Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Andhra HC strikes down Muslim minority sub-quota. Big slap to Muslim Reservation process in India on religious basis.
Andhra Pradesh HC Quashes Centre’s 4.5% Sub-Quota for Minorities.
Hindu Existence News Bureau :: 29th June, 2012 :: While at least four states in India viz. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal,…
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Hindu Existence News Bureau :: 29th June, 2012 :: While at least four states in India viz. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal,…
Andhra Pradesh HC Quashes Centre’s 4.5% Sub-Quota for Minorities.
Hindu Existence News Bureau :: 29th June, 2012 :: While at least four states in India viz. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh are trying hard to set exclusive reservation policy for Muslims on religious basis in India under the benevolent support from the Congress led UPA Govt. in the Centre, the Andhra Pradesh High Court today discarded the ongoing reservation policy for Muslim minority in a fraudulent mode of appeasement and quashed the concerned policy of reservation for Muslim minorities so far adopted by the concerned Govt.
In the present movement to bow down to the Muslims, the ruling forces in the States and Centre somehow have surrendered to the organized Muslim forces in all Political Parties in India, envisaging a new concept of
‘Holding that the Centre acted in a “casual manner”, the Andhra Pradesh High Court today quashed the 4.5 per cent sub-quota to minorities carved out of 27 per cent OBC reservation–a verdict that may affect admissions already made in central education polictional institutions such as IITs. sub-quota or religious quota for Muslims of India who are much believers of Shariat than the civil law of India. And special felicities given to minorities are being solely given for and grabbed by the Muslims.
In a setback to the Centre over the sub-quota issue, the Court said the Office Memorandum(OM) creating the sub-quota was based on religious grounds and not on any other consideration.
The December 22, 2011 OM for a subquota of 4.5 per cent for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens belonging to minority communities out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central educational institutions and jobs was announced by the Centre ahead of the Assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The very use of the words “belonging to minorities” or “for minorities” indicates that the sub-quota has been carved out only on religious lines and not on any other intelligible basis, the bench observed while setting aside the sub-quota.
Shortly after the verdict was pronounced, the Congress treaded cautiously, saying the court judgement has to be read and understood.
“You cannot react to court judgments until you have perused, read, understood and appreciated..(We can comment)….After we receive copy of the judgment”, party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in Delhi.
Setting aside the OM, a division bench consisting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, “In fact, we must express our anguish at the rather casual manner in which the entire issue has been taken up by the central government.”
“No evidence has been shown to us by the learned Assistant Solicitor General to justify the classification of these religious minorities as a homogeneous group or as more backward classes deserving some special treatment.
“We must, therefore, hold that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) do not form a homogeneous group but a heterogeneous group,” it observed.
According to K Ramakrishna Reddy, senior counsel who argued for the petitioner R Krishnaiah– a backward caste leader from Andhra Pradesh, the judgement may affect the admissions that have already been made in central educational institutions such as IITs.
“We have, therefore, no option but to set aside the carving out of a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent in favour of backward classes belonging to minorities out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in both the OMs dated 22.12.2011 and the Resolution dated 22.12.2011. We do so accordingly,” the court said.
The first OM states that the 4.5 per cent sub-quota is carved out of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens “belonging to minorities” as defined in Section 2(c) of the NCM Act.
The resolution and the second OM created a sub-quota “for minorities”.’
The Present direction of AP High Court is a land mark decision and obviously a staunch blow to curb the policy of minority appeasement policy in India.
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Hindu Existence News Bureau :: 29th June, 2012 :: While at least four states in India viz. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh are trying hard to set exclusive reservation policy for Muslims on religious basis in India under the benevolent support from the Congress led UPA Govt. in the Centre, the Andhra Pradesh High Court today discarded the ongoing reservation policy for Muslim minority in a fraudulent mode of appeasement and quashed the concerned policy of reservation for Muslim minorities so far adopted by the concerned Govt.In the present movement to bow down to the Muslims, the ruling forces in the States and Centre somehow have surrendered to the organized Muslim forces in all Political Parties in India, envisaging a new concept of
‘Holding that the Centre acted in a “casual manner”, the Andhra Pradesh High Court today quashed the 4.5 per cent sub-quota to minorities carved out of 27 per cent OBC reservation–a verdict that may affect admissions already made in central education polictional institutions such as IITs. sub-quota or religious quota for Muslims of India who are much believers of Shariat than the civil law of India. And special felicities given to minorities are being solely given for and grabbed by the Muslims.In a setback to the Centre over the sub-quota issue, the Court said the Office Memorandum(OM) creating the sub-quota was based on religious grounds and not on any other consideration.
The December 22, 2011 OM for a subquota of 4.5 per cent for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens belonging to minority communities out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central educational institutions and jobs was announced by the Centre ahead of the Assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The very use of the words “belonging to minorities” or “for minorities” indicates that the sub-quota has been carved out only on religious lines and not on any other intelligible basis, the bench observed while setting aside the sub-quota.
Shortly after the verdict was pronounced, the Congress treaded cautiously, saying the court judgement has to be read and understood.
“You cannot react to court judgments until you have perused, read, understood and appreciated..(We can comment)….After we receive copy of the judgment”, party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in Delhi.
Setting aside the OM, a division bench consisting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, “In fact, we must express our anguish at the rather casual manner in which the entire issue has been taken up by the central government.”
“No evidence has been shown to us by the learned Assistant Solicitor General to justify the classification of these religious minorities as a homogeneous group or as more backward classes deserving some special treatment.
“We must, therefore, hold that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) do not form a homogeneous group but a heterogeneous group,” it observed.
According to K Ramakrishna Reddy, senior counsel who argued for the petitioner R Krishnaiah– a backward caste leader from Andhra Pradesh, the judgement may affect the admissions that have already been made in central educational institutions such as IITs.
 |
| MIM Chief and Communal Member of Parliament Asaduddin owaisi along with his party workers participate in a rally to demand reservation for muslims in Sangareddy. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu. |
The first OM states that the 4.5 per cent sub-quota is carved out of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens “belonging to minorities” as defined in Section 2(c) of the NCM Act.
The resolution and the second OM created a sub-quota “for minorities”.’
The Present direction of AP High Court is a land mark decision and obviously a staunch blow to curb the policy of minority appeasement policy in India.
France: Muslims stone Christians in church during Mass
No one will take much note of this. It is just one story among the
thousands that together tell the tale of France's decline and
Islamization. Eurabia Update: Here is…
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No one will take much note of this. It is just one story among the
thousands that together tell the tale of France's decline and
Islamization. Eurabia Update: Here is my translation of "Carcassonne Des
fidèles caillassés pendant la messe à Saint-Joseph," by Yannick
Bonnefoy in Midi Libre, May 27 (thanks to David):
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Carcassonne: The faithful stoned during Mass at St. Joseph Yesterday at 6:20PM, as Fr. Roger Barthes began to celebrate mass, four youths, aged 14 to 18, broke into the Church of St. Joseph, before launching handfuls of pebbles at 150 faithful present at the service. Immediately, men began pursuing the young troublemakers, but in vain. They managed to vanish into thin air, heading towards the city La Conte.
Interrupted by regrettable unexpected event, Mass was finally able to proceed as planned. Although no one was injured and nothing was broken in the church, located along the Avenue Jean Moulin, the parishioners, many of whom are elderly, were greatly shocked by the disrespectful act of the youths of North African origin....
Labels:
Islam Discrimination
Mum tortures daughter born on day of 'Baghdad fall'
An Iraqi woman in Saudi Arabia has systematically tortured her little daughter because she was born on the same day when the Iraqi capital Baghdad was seized by US invasion…
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An Iraqi woman in Saudi Arabia has systematically tortured her little daughter because she was born on the same day when the Iraqi capital Baghdad was seized by US invasion forces in 2003.
Officials said they discovered that the girl, Noura, had been tortured by sharp objects and fists by her mother following a check up at school.
“Her body was full of bruises and marks of sharp objects…her mother later confessed to having beaten her and tortured her many times,” the Saudi Arabic language daily Alwatan said in a report from the northerwestern town of Hail.
“The mother said she was doing so because her daughter was born on the same day of Baghdad’s fall…..she told authorities that she would commit a suicide if they decide to take her daughter off her.”
Alwatan said the woman is married to a Saudi, who had been crippled and bed ridden at home following a stroke.
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Officials said they discovered that the girl, Noura, had been tortured by sharp objects and fists by her mother following a check up at school.
“Her body was full of bruises and marks of sharp objects…her mother later confessed to having beaten her and tortured her many times,” the Saudi Arabic language daily Alwatan said in a report from the northerwestern town of Hail.
“The mother said she was doing so because her daughter was born on the same day of Baghdad’s fall…..she told authorities that she would commit a suicide if they decide to take her daughter off her.”
Alwatan said the woman is married to a Saudi, who had been crippled and bed ridden at home following a stroke.
When ex-IGP was haunted by 'Godfather'
INTERVIEW (Malaysiakini) When he was the inspector-general
of police (IGP), Musa Hassan had a recurring nightmare - that wealthy
underworld figures could buy influence among police personnel, as well
as…
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INTERVIEW (Malaysiakini) When he was the inspector-general
of police (IGP), Musa Hassan had a recurring nightmare - that wealthy
underworld figures could buy influence among police personnel, as well
as ruling and opposition politicians.
Taking the popular ‘Godfather’ movies as a reference point, he highlighted the control that the mafia had exerted on US politicians first and law enforcement agencies next.
“It
took years for them (the US) to resolve this,” Musa said in an
interview, noting that he did not want a similar situation in Malaysia
while he was police chief for four years from September 2006.
With drug trafficking, human trafficking, gaming syndicates and money laundering bringing big bucks into the modern underworld, he said gangsters are in a position to influence those in authority.
“My fear was that they (gangsters could) get involved with politicians. And if they got involved in politics, they could control the politicians and enforcement agencies. The enforcement agencies will (do) as they are told and cannot take action.”
Asked to give an example of a gangster exerting his influence on a politician, Musa laughed and, without naming anyone, said there were cases where arrests were made, but a politician would direct that the person be released.
“What is this, when the person detained is not even a politician? This existed during my time. However, I objected to this,” was all he was prepared to say.
During his tenure as Johor police chief earlier, he had instructed his officers to go after those involved in vice, gambling and the loan shark menace, because the police were being accused of not doing enough about the rising crime rate.
“I
took stern action although some of the gangsters were friends of
politicians. I told them (the politicians) that politics should not
interfere with police work,” he said.
“(If anyone escaped the dragnet), I would ask my officers to prepare a list so that, when they returned, they could be arrested. (This was) seen as not favourable and some politicians asked why the state police chief was taking such action.”
Musa said several police officers who were close to the gangsters also became uneasy as a result of his actions, as channels to get extra money were cut off.
He claimed that he felt the backlash for taking a firm approach, with some even accusing him of having underworld links.
Where the blame lies for indebtedness
Following his retirement in September 2010, he had alleged that there had been third-party interference in his efforts to curb crime.
“Yes, it still exists. I did expose it. I sounded this out to (several) ministers and even to (premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) ... I took the stand that ‘I would do what I was directed’. If there was no directive, I would do it my way,” he said.
Musa
also said he does not want to see loan sharks continuing to create
problems for members of the public, as children are becoming afraid to
go home for fear of attacks on the home.
He said the public should not blame the debtors alone for the situation, noting that action should be taken against money-lending syndicates that impose more than 18 percent in interest.
“If they are free to charge in excess of 18 percent, it shows there is no enforcement,” he said.
“Anyway, who gives the money lenders their licence? It is the Housing and Local Government Ministry. There are police personnel serving at the ministry but still, there are people being victimised until today.”
▲
Taking the popular ‘Godfather’ movies as a reference point, he highlighted the control that the mafia had exerted on US politicians first and law enforcement agencies next.
“It
took years for them (the US) to resolve this,” Musa said in an
interview, noting that he did not want a similar situation in Malaysia
while he was police chief for four years from September 2006.With drug trafficking, human trafficking, gaming syndicates and money laundering bringing big bucks into the modern underworld, he said gangsters are in a position to influence those in authority.
“My fear was that they (gangsters could) get involved with politicians. And if they got involved in politics, they could control the politicians and enforcement agencies. The enforcement agencies will (do) as they are told and cannot take action.”
Asked to give an example of a gangster exerting his influence on a politician, Musa laughed and, without naming anyone, said there were cases where arrests were made, but a politician would direct that the person be released.
“What is this, when the person detained is not even a politician? This existed during my time. However, I objected to this,” was all he was prepared to say.
During his tenure as Johor police chief earlier, he had instructed his officers to go after those involved in vice, gambling and the loan shark menace, because the police were being accused of not doing enough about the rising crime rate.
“I
took stern action although some of the gangsters were friends of
politicians. I told them (the politicians) that politics should not
interfere with police work,” he said.“(If anyone escaped the dragnet), I would ask my officers to prepare a list so that, when they returned, they could be arrested. (This was) seen as not favourable and some politicians asked why the state police chief was taking such action.”
Musa said several police officers who were close to the gangsters also became uneasy as a result of his actions, as channels to get extra money were cut off.
He claimed that he felt the backlash for taking a firm approach, with some even accusing him of having underworld links.
Where the blame lies for indebtedness
Following his retirement in September 2010, he had alleged that there had been third-party interference in his efforts to curb crime.
“Yes, it still exists. I did expose it. I sounded this out to (several) ministers and even to (premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) ... I took the stand that ‘I would do what I was directed’. If there was no directive, I would do it my way,” he said.
Musa
also said he does not want to see loan sharks continuing to create
problems for members of the public, as children are becoming afraid to
go home for fear of attacks on the home.He said the public should not blame the debtors alone for the situation, noting that action should be taken against money-lending syndicates that impose more than 18 percent in interest.
“If they are free to charge in excess of 18 percent, it shows there is no enforcement,” he said.
“Anyway, who gives the money lenders their licence? It is the Housing and Local Government Ministry. There are police personnel serving at the ministry but still, there are people being victimised until today.”
Labels:
IGP
'Damning' Scorpene details to be exposed in Bangkok
(Malaysiakini) Human rights NGO Suaram will expose more details on its Scorpene legal
suit in Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow, as its lawyer from France has to
date failed to obtain permission…
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(Malaysiakini) Human rights NGO Suaram will expose more details on its Scorpene legal
suit in Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow, as its lawyer from France has to
date failed to obtain permission to enter Malaysia.
It remains uncertain when Suaram's France-based lawyer Joseph Breham will be issued with a work visa to enter Malaysia, and as such the NGO's leaders decided to travel to Thailand to meet with him.
Brehem (left)
and the Suaram team led by director Cynthia Gabriel and legal
representative Fadiah Nadwa Fikri will later hold a press conference on
new developments in the Scorpene submarine case the human rights group
has filed in Paris.
Gabriel said the press event - at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand tomorrow - is planned to "reveal further damning details from the initial findings of the prosecutors and to announce the latest developments surrounding the case".
Breham was to visit Malaysia this week, but his application for a working visa to enter the country has yet to be approved by the Malaysian authorities, leading to the decision by him and Suaram to meet in Bangkok.
His colleague, William Bourdon, was deported from Malaysia after he attended a Suaram fundraising dinner in Penang last year.
Battle royal of sorts
Gabriel said the press conference would help fill in the vacuum of information on gross corrupt and illegal practices involved in arms procurement in the name of Malaysia's national security.
She said that as Malaysia inched closer toward what is expected to be its most challenging general election ever, the "political temperature has escalated to an unprecedented level".
This,
she said, would culminate in a "battle royale" of sorts as Malaysians
were gearing for change and prepare to welcome the long overdue
two-party system.
"Climaxing with this heightened scenario is the sudden commencement of an inquiry on Malaysia, 3,000km across the seas in France," Gabriel (left) said.
She was referring to the RM7.3 billion purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines in 2002; the decision of the French court to hear evidence of alleged bribery of top Malaysian officials in connection with the submarine purchase; and the grisly murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu with C4 military-grade explosives in 2006.
Case blackout in the media
Two of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's former bodyguards have been convicted for the murder of Altantuya and they are now awaiting their appeal, which is slated to be heard in August.
Najib's close ally and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged with abetting in her murder, was acquitted without his defence being called.
Najib (right),
who has refused to comment on the matter, was defence minister when the
submarine deal was inked, but has denied any involvement in the case.
"The growing links among the three parties spell big headaches for the ruling administration, and especially for Najib, whose role in the entire scandal could bring a damning outcome to his political future," Gabriel said in an advisory sent out to the press yesterday.
"Despite an almost 100 percent blackout in Malaysia's mainstream media, the Internet is running riot with the story, and at full throttle," she added.
"It is piling up the challenges for Najib and his men as they face one of the fiercest electoral battles in Malaysia's history."
▲
It remains uncertain when Suaram's France-based lawyer Joseph Breham will be issued with a work visa to enter Malaysia, and as such the NGO's leaders decided to travel to Thailand to meet with him.
Brehem (left)
and the Suaram team led by director Cynthia Gabriel and legal
representative Fadiah Nadwa Fikri will later hold a press conference on
new developments in the Scorpene submarine case the human rights group
has filed in Paris.Gabriel said the press event - at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand tomorrow - is planned to "reveal further damning details from the initial findings of the prosecutors and to announce the latest developments surrounding the case".
Breham was to visit Malaysia this week, but his application for a working visa to enter the country has yet to be approved by the Malaysian authorities, leading to the decision by him and Suaram to meet in Bangkok.
His colleague, William Bourdon, was deported from Malaysia after he attended a Suaram fundraising dinner in Penang last year.
Battle royal of sorts
Gabriel said the press conference would help fill in the vacuum of information on gross corrupt and illegal practices involved in arms procurement in the name of Malaysia's national security.
She said that as Malaysia inched closer toward what is expected to be its most challenging general election ever, the "political temperature has escalated to an unprecedented level".
This,
she said, would culminate in a "battle royale" of sorts as Malaysians
were gearing for change and prepare to welcome the long overdue
two-party system."Climaxing with this heightened scenario is the sudden commencement of an inquiry on Malaysia, 3,000km across the seas in France," Gabriel (left) said.
She was referring to the RM7.3 billion purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines in 2002; the decision of the French court to hear evidence of alleged bribery of top Malaysian officials in connection with the submarine purchase; and the grisly murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu with C4 military-grade explosives in 2006.
Case blackout in the media
Two of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's former bodyguards have been convicted for the murder of Altantuya and they are now awaiting their appeal, which is slated to be heard in August.
Najib's close ally and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged with abetting in her murder, was acquitted without his defence being called.
Najib (right),
who has refused to comment on the matter, was defence minister when the
submarine deal was inked, but has denied any involvement in the case."The growing links among the three parties spell big headaches for the ruling administration, and especially for Najib, whose role in the entire scandal could bring a damning outcome to his political future," Gabriel said in an advisory sent out to the press yesterday.
"Despite an almost 100 percent blackout in Malaysia's mainstream media, the Internet is running riot with the story, and at full throttle," she added.
"It is piling up the challenges for Najib and his men as they face one of the fiercest electoral battles in Malaysia's history."
Labels:
Scorpene
Kadir Sheikh Fadzir forms new party, could bolster opposition to BN in polls
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir has left NGO Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) to form a new political party which could bolster opposition towards Barisan…
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir has left NGO Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) to form a new political party which could bolster opposition towards Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.
The former Umno supreme council member will now head Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) after serving as Amanah’s deputy president for just over a year.
Abdul Kadir (picture) refused to divulge details of his new party, but said that “all will be revealed” this Thursday.
“There will be an official launch and a press conference after that… I will answer queries then,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
While the former Umno minister has not announced which coalition he supports, he has been openly critical against his one-time party, even accusing Umno of vote-buying.
He claimed back in January that Umno handed out cash in previous election campaigns in attempts to buy votes, a tactic known as “bomb”, and that he had himself seen how cash handouts ranging from RM200 to RM1,000 were used in BN’s campaigns to gain voter support.
The former tourism minister has previously said he has not ruled out joining Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and has been spotted attending and giving speeches at opposition rallies.
He also took part in the April 28 Bersih rally in the capital city alongside PR leaders such as the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
Abdul Kadir quit Umno early this year to focus on carrying the “original fight” of the party’s founding fathers for equality and democracy through Amanah.
But his abrupt exit from the NGO, led by former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, raises the question on the group’s future plans and direction.
But Amanah central committee member Wan Saiful Wan Jan stressed that “all is well” and that Amanah was still very much intact despite Abdul Kadir’s departure.
“He (Abdul Kadir) tendered in his resignation three or four weeks ago, all the members were notified.
“We have agreed that Amanah will stay out of politics and remain as an NGO, but at the same time we won’t stop anyone from joining politics or forming a political party,” Wan Saiful told The Malaysian Insider.
“We have chosen to go the civil society way,” he said.
Invites for Ikatan’s official launch on Thursday have been sent out to media organisations. According to the invite, it will take place at the Palace of the Golden Horses here at 8.30am.
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The former Umno supreme council member will now head Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) after serving as Amanah’s deputy president for just over a year.
Abdul Kadir (picture) refused to divulge details of his new party, but said that “all will be revealed” this Thursday.“There will be an official launch and a press conference after that… I will answer queries then,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
While the former Umno minister has not announced which coalition he supports, he has been openly critical against his one-time party, even accusing Umno of vote-buying.
He claimed back in January that Umno handed out cash in previous election campaigns in attempts to buy votes, a tactic known as “bomb”, and that he had himself seen how cash handouts ranging from RM200 to RM1,000 were used in BN’s campaigns to gain voter support.
The former tourism minister has previously said he has not ruled out joining Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and has been spotted attending and giving speeches at opposition rallies.
He also took part in the April 28 Bersih rally in the capital city alongside PR leaders such as the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
Abdul Kadir quit Umno early this year to focus on carrying the “original fight” of the party’s founding fathers for equality and democracy through Amanah.
But his abrupt exit from the NGO, led by former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, raises the question on the group’s future plans and direction.
But Amanah central committee member Wan Saiful Wan Jan stressed that “all is well” and that Amanah was still very much intact despite Abdul Kadir’s departure.
“He (Abdul Kadir) tendered in his resignation three or four weeks ago, all the members were notified.
“We have agreed that Amanah will stay out of politics and remain as an NGO, but at the same time we won’t stop anyone from joining politics or forming a political party,” Wan Saiful told The Malaysian Insider.
“We have chosen to go the civil society way,” he said.
Invites for Ikatan’s official launch on Thursday have been sent out to media organisations. According to the invite, it will take place at the Palace of the Golden Horses here at 8.30am.
London chants to KL beat
The prime minister cannot expect to get civil treatment from angry citizens overseas or reverent silence from enraged citizens at home anymore.
A prime minister is a master in his…
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A prime minister is a master in his…
The prime minister cannot expect to get civil treatment from angry citizens overseas or reverent silence from enraged citizens at home anymore.
A prime minister is a master in his home but when he goes abroad he has no home to protect him from the rough weather outside. On his own shores he wields considerable power and can command the state to do his bidding whenever he wants to advance his political agenda and interest. He can order the police to beat up citizens to a pulp. He can direct the army to stop his opponents from gaining power. He can do a thousand and one foul things to stay in office against the wishes of the people. Nobody can touch a strand of his hair. He is the lord of all he surveys.
But when he flies to a faraway land, he loses his aura of invincibility. He is exposed to criticisms and can become a target of protests. And so it was with the prime minister of Malaysia when he stepped on British soil lately. At home he dealt harshly with a popular movement for reforms and used a newly enacted law to crack down on his political opponents. His government even sued the organisers of the April 28 rally for their troubles. He must have patted himself on the back for playing the role of a saviour.
Abroad, his heroic acts did not cut ice with Malaysians who know the crackdown on the protesters was not the right thing to do. They heckled him, chanting a household mantra that he finally could not ignore. There was no one to shield him from this sudden gust of wind that blew through the hall. He heard at close quarters the cry that shook his country not too long ago. He could not close his ears or shut his eyes. This is London where there are no walls to imprison the minds. This is not Kuala Lumpur where minds are shackled and bodies trampled upon. This is Britain where political power changes hand as often as the season when voters had had enough of the incumbents. This is not Malaysia where prime ministers and their cronies seem to own the country and will do everything in their power to cling to their wealth, perks, positions.
The London protest signals an important change in the attitude of Malaysians abroad. They are willing to openly confront the prime minister to show their displeasure over unhealthy political developments back home. By that bold act, they have destroyed the myth that a prime minister is untouchable by virtue of his high station in life. More importantly, the message conveyed is that there are Malaysians who are willing to carry the torch of dissent on the world stage and loudly proclaim their solidarity with their fellow citizens fighting for a clean cause on the domestic front. For sure, Malaysians who brave tear gas, water cannons, police beatings will not be alone in their campaign for a better Malaysia.
All over the world people are rising up against unjust governments after decades of repressive rule. Dissent is a universal thread that runs through all societies and has become a common culture. If Malaysians too are taking to the streets, it is simply because they are fed up with having to put up with all the shenanigans, nonsense and lies of the government all these years. The Asian culture of showing respect and obedience for those in authority and not questioning them in public obviously did not work. Instead, it has worked to the distinct advantage of crooked politicians, who would rather have a pliant public blind to the misdeeds of the government than a vocal one keeping vigilant watch on the conduct of the government.
Malaysians abroad have taken up the call for reforms, which is a good sign that the flame of democracy will not be extinguished. The state may grind to dust the movement for change but it cannot crush the spirit that moves the people to defy injustice and seize the day for democracy. The prime minister cannot expect to get civil treatment from angry citizens overseas or reverent silence from enraged citizens at home anymore: the chant for clean governance will continue to fill the air and reverberate all around him at home and abroad.
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A prime minister is a master in his home but when he goes abroad he has no home to protect him from the rough weather outside. On his own shores he wields considerable power and can command the state to do his bidding whenever he wants to advance his political agenda and interest. He can order the police to beat up citizens to a pulp. He can direct the army to stop his opponents from gaining power. He can do a thousand and one foul things to stay in office against the wishes of the people. Nobody can touch a strand of his hair. He is the lord of all he surveys.But when he flies to a faraway land, he loses his aura of invincibility. He is exposed to criticisms and can become a target of protests. And so it was with the prime minister of Malaysia when he stepped on British soil lately. At home he dealt harshly with a popular movement for reforms and used a newly enacted law to crack down on his political opponents. His government even sued the organisers of the April 28 rally for their troubles. He must have patted himself on the back for playing the role of a saviour.
Abroad, his heroic acts did not cut ice with Malaysians who know the crackdown on the protesters was not the right thing to do. They heckled him, chanting a household mantra that he finally could not ignore. There was no one to shield him from this sudden gust of wind that blew through the hall. He heard at close quarters the cry that shook his country not too long ago. He could not close his ears or shut his eyes. This is London where there are no walls to imprison the minds. This is not Kuala Lumpur where minds are shackled and bodies trampled upon. This is Britain where political power changes hand as often as the season when voters had had enough of the incumbents. This is not Malaysia where prime ministers and their cronies seem to own the country and will do everything in their power to cling to their wealth, perks, positions.
The London protest signals an important change in the attitude of Malaysians abroad. They are willing to openly confront the prime minister to show their displeasure over unhealthy political developments back home. By that bold act, they have destroyed the myth that a prime minister is untouchable by virtue of his high station in life. More importantly, the message conveyed is that there are Malaysians who are willing to carry the torch of dissent on the world stage and loudly proclaim their solidarity with their fellow citizens fighting for a clean cause on the domestic front. For sure, Malaysians who brave tear gas, water cannons, police beatings will not be alone in their campaign for a better Malaysia.
All over the world people are rising up against unjust governments after decades of repressive rule. Dissent is a universal thread that runs through all societies and has become a common culture. If Malaysians too are taking to the streets, it is simply because they are fed up with having to put up with all the shenanigans, nonsense and lies of the government all these years. The Asian culture of showing respect and obedience for those in authority and not questioning them in public obviously did not work. Instead, it has worked to the distinct advantage of crooked politicians, who would rather have a pliant public blind to the misdeeds of the government than a vocal one keeping vigilant watch on the conduct of the government.
Malaysians abroad have taken up the call for reforms, which is a good sign that the flame of democracy will not be extinguished. The state may grind to dust the movement for change but it cannot crush the spirit that moves the people to defy injustice and seize the day for democracy. The prime minister cannot expect to get civil treatment from angry citizens overseas or reverent silence from enraged citizens at home anymore: the chant for clean governance will continue to fill the air and reverberate all around him at home and abroad.
Labels:
Najib
Ex-Bukit Jalil estate workers to camp out at Seri Perdana
Forty-one families see Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as their only hope to resolve their problem with DBKL which is bent on evicting them from their homes.
PETALING JAYA: Forty-one…
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PETALING JAYA: Forty-one…
Forty-one families see Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as their only hope to resolve their problem with DBKL which is bent on evicting them from their homes.
PETALING JAYA: Forty-one families of the former Bukit Jalil estate workers are planning to camp out at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s office tomorrow morning until he steps in to resolve their predicament with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
The families are in a tussle with the DBKL, which is bent on evicting them from the land that they are occupying to build a Muslim cemetery.
Bukit Jalil resident action committee treasurer K Balakrishnan said: “We are expecting at least 100 people to turn up. Former estates workers in Dengkil and Bangi will also join us.
“We will only move out when Najib meets us or gives a written undertaking to resolve our problem. He is our only hope.”
Oppressed People’s Network’s (Jerit) plantation workers support coordinator S Mathavi said at least three other human rights NGOs have pledged to lend support to the 41 families.
“Jerit, Komas, a popular human rights communications centre and student group, Dema, have confirmed their support and attendance,” said Mathavi.
The former estate workers demanded DBKL to allocate four acres out of the 26-acre land to build low cost houses for their families.
The residents also took their case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal last year but lost the legal battle.
However, Prime Minister Najib had instructed the Federal Territories Ministry to find an amicable solution to the issue but nothing has come forth.
Meanwhile, Mathavi also added that the families would be erecting several tents to stay overnight outside Seri Perdana.
She also said that all Pakatan Rakyat component parties have been informed about the plan.
“Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar would be visiting the families tomorrow night in support of the ex-estate workers cause,” added Mathavi.
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PETALING JAYA: Forty-one families of the former Bukit Jalil estate workers are planning to camp out at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s office tomorrow morning until he steps in to resolve their predicament with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).The families are in a tussle with the DBKL, which is bent on evicting them from the land that they are occupying to build a Muslim cemetery.
Bukit Jalil resident action committee treasurer K Balakrishnan said: “We are expecting at least 100 people to turn up. Former estates workers in Dengkil and Bangi will also join us.
“We will only move out when Najib meets us or gives a written undertaking to resolve our problem. He is our only hope.”
Oppressed People’s Network’s (Jerit) plantation workers support coordinator S Mathavi said at least three other human rights NGOs have pledged to lend support to the 41 families.
“Jerit, Komas, a popular human rights communications centre and student group, Dema, have confirmed their support and attendance,” said Mathavi.
The former estate workers demanded DBKL to allocate four acres out of the 26-acre land to build low cost houses for their families.
The residents also took their case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal last year but lost the legal battle.
However, Prime Minister Najib had instructed the Federal Territories Ministry to find an amicable solution to the issue but nothing has come forth.
Meanwhile, Mathavi also added that the families would be erecting several tents to stay overnight outside Seri Perdana.
She also said that all Pakatan Rakyat component parties have been informed about the plan.
“Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar would be visiting the families tomorrow night in support of the ex-estate workers cause,” added Mathavi.
Labels:
Bukit Jalil res,
Indian Settlements
Starving for ‘conducive’ place to study
Five men on a hunger strike over the Effingham Tamil
school land issue are looking at the 'bigger picture', which is about
the 'basic rights of a child to an…
Five men on a hunger strike over the Effingham Tamil
school land issue are looking at the 'bigger picture', which is about
the 'basic rights of a child to an education in a condusive
environment'.
FEATURE
KUALA
LUMPUR: Overlooking the ostentatious elephant fountain in Brickfields
are five men who have been on a hunger strike since last Saturday
morning – 8.20am to be exact. They are seeking the return of three acres
of land belonging to Effingham Tamil School in Bandar Utama which they
said MIC took.Four days on, the scorching heat and cascading water from the permanently hoisted elephant trunks seem an especially cruel taunt.
Add that to the fact that the scent of delicious curries and fried delectables wafts up from the restaurants surrounding the hunger strike area –and you have a large a recipe for a large serving of self-control and determination.
Food aromas aside, there is one other thing the hunger strikers have to contend with.
Looking on at them almost benevolently from across the road is a large poster of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who is flanked on his right by Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Well-being and several other BN politicians.
A passerby jokingly remarked that this might be a bigger challenge for the hunger strikers than going without food or water.
But the five men are unperturbed by larger-than-life posters of politicians. Neither are they hampered by weather conditions or by the incessant dust and debris blown their way by traffic.
For them, seeking the return of three acres of land belonging to the Effingham Tamil School in Bandar Utama is worth the tribulation in its varied forms.
‘They ignored us’
Return Effingham Land Action Team (Reflax) vice-chairman T Loganathan, who is also the leader of the hunger strikers, said that it is not so much a volunteer effort, but more of a concerted one for a common cause.
“There are three of us here who attended Effingham while one is now a PIBG [Parent-Teacher Association] member. Then we have people like [Michael] Tamilarasan. He has previous experience in fighting for land for a school and he is very passionate about this issue, which isn’t a new one.
“We have repeatedly made appeal for the land to be returned. A police report… was filed, but to no avail.
“We were just ignored because people think we’re just nobodies. So we
had to take drastic action after being patient for as long as we have,”
explained Loganathan.The drastic action Loganathan alluded to is the hunger strike which came 14 weeks after a weekly Saturday night candlelight vigil was held for the same cause and at the same fountain area.
Seeing there was no reponse, Reflax decided that a non-violent hunger strike was the way to go. It was, they deemed, a last resort.
“Effingham Tamil School is located in Bandar Utama – which is considered a relatively elite area.
“The school, however, doesn’t reflect that and there is much work that needs to be done for the school. The three acres of land would allow for much expansion.
“The schoolchildren can’t even race a full 100 metres because the land stretches out for only 70 metres.
“So many of these students received a rude shock when they went on to secondary school to see how much they have been denied,” added Loganathan.
‘Just give us back land’
He added that there are now 471 students at Effingham Tamil School and recess has to be split into two sessions – one at 10am and another one half an hour later.
Loganathan also spoke of the staff room where the teachers have to share tables and chairs, with teachers taking over the seating area of colleagues who are occupied in class.
“The
Selangor state government allocated RM85,000 to Effingham Tamil School
for computers and other IT equipment. But there is no computer room,
because there is no space for it.“So the funds are just sitting there and we can’t do anything but wait – and this is for the children so they can get a better headstart in education.
“We’re not even looking at things like building a badmninton court, which will be a bonus. Just please give us back the three acres and we’ll turn it into a model Tamil school,” said Loganathan.
The group of five are optimistic that some good will come out of the hunger strike – maybe even the three acres being returned.
The men agree that the effort is already a success when MIC vice-president and Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Deputy Minister M Saravanan visited them yesterday evening.
Loganthan said that this would be the first time that MIC has given some attention to the initiative and that in itself is a success, adding that this has given them a boost.
Dr Streram Sinnasamy, who has been examining the five men, stopped by early this morning and after the regular check-up, pronounced the men in good health.
Hunger striker S Balakrishnan, who had experienced a wave of dizziness earlier, is adamant when he said, “We are not going anywhere until we receive confirmation that the land has been released.”
His eyes are bleary, and he is visibly fatigued, fingers reaching for medicated ointment now and then. He assuages the ache on his temples and smiled, “It’s all for a good cause and I have no regrets being here.”
‘Basic rights of a child’
Tamilarasan, who is a councillor in MPSJ, said his interest in this issue stems from an earlier involvement in seeking 2.5 acres of land for the Kinrara School in Puchong between 2008 and 2009.
“We
were successful in this endeavour and I am here because I have a
personal great interest in Tamil schools and the welfare of the
schoolchildren attending these schools.“When you look at the bigger picture, you realise that this is a cause that is so much bigger than having means or a full stomach.
“It’s about the basic rights of a child to get an education in a conducive environment. I will be here for as long as it takes,” he said, leaning back on his pillow, arms behind his head.
To a question of what will be their first food or drink intake after the fast ends, Loganathan grinned: “We will be very happy with a glass of plain water. Even tap water would suffice.”
Others join Loganathan’s enthusiam at what they hope is a looming possibility of a settlement within the next day, or even better still, in the coming hours.
Soon, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers approach and tell the men that they must remove one of the two 10ft by 10ft canopies put up as shelter.
There are no struggles and no protests. The canopy comes down in a matter of minutes and the DBKL officers are seemingly congratulating each other.
The five men then huddle under a single canopy, still in good spirits and laughing even.
Perhaps the success of this endeavour is not so much in the fact that an MIC official paid them a visit, but that in the face of so much adversity, these men have already triumphed.
Labels:
Tamil schools
Then Hindraf, now Ambiga
Has BN handed the Indian votes to Pakatan on a silver platter once again? It certainly seems so.
COMMENT
In recent Indian gatherings, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is well-known…
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COMMENT
In recent Indian gatherings, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is well-known…
Has BN handed the Indian votes to Pakatan on a silver platter once again? It certainly seems so.
COMMENT
In recent Indian gatherings, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is well-known for his timely political oratories, has been consistently driving home a few key points into the minds of Indian voters while drumming up support for the opposition.
He begins by saying that when the opposition forms the next federal government, he will reduce the price of petrol and secondly he narrates how he will raise RM5 billion to provide free education for all Malaysians irrespective of race.
Next, he comes to one of the core Indian issues: citizenship for all Indians who are still with red identity cards and without proper birth certificate and registered documents. Then he raises the most important issue which is plaguing the minds of the Indians today: S Ambiga.
Anwar goes on to explain how Ambiga is being ridiculed and insulted under Najib’s leadership and the BN government. The fact that Najib and MIC’s top leadership have not come in support for Ambiga gives him further ammunition against BN.
He vows that there won’t be such discrimination under his premiership and that all men and women will be treated as equal under Pakatan Rakyat’s government.
He reiterates that as a Malay-Muslim, he does not support the ugly and unruly incidents orchestrated against Ambiga and that it is not the culture of Malays to behave as such.
No one has the right to talk about Ambiga’s citizenship and that he will defend her role as a Bersih leader.
Striking the right chord
As stated, the astute politician is striking the right chord when it comes to Indian votes as almost every Indian today talks and feels about the difficulties Ambiga and her family are undergoing for her role in the Bersih 3.0 rally. In fact, she has become a household name among Indian families and a rallying point for Indians in this country.
It is unlikely that her sudden gigantic role will be diminished in any manner in the next few months, or at least until the next general election.
Therefore, going by the campaigns of Anwar and opposition leaders, it could be Ambiga who will be able to deliver the crucial Indian votes to Pakatan in the forthcoming general election.
In 2008, it was the slogan “Makkal Sakthi” and Hindraf issues that delivered the Indian votes to the opposition to enable them to register such an impressive victory. However, Hindraf issues have become irrelevant today and the movement itself is in shambles now.
If the prevailing trend continues, Ambiga’s episode could be the real factor that will help the opposition to garner the much needed Indian votes in GE 13.
Cashing-in
Messages supporting her and criticising the BN government and MIC are being circulated through emails and mobile phones. Even some MIC leaders at the division levels have openly declared their support and concern on the Ambiga issue in the Tamil dailies.
The opposition is cashing-in on the Ambiga issue and judging from the mood of the Indian crowds attending
the opposition rallies she will be able to play a prominent role in securing the Indian votes for the opposition.
Having established herself as an iconic figure in the Indian community, fighting the BN government for free and fair elections, it will not matter whether she openly declares support for the opposition in GE-13 but if she does by joining the campaign rounds, she will be able sway a sizable portion of Indian votes from MIC and BN.
By condoning the incidents staged in front of Ambiga’s house coupled with the inaction of the police and the authorities with regard to the “burger stall” issues, the BN government has given away the crucial Indian votes in a silver platter to the opposition.
RJ Rajah is an observer and writer on politics and social issues with a keen interest particularly in Malaysian Indian affairs.
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COMMENT
In recent Indian gatherings, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is well-known for his timely political oratories, has been consistently driving home a few key points into the minds of Indian voters while drumming up support for the opposition.He begins by saying that when the opposition forms the next federal government, he will reduce the price of petrol and secondly he narrates how he will raise RM5 billion to provide free education for all Malaysians irrespective of race.
Next, he comes to one of the core Indian issues: citizenship for all Indians who are still with red identity cards and without proper birth certificate and registered documents. Then he raises the most important issue which is plaguing the minds of the Indians today: S Ambiga.
Anwar goes on to explain how Ambiga is being ridiculed and insulted under Najib’s leadership and the BN government. The fact that Najib and MIC’s top leadership have not come in support for Ambiga gives him further ammunition against BN.
He vows that there won’t be such discrimination under his premiership and that all men and women will be treated as equal under Pakatan Rakyat’s government.
He reiterates that as a Malay-Muslim, he does not support the ugly and unruly incidents orchestrated against Ambiga and that it is not the culture of Malays to behave as such.
No one has the right to talk about Ambiga’s citizenship and that he will defend her role as a Bersih leader.
Striking the right chord
As stated, the astute politician is striking the right chord when it comes to Indian votes as almost every Indian today talks and feels about the difficulties Ambiga and her family are undergoing for her role in the Bersih 3.0 rally. In fact, she has become a household name among Indian families and a rallying point for Indians in this country.
It is unlikely that her sudden gigantic role will be diminished in any manner in the next few months, or at least until the next general election.
Therefore, going by the campaigns of Anwar and opposition leaders, it could be Ambiga who will be able to deliver the crucial Indian votes to Pakatan in the forthcoming general election.
In 2008, it was the slogan “Makkal Sakthi” and Hindraf issues that delivered the Indian votes to the opposition to enable them to register such an impressive victory. However, Hindraf issues have become irrelevant today and the movement itself is in shambles now.
If the prevailing trend continues, Ambiga’s episode could be the real factor that will help the opposition to garner the much needed Indian votes in GE 13.
Cashing-in
Messages supporting her and criticising the BN government and MIC are being circulated through emails and mobile phones. Even some MIC leaders at the division levels have openly declared their support and concern on the Ambiga issue in the Tamil dailies.
The opposition is cashing-in on the Ambiga issue and judging from the mood of the Indian crowds attending
the opposition rallies she will be able to play a prominent role in securing the Indian votes for the opposition.Having established herself as an iconic figure in the Indian community, fighting the BN government for free and fair elections, it will not matter whether she openly declares support for the opposition in GE-13 but if she does by joining the campaign rounds, she will be able sway a sizable portion of Indian votes from MIC and BN.
By condoning the incidents staged in front of Ambiga’s house coupled with the inaction of the police and the authorities with regard to the “burger stall” issues, the BN government has given away the crucial Indian votes in a silver platter to the opposition.
RJ Rajah is an observer and writer on politics and social issues with a keen interest particularly in Malaysian Indian affairs.
‘No’ to Hanif panel, ‘yes’ to Suhakam probe
Bar Council to shun the government panel headed by ex-IGP Hanif Omar, and instead take part in Suhakam's probe on human rights violations at the Bersih rally.
PETALING JAYA: The…
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Bar Council to shun the government panel headed by ex-IGP Hanif Omar, and instead take part in Suhakam's probe on human rights violations at the Bersih rally.
PETALING JAYA: The Bar Council has rejected having two similar inquiries to investigate human rights violations during the Bersih 3.0 rally as it “serves no purpose”.
Bar Council vice-president Christopher Leong said that it was improper for the government’s Independent Advisory Panel, headed by former IGP Hanif Omar, to proceed with the inquiry when Suhakam was already doing the same thing.
“What purpose would it serve to have two inquiries? asked Leong.
When asked if the council would boycott Hanif’s panel, he said: “The Bar Council had stated earlier that it would take part in the Suhakam inquiry. Therefore we do not see what useful purpose would be served in duplicating the process and expending double the resources.”
“It is incongruous that the panel is proceeding with the inquiry when Suhakam, a statutory and independent commission, has stated that it would undertake such an inquiry,” said Leong, adding the responsibility to probe police violence and other issues during the April 28 should lie with Suhakam.
“Suhakam is the proper body to undertake the inquiry – it has the experience, statutory mandate and legal framework to do so. The Suhakam Act 1999 provides for this,” he said.
Yesterday, Hanif Omar announced that 10 terms of reference have been set for the inquiry following its first meeting with the Home Ministry last Friday. Among others, the panel seeks to establish if there was random, widespread and wanton physical assault and brutality by police on the public and journalists.
The panel will also seek to establish if there were unlawful and unwarranted arrests of public and media professionals and whether any were assaulted and beaten. Also in the terms of reference is to review police’s standard operating procedure for crowd and assembly control.
Besides Hanif, other members of the panel are former chief justice of Borneo Steve Shim Lip Kiong, Kumpulan Akhbar Sinar Harian managing director Husammuddin Yaacub, Sin Chiew group legal advisor Liew Peng Chuan, Petronas corporate affairs senior general manager Medan Abdullah and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia psychologist Prof Dr Rozmi Ismail.
Hanif had reportedly said that he was “prepared to meet the Bar Council or any other parties” for mutual benefit.
Panel has no legal standing
Leong repeated that the Bar Council’s stand is that Hanif should not be a member on the panel based on his ‘anti-Bersih’ views, and because the panel has no legal standing.
“This is not about his integrity. The Bar Council does not in fact question his integrity and respect that Tun had given invaluable service to the country. It is unfortunately about the perception of independence and public confidence in the panel.”
Leong added, however, that the Bar Council “is always amenable” to meet Hanif to discuss the matter.
The 10 terms of reference are:
To establish the cause of the disorders at and around Dataran Merdeka, and in areas leading to it, as well as the nature of the actual disorders, that were reported to have occurred from 3pm on April 28.
To establish whether any unlawful or negligent acts, or omissions, were caused or urged to be caused by parties involved.
To establish whether enforcement agencies had adhered to proper and lawful procedures and action at all times particularly in the use of force.
To establish whether there was random, widespread and wanton physical assault and brutality by the police on members of the public and media professionals.
To establish whether there was lawful confiscation and/or destruction of photographs and video recordings made by the public and media professionals, and damage caused to their equipment.
To establish whether there were unlawful arrests of members of the public and media professionals and whether any persons were physically assaulted and beaten, and suffered serious injuries whilst in the care and custody of the police.
To establish whether there was an unlawful denial of access for lawyers to their arrested clients.
To establish the steps taken by the organisers of Bersih 3.0 to ensure that their planned massive rally would remain peaceful throughout the rally and disperse peacefully thereafter.
To review police standard operating procedures in respect of crowd and assembly control, and of addressing disorderly conduct and riots.
To examine any other matter to establish the truth.
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PETALING JAYA: The Bar Council has rejected having two similar inquiries to investigate human rights violations during the Bersih 3.0 rally as it “serves no purpose”.Bar Council vice-president Christopher Leong said that it was improper for the government’s Independent Advisory Panel, headed by former IGP Hanif Omar, to proceed with the inquiry when Suhakam was already doing the same thing.
“What purpose would it serve to have two inquiries? asked Leong.
When asked if the council would boycott Hanif’s panel, he said: “The Bar Council had stated earlier that it would take part in the Suhakam inquiry. Therefore we do not see what useful purpose would be served in duplicating the process and expending double the resources.”
“It is incongruous that the panel is proceeding with the inquiry when Suhakam, a statutory and independent commission, has stated that it would undertake such an inquiry,” said Leong, adding the responsibility to probe police violence and other issues during the April 28 should lie with Suhakam.
“Suhakam is the proper body to undertake the inquiry – it has the experience, statutory mandate and legal framework to do so. The Suhakam Act 1999 provides for this,” he said.
Yesterday, Hanif Omar announced that 10 terms of reference have been set for the inquiry following its first meeting with the Home Ministry last Friday. Among others, the panel seeks to establish if there was random, widespread and wanton physical assault and brutality by police on the public and journalists.
The panel will also seek to establish if there were unlawful and unwarranted arrests of public and media professionals and whether any were assaulted and beaten. Also in the terms of reference is to review police’s standard operating procedure for crowd and assembly control.
Besides Hanif, other members of the panel are former chief justice of Borneo Steve Shim Lip Kiong, Kumpulan Akhbar Sinar Harian managing director Husammuddin Yaacub, Sin Chiew group legal advisor Liew Peng Chuan, Petronas corporate affairs senior general manager Medan Abdullah and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia psychologist Prof Dr Rozmi Ismail.
Hanif had reportedly said that he was “prepared to meet the Bar Council or any other parties” for mutual benefit.
Panel has no legal standing
Leong repeated that the Bar Council’s stand is that Hanif should not be a member on the panel based on his ‘anti-Bersih’ views, and because the panel has no legal standing.
“This is not about his integrity. The Bar Council does not in fact question his integrity and respect that Tun had given invaluable service to the country. It is unfortunately about the perception of independence and public confidence in the panel.”
Leong added, however, that the Bar Council “is always amenable” to meet Hanif to discuss the matter.
The 10 terms of reference are:
To establish the cause of the disorders at and around Dataran Merdeka, and in areas leading to it, as well as the nature of the actual disorders, that were reported to have occurred from 3pm on April 28.
To establish whether any unlawful or negligent acts, or omissions, were caused or urged to be caused by parties involved.
To establish whether enforcement agencies had adhered to proper and lawful procedures and action at all times particularly in the use of force.
To establish whether there was random, widespread and wanton physical assault and brutality by the police on members of the public and media professionals.
To establish whether there was lawful confiscation and/or destruction of photographs and video recordings made by the public and media professionals, and damage caused to their equipment.
To establish whether there were unlawful arrests of members of the public and media professionals and whether any persons were physically assaulted and beaten, and suffered serious injuries whilst in the care and custody of the police.
To establish whether there was an unlawful denial of access for lawyers to their arrested clients.
To establish the steps taken by the organisers of Bersih 3.0 to ensure that their planned massive rally would remain peaceful throughout the rally and disperse peacefully thereafter.
To review police standard operating procedures in respect of crowd and assembly control, and of addressing disorderly conduct and riots.
To examine any other matter to establish the truth.
Labels:
Bersih
Returning the money to the poor former shareholders is charity too
Senator S. Ramakrishnan,
The recent sale of Maika holding’s 79.85% stake in Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd to Tune Insurance holdings Sdn Bhd by G Team Resources has raised concern as…
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The recent sale of Maika holding’s 79.85% stake in Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd to Tune Insurance holdings Sdn Bhd by G Team Resources has raised concern as…
Senator S. Ramakrishnan,
The recent sale of Maika holding’s 79.85% stake in Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd to Tune Insurance holdings Sdn Bhd by G Team Resources has raised concern as to how will be the surplus cash distributed. Tune insurance acquired the 79.85% stake in OCS BHD for RM156.91million. It is reported that oriental capital assurance Bhd (OCS) was sold for RM1.965 per share. OCA's net tangible assets per share were at RM1.22 as of December 2009. A merchant bank and an insurance company were interested to buy the stake from Maika at RM1.59 per share that translated to 1.3 times price-to-book. But the OCS was finally sold for RM1.965 per share thus giving raise to surplus cash.
G team resources should be more transparent and explain to general public what the surplus is after the sale of OCA shares. MAIKA was set up as a vehicle to alleviate the economic achievements of Indian community. Even though MAIKA holding company was bought over and being liquidated, the Indian community is still angry and reeling over the mismanagement and abuses by MIC. Poor shareholders invested to support the attempt of MIC to set up an investment arm. Therefore as a liquidator G team resources must be transparent and sensitive to the feeling of disappointment of poor Indian shareholders and if there are any surplus that must be redistributed back to past shareholders.
The last AGM was held in June 2007. There was no AGM in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Not all shareholders sold their shares to G team resources. Some of the MAIKA shareholders refused to sell their shares. They are therefore minority shareholders now. Why no AGM was called.
It is public knowledge that MAIKA holdings affair had become an embarrassment and a political laibility to PM Datuk najib during the Hulu Selangor by election in April 2010. To absorb MIC and Samy Vellu from their wrong doings PM roped in Tan Sri Gnanalingan to buy the MAIKA shares at RM106 million and the 66000 shareholders were paid 80 cents per share. MAIKA had 74% stake in oriental Capital Assurance Bhd and some land left over from the Tumbok estate near Nilai plus a 60 million laon.
Samy Velu and his cohorts who cheated and mismanaged the holding company got away with frauds they committed. The BN government gave the criminals police protection and now the PM asking Indians to trust him. Even though Datuk Najib dissolved MAIKA holdings, Malaysian Indians will never forget the great injustice done to them by protecting the criminal and making him an ambassador for projects. It’s an insult to Malaysian Indians.
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The recent sale of Maika holding’s 79.85% stake in Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd to Tune Insurance holdings Sdn Bhd by G Team Resources has raised concern as to how will be the surplus cash distributed. Tune insurance acquired the 79.85% stake in OCS BHD for RM156.91million. It is reported that oriental capital assurance Bhd (OCS) was sold for RM1.965 per share. OCA's net tangible assets per share were at RM1.22 as of December 2009. A merchant bank and an insurance company were interested to buy the stake from Maika at RM1.59 per share that translated to 1.3 times price-to-book. But the OCS was finally sold for RM1.965 per share thus giving raise to surplus cash.
G team resources should be more transparent and explain to general public what the surplus is after the sale of OCA shares. MAIKA was set up as a vehicle to alleviate the economic achievements of Indian community. Even though MAIKA holding company was bought over and being liquidated, the Indian community is still angry and reeling over the mismanagement and abuses by MIC. Poor shareholders invested to support the attempt of MIC to set up an investment arm. Therefore as a liquidator G team resources must be transparent and sensitive to the feeling of disappointment of poor Indian shareholders and if there are any surplus that must be redistributed back to past shareholders.
The last AGM was held in June 2007. There was no AGM in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Not all shareholders sold their shares to G team resources. Some of the MAIKA shareholders refused to sell their shares. They are therefore minority shareholders now. Why no AGM was called.
It is public knowledge that MAIKA holdings affair had become an embarrassment and a political laibility to PM Datuk najib during the Hulu Selangor by election in April 2010. To absorb MIC and Samy Vellu from their wrong doings PM roped in Tan Sri Gnanalingan to buy the MAIKA shares at RM106 million and the 66000 shareholders were paid 80 cents per share. MAIKA had 74% stake in oriental Capital Assurance Bhd and some land left over from the Tumbok estate near Nilai plus a 60 million laon.
Samy Velu and his cohorts who cheated and mismanaged the holding company got away with frauds they committed. The BN government gave the criminals police protection and now the PM asking Indians to trust him. Even though Datuk Najib dissolved MAIKA holdings, Malaysian Indians will never forget the great injustice done to them by protecting the criminal and making him an ambassador for projects. It’s an insult to Malaysian Indians.
Labels:
Malaysian Indians,
MIC
MACC ‘Deep Throat’ comes out of the closet
One
interesting document in that file is regarding the RM15,000 a month
that Vincent Tan was paying Azmin Ali. Other than shares, houses and
cars totalling about RM1.5 million, almost… One
interesting document in that file is regarding the RM15,000 a month
that Vincent Tan was paying Azmin Ali. Other than shares, houses and
cars totalling about RM1.5 million, almost RM10 million in cash and
cheques flowed through Azmin’s and Shamsidar Taharin’s (Azmin’s wife’s)
bank accounts. All these transactions were confirmed and certified by
the banks concerned. The gist of this whole story is about how the ACA
had gathered enough evidence to arrest and prosecute Azmin Ali for
corruption involving millions of Ringgit but the then Deputy Prime
Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, told them to NFA (no further action) the case
and bury the file.THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin
Last month, a retired
Anti-Corruption Commission or MACC officer met up with me in London to
hand over a thick file of hundreds of documents. This was one very
disillusioned anti-corruption officer who wanted the world to know that
some of the MACC officers are as corrupted as the people they are
supposed to investigate. He made it sound as if it was like putting the
fox in charge of the chicken run.
I suppose
that makes sense when you consider that people under interrogation have
been known to fall out of the window of the MACC office. The old adage
of ‘dead men tell no tales’ is very true and it does not cost that much
to ensure that witnesses fall out of windows so that the case would go
no further, like this particular case we are going to talk about.
Anyway,
in that file I was given are police reports, investigation reports,
recorded and signed statements, minutes, statements of accounts, bank
statements, copies of cheques, vouchers, contract notes, and so on.
Basically, it was an entire file going back 17 years when the MACC was
still known as the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency).
The
gist of this whole story is about how the ACA had gathered enough
evidence to arrest and prosecute Azmin Ali for corruption involving
millions of Ringgit but the then Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim,
told them to NFA (no further action) the case and bury the file.
The
file remained buried all this while until my ex-MACC Deep Throat was
able to exhume it and run me a copy of the entire file. I must say that
the contents of the file, which took quite a while to read and digest,
is not only most interesting but is extremely damaging to both Azmin and
Anwar.
One interesting document in that
file is regarding the RM15,000 a month that Vincent Tan was paying Azmin
Ali. It seems Vincent Tan not only financed the fall of Perak but is
also financing the ‘other side’ as well. And, according to my ex-MACC
Deep Throat, this is still going on. I suppose that is what most Chinese
tycoons would do: hedge your bets by placing your money on all the
horses in the race.
Other than shares,
houses and cars totalling about RM1.5 million, almost RM10 million in
cash and cheques flowed through Azmin’s and Shamsidar Taharin’s (Azmin’s
wife’s) bank accounts. All these transactions were confirmed and
certified by the banks concerned, as the attached reports show (see
below).
I am publishing just a few documents
from the hundreds to show you what happened. These documents are marked
‘SULIT’ and, therefore, come under the Official Secrets Act. So be
careful what you do with them. Better not print them out and have them
on your person or else you can end up in jail.
Anyway,
I will let the documents tell the rest of the story. I have summarised
in English what the ex-MACC officer told me to make it easier for you to
follow the case. His original ‘cheong hei’ statement in Bahasa Malaysia
is below that, followed by the documents.
Azmin Ali and his wife Shamsidar Taharin
STATEMENT BY THE MACC OFFICER (SUMMARISED IN ENGLISH)
In
1995, I was one of the senior ACA officers involved in the
investigation against Azmin Ali and his wife Shamsidar Taharin. I feel
it is my duty to reveal how corrupted Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali are.
The Director-General of the ACA then was Datuk Shafee Yahaya. He was
person who stopped the investigation against Azmin Ali on Anwar’s
directive.
The
investigation started from information received (tagged as ‘Exhibit A’
and attached herewith). The informer clearly listed Azmin Ali’s assets
in 1995 while he was working as Anwar’s Private Secretary with a salary
of RM2,400 per month. Following that, a police report was made to enable
the ACA to carry out an investigation (a copy of that report attached
marked as ‘Lampiran B’). The report was dated 24th May 1995.
As
a result, a report was submitted by the late Basri bin Idris (see
‘Lampiran C’ attached). The report showed, from 1991 -1995, Azmin owned,
amongst others, a BMW 325i, a Proton Wira 1.6 Xli, a Proton Satria 1.6
Xli, a Proton Perdana 2.0 SE, 1000 lots of Hicom shares and an 8500 sq.
ft. house at No. 23, Jalan 1/4D Bukit Mas, Taman Melawati.
On
Datuk Shafee’s orders (see minutes of meeting no. 2), the investigating
officer was directed not to seek a proper Notice of Declaration of
Assets from Azmin Ali, issued under Section 23 of Prevention of
Corruption Act 1961.
Under normal
circumstances, Azmin would certainly have been detained by the ACA for
further investigation. Instead, Datuk Shafee instructed the Director of
Investigation to personally meet Azmin in the Deputy Prime Minister’s
office (then, Anwar Ibrahim) and to ask him to submit a declaration on a
voluntary basis.
Now, what is the legal
implication when Azmin voluntarily declares his assets? Meaning to say,
he is not bound for any criminal prosecution under the Prevention of
Corruption Act and Penal Code if the Public Prosecutor is satisfied as
to how Azmin acquired his unexplained and excessive property.
All
of us who were involved in the investigation felt it was very strange
and we were also frustrated with the orders issued by Datuk Shafee.
But
it was Basri Idris who continued with the effort to obtain the Notice
of Declaration of Assets (see minutes of meeting No 2 dated 20th June
1965) that enabled the investigation to continue and examine the flow of
money in Azmin Ali’s accounts (quoted as YDS at paragraph 6 of the
minutes).
Efforts to obtain the Notice were
successful (see minutes No. 4 – 9) and an investigation paper was
referred to Datuk Shafee on 8th May 1996.
Please
refer to the minutes No. 10 dated 9th May 1995 and see how Datuk Shafee
wanted this case referred to the Deputy Prime Minister. Finally, look
at the minutes No. 15. The investigation paper was presented to Datuk
Shafee on 12th September 1996 by Dato’ Mohd Zawawi Nordin, the Deputy
Director General of the ACA at the time. Dato’ Mohd Zawawi clearly
stated Azmin’s assets were not within his means.
Subsequent
to that, Datuk Shafee, on the instructions of Anwar Ibrahim, buried the
investigation. After more than a year, on 23rd September 1997, Datuk
Shafee himself violated the law when he personally instructed this
investigation to be closed. See minutes No. 16 which says: "Have
informed the Honourable TP" and he wrote "KUS". The word KUS means
“Kemas Untuk Simpan”. It is the terminology used by the ACA and the
police when an investigation has been completed and no further action
(NFA) is to be taken.
Datuk Shafee had
committed a crime under the Criminal Procedure Code as well as the
Federal Constitution as he had no right to direct an inquiry to be
stopped unless on the orders by the Public Prosecutor.
The
voluntarily declaration of Azmin Ali’s assets may be seen below in the
ACA investigation file number 15/05/1995. Datuk Shafee had deliberately
removed the Notice of Assets Declaration and the declaration of Azmin
Ali’s assets.
This case involves an
investigation by the ACA on Azmin Ali, the Private Secretary to Datuk
Seri Anwar and his wife, Shamsidar, in 1995. Investigations focused on
Azmin allegedly having a lot of personal properties mostly obtained via
corruption committed while in office as Datuk Seri Anwar's private
secretary at the time. Anwar was the Deputy Prime Minister and the
Finance Minister of Malaysia then.
Based on
the information received and the police report, an investigation paper
was opened. During the inquiry, they found that Azmin’s pay was only
RM2,442 a month but he was able to buy two houses, where the first
house: double storey bungalow in Setapak priced at RM284,118 with a
deposit of RM14,181 and a monthly installment of RM3,376.75. While the
second semi-detached house in Taman Melawati price of RM210,000 with a
deposit of RM60,000 and a monthly installment of RM1,110.35.
The
combined monthly payments are approximately RM4,500. This alone shows
that Azmin’s liabilities are more than double his monthly salary. Where
did Azmin receive this additional money from to cover this debt? Not
only that, it doesn’t make sense if Azmin uses all his salary to pay off
the loan. Isn’t this enough to show that Azmin has other income?
Furthermore, not taken into account is where Azmin got the money to pay
the deposit on the houses.
Investigations
conducted by the ACA also proved that Azmin has two vehicles, a BMW with
registration number BBN 3 costing RM160,529.85.81 where the deposit of
RM120,529 was paid plus installments of RM875 per month. The second car,
a Proton with registration number WDU 64, is worth RM80,767.81 with
monthly installments of RM700. If we look at the monthly commitments for
both the cars it is about RM1,700. At that time, RM1,700 was a lot
where the salary of the Deputy Prime Minister’s private secretary is
only RM2,000 plus.
But what most perplexes
me is why did the ACA close this case? While it is clear Azmin and his
wife have multiple properties that did not commensurate with his income,
WHY DID ACA STOPPED THE INVESTIGATION? WHO HAS THE POWER TO STOP THIS
INVESTIGATION? IS THIS PERSON CONSPIRING WITH AZMIN OR WAS HE AFRAID OF
THOSE WALKING IN THE CORRIDORS OF POWER THEN?
For
the record, at that time, the Director General of ACA was Dato Shafee
Yahya. Clearly, the DG then made a decision that was not relevant to
stop the inquiry. What actually happened?
Azmin Ali and Anwar Ibrahim
THE ORIGINAL STATEMENT BY THE MACC OFFICER (IN BAHASA MALAYSIA)
Saya
adalah seorang bekas pegawai kanan BPR yang terlibat di dalam
penyiasatan kes terhadap Azmin Ali dan isterinya Shamsidar pada tahun
1995. Saya rasa terpanggil untuk mendedahkan bagaimana ‘corrupt’ seorang
bernama Anwar Ibrahim dan Azmin Ali di mana kedua-duanya kaya raya dan
malah cerita Shamsidar merupakan gundik Anwar pada saya bukanlah suatu
yang mengejutkan kerana telah lama perkara ini berlaku. Hanya orang yang
pekak, buta dan tuli sahaja yang sengaja mengatakan segala cerita
‘corrupt’ dan juga skandal sex mereka sebagai suatu cerita rekaan atau
konspirasi.Disini saya hendak menunjukkan contoh bagaimana seorang Ketua Pengarah BPR ketika itu, iaitu Datuk Shafee Yahaya kononnya seorang yang baik, berintegriti, pernah mendedahkan kononnya Dr Mahatir menengkingnya dalam kes Hassan Abul (Pesgawai BNM) dan kemudian buat buku pula yan menunjukkan bagaimana baiknya dia. Tapi dalam diam dan ramai orang BPR tahu dia telah menghentikan siasatan kes Azmin Ali setelah mendapat arahan Anwar. Kalau Datuk Shafee betul-betul bersih saya tabiklah. Tapi nak saya bongkarkan ke kisah Datuk sebelum Datuk jadi KP BPR? Maka Datuk Shafee tolonglah jangan nak komen apa-apa selepas pendedahan ini.
Kronologi Kes
Siasatan kes ini bermula daripada satu maklumat (yang di tandakan sebagai Lampiran A). Pemberi maklumat menyatakan dengan jelas pemilikan harta Azmin Ali yang ketika itu 1995 hanyalah Setiausaha Sulit (SUS) Anwar yang bergaji lebih kurang RM2400/=. Kalau sekarang beliau hanyalah gred 41 sahaja di dalam Perkhidmatan Awam. Ekoran daripada itu, satu repot polis telah dibuat bagi membolehkan BPR menjalankan siasatan (lihat Salinan Repot yang ditandakan sebagai Lampiran B). Repot yang dibuat adalah bertarikh 24.5.1995.
Ekoran itu, satu minit ringkas dikemukakan oleh Allahyarham Basri bin Idris sepertimana Lapiran C berkembar. Ia menunjukkan pemilikan harta Azmin sejak 1991 – 1995, antara lain memiliki sebuah BMW 325i, Proton Wira 1.6 Xli, Proton Satria 1.6 Xli. Proton Perdana 2.0 SE, 1000 saha,m Hicom, sebuah rumah No. 23, Jalan 1/4D Bukit Mas, Taman Melawati seluas 8500 sqft. Hebatkan? BPR siasat ke?
Atas arahan Datuk Shafee (lihat minit no. 2), pegawai penyiasat diarahkan supaya tidak memohon Notis Pengisytiharan Harta yang sepatutnya di keluarkan di bawah seksyen 23 Akta Pencegahan Rasuah 1961 kepada Azmin Ali. Tuan-tuan semua tahu, kalau dalam keadaan biasa, bukan setakat Notis, tetapi Azmin sudah tentu akan ditahan untuk siasatan BPR. Knowing how BPR’s style of work. Besar atau tidak pangkatnya Azmin yang hanya gred biasa dalam perkhidmatan awam ketika itu, Pengarah Siasatan diarah oleh Datuk Shafee supaya berjumpa sendiri Azmin di pejabat TPM (siapa lagi kalu bukan Anwar Ibrahim) dan meminta Azmin mengemukakan pengisytiharan secara sukarela.
Now, what is the legal implication when Azmin voluntarily declare his asset? Meaning to say he is not bound for any criminal prosecution under Prevention Corruption Act and Penal Code if the Public Prosecutor satisfy as to how Azmin having an unexplain excessive property.
Diketika itu, kami yang terlibat di dalam penyiasatan merasakan amat pelik dan juga frustrated dengan arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh Datuk Shafee.
Namun saya amat merasakan bagaimana Arwah Basri Idris meneruskan usahanya bagi memperoleh Notis Pengisytiharan Harta itu (limat minit No. 2 bertarikh 20/6/1995) bagi membolehkan siasatan diteruskan untuk memeriksa pengaliran wang dalam akaun-akaun Azmin Ali (quoted as YDS at para 6 of the minutes).
Usaha mendapatkan Notis Berjaya dan lihat Minit-Minit bil 4 – 9 dan Kertas Siasatan dirujuk kepada Datuk Shafee pada 8 Mei 1996.
Rujuk m init 10, lihat bagaimana Datuk Shafee mahu kes ini dirujuk kepada TPM dengan minitnya bertarikh 9/5/1995. Apakah integrity BPR ketika itu di bawah pimpinan beliau yang mana Datuk Shafee sering menekankan integrity di kalangan kami. Akhirnya lihatlah minit bil 15, Kertas Siasatan dikemukakan kepada Datuk Shafee bertarikh 12/9/1996 oleh Dato’ Mohd Zawawi Nordin, Timbalan Ketua Pengarah BPR ketika itu. Beliau secara jelas memberitahu harta Azmin adalah diluar kemampuannya.
Dramatiknya selepas itu, Kertas Siasatan ini terpendam atau dipendam macam jeruk oleh Datuk Shafee atas arahan Anwar Ibrahim. Sehinggalah pada 23/9/1997 (setahun lebih), tiba-tiba Datuk Shafee has violated a law when personally instructed this investigation to be closed. Minit beliau berbunyi (rujuk minit 16) “Telah maklumkan kepada YAB TP” dan beliau menulis “KUS”. Perkataan KUS bermakna Kemas Untuk Simpan. Ia adalah terminology yang digunakan oleh BPR dan Polis apabila suatu siasatan itu telah siap dan tiada tindakan lanjut.
Perbuatan Datuk Shafee ini melanggar undang-undang jenayah di bawah Kanun Tatacara Jenayah dan juga Perlembagaan Persekutuan kerana beliau tiada hak untuk mengarah suatu siasatan dihentikan melainkan arahan Pendakwaraya. Namun oleh kerana terlalu taksub kepada Anwar Ibrahin he has betray his own agency dan terutamanya Rakyat Malaysia.
Di bawah ini tuan-tuan bolehlah tatapiu pengisytihatan harta secara sukarela Azmin Ali dan di dalam fail siasatan BPR bernombor 15/5/1995 Datuk Shafee telah hilangkan Notis Pengisytiharan Harta dan juga pengisytiharan harta Azmin Ali.
Pengisytiharan harta secara secara sukarela Azmin Ali dapat tuan-tuan baca daripada Fakta kes pegawai Penyiasat yang saya tandakan Lampiran D. Jangan tuan-tuan buta, cek-cek yang masuk dalam akaun Shamsidar sahaja ketika itu sudah melampaui RM7 juta lebih. Seorang sururumah tangga amat kaya dan dikayakan oleh Anwar.
Sebab itu apabila Anuar Shaari memberi dokumen-dokumen pemilikan saham Shamsidar dan Azmin untuk siasatan lanjut, apakah ,masyarkat buta? Saya dapat download dokumen-dokumen itu melalui website dan silalah baca sendiri.
Orang seperti Datuk Shafee telah merendahkan martabat BPR dan lihat peyamun yang diselamatkannya ketika itu menjadi penderhaka kepada Negara. Banyak kerosakan telah dilakukannya. I need not to explain more about this. Hanya orang yang buta, pekak dan tuli akan jadi bahalol dunia seperti Datuk Shafee.
Kes ini melibatkan satu siasatan oleh BPR ke atas Azmin Ali Setiausaha Sulit Datuk Seri Anwar dan isteri Azmin, Shamsida (hanyalah seorang surirumah) pada tahun1995. Siasatan dibuat ke atas Azmin kerana dikatakan mempunyai harta peribadi yang banyak hasil daripada perlakuan rasuah yang dilakukan semasa memegang jawatan Setiausaha Sulit Datuk Seri Anwar pada waktu tersebut. Ketika Anwar adalah Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan juga Menteri Kewangan Malaysia.
Berdasarkan maklumat dan repot polis yang diterima, satu Kertas Siasatan telah dibuka bernombor BPR/KS: Semasa siasatan dibuat mendapati gaji Azmin hanya RM2,442.00 sebulan tetapi mampu untuk membeli 2 buah rumah iaitu rumah pertama:double storey banglow di Setapak harga RM284,118 dengan deposit sebanyak RM14,181 dan bayaran bulanan sebanyak RM3,376.75. Manakala rumah kedua:rumah berkembar di Taman Melawati harga RM210,000 dengan deposit sebanyak RM60,000 dan bayaran bulanan sebanyak RM1,110.35. Jika dicampurkan kedua bayaran bulanan ialah sebanyak lebih kurang RM4,500.00. Ini sahaja dan menunjukkan hutang Azmin melebihi sekali ganda gaji bulanan beliau. Di mana Azmin mendapat wang tambahan untuk menampung bayaran hutang ini?? Bukan itu saja, tak mungkin semua gaji Azmin di gunakan untuk membayar hutang rumah?? Bukankah ini sahaja dah mencukupi menunjukkan Azmin mempunyai pendapatan yang lain. Itu tidak diambil kira lagi dimana Azmin mendapat wang untuk membayar wang deposit rumah-rumah tersebut.
Siasatan yang dijalankan oleh BPR juga membuktikan Azmin memiliki 2 buah kenderaan iaitu BMW no plat BBN 3 berharga RM160,529.85.81 dimana bayaran deposit sebanyak RM120,529 dan bayaran bulanan pula sebanyak RM875 sebulan. Kereta kedua pula Proton Perdana no plat WDU 64 berharga RM80,767.81 dengan ansuran bulanan sebanyak RM700. Jika kita lihat komitmen bulanan bagi kedua kereta ini ialah lebih kurang RM1,700. RM1,700 pada ketika itu nilai yang besar. Mana tak nya klu dilihat gaji setiausaha sulit TPM pun pada masa tu baru RM2 ribu lebih.
Saham yang dimilik oleh Azmin dan isterinya juga umpama seorang bisness man. Cuba kita lihat bagaimana isteri seorang penjawat awam mempunyai saham di dalam pasaran saham dengan nilai keseluruhan melebihi setengah juta. Itu tak termasuk baki-baki didalam akaun bank yang pernah satu ketika mencecah RM300 ribu lebih. Cuba lihat keadaan yang saya nyatakan di atas. Adakah kita mempercayai penjawat awam boleh hidup dengan sedemikian??
Tetapi perkara yang paling membingungkan saya apabila BPR menutup kes ini? Sedangkan memang jelas Azmin dan isterinya mempunyai harta yangberlebihan yang tidak setimpal dengan pendapatannya. MENGAPA SIASATAN BPR DIHENTIKAN? SIAPA YANG MEMPUNYAI KUASA UNTUK MEMBERHENTIKAN SIASATAN INI?? ADAKAH ORANG YANG MEMBERHENTIKAN SIASATAN INI BERSENGKOKOL DENGAN AZMIN ATAUPUN TAKUT KEPADA PEMIMPIN PADA MASA TERSEBUT
Untuk makluman, pada waktu itu Ketu Pengarah BPR adalah Dato Shafee Yahya. Dengan nyata skali KP BPR telah membuat satu keputusan yang tak relevan bilamana menghentikan siasatan ini. Apa sebenarnya yang berlaku? Jika kita tunjukkan perkara ini kepada budak sekolah pun mereka dapat menilai bahawa tak mungkin dengan gaji RM 2 ribu legih sebulan mampu mempunyai gaya hidup mewah seperti Azmin. TETAPI kenapa Dato Shafee menghentikan siasatan ini? ADAKAH kerana bersengkongkol? Favouritism? Mengikut telunjuk pemimpin seperti Kerbau dicucuk hidung? Ataupun sama dah NYANYUK????????
Kite cube renung-renungkan kembali berkaitan dengan perkara ini dan lihatlah lampiran-lampiran yang diupload besama. Ingatlah hidup ini hanya perjalanan yang sementara sahaja. Jangan ingat kita terlepas untuk selama-lamanya.
Labels:
corruption,
MACC,
PKR
PENANG MALAYS
2. Why are the Penang Malays still living in these hovels? Yes, Kuala Lumpur has Malay slumps. But these are mostly built by new urban migrants. The Government has succeeded to rehouse most of the squatters in modern high-rise buildings so that, passing along the main roads, one does not see the slums anymore.
3. But the Penang Malays live in the same old shacks that housed them long ago. And they are an eyesore.
4. New modern flats are being built everywhere in Penang, including on reclaimed land. I would have thought that a resettlement of the Malay squatters would have been one of the objectives of the Governments of Penang. Even the old water-villages along Weld Quay have been tidied up, though they still throw their rubbish in the sea.
5. I was told that the Malay squatters are living on land belonging to rich landlords. They face the threat of expulsion any time. Indeed some of them have already been thrown out to make way for the high-rise flats. I wonder where they are housed now.
6. Someone should make a study of these Penang Malays. What is their source of income? Could it be that the occupants of these shacks are the children of the original occupants? It cannot be. Education and better employment opportunities should have increased their incomes and enable them to afford better accommodation. We see this all over Malaysia. It cannot be that Penang Malays are an exception.
7. Tanjung Bungah, the Cape of Flowers is now highly developed. But the ramshackle sheds which serve as shops still line the road. Apparently some Malays sell food there. But the smelly vegetable “garden” where human excrements were used as fertilizers have disappeared.
8. Penang still promotes itself as the Pearl of the Orient. But the Malay shacks, the water village and the rubbish in the sea belie the claim.
Labels:
Tun.Mahathir
More Trouble over Subs for Najib
How much did you say that sub cost?
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Joseph Breham, a French lawyer who has…
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How much did you say that sub cost?
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Joseph Breham, a French lawyer who has spent the past two years pursuing allegations of massive bribes in connection with the Malaysian purchase of submarines from the French defense contractor DCNS, is expected to deliver fresh details of the scandal tomorrow in Bangkok.
The Malaysia-based reform organization Suaram, which asked French prosecutors to look into the submarine scandal in April 2010, has called a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand at 2 pm for Breham reportedly to present fresh revelations to reporters.
The press conference is being called in Bangkok instead of Malaysia because Breham’s associate, William Bourdon, was unceremoniously expelled from the country after describing details of the case to a dinner sponsored by Suaram in Penang. Breham sought a work visa to come to Malaysia for the current event but apparently no action has been taken on his visa, so Suaram decided to move the press conference to Bangkok.
There appears to be a growing possibility that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak could be indicted in France for complicity in the case. Central to the inquiry is alleged illegal commissions that were paid out to Malaysian officials and politicians, which have been deemed illegal and categorized as bribes, after France became a signatory to the OECD convention.
Earlier, Cynthia Gabriel, the director of Suaram, said prosecutors are in possession of more than 150 documents that tie Najib directly to the scandal. Najib was appointed minister of defense in 1991 and oversaw a series of extensive defense purchases of Russian Sukhoi jets, coastal defense vessels and other equipment. Gabriel told the Malaysian website Malaysiakini that the press conference is expected to "reveal further damning details from the initial findings of the prosecutors and to announce the latest developments surrounding the case," adding that it would “help fill in the vacuum of information on gross corrupt and illegal practices involved in arms procurement in the name of Malaysia's national security.”
The most controversial of Najib’s purchases was the US$1 billion paid for two Scorpene-class diesel submarines, for which a company called Peremikar Sdn Bhd, owned by one of Najib’s closest friends, Abdul Razak Baginda, received a €114 million commission that critics have charged was a kickback that made its way into the hands of Malaysian politicians.
So far, the case has gained precious little traction in Malaysia despite nearly six years of sensational revelations involving bribes of hundreds of millions of euros to Malaysian politicians including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak when he served as defense minister, and the murder for hire by two of Najib’s bodyguards of a 28-year-old Mongolian woman named Altantuya Shaariibuu. Najib has maintained consistently favorable poll ratings and runs well ahead of the United Malays National Organization, the country’s biggest political party, which he heads.
Malaysia’s mainstream news media, which are wholly owned by the component parties of the national ruling coalition, have worked assiduously to bury the story although it has been reported extensively by the country’s ferociously active internet press and bloggers. With the press conference being held in Bangkok, and expected to be attended by journalists from the international press, it remains to be seen if Najib’s luck holds out.
The revelations have picked up in recent months with the appointment of investigating magistrates Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire at the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance, Asia Sentinel reported in April that investigators believe that at least some of €36 million funneled from a DCNS subsidiary through a Hong Kong-based company called Terasasi Hong Kong Ltd. ended up in the pockets of Najib. A handwritten note found in DCNS files said “Razak” wanted the money paid quickly. Najib, of course, is known by his first name. But there are questions whether French defense officials would have known that in a country were people are addressed by their family names.
Abdul Razak Baginda, a close Najib friend and the former head of a Malaysian think tank who was at the center of a 2006 investigation into Altantuya’s death, is listed as one of the two directors of Terasasi, according to the Hong Kong Companies Registry. The other director is Abdul Malim Baginda, Baginda’s father. Perimekar Sdn Bhd., another company wholly owned by Razak Baginda, received €114 million in “commissions” in the purchase of the submarines. Investigators believe those funds were also directed to UMNO politicians.
The two Armaris Scorpenes, named for the first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Najib’s father, Tun Abdul Razak, are on duty in Malaysian waters.
Cherchez le Sarko
One of the intriguing questions being asked in Paris concerns whether investigators will become more aggressive in examining DCNS’s transactions after former French President Nicholas Sarkozy was turned out of office last month after he lost to the Socialist candidate, Francoise Holland. Sarkozy has repeatedly denied any role in a DCNS scandal that is vastly larger than the one in Malaysia. Beginning in the 1980s, DCNS, a state-owned weapons manufacturer, peddled subs and ships all over the planet including to India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Chile and Argentina as well as Malaysia. Some of the purchases have blown up in scandal and, as in Malaysia, in murder.
In 2002, for instance 11 French engineers employed by DCNS were blown up in Pakistan in a bombing first thought to have been perpetrated by Islamic militants. The 11 were in Karachi to work on three Agosta 90 B submarines that the Pakistani military had bought in 1994, with payments to be spread over a decade. According to Reuters, commissions were promised to middlemen including Pakistani and Saudi Arabian nationals. Agosta is a subsidiary of DCNS.
Two French magistrates, Marc Trevidic and Yves Jannier, who were looking into the case on behalf of the victims, said kickbacks ended up in the campaign funds of Edouard Balladur, the French prime minister and a rival of Jacques Chirac in the 1995 presidential election. Sarkozy was Balladur's campaign manager as well as budget minister when the contract for the subs was signed.
Although Sarkozy and Balladur have both denied any wrongdoing, a top-secret memo turned up in October 2008 from DCN, which was state-owned at the time of the alleged kickbacks. Copies of the memo were shown on French television. The memo reportedly said France had stopped paying the bribes after Chirac won the 1995 elections despite requests by Pakistani officials for several years afterwards. Eventually, according to the story, the Pakistanis eventually lost patience and orchestrated the attack on the Agosta engineers in retaliation.
Another case involves the French company Thales, formerly Thompson-CSF, which sold six DCN-built La Fayette-class 'stealth' frigates to Taiwan in 1992 for US$2.8 billion. The warships, designated Kan Ding by Taiwan, were delivered between 1996 and 1998. The website DefenseNews reported that Taiwan is seeking US$882 million, down from US$1.12 billion on its claim against Thales, according to documents filed with the French market regulator Authorité des Marches Financiers.
Taiwan's claim, the website said, is based on allegations that Thales wrongfully paid commissions to agents in the sale of the frigates. Thales said in the filing that it and its industrial partner have consistently contested the claim. A Thales spokesman declined to comment beyond the information contained in the filing. Thales was prime contractor on the sale of the frigates, which were built by DCN.
Barisan Nasional Memajakkan Tanah Rezab Melayu Ke Pasaran Saham
Perjanjian pajakan tanah di antara Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGV) dan FELDA bertarikh 1 November 2011 memberikan kuasa dan hak milik kepada FGV untuk mengusahakan tanah-tanah yang kini…
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Perjanjian pajakan tanah di antara Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGV) dan FELDA bertarikh 1 November 2011 memberikan kuasa dan hak milik kepada FGV untuk mengusahakan tanah-tanah yang kini dimiliki oleh FELDA mengikut syarat-syarat perjanjian.
Sejumlah 847,362 ekar tanah yang kini diuruskan oleh Felda Plantations Sdn Bhd terlibat di dalam urusan pajakan ini, yang menjadi syarat utama proses penyenaraian FGV ke Bursa. Tanpa tanah-tanah ini, penyenaraian tersebut akan gagal.
KEADILAN boleh mengesahkan bahawa kami telah mendapat salinan penuh perjanjian dan senarai tanah-tanah yang terlibat. Semakan kami menunjukkan bahawa dari sejumlah 847,362 ekar tanah yang dipajakkan ini, sejumlah 105,382 ekar adalah tanah-tanah yang telah diwartakan sebagai Tanah Rezab Melayu di seluruh negara.
Ini menimbulkan persoalan serius mengenai status tanah-tanah ini kerana tindakan memajakkan tanah-tanah ini kepada FGV boleh melanggar matlamat pewartaan Tanah Rezab Melayu. Kedudukan FGV selepas ini tidaklah boleh dikira sebagai sebuah syarikat yang berstatus Bumiputra kerana jumlah pegangan saham Bumiputra tidak dapat disahkan. Setakat ini, peneroka Felda hanya diperuntukkan 2.5% dari jumlah pegangan saham sementara kakitangan Felda pula hanyalah 3%. Selebihnya melibatkan badan-badan lain yang dijemput masuk oleh Tan Sri Isa Samad, termasuklah Louis Dreyfus sebuah syarikat antarabangsa yang dikuasai keluarga Yahudi terkenal dari Perancis.
Oleh yang demikian, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Tan Sri Isa Samad wajar menjelaskan kepada rakyat kenapakah tanah-tanah berstatus rezab Melayu ini turut dipajakkan ke FGV yang disenaraikan di pasaran saham? Apakah jaminan bahawa tanah-tanah ini akhirnya tidak bertukar tangan atau pembangunannya tidak bertentangan dengan semangat pewartaan Tanah Rezab Melayu yang digubal hampir 100 tahun yang lalu?
KEADILAN juga menyeru supaya setiap Kerajaan Negeri di Semenanjung yang terbabit menolak sebarang usaha untuk membatalkan status Tanah Rezab Melayu yang melibatkan tanah 105,382 ekar ini.
Kami menunggu maklumbalas Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Tan Sri Isa Samad sebelum memberikan lebih banyak maklumat mengenai Tanah Rezab Melayu seluas 105,382 ekar ini.
MOHD RAFIZI RAMLI
PENGARAH STRATEGI KEADILAN
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Sejumlah 847,362 ekar tanah yang kini diuruskan oleh Felda Plantations Sdn Bhd terlibat di dalam urusan pajakan ini, yang menjadi syarat utama proses penyenaraian FGV ke Bursa. Tanpa tanah-tanah ini, penyenaraian tersebut akan gagal.
KEADILAN boleh mengesahkan bahawa kami telah mendapat salinan penuh perjanjian dan senarai tanah-tanah yang terlibat. Semakan kami menunjukkan bahawa dari sejumlah 847,362 ekar tanah yang dipajakkan ini, sejumlah 105,382 ekar adalah tanah-tanah yang telah diwartakan sebagai Tanah Rezab Melayu di seluruh negara.
Ini menimbulkan persoalan serius mengenai status tanah-tanah ini kerana tindakan memajakkan tanah-tanah ini kepada FGV boleh melanggar matlamat pewartaan Tanah Rezab Melayu. Kedudukan FGV selepas ini tidaklah boleh dikira sebagai sebuah syarikat yang berstatus Bumiputra kerana jumlah pegangan saham Bumiputra tidak dapat disahkan. Setakat ini, peneroka Felda hanya diperuntukkan 2.5% dari jumlah pegangan saham sementara kakitangan Felda pula hanyalah 3%. Selebihnya melibatkan badan-badan lain yang dijemput masuk oleh Tan Sri Isa Samad, termasuklah Louis Dreyfus sebuah syarikat antarabangsa yang dikuasai keluarga Yahudi terkenal dari Perancis.
Oleh yang demikian, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Tan Sri Isa Samad wajar menjelaskan kepada rakyat kenapakah tanah-tanah berstatus rezab Melayu ini turut dipajakkan ke FGV yang disenaraikan di pasaran saham? Apakah jaminan bahawa tanah-tanah ini akhirnya tidak bertukar tangan atau pembangunannya tidak bertentangan dengan semangat pewartaan Tanah Rezab Melayu yang digubal hampir 100 tahun yang lalu?
KEADILAN juga menyeru supaya setiap Kerajaan Negeri di Semenanjung yang terbabit menolak sebarang usaha untuk membatalkan status Tanah Rezab Melayu yang melibatkan tanah 105,382 ekar ini.
Kami menunggu maklumbalas Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Tan Sri Isa Samad sebelum memberikan lebih banyak maklumat mengenai Tanah Rezab Melayu seluas 105,382 ekar ini.
MOHD RAFIZI RAMLI
PENGARAH STRATEGI KEADILAN
Najib’s sweeping reforms: Winds of change or hot air?
Justina Chen - The Malaysian Insider
MAY 29 — Since Malaysia Day last September, the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has undertaken a whirlwind of legislative and policy reforms,…
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MAY 29 — Since Malaysia Day last September, the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has undertaken a whirlwind of legislative and policy reforms,…
Justina Chen - The Malaysian Insider
MAY 29 — Since Malaysia Day last September, the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has undertaken a whirlwind of legislative and policy reforms, making Mr Najib arguably the most reformist Malaysian prime minister ever.
Political pundits remark that the rushed reforms which were undertaken without consultation with key stakeholders are a sign that a general election is imminent, perhaps to be held in less than two months.
Over the course of the last six months there have been a record number of legislative reforms including: repeal of the infamous Internal Security Act; amendments to the University and University Colleges Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act; announcement of a minimum wage policy as well as the passing of the Security Offences Bill and Peaceful Assembly Act.
Despite the current air of optimism, the sincerity of the government to effectively implement lasting reform has repeatedly been called into question. Government critics cite the lack of consultation and the short time frame within which legislative reform has taken place as evidence that the reforms are merely political ploys designed solely to gain traction with voters.
Whatever the agenda, the many legislative and policy revisions have only occurred at the surface level, yet to be backed up by structural changes reinforced by increased transparency, scrutiny and other monitoring mechanisms. The second and most important component of political reform will involve reorganisation of Malaysia’s enforcement agencies and institutions, namely the police, judiciary and bureaucracy. If this second stage fails, political reforms will remain only as idle rhetoric.
The government’s conduct at the recent Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections indicates that this second stage of reform is far from completion. Although the Peaceful Assembly Act came into force just days prior to the rally, there was little adherence to its provisions.
Before the rally, police rejected organisers’ notification of a peaceful sit-in and obtained a court order to stop it taking place. This ruling was blatantly in breach of Section 14 of the newly enacted Peaceful Assembly Act, which declares police can only impose conditions but not ban a planned peaceful public assembly from taking place. The police could have imposed restrictions or conditions on the date, time and duration of assembly; the place or manner of the assembly. Failure to comply with such restrictions is an offence under the act, punishable with a fine up to RM10,000.
In the absence of the police imposing lawful conditions upon public demonstrations, any public assembly can proceed as planned.
Instead of utilising the new law, police employed heavy-handed measures including the unrestricted use of tear gas, unlawfully destroying video-recording devices, and in some cases the unwarranted use of excessive violence against individual demonstrators.
One hope for a viable sustainable democracy in Malaysia will involve a systemic overhaul of government institutions resulting in greater transparency and accountability. The prospects of this happening under the current Najib administration are questionable due to the deep-rooted culture of corruption and rent-seeking in the upper echelons of government.
The recent National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal sheds light on a 2007 government allocation of RM250 million for a cattle rearing project which lost millions of ringgit every year. Beyond the monetary wastage, the scandal became yet another symbol of the nepotism that runs rife in the tender for government projects: the NFC was chaired by Mohamed Salleh, the husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Common practices such as awarding government contracts without open tenders, limited access to information and a close connection between businesses and politics have only further developed an ethos of corruption.
The sad truth is that key institutions, big corporations and the civil service are all embedded with supporters of the ruling government, whose interests are too deeply entrenched to allow for reform from the inside-out.
It has also been an uphill battle for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition party to gain a foothold on the political scene. Despite the “political tsunami” in the 2008 general elections which saw, for the first time, the demise of the ruling Barisan Nasional’s two-third majority in parliament, politics in Malaysia are stunted by ethnic and religious divisions — evidenced by the lack of a clear manifesto of any political party. In the absence of a two-party system, democracy is doomed to be a pipe dream.
However, this pessimism need not set the tone for Malaysia’s democratic future. There are signs of an emergent political maturity evidenced by inaugural debates between members of opposing political parties. A widely televised political debate on the issues faced by Malaysian Chinese was held in February between the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association — the main Chinese party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition — and the secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party.
While state-controlled media remain hesitant to report the true sentiments of a large proportion of the electorate, the internet has had no such qualms. Alternative news sites such as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider have done much to equalise the flow of information. There has also been an awakening from political apathy, predominantly among younger, urban voters. This new generation of voters, increasingly disillusioned with economic and social disparities caused by government policies, is expressing its concern via the aforementioned alternative news and political blogs. It was this demographic that turned out in full force during the Bersih 3.0 rally.
In the past, Malaysians have been reticent about their political views. The more than 100,000-strong crowd at the rally suggests that this reticence is falling away.
The manner in which the 13th general election is conducted will set the stage for Malaysia’s democratic future. This will be the final test for the Najib administration’s sincerity in providing true reforms for Malaysia and leading the country into a more democratic future. Many Malaysians fear that the next election will be the dirtiest yet, with the ruling government using all possible tricks and manipulation at its disposal to gain a favourable outcome including the use of “phantom” votes and blatant gerrymandering.
These fears will prove unfounded if the government ensures that the elections are conducted fairly by ensuring electoral transparency, inviting international observers to monitor the polling and results, and by scrubbing the electoral roll of nonexistent voters. Whether the slew of recent reforms is due to a genuine concern for Malaysia’s democratic future or from fear of losing the forthcoming election, it is clear that the public pressure exerted by ordinary Malaysians is slowly changing the political landscape of Malaysia. — The Bangkok Post
* Justina Chen is a research and policy analyst at the Centre for Public Policy Studies, Malaysia. This article was originally published by the East-West Centre in Asia Pacific Bulletin Number 165, on May 24, 2012.
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MAY 29 — Since Malaysia Day last September, the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has undertaken a whirlwind of legislative and policy reforms, making Mr Najib arguably the most reformist Malaysian prime minister ever.
Political pundits remark that the rushed reforms which were undertaken without consultation with key stakeholders are a sign that a general election is imminent, perhaps to be held in less than two months.
Over the course of the last six months there have been a record number of legislative reforms including: repeal of the infamous Internal Security Act; amendments to the University and University Colleges Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act; announcement of a minimum wage policy as well as the passing of the Security Offences Bill and Peaceful Assembly Act.
Despite the current air of optimism, the sincerity of the government to effectively implement lasting reform has repeatedly been called into question. Government critics cite the lack of consultation and the short time frame within which legislative reform has taken place as evidence that the reforms are merely political ploys designed solely to gain traction with voters.
Whatever the agenda, the many legislative and policy revisions have only occurred at the surface level, yet to be backed up by structural changes reinforced by increased transparency, scrutiny and other monitoring mechanisms. The second and most important component of political reform will involve reorganisation of Malaysia’s enforcement agencies and institutions, namely the police, judiciary and bureaucracy. If this second stage fails, political reforms will remain only as idle rhetoric.
The government’s conduct at the recent Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections indicates that this second stage of reform is far from completion. Although the Peaceful Assembly Act came into force just days prior to the rally, there was little adherence to its provisions.
Before the rally, police rejected organisers’ notification of a peaceful sit-in and obtained a court order to stop it taking place. This ruling was blatantly in breach of Section 14 of the newly enacted Peaceful Assembly Act, which declares police can only impose conditions but not ban a planned peaceful public assembly from taking place. The police could have imposed restrictions or conditions on the date, time and duration of assembly; the place or manner of the assembly. Failure to comply with such restrictions is an offence under the act, punishable with a fine up to RM10,000.
In the absence of the police imposing lawful conditions upon public demonstrations, any public assembly can proceed as planned.
Instead of utilising the new law, police employed heavy-handed measures including the unrestricted use of tear gas, unlawfully destroying video-recording devices, and in some cases the unwarranted use of excessive violence against individual demonstrators.
One hope for a viable sustainable democracy in Malaysia will involve a systemic overhaul of government institutions resulting in greater transparency and accountability. The prospects of this happening under the current Najib administration are questionable due to the deep-rooted culture of corruption and rent-seeking in the upper echelons of government.
The recent National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal sheds light on a 2007 government allocation of RM250 million for a cattle rearing project which lost millions of ringgit every year. Beyond the monetary wastage, the scandal became yet another symbol of the nepotism that runs rife in the tender for government projects: the NFC was chaired by Mohamed Salleh, the husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Common practices such as awarding government contracts without open tenders, limited access to information and a close connection between businesses and politics have only further developed an ethos of corruption.
The sad truth is that key institutions, big corporations and the civil service are all embedded with supporters of the ruling government, whose interests are too deeply entrenched to allow for reform from the inside-out.
It has also been an uphill battle for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition party to gain a foothold on the political scene. Despite the “political tsunami” in the 2008 general elections which saw, for the first time, the demise of the ruling Barisan Nasional’s two-third majority in parliament, politics in Malaysia are stunted by ethnic and religious divisions — evidenced by the lack of a clear manifesto of any political party. In the absence of a two-party system, democracy is doomed to be a pipe dream.
However, this pessimism need not set the tone for Malaysia’s democratic future. There are signs of an emergent political maturity evidenced by inaugural debates between members of opposing political parties. A widely televised political debate on the issues faced by Malaysian Chinese was held in February between the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association — the main Chinese party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition — and the secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party.
While state-controlled media remain hesitant to report the true sentiments of a large proportion of the electorate, the internet has had no such qualms. Alternative news sites such as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider have done much to equalise the flow of information. There has also been an awakening from political apathy, predominantly among younger, urban voters. This new generation of voters, increasingly disillusioned with economic and social disparities caused by government policies, is expressing its concern via the aforementioned alternative news and political blogs. It was this demographic that turned out in full force during the Bersih 3.0 rally.
In the past, Malaysians have been reticent about their political views. The more than 100,000-strong crowd at the rally suggests that this reticence is falling away.
The manner in which the 13th general election is conducted will set the stage for Malaysia’s democratic future. This will be the final test for the Najib administration’s sincerity in providing true reforms for Malaysia and leading the country into a more democratic future. Many Malaysians fear that the next election will be the dirtiest yet, with the ruling government using all possible tricks and manipulation at its disposal to gain a favourable outcome including the use of “phantom” votes and blatant gerrymandering.
These fears will prove unfounded if the government ensures that the elections are conducted fairly by ensuring electoral transparency, inviting international observers to monitor the polling and results, and by scrubbing the electoral roll of nonexistent voters. Whether the slew of recent reforms is due to a genuine concern for Malaysia’s democratic future or from fear of losing the forthcoming election, it is clear that the public pressure exerted by ordinary Malaysians is slowly changing the political landscape of Malaysia. — The Bangkok Post
* Justina Chen is a research and policy analyst at the Centre for Public Policy Studies, Malaysia. This article was originally published by the East-West Centre in Asia Pacific Bulletin Number 165, on May 24, 2012.
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Personal Attacks On Ambiga Not Racially Motivated
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- The personal attacks on Bersih co-chairman Datuk S. Ambiga at her home are not racial, but due to her role as leader of Bersih,…
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- The personal attacks on Bersih co-chairman Datuk S. Ambiga at her home are not racial, but due to her role as leader of Bersih, said Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.
He said such incidents, including protests in front of Ambiga's house in Bukit Damansara, were not only not supported by the MIC but also Umno and MCA.
"They have stated their disapproval of such protests. Yes, Ambiga is part of our community but the public's anger is directed at her because of her role in the movement," he told reporters after presenting a cheque for RM100,000 to set up classes for autistic children, here Tuesday.
Subramaniam, who is also MIC deputy presient, said this when asked if the attacks on Ambiga were racially motivated.
"The issue here is that the government has provided them a chance to state their opinion in not only one place, but the whole country, and we do not need street demonstrations," he said, adding that the Bersih rally was used as a political tool by various quarters.
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He said such incidents, including protests in front of Ambiga's house in Bukit Damansara, were not only not supported by the MIC but also Umno and MCA.
"They have stated their disapproval of such protests. Yes, Ambiga is part of our community but the public's anger is directed at her because of her role in the movement," he told reporters after presenting a cheque for RM100,000 to set up classes for autistic children, here Tuesday.
Subramaniam, who is also MIC deputy presient, said this when asked if the attacks on Ambiga were racially motivated.
"The issue here is that the government has provided them a chance to state their opinion in not only one place, but the whole country, and we do not need street demonstrations," he said, adding that the Bersih rally was used as a political tool by various quarters.
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