Woman kills self after MMS scandal

BEHRAMPORE: A mother of two hanged herself on Wednesday night after some local youths morphed some obscene photos of her and circulated them through MMS. Jesmina Bibi, 28, a resident of Bakdanga in Domkal, could not bear the humiliation and jeering by neighbours and killed herself.

Her husband Bablu Sheikh alleged that the youths, helped by a woman neighbour, superimposed Jesmina's face on a nude body and went about circulating it.

Bablu has lodged a complaint against five persons - Kalu Sheikh, Milan Sheikh, Miltan Sheikh and Jarina Bibi. Jesmina ran a grocery shop in the village. Kalu and his friends, attracted by Jesmina's beauty, had tried to capture her nude while she was taking bath in her courtyard a few months ago. But they did not succeed. Bablu also alleged that neighbour Jarina helped the youths by informing them of her bathing time.

A few days ago, villagers started jeering at my wife and went about displaying her photo on the mobile phone, said Bablu. "On seeing the picture, we realized that they had taken Jesmina's photo while she was keeping the shop. Later, they superimposed her face on a nude body and circulated it," he added.

Additional SP of Murshidabad Annappa E said, "We have received complaint from the victim's husband. Detailed inquiry has been started. We are trying to find the accused persons. Action will be taken against those who defamed Jesmina."

Stateless Indians: Najib must apologise

Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy wants the PM to make a public apology for leaving thousands of Indians in the lurch without proper documents.

GEORGE TOWN: The federal government should be ashamed for causing thousands of Malaysian-born Indians to live in stateless misery over the past five decades.

Hindraf Makkal Sakti supremo P Waythamoorthy called on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to publicly apologise to them.

“Najib should feel ashamed of Umno’s wrongdoing to these people rather than feel proud of his act of giving them long overdue citizenships. He should not just tacitly acknowledge Umno’s failure.

“He should publicly apologise to them for Umno’s racism,” he told FMT.

Waythamoorthy also criticised MIC for boasting that Putrajaya had enrolled 30,000 legitimate Malaysians without identity cards within two weeks under the MyDaftar programme.

He said Najib had nothing to be proud about since Umno was the real culprit behind the problem.

“Najib should also take immediate pro-active steps to end the stateless problem among Indians once and for all,” he said.

The Hindraf leader was commenting on the issuance of outstanding identity cards to Malaysian Indian senior citizens early this week.

Waythamoorthy said MyDaftar managed to enroll 30,000 people because the programme was carried out largely in urban areas, not in rural areas, where the government would discover thousands of rural folks without citizenry documents.

“Would you have come across such a magnitude of statelessness amongst the Malays or the Chinese? Indian statelessness shows Umno had systematically implemented an institutionalised racist agenda to suppress and oppress the community from the word go on the declaration of Malayan independence,” he added.

What about the younger generation?

The London-based Hindraf chairman also chided the government for issuing identity cards to senior citizens, who were nearing the end of their life span, but not the stateless younger generation.

He said Hindraf’s survey exposed stateless status among Indians was not an individual problem, but a generational problem.

He said if the grandfather did not have his rightful citizenship documents, his whole generation would be denied the same.

If Najib was sincere and honest, he said Putrajaya should have addressed the stateless status of the children of the senior citizens as well.

“Would the government take another 50 years to resolve their problems?

“By then the new stateless Indian general would have generated their own second to sixth generation off-springs, who would also be stateless,” he added.

He also ticked off Najib for bragging that the senior citizens could now enjoy citizenry benefits such as education, employment and healthcare.

“Doesn’t this show the stupidity of the prime minister… what could they enjoy at this late age, job and education?” he said.

Due to the long denial of citizenship, he noted that the senior citizens would not have their marriages recognised, could not have opened a bank account or owned properties all these years.

He said the senior citizens could not have secured decent jobs and enjoy retirement benefits such as Socso and EPF.

“All these years, the employers would have exploited them mercilessly by paying peanuts due to their desperate situation,” he added.

Complicated procedure

Waythamoorthy also hit out at the complicated procedural-ridden MyDaftar programme that has made it difficult for Indians to obtain their citizenry status.

He noted that written evidence of neighbours, employers, colleagues and staff, private clinics, who treated the newborn babies should be sufficient and adequate to prove their Malaysian birth.

“The Federal Constitution states that anyone born in Malaysia after 1957 is a citizen. But the racist government has imposed strict rules to deny Indians their legitimate citizenry rights,” he said.

He also called on Putrajaya to stop the habit of passing the buck to MIC to register stateless Indians.

“It’s the government’s responsibility. Umno racist masters should not wash their dirty hands and let their mandores to clean up the mess,” he said.

Hisham: Extradition of Iranian depends on the law

Home Minister says Malaysian authorities were in close contact with Thailand and Iran to sort the matter out.

KLUANG: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the extradition of the Iranian suspect believed to be involved in a series of bombings in Bangkok is largely dependent on the law.

He said the extradition process was also contingent upon a request from the Thai authorities and Malaysia was prepared to cooperate fully in the situation.

“For the time being the Iranian man is still in detention here. The extradition process is largely dependant on the law,” he told reporters after a meet the people session in Kampung Orang Asli Pengkalan Tereh, here today.

Hishammuddin, Sembrong member of parliament, said the Malaysian authorities were in close contact with Thailand and Iran to sort the matter out.

He remarked that no country in the world was safe from the threat of terrorists in this global age and that the nation’s authorities were on the constant look out to ensure national security.

Malaysian Immigration detained the Iranian, Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh, 31, about 3.30 pm on Feb 15 at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal while he was in transit from Bangkok the previous night, enroute to Iran.

He was detained on suspicion of being involved in an attempted bomb attack in Bangkok on Feb 14.

Permatang Pauh PAS Youth upset with Anwar, wants party to quit Pakatan

(Bernama) - Permatang Pauh PAS Youth chief Mohammad Hafiz Nordin said yesterday his branch was very dissapointed with the stand taken by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to support Israel and as such, was urging PAS’ leadership to break all ties with the Pakatan opposition coalition.

Mohammad Hafiz, who is also former Penang PAS Youth chief, yesterday joined scores of Penang PAS Youth members in holding a demonstration to voice their dissatisfaction with Anwar.

They carried placards bearing the words ‘Anwar Pengkhianat’ (Anwar Traitor), ‘Singkir Anwar’ (Drop Anwar), ‘Anwar Sokong Penceroboh’ (Anwar Supports Invaders) and ‘Anwar Agen Israel’ (Anwar an Agent of Israel).

The 30-minute demonstration held after Friday prayers in front of the Sheikh Eusoff Mosque in Jalan Datuk Keramat here was also joined by members of several NGOs including Persatuan Al-Ehsan Islamiyah Malaysia, Persatuan Anak Jati Melayu Islam Negeri (PAJIM) and Perkasa.

The demonstration comes in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report in which Anwar is alleged to have said that he supported all efforts aimed at guaranteeing the security of Israel.

Mohammad Hafiz said the time had come for PAS to exit Pakatan and not be made a pawn of Anwar’s politics.

“Our stand on Israel is very clear. PAS should no longer have anything to do with a person like this (Anwar),” he said, adding that PAS’ stand on the creation of Israel was very clear in that the party deemed it to be an illegal country.

ABU? Betul ke?

Anyway, go attend the ABU launches tonight. Donate generously to show you support ABU. Give a few thousand Ringgit. Then tell those leaders who are going to talk tonight that you want GOOD and CLEAN candidates. Tell them you will vote for the candidate, not the party. Tell them you don’t care what party they represent as long as the candidates are good.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Okay, for months many of you have been screaming ABU! You just want ABU, meaning Umno out of power. You don’t even want the Umno culture in the government eradicated. You just want Umno the political party kicked out.
Actually, it is not enough to just kick out Umno the political party. Umno has less than 80 seats in Parliament. And there are 222 seats altogether. So Umno needs to win at least 112 seats to become the Taiko. Hence Umno can never be the Taiko and in fact never was. The real Taiko is Barisan Nasional, with Umno as the CEO or gang leader.
Barisan Nasional won 140 seats in the 2008 general election (they lost two in by-elections and won a few more when the Pakatan Rakyat MPs became ‘independents’). This means almost half are non-Umno seats.
You may say that MCA, MIC and Gerakan have another 20 seats combined and that if Pakatan Rakyat demolishes these three parties like it did PPP then that is another 20 seats for the opposition.
That is still not enough. Your are assuming that Pakatan Rakyat will win back its 82 seats and added to these 20 it will give them 102. But that would mean Barisan Nasional would still have 120 seats. So Barisan Nasional will still be the government.
And you are assuming that Pakatan Rakyat will win every one of those 82 seats and will not lose a single one. But some of those seats were won with a very thin majority. In fact, both sides won many seats with a very thin majority.
The key is still with East Malaysia. Barisan Nasional won 55 of the 57 seats in Sabah and Sarawak. And, judging by the recent Sarawak State election, what makes you think that this time around the situation is going to be any different?
Screaming ABU is one thing. Achieving it is another.
But then how serious are you about ABU? Tonight there are going to be ABU launches all over Malaysia. (See here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/47371-roadshow-abu-transmisi-seterusnya-mutakhir)
Will all of you be going? Can we see one million people from all over Malaysia attending the ABU launches tonight? Or are you merely going to sit in front of your computer and post anti-Malay-anti-Islam comments and not bother to leave your home?
Elections cost money, a lot of money. The opposition will need hundreds of millions. How much money have you donated thus far? Will you be bringing RM10,000 tonight to donate to the election effort? Can you donate RM1,000 every month to the election fund to ensure that the opposition has a chance and so that you can see your ABU?
Talk is cheap, and that is what most of you do, just talk. You never support any programs. You never attend any programs. You never donate any money to any of these programs. You just sit in front of your computer and scream ABU and whack the Malays and Muslims. That is your ABU.
Hell, you are even prepared to close both eyes and tolerate ‘small corruption’ in the interest of kicking Umno out. Why do you want Umno out? Because they are corrupted, evil, racists, and much more. So why are you prepared to close both eyes if the opposition sometimes does the same? Because the opposition does it in small doses while Umno does it big time.
Malays support Saddam Hussein. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, Malays in Kuala Lumpur and in the Malay heartland wore Saddam T-shirts and cheered him on. Malays hate America. Why? Because America supports Israel and Israel is evil. Also, America toppled Saddam.
But Saddam killed millions. The Iran-Iraq war alone took one million lives. He butchered his own people like squatting flies. He was corrupted. He squandered his nation’s wealth. So why are we anti-America? Did America not do us a favour by removing a corrupted, murderous tyrant? Why are we pro-Saddam?
If we can support Saddam who did so much bad things and wasted a hell of a lot of money, why can’t we support Najib Tun Razak? You say that Najib was involved in the murder of one woman and is corrupted.
But that is only one woman. Saddam murdered millions. And what Najib wasted can’t even come close to what Saddam spent. But we support Saddam and we are opposed to Najib.
If you support or oppose someone depending on the degree of evil then Najib is far better than Saddam by comparison. And in that same spirit a slightly corrupted opposition is far better than a seriously corrupted Umno.
Is this the argument?
I know what you are now going to say. We need ABU. We need to kick Umno out. Never mind if the opposition is not that perfect. We get them into power first and then try to change them later.
If someone tells you that the woman you are about to marry is a slut and she has slept with every member of the football team are you going to say that at least she is not a prostitute and you can always try to get her to change later after you marry her?
Anyway, go attend the ABU launches tonight. Donate generously to show you support ABU. Give a few thousand Ringgit. Then tell those leaders who are going to talk tonight that you want GOOD and CLEAN candidates. Tell them you will vote for the candidate, not the party. Tell them you don’t care what party they represent as long as the candidates are good.
Most likely what is going to happen is that Pakatan Rakyat will field far better candidates than Barisan Nasional in the next election. That is the reality of what would most likely happen. Then well and fine. Then you can vote ABU as well as get good candidates.
But NEVER tell the opposition you will vote ABU even if they field monkeys and donkeys like they did in 2008. That is giving them a licence to be complacent and sloppy. Make sure tonight they know that ABU comes with conditions and qualifications attached. And those conditions and qualifications would be: depending on the candidates they field.
Now, stop talking. Stop screaming ABU. Go get ready. You have ABU launches to go to tonight. Show you really mean ABU and are not just a load of bullshit and hot air. You need to go talk to the opposition leaders tonight to tell them what you want. And stop at the bank teller on the way. Take out RM10,000 and give it to the ABU organisers. Ask for a receipt and make sure they send you the statement of accounts so that you know that the money is not being squandered.
I want to see how many Chinese and Indians will go tonight. After all, you are the people making the most noise. If we can’t see a huge crowd tonight and if they can’t collect a few million Ringgit then you guys and gals are all bloody fakes. ABU my foot! Podah!

Bombing Suspect Not On Yingluck-Najib Discussion

By Jamaluddin Muhammad

BANGKOK, Feb 17 (Bernama) - The detention of an Iranian in Malaysia, in connection with the three bomb blasts in this capital on Tuesday, will not be on the discussion agenda when Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra makes an official visit to Malaysia next Monday.

Acting Thai Government spokesman Thitima Chaisaeng said the matter would not be on the agenda when Yingluck held discussions with her Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the latter's office in Putrajaya.

"Prime Minister Yingluck will let the security authority take care of the case.

"However, the prime minister (Yingluck) has prepared information, in case Malaysian officials ask her about it during the meeting of delegations involving the two countries," she told reporters here.

Bangkok is seeking the extradition of the 31-year-old Iranian who was detained at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang on Wednesday, as he was about to leave for Tehran after flying in from Bangkok, the previous night.

Three bombs rocked this capital on Tuesday, including an incident where an Iranian man lost his legs when a bomb he hurled at a police patrol car, ricocheted and struck him at Sukhumvit 71 Road here.

The first bomb blast occurred at the suspect's rented house near the road and the second blast was when one of the suspects threw a bomb at a taxi for refusing to take him near the road.

A third bomb was hurled when the police patrol car intercepted him at the road.

So far, Thai police have detained two Iranian suspects, including the injured suspect who is being treated at a hospital here.

An Iranian woman, believed to be an accomplice, was reported to have left the country early this month.

All four had rented a house near the Sukhumvit 71 Road which was partly damaged by the first blast.

Malaysian police said the 31-year-old suspect was held under the Immigration Act and to facilitate investigations into terrorism activities in relation to the bombings in Thailand.

Thitima said Yingluck, among others, would discuss border issue, drug trafficking problem, halal food industry, trade between the two countries, as well as current situation of Thai workers in Malaysia.

Yingluck, who took over the country's premiership last August, is the first Thai woman to be elected prime minister.

She had initially planned to visit Malaysia on Oct 10, last year but had to postpone the trip due to severe floods in this country.

Backlash hits Curtin U after ‘Dr Rosmah’ award (updated)

Update (17 February 2012): Curtin University never for a moment anticipated the ferocity of the backlash from Malaysians when it awarded a ‘honorary doctorate’ to Rosmah.
Now the news is all over the Australian media as well and the proverbial has hit the fan. It is going to take much more than public relations and Curtin U shutting down comments on its Facebook wall to repair the damage done to its reputation – if at all possible.
12 February 2012:
Back in Australia after a New Year’s jaunt in Sydney, Rosmah was awarded an honorary doctorate at Curtin University’s Bentley campus in Perth yesterday.

Rosmah receiving her honorary doctorate from Chancellor of Curtin University Jim Gill. Photograph: Bernama

Rosmah received her scroll along with 600 other graduating students.
What are Curtin University’s links to Malaysia?
In 2010, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency granted Curtin University of Technology in Sarawak self-accreditation status following an institutional audit that included a visit by an MQA panel of auditors to the university campus. The campus was opened in Miri in 1998.
Curtin Sarawak has received various sources of funding in Malaysia:

In August 2003, Curtin Sarawak became the first international university in Malaysia to be entitled to access the prestigious IRPA grants (“Intensification for Research in Priority Areas”) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.
In December 2004, researchers at Curtin Sarawak were awarded their first IRPA grant.
In addition to sources of funding from the Federal Government, Curtin Sarawak has also access to funds from the Sarawak State Government as well as from various industrial partners.

If this is true, why are public funds going to a foreign university when many schools in Sarawak don’t even have basic facilities? How much has Curtin received in total?
In addition, the Sarawak government’s BioValley Park Project is to be developed at the Curtin Sarawak campus. The project is supposed to boost R&D to meet the state’s technological needs, particularly for the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score).
Curtin Sarawak is also associated with the Sarawak leadership.
From the Curtin website:

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who is also the chairman of the Curtin Sarawak Council, said the first phase of the project spearheaded by the state Ministry of Industrial Development will be developed on a 10-acre site at the campus.

The Perth Now website reports:

LAST time Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak visited Perth, he was met with angry protests during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Today, it was a far more peaceful visit as he slipped into Curtin University on a hush-hush private visit with his wife, who accepted an honorary doctorate…
The Prime Minister’s last visit to Perth for CHOGM in October was met with angry protests when a “Bersihkan Malaysia” group held a rally in Forrest Place to campaign for electoral reforms in Malaysia.