Hindraf disclosing of accounts unprecedented

By Wong Mun Chee

How many, political parties, NGOs and voluntary organizations in Malaysia dared to publish their accounts as the real Hindraf has done. None that I am aware of.

This article alerts the DAP and the PR leaders to open their eyes and not be fooled by implants.

In your craze for Malaysian Indians support you seem to be easily fooled. We are more alert to “Saifuls” of this world.

The real force and support of the working class Malaysians of Indian ethnicity are massed behind Waythamoorthy and Unthaykumar leadership, leadership that is incorruptible and courageous, the same leadership of vision that provided the stimulus for the 308 sweep for the 5 states.

As YBH Lim stated in a early piece of posting, that in some States the Indian are the “King Makers “. It was proven correctly, and it was the real Hindraf Indians.

Vasanthakumar is Najib’s Indian force, a force that can be easily squeezed into public telephone booth. Don’t be fooled.

For security and efficiency the real Hindraf leadership is working discreetly behind the scene to bring about change in the next election. We do not stand and shout with hot air. Each one of you leaders will loose the grip on the Indian votes if you decide to throw you lot with people like Vasanthkumar .

The real Hindraf’s powerbase and pull factor with silent majority remains with Waytha and Uthaya, and is spread globally, from the UK o the USA to Australia to Indonesia to Singapore, wherever the Indians and fair minded people understand the power and deprivation of minorities.

You may recall how the previous Malaysian Home Minister attempted to clip the travel rights of Waytha by cancelling his passport and telling a blatant lies in Parliament. You would have not have not known that we harnessed our international support team to secure urgently unrestricted travel document from the British Home Ministry within days and put Albar to public shame as a liar. Now Waytha can travel anywhere at will. We are capable of doing many more things to right what was wronged over 57 years in our country with birthrights.

Through our discreet campaign we are grounding Samy Velu and mark our words he will be history very soon.

The purpose of this email is to alert you to be reconsider your alliance with Vasnathakumar and his kind, if you do want to gain the support of the silent majority of Malaysian Indians.

Please think about this, as these are not hollow words.

Robert KC

Australia.

UMNO´s politics of animal heads

Unknown WWI soldier buried as mass graves give up secrets

A coffin bearing the remains of an unknown soldier is carried to its final resting place
Saturday in Fromelles, France.

FROMELLES, France (CNN) -- An unknown World War I soldier was buried in Fromelles, France, on Saturday, the first of some 250 bodies recovered from a string of mass graves dating back to a bloody -- and largely pointless -- battle that claimed thousands of lives in a single night.

About 2,300 British and Australian troops were killed, and thousands more wounded, captured or left missing in action when they were ordered to charge into German machine guns on July 19, 1916.

Nearly a century later, the battle of Fromelles remains the deadliest 24-hour period in Australian military history, the country's minister for veterans affairs, Alan Griffin, said Saturday.

"The air was thick with bullets, swishing in a flat, criss-crossed lattice of death. Hundreds were mown down in the flicker of an eyelid," said British veterans minister Kevan Jones at the ceremony, citing survivor W.H. "Jimmy" Downing.

So many died that night that the British and Australians were unable to recover all their dead. German soldiers buried hundreds in mass graves.

The graves were rediscovered only in 2008, and last year the Commonwealth War Graves Commission took the lead on a project to recover and identify as many remains as possible.

The Commonwealth is an association of nations that once were part of the British Empire.

Excavations began in May 2009 and lasted until September. Meanwhile, a new cemetery, Pheasant Wood, was laid out near the site of the battle in northern France, near the Belgian border.

The soldier buried Saturday has not been identified, but DNA samples have been recovered from many of the bodies, often from the teeth, said Peter Jones, the DNA consultant on the project.

Some 800 people from Britain and Australia who think they may have a relative buried at Fromelles have provided DNA to try to help identify the bodies, he said.

But that's only half as many as the experts need, Jones added, since about 1,600 Commonwealth dead from the battle remain unaccounted for. The 250 bodies being buried at Pheasant Wood are among the 1,600.

DNA samples are not the only way to identify bodies, though, said Margaret Cox, the archaeological consultant to the project. About 6,200 personal artifacts were found alongside the bodies, which could help to identify them.

In addition to the expected military decorations, uniforms and buttons, Cox said, they include such heartbreaking items as a locket with a lock of hair, and a return ticket to Perth, Australia, left on the body of a soldier who never lived to use it.

Most of the remaining bodies will be buried over the next two months, with headstones being added starting in March for any victims who can be identified, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission said.

Those whose names cannot be determined will be marked by a headstone reading "Known unto God," the agency said.

The final body will be buried on July 19, the 94th anniversary of the battle.

Pheasant Wood is the first new cemetery to be built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in nearly 50 years, said spokesman Peter Francis, calling the mass graves "the largest military find since the end of the Second World War" in 1945.

The commission is a nonprofit organization that commemorates the dead of both world wars from the British Commonwealth. Founded in 1917, it maintains graves and memorials at 23,000 sites around the world.

Thaipusam 2010 in Penang - Beyond races

Hindus celebrate Thaipusam amid Allah row - Malaysiakini

Indian Malaysians pierced themselves with hooks and skewers today as they celebrated Thaipusam, hailed as a show of religious freedom after a spate of attacks on places of worship.

Huge crowds of devotees converged on the Batu Caves temple, a spectacular limestone cavern on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that is expected to draw some 1.5 million people over the annual three-day festival.

Some devotees carried heavy ornate structures called kavadis as they walked up 272 steps to the temple, while hundreds of others had their tongues, cheeks, chests and backs pierced with hooks and skewers.

While some worshippers walked quietly and recited prayers, others went into a religious trance, chanting and whirling as supporters held them back by ropes tied onto the hooks placed in long rows down their backs.

"We are here to fulfil our vows and to pray for peace for our country," K Thana, a female devotee who carried a milk-pot offering, told AFP as she walked barefoot up to the temple with her mother.

"I have been doing this for more than five years and for this year, I don't think we are disturbed by the incidents that happened recently," said the 38-year-old bank officer, clad in a yellow costume symbolising purification.

Allah row

Places of worship in Malaysia have been pelted with Molotov cocktails, stones, paint and severed pig heads since a December court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God'.

Nineteen people have so far been arrested for their roles in the attacks on churches, mosques and Muslim prayer halls, and three of those were charged in court yesterday.

The incidents did not deter devotees and tourists from attending the Thaipusam festival, which is also celebrated in several other locations in mainly Muslim Malaysia.

About one in fourteen of Malaysia's 28 million population are ethnic Indians - mostly Hindus but also Christians and Sikhs.

"This is my first time at Thaipusam festival. This is a very colourful event that I have never experienced before," said Uberto Scotto, an Italian expatriate engineer.

"This is an example of tolerance among Malaysians," he said.

Lisa Wong, a Buddhist and mother of two, said she took her children every year to join her Hindu friends at the festival.

"I like this spirit and I want my children to understand the culture of different races in this country," said Wong, who wore a dot of holy red powder on her forehead.

Thaipusam commemorates the day when, according to Hindu mythology, Goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Muruga an invincible lance with which he destroyed evil demons.

Thaipusam hunger strike fails to excite - Malaysiakini

A hunger strike planned by the Movement for Sustaining SPM 12 Subjects to coincide with the Thaipusam celebrations today turned out to be a lame affair.

There were only about 10 people who fasted for seven hours, instead of the anticipated 200 earlier.

The coalition is led by its chairperson, A Thiruvenggadam.

They spent the time distributing their T-shirts. In addition the public bought about 120 car stickers at the Perumal temple, located close to Batu Caves railway station.

This was because the temple committee chairman R Nadarajah did not give them the go-ahead for the hunger strike.

Thiruvenggadam (below) who spoke to Malaysiakini prior to carrying milk pots (pal kudam) up Batu Caves also said that their attempt to handover their protest memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last night failed.

"There were 100 of us but we were blocked by the Federal Reserve Unit."

He also claimed that the premier had seen him and the rest of the coalition members last night but ignored them.


"Indians may have garlanded Najib yesterday but but they are still sensitive when it comes to the language issue," said Thiruvenggadam.

As they left for the top of Batu Caves with milk pots, quite a number in the crowd there had on the group's campaign shirts in a show of support.

"Of course, I support their cause," said shaven-headed B Gunaraj.

The coalition was born when a revision in government policy did not give full recognition for the examination results of vernacular subjects in awarding government scholarships for further studies.

UMNO’s Wayang Kulit at Thaipusam, Batu Caves to fish for Indian votes without lifting a finger. No longer possible after 25th November 2007 HINDRAF Ra

All 3 Tamil dailies, The Star, NST headlines and also in Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia this morning and the radio and TV stations carried the wayang kulit best pictures and coverage of Najib at Batu Caves Thaipusam festival under the Home Ministry’s directions. How desperate?

But why didn’t Najib get to the point and announce land for all Hindu temples and crematoriums and Tamil Schools all in one go as opposed to the piecemeal peanut and wayang kulit paper politics announcements they make.

But just see the pictures below and watch the free ride Najib is trying to get and his attempt in trying to fish for Indian votes.

P.Uthayakumar

Dr M not surprised Khairy unpopular

Back in Dr Mahathir’s crosshairs. — file pic

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today renewed his tirade against Khairy Jamaluddin, saying he was not surprised the Umno Youth leader was unpopular and openly wondered how the latter won the post.

The former party president has never seen eye-to-eye with Khairy, who not only won the youth wing’s top post against his son, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, but is also the son-in-law of his nemesis, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“It unimaginable that an Umno Youth leader was told not to campaign during an election because the party feared if he did, they would lose,” the former prime minister said in reference to the Bukit Gantang by-elections last year.

A blog has claimed that two-thirds of the Umno Youth executive council was ready to resign to pave the way for fresh polls and that there were calls for Khairy to resign.

Khairy’s deputy, Datuk Razali Ibrahim has publicly denied the blog’s claims.

Razali and Mukhriz are deputy ministers but Khairy was not given the traditional posting, similar to Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he was Umno youth chief during Dr Mahathir’s time in power.

Dr Mahathir persisted to cast aspersions against Khairy today, saying he did not know how Khairy could have won the Umno Youth chief post in the first place.

“They took seven hours to count 700 votes and that’s strange,” he said, alluding to the elections where both Mukhriz and Datuk Seri Khir Toyo lost to Khairy.

Dr Mahathir noted that Khairy won the deputy youth chief post unopposed in the previous party election because no one stood against him.

“That’s his way, and that’s why they can’t accept it,” he said.

The party’s longest-serving president, who founded Umno again after it was declared illegal in 1988, had always won unopposed, after putting in strict rules governing the eligibility to contest top party posts.

He retired in 2003 and handed over the party and prime minister’s post to Abdullah, but a public between the two then saw Dr Mahathir openly campaigning against his successor and son-in-law.

Dr Mahathir also quit Umno in May 2008 to protest Abdullah’s leadership, but rejoined a day after Datuk Seri Najib Razak was affirmed as party president.

Perkasa members pine for return of old Umno

Longing for the good old days. — Picture by Jack Ooi

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

AMPANG, Jan 30 — What started out as one man’s mission, Perkasa is fast gathering traction with sections of the Malay community who feel Umno was no longer championing their cause.

Ahmad Zaini Ismail, 40 has been an Umno member since the late 1980s, but six months ago, he became very active in the Malay nationalist movement, Perkasa, and was now its Perak chairman.

“I am still loyal to Umno, but circumstances have changed, so I need another platform to continue fighting for the Malays,” said Zaini, who was also an Umno branch chairman in Perak.

As a branch chief, Zaini was also part of the movement in Umno that sought to oust former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi after Election 2008.

Despite being led by Datuk Ibrahim Ali, an independent MP, Perkasa has also been able to attract many Umno leaders who were keen to ride on the movement’s popularity.

The Selangor Perkasa launch today was also attended by the Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Noh Omar. Several Umno Youth executive committee members were also seen mingling with the state Perkasa delegates.

Zaini said Umno was not doing enough to address the community’s problems, adding that this has resulted in loss of confidence to the party among the Malays. His concern was the lack of opportunities for rural Malays to improve their livelihood.

“During my time, scholarships [and] boarding schools were reserved for the poor, for the Malays from rural areas. Now [when] you go to UiTM, [or if] you go to some boarding schools, you see so many nice cars [there]. Are these people really entitled to be there?” asked Zaini, a son of rubber tapper in rural Perak and who studied in the United States on a government scholarship.

“Opportunities are now monopolised by the successful,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Zaini, like many in Perkasa, believe that the movement’s struggle reflects the original objectives behind the formation of Umno in 1946.

But some Perkasa leaders were motivated by what they referred to as “threats” to the Malay community and their Islamic faith.

Selangor Perkasa chairman, Abdullah Mansor, in his speech spoke at length on the insistence of church leaders over the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God in Malay, describing the move as a threat to Muslims.

He also slammed PAS’ Shah Alam MP, Khalid Samad, who defended the use of the word by non-Muslims.

“In Selangor, Khalid Samad is so vocal in defending their right to use the word ‘Allah’. From what I know, the Christians form only nine per cent of the population, why is he championing the minority?” said Abdullah.

Sabah Perkasa chief, Musli Oli said the position of the Malays has been in danger since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as the prime minister in 2003.

“The Malays only felt safe in [the] 22 years when Tun Dr Mahathir was the prime minister,” Musli told Selangor Perkasa delegates.

“Tun Mahathir was the man who saved the Malays in Sabah by bringing in Umno to Sabah on the Feb 22, 1991,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Perkasa chief, Abang Nasser Abang Hadari asked the Malays in the Peninsula to emulate the Malays in Sarawak for their ability to politically control the state despite being a minority group.

Lawyer ini macam cakap ke?

Hey, this is not a popularity contest. I am not trying to win a popularity contest here. I am trying to end the more than 50 years hegemony of Umno and bring change to Malaysia. And if I am the most hated man in Malaysia for trying this I do not care a damn.

NO HOLDS BARRRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Your 10 questions

Anybody with even a casual interest in corporate Malaysia would have heard of Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas. After all, he is chairman of four listed companies and a director of three others, all in a non-executive capacity. On top of that, he has long been president of both the Federation of Public Listed Companies and the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance. A lawyer by training, he is also a veteran Umno politician and sits on the party’s disciplinary board.

Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, Corporate personality answers...

Why did you publicly advise your former schoolmate, Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin of the Malaysia Today website to “come back and face the music” recently? – Paul Lee, Kuala Lumpur

He was a junior schoolmate at the fully residential Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). He has made allegations, some of which are really grave allegations, but he has yet to prove these allegations according to accepted criteria for proof. Going abroad and hurling unsupported allegations from afar would not do him any good. Don’t make a mockery of the law. Come back and be responsible for your allegations like a man. We were brought up at school to be gentlemen. He should face the court with whatever facts and witnesses at his disposal and convince the court that he is right. Justice is a two-way traffic. He will earn our eternal respect and mine, most of all, if he is willing to do that!

(Read the other nine questions and answers here: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/30/business/5566395&sec=business)

******************************************

The above is one of the ten questions posed to Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas. You can read the other nine at the link above.

I want to respond to the one question that relates to me. I can, if you wish (and may even do that later), respond to all ten questions -- like I did recently to Shamsul Akmar of the New Straits Times. But then, considering how cheong hei I can be, this piece will probably run into so many pages. Therefore, let me talk about this one question and the answer Megat gave.

This is what Megat said: “…..but he has yet to prove these allegations according to accepted criteria for proof…..Come back and be responsible for your allegations like a man…..He should face the court with whatever facts and witnesses at his disposal and convince the court that he is right.…..He will earn our eternal respect and mine, most of all, if he is willing to do that!”

I think Megat just does not get it. Is he so naïve or just pretending to be stupid? As a lawyer, how can he talk that way? Lawyer ini macam cakap ke?

I have said this before and let me say it again. I do not need to prove anything. I have been arrested and charged and put on trial. It is the Prosecution that needs to prove my guilt. The onus is on them to offer the evidence and bring forward witnesses to prove my guilt. All I have to do is to raise reasonable doubt. And if I succeed in doing that, then the court MUST give me the benefit of the doubt and declare me innocent.

Megat never once walked into court to attend or witness my many days of hearings. If he did then he would probably have spoken more like lawyer and would not have made that very embarrassing statement, which reflects very badly on his abilities and qualities as a lawyer.

An accused person has the right to defend himself in any way he sees fit. Whether it is a brilliant or stupid defence is not for the court (and certainly not for the Prosecution) to decide and interfere in. But when the court blocks certain evidence from surfacing or certain witnesses from being called to testify, then the accused is being denied his right to a proper trial.

If the court wants to fuck around with me then why should I bother to layan (entertain) the court? I am telling the court and the government to go to hell. If they want to play fair then I will play ball. But if they fuck around with the legal system then I walk away.

What is so difficult for Megat to understand this? I am telling the court that if they fuck me then I will tell them to go fuck themselves. Megat can’t even get this through his thick head?

About the other remarks -- “come back and be responsible for your allegations like a man, he should face the court with whatever facts and witnesses at his disposal and convince the court that he is right, he will earn our eternal respect and mine, most of all, if he is willing to do that!” -- again, I think Megat is missing the plot here.

“What maketh a man?” as Shakespeare would probably say if Megat were to address this statement to him. Meekly walking into court without a fuss and bending over so that the court can screw you in the arse is a mark of a ‘man’? I would have imagined that his MCKK education would have made him smarter than that. I can only say that the MCKK education was wasted on him.

It appears we have different ideas about what being a man means. Megat’s idea of being a man is to subject yourself to persecution and perversion of justice. My idea of being a man is never to allow yourself to be screwed in the arse by anyone -- even the government of Malaysia and the Malaysian judicial system -- and if they try to, then turn your back on them, show them your arse, and tell them to go screw themselves.

Different strokes for different folks, as they say. So, being a man to Megat’s perspective is being a mouse as far as I am concerned. Being a man, to me, means the courage to say “No!” And that is what I am telling the Malaysian government and the Malaysian judicial system -- “No! No! No!”

Oh, and what makes Megat think I need to earn his or anyone’s 'eternal respect'? Does he think I am doing all this to make a name for myself? Seriously, I do not care one bit what Megat and any of the other Umno and Barisan Nasional people think of me. Their opinion of me does not matter one bit.

My objective is to try to bring down Barisan Nasional and Umno in any way possible. Barisan Nasional’s and Umno’s objective is to try to stay in power -- by hook or by crook, by fair means or foul. To Barisan Nasional and Umno, anything is fair game, even racism and religious strife. Just a few days ago, Jakim told hundreds of participants in its lecture that another May 13 is looming over the horizon. Umno is going round the country telling its members that there is soon going to be a ‘civil war’ in Malaysia.

Is Megat saying that Barisan Nasional and Umno are noble and honourable and I am not?

I really don’t care what people say about me and what they think about me as long as I can fight and beat Barisan Nasional and Umno at its own game.

Hey, this is not a popularity contest. I am not trying to win a popularity contest here. I am trying to end the more than 50 years hegemony of Umno and bring change to Malaysia. And if I am the most hated man in Malaysia for trying this I do not care a damn.

So, Megat, I really don’t care a damn what you and your Umno people think of me. Seriously, if you and Umno love me then there is something wrong here. That means I am not doing my job. Only when the entire government, Umno and Barisan Nasional hate me and wish to see me dead would that mean I have done my job.

That is my mission. And regard this as my mission and vision statement.

USM lecturer says PR losing direction

(Bernama) - The bickering among Pakatan Rakyat leaders and elected representatives of late are signs that the opposition pact is losing direction, a Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer said.

Dr P. Sivamurugan, a political science lecturer with USM, said opposition leaders are also increasingly becoming personal in airing their views and at time, even turning against their allies if they were not satisfied with certain issues.

For instance, he said, Kedah DAP assemblyman Lee Guan Aik had once declared that he did not support the leadership of Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak following dissatisfaction with the policies implemented by the state government.

Several leaders are also at loggerheads including Kulim-Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) attacking Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad of PAS; Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hassan Ali of PAS who once had a quarrel with Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim of PKR; and the latest, Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamad Hashim accusing Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of being a dictator.

“This shows that the opposition pact is in disarray as it does not have a stable policy to unite the leaders and because of that, we can see fragility in their relations,” he told Bernama.

Sivamurugan, however, said that there was also a possibility that the bickering was a diversionary tactic to divert the people’s attention from issues affecting their de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said that each time Anwar’s sodomy case was up for hearing in court, various issues would crop up in the opposition pact, and then Anwar would heroically emerge to cool things down.

Two days ago, Zahrain who is also the former Penang PKR chairman was quoted as saying that Lim was “a dictator, a chauvinist and communist-minded”.

Lim refused to answer the criticism and wanted PKR leaders themselves to reply to it — through his deputy Dr Mansor Osman, who expressed regret over Zahrain’s outburst.

Penang PAS deputy commissioner Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, when contacted, admitted that there were differences in opinion among Pakatan leaders.

“I will be lying if I say there are no problems in the Pakatan government administration but they should be resolved at the Pakatan Council meeting and not through the media,” he said.

He added that it was normal for leaders to have differences in opinion but he could not agree with Zahrain’s outburst in the media.

PKR confident Zahrain won’t quit

Chow went on to reveal that Zahrain was upset because Guan Eng had refused to endorse his decision last year, when as chairman of Island Golf Properties, he had wanted to award a tender for the privatized management of the Bukit Jambul Golf Club to a RM2 company.

Wong Choon Mei, Harakah Daily

PKR leaders have expressed confidence that Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohd Hashim will not quit their party nor instigate another 10 Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers to defect and give arch rival Umno-BN its much longed-for two-thirds parliamentary majority.

“This is clearly another case of the Umno-controlled media trying to create the impression that Pakatan is on the verge of a breakup,” Tian Chua, PKR strategic director, told Harakahdaily.

“And their reason is obvious – to deflect attention from the horrifying shortcomings of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his cabinet over the Allah issue, the huge capital flight and economic mismanagement, as well as Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s upcoming sodomy trial that has already been slammed by world bodies.”

Indeed Tian may have hit the nail on the head. At an event in his Pekan constituency, Najib was quick to latch onto the “the political crisis faced by the opposition leaders”.

“It has reached such a serious stage that it reflected a loss of confidence in the policies and administration of the Penang government," the PM told reporters.“The situation has reached such a stage that a group of PKR leaders have issued statements which I consider to be a clear rejection of what is being done by the present leader.”

Yet on the same day, it was his own Umno-BN government that Amnesty International condemned for pushing through with a sodomy “show trial” against Anwar. The global watchdog warned that the sodomy charges were against the rules laid out by the UN Human Rights Commission in 1997 and that the latest federal court ruling disallowing Anwar access to key evidence was against UN specifications of what constituted a fair trial.

Too smart to leave

Nonetheless, it was on Thursday that Zahrain surprised even his own colleagues in Penang by calling Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng a dictator, a Chinese chauvinist and a communist. He also questioned why Guan Eng had delivered one-third of a recent speech in Mandarin.

Zahrain’s outburst, coming hot on the heels of another controversy sparked by by Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin, was immediately seized on and played up by the Umno-controlled mainstream media. According to their latest speculation, Zahrain was poised to jump ship and take along with him at least another 10 Pakatan parliamentarians.

On the hot list of those most likely to be enticed by the former Penang PKR chief were Selangor PAS commissioner Hasan Ali and Zul Noordin.

“I don’t see Hasan Ali leaving PAS at all. As for Zahrain, he’s a very shrewd man. It is highly unlikely that he will quit PKR and forego all the perks that he is currently enjoying in Penang,” Tian said.

“This is something for him to sort out with Guan Eng. It may well be that he wants to pressure Guan Eng for something or other. If Zahrain really wanted to go, he would declare his departure suddenly – when the time and the numbers are right. Not like now, no need to make so much noise.”

Tian also confirmed that PKR would be holding a supreme council meeting on Sunday but denied it had been specially convened to discuss Zahrain. “It is our usual monthly meeting and there are no plans to discuss Zahrain as reported in some of the press,” Tian added.

Upset over a golf tender to a RM2 company

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Saturday, Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow blasted Zahrain for his harsh words towards Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general.

“Zahrain should not try to provoke sentiments and attempt to break up Pakatan Rakyat in Penang by claiming that PKR has no say in the administration of the PR state government,” said Chow.

“How can Lim be a chauvinist when he went to jail and lost his parliamentary seat to defend a Malay girl who was detained even though she was a rape victim?”

Chow went on to reveal that Zahrain was upset because Guan Eng had refused to endorse his decision last year, when as chairman of Island Golf Properties, he had wanted to award a tender for the privatized management of the Bukit Jambul Golf Club to a RM2 company.

“As chairman of PDC, Lim had recommended that the Board of Directors over-rule Zahrain's award of the tender and called for a fresh re-tender,” Chow said. “The Board of Directors of PDC had accepted Lim’s recommendation that to give the tender of running the only golf club in Penang worth tens of millions of ringgit to a RM2 company would not comply with Penang’s CAT governance of Competency, Accountability and Transparency.

“Giving contracts to a RM 2 company would make a mockery of the change that Penangites voted for in the 2008 elections and make Penang Pakatan Rakyat no different from BN.”

Chow also rapped Zahrain for questioning why a third of Guan Engs speech during the first Pakatan Rakyat National convention on December 19 was in Mandarin.

“Clearly Zahrain was absent as Lim had spoken 85 per cent in Bahasa Malaysia with the remainder 15 per cent in English and Mandarin,” Chow said.

“But even if one third of Lim’s speech had been in Mandarin, is it a crime to speak in one own’s mother tongue? This extremist approach befits a typical Penang Umno leader and not a PKR or Pakatan Rakyat leader.”

PKR perlu kaji kerjasama dengan DAP

(Utusan Malaysia) - Ahli Parlimen Bayan Baru, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim menggesa kepimpinan tertinggi Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) mengkaji semula kedudukan dan kerjasama parti itu dengan DAP di Pulau Pinang.

Menurutnya, setelah mendedahkan sikap Ketua Menteri, Lim Guan Eng sebagai pemimpin cauvinis, diktator dan berfikiran bahaya, kepimpinan tertinggi PKR perlu mengambil langkah terbaik demi kelangsungan parti itu.

Beliau yang juga bekas Pengerusi PKR Pulau Pinang berkata, dasar yang dibawa Guan Eng sejak memerintah Pulau Pinang telah memberi masalah kepada pemimpin PKR di negeri itu yang kebanyakannya bertanggungjawab terhadap kawasan dan masyarakat Melayu.

‘‘Guan Eng kata dia khalifah, khalifah apa kalau gerai-gerai tanpa lesen milik peniaga Melayu ditarik balik dan premis mereka dirobohkan.

‘‘Tidak timbul persoalan mengenai tindakan saya seterusnya, cuma dengan pendedahan ini, saya serahkan kepada kepimpinan tertinggi PKR untuk mengkaji kedudukan PKR di Pulau Pinang,’’ katanya kepada Mingguan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Exco Pemuda Umno desak Khairy letak jawatan

(Harakah Daily) - Mesyuarat Exco Pergerakan Pemuda Umno malam kelmarin kecoh ekoran terdapat desakan supaya ketuanya, Khairy Jamaluddin berundur untuk menyelamatkan pergerakan itu.

Harakahdaily difahamkan, punca utama desakan beberapa anggota Exco pergerakan itu kerana Khairy dilihat gagal menterjemahkan hala tuju Pemuda Umno Malaysia selari dengan kepimpinan Presiden parti yang juga Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Seorang Exconya, Mohd Hishamuddin Yahaya dilaporkan membentangkan beberapa bukti yang menunjukkan kepimpinan pergerakan yang diterajui Khairy itu tidak berminat untuk membantu parti dan kerajaan menarik sokongan sebaliknya mengugut agar diberi jawatan.

Difahamkan, Hishamuddin mencadangkan dua usul sama ada Khairy meletakkan jawatan dan membenarkan Ketua Pemuda dipangku oleh Datuk Razali Ibrahim atau keseluruhan Exco meletakkan jawatan bagi membolehkan satu pemilihan baru dibuat secepat mungkin.

Sungguhpun mendapat sokongan tetapi tiada undian atau keputusan dicapai tetapi difahamkan dua pertiga Exco Pemuda bersedia meletakkan jawatan untuk pemilihan semula pergerakan itu jika selari dengan kehendak perlembagaan parti.

Mengikut Perkara 5.7 Perlembagaan Pergerakan Pemuda Umno, jika dua pertiga atau lebih bilangan Ahli-ahli Jawatankuasa Pemuda berhenti, maka jawatankuasa itu dianggap telah bubar dan Majlis Tertinggi bolehlah mengadakan Perhimpunan Khas Pemuda Umno Malaysia bagi menubuhkan semula Jawatankuasa Pemuda dan Majlis Tertinggi berkuasa menentukan tempoh perkhidmatan jawatankuasa yang baru dipilih itu.

Selain isu kemelut yang melanda beberapa Pemuda Umno negeri yang gagal ditangani oleh Khairy, beliau juga dianggap gagal apabila kursus Perdana Pemuda di Janda Baik hujung tahun lalu hanya dihadiri tidak sampai separuh ketua-ketua pemuda bahagian.

Kursus yang sepatutnya menjadi medan menunjukkan kekuatan kepimpinan Khairy untuk mendesak Perdana Menteri memberi jawatan kabinet akhirnya menjadi masalah besar kepadanya apabila hanya separuh jemputan sahaja yang hadir.

Pada mesyuarat malam kelmarin juga, beberapa Exco Pemuda turut mempersoalkan kegagalan Khairy menjadi suara pemuda dan menggerakkan jentera pemuda dalam banyak isu nasional yang sepatutnya dipergunakan bagi mengenakan tekanan ke atas Pakatan Rakyat.

Ada di kalangan mereka yang membangkitkan jika dahulu Khairy yang juga Ahli Parlimen Rembau berjanji mengorbankan harta benda untuk pergerakan Pemuda jika menang, tetapi setelah menang lain pula alasannya.

Disappointed Doctor

Letter

I am a medical doctor who was educated overseas and worked in Australia for several years and recently decided to return to Malaysia to serve the country.

As a professional working overseas I heard about the ‘Program bagi mengalakkan warganegara Malaysia yang berpakaran yang bekerja di luar negara pulang ke Malaysia’ and therefore applied for it. I was very disappointed when they rejected my application on the grounds that it was sent after I returned to Malaysia. Apparently it was meant to be sent whilst I was still in Australia.

I find this a very poor excuse given the fact that Malaysia is trying to lure back its citizens to work for them. It discourages professionals such as me from having to bear the burden to return but not have any perks or encouraging incentives. Furthermore, my parents bore my exorbitant medical tuition fees and I did not receive any governmental loans whatsoever. The “least” is something anyone would expect.

Besides that, it took me a great deal of an effort to locate the abovementioned application form which was hidden in the catacombic archives of one of the governmental websites. Talk about purposeful inconvenience or perhaps voluntary neglect.

I can see why many of my colleagues are hesitant to return and serve the government given the unimpressive, unattractive attitude and to top it off the obvious suboptimal remuneration and working conditions. Now, thankfully I still have the option to return to Australia and am reconsidering my intentions to continue here thanks to the above. Job well done in luring professionals back.

Disappointed DR.

No Plan For Inter-Faith Commission - Muhyiddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- The government has no plan to set up an Inter-faith Commission at the moment as the ongoing closed-door dialogues between religious groups are sufficient to address related issues, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said the closed-door dialogues would enhance understanding and create a peaceful atmosphere as well as mutual respects among the country's multiracial population.

"We don't need an inter-faith commission. At the moment we don't feel that it is something necessary.

"But continuous dialogues among various religious groups -- representing Muslims and non-Muslims -- could be useful," he told reporters after attending a dialogue on idealism among the younger generation at Angkasapuri here on Saturday.

On the use of the word "Allah", Muhyiddin said closed-door discussions among religious organisations were ongoing and would continue.

"Sometimes it's better this way; this is a more dignified way as it doesn't involve any political interests. This is to find a meeting point, an understanding, and to create a peaceful atmosphere and mutual respect," he said.

At the event, Muhyiddin also held dialogues and explained the various issues affecting the country to students of University of Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as representatives of non-governmental organisations.

Earlier, Muhyiddin launched his official website, My-Malaysia, which among others, contains his political and community activities, collection of speeches as well as news reports of his activities in and outside the country.

The interactive website can be accessed at http://www.my-malaysia.com.my.

"I'm launching this website as a platform for us to communicate. I hope you will take the opportunity to air your views on any issues," he said.

Muhyiddin said the website was also an effort to reach out to the younger generation by listening to their views as well as criticisms.

"The younger generation wants a government which practices transparency; in other words, explaining and answering issues raised by the people," he said.

He said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak himself was actively interacting with the masses through his 1Malaysia website and social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Cabinet ministers were also encouraged to interact with the people through the social media, he said.

"I would like to remind the people, however, to use the social media wisely and to be cautious when criticising because although we might have differences in opinion, we should express our views in a civil way," he said.

Mahathir launches Selangor Perkasa - Anil Netto

1535: Mahathir is at the launching of Selangor Perkasa at the MPAJ Multi-purpose Hall in Hulu Kelang now.

Also with him is Megat Zulkarnain, the Gombak Umno Youth chief, according to a twitter message by an Umno Youth exco member.

Mahathir had said yesterday that the emergence of NGOs rooted in Islamic and Malay causes proves that the Malays now have less confidence in the political parties that are supposed to represent them. On 24 January, Perkasa launched its Pahang wing and days earlier, another wing in Malacca.

The Perkasa website reported:

Dengan mengambil contoh Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa), beliau (Mahathir) berkata, NGO itu dilihat sebagai antara yang paling berpengaruh di kalangan masyarakat Melayu kerana prinsip perjuangannya.

”Ada di kalangan masyarakat Melayu merasakan UMNO tidak lagi berupaya mempertahankan (kepentingan) mereka, jadi kita lihat kemunculan NGO seperti Perkasa.

”Walaupun mereka (Perkasa) aktif, namun (sebenarnya) UMNO masih lebih berpengaruh daripada NGO-NGO ini.”

Perkasa, which means ’strengthening’, is led by its pro-tem president, Ibrahim Ali.

Ibrahim has suggested that PKR MP Zullifli Nordin should emulate him and become an Independent MP so that “he can struggle for Islam without being bound by any party position”. Ibrahim reportedly said he would give way to Zulkifli so that he could struggle with Perkasa: “There are similarities in the struggle of Perkasa and Zulkifl in that both have no fear in defending religion, race and country.”

Perkasa, which is now being seen as a pressure group for Umno, has also taken a position against the use of the term “Allah” by non-Muslims. According to its website, among the groups that participated in a demonstration on 2 January outside the Federal Territory Mosque were the Perkasa wings from Perlis, Selangor and Perak; the Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia; and the Umno Overseas Alumni.

But Perkasa has also condemned the recent attacks against places of worship.

Perumaa’l temple consecrated in Myanmar

Tamils in Myanmar impressively consecrated a renovated Perumaa’l temple in Yangoon on Wednesday morning. Several thousands of Tamils participated in the ceremonies. A 13th century Tamil inscription in Myanmar records that a Perumaa’l temple patronized by Tamils existed at the earlier capital at Pagan.

Consecration of the entrance tower [Photo courtesy: Solai Thiyagarajan from Myanmar]

The temple for Kalyaa’na Vengkadeasap Perumaa’l (Thirumaal or Vishnu in his form found at Thiruppathi), accompanied by Alarmeal Mangkai (the lady on the flower: Thirumaka’l or Lakshmi), is situated 10 km from Yangoon at a place called Thirukkampai, which is known as ‘Little Tamil Nadu.’

Seven Paddaachchaariyaars, who came from Tamil Nadu performed the ceremonies, according to Solai Thiyagarajan, who sent news and images of the consecration to media.

Thousands participated the consecration of Perumaa'l temple at Thirukkampai in Yangon, Myanmar [Photo courtesy: Solai Thiyagarajan from Myanmar]

A view of the interior [Photo courtesy: Solai Thiyagarajan from Myanmar]

A Tamil folkdance as part of the procession [Photo courtesy: Solai Thiyagarajan from Myanmar]

The practice of ceremonial 'temple dance' in front of the deity still surviving in Burma is of cultural anthropological significance. [Photo courtesy: Solai Thiyagarajan from Myanmar]

Paddaachchaariyaars are authorities in performing consecration of Vaishnava temples of the Dravidian style in the Agamic way of South India (it is Sivaachchaariyaars in the case of Saiva temples).

Venkatasamy Nayakkar, an industrialist from Tamil Nadu, originally built the temple in 1904.

The interaction between Myanmar and Tamils go back to the times of the advent of maritime activities in the Bay of Bengal, as trade winds and currents were particularly conducive for swift and direct communication between Myanmar which was known in Sanskrit as Swarna Bhumi (the land of gold) and the ancient Tamil country.

The presence of Tamil traders or artisans of gold in the region, during the early centuries of the Common Era, is attested to by a Tamil Brahmi inscription found in neighbouring Thailand. The legend in Tamil, ‘Perum Paththan Kal’ (the stone of the great goldsmith), seen on a whetstone, happens to be the earliest writing found in Thailand.

The Burmese alphabet of today, which is a continuity of the script of the Mon, an early ethnicity of Myanmar, is considered to have come from South Indian writing system, especially the Tamil-Grantha writing.

A 13th century inscription, found at Myinpagan, in Pagan in Myanmar, beginning with Sanskrit invocation and then records the subject matter in Tamil, tells us the existence of a Perumaa’l temple, belonging to the Tamil trade-guild of ‘Naanaatheasi’, at Pagan. (E. Hultzsch, Epigraphia Indica 7, 1902-1903, pp197-98)

The inscription names the temple as Naanaatheasi Vi’n’nkar Aazhvaar at Pukkam (Pagan), alias Arivaththanapuram (ceremonial ancient name of the capital), and says that a person Eeraayiran seeriyaan alias Kulaseakara Nampi coming from Makoathayar Paddanam (a town of the Cheras; Maak-koathai is a title of the Cheras), of Malai Ma’ndalam (Malaiyaa’lam: Kerala), made a gift of a hall, a sacred door and a fixed lamp to perpetually light the hall in the temple.

British colonial conquest of Burma in the 19th century witnessed a new spurt of migration of traders, contractors and workers from the Tamil region of British India.

It is said that the massive teakwood used in the construction of the palace of the Chettiyars of Kaanaadukaaththaan and other such palatial households in the Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu were floated at the delta of Irawathy River in Burma and were received in the country of Chettiyars near the Paampan Channel, just carried by the currents of the Bay of Bengal.

Burma became separated from British India in 1936.

Anti-Indian sentiments after the independence of Burma in 1948 and diplomatic failure of Nehru’s India saw a large number of Tamils coming to Tamil Nadu as Burma refugees, when General Newin became the military dictator in the early 1960s.

Stageless Sgor govt a sensation at Thaipusam

Scenes of Thaipusam

Photos: 29/1/2010 Eve of Thaipusam Batu Caves

UMNO’s FRU at peaceful Thaipusam. Paranoid of Najib not welcome at Batu Caves website postings?

Special Branch was taking our photo and we took his photo he turn away

HINDRAF Activist

Muhyiddin claims on-going talks to settle ‘Allah’ dispute

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Tan Sri Muyhiddin Yassin (picture) has revealed that closed-door talks are already taking place between Muslims and Christian leaders to solve the dispute over using the term ‘Allah’ to describe the Christian God.

“It is unofficial, behind close doors process of engagement to get consensus on how the dispute can be solved,” he told reporters here today, indicating for the first time about out-of-court dialogue to settle the divisive issue.

The deputy prime minister said he did not want to elaborate as the talks were taking place behind closed doors and due to the sensitive nature of the dispute.

“Many parties can make all sorts of interpretations if the issue is discussed out in the open, but behind closed doors it can be solved with respect and courtesy,” he said.

A High Court decision last New Year’s eve reinstated the constitutional right of the Catholic weekly Herald to use the word ‘Allah’ to describe the Christian God in its Bahasa Malaysia section. The ruling riled Muslims and led to a series of attacks using fire, stones and paint against churches, mosques, suraus, a Sikh gurdwara and one convent school.

Wild boar heads wrapped in plastic bags were also thrown at two mosques in Kuala Lumpur last week and is believed to be linked to the ruling.

The government has appealed against Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s landmark decision and has also won a stay of execution. The Roman Catholic Church agreed to the stay due to “national interests”.

Muhyiddin described the ongoing engagement process with groups representing various faiths as a better way to obtaining consensus on how the sensitive issue can be resolved.

At the same time, he said the government position is that there was no need for an Interfaith Commission to be set up in Malaysia as demanded by opposition parties and non-governmental organisations.

“At the moment we feel it’s not necessary but continued dialogue was useful,” the deputy Umno president said.

He pointed out there had been no major issue until the current dispute over the use of ‘Allah’, adding however it was good for all parties to sit down and resolve the issue.

Indonesia had recently set up a similar commission but Muhyiddin said the social-cultural backgrounds of both countries cannot be compared.

Khalid slams shoddy Thaipusam treatment

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid - The Malaysian insider

Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (centre) and other Parti Rakyat put on a smile for the cameras despite being given 'second class treatment' at the Thaipusam celebrations in Batu Caves last night. - Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim blew his top over receiving what he described as a “second class treatment” last night when he was forced to launch the Thaipusam celebrations outside Batu Caves.

He and top state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders had to settle with addressing part of the million congregants at a small stage underneath the MRR2 bridge after local authorities declared the temple compound as private property.

But Khalid believed the “unsavoury” treatment was due to the presence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was also there to officiate the Hindu religious festival.

“We don’t have any problems with them coming but Batu Caves is in Selangor so we (PR government) are the hosts and they are the guests,” said the mentri besar, adding that he was baffled by the treatment he and other PR leaders received.

To add insult to injury, the lack of stairs to the stage prompted the Selayang City Council to use an elevator attached to a truck to lift Khalid and others onto the platform.

Pakatan Rakyat supporters also argued with the police to leave the stage there when Khalid and his entourage had already waited for almost an hour after having scheduled to give his speech at 10pm.

The stage was relocated a day earlier after police said it occupied space for their units on duty at one of Malaysia’s most biggest and colourful festivals.

The Sri Subramaniamy temple in Batu Caves is led by people linked to Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu, president of MIC which is the third biggest party in Barisan Nasional (BN).

BN lost Selangor to PR in Election 2008 and is seen as trying various strategies to recapture the country’s richest state by any means ahead of the next general elections.

Khalid said he will speak to the state’s Land Office to determine if the Batu Caves temple is a private property. PR leaders believed the land should be open to the public.

Meanwhile, the Selangor government gave out RM1 million worth of donations to several Tamil schools and temples as part of what Khalid described as his administration effort to help the state’s poor.

The Thaipusam celebration there had also been transformed into a “fiesta” as part of his government’s tourism initiative to attract foreign tourists here.

Penang DAP warns Zahrain against breaking up Pakatan

PENANG, Jan 30 — The Penang DAP today warned PKR’s Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohd Hashim (picture) from allowing his political frustrations and angst towards Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over a business deal to break up the state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government.

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow chastised Zahrain for labelling Lim as “a dictator, a chauvinist and communist-minded”, saying the Bayan Baru Mp sounded no different from political rivals Umno.

“Zahrain should not try to provoke sentiments and attempt to break up Pakatan Rakyat in Penang by claiming that PKR has no say in the administration of the PR state government,” the Tanjung MP said in a statement issued after speaking to reporters here.

Chow stressed that the state DAP and its lawmakers are fully behind the leadership of Lim, who is also party secretary-general, “against the irresponsible and vicious personal attacks by PKR MP for Bayan Baru Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohd Hashim”.

Zahrain has had a simmering feud with Lim (picture) since the latter’s appointment as chief minister following the pact’s shock victory in Penang in toppling the Barisan Nasional (BN) state government in Election 2008.

Chow noted that even Umno and the ruling BN federal government had never labelled Lim as a communist when the latter was detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1987.

“How can Lim be a chauvinist when he went to jail and lost his parliamentary seat to defend a Malay girl who was detained even though she was a rape victim?” he asked, pointing out that Lim had initiated a hard-core poverty eradication programme in Penang, where 90 per cent came from one community, by ensuring that all families received at least RM 500 a month.

He also disputed Zahrain’s claims that Lim was a dictator for not accepting criticisms, noting that the former PKR Penang chairman had never criticised Lim in any PR joint meetings with the Penang state government.

“Decisions in the Pakatan Rakyat are made collectively in exco meetings,” Chow said.

He also rapped Zahrain for questioning why a third of Lim’s speech during the first Pakatan Rakyat National convention last Dec 19 was in Mandarin.

“Clearly Zahrain was absent as Lim had spoken 85 per cent in Bahasa Malaysia with the remainder 15 per cent in English and Mandarin.

“But even if one third of Lim’s speech had been in Mandarin, is it a crime to speak in one own’s mother tongue? This extremist approach befits a typical Penang Umno leader and not a PKR or Pakatan Rakyat leader,” Chow added, saying Zahrain appeared politically frustrated over his removal as Penang PKR chairman.

“Further, Lim had informed me of Zahrain frustrations with Lim for refusing to endorse Zahrain’s decision last year as Chairman of Island Golf Properties in awarding a tender for the privatised management of the Bukit Jambul Golf Club to a RM2 company.

“As Chairman of PDC, Lim had recommended that the Board of Directors over-rule the award of tender and called for a fresh retender.” Chow disclosed.

“The Board of Directors of PDC had accepted Lim’s recommendation that to give the tender of running the only golf club in Penang worth tens of millions of ringgit to a RM2 company would not comply with Penang’s CAT governance of Competency, Accountability and Transparency.

“Giving contracts to a RM 2 company would make a mockery of change that Penangnites voted for in the 2008 elections and make Penang Pakatan Rakyat no different from BN,” he added.

Chow said by holding firm to CAT, the Penang state government has been able to turn a projected deficit of RM35 million in 2008 budget to a record surplus of RM 88million.

“Penang is proud to be the first state to hold public open tenders of government projects and procurement contracts and also conducting it through the internet (e-tender).

“By sticking to CAT principles, Penang is the first state or federal government in Malaysia to gain praise from Transparency International,” he said.

Chow told off Zahrain, saying he may want to personally burn his bridges with DAP but the PKR man should not allow his political frustrations and Lim’s refusal to endorse his award of tender to a RM2 company to attempt to break up Pakatan Rakyat in Penang.

DAP guns for Zahrain over Guan Eng slur

PENANG, Jan 30 — The Penang DAP is baying for PKR Penang leader Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohd Hashim’s blood and will reveal that personal issues are behind the Bayan Baru MP calling Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng a “dictator, a chauvinist and communist-minded”.

Several top DAP leaders are today expected to detail the reasons behind Zahrain ratcheting his simmering feud with Lim, whose aides say has preferred to keep silent to preserve unity and stability within the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government.

Among the reasons are Lim’s (picture) decision last year for an open tender for the maintenance of the state-owned Bukit Jambul Golf and Country Club of which Zahrain is the president. It is learnt that the chief minister asked for an open tender after a RM2 company linked to Zahrain had sought the contract.

“Zahrain has provoked the DAP without just cause and some leaders will make public his motivations,” a senior DAP leader told The Malaysian Insider.

It is understood that Tanjong MP Chow Kon Yeow will call a press conference today over Zahrain’s outburst against Lim that was carried by The Star daily.

In the report, Zahrain (picture) who is the former state PKR chairman, said PR should not compromise with the leader who is from Malacca as Lim had failed to deliver its general election promises.

Zahrain said among the election promises that were not kept were the introduction of local council election and an open tender system.

“Lim may be reluctant to push for local council election because it will diminish his power if Penangites use that as an avenue to pass verdict on the state’s performance.

“He also promised an open tender system, but he has made the process worse by personally chairing the tender board,” he said, adding that there was better check and balance during Barisan Nasional’s rule.

Zahrain, who was once in Umno, also said when he criticised Lim for his dictatorial ways of managing the state, he was accused of being an Umno agent.

“I am certainly not an Umno agent. I just do not want to see PR going against its promises,” he said. “It is a shame for PR and its principles when projects are awarded based on who knows who.”

Lim has continued to remain silent on Zahrain’s attack, leaving Deputy Chief Minister and state PKR chief Dr Mansor Othman to comment on the matter yesterday.

“The words were uncalled for and I regret his statement. That is certainly not the way to address our fellow partners in PR,” he said and declined to elaborate further.

Amnesty wants charges against Anwar dropped

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 - International human rights group Amnesty International today urged the government to withdraw what it called are politically motivated sodomy charges against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“The Malaysian authorities have resorted to the same old dirty tricks in an attempt to remove the opposition leader from politics,” said Sam Zarifi, the Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty International in a statement.

“Malaysia’s judiciary should throw out these charges," he added.

Anwar was first charged and convicted for the same offence in 1999 but the verdict was overturned by the Federal Court in 2004.

Upon his conviction then, Anwar was declared as prisoner of conscience by Amnesty. In June 2008 Anwar was arrested for allegedly sodomising his former aide Saiful Azlan Bukhari at a condominium in Damansara Heights.

"The criminal charge of sodomy against Anwar, under Section 377B of the Penal Code, is at odds with international human rights standards," added Zarifi.

The group also raised its concern over the prosecution's refusal to hand over key evidence to Anwar ahead of the trial next week.

"Anwar’s case has rightly raised doubts among the international community and investors about Malaysia’s commitment to justice and the rule of law,” said Zarifi.

“The court’s decision to allow the prosecution to withhold key evidence sets a dangerous precedent for criminal cases in Malaysia,” he added referring to the Federal Court ruling on Jan 29.

To Malaysian Indians, Najib is just another actor

Prime Minister Najib Razak can try all he wants to win over the Indian community but it is not going to work because they can sense that to him and his Umno party, Malaysian Indians are just swing voters and not really the equal-status citizens of the country that they are entitled to be, community leaders said.

By Wong Choon Mei (Harakah)

“To the Indians, Najib is just another actor in a long line of actors and actresses from the Umno-BN,” N Gobalakrishnan, a prominent Indian activist and the Padang Serai MP, told Harakahdaily.

“What’s the point of going to Chennai and Batu Caves when all you need to do to convince the Malaysian Indians is to act on the grouses that they have brought up time and again?”

Indeed Najib does appear to be the edge of desperation to win over the community. Snubbed by the Chinese for orchestrating an unpopular power grab in Perak, he is now chasing the Indian vote to bolster his party's traditional 50 percent share of the Malay votes to win at the next general election, due latest in March 2013.

In fact, many political watchers expect him to call for elections by the middle of next year and are unsurprised at his unabashed overtures to the community. Indians form about 8 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million-odd population. Malays predominate at 60 percent, Chinese 26 percent, whilst indigenous and other races form about 6 percent.

In front of God Murugan

At Batu Caves on Friday night, the eve of Thaipusam, the PM resorted to using the full force of his federal machinery to grab center stage. His police force unceremoniously pushed the more popular Pakatan Rakyat politicians, who were also there, to a far-off and inconvenient spot so that they would not steal his thunder.

Nevertheless, it did not stop the Pakatan team led by Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim from winning the greater applause and empathy from the million-odd devotees who thronged the grounds of the sacred temple of the God Murugan.

“The lights you see among the crowd, the railings were all contributions by the government,” Najib had boasted to the crowd. “Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi told me he believes Indians are fairly treated in Malaysia.”

He was referring to his recent trip to Chennai, made in the midst of a spate of attacks against places of worship in the country. Amid criticism that he was not at hand when his own nation was in need of leadership, his controlled media has been painting Karunanidhi as an ultimate icon revered almost like a saint by Tamils throughout the world.

And their purpose: to justify his absence at a time of crisis and to impress upon the Indian community here of how important and beneficial his trip was to them.

“He must think the Tamils in Malaysia are all uneducated fools. Karunanidhi is a well-respected politician but there are so many well-respected politicians in India. It is a vast country with a huge history and culture,” a prominent analyst at a government think-thank told Harakahdaily on the condition of anonymity.

“Why go to Chennai and then a week later, appear at Batu Caves in front of God Murugan with whole Umno-BN gang? Do they not think that the Indians here are capable of putting together such a simplistic jigsaw puzzle? It is insulting.

“The Indians know full well he is only after their votes because the Chinese will no longer bother with him. But the Indian community is not dumb. They won’t vote for Umno-BN until they can feel tangible improvement or until they can see their grouses being genuinely addressed.

“After all Mahathir was in power for 22 years and Badawi for 4 years but the Indians sank even further into poverty. Now Najib comes along with all this fancy public relations and expects us believe that change has finally arrived. Sad to say, I think he probably has a bigger budget for his public relations team than for the community’s development.

What do Indians want

Most of the Indians who emigrated and grew roots in Malaysia came from Southern India during the colonial days to work in the rubber estates. Initially, they settled mostly in Selangor but have since fanned out into other states such as Penang, Perak and Negri Sembilan.

According to statistics compiled by the community, Malaysian Indians lag by far behind the other ethnic groups. Apart from not having received their due share of the economic pie, they believe they have been marginalized in terms of education and job opportunities.

“There are many things that the Indians here have asked from the federal government that directly relates to their living conditions and lifestyle. But there are other issues on social justice and good governance that are also important to us," said Gobalakrishnan.

“We are not kampung folk who cannot see further than our own village interest. There are also a lot of savvy Malaysian Indians who want to live in a modern and civil society, where there is fair play not just among the races but also among the political groups.

“We also care about democracy. What’s the point of getting a bit of subsidy here and there but Malaysia is turned into a police state where all citizens including the Indians cannot live in dignity and peace. What is the point when Indian youths cannot get jobs because of discrimination and end up getting beaten to death in police jails because of corruption in all the government institutions?

Among the core issues that Malaysian Indians have been fighting for is an increase to 3 percent from 1 percent of the country’s economic equity, raising the usage of the Tamil language, greater education and job opportunities.

“A good example is the grants given for building schools. A typical national-type school would cost the Umno-BN government between RM15 to 20 million. But they are only willing to allocate RM2 to 3 million for a Tamil-type vernacular school,” said Gobalakrishnan.

“This is how we end up with dirty, lousy facilities. Parents are not keen to send their children to such poor quality places, even teachers are not keen to work there. This is how they are indirectly phasing out our vernacular schools.

“So don’t come to Thaipusam and talk hot gas. Walk the talk and show the way. Then no one can say you are just another big ‘tin kosong’ (empty vessel).”

Mainstreaming Dilemmas: Muddling Towards the Middle

Mainstreaming in Malaysia has the salutary effect of reining in the ethnic and religious extremists. But there is also a cost.

By Cikgu Evara

“There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos”
Jim Hightower, columnist, populist, and former Texas agricultural commissioner

In PAS, the push for mainstreaming (a prerequisite for Pakatan Rakyat's aspirations for federal power) threatens to sideline the "traditionalist ulama" tendency gathered around Hadi Awang and Nasaruddin Mat Isa, even as it elevates the "liberal modernist Erdogan" faction. By playing the "unity government" card (a bargaining chip for leverage in factional infighting and intra-party struggles?), the "traditionalist" faction in effect is saying to the "Erdogan" faction: there is more than one path to Putrajaya. They are well aware that a substantial segment of the Malay ground remains fluid and uneasy with the post-March 2008 status quo, an undercurrent they can tap into.

UMNO for its part is cultivating the same ground, even as it tries to mainstream, with Muhyiddin Yassin playing the Malay supremacist "bad cop" in a duet with 1Malaysia's "good cop" Najib Abdul Razak. This has been an impossible balancing act, so transparently ludicrous that they seem to have outsourced the supremacist ranting to Ibrahim Ali and his Perkasa brown-shirts (made up mostly of UMNO's fascistic elements). Perkasa is now occupying the void left by the Khairy Jamaluddin-led Pemuda UMNO, i.e. as UMNO's storm troopers. Freed of any official ties to UMNO, we can expect Perkasa to be even more rabid than Pemuda UMNO at its worst. But let’s not be fooled – Perkasa is UMNO, a convenient stalking horse and threatening reminder that things could get worse, better stay with us…

Mainstreaming in Malaysia has the salutary effect of reining in the ethnic and religious extremists. But there is also a cost. The golden mean notwithstanding, Richard Lewontin, the renowned population geneticist, has remarked that the mean or average, as a population attribute, is a statistical reification, i.e. an abstraction that doesn’t really exist. What’s real in population biology are inter-individual differences and variability. Rather than be too fixated on population means, the proper object of study in population biology is variation and variability. Likewise in electoral politics, a middle-of-the-road fixation can give rise to a tyranny of an imagined majority. It’s perhaps time that we moved towards a system of electoral representation which is proportionate to the popular vote obtained (a truer reflection of the spectrum and variability of political preference among the electorate), rather than our existing first-past-the-post system with its bias for middle-of-the-road party politics.

Malay supremacist politics is losing its middle-of-the-road status in our evolving political landscape. Question is, what brand (or flavours) of populism might replace ethno-populism? Islamic social democracy? Islamic Third Way (with its market machismo)? A blend of greens (Islam and environmentalism), with a dash of feminism?

What Does It All Mean – 1M and MM?

BN has its 1Malaysia campaign. PAS and PKR have not made their campaign thrusts known yet if they indeed have one each, but DAP has announced its Middle Malaysia campaign.

By batsman

For my analysis of what all these mean, the DAP’s MM campaign suits me fine as a foil against the BN’s 1M campaign.

The DAP’s thinking assumes that Malaysia is not split into 2, but 3 sections. On the one side, we have the PR Malays, Chinese and Indians. On the other side, we have the BN Malays, Chinese and Indians. Right in the middle, we have Middle Malaysia – undecided and wavering.

To make my analysis, it is necessary to make assumptions of the percentages of each sub-section. PR Malays form 40%; BN Malays form another 40% while undecided Malays form 20%. PR Chinese form 50%; BN Chinese form 30% while undecided Chinese form 20%. PR Indians form 30%; BN Indians form 30% and undecided Indians form 40%.

Of course these percentages ebb and flow and cannot be fixed for certain, but again I need to make the assumption that undecided Malays comprise a much higher number of voters than undecided Chinese and Indians added together.

The BN’s 1M campaign is a false retreat on one front and a real attack on another. A new general has been holding the reins for about a year and his new consultants and new team have come up with a credible campaign compared to the confusion in the ranks of the BN after the 12th GE.

The real attack assumes the character of most Chinese and Indians not as patriots, but as unhappy citizens deprived of their share of the cake. The attack takes the form of seduction and appeasement of Chinese and Indians in the hope that Chinese and Indian voters will flock to its banners once again.

The false retreat is in toning down aggressive talk and threats against others on Malay rights. All UMNO Malays know that this is a false retreat, therefore they have no problems with it, the exception being TDM who even now seems to pretend he is not able to influence the decision makers of UMNO and promotes Perkasa as the defender of Malay rights, knowing full well that Perkasa can switch under the banner of its paymaster UMNO in the flick of an eye.

Of course the false retreat and real attack are just political campaigns. To back it up, the police, judges, civil service, NGOs, other motley institutions and GLCs still need to be on BN’s side and must be prepared (and HAVE taken) violent suppression or dirty tricks on its behalf.

All these dirty tricks and violent suppression BN has found necessary to shore up its rule have exposed it as a non-democratic, corrupt and even murderous regime. The 13th GE represents the last vestige of decency BN needs to cover up its naked obscenities. They are desperate to win this last skimpy vestige of decency to cover up their huge obscenities.

The DAP’s Middle Malaysia campaign unfortunately does not seem to have any tactics except to say that middle class Malaysians need to be won over. Given the fact that most middle class Malaysians are Chinese, they are targeting the wrong group of voters. Their tactics will make the DAP even more Chinese oriented than ever.

I submit that the undecided Malays must be won over. For this to happen, a very risky assumption has to be made. It has to be assumed that most Chinese and Indian Malaysians are patriots and not just unhappy citizens deprived of goodies and their share of the cake. This means that Chinese and Indian Malaysians must have the political will power and wisdom to forego all talk of benefits and goodies and allow Malays to go all out to contest UMNO without any worries that they will become puppets of the Chinese.

Foregoing all talk of benefits and competition for goodies will neutralize BN’s real attack of seduction and appeasement. Allowing Malays to go all out to contend with UMNO will neutralize BN’s false retreat and force it to expose itself as a racist government.

This means the DAP must forge a unity with PKR and PAS that is sincere and real. It means sincerely, voluntarily and willingly allowing Malays to be the real leaders in the opposition and foregoing competition for positions or benefits. Unfortunately accusations that DAP has a dictatorial style does not bode well.

If in future, 1M or MM does nothing except maintain the racial divide and ALLOWING this racial divide to maintain a massive army or corps of corrupt cronies, policemen, judges, civil servants, etc, etc, etc because each racial group cannot make compromises and need corrupt and violent policemen and judges to maintain their rule, then Malaysia loses out. Patriots lose out.

What patriots want more than anything else is to see and end to corruption, incompetence and sin as a way of life in Malaysia. For this to happen, effective checks and balances are needed. And for effective checks and balances to have a chance, it is necessary to have a healthy 2 party system of rotating governments.

The DAP’s MM campaign, if it is to be truly meaningful, must be able to pave the way for PR to become the next government of Malaysia, whatever sacrifice it takes or is this too idealistic to hope for?

Of course this does not mean PAS and PKR sit back and do nothing. For one, rein back mavericks who cause fear and confusion and for another, please express more dynamic and better leadership, or are this also too idealistic to hope for?

The Lone Voice of Genuine Reform.

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Member of PAS Central Working Committee.

To paraphrase Warren Bennis, leadership is like beauty, it’s hard to define but you know when you face one. I’ve little qualm to admit that the kelantan prince, Tengku Razaleigh or widely known as Ku Li, has it and is certainly one.

I have always thought that my few but close encounters, particularly of late, in the parliament with him allow me to say this with some degree of accuracy. Admittedly, being mortals all of us have our ups and downs, our idiosyncrasies, our shortcomings, whatever, but I still thought of him as being special in more ways than one.

Today, I stand vindicated. Given the dearth of leaders in Umno/BN, nay the entire nation, Ku Li really stood tall and made a huge mockery of the empty rhetoric of the 1- Malaysia of his party’s President. Ku Li once said ‘Empty rhetoric breeds contempt and distrust’. I couldn’t agree more?

Incidentally both PAS and PKR (and as well DAP) must equally take heed of this reminder as their dispensing of justice of late, in their own backyard are a far cry from the rhetoric of ‘Justice for All’. It surely leaves a very bad aftertaste to say of the least. I’m unable to amplify for the time being, but Khalid’s case seems quite unpalatable to many a well-wisher of Justice. That I must have the courage to say it squarely to all, without fear or favour again.

At a time when the nation faces seemingly unending crises, there’s a lone voice from the backwoods of the rotten-to-the-core-Umno/BN government, who now stood for everything against the whims and fancies of his party. Perhaps like many humiliated and distressed souls of the nation, (this writer included), he now deems it ‘Enuf is Enuf”.

Lest you think that I’m copious with my accolades for him just because he stands for the oil royalty of the PAS-led Kelantan state government and the Kelantanese people, you are wrong again. It wouldn’t have meant much, nothing spectacular, as that’s almost plain vanilla.

But he now stands to not only fight for the right of kelantan. He now stands to correct the abuses by the federal government in the way they allocate money and grants to the different states, including Sabah and Sarawak. And should I say the entire federation. The practise of federalism by the Umno/BN is a complete sham and in fact its exact anti-thesis. It is authoritarian democracy at its best. The Umno/BN’s government is about to destroy any semblance of a functional federalism. That is extremely dreadful and heinous.

He depicts and betrays his true statesmanship by confirming the offer to lead the parliamentary caucus on oil right. But best of it all, he now said that the oil caucus is not just about oil. It is to re-examine the relationship between the states and the federal government. “Let us re-examine the agreement in 1948” he quipped.

Are we seeing a star in the gloomy night sky of Malaysia? As the saying goes, only when it is dark, do you see the star.

The deepening of the various racial and religious fault-lines of the Malaysian political landscape is scary to say of the least. The systemic rot of critical institutions of the state seems unabated. The economy is not out of the wood as yet, while corruption is as malignant as before.

Given these bleak political backdrop, the reform voice of Ku Li is surely most welcomed by the fraternity of the Pakatan Rakyat and most assuring and consoling to the citizenry as a whole.

He may now be the target of retribution and hatred from his own party. The entire wrath of his party’s may descend on him. Najib is now weighing his options. This will be truly the test for Ku Li as a leader ie to walk the extra mile. We believe Ku Li has it – to be the lone voice of genuine reform from a party that has gone way past 6.30 pm!