PM's Oz visit - personal or official?

(Malaysiakini) Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is back after cutting short his Australian trip, but questions remain over the status and funding of his visit.

Komtar state assemblyperson Ng Wei…

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(Malaysiakini) Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is back after cutting short his Australian trip, but questions remain over the status and funding of his visit.

Komtar state assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik noted that the premier had met with Malaysian students in Perth but that he had also travelled on a personal matter. For this reason, Najib should foot the travel bill.

"(Najib's trip was) something beyond the meeting with the students there. He should go on a private flight and spend his own money. Once you use government planes, then the government has to pay for you ...,” he said

Ng pointed out that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng opts for economy-class travel on flights, even on official business.

"For official trips, the amount used for travel must be approved (by) the exco. (Individuals) cannot spend more than the amount approved and Lim always takes (what costs least)," he said.

There are special allocations for state excos for holidays, he said, but this does not cover travel by plane.

"The chief minister and all exco members get a RM15,000 holiday benefit a year but there is nothing more, no exclusive jets," said Ng, who is political secretary to Lim.

Najib's presence in Australia had gone unnoticed until a Malaysiakini reader said the prime minister's plane had been sighted landing in Perth on Aug 31.

News about Najib's presence in Australia was only officially broken on Sept 3, after Bernama reported that the premier was cutting short his holiday following the death the national news agency's cameraman in Somalia.

The Prime Minister's Office then clarified that the Hari Raya and National Day public holidays were the only time Najib was free to seek physiotherapy treatment in Australia.

Official observance of National Day has been moved to Sept 16 as it clashed with the Hari Raya festivities this year.

The opposition has previously accused the government of using official business as an excuse for costly overseas trips, a claim that the government has denied.

However, in a parliamentary written reply to Batu MP Tian Chua in June, it was revealed that for 2010, Najib and his wife's official travel expenditure had ballooned to RM5.4 million, compared to RM1.74 million in 2008 when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was in office.

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‘We’ve done more than MIC and BN’

Kedah state exco S Manikumar defends the Pakatan state's record in providing for the Indian community in the state.

PETALING JAYA: A Pakatan Rakyat state assemblyman has dismissed allegations by…

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Kedah state exco S Manikumar defends the Pakatan state's record in providing for the Indian community in the state.

PETALING JAYA: A Pakatan Rakyat state assemblyman has dismissed allegations by certain quarters, including a few Indian-based NGOs, that the Kedah state government had not done much for the Indians there.

According to Bukit Selambau assemblyman S Manikumar, the state government had done its best to help the community bearing in mind its ‘limited resources’

“It’s unfair to expect Pakatan to clean up all the mess left by the Barisan Nasional in more than 50 years within three years.

“But we are trying our best to help the Indian community in the state with the limited state resources (that we have).

“We are not getting the amount of allocation that other BN ruled states get from the federal government,” said Manikumar who also heads the state’s tourism, Indians affairs and human resources portfolio.

Citing Tamil schools and temples as examples, he said the Pakatan-led state government had done far more for the state’s Indian community than MIC.

“Talking on Tamil schools, there are 58 Tamil schools in Kedah and only nine are under the fully-aided category (which means they receive full financial grants from the federal government).

“The rest 49 Tamil schools are partially-aided schools where the money given by the Education Ministry is only for the purposes of school activities and not for the upgrading of the school infrastructures.

“This year the state government allocated RM229, 000 to be disbursed to all of the 58 Tamil schools.
“The amount each school received varied depending on the needs of the particular schools,” he said.

Tamil schools and NGOs

Manikumar claimed that such disbursements to all Tamil schools had never occured during BN’s rule in the state.

According to him, in the past money came only during election campaigns when MIC will request ad-hoc allocations for certain Tamil schools and that there was no proper structure to the disbursements.

“But under Pakatan government, the allocation for Tamil schools are included officially under the state yearly budget,” he said.

He also slammed Indian-based NGOs who complained of receiving nothing from the state government.
He said unlike the BN regime which cared less for proper allocation strucure, the Pakatan state government insisted on paperworks and proper documentations.

“We had given RM7, 000 last year and RM20, 000 this year to Kedah branch of Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) to carry out activities that are related to the community. The activities were to weed out social ills among Indians.

“We can’t entertain every single NGO that come without proper paperworks or documentations to back their claims.

“I proposed to the state government to approve the request by MHS based on the documentation evidence of their programmes and activities.

“MHS itself is an established NGO and was founded in 1928,” explained Manikumar, who is also the PKR’s central leadership council member.

Temple and cemetry
He also pointed out that the Kedah state government had granted a land title to the 100-year-old Sri Mahamariamman Temple at Jalan Bakar Bata in Alor Setar.
“The temple was granted a land title last year and the temple land has been gazetted under National Land Code.
“Also this year the state government approved and allocated five acres of land for a cemetry for the Hindu community in Langkawi.
“During BN’s ruling for more than 50 years MIC never took the initiative to get the land title for the temple or a Hindu cemetery in Langkawi.
“But we have done it in less than three years,” Manikumar told FMT.

Thaipusam holiday

On calls for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday in Kedah, Manikumar said the matter was still under consideration.

“We in the state government don’t have any objections but there are many rules and acts to be studied first.

“The thing is that the state holiday quota has been fully utilized and we need to amend the state constitution. Then we also need to get the consent of the Sultan of Kedah.

“At state government level we had a series of meetings on this issue but we also need to consider the opinion of the private sector, especially from the industrial sector as there are concerns on their productivity.

“So we are still evaluating many aspects on this,” explained Manikumar.

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Amateur footage shows EDL coach under attack in east London

 

Footage shows a coach full of English Defence League supporters come under attack from locals in Tower Hamlets following demonstrations by the far-right group in London on Saturday. 

The…

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Footage shows a coach full of English Defence League supporters come under attack from locals in Tower Hamlets following demonstrations by the far-right group in London on Saturday. 

The video shows the coach, in Mile End Road, Whitechapel, being surrounded by a large group of protesters and local youths, who proceed to hurl objects into a broken window.

Forty-four EDL members on-board were attempting to leave London following a violent 'static' demonstration by the far-right group.

For reasons that remain unclear the coach took a different exit route to the one previously agreed with police, driving through the Tower Hamlets area that Home Secretary Theresa May had earlier banned the group from marching through.

The coach was initially held in traffic before being prevented from advancing any further by the angry crowd. Police later evacuated those on-board using a double decker bus.

The video emerged as the leader of the EDL was arrested for breaching his bail.

Stephen Lennon, 28, was going before magistrates in Luton on Monday after attending the demonstration in London on Saturday.

Lennon is barred from attending any protests whilst on bail for an alleged assault during a demonstration in Blackburn in April.

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Nazri says no to zero Chinese representation in government

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — A senior Umno minister has declared that he would fight tooth and nail to ensure Chinese representation in a Barisan Nasional (BN) government even if…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — A senior Umno minister has declared that he would fight tooth and nail to ensure Chinese representation in a Barisan Nasional (BN) government even if the MCA or Gerakan fails to secure a single parliamentary seat in the coming polls.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told The Malaysian Insider that BN would not “punish” the Chinese voters by simply yanking their representatives from Cabinet posts if they refused to vote for the two Chinese-centric component parties.

Nazri assured the Chinese of representation in a BN government ‘even though I am a nobody in Umno... not even a vice-president’. — File pic

While admitting that the matter would not be his to decide, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department gave his word that he would champion this cause to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should such a situation arise when the coalition retains the government.

 

“I want to tell the Chinese voters that BN is a multi-racial government and regardless of the outcome of the elections, we will always have a Chinese representative in Cabinet. I want to say this with certainty even though I am a nobody in Umno... not even a vice-president.

“But if it should come to that, I will do my very best to persuade the PM that we should not have a single communal government. The system allows us to appoint senators and we need to have representatives of the non-Malay community,” he said.

Nazri recalled that such a promise was made by the country’s longest-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his tenure in government.

“I remember back when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was PM... he told Cabinet that even if we come to a stage where MCA or Gerakan loses in all parliamentary seats, we cannot form a Malay government.

“We cannot be a single communal government as it simple goes against the spirit and policy of BN. We cannot punish and penalise a section of the community just because they do not support BN,” he said.

Nazri was recalling a pledge made by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek several months ago when the former Cabinet minister said he would pull his party from the government if it performs worse than it did in Election 2008.

Dr Chua first mooted the idea when he urged the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) not to join the Sarawak Cabinet after it only won six of the 19 seats it contested in the April 16 state polls.

He later said the MCA would do the same, using the 2008 results as its benchmark. Should MCA fail to win at least 15 parliamentary and 31 state seats, pledged Dr Chua, the party will not accept any Cabinet posts in the next government.

Nazri likened this to a threat to the Chinese community, lamenting that many of his ethnic Chinese friends had approached him with complaints.

“You must ask the Chinese community, not me, if they feel threatened. But most of my Chinese friends feel threatened and we do not want the Chinese voters to feel this way. In whatever circumstances, we will not take revenge on any segment of the community,” he said.

Nazri said it was unlikely that Najib would allow zero representation from the Chinese community in government, pointing to how the prime minister himself had appointed Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel as senators in his Cabinet.

“So I am actually saying this based on Najib’s actions alone. Do not forget that even if we lose the seats, perhaps in terms of popular votes, 51 per cent of Chinese votes went to the opposition... so what about the remaining 49 per cent? We cannot punish them,” he said.

BN component parties are now busy compiling their candidate lists as Najib had recently signalled the coalition to prepare for the next general election before its mandate expires in 2013.

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Islamist videos, populists stir German worries

Europe's biggest economy may be a growing target of socially-alienated Muslim youths.

ANALYSIS - FMT

By William Maclean
HAMBURG (Germany): German-language Islamist propaganda is fuelling militancy among a small number…

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Europe's biggest economy may be a growing target of socially-alienated Muslim youths.

ANALYSIS - FMT

By William Maclean
HAMBURG (Germany): German-language Islamist propaganda is fuelling militancy among a small number of socially-alienated Muslim youths in Germany, say security experts, who worry that Europe’s biggest economy may be a growing target for attacks.

The spread of an ultra-conservative brand of Islam and the emergence of populist preachers who oppose the integration of minority Muslims into wider society are compounding the impact of the online videos and discussion forums, they say.

Despite the prominence of Germany in the story of Al-Qaeda due to Hamburg’s role as a base for three Sept 11 suicide pilots, its indigenous militant scene is much smaller than that in Britain or France and has taken longer to become active.

But security officials say it is growing, albeit on the far fringes of Muslim communities, citing a string of attacks and thwarted plots in recent years and an outflow of youths to training camps in Pakistan since 2006.

Last Wednesday, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian confessed to shooting dead two US airmen and wounding two more at Frankfurt airport in March, telling a court he was swayed by Islamist online propaganda he now realised was “lies”.

The expansion of Islamist militancy in Germany reflects the growing variety of Europe’s militant community, analysts say.

European converts, and Europeans of Turkish, Kurdish, central Asian and West African background are joining a movement once dominated by Britons of Pakistani ancestry or Frenchmen of north African heritage.

Across Europe, school drop-outs and ex-convicts now mix with the more educated activists who once predominated.

In Germany, militant youths increasingly read German-language Internet propaganda, an online world once dominated by Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and English, much of it expressing opposition to Germany’s military presence in Afghanistan.

Populist preachers of the Salafist school of Islam, a brand of the religion that has its roots in Saudi Arabia, increasingly speak at public meetings, not just in mosques.

“They used to hide in the mosque but now they are encouraged to be public. They show their opinion,” Manfred Murck, head of the Hamburg branch of Germany’s domestic intelligence service, told Reuters.

Web creates ‘virtual’ militant groups

“The tradition of terrorism is more or less a tradition of groups. But now we see that the group is not always necessary and that the Internet functions as a kind of virtual group.”

The combined effect of the online propaganda and of preachers speaking in person to audiences “makes the whole scene of jihadists in Germany more cohesive and assertive”.

Security experts point to the likes of Islamic preacher Pierre Vogel (picture below), a former professional boxer who later converted to Islam and studied in Saudi Arabia and has voiced strong
objections to integrating Muslims into German society.

Another convert-turned-preacher is Denis Mamadou Cuspert, a former rapper called Deso Dogg, who now sings Muslim religious chants and believes Islam is under attack from the West. Yet another is Turkish-German cleric Mohammed Ciftci.

Experts say the expression of such views, intentionally or not, can facilitate a tolerance of violence among listeners.

“Deso Dogg is so important. He can really captivate you. These hymns can support a radicalisation process,” said Guido Steinberg, an Islamic studies expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs think-tank.

“The jihadism scene in Germany has become a movement of the urban riff-raff. That may sound a little harsh, but it’s fair in the sense that they are not accepted by society – although they are by the Salafists.”
The surge in German online propaganda seen since 2007 comes from North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region known for Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity and which remains the preferred destination for German militants seeking paramilitary training.

Many of its authors are German-speaking members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a Central Asian jihadi movement with ties to Al-Qaeda and which actively recruits in Europe.

“We’ve seen dozens and dozens of messages from this area,” said Peter Neumann, Professor of Security Studies at the War Studies Department of Kings College in London.

He said militants from Europe who prove unfit for the battlefield were put to work producing propaganda or were sent back to Europe to try to enable attacks there.

Islamists pose tricky political test

Concern over Islamists poses a delicate political test for German authorities amidst a raucous national debate about Islam and integration of Germany’s four million Muslims, mostly of Turkish origin, in a population of 82 million.

Long considered as migrant workers who would eventually go back to their ancestral homes, these Muslims are now an established minority pushing for equal rights.

Akif Sahin, a Hamburg-based Turkish youth worker, said the radical preachers’ views went against the grain of many mainstream Muslim communities who since 2005 had been working to become part of wider German society.

Salafism was growing in popularity, said Sahin, and this had to do with propagandists like Vogel. Mainstream Muslim communities had tried to “get these extremists to quieten down because they are very aggressive about trying to extend their influence. But it’s not clear whether this mainstream effort is succeeding”.

Sahin said Salafis excelled at fund raising and using online social networks. Good language skills often made them better at communicating with alienated youths than imams in a large Turkish state-supported network of mosques in Germany.

Murck, head of the Hamburg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said young Muslims found the new breed of outspoken activists to be “a kind of idol because they are seen as tough enough to speak out in public.

“When Vogel spoke here (in Hamburg recently) there were about 500 followers, or at least ‘inquiring persons’, listening. This was new for us.”

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'Let panel finish job, then polls'

The New Straits Times

TUARAN: The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms must be allowed to complete its job before the next general election is called, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok…

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The New Straits Times

TUARAN: The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms must be allowed to complete its job before the next general election is called, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said yesterday.

"Otherwise, if the election is called before the committee completes its task, it will defeat the purpose of setting it up in the first place," the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun and Murut Organisation (Upko) president said after launching the party's divisional triennial general meeting here.

"If Parliament is dissolved, the committee will also be dissolved. The first thing that needs to be done is to clean up the electoral roll by addressing the weaknesses, whether perceived or real, in the system.

"By doing so, the people will then have no reason to complain. We must be prepared to admit what is wrong and take credit for what is right, so that is why we need to prepare a roll that is beyond question." 

Dompok said Upko and other Barisan Nasional component parties had made calls for electoral reforms even before the Bersih 2.0 rally two months ago.

The meeting yesterday saw Upko secretary-general Datuk Wilfred Tangau taking over as the divisional chief from the party's deputy president and Tuaran member of parliament Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing. There was no contest for the top post.

Dompok also said the party's strength lay in the loyalty and sincerity of its members. 

"Each and everyone of us contribute to what we believe in because as citizens of this country we have our targets set through agendas or policies decided by our leaders.

"Upko has been consistent in its struggles and will remain true to its stand for as long as it is the right thing to do and for the good of the people."

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Tremors From Sumatra Quake Felt In Peninsular Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- A strong 6.7- magnitude earthquake shook north Sumatra, Indonesia this morning, sending tremors in several parts of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Kedah and Penang.…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- A strong 6.7- magnitude earthquake shook north Sumatra, Indonesia this morning, sending tremors in several parts of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Kedah and Penang.

In a statement, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said the 1.55am earthquake's epicentre was 127km southwest of Binjai, north of Sumatra and 363km southwest of Pangkor Island, Perak.

No tsunami alert was issued for Malaysia.

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Old Perak: St Michael’s Institution

St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh in the late 1940s, just a few years after the Japanese had occupied the school during the Second World War.

Thanks to blog reader Lee…

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St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh in the late 1940s, just a few years after the Japanese had occupied the school during the Second World War.

Thanks to blog reader Lee Kam Choon, now in his eighties, for sending this in. Does anyone recognise any of these people here?

Fancy-dress contests such as this were then the vogue in schools throughout Malaya and Singapore.
St Michael’s Institution started operations on 4 December 1912 in a Malay-style bungalow at the lawn in front of the present-day building.

From 1938 to 1948, Bro Patrick 0′ Donovan was brother director, followed by Bro Denis Hyland from 1948 to 1955.

During the war years, the Japanese used the school, along with the governor’s residence, as an administrative centre during the Occupation. The brothers in the school were subjected to repeated Kempetai interrogation and three Ipoh-based brothers were sent to jail.

Luminaries in the post-war period include Bro Pius Kelly, Bro Ultan Paul Rosario (who passed away a few years ago) and Bro Vincent Corkery. Corkery, who served two stints as brother director from 1972-75 and 1986-88 still resides at St Michael’s.

I had the privilege of meeting Bro Paul and Bro Vincent – legends of St Michael’s – both warm, impressive and well-read characters.

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Protest against Grand Saga toll continues

Mayor sends man who disrupted queen's concert to psychiatric clinic

A man who took over the microphone at a concert attended by queen Beatrix on Saturday and called on the audience to recognise Allah has been admitted to a psychiatric…

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A man who took over the microphone at a concert attended by queen Beatrix on Saturday and called on the audience to recognise Allah has been admitted to a psychiatric institution, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

The man, who was well-dressed and spoke Dutch, has been forcibly committed by Amsterdam's mayor Eberhard van der Laan, the paper said.

During the incident, members of the orchestra were seen leaving the stage as the man told them not to worry because he did not have a bomb.

Repeat offender
He was then escorted off by security officials. The queen remained seated throughout the incident.
According to the Telegraaf, the man has disrupted events in a similar fashion at least four times since 2009.

The Telegraaf says the incident has again highlighted the difficulty of making sure security around the monarch is secure. In particular officials are concerned at length of time it took security officers to intervene.

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Recognising history would make Umno irrelevant

Describing PAS deputy president Mat Sabu as an 'Islamic communist' tells of Umno's deepest fear of historical truths.

COMMENT

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Umno hasn’t got leadership. My…

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Describing PAS deputy president Mat Sabu as an 'Islamic communist' tells of Umno's deepest fear of historical truths.

COMMENT

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Umno hasn’t got leadership. My take on that statement is that it is the damnest indictment on Prime Minsiter Najib Tun Razak’s leadership.

Umno is now reduced to the stature of a beggar – scrounging at the supposed faux pas committed by PAS deputy president Mat Sabu.

What has Mat Sabu actually said that caused so much consternation?

Mat Sabu mentioned the name of Mat Indera, the Batu Pahat Malay born in Peserai who led the attack on the police barrack at Bukit Kepong.

The barrack was commanded by an English man representing the colonial government then.

I think we are missing the point here. Mat Sabu wasn’t glorifying the communists or communism.
He didn’t even say anything about communism. He was asking his audience to take a relook at the treatment of history on the role of Mat Indera.

To Mat Sabu, history has unjustly treated Mat Indera and we, the public, have accepted the official version of history – hook, line and sinker.

Was Mat Indera a simple terrorist sans a greater purpose and therefore deserving the description of a villain and terrorist?

Villifying Mat Indera

It now seems the preferred version of revised history is to see and value Mat Indera as a freedom fighter bent on kicking out the British imperialists.

Certainly the people in Mat Indera’s kampung in Batu Pahat refused to accept the vilification of Mat Indera’s memory.

The criminalisation of Mat Indera is part of the indoctrination and propaganda carried out by British imperialism.

Mat Indera joins the list of so many other freedom fighters who dared rise up to challenge Britsih hegemony.

Nowadays the Malayan people could no longer accept nor tolerate the infamy enforced on people like Pandak Endut, on Tok Janggut and Mat KIlau and so many others.

Mat Indera certainly doesn’t deserve to be dumped into the dustbin of history as just “one of those” terrorists.

Why is Umno concerned?

Over the last few days, I had the opportunity to finish reading the memoir of one Shamsiah Fakeh – Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh- Dari AWAS ke Rejimen ke-10.

PKMM preceded Umno

If you recall, her name re-emerged with some notoriety recently when the Bersih 2.0 marchers on July 9 were said to be influenced by her actions.

Shamsiah was a member of Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) – a left-leaning Malay political party formed in 1945.

It was the first political party that openly declared its mission to be that of securing independence for Malaya.

In that sense, PKMM preceded Umno in its commitment to secure Merdeka for the Malayan people.
Umno leaders at that time scoffed and chided and were dismissive of the manifest desire to gain independence.

They often derided those who wanted independence as fanciful dreamers who couldn’t even manufacture a needle

What is then alarming about Mat Sabu’s faux pas is the fear that it may lead to a widespread revision of history.

If it snowballs into a widespread revision of history, then Umno’s actual role MAY itself be diminished.
And it will no longer enjoy an unchallenged and monopolistic place in our nation’s history.

Politically it will also mean that Umno will find it increasingly difficult to claim absolute legitimacy as the nation’s only political force to have fought for Merdeka.

Its own heroes will be brought down to size.

This excerpt is from the writer’s blog sakmongkolak47. The writer is a FMT columnist.

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Mistreated pets: ‘Lodge police reports’

Pet owners have been advised to treat the incident as a cheating case.

PETALING JAYA: Owners of the mistreated pets have been advised to lodge police reports against the errant…

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Pet owners have been advised to treat the incident as a cheating case.

PETALING JAYA: Owners of the mistreated pets have been advised to lodge police reports against the errant caretaker of the animal boarding facility, Petknode.

Said Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) founder Wani Muthiah: “You have been cheated, have paid upfront, in the belief that (your pets) would be taken care of.”

“You need to lodge a report,” she told a press conference at a hotel here.

Nearly 200 people, including the affected pet owners and other members of the public, attended the press conference called to discuss about the ill-treatment of the pets.

Yesterday, the owners who left their pets at Petknode during the festive holiday were shocked to find many of their pets abused, missing or dead when they returned home.

The pets were found to have not been fed with food or water for the past nine days.

At least 13 of the pets, mostly cats, died of starvation. Two suspects have since been arres
ted over the case, but have been released late last night.


‘Enforcement very weak’
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) chairman Christine Chin, on the other hand, wanted pet owners to pressure the state government to slap 300 charges on Petknode under the Animal Act – one charge for every pet mistreated.

According to the Animal Act 1953 (2006 Amendment), offenders guilty of animal cruelty are liable to a RM200 fine or a six-month jail term, or both.

Chin also pointed out the lack of confidence in the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), the enforcement agency responsible for animal cruelty.
“The enforcement on animal cruelty is very weak…

We’ve been working with the department for the past 20 years, but in the last 10, the DVS only prosecuted five (cases),” she said.

“We really want them (Petknode’s owners) in jail,” she said to cheers.

Chaos also reigned at the conference, with some of the public pointing fingers at various parties. A few also raised their voices angrily at the panel of NGOs gathered there.

One pet owner even accused the NGOs of inaction against animal cruelty.
“What have you been doing up to now?” he asked angrily.

Operating illegally

The NGOs replied that they had been active against these sort of cases, and that some of them were involved in springing the mistreated pets free.

But some in the crowd were not satisfied, saying they want to demonstrate outside the Damansara Damai or Sungai Buloh police station in their quest for answers.

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor Anthony Thanasayan told FMT that Petknode had been operating illegally since 2009.
He said that MBPJ realised this today after going through its records.

“Petknode has been running its business for quite a number of years, but it hasn’t been paying for its (operational) licence or renewing it since 2009,” he said.

Anthony said that this recent development meant that MBPJ had every right to shut down Petknode.

He also confirmed that he had had a meeting with DVS director-general Dr Aziz Jamaluddin this afternoon.

He said that the MBPJ, together with the DVS, would conduct animal services inspections in the future.
Anthony added that prior to this, council officials had only checked pet shops and boarding places for “external areas”.

“They (MBPJ) checked for building approvals, compliances, obstruction to traffic… not animal treatment,” he said.

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Khairy kepada Mat Sabu: ‘Jumpa di Kota Baru’

Bagaimanapun, dalam perkembangan terbaru ayam kokok PAS itu menolak debat dengan Khairy.

PETALING JAYA:Khairy Jamaluddin menegaskan dia  menolak pelawaan untuk berdebat dengan Ketua Pemuda PAS, Nasrudin Hasan.

Sebaliknya, beliau sedia…

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Bagaimanapun, dalam perkembangan terbaru ayam kokok PAS itu menolak debat dengan Khairy.

PETALING JAYA:Khairy Jamaluddin menegaskan dia  menolak pelawaan untuk berdebat dengan Ketua Pemuda PAS, Nasrudin Hasan.

Sebaliknya, beliau sedia berdebat dengan Mohamad Sabu.

Alasannya kerana kerajaan Kelantan meminta ahli Parlimen Rembau itu berdebat dengan Timbalan Presiden PAS.

“Its OK bro. Kerajaan Kelate minta saya debat Sabu. (Mohamad).”

Bagaimanapun, dalam perkembangan terbaru ayam kokok PAS itu menolak debat dengan Khairy.

Semalam, Ketua Penerangan PAS, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man mengesyorkan debat PAS-Umno berhubung kontroversi tragedi Bukit Kepong dan isu siapa pejuang kemerdekaan negara bagi membolehkan rakyat sendiri membuat penilaian.

`Saya dah terima jemputan…’

Bagaimanapun tarikh debat tersebut tidak dinyatakan.

“Saya dah terima jemputan…untuk berdebat dengan Mat Sabu di Balai Islam Lundang Kota Baru.
“Saya akan berada di sana,” kata Khairy menerusi mesej Twitter.

Beliau menegaskan beliau tidak gentar walaupun terpaksa bertandang ke kubu kuat parti itu.
Khairy berkata, walaupun di gelanggang lawan, sama ada Mohamad Sabu atau Naib Presiden PAS Datuk Husam Musa beliau tetap akan hadir.

“Masa lawan Husam dulu tiga ribu penyokong PAS dok sorak. Its OK.
“Tak payah cari gelanggang neutral,” katanya.

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‘No objection to school but don’t disturb our privacy’

Taman Kanagapuram residents' association say they have no objection to a school in their area but the parents are not allowed to go through their housing estate.

PETALING JAYA: The…

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Taman Kanagapuram residents' association say they have no objection to a school in their area but the parents are not allowed to go through their housing estate.

PETALING JAYA: The residents of Taman Kanagapuram do not want anything to disturb their tranquality.

Although they had objected to the building of low cost flats near their housing estate, they however have no objection to a school being built on the same site.

But there is a condition – the access road to the school must not go through their housing estate.

Taman Kanagapuram residents’ association president S Selvaratnam said this was because the housing area was designated as a low density housing area under town planning regulations.

“And we pay higher assessment for our bungalow lots for its unique feature. So it’s common sense that there should be less traffic at our residential area,” said the 54-year-old businessman.

In 2003, residents of the housing area took an injunction against developer Peter Brickworks Sdn Bhd when the latter decided to build low cost flats at the site now slated for a national school.

The flat block was supposed to be the fifth one built by the developer to cater for 276 families from squatter areas nearby, which Peter Brickworks had promised to build for them in 2000.

The stalled project left many of the former squatter settlers in a lurch for eight years until the Selangor state government took over the project in June.

In its decision, the Selangor government decided to build Block E at a site near a Chinese vernacular school while reviving a stalled school project at the site in dispute.

On why the residents objected to the Block E project then, Selvaratnam said the low cost housing project itself was not in compliance with the Town Planning Act.

“A high rise building near our place would change the demographics of our residential area and invade our privacy,” said Selvaratnam.

Queried on how parents would ferry their children when the school is ready, Selvaratnam said parents could easily use the road from Wisma Peters, which is linked to the New Pantai Expressway (NPE).
“The road was initially built so that residents from Block B and Block D can use the road. Currently, the road is under utilised,” said Selvaratnam.

Taman Kanagapuram houses nearly 400 people with a majority of them being senior citizens.

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The Malay cock syndrome

The trouble is these Malays measure the size of your balls according to the size of the cock’s balls. And to qualify as a man you must have balls the…

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The trouble is these Malays measure the size of your balls according to the size of the cock’s balls. And to qualify as a man you must have balls the size of a cock’s balls. They are not concerned whether you have brains bigger than a cock’s brains.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
You may have noticed that the ‘hot’ news these past few weeks is all about so-and-so challenging so-and-so to do this, that or the other. Mat Sabu challenges so-and-so, Khairy Jamaluddin challenges so-and-so, so-and-so challenges Anwar Ibrahim, so-and-so challenges Najib Tun Razak, and whatnot.

And these challenges are followed by allegations of takde telur, takde batu, takde pelir (which all means no balls or, as the Chinese would say, boh chuntoi), pondan (transvestite), eunuch, and so on.



This is very revealing of the Malay cock syndrome. And this is also revealing of the Malay penchant for cock fighting, which is still a favourite pastime in the Malay heartland such as the East Coast -- where many macho Malay males love their cocks more than their wives.

Woe to any wife who cuts off the head of her husband’s cock and serves it for dinner. Wives have suffered divorce for less than that. A man’s cock is a sacred cow, and just like any sacred cow, one does not slaughter it and serve it for dinner.

A fierce cock that has never lost a fight is a man’s prized possession. He would proudly parade his champion cock all over the kampong for all and sundry to admire. A champion cock would be worth its weight in gold. It would be worth more than four wives combined in terms of commercial value. You could marry four wives for less than the cost of a champion cock.



A fierce fighting cock is a cock with balls. Although I have never yet seen where the balls are, I assume they must be hidden there somewhere. If not they would not be such fierce fighters.

To these Malays, a man is judged by how close he resembles a fighting cock. And a man who does not rise to the challenge is a man who takde telur, takde batu, takde pelir, boh chuntoi, or is a pondan, eunuch, and so on.

It is that simple. I challenge you, you accept. You don’t accept, then you takde telur, takde batu, takde pelir, boh chuntoi, or are a pondan, eunuch, and so on.

That is why Malays love Hindi movies. Hindi movies always start with the baddie terrorising the entire village. Then along comes the hero who gets beaten up to the point of death as he stands up for the democratic rights and civil liberties of the entire community. He then recovers from his injuries and singlehandedly defeats the baddie and his army of 65 toughies, plus in the end he gets to marry the most beautiful girl in the village. These are movies made for the Malay mind.

I too have received my share of challenges and my share of allegations of takde telur, takde batu, takde pelir, boh chuntoi, pondan, eunuch, and so on. To these Malays, a real man would subject himself to a sham trial based on mala fide charges and fabricated evidence. And if you do not dare face this travesty of justice and manipulation of the judicial process, then you takde telur, takde batu, takde pelir, boh chuntoi, or are a pondan, eunuch, and so on

The trouble is these Malays measure the size of your balls according to the size of the cock’s balls. And to qualify as a man you must have balls the size of a cock’s balls. They are not concerned whether you have brains bigger than a cock’s brains.

I really don’t know how big the cock’s balls are. But I am more concerned with saving my balls, whatever size they may be. So I use my brains, which are bigger than a cock’s brains, and not my balls to make my decisions.

I am not sure what decision I would make if I use my balls to make these decisions. But by using my brains to make decisions I think I am able to make better decisions and in that same process save my balls as well.

I suppose this is because I have a better brain than these types of Malays who may have gone to university but yet still use their balls rather than their brains to make decisions. And since they use their balls rather than their brains to make decisions they do not always make the cleverest of decisions.

This is the problem with Malays who suffer from the cock syndrome. They think like cocks and use their balls in deciding things. I refuse to think like a cock so I use my brains. And that is why these types of Malays can never match me. They can’t come even close.

They may have gone to university at the expense of the taxpayers -- 90% of whom are Chinese, according to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. But they still refuse to use their brains in making decisions in spite of their education. They still use the cock as the basis of whatever they do.

Sigh…you can take the Malay out of the kampong, but how do we take the cock out of the Malay? They still think like cocks and use their balls rather than their brains in making decisions.

This is what caused Dr Mahathir to cry during the Umno General Assembly. And during the interview he gave soon after he retired in 2003, he lamented about how he had failed to change the Malays.

Basically, Dr Mahathir realised that the Malays still use their balls instead of their brains and they go through life like prized cocks and because of this the Malays are going to be a lost race in time to come.

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Cite Shafee for contempt, Karpal tells Sodomy II judge

Karpal is Anwar’s lead defence counsel in the latter’s ongoing sodomy trial. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — DAP chairman Karpal Singh wants pro-Umno lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad…

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Karpal is Anwar’s lead defence counsel in the latter’s ongoing sodomy trial. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — DAP chairman Karpal Singh wants pro-Umno lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah hauled up for contempt of court, saying the latter had interfered with proceedings in the ongoing Sodomy II trial.


Karpal urged trial judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah to issue a show-cause notice to Muhammad Shafee to explain the latter’s “unwarranted public attack” against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s defence statement from the dock.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, now heads the three-party opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact. Besides being his political ally, Karpal is defending the PKR advisor who stands accused of sodomising a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, three years ago in a luxury condominium here.

“If what was uttered by Anwar was contemptuous, it would have been contempt in the face of the court. It was for Justice Mohamad Zabidin to hold Anwar in contempt. He did not do so.

“Who is Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to question the wisdom of the trial judge?” Karpal demanded in a media statement today.

Muhammad Shafee, among Malaysia’s legal elites, is regarded as an expert on media contempt laws and was cited yesterday in Umno-owned Mingguan Malaysia calling Anwar’s defence statement as contemptuous.

The top-earning lawyer was reported telling the Attorney-General to step into the row and initiate contempt proceedings against Anwar.

The news was replicated today in other mainstream media, including New Straits Times, which quoted Muhammad Shafee as saying: “This will also prevent the presiding judge from being involved in any possible conflict in which the judge may be blinded by it.”

Karpal objected to Muhammad Shafee’s argument for the A-G’s intervention as unprecedented and defying logic.

“That itself amounts to contempt of court on the part of the judge who does so,” he said.
“Shafee should know a judge cannot interfere in a judicial proceeding in another court. It is axiomatic. It is elementary,” the Bukit Gelugor MP added.

Muhammad Shafee has also come under fire online after Anwar’s unsworn statement of defence from the dock, purportedly for interfering with the news coverage of the controversial court case by issuing certain instructions to mainstream media editors and reporters.

Malaysia’s best-paid lawyer has denied conspiring with staff in the Prime Minister’s Office to subvert the media and end the political career of the man once deemed the biggest threat to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

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Historical Reconstruction Again?

By Farish A Noor
5 September 2011

And so, for reasons that are both complex and irritating, the past is being dragged into the present yet again; while we Malaysians…

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By Farish A Noor
5 September 2011

And so, for reasons that are both complex and irritating, the past is being dragged into the present yet again; while we Malaysians bury our heads in the sand and neglect the future. By now most of us will be familiar with yet another controversy-in-a-teacup that has grabbed the headlines: namely the question of whether the events that took place during the attack on the police outpost in Bukit Kepong ought to be remembered as a historic event in the Malayan struggle for independence.

Unfortunately for all parties concerned it seems that the issue has been hijacked by politics and politicians yet again, as is wont to happen in Malaysia on a daily basis almost. More worrying still is how the manifold aspects of this event have been taken up selectively by different parties and actors to further their own arguments, while neglecting to look at the wider context against which the event took place. It is almost impossible to be truly objective when it comes to the writing and reading of history, and perhaps we can do away with that pretense. But for now perhaps some marginal notes on the matter might come in useful to clear the air a bit.

A. Was PAS pro-Communist?

One of the outcomes of this debate has been the resurrection of the old question of whether PAS (The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) was pro-Communist at that point in its history. This seems an odd question to ask in the first place, as it seems incongruous for an Islamic party to harbour any real sympathy for Communism, which has always been seen as the bugbear to the Islamist cause. But it has to be remembered that when the Malayan Islamic party was first formed in Novermber 1951, many of its founder-leaders were anti-colonial nationalists who were keen to see the end of British rule in Malaya. Some of them were former members of the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) and also the first Islamic party in the country, the Hizbul Muslimin (that was formed, and almost immediately banned, in 1948)

PAS’s left-leaning days were at their peak during the Presidency of Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy (1956-1969), who did not hide his opposition to British rule and who refused to negotiate a settlement with the British then. Dr. Burhanuddin was sympathetic to the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), whose anti-British sentiments he shared; but this does not mean he supported Communism as an ideology. PAS’s stand towards the MCP then (in the 1950s and 1960s) was thus a pragmatic one that was based on the same goal of rejecting British colonial rule. However, it has to be noted that PAS was equally wary of Beijing’s influence in the region, and there is nothing to suggest that the leaders of PAS would have ever accepted Malaya coming under Communist rule, albeit directly or indirectly, from Beijing.

B. Was the MCP a tool of Communist China?

That the MCP and its guerilla wing were against any and all forms of British colonial rule is simple enough to verify, and their record of anti-colonial struggle is there for anyone to investigate. The more difficult question to answer however is this: How independent was the MCP, and was it – as the British alleged – working to further China’s communist influence in the region then? The British were somewhat ham-fisted when dealing with the MCP, and it ought to be noted that the invention of the image of the MCP as a ‘Chinese threat’ was the work of the British colonial propaganda agencies then.

Here, however, a broader perspective on the matter might come in handy. Think of Malaya in the 1950s and envisage the region as a whole, as the Cold War was heating up. In Vietnam, Burma and Indonesia the Communists were gaining strength in numbers; and perhaps the biggest worry to Britain then (as to the departing French and Dutch colonial powers) was the possibility that all of southeast asia might turn Communist. Remember that this was the time when the region was called ‘the Second Front in the war against Communism’; and when the Western bloc was keen to ensure that Indonesia – being the biggest country in the region – would not come under the rule of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

In Indonesia, the PKI grew more and more powerful under the leadership of men like D.N Aidit, and was instrumental in developing the civilian para-military forces that later agitated for the destruction of Malaya during the ‘Ganyang Malaya’ (Crush Malaya) campaign. It was only after the failed coup of 1965 and the virtual extermination of the PKI between 1966 to 1970 that the Communist threat in Indonesia was contained, and ties between Malaya and Indonesia were normalised. It was against this background that the fear of the MCP – and the worry that it was backed by China – was articulated and developed in Malaya. While it is true that the MCP was anti-British, there is no evidence to suggest that it claimed the majority support of mainstream Malay-Muslims in the country, despite the presence of Malays in the 10th Regiment.

C. To negotiate or fight?

Perhaps the most contentious issue of all is whether the struggle for independence was really fought and won by the Leftists, Islamists or Nationalists in Malaysia. Here is where contingency steps in and one can only speculate.

The fact is that the security measures that were introduced during the declaration of the First Emergency (1948-1960) meant that almost all the left-leaning parties, trade union movements, workers groups etc had been eliminated or left feeble. Those who stood to gain from this were the conservative nationalists who opted instead to negotiate the terms of Malayan independence, and who negotiated on a number of issues including citizenship for the non-Malays etc. But no matter how one looks at it, the historical facts are that the left-leaning movements in the country were established long before the conservative-nationalist parties and movements. (The Malayan Anarchist party was founded in 1919, for instance; and the MCP in 1930. By contrast the MCA was only founded in February 1949.)

Of course we can speculate until the cows come home over the question of the many ‘what-ifs’ had the circumstances of the past were different. What if the MCP was not banned? What if the MCP was successful in its guerilla campaign? What if half the Malay population had supported the leftists, etc etc.

But in the event, as things turned out, the radical left was all but absent in the final stages of negotiation and it was the UMNO-MCA alliance that sorted out the final terms of Britain’s withdrawal from Malaya. Lets not be too sanguine about this: Britain did not ‘leave’ Malaya willingly, but was compelled to do so thanks to the destruction of its colonial economy in the wake of World War II. Its main aim then was to ensure that its capital investments in its former colonies would not be nationalised, as was the case in Indonesia when Sukarno simply confiscated all Dutch capital assets and nationalised them. Unsurprisingly, Britain wanted to ensure that its investments in tin and rubber were not lost in the wake of its withdrawal.

However we are left with several ponderables:

Malaya (then under Tunku Abdul Rahman) negotiated its independence on terms that were mutually beneficial to both sides. The British were not shot to pieces or blown to bits, and despite the loss of lives in the guerilla war the human cost was less than what was paid in Vietnam and Indonesia. Conversely, in the three countries where the anti-colonial struggle was led by the native armed forces – Indonesia, Vietnam and Burma – the army then came to power and dabbled directly in politics for decades to come. Had a similar war been fought in Malaya, could there have been a situation where a nationalist army would then come to power too, with generals and colonels taking over government as they did in Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma?

Which then brings us to the debate over ‘negotiation vs struggle’. Just take a flight to Vietnam or Indonesia and everywhere you will see statues of freedom-fighters, generals, colonels, guerilla leaders etc. Malaya’s first generation of leaders, on the other hand, had almost never fired a shot or stabbed anyone with a bayonet. But is that a bad thing? While I understand the value of patriotism and valour in the face of adversity; one also has to ask: if and when we are confronted by a departing adversary who wishes to negotiate the terms of withdrawal, should we negotiate or fight? I am personally bored by all this tostesterone-driven talk of macho deeds of heroism, and frankly hate any sort of violence. Looking to India, we ought to remember that while there were Indian nationalists who were prepared to fight the British militarily (like Subhas Chandra Bose), India’s independence was negotiated too – through passive civil disobedience and persistent resistance, rather than guns and grenades. The same could be said of South Africa, where Apartheid was brought to an end by claiming the moral high ground rather than to sink to the same level of guttaral violence like the regime’s.

SHOULD the Malayan nationalists have opted for negotiation or struggle then? Now quite honestly I do not see how this question can be answered objectively by anyone (even myself). What we can say, with some certainty, is that in the cases of the countries where local nationalist militias/armies did oppose the departing colonial powers the results have been military intervention, and subsequent military presence in politics. (The Indonesian armed forces during the time of Sukarno and Suharto claimed the right to be political, by virtue of its institutional history and its role in the anti-colonial war.) What then? Could Malaya/Malaysia have then become a militarised state? We simply do not know, and speculation beyond this is, simply, futile.

At the root of the present impasse in Malaysia seems to be the question of who writes our national history and who interprets/defines it. Perhaps one of the reasons why we keep returning to these debates time and again is the worry that our history has not been as inclusive as it ought to be. We cannot deny that in the end it was the UMNO/MCA alliance that won the terms of Malaya’s first independence in 1957. But we also cannot, and should not, deny the historical role played by other groups including the trade unions movements, the workers movements, the nascent vernacular press, the native intelligentsia, the cultural groups, the Islamists and the Leftists as well. ALL of them were part of this collective drama that we call our national history. And our national history has to be precisely that: a National History that mirrors the complexity and diversity of this complex thing called ‘Malaysia’. My lament, as an academic by default, is that objectivity and balance have long since left the stage and gone flying through the window. Yet we should not forget that a lopsided, skewered and biased history is not simply an incorrect or incomplete record of our past; it would also be a broken legacy that sadly will be passed on to the generations to come. And that is not a singular loss to any one of us, but to all.

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