Mahathir: Go ahead, arrest me for sedition

Woman leaves Turkey for ‘family-friendly’ ISIS

By The Associated Press | Istanbul


Asiya Ummi Abdullah doesn't share the view that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group rules over a terrorist dystopia and she isn't scared by the American bombs falling on Raqqa, its power center in Syria.

As far as she's concerned, it's the ideal place to raise a family.

In interviews with The Associated Press, the 24-year-old Muslim convert explained her decision to move with her toddler to the territory controlled by the militant group, saying it offers them protection from the sex, crime, drugs and alcohol that she sees as rampant in largely secular Turkey.

“The children of that country see all this and become either murderers or delinquents or homosexuals or thieves,” Umi Abdullah wrote in one of several Facebook messages exchanged in recent days. She said that living under Shariah, the Islamic legal code, means that her 3-year-old boy's spiritual life is secure.

“He will know God and live under his rules,” she said. As for the American bombs being dropped on the ISIS group, she said: “I only fear God.”

Ummi Abdullah's experience - the outlines of which were confirmed by her ex-husband, Turkish authorities, and friends - illustrates the pull of the ISIS group, the self-styled caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria that has sent shockwaves around the world with its bloodthirsty campaign. It also shows how, even in Turkey - one of the most modern and prosperous of the Muslim countries - entire families are dropping everything to find salvation in what Turkish academic Ahmet Kasim Han describes as a “false heaven.”

Ummi Abdullah, originally from Kyrgyzstan, reached the ISIS group only last month, and her disappearance became front-page news in Turkey after her ex-husband, a 44-year-old car salesman named Sahin Aktan, went to the press in an effort to find their child.

Legions of others in Turkey have carted away family to the ISIS group under far less public scrutiny and in much greater numbers. In one incident earlier this month, more than 50 families from various parts of Turkey slipped across the border to live under ISIS, according to opposition legislator Atilla Kart.

Kart's figure appears high, but his account is backed by a villager from Cumra, in central Turkey, who told AP that his son and his daughter-in-law are among the massive group. The villager spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he is terrified of reprisals.

The movement of foreign fighters to the ISIS group - largely consisting of alienated, angry or simply war-hungry young Muslims - has been covered extensively since the group tore across Iraq in June, capturing Mosul, threatening Baghdad and massacring prisoners. The arrival of entire families, many but not all of them Turkish, has received less attention.

“It's about fundamentalism,” said Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Kadir Has University. The ISIS group's uncompromising interpretation of Islam promises parents the opportunity to raise their children free from any secular influence.

“It's a confined and trustable environment for living out your religion,” Han said. “It kind of becomes a false heaven.”

Ummi Abdullah's journey to radical Islam was born of loneliness and resentment. Born Svetlana Hasanova, she converted to Islam after marrying Aktan six years ago. The pair met in Turkey when Hasanova, still a teenager, came to Istanbul with her mother to buy textiles.

Aktan, speaking from his lawyer's office in Istanbul, said the relationship worked at first.

“Before we were married we were swimming in the sea, in the pool, and in the evening we would sit down and eat fish and drink wine. That's how it was,” he said, holding a photograph of the two of them, both looking radiant in a well-manicured garden. “But after the kid was born, little by little she started interpreting Islam in her own way.”

Aktan said his wife became increasingly devout, covering her hair and praying frequently, often needling him to join in. He refused.

“Thank God, I'm a Muslim,” he said. “But I'm not the kind of person who can pray five times a day.”

Asked why she became engrossed in religion, Aktan acknowledged that his wife was lonely. But in Facebook messages to the AP, many typed out on a smartphone, Ummi Abdullah accused her husband of treating her “like a slave.”

She alleged that Aktan pressured her to abort their child and said she felt isolated in Istanbul. “I had no friends,” she said. “I was constantly belittled by him and his family. I was nobody in their eyes.”

Aktan acknowledged initially asking his wife to terminate her pregnancy, saying she was too young to have children. But when she insisted on carrying the pregnancy to term, Aktan said he accepted her decision and loved the child.

Meanwhile Aktan's wife was finding the companionship she yearned for online, chatting with jihadists and filling her Facebook page with religious exhortations and attacks on gays. In June, she and Aktan divorced. The next month, a day before her ex-husband was due to pick up their son for vacation, she left with the boy for Gaziantep, a Turkish town near the Syrian border. Aktan, who had been eavesdropping on her social media activity, alerted the authorities, but the pair managed to slip across.

Aktan says he hasn't seen his son since.

It isn't clear how many families have followed Umi Abdullah's path, although anecdotal evidence suggests a powerful flow from Turkey into Syria. In Dilovasi, a heavily industrial town of 42,000 about halfway between Istanbul and the port city of Izmit, at least four people - including a pair of brothers - recently left for Syria, three local officials told AP. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media, said that dozens of people from surrounding towns were believed to have left as well.

Aktan says he is in touch with other families in similar circumstances. He cited one case in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where 15 members of the same extended family had left for Syria “as if they're going on vacation.”

The ISIS group appears eager to advertise itself as a family-friendly place. One promotional video shows a montage of Muslim fighters from around the world holding their children in Raqqa against the backdrop of an amusement park.

A man, identified in the footage as an American named Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi, holds an infant who has a toy machine gun strapped to his back.

“Look at all the little children,” al-Trinidadi says. “They're having fun.”

___

Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

ISIS Living High Life in Raqqa, Using Yazidi Females as Human Shields

By Jewish Press

Terrorists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are preparing to defend areas they captured in northern Iraq after scores were killed last week in U.S. and French air strikes. The group has evacuated command-and-control centers in Mosul, Iraq and in Raqqa, Syria, according to a report posted by The Telegraph. They have also begun to use Yazidi women captives as human shields in other places, according to the report.

Raqqa is the informal “capital” of the ISIS “caliphate” and the site where the group has carried out three high-profile beheadings in recent weeks.

But it also turns out that in Raqqa, ISIS terrorists are still pretty much living the high life, when they are not busy with mass beheadings and capturing territory. It’s not a privilege they share with the locals, however.

The terrorists have taken over the governor’s ornate palace, and they are enjoying Western comforts brought to the palace by foreign fighters.

“Although there is a war on, Swiss chocolate is very popular with them,” one resident observed. “And you see some shops reserving Western food for the jihadists. I know that one of them asked a store to get an iPhone 6 for him. It cost $2,500 and was brought in from dealers in Turkey.”

Meanwhile, up to 100,000 Kurds and other local residents in the northern city of Kobane have fled to the Turkish border, where at least 70,000 had made it across by Monday morning in advance of a takeover of the city by ISIS.

Kurds who were moving in the other direction, however, to fight against ISIS, were equally concerned about the air strikes – not wanting to become targets themselves.

Abu Mohammed, a local activist quoted by the National Post and who runs the “Raqqa is being slaughtered silently” website, said, “People are afraid of the air strikes, that they might be used as human shields or be bombed.

“Many people fled to the countryside or to Turkey… When small planes for reconnaissance appear, the jihadists hide. They even lock the doors of their headquarters. They also moved their families, their women and children, outside Raqqa.”

Abu Mohammed added that locals don’t trust America any more than they trust ISIS. “If the U.S. is really against ISIS why did they leave them all that time, and why did they turna blind eye to Bashar al-Assad? He is a terrorist who is bombing us,” he asked.

Algerian militants issue video showing killing of kidnapped Frenchman

ALGIERS: Algerian militants have released a video that appears to show them beheading Frenchman Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped on Sunday, in what the group said was a response to France's action against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The video shows Gourdel, a 55-year-old tourist from Nice, kneeling with his arms tied behind his back before four masked militants who read out a statement in Arabic criticising France's military intervention.

They then pushed him on his side and held him down. The video does not show the beheading, but a militant holds the head up to the camera.

"This is why the Caliphate Soldiers in Algeria have decided to punish France, by executing this man, and to defend our beloved Islamic State," one of the militants says in the statement he read out.

Just before the militants gave their statement, the Frenchman briefly addressed his family.

Reuters was not able to authenticate the footage and there was no immediate confirmation from the French or Algerian governments.

The Caliphate Soldiers, a splinter group linked to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, had on Monday published a video claiming responsibility for the abduction and showed the man identifying himself as Gourdel.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had said then that the taking of a French hostage would not deter French participation in a U.S.-led coalition of nations against Islamist State militants.

The kidnapping had come after Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged the group's followers to attack citizens of the United States, France and other countries that joined the coalition to destroy the radical group.

France launched its first air strikes targeting Islamic State targets in Iraq on Friday. It has said all must be done to rid the region of the group.

Western diplomats and intelligence sources say they believe there are fewer than 10 Western hostages still held by Islamic State. The group has recently beheaded two Americans, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and one Briton, David Haines, and threatened to kill another Briton, Alan Henning.

The kidnapping was one of the first abductions of a foreigner by militants in Algeria since the North African country ended its decade-long war with Islamist fighters in the 1990s.

Gourdel, a French nature guide and photographer, was taken hostage when militants stopped his vehicle in the remote mountains east of Algiers where he planned a hiking trip.

Algerian troops had been searching the mountains in an area known as the "Triangle of Death" during the bloody days of Algeria's 1990s war with Islamists. Attacks are rarer, but al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other groups are still active in Algeria.

The Caliphate Soldiers group earlier this month announced it had broken with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, to back Islamic State, in another illustration of deepening rivalries between Islamic State and al Qaeda's core leadership.

AQIM central region commander Khaled Abu Suleimane, who claimed leadership of the Caliphate Soldiers, is a hardliner who always refused peace agreements with the government and traces his militant roots back to the 1990s war.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2014/Sep-24/271833-isis-linked-group-beheads-frenchman-abducted-in-algeria-video.ashx#ixzz3EHCei2sS

‘Sex blogger’ Alvin Tan seeking political asylum in the US

Alvin Tan, the blogger who had ran foul of authorities in both Malaysia and Singapore, claims to have fled to the United States, where he intends to seek political asylum.

The 26-year-old and his partner, Vivian Lee, 25, are facing criminal charges under Malaysia's Sedition Act as well as the Film Censorship Act for their controversial online uploads, including a photo deemed insulting to Islam on Facebook, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported today.

The couple, who came to be known as "Alvivi", were jointly accused of making a seditious posting on their Facebook page last year, when they uploaded a photo of themselves eating the herbal pork soup dish, bak kut teh, with the caption "Selamat berbuka puasa" (Happy breaking fast) as it was posted during the Ramadan month.

Speaking to a CNA correspondent today, via a personal Facebook account that the regional broadcaster had verified belongs to the “sex blogger”, Tan said: “I'm busy starting a new life here (in the US), apart from awaiting my final asylum hearing. I'm here to seek political refuge from the tyranny of Umno - simple as that.”

He added that he had first applied to the US authorities for asylum-seeker status in May, after disappearing from the public eye following a documentary shoot in Singapore.

CNA reported that he feels confident the US will grant him asylum, failing which, he feels he has no other choice but to continue posting "seditious material" online to strengthen his case.

"The State Department produced a Human Rights Report on Malaysia in 2013 which explicitly cites my case as a repression of internet speech rights," he told CNA.

"If all else fails, I can easily publish more 'seditious' materials on my Facebook to taunt the authorities and get them to be hot on the pursuit of me again, therefore creating an even more well-founded fear of political persecution to bolster my asylum claim.”

Tan and Lee first got into the limelight for the wrong reasons in October 2012, when their pornographic images on a blog created a storm of controversy on both sides of the causeway.

As a result, Alvin, who was studying law at the National University of Singapore under an Asean scholarship, was marked for termination by the university. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sex-blogger-alvin-tan-seeking-political-asylum-in-the-us#sthash.IsoItpfV.dpuf

Have ‘thicker skin’ when discussing religious issues, says interfaith Muslim speaker - TMI

A Russian Muslim speaker has raised concerns about the way religious minorities are being "demonised" in Malaysia as it paves the way for more divisiveness in the country.

Julia Sveshnikova, policy coordinator for non-governmental organisation (NGO) Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), said that interfaith interaction was under threat because people's minds were being cultivated to think less of others who are different.

"That is why it rings a warning bell when religious minorities are being demonised in the eyes of a religious majority, for instance, that attitude has paved the way to the resentment about the Shia sect in Malaysia," she said at a CCM Interfaith Ecumenical Conference public forum in Petaling Jaya.

Sveshnikova referred to the history of the Jews under the Nazi regime which cultivated people's minds to the point of dehumanising the "other". When people accepted this view, it was then sufficient to condone a massacre of the Jews.

"It is a very extreme example but we are concerned that this kind of practices should not take place anywhere else," said Sveshnikova, who is based in Malaysia researching political Islam.

She added that even among university students, there seemed to be a hesitation to speak up about how they really felt, more so when their views were different from the official stand.

More worryingly, she added, was the "authority of religion" that was used to deny citizens their rights on the basis of religious affiliation.

"Sometimes non-Muslims, for instance, are advised not to speak out against injustices on the grounds they are not qualified to judge on the matters of Islam, even if they are well-versed on the theme," she said.

She also said that the government adopted a dual track – promoting the concepts of religious moderation on one hand but not actively counteracting the right-wing extremists groups on the other.

She said that one of IRF's efforts was to try and move the country from a race-based paradigm to a human-rights paradigm with attention given to matters of spirituality.

"But considering the interrelations between religion and race in Malaysia, there is always a challenge for the proponents of change to be labelled as not adhering to the tenets of Islam.

"There appears to be a 'thin skin' approach to discussing racial and religious issues, where the moment someone felt annoyed or offended, the discussion has to stop and the law is invoked," she said.

Sveshnikova added that despite these challenges, IRF was committed to intellectual discourse to promote unity and peace-building and was continuously engaging with young people to promote non-discrimination and protection for minority communities.

The three-day conference in Petaling Jaya is a platform where Christian and Muslim groups have come together to discuss ways to promote interfaith dialogue in the country.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia has in recent years seen a rise in religious intolerance expressed both by certain politicians as well as ordinary citizens.

Critics blamed the government for failing to act decisively against conservative groups and for perpetuating tension, such as in its reluctance to conclusively resolve the "Allah" controversy. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/have-thicker-skin-when-discussing-religious-issues-says-interfaith-muslim-s#sthash.hT4fQaqR.dpuf

Don’t force resit of English, Tamil and Maths papers, urges parent lobby - TMI

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has called on the Education Ministry to do away with the resit of the English, Maths and Tamil UPSR papers as it is causing unnecessary pressure on some half a million Year 6 pupils.

PAGE chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the decision by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (MES) to have students resit the papers had disregarded the circumstances and had failed to take into account the negative impact on the pupils.

"It is unacceptable to UPSR pupils and parents who have no choice, no say, and are forced to accept a resit of the papers due to the shortcomings of the MES and the greed of certain people," she said at a press conference today.

"We urge MES and the ministry to accept the UPSR papers that have been sat which are English, Mathematics and Tamil and have the pupils sit for only Science since they have yet to sit for the paper."

She added that the ministry had shown a lack of compassion by not looking more deeply into the effects, stress and pressure that have been forced upon the students.

Noor Azimah, however, stressed that Page was not condoning cheating by making this recommendation but said they were concerned with the emotional toll the re-sit was taking on the Primary Six pupils.

"The children are traumatised, angry and they have already given their best. It was only a small number who were involved in the cheating.

"Besides, it is UPSR. Even if they fail, they all go to Form 1 anyway. It would not make a difference unlike the SPM and STPM," she added.

The first two leaks were found in the Science and English papers. Students had already sat for the English paper when the leak was announced. They will now re-sit the English paper and take the Science examination for the first time on September 30.

On Monday, the Education Ministry announced that pupils would also have to retake the Mathematics and Tamil language papers on October 9.

Both papers were found to have been leaked on September 21, said director-general of Education Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof.

Since the leak of the English and Science papers were revealed on September 10, police have arrested a total of 14 people to assist in investigations, including 12 teachers.

Noor Azimah lauded the ministry's swift action in arresting the suspected culprits but added that it should make known the steps it has taken to ensure that such leaks do not happen in future national examinations, including the PT3, SPM and STPM.

"Have we reached a level where our morals are so low that dishonesty becomes our culture?

"The Education Ministry must win back the trust of the parents. When it affects the future of their children, parents have long memories," she added.

Both education ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the deputy prime minister and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh have since issued public apologies over the leaks.

On September 12, Muhyiddin announced the suspension of Examinations Syndicate director Dr Na'imah Ishak and deputy director (operations) Dr Wan Ilias Wan Salleh with immediate effect.

However, this has been refuted by the ministry's secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad who said that they were not suspended but just re-assigned to other duties unrelated to the Examinations Syndicate to enable an independent committee to carry out its investigation. – September 24, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dont-force-re-sit-of-english-tamil-and-math-papers-urges-parent-lobby#sthash.lxTJvJyw.dpuf

Mahathir: Go ahead and arrest me if I'm wrong

 

In his trademark fashion, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that he has no qualms being arrested if he has broken the law.

He was commenting on a police report lodged by a DAP lawmaker this afternoon, accusing the former premier of sedition.

"I can quote many more extreme statements by everybody, but I don't want to do that. As a politician, I don't expect people to please me all the time but (to) condemn...," he said.

Asked what if police launched an investigation, he replied: "Well, I am just an ordinary citizen now. If I am supposed to be arrested under the law, then go ahead."

In his report, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said Mahathir made seditious remarks against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang during the last general election campaign.

Earlier today, Kit Siang asked Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi if his vow to launch a probe within 24 hours into sedition reports applied to Mahathir as well.

Kit Siang was referring to the remarks made by the former premier when the DAP leader contested for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in the last general election.

He quoted Mahathir as saying that the DAP leader was contesting the seat because he wanted the Chinese in Gelang Patah and Johor to "reject working together and sharing with Malays", "to dislike and hate Malays" and to create "conflict and antagonism between the races".

Kit Siang raised this issue following PKR's revelation yesterday that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is being probed under the Sedition Act over remarks he made during a political rally three years ago.

Meanwhile, Lip Eng's police report also named Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak with regard to the latter's remarks during the 2010 Umno general assembly on defending Putrajaya till the end.

'Better to held under ISA than dead'

Meanwhile, on a related issue, Mahathir admitted that he had used the Internal Security Act against opponents.
　　

The man who governed the country for 22 years, however, defended his move by saying that at least ISA detainees are not killed.

　

"We only detained people under ISA, but they still alive, (we) don't pass judgement on absentee criminals and decide that criminals should be killed and executed.

　

"Nowadays, they have drone and sent it to kill people. I think that is worse than our record of keeping all our opponent in jail.

　

"During my time, I jailed everyone. This is what people are saying about me," he said jokingly.

　
Denying accusations of his iron grip in his trademark sarcasm, Mahathir said he had the "privilege of being a dictator" as it meant easier crisis-management.

"I normally line them up against the wall and kill them," he quipped.

　

Mahathir (above) was sharing his view on crisis management in a speech at 'CEO Forum: Surviving The Next Global Financial Crisis'.

　

On a more serious note, Mahathir said his training and practice as medical doctor prepared him for the non-medical crisis in the country.

　

As an example, he cited the 1997 financial crisis.

　

"I would have punch (currency speculator George) Soros in the nose.

"I did say nasty things about him. It's very unfair to an emerging country which our currency devalued," he said.

'Constitutional matters should be settled quickly'

Senior lawyer and constitutional expert, Cyrus Das has proposed that there be direct access for constitutional matters to be referred directly to the Federal Court.

He says this is practised in India where they have specialised constitutional courts to handle controversial cases.

At present, cases are filed at the High Court and they have to progressively make their way to the Court of Appeal and then the Federal Court, which is the apex court.

This is a process which could take several years.

“What we need is not a constitutional court - what we need is the equivalent of Article 32 of the Indian constitution for direct access to the apex court on matters of constitutional differences or controversy.

“This was proposed by the Reid Commission (for Malaya) when they were discussing remedies for enforcement of constitutional rights. Article 32 of the Indian constitution came up but it was shot down, because they thought we were not ready for that,” he said.

'Life and soul'

Cyrus, who is the managing partner in the Shook Lin and Bok law firm, said having direct access would stop cases being delayed as it is processed through the system.

“In India, the constitutional courts are described as the`life and soul' of the Indian constitution,” he asserted.

“If there is direct access for a case to be adjudicated, you would not have the delay we find happening in our courts. It is not solely about the setting up of a special body,” he said.

Cyrus was responding to questions from the floor at a three panel talk on the topic “Federal constitution of Malaysia after 50 years – What the future holds” on whether there was a need to form constitutional courts.

The senior lawyer compared to the formation of constitutional courts in South Africa in 1994 and also in Germany which are highly successful.

“In South Africa it is respected everywhere and its jurisprudence is applied worldwide,” he said.

“At the end of the day the court is only as good as the people who man it. In the end, what is more important is direct access to to the apex court,” he emphasised.

There are several constitutional cases which have taken years to reach the Federal Court, deemed the constitutional court.

The Perak constitutional crisis on the rightful MB for the state - the Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin (left) vs Zambry Abdul Kadir case - was the fastest, being resolved within a year.

However cases on religious conversion like Lina Joy's, as well as S Shamala vs Dr M Jeyaganesh, took years to progress.

There's also the Archbishop of the Catholic Church vs Home Ministry case on the use of the word 'Allah'. It began in 2009, and is still ongoing.

Lonely business dealing with constitution

Senior lawyer and constitutional expert Tommy Thomas described the frustration of dealing with these cases, saying it was a lonely business.

He said there are no more than 10 to 20 lawyers who often do constitutional cases. "And recently we have lost Raja Aziz Addruse and Karpal Singh (right)," he noted.

“It is a very lonely business as you seldom ever win. All your arguments are rejected and you ask yourself if you are the same lawyer who argues on company law cases (and win) but the next day you argue constitutional cases with the same ability (and lose)," said Thomas.

However academician and associate professor from Universiti Malaya Azmi Sharom responded cynically to the question on the need for a constitutional court saying: “Only after you have a fresh batch of constitutional judges.”

The three day international law conference was launched today by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

Expert: Even Queen Elizabeth can't choose PM

 

No ruler, not even Queen Elizabeth II, has the power to select the prime minister under the Westminster parliamentary system, says senior lawyer Tommy Thomas.

Using the British political crisis in 1990 and 1991 as an example, Thomas said, the Conservative Party wanted to get rid of Margaret Thatcher and John Major was appointed to replace her to lead the party.

And still, the ruler did not intervene and appointed Major as the next prime minister.

"Did Queen Elizabeth, as the constitutional monarch, have a choice and say 'I do not like Major (left) and I do not want him to be the PM', and 'I prefer (Michael) Hasseltine' to lead the Conservative Party?

"She is a constitutional monarch, she has no say in the selection of the leader of the Conservative Party," Thomas said at an international conference today.

Moving on to Australia, he said the governor-general also did not intervene in the Labour Party tussle involving Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

"Did the governor-general of Australia, who has the power of a constitutional monarch, have the discretion to say 'Gillard, I won't accept you and I noticed that you are a woman'?" Thomas (right) asked.

Like the two classic examples of the application of the Westminster systems in appointment of chief executives, he said, India’s president too did not have a say when Narendra Modi won the country's last general election earlier this year.

"The president of India couldn't say, ‘I don't like Mr Modi or I do not like the outfit he wears, give me three other names’," he said at the International Malaysia Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Thomas was responding to a question from the floor from a lawyer on what is taught in constitutional law classes and what is applied in the present situation, especially with the Selangor crisis.

Yesterday, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was sworn-in as Selangor menteri besar upon the sultan's selection, although his party nominated its president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

'Party chooses the leader'

Thomas said what was happening in Selangor was wrong.

“If this question is asked to Tun Razak or Tun Ismail and they have had difficult menteris besar during their time, they would ask,  'are you kidding?' The party chooses the leader and that is the end of the matter,” he said.

Thomas said this in response to a question from the floor from a lawyer on what is taught in constitutional law classes and what is applied in the present situation, especially with the Selangor crisis.

Yesterday, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was sworn-in as Selangor menteri besar, upon the sultan's selection, although his party and DAP nominated PRK president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to take ovcer from Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The Selangor sultan in a statement issued through his private secretary Mohd Munir Bani yesterday, said that the palace was not interfering in the choice of the menteri besar and the long wait was due to Pakatan Rakyat's inability to agree on who would assume the post.

To questions on which parts of the Federal Constitution would the three speakers at the conference  like to see amended, Universiti Malaya associate professor Azmi Sharom, said he would not amend anything.

“However, the judges need a constitutional law class and it would preferably be conducted at UM,” Azmi, who is one of those facing sedition charges, said, apparently in jest.

The other speaker, senior lawyer, Cyrus Das (right), said he would not amend the constitution but emphasised that respect for the fundamental rights of the citizens, as outlined in Part II, cannot be amended.

Das said the problem right now is that everyone has got their own ideas as to what the constitution should be.

If we looked at the basic document (the Federal Constitution) and the Reid Report, he said, we would like to see that the basic rights are maintained and undisturbed, no matter which party holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

On another question on how to educate the people on the correct position of the law with regard to the Selangor menteri besar issue, Azmi said there has to be a strong stand from the academia and Bar as to what the law actually says on the matter.

“The concept of constitutional monarchy is to hang on to certain history... and the role of royalty in this kind of system cannot be like in the past anymore. I don't think it is desirable.

“We just have to say  that the way you do it is different from what we have been seeing,” Azmi (left) said, adding he regretted that the mainstream media would not publish his views on this matter.

This, he acknowledged, was a continuous struggle that Malaysians should labour on.

Das said educating the people in this area was an impossible task as everybody would put forward a viewpoint that would be to their interests or persuasion.

“You can never get an objective view of this issues. I often see one cannot reach out that this is the actual constitutional position and not the other.

“So long there are politicians, each one of them will put their viewpoints forward and they will put that across to the wider public,” Das added.

'Reform constitution to avoid future MB crisis'

 

A day after Azmin Ali was sworn in as the new Selangor menteri besar following a protracted saga, a PKR leader has asked him to ensure that such a crisis does not recur.

To avert such situations in future, PKR supreme council member Gooi Hsiao Leung said Azmin must include "constitutional reform" on his list of important issues to tackle.

The Alor Setar MP said the state constitution must better define the role of constitutional monarchy in order to avoid "confusion" that has reigned during the crisis.

The Selangor Sultan, Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had exercised his "discretion" to appoint Azmin to the post, overlooking PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail even though the latter had displayed her majority from at least 30 assemblypersons in the 56-member state assembly in Selangor.

"The explanation put forward by the sultan’s private secretary on why Azmin Ali was selected instead of Wan Azizah does not hold any water whatsoever and is in fact a departure from the most fundamental constitutional principle- which is the majority in the state assembly," said Gooi.

"Furthermore, the manner in which the palace had been wrongfully advised in vetting potential MB candidates has also created public confusion as to the role of a constitutional monarchy as practiced in the Westminster parliamentary system," he added.

Gooi said that the serious question having been raised in the crisis is whether the MB is appointed by the sultan or the ruling party that is elected by the people.

"I urge the Pakatan Rakyat leadership, especially Azmin, to use his new role as the Selangor menteri besar, to initiate immediate constitutional reforms to avert another crisis in the future," he added.

Heritage village may be demolished

A 200-year-old Siamese village may be flattened to build a hotel.

GEORGE TOWN: A 200-year-old Siamese village is at risk of being demolished and flattened to pave the way for a mega hotel.

Residents of the living heritage, located on an acre of land in Lorong Bangkok, Pulau Tikus, received eviction notices from the new landowner, Five Star Heritage Sdn Bhd, in April with a compensation offer of RM30,000 for each family.

However after staging a protest against the eviction today, the developer is now applying for a court order to evict the residents instead.

DAP’s Pulau Tikus assemblyperson Yap Soo Huey has written to the MPPP and state government urging the authorities not to approve the hotel project, arguing that the residents wanted their cultural heritage to be preserved and recognised.

The village is home to some 40 families in 17 homes who have been residing there for six generations.

Deputy Chairman of the Penang Siamese Society, Boon Leua Aroomratana, 56, a Penang Port worker, who was born and bred in the village, said if the village was demolished, a major part of his life and childhood memories would be erased including close community ties nurtured through the years.

His father, Noo Wan @ Wan Dee Aroomratana, 93, who is a Thai cultural dance or Menora expert, shared his son’s sentiments.

He said a traditional Menora dance troupe was also born from the community and continued to perform nationally and regionally.

Noo Wan also explained that the residents were descendants of the Siamese, who migrated to Penang, and started family businesses in Pulau Tikus.

Many of the other Siamese families in the village recalled that their land was granted to the Siamese and Burmese communities by the East India Company on behalf of Queen Victoria in 1845.

The land was to be held in trust by four trustees that were elected and appointed from among the Siamese-Burmese community.

Early this year, the community was told their land had been sold.

The village is part of a four-acre piece of land with many heritage landmarks like the Buddhist temple Wat Chaiyamangalaram that houses a statue of the Reclining Buddha. There is also a Siamese cemetery within the grounds.

Agihan kerusi exco bidang kuasa MB, kata Anwar

The Way Asian States Interplay With US And China Will Determine Peace

WASHINGTON DC, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- The way Asian states interplay with the United States (US) and China will determine whether Asia's big rise brings a new era of co-operation and peace, said Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib said Asean, which speaks for 600 million people, will play a part in managing that relationship.

The Prime Minister said that Malaysia has a strong relationship with both the US and China and has a shared interest in stable, secure and peaceful region.

"I believe that by pursuing peace within our borders and co-operation in our region, we can show that Asia's remarkable growth can bring a better world, a safer, more sustainable world. We can honour the promise placed in us, by the people of Asia, and all those who look to Asia, in hope and expectation," he said in his keynote address at the Georgetown University, here on Tuesday.

Najib who in his speech outlined key issues affecting Asia's security said that there were several key questions and issues that would shape Asia's near future such as the rise of China, the US' pivot towards Asia and Japan's increasing engagement in the region.

Najib said the world had seen first-hand the astonishing economic development which had propelled China to its current heights and how the changes in China's economy had opened up new opportunities for its neighbours and partners.

However, he said that aside from trying to understand-and replicate-China's success, observers also wanted to know whether China's rise would be primary peaceful and economic, or martial and assertive.

"We welcome the peaceful rise of China. We have seen that a China which pursues peace, stability and mutual development is an invaluable partner for developed and developing countries alike," he said.

On the role of the US, Najib said Malaysia believed that America would remain a Pacific power, and in the medium term, America's continued commitment towards peace, stability and prosperity was welcomed by many Asian voices, who valued the friendship built over many years of bilateral and regional relations.

"But there is also concern that the stage is being set for a new 'great game', that Asia - and in particular, East and South East Asia - will find itself at the heart of a struggle between rival superpowers," he said.