Death threats against Little India chair from 'cemetery'

(Malaysiakini) Little India Action Committee (LIAC) chairperson S Pathavachalam has been receiving death threats against him and his family from a man calling himself Sudukattu (graveyard) Ravi, since last Thursday.

According to Pathavachalam (left in photo), Sudukattu called him on his handphone about 12.30am on Aug 16, threatening to chop him up and destroy his family.

"The man said that he will send a coffin to my house and will come to my house if I test him," he said.

Pathavachalam, who is an estate agent, lodged a police report on the threat at 5.29pm the same day, at the Jalan Travers police station.

He said the threats are related to his dialogue with Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.
This was when Raja Nong Chick was introducing reporters to the developer in charge of the land where former Brickfields district police headquarters once stood.
Pathavachalam said Sudukattu Ravi threatened him because he and many other NGOs had rejected Nong Chik’s idea of building a police beat base, instead of a proper district police station, at the site.
Setting RM10,000 reward for death
The estate agent had lodged another police report on Aug 22, saying that Sudukattu had called him a second time on Aug 16 at around 10.30pm, warning him against going to the police if he wanted to be safe, and advised him to send a representative for a "table talk" with his men.

"The man told me to send someone for a table talk, to discuss my safety with his group since an order had been issued for my death, with a reward of RM10,000 offered.

"The man told me it would be useless for me to lodge a police report. He said the police and government belonged to him," Pathavachalam told a press conference at Tropicana in Petaling Jaya today.

According to him, the investigating officer handling his case vowed to personally catch the man.

"The officer told me that the government might be his government, but we are not his police," Pathavachalam said.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (left), who was also present at the press conference, said she would compile all documents and evidence obtained from the Brickfields police station land deal case and forward these to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) next week.

French councillor beaten by Tunisian extremists over family's dress

Paris (dpa) - A French councillor of Tunisian origin on Wednesday said he was beaten by religious extremists in Tunisia because his wife and daughter‘s clothing were seen as provocative.

Jamel Gharbi, a councillor in the north-western city of Le Mans, said that he and his family were strolling around the northern coastal Tunisian town of Bizerte August 16 when they came across a group of men with the long beards and tunics of ultra-conservative Salafi Muslims.

"I saw they were looking at them (his wife and daughter) with hate because of their summer clothes, even though there was nothing provocative about them (the clothes)," he was quoted by the Lemainelibre.fr, a Le Mans news site, as saying.

"They told us we were in an Islamist country and I quickly understood things were going to degenerate," he said.

"I cried out to my wife and daughter to run. They then pounced on me and struck me with their fists, feet and sticks," he added.

Gharbi, 62, said he had reported the attack to police and cut short his visit to Tunisia.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who was born in Tunisia, condemned the "cowardly, despicable act by an extremist minority" as an "attack on Tunisia‘s values."

The attack took place on the same evening as a group of Salafis attacked festivalgoers in Bizerte with knives and batons, injuring five people.

The demonstrators were protesting the presence of a Lebanese Shiite militant, who had expressed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Salafis are Sunnis. They see Shia Muslims as heretical.

Two other towns also saw protests last week by Salafis against artists they accused of offending Islam in their work.

The opposition and civil society groups accuse the authorities of hanging back during Salafi demonstrations.

Tunisia is run by a tripartite coalition headed by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda. dpa str cfb jln

‘Explain manipulation in crime statistics’

Several Pakatan Rakyat leaders urged the government to clarify allegations made by an anonymous policeman who said that the government had tampered with the crime statistics.

PETALING JAYA: The government must explain allegations made by an anonymous policeman who alleged that there was a manipulation in the nation’s crime index, said Pakatan Rakyat.

“Home Ministry and Performance Management and Delivery Unit [Pemandu] must clarify the accusation. The allegation is serious as it casts doubt on the integrity of official statistics,” said several Pakatan leaders in a joint statement today.

The statement were signed by PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Kuala Krai MP Hatta Ramli and Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong.

Yesterday, Liew published a letter on his blog, purpotedly from a policeman, claiming that there was a systematic attempt to lower the crime statistics by shifting the index crime to the non-index crime when a police report is lodged.

Citing examples, he said that a robbery case, which falls under the Penal Code, comes under the index crime category. However, the police would classify it under Section 382 of the code and automatically relegate it to a non-index crime .

The policeman added that causing hurt comes under Sections 324 and 326 of the Penal Codem which are index crimes. But these offences will be classified under Section 148 of the Penal Code.

Since Section 148 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime category, the case will not be reflected in the crime statistics.

The policeman said that under-classification of the index crime to non-index crime runs into several thousand cases.

The opposition pact urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Pemandu chief executive Idris Jala to disclose the statistics of cases classified under Sections 148, 382, 452 and 453 of the Penal Code as soon as possible to clarify the matter.

“The data provided must start from the time the National Key Results Area (NKRA) system was implemented and the three years preceeding it, to refute the allegation made,” they said.

Johor MB expects to lose nine seats

If Umno can convince former minister Shahrir Samad to contest, the party may get to keep Johor Baru in the coming general election.
COMMENT

Johor has always been touted as the bastion of Umno, but one wonders if it really is so, given the inroads the opposition made in 2008.

In the 2008 general election, there was a 14% swing to the opposition. What has happened to that swing? It is increasing and getting stronger.

And this has got the menteri besar worried, intimating to his Umno division heads in one meeting that he expects at least nine parliamentary seats and up to 16 state seats to fall to the opposition in the 13th general election.

That means he has not discounted fully the swing to the opposition.

He has acknowledged that, at best, with all the efforts and the bribery that Umno has carried out, the party has only managed to claim back some 5%.

That means there is still around a 9% swing with the opposition.

Based on that conservative assumption, the nine parliamentary seats are indeed in jeopardy.

My personal view is that Pakatan Rakyat can win the nine parliamentary seats and more.

Umno and Barisan Nasional is dicey in at least six more seats – Tanjung Piai, Gelang Patah, Pulai, Pasir Gudang Tebrau, Simpang Rengam and Parit Sulong.

Which really means, Pakatan could end up with between nine and 15 seats.

Will Shahrir contest?

Having said that, there is also the Johor Baru seat to consider. JB has a sizeable Chinese population which should prove to be a boon to Pakatan.

The determining factor here would be Umno’s choice of candidates. If Shahrir Samad chooses to retire, then JB will fall to Pakatan.

Shahrir can only be persuaded to stand if the Umno people can stoke his contempt for Anwar Ibrahim.

Shahrir himself is not that confident. He has said privately that most of the faces he sees in JB are not familiar to him.

The other seat which I am interested to see is Pulai. It’s currently held by UDA Holdings Bhd chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed Rahmat.

Nur Jazlan is a decent fellow but has recently been the victim of Umno’s habit of practising infanticide. It kills off its young talent.

When Nur Jazlan came up with a strategy of raising money for UDA with the redevelopment of the Pudu Jail area, he became a victim to the ravenous appetite of Umno warlords ever on the lookout of using government to make tons of money.

And that has not gone down well with him and his supporters.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist.

No roses in Palanivel’s GE list

The MIC president has decided not to field a single woman for the upcoming general election, reveals a party source.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president G Palanivel is expected to meet Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief Najib Tun Razak next Tuesday to finalise the party’s candidates list for the coming general election.

Apart from some minor changes to the list, the most shocking was that the largest Indian-based party in the country would not field any women candidates.

Sources revealed that although Palanivel had submitted a list of potential candidates, the meeting on Aug 28 would “finalise everything including two seat swaps”.

The source said that Palanivel had a meeting with the party’s women’s wing towards the end of July.

“And the outcome of the meeting shocked the wing as the president decided not to field any women candidates for the general election,” he added.

The source also claimed that Palanivel was peeved when only six representatives from the women’s wing turned up for the meeting.

In the last general election, MIC fielded four women, one for a parliamentary seat and the rest for state assembly seats.

Of the four, only T Murukasvary managed to retain the Tenggaroh state seat in Johor defeating PAS member Shahar Abdullah with a large majority of 8,233 votes.

Not up to expectations

Wanita MIC chief Komala Krishnamoorthy was defeated in the Kapar parliamentary seat by PKR’s S Manikavasagam.

However, the source claimed that the MIC leadership would also drop Murukasvary for the coming polls.

“Palanivel has decided to close the door to women candidates since the next general election will be toughest in the history of MIC,” he told FMT.

He said the president only wanted winnable candidates and the latter felt that those from the women’s wing would not make the cut.

The source also pointed out that the women’s wing had not performed up to expectations since the 2008 general election.

“Just look at the Wanita office in the party headquarters… it has remained locked for the last four to five months,” he added.

The source also said speculation was rife that Wanita MIC might boycott the polls as a result of the president’s decision.

“But I believe it will not happen since the women’s wing depends on the party’s top leadership for funds,” he added.

Nesa Land Scam

The Traveler, Thursday, August 23, 2012

Two years back  Traveler wrote an article, Family of Land Scam, highlighting how lawyer Pathmanaban, who is on trial for the murder of cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya, her driver Kamaruddin shamsudin, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, and CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohammad,  and his family benefited from Nesa Cooperative Society in the land deals in Banting district.

On July 28 2012, expelled Vice President Nadaraja has exposed Nesa’s several other land scams in a press conference. Since then, Nesa has been maintaining a resounding silence on the allegations.

PAS needs to state stand on Hudud, not the DAP

(Bernama) It is PAS that needs to issue a statement on its stand on the 'hudud' law, not the DAP, said the Prime Minister's Political Secretary, Datuk Mohamad Fatmi Che Salleh.

Mohamad Fatmi, who is also the Kota Baharu Umno division head, said that PAS, as a party that champions Islam in the opposition pact, must be firm on its stand to implement the hudud law although the DAP disagreed on its implementation.

"What is important today, PAS must make a stand, not the DAP. Malaysians had already known from the start that the DAP was against an Islamic state, and rejects hudud.

"The mistake was why PAS had accepted the DAP," he told reporters when met at the Open House organised by the Kota Baharu Umno division, here today.

The press reported today that PAS Youth deputy head, Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz had said that the DAP top leadership, especially its advisor Lim Kit Siang, and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, should make an official party stand on the implementation of Islamic law in the country such as the hudud law.

Nik Abduh had said that the statement was crucial to correct the public perception following a series of statements by the DAP chairman, Karpal Singh, who rejected the hudud law and Islamic state which PAS was trying to implement if it were to take over the federal government.

Mohamad Fatmi said PAS should also make a stand whether it wanted to remain in the opposition pact after their statements on the setting up of an Islamic state appeared to be rejected by the DAP.

Be aware of Fitch’s fiscal warning — Ramon Navaratnam

AUG 23 — International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has once again warned Malaysia that its public finances are under sustained strain!

This firm but polite expression of censure, if not admonition, should not be played down by unduly highlighting Malaysia’s short-term good economic growth gains in the last two quarters of this year .

Neither should we be complacent about the serious declines in economic growth and stability occurring currently in the relatively rich developed industrial world. We can do this only at our own peril.

The fact of the matter is that Malaysia will be adversely affected by the global slowdown in the near future. The extent of our economic slide is difficult to project at this time. But we know for sure that we cannot take a “business as usual” attitude against the headwinds and strong disruptive socio-economic currents whirling around us, at home and from abroad.

Thus we have to safeguard the economy against increasing strains on our national “credit profile”. This means, in short, exercising more fiscal discipline to restrain our high budget deficits and the budget and national debt from growing big and bad.

Budget 2013, to be tabled in Parliament next month, must therefore ensure that the necessary budget fiscal and monetary measures are adopted to strengthen our economic foundation and the fiscal reforms relating to better management of budget revenues, expenditures, the national debt and balance of payments, in the face of the inevitable global economic slowdown

Budget 2013 must therefore clearly show that it has taken Fitch’s fiscal warning seriously or Malaysia will have to pay penalties now being experienced by many developed countries!
We believe 2013 Budget should and will accordingly be designed appropriately.

* Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam is chairman of the Asli Centre of Public Policy Studies.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Shah Rukh Booked For Insulting National Flag

PUNE, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been booked by city police for allegedly insulting the national flag, police said Tuesday.

Police in the western Indian Pune city brought the case against the actor on Aug 14 after Lok Janshakti Party national secretary Ravi Brahme claimed the 46-year-old actor had insulted the flag in a video purportedly uploaded on Youtube.

"Shah Rukh Khan has been booked under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971. The case has been transferred to Mumbai police for further investigation. The case documents consist some photos and videos," Press Trust of India quoted a police officer as saying.

Brahme had recently lodged a complaint against Mumbai-based model Gehna Vashisht for allegedly insulting the national flag by wearing it as a bikini.

She was arrested on Aug 18 by police in Pune and released on bail the next day.

Shah Rukh's manager was unavailable for comment.

However, sources close to Shah Rukh said the actor did not have any knowledge about the complaint lodged against him.

Anti Party-Hopping Proposal Is Mere DAP Political Spinning - Chua

PETALING JAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today slammed DAP for proposing to amend the Penang state constitution to prevent party-hopping, saying that the move was only political spinning by the opposition party.

Questioning DAP sincerity on the matter, Dr Chua said DAP also knew it well that the proposal would not pass through the state assembly and it was against the Federal Constitution to restrict an individual's political freedom.

He said if DAP was really committed on preventing party-hopping, they could just do so by amending its party constitution.

"Amending party constitution is the simplest. It is easy to amend and to say that the party will not accept any "political frog", and if they (party-hoppers) jump, they will not be offered any seat.

"The whole story ends. Why need to go to the state assembly. At the end of the day, you make a lot of noise, attract attention but it is not as honorable as the DAP make it out to be," he told reporters after witnessing a presentation of monetary rewards by The Star Publications (M) Berhad to national Olympians Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Rinong Pamg, here today.

Lee, who won a silver in badminton and Pandelala, a bronze in the diving event in the just concluded London Olympic Games were awarded RM100,000 each.

The MCA president was commenting on Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's proposal to table at the state assembly an anti-party hopping law.

Recounting several events on party hopping since 2008, including PKR's advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Sept 16 infamous claim that the opposition would form the Federal Government after a list of Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers were said to be defecting to the opposition, Dr Chua said DAP had been all along supporting party hopping.

He said DAP had accepted two former Umno leaders to its fold early this year and the two Umno veterans were even promised seats in the upcoming general election.

"In a recent case, two former Sabah BN leaders also joined the opposition but the DAP didn't say a word," he said referring to Beaufort MP and chairman of BN Beaufort Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing, who is also United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) deputy president, who had quit BN last month to support the opposition.

"If DAP was sincere about anti-party hopping, they should not accept party hoppers from the very beginning," he added.

Earlier in his speech at the reward ceremony, Dr Chua urged all Malaysians to be united and support the national atheletes in their quests to bring greater glory to the country.

"If politicians failed to unite all Malaysians, at least both of you have helped to unite all Malaysians.

"Let us not let politics divide all of us when it comes to us," he added.

New Study: Eggs as Harmful as Cigarettes

New research has found that egg consumption is nearly as harmful to heart health as smoking tobacco. The study found a correlation between the number of egg yolks consumed and thickened arteries; the correlation was nearly as high as the correlation between the amount of tobacco smoked and thickened arteries.

Researchers measured the carotid wall thickness (an indicator of heart health) and measured the smoking, diet, and exercise habits of over 1,200 participants. "We believe our study makes it imperative to reassess the role of egg yolks, and dietary cholesterol in general, as a risk factor for coronary heart disease," the study authors concluded. 

 

 

 

 As scientific research continues to show the harmful effects of egg consumption on human health, undercover investigations continue to expose the horrific abuses hens and other farmed animals endure. Fortunately, preventing cruelty, heart disease, and cancer is easy with a plant-based diet.