8th century temple site in Bujang Valley demolished

NGO is urging the Tourism and Culture Ministry to stop a housing developer from demolishing remnants of ancient temples in Bujang Valley and to preserve the area.

PETALING JAYA: A housing developer has demolished several temples sites, including an 8th century heritage site, in Bujang Valley, Kedah, and the authorities are not taking any action to stop the act.

Non-governmental organisation Bujang Valley Study Circle chairman V Nadarajan has urged the Tourism and Culture Ministry to stop the developer from further destroying the area and preserve the site.

Nadarajan said several ancient temples, called Candi, had been demolished in the last few years to make way for development.

He said the developer had now demolished the most famous 8th century temple remnants known as Candi Sungai Batu estate or Bujang Valley site 11.

Nadarajan, who is a lawyer, urged Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz to stop the demolition process.

“The temple in Sungai Batu estate is the most famous tourism spot in Bujang Valley, but now it is gone,” he said.

Nadarajan, who has written a book on the Bujang Valley heritage site, said the authorities had failed to stop the demolition.

“The National Heritage Department, Museum, Kedah state tourism committee and Sungai Petani Municipal Council should have protected the sites but they have turned a blind eye to the demolition work,” he added.

Area is packed with historical artifacts

He said that he was not sure when the Candi Sungai Batu was demolished but believes it was done earlier this week. He only realised it was demolished when he visited the Candi two days ago.

“This entire area is packed with historical artifacts. Most of them are hidden away from our view. This particular temple site is famous with tourists.

“The developer is greedy and willing to pay the fine for the demolishing the temples (and its remnants) because they will make a huge profit from the housing project.

“I am surprised why the Malaysian government is so careless in Bujang Valley when countries like Indonesia and Cambodia are proud of their heritage sites,” said Nadarajan.

The Bujang Valley is an archeological site and excavation had revealed jetty remains, iron-smelting areas and a clay-brick monument dating back 110AD making it the oldest man-made structure to be recorded in South-east Asia.

“It is the most important entry port before Malacca (15th century) and Singapore (19th century). Bujang Valley has been a mid-way hub to Arab nations, India and China,” said Nadarajah.

“We should be proud of the heritage and not give the site to profit-minded individuals,” he added.

Nadarajan urged the ministry to issue a stop-work order to the developer and preserve the remaining sites.

Nepal Election. At least Hindu people of Nepal rejected Anti Hindu Prachand and Maoist politics.

BBC |  KATHMANDU | 28 November 2013:: The centrist Nepali Congress party won the most votes in last week’s general elections, latest results announced on Thursday show.

The Maoists – who formed the single largest party in the previous Constituent Assembly – have been relegated to third place.

They have complained that the results have been systematically rigged.

The vote is seen as vital in moving Nepal towards political stability after a 10-year Maoist revolt ended in 2006.

Final results in the vote – conducted through a mixture of direct voting and proportional representation – are expected over the weekend.

The previous assembly – elected in 2008 after the abolition of the monarchy – was won by the former rebels. But the Constituent Assembly (CA) was bitterly divided and failed to write a new constitution.

The Congress party has said that it may now form a government of national unity that would include the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) which came second in the vote.

On Thursday, the Election Commission said counting of votes under the proportional representation system had been completed. It said that the Nepali Congress party had won more than 2.4 million votes while the Maoists had won about 1.4 million votes.

Experts say that the Nepali Congress has won about 200 seats in the 601-member CA while the Maoists will only get about 80 seats.

The UML has won about 175 seats, ahead of the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal and about nine parties which represent the Madeshi community in the south.

Officials said that more than 70% of the 12 million eligible Nepalese voters cast their ballots in the elections held on 19 November.

They said Nepal might have to wait for least at another two months to get a new government. Click Here>>Complete Reading Courtesy: BBC.

Egypt: Muslims burn down Christian homes over relationship between Muslim girl and Christian boy

Islamic law forbids Muslim women from marrying Christian men. When the "reports surfaced of a relationship between a Muslim girl and a Coptic boy," the two families "held reconciliatory talks," but they "fell through after 'Muslims burnt down the house of the boy’s father and an adjacent house.'" Now that's "dialogue."
"Sectarian violence in Minya leaves five dead," by Hend Kortam for Daily News Egypt, November 29:

Two separate incidents of sectarian violence in villages in the governorate of Minya on Thursday claimed several lives. One of the incidents took place in the village of Badraman where reports surfaced of a relationship between a Muslim girl and a Coptic boy. Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the families of the girl and the boy held reconciliatory talks but the talks fell through after “Muslims burnt down the house of the boy’s father and an adjacent house.”

Ibrahim said tensions escalated when a Muslim man was killed in “unknown circumstances,” possibly in a security chase.
State-run Al-Ahram reported that in addition to one dead person, six were injured in the violence. It added that two people were arrested.
The other incident broke out between residents of the predominantly Coptic village of Nazlet Ebeid and the predominantly Muslim village of El-Hawarta. A statement by the Diocese of Minya and Abu Qurqas said a Coptic landowner whose land is close to El-Hawarta village was being prevented from building a house on his land.
The Coptic landowner had filed a complaint with the police regarding the issue but tensions escalated when he and others who were with him were shot at while building a fence around his land. Clashes which started on Wednesday continued until Thursday. People from both villages gathered as a result and the ensuing violence left four dead, according to Bishop Makarios of Minya who spoke to private channel ONTV. He added that around 55 people were injured....
Sectarian tensions had earlier flared in another Minya village, Delga. Of the five churches in the village, three were attacked after the 3 July ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. Two people had reportedly died.

Stray animals as gift for DAP duo

Members of Malay Sons of Penang Association hold a protest after Friday prayers against Jeff Ooi and Tony Pua.

GEORGE TOWN: A Malay NGO plans to present DAP parliamentarians Jeff Ooi and Tony Pua a stray cat and dog each as tit-for-tat for their recent damning remarks against civil servants.

Malay Sons of Penang Association president Jahangir Abdul Sukkur also called on other Malaysians to do the same to both the DAP elected representatives.

“We will make an appointment to meet the MPs and present the animals as gifts to them.

“We want to show them how stray cats and dogs look like,” he told newsmen after leading a brief post-Friday prayers demonstration against the MPs Jeff Ooi of Jelutong and Tony Pua of Petaling Jaya Utara outside Masjid Melayu Jamek Lebuh Acheh here today.

A association committee member Wan Shahriwal Salim told the crowd Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s deafening silence on the issue confirmed that the DAP was a “racist, anti-Malay and anti-Islam” party.

Some 30 association members took part in the high noon demonstration.

The demonstrators also held up anti-Jeff Ooi, anti-Tony Pua and anti-DAP banners, streamers and placards to express their displeasure and anger against the parliamentarians.

They also chanted ”Allahu-Akbar’ several times.

Last week, Ooi courted controversy when he described low-ranking municipal council officers as “kucing kurap” (stray cats).

Previously Pua described the officers of Registrar of Societies (ROS) as Umno’s running dogs, which Jahangir claimed was equivalent to “anjing kurap” (stray dogs).

Remarks by both Ooi and Pua drew flaks from various parties, including from DAP.

A check during on-going Penang assembly sitting revealed many Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers, and civil servants were upset with Ooi’s remarks.

“He is a parliamentarian but he blatantly uses an un-parliamentary word,” said a Pakatan legislator, while his colleague slammed Ooi as being “arrogant and mulut celupar (trouble shooting mouth)”.

A civil servant summed up general feelings among his colleagues when he said: “Just because he is an elected rep does not mean he can use any words he like. Kucing kurap is strong word. We are also humans, we also have feelings.”

Tubuh Suruhanjaya Diraja siasat kekalahan Batu Putih

Pendedahan yang dibuat Mat Zain itu amat serius melibatkan kepentingan dan maruah negara.

PETALING JAYA: Perkasa mencadangkan supaya kerajaan menubuhkan Suruhanjaya Diraja menyiasat kekalahan Malaysia kepada Singapura dalam kes tuntutan Pulau Batu Putih.

Menurut Presiden Perkasa, Datuk Ibrahim Ali, kerajaan perlu membuat rayuan segera kepada Mahkamah Antarabangsa (ICJ).

Sehubungan dengan itu beliau meminta bekas pegawai kanan polis, Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim membuat laporan polis terhadap Peguam Negara, Tan Sri Gani Patail.

“Susah sangat ke beliau mahu buat laporan polis?” soal beliau dalam satu kenyataan kepada FMT.

Beliau mengulas kenyataan Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yang mengatakan polis tidak boleh menyiasat kecuali Mat Zain buat laporan polis sedangkan menurut Mat Zain beliau tidak perlu buat laporan polis kerana polis boleh siasat mengikut peruntukan undang-undang polis yang ada mengenai akuan bersumpahnya.

Dalam akuan bersumpahnya, bekas Pengarah Siasatan Jenayah Bukit Aman itu mendakwa kekalahan Malaysia kepada Singapura dalam tuntutan Pulau Batu Putih kerana Peguam Negara ditawarkan rasuah berjuta ringgit.

Mat Zain juga mendakwa akuan bersumpahnya itu sudah diserahkan kepada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Persoalannya kenapa Mat Zain sendiri tidak buat laporan polis?
Kalau sedia buat akuan bersumpah, apa susah sangat nak buat laopran polis/” soal beliau.

Bekas ahli parlimen Pasir Mas itu berkata pendedahan yang dibuat Mat Zain itu amat serius melibatkan kepentingan dan maruah negara.

Katanya, ianya juga tuduhan membabitkan integriti Peguam Negara.

“Sama ada betul atau tidak tuduhan Mat Zain itu tidak ada siapa yang dapat sahkan. Maka cara terbaik Mat Zain kena bertanggungjawab buat laporan polis,” katanya lagi.

Venezuelan envoy to speak at PSM congress

Ambassador Hernandez will discuss the socialism with local activists

PETALING JAYA: The Venezuelan ambassador to Malaysia, Manuel Antonio Guzman Hernandez, will join local activists tomorrow in a panel discussion on socialism as an alternative economic and political system.

The discussion is one of the main items in the programme of Parti Socialis Malaysia’s annual conference this weekend.

PSM has close relations with socialists in Venezuela, but this will be the first time that Hernandez participates in its conference. His discussion partners will include Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar and NGO activist Ahmad Fuad Rahmat of Islamic Renaissance Front and Projek Dialog.

Two other panel discussions will follow the one featuring Hernandez tomorrow. Both will be held after the lunch. One of these will concentrate on developments in the Middle East since the Arab Spring. Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad of PAS will be one of the speakers.

The third discussion is on the future of the political left in Malaysia. The speakers include PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan and PKR activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin of Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia.

Sunday’s sessions focus more on Malaysia and the highlight will be a discussion on the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), with Darshan Singh Khaira and Tommy Thomas speaking.

The two lawyers represented CPM chief Chin Peng in his failed bid to return to Malaysia before his death last Sept 16.

The conference is open to the public. The registration fee is RM10 for students and RM25 for others. Everyone who registers will get a T-shirt and lunch tickets for both days of the conference.

Satu lagi aduan kepada ROS terhadap DAP

Saya memohon pihak ROS dapat membantu dan memastikan hak-hak sebagai ahli parti tidak terabai oleh pihak-pihak tertentu

SEREMBAN – Menjelang berlangsungnya Konvensyen DAP Negeri Sembilan di City Kingdom Ballroom, Seremban Sabtu ini, ahli seumur hidup DAP, A David Dass membuat satu aduan rasmi kepada Jabatan Pertubuhan Malaysia (ROS) cawangan Negeri Sembilan petang semalam.

David Dass mendakwa Konvensyen yang bakal berlangsung esok yang turut membabitkan pemilihan Ahli Jawatankuasa peringkat Negeri Sembilan, bercanggah dengan peraturan perlembagaan parti mengikut Fasal XV(9) di mana Setiausaha negeri gagal memberi notis pemberitahuan sekurang-kurangnya lapan minggu kepada semua Setiausaha Cawangan sebelum tarikh ditetapkan untuk konvensyen peringkat negeri.

“Peraturan Perlembagaan Fasal XV(9) amat penting kepada semua cawangan peringkat negeri untuk menominasikan wakil-wakil yang bakal ditandingkan untuk jawatankuasa peringkat negeri.

“Saya memohon pihak ROS dapat membantu dan memastikan hak-hak sebagai ahli parti tidak terabai oleh pihak-pihak tertentu di dalam DAP demi kepentingan peribadi,” kata David Dass.

David Dass juga mendakwa bahawa ada beberapa cawangan DAP yang tidak menerima langsung notis pemberitahuan konvensyen.

“Ada beberapa cawangan DAP yang tidak menerima langsung notis pemberitahuan konvensyen. Contohnya Cawangan Ladang Paroi, Taman Desa Dahlia, Nilai Perdana dan Taman Bukit Emas.

“Selain itu saya juga kecewa apabila daripada 37 calon yang akan bertanding untuk 15 jawatan Ahli Jawatankuasa Negeri , hanya lima calon berbangsa India. Daripada lima calon itu empat adalah Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri iaitu P Gunasekaran (Senawang), J Arulkumar (Nilai), S Veerapan (Repah) dan Mary Josephine (Rahang). Saya tidak mengenali seorang lagi calon berbangsa India.

“Apa yang mengejutkan ialah tidak ada seorang pun calon berbangsa Melayu di dalam senarai 37 calon untuk jawatan Ahli Jawatankuasa Negeri. Perkara ini mengejutkan saya walaupun ada pemimpin dan ahli DAP berbangsa Melayu di peringkat cawangan di Negeri Sembilan.

“Ada sesuatu yang tidak kena dengan perkara ini. Ini perkembangan yang tidak sihat untuk sebuah parti yang mencanangkan sebagai parti berbilang kaum,” ujar David Dass.

Sementara itu Setiausaha DAP Negeri Sembilan, Cha Kee Chin apabila dihubungi FMT pagi ini berkata beliau mencabar David Dass untuk meneruskan tindakan beliau.

“Beliau bukan lagi ahli DAP dan beliau telah dipecat. Saya mencabar beliau meneruskan tindakan beliau tersebut (membuat aduan kepada ROS),” kata Cha dengan ringkas.

Malays have too much power

Zaid Ibrahim, The Malay Mail

It’s a common saying from the elderly and the wise: too much of anything is harmful. Now, I think the Malays have too much power and it’s gone to their heads.

At the last general election, Utusan Malaysia and Umno actively lambasted the Chinese by casting doubt on their loyalty to the country and asking them to go and live elsewhere.

When the Chinese, hurt by these accusations, understandably rejected the Barisan Nasional at the polls, Utusan had the temerity to ask, “what more do the [ungrateful] Chinese want?”

Only people who have too much power will conduct themselves in the way Umno and Utusan have. To them, the idea of being sensible and reasonable is unreasonable and weak.

Of course, organisations like Perkasa will tell you that the Malays are losing political power and “enemies” are circling in for the kill. This narrative is attractive to some people, especially retirees like Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman who once headed the Election Commission.

Rashid said he’d signed up with Datuk Ibrahim Ali (they are both from the famous state of Kelantan) to make sure that Malays don’t lose power. I cried with laughter when I read this.

Surely the dear Tan Sri knows only too well that the problem with the Malays and their leaders is not that they are losing power, but that they have so much of it that they can no longer appreciate it.

Powerful Malays today do as they like without care for consequence. They don’t think about national policies nor do they try to persuade and engage others. They simply impose their will and threaten those who disagree with them.

Right now, PAS and Umno are apparently forging a closer relationship and, to top it all off, the Malay Rulers are more vocal and assertive than they have ever been. Listening to all of them, you’d think that Malays and Islam are under serious daily attack and everyone must get together to defend the race and religion or perish.

The problem is that we know the fears are just imaginary. This is why, besides the rhetoric, none of these “champions” has ever bothered to spell out the accusations or to give hard evidence of what terrible things the Chinese/Christians/Jews/Liberals and so forth are actually doing.

Not only do these self-created fears exist entirely in the heads of leaders in Umno, Utusan and Perkasa, Malay power is actually reaching its zenith under the present Prime Minister. We will have to wait and see what this new power will do to Malays in general.

We can already see some of its effects: Malaysia is the only Muslim country in the world who can claim proprietorship to God’s name . This can only happen when the Muslims have too much power for their own good. Even for weekend rest days we keep changing them; because no one can questioned us.

In such an important portfolio as education, we have two Ministers, two Secretaries-General and two Directors-General and over 50 separate departments. Only a group with too much power will organise things this way—and it is this same group that sends its children to private international schools or public schools in England but asks the rest of their people to learn Arabic and Bahasa Melayu.

Now, coming back to the historic meeting between two of the largest Malay-Muslim political organisations in the country: PAS and Umno. What do you think they will talk about?

I don’t think it’ll be how to improve education for the people or about enhancing skills and improving English for the global economy. In fact, I don’t think the economy will feature at all. There will be no talk about increasing development funds for Kelantan ‘ or returning the oil royalty to the state coffers ;or helping them solve the water problem.I don’t think they’ll even talk about improving state religious education.

No.

They just want to talk about hudud (which neither party will implement), Islam (which the Holy Quran has declared to be perfect and protected by Allah—therefore nothing needs to be done, right?), and the threat of liberals, NGOs and alliances like Comango. That’s what too much power does to you.

Moving on to better things, I was fortunate yesterday to have been a guest of Bank Negara Indonesia at a Forum in which the various political parties assembled to talk about important issues for the Indonesian general election in 2014.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made an excellent presentation. He urged Indonesians to think about economic issues and urged both all political leaders to work together to bolster the country’s performance.

He spoke about enhancing capacity building and overcoming administrative gridlocks. He warned about decreasing imports from large economies and the tightening of money flows from the United States, which has helped Indonesia over the past four years.

He spoke about the need for infrastructure enhancement, especially in the provinces, and challenged presidential aspirants (from his own party and the opposition) to put forward good policies.

Not once did he speak of “enemy forces” working against Indonesians, Islam or the Pancasila. Not once did he rely on false paranoia to gain cheap political capital. Instead, he urged his people to unite to make Indonesia a world economic power.

That is my kind of leader: honest and inspiring. My kind of leader knows that power is limited so he must govern with care because his days are numbered from the moment he takes office.

He or she believes that political power may be used only to discharge the sacred duty to the people while maintaining the principles of democratic government.

It’s a tough job to govern responsibly. Umno and other Malay leaders have yet to learn this.

Malaysia’s Pakatan Rakyat Loses its Luster

Time for Pakatan to pack it in on Anwar?

Why the opposition doesn’t deserve to take over the federal government

The last general election is almost six months behind us, in which the narratives of Malaysian politics have been defined. The Pakatan Rakyat may have won the popular vote, leading some to believe that the opposition coalition is owed a moral mandate. However under a "first past the post" electoral system, the game is about winning seats, not aggregate votes.

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), one of the three legs of the opposition stool, has ruled Kelantan well for many years within the social and cultural contexts of the state and has shown it understands the aspirations of the Kelantanese. Selangor has been prudently run as a corporation by Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Abdul Khalid Ibrahim despite the current controversy over salaries, and Penang's finances have been restructured with great fiscal skill, where industrial investment has been revived through relentless promotion by the Democratic Action Party's Lim Guan Eng.

However, even with these achievements, the PR doesn’t have the pedigree needed to form a federal government, given the existing inconsistencies and weaknesses. As a multi-dimensional party, PAS doesn’t speak with a unified voice, given its divisions between the fundamentalists and the so-called Erdogans.

The DAP has shown its failure to provide ideologically sound and loyal candidates for political office, causing the downfall of one state government. The coming DAP party election in Penang shows the mad scramble for positions of influence among party stalwarts. To date, PKR has shown itself to be opportunistic, with very little in the way of its own thought-out ideological based policies. In fact some of its views like the one on salary hikes for politicians are even contradictory.

The culmination of these problems, the failure to take tactical initiatives, and electoral blunders have cost the Pakatan Rakyat the grand prize of Malaysian politics, the federal government.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has been grossly unappreciated for his job of holding the line for UMNO in the recent election. He was written off before the election by some who expected great losses. Many felt there was a real possibility that Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan would fall to Pakatan and that it would win back Perak. However Najib held all these states and took back Kedah as well. We will never be sure whether it was Najib's strategic brilliance or Anwar's strategic blundering that made the final result what it was.

The taking back of Terengganu from PAS in 2004 and the recent return of Kedah to the Barisan Nasional indicates that voters won't accept incompetence by any Pakatan government, although they may not apply the same standard to the Barisan, which historically has been riddled with corruption and incompetence. The taking of Kedah by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed's son Mukhriz will be extremely difficult to reverse next election.

Pakatan, and in particular PKR has made a major blunder in Sabah, wanting to run candidates under its own banner rather than work with the existing opposition forces in the state, leading to a number of three-cornered fights. As a result, the opposition is divided into a number of groups which played straight into the hands of UMNO's strong man and Chief Minister Musa Aman, allowing UMNO to dominate the state's political landscape. This cost the opposition forces four federal and eight state assembly seats. In addition PKR itself seems to be disintegrating in the state, with eight to 12 leaders having quit the party over the last few days.

Although the DAP has made inroads into Sarawak’s towns, the rural regions of the state remain the bastion of Taib Mahmud's Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu-dominated government. Pakatan appears to have grossly underestimated the political mastery and respect Taib Mahmud carries in the rural heartlands of Sarawak despite credible reports of vast corruption. He has the qualities of a leader, rather than the administrative mold of many other national leaders, making him a very strong adversary. It's not the work of Pakatan that has made small inroads into PBB support but rather the work of Radio free Sarawak and other independent local activists.

In both Sabah and Sarawak, it is difficult to see where Pakatan can make gains unless it can change its understanding of the political dynamics of both states. From the rakyat or people’s perspective this may be even more difficult as PAS, PKR, and DAP are considered by many as "peninsulacentric", as Lim Kit Siang himself said in a recent article on his blog. Sabah and Sarawak are mathematically critical in deciding which side of politics forms the federal government.

In the last election campaign, Pakatan focused on preaching to the converted. This didn't win new voters. The inroads into Johor were good for the coalition but city campaigns were largely wasted, with perhaps the exception of Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah in Lembah Pantai where she was challenged by the then UMNO Federal territories minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin. If the Pakatan leaders had not run the mass rallies in Johor, conveying a syok sendiri or chauvinist manner, the UMNO rhetoric after the election might have been much more conciliatory and inclusive than the current divisive narrative coming out of the party.

Many perceive the PKR to be a dynasty with husband, wife, and daughter holding high profile positions. This is one reason why the Azmin Ali influence is so strong within the party, to the point of being bitterly divisive. His recent comments over a pay increase announced for Selangor lawmakers make Azmin look more like an opposition leader in Selangor than a member of the government.
There is more to Azmin Ali's antics than just naked ambition. He has a point that many in the party agree with. One Sabah PKR leader Jelani Hamden upon his resignation from the party a couple of days ago said that there was too much central control. This is a rift that could paralyze the party, particularly when the rank and file membership are needed on the ground during elections.
The current disagreement about how funds in treasury funds in Selangor should be utilized show the policy malaise of PKR. There is also a wider dimension to policy issues where the PR has not been able to deal with the issue of hudud, or Islamic law, and an Islamic state. The concept of an Islamic state is ill explained. The issue could have been easily resolved through adopting the concept of governance through Islamic principles rather than going all out for an Islamic state. The best advantage for UMNO is for PAS to continue focusing on hudud. For as long as PAS promotes Islamic law, UMNO will stay in power.

It's time for the PR to eradicate ego from the coalition leadership and make a serious attempt to regroup under a new guard for the next election. To do that would shed the usual to allow a new vanguard of Malaysian politicians to emerge who are younger and more energetic than the Barisan. This doesn't mean that the old guard of Anwar Ibrahim, Lim kit Siang and Singh withdraw totally, but rather give others room to move in the generational transition.

The best thing for the PKR might be Anwar to declare that he had no more ambition to become Prime Minister and stand aside. This would go a long way in winning over voters who mistrust his intentions. As long as Anwar clings to the hope of one day becoming PM, Pakatan is doomed to remain in opposition. The myth that Anwar is a vote winner must be overturned. His immense international popularity doesn't equate to winning new voters within Malaysia.

When looking closely at PAS, there is an almost perpetual struggle going on between the Ulama, or religious leaders and the professionals, technocrats, Anwaristas, and other progressives within the party. Occasionally members of the Ulama within PAS make pronouncements which lead to many voters developing a fear of the party due to its interpretation of Islam. This costs PAS votes as Malays tend to be moderate relative to many other Islamic societies. This however has generally been kept in check by leaders like Nik Aziz and Mat Sabu over the last few years.

According to PAS research director Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, PAS needs to woo the Malay youth and women voters. The youth vote is growing massively and changing the dynamics of elections, and PAS currently only holds around 40 percent of the Malay vote, being only 35 percent among women. UMNO's power house during elections is its women's division UMNO Wanita. If PAS is going to grow its electoral support, it must connect with the women and the younger generation.

Currently PAS is good at preaching to the converted. However its electoral support within the Malay heartland is on the decline. This electoral decline lost Kedah and failed in enabling the opposition to retake Perak. Even in the stronghold of Kelantan, PAS lost six seats although it continues to govern the state. Ironically PAS won in the multi-ethnic areas as a beneficiary of the PR coalition. PAS needs to make up this deficit if the PR is to have any chance of taking over the federal government.
PAS also needs to inspire the multi-ethnic electorate to maintain the support it has gained. Hudud is not going to help with any of these demographics. Many mistake Hudud for Islam because of PAS insistence on the issue. Sometimes PAS mistakes being Arabic for being Islamic , which looks frightening to many voters, particularly urban Malay youth. People don't vote for PAS because of Islam, but rather their dislike for the BN. A vote for PAS is not necessarily a vote for the ideals of the party.

The PAS philosophy that has been so successful in Kelantan cannot be translated nationally. The long premiership of Nik Aziz can be considered an extraordinary example of a leader who had special qualities and was able to appeal to the emotions and aspirations of the Kelantan people. PAS success in Kelantan has little national correlation. With Terengganu and Kedah losses, PAS still has to prove that it can govern.

The rumors of PAS-UMNO talks, fueled by a recent meeting between Kelantan MB Ahmad Yakob and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak continue to undermine and bring insecurity to the opposition, especially when at the closing of the recent PAS general Assembly, President Abdul Hadi Awang didn’t rule out the possibility of discussions.

As we have seen, policy has very little to do with who governs. It's about emotion and sentiment. It's not about exposing corruption and incompetence, but rather making people in rural Malaysia understand the difference between political parties and government. Otherwise the BN will always be the government and the PR be the opposition. It's also about realizing that those who will be the ones that decide who will be the next government in Putra Jaya are not middle class professionals in the cities but Pakchik and Makchik (Moms & Pops) in the rural areas. This is Perak, much of Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kedah, which PR lost in the last election.

Most political analysts in Westminster systems would argue that governments lose elections rather than oppositions win them. However the Malaysian context may be different where the opposition needs to win the confidence and trust of the rural electorate. The major problem here is that most rural people don't know any other type of government. Issues such as the separation of party and state are difficult for many to understand. One of the beliefs that many Malays hold is that opposing UMNO is opposing the government. Many rural people have been brought up with the belief that only UMNO can protect their religion, way of life, and against Chinese economic domination.
Part of the reason UMNO has returned to the ultra Malay narrative and taken a strong Islamic stance is UMNO's feeling that it must compete with PAS to show it is the party with the best credentials to look after Malay interests. Consequently the current hudud law project has isolated Islam from the wider concept of Tawhid. Islamic proclamations and the strong stances we are witnessing are not benefitting the progression of Islam within Malaysia.

If PAS presented a more balanced Islamic world view, UMNO would have much greater room to move into the middle ground.

The Pakatan agenda has a massive influence on the behavior of the government. If the opposition was truly concerned about the consequences of its own political rhetoric, the leadership might consider changing approach, which no doubt would also benefit them electorally.

Anwar's "September 16" and Twitter message on election night that "PR has won the election" are difficult in being seen as constructive. Many perceive Anwar to be driven by ambition, hate, and a sense of revenge. His pledge to retire if PR didn't win the election has lost him credibility.

There is a segment of the population who have become disillusioned with the opposition over a number of issues. Anwar's antics, internal struggles, a potential political dynasty, lack of policy direction, and basic mistrust is keeping the PR from winning the federal elections. If the PR wants to win, they must take a hard inward look, rather than blame their loss on phantom voters.

Within the current stance, victory for the PR at the next election looks bleak. The members of the PR need to go back to the drawing board and return to the electorate with consistent and united policies and most of all learn how to engage rural communities. It is therefore not the alternative media that will be most important but the rural JKKKK committees, which is still the proven secret weapon of the BN.

In politics it doesn't matter what foreigners think of the present Malaysian government, or Anwar Ibrahim for that matter. It doesn't matter whether there is electoral fraud or not. Elections are not about the moral high-grounds or even what the majority wants. What matters is knowing the hand you are playing and winning the competition by the rules that exist. Otherwise a tired and scandal-laden government would have long been tossed out of office.

Unlike the post 2008 election period, the Malaysian electorate appears to be "burnt out" and has given up expectation and yearning for change. It's now very much suppressed. This is where the BN is likely to make up lost ground next election as the wave of change has reached the peak and will gently subside.

The PR urgently needs good strategists whose opinions are listened to. The PR must advance from being a one man crusade to becoming a true multi-dimensional coalition with a wide and varied intellectual input and consistent message.

Reform of the civil service: The NUCC is its last hope – Koon Yew Yin

To say that the newly established National Unity Consultative Council has been greeted with a big yawn by the public is too kind. Feedback so far especially over the uncensored internet has ranged from scepticism – “a political wayang” to the dismissive – “a waste of taxpayers’ money and time” and “expect NUCC to go the way of the 1Malaysia slogan”.

One reader has already predicted that “it will soon be known as the ‘No Use Consultative Council (NUCC)’”.

Part of the reason for the criticism is that among the group appointed to forge a new direction in national unity are some well-known apple polishers who have risen to where they are because of their prowess in flattering the Barisan Nasional.

On the bright side, those appointed could have been much worse – think of what outcome we will have if the Government had appointed Riduan Tee or Awang Selamat.

Another problem is the restricted terms of reference set up for the Council which can discuss only four subject areas - laws, the federal constitution, values and programmes. Why this limitation if not to prevent discussion of sensitive areas is the obvious conclusion to reach.

Include civil service reform in NUCC agenda

For me, if the Council really wants to be taken seriously, it should include the civil service as one of the areas of examination covering all the four topics. There is no doubt that one of the pivotal players in national unity – perhaps the most pivotal – is the civil service. Unlike the politicians of whom there are only a few tens of thousands, the civil service employs over 1.5 million staff. We have one of the highest if not the highest number of civil servants per capita in the world! Their actions and decisions extend into every area of life and affect all Malaysians – from the time when the child is in the womb until after he or she dies.

Let me put a question to the NUCC. Is it not clear that the drastic decline in national unity has coincided with an increasingly Malay dominated civil service with the non-Malay bumiputera component, increasingly marginalised and reduced to single digit numbers in terms of their participation in key national ministries and agencies?

It will be revealing if the Government can reveal the racial composition of the civil service today. According to one estimate the proportion of Malays in the civil service had grown from 60% in 1970 to 77% for the year 2005. Today nearly 10 years later what is the proportion of non-Malays in the civil service?

Is it 20%? Is it 15%; or perhaps even less? I am happy to see that the Malays have made big strides in participation in the private sector since 1969. But what about the participation of the non-Malays in the public sector which was promised to by the New Economic Policy?

If the Government had upheld the provision of the NEP calling for restructuring of the civil service to increase non-Malay participation, I am sure that the thousands of racially and religiously sensitive or controversial incidents happening almost on a daily basis nation-wide will be dramatically reduced.

A multi-racial and multi-religious civil service is the cornerstone of a united and social cohesive Malaysia. It is also the cornerstone of social and economic development as it ensures a representative system based more on merit.

Suggestions for NUCC

I would like to propose the following steps to be taken by the NUCC when it meets.

1. Request for data on the civil service racial composition and for the number to be broken down by government department – police; land and district offices; Ministry of Education; public universities; local councils; etc. This should be a time series for the past 20 years so they can see the actual situation in each major sector of the civil service.

2. Undertake a thorough and full evaluation of the implications of the trend towards a mono-ethnic civil service and examine whether this trend is desirable in the interest of national unity and social cohesion as well as national socio-economic development.

3. Make use of policy studies on the civil service and their proposals as a basis for a strategy of reform and to make the civil service more multi-racial. The most relevant one is the paper, Towards a Representative and World Class Civil Service. This was part of the studies in the Centre for Public Policy Studies report, Proposals for the Ninth Malaysia Plan, ASLI, Kuala Lumpur, February 2006. It provides a methodology for recruitment of non-Malays and rebalancing towards a multi-racial civil service which protects existing Malay rights. Members of the NUCC should review the methodology which provides a compromise for a more racially representative civil service that can be accepted by all communities.

Civil Service as the key cog of development

Malaysia's poor performance is largely due to the inefficient civil service. For any organization, business or government to do well, they must have good people to manage. The government must employ more non Malays and practice meritocracy in the selection and promotion of the employees.

Malaysians know that we started off in the 1960s well ahead of South Korea, Taiwan and on the same level as Singapore. Today, these countries are in a completely different league of development. The answer to the riddle of why they have moved ahead so quickly is partially due to their civil service. Focused, efficient, based on merit and most of all, united, they have been the engines of growth accounting for the remarkable progress made in their societies.

In contrast, the Malaysian civil service has followed a different trajectory. Unfocussed, inefficient, with merit a secondary factor in recruitment, not representative and hence a dis-unifying factor – it is no surprise that the civil service is a critical blockage to unity and development.

I am confident that the majority of the NUCC members will agree that the present racial composition of the civil service is adversely affecting national unity, social cohesion and economic competitiveness.

I hope the NUCC can rise to the challenge to push for the reform of the country’s civil service which can enable all communities to be represented in reasonable numbers and help Malaysia to rise above race and religion. – November 29, 2013.

*Koon Yew Yin reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Government Will Continue To Focus On Human Capital Development - Najib

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak said the government will continue to focus on human capital development to make Malaysia a developed country.

The Prime Minister said the people were Malaysia's greatest asset and that huge investments in human capital development can guarantee a better future for Malaysia.

"I believe in equal access to education, we must create opportunities as wide as possible but we cannot ensure equal outcomes as this depends on our own efforts.

"If we work hard, we will get better results than others (who don't work as hard)," he said at a dinner with Malaysian students in Indonesia at the multi-purpose hall of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta in Kuningan, South Jakarta here Friday night.

Najib said Malaysia each year gave the largest allocation for the moulding of new generations through education and continued to give scholarships for its students to pursue studies abroad, in almost all corners of the world .

At the event, the prime minister launched the Jakarta iM4u Outreach Centre, the third international outreach centre after London and New York.

He also presented a RP37 million (RM10,000) cheque to the Jakarta iM4U Outreach Centre to organise volunteer activities.

Najib urged Malaysian students in Indonesia involved in the iM4U volunteer movement to provide services to orphanages, old folk homes and mosques so that Malaysia would be held in high regard by locals.

To date, 700,000 volunteers have registered with the iM4U movement which boasted 1,500 projects.

On the Malaysian Medical Association's claim that there are too many medical students graduating every year and not enough hospitals to train them, Najib said the government would ensure that all medical graduates would be able to do housemanship and get jobs.

S'gor backbenchers want pay hike postponed, reviewed

India: A SIMI militant Suspect planned to strike pilgrim train, Shia mosque

Suspected Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had plans to attack a Delhi-Bodh Gaya special train and the Shia mosque at Lucknow.
 

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Delhi-Bodh Gaya train, which generally ferries foreign tourists, was the next target of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (Simi), interrogation of arrested “Simi militants” has revealed.

“Interrogation of Simi’s Chhattisgarh chief Umer Siddiqui and close aides, arrested here recently, has revealed that the banned outfit had planned to attack the Delhi-Bodh Gaya train, in which generally tourists from Sri Lanka, Japan and other Buddhist-dominated countries travel,” additional director-general of police (intelligence) Mukesh Gupta told reporters here Wednesday.

Mr Gupta added, “The militants have also revealed their plan to target heritage sites, like the Shia mosque of Lucknow and Buddhist site at Siripur in Chhattisgarh.”

Siddiqui, said to be the mastermind of the July 7 blasts at the Bodh Gaya temple complex in Bihar, is one of the 13 alleged SIMI operatives who have been arrested over the last two weeks in Raipur.

The police claimed to have seized video clippings and documents from the arrested alleged Simi functionaries which are anti-India in nature. The seized materials, which also contained hate speeches against India, resembled propaganda being used by Pakistan-based extremist organisations against India.

“Simi militants can be equated with terrorists of the Laskhar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Indian Mujahideen considering the ruthless manner in which they function,” Mr Gupta said. Mr Gupta said the arrested “Simi militants” had planned to flee abroad to operate from bases there after building networks in India. “We have seized visa application forms for Pakistan from them,” he added.

Dr Mahathir says ending APs means ending Proton and Perodua

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today warned Putrajaya that abolishing the Approved Permit (AP) system would be the death knell of national carmakers Proton and Perodua.

In his blog, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister said without the AP system, foreign car manufacturers would flood the local car industry, leaving Proton and Perodua floundering.

"Malays and other Bumiputeras will be unable to enter the automotive business without the AP system because they are unfamiliar with the market," Dr Mahathir said.

As Putrajaya begins to take steps towards liberalising the automotive industry, Dr Mahathir said it was common for businessmen to do business with people they were familiar with.

"It is difficult to build trust with a business partner or agent when you do not know their background. Worse still, when you know the stranger has no capital and experience," Dr Mahathir pointed out.

"In the past, only a few Malays could afford to import used cars into Malaysia and this disturbed the implementation of the New Economic Policy.

"The objective of the NEP was to eliminate the identification of race with economic functions. To overcome this, the government allowed the importation of reconditioned Japanese cars.

"Aspiring Malay auto dealers were given APs. Even as times changed, the AP system continued for new and second-hand special models."

The demand is such that auto car dealers were prepared to buy the APs at high prices, Dr Mahathir said in his blog.

As part of their benefits, members of parliament are allocated one AP, regardless of the number of terms they have served, although it cannot be sold.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that there were similar systems for essential items such as sugar, flour, rice and other items.

"There are individuals who have benefited from this system for the past 80 years and become billionaires."

"There is no demand to stop these APs and the recipients live a charmed life. So if Putrajaya is reconsidering the AP system, it should include all APs and not just for cars," Dr Mahathir said.

Former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin came under attack from Malay rights group Perkasa yesterday for supporting the abolishing of the APs.

Perkasa vice-president Dr Zubir Harun said such a move would threaten the livelihood of Bumiputeras. He demanded the government revoke all gaming licenses in Malaysia.

Daim had expressed his support for Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd president and chief executive officer Roland S. Folger, who suggested abolishing the AP policy.

Dr Zubir said now that Daim had become a corporate figure, he wanted to meddle in the livelihood of his own race. - TMI

Pay hike: Anwar says too high, MB says justified

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim says an increment is necessary but way too high.
UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said today that the new salaries for Selangor state government officials is too high.

Yesterday, it was reported that Selangor Menteri Besar, elected representatives, executive council members, Speaker and deputy Speaker will receive massive pay hikes effective Jan 1, 2014.

The amendments to existing laws were made and passed at the Selangor legislative assembly yesterday, allowing the salary hike.

“I agree with the increase in wages for Parliamentarians, but I have told the MB (Khalid Ibrahim) that the increase is a bit too high and he has to explain to Pakatan what is the reason for such a hefty hike,” Anwar told reporters in Parliament here. Anwar is also the Selangor economic advisor.

Anwar also acknowledged that there was a motion for salary increment in Parliament, referring to the Members of the Administration and Members of Dewan Undangan Negeri (Remuneration, Pensions and Gratuities) Bill 2013 which provides for an increase in remuneration for the state assembly speaker, deputy speaker and political secretaries.

“We agree on the policy because (wages) have not increased for so long, but we must also pay attention to services to the people,” he said.

“An increment is necessary, but it is too high,” he added.

No political pressure

Asked if the increment was due to political pressure from Selangor legislative backbenchers, Anwar said it was impossible.

“It is not because of political pressure. This (increment) happens in all the states… it has also been brought up in Parliament,” Anwar said.

However, Anwar said Khalid had a duty to give his (Khalid’s) side of the story to the press as well as reconsider the proposed hike rates.

“I repeat, it is necessary, it’s just that the increment is too high.”

Under the new Selangor salary structure, the pay of assemblymen will be upped 87% from RM6,000 to RM11,250 a month, the Speaker from RM6,109.29 to RM22,500 (268%), and the deputy Speaker from RM3,327.50 to RM15,750 (373%).

The salary of exco members will go up 231% from RM6,109.29 to RM20,250 while the Menteri Besar will have a pay rise of 106.4% from RM14,175 to RM29,250.

The Selangor state Speaker is Hannah Yeoh while her deputy is Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

MB: We followed Sarawak

Responding to criticism, Khalid said the massive pay hike was justifiable as it was based on the salaries paid to such positions in Sarawak.

Speaking to newsmen at the state legislative assembly lobby, Khalid defended the pay hike saying that the proposed salaries were much lower than that paid to these office bearers in private companies.

“To some people it could be a lot but for those who had been in the private sector, it is not high. It is justifiable. We cannot hide our income. We had agreed to reveal our salaries,” said Khalid, who is also Pelabuhan Kelang state assemblyman.

In fact, he said the pay of those in the private sector was much higher than the salaries given to ministers.

“The federal government also uses private consultants. Their income (the private consultants) is sometimes higher than the minister’s pay,” he added.

‘Court action if Cheras MIC delegates allowed to vote’

A Cheras MIC leader says he will take court action if the party does not heed the ROS order and allowed Cheras division delegates to vote in the party election on Saturday.

KUALA LUMPUR:Cheras MIC division deputy chief K Palanisamy has threatened to take legal action if the division’s delegates are allowed to vote in the party election on Saturday.

ROS deputy director Alias Mamat, in a letter to MIC secretary-general A Sakthivel on Nov 21, told the party to iron out the problems in the Cheras division as the issue could affect the party’s annual general meeting.

“We will not hesitate to drag the party to court, if the Cheras division delegates are allowed to vote in the election on Saturday,” Palanisamy told reporters at Royal Selangor Club in here.

Recently, Palanisamy had written to the ROS saying that the branch meetings were held simultaneously on July 21 at the Cheras MIC division office in Taman Kobena, Cheras.

However, Sakthivel said yesterday Cheras division delegates were entitled to vote in the election after discussing with the management committee.

There are eight delegates, including the chairman, in the Cheras division.

“This is a very serious issue and I hope the party leadership will not repeat the same mistake as they did when they reversed the suspension of the Youth election results in less than 24 hours.

“ROS made it clear that allowing Cheras division delegates to vote will affect the party polls. But, the MIC leadership is adamant on this matter,” said Palanisamy.

He also said he had sent more than 10 letters to Sakthivel but there was no reply until today.

Wangsa Maju division former deputy chairman M Thanakodi said he would also write to the ROS on the phantom voters in his division.

“I have asked the party leadership to sort out the phantom-voter issue in my division but they have not taken any action.

“I have no choice but to go the ROS,” he told FMT.

A check showed that the ROS had received 48 complaints lodged by MIC leaders who were unhappy with their division election results.

Penduduk Kg Hakka bimbang keselamatan terancam

Kesal dengan kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh jurucakap pemaju yang mengatakan insiden tembakan itu berkait dengan pihak penduduk yang tidak berpuas hati dengan keputusan mahkamah
VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Kumpulan penduduk asal Kampung Hakka hari ini membuat aduan polis berhubung kejadian tembakan di hadapan pejabat pemaju Mega 9 Sdn Bhd, 27 Nov lepas.

Pemaju tersebut sebelum ini terlibat dalam satu pertelingkahan dengan penduduk asal Kampung Hakka mengenai status tanah kampung tersebut yang menyaksikan beberapa buah rumah telahpun dirobohkan

Menurut kumpulan tersebut, susulan daripada kejadian tembakan yang berlaku pada awal pagi hari kejadian, Jawatankuasa Tindakan Penduduk Kampung Hakka telah mengadakan satu mesyuarat tergempar dan sebulat suara membuat membuat satu laporan polis.

“Kami bimbang akan keselamatan penduduk ekoran daripada insiden ini dan mahukan keselamatan penduduk kampung Hakka dijamin. Jawatankuasa kami juga telah mengambil keputusan untuk menubuhkan satu pasukan keselamatan untuk mengawal keselamatan penduduk terutamnya pada waktu malam untuk membuat rondaan kerana kami cukup bimbang dengan insiden ini dan amat risau akan keselamatan kami dan keluarga kami,” jelas kumpulan tersebut melalui satu siaran media.

Mereka juga kesal dengan kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh jurucakap pemaju seperti yang dilaporkan dalam sebuah akhbar tempatan yang mengatakan insiden tembakan itu berkait dengan pihak penduduk yang tidak berpuas hati dengan keputusan mahkamah dan pampasan yang diberikan oleh pihak pemaju.

“Kami merasakan ini adalah satu tuduhan fitnah dan mesti disiasat oleh pihak polis yang adil. Kami ingin menyatakan bahawa pihak penduduk mempunyai satu ‘Stay Order’ dari Mahkamah Rayuan dimana rumah kami tidak boleh dirobohkan sehingga kes didengar di Mahkamah Rayuan,”

Jelas mereka lagi, wakil penduduk melalui Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Negeri Sembilan telahpun membuat satu rundingan dengan pemaju pada 24 Nov lepas.

“Hasil perbincangan adalah amat positif dimana pihak pemaju sedia mendengar tuntutan kami dan sedia untuk berbincang untuk mencari satu penyelesian. Oleh yang demikian tindakan penembakan ini seolah olah satu tindakan untuk sabotaj rundingan yang sedang berlaku antara kami dengan pihak pemaju dan tidak masuk akal jika dikaitkan dengan kami.”

Pada masa yang sama, kumpulan tersebut meminta campur tangan dari Bukit Aman untuk menyiasat perkara ini kerana tidak berpuas hati dengan tindakan Ibu Pejabat Daerah Polis Nilai yang didakwa membantu Mega 9 untuk melaksanakan ‘pencerobohan’ di kampung mereka.

“Hanya satu siasatan yang neutral dan professional dari satu pasukan khas dari Bukit Aman dapat menyiasat kes ini secara telus dan tanpa prasangka.”

Disamping itu, mereka turut mendakwa insiden ini sebagai langkah untuk mengurangkan sokongan rakyat kepada mereka dan usaha untuk mengusir penduduk asal keluar dari Kampung Hakka.

MIC delegates to show displeasure at AGM

The MIC annual general assembly is expected to be fiery and delegates are expected to show their might at the ballots.

PETALING JAYA: The MIC annual general assembly in Malacca this weekend is expected to be explosive with more than 1,400 divisional delegates voting to pick three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members, who will lead the party for the next three years.

The party is holding its polls for the first time since 2009 as it had postponed the election pending the 13th general election which was held in May.

The party held its presidential polls in August which saw G Palanivel return uncontested.

Nominations for deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members were held early this month. Deputy president Dr S Subramaniam was returned unopposed.

The win of both Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam was result of a peace deal brokered by Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief Najib Tun Razak. The deal was clinched in the presence of Palanivel, Dr Subramaniam, incumbent vice-presidents M Saravanan and SK Devamany.

Under the deal, Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam would retain their positions uncontested, and the two leaders would not put up their “preferred” candidates for the veep contest.

While the leaders made these decisions, the ground is simmering as grassroots leaders were not consulted on the matter. Until today, neither the party president nor leaders who attended the meeting with Najib have not disclosed to lower rank leaders what transpired in the meeting.

“What they got was just direction to do this and that. They have the right to know what is happening. Grassroots leaders are also in the dark over the running of the party.

“The MIC has become lethargic. There are no statements from leaders, especially the president, on the issues which crop up from time to time. Issues like temple land and issuance of MyKad are not being championed.

“MIC used to be a vibrant party. No matter what is said about (S) Samy Vellu (the former president), he voiced his displeasure if he sees anything unfair to Indians. He was a cabinet minister yet he never feared talking against the government in fighting for the Indians.

“This silent kind of leadership has irked members and grassroots leaders. In the party, decisions taken lack transparency. Decisions are taken without any consultation with the central working committee. It looks like a few leaders decide and others are required to follow,” said a party leader, who declined to be named.

Youth fiasco

The leader said the Youth election fiasco is just one example of how just a few leaders decide on things and “when things get hot, they reverse what they had decided upon”.

Two days ago party secretary-general A Sakthivel announced that the party was suspending its national Youth election results as there were bankrupts who voted in the polls. He also said there was a case of delegate who was overseas, but yet his ballot was cast by someone else at the polls.

Barely 24 hours later, Palanivel summoned an emergency central working committee meeting to discuss the issue. FMT learnt that he got an earfull from other leaders for suspending the Youth election results. Soon after the meeting, Sakthivel again was made to face the media, to announce that the party had reinstated the Youth polls results.

The leadership’s flip-flop is very embarrassing to members who have to face their counterparts from other political parties, especially the opposition.

This brings up another issue. Why did Palanivel attempt to suspend the Youth polls results?

Sources reveal that he was trying to ensure that the 38-block votes from the Youth wing did not go to former Youth chief T Mohan who is contesting a vice-president post.

Palanivel had been “whispering” to grassroots leaders aligned to him to support his “preferred” vice-president candidates. This goes against the peace deal brokered by Najib.

There are eight contestants in the veep race, including two incumbent vice-presidents.

The others are Mohan and another former Youth chief SA Vigneswaran, former vice- president S Sothinathan, treasurer-general Jaspal Singh, Johor Baru division leader KS Balakrishnan and Bukit Bintang division leader James Selvarajah.

“Palanivel knows Saravanan is leading the race. He is riding high after the government agreed to form the New Affirmative Action Movement, which is expected to assist Indian youth through entrepreneurship, business financing and human capital development.

“His ideas have been well received in the party and is seen at the future leader of the MIC.

“Mohan is close behind. Palanivel needs to kill off both these leaders for his own ‘preferred’ list of leaders to come in. These two leaders have the backing of the Youth wing. So if the Youth wing is disqualified then the two will not get the Youth votes, thus Palanivel would be able to reduce votes of these two leaders,” said a source, who attended the central working committee meeting yesterday.

All this had fired up grassroots leaders who now feel that they are in the party just for status quo and to keep Palanivel president.

Famous Five

There are also complaints that the MIC headquarters is slow in moving on matters pertaining to the party.

“We also have the Famous Five who make decisions for the party’s 640,000 members,” said the leader.

The ‘Famous Five’ he referred to are Palanivel, Sakthivel, Jaspal, Kajang division leader N Rawisandiran (who contested the Batu Caves state seat and lost in the last general election) and P Palaniappan, Palanivel’s political secretary.

The leader claimed that the five leaders were the ones making important decisions in the party without any consultation with leaders holding national positions.

“Everyone knows this. This too has made division and branch leaders angry. They will use this AGM and the ballot to tell Palanivel to buck up.

“I also expect the debates on the presidential address to be fiery. But this depends on who is allowed to speak at the debates. Since Sakthivel is secretary-general, they will definitely not allow those known to be against Palanivel to take the rostrum in the debates but we will see in 48 hours,” he added.

Pakatan: Loga Bala misled Parliament on KL assessment hike

Pathma Subramaniam, Fz.com

The Opposition wants Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk J Loga Bala Mohan to be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee for "misleading" Parliament on the enforcement date for the Kuala Lumpur assessment rates hike.

Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) said Loga Bala had stating facts that contradicted Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor's statement this morning that that the hike will come into effect on Jan 1.

Loga Bala had told the Dewan Rakyat yesterdat that the hike in the assessment rates will be postponed indefinitely, pending public hearings which has been extended from January to March next year.

But according to Tengku Adnan, what was extended to March was the period needed by a special panel formed to gather public feedback on the hike to implement the revised rates.

Raising the contradiction in the House today, Lim said differing statements had led to unnecessary confusion.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia told Lim that he will evaluate the complaint and decide on Monday on whether Loga Bala should face the powerful committee of the House.

At a press conference later, Lim ticked off both Tengku Adnan and Loga Bala for interfering in the decision on raising assessment rates.

Lim pointed out that the revision of the assessment tax is solely under the discretion of the capital's mayor Datuk Phesal Talib.

Tan Kok Wai (DAP-Cheras), who was also present, slammed Loga Bala for the mix up as the deputy minister repeated the claim of indefinite deferment when Lim sought a clarification yesterday.

"According to the local government's bylaws there will be a late payment penalty if the property owners do not pay their assessment tax by Feb 28 but this minister (Tenku Adnan) is telling everyone to go pay after the expiry date until the public hearing ends in march.

"Doesn't this sound ridiculous?" asked Tan.

Lim reiterated that the Federal Territories Ministry should stay out of the controversy, saying: "I want the minister and deputy minister to just shut up and let the mayor decide and make the announcement."

Racial discrimination under 1Malaysia slogan

Recently an Indian police officer went to my house during an investigation over the cow slaughtering issue. I had clearly told the headmaster (HM) of the school concerned that I am living overseas, so why were the police looking for me? When the time comes, I will inform the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and let us meet each other. Till then be patient.

If at all the police are eager to investigate me, they should first investigate Perkasa, blogger Papagomo and the school HMs around Malaysia who agreed with animal cruelty in schools.

Lately, the Second Education Minister, Idris Jusoh, had said that there is a circular issued in 1976 which states that religious programmes can be held in schools. We would like to read the circular itself, and my question in the video was very clear, from whom did the school HM get permission and I asked him to send me the proof, but till today the whole Malaysian Education Ministry has failed to produce the letter.

I urge the prime minister to answer my questions. Where does it state in the constitution that cow slaughtering in schools is permitted? If this can’t be answered, please stop the cruelty. To my knowledge even moderate Turkey will not slaughter cows in schools. I had been in schools for 13 years and I never heard of cow slaughtering in the schools where I had studied. Do not make schools as suraus.

The Education Department should respect other races who are studying in schools.

The government should cancel the registration of Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and take action against Umno ministers who are stirring racial sentiments in Malaysia regarding the cow slaughtering issue and other issues, too.

Last week Minister Shahidan Kassim said there are no Public Services Commission (PSC) scholarships for the Indian community because Indians are prominent as lawyers and doctors. This kind of minister should be charged with causing racial tension, but due to double standards in Malaysia, the Umno-led government will hide the issue under the carpet.

Racist Umno-friendly NGOs are causing unwanted problems in Malaysia but the law is lenient for them. I urge the PM to throw out his racist ministers before I come back to face the police. The cow slaughtering issue is a simple issue where multiracial schools became slaughterhouses and the Education Department and their ministers should respect other races.

Do not misuse the percentage in the larger population. We Malaysian do not see the real meaning of PM Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia. Please explain the meaning to us.

The cow slaughtering act is not in line with the education syllabus or school co-curriculum in any part of the world.

Celebrating cow slaughtering in the school will make kids psychologically traumatised. Even if the teachers and students were asked not to “see” the slaughter, fine, but one can always “hear” the slaughter being carried out.

Any country’s parliament in the world would never approve such an inhumane act as slaughtering animals in schools. It’s a great disgrace for the country. All schools should follow worldwide educational guidelines, and definitely animal slaughtering will not be part of the system. The Malaysian parliament should come to a decision to respect non-violence.

Cow slaughtering in schools can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which develops after a terrifying ordeal such as witnessing a harmful event that happened to animals or humans. War soldiers and victims have faced this syndrome and even people who work in slaughterhouses.

 http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/247849

DAP MP: Gerrymandering protected Umno, not Malays

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — After an admission of gerrymandering by a former Election Commission (EC) chief, a DAP MP today claimed that past re-delineation exercises were only aimed at protecting the interests of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) rather than the Malay community.

According to Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, the EC would have added more seats in Malay-majority states Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu if it really was protecting the Malay interest as claimed by Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman earlier this week.

“If Tan Sri Abdul Rashid wanted to maintain Malay political dominance, why was it that no parliamentary seats were added to the Malay majority states of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu in the 2003 delineation exercise?,” Ong said in a statement here.

“The reason for the non-addition of parliament seats in these three states is simple ...The BN was fearful that if more seats were added in these states, it would benefit the opposition, specifically PAS.”

According to Ong, some of the seats in the three states - such as Tumpat (69,948 voters), Kuala Terengganu (65,900), Kuala Kedah (73,942), and Baling (72,387) already have a high number of voters but no seats were added despite that.

However, opposition party PAS had performed exceptionally well in the 1999 general elections in those three states, and the re-delineation exercise in 2003 was done so to prevent PAS from capturing more seats, Ong alleged.

As part of the IKMAS (Institut Kajian Malaysia dan Antarabangsa) study team from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia observing the process, Ong related that he remembered Abdul Rashid admitting of receiving instructions from then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir to create more ethnically “mixed” seats, rather than adding more seats in the three states.

The assumption behind the instructions, Ong claimed, was that Barisan Nasional would have captured them easily compared to PAS.

“Abdul Rashid was clearly taking instructions from this political masters in the BN during the 2003 delineation exercise,” the DAP MP added.

“The exercise was done in order to increase the political dominance of BN / UMNO and not to increase Malay political dominance per se.”

Ong’s comments today comes following an admission by Tan Sri Abdul Rashid that the three redelineation exercises during his term had ensured the continued political dominance of the Malays, even as the retired election chief insisted the redrawing of electoral boundaries were carried out in the “proper way”.

Rashid was reported to have made the comments after joining Malay rights group Perkasa, during the group’s Federal Territory annual general meeting earlier this week.

Yesterday, elections watchdog Bersih 2.0 had urged the EC to call off its re-delineation exercise as it cast further doubt on the looming revision that has been stained by allegations of gerrymandering.

Bersih 2.0 also repeated its call for the EC clean the electoral rolls and renew its members, claiming the current members of partisan, unethical, and non-independent.

The EC — which has been accused of gerrymandering to give more weight to rural constituencies, where the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) typically enjoys strong support — has said that it will begin redrawing constituency lines at the end of the year.

Polls watchdog Bersih, however, warned the EC last September that a repeat of the massive street rallies for electoral reforms was “inevitable” if the electoral roll is not cleared of irregularities.

The case for judicial discretion

The Star 
Brave New World BY AZMI SHAROM

In recent surveys, most Malaysians backed the death penalty – but not the mandatory version.

IN principle I have no problems with the death penalty. There are three basic theories of punishment: deterrence, rehabilitation and retribution.

I am uncomfortable with the concept of deterrence because I am uncertain that fear of punishment is necessarily the primary factor when a person commits a crime.

Furthermore, taken to its logical conclusion, the punishment can be extremely disproportionate to the crime in order to make it “scarier”.

Neither am I convinced by the idea of rehabilitation; after all, who is to determine when a person is rehabilitated or not.

I believe in the retribution theory of justice, which is to say, you are simply punished for the crime you committed, not as an example to others and not subject to the whims of authorities who may or may not believe that you have repented and are now a good person.

And in violent crimes, then a simple punishment would be equally violent.

After all, you reap what you sow.

In practice, however, I do not believe in the death penalty.

This is because the justice system is run by humans and humans are fundamentally flawed.

Therefore, there will always be a chance that an innocent person is convicted. That is a chance I am not willing to take.

The Death Penalty Project in association with the Malaysian Bar Council completed earlier this year a report which was the analysis of over 1,500 surveys conducted amongst Malaysians.

The result of the survey was astonishing. Basically it was trying to gauge the Malaysian public’s view on the death penalty.

What was to be expected was that a vast majority of the respondents agreed with the death penalty.

What was unexpected, to me at least, was that the majority was not in favour of mandatory death penalty sentences, especially for drug and firearms offences.

Let us be clear on the distinction.

A mandatory death penalty means that if a person is found guilty of an offence which carries such a punishment, then the judge will have absolutely no choice but to mete out said penalty.

This means that the discretion of the judge to take into account the surrounding factors of the case is non-existent.

This can lead to cruel decisions and it could, oddly enough, lead to decisions where a person who has committed a crime is let off on slight technicalities because a judge is loath to send a person to his death.

The resentencing of Yong Vui Kong, the young Malaysian found guilty of drug trafficking in Singapore, is an example of how a change in the law has avoided what could have been a most unjust killing.

By most accounts, Vui Kong was very young, naïve and not particularly bright: a candidate who in most likelihood is the perfect mule for the drug kingpins who want their product moved.

Not a hardened criminal, he was to suffer for the activities of more nefarious parties who, of course, would not be caught in such a compromising position.

It is a great relief, particularly to the hard-working and persistent Save Vui Kong group who have been fighting tirelessly for his pardon, that this Malaysian youth will not die as the Singaporeans amended their laws by taking away the mandatory death sentence and giving the judge discretion as to the punishment he sees fit.

It is noted that even the Malaysian Government had tried to appeal to the Singaporeans for clemency.

If they could see the potential injustice of a mandatory death sentence and if the majority of the Malaysian public are not in favour of it as shown by the Death Penalty Project report, isn’t it time we had a serious rethink of our own mandatory death penalty laws?

> Azmi Sharom (azmisharom@yahoo.co.uk) is a law teacher. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

Nuzul Al-Quran To Be Observed As A Holiday In Federal Territories From 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- The Federal Government has agreed to declare Nuzul Al-Quran as a public holiday for Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Putrajaya) starting next year.

The Prime Minister's Department in a statement Thursday made the announcement.

Apart from declaring Nuzul Al-Quran as a public holiday, the Federal Territories will also enjoy an extra holiday on Feb 3 (Monday) since the Federal Territory Day coincides with the second day of Chinese New Year on Feb 1, 2014 (Saturday).

According to the statement, the holiday would also apply to Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

"The announcement will allow people in all three 'Territories' to make early preparations for the holidays," said the statement.

-- BERNAMA

Hindraf to Ku Nan: Don’t touch temples anymore or else…

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28: Hindraf urges Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to consider the impact on the Indian community’s trust in Barisan Nasional (BN) before demolishing more temples.

Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy, in a statement to The Malaysian Times (TMT) said the recent act by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in demolishing a temple at Jalan P. Ramlee and the statement regarding future demolishment will create further disappointment to the Indian community.

“We call upon the Minister to reconvene the long due meeting that was cancelled with Hindraf to find a permanent and comprehensive solution to this long standing problem.

“He should not worry about setting new precedents as long as it benefits the public interest pursuant to what had been inked in the MoU between BN and Hindraf.

“We belief there are about 20 temples in similar predicament in the Klang valley vicinity.

“BN should not further aggravate the Malaysian Indian community by demolishing places of worship,” said Waytha, who is also the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He was commenting on the recent statement that DBKL has confirmed their intention to continue demolishing temples or to relocate them within Klang Valley as they consider them squatting on land illegally.

In response to this, Waytha said “Hindraf finds this statement baseless as the government is aware that those temples are neither squatting nor illegal as they had pre-existed within the enclave of Indian community who had toiled for the nation in the plantation, railway, JKR, water works and national electricity board from the British colonial era.

“The failure of the government to draw up clear policies for these temples that had existed pre- 1957 without heeding the importance of a place of worship and its sanctity to the Malaysian Indian community, does not constitute those temples illegal.

Waytha added that during the development years, the federal and state governments as well as the private developers had acted in heavy handed methods in addressing the issues relating to the temples without consulting or engaging the community in a fair and just manner nor created any provisions to safeguard the interest of the Indian community in maintaining their temples.

According to a research, conducted by Hindraf, the above conduct by the authorities had contributed to over 79 temples being demolished amongst which 15 in the Klang Valley during the period from 2006 to 2007.

Waytha noted that one of the key elements in the MOU between BN and Hindraf was to ensure that temples should not be demolished in an arbitrary manner but to engage Hindraf in resolving such issues in a win-win situation for the government as well as the community. -TMT

Sivarasa booted out for raising temple demolition issue

Life sentence for Noida Muslim couple who killed their daughter and Nepalese servant

by Christopher Sharma


Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar committed murder to punish an alleged affair between their 14 year old daughter and the Nepalese domestic worker, Yam Prasad Banjade . Dating to 2008 , the crime sparked strong debate among Muslim , Hindu and secular Indians. Interviewed by AsiaNews, Banjade’s wife welcomes the judgment. Impoverished, the woman hopes to be compensated for her husband’s murder.

Kathmandu ( AsiaNews) - A special court in Uttar Pradesh ( northern India ) yesterday sentenced Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar to life imprisonment. The wealthy Muslim couple, both dentists, are guilty of the murder of their 14 year old daughter and Yam Prasad Banjade, a Nepalese domestic worker killed in Noida in May 2008.

Originally the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) had asked for the death penalty, but the judges have opted instead for life imprisonment . The couple acted in anger after discovering an alleged affair between their only child and employee. The Talwar's lawyers say they will appeal. Yesterday, hundreds of Nepali women and human rights activists launched a campaign in New Delhi for 16 days against violence against women and against honor killings , very common in Muslim communities .

Interviewed by AsiaNews Khumkala Banjade , wife of Hemraj Banjade , said she was satisfied by the sentence : " I had asked for the death penalty for the murderers of my husband, but I accept the court's verdict against the Talwars". Since her husbands death the woman has been living in abject poverty with a sick child and her mother-in-law of 80. "It was our poverty - she says - that led my innocent husband to his death at the hands of this couple. I ask for compensation for his murder and I hope the Indian court will be able to give justice to me and to my family. "

In these five years, the case of the pair of Noida has been followed by millions of people and has raised many criticisms against the local police accused on several occasions of serious shortcomings. A few hours after the crime, dozens of people, including journalists and television crews and strangers arrived at the house without any police control, compromising the scene. The trial also raised a number of cultural debates among Muslims, Hindus and civil society. Some experts say that the case showed a "clash of cultures " in India, pitting police and conservative sectors of society against the excesses of the upper middle class . Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar were both observant Muslims and according to Islamic community had the right to punish the serious affront committed by the domestic worker and daughter, both adulterers . In order to justify the decision, Judge Shyam Lal also used the passages from the Koran that punish murder.