Berakhirnya sebuah teka teki....

Menjelang pengumuman penting Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi esok nampaknya teka teki bagaikan sudah berakhir.Semua indikasi sejak mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi UMNO pada pagi 26 September memutuskan hendak menangguh pemilihan parti ke bulan Mac tahun depan jelas menunjukkan Perdana Menteri tidak akan mempertahankan jawatannya sebagai Presiden UMNO.Cuma apa yang semua orang nantikan sekarang ialah kenyataan rasmi Abdullah yang dijangka akan dibuat selepas beliau mengadakan pertemuan dengan para pemimpin parti komponen Barisan Nasional jam 3.30 petang esok.Ia dikatakan platform yang paling sesuai bagi Perdana Menteri melabuhkan tirai itu.Walaupun kedengaran desas desus mengenai gerak politik belakang tabir untuk meminta Abdullah tetap mempertahankan jawatannya namun Agendadaily difahamkan beliau sudah set dengan keputusannya. KLIK PADA TAJUK UNTUK LAPORAN LANJUT.-7/10/2008 --------------------- Jawatan Ketua di 94 Bahagian UMNO jadi rebutan Biarpun Perhimpunan Agung Umno ditunda dari Disember ini ke Mac tahun depan, bahangnya tetap terasa menjelang persidangan perwakilan bahagian yang bermula Khamis ini, lebih-lebih lagi kerana urusan pemilihan menjadi agenda utamanya. Perkembangan ini bukan sahaja menarik minat 3.3 juta anggota Umno, malah dalam tempoh sebulan yang ditetapkan bagi bahagian mengadakan mesyuarat masing-masing, rakyat keseluruhan akan turut mengikuti pertandingan jawatan ketua di 94 bahagian daripada keseluruhan 191 bahaguan Umno di seluruh negara. KLIK PADA LINK INI UNTUK LAPORAN LANJUT - 7/10/2008 -------------------------- Timbalan Presiden UMNO: Angin sedang bertiup ke mana? Makin hari makin banyak perkembangan menarik timbul diketika semua orang sedang menanti pengumuman rasmi Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengenai kedudukan beliau sebagai Presiden UMNO sebelum 191 UMNO Bahagian di seluruh negara mula bersidang selama sebulan hujung minggu ini.Paling mengejutkan tentulah kenyataan Ketua UMNO Bahagian Pulai, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed Ahad menawarkan diri untuk jawatan Timbalan Presiden UMNO.Soalan yang terus berlegar apakah anak kepada bekas Setiausaha Agung UMNO Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat ini yang berusia 42 tahun ini benar benar serius atau ia sekadar satu kenyataan simbolik untuk gambarkan hasratnya tentang perlunya parti itu meremajakan dirinya selari dengan tuntutan politik semasa. KLIK PADA LINK INI UNTUK LAPORAN LANJUT.-6/10/2008

Allow me to hypothesize with you this week.

Let us, for arguments sake, say that those detained under the ISA are treated in a manner that leaves much to be desired. Assume that they are subjected to tactics of intimidation and coercion, either through interrogation or carrot-and-stick strategies that leave them mentally traumatized. At the whim of those who are in charge of them, they could be kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods, denied visitation rights, be given food that could not in any way (and I do not mean any disrespect to the egg or those who eat it) be described as wholesome or nutritious or given amounts so meager that health and strength are affected. As a consequence, those detained are suffering.

Would that be torture? For those of you who say ‘no’, would it instead amount to cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment? For those of you who still say ‘no’, what if I were to add that those detained have not been found guilty of any crime and, in fact, those who have been and are serving prison terms, are treated better? Would it make a difference?

A theorist would have answered that the treatment described would by any standard have amounted to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. This would have been reinforced by his (or her) belief that the detention was unlawful for having been occasioned without due process.

I share that view; in the presence of such factors it could be reasonably concluded that detainees are being subjected to some form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, if not outright torture. My view, like that of the theorist, would be supported by a number of international human rights instruments including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These instruments and commentary collectively say that subjecting a detainee to intense mental stress, through sleep deprivation or prolonged solitary confinement or food that was inedible or lacking in nutritional value, is arguably torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

On the other hand, a Malaysian diplomat or administrator, the hypothetical Government Man, would in all probability answer that there is no question of the treatment being torture or anything else offensive. How could it be, he would ask, when there is no law in this country that says these things amount to torture? After all, he might add with a conspiratorial wink, the Federal Constitution does not say that these things could not be done, just as it does not mention democracy.

Trying to argue the point further, one might point to the fact that Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. In this capacity, Malaysia sits at the core of the international human rights system. Surely, by virtue of its appointment as such, Malaysia is morally bound to live up to the expectations of the international community?

The government representative might give this some thought, or pretend to, and then, with a sigh of regret, say that Malaysia has not ratified any of the international treaties that proscribe torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. And, he might laughingly add that if one wanted to consider international expectations, why not take into account the kind of things that the United States has done in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib?

Saving the best for last, one could then point to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which also prohibits this kind of treatment. Malaysia has adopted and re-adopted the UDHR in one form or the other so many times over the years that it must have a bearing.

Shrugging, he would say somewhat condescendingly that the declaration is just that, a declaration. It has no binding effect. For that, one needs to ratify a treaty and, as has been explained, Malaysia has not ratified any such treaty. That the role of the UDHR has evolved over time and that in having become a cornerstone of the human rights system, it has gone far beyond being merely a statement of aspirations would not appear to strike the Government Man as a factor worth troubling over.

Much has been said about Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib. Questions have been asked as to how the United States, a party to the CCPR and the Torture Convention, could have allowed for this. Some with influence have argued that the treaties only apply to the “territory” of the States. Such sophistry is a hallmark of the political underpinnings of the human rights system, a tried and tested way for states to avoid playing by the universal rules.

Malaysia is no exception. When inconvenient, it has rejected the United Nations processes, in particular its human rights system. Over the years, we have heard of how we have distinct values of our own because we are Asian or that as a Muslim country, the governing paradigm is the syariah, in response to queries as to why international norms are not being met. These responses have bordered on the ridiculous; these alternative value systems do not lend themselves to cruelty and injustice any more than any other system does.

The refusal by the Government of Malaysia to ratify any of the major human rights treaties, in particular the Torture Convention and the CCPR, cannot be justified. The only inference that can be drawn is that the Government of Malaysia does not want to be constrained by these instruments.

We do not need the Government Man to tell us why.

(Malik Imtiaz Sarwar is counsel to Raja Petra Kamarudin who was detained under the Internal Security Act on 12th September 2008. He is the President of the National Human Rights Society and blogs as ‘Disquiet’ at www.malikimtiaz.blogspot.com)

Altantuya’s father wants justice for RPK

Altantuya Shariibuu’s dad, Stev, has emailed me his statement (through his lawyer in Mongolia) regarding RPK’s trial and detention under the ISA. The image above is his own handwriting. The translation copy I receive in his mail says:

I understand, Mr. Raja Petra has good personal character and has a good reputation and runs humanitarian activity.

I understand that the below issues were directly connected with murder case of my daughter:

- Who did arrange visa issue for my daughter while she visited in French?
- Who was attending in the trip to French and what did they do?

If it could make clear those issues, they would understand every thing. Why is there so much force and influence in the case? Because there was a serious issue. Thus they destroyed my daughter.

Unfortunately, they pressed down Mr.Raja Petra’s statement. I think this issue needs to get attention from international human right organizations.

He (RPK) shouldn’t be a victim of politic for justice. It would be justice if they release Mr.Raja Petra.

As we are, all Mongolian worry for him and his justice, we lack of information on truth and situation.

Signed:

Mongolian citizen:Shaariibuu Setev
06.Oct.2008

I am also sending this information to my friends in the media and bloggers. Hope this letter can be distributed for RPK’s sake.

Susan Loone’s blog carries a message that was emailed to her by Altantuya’s father, Shariibuu Setev.

Bangsa Malaysia observing RPK trial

Rakyat@Work shares with us his experience at the RPK trial today. It was the people who were there who caught his attention:

Day Two: arrived at about noon; court hearing began at 12.30pm till 1.30pm; already drizzling then. Met two interesting true supporters.

A man told me he left home very early to ensure he gets a seat for he is committed to follow through the entire case.

Very early means reaching the court house before 8am? I simply asked him about the jam.

He replied, not really a problem ‘cos he came by bus.

Bus? Where from?

From Seremban! And this is his secound day here.

That blew me away. Wow.

Then another chap joined us and told us there was another fellow yesterday who came from Malacca!

Man, thats what I call Yes! Action Supporter!

Here’s the deal, people: Another lawyer (who took leave) amongst us is such a darling. He will drop by to ensure seats in court are never empty. Should there be people who need it, he’ll gladly give up his seat and come back later just in case there are not enough supporters! Can you beat that? I tell you people. We never know what kindness is all about. I’m humbled by this experience.

This case may take us right through Thursday or even Friday. I urge all of you - just take two hours off, come and lend your support. We take turns to make sure RPK is never short of friends ‘when in need’.

This is truly One Bangsa thing. No worries about T-shirts. You’ll find one once you’re there. History in the making. Be part of it for RPK, family and your next generation’s sake.- Anilnetto.com

VIDEO: Prosecution’s bid to transfer case is “baffling”: Anwar

Emerging Trend in Trafficking Tribal Women

By Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (IPS) - An emerging trend in the trafficking of tribal people, mostly young girls, is raising concern among government officials, rights organisations, migration experts and human rights lawyers.

Increasingly, tribal girls in the region are duped and trafficked from their villages to regional capitals like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to work in brothels and massage parlours that attract well-heeled locals as well as tourists.

‘’The trafficking of tribal people is on the rise across the South-east Asian region,’’said Irene Fernandez, executive director of Tenaganita, a leading Malaysian NGO that tracks trafficking of women to Malaysia from across the Asia Pacific region.

‘’It is a most heinous crime because tribal girls are duped into believing they are getting high-paid office and home jobs, but are forced into prostitution,’’ she told IPS.

Not only are tribal people from the region trafficked to Malaysia, the country’s own Penan, from the interiors of Sarawak state, and the Orang Asli tribal groups in peninsular Malaysia are trafficked internally and exploited.

Outsiders, including workers, miners and others, also visit the villages to sexually exploit young tribal women, researchers told IPS.

‘’It is their poverty, dislocation and vulnerability that makes the tribal easily exploited,’’ said a Malaysian researcher with the Penan people who declined to be named. ‘’The government is totally unresponsive...it is total neglect of indigenous people.’’

‘’They give lip-service whenever the issue makes the headlines, but after that the indigenous people are left to the mercy of the traffickers,’’ Fernandez said.

The case of five young Naga tribal women from India’s north-east, who were trafficked from their village to Singapore and later moved to Malaysia and forced to work as sex slaves, has highlighted the plight of tribal women uprooted from their villages and trapped in Malaysia, a country generally hostile to migrants.

The five women are now housed in a half-way centre and the Indian High Commission here is making arrangements to send them home.

Commission counselor Sudhir Kumar Mehrotra told ‘The New Straits Times’ daily on Sep. 29 that the women from the Zeliangrong Naga tribe were promised lucrative jobs but were duped and forced to work as bar girls and prostitutes in nightclubs in Singapore and Malaysia.

‘’We have information that as many as 150 women from Manipur, Assam and Nagaland have been duped and forced to work immorally in this region,’’ he said. According to Mehrotra, the Indian government is concerned and investigating the people involved and the routes taken to curb the emerging trend in the trafficking of tribal people.

Poverty among the tribal people in places like Manipur state’s backward Tamenglong district, where parents place their hopes on agents to secure jobs for their daughters, is fueling the trade, human rights lawyers said.

According to migration experts, trafficking of tribal girls is widespread within India but because of the great demand in South East Asian capitals traffickers are beginning to traffic them outside India in the hope of making a fortune.

‘’Tribal people are rare in these capitals and there is a rising demand for them in many brothels and massage parlours in the region because of their rarity,’’ said a migration and HIV expert with a regional NGO.

‘’The flesh trade is always looking out for new victims,’’ he said, declining to be identified so as not to annoy regional governments. ‘’Trafficking of tribal people is common in India and blatantly carried out despite all the laws against it. But with the heightened push and pull factor the victims are surfacing outside India.’’ 

‘’We must take note and act speedily before the number of trafficked women rises dramatically,’’ said the HIV expert, adding that what was needed was for the Indian government to work closely with its counterparts in the region to stop the trend.

He said tribal people forced into sex work are especially vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and unwanted pregnancies, because of lack of quality information and language barriers.

The sex trade is also seen to be shifting from the main capitals of the region to towns and even villages because of the spread of wealth and transport facilities.

‘’You can find foreign women trafficked to even remote towns because of rising demand, expanding wealth and minimal supervision by police and other enforcement agencies,’’ said Fernandez.

‘’Here [remote areas] the scene is much more sinister, it is more hidden and curbing the exploitation is much more challenging,’’ she said. ‘’We are afraid the remoteness of the scene would make it that much more difficult to curb the problem.’’

Unlike drug trafficking where penalties are high, it is an easy walk for human traffickers with the authorities prepared to pocket part of the profits and ‘’close an eye’’ to trafficking crimes in their midst.

Although Malaysia has tough new laws to curb trafficking, few people are ever booked for the offence of trafficking.

Tribal people trafficked to Malaysia face insurmountable hurdles, said Fernandez. ‘’They stand little chance of returning home, let alone make the big money they have been promised when they were lured from their village and forced into prostitution,’’ she told IPS.

‘’We have to stop them from leaving their villages by addressing issues of poverty, human rights and legal protection against exploitation,’’ she added.

India’s National Commission for Women, the All-India Christian Council and the Northeast Support Centre have called on the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi to seek help in checking the trend.

BARISAN NASIONAL LEADERS TO KNOW PM DATUK SERI ABDULLAH'S TRANSITION PLANS TOMORROW

The Barisan Nasional Supreme Council Meeting which will take place tomorrow at 3.30pm at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur where Prime Minister and BN Chairman Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will brief Barisan Nasional component leaders on the leadership transition plan.

Will PM Datuk Seri Abdullah call it quits tomorrow?

A song from 'Clash: ‘Should I stay or should I go?’

Longer wait for Anwar in Sodomy II

Anwar speaks to the press during a break in court proceedings.
UPDATED
By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will have to wait until tomorrow at least to find out if his Sodomy II trial will be heard in the Sessions Court here or transferred to the High Court.

This morning, Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah dismissed the prosecution's preliminary objection, filed at the last court hearing on Sept 24, stating that the lower court judge had no authority to hear the defence's objections to the transfer.
She also dismissed the prosecution's application for a stay for a higher court to revise her decision on the preliminary objection.

"The crux of the matter now is whether the certificate of transfer is valid or not," junior deputy public prosecutor Shamsul Sulaiman told The Malaysian Insider.
Anwar's trial has been fraught with all sorts of technical objections since Day 1 when the prosecution, led by senior DPP Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden, filed an application to transfer the case to the KL High Court, on the grounds that the case held significant public interest.
In turn, Anwar's defence team, led by Sulaiman Abdullah, challenged the prosecution's application on grounds that the certificate for transfer had been signed by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who had been told by the prime minister not to get involved in any way with the case.

After a lengthy debate today between the two parties, Komathy decided on a short recess and summoned them to her chambers.
Upon her return at 12.32pm, she announced that she would hear the defence's arguments against the validity of the certificate of transfer signed by Gani Patail after lunch.
When court resumed at 2.44pm, Sulaiman took to the floor and submitted that the certificate was invalid because it bore the signature of Gani Patail who had been publicly disqualified from getting involved in the case by no less than the prime minister himself.

He brought up Anwar's recent affidavit, filed on Sept 9 this year against Gani Patail, whom he claimed had planted false evidence in his Sodomy I trial 10 years ago, to show "there is bad blood between the A-G and DSAI" as Anwar was referred to in the above-mentioned affidavit.
"Can the court clearly say that the A-G is free from any malice against DSAI?' Sulaiman asked.
Sulaiman also referred to several news sources such as the national news agency Bernama, the New Straits Times and international wire agency Associated Press (AP) which carried the news reports quoting the prime minister's declaration.

At 4pm, Sulaiman requested that he be allowed to continue elaborating on his objection disputing the certificate of tranfer's validity tomorrow.
Judge Komathy allowed the request. The prosecution's arguments will be heard once the defence completes their submission and after the attorney-general files an affidavit explaining his responsibility to sign the certificate of transfer.

However, this does not signal the end to the long series of objections. The defence may be allowed to rebut the prosecution's objections, Shamsul pointed out.
In the courthouse lobby on the ground floor, Anwar noted that he was "bored by the attitude of the prosecution."

He was earlier observed fidgeting while seated inside the dock, constantly tapping at his BlackBerry mobile phone and turning around to chat with his wife and supporters in the gallery.
Asked to elaborate how he felt at the growing number of delays over his trial which have impacted on his takeover plan, the opposition leader smiled, shrugged and said "there is nothing much to add except to be patient."

Anwar was charged with committing unnatural sexual intercourse with his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan under Section 377B of the Penal Code on Aug 7. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years' imprisonment.

Anwar says those who use ISA not fit to rule

UPDATED
By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today he believes that Malays or Muslims who use cruel laws against Hindus are not qualified to rule the country.
He also accused the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia newspaper of twisting facts to spark off hatred of the Malays for Hindus.
The issue at hand, he said, was the use of the Internal Security Act, which Anwar described as a cruel law.
"We as Malays, as Muslims, if we show cruelty to Malays or to Hindus, such a Malay is not qualified to rule the country,"he told reporters today.
He added: "You can take that down, Utusan Malaysia."
Anwar was on his way out of the KL court complex when he was asked to comment on the move by representatives of the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) in presenting a memorandum calling for the release of those detained under the ISA to the Prime Minister at his Hari Raya open house last week.
"The issue is not any protest by Hindraf. The issue is the cruel ISA. It is a gross injustice.
"Those detained under this cruel law must be released. I stand on that principle," said Anwar.
He called for the immediate and unconditional release of the Hindraf five and Malaysia-Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamarudin.
Asked what he thought of the speculation that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would not defend his Umno presidency, he said he did not believe a government or an Umno led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be any better.
He said he did not believe that BN would be able to garner more support or credibility under Najib.
"We are talking about a system tainted by corruption. It is important that we continue to call for reform and change," he said.
He pointed out that regardless of Abdullah's decision tomorrow, it would not impact Pakatan Rakyat's plans and that the triparte opposition leaders were having another discussion on the matter later today.
Asked for an update on the Barisan Nasional lawmakers whom he had allegedly convinced to cross over, he said: "It is a non-issue. They have given me their support and have not reneged on the agreement."

National service or national slaughter?

By Hafidz Baharom, The Nut Graph

(Source: scottthong.wordpress.com)

I HOPE everyone has had a wonderful holiday. I wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Please forgive my transgressions as I offer forgiveness, too.

While we're all still probably feasting on Aidilfitri specialties, I'm sure Jane Lim's family is not exactly in a celebratory mood. If you missed the news on 23 Sept 2008, Jane's family is adamant about not sending her to national service camp because their son, Ricky, died nine days after completing his three-month national service on 6 Sept.

According to Ricky's parents, their son had complained about the camp's hygiene and yellowish water supply.

National Service Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil has said the department has no authority to exempt 17-year-old Jane from national service because of her brother's untimely death.

Right to worry

But parents do have a right to worry about their children's security within the national service programme, especially since the programme has not been without incident since its inception four years ago.

For example, on 28 Feb 2004, a 17-year-old female trainee was reportedly raped in a car by one of the trainers from Merang Camp in Setiu.

Never mind war — our National Service trainees are dying at
camp (© Jafaris Mustafa /Dreamstime)

There have also been four incidents of mass food poisoning in three separate camps over the years. In 2005, in the Port Dickson camp, trainees and instructors, numbering 60, were afflicted with food poisoning. On 30 Dec 2007, trainees in a camp in Penang also suffered from food poisoning.

In the most recent case, Kem Barracuda in Terengganu reported that nine trainees had fallen ill due to food poisoning on 23 May 2008. Six days later, the number had grown to 67 people from the same camp.

Other cases, reported in the media, are as follows:

11 May 2008: Too Hui Mun, 18, complained of stomach difficulties that turned out to be caused by a colon infection. She's the 16^th person to perish during National Service training.

3 Sept 2007: Mohamad Rafi Ameer, 18, had a fever and a swollen leg after falling during his training stint. An International Herald Tribune report suggests negligence on the part of camp supervisors.

18 Jan 2007: Iliameera Azlan, 17, died due to breathing difficulties. According to Bernama: "Iliameera reportedly did not wake up at 5.30am as required, and when found at 6.30am having breathing difficulty, the instructor of the camp rushed her to the hospital. She is believed to have died on the way to hospital."

Please note that the camp waited an hour after roll call at 5.30am before finding her.

9 May 2004: T Saravanan, 18, from Taiping, Perak drowned while swimming with another 40 trainees.

In-camp fights

The most stunning case of death in a national service camp occurred on 22 April 2006 when Haziq Jaafar, 17, died after getting into a fight with another trainee.

What were they fighting over? A cigarette.

(© sxc.hu)

It would seem that both the Tak Nak campaign and the checks for contraband in national service camps failed to prevent Haziq's untimely death.

Pardon me, but all these reported cases demonstrate that "encouraging unity" and "training NS students for emergencies" are merely rhetoric.

In another story of the national service's failure to encourage "unity", an all-out brawl erupted between 50 trainees in a camp close to Kluang on 10 Aug 2008.

What caused the brawl? Teasing.

According to press reports, when the teasing intensified, chairs were tossed and fists flew - something I think we've seen happen in the MCA once.

A National Service first-day cover produced by Pos Malaysia
in 2004 Worth the deaths?

So what exactly was the purpose of National Service, to begin with?

According to their website (and my translation capabilities), the objectives are:

• To increase youths' patriotism
• To foster racial unity and national integrity
• To build positive character through good values
• To encourage volunteerism
• To create a young generation with physical and mental prowess, and self-confidence.

I will not be overly pessimistic, but I would like to ask those parents who support national service whether such objectives are worth the sacrifice of 16 lives?

And for those who have yet to send their kids off, and for taxpayers who are single and are not even thinking of procreating, is the RM600 million spent in 2007 for national service a good investment?

Would people agree with the huge investments needed if they knew just how much it was costing tax payers? According to the Auditor-General, national service shirkers and rigid contracts have caused the government losses of up to RM110.1 million from 2004 to 2007.

The Auditor-General also found that the Beringin Beach camp was unsuitable because of flooding during high tide. But didn't anybody notice this before? And how was that possible?

For the Wawasan camp in Sabah, camp operators told the audit team it was difficult to obtain fresh fish for the trainees' menu, but the audit team found it otherwise at the Kota Kinabalu market. Does this mean that these camps would rather lie about why the food isn't fresh and risk food poisoning than feed trainees properly?

The Auditor-General's report also found that t-shirts, track pants, baseball caps and sports shoes supplied under contracts worth more than RM41 million were of low quality.

That's not all. There are also cases of illegally built camps.

(Source: uncyclomedia.org) Sacrificing our youth

What all these show is that in the haste to implement the national service programme, we have sacrificed the lives, health and safety of our youths; lost a couple of billion ringgit; and may even have flouted the rule of law and ignored the need for transparent governance.

While I admit that the thought of getting our youth to be patriotic (or subservient, depending on one's perspective) may be a good idea, I, for one, see this programme as nothing more than a farce to allow opportunists to make money at the expense of trainees' safety and lives.

If, indeed, cronies and lobbyists of the current government are making money from national service, then this government may be as guilty as the American government in sending their citizens to perish in Iraq for oil and profit.

If that were the case, national service, in my opinion, could be deemed as "national slaughter".

---

Ahmad Hafidz Baharom is a paradox. He's an anti-smoking chain smoker, an environmentalist who leaves his office lights on, a centrist who's a lalang, and a twenty-something yuppie who dreams of being a slacker. Basically, he's a lovable moron.

Fellow Malaysians, this is what we are up against, hired writers/apologists for a discredited regime

This sort of writing or writer/blogger should not surprise us. They litter the media landscape in our country. It reminds me of the heydays of the Cold War when the CIA used novelists, academics and journalists to spread the word. Stalin and Hitler too did the same thing when they temporarily held the reins of power. It is happening now in our country under a discredited UMNO-led Barisan Nasional Government.

The difference, as I see it, between these guys and their hired hands, and our propagandists or so-called psy-war specialists/experts is that the latter are less sophisticated and subtle. We can identify their motives the moment we finish reading just a few words since what they put out in the public domain comes through as clearly loud and blatantly insulting.

What surprises a naive guy like me, though, is that there are people who are willing to sell their integrity for money and promise of favors, like someone I know as an acquaintance who desperately harbours dreams of returning to a major newspapers as its chief group editor, if Najib Tun Razak becomes Prime Minister.

It is, therefore, important that we read views and reviews with a critical eye, use our ability to think and reason, and exchange information among ourselves, exercising utmost care. There is so much gubberish, like this one for example, out in cyberspace, print media and the air waves, that we need to be careful. —Din Merican

Unraveling the RPK Mystique

Much has been said about the ISA detention of Raja Petra Kamarudin. Over the past decade, the 58 year old has emerged from obscurity to become a sort of cult figure for some Malaysians, and his detention has become a cause célèbre for “the quest for justice and inequality.” RPK is also perceived by many to be some sort of figurehead and rallying point in their opposition to the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition that has governed the country since Merdeka 51 years ago.

Who are these RPK supporters?

Do they truly represent the Malaysian social milieu? Well, they themselves certainly feel that way. A browse through RPK’s Malaysia Today portal would give that impression. The lively postings allude to a sense of inevitability in the socio-political evolution of this country, where some sort of People’s Power movement, indeed an alternative irresistible political force, would sweep through Putrajaya to obliterate and replace the current ruling oligarchs with an “enlightened” administration driven by the mantra of Ketuanan Rakyat.

READ MORE HERE: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/

Abdullah last acts as PM - reach out to Hindraf supporters and stop excoriating Hindraf

I am taken aback by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s comments yesterday concerning Hindraf, which Utusan Malaysia used in its front-page headline: “Kecewa sikap Hindraf: Penyokong buat bising, enggan bersalam dengan TPM, Menteri – PM”

In the past few days, Hindraf has come under intense attack, with even MIC leaders like its President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Secretary-General Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam joining in the Hindraf-bashing.

Tomorrow, Abdullah would most probably be announcing that he would not be defending the post of Umno President in the March Umno General Assembly.

Whatever his announcement, among Abdullah’s last acts as Prime Minister should be to reach out to the Hindraf supporters to end the status of Malaysian Indians as a new underclass instead of excoriating and demonizing Hindraf.

Abdullah should initiate this healing process which is an important integral part of Malaysian nation-building, to end the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians in their own country – just as a similar healing process must also begin to address all other marginalized Malaysians in the country, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak.

There can be no better start to this “healing process” than for the Cabinet tomorrow to release the Hindraf Five from Internal Security Act – making Deepavali this year a most significant and memorable one in making all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, feel proud again to be sons and daughters of the nation.

HARI HARI AKHIR SEORANG DOLAH

Di alkesahkan maka orang-orang kampung pun berkumpulah untuk melihat dan melangok. Maka gendang pun di palu dan canang di pukul. Ada yang mencangkung ada yang berdiri melihat gelagat segala peri.

DARI JELEBU

Hishamuddin Rais

Ketua cawangan naik proton
Ketua bahagian naik wira
Kontrektor kelas f naik honda
Putera datang naik tongkang
Puteri datang membawa kangkang
Para yb naik mercedes
Menteri datang takut muflis
Datang berkumpul bukan menangis
Dolah berundur amatlah trajis

Mereka datang berkumpul untuk melihat muka Dolah kali terakhir sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia, sebagai Presiden United Malays National Organisation dan sebagai Pengerusi Barisan Nasional.

Mari mendengar surah saya tentang apa yang berlalu lima tahun dahulu.

Ketika Mahathir Muhamad meletakan jawatan, saya masih berada di kem tahanan Kamunting. Berita tangisan Mahathir saya sambut dengan ketawa terbahak-bahak. Gambar Mahathir menangis di Perhimpunan Agung itu amat lucu sekali. Sampai sekarang saya tidak dapat melupakan kasut Rafidah yang terpatah kerana hendak mengejar dan mencium lutut Mahathir. Semenjak hari itu Dolah telah mula memasang badan sebagai Perdana Menteri

Pada maklam saya hendak di hantar ke Kamunting ( June 2001) – surat arahan tahanan – telah di tanda tangani oleh Abdullah Ahmad Badawi kerana ketika itu dia menjawat Menteri Dalam Negeri. Pernah wartawan bertanya kepada Abdullah tentang 10 Reformis yang di tahan di bawah ISA. Dolah telah menjawab “…saya tidak tahu….”

Di Kamunting, apabila saya mendengar ‘ saya tidak tahu’ dari Dolah Badawi maka terlintas juga di kepala saya mungkin si Mamat ini seorang jantan politik yang licik. Dapat mengelak soalan dari para wartawan.

Apabila saya dibebaskan dua tahun kemudian saya telah mementaskan teater Tok Sloo dan Bilik Sulit. Bilik Sulit ialah tentang Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri/ISA. Manakala Tok Sloo adalah teater komidi. Dua buah drama ini telah dibawa keliling Semenanjung untuk dipertontonkan kecuali di Perlis.

Tok Sloo memecahkan perut saya sendiri. Saya menulis watak Tok Sloo berdasarkan watak Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan orang-orang disekelilingnya. Dolah pada ketika teater ini ditulis baru sahaja menjadi Perdana Menteri. Scomi – syarikat milik Kamaluddin anaknya - masih belum heboh dan masih belum glamour lagi. Penjenayah bom nuklear A.B. Tahir belum menjadi hiasan muka depan majalah Times. Khairy Jamaluddin baru selesai bersunat politik kerana dapat kahwin dengan Nori. Kak Endon masih hidup. Kalimullah masih belum kaya raya. Moonsoon Cup dan Jackie Chan belum pernah sampai ke Seberang Takir.

Selesai pementasan keliling di Semenanjung saya telah bertemu dengan seorang kawan lama saya – Cik Gu Hashim dari Perlis. Kami bersembang di sebuah warong pokok ketapang di hadapan pejabat MalaysiaKini Bangsar Utama. Sambil ketawa sambil kami berlabun tentang siasah semasa.

Akhirnya sampai kepada watak Tok Sloo. Kami ketawa berdekah-dekah. Akhirnya kawan saya ini memberi satu nasiha “… kamu janganlah lawan Dolah Badawi ini…..kalau kamu tulis keras sangat tetang dia… macam kamu lawan orang cacat…..” Inilah kata-kata yang membuatkan saya terbarai ketawa hingga ke hari ini.

Bila saya duduk bersendirian di hadapan komputer dan ingin menulis sesuatu tentang Abdullah Badawi maka saya teringat pesanan kawan saya itu. Apabila saya perhatikan gerak dan tingkah laku politik Dolah maka saya cukup yakin bahawa susuk yang bernama Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ini adalah ‘orang cacat’ dari segi pemahaman politik.

Akhirnya saya menarik diri dari me‘lampoon’ Dolah. Saya rasakan cukup tidak adil jika saya terus menulis tentang manusia ‘cacat’ ini. Saya rasa macam saya bergaduh dengan kanak-kanak.

Dari awal lagi saya telah menulis bahawa Abdullah Badawi ini adalah Perdana Menteri ‘fluke/acidental’ – atau PM yang tidak tersengaja. Dolah Badawi tidak memiliki ciri dan pola-pola yang boleh dinobatkan sebagai pemimpin negara. Dolah di jadikan Perdana Menteri hasil perancangan licik Mahathir Muhamad.

Mahathir Muhamad tidak salah pilih, dia sengaja memilih ‘si cacat’ ini agar dia sendiri akan menjadi Pak Dalang dibelakang tabir. Hanya satu silap Mahathir, dia kurang sedar ada ramai dalang-dalang lain – Khairy, Kamaludin, Kak Endon dan Kalimullah - yang telah juga bersiap sedia untuk menjadi Pak Dalang kepada si Dolah.

Pada tahun pertama Dolah sebagai PM, cerita mula tersebar bagaimana Dolah ini suka tidur ketika bekerja atau dalam mesyuarat. Pada awalnya saya rasa ini hanyalah kempen ‘hitam’ oleh musuh-musuh Dolah dalam United Malays National Organisation. Tetapi apabila gambar demi gambar mula muncul memperlihatkan ‘Dolah Tidur’ maka saya yakin ‘kecacatan’ Dolah ini tidak mungkin dapat di perbaiki.

Teman-teman sekolah saya yang menjadi ahli perniagaan mula bercerita betapa Dolah tidak memilki keupayaan untuk mendengar taklimat projek-projek yang cuba dibangunkan. Dolah tidak memiliki daya fikir yang lampan dan luas. Saya juga difahamkan si Dolah ini tidak membaca dan tidak memiliki daya fikir yang dapat melihat dengan jauh dan dengan terperinci.

Pilihanraya 2004 Dolah telah di beri mandat besar tetapi Dolah kurang arif untuk memahami makna mandat itu. Semua perancangan yang di rancangnya tinggal terbengkalai setengah jalan. Dolah mengajukan Islam Hadari, tetapi saya juga was was apakah Dolah sendiri memahami konsep yang diajukan itu.

Para kroni, anak dan menantu Dolah makin naik tocang. Mereka membedal dan membelasah apa sahaja dana negara yang boleh mereka sebat. Dolah sebenarnya tidak memahami satu pun teori ekonomi, jauh sekali untuk mehazam pergolakan politik global.

Dolah bukan seorang insan yang jahat, ganas dan licik seperti Mahathir Muhamad. Dolah tidak memiliki sifat membunuh seteru politiknya. Dolah ini seorang yang warak dan berperangai baik. Dolah seorang ritualis agama. Kalau di kampung saya di Jelebu. Dolah ini akan dilantik sebagai Tok Siak. Sekali sekala kalau Tok Imam masjid demam mungkin dia akan dibenarkan mengepalai sembahyang.

Dalam adat Perpatih di Jelebu Dolah ini tidak akan duduk di anjung rumah bersama kepala adat. Dia akan duduk di tepi pintu untuk mengangkat dulang dan cawan. Kalau di penanggah di kampung saya Dolah ini akan menjadi pengacau beras di kawah ketika kenduri kendara - tidak lebih dari itu.

Akhirnya Dolah betul-betul menjadi watak Tok Sloo. Ada kesedihan juga dalam hati saya apabila Dolah berundur. Saya sedih dan kasihan melihat Dolah yang ‘cacat’ di tibai Muhyidin yang menjadi barua Mahathir Muhamad. Dolah terkapai-kapai hilang nafas. Penasihat politik Dolah hanyalah budak yang baru bersunat politik – tidak dapat melakukan apa-apa selain dari meminta tanda tangan akhir dari Dolah untuk projek-projek skim cepat kaya.

Apakah agaknuya yang akan kita ingati tentang Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sepuluh tahun dari hari ini?

Mungkin kita akan teringat tentang Dolah yang suka tidur. Atau Dolah bapak mentua Kj. Atau Dolah yang cuba membuka ruang demokrasi di Malaysia tetapi telah di gagalkan oleh Mahafiraun kerana Mahafiraun telah menyediakan budak suruhannya yang akan bersumpah bersetia agar tidak di hantar ke Mogolia untuk menjadi duta.

Hari-hari akhir seorang dolah sampai
Kamal datang dengan scomi
Kj datang dengan nori
Kali datang dengan air asia
Jean datang dengan kain tudung baru
A.B. Tahir datang memakai topeng
Saat akhir akan berlalu
Mereka amat bersedih dan terharu
Dolah terlupa memakai celana dan sepatu

Maka demikianlah berakhir kesah Tok Sloo
Untuk dijadikan tauladan dan sempadan
Dari anak kepada cucu dari cicit pada menantu
Untuk jadi ingat-ingatan sepanjang zaman

Isu Karpal: PM mahu laporan

Tuesday, 07 October 2008 08:09am

©Utusan Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR 6 Okt. – Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi meminta Pejabat Peguam Negara memberikan penjelasan berhubung status siasatan kes Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh yang mengeluarkan kenyataan yang mempertikaikan kuasa Sultan Perak. Perdana Menteri berkata, beliau setakat ini tidak memiliki maklumat terkini berhubung kes itu dan akan meminta penjelasan daripada Pejabat Peguam Negara. “Perkara ini (status siasatan terhadap Karpal Singh) akan saya tanya dengan Peguam Negara,” katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Panel Penasihat Antarabangsa (IAP) BioMalaysia 2008 di Pusat Konvensyen Kuala Lumpur di sini hari ini. Beberapa NGO sebelum ini menuntut tindakan lanjut ke atas Karpal yang mempertikaikan kuasa Sultan Perak berhubung pertukaran Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak (JAIP), Datuk Jamry Sury pada awal Mei lepas. Ahli Parlimen Bukit Gelugor itu mempertikaikan tindakan Sultan Azlan Shah menitahkan Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Ir. Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin menarik balik arahan pertukaran Jamry yang disifatkan sebagai campur tangan istana dalam pentadbiran kerajaan negeri itu. Karpal mempertahankan kenyataannya dan enggan meminta maaf walaupun dikritik pelbagai pihak dengan alasan kenyataan tersebut membabitkan isu perundangan. Pada 22 Mei lalu, Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Musa Hassan memaklumkan polis selesai menjalankan siasatan terhadap Karpal. Bagaimanapun, Abdul Gani pada 5 Jun dilaporkan mengarahkan polis membuat siasatan lanjut. Sehingga kini, tiada sebarang tindakan lanjut berhubung siasatan berkenaan sehingga menimbulkan persoalan mengapa ia mengambil masa yang terlalu lama.

Flip-flops made Abdullah a flop

By Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is set to announce the end of his career as national leader tomorrow, had a rather plain and unexciting career as an inoffensive, unambitious and likeable man who was promoted into power by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had wanted a plodding short-term successor.

Abdullah is leaving largely because of the huge damage done by his former benefactor turned nemesis, and by the rejection of his half-hearted reforms and other failures by voters at the March 8 general election.

He leaves behind dreams unfulfilled, his reforms unrealised, his grand economic corridors in limbo and his friends and political supporters unguarded and exposed.

It is a heavy price to pay for indecisiveness — the key character of his five-year-old administration that is best described as a "flip-flop" — a phase made famous by the country's blogging community.

Abdullah first came into the public eye as a young, long-haired man often pictured sitting near luminary Tun Abdul Razak after the riots of 1969. Some of the black-and-white photographs issued by the Information Department capture the young Abdullah's intense admiration for Razak.

Abdullah was assistant secretary in the Public Services Department when he was selected as assistant secretary to the National Operations Council that was headed by Razak to rule the country following the suspension of parliament.

He was later made the director-general of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1971 and deputy secretary-general in 1974. He left government service in 1978 to pursue a political career and was elected Umno supreme council member in 1981, and Umno vice-president in 1984. He was in the wilderness after backing Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah during the 1987 Umno crisis but was brought back by Dr Mahathir in 1991 as foreign minister, a post he held without stepping on Dr Mahathir's toes, until 1999.

Abdullah made a name for himself as a technocrat in the 1970s and 1980s at a time when Malay society valued technocrats as people who could off-set the Chinese dominance of the economy.

It was the time when dozens of government corporations were set up to help Malays catch up — from the modernisation of fisheries and agriculture to helping them pack, transport and market their produce.

It was that time when the evils of the "middle men" were a key concern of Umno and people like Abdullah, who excelled in committees and understood the bureaucracy, made a name in the momentum sparked by the need to "catch up."

Abdullah managed to make a name and enjoy an impact in Umno without actually putting his name to any major, transformational policy — a true mark of a committee-man.

Later on as prime minister, Abdullah formed dozens of task forces on issues and many of these were headed by his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak until it became a joke.

After Abdullah was made Education Minister and then Defence Minister in the mid-1980s he was considered prime minister material but other big names stood in his way i.e. Tun Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Although Abdullah sided with Tengku Razaleigh in the 1987 crisis, he did not challenge Dr Mahathir and because of that and his inoffensive character, he was rehabilitated and returned to the Cabinet in 1991 a year after the climatic 1990 general election that saw the BN narrowly defeat the Gagasan Rakyat opposition coalition.

It was Abdullah's bland, inoffensive nature which had a calming effect on Umno and saw him promoted to the deputy Umno presidency to fill the vacuum left by the sacking of then Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The same qualities saw to it that Abdullah was selected by Dr Mahathir as Umno president when he decided to quit in 2003.

Another reason to pick Abdullah as successor at that time was the fear of a resurgent fundamentalist Islam which many at that time believed would soon overwhelm the country.

It is interesting that the man who made a name as a technocrat in the 1980s, successfully reinvented himself as an Islamic scholar by the later 1990s to become a later day champion of moderate Islam.

He even formulated his own moderate brand, Islam Hadhari, to counter Pas. Everything came together — fear of fundamentalist Islam, Abdullah's father figure and promise of reforms, the departure of Dr Mahathir — to give Abdullah the biggest ever political mandate in 2004.

But after that he relaxed, eased into a stupor and exhibited his panacea — indecisiveness.

"His ineffectiveness came to a point where many people just could not believe their eyes. It is as if he really believed by not deciding, the pressing problems would go away," said a leading human rights lawyer.

The same voters who had welcomed him in overwhelming numbers in 2004 turned against Abdullah on March 8, sending a clear, unambiguous signal that his time was up.

He will be remembered as a pleasant man who simply did not have the skills nor the gumption to rule despite winning the biggest mandate in history and occupying the most powerful office in the country.

Raja Petra turns to the written word

Raja Petra arriving in court yesterday in handcuffs.

By Hazlin Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Anti-government blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin went on trial yesterday, on sedition charges over an article he allegedly posted on his popular Malaysia Today website.

Raja Petra, 58, who is already detained without trial under the Internal Security Act for allegedly maligning Islam in a more recent posting, was charged with sedition in May this year after he allegedly implied that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was involved in the murder of a Mongolian interpreter in an article published in April entitled "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell."

Raja Petra, or better known as RPK, arrived in court a good half-hour before proceedings started at 9am.

I almost did not recognise him; he looked a little frail and tired-looking, and he looked as if he had lost some weight, not to mention the fact that he was also sporting a beard now, after about three weeks of detention at Kamunting.

Dressed in jeans and flip-flops, he pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

Dozens of his supporters turned up outside the court, wearing red and black T-shirts with slogans such as "I'm with RPK" and "Free RPK".

Also seen were some opposition leaders, led by DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang.

Several supporters walked out during the proceedings, however, when it became a little too draggy and technical.

The first witness, an IT expert, was asked to explain details such as websites, URLs, domain names, blogs, wikipedia, and how they work. This technical aspect took up the entire day. Even judge Rozina Ayob expressed reservations over whether the trial could end by Friday, as prosecutors had hoped.

While the prosecution took its time to establish a prima facie case against the blogger, the defence immediately pointed out a possible hole in their case.

Defence lawyer J. Chandra told the court that a computer forensics report conducted by the police on a computer seized from RPK showed there was no activity to access the Malaysia Today website on April 25, the date he allegedly posted the seditious article on that same website. Government prosecutors will have to convince the judge that they have a case against him. Otherwise she has the option of acquitting him.

But if he is convicted of sedition, he faces up to three years' imprisonment. Government prosecutors say the hearing will continue at least until Friday and the court will then decide whether to call for the defence.

In any case, he is already sentenced to two years at the Kamunting detention centre for ISA detainees.

RPK told me that he spends his time reading books whilst currently undergoing three months' solitary confinement there.

Since his arrest on Sept 12, he has read nine books, including one written by former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who quit his post recently over the use of the ISA against RPK, an opposition lawmaker and a journalist last month.

RPK's wife Marina Lee Abdullah replenished his supply today with two more books — "Slovo The Unfinished Autobiography of ANC Leader Joe Slovo", about one of the key figures of anti-apartheid, as well as a copy of the Malaysian Constitution.

The copy was for him to study and think up ways to change the constitution when the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition takes over, he quipped.

"I dream of the day the government will be brought down and we abolish all draconian laws," he said.

For someone who has to live in a tiny cell that measures roughly three feet by three feet, he was rather cheerful and cracked jokes with his family and friends in court.

"If (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim doesn't form the government and I stay in (under ISA) for (the full sentence of) two years, I'll come back to haunt him. So he better make sure," he said when asked by reporters if the opposition would take over soon as it has threatened to.

RPK, who celebrated his 58th birthday behind bars on Sept 27, also declined to reveal what he was eating whilst in detention. When pressed by reporters, he insisted he was eating good food such as lamb chops, perhaps in reaction to controversial comments made by opposition MP Teresa Kok that she was fed food that was similar to dog food during her brief detention.

Before he was taken away after the proceedings, his wife and daughters tearfully hugged him in the courtroom, prompting supporters to clap as he left. — Straits Times Blog

Dr M says Khairy will beat Mukhriz

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today hinted that Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin would employ undemocratic methods to ensure his victory for the highest position in the Youth wing in March.

Dr Mahathir, in his latest blog posting, was commenting on the complaint by Khairy that he was prevented from meeting Umno Youth members while campaigning.

"I don't know whether people have heard about the thief who cried 'thief!'. Well the thief got away because people who are not very intelligent went chasing in the opposite direction. The highly educated thief then walked away with his booty," said Dr Mahathir.

"I would advise him not to be disheartened. There are so many other ways of influencing Pemuda than meeting them. I will not enumerate them as he will know how to use these other ways," said the former Prime Minister.

He added that Khairy, who became Umno Youth deputy chief in 2004 when he won uncontested, would easily defeat Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir during the party election.

Dr Mahathir blamed Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for Khairy's victory four years ago.

"Apart from Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein who gave other possible candidates a tongue lashing, telling them in no uncertain terms that they must not contest the position because it was reserved for the Prime Minister's son-in-law, others suspected of having ambitions to contest for the post received phone calls from family members of the PM and other influential supporters not to do anything to spoil the ambition of this first-time Umno member with absolutely no track record from winning uncontested," he added.

On Sunday, Khairy told reporters that he is contesting on his own merit and hoped that Umno Youth delegates would evaluate him based on his personal credibility and strength.

"I got down to the ground, I became director of the by-election machinery... I conducted programmes and various others things on my own initiative and this will not change whether Pak Lah or Datuk Seri Najib is the president. I will continue with my work as a leader of the young generation in Umno," said Khairy.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail arriving at the Jalan Duta courts in Kuala Lumpur this morning for the opposition leader's trial on sodomy charges. — Picture by Choo Choy May Another day in court for Anwar By Debra Chong KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has arrived at the Sessions Court where he will find out if his Sodomy II trial will be transferred to a higher court. The prosecution wants the case to be heard in the High Court, while the defence team has objected because the application was made by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, a man whom Anwar has accused of tampering with evidence in a separate case. Anwar is charged with sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Judge Komathy rules against transfer of Anwar’s case

Malaysian Insider is reporting that Sessions Court judge Komathy has ruled against the prosecution’s request to transfer Anwar’s sodomy case to the High Court.

Gotta admire the courage of that judge.

The Star reports Anwar as saying: “I will deliver my budget speech on Oct 13 as the Opposition Leader in Parliament.”

HIndraf Deepavali Cards

Raya Pictorial Comment

Hi Moorthy

I can’t agree with you more. They are used to plundering and concocting the truth for self gain. A month of fasting and the eventual celebration means nothing if they can’t reach people (HINDRAFT) who surpasses the Islamic faith of brotherhood through their innocent act of faith & forgiveness. An event of truth marred only by spiteful, self-serving spirit. Photos can’t lie, UMNO can as every picture tells a story.

Dave

Perak government wants ISA camp moved out of Kamunting

BIDOR: The Perak government wants the ISA detention camp, now in Kamunting, out of the state.
State executive councillor A. Sivanesan said he would look into the legal avenues and land legislation, in particular the Land Acquisition Act, to see how the Pakatan Rakyat-led state could reclaim the land alienated to the Federal Government for the camp.
Sivanesan suggested the detention centre be relocated to a Barisan Nasional stronghold such as Pahang or Johor.
“Pakatan is against the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the camp is in Kamunting, Taiping. If they (Barisan) are not going to abolish the ISA, then move the camp out and give us back the land,” he said yesterday after meeting orang asli at Kampung Chang Sungai Gepai, about 70km from Ipoh.
However, Sivanesan said he had yet to bring up the idea at the weekly state executive council meeting.

HINDRAF PRESS STATEMENT 5th October 2008

HINDRAF

135-3-A JALAN TOMAN 7

KEMAYAN SQUARE

70200 SEREMBAN

PRESS STATEMENT 5th October 2008

It appears of late, biased and invalidated reporting done by Utusan Malaysia and TV3 is a clear indication to invoke racial tension after the failure of the UMNO led government to create the racial tension that they were anticipating with the recent arrests under ISA.

The Hari Raya open house visit by HINDRAF has been demonised and given the impression that a criminal act was committed and Islam insulted. It is indeed shocking that Federal Ministers, senior Professors and Government officials do not have the intelligence to differentiate between a memorandum and a greeting card. What is wrong with HINDRAF supporters attending the open House. “Another time another date” – since when has the Prime Minister set a date to listen to the rakyat. HINDRAF has made numerous calls to the PM for dialogue but all fell in deaf ears. The open house is the only day in the year a commoner could make the acquaintance of the PM personally and HINDRAF took liberty to send a clear message- RELEASE ALL PRISONERS HELD UNJUSTLY WITHOUT TRIAL IN SPIRIT OF FORGIVENESS. Even more appalling the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar interprets this as an insult to Islam. We challenge Utusan and TV3 to make public their photographic and video recordings to prove HINDRAF supporters behaved in an inappropriate manner. To the contrary we have evidence the PM and his Deputy was all in smiles and accepted the greetings and card with an open heart.

The Malaysian led UMNO government fails to realize that it is 2008 where Malaysians are at a different wavelength and able to see and judge for themselves what truth, just and equality means for the society we live in.

The current crop of Malaysians are no longer intimidated nor unable to digest their own resources to judge for themselves why and how it is done to serve what the ruling government seeks to hold their power and abuse the system and the process of law.

Utusan Malaysia and TV3 can continue to act as an apparatus of the ruling government in their inept propaganda, but they fail to comprehend that most Malaysians are equipped with their own resources without any real need with their ultra bias commentary.

Journalism is the unofficial fourth institution to check and balance the officially elected bodies of the legislative (Parliament), executive & judiciary and address issues of public concern unbiased.

Utusan and TV3 has just shown us how well they are intertwined and fettered for the objective of the ruling government and its coolies with their hate journalism which is only one sided without even checking their facts or highlighting the other side of the story. It is indeed a sad day for journalism.

A despotic and desperate government and it's elected representatives will always voice out without any regard to the truth or what should be the truth or for the betterment of the society but for the benefit of the few Utusan and TV3 currently plays the lead role to enhance their cause.

The UMNO ruled administration with its coolies are currently like a headless chicken as they continue to fail to see the truth that lies before them to create a truly multicultural and equal society in Malaysia for the enhancement of the nation.

Democracy in Malaysia is growing at such speed that UMNO continuously fail and/or refuse to see its growth. HINDRAF will not be deterred by wild accusations, threat or intimidation and will continue its campaign until all draconian laws are abolished and its Lawyers and all others released unconditionally.

Waytha Moorthy

Chairman

HINDRAF.