Malayur News: 02/05/14

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Why Kajang? - Anwar delivers long-awaited explanation

Fatwa over Pregnancy, Victim punished, accused spared

Lalmonirhat imam held
A teenage girl has been ostracized in Lalmonirhat through a fatwa for her pregnancy after she was lured into a physical relationship with an adult with the…

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New York City public school kids getting new Muslim, Lunar New Year holidays

Mayor de Blasio said Monday that he’d move forward with closing schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two Muslim holy days, and for Lunar New Year. But he was…

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Perkasa selar SKMM cepat bertindak tutup Facebook anti Kristian tetapi tidak anti Islam

Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Kebangsaan (Perkasa) mempersoalkan tindakan pantas Suruhanjaya
Komunikasi Media Multimedia (SKMM) menutup laman Facebook yang dikatakan menghina agama Kristian tetapi lambat bertindak apabila ia berkaitan agama Islam.

Menurut…

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Body of Special Branch officer shot twice in face found at KL roadside

A policeman attached with Federal police Special Branch unit was found dead, after he was believed to have been shot twice in the face, at Bukit Persekutuan in Kuala Lumpur,…

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The fight for water - a Selangor story

The year began with much drama involving the Selangor water scene with statements that Putrajaya will invoke Section 114 of WSIA 2006 act to temporarily take over Selangor’s water…

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The year began with much drama involving the Selangor water scene with statements that Putrajaya will invoke Section 114 of WSIA 2006 act to temporarily take over Selangor’s water assets, management and concessions, in response to the failure to restructure the water supply services in the state of Selangor.

Last year we had seen woes after woes hitting the water supply services of Selangor, ranging from dry spells to the Sungai Selangor oil spill. Just recently, during Chinese New Year, one of the most important festive seasons in Malaysia, major water disruptions occurred at several places at Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat due to ammonium contamination at Sungai Langat.

While the predicament for safe, clean and continuous water supply is clear, unfortunately, the solutions are not. Following the failure of the state to restructure its water and the announcement of the continuation of Langat 2, the people are unsure when and how the issue would be settled.

Amidst all this, it was announced that Selangor state government would carry out Hybrid Off-River Augmentation System (HORAS) at the Selangor River to ensure water availability during drier months.

It is undeniable that water restructuring of water supply services is vital in ensuring the sustainability of clean and safe water supply in the state. However, the people are shrouded in uncertainty on whether the takeover of Selangor’s water supply by the federal government would actually speed up the restructuring process or otherwise.

An action plan with a solid timeline to complete the water restructuring process in Selangor should be made available by the federal government.

It was subsequently announced that the long suspended Langat 2 project is to be resumed. Langat 2 is often associated with high expenditures, and thus as an alternative to the Langat 2 project, the Selangor state government had proposed HORAS to be done at the Selangor River.

A detailed explanation on what is HORAS and how would it affects the environment and natural water cycle is necessary since information related to the project has not been made public. An environmental impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis on the proposed HORAS project should be done to justify its commencement.

In conclusion, the water sector restructuring process in Selangor should take place as soon as possible in order to ensure the sustainability of clean and safe water supply. Also, any developments such as Langat 2 and HORAS should always take into consideration the consumers’ interests and long-term sustainability of the water services industry.

MATHINI ARVEENA RAVEE is research and policy executive, Water and Sanitation Services Forum Air Malaysia (Malaysian Water Forum).

Deny ‘DAP support’, Palanivel told

MIC president G Palanivel has come under fire again, this time for not fielding strong candidates in Penang and supporting the DAP.

KUALA LUMPUR: A former MIC deputy minister wants…

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Nalla offers to challenge Anwar in Kajang

The BN-friendly senator says he knows all of Anwar's secrets.
UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Former ally-turned-nemesis KS Nallakaruppan today offered to contest against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for the Kajang state…

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RM200 for a bar of soap

Corruption reigns in Malaysian prisons, alleges an Iranian social worker.

PETALING JAYA: A bar of bath soap costs RM200, a pack of cigarettes fetches RM400 and tinned food sells for…

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Hutan Melintang PKR man quits party?

In the letter, he cited dissatisfaction with the PKR leadership as a reason to turn independent

K Pragalath, FMT

Two-term Hutan Melintang state assemblyman S Kesavan has allegedly quit PKR…

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Anwar: What I would do as S’gor MB

Malaysiakini

The first person that visitors to the PKR headquarters would meet is mustachioed security guard Balu, who usually stands at the entrance of the building in the high-end neighbourhood…

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Malaysiakini

The first person that visitors to the PKR headquarters would meet is mustachioed security guard Balu, who usually stands at the entrance of the building in the high-end neighbourhood of Tropicana, Selangor.
Although he has a seat in the information booth, Balu cannot help but crack a joke when asked why PKR has not provided him a chair: “In this party, the biggest problem is seats.”
In the latest episode, the seat in question is the post of Selangor menteri besar, with the ‘Kajang Move’ being seen as a way to unseat Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and replace him with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
A consummate politician, Anwar who is contesting the Kajang by-election in a bid to enter the state legislative assembly, insisted on prefacing his plans with the word ‘If’.
“If I become MB,” he said, raising his voice on ‘if’, “it will be until I become prime minister.”

His meeting with Malaysiakini yesterday was sandwiched between a long list of media interviews, and even his cheery pink candy-stripe shirt did not mask the shadow of fatigue on his face.
Still, fatigue cannot push a seasoned player like Anwar to say what he should not – that the MB’s post is merely a stepping stone and Khalid another pawn to be toppled on the longer route to the premiership.
Instead, Anwar painted a gentler picture of friendship and politics. Khalid, he said, is a good friend but Selangor needs “political clout”.
“It is sad how … he has to leave. It is sad. The circumstances and the dictate of the time requires that Selangor be driven,” he said, clenching his fist at the end to prove this point.
“I cannot accept Selangor being held every time to ransom. Every other week you have this problem, this attack.
“We seem to be quite helpless, either they (the BN) use state apparatus or some NGO and not much can be done … we will not allow this to happen. This requires political leadership.”
‘It’s not about the money’
Enter Anwar – former finance minister and someone so deft in political manouevring that he managed to oust Ghafar Baba for the Umno deputy president’s post in a heartbeat despite Ghafar’s four-decade long career in the party.
But Khalid, too, has solid credentials. Under his stewardship, Selangor reserves now stand at an astounding RM3 billion, a mountain of cash that he jealously guards.
He has refused to play politics with the funds, either by through politically-expedient projects camouflaged as state initiatives or through feeding the party.
Critics of the ‘Kajang Move’ allege that this is actually the main reason behind the manouevre. They say it is just a bid by PKR to break into the coffers.
Anwar shrugged, as if this is nothing new, and without missing a beat lamented how “unfair” such accusations are.
“How can I, at this stage of my political career, compromise on good governance? It is sheer insanity if I do that! … On that score, I am not going to change.”
What he will change, however, is how the reserves are used. He argued that there is no point of talking about reserves with issues like poverty and public housing still a problem in the state.
“The mantel of economic management is not good reserves but good management of the economy. If you spend money, say the reserves, for public housing and free education for Universiti Selangor students, then is it wasting public money?”
Solution to Bible seizure
Anwar took the long and winding route in responding to a question as to why he chose to finally intervene in Selangor.
At the end of this, it is not hard to conclude that one of his grouses was the way the state has handled the Bible seizure issue.
While the Bible Society of Malaysia continues to await the return of the copies seized, Anwar sees this as a cut-and-dried “administrative” matter. This, he said, will be his first stop as MB.
“I would say: ‘Guarantee that they won’t be distributed to Muslims, don’t send them to schools and only use them for Christians. I want it in writing.’ And then I (would) send them back,” he said.
Comparing himself to Anwar, Khalid last week had said that, unlike him, Anwar can face impossible demands (he uses Hindraf’s demands as an example) but at the end of the meeting, those making the demands will be part of Anwar’s fanclub.
It is this trait that Anwar seems to be banking on to deal with rising religious tensions over the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.
If he heads the Selangor government, Anwar said he can use state resources to build the confidence of Muslims so they would not feel threatened by purported threats to their faith.
He said he has met Muslims who are “virtually fearful” of mass Christianisation and this means the issue is “beyond political”.
“No, I don’t believe Islam is threatened or (that) we (would) allow it to happen. I would say you have all the resources at your disposal to strengthen the position of Islam, to use the mosque to educate, to launch your dakwah (preaching) programmes.
“But you should never allow people to be held to ransom, to instill this sort of fear among the non-Muslims. This is something that is just pathetic after half a century of independence.”
If Anwar becomes the MB, would he then support a change in the state enactment to bar non-Muslims from using ‘Allah’?
In answer, he related the anecdote of a Permatang Pauh Muslim scholar who had questioned him as to why non-Muslims want to change the enactment.
“I told him, Tuan Guru, if you have a non-Muslim living on Jalan Masjid, then technically he cannot use the term ‘Jalan Masjid’.
“(The scholar) said, ‘He can.’ I said, ‘But this is the law.’ Then he was shocked and his immediate reaction was (that) you have to correct the law, not knowing the implications.
“So I think we have to explain. People say, no, we change the law. But I think give it time, we have to explain. Don’t under-estimate or over-estimate your influence or power without engaging with the people.”
Deference to palace
Outside Khalid’s reverence for his “political animal” instincts, Anwar, too, prides himself as being in tune with sentiments on the ground.
Reading this while planning the ‘Kajang Move’, Anwar has known that, even if the palace cannot legally reject his nomination as MB, it would be unwise to arrogantly brush off the influence of the palace.

“I know the (state) constitution, I understand it. But as deference to the ruler, I always said that in a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, it’s not just the legal constitution.
“If you accept the institution of royalty, of kingship (sic), then there is the paraphernalia, the facade of office that you need to recognise, and that means deference.”
Royal assent, protest votes and consensus within Pakatan Rakyat are hurdles he has to clear to become MB, but these are all things that Anwar and his team of advisors have accounted for.
This is why his candidacy was announced less than 24 hours of Kajang incumbent Lee Chin Cheh’s resignation from the state seat and why he is “taking the soft line” in explaining why it was done.
It also means admitting to “mistakes” – like leaving DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in the dark over the ‘Kajang Move’, blaming “pressure” to get things going and miscommunication (he thought DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang would tell his son).
Simply put, he said, Kajang was chosen among several seats because its demographics reflect that of the state and doing it now means there will still be time for Anwar and Pakatan to prove their chops in Selangor before the next general election.
“I cannot go on with this (and the feud within PKR Selangor and attacks by BN) on a protracted basis. I have to decide. It was a very difficult decision, not very popular in this instance andMalaysiakini is partly responsible.
“But the decision has to be made for the larger interest and I think, at least for a start, we have caught BN off guard. Nobody anticipated it …”
Neither did the people, some of whom are incensed that PKR is forcing yet another by-election.
For now, though, Anwar almost appears proud.
“It’s not bad (our responses). It means we had read the sentiments, which to me is a positive trait in political leadership.”

Najib should invite Teresa Kok to screen her “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” and give proper translation of the Cantonese-Mandarin dialogue and background at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow before more UMNO Ministers make fools of themselves

Another UMNO Minister has jumped into the fray over DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok’s 11-minute video “Onderful Malaysia CNY 2014”, another UMNO leader to make a fool of himself…

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Victim just wants to go back to school

The Star
by RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: The family of a 13-year-old rape victim hopes that she can move on with her life and go back to school now that…

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The Star
by RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: The family of a 13-year-old rape victim hopes that she can move on with her life and go back to school now that the culprit has been sentenced to 12 years’ jail and ordered to be given two strokes of the rotan.

Rights groups have lauded the sentencing, saying it sent a “loud and clear” message to would-be rapists.

An aunt who has been taking care of the girl said she was a bright student and dreamed of becoming a doctor.

“We just want her to get on with her life and achieve her dreams,” said the sister of the girl’s father outside the Sessions Court after 41-year-old restaurant manager Riduan Masmud was sentenced.

Riduan was found guilty of raping the girl, then about 12, in a car by a roadside near the Kionsom Waterfall in Inanam between 9am and 10am on Feb 18, last year.

On May 20, last year, Riduan told the court that he had married the girl, but the Attorney-General’s Chambers decided to go ahead and prosecute him for the offence.

Sessions judge Ummu Kalthom Abdul Samad, when sentencing Riduan, noted that the girl had stopped schooling since the incident and was deprived of her “teenage life” when she became a housewife.

Hailing the sentence, the Sabah Women’s Action Resource Group said the penalty would send a strong message to would-be rapists that they could not prey on children and then try to manipulate the system to escape punishment.

“This is important because of the worrying trend in rape committed against children in Sabah,” said its president Winnie Yee.

She noted that 80% of rape cases in the state last year involved girls under the age of 16. Of this, 17% could be categorised as paedophilia as the victims were 13 years and below while the rapists were at least five years older.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Bar Council chairman Christopher Leong said the decision reflected the serious views held by law and society on statutory rape.

“It is also a welcome message that perpetrators cannot use the device of marrying the underage victim as an excuse to escape criminal liability,” he said.

Leong also commended the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the prosecution, and said parents should realise that marrying a child to her rapist often added to the harm done to their daughters.

Association of Women Lawyers president Meera Samanther said the decision showed that justice could and would be served.

“The message in the judgment is loud and clear – rapists cannot circumvent punishment by marrying the victim,” she added.

Sisters In Islam programme manager Suri Kempe said a rehabilitation order should have been included in the sentence to address the root cause of the rapist’s behaviour.

“The man did not see anything wrong with his actions and has thus far expressed no remorse. He even made a public announcement that he was going to marry his victim and tried to circumvent the criminal justice system,” she added.

Syariah Lawyers Association secretary-general Moeis Basri said the girl had to apply for an annulment as the Syariah Court could not do so on its own despite the man being convicted.

“The Syariah Court on its own motion cannot annul the marriage unless the wife applies to the court for it to be dissolved.

“Under the Syariah law, if the husband is imprisoned for more than a year, the wife can apply for a dissolution,” he said.

Moeis said the conviction was an important lesson that a rapist could not escape punishment by marrying his victim, especially when she is a minor.

“It sends an important message to society that marriage is not a licence to escape rape charges.”

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Why Kajang? - Anwar delivers long-awaited explanation

Fatwa over Pregnancy, Victim punished, accused spared

New York City public school kids getting new Muslim, Lunar New Year holidays

Rob Bennett for the Office of Mayor Bill de Blasio

Mayor de Blasio, in blue, will add more holidays to the New York City public school calendar — but not all the days everyone was seeking.

Perkasa selar SKMM cepat bertindak tutup Facebook anti Kristian tetapi tidak anti Islam

Body of Special Branch officer shot twice in face found at KL roadside

The fight for water - a Selangor story

Deny ‘DAP support’, Palanivel told

Nalla offers to challenge Anwar in Kajang

Nalla offers to challenge Anwar in Kajang

RM200 for a bar of soap

Hutan Melintang PKR man quits party?

Anwar: What I would do as S’gor MB

Najib should invite Teresa Kok to screen her “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” and give proper translation of the Cantonese-Mandarin dialogue and background at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow before more UMNO Ministers make fools of themselves

Victim just wants to go back to school

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Unruly scenes unfold in video clip

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