Count down for a Hindu-less Bangladesh. One million Hindu minorities vanished from Bangladesh in just one decade.

One million Hindu minorities vanished from Bangladesh in last decade. Is it a count down for a Hindu-less Bangladesh?

~ Upananda Brahmachari. 

Attacks after attacks upon Hindu minorities in recent…

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One million Hindu minorities vanished from Bangladesh in last decade. Is it a count down for a Hindu-less Bangladesh?

~ Upananda Brahmachari. 

Attacks after attacks upon Hindu minorities in recent times

With a great danger posing to their existence as citizen of Bangladesh, the minority Hindus have been kept under attack, allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its students wing, in Patgram, northern Lalmonirhat district, for the second time in the last month, mainstream Bangladesh newspapers highlighted the matter all along. The first major attack in the same district on Hindus in the recent turmoil in Bangladesh, was made at in Satpatki Majhipara in Lalmonirhat on Nov 4, 2013.

In Patgram, the attackers beat up Hindu women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village on the third day of the opposition-sponsored recently held 71-hour blockade, said the dailies quoting police and eyewitnesses .

The incident fueled concerns over a fresh spell of attacks on the minority Hindus as men of the village have fled in fear.

Again if you consider the cases of last month as reported by Sri Rabindranath Ghosh, a Hindu Human Rights activist and an advocate of Bangladesh Supreme Court, you cant simply imagine the present situation of Minority Hindus Bangladesh really.

The email as sent by Mr Ghosh to our mail box 0n 30th Nov, narrates the below:

“Hindu Deities (Murthi) broken/set on fire by unknown perpetrators at Shahjadpur and Rangulnia Upazila of  both Serajgonj and Chittagong districts on 26th November, 2013 ( The Daily Protom Alo dated 28.11.2013)

A sense of insecurity amongst the Hindu communities at Rangunia and Shahjadpur prevailing,because their places of worships and deities were broken, desecrated and set on fire by unidentified perpetrators.More than 11 Hindu deities were broken on last Tuesday to defame their religion. As a result the belongings of the Temple were set ablaze.

It is alleged that  “Uttaar Para Kali Mondir” and” Hari Mondir” at Shahjadpur within the district of Serajgonj are the oldest ( two hundred years old) situated. Side by side two temples were attacked on Tuesday night and eleven statues of Hindu deities were broken and set fire on the houses of Shebait –Sree Jowtish Chandra Ghosh and Aynal

Hossain before they escaped. As soon as the fire broke out neighbour came at the spot and tried to control the fire from further extinguishing.

In Rangunia Upazila another Temple named “Rajjwa Bhawan Shib Temple” at Rajanagar was attacked on the same night on Tuesday by some unknown perpetrators, the belongings and utensils were stolen and the temple was vandalized.

I, on behalf of Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) and Global Human Rights Defense (GHRD) enquired about the situation. The Assistant Superintendent of Police, Shahjadpur Circle Md. Zillur Rahman informed me, on query, over cell phone No.01713374036 said that a case number 20, dated 27.11.13 under section 295/297 of Bangladesh penal code started but they could not arrest any perpetrators. Md. Zillur also gave me to understand that only two Hindu deities were broken not eleven, but the local people informed us that 11 deities were broken and damaged. But expressed inability to apprehend the criminals to justice as their names are not mentioned in the F.I.R. No accused has yet been apprehended.

Bangladesh Minority Watch also contacted with Md. Waliullah Oli,Officer in Charge of Rangunia Police station at Chittagong over his cell number 01713373645 who game me to understand that a case has been recorded under section 295/336/224 of Bangladesh Penal code without mentioning the names of the accused. No person has yet been arrested.

Bangladesh Minority Watch is very much concerned about the attack on religious places of Minority communities at Shahjadpur and Rangunia and we also demand immediate arrest of the perpetrators and they should be brought to book as per law.”

The email exactly reflected the agony and anxiety of  Bangladeshi Hindus.

In Bonogram bazaar in Santhia upazila, about 40 kilometres from Pabna sadar, Hindus were attacked in Pabna on 2nd Nov, as ’Jamaat-BNP men’ used false Facebook post concoction for rampage upon frightened Hindu minorities.

The series of persecution upon Bangladeshi Hindu minorities by the majority Muslim persecutors are endless.

No reason or only reason to attack the minority to make a Hindu Less Bangladesh 

For the case of Lalmonir Hat, the minority leaders alleged that the villages had come under attack for ‘no specific reason’. However, local union Parishad Chairman Ruhul Amin Babul said, taking the advantage of countrywide blockade they attacked the Hindus who do not belong to any political party. “They did so to create panic in the area and use that to their advantage,” the chairman concluded.

Another minority village also came under havoc where Hindus were allegedly attacked by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men on October 27 in Shafinagar under the same district, in the first day of the opposition-called shutdown. The vandals beat 12 women as the males fled the scene.

Quoting police and eyewitnesses, newspapers said about 200 to 250 Jamaat-Shibir activists led by Shibir leader Rana Islam brought out a procession in the area and swooped on Hindus’ shops and houses. A number of aggrieved villagers alleged that some local Awami League men, too, were responsible for inciting the violence.

The case of Bonogram bazaar in Santhia upazila had an uniqueness of Islamic rumouring as it was leveled  blasphemy against an innocent minor Hindu boy. Was that a ‘fundamentalism without reason’?

But, for the cases of Serajgonj and Chittagong, Sri Rabibdra Ghosh categorically stated over telephone that the recent spate of communal violence  arising out of the BNP-Awami League political tussle, is nothing but a ‘definite conspiracy’, leading to an end of Bangladesh Hindus very soon, if not checked.

The voice of Sri Ghosh seemed to me very frightened and a matter of fact that Sri Ghsoh was attacked several times by Muslims goons to stop his Hindu defense activities through legal and rights movement.

While this is a reality for a Rights activist and Advocate of Supreme Court, the common Hindu minorities of Bangladesh have the only way to flee from their home and hearth under a silent exodus.

In his article “Future Of The Hindus In Bangladesh“ written in Sri Lanka Gurdian, Mr. Swadesh Roy, Executive Editor, the Daily Janakantha, Dhaka, Bangladesh has hinted such trend of Hindus about to leave Bangladesh.

But, if you talk about this trend of exodus of Hindus from Bangladesh, no Govt authority is ready to accept this truth. Whether it is Bangladesh Govt. or the authorities of India, who are very apathetically sinner for this final countdown  for Hindu-less Bangladesh.

One million Hindu minorities have been vanished from Bangladesh in just last decade

If you want to talk about the silent Hindu exodus from Bangladesh or the Hindu genocide in Bangladesh, the others suspect the reason behind. So far the Hindu minorities have been benefiting  the political gain for both the country Bangladesh and India. While these refugees or the non-legalized Hindus coming from Bangladesh are treated by the politicians as an instrumental of voting in West Bengal (even some portions of Delhi and Mumbai also), in Bangladesh these minority Hindus are treated as kaffir, jimmi and the resource for bare exploitation and pleasure in the hands of majority Muslims there.

But, the scale of such exodus or the genocide have been recorded by very authenticate version, which cannot be denied.

As per Dr. Sabyasachi Ghosh-Dastidar’s book, ”Empire’s last casualty: Indian subcontinent’s vanishing Hindu and other minorities”s, over three million Hindus have been killed in the process of Islamisation in the area now known as Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) since India was Partitioned in 1947. This loss of three million lives remain suppressed from the world. This book claimed a huge 49 Million Hindus Missing From Bangladesh Census due to Islamic atrocities.

But, most recently, the Biggest Hindu Genocide in modern-times has been exposed. 10 million Hindus were massacred by Pakistan Army in Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

In his research book,  ”The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide”, writer Gary J Bass holds the truth that ahead of Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, the Pakistani Army systematically committed genocide of the Hindu community in the then East Pakistan and the Nixon Administration kept a blind eye to it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Syrian Islamists: No to Democracy, Minority Rights

Recent statements from various leaders within the Syrian rebel movement show that the rift between secularists and Islamists remains a key issue.

A video released by a leading Islamist faction…

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Recent statements from various leaders within the Syrian rebel movement show that the rift between secularists and Islamists remains a key issue.

A video released by a leading Islamist faction shows Islamist military leader Abu Bilal al-Homsi exhorting his followers to reject the largely secular Free Syrian Army, led by Salim Idris.

According to Al-Homsi, Idris has said that the Free Syrian Army under his command is fighting for "democracy, secularism, communism, and the rights of minority groups", including Syrian Druze.

Rebels must fight not for democracy or rights, but for Islam, Al-Homsi declared. From the beginning, the purpose of the rebellion was to institute Islamic law, he argued.

“The Koran is our law,” he emphasized.

He argued that Idris’ alleged statements constitute a betrayal of thousands of rebel fighters who died for Islam, and prove that the Free Syrian Army is taking orders from foreign powers.
Islamist groups fighting in Syria have created an “Islamic Front” including over 50 militias. The group does not include Al Qaeda-linked factions.

Western states held their first meeting with the Islamic Front last week. Their goal was reportedly to encourage Islamists to re-establish their ties with the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and to support the upcoming “Geneva 2” peace conference.

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India’s Congress humiliated in anti-graft poll backlash

A stunning performance by an upstart anti-corruption party helped topple India's ruling Congress in elections to New Delhi's state assembly on Sunday, only months before the country goes to the…

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A stunning performance by an upstart anti-corruption party helped topple India's ruling Congress in elections to New Delhi's state assembly on Sunday, only months before the country goes to the polls.

Congress, in power at national level for a decade, was also in danger of losing control of three other state assemblies up for grabs in Sunday's vote count, in a devastating blow ahead of next year's general election.

"All I can say is that the people of Delhi have taken a decision which we respect," said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as it became clear that Congress would come a distant third in Delhi after 15 years in power.

"We will analyse later what went wrong," added Dikshit, who lost her own seat to Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (Common People's Party).

Kejriwal, who only started his party a year ago, said his was a "victory of the people".

"I am absolutely confident that finally the country will win, the people will win and democracy will win," added the former civil servant, who has tapped into growing anger over corruption during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure.

Aam Aadmi would even manage to prevent the main Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from winning a majority in New Delhi, according to forecasts from the electoral commission.

The BJP had either won or was leading in 32 of the Delhi assembly seats while Aam Aadmi was in line to capture 26 seats. Congress trailed in third with a forecast tally of just nine, down from 43.

Official forecasts based on partial results showed the BJP would record landslide wins in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, although it had only a slender lead over Congress in restive Chhattisgarh.

The elections for the four states have been held at different points over the last month but the counting had been postponed until Sunday.

Votes will be counted in the remote Congress-ruled state of Mizoram on Monday.

Aam Aadmi only fielded candidates in New Delhi but the results will increase expectations that it will run nationwide when the world's largest democracy holds its general election, by next May at the latest.

"We have succeeded in altering the political discourse of the elections," Athishi Marlena, one of Kejriwal's top lieutenants, told the NDTV network.

"I think it's historic that a party that was formed just a year ago, a party which was written off till yesterday by the other two big parties, has made such a spectacular debut."

Triumphant Aam Aadmi supporters at party headquarters waved brooms -- the symbol of its pledge to clean up politics.

BJP activists celebrated in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, dancing to the beat of drums, bursting firecrackers and waving the party's lotus symbol.

Human Resources Development Minister Shashi Tharoor acknowledged the results were a wake-up call for Congress but questioned whether the corruption issue would be such a factor in the general election.

"Since we are looking forward to elections in five months' time in the entire country, I think there are legitimate questions whether this appeal can be replicated elsewhere," he said.

The assembly votes mark the last major test before Congress and the BJP, fielding hardliner Narendra Modi as its candidate for the premiership, face off in the general election due by May.

Analyst Amulya Ganguli said the chickens were coming home to roost for Congress after economic growth slowed to around five percent and following a series of corruption scandals -- including events surrounding the chaotic 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

"Had they managed to keep the economy buoyant, then that would have at least been a buffer against the numerous scams during their time," he said.

The elections are also a test for Modi, who is popular with middle-class voters but whose reputation was tarnished by deadly anti-Muslim riots that occurred on his watch as Gujarat chief minister in 2002.

Modi voiced delight on Twitter, congratulating the party's leaders in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for their "wonderful performance" and "historic victory".

Modi, 63, will likely face Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, 43, whose family has given India three premiers, on the national campaign trail. - AFP, December 8, 2013.

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Beyond Candi 11, can we rewrite history?

K Arumugam
 
COMMENT Bujang Valley is home to Malaysia’s richest archaeological area. Our National Heritage Department considers some of these archaeological discoveries, termed as 'unexpected find', the most important…

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K Arumugam
 
COMMENT Bujang Valley is home to Malaysia’s richest archaeological area. Our National Heritage Department considers some of these archaeological discoveries, termed as 'unexpected find', the most important in the region having an impact on our history.

The researchers have identified to date 127 sites with 90 candi in the Bujang Valley. This ancient civilisation with elements of Hinduism and Buddhism has existed since the 5th century, even before the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

The remains of one of the candi, Candi 11, were destroyed in November this year by a developer for a property project.

Parties responsible to protect the sites under the National Heritage Act 2005, i.e. the Kedah government, the local council and the Tourism Ministry, claimed innocence that none of them were aware of the demolition until highlighted by local historian Nadarajan through the media.

What happen to our National Commission for Unesco formed in 1966? Our Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is a current member of the Unesco executive board, a post previously held by former education ministers Hishammuddin Hussein and Najib Abdul Razak since 1999.

Does Malaysia still subscribe to Unesco’s ideals that peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity? And to build inter-cultural understanding we need to protect heritage and support cultural diversity?

Is there anything new in this? The story could be historically old. We have read history and understood them as being barbaric when conquerors destroyed the cultural and religious monuments to obliterate the traces of the conquered.

The new invaders always imposed theirs over the earlier by such destructions.
History a threat

The reason is simple. Destroy when they are culturally and religiously connected and pose a threat to the new dominance.

Be it during the reign of Caesar, Hitler or the dynasties in Egypt and China or even the invasions in India – the human race has been doing it all the time.

The most dramatic event of the recent time is the dynamiting of a pair of titanic sized Bamiyan Buddha sculptures of the Afghan people in 2001 by the Taliban.

As we can see such conduct is not just intolerance but a subject of domination and at the expense of destroying physical structures that are of cultural and religious significance to minority groups.

Such crimes committed against culture, challenges the whole of humanity and its fabric of cultural diversity.

Malaysia, a multi ethnic with multi lingual country, boasts to protect its rich national heritage.

The National Department for Culture and Arts accepts that culture is mankind’s way of life. The rational for the National Cultural Policy of 1971 is based on Malaysia’s position as a meeting point being the centre of trade and civilisation some 2,000 years ago.

It adds that Malaysia’s role as a meeting point has resulted in interaction, introduction, assimilation and acceptance of various elements suitable to be adopted as basic culture of this region.

However, there are issues as to the cultural policy. The three principles of the policy are not inclusive in nature.

Firstly, the national culture must be based on the indigenous culture of this region and narrows its contents to Malay culture.

Secondly, suitable elements from the other cultures may be accepted as part of the national culture and lastly, Islam is an important component in the formulation of the national culture.

Destroying our history
Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left), when he became the prime minister, dismissed such a nation state concept and urged an inclusive national identity of Bangsa Malaysia - people to identify with the country, speak Bahasa Malaysia and accept the constitution.

Sadly, we are still stuck with the 1971 policy.

The policymakers politically believe that culture is a tool to inculcate the spirit of nationalism and nationhood that will guarantee the stability, harmony and unity in Malaysia.

This centres the dominant culture and religion above all and machinates discriminatory policy against other cultures and religions.

Thus all intention of harmony and unity is put at risk, propelling not inclusiveness but strategies to make cultures and religions of the non Malays less significant.

The urging for unity in diversity cannot be practically achieved with intent to homogenise Malaysians. This is not inclusive.
An inclusive model acknowledges diversity, promotes participation, creates condition for equal opportunities and equal access and creates a mutually beneficial community and becomes a system for all.

But we are stuck with a model that wants to fix this as if something is wrong, and instead calls for adaptation, seeks political consensus for accommodation and works within the system in which predator dominates for assimilation.

Can we rewrite history for such a political belief? We do, the History subject is made compulsory in schools with tailor made contents to build Malay hegemony.

All is not bad, the current calls of various parties to undo the damage and preserve the Bujang Valley archeological site as national heritage with commitment to reconstruct the Candi 11 is reassuring.

It would be timely for the policy makers to define their statement in an inclusive manner categorically stating that the destruction of Candi 11 is un-Islamic and that Islam is inclusive in building Bangsa Malaysia.

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K ARUMUGAM is chairperson of human rights organisation Suaram.

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‘Demo 16 Disember? Mereka gila!’

Kita akan naikkan hanya dalam lingkungan 2%...yang buat bising ni kawan-kawan yang tidak ada otak

KUALA LUMPUR: Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan (WP) Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor menyifatkan tindakan Pakatan Rakyat…

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Kita akan naikkan hanya dalam lingkungan 2%...yang buat bising ni kawan-kawan yang tidak ada otak

KUALA LUMPUR: Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan (WP) Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor menyifatkan tindakan Pakatan Rakyat yang mengajak rakyat melakukan demonstrasi membantah kenaikan cukai pintu pada 16 Disember depan itu sebagai ‘gila’.

Katanya, hanya 10% daripada 500,000 pemegang hartanah di Kuala Lumpur yang membantah kenaikan harga tersebut malah wakil rakyat Pakatan sudah hadir mendengar penjelasan namun masih berdegil dan mahu meneruskan rancangan tunjuk perasaan.

“Sudah 21 tahun cukai pintu tak berubah dan kita akan naikkan hanya dalam lingkungan 2%…yang buat bising ni kawan-kawan yang tidak ada otak, dia tak tahu,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan majlis pecah tanah bangunan baru Umno Bahagian Batu di sini hari ini.

Ahli Parlimen Putrajaya itu bagaimanapun mengakui kesilapan di pihak Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) apabila tidak memberitahu kepada pembayar cukai dengan tertib dengan menghantar surat rasmi.

Sebaliknya hanya memaklumkan melalui Notis Menyemak Semula Senarai Nilaian bersaiz kecil yang diedarkan bulan lalu kepada semua pemilik rumah dan premis sekitar Kuala Lumpur.

Beliau menegaskan, dirinya sesekali tidak akan ‘kelentong’ rakyat dengan kenaikan cukai tetapi mahu semua pihak faham tindakannya itu akan memberikan keuntungan sama rata kepada pemilik premis dan juga DBKL.

Katanya, pihaknya akan memutuskan kadar bayaran selepas selesai sesi pendengaran dan penilaian proses bantahan oleh panel DBKL, namun memberi jaminan kenaikan itu tidak akan berlaku secara mendadak.

“Tunggulah saya buat keputusan. Saya berikan keadilan kepada rakyat tak seperti pembangkang,” katanya.

Setiausaha Agung Umno itu kemudiannya membidas Pakatan Rakyat dengan mendakwa berlaku kemasukan pengundi luar ke kawasan Parlimen Batu semasa Pilihan Raya Umum lalu (PRU13).

“Semasa berhenti di Pasar Sentul saya naik pening. Mereka tak peduli tentang kebersihan, sangat kotor sebab mereka bawa pengundi daripada Seputeh ke sini (Sentul),” katanya.

Pakatan Rakyat merancang untuk akan mengadakan perhimpunan membantah kenaikan cukai pintu pada pukul 11 pagi di Dataran DBKL, di sini selain mahu mendesak Datuk Bandar Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib meletakkan jawatan.

Sementara itu, ditanya mengenai berlakunya kemungkinan ‘tsunami Melayu’ semasa PRU14 nanti, beliau menganggap perkara itu mustahil sambil membidas laporan Utusan Malaysia yang disifatkannya sebagai satu ‘pandangan peribadi’.

Beliau turut mengingatkan masyarakat lain supaya tidak melatah dengan cadangan perwakilan Umno pada Khamis lalu yang mahu slogan salam ’1Malaysia’ digantikan dengan ’1Melayu’.

Tegasnya, apa saja keputusan yang dibuat kerajaan dan Barisan Nasional (BN) adalah berdasarkan persetujuan secara konsensus walaupun masyarakat Melayu dan Umno adalah populasi majoriti.

“Ini forum orang Melayu, dia boleh cakap apa yang dia mahu. Begitu juga kalau bila tiba perhimpunan MCA dan MIC mesti akan cakap perkara yang sama tentang perkauman dan ketidakadilan, kita tak kisah.

“Tetapi kenapa bila Melayu cakap benda ni mahu diperbesarkan,” soalnya ekoran gesaan yang ditimbulkan Perwakilan Umno Pulau Pinang Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir berdasarkan pengalamannya ‘ditikam’ kaum lain semasa PRU13.

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Umno menggelapkan masa depan Melayu

Umno hanya selesa berada dalam kepompong dan tidak mahu berfikir tentang cara-cara untuk memajukan negara secara keseluruhan.
COMMENT

Oleh Nurul Izzah Anwar

Perhimpunan Agung Umno sudah berlangsung tetapi malangnya masih…

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Umno hanya selesa berada dalam kepompong dan tidak mahu berfikir tentang cara-cara untuk memajukan negara secara keseluruhan.
COMMENT

Oleh Nurul Izzah Anwar

Perhimpunan Agung Umno sudah berlangsung tetapi malangnya masih belum kelihatan kesungguhan daripada para pemimpin Umno untuk membangkitkan isu-isu semasa yang ketara yang akan menggelapkan masa depan Melayu.

Pertama; Orang lain berhutang boros, rakyat kena bayar.

Isu peningkatan kos sara hidup yang semakin menekan rakyat kebanyakan tidak langsung diambil endah, malahan, Presiden Umno, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak masih mengekalkan retorik lamanya dengan pendekatan, “rakyat perlu terus bersabar dan berkorban untuk keutuhan kewangan negara.”

Baru-baru ini, agensi penarafan antarabangsa Moody’s telah menaikkan taraf kredit Malaysia kepada A3, dilaporkan atas dasar penyatuan dan pembaharuan fiskal yang berkemungkinan semakin baik, disebabkan langkah-langkah penstrukturan semula subsidi yang telah diambil oleh kerajaan.

Persoalan yang gagal diketengahkan di Perhimpunan Agung Umno adalah, bagaimana pengadaran kredit Malaysia diturunkan terlebih dahulu? Mengapalah tidak seorang pun pemimpin atau delegasi yang membangkitkan kesan dari ketirisan, korupsi dan pemborosan salah urus ekonomi ini?

Akibat keborosan dan ketirisan pemerintah, rakyat terpaksa menanggung melalui ‘cukai pemiutang’’ seperti GST, kenaikan harga petrol, gula, tarif letrik dan cukai pintu DBKL yang berganda pada tahun depan – untuk menaikkan taraf kredit negara untuk membolehkan lebih banyak hutang negara diserahkan kepada mereka yang terpilih dalam Agenda Pemerkasaan Ekonomi Melayu (elit Umno).

Rakyat sudah pun jelas dan tahu seperti yang diumumkan mantan Presiden Umno Tun Dr Mahathir bahawa Najib dan konco-konconya adalah perasuah besar kerana rasuah sekarang dibawah Najib dikatakan berganda lagi dasyat berbanding zaman beliau memerintah.

Apakah membasmikan barah rasuah tidak penting bagi Umno?

Kedua; Orang menjerit gagah, negara tergadai membisu.

Jeritan-jeritan 1Melayu jelas menunjukkan sikap paranoia yang sengaja melepas pandang isu keselamatan serta pembelaan kedaulatan negara yang seharusnya diutamakan.

Perakuan bersumpah Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim mengenai kedaulatan negara ke atas Pulau Batu Putih, pencerobohan wilayah Malaysia oleh para pengganas Sulu, isu pemberian kad pengenalan biru dan pembunuhan warga Taiwan di Sabah langsung tidak mendapat perhatian.

Saya masih lagi tidak melihat mana-mana pemimpin atau perwakilan yang menuntut agar isu TPPA yang bakal merobah arena ekonomi tempatan melalui ‘penjajahan ekonomi’, termasuk ekonomi Melayu Bumiputra sendiri didebatkan secara khusus.

Apakah keselamatan dan kedaulatan negara tergadai tidak penting bagi Umno?

Ketiga; Orang belajar tinggi, rakyat dididik rendah

Isu kemerosotan kualiti pendidikan seperti yang dilaporkan dalam kajian PISA tidak mendapat perhatian sepenuhnya.

Apakah perasaan ibubapa apabila mendapat tahu bahawa anak-anak dari Singapura, Korea Selatan dan Vietnam dari darjah 5 dan 6 berpendidikan sataraf dengan para pelajar Tingkatan 3 dari negara kita.

Kegagalan dalam meningkatkan mutu dan pencapaian pendidikan agar kekal bersaing secara global akan terus menggelapkan masa depan anak-anak kita yang akan mewarisi kadar gaji yang malar dan budaya berhutang semata-mata untuk menyara kos hidup yang semakin meninggi.

Masa depan anak-anak Melayu nampaknya perlu terus dibantu ibubapa dengan menumpang rumah, meminjam belanja dan berkongsi kereta.

Apakah pendidikan berkualiti untuk berpendapatan tinggi tidak penting bagi Umno?

Kesimpulannya, Umno hanya selesa berada dalam kepompong atau tempurung dan tidak mahu berfikir tentang cara-cara untuk memajukan negara secara keseluruhan melainkan memusatkan kuasa dan kekayaan melalui berbagai usul-usul dan penjenamaan semula dasar ekonomi hanya untuk kepentingan ahli Umno terpilih sahaja.

Jelas, masa depan Melayu dan Malaysia akan terus menggelap dibawah Umno jika tidak melaksanakan rekonsiliasi nasional agar usaha melibatkan secara inklusif semua pihak dapat membina masa depan yang cerah.

Nurul Izzah Anwar adalah ahli parlimen Lembah Pantai dan Naib President PKR.

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‘Nak bina candi, kena minta kelulusan kerajaan negeri’

Arahan akan dikeluarkan bagi mengelak berlakunya insiden kemusnahan di Candi 11, Sungai Batu, Lembah Bujang pada Isnin lepas, berulang kembali.

KUALA LUMPUR:Semua pemilik tanah di Kedah perlu mendapatkan kelulusan kerajaan…

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Arahan akan dikeluarkan bagi mengelak berlakunya insiden kemusnahan di Candi 11, Sungai Batu, Lembah Bujang pada Isnin lepas, berulang kembali.

KUALA LUMPUR:Semua pemilik tanah di Kedah perlu mendapatkan kelulusan kerajaan negeri dan Jabatan Warisan sekiranya ada binaan yang boleh dianggap sebagai binaan arkeologi di dalam kawasan milik mereka sebelum menjalankan sebarang kerja pembinaan.

Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir berkata arahan akan dikeluarkan bagi mengelak berlakunya insiden kemusnahan di Candi 11, Sungai Batu, Lembah Bujang pada Isnin lepas, berulang kembali.

“Saya dah beritahu Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri, dan ini akan mengambil sedikit masa kerana kita perlu mengenal pasti pemilik-pemilik tanah untuk menghantar ‘circular’ (surat pekeliling) ini,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas melancarkan Bantuan Kemanusiaan Mangsa Banjir ke Kuantan oleh Badan Perhubungan Umno Kedah di sini, hari ini.

Umno Kedah menghantar bantuan bernilai RM60,000 berbentuk barangan keperluan seperti ubat dan berus gigi, sabun, lampin serta tuala wanita ke pejabat Umno di Kuantan untuk diagihkan kepada kira-kira 5,000 mangsa banjir.

Mukhriz berkata pembinaan semula candi bersejarah yang wujud pada kurun ke-8 itu tidak menjadi masalah kerana candi yang dimusnahkan itu juga bukan yang asal tetapi dibina semula pada tahun 1974.

“Malah orang yang membinanya semula juga masih hidup dikenali sebagai Haji Jalil yang berada di Melaka. Kita mempunyai pelan dan tahu apakah bahan-bahan binaan yang diperlukan seperti batu sungai, laterite (tanah merah) dan bata,” katanya.

Sementara itu, Mukriz yang juga Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Kedah berkata pihaknya juga bersedia menghulurkan bantuan kepada negeri yang terjejas oleh banjir seperti Terengganu dan Johor mengikut keperluan.

“Lepas surut banjir nanti, banyak kerja perlu dilakukan dan kita akan bantu secara berfasa khususnya membersihkan rumah, memulihkan kerosakan harta benda dan sebagainya,” katanya.

Ketika diminta mengulas mengenai peletakan jawatan bapa beliau yang juga bekas perdana menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sebagai penasihat kepada Petronas, Mukriz berkata keputusan itu dibuat kerana bapanya tidak suka ‘makan gaji buta’.

“Sebagai penasihat, jika beliau tidak dapat menyumbang idea dan pendapat kepada Petronas, maka ia seperti makan gaji butalah. Terpulanglah kepada semua untuk menginterpretasikan,” katanya.

Pada 2 Dis lepas, Dr Mahathir mengesahkan telah melepaskan jawatannya sebagai penasihat kepada Petronas, berkuat kuasa 1 Dis.

Dr Mahathir berkata sudah masa untuk beliau meninggalkan syarikat petroliam negara itu kerana faktor usia serta ingin menumpukan perhatian kepada kesihatannya.

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KJ:Anak muda marah ketirisan, pembaziran kerajaan

Justeru, kerajaan diseru untuk mengambil tindakan ke atas pihak yang yang tidak bertanggungjawab ini.

KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin berkata, anak muda berasa marah apabila melihat ada pembaziran, ketirisan dan sebagainya…

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Justeru, kerajaan diseru untuk mengambil tindakan ke atas pihak yang yang tidak bertanggungjawab ini.

KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin berkata, anak muda berasa marah apabila melihat ada pembaziran, ketirisan dan sebagainya oleh kerajaan yang tidak dapat dijelaskan dalam Laporan Ketua Audit Negara.

Justeru, kerajaan diseru untuk mengambil tindakan ke atas pihak yang yang tidak bertanggungjawab ini.

“Jadi saya dan (sayap) Pemuda sokong Presiden (yang) telah umumkan satu jawatankuasa di bawah Ketua Setiausaha Negara bertindak atas laporan Ketua Audit.

“Kita mintaklah kalau ada laporan itu yang dapat dijelaskan, kita jelaskan.

“Tetapi yang tak dapat kita pertahankan, sedangkan kita minta rakyat ikat perut, kita minta macam-macam kenaikkan tetapi tindakan tidak diambil ke atas mereka yang jelas rasuah, yang jelas ketirisan dan sebagainya mereka berasa marah dengan kita. Ambilah tindakan Presiden, kita sokong,” tegasnya lagi.

Dalam ucapan penggulunggan Ketua Pemuda Umno itu juga menekankan keperluan untuk memberi bantuan lebih kepada golongan muda terutamanya yang tinggal di bandar lantaran tekanan ekonomi yang menghimpit kehidupan mereka.

Khairy, dalam penggulungan hujahnya dalam Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2013 berkata kesempitan hidup anak muda kini merupakan satu realiti, bukan kerana amalan gaya hidup yang luar dari kemampuan mereka.

“Satu kajian telah menunjukkan 75% golongan muda yang duduk di bandar dengan gaji kurang daripada RM3500, mereka ini bila sudah bayar (pinjaman) kereta, rumah dan membeli makanan, mereka ini tidak punya baki sesen pun menjelang akhir bulan.

“Mereka ini tidak muflis, menganggur tetapi hidup dalam kehimpitan,” katanya lagi.

Beliau turut menambah Program Rumah Transit perlu ditambah lagi bagi menampung keperluan anak muda terutamanya yang tinggal di dalam bandar.

“Terima kasih kepada Presiden (Umno) kerana beri peruntukan tambahan kepada Kementerian Perumahan tetapi saya minta bagi lagi peruntukan sebab tak cukup 6% rumah transit yang akan dibina dalam kawasan bandar tahun depan bagi menampung keperluan anak-anak muda,” katanya lagi.

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Islamist conservatism in Malaysia

By Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid,

The transmission of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian world remains entrenched in history as one of the foremost examples of peaceful proselytisation of religion on a…

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By Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid,

The transmission of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian world remains entrenched in history as one of the foremost examples of peaceful proselytisation of religion on a trans-continental scale. So successful was the continuous process from around the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, that the Islamic faith (agama) became comfortably embedded as a definitive criterion, apart from the Malay language (bahasa Melayu) and rulership (kerajaan), of Malayness – in reference to the broad category of Southeast Asia’s indigenous population who were previously adherents of animism and variants of Hindu-Buddhist religious traditions prevalent in the archipelago. The sources, modalities, timing and other details of the genesis of Islam among the Malays had always been diverse – there were sufis or Muslim mystics and shias; Arabs, Chinese, Indians and Bengalis; sayyids, sheikhs and itinerant missionaries; merchants, traders and political escapees from the flux engulfing their lands of origin or transit.

With its kaleidoscopic provenance as the backdrop, Islam as understood and practised by Malay-Muslims prior to the era of the nation state never bore monolithic traits. On the contrary, accommodation of mores from a variety of civilisational traditions prevailed, as strongly reflected in the assortment of religious practices deriving from various ethno-cultural traditions that eventually assumed the label of being part of Malay-Muslim heritage. Hence we find for instance, in Penang, the boria musical tradition which traces its ancestry to Shiah festivities. Religio-cultural marhaban and berzanji troupes who commonly perform during Malay wedding receptions, in turn, owe their origins to rhythmic salutations of the Prophet Muhammad popularised by sufi congregations. Islam in Malaya, up till independence on 31 August 1957, had remained steadfast to the spirit of wide interpretation, as personified by its perennial willingness to accommodate the intricacies of local customs known as adat, and to tolerate the arrival of new cultural strands such as the Kaum Muda and even the West. The celebrated public debate in Kelantan on whether a dog’s saliva could be considered impure or not in 1937 was indicative of the spirit of tolerance of diversity of views that prevailed in pre-independent Malaya. The differences of views between the traditional and reformist ulama notwithstanding, the terrain of Islam in Malaya was invariably pluralist from the pre-colonial through the colonial epochs.

Accompanying independence from Britain on 31 August 1957 was the inauguration of a Federal Constitution which installed Islam as the state religion via Article 3(1). The Constitution was arguably a hybrid document, which was nothing peculiar in view of the new nation state’s eclectic sources of national history. Many analysts have put forward arguments that it had secular intent, but yet it seemed to elevate the religion of the majority of the population to a pedestal unreachable by other religions. The precise implications of Article 3(1) never made clear, the political role of Islam in independent Malaya and later Malaysia was left to the behest of Malay-Muslim politicians entrusted with governance of the fledgling nation state. In managing Islam as a component of public life, however, religious purity was made subservient to political expediency connected in one way or another to the political fortunes of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has continuously ruled the country together with its non-Malay component partners in the multi-racial Perikatan (Alliance) and Barisan Nasional (BN: National Front) coalitions. The public fate of Islam was thereby laid in the hands of successive Prime Ministers and UMNO leaders, who resorted to the bureaucratisation of Islam in order to assist them. The expansion of the Islamic bureaucracy took place at a relentless pace under Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s Islamisation programme in the 1980s.

By the time his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pronounced Islam Hadhari, through which Islam was to be interpreted and applied through enlightened civilisational lenses, the Islamic bureaucracy had ossified into a monstrous elite whose ruthless hold on the Muslim populace was justified on the basis of Article 3(1).

In contrast to his predecessors who had refrained from exploiting Islam as a political tool, whether out of their own ignorance or respect for constitutional niceties established by its secular-inclined drafters, Mahathir unabashedly championed Islam as the most effective way of outflanking his competitors for Malay loyalty, namely the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS: Islamic Party of Malaysia) and emergent dakwah organisations such as the Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia) and Darul Arqam, which later morphed into Rufaqa’ Corporation and Global Ikhwan following Darul Arqam’s banning in 1994. In doing so, Mahathir unwittingly (or not) inducted many elements of political Islam or Islamism into the official state apparatus. Inducting the Islamist (which needs to be differentiated from Islamic) strand into affairs of the state was a double-edged sword. While being a politically deft move in neutralising the Islamist challenge, the state also incorporated negative aspects of marrying the management of Islam with overt politics, parallel with the regressiveness of the Saudi Arabian state as a result of its adoption of the Wahhabi brand of conservative Islam during its inception.

The state’s recent repression of unorthodox Islamic groups, as exemplified in renewed crackdowns on the Shiah and Global Ikhwan movements following the thirteenth general election, smacks of its inability to intellectually engage discontented elements within its majority Malay-Muslim population, who increasingly find the state’s handling of Islam to be inept and downright hypocritical. It would have looked credible for the UMNO-controlled state if its actions were all guided by a sincere intent to defend the integrity of Islam, but the fact of the matter remains that when so-called transgressions against orthodox Islam are committed by elements organically connected to the state, the ruling elites indulge in deafening silence.

My personal contacts in the police’s anti-terrorism unit admits that influential UMNO individuals at branch and division level also have connections to the Shiah, but the focus of the authorities, such as in seminars conducted across the country on the ‘Shiah virus,’ have portrayed as though the heterodoxy is an affliction linked solely to PAS. Solitary pronunciations by political elites that Shiism is acceptable for non-Malay Muslims such as Iranians (who provide good income by forming the bulk of Middle Eastern students conducting postgraduate research in Malaysian universities), but forbidden for Malay-Muslims, adds an ethnic dimension to the state’s management of Islam (comprehension and practice of Islam) in Malaysia being a factor of ethno-religious politics rather than religious purity.

The government acts only on rogue Muslims in such a way that political benefit accrues to the state and its organic linkages. It is utterly unable to fathom that the Malay-Muslims have developed their Islamic horizons intellectually as a result of the shrinking of the ummah into a global village in the internet age, and so are open to the more sophisticated choices of models of Islam offered throughout the world. How could the state isolate the Islamic understanding of its Malay-Muslim population but at the same time urges them to embrace globalisation and modernisation?

The state continues to pursue an anti-pluralist approach to religion, but fails to appreciate that diversity of views and perspectives among the learned, even in theological matters, has been part and parcel of the glorious Islamic civilisation. Many eminent scholars such as Al-Kindi (d. 873) and Al-Jahiz (d. 868), were not orthodox Muslims as we would normally understand it. Even the great Ibnu Sina aka Avicenna (d. 1037) has been considered by some historians as having belonged to the freemason-like Ikhwan as-Safa brotherhood or one of the Shiah sects. In addition, prominent Sunni ulama putatively acknowledged by the later generations of Muslims as veritable reformers such as Al-Shafie (d. 820), Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Al-Suyuti (d. 1505) clashed with the religious officialdom of their days. Al-Shafie, whose school of law Malaysia’s Sunni Muslims purport to follow, was dragged to the court of Harun Al-Rashid on the accusation of colluding with Shiahs.

By equating unorthodoxy with deviancy, the Malaysian state is killing off intellectual creativity and innovativeness among its Muslim populace, over whom it prefers to exert an everlasting dominance. Ironically, this runs counter to the Islam Hadhari strand of civilisational interpretation of religion which the government once projected itself to be a proponent of. Not only is the government rolling back on its supposedly enlightened conception of Islam, but by laying itself vulnerable to skewed interpretations of Islam proffered by cohorts of conservative ulama infesting its bureaucracy, it is also espousing an overall regressive trajectory in the sphere of ethno-religious relations. Small wonder then that the self-appointed guardians of present-day Malaysian Islam, all organically linked to the state, utterly fail to understand how the appellation ‘Allah’ can be justifiably employed by non-Muslims as a religious reference to an omniscient God. Internalised in the Malay-Muslim psyche as a factor of Malay ethnocentric politics, Islam in Malaysia has been reduced by the powers that be to a political tool to satisfy their political machinations towards ensuring continual Malay-Muslim (read: UMNO) hegemony.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid is associate professor and chairman of the Political Science programme, School of Distance Education, University Sains Malaysia.

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Ex-NST boss to PM: Why not make Rosmah minister?

(MM) - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should seriously consider making his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, a full minister in recognition of her “contributions to the country”, former…

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(MM) - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should seriously consider making his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, a full minister in recognition of her “contributions to the country”, former NST editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin wrote today.

In an acerbic entry on his blog The Scribe, the senior newsman poked fun at Najib’s speech at the close of Umno’s general assembly yesterday, in which the prime minister heaped praise on his wife for helping to settle international crises involving Malaysians.

“Based on Mohd Najib’s information, it would be good for him to re-evaluate the position of Foreign Minister (Datuk Seri) Anifah Aman, because clearly he is not as effective as Rosmah in settling international crises,” Kadir wrote.

“The same goes for International Trade and Industry Minister, (Datuk Seri) Mustapa Mohamed, Women, Family and Community Development (Minister Datuk) Rohani Abdul Karim and Education Minister (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, because Rosmah is also involved here and there in work that should be done by these ministers.

“This way we can drop ministers who do not perform and at the same time save on the country’s expenses by reducing the number of ministries,” he said.

Yesterday, in his closing speech for Umno’s 64th General Assembly, Najib said his wife had quietly played an important role in helping Malaysians who were in a pinch during the 2011 civil unrest in Egypt that deposed President Hosni Mobarak.

He told the over 2,000 delegates that Rosmah had been instrumental in helping free a Malaysian student detained by Egyptian authorities on suspicion of being a spy, and also helped secure safe passage for Malaysian students out of Egypt without visas during the revolution.

Kadir today said all Najib’s and his wife’s supporters need to do is get her appointed as a Senator and create a new portfolio for her called “Menteri Tugas-Tugas Khas”, or Special Functions Minister.

“When this is done, nobody can protest over her meddling or accuse her husband or the Cabinet of abusing their powers by allowing her to use government facilities,” he said.

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Muhyiddin should stop “building castles in the air” about Malaysia among the top one-third of TIMSS and PISA systems by 2021 when he seems to be comfortable or resigned to the country being a nation of mediocrity instead of being a nation of excellence

The Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be remembered for what he failed to say instead of what he said in the past week.
On…

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The Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be remembered for what he failed to say instead of what he said in the past week.
On the morning of his joint opening of the annual general meetings of UMNO Youth, Wanita and Puteri on Tuesday night, the 2012 PISA results on the global assessment of 510,000 15-year-old students in 65 countries and regions on the three critical subjects of mathematics, reading and science were released, but he did not have anything to say on it although it fell directly under his portfolio.
Although Muhyiddin as Education Minister would have earlier notice of the 2012 PISA results, he continued to keep dumb on the 2012 PISA results, even omitting reference to it in his winding-up speech at the three-day UMNO General Assembly yesterday.
Elsewhere in the world, the 2012 PISA results have created waves.
They provoked soul-searching in Western countries – such as former PISA star Finland where performance declined in all three areas, and the United Kingdom with its UK Education Secretary Michael Gove describing the 2012 PISA results as “scandalous” for their education system, as UK schoolchildren are up to three years behind their peers in the top-performing countries in Asia.
Or they elicited satisfaction or delight in some countries because of good results or significant improvements compared to previous assessments like Singapore, Vietnam and even United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kazakhstan and Thailand as the last trio outperformed Malaysia in all the three subjects!
But for Malaysia, stuck in the bottom third of the PISA countries assessed, there is only prolonged ominous silence from the very top of the government and education ministry.
When launching the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, Muhyiddin announced an “education transformation” over 13 years, with Malaysia’s performance on PISA and TIMMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) rocketing to the top third of the assessment systems by 2021.
Muhyiddin should stop “building castles in the air” about Malaysia among the top one-third of TIMSS and PISA systems come 2021 when by his silence in the past week on the 2012 PISA, he seems to be comfortable or resigned to the country being a nation of mediocrity instead of being a nation of excellence.
I am reminded of Muhyiddin’s similar prolonged and ominous silence last December when the poor results of Malaysian students in the TIMSS 2011 were announced.
In my statement “Quo Vadis Malaysian education system” on December 19, 2012, I said:

“Since the world-wide publication of the TIMSS 2011 results on December 11, Muhyiddin had commented on everything under the sun except on TIMSS 2011 results showing unchecked plunge in the standards of mathematics and science for Malaysian students as compared to other countries – powerful testimony that Muhyiddin is neither committed nor interested in his first duty as Education Minister.”

Muhyiddin is repeating the same exercise of going dumb on the 2012 PISA results as he had done with the TIMSS 2011 results last December.
In the TIMSS 2011, Malaysia’s scores for both maths and science were below the international average, lagging behind Israel, Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Romania, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Lebanon in the maths test and trailing behind Slovenia, Israel, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran, Romania, UAE, Chile, Bahrain, Thailand, Jordan, Tunisia, Armenia and Saudi Arabia in the science study.
In the four TIMSS 1999-2011, Malaysia is the country which suffered the biggest drop in scores among all participating countries for both maths and science: in maths dropping by 79 points from 519 in 1999 to 440 in 2011; in science, dropping by 66 points from 492 in 1999 to 426 points in 2011.
Muhyiddin cannot remain silent for Malaysians are entitled to know why he is unconcerned and indifferent to the TIMSS 2011 and PISA 2012 results for Malaysian students, which is an indictment of the Malaysian national education system as well as the series of UMNO/BN Education Ministers in the past– going back even to the period when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the Education Minister from 1995-2000.
Muhyiddin’s greatest service to education is to stop playing politics with education.
At the close of the Umno General Assembly yesterday, he asked all Umno divisions through the Umno Education Bureau to play a major role in the implementation of the National Education Blueprint.
Is the implementation of the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to be the preserve of only the UMNO divisions – or is it to be the role and responsibility of all political parties, NGOs and Malaysians regardless of whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat?
Even more important, are UMNO divisions being mobilised to ensure that the strategic objective of the National Education Blueprint to ensure that Malaysia could achieve the top third of the PISA and TIMSS systems by 2021, especially in the critical subjects of mathematics, reading and science, and if so, why Muhyiddin failed to give the UMNO delegates an in-depth analysis of the failures of Malaysian students not only to match the top-performing countries like Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, or to come up to the OECD and international averages, but also losing out to countries which Malaysians had always thought they are more superior in educational attainments like Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Chile?

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Friendship Bridge Symbolises Close Malaysia-Brunei Ties - Najib

From Nashir Mansor

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The building of the Malaysia-Brunei Darussalam Friendship Bridge symbolises the special closeness that exists between Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, said…

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From Nashir Mansor

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The building of the Malaysia-Brunei Darussalam Friendship Bridge symbolises the special closeness that exists between Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the bridge would also help further strengthen ties between the two countries in the future .

"I wish to put on record how proud Malaysia is on the opening of the Malaysia-Brunei Darussalam Friendship Bridge today. This is the first bridge to be built jointly by the two countries and it is also a reflection of the close relationship between the two countries," he said.

Najib told this to Malaysian journalists after he and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam signed a plaque and cut a ribbon in a symbolic gesture to open the bridge at Kampung Ujong Jalan, Temburong near here.

The bridge goes across the Pandaruan River and connects the Limbang Division in Sarawak to the Temburong District in Brunei Darussalam.

Construction of the RM21.9 million bridge started in May 2012 and it was completed in late October 2013.

According to Najib, the bridge was built after both countries agreed to share the cost equally to facilitate the people in Temburong District in Brunei and Limbang in Sarawak in going to and fro on their daily business.

He said with the existence of the bridge, they needed only a few minutes to cross Sungai Pandaruan. In the past, residents in the two areas had to spend at least two hours to cross the 60-metre wide river by ferry.

Najib said the construction of the bridge would also have a long term impact in the generation of cross border trade which would spur the socio-economic development of the people especially in Limbang and Temburong.

He said the bridge was also beneficial to the tourism industry of both countries because an estimated 100,000 citizens of Brunei visited Sabah and Sarawak each year.

"Malaysia is very happy with the current bilateral relations which is moving positively forward in all aspects. The bridge, other than connecting the peoples of both nations also reflects further the friendliness and close ties following the signing of the Exchange of Letters (EOL) in March 2009," he said.

The EOL signed on March 16, 2009 in Bandar Seri Begawan by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysia's fifth Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ended longstanding disputes over land and maritime territories between the two countries.

According to Najib, the bridge was among the important components in the Pan Borneo Highway connecting Sarawak and Sabah through Brunei.

With the completion of the bridge, ferries will no longer be used on the route.

Najib said in the context of ASEAN connectivity, the bridge was also in line with the spirit of realising the vision of the ASEAN Community in 2015.

On the issue of passports of citizens of both countries travelling between the two nations being stamped eight times by the immigration departments of Malaysia and Brunei, Najib said it had been resolved in October.

Commenting further on the close Malaysia-Brunei ties, Najib said: "Very good, very comfortable. Both governments will strengthen further this good relation as we have agreed to the principles based on EOL which had been signed between both countries. Now we are implementing certain provisions (in the EOL)".

Also present were Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

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How Dare Najib Discredit Mandela

By Kee Thuan Chye

Umno President Najib Razak diminished the stature of a great man when he said last Saturday at his party’s general assembly that Umno fought for the…

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By Kee Thuan Chye

Umno President Najib Razak diminished the stature of a great man when he said last Saturday at his party’s general assembly that Umno fought for the “same cause” as Nelson Mandela, who had died two days before.

What same cause? Mandela fought against racial discrimination whereas Umno institutionalised racial discrimination a few decades ago and still upholds it.

Mandela never advocated black supremacy, whereas Umno promotes Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).

After he became president of South Africa, Mandela proposed reconciliation and sought to bring the races in his country together, whereas in Malaysia, Umno divides the races in order to keep itself in power.

Even at its general assembly, Umno’s delegates lobbied for the ethnocentric ‘1Melayu’ to replace the more inclusive ‘1Malaysia’, bashed the Chinese for not supporting the party at the last general election, and demanded a bigger stake in the economy, totally ignoring the reality that most of the country’s economic development is now already in Malay hands.

Furthermore, no less an Umno leader than Awang Adek Hussin, who is also the country’s deputy finance minister, proposed that private companies should declare how they support the Bumiputera agenda in their annual reports. He also insisted that, because Malays now make up almost 70 per cent of the population, the hiring policy of private companies should reflect the country’s racial composition at every level.

This is effectively saying that CEOs of private companies should also be Malay, and that their staff should be 70 per cent Malay. Indeed. Apa lagi Umno mahu? (What more does Umno want?)

On the other hand, does the civil service reflect the country’s racial composition? Are there 30 per cent non-Malay heads of department? In our public universities, are 30 per cent of vice-chancellors non-Malay?

Mandela did not take away the businesses of the whites in the name of affirmative action for the black South Africans. He allowed the whites to continue to control the economy and as a result of its being in experienced hands, South Africa’s economy grew at a steady, robust rate.

Mandela also believed in inclusiveness, in humanity and human rights. But Umno abhors lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBTs) although they are no less human beings. One delegate denigrated them by saying at the assembly that LGBTs exist so that “orang jahat (bad people) can be purged, leaving behind only the good people to inherit the earth”. How simplistically stupid, or stupidly simplistic.

Neither does Umno tolerate Shiite (Syiah) Muslims. Delegates urged that the Federal Constitution be amended to give recognition only to Sunni Islam. And Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in his customary aggressive manner of winning support from the Umno flock, seized the moment to accuse the “No. 2” man in the Opposition party PAS of being a Shiite leader. He called for action to be taken against the latter. It was a clear manifestation of gutter politics posing under the guise of religion.

How, then, could Najib have had the temerity to draw parallels between Umno and Mandela? They couldn’t be more worlds apart. How could he have said what he said and not appear foolish to the outside world? He might have been able to deceive his audience of Umno members, but he cannot deceive the intelligent and discerning.

He apparently rationalised it by claiming that no race has been deprived under the New Economic Policy (NEP). He probably knows better – or else he is ignorant or dumb – but he still played to the gallery. When he asked his audience, “Were (other races) sidelined during the NEP? Did we ever hurt the livelihood of other races?”, they of course responded with a resounding “no”. This of course is an act of syiok sendiri too.

They chose to conveniently forget the millions of non-Malays who over the decades have been deprived of places in public universities, scholarships, jobs in the civil service, promotions, higher ranks in the security forces, government projects (except the big crony Chinese companies), etc.

They pretended not to know that the non-Malays most hurt by the NEP were the low-income and middle-class groups. Many of their children could not pursue tertiary education through lack of means. Those who could had parents who worked extra hard to make extra money to send their children to private institutions.

They chose to ignore the truth that the push for Ketuanan Melayu caused non-Malays to be sidelined in unjust, uncountable ways and turned them into second-class citizens.

Now, to add insult to injury, they profess no knowledge of all that, still present the Malays as victims after more than 50 years of independence from the British “oppressors”, brand the “foreign races” (meaning non-Malays) as threats, lament that the Malays might become “slaves in their own land”, ask for more handouts, more projects, more quotas.

Enough is never enough. At every annual general assembly, they dish out the same laments, the same non-Malay bashing, the same demands for more opportunities while at the same time moaning that Malay entrepreneurs still need “hand-holding”. Their thinking is this: Ask and it shall be given. Just like that. No need to prove their abilities first, no need to be free of “hand-holding” first, no need to work to attain their goals. That’s the attitude they take.

And this is equated with Mandela’s struggle?

This sort of attitude exhibited by Umno is what pisses off a lot of people and makes them hate the party. If Najib’s comparison between Umno and Mandela doesn’t piss off the South African Government, well, that’s its business. But if it does, President Jacob Zuma might want to demand an apology from Najib for showing disrespect and distorting the principles of the great Mandela.

Najib cannot exploit a good man’s name to justify his party’s petty schemes.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the new book The Elections Bullshit, now available in bookstores.

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