say that the ruling party abused the authority of the Government to ensure its success. They ask why rural constituencies have more seats for less voters. Why the gerrymandering.

2. This is because since the days of the British the urban areas tend to dominate politics and to be better served by the Government. To balance this, the poorly serviced rural areas have to be given higher representation in the legislature.

3. This is not new. It is common practice in the United States the state of New Jersey with less than five million people gets the same number of Senate seats (two) as California with more than forty million people. In most democratic countries some leverage is given to constituencies which for a variety of reasons are less developed.

4. As to the use of Government authority in elections; this is never clear-cut. There is no clear line when authority is exceeded.

5. When a party in power uses Government to implement policies, plans or strategies so as to ensure support by the people, can we say it is abuse of Government authority. On the other hand when the opposition loudly proclaims that they would do things which would gain them public support, are they not making use of Government authority for their popularity?

6. The opposition says that it would increase subsidies for fuel and fertilizer, replace PTPTN with free higher education and raise petroleum royalty to 20% to the states instead of 5%, isn’t it also making use of Government authority to win support of the voters?

7. Indeed whereas the incumbent has to be cautious as it knows the financial capacity of the Government, the Opposition has no such constrains. If it wins it can have all kinds of excuses for not keeping promises.

8. Abuse of Government authority is not confined only to the ruling party. The Opposition is also bent on abusing Government authority.

9. There may be areas for improving the conduct of Malaysian elections. But the fact remains that in Malaysia the Opposition can and have indeed defeated the Government party. If the Opposition fails to win at federal level, it is simply because the people chose not to support them with the required majority.

Orang Muda Menentukan Lanskap Politik Baru Di Malaysia & Di Dunia

Police brutality unacceptable

I am boiling mad! I am really angry with the police force, that they willingly and voluntarily inflicted wanton abuse and injury to so many civilians.

One does not need more evidence. Just scan the YouTube uploads and it will become evident to any observer.

Abuse is abuse of the law and the special privilege and the concomitant responsibility of being in a uniform which we are called to, and demanded to respect.
In fact, the uniform even carries the insignia of the royal emblem of Malaysia.

Surely therefore there must be standard operating procedures related to “under what conditions are the Public Order and Preservation Ordinations motions can be called upon” and applied towards violators.

If one is unsure, please go also on the net and find out for yourself, as an ex-military officer has already described and qualified for such “approved procedures of relevant actions”.

If the IGP cannot explain all the obvious abuse by the police upon innocent civilians who simply want a peaceful assembly, then I would like the IGP to resign.

I recognise that his deputy is a worse off character based on his history of public statements and moreover the IGP is a much more sincere and simpler man, but I think the Rupert Murdoch Principle set by the British Parliament must apply.
 
The IGP must either tell the whole truth or be deemed unfit to hold public office. That was Rupert Murdoch’s No 1 failure; he pretended that the problem did not exist, and thus did not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Therefore, the public indictment against his entire reputation, name and image. After all, what does it profit a man when he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Leadership today requires both integration and integrity.

Last week I was invited to attend a closed door review of the history of anti-corruption initiatives in Malaysia since time immemorial. It was good to know, understand and appreciate the real issues and concerns of the past and how they were addressed. It was both revealing and very telling.

Unfortunately though, when the meeting was opened to the floor, objective history concerns were forgotten and the purpose of our meeting lost, as everyone gave their two cents worth of views and opinions.

In fact, to me it was no better than mere coffee-shop talk, as even at our normal the-tarik session, most are usually cordial, honest and transparent with views. But a framework for analysis and review was missing.

Therefore, and because of some personal reasons, I had to leave the meeting early but I am resolved that my views may still be important for the concerns for integrity, and any related issues of bribery and corruption.

Theory of integrity

After all, we were invited as members of the Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Institute (OHMSI), a Christian think and act tank which focus on six issues of national priority for development.

OHMSI defines integrity as the presence or absence between one’s espoused theory and theory-in-use. These can occur at either individual level, through personal actors or at the corporate or group levels when there are public agents or actors.

The degree of variance in the overlap or lack thereof can be called the lack or presence of integrity.

Therefore, allow me to apply this theory of integrity, which I have variously called many different names, but most popularly as Theory R to my burdened concern about the Malaysian police force and their lack of integrity last Saturday; both at personal and public levels.

When in uniform, no individual has the privilege of using the excuse “that is my personal action and has little or nothing to do with the police force”. Therefore, every action of any man in blue is the action of the police force.

Remember the Rupert Murdoch Principle from the British Parliament. Therefore, in any large and pyramidal system the buck of responsibility and accountability finally stops at the highest level.

All organisations are public in that sense; even so-called private ones as we just found out about the Rupert Murdoch Empire.

Therefore and thereby, we always taught at Intan that final and ultimate responsibility (and therefore accountability) always stops at the chief executive and the board of directors who jointly are held accountable for the good governance of the organisation to fulfil the stated and published responsibilities.

All this is today documented with the Securities Commission and their rules and regulations. The failure in all cases is with execution because of poor and incompetent people being placed in responsibilities far above their capabilities.

Therefore, I have some questions for the IGP which I would like the Bar Council EGM to also review and comment upon, so that we will never again see a repeat of “gangs of thugs in blue uniform abuse their authority and power of law, by personal conduct that cannot be defensible in any court of law”.

How were the laws breached?   

My questions for the IGP are:

• Under what conditions can we say that there was a breach of the law? Peaceful assembly was allowed by none other than the minister. As far as I know, there is only a breach if some physically ran into the Dataran Merdeka, which never happened.

• Why then were there so many men in blue acting like the vagabond dogs pushing, kicking and physically hurting civilians, who had not committed any known crime, legally speaking?

•  Why was a traffic police officer pulling out his gun and threatening the public?

• Why were there so many police personnel in blue uniform without name-tags and regimental numbers? Were they even part and parcel of the Royal Malaysian Police? Were they gazetted officers and sworn to uphold the King’s police rules of conduct?

• Who made their appointment, and who are they ultimately responsible to in this country if not the Agong?

You see Mr IGP, you are appointed by the King and not the prime minister or the minister of home affairs.

They only recommend your name and it is the Agong, and he may consult his brother Rulers, if he so decides and he may consult anyone else if he so chooses, before he makes known his judgement through his office of appointment.

Once he chooses, then you are appointed by him and responsible to no one else. I am sure you know that. And by the way, only the Agong can also tell you to resign; no one else can, not even the minister of home affairs.

In fact, if anyone gives you wrong instructions or unclear ones, you can instead complain to the Agong and he can instruct the PM to require the home affairs minister to resign.

If you do not know all these principles about good governance of our country, then I really believe that you are not fit to remain as the Inspector General of Police. May God bless Malaysia with truth of this matter.

---

KJ JOHN was in public service for 29 years. The views expressed here are his personal views and not those of any institution he is involved with. Write to him at kjjohn@ohmsi.net with any feedback or views.

Tear gas used not harmful to humans, says weapons dept

The Star 

PETALING JAYA: The police have defended their use of tear gas during the Bersih 3.0 rally, saying it was not harmful to humans.

The force's Logistics Department (Weaponry) assistant chief director ACP Syed Mustafa Raja Syed Nordin, in a five-minute-video clip posted on the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) Facebook page yesterday, said the gas used to disperse protesters was “safe” and “complied with international standards”.

In the video, ACP Syed Mustafa showed four different irritants used during the April 28 rally tear gas grenades, tear gas canisters, liquid eye irritants and pepper spray.

“All these are imported from the United States, Canada and Switzerland.

“Each complies with international standards set by the United Nations,” said Syed Mustafa.

“These items contain CS Gas', which the UN has approved as a riot control agent.

“Many countries generally endorse this gas as non-lethal,” he explained.

He also said the Federal Reserve Unit was frequently exposed to CG Gas during training and that so far, none of its personnel had been injured.

“The CS gas is also not banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention 1993.

“Malaysia is one of the countries that has ratified this convention.

“I would like to stress that if PDRM had used forbidden items, the import of these items into our country would not have been allowed,” he added.

Three Financial Bills Passed In Senate

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- The Senate Tuesday passed the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012, Financial Reporting (Amendment) Bill 2012 and Labuan Companies (Amendment) Bill 2012.

The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 seeks to allow taxpayers to claim for deductions for donations for religious purposes.

The Bill, also allow a taxpayer to claim for deductions for contributions to the construction, improvement or maintenance of a public building for religious purposes.

The Financial Reporting (Amendment) Bill 2012, which seeks to enable the Financial Reporting Foundation to oversee the functions of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board, was also passed.

The Bill, which was tabled by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, seeks to make the foundation more inclusive and reflective of the developments of Malaysia's financial reporting system.

The amendment also seeks to allow the Securities Commission and Bank Negara to modify accounting standards to ensure financial stability.

Awang Adek said the amendment of the Labuan Companies (Amendment) Bill 2012 would become a catalyst for foreign investment in Labuan.

RPK, you are still a LIAR and a COWARD! No wonder, Umno took you in!

I have stopped reading m2day for a few years now, especially after I faced-off with the fugitive blogger-owner living the high life in London; but sometimes secondary or third parties would bring Desi's attention to his current articles/fiction where he had mentioned Desi-Y:L Chong as part of a PKR complot against him.
Yesterday a close BUMmer kaki told me that the devil-in-disguise has again cited my name, alongside Malaysia Chronicle and its founder-editor Ms Wong Choon Mei. More seriously RPK continued with a sin in Islam greater than murder -- committing SLANDER (Membuat Fitnah) and character-assasination against an MP YB Tian Chua of Batu.
Let me go on record that I was a card-carrying member in PKR from January 2005; had also been a member in DAP the previous decades.
I DON'T OFFER any apologies for facing-off with the privileged blogger hydeing up in luxury living when I beg to differ with him strongly ON THE ISSUES, but now since he has been a BANKRUPT, he cares two hoots about DEFAMING PKR leaders with whom he once marched alongside to topple the evil BN-UMNO regime.
YES, we have been told for several years by RPK's statutory declaration that his well-informed sources claimed that ROSMAH MANSOR was at the scene of where Mongolian beauty-translator Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered. Conveniently, years later, RPK spun a story ala-Arabian Nights that is to the effect:  "No, it is not possible for a woman to go into the jungle in the middle of the night!"
Then the famous/notorious RPK gave a new meaning to the word GO-STAN by appearing on TV3 on the one hand saying he's still fighting for Change and a Better Malaysia, yet he constantly and viciously attacks Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim just before the Sarawak State Electons, and again on various mainstream media on New Year's Day 2012, focusing on all the weaknesses of Anwar again and PKR in general. 
Do you think I was surprised? Well, read my article which led to his (RPK's) Declaration of War, and my calling him "a Liar and a Coward", the latter piece which drew no reaction at all from the "great RPK", a term coined aptly by MChronicle!
Also as to why the sudden RPK attack seems to be he was found out in this story  RPK, admit it: You're lying through your teeth to help Nong Chik beat Nurul in GE-13.
I would only reprise TWO OF MY POSTS later which are relevant to preliminary rebutting RPK's latest writing titledEpisode 30: A declaration of war,which I won't dignity with full reproduction, but if you think it worthw'ile, go to this LINK:
http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/49169-episode-30-a-declaration-of-war
Let me first reproduce the THREE (3) "segments" in RPK's piece which I would comment on:
(1) So, Malaysia Chronicle a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua, do we continue? What more shall we talk about? Shall we talk about how Desi YL Chong was rejected by Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today before he joined Malaysia Chronicle to become a member of Tian Chua’s team? Shall we talk about how Wong Choon Mei was sacked from Malaysiakini for misconduct before she joined Malaysia Chronicle to become a member of Tian Chua’s team?
(2) Malaysia Chronicle, a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua, is basically Desi YL Chong, Wong Choon Mei and Tian Chua. This is the Chinese mafia in PKR that I talked about in an earlier article. Even DAP does not like this Chinese gang and many a conflict between DAP and PKR since 1999 was because of this PKR Chinese mafia. In fact, the DAP people just hate the PKR Chinese mafia and would rather negotiate with the Malays in PKR than with this Chinese gang.
and
(3) Shall we talk about the people Tian Chua sent to Korea for training on how to organise demonstrations so that the Bersih rallies can be turned into violent demonstrations like in Korea?

My rebuttals to the three points follow, --only where as far as YL Chong, the journalist in me, and as Desiderata, the BUMmer in me, normally signed off as "knottyaSsusual:) is concerned -- and my assessment of what FICTION RPK is continuing to churn out copiously after he was "turned over", -- for how much USD, pound sterling or RM (also short for Rosmah, what a coincidence in Malaysian history eh!):
* (1) Firstly, let me reiterate that I have been a freelance journalist-blogger for the past ten years; yes, I have been an Editorial Consultant prior to that period at Malaysiakini.com as its first News Editor. Yes, I served as Consultant Editor in the first five months at freemalaysiatoady.com from its gestation period into first three months.
But I also had served at two other online sites, for more than a year each at klsetracker.com and as inaugural news editor at cpiasia.net, for which I had given my best and I leave it to my peers who served with me to judge my record, NOT OUTSIDERS LIKE RPK AND HIS HARDCORE FANS (naming a few, Harris Ibrahim, Zorro, whisperer....I will add on more later, so Pateince OK!:)WHO RESORT OFTEN TO FOUR-LETTER RPK's  ROYAL&HALFBREEDLOUDMOUTH VOCAB LEARNT IN THE U.K. PUBS and OTHER DARK HOUSES OF PLEASURE TO CURSE AND SWEAR when they can't win a debate via reason and rational discourse.
** (2) I had also told off RPK that I am neither a shareholder or staff at Malaysia Chronicle, and the editor herself had put the record straight which RPK himself picked up for publication at m2day. However, may I just add YES, I AM A PROUD CONTRIBUTOR as a freeance journalist to MChronicle, SO WHAT? Digressing a bit/byte -- which is a Blogger's privilege to abuse, so why don't you get on board? --I  think Malaysia is STILL A FREE WORLD IN CYBER-SPACE, thanks to ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's MSC and its Bill of Guarantee ensuring NO CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET and that bungkling olde fool of Minister of Information and Communications and Culture who tries very hard to breach to please his UMNO he's beholden to and that Omnipotent Master-you-know-who!
"Me a Chinese mafia member, along with Choon Mei and Tian Chua, Yang Mulia RPK?" - RPK, thou giveth Desi too much credit, but I don't get that sort of credit you get as a turn-around sexpert. YES, you read right! -- "Sexpert" because this coward of a fugitive thrives on making innuendoes on his opponents' sex adventures with no solid foundation -- ala Datuk T trio remember? Mr millionaire-bankrupt RPK, how about providing us with current PM's sexploit with a singer-beauty in Port DICKson one fine night not so long ago you cunt remember! Okay, go aRsEk another pendek ex-MB ISA SAMAD, now chairman of Felda despite being found guilty of MONEY POLITICS IN UMNO PARTY ERECTIONS.. Oooops, elections!
*** (3) ") Shall we talk about the people Tian Chua sent to Korea for training on how to organise demonstrations..." -- Hey, royal Blogger, thou giveth too much credit to the Batu MP-lah! He himself got that sort of money and expertise like your UMNO friends/sponsors? Either you are high on drugs, or rubbing too often that pair of Dada on a "Cina Pendek" night&day and day&night to continue spinning Arabian 1,0001 Nights tales; but this is not the era of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.(Digressing&Confession: I was "reluctant" to take a dig at that moniker reference on poor Marina Lee Abdullah who now pays for the SINS OF HER HUSBAND, what I'm doing is following the axiom WHAT IS GOOD FODDER FOR THE GOOSE, IS BADDER FOR THE GANDER, for recently RPK called Desi a "China Pendek"!)
Malaysia Today is in the ERA OF THE INTERNET AND NOW MODERN ALI  DADA like you, RPK -- and the whole bunch of 21st century daylight robbers -- won't be able to hide the ill-gotten billions they robbed from the PUBLIC COFFERS now stashed away in Swiss banks. Your fugitive days are numbered as Pakatan Rakyat supported by the Rakyat-ala-Bersih3.0 march in unison to take over Putrajaya cometh GE-13.
"THE DAY OF RECKONING IS NIGH! MAY GOD BLESS US ALL GOD-FEARING MALAYSIANS. Amen." ~~ YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual
*PS: My current comments end here -- Bear with me while I later Cut&Paste the two olde posts, with -- TYPOS, WARTS&AWE! hEY, i DON'T HAVE A SEXCRETARY.NYET! i DON'T GET PAYMENTS IN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS THAT SOME ROYAL HALF-PAST-SEX FUGITIVE GETS! --  relevant to the current situation, YL
REPRISED1:
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010

With friends like RPK, Haris Ibrahim, PKR doesn't need enemies....

The Rakyat/electorate must stay focused and united in rejecting a third, or fourth or fifth force; by contesting, they will only become "spoilers", siphoning off votes from the PR, hence benefiting the BN. Foremost on our mind must be to question where these sudden new forces get their monies from? Whose agenda are they really fighting for?
YL Chong, Malaysia Chronicle
I recently wrote an article thinking aloud why Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) the blogger now-in-exile in Britain has been writing some articles highly critical of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, especially regarding its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but I tempered my concern with giving benefit of the doubt to the blogger now resident abroad that he might have been misinformed or disinformed by his cronies back home including civil rights lawyer-cum-blogger Haris Ibrahim.
My main criticism was that RPK had always written promoting Reformasi from 1998, marked by his outstanding role of director of FreeAnwarCampaign (FAC), and generally working in concert with opposition parties and non-governmental organisations(NGOs) towards change in government at the federal level. But recent writings had given rise to concern he was giving lots of ammunition to the ruling BN regime, especialy UMNO, to attack the Pakatan Rakyat. And today's New Sunday Times proves again my point -- its page 9 report shows that following the departure of former PKR deputy presidential candidate Zaid Ibrahim, RPK has become the "flavour of the month" of the MSM.
In fact, most Malaysians long to see the birth of a two-party/coalition system in this country -- surely a central message sent by the March 8, 2008 General Elections (GE12)? My contention is that PR consisting of PKR, DAP and PAS, now form the only viable alternative coalition able to topple the BN government in Putrajaya, and hence must be given a chance to prove themselves. I add that any third force, however well-intentioned, would only become a new impediment to PR's march on Putrajaya.
I have mentioned Haris in tandem with RPK because their efforts in moving civil society often are inter-connected in timing, and objectives, but whether by design or in revision of stands, the duo are caught flat footed in their contradictions when promoting their preferred candidate to take over PKR Zaid Ibrahim, and curently The Third Force in Malaysian politics.
I clearly recall that RPK, in elaborating on the third force, had stressed that it's NEVER meant to field any canidates in the forthcoming general elections, especially the GE13. Using the public-listed companies as an analogy, he said the third force would act like an auditor, to check the listed company's accounts and watch out for discrepancies, or waywardness by its directors and management chiefs. One point I would ask: The listed companies always appoint their own auditors who are qualified for this role, but whose mandate are this third force using to self-appoint themselves as auditors to the three components of the PR?
In fact, in my earlier article I had quoted Haris as saying the third force -- now birthing as Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) in London -- had identified some 30 men/women of integrity to stand as candidates in GE13, and some 20 had agreed to stand, and they would want DAP and PKR to allow these candiadtes to stand under their party banner, according to a Star report dated Nov 17, 2010. I had questioned why would these well established parties with their own selection criteria privatise such an important role to outside parties. This stance was also restated by leaders like PKR strategy director Tian Chua besides Dr Syed Husin.
This Third Force is neither third nor force, according to just retired PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali. In fact he sarcastically shared at a mew conference in conjunction with recent party Congress a "revealing" episode, relating that preceding the March 2008 elections, a representation was made to him to allow a Third Force candidate to stand under PKR banner. Syed Husin knew of this "guy" candidate quite well, so he told off the backers that they should have done a thorough background check and would have found that their nominee was a regular pub-goer who often ended up drunk.
Let me now reproduce the NST report dated December 12, 2010 in full, and I reiterate that the headline itself again proved my point that RPK is providing grist to the MSM to attack PKR and PR frontally, with banner headlines likely to be used by the UMNO campaigners cometh GE13.



'Some PR reps not fit to walk a dog'

2010/12/12



KUALA LUMPUR: Raja Petra Kamaruddin has reiterated his disappointment at what he views as the lack of commitment to reforms by Pakatan Rakyat.



After virtually reprimanding his most recognisable political ally Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a London political forum on Oct 2 for not honouring campaign promises, the fugitive blogger wrote in his latest blog posting: "But what is Pakatan Rakyat's excuse? Pakatan Rakyat talks about reforms. But what reforms are they themselves introducing?



"They demand that Barisan Nasional reform. Should not Pakatan Rakyat demonstrate what it means by reforms by first of all reforming itself?



"In a nutshell, this is what I mean when I say that the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) seeks to reform the political environment of Malaysia. Note that our target to push for reforms is not just Barisan Nasional but also Pakatan Rakyat.



"And I will continuously write about how things are done elsewhere and ask why we can't also do the same in Malaysia.

"And I will not accept the argument that we can't also do that because our skin is black, brown, cocoa or yellow and not white.

"It is not the external colour of our skin that determines advancement. It is our brain and how we utilise it that will."

At the Oct 2 Friends of Pakatan Rakyat Forum in London with Anwar, and now Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president Tian Chua, Raja Petra launched an attack on Pakatan's failure to implement "not a single one of the reform agenda contained in the People's Declaration".

He said this was an improved version of the Agenda of Change authored by Anwar in 1998.

According to Raja Petra, the People's Declaration was drawn up by what he termed as the civil society movement and was adopted by Pakatan parties as their manifesto for the March 2008 general election.

Three other non-Pakatan parties, too, embraced the People's Declaration, Raja Petra said.

He argued that the move and the spirited efforts of activists and bloggers like him had helped Pakatan gain seats. And now some 21/2 years after the election, not a single one of the reforms had been implemented.

As seen from the video recording of the event, Anwar had smiled approvingly when Raja Petra started addressing the forum but no longer smiled as the speech wore on.

Raja Petra offered not himself, but credible personalities from the civil society movement to be fielded as Pakatan candidates in the next general election.

As for some of the candidates fielded by Pakatan in 2008, Raja Petra, quoting his wife had said, "some of them, I can't even trust to walk my dog".

Raja Petra described them as an embarrassment.

(NST report ends here)



RPK asked in a reaction article to my piece titled "Why RPK is acting out (of character)" asked "Have I really changed?", and in a partial reply, I just said we all as individuals "grow up" with passing years, and that only the person himself or herself (including this writer!) would be able to answer truthfully if he/she has changed characterwise or with respect to the causes he/she once championed. But today, a month later, I conclude that RPK, your struggle has indeed changed direction, and you are treating PKR, and Anwar, as the enemy bigger than BN-UMNO. WHY?



So today when I opened up the New Straits Times, I wasn't surprised by the page 9 lead item headline; totally in character with his previous Oct 13's header: "Umno is Beginning to Look Better Than PKR"



So Pakatan Rakyat be forewarned that you would have to "review" your election strategies with the probable entry of MCLM or Third Force candidates, however you call them, now or revised because the promoters don't seem to know their directions and mandate. Maybe they will be strengthened by their well-linked ally Zaid Ibrahim -- in the next general elections?



The Rakyat/electorate must stay focused and united in rejecting a third, or fourth or fifth force; by contesting, they will only become "spoilers", siphoning off votes from the PR, hence benefiting the BN. Foremost on our mind must be to question where these sudden new forces get their monies from? Whose agenda are they really fighting for?

REPRISE2:
Monday, January 31, 2011

YL Chong says: 'RPK, You are a liar and a coward'

To put into CONTEXT the subject at hand, I recap, from my own "relevant" posts here (including TYPOS and all) as follows, with only the relevant extracts I wish to focus on:
(Post 1)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
FOR THE RECORD wrt to RPK's highly inaccurate acusations of Desi
I had sent off an email just past midnight to raja petra kamarudin and/or web admin of malaysia-today.net to straighten out "totally false and inaccurate" points about my role by RPK in his latest column. I don't look for fights with anyone -- I believe in civil engagement with fellow writers and readers/commenters whether here or at certain, very selective websites I read.
Following is the official email I sent FOR THE RECORD:
Below is what YL Chong wrote about me. It appears like he is going out of his way to try to bring me down for whatever reason only he knows. I don’t know what I did to him to make him so full of vile. Anyway, if it is a fight he wants then it is a fight he is going to get.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Maybe YL Chong has forgotten that when he got his hands on those Official Secrets Act documents from the MACC regarding the investigation of Khir Toyo and other matters his portal, Malaysia Chronicle, was too scared to run the story.

Chong then contacted me and I agreed for Malaysia Today to run it while assuring him I would protect the source of the documents -- which was Malaysia Chronicle and himself.

Anyhow, now he and Malaysia Chronicle have declared war on me and have decided to fight dirty and take no prisoners. In that case, since they have decided on the rules of engagement, I am only too happy to take them on...
I'm reprising only the above paragraphs, and if I need to comment further on other parts of your post, I reserve the right to, and I will keep malaysia-today.net posted CC malaysia chroniclesince you have made allegations that I had acted on behalf of malaysia chronicle.
My reply FOR THE RECORD:
WRT: "Maybe YL Chong has forgotten that when he got his hands on those Official Secrets Act documents from the MACC regarding the investigation of Khir Toyo and other matters his portal, Malaysia Chronicle, was too scared to run the story."
How can I forget something that I never did with respect to your reported OSA incident?
WRT: "Chong then contacted me and I agreed for Malaysia Today to run it while assuring him I would protect the source of the documents -- which was Malaysia Chronicle and himself."
WHEN HAD I EVER CONTACTED YOU regarding following up on "documents" -- I had never received any documents I had to refer to you RPK!
WRT: "Anyhow, now he and Malaysia Chronicle have declared war on me and have decided to fight dirty and take no prisoners. .."
I thought we bloggers read each other's writings and have the right to exchange views based on the principle of "Let's be agreeable in our disagreement."
Signing off: YL Chong, Desi
(Post 2)
Monday, January 03, 2011FOR THE RECORD 2: I have just sent RPK an email demanding a retraction of an offending article he published ...
PLUS A PUBLIC APOLOGY WITHIN THE NEXT TWO DAYS.
Dear Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), and webadmin of malaysia-today.net:
I further refer to your posting of my response to RPK's FALSE ALLEGATIONS against me (relating my personal role and also my role on behalf of malaysia-chronicle.com...), the article of which was subsequently also published by the New Straits Times (NST).
I waited a few days to see if you would retract these false allegations against me and to tender a PUBLIC APOLOGY to me, but thus far,I did not sight any.
From now about 2.40PM Monday January 3, 2011, I am giving you notice to RETRACT THE SAID OFFENDNG ARTICLE and TENDER A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO ME, in both your web portal, as well as in the NST, WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
Your failure to abide by my request may see legal action being taken against you -- and/or other parties lending weight to spreading such allegations flowing from your offending article against me.
YL Chong, Desi
posted by desiderata
MY CURRENT VIEWS FOLLOW NOW:
My dear readers, NOTE THAT THE HIGHLIGHTED PORTIONS ARE MY REBUTTALS TO RPK'S FALSE ALLEGATIONS WHICH HE HAD TODATE NEVER RESPONDED TO!
After a few days of waiting for a response from RPK, and there was none that I know of, I posted up the DEMAND for a RETRACTION of said allegations against me by RPK accompanied by a PUBLIC APOLOGY from him in my post dated January 3, 2011.
I am hence calling Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) a "liar" because of the "false allegations" he made against me which I rebutted as HIGHLIGHTED above in my blogpost dated December 30, 2010 and his failure to provide evidence to his allegations means these allegations had been deliberately "manufactured" by RPK, and I believe, for sinister reasons, including getting me into trouble with the government authorities.
He's a "coward" for not being brave enough to admit "wrong" to making "false allegations" against a fellow Blogger who once held him in high esteem from his days as Director of "FreeAnwarCampaign"(FAC) going back more than a decade.Just by the way mention, in the early days of Reformasi, starting early Jan 2000, I was then News Editor at malaysiakini.com for a year, and hence followed writings at FAC regularly. (This esteem of RPK as an iconic blogger began to wane from mid-2010 after I noticed a "change of character" in him,highlighted in my article published by "Malaysia Chronicle" titled "Why is RPK acting so out of character?" dated October 14, 2010, also reprised at my blog on the same day.)
Back to the current issue: since the deadline for RPK to withdraw his false allegatons and tender a public apology has long passed, today I place on record that my opinion of him is that he has lost all credibility as a blogger, once hailed by many as a key fighter for a Better Malaysia.
I would like to now refresh RPK's mind that the last time I interacted with him was in Seremban at a candle-light vigil held to protest against the Internal Security Act at Dataran Seremban (which I am proud to state for the record I helped to co-organise for three consecutive Saturday evenings...) as recorded in my post Saturday, November 08, 2008 titled: "JUBILATION at Seremban Vigil Last Night!"
Soon after, RPK self-exiled himself to the United Kingdom --enjoying the benefits of a writer living the high life, on donations from diehard fans? -- writing with lots of consistencies and contradictions (as contrasted with RPK's lieutenant in Malaysia, Haris Ibrahim's, at People's Parliament, on the MCLM for instance...) and in the past year, many readers including my own reading, RPK's no more championing the cause of a change in government at Putrajaya which he advocated for a long time, evidenced by his constant attacks on Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) the better part of 2010! Yes, now I deem him a coward for running away from NegaraKu -- for a real Malaysian fighter would return to the homeland to carry on the fight for a BetterMalaysia, not "and like many other Malaysians including an MCA Minister holding Australian PR, playing safe by having one foot here and another foot there!" I don't know IF a Chines saying is apt here: Having one leg in two boats?
So RPK's allegations against me could not hold water as the "alleged actions" by me were supposedly very recent i.e. in the course of last year (2010) and were in association with malaysia-chronicle.com which was only started by its founder-editor, Ms Wong Choon Mei, on June 1, 2010. And I was not, am not, a shareholder or staff at the online web portal.
What worries YL Chong more is also what some readers have commented about, is that malaysia-today.net editor had breached the ethics of secrecy by "exposing" whistle-blowers' identities, like mine just because we differed on several current issues. Worse yet, how can anyone trust RPK anymore when he's capable of cooking stories up and he had indeed threatened to do so to those who had passed on "classified government documents" to him in good faith but now stand the risk of being exposed just because of differences of opinion on issues that cropped up later. (In my case, the sin of RPK is compounded because the allegations against me were unfounded and false, and yet he "threatened" my safety with his unfounded allegations. I believe that bearing false witness against a fellowman is a "great sin" for Muslims, and I trust Raja Petra remains a follower of the Islamic faith, yes?)
Last, but not least, I was heartened to read from an anonymous reader at malaysia-chronicle.com who posted a comment on my "Demand for retraction of allegations and tender an apology from RPK", as many of his sentiments struck a chord with me, a freelance writer who has been a member of PKR since January 2005, and my writings are focused on committing my fight for the birth of a two party/coalition system. I will continue my quest to ensure Pakatan Rakyat's efforts to replace the 54-year-old Barisan Nasional government, undeterred by RPK's false stories about me.
I close by reproducing the said Commenter's views in full:
* Comment Link AN Monday, 03 January 2011 19:38 posted by AN
RPK is a ruthless liar. Many time what he wrote is absolutely rubbish lies. At one time he wrote about this Sarawakian Yb for Ngemah who got many wives and that he is running out of money so he jump back to BN. This are all lies as I'm a personal friend of the YB's family.

RPK, with the setting up of this MCLM shows he is a opportunist. He desperate wants attention after making the wrong move of going into exile to run away from all the false allegations he made against some top umnp guys.

RPK was at his best when he went to ISA and everyone treat him as their idol. But not now as he have shown his true colors by taking on PR to show that he is the kingmaker.He can't be what he think he want to be. He is just like you and me except that he have a Petra in his name.

RPK must not try to be the people's leader. We have Anwar and he is the true champion for all the people of malaysia. If RPK wants to steal that title with the help of Zaid, Jeffery or anyone else then he is absolute wrong. He will only earn the hatred of the people in Malaysia.

RPK must repent and come back to show he can contribute to the change of gov't and to make the road to Putrajaya smoother, not rougher.
RPK 's MT was a MUST read blog in those days when he was hot after the Altantuya's murder. All malaysian follow his posting 7/24.He make us all cry when he posted Anwar's daughter speech at UN, makes us all us when he posted 'Dear Pete', makes us all hate umno when he posted all the corruption in umno,particularly Khir Toyo broad daylight robbery of Selangor coffer.He was indeed my icon if not yours. But today I seldom visited his blog and to be honest I don't care much whether he survive or not.I have practically lost all interest in this man . I hope he just fade into sunset.

When he was in Kamunting I also help to keep his blog alive and entertaning by writing hilarious posting about Altantuya's murderer. I was so glue to MT that I could have die for MT.Even after the police raided my house and took away all my computers, I still adored RPK. I even took a doctored photo from Zorro's blog showing RPK been handcuffed and escorted by former IGP Musa Hassan, Najib and Badawi.That photo was placed right infront of my computer to act as a rallying point for me to blast umno/BN. The police took that best doctored photo away but I made another one.

But after the RPK fire die down, I'm back to earth and seeing my former idol belittling PR and using MCLM to open up another front, I lost all hopes in this man,RPK.

This will be my last criticism of RPK and I shall kept my hate in my heart and my mouth shut."
DESIDERATA: I updated the post with some slight amendments @9.39AM 31 Jan 2011
Malaysia Chronicle