Perkasa: Tornadoes due to 'dog patting' and vices

 

The recent series of rarely seen tornadoes in the country has left people scratching their heads but Selangor Perkasa appears to have an explanation.

The right-wing group, in a…

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The recent series of rarely seen tornadoes in the country has left people scratching their heads but Selangor Perkasa appears to have an explanation.

The right-wing group, in a Facebook posting yesterday raised the possibility that the recent phenomenon may be related to vices in the country which it says, includes a 'dog patting' event for Muslims and a beer festival.

"Could it have something to do with the widespread vices such as gambling centres, prostitution, beer festival and dog patting festival which have become an attraction (for tornadoes)," said the ethnocentric group.

The NGO said this phenomenon did not happen in the past and appear to have only come about recently.

"What is making these tornadoes to be interested in coming to this country when all this while it had never been interested to do so.

"In the past, we only hear it visiting the South China Sea and even if it does 'visit', it would be to Vietnam or the Philippines," it said.

Perkasa was referring to an event dubbed 'I Want to Touch a Dog' last Sunday at a park in Kuala Lumpur, aimed at breaking the taboo among Muslims about coming in contact with dogs.

The event was well-attended – with Muslims making up the majority of the 1,000-strong crowd – but has sparked outrage among conservatives.

Earlier this month, nation-wide events to mark the Oktoberfest beer festival too had drawn criticism from conservatives, insisting that it disrespected Muslims sensitivities.

Malaysians were taken by surprise when a tornado struck Pendang, Kedah, on Oct 14, damaging eight houses and uprooting several trees.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET) confirmed the rare incident which it attributed to these factors - high humidity, concentration of air at low levels, and the unstable atmosphere.

A week later, a freak storm struck Pandamaran, Klang, damaging 30 homes, which some media reports have described as a "small tornado".

However, the MET described that incident as a "large-scale storm" due to the formation of high intensity clouds.

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'Bajet fokus Bumi bukan kerana kerajaan rasis'

Uthayakumar: Waytha did the right thing by resigning

In prison, one dipper for all, says Uthaya

 

INTERVIEW During his imprisonment, P Uthayakumar’s wife S Indra Devi had repeatedly raised the issue of her husband being in unhygienic conditions.

Uthayakumar, who was sentenced to an initial 30 months…

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INTERVIEW During his imprisonment, P Uthayakumar’s wife S Indra Devi had repeatedly raised the issue of her husband being in unhygienic conditions.

Uthayakumar, who was sentenced to an initial 30 months under the Sedition Act in 2013, said that he had highlighted it because it was not his case alone - it happened to everyone.

Relating his experience with the ‘multipurpose dipper’ in Kajang prison, Uthayakumar said prisoners use the same dipper to wash their wounds and soak their underwear in.

The dipper refers to the “gayong” used to fill water to wash oneself with after using the toilet.

“When there is a shortage of food trays, wardens dump food into the dipper, from which inmates will eat from with their bare hands, even those with scabs on their hands.

Uthayakumar said once, he even saw a prisoner vomit in the dipper.

As for the food, Uthayakumar said the menu is tasteless. He calls his prison term diet as complete detoxification of the human body.

“It is the first time I heard of sup air (water soup). If there is oil traces on any of the food, it is considered to be such a treat. There is almost no oil, which explains why most inmates have very dry skin,” said Uthayakumar.

He said one can either accept the food or go hungry for the rest of the day.

‘In the dark room, Malaysiakini saved me”

Due to his often “smuggled” and written complaints, he was placed in the ‘dark room’ thrice.

 

“I will tell you how to smuggle only when you are inside,” said Uthayakumar when asked how he did it. 

Once, they put him in solitary confinement for repeatedly missing the roll call.

“I had to sleep on the cement floor, with the longest experience for 14 days. I was in solitary confinement with no pillow, no blanket and no toiletries. There is a small window which opens up to the corridor and when they off the light, it is pitch black. The door is of hard steel.

“Despite being a hardened activist, I felt helpless that I could not even save myself.

“I kept myself busy by having a routine in the dark room. I would walk in circles, at times a thousand circles. Then I would go to the small tap and wash myself. Then the food comes. Then I walk circles again in the cell. Once it went on for five days.”

However, on the sixth day, an officer pulled him outside the cell and told him that they had read his complaints which were published in Malaysiakini.

“At that moment I was thinking, if not for Malaysiakini it was during my worst times in prison, I was hitting rock-bottom…that in a way, Malaysiakini was my saviour.”

Uthayakumar has initiated contempt proceedings against those who were allegedly responsible for his conditions of imprisonment.

Yesterday: Utahaya recounts horrors of a Malaysian prison

Next week, Uthayakumar talks of Hindraf failure, his brother and Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

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PM, ministers and ambassadors celebrate Deepavali

Rakyat Malaysia di London bantah Akta Hasutan

Terror in Jerusalem: Baby killed, 7 hurt in attack at Light Rail station

Palestinian known to security forces plows car into crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill station of Jerusalem's Light Rail; paramedic: car hit baby girl's stroller.

Noam 'Dabul' Dvir…

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Palestinian known to security forces plows car into crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill station of Jerusalem's Light Rail; paramedic: car hit baby girl's stroller.

Noam 'Dabul' Dvir

Terror returns to Jerusalem: A 3-month-old baby girl was killed and seven other people were wounded Wednesday evening when a Palestinian plowed his car into a crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill station of Jerusalem's Light Rail.

The driver - Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludi, a resident of the village of Silwad with a record of security related offenses - attempted to flee the scene on foot, but was shot by police. He sustained chest wounds and succumbed to his wounds late Wednesday evening after being taken to a Jerusalem hospital in serious condition.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the car struck the train station near the national headquarters of the police force.

He said police were investigating but all signs pointed to an intentional attack. "There is a strong possibility that it was a terror attack," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in wake of the attack, saying: "This is how Abu Mazen (Abbas') partners in government work," Netanyau said, referring to the Palestinian unity government comprising Hamas and Fatah that Israel has consistenly opposed. "This is the same Abbas that only a few days ago called for harming Jews in Jerusalem."

Interior Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, who arrived at the scene, also said that, "all signs indicate this is a terror attack." He further said that the driver had served time in prison before. He praised the police for their quick response.

"This is not an intifada," Aharonovich said, noting that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that the police and the Shin Bet internal security service were investigating.

Two men in their 20s also were taken to Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus with light wounds. Hadassah at Ein Kerem took in three wounded women, one in serious condition and two lightly hurt.

Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4583138,00.html

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Syria Isis News: 40 al-Qaida Nusra Fighters Defect to Islamic State with Enslaved Woman Given to Leader

By Gianluca Mezzofiore

Dozens of fighters from the al-Qaida offshoot in Syria, the Jabhat al-Nusra front, have defected and joined Isis (Islamic State) in Syria in the past days, according…

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By Gianluca Mezzofiore

Dozens of fighters from the al-Qaida offshoot in Syria, the Jabhat al-Nusra front, have defected and joined Isis (Islamic State) in Syria in the past days, according to a monitoring group.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have reported that 40 militants from Syria's largest al-Qaida group moved to Al-Bab city, one of the bastions of the Islamic State northeast of Aleppo, and pledged allegiance to self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Isis reportedly offered an enslaved woman named Sabbieh to the leader of the 40 Nusra defectors as a reward for joining the Islamic State.

While no additional details were available on the desertion, the Observatory said the defected included an Emir who retired from fighting on the al-Nusra side.

Al-Nusra, which takes orders directly from al-Qaida's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, has battled IS in Syria in the past year while becoming the strongest and best equipped among the rebel groups fighting against troops loyal to president Bashar al-Assad.

Since September, however, US-led air strikes on IS positions near the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, which has been besieged by the jihadists, led al-Nusra to move towards a new alliance with IS. The Islamist group called the attacks a "war on Islam" and at least 73 members defected to IS earlier in September.

A source said al-Nusra and IS leaders were holding war planning meetings.

In February, in a bid to reassert influence among rival Islamic groups in Syria, al-Qaida had severed ties with IS, who reportedly disobeyed orders from network leader al-Zawahiri not to operate independently from the official offshoot, the al-Nusra front.

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‘Pendatang’ furore proof of Barisan’s failure, says DAP

That Malaysians are still using the “pendatang” (immigrant) slur against one another after 57 years of Merdeka is proof that the millions of ringgit Putrajaya spent on nation-building have been…

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That Malaysians are still using the “pendatang” (immigrant) slur against one another after 57 years of Merdeka is proof that the millions of ringgit Putrajaya spent on nation-building have been wasted, says DAP.

The party's parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang (pic), today said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should review his 1Malaysia and Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) nation-building policies.

"Since the 70s, there is a National Unity Department in the Prime Minister's Department, but all the tens and even hundreds millions of ringgit of budget expenditures have been a total waste and loss, when 57 years after Merdeka, extremists are hurling the “pendatang” label at ordinary, loyal and patriotic Malaysians."

He said the majority of Malaysians were local-born and "100% Malaysians", leaving no reason for anyone to describe another as a pendatang.

"This is in fact questioning the citizenship rights of Malaysians, which is entrenched as one of the four ‘sensitive’ rights in the Malaysian Constitution in 1971, whereby it becomes an automatic sedition offence to call for the withdrawal of a Malaysian's citizenship."

Lim said the term was loaded in a very derogatory, pejorative and even abusive sense.

"Calling loyal, patriotic Malaysians, born and bred and who will die in Malaysia as ‘pendatang’ must be condemned as a form of extremism, which Najib denounced in the United Nations and international forums since becoming prime minister."

On Monday, Gerakan delegate Tan Lai Soon was suspended by his party for saying Malays, too, were “pendatang”.

It was not the first time the “pendatang” remark was made. In 2008, Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail made the remark to describe Chinese Malaysians who came to Malaya as immigrants during the British colonial rule.

The remark infuriated the Chinese and caused a serious rift between Umno and Gerakan in Penang. A Sin Chew reporter was detained overnight under the Internal Security Act for reporting what Ahmad said.

Ahmad was suspended from Umno and stripped of his party post for three years. He has since returned to politics as well as to his old position as Bukit Bendera division chief.

Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman also courted controversy when he described the Chinese as intruders brought in by the British. He is facing a sedition trial over the remark. – October 22, 2014.

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Gerakan wants BN to act on 'extremist' members

Gerakan has urged all BN parties to follow its lead to suspend any member who makes 'extremist' remarks at annual general assemblies.

He said BN parties must do so following…

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Gerakan has urged all BN parties to follow its lead to suspend any member who makes 'extremist' remarks at annual general assemblies.

He said BN parties must do so following Gerakan's immediate action of suspending Johor delegate Tan Lai Soon for calling Malays 'pendatang' (immigrant) at the party's AGM last weekend.

"We have to take action immediately especially since Gerakan does not want to see any leaders from other BN component parties making racist or extreme remarks during their annual general meetings.

"We will urge party leaders to take immediate action on its members who make such remarks," Gerakan secretary-general Liang Teck Meng said at press conference today.

Liang (left) was speaking in general terms, but the only major BN party yet to hold its AGM is Umno.

Earlier a proposal was made at a division level Umno AGM for the abolition of vernacular schools to be discussed at the national general meeting. This prompted an outcry including from Gerakan.

While debating the Gerakan president’s policy speech on Sunday, Tan said: "Let me make the positions of Malaysians clear: Malays, Chinese and Indians were all pendatang, except the Orang Asli, Sabahans and Sarawakians, who are the original bumiputera."

The following day, Gerakan issued him a show-cause letter, urging him to explain his position within 14 days, failing which, he will be expelled from the party.

Zero tolerance

Under pressure from its members unhappy over the suspension, Liang today said the move was in line with the party constitution.

Liang explained that it was only natural for a member to be suspended pending investigation by the party's central working committee.

He also reiterated that Tan's (below) remarks were wholly against they party's stand.

"I want to stress that no race should be labelled as pendatang. What Tan said goes against the party's stand," said Liang in a press conference today.

He also recalled the case of then Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail who called the Chinese 'pendatang' in 2008.

"Penang Gerakan Youth wanted to leave BN over his statement. As a result, he was suspended for three years over his remarks."

Asked if this breaches Tan's freedom of speech, Liang argued that even the Parliament has its standing orders.

He also said he is "surprised" that the DAP, which promotes multiculturalism, supports Tan's remark.

“I cannot tolerate it and I feel offended if they want to claim everyone is pendatang," he said.

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DAP: AG must clear air on Bible threat dismissal

 

Attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail should come forward to explain if he had personally signed off on the parliamentary reply which explained why the threat to burn Bibles is…

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Attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail should come forward to explain if he had personally signed off on the parliamentary reply which explained why the threat to burn Bibles is not prosecuted.

DAP’s Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said that this important not only so Malaysians would know the justifications for such a reasoning but also to know if a cabinet minister is doing the bidding of junior officers.

"If the answer was prepared by a law officer in the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) without the personal approval of the AG himself, does it mean that the minister in the Prime Minister's Department assigned the duties and responsibilities of a de facto law minister is merely an agent not only of the AG, but also of law officers in the AGC?

"If so, this will make an even greater mockery of the powers and responsibilities of the de facto law minister,” he said in a statement.

Lim (left) was referring to the parliamentary reply by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri on whether Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali will be charged for threatening to burn Malay-language Bibles.

In the reply she said he will not be prosecuted as he had no intention to cause disharmony and was defending the sanctity of Islam.

She said he was only responding to claims that copies of the holy book were distributed to Muslim students at a school in Penang.

'Most powerful AG'

In the wake of public outrage, Nancy explained that she was only relaying the AG’s position and that the cabinet does not meddle in prosecutions.

Lim said that if this is so, then the AG is the most powerful AG in the world as he is above cabinet and prime ministerial review.

He also questioned why Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has not stated whether the government or BN agrees with the decision not to prosecute Ibrahim for the threat.

Ibrahim recently admitted that he did say the Bibles should be seized and burned last year, but said his remark was only directed to Muslim parents whose children have been given Bibles.

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Let’s stop this pendatang nonsense

Khairie Hisyam Aliman, Malay Mail Online

So finally someone shot back in style to the Malay supremacists. Last Sunday, a Gerakan man told UMNO last Sunday that Malays are supposedly…

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Khairie Hisyam Aliman, Malay Mail Online

So finally someone shot back in style to the Malay supremacists. Last Sunday, a Gerakan man told UMNO last Sunday that Malays are supposedly ‘pendatang’ to this land as well. And for his troubles, Gerakan member Tan Lai Soon was immediately suspended from the party.

Various non-government organisations (NGOs) including ISMA — who once called the Chinese ‘pendatang’ — lodged police reports against him. Federal minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim reportedly wants action against Tan. On the other hand Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said yes, Malays are ‘pendatang’ too but we came first.

But lurking beneath the fascinating responses to Tan’s statement is the point that this catchy rhetoric simply perpetuates a conversation that is fundamentally flawed.

The very concept of citizenship means that once you are granted a Malaysian citizenship, through birth or otherwise, you are Malaysian. You would have to pay taxes, obey the law, uphold the Constitution and swear allegiance to the King and country, just like any other citizen before you.

Once you’re in, you’re in — until such time that you renounce your citizenship. Apart from political alignment, citizens of this nation are all on the same side: Team Malaysia.

As a nation, there is no ‘us’ or ‘them’. Just ‘us’.

So why are we still talking about whose fathers came from where like it is the single overarching factor of everything today?

Our identity, past and present

History, of course, is important. Malaysia’s history is rich and the nation today has a wealth of diversified cultural heritage. Remembering where our forebears come from lends perspective.

Yes, Malays were in what would become Malaya long before the Chinese and the Indian immigrants came. But as our history unfolded, citizenship was extended to the immigrants, who in turn pledge loyalty to the nation.

Sarawak and Sabah had their own history and joined with Malaya to form Malaysia, which many seem to forget or dismiss today.

More importantly, the granting of citizenship back then was not conditional upon forgoing cultural heritage and identity. Unlike Indonesia for example, there were no nationwide assimilation policies per se to homogenise our national identity.

Hence today we do not have a homogenous identity as a nation. Rather, we have a multi-cultural identity forged by our various races brought together under one roof.

And we supposedly celebrate our diversity, going by how we advertise ourselves as a tourism destination. Yet we continue to talk about who came here first and who are supposedly superior because they came first.

This talk of ‘pendatang’, among others, tries to tackle an issue that is long past our control: that the immigrants of so many decades ago were eventually granted citizenships and their children were subsequently born citizens of the land just like any other Malaysian today.

But trying to undo the past is futile. None of us can choose who our fathers are, where our ancestors came from. Nor can we change what our fathers chose to do in the past.

Now Malaysia is what it is and there is no going back, nor should there be. Having each other with all the implications that brings enrich us further collectively.

We all own Malaysia

What we should talk about today instead is making the arrangement work for all of us, not just some of us. Like it or not every single Malaysian has rights to the nation as provided by the Constitution and the law.

While we cannot undo the past, we can shape the present and choose the future. We cannot choose our ancestors but we can choose who we are, what we do today and what we leave for our descendants.

For my fellow citizens who did not and do not wish to migrate away from this country, their choice is, essentially, to be Malaysians.

They are choosing to be loyal to this land they are born to and which they call home.

They are choosing to live here, to start families here, to fulfil what is expected of citizens here. And sometimes they even go above and beyond that for their fellow citizens.

It is something that many take for granted but nonetheless no less important. That choice to be Malaysian, to pledge loyalty to this nation and to serve it, should matter more today than lineage and ancestry.

Who is to say that the so-called ‘pendatang’ Malaysians are not as willing as, if not more than, other Malaysians to give their all for the country? Or that the other Malaysians are more patriotic solely by virtue of their ancestry?

The better measure of a good Malaysian, to my mind, is what service a person does for the betterment of the nation. And, in turn, how we can all prosper together while we are at it.

That, unlike who our fathers were and where our fathers came from, is something we can all do something about.

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Anwar rejects exile

 

Najib Abdul Razak and Umno Baru were denied an early Deepavali present when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim dismissed all talk of going into exile, in London.

Just imagine the…

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Najib Abdul Razak and Umno Baru were denied an early Deepavali present when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim dismissed all talk of going into exile, in London.

Just imagine the headlines in Utusan Malaysia and TV3 if Anwar had chosen exile: ‘Coward Anwar seeks exile to escape jail’, ‘Exile proves Anwar’s guilt’, ‘Anwar abandons followers, lives in luxury in London’, ‘We told you so; Anwar is scared to face the truth’.

When he was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph, Anwar expressed no plans to form a government in exile, in London, despite unsuccessful attempts by his friends to convince him to stay. He admitted the strain placed on his family. He was sanguine about reform.

He said, “It is very difficult, particularly for my family. But when I started this case for reform in Malaysia I knew it was not going to be easy.”

If Anwar had chosen exile, Najib would have effectively isolated Anwar from his followers. The rakyat would not be spared either. They would be told that throwing their money and weight behind Anwar was wasteful, and their support for the opposition a futile cause.

Najib knows that having Anwar in exile is as good as putting him behind bars; but there are subtle differences.

People who have conducted a long-distance romance know that the relationship could suffer without complete commitment and absolute trust. The pressures and sacrifices are enormous. Anwar, in exile, and his supporters would face the same test. Who would falter first?

In recent months, many disillusioned Malaysians have had their confidence shaken by the troubles in Pakatan. In the recent Kajang move, PAS appeared to be hastening the break-up of the coalition.

Disheartened Malaysians should heed Anwar’s words. When he led the charge for reform, he knew it was going to be a long haul. Change is not for the faint-hearted. Decades of Umno Baru’s decadent and divisive rule, cannot be unravelled overnight. Are we all prepared to wait?

Anwar has laid the foundations for change, and although he risks losing his freedom, we have nothing to lose, apart from some sleepless nights, or our cool, when we are spat on, in a peaceful protest, by pro-government thugs.

If he were to be jailed, Anwar’s companions will be a few books, if his captors allow him that luxury, and the cockroaches in his cell. In relative freedom, we have the companionship and support of one another, to continue the reform agenda.

Jailing Anwar is not a simple matter for it presents Umno Baru with several dilemmas.

First. Jail might make Anwar a martyr. Umno Baru will want to avoid this at all costs.

Second. Jail reduces many of the opportunities to distract the rakyat. At present, our attention is immediately diverted, should any bad news emerge. Notice how the major corruption or religious scandals are immediately preceded by yet another Anwar sexposé? Sex sells, especially among the Malays.

Whetting our appetite for change

Third. Jail will not isolate Anwar. He may be physically removed, from our presence, but he has whetted our appetite for change. His absence will focus Malaysian minds and provide renewed momentum for change. It will prove to the authorities that we are capable of leading the charge, by ourselves.

Jailing Anwar may backfire on Najib. Urgings for reform will be re-energised with vengeance.

Anwar said that his exile would have a detrimental effect on Malaysians, especially its youth. He knows that responsible leaders are important role models. He said, “...if people like me can’t stand up against these atrocities what can we expect from young people?”

He is right. The problem is not always with our leaders. Our youth can be equally perplexing.

Two days before Anwar’s interview with The Daily Telegraph, PAS president Hadi Awang (right) had given a talk to Malaysian students in London.

Responding to a question fielded by a student, Hadi told his audience that women were perfectly suited to be leaders in their respective fields, but that they had no legitimacy to be leaders of the state, or the nation. He stressed that the woman’s importance lay in nurturing the family unit.

There is sex equality in Islam, so one must assume that Hadi is a closet misogynist. Why has he avoided the remarkable women leaders from the decadent west and Israel? Any Malaysian woman who aspires to be a menteri besar, or prime minister should avoid Hadi.

He has conveniently ignored the women leaders in Pakistan and Bangladesh, both Muslim nations. He has forgotten the succession of six Queens who ruled the Kingdom of Patani in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The PAS president is entitled to his views, but more shocking was the reaction of some female students that night. They agreed that Malay women should not aspire to be PM.

It appears that Anwar has much unfinished business amongst the Malay community. We still need him to free young Malay minds from the bondage of conservative Islam, Malay feudalism and subservient culture. Without Anwar, few Malay women will contribute to nation-building.

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).

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Malaysians Of Hindu Faith Celebrate Deepavali In A Joyous Ambience

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysians of the Hindu faith today celebrate Deepavali in a joyous ambience by holding religious events and open houses.

The highlight of the celebration…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysians of the Hindu faith today celebrate Deepavali in a joyous ambience by holding religious events and open houses.

The highlight of the celebration in the national capital is the Deepavali open house hosted by MIC at Dewan Merdeka, Putra World trade Centre (PWTC) here, which was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

The beating of drums and flutes accompanied the arrival of Najib, who is also Umno President and Barisan Nasional Chairman at about 10.15 am. On hand to receive him were MIC President Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, his deputy Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam and other party leaders.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri and about 5,000 people of diverse races.

Najib, who worn a cream-coloured kurta, the traditional Indian attire, later cut a cake together with other guests of honour before leaving the function at 11.10 am.

Speaking to reporters later, Najib said the Deepavali open house being held annually in the country could create a cordial atmosphere among each and every Malaysians.

"Many can get to meet their friends of the Hindu faith and we must enhance further the feelings of goodwill and harmony among Malaysians," he said.

He described this year's event as very joyous and in accordance to tradition.

Meanwhile MIC secretary-general A.Prakash Roa said it was a unique feature that all races could celebrate together whenever there was a festival in the country.

"Not only Deepavali, during Chinese New year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, all can join in to sample the food and understand the culture of all the different races in the country and this harmonious atmosphere must be sustained," he said.

Foreigners who visited the open house also get to enjoy the auspicious festival.

Czech Republic Ambassador Rudolf Hykl said the Deepavali celebration in Malaysia, that was participated by all Malaysians from multi-racial backgrounds, was very interesting.

"The Indian community is one of the largest communities in this country, which is an ethnically rich nation. So for me it is important to have this experience," he said.

Meanwhile another well-wisher Ghazal Nabil from Syria said the festivity was very special because it was celebrated by all the communities while the food served could be savoured by everyone.

"I'm interested in the racial diversity here, I want to know as much as I can while I'm staying here," he added.

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