Non-Malays get raw deal, claims rep

thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Yayasan Selangor has found itself mired in yet another controversy with the latest allegation that it has awarded scholarships to only five non-Malays in the past two years.

The three Indians and two Chinese were among 1,571 recipients in secondary schools in Selangor in 2008 and 2009, Kota Alam Shah state assemblyman M. Manoharan claimed.

He said the educational arm of the Selangor Government gave scholarships to two Indians and a Chinese in 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat took over the government and one Indian and a Chinese the following year.

In 2008, Yayasan Selangor gave out scholarships worth RM214,750 to 807 students. Last year, the amount came up to RM370,100 to 764 students.

Statistics for this year have not been released yet.

The 2008 and 2009 statistics were given to DAP’s Manoharan after he raised the issue during the Selangor state assembly meeting early this month.

Manoharan said the state government had been been very secretive in disbursing scholarships.

“I only discovered that there are scholarships given out by Yayasan Selangor during a meeting with its general manager in September,” he said.

Manoharan said the state government had been giving the “lame excuse” that few non-Malays were submitting applications for the scholarships.

He criticised Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who is Yayasan Selangor chairman, claiming that he had failed to ensure a fair distribution of scholarships.

“He should realise that he is an MB for all races,” he said.

Manoharan also took to task state DAP representatives, saying they should put their foot down and ensure a better distribution of benefits for the people.

“It seems that the DAP representatives are subservient to the other partners in Pakatan,” he said.

Manoharan said he wrote a letter to Khalid on Nov 18 requesting for a quota of scholarships for non-Malays and that advertisements for scholarships and study loans be placed in all newspapers.

Yayasan Selangor had been in the news recently when it was revealed that it had splurged on its 40th anniversary celebrations.

The matter so displeased the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Shara­fuddin Idris Shah that he decided not to attend the event, which was eventually cancelled.

Hindraf emerges a hydra three years later

 ANALYSIS The thrust of Hindraf’s 18-point demands, contained in a memorandum handed to the prime minister on Thursday, is that Article 153 of the federal constitution and the so-called Malay special privileges must end and now.

The federal constitution like any other constitution, written or unwritten, is a social contract but it has undoubtedly been observed more often than not in the breach.

The ad-hoc apolitical human rights movement feels that it is the unilateral extension of a distorted and deviant form of Article 153 to every facet of life in Malaysia that has brought the Indian underclass in particular to its collective and current degrading status at the bottom of the dung heap.

Some blatant examples include the marking system for public examinations being a state secret, the denial of medical seats to Indians, the non-recognition or withdrawal of recognition for foreign medical degrees and the institution of a race-based Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) for law graduates.

Article 153 finds its ultimate expression in the distorted implementation of the New Economic Policy (1970-1990) which still continues past its shelf life. The NEP, as it was originally envisaged, had two noble intentions: elimination of the identification of race with economic function and place of residence; and the eradication of poverty irrespective of race, colour, class or creed. Umno decided that only Malays, no matter how rich, were poor and ignored the non-Malay poor.

The third prong of the NEP – that the Malays own, control and manage 30 percent of the corporate economy within 20 years – remains as unacceptable now as it was in the beginning. What has made this particular prong totally nauseous and therefore even more unacceptable over the years is that Umno has unilaterally extended it from corporate economy to the entire economy.

The myth of ‘ketuanan Melayu’
Article 153, Hindraf never tires of pointing out, merely recognised “a necessary evil” i.e. that the Malays and natives would have a special position – not special privileges – limited to four specific areas for 15 years – intake into the civil service; intake into institutions of higher learning owned by the government; scholarships and training privileges; and opportunities from the government to do business.

In all four areas, Article 153 calls for a reasonable proportion, not necessarily reflecting their numbers in the population, to be reserved for the Malays and natives. In short, Article 153 is not a “sapu bersih” (clean sweep) clause. Anything more than what the population numbers reflect can of course be termed unreasonable.

In any case, when one begs for government hand-outs, the population figures shouldn’t come into play but what can be termed a reasonable proportion.

The second prong of Article 153 calls for recognition of the legitimate aspirations of the non-Malay communities. Had the second prong of Article 153 been honoured by the Umno government since independence in 1957, Hindraf supporters would not have taken to the streets on Nov 25, 2007 in a spontaneous uprising which was unprecedented in Malaysia’s history. It was enough to send shivers down the collective spine of the ruling elite and their fat cats in tow.

To top it all, Umno never tires of flogging the myth of ‘ketuanan Melayu’ – Malay political dominance and supremacy – to justify its transgressions against the non-Malays and Malays alike. ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ is an extrapolation from Tunku Abdul Rahman’s unwritten social contract which held that since the Chinese dominated and monopolised the economy, the Malays would lead the politics of the country.

This unwritten social contract in fact fell apart when Umno decided that ‘ketuanan Melayu’ must mean that the Malays must dominate and lead in every aspect of life in Malaysia. It was this openly racist thinking which has seen the Malays forming 90 percent or more of the civil service, armed forces, the teaching service, the judiciary, the GLCs and anywhere that Umno’s writ runs large. Enter the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) which focused on brainwashing large numbers of Malays involved in government in racism a la ‘ketuanan Melayuism’.

Who can Hindraf do business with?

Enough is enough – Hindraf wants the charade to end and not carry on for even a minute longer.
The question is what the movement can do if Umno – seen by it as the source of all evil in the country – refuses to blink? How does one do business with the devil himself? Can it do business with PKR, the Umno alter ego in Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition alliance?

Hindraf leaders are convinced that PKR under its de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim is an even worse option than Umno. This is seen in the fact that Anwar has openly criticised Hindraf as racist instead of recognising it rightly as representing the victims of racism.

Hindraf wants to be seen as not taking away the rights of any Malaysian but merely asking for a place in the sun for its constituents who were instrumental in laying the bedrock of Malaysia’s prosperity in the rubber industry. If Hindraf succeeds in its quest, there’s hope for other marginalised communities in Malaysia.

It’s very unlikely that Umno will heed Hindraf’s demands after having gone on a propaganda binge for the last half century and more in violation of the federal constitution. Umno’s simplistic thinking is that the Indians, like the 70 percent illiterate Ibans in Sarawak, can easily be bribed into voting for the ruling BN when election time comes.

The movement will have to continue doing what it has since been doing at home and abroad to bring about change and reform in the country.

Abroad, it can pursue its class action suit against the UK government and continue to raise its grievances in international forums and work with the relevant law enforcement agencies to freeze assets acquired, at home and abroad, by those who continue raiding the public treasury.

Quiet satisfaction in punishing Pakatan

At home, Hindraf can continue to make common cause with other marginalised communities in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak in the emerging third force and elsewhere.

The thinking here is that the participation of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia has merely served to empower the ruling elite at the expense of the two states, the natives in particular, and the non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia.

The idea of Hindraf standing in 15 parliament seats and 38 state seats in Peninsular Malaysia is not expected to make any impact in the short run for the movement. Pakatan, or the BN for that matter, is unlikely to make way for Hindraf in these seats. This would most probably result in the BN winning them by default.

Hindraf can take quiet satisfaction from the fact that the denial of the 15 parliament seats in particular will make it that much harder for Pakatan to seize the reins of power in Putrajaya.

Much more telling will be Hindraf’s plan to get Indian voters to abstain from voting – not a boycott – in the seats other than the 15 and 38. This is to make the winners and losers realise why they won or why they lost. That would help set up a much more exciting 14th general election.

Angry protests over Korea shelling

South Korean protesters demanding a harder line against neighbouring North Korea have on Saturday scuffled with police outside the defence ministry in the capital, Seoul.

The demonstrators, former members of the "Underwater Demolition Team," set off fire extinguishers and waved sticks as they called on the government to take action after four people were killed as a result of North Korea shelling of Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed Yellow Sea maritime border.

"We can not help expressing our anger about the behaviour of the defence ministry and the government in general that failed to take due retaliatory action," they said.

Elsewhere in the city on Saturday, about 1,000 Marine veterans gathered, burning a North Korean flag along with a picture of Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean leader, and his son Kim Jong-un.

"We cannot tolerate North Korea's barbarous provocation any more. We ex-Marines will lead the rally to show our decisiveness to punish North Korea. That's why we are here," Ahn seung-choon, a protest leader, said.

Lee Kwang-Sun, a retired Marine, said that the veterans were prepared to return to active duty if their nation called on them.

"We are ready to rush to the frontline if we are asked to do so," he told the AFP news agency.

'Nationalist feeling'

Two Marines stationed on Yeonpyeong were among those killed after scores of North Korean shells rained down on the tiny island on Tuesday. Dignitaries and relatives paid tribute to Sergeant Seo Jeong-woo and Private Moon Gwang-wuk as they were laid to rest on Saturday.

"There is a lot of nationalism now on the streets, particularly here in Seoul," Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from the South Korean capital, said.

"The South Korean government has faced a lot of criticism for what many people see as their lacklustre performance in terms of retaliating for the North Korean attack.

"On the other hand there is also a large section of South Korea's population who think this all getting much too heated. What they want want is for the government to find another more peaceful way to re-engage with North Korea."

South Korea's Marine commander on Saturday vowed "thousand-fold" revenge on North Korea for the deadly bombardment of the island.

"All Marines, including Marines on service and reserve Marines, will avenge the two at any cost, keeping today's anger and hostility in mind," Lieutenant General Yoo Nak Joon said.

"We will put our feelings of rage and animosity in our bones and take our revenge on North Korea."

South Korea is preparing for joint military manoeuvres with the US beginning on Sunday. The US is sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to South Korean waters for the military drills in the Yellow Sea.

Military 'provocation'

The North, which sees the drills as a major military provocation, unleashed its anger over the planned exercises in a dispatch on Friday.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war," a statement in the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea's army and people are "now greatly enraged" and "getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire," it said.

China, which has been urged to use its influence over North Korea to calm the situation, has also criticised the planned war games, prompting the US to state they were "not directed at Beijing".

"The Chinese government was informed of our intent to conduct this naval exercise in the areas west

of the Korean Peninsula," said Pentagon spokesman Darryn James.

"It is important to point out that this exercise is not directed at China. As with previous exercises in this series, these operations are defensive in nature and designed to strengthen deterrence against North Korea," he said.

Pyongyang has blamed Seoul for Tuesday's exchange of artillery fire, saying that it responded to South Korean shelling. South Korea's military has acknowledged it was carrying out live-fire exercises in the area, but says they were not aimed in North Korea's direction.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

One more murder suspect arrested

While the public interest in the highly sensationalized Sosilawati and three other murders have waned over time, the murder of high profile lawyer Balasundram has evoked somewhat similar interest and anger as well.

Tamil Nesan 271110

Is this murder mystery involve money lenders and suspended lawyers similar to Banting murders ?

Malaysian authorities have arrested a Taxi driver in connection with the murder of prominent Ipoh lawyer G Balasundram, age 57, according to Tamil Nesan report.

With this, 7 people have been arrested so far for the murder that happened on 16/11/10 at 5:30 PM. Lawyer G Balasunderam was stabbed to death 17 times by two masked men outside his home in Ipoh

The taxi driver and Balasundram, apparently, had legal dealings that went sour. The police made the arrest based on the notes left by the murder victim.

 Tamil Nesan

PKR in two minds over ‘Third Force’ candidates

PETALING JAYA, Nov 27 — PKR leaders remained undecided over the plans by an independent group to propose a slate of election candidates for the party, preferring to stick to its internal process.

PKR information chief Latheefa Koya admitted the party had compromised on the quality of candidates in the last election but said that the process has been improved since the formation of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) after Election 2008.

She also pointed out that the party’s success in the last general election had managed to attract more talents into the party.

“In 2008, there was no Pakatan Rakyat, so our priority for PKR, DAP and PAS was to ensure a straight fight with Barisan Nasional (BN),” Latheefa told The Malaysian Insider.

“We had to compromise on the quality of candidates. The qualified ones were not ready, because if they lose they would have lost everything,” she said.

“Now in some seats we have two to three people lining up to be the candidate,” said Latheefa (picture), who was one of the party’s strategists in Petaling Jaya in the last general election campaign.

When opening PKR’s Youth and Wanita congress, outgoing deputy president Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali asked the party to handle the “Third Force” with care and said that the group could prevent PR from achieving a huge victory in the next general election.

The ongoing PKR congress however has been silent on the issue, preferring to focus on the status of de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The initiative to prepare candidates for the general election is led by lawyer-cum-blogger Haris Ibrahim and his group called the Barisan Rakyat.

Haris had said that the objective of the group is to offer strong candidates who would not switch allegiance in case PR forms the next federal government.

The candidates, who have been vetted through a stringent process, would only contest as independents if they are rejected by PR parties.

The group of activists and bloggers has been campaigning against BN since before Election 2008, which saw the ruling coalition losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time and losing control of four states.

They were also behind a manifesto called the People’s Declaration that was endorsed by all PR parties ahead of the 12th general election.
The group was also influential in mobilising urban voters to back PR candidates in 2008.
Today, Latheefa described the move to force PKR to accept a list of outsiders as candidates as unfair.
“So now they are presenting a list of people who have not shown any commitment to the organisation. Which organisation will accept this? We are presented with another risk,” she said.

Latheefa did not think that the group’s candidates would affect PKR’s votes if they were to contest as independents.

“I doubt it very much. I don’t want to sound arrogant but in our history people have always voted for familiar symbols. People still go for organisational back-up,” she said.

Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution distanced the party from the group’s initiative but was non-committal when asked if PR parties would accept its candidates.

“This initiative was started by a group of civil society activists who believe they have a role. They believe that the time has come for them to be active in politics,” said Saifuddin when stressing that the existence of such an initiative should be seen as a sign of disunity in the party.

“Currently, candidate selection process is an internal affair. However the opposition has shown that in the past we have fielded candidates from NGOs to represent the party,” he said, pointing out that the DAP had allowed feminist the late Zaitun Kassim to contest in Selayang in 1999.

“Whether the policy is still in force is yet to be discussed,” said the Machang MP.

BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the “Third Force” is proof of dissatisfaction with the PKR leadership.

The prime minister also said “Third Force” members are welcome to join the ruling coalition as direct or associate members under its new rules.

PKR delegates pour scorn on defectors

By Stephanie Sta Maria

PETALING JAYA: PKR delegates at the party's national congress today showed no mercy in bashing party detractors whom they called “the lowest form of mankind”.

Since last year, five members of parliament and three assemblymen defected from the party in protest of its leadership.

The latest member to leave was former PKR Federal Territories chief Zaid Ibrahim who resigned last week. Prior to his resignation, he also withdrew from the race for deputy presidency citing dissatisfaction with the manner in which the elections were managed.

Perlis delegate Tengku Nazri Tengku Din was the harshest in his condemnation of these defectors.

“They are despicable,” he declared. “In future, we need to be more discerning in choosing members who are truly want to stand with us in both good times and bad.”

Malacca PKR delegate, Yusof Abdullah, meanwhile, demanded that future party members be vetted more closely to ensure that they were not bringing a hidden agenda into the party.

He emphasised, however, that such measures were not aimed at discouraging new membership.

“We will always welcome new members but we need to take into account the impact of their presence in the party,” he explained. “We should take recent events as a lesson so we don't find ourselves in a non-conducive situation again.”

“We also need a mechanism that enables us to test and evaluate a member's loyalty over a period of time. During that period, these members should not be allowed to run for or hold any party positions. They must also understand the fundamentals of the party's struggles.”

Sarawak delegate Ahmad Nazib Johari took an indirect swipe at Zaid when he expressed remorse over “immature party members who fault the central election committee (CEC) when they realise that they are losing the elections”.

“They start pointing accusing fingers at other quarters when in fact they had not made any effort to strengthen the party,” he said. “We cannot compromise with characters who oppose the party.”

Delegates voice concern over complaints

Concerns over the alleged irregularities in the party election process also surfaced, with delegates issuing both warnings and advice to the top leadership on the matter.

Earlier today, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution said that the CEC had received a total of 289 complaints as of Nov 25 and promised that every single one would be thoroughly investigated.

But Perak delegate Zulkifli Ibrahim questioned outright the extent of the CEC's power in managing the election process and investigating the complaints.

“Is the committee fully empowered to ensure clean and fair elections?” he asked. “Have all the complaints been accepted? Is it true that the CEC lacks manpower to conduct proper investigations? I have lodged three complaints myself and none have been addressed so far.”

“Since we criticise the Election Commission, we should be setting an example of clean and fair elections. This is not a trivial issue but a grave one that needs to be handled appropriately by the new leadership. Whatever investigations that have begun must continue even after the congress is over.”

PKR Youth delegate Lee Khai Loon echoed Zulkifli's sentiments and put forth his recommendations for future elections.

“All candidates should sign a code of ethics,” he proposed. “They may not adhere to the code completely but at least it will spark an awareness within them.”

“There should also be limit on the campaign expenditure which will reduce money politics in elections. This will assure the people that candidates were elected based on their worthiness and not their wealth.”

Zulkifli, however, softened towards the end of his speech and gave the party due recognition for its efforts in conducting the historic direct elections.

“It is the most democratic election by far,” he said. “The party has been pounded by criticism but should also be praised for its commendable efforts to hold such an election. The shadow of its shortcomings shouldn't fall across this achievement.”

Nothing undemocratic about ‘de facto’ post

By Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: PKR delegates today defended the position of Anwar Ibrahim as the de facto leader despite rising criticism that it is tantamount to dictatorship.

Terengganu delegate Fariz Musa said the de facto position was created through a democratic process three years ago during the party national congress, he said when debating the presidential address at the second day of the PKR national congress.

He said that Anwar’s position cannot be disputed, as it was the delegates who agreed to create the position for him and not the other way round.

“We have to continuously defend Anwar’s position in the party, but by defending it, we do not mean that he is untouchable,” he said, describing Anwar as the party's “main weapon”.

“In the party national congress in 2007, we had unanimously passed a resolution to create a de facto position for Anwar. It was our decision to put him up there,” he said.

Observers and politicians alike have criticised the position of the “de facto” leader, suggesting that the party must allow it to be challenged during the party elections.

But it did not go down well with party leaders, who argued that the position should be formalised and be placed above the party president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, in order to recognise Anwar’s role and influence in the party.

“All the accusations that Anwar is the only one who deserves to be the de facto leader because he cannot take criticisms are a lie and slander,” said Fariz.

“We are not denying freedom of speech, but if you want to criticise your own party leader, there’s an appropriate avenue for it,” he added.

Anwar can be removed if…


Despite the controversy surrounding the matter, Fariz argued that Anwar can only be removed as the de facto leader through a democratic process.

“If he (Anwar) cannot do his duty as what was given to him, the members can table a motion (of no confidence) at the divisional level and convey it at an emergency congress.

“So his position can only be eliminated through this process. Think about it: there’s actually nothing undemocratic about this and we didn’t create the position without any purpose,” said Fariz, who at the end of his speech, received a standing ovation.

Meanwhile, Srikandi delegate Siti Aishah Shaik Ismail also shared the same view with Fariz, saying that Anwar’s position cannot be questioned.

“We did not put him on the pedestal so we could glorify him, but we sympathised with him for what he had gone through,” she said.

She also drew a comparison with PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

“Why can’t we have this position reserved for Anwar if PAS already has one? We should be proud that there is someone to advise us on the party.

“Anwar’s position as the de facto leader cannot be questioned at all,” she said.

Sabah DAP boss defeated in party polls

By Luke Rintod

KOTA KINABALU: Incumbent Sabah DAP state chairman, Dr Hiew King Cheu, lost his state post to Sri Tanjung assemblyman, Jimmy Wong, in a friendly tussle at the party's state convention that ended here today.

Out of the 13 committee members, 12 were present and Wong, who was Hiew's former number two, got the nod from 10 of the 12. Hiew only obtained two votes. The committee members decide among themselves who to elect for state chairman, deputy and two vice-chairmen.

The secret balloting, however, was done only for the post of chairman while the other positions were formalised today after those nominated had won unopposed.

Hiew is a first-term Kota Kinabalu MP. At present, the two are the only lawmakers DAP has in Sabah.

The new deputy chairman is Fred Fung Kong Win, formerly the treasurer, while the two vice- chairmen are Jeffrey Kumin and Henry Mogindol. Former publicity secretary, Dr Edwin Bosi, is the new state secretary.

Meanwhile, Kumin told FMT that the new state committee would meet tonight to consider, among other matters, the new role for Hiew and also to fill up other posts in the state line-up.

The rest of the line-up for 2010 and 2011 are:

Assistant secretary: Junz Wong

Treasurer: Peter Liew Vui Ken

Organising secretary: John Lee Kim Seng

Publicity officer: Chan Fong Hin

DAP national disciplinary committee chairman, Tan Kok Wai, who is Cheras MP, earlier officiated at the one-day convention for about 100 delegates.

Najib open to 'Third Force' joining BN

Bernama) - Najib Razak said today the emergence of the so-called 'Third Force' shows dissatisfaction with the PKR leadership.

"Whether they remain a third force (within PKR) or leave to join the party Zaid (Ibrahim) wants to form or enter Umno ... it all stamps from the crisis gripping the party (PKR)," the prime minister told reporters after opening the MAHA 2010 exhibition here.

Najib was asked to comment on the statement of PKR deputy president senator Dr Syed Husin Ali that the existence of the 'Third Force' could make it difficult for Pakatan Rakyat to win big in the next general election.

Opening the Angkatan Women and Youth Congress yesterday, he said the group should be handled wisely and could not be taken lightly.

Asked whether Barisan Nasional and Umno were prepared to accept the group, Najib said they were always open.

"They can become associate members, affiliate members (of BN) and so on. We are open and inclusive in our attitude to draw more people to Barisan and Umno," he said.

He denied that Barisan was allowing direct membership because it was hard pressed to find second line leaders.

"No, we are not hard pressed. What it means is that BN is changing with the times... and this is important. We cannot stick to old procedures and structures when the political environment has changed.

Asked if the 'Third Force' would change and support BN, Najib said: "I don't know yet, it depends ... we will see how it develops but this is the result of loss of confidence among the PKR members."

Parents lodge complaint over SPM invigilator who insulted students in exam hall

By Sarban Singh, The Star

PORT DICKSON: A police report has been lodged against a teacher who allegedly made racist remarks in front of some 180 students at a school examination hall in Lukut, near here, on Wednesday morning.

Teluk Kemang MIC Youth chief A. Achutan led a group of parents from SM Raja Jumaat to lodge the report at the district police station here yesterday.

The woman teacher, assigned to the school as chief invigilator for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination, has since apologised to the students but the parents decided on the police report as “we do not want such an incident to recur.”

A parent, M. Prabhakaran, alleged that the teacher had told some students who had been noisy before the examination to “return to China and India.”

“The teacher was apparently making an announcement over the microphone when she made the remarks.

“She seemed annoyed when some of the students paid no heed to what she was saying,” said Prabhakaran, adding that she had allegedly repeated the racist remarks several times.

“The students were disturbed by what she said. How can you make such remarks before teenagers, especially when they are about to sit for an examination?” he asked, adding that the students then reported the matter to school headmaster Cheah Les Ngan.

Prabhakaran, who teaches at another school, said the headmaster and several teachers met the invigilator over the issue and advised her to return to the hall and apologise to the students.

Neither Cheah nor state education director Abdul Halim Abdul Talib, who was away, could be reached for comments.

District police chief Supt Baljeet Singh confirmed that a report had been lodged and said the police would record statements from the relevant people.

The incident here followed two high-profile cases involving two principals in Johor and Kedah, both of whom were suspended and then removed from their schools after allegedly making racist remarks against their students.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz told Parliament early this month that it was the first time in the civil service that government officials had been cited for racism.

A little knowledge of anything can sometimes be a very dangerous thing

By Haris Ibrahim,

I read with some amusement some of the comments that propose that the burden rests on the shoulders of ex-PKR sec-gen Salehuddin to prove his assertion that the now much talked-about letter of 2nd February, 2009 said to have been signed by Salehuddin and despatched to Jenapala to notify the latter of his sacking from the party, is a forgery.

Please understand that Salehuddin’s assertion is negative in nature.

Salehuddin is effectively saying that he did not sign the letter.

“I did not sign the letter”, is a negative assertion.

How do you prove an ‘I did not’ assertion?

How do you prove an ‘I did not sodomise Saiful’ assertion?

Sure, an alibi defence to show that you were not at the scene of the crime at the material time, or that there are witnesses who can confirm to be with you at the time of the alleged offence would exonerate you of the charge, but should you be put to this proof without the accuser first bearing the burden of making out a prima facie case?

The law, as I understand it, places the burden on he who asserts the positive, to prove the positive.

So he who asserts ‘You did sodomise Saiful’, bears the burden to prove the fact of the sodomy.

As does he who asserts that Salehuddin did sign the letter.

MIC Youth secretary C. Sivarrajah misleads public with false information to warp no-racial-quota education loans by Selangor State Government into a racial issue

by Teresa Kok
Selangor State Senior EXCO and Member of Parliament for Seputeh


MIC Youth Secretary C. Sivarrajah has copied MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker to warp my good intentioned effort to openly encourage students from all races to apply for Selangor State Government’s no-racial-quota education loans into a ploy to mislead the public about how students of Indian background have supposedly been marginalized.

The fact is that in 2010, Selangor offered the education loan to 28 students of Indian background and not only 4 as Sivarrajah claims. In his quest to be a “hero”, he has resorted to deflating the true number of Selangor’s positive efforts by 7 times!

Furthermore, the total number of education loans offered by Selangor in 2010 is 525 and not the trumped up 4000 figure provided.

I reiterate that the Selangor State Government education loan has no racial quota imposed. All students are judged based on their academic merit and family household income.

The number of students who apply for and accept the Selangor educations loans is not high because they also have the option of applying for and accepting Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) loads which offer far larger sums.

It is thus disgraceful of Sivarrajah to twist Selangor’s education loan which assists students regardless of their skin colour into a racial issue to attack Selangor Pakatan Rakyat.

If Sivarrajah and MIC was genuinely concerned for Indian students, they would object to Public Service Department scholarships’ racial quotas instead of silently ignoring it.

This episode shows that Sivarrajah and MIC is still trapped in an outdated race-based paradigm of their own creation and cannot see beyond their own narrow political interests while remaining blind and indifferent to the genuine needs of all Malaysians as a whole.

(The correct figures are actually 12 out of 525 recipients of Selangor education loan in 2010, and not 4000 as NKKhoo had mistakenly thought at the time. Original false info came from statement by MCA’s Ti Lian Ker. The full statistics can be seen on Teresa’s blog.

(Unfortunately, various newspapers and politicians have knowingly or unknowingly picked up the 4000 number and been using it to criticise Teresa.)

PKR Leadership Is Invalid Morally - Khairy Jamaludin

JOHOR BAHARU, Nov 27 (Bernama) -- The presence of less than 10 per cent of the membership at the Keadilan Wanita and Youth Congress in conjunction with the 7th National Annual Congress of Parti Keadilan Rakyat yesterday has raised a question of morals, said Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin.

This arose when the leadership line-up that was elected did not represent the majority voice of the party, he said.

"If the leadership is elected by nine per cent of the membership, then whoever were elected were invalid in terms of morals. So, how do we place moral integrity on the PKR leadership if the percentage of members who voted was less than 10 per cent," he said.

Khairy said this to reporters after opening a programme organised by the Tebrau Umno Youth movement, here Saturday.

He was commenting on the poor response for the Keadilan Wanita and Youth Congress held at the Petaling Jaya City Council Civics Hall, in Petaling Jaya, yesterday.

More than 1,300 members from the PKR Hulu Selangor division had announced their resignation from the party with immediate effect.

Khairy said this development showed that the party was losing support and facing a serious leadership crisis.

New law to end illegal downloading of music and movies

The Star 
by STEVEN PATRICK

KUALA LUMPUR: The free-and-easy days of illegal downloading of music and movies may soon be over. A proposed new law will enable Internet Service Providers (ISP) to suspend or terminate the Internet accounts of P2P (peer-to-peer) users.

This new law called the ISP Liability act, will be tabled in Parliament next month, according to Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) chairman Norman Halim.

RIM has been lobbying the Government for an ISP Liability act for the past 5 years as illegal online downloads have been cannibalising the legitimate sales of music, worldwide.

“The act makes the ISPs responsible for curbing online piracy. The ISPs will be fined if they don’t take action against illegal downloaders. The ISPs have the technology to track P2P users,” said Norman.

However, he said that the fine amount had yet to be determined.

ISPs will send two warning letters to illegal downloaders. Should the downloaders still persist, the Internet access will be suspended or even terminated.

“Other countries that have such an act have seen their respective music industries recover. One good example would be South Korea,” he said.