Malayur News: 07/30/11

Saturday, 30 July 2011

'Take Rs 20, rape my daughter'

Monster father, desperate to leave Mumbai, dumps his 9-year-old daughter with a drug addict, even bribing him with a paltry sum to buy drugs; the latter strangulates her after raping…

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Jeyakumar: It was mental torture

Transgender ‘Aleesha’ dies of heart attack, depression

Ashraf is seen covering his face with a bag as he leaves the Terengganu High Court, July 18, 2011. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Mohd Ashraf Hafiz…

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EO6: A bitter lesson for the govt

The Najib administration should now learn to respect the ‘rule of law’ instead of bending over backwards to fulfill its own hidden agendas

COMMENT

Abusing the Emergency Ordinance 1969, six…

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Where lies the Indian community’s priority?

A PKR man raises concern over the increasing number of Indian youth involved in illegal activities.

PETALING JAYA: A PKR state level leader chided the Indian community’s obsession with Tamil…

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A PKR man raises concern over the increasing number of Indian youth involved in illegal activities.

PETALING JAYA: A PKR state level leader chided the Indian community’s obsession with Tamil schools and temples when its youths are sinking into the abyss of vice and social ills.

Malacca PKR vice-president G Rajendran said current reports showed that about 110,000 Indian youths are involved in illegal activties.

“There is something very seriously wrong when one out of 10 (Indian) youngster is going the wrong way.

“Do you know that 7,000 Indians in Malaysia between 20 and 40 years are in jail for various criminal activities? Yet we seem to be more concerned about Tamil schools and temples.

“What is the point of having nice facilities in Tamil schools and temples when our children live in deplorable conditions.

“Don’t get me wrong…I don’t blame peoples’ concern for temples and schools but I feel our children are more important than temples,” he told FMT.

Rajendran said the BN and Pakatan Rakyat MPs who recently held a roundtable discussion in parliament to chart a blueprint for the future of Tamil schools should setup a committee to meet the needs of the Indian youngsters.

“Our main problems is gangsterism.. nowadays some of these gangs operate better than some small political party.

“The Indian community should engage all political parties no matter BN or Pakatan and form a united group to tear down gangsterism,” he added.

Rajendran also said several former gangsters whom he met recently told him that the situation was becoming worst whereby school students were being forced to join gangs.

He added that the social ills among the Indian community is like cancer which will slowly kill the community.

Rajendran admitted that one of the reasons the community is at its lowest point was because the government and the Indian leaders who do not care about youngsters.

He said he will raise his concerns with several Indian leaders and propose the setting up of a special committee to engage with youth.

EC is not telling the truth: It can make changes without BN approval

16 days after Bersih 2.0 and finally the Election Commission meets Ambiga Sreenevasen on a public stage to discuss election reforms. Yet, all is not well with the Election Commission…

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16 days after Bersih 2.0 and finally the Election Commission meets Ambiga Sreenevasen on a public stage to discuss election reforms. Yet, all is not well with the Election Commission as more questions have been raise in the aftermath of its lacklustre answers.

EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar absolved himself and his colleagues of any responsibility towards electoral reforms amid boos and jeers during a public dialogue with Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreevenasan, stressing that there was “nothing wrong” with the EC.

“The EC is not an enforcement agency; it is only a management body for elections. The best we can do is to propose relevant laws to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

“But ultimately it is the government of the day, which obtained majority votes, which has the final say. If the government decides that voting age is 21 years old, whatever proposal we send to the A-G’s Chambers can never go to Parliament,” he said at a public forum titled What next after July 9.

A lie of a statement

This is a rather funny statement from the EC deputy chairman, as the manager for elections in Malaysia, the EC is provisioned to make rules as stated in Article 113 (5) of the Federal Constitution. This provision within the Federal Constitution was pointed out by the Bersih chairperson to the EC deputy chairman.

Rules of conduct for elections are well within the boundaries of the EC since these are the rules that go into effect during an election. There is no need for such rules to pass through the AG chambers as long as these rules uphold and stay within the context of federal law.

Thus among other things, the use of indelible ink, a period of 21 days for campaigning and equal access to main-stream media are all measures that the EC can decide on, without having to refer to the AG chambers.

The only time such rules should be referred to the AG chambers is if there is a possibility a rule can contradict a federal law. Even then, if it does contradict a federal law, the EC does have the responsibility to stand by its decision or decide on an alternative.

It is the responsibility of the EC to uphold its role in ensuring that elections are conducted fairly and properly in Malaysia. Appointments are by the Agong and members to the EC must not have any other affiliation whether to political parties or to business entities.

This means they have to ensure that they are neutral and unbiased. If they are unable to be neutral or believe that they cannot play an impartial role as Wan Ahmad himself suggested, then they should immediately resign or be in gross disobedience to the King.

Cheating starts in the EC database itself

Instead, the EC has turned a deaf ear to allegations of phantom voters. When cornered with proof of such voters, the EC states that it is powerless to remove them from the voter listings. To remove a deceased person from the roll, a death certificate needs to be produced. Such technicalities have uncovered some rather funny instances of voters reaching more than 100 years old, still being eligible to vote.

Then there is the case of multiple voters residing under one address. The EC is powerless to remove such voters as it needs to be proven they do not reside at the location. This is their excuse.

But above all, the question that begs an answer is, how did such voters get registered in the first place? Voter registration is conducted by the EC, and an identity card is needed upon registration. All voter registration is entered into a computer database, thus it can be inferred that any manipulation of voter’s registration data happens within the database that is eventually printed out as the electoral roll.

Further points of contention comes from the refusal of the EC to extend postal votes to those who qualify but do not fall into the category of police personnel or the military. In the recent Sarawak state election, this deprived the Sarawak diaspora who work in the peninsula or West Malaysia, their right to ballot. Voters who wanted to vote were forced to pay unnecessarily for airfare back to Sarawak in order to cast their votes.

Making it harder for voters to vote

As overseers of the election process, it is the responsibility of the EC to ensure that all citizens of Malaysia have the opportunity to cast their vote as granted by Article 114 of the Federal Constitution. The EC has instead chosen to make it even harder for Malaysians to cast their votes if they happen to reside away from the state of their origins.

The EC’s non-supportive stance is further evidenced by its refusal to provide automatic registration for Malaysians who reach the age of 21. Why then would the EC not grant Malaysians this facility and ensure that all get the opportunity to vote? Only the EC can answer.

In the wake of Bersih, the EC has shown itself as a toothless and clueless commission. Unwilling to stand up for the rights of everyday Malaysians and instead selling their souls to please their political masters - the BN goverment of the day.

- Malaysia Chronicle

Mahathir’s grand contribution to decline in political morality

Written by Hussein Hamid

Contributors

Since the early 1980s, the ‘indiscretions’ of elected officials and those in the civil service have become the hallmark of all things Malaysian. This…

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Khairy: Yes to transparency, but not for arms buys

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has declared support for a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, but stressed last night that several…

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The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has declared support for a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, but stressed last night that several areas needed to be excluded in the interest of national security, such as defence procurements.

He pointed out that “no country will disclose specifications” of their military hardware due to security concerns.

“The exact specs of tanks, what kind of systems and missiles we use shouldn’t be discussed in Parliament and recorded down on the Hansard,” the Rembau MP said at a forum on FOI at the Bar Council last night.

The issue of defence deals cropped up again after authorities deported a French lawyer who has been pursuing judicial investigations into Malaysia’s controversial RM7 billion Scorpene submarine purchase in the French courts, the day after he spoke on the issue in Penang.

In his absence, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs had accused the Najib administration of wanting to keep the facts hidden in the purchase of the submarines from French defence firm DCNS and up to RM16 billion in defence deals over the past three years.

However, Khairy, along with DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago, mooted an Armed Services committee instead be formed by lawmakers and the armed forces to hear representations from field experts before discussing policy in secret.

When asked if this would still mean that decision-making was shrouded in secrecy, he said that “some disclosure is better than none and at least MPs, representatives of the people, will have the information.”

The purchase of two submarines from French defence company DCNS in 2002 was made when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was still defence minister and a company run by Abdul Razak Baginda, said to be a close aide of the then-deputy prime minister, was reported to have received commissions of over RM500 million from the deal.

Human rights groups and opposition parties here also linked the episode to the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

In December 2009, Suaram filed a complaint with the French courts asking for access to information regarding government contracts signed with Abdul Razak’s Perimekar Sdn Bhd and other information classified as official secrets in Malaysia.

The French courts accepted the request to investigate claims of graft in the RM500 million payment from DCNS to Perimekar.

French lawyer William Bourdon had arrived in Kuala Lumpur on July 23 from Penang, where he spoke at a fundraiser organised by rights group Suaram regarding the Scorpene submarine deal but was prevented from speaking at further events when immigration officers boarded his plane and detained him before deporting him the same night.

Klang MP Santiago had said that Malaysia should go further than simply forming a committee to scrutinise defence procurement as defence journals and publications “already tells you who’s buying what for how much.”

“If you buy a missile for so much, experts can tell you why. So there is nothing to hide. If you search on Google, you can find out what the Malaysian government has.

“Procurement policies should be made clearer. This culture of secrecy must come to an end,” he said.

Church Web sites hacked to push conversion to Islam

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Ambiga grills Wan Ahmad in Round 2

(Malaysiakini) Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar reiterated that the EC is just a "management body" under the law to manage elections, rather than an enforcement agency.…

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"We are guided by the Attorney-General's Office. The laws given to us are management laws," he said.

He was speaking today at a forum 'The Election Laws, Election Commission and Electoral Reform' organised by the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham).

Delivering the opening address at the forum, Wan Ahmad said that issues relating to money politics, vote-buying and dirty politics are under the purview of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

"The EC can be called as a respondent or witness in court, but never in the history of the country has the EC taken a person to court over corruption," he said.

His remark appeared to be a blow to many of those who attended the forum, including one lady who ridiculed the EC as an “event management company” for which its client is the government.

NONE

On the EC enforcement teams formed during election campaigns, Wan Ahmad said their role is merely to monitor posters put up during the campaign.

"What they (political parties) say during ceramah is handled by the police, according to the Police Act. It is the responsibility of the police to monitor the ceramah."

The forum is being held at the Dream Centre in Section 13, Petaling Jaya, this afternoon, in a much-anticipated second round of sparring between Wan Ahmad and Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The discussion will focus on whether the EC has adequate powers to act independently and the legal gaps empowering it to discharge its duties.

NONE

Ambiga crossed swords with Wan Ahmad earlier at a discussion on Tuesday in Shah Alam organised by Kumpulan Karangkraf, the media group that publishes Malay language daily Sinar Harian and a score of popular magazines.

That talk titled 'What's next after July 9?' saw a lively debate between Ambiga and Wan Ahmad, both of whom were cheered and jeered a boisterous, 600-strong audience.

However, the forum today, dubbed as a rematch between the two protaganists, appeared to be a rather tame affair.

'Untrue EC powerless'

Responding to Wan Ahmad, Ambiga as the second speaker cited section 27E of the Election Offences Act to prove that the EC has actually broader powers than it conceives.

NONE

According to Ambiga, the section empowers the EC enforcement team during the campaign to "ensure that written laws relating to election are being complied with".

She argued that the EC also has the power, under the current laws, to call other authorities to assist the commission in carrying out its duties.

Therefore, although the EC has no prosecution powers, it has the responsibility to lodge police reports or request other authorities to take action, when faced with cases of irregularities.

The former Bar Council president also quizzed Wan Ahmad on the issue of postal votes for Malaysians overseas, who are being denied a chance to vote.

"From the feedback we received, it is impossible for them to go to the Malaysian embassies to vote," said Ambiga.

She reminded Wan Ahmad that 50,000 to 200,000 Sarawakians in the peninsula were disenfranchised during the state election in April because they did not qualify as postal voters.

Automatic registration 'doable'

While on the subject, Ambiga also requested Wan Ahmad to explain whether the members of the territorial army (Wataniah), that the government has suggested to form in every parliamentary constituency nationwide, will be registered as postal voters.

Wan Ahmad responded that the EC is looking into replacing the current postal voting system, which has been criticised for not transparent and vulnerable to abuse, with an advance voting systen, where all police and military personnel will cast their votes before the polling day, but the voting process will be exactly the same as ordinary voters on polling day.

He also said that all full-time students and civil servant abroad, together with their spouses, are eligible to be postal voters but the current number of overseas voters only stands at 2,500.

Hence, he added that the EC had appointed assistant registration officers at Malaysian missions overseas to facilitate the overseas voting process.

mykad counter 051105

On the issue of automatic registration, one of the Bersih 2.0 demands, Ambiga dismissed the EC's excuse that it would force people to vote, and that it would lead to a low voter turnout rate.

She argued that if the people are automatically registered as voters when they reach 21 years of age, they still have a choice whether to vote or not.

As for the problem of lower turnout, Ambiga countered that the outcome of automatic registration would result in the opposite, as it overcomes people's laziness in getting themselves registered under the current system.

She added automatic registration is highly doable if the National Registration Department (NRD) database, that is linked to the EC, is clean and has high integrity.

However, Wan Ahmad insisted that “in a functioning democracy, people should be given a choice and you don't force people to register if they are not interested in politics”.

Another reason against automatic registration is that 40 percent of the population do not change their registered address in their MyKad to their current residential address, therefore they would have to travel to another constituency to vote if the automatic registration system is based on the information in their MyKad.

Wan Ahmad also disclosed that the EC had submitted the proposal to the government but the latter was not convinced.

On the proposed biometric verification system, many of those present had raised their doubts including the high probability of failure in recognising finger print especially when one grows older.

These are among the other issues touched on at the forum:

Minimum 21 days campaign period

Ambiga

Longer campaign period is crucial especially for postal voters residing overseas, as the ballots take a longer time to arrive at polling stations.

We not only want to know what the party's manifesto are but we also want to know the candidate's portfolio.

It will also allow candidates more time to disseminate information to rural areas and work the ground.

Wan Ahmad

21 days of campaigning period may be too much but seven days too little and the EC is seriously considering extending into a reasonable period.

Police personnel on duty during elections have said that they don't have enough manpower to stand-by for 24 hours.

longer campaign period it incurs additional cost.

Malaysia is very advanced in information and communication technology, as there are rarely any new political parties, the manifestos of the party can be download off the Internet.

Free and fair access to media

Ambiga

Malaysian mainstream media fails to practice proportionate, fair and objective reporting for political parties of all divide.

EC must exercise to press for all media agencies, especially state-funded media agencies such as Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) and Bernama to allocate proportionate and objective coverage for all political parties.

Wan Ahmad

The government argues that RTM is official broadcast station and they are worried if it is opened up to all other parties it will be abused to confuse the public.

The are no such predicament for other private stations and we have written to them and encouraged for equal coverage be given.

The ‘silent’ one’s AGM

G Palanivel will be chairing his first MIC AGM and perhaps the party's last before the next general election.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tomorrow, the curtain will rise on MIC’s 13th general…

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G Palanivel will be chairing his first MIC AGM and perhaps the party's last before the next general election.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tomorrow, the curtain will rise on MIC’s 13th general assembly, the first for G Palanivel as president, and perhaps the last for the party before the next general election.

Palanivel, who took over the reins from former president S Samy Vellu last year, has the unenviable task of winning over the hearts and minds of the Indian community.

He also needs to court the support of those in MIC, especially when there are murmurs of discontent over his leadership style.

After 30 years of Samy Vellu, the hard-hitting and vociferous captain, MIC is still getting used to its new president, a deeply religious man who prefers to remain below the radar of controversies.

Even before the AGM could kick off, the meeting came under scrutiny after it was alleged that the leadership spent about RM2 million for the two-day event, which would be held in Putrajaya for the first time.

Some claimed that the cost of the China-purchased “goodie bags” itself was around RM800,000 and critics argued that the money could have been better spent to help poor Indian students.

Palanivel, who denied the allegations, was accused of attempting to bait the attending branch chairmen with fine food, five-star accommodation and expensive gifts to garner votes in the next party presidential election.

Palanivel is an untested leader, who rose up the ranks under the auspices of Samy Vellu, starting as his press secretary, later becoming his deputy and eventually succeeding him.

Pundits said that the 65th AGM was vital for MIC because of the next general election, which would be a make or break scenario for the Barisan Nasional component party.

In 2008, MIC came close to disappearing from the political map after the party only managed to retain three parliamentary seats and lost nine state seats. In the previous polls, MIC had a record of maintaining at least 90% of its seats.

Both Samy Vellu and Palanivel were also routed in their traditional strongholds of Sungai Siput and Hulu Selangor respectively. The latter was also overlooked by the BN leadership for the Hulu Selangor by-election last year where a junior MIC man P Kamalanathan was fielded instead.

However, Palanivel was later made a senator and given a deputy minister post. Ironically, his deputy, Dr S Subramaniam, one of those who survived the 2008 electoral onslaught, outranks him in the Cabinet by holding the post of human resources minister.

Avoiding the limelight

Palanivel, who was a former editor with the national news agency Bernama, had always maintained a low profile, preferring to avoid the media, unlike Samy Vellu who basked in the camera lights.

One of his media-avoiding strategies is to hold the party’s all-powerful central working committee (CWC) meetings at night.

As a former newsman, said one observer, Palanivel should understand the importance of the media, especially the alternative media in this era.

“He cannot avoid the cameras, he is the president and voice of a party. How can that voice remain silent when things are raging around him?” asked the observer, adding that Palanivel’s “silence is golden” approach even when attacked by the opposition did not bode well for his leadership and gave the impression that he was weak.

Since taking over, Palanivel’s biggest challenge was the controversy surrounding the Interlok novel.
To his credit, the president made several strong statements but was later seen as bowing to pressure from Umno.

Critics pointed out that being an “Umno-installed MIC president”, Palanivel could not cross the line and his hands were tied.

While Samy Vellu ruled with an iron fist, observers noted that his successor’s soft approach had created internal divisions and “little Napoleons”.

It was also pointed out that Palanivel had refrained from announcing new plans for the community, preferring to ride on the shoulders of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the latter’s 1Malaysia slogan.
Programmes such as the “My Daftar” and “My Skill” were BN’s brainchilds, later adopted by MIC.

Challenge for the top post

Within MIC, Palanivel was said to be facing a challenge from his deputy, and might even witness a three-cornered fight for the top post.

The third contender could be former deputy president S Subramaniam, whom Palanivel defeated twice due to Samy Vellu’s strong influence over the branch chairmen.

Although Palanivel and his deputy denied the allegation of a rift, feedback from the ground indicated otherwise.

Recently, a SMS was widely circulated condemning Dr Subramaniam.

The text message read: “Indians in this country want the ministerial post to be held by the MIC president, not the deputy. Why is the deputy president so greedy and power-hungry? If he is truly a party man, he should hand over the post to the party president immediately and swap it with the deputy minister post (Voice of MIC divisions).”

Meanwhile, Palanivel’s supporters claimed that the president was now forced to undo “three decades of damage” inflicted by his predecessor.

According to them, the new president, unlike Samy Vellu, was more diplomatic and encouraged democracy in the party.

Palanivel, they added, also wanted to unite the different factions in MIC in order to strengthen the party so that it could discharge its duties more effectively for the Indian community.

“He has just taken over the leadership and people are expecting him to perform miracles.

“Samy Vellu has left behind rubbles and now Palanivel must slowly pick up the pieces and rebuild the house,” said a supporter, adding that the new president needed more time to prove himself.

However, with public sentiments having turned against BN, time was something MIC cannot afford to waste as the general election draws closer.

‘Freeing us was a political move’

Sungai Siput MP says the government had to release them following the immense pressure imposed by the rakyat.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Sosialis Malaysia leader Dr Michael D Jeyakumar today called…

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PSM’s EO6 released without conditions

Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar and five of his PSM colleagues have been released after being detained under the Emergency Ordinance for 28 days.

FMT

PETALING JAYA:…

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Surendran says again: Attempted murder

PKR counters the police version of the July 9 events with videos shot at KL Sentral

VIDEO INSIDE - FMT

PETALING JAYA: PKR vice president N Surendran, ignoring a threat…

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PKR counters the police version of the July 9 events with videos shot at KL Sentral

VIDEO INSIDE - FMT

PETALING JAYA: PKR vice president N Surendran, ignoring a threat of legal action, today repeated his assertion that there was an attempt to commit murder in the tear gassing of Bersih marchers at KL Sentral last July 9.

Speaking at a press conference where reporters were shown videos to counter the police version of events during the march, Surendran accused the authorities of ignoring evidence of police brutality, which he said was abundant, and questioned the impartiality of Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail.

PKR’s video presentation came a week after police screened a collection of clips for the media to back their version of what happened on July 9.

“The police version is inaccurate and false,” Surendran said. “They have not responded to the serious incident that took place at the KL Sentral underpass.

“Again I state that the attack should be classified as attempted murder.”

Surendran first uttered the accusation on July 20. Last Wednesday, police interrogated him for 45 minutes for making the statement. He told reporters afterwards that he was being investigated under the Penal Code on suspicion of making statements jeopardising public order.

At today’s press conference, he quoted from the Penal Code a definition of murder: “Without any excuse, A fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills one of them. A is guilty of murder, although he may not have had a premeditated design to kill any particular individual.”

PKR’s video evidence

Revisiting the KL Sentral standoff, Surendran showed footage shot by FMT video journalist Saiful Hisyam Md Salleh as well as clips supplied by TV Selangor.

Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Fadiah Nadwa Fikri gave a running commentary.

“At minute 6.27 (of the FMT video), there were orders of ‘Bawah, bawah’, meaning they were planning on aiming directly at the protesters,” she said. “This is the first unlawful act we want to point out.”

She also noted that the canisters had labels warning against shooting directly at people and shooting into an enclosed area.

“At minute 7.28, you can hear the Brickfields district police chief, Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, asking reporters to step aside to avoid being shot at. This shows that the police already intended to shoot directly at protesters regardless of what happened.”

She noted that 12 shots could be heard. “Is it lawful for the police to fire so many shots at the protesters, especially in a confined place in the tunnel?”

Fadiah also referred to a TV Selangor video showing a policeman repeatedly beating a man with a baton although he was already restrained by two other policemen.

“That happened right after they fired the tear gas,” she said. “They tried to apprehend the marchers and were beating them for no reason.”

Surendran questioned why police investigations were directed against “peaceful marchers”.

“Where is the investigation on the unlawful and criminal acts of the police? Where is the investigation into the Tung Shin hospital incident? Where is the investigation into the severe injury of Anwar Ibrahim’s body guard?”

He said the authorities must classify the KL Sentral incident as murder. “I don’t see why the Attorney-General is not acting fairly in this.”

Can cause death

He also questioned why Abdul Bari had not been suspended from his duties.

“We all know tear gas has to be fired in an arc. Orders were given to fire directly at protesters and there was actually intention to inflict bodily harm. How high up did the order come from? That alone is enough to open up an IP (investigation paper) on the police. Criminal intent is there.”

Yew Boon Lye (left), who leads PKR’s Klang branch, told the press conference that he was in the KL Sentral march and that he was injured by a tear gas canister.

“We did not have the chance to get out when shots of tear gas were fired,” he said. “A canister scratched the side of my left eye and bruised it. My spectacles flew off. It was chaotic, full of gas, and I found it very hard to breathe, and felt like puking.

“I’m very disappointed with how cruel our security forces were. We had no intention of attacking them. They attacked us.”

Subang MP R Sivarasa said police were aiming the tear gas canisters at the heads of at least three people — Anwar, Yew and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

According to research, he claimed, tear gas fired into enclosed spaces could cause death.
“Excessive tear gas was what cost Baharuddin Ahmad his life,” he said, referring to the protestor who died during the march.

Hindraf: Stop the wayang kulit politics!

Indians have been taken for ride with empty promises made by successive prime ministers to uplift the community, says Hindraf chief Waythamoorthy.

GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should…

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Indians have been taken for ride with empty promises made by successive prime ministers to uplift the community, says Hindraf chief Waythamoorthy.

GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should stop the wayang kulit politics of making empty promises to the Indian community at MIC’s annual general assembly, said Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy.

He said marginalised ethnic Indians, especially the 70% working class segment, were fed up and disgusted with the Umno-sponsored prime time zero political show.

He said ethnic Indians were weary of this show given that their plight and grievances have hardly been addressed by the BN government for 54 years.

“Enough is enough on this political sandiwara. Indians are fed up of this nonsense,” said Waythamoorthy.
He called on Najib, the country’s 6th prime minister, to discontinue the wayang kulit political tradition when he officially opens MIC’s 65th AGA tomorrow.

He noted that each year, the premier as Barisan Nasional chairman, would make various promises in his keynote address at the MIC annual summit.

“He will earn grandstand applause from delegates at the end of the speech. However, all those promises will be forgotten once he leaves the hall. They have never been fulfilled.

“This is what has been happening for past 54 years,” said the London-based Hindraf supremo.
He criticised both Umno and MIC elites of having a concealed social contract to hoodwink and deceive the Indian community since independence until today.

MIC complicit in short changing Indians

He hit out at MIC elites for being subservient to Umno and compromising Indians’ constitutional rights merely to protect and fulfill their own self interests.

In turn, he said Umno would always take care of these MIC elites’ needs just to keep them as political mandores.

During pre-independent talks, said Waythamoorthy, the MIC leadership had tacitly supported Umno and British political manipulation to permanently uphold Malay special position under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

In his research into the Malaya’s pre-independence talks to facilitate his US$4 trillion class action suit against the British, he found that all safety measures proposed as permanent constitutional features to protect minority rights in the imminent Malay majority rule were dismantled.

He said these proposals were all omitted from the final draft of the Malaya Federal Constitution with the support of MIC and MCA, which were supposed to protect minority rights and interests.

“This had allowed Umno to misuse and manipulate Article 153 until today,” said Waythamoorthy.

Now do you know what I mean?

So which is it then? Is the DAP-led government of Penang neglecting the Malays or neglecting the Chinese? Can Umno and MCA please agree on this? Can we also hear…

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Saturday, 30 July 2011

'Take Rs 20, rape my daughter'

Jeyakumar: It was mental torture

Transgender ‘Aleesha’ dies of heart attack, depression

EO6: A bitter lesson for the govt

Where lies the Indian community’s priority?

EC is not telling the truth: It can make changes without BN approval

Mahathir’s grand contribution to decline in political morality

Khairy: Yes to transparency, but not for arms buys

Church Web sites hacked to push conversion to Islam

Ambiga grills Wan Ahmad in Round 2

The ‘silent’ one’s AGM

‘Freeing us was a political move’

PSM’s EO6 released without conditions

Surendran says again: Attempted murder

Hindraf: Stop the wayang kulit politics!

Now do you know what I mean?

Latest News

Unruly scenes unfold in video clip

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