Khairy: I'm willing to be charged under 114A

Khairy Jamaluddin said that he is prepared to be charged under the Evidence Act and be subjected to the newly included Section 114A in his capacity as Umno Youth chief…

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Khairy Jamaluddin said that he is prepared to be charged under the Evidence Act and be subjected to the newly included Section 114A in his capacity as Umno Youth chief following a religiously sensitive Facebook posting which used the political wing's name.

This comes after a challenge by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (left) who suggested that attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail should live up to his defence of the controversial law by charging Umno Youth for the posting.

"Desperado Guan Eng challenges attorney-general to charge Umno Youth for offensive Facebook posting which I have said is not our doing.

"I call on the attorney-general to go ahead and charge Umno Youth and me as its chief. Even with 114A, I am confident of proving we were not responsible," said Khairy in a series of Twitter postings this evening.

Under Section 114A which was introduced as an amendment to the Evidence Act in April, the law presumes a person or organisation whose name is carried together with any online publication as the author of that content.

If the person or organisation is not the author of the publication, it is up to the individual or organisation to prove their innocence. The same applies to network owners whose internet connectivity is used by others for illegal activities.

‘Umno Youth not responsible'

BN Youth had yesterday lodged a police report, dissociating itself from the Facebook page of "Pemuda Umno Malaysia" (Umno Youth Malaysia) and also disclaiming responsibility for a posting made by the page administrator deemed as religiously sensitive.

The posting in Malay read, "If you agree to making Christianity the official religion of the Federation of Malaysia, continue your support for Pakatan Rakyat."

"God bless you my son," it continued in English.

The administrator of the Facebook page whose identity remains unknown had defended the action with another Facebook posting which read: "Even though this is not a formal (Umno) Youth fan page, but the voices on this fan page is strong enough to carry the voice of the grassroots to the top".

The controversy comes a week after a widespread cyberspace campaign against Section 114A of the Evidence Act by Centre for Independent Journalism which claims that the law violated the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty'.
Khairy is among the few BN leaders who have expressed opposition to the controversial amendment.

On the same day of the campaign on Aug 14, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced a review of the amendment which was gazetted in July but was shot down by the cabinet which instead instructed the attorney-general to explain the law to the public.

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Bin Laden Bodyguard Discovered in Germany

Those wishful-thinking diehards who believe Europe will eventually come to its senses regarding its security interests and reverse its suicidal tolerance of militant Islamists in its midst received a ringing…

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Those wishful-thinking diehards who believe Europe will eventually come to its senses regarding its security interests and reverse its suicidal tolerance of militant Islamists in its midst received a ringing slap in the face earlier this month.

The latest occurrence indicating the Old World is sliding into a bloody nightmare of Islamist violence with little desire to defend itself comes this time from Germany where news reports announced that bin Laden’s former bodyguard, who was discovered residing in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), has been busy recruiting young Muslims for the jihad. It is also believed the 36-year-old native of Tunisia, identified in newspapers in accordance with German law only as Sami A., is responsible for having radicalized two members of the Dusseldorf terrorist cell.

An al-Qaeda affiliate, the Dusseldorf cell was broken up in April of 2011. Three Islamist cell members are currently on trial, charged with planning a bomb attack in Germany.

“We have clear indications that he [Sami A.] tried to radicalise young people with his intellectual assets,” said Ralf Jaeger, the socialist interior minister for NRW.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the news publication, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ), revealed last week that the former bin Laden employee and hardcore Salafist was actually planning to open his own mosque in Bochum, a city in NRW where he has lived the past eight years with his wife and three children. It was also WAZ investigators who revealed to the German public Sami A.’s presence in NRW and jihad recruitment activities.

The WAZ revelations, understandably, have sent shock waves across Germany. This is the country where some of the 9/11 suicide bombers lived and plotted their day of infamy against America. Due to this connection, many Germans are simply incredulous, as well as very embarrassed, that a bin Laden associate, who knew 9/11 plotters like Guantanamo prisoner Ramzi Binalshibh, was even in Germany let alone carrying on terrorist activities. WAZ states that Sami A. is “connected worldwide” to terrorist networks and also knew the terrorist who helped plan the synagogue attack on Tunisia’s Djerba island.

“In the terror scene, he is considered a bright light,” states WAZ. “Radical Islamists pay homage to him. For young people who seek direction, a person like Sami A. can be a fixture point.”

According to WAZ, Sami A. first came to Germany as a student in 1997. He travelled to Pakistan in 1999, remaining for seven months, staying also in an al-Qaeda guest house in Kandahar, where he met top al-Qaeda officials. In addition, Sami A. received 45 days of military training in an al-Qaeda camp. After returning to Germany, the al-Qaeda veteran resumed his studies, eventually moving to Bochum in 2005 to study electronics and take up jihadi activities. “The weapon,” WAZ reports, “with which he fights here (in Bochum) for the victory of radical Islam is his hero’s reputation.”

Not unexpectedly, the NRW branch of the German intelligence service responsible for keeping tabs on terrorists, the Verfassungsschutz (Germany’s FBI), is at pains to explain how a man who used to personally protect Osama bin Laden with a rocket propelled grenade launcher in Pakistan in 2000 could for years radicalise and recruit unimpeded young people for the jihad. All that a spokesman for the NRW Interior Ministry would say was that they had the dangerous Islamist in their sights since his move to Bochum.

What is perhaps even more embarrassing for the security agencies is that they apparently had no idea that Sami A. was intending to open his own mosque until a 61-year-old woman tipped them off. The former bin Laden bodyguard had set up a prayer house, also without officials knowing, in an empty building on a Bochumer street that he wanted to rebuild into a mosque, using a front man to do so. But the woman, who worked nights at a nearby residence for the mentally handicapped, informed police of, as one neighbor described them, “the Islamists who come out of the mosque sometime between midnight and two o’clock” and who were “unbearably loud.”

Bochum’s city administration did, however, try to have Sami A. deported in 2006. In March of that year an expulsion order was actually obtained against him. But an administrative court overturned the order “because of unreasonable hardships for Sami A. and his family,” although his wife and children have both Tunisian and German citizenship and his wife had lived in Tunisia from 1994 to 1999.

What must be maddening for Germans, though, is that the court did not doubt that Sami A. represented a potential terrorist threat, but still refused to have him deported. One official said, however, that the court based part of its refusal on the belief Sami A. may face torture if returned to Tunisia. But according to WAZ, the city had presented its case “so clumsily” that a rejection was the court’s only option. The matter is currently before a superior court.

The only option left for German authorities after the court decision was to somehow restrict Sami A.’s activities. He has had to report to the police every day including Sundays, but this obviously hasn’t worked. The Dusseldorfterrorist cell, according to German federal attorneyship, can thank him for recruiting two of its members.

Many Germans are probably left stunned by the fact that such a dangerous individual as Sami A., a former bin Laden bodyguard, was allowed, unknown to them, to romp about and carry on undisturbed his vicious campaign of terror and hatred that endangers them and their families. They have questions that have yet to be answered such as why was he ever allowed back into Germany after going to Afghanistan and who in the government is responsible? And where does the money come from that has supported him for so long? And was he ever in American hands?

Germans have worked hard since the Second World War to build a functioning, respected democracy and to be accepted as a member of the world community. To their credit, they have been successful in these efforts. But many ordinary Germans must regard the Sami A. case as a betrayal and weakening of that democracy and their efforts to make it work.

And not only a betrayal of German democracy. The Sami A. revelation will undoubtedly cause some Germans to believe that none of the mainstream political parties and their elites, including Germany’s ruling conservative party, are interested in protecting them and their families. They will now feel they are on their own. In defense and desperation against the growing Islamist danger and parallel society, some will undoubtedly seek options further to the political right to put a stop to the growing chaos in a country where even former bin Laden bodyguards are allowed to move around and devise terrorist plots freely.

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India cracks down on Internet after communal violence

People from India's northeastern states rest while waiting for the train bound for the Assam state at a railway station in Kolkata, August 19, 2012. — Reuters file pic

NEW…

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People from India's northeastern states rest while waiting for the train bound for the Assam state at a railway station in Kolkata, August 19, 2012. — Reuters file pic

NEW DELHI, Aug 21 — India pressed social media websites including Facebook and Twitter today to remove “inflammatory” content it said helped spread rumours that sparked an exodus of migrants from some Indian cities last week.

The government said in a statement it had already blocked access to 245 web pages it said contained doctored videos and images, and the telecommunications secretary, R Chandrashekhar, threatened legal action against the websites if they did not fully comply with the requests to take down the offending pages.

Chandrashekhar told CNN-IBN television that Google and Facebook had largely complied with the government’s requests while the response from Twitter had been “extremely poor”.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment.

“A lot of inflammatory and harmful content/information has been found to be appearing on the social networking sites hosted outside the country,” the government statement said.

Thousands of students and workers from India’s northeast fled Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities last week fearing retaliation for violence against Muslims in the remote tea-growing state of Assam after threatening mobile phone text messages and website images sowed panic.

Clashes between indigenous people in Assam and Muslim settlers from neighbouring Bangladesh have killed nearly 80 people and displaced some 300,000 since July.— Reuters

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Anti-hopping law: ‘Do it for the people’

Such a legislation is needed because jumping from one party to another is a betrayal of the voters' mandate, says Gerakan.

GEORGE TOWN: Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat should set…

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Such a legislation is needed because jumping from one party to another is a betrayal of the voters' mandate, says Gerakan.

GEORGE TOWN: Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat should set aside their partisan politics to jointly legislate anti-hopping laws to protect public interests, said a local Gerakan politician.

Penang Gerakan legal and human rights bureau head, Baljit Singh, said BN and Pakatan should do it for the sake of all Malaysians.

However, he said it was easier said than done because the majority of politicians, especially elected lawmakers, were too deeply engrossed in partisan politics.

He said they constantly stayed away from taking an independent stand on various issues merely to protect their respective party’s, not public, interests.

He said most politicians would react indifferently on party hopping depending on whether it was for or against party interests.

“But party hopping is against public interests. It’s a betrayal of the voters’ mandate,” Baljit told FMT.

Hence, he said it was time both BN and Pakatan set aside their political differences and amended the Federal Constitution to prevent party hopping among MPs and assemblymen.

“Both sides should do it before the next general election,” said Baljit, who has always been vocal against “political frogs”.

DAP supremo Karpal Singh has said the party would propose a constitutional amendment to deter party hopping by federal and state lawmakers if Pakatan were to capture Putrajaya.

Baljit said he was not surprised with Karpal’s statement since the DAP national chairman had always been consistently against party hopping.

He pointed out that PAS had also shown its clear stand against it vis-à-vis its Kelantan government’s anti-hopping law in the 1990s.

However, he is amazed with the indifferent stand taken by DAP’s “Lim Dynasty” and PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim on the pressing issue.

The Lim Dynasty is a political idiom propagated by critics to portray DAP faction led by its national adviser Lim Kit Siang and, his son and secretary-general Guan Eng.

Inconsistent stand

Since the 2008 election, Baljit noted that Pakatan de facto leader Anwar and the Lims have been inconsistent on party-hopping.

He said while the Pakatan stalwarts were quick to slam those hopping from Pakatan as frogs, they have openly welcomed BN defectors.

“On the one hand, they paraded themselves as paragons of virtues. On the other, they conveniently abandon the virtues,” he said, referring to the stand taken by Anwar and Lims on recent high-profile defections from Sabah BN.

Tuaran MP Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing, Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin and Senator Maijol Mahap have all left BN and declared their support for Pakatan this month.

Baljit also recalled that the Lims’ silence was deafening when Anwar openly trumpeted the crossing over of political frogs among BN lawmakers to realise his Sept 16 dream to take over Putrajaya.

“The Lim Dynasty and Anwar must come out openly and denounce party-hopping among elected legislators.

“Karpal and PAS have stated their stands clearly, why can’t Anwar and the Lims?” he asked.

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IPCMC not an option but a must

How does the IGP explain the never-ending deaths in police lock-ups and the erosion of faith in the police force?

Police chief Ismail Omar is assuring the rakyat that his…

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How does the IGP explain the never-ending deaths in police lock-ups and the erosion of faith in the police force?

Police chief Ismail Omar is assuring the rakyat that his “men in blue”, that is, the cops are doing a fine job while Umno goons are condemning those who keep criticising the police force.

The issue is not about the people judging the police force; rather it is the shenanigans of the police force that has forced the rakyat to question their effectiveness and why the government is so afraid of setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

From rapes and nude squats in police lock- ups to abuse and death of detainees in prisons, the true calling of the police force is being doubted, as the rakyat continue to read of the atrocities taking place in police cells.

Last year, Ismail asked the rakyat to come up with ideas on ways to bring the crime rate down.

He then said the 26 police initiatives under the National Key Result Area had shown some positive results, with the people themselves asking the police how they could play a role in reducing crime.

“This means they are more focused and willing to cooperate with the police for public safety,” Ismail had said.

While the people are willing to work with the police, what is the latter doing in return? How does Ismail explain the never-ending deaths in police lock-ups and the erosion of faith in the police force?

Now, another death in detention has become the talk of the town. On Aug 13, 2012, Cheah Chin Lee, 36, was pronounced dead at the Jalan Pattani Northeast police headquarters in George Town.

The post-mortem report stated that Cheah died as a result of “asphyxia due to hanging” but his family begs to differ; they are questioning why Cheah would hang himself barely five hours in detention.

The family stands firm that Cheah was mentally stable and held a permanent job, leaving Ismail to answer as to why a suspect, upon being detained, dies in the lock-up.

According to police statistics, 147 people have died in police custody between January 2000 and February 2010.

The deaths included 64 Malays while in police custody, with 30 deaths among Chinese detainees, 28 Indians, eight other races, and 14 foreigners.

With the statistics revealing the worst, dare Ismail still claim that “public safety” is the police force’s top most priority?

Atrocities by cops must stop

Even those at the very top are given to abuse, with the former IGP Rahim Noor being one. After giving former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim a black eye in 1998 , Rahim went on to say that Anwar was safe and sound in police custody.

Rahim received “support” from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had the audacity to suggest that Anwar’s injuries were self-inflicted.

On May 26 last year, FMT reported that a 20-year-old student, S Ganesan, claimed he was beaten up and verbally abused by the police after he knocked into a policeman’s motorcycle at a roadblock in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, in the early hours of the morning.

“The policeman kept beating me and called me ‘keling’. They also shouted at me, saying I should just die so that they can close the case,” Ganesan was quoted by FMT as saying.

The youngster was then warned not to report the matter before he was bundled into an ambulance and despatched to the Tunku Jaafar Hospital.

Last year, the police once again made news for all the wrong reasons when they forced female Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists who were detained to undress in the presence of male police officers.

Thirty-six of its activists were detained on June 25 this year while carrying out their “Udahlah Bersaralah” (Enough already, Retire Now) campaign in Perak, to remind Malaysians of the pitfalls of returning Barisan Nasional to power in the 13th general election.

Complaints of sexual misconduct by police were made by detainees in Kepala Batas, Penang, and Ipoh, respectively and PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan said a police officer told them they needed six months to investigate the report.

In November last year, a 39-year-old finance accountant, who had highlighted her plight of being allegedly molested by a group of 11 policemen seven years ago, found herself in the dock instead, with the charge being related to the incident that took place seven years ago.

Last year, too, the police constable who beat up a 23-year-old suspected car thief, A Kugan, while under police custody in 2009 and which left Kugan dead in custody, was let off the hook by the court.

On June 18, 2008, a cop on duty at the Putra Heights (in Subang Jaya) police station raped a 17-year-old pillion rider after detaining her boyfriend at the police station for riding the motorbike without a licence.

IPCMC is not an option

With the latest death in police custody, the federal government under the Barisan Nasional leadership has run out of excuses to avoid establishing the IPCMC.

The IPCMC is not an option but a must and it is simply a matter of time before pressure mounts on the government to put the IPCMC in place.

In 2005, a 634-page report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the police force, headed by a former judge, revealed that the police were brutal, inept and the most corrupt among the government departments.

Between 1999 and 2003, there were 5,726 formal corruption complaints involving the police force and it was recommended that the police force be monitored by an independent watchdog.

According to a non-governmental organisation, Aastivaram Foundation, between 2003 and 2007, there were 85 custodial deaths. This number excluded those who were shot dead.

“The commission is long overdue. Currently, the police themselves investigate cases of police abuse and I believe they tend to cover up such cases,” the foundation’s vice-president R Sanjeevan had informed FMT.

In the face of such revelations, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein continues to dismiss the importance of IPCMC, saying instead the commission is not welcomed as it is not helpful in resolving police abuse cases.

Has Hishammuddin not been “in touch” with the rakyat’s miseries at the hands of the police? Or is the Home Minister scared the IPCMC will uncover the long hidden dirt and scandalise the Royal Malaysian Police?

Or is there a fear too that the IPCMC will force the 205-year-old police force to re-look its motto of “Firm, Fair and Prudent” (Tegas, Adil dan Berhemah), which, after two centuries later, has yet to live up to its name?

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist

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Why Malayans look down on Sabah

Daniel John Jambun
The recent report made by Rozza Rothman against people from the Peninsula insulting Sabah in Facebook postings reminds us again of the long and unceasing attitude of…

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Daniel John Jambun
The recent report made by Rozza Rothman against people from the Peninsula insulting Sabah in Facebook postings reminds us again of the long and unceasing attitude of Malayans looking down on Sabah and Sabahans.
This is due mainly to the misconception created by the failure of the efforts of national integration and national unity made under the National Unity and Integration Department (NUID) which has been operating since 1969 (after the May 13 riots), spending hundreds of millions of ringgits trying to Malaysians in the Peninsula and those in Borneo. The Malaysian blog reported in July 2006 that “Probably 99% of Malaysians have not even heard of the very existence of the national unity and integration department. Ironically, as its name suggests, it is the one entrusted to 'integrate' and 'unite' the people and therefore should have been very familiar to the public!” the writer even commented, “"What the devil have you been doing all these years except collect your monthly pay?" The biggest problem with the NUID is plain ineptness, lack of creativy and drive, as well as the over-dominance of Peninsular officers who have the attitude that in the whole process, it is the Borneons that need to be rehabilitated from the wild, to be civilized so they can be on par with the more civilized Malayans. There is less thought about rehabilitating the Peninsular Malaysians into learning about Borneo which to them is unimportant and not even part of the real Malaysia.

Ever since the beginning people in the Peninsula had always looked upon Sabah and Sarawak as the nation’s wild side, areas covered with trees occupied by monkeys, pythons, crocodiles and even wild men living on treetops. The Facebook insults reported by Rozza included comments saying Sabahans still live on trees. In the past Peninsular teachers coming to teach in Sabah used to shop for Panadols and toothpastes in large amounts in their hometowns before they boarded the planes to Kota Kinabalu because they believed those items can’t be found here. In one TV live interview Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili was called by a girl from Penang who asked what monetary currency was used in Sabah. Sabahans coming to KL are asked, “Bila sampai Malaysia?” or worse, “When is Sabah going to join Malaysia?” I have friends who had been asked to please go ahead and enjoy the fish-head curry because “You people don’t have this in Sabah”. The list of blatant ignorance runs long and wide, proving how ignorant people are in the Peninsula. Even in the age of the Internet when surfers can easily see tens of thousands of pictures of Sabah online, they still really, really believe we live on trees.

Other the 43-year failure of the NUID, this intolerable ignorance is also caused by the timidity and cowardice of our Members of Parliament who act like wet mice in Kuala Lumpur, bowing and smiling to the Malayans as if to admit they are actually less civilized. They allow themselves to be looked down upon to curry favours. They forget that one of their duties as the representatives of Sabahans is to educate the ignorant people of the Peninsular that Sabah is a beautiful and a more peaceful place where Peninsular teachers and civil servants come to get married and settle down because of the beauty of the state.

They need to shout in parliament every now and then to remind the people there that they owe Sabah and Sarawak for the wealth and prosperity being enjoyed by them. The fine highways, airports and buildings (including the Petronas Towers) are there because of oil from the Borneo states! This is so ironic because Sabah, the producer of this precious black gold is mired in poverty, having terribly bad roads while they have four-lane highways even to gambling haven, Genting Highlands. Our MPs need to shout in Parliament, “Jangan lupa orang Sabah yang kasi makan kamu!” to shame them into recognising our contribution to their prosperity there which is like 20 years ahead of us.

I urge the police to take serious action on Rozza’s report and inform us of their progress. Soon, someone need to make a police report on the gigantic failure of the NUD, even to sue it, or at least to audit its performance and penalize it for decades of failure to unite Malaysians. It needs to explain why Malaysians today are more polarized than ever before and why it is not taking any action against those causing racial and religious disunity, especially people like Ibrahim Ali who is record for threatening to kill Christians and calling for a ban on Christians from teaching in schools. If they can’t do the job the NUID should be closed down to save precious money.

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Can Chidambaram Rescue India's Battered Economy?

Chidambaram demands a free hand

(Asia Sentinel) High inflation, deficient monsoon, political infighting all get in the way for new finance minister
Faltering growth, fleeing foreign investors and the specter…

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Chidambaram demands a free hand

(Asia Sentinel) High inflation, deficient monsoon, political infighting all get in the way for new finance minister
Faltering growth, fleeing foreign investors and the specter of global credit ratings agencies downgrading the Indian economy to junk status from the current lowest investment grade, are finally forcing the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to attempt to put its fiscal house in order.

Growth, which slumped to a nine-year low of 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012, was crippled further by a deficient monsoon that has whittled down agricultural output and sent food prices soaring. Persistently high inflation - 7.25 percent in June - prompted the central bank to hike interest rates to rein in prices. Meanwhile, international credit ratings agencies including Fitch and Moody's Analytics have forecast sub-6 percent growth for India in the fiscal year to end March 2013, the worst in a decade.

The uninspiring economic performance is having a corrosive political effect. An India Today-Nielsen opinion poll last week said that were an election to be held today, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance would be bested by the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Alliance.

“The government’s skewed tax policies, a debilitating policy paralysis coupled with political volatility have taken the sheen off the India growth story,” said economist and Professor K.N. Dixit of Benares Hindu University. “Not too long ago, the country was spoken of in the same breath as China. But now that global awe has vaporized.”

That the worries over a battered economy are weighing on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mind was clear as he delivered the 65th Independence Day address on August 15 in New Delhi. The premier, the architect of India’s transformational globalization drive in the 1990’s that saw annual GDP growth touch 9 percent, dwelt on the country’s hostile political climate, which has not only soured the India growth story but also affected national security.

"If we do not increase the pace of the country's economic growth,” said Singh in his speech, “take steps to encourage new investment in the economy, improve the management of government finances and work for the livelihood security of the common man and energy security of the country, then it most certainly affects our national security."

Consistently high food inflation, corruption and policy paralysis have eroded the electorate’s confidence in the ruling political establishment. Middle-class angst has resulted in widespread support for mass agitations led by yoga guru Swami Ramdev and activist Anna Hazare.

A beleaguered Singh has been under mounting pressure to reconstitute his cabinet ahead of the 2014 general elections. His inclusion of Palaniappan Chidambaram, 67, as finance minister (after the post was vacated by Pranab Mukherjee who is now president) was part of a larger UPA game plan to help India get back on its high-growth trajectory.

A Harvard Business School alumnus, Chidambaram is known for taking bold decisions. His stint as finance minister during 2004-2008 steered India through the turbulent waters of the global financial meltdown.

Can the finance minister replicate his earlier feat? There’s no doubt that the task is a daunting one given India’s vastly altered eco-political dynamic since 2004. However, there are favorable auguries. Soon after taking over, the minister put out a statement to assuage global and domestic investors and restore their confidence. The markets also cheered his takeover with the Sensex surging and the rupee strengthening marginally against the dollar.

Chidambaram has moved expeditiously, sending out an unambiguous signal that he means business. He has fleshed out a detailed roadmap to augment the country’s investment climate and fiscal consolidation with 'honesty' and 'credibility' as its cornerstones.

The minister knows that the key to restart the growth engine is to build a more conducive investment climate, thereby attracting more capital from domestic and foreign investors. The aim, he says, “is to remove the perceived difficulties in doing business in India, including fears about undue regulatory burden or regulatory over-reach.”

The broad aim, financial analysts say, is to allay fears about the country’s economic health and assure disenchanted investors that the India growth story is still very much alive. Chidambaram has repeated that his focus will be on addressing policy deficits in four vital areas— investor confidence, inflation, widening fiscal deficit and a yawning current account deficit.

Rejuvenating key sectors such as roads, power and energy, speeding up disinvestment and resuscitating the capital markets and moderating inflation in the medium term are also a part of the minister’s strategy.

Analysts predict that while the new minister will need some time to settle in (he was until recently home minister), at least the immediate impact of an improved global perception about the Indian government’s nonchalance will be corrected.

“Chidambaram understands the larger architecture of international financial regimes and regulators. He balances old-school wisdom with an understanding of modern business and regulators,” says a finance ministry source.

But more importantly, the minister’s thinking is in consonance with his boss. “We think alike. We are on the same wavelength,” Singh recently said about Chidambaram. The duo’s convergence of ideas and thoughts will probably will certainly facilitate decision-making and help in the everyday conduct of business considering that Mukherjee who rarely saw eye-to-eye with Singh on several important economic issues.

For instance, the contentious retrospective tax on foreign companies that acquired assets in India and the General Anti-Avoidance Rules that empower tax department officials to probe past corporate deals, were cleared by Mukherjee over Singh’s reservations.

Chidambaram has acknowledged there are problems. “Price stability is an important objective. There has been pressure on prices, and inflation, especially food inflation, is high. The causes are well known…some are beyond our control, such as prices of crude oil and imported commodities, but some others can be addressed by determined action. We will take steps to remove the constraints on the supply side,” he said in his first press conference after taking over July 31.

However, there is hope that with his past record as finance minister, Chidambaram may well be the lift that a depressed Indian economy is looking for. Before taking on his current responsibility, the minister clearly told the prime minister that he would accept his new post only if he is empowered to take tough decisions. Whether or not the minister’s `tough decisions’ will translate into tangible gains for the Indian economy is something that still remains to be seen.

(Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based journalist. She can be reached at neetalal@hotmail.com)

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ABU’s message to our peacekeepers goes to Melaka

Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia is a key component in ABU.
The Melaka chapter have been busy over this Raya weekend.
Click on the image below to find out what they have been up to.

Kit Siang and May 13

By Ahmad Mustapha Hassan | August 21, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

AUG 21 — Allow me to explain about the above controversy.

I was there on that fateful day as…

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By Ahmad Mustapha Hassan | August 21, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

AUG 21 — Allow me to explain about the above controversy.

I was there on that fateful day as an executive member of Umno Youth. The gathering was organised by Selangor Umno Youth whose leader was Harun Idris and the secretary then was Ahmad Razali Ali.

The whole area was dominated by Umno Youth members and no non-Malay could ever enter the place. That being the case, it was impossible for Lim Kit Siang to be there and did what he was purportedly accused of. If he did, he would have been killed by the mob.

In fact the first killing that I witnessed was outside the gate, on the road. A young coffeeshop boy, about 13 or 14 in age, was slaughtered by the mob and his body kicked into the drain running by the road. He was an innocent boy trying to earn some pocket money.

I mentioned the May 13 incident in my book “The Unmaking of Malaysia”.

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Najib Advises Students Abroad To Contribute Towards Malaysia's Success

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak advised Malaysian students abroad to study hard and manage themselves well in order to contribute towards the…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak advised Malaysian students abroad to study hard and manage themselves well in order to contribute towards the nation's success.

"My fellow students abroad, you are the country's junior ambassadors. Study hard and manage yourselves well to help your country succeed," he tweeted at about 10.30 pm Tuesday.

Last Sunday, during a simultaneous video conference with students and embassies in five countries, at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya, Najib advised Malaysian students abroad to study hard in order to help the country succeed.

He said that as junior ambassadors, Malaysians, especially students and officers at embassies, must portray the nation's success and uniqueness abroad.

The 45-minute conference was held in conjunction with Aidilfitri and covered Jakarta (Indonesia), Canberra (Australia), London (the United Kingdom), Beijing (China) and Tokyo (Japan).

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Heavy Rain Causes Flash Floods In Some KL Areas

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Heavy rain Tuesday caused flash floods in several areas in the city, among them Segambut and Sentul, and fire and rescue personnel went to…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Heavy rain Tuesday caused flash floods in several areas in the city, among them Segambut and Sentul, and fire and rescue personnel went to the aid of four people trapped in the floodwaters.

A physically challenged man, a baby boy and his mother, and a pregnant woman were rescued, said a spokesman of the Kuala Lumpur Fire & Rescue Department.

He said the department's personnel responded to the calls for help between 4.04 pm and 5.27 pm.

The physically challenged man was rescued in the vicinity of the Al-Ubudiah Mosque in Segambut Dalam, he said, adding that as the fire and rescue personnel got to him, his family members had also come to save him.

The spokesman said the baby boy and his mother were rescued at their home near the Keretapi Tanah Melayu station in Segambut while the pregnant woman was evacuated from her home in Taman Kolam Air Panas, Sentul.

The spokesman said about 50 fire and rescue personnel from five fire stations were deployed for rescue operations up to 6.10 pm.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Meteorological Department said the rain started at about 1 pm and lasted until 5 pm.

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