'Jual burger depan rumah saya perbuatan tak matang!'

End of the line for Umno’s Running Dog - MIC

The MIC, a parasite that has grown fat living off the blood, sweat and tears of the Indian poor, is headed for total extinction in the coming General Election. They are unlikely to be able to hang on to even one of their Parliamentary seats.

The MIC is expected to lose badly in Tapah and  Hulu Selangor, and may lose in Cameron Highlands as well. This would spell the end of the MIC, long a synonym for thievery and selling out the Indians.

From poor to bankrupt!

VT Sambanthan, a naïve incompetent, was the first MIC leader to sell out the Indians for his own aggrandizement and a pat on the head from his new Umno masters. Samy Vellu, for 30 long years, under the guise of various dubious schemes, would do his best to part the poor Indians from even their last penny.

Among Samy’s schemes was Maika, which involved taking contributions from gullible Indians (of which there were many) and sharing it out with his family and cronies.

At one point, Samy’s son, Vel Paari, was put in charge of Maika despite having absolutely no qualifications to be a CEO. Why be subtle about it when you don’t need to, appeared to be Samy’s motto. Vel Paari would succeed in reducing Maika from a company that was on its knees to complete bankruptcy.

Palanivel still under Samy's thumb?

Samy was also not ashamed of asking for government largesse, ostensibly for Maika, and then coolly pocketing it. This he did, in awkward and easily traceable fashion, with the Telekom shares meant for Maika. RM 100 Million which should have been spent to benefit poor Indian families, went to Samy’s own, and mostly obese, family.

Mysteriously, the MACC could find nothing wrong with the deal when even Inspector Clouseau could have solved it with his eyes closed. Samy was Umno’s running  dog and Umno protected him.

Despite having been thrown out on his ear by his constituents in 2008, Samy continues to shamelessly hang around, hoping to make a comeback. Considering that his successor, Palanivel, is a spineless invertebrate who cowers at the sight of the loud-mouthed Samy, he may just succeed. Malaysian Indians can then look forward to being robbed for another long while.

Incompetent - could they help the Indian community

MIC is now full of self-interested individuals out to line their own pockets. They are constantly on the look-out for ‘projects’ which they can have awarded to themselves or from which they can take a commission. None of them appear to have any grassroots support and this is reflected in MIC’s leadership, who, from the President down, are mere appointees.

Often, they double as fools. Certainly this was the case with Murugesan, the MIC secretary who applied for citizenship for stateless Indians under the  wrong category, thus forever ending their chances of obtaining their rightful status. Indians are clearly better off without the MIC and its incompetent, toxic, ‘help’.

In the latest controversy over MyDaftar, a programme initiated supposedly to help stateless Indians, the MIC was caught colluding with Umno to cover up the problem. Where there are hundreds of thousands of stateless Indians, MIC pretended there were only a few thousand. MyDaftar turned out to be mere political grandstanding rather than a real attempt to help the most marginalized of the Indian poor.

Low on quality

A sample of MIC supporters on the new media, like Twitter, finds them to be ill-mannered, unable to have an intelligent discussion, and often vulgar.

It is a symbol of the low quality of those who are willing to associate themselves with MIC, consisting mostly of the uneducated and mercenary rent-seekers.

And so the MIC staggers on like the drunken; a trait it may share with many of its members; until it is wiped out for good in the next election.
And the Indians will be quite right to curse it and say good riddance.

Malaysia Chronicle

Egyptian Actress Under Fire for Playing Role of Mother Teresa

Hanan Tork, a popular actress in the Middle East of Egyptian origins, who recently took to the hijab and retired from acting, has returned to the silver screen—to much criticism and threats from the same Muslims who formerly praised her for donning the veil. According to Al Sawt, the actress is under "vicious attack" for accepting to play the role of Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who, for 45 years, dedicated her life to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.

Hanan Tork as a Catholic nun: wearing a cross, praying, and enraging Islamists.

The problem, however, is that Mother Teresa was a Christian; and playing her role required the Muslim actress to wear the crucifix around her neck and read some Biblical verses, thereby incensing Islamists, to the point that they proclaimed her an apostate infidel, through takfir—just as they have done to many other artists, most recently, Adel Emam.

Earlier Tork had said that she does not "consider playing such a role as risky, due to the fact that she will be playing the role of a woman who is very religious and lives her life based on religious principals and ethics."

She is now discovering that such "ecumenism" is primarily a Western construct, and that, for many in the Islamic world, a Muslim merely acting the life of a Christian, wearing the cross or quoting the Bible, is a great crime—regardless of the saintly life led by the Christian.

Nine guilty in Rochdale sex grooming trial, but more arrests on way in hunt for FIFTY sex beasts

Top - Abdul Qayyum, Hamid Safi, Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Rauf; Bottom - Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Amin, Adil Khan, Mohammed Sajid.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1493255_nine-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-trial-but-more-arrests-on-way-in-hunt-for-fifty-sex-beasts?related_link

Top - Abdul Qayyum, Hamid Safi, Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Rauf; Bottom - Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Amin, Adil Khan, Mohammed Sajid.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1493255_nine-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-trial-but-more-arrests-on-way-in-hunt-for-fifty-sex-beasts?related_link

Top - Abdul Qayyum, Hamid Safi, Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Rauf; Bottom - Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Amin, Adil Khan, Mohammed Sajid. Top - Abdul Qayyum, Hamid Safi, Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Rauf; Bottom - Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Amin, Adil Khan, Mohammed Sajid.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1493255_nine-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-trial-but-more-arrests-on-way-in-hunt-for-fifty-sex-beasts?related_link

As they were convicted following an 11-week trial, it emerged police believe the gang may have had FIFTY members. Many of the men were identified to the girls only by nicknames and have proved difficult to track down.

Officers are still trying to establish the real identities of the men – some of whom were referred to in court as Goofy, Ray, Juicy, Arfan, Ali, Manni, Mamma, Pino and Arfan.

But we understand police believe they have established the names of four men alleged to have sexually abused the prosecution’s main witness at a ‘sex party’ in 2008.

Detectives believe at least one may be in Pakistan. They expect to make arrests in the next few days but are not planning to extend the investigation to Pakistan.

n addition to the four, Mohammed Shazad, 40, who was said by the Crown to have organised the sex parties at his flat in Jephys Street, Rochdale, was arrested but jumped bail before the start of the trial and fled to Pakistan last year.

He is said to have paid taxi driver Abdul Aziz, who acted as a pimp, £30 or £40 for bringing girls to his flat for sex.

The prosecution’s main witness said she went to Mr Shazad’s flat on countless occasions and was forced to have sex with him each time. He also took her to another flat in Nelson where she was forced to have sex with other men, she told the jurors. Mr Shazad, also known as Khan, and who worked in a chip shop on Spotland Road, Rochdale, is said to have told reluctant girls brought to his flat: ‘No sex no money’.

The trial heard that the men – who are all from Pakistan, apart from one who is from Afghanistan – groomed and ‘shared’ the young white girls because they were vulnerable.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood, of Greater Manchester Police said: "It is not a racial issue. This is about adults preying on vulnerable young children. It just happens that in this particular area and time the demographics were that these were Asian men."

UN: Malaysia facing slower growth as crisis enters Stage II

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Malaysia is looking at slower growth as regional economies take a hit from the deterioration of the global economic environment particularly in Europe, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said today.

The agency projected a growth rate for Malaysia of 4.5 per cent this year compared with 5.1 per cent last

Mohamed Ariff said growth in Malaysia this year is expected to be driven by private consumption and commodity exports. — Picture by Choo Choy May

year and 7.2 per cent in 2010.

The slower growth could present a hurdle for Malaysia’s ambitions to reach high-income status by 2020 as this could be the second consecutive year that growth will come in below the six per cent average growth prescribed by the Najib administration’s reform initiatives such as the New Economic Model (NEM) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

The Asia-Pacific as a whole meanwhile is expected to see its growth moderate further to 6.5 per cent in 2012 compared with 7 per cent in 2011 due to a slackening of demand for exports in advanced economies.

ESCAP noted that the Malaysia continued to incur fiscal deficits, although reduced, due to wide-ranging subsidies and the delayed introduction of the broad-based goods and services tax (GST).

Prof Datuk Mohamed Ariff Abdul Kareem, professor with the Global University of Islamic Finance, said that growth this year was expected to be driven by private consumption and commodity exports.

“Expect public expenditure to decline over deficit concerns,” he said at the launch of the ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2012.

He noted that the US used to be Malaysia’s top trading partner but was now only the fifth largest during the first two months of the year while Singapore was now the country’s top trading partner and China had climbed from 14th to second place.

As part of reforms, subsidy spending was to have been rationalised but the exercise was suspended indefinitely last year over concerns it would increase inflationary pressure.

ESCAP noted that while subsidies for sugar and energy were reduced slightly in 2010, subsidies still accounted for about four per cent of GDP.

ESCAP economic affairs officer Oliver Paddison said countries in the region needed to rebalance their economies towards domestic consumption and strengthen regional co-operation to face economic challenges.

He added that high commodity prices had become a “new normal” and countries should get involved in a “green revolution” to boost food production to help bring down inflation in food prices.

ESCAP said the world had entered a second stage of the global financial crisis with a sharp deterioration in the economic conditions largely due to the Eurozone debt crisis and the uncertain US economy.

It estimated that a disorderly sovereign debt default in Europe or the breakup of the euro common currency region would result in a new crisis that could lead to a total export loss of US$390 billion (RM1,170 billion) over 2012-2013 and reduce Asia-Pacific growth by 1.3 per cent.

The agency noted however that despite the slowdown, the Asia-Pacific will remain the fastest growing region in the world and has begun acting as a growth pole for other developing regions such as South America and Africa.

Najib maki ‘haram jadah’ kepada peneroka

PM sepatutnya bertindak adil terhadap peneroka kerana semuanya berhak menerima 'durian runtuh' selepas tanah mereka dicagarkan untuk penyenaraian FGVHB.

SHAH ALAM: Kredibiliti Datuk Seri Najib Razak sebagai Perdana Menteri kini dipertikai selepas menuturkan perkataan kurang sopan kepada peneroka yang menyokong pembangkang membantah penyenaraian saham Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGVHB) di Bursa Malaysia.

Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam Khalid Samad berkata Najib sepatutnya bertindak adil terhadap peneroka kerana semuanya berhak menerima
‘durian runtuh’ selepas tanah mereka dicagarkan untuk penyenaraian FGVHB.

“Ini hak peneroka, tanah peneroka, apa isunya nak maki hamun…eh duit siapa ni? Cara ucapannya memang tak nampak langsung Perdana Menteri punya material,” katanya dalam sidang media di sini hari ini.

Najib dalam ucapannya di Majlis Sejahtera Peneroka bersama Perdana Menteri di Jengka 8 kelmarin turut berkata dirinya tidak redha dan tidak rela pembangkang mengambil ‘durian runtuh’ RM15,000 itu selepas cuba menghalang penyenaraian FGVHB.

“Haram jadah mereka tu. Jangan terima kebaikan daripada penyenaraian (FGVHB). Saya nak tengok muka-muka mereka ni terima durian runtuh. Haram jadah,” katanya.

Khalid berkata, walaupun ada peneroka yang tidak bersetuju dengan penyenaraian itu, keputusan sama ada mahu menerima ‘durian runtuh’ itu tetap terletak di tangan mereka.

Beliau turut mendakwa pemberian ‘durian runtuh’ itu dibuat hanya berdasarkan niat politik apabila Najib menyentuh isu ‘pembubaran parlimen’.

Punca tindakan zalim

Sementara itu, beliau turut membidas mengenai kenyataan bekas Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Rahim Noor yang menyifatkan Mursyidul Am PAS Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat sebagai ‘bapa kafir’.

Katanya, kenyataan Rahim jelas membuktikan cara Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) menanamkan pemikiran kebencian terhadap pembangkang dalam kalangan pegawai atasan sehingga dianggap musuh negara.

“Inilah yang menghasilkan tindakan zalim. Pemikiran pegawai kerajaan dirosakkan sehingga mereka ini tak boleh bertindak ikut cara profesional,” katanya.

Katanya, sebagai negara demokrasi pembangkang ada hak dan perlu dihormati serta bersedia menghadapi kekalahan (pembangkang atau BN) melalui pilihan raya.

Namun bukan melalui cara kotor dengan putar belit fakta dan propaganda sehingga menanamkan kebencian di kalangan kakitangan kerajaan.

“Kalau BN tak nak lepas kuasa, cakap terus terang jangan rosakkan kerajaan,” katanya.

PKR to hammer ‘final nail in MIC’s coffin’

PKR is set to release images of the incident which will prove its claim regarding the MyKad brawl, while MIC's S Vell Paari is prepared to quit.

PETALING JAYA: PKR will release, what it terms as “shocking unseen images”, to prove that MIC Youth was responsible for the brawl outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya last week.

The images would be disclosed during a press conference at the party headquarters here tomorrow morning.

Speaking to FMT regarding the matter, PKR vice-president N Surendran was confident that the images would hammer the “final nail in MIC’s coffin.”

“It will prove that both Barisan Nasional and MIC have now resorted to political violence and criminal acts against their political opponents,” he said.

According to him, the images also captured the fear in 17-year-old student B Reshina during the incident.

“The fear in her can be clearly seen from the images, they (MIC Youth members) had subjected her to an act of criminal intimidation,” said the lawyer.

Last Wednesday, Surendran had led a PKR delegation to the PMO to submit a memorandum demanding that Reshina be issued a MyKad.

At the same time, MIC Youth chief T Mohan brought a large delegation there to thank the prime minister for issuing identity cards and birth certificates to Malaysian Indians under the MyDaftar programme.

During the fracas, which Surendran previously described as a pre-meditated attack, PKR Puchong division chief S Murali sustained a fractured cheek bone, which required corrective surgery.

MIC Youth had accused the PKR delegation of hurling obscenities and throwing the first blow, an allegation which the opposition party denied.

‘We want the PM to answer’

Meanwhile, Surendran also stressed that the images would speak for themselves as to who was at fault.


“The material will reveal that MIC’s version of the incident is a lie, fabriation and a gross attempt at misleading the public,” he said.

“After the release of these images, we want an immediate answer from the prime minister on this outrageous incident perpetrated by one of his component parties,” he added.

Surendran said the images, obtained from a sympathiser who was present during the incident, would show the sequence of events which took place that morning.

With the general election around the corner, the brawl had landed another blow to MIC’s image as the party struggled to reclaim lost ground since the last general election.

The incident also caused a break in ranks when several party leaders criticised MIC disciplinary committee chief KS Nijhar for taking the Youth members involved to task and vowing to launch a probe.

In the aftermath of the incident, some observers also cast doubts on the MIC Youth chief’s political future with regard to being fielded as a candidate for a parliamentary seat.

Yesterday, the police had recorded a statement from Mohan on the fracas. Despite numerous attempts, Mohan could not be reached for comment regarding the images.

Vell Paari prepared to quit



However, MIC central working committee (CWC) member S Vell Paari said that he would resign from the party if it was proven that the MIC Youth members had attempted to attack Reshina.

“Photographs may not tell the truth as it depends on the angle. But if it can be proven that there was an attempt to attack her and if Reshina herself is willing to say this, then I will quit.

“People can say many things about me, but those who know me will tell you that I am a straight shooter. I don’t condone violence, especially if it involves a schoolgirl,” he told FMT.

On the same note, Vell Paari claimed that based on the feedback he obtained, Surendran had made Reshina walk at the front of the PKR delegation, thus putting her at risk.

“If this is true, then he should not have used her as a human shield. And when two opposing parties meet, trading of abuses is commonplace. But like I said before, I don’t tolerate violence,” he said.

Najib wants SMEs to support Selangor takeover

PM dangles RM500 million carot to the mostly Malay SMEs in his quest to recapture the nation's most industrialised state.

SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is calling on the predominantly Malay small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to support the ruling coalition’s effort to recapture Selangor, the country’s most industrialised state, in the upcoming polls.

He told a gathering of SMEs here that Barisan Nasional must be allowed to lead the state again if small businesses are to thrive, saying the Pakatan Rakyat administration’s preference for politics, at the expense of the community, have thwarted growth in the state.

“It is a shame that these people prefer to play politics more than caring about the welfare of the people,” he told some 500 participants at the Jom Niaga Selangor Chapter event here where he later announced the allocation of RM500 million to aid potential SMEs.

The BN chairman has often played on the same sentiment in his assault on the PKR-led government which has recently intensified as speculation is rife that he will call for national polls in these few months.

Najib, who is also the state’s Umno liaison chief, had made it his personal quest to see Selangor back in the hands of the ruling coalition.

While business is booming under the stewardship of PKR’s Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, the prime minister said this was only made possible by all the “hardwork” of the previous BN governments.

He added that high per capita income of the state, a reflection of the state’s wealth and industrialisation, was the fruit of decades of strenous efforts to pull in investments into Selangor and could not be realistically achieved in a single-term.

Business BN

“But there are certain quarters who want to take credit over this,” he said to thunderous applause.

Malays make up majority of the SMEs which explains Najib’s extra effort to court the segment as admitted by the prime minister himself who told the gathering that he wanted to personally ask for their support in the upcoming elections.

Selangor holds the largest pool of urban constituencies predominantly made of non-Malay majority. They are known as ardent backers of Pakatan which is why BN is now betting on the support of the Malays to recapture the state.

Najib said backing a BN takeover of Selangor promises more financial help for SMEs with no “political interference”.

Control over key state laws meant the BN controlled-government would have no obstacle in approving projects to stimulate commercial growth he added.

Khalid and company, however, blamed the Putrajaya for all the allleged investment barriers raised through powerful and pervasive federal jurisdiction over key resources like water and education.

They claimed Putrajaya aims to squeeze the Pakatan administration through an economic chokehold, citing the ongoing legal battle over Selangor’s bid to buyover all the water concessions in the state as part of its cheap water programme, as proof.

Stop mocking the rakyat’s desire for Free and fair elections

Nurul Izzah Anwar
While we should welcome the government’s withdrawal of amendments to the Election Offences Act, we must be cognizant that the said amendments should not have been tabled so hastily nor bulldozed through Parliament in the first place.

This sudden but among the many about-turn decisions by the Najib administration not only demonstrates the sheer incompetence of a government lacking a reform legislative agenda but appears more likely to be a calculated move, making a mockery of the rakyat especially in light of the Bersih 3.0 demands and rally.

This hard won victory by the rakyat on the aftermath of Bersih 3.0 is bittersweet as the electoral reforms demanded was never considered. Instead, what was not asked was proposed, passed in Parliament, only to be withdrawn now at the senate.

The acceptance of the ‘decoy’ Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms sans the opposition minority report, the ambivalence of the government on SUHAKAM’s recent report on the handling of the 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally, employing religious fatwas to demean the democratic right to peaceful protest, and the irresponsible attempt to paint the recent over 200,000 strong Bersih 3.0 rally as an attempt to overthrow the government through violent means are distracting and insulting to the Rakyat’s legitimate desire for free and fair elections.

To add insult to injury, Prime Minister Najib now decides to appoint former IGP, Tun Hanif Omar as chairman of the ostensibly Independent Panel to Investigate Bersih 3.0 brutalities; which, undeniably includes the police force whilst sidelining SUHAKAM. Meanwhile, Najib continues to rebuff UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue’s offer to assist – much relying on the bruised and tattered credibility of Genting Director Tun Hanif.

Clearly, if the administration lead by Datuk Seri Najib is even remotely interested in making Malaysia the ‘Greatest Democracy’ and not the ‘Greatest Mockery’ in the world, all he needs to implement are the following:

(a) all 8 demands made by Bersih 2.0
(b) a realignment of the existing malapportionment of both state and federal seats (where the difference between number of voters between seats should not exceed 15% – state seats should not cut across local authorities boundaries – and to recognise that 70% of Malaysians are already living in Urban areas hence the need for rural seats balance is not relevant. Furthermore based on GE12 in 2008, of the 139 smallest seats, BN was able to win 112 seats for a simple majority with just 2.06 million voters or 18.9% out of 10.9 million voter population (1))
(c) to repeal Section 9A of the Election Act that currently disallows judicial review of the electoral roll
(d) to repeal in its entirety Printing Presses and Publications Act to facilitate free and fair media
(e) to allow international observers for the upcoming 13th General Election
(f) Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Sabah Illegal Immigrants issue
(g) Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Citizenship for Votes scandal

The above should be guaranteed to be implemented BEFORE GE 13 even if a special sitting of the Parliament is required. I believe that the government has the ability and the political will to do so as demonstrated vis the rushed eight pieces of legislation during the last day of Parliament; one of which has since been withdrawn.

Failure of the Najib administration to implement these demands will only result in a General Elections that will be riddled with fraudulent practices, lending credence to the allegation of an illegitimate government, and Malaysia will never achieve the much touted objective of being the ‘Greatest Democracy in the World’.

Nurul Izzah Anwar
Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai and Vice President of KEADILAN

Hadi: Pakatan will implement hudud

(NST) - Hudud will be implemented if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power but it will only be for Muslims, while non-Muslims will be given an option whether they want to be subjected to the law, said Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

However, he said, if they won in Terengganu, the implementation of hudud in the state would be deferred until unemployment and minimum wage problems were settled.

"We will implement it on Muslims first. Figh (Islamic jurisprudence) books provided for it to be implemented on Muslims, while non-Muslims be given an option (whether to follow), as gazetted in the Syariah Criminal Law of Kelantan and Terengganu (and) it was formulated and passed by the state assembly."

Hadi was responding to a question on whether hudud would be implemented if Pakatan came to power as he had mentioned in his ceramah that DAP had voiced its opposition to it. He was speaking after a ceramah session here on Tuesday.

However, he declined to say where DAP stood on the issue and said the question should be addressed to DAP leaders.

He added hudud would not be implemented in Terengganu until poverty, unemployment and the minimum wage were settled.

"First things first. We will give priority to poverty eradication. Hudud cannot be implemented before the implementation of a minimum wage.

"If someone steals because his salary is not enough, we cannot implement hudud (on him) because the conditions were not met."

He said Pas had discussed hudud with all parties, including Umno, since the 1970s.

"When Pas was in Barisan Nasional, there was a national seminar where the late Prof Ahmad Ibrahim presented a paper. Tun Salleh Abas also presented a paper."

Ahmad was the Universiti Malaya Law Fculty dean in the 1970s and later became the dean of International Islamic University Law faculty. Salleh was a former Lord President of the Federal Court of Malaysia.

Traders 'grill' Ambiga with burger protest

Petty traders group Ikhlas has set up a burger stall outside Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan's house to protest against the loss of income caused by the Bersih rally two Saturdays ago.

"If we cannot do business in KL, then we will do business here," said Ikhlas chairperson Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah.

However, the move is clearly symbolic as the location of the stall - in the upmarket Bukit Damansara suburb - did not appear to provide the necessary volume of customers.
According to the minders at the stall, the burgers are to be given away for free and 200 burgers are to be prepared.
"This is a gimmick", remarked one minder, when asked about the free burgers.
This is the second protest by Ikhlas since last Saturday, where 30 traders claimed that they suffered more than RM200,000 in losses because of Bersih 3.0.
Women's rights activist Ivy Josiah, a close friend of Ambiga, has quipped that the Bersih leader is a vegetarian in a Twitter posting.
The dozen protestors dismantled the burger stall and left the area by 3.15pm, over an hour after setting up shop but not before cleaning up.

“Nah, bersih (There, clean),”  they joked, in reference to the name of the electoral reforms movement.

Traders want compensation

Later, Ikhlas chairperson Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah (below) heatedly explained that they were protesting to seek compensation for the traders whose businesses were affected during the rally.
For Bersih 2.0, 317 traders had made claims amounting to losses of RM 817,205, he said while brandishing a compilation of the claims.
“For Bersih 3.0, we are still gathering information about the damages,” he said, but estimated that from the 232 reports so far, the losses stood at about RM 200,000.

He gave Ambiga two weeks to respond, failing which they would hold a “2.0 protest” with stalls spanning the entire street.

When asked if they would apply for a permit or risk police arrest, Ridzuan brushed it off by claiming that the police would have to also arrest Ambiga.

He also implied that the group was only safely channelling what would otherwise be a more aggressive backlash against Bersih.

“Ikhlas has managed to control all these traders. If they follow emotions, who knows what will happen?

“We have successfully ‘cooled’ these people,” he added.

When queried as to why they were targeting Ambiga specifically, they cited her as the organiser of the rally.

“She was the one meeting with (KL mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail) and DBKL. She’s the organiser,” he said.

Plain meaning of 'independent'

By Clive Kessler

Excuse me, but as a puzzled outside observer I just do not understand.

Or perhaps it is the case that others do not understand the “plain meaning” of everyday words?

Yesterday Hanif Omar was named to head an “independent” commission of investigation into the events of April 28.

Yet several days ago he joined forces, and combined his voice, with two other former inspectors-general of police to call for action against the leaders of the Bersih movement for mounting a “coup attempt”.

“Independent”?

My amazement here is not directed against Hanif who has always sought to project and prove himself a dutiful, and ever available, servant of the national interest as he sees it.

But I am flabbergasted at the obtuseness of those who have bestowed this serious responsibility upon him, of those who might think that making such an appointment is in any way “seemly” or appropriate.

Governments that behave unwisely, inappropriately, arbitrarily and that show a complete absence of good sense and clear-headedness, even an inability to see and think “straight” and honestly, destroy their own credibility.

And, often, themselves with it.

Where this kind of disingenuous obtuseness meets cunning and outright, brazen shamelessness the insistent will of the powerful is often, and often quite dubiously, at work.

It is not simply a question here of “doing the right thing”, of acting justly and being seen to be doing so.

Even in their own best interests, surely the authorities can do better than this.

A Lifetime at Bar Council: 29 Years and Thousands of Names under Her Belt

Article and photos contributed by Anis Taufik, Editor/Writer, Bar Council

If you have ever contacted the Bar Council Secretariat with enquries regarding your Sijil Annual (“SA”) application, there is a large chance that you would have liaised with Kwan Yin Cheng, an Officer in the Membership Department.  Soft-spoken with a quiet, serene smile, Kwan — as she is known within the organisation — is one of the few individuals at the Bar Council Secretariat who knows the procedures involved when applying for SA like the back of her own hand.  This should come as no surprise, for Kwan, a staff member since 1983, can often be found working her way through a challenging workload, with tight deadlines during the SA application peak season, at a steady pace.  After all these years, Kwan is also very familiar with the names of lawyers and their law firms.      

When I let out a gasp of surprise at how long she has been with the organisation, Kwan merely observed in a factual voice, “That’s 29 years.”  She provided some background of how she had first started at the Bar Council Secretariat, explaining that she had begun her career with the organisation as an accounting clerk in the Finance Department.  In a nostalgic voice, she reminisced that Bar Council was so much smaller back then and the Membership Department was not yet in existence.  Instead, all issues pertaining to Membership, such as the issuing of SA, was handled by the Finance Department.  Kwan pointed out that during that time, the Finance Department could handle the processing of SA on its own as there were only approximately 1,000 Members of the Bar.  According to her, Bar Council has grown tremendously in the almost three decades since her first day.  She highlighted that she is always particularly impressed that there are now over 14,000 Members, thus justifying the need for a separate, and relatively large, Membership Department.

In a reflective tone, Kwan acknowledged that Bar Council has developed a lot over the years and she felt awed to have been able to witness the organisation’s steady growth through time.  When asked what the most noticeable difference is today, Kwan replied with a single word: “technology”.  She elaborated that in her early days, computers were not available and typewriters had been relied upon completely instead.  With a small laugh, Kwan added, “We had to type out all the certificates for Sijil Annual manually as we didn’t have the computers to process or print them in the 1980s”.  She described the time-consuming task by adding that all the details received had to be keyed in by staff members themselves as there had been “no such thing as pre-printed forms”.  Kwan rubbed her hands together instinctively before blurting out that on top of it all, the verification work had been done manually with carbon paper, thus resulting in inky and blackened fingers and palms!  

Kwan mentioned that the peak period for the Membership Department usually begins around the end of September each year, as that is when the SA applications start trickling in.  She explained that a deluge of applications would be submitted to the Department, and approximately 2,000 to 3,000 applications could come in at one go towards the first deadline, followed by several thousand more by the second deadline.

The processing of SA applications is especially challenging for the staff members of the Membership Department as they have to process all applications within a period of 21 days, as stipulated in the Legal Profession Act 1976.  Kwan added that during the peak period, the number of SA applications processed daily could range between 200 and 300.  

Noting that the workload must be quite overwhelming at times, I enquired how she deals with stress and the pressure of having to meet tight deadlines.  Kwan chuckled deeply and replied that whenever she feels work is getting out of hand, she keeps stress at bay by taking breaks to put some space between herself and work.  She emphasised that it is important to take breaks to ensure productivity, and admitted that on especially busy days, she would pick up her bag and go out for lunch with colleagues to talk things through.  Doing so has enabled her to view issues objectively, thus allowing her to plan her next course of action and tackle problems effectively.  With a sly, conspirational wink, she revealed that although she does not subscribe to the idea of “retail therapy”, she enjoys window shopping and browsing.  She pointed out that she sometimes walks around the stalls of Central Market with colleagues after a hearty meal as it does wonders to help her relax and take her mind off work.

During our chat, Kwan talked openly of matters that are close to her heart.  A proud mother of four, she is always up at the break of dawn to prepare breakfast for her children, all of whom are still studying.  She went on to say that she only makes her way to work after all her children have been sent to school.  As she talked about her daily routine, I enquired how she manages to keep everything in her life — four children to look after, a husband to attend to, a home to manage, on top of a full-time job — balanced.  Kwan shared that she feels fortunate as she has help and support from her in-laws who live with her family, citing that they often lend a hand in looking after her children while she and her husband are at work.  Restating her earlier point about making time for herself, Kwan elaborated that she derives pleasure from the simple things in her life such as watching television with her family after dinner, in addition to reading newspapers and magazines when she can.  She added that having a pet dog at home is a constant source of joy to her too.  

Kwan also confessed to being a big fan of music.  Citing sentimental music and oldies as her favourites, she commented that she finds them calming and wonderful to listen to when unwinding after a long day at work.  She added that she enjoys going to concerts when she can, and had actually caught Air Supply’s performance when the band came to Malaysia.  Kwan then paused briefly, only to note with wry amusement that as her children always listen to the latest pop songs, she “can’t help but tune into the current hits on the music charts with them sometimes”.  She gave an example of the generation gap between her and her children, explaining that although she had heard Lady Gaga’s music on the radio before, she had gotten the shock of her life when she saw the singer perform on MTV.  In her own words, she had actually exclaimed, “Who’s this lady?  She looks horrible!”, much to the chagrin of her children.

As the afternoon progressed and the sun began to dip across the horizon, we began to talk about the future.  Kwan, having been with Bar Council for a large portion of her professional career, is realistic about her expectations and where she is headed.  She laughed softly as she said, in her practical and self-assured voice, “Looks like I’ll be here until I retire!” before expressing contentment with where she is.

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This is the eleventh in a series of profiles of Bar Council personnel. Please click here read the other profiles.

EC Will Appoint Six Observers For 13th General Election From Among Local NGOs - Wan Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Bernama) -- The Election Commission (EC) will appoint six observers for the 13th general election from among local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), besides observers from outside the country.

Its deputy chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the EC was expected to meet with local NGOs within a week or two to discuss the monitoring framework.

"The selected NGOs should abide by the conditions set by the EC, whereby they must not assist any party campaigning in the general election," he said when delivering a talk on 'Bersih 3.0 - What More Do They Want?' organised by the Special Affairs Department, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, here, Thursday.

Wan Ahmad said the EC had invited foreign observers from the Commonwealth Secretariat for the 1990 general election and also local observers through a body known as 'Malaysia For Free Elections' for monitoring purpose.

Meanwhile, he questioned the motive of the opposition which had been creating issues on the EC without showing any serious interest in obtaining explanations to the issues raised.

The EC had held briefings for politicians and those who came for the dialogues were mostly from Barisan Nasional and not even 10 from the opposition parties, he said.

"The opposition prefers to hold a press conference and would accuse the EC of not being transparent while none of them would come to the EC to get an explanation."

He said some of the demands made at the April 28 demonstration showed they were only politically motivated and not to help the EC to improve the existing system.

"An example is their attempt to get Malaysians living abroad to vote although these individuals had left this country a long time ago and some had not even returned at all."

Wan Ahmad said for Malaysians living abroad, they would be able to vote in this country's general election if they returned here at least once every five years.

He said that according to the EC electoral roll, only about 500 Malaysian citizens outside the country had registered as voters and they were civil servants serving at the Malaysian missions and students.

"But the opposition is portraying as though there are tens of thousands of Malaysians abroad who should be eligible to vote." he added.

The Man with the Straw Hat

One of the enduring images of the Bersih 3.0 rally is that of the man with the straw hat, teacher Toh Ching Hong.

Watch how he doesn’t flinch even when tear gas is fired.