Tamil school PTA wants action taken against HM

THE Parent Teacher Association of a Tamil school in Batu Kawan, Penang, has demanded that action be taken against the headmistress who is said to have lodged three police reports over trivial matters, Malaysia Nanban reported.

The PTA chairman P. Gnana­sun­thal said the headmistress refused to work with the PTA to resolve concerns raised by them regarding the school’s performance.

She was also against accepting funds provided by the state government, which meant the students did not receive all the resources they need, he claimed.

Any plans and proposals from the PTA would also get shot down without consideration, leaving parents dissatisfied, he said.

Instead of discussing the diffe­rences, the headmistress would lodge police reports over trivial matters, bringing the school into disrepute.

The PTA has asked the state education authorities to intervene.

Ex-Queen wants publisher made bankrupt

KUALA LUMPUR: A former Raja Permaisuri Agong has initiated legal action against a publisher in a High Court to declare him as a bankrupt.

She is attempting to recover over RM2mil in damages and interests which she won against the publisher and his son in another civil case in Temerloh.

Permaisuri Siti Aishah Abdul Rahman, 45, has filed a creditor’s petition for the purpose.

In the petition, the former queen named publisher Syed Hussien Al­­wee, 75, as the sole judgment debtor.

Syed Hussien, popularly known as Pak Habib Syed Hussien Al-Attas, has written many political books.

In her court papers, the former queen said the judgment of the Temerloh court had not been stayed and she did not hold any security over his assets for the payment of the award.

The court has set Dec 20 for the hearing of the petition.

Police question Ambiga for one hour over links to Soros-funded organisation

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has been questioned by police for about one hour here Thursday over links to the Open Society Institute (OSI), which is part of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) founded by hedge fund billionaire George Soros.

"I only know that I was called in as the former Bersih chairman for matters relating to funding and OSI," she said.

Ambiga, who was Bersih 2.0 chairman from 2010 until 2013, said she was being investigated under section 124C of the Penal Code for activities detrimental to Parliamentary democracy.

"They keep alleging that we want to topple the Government. Just to be clear, our main demand is fair and free elections. We would be mad to do something like that," she said when met outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters.

She said the funding for Bersih 2.0 was the focus of the investigation and the issue was not new and had been raised before in 2012.

She said they had taken an English-language newspaper to court over the allegations then, and the publication had apologised for it.

She added that Bersih had always been transparent about its funding.

"We have always made it clear that Bersih 2.0 received US$25,000 (RM110,675) in funds from OSI in 2011 and US$9,690 (RM42,897) from the National Democracy Institute (NDI).

"Both sums were used in election-related projects and neither OSI nor NDI are banned by the Government," she said.

Wee: MCA disappointed, dismayed with passing of Perlis Enactment

PETALING JAYA: MCA is disappointed and dismayed that the Perlis state legislative assembly had passed the Administration of Islam Enactment 2006, said MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Wee said in a statement on Thursday that state legislation should be consistent with Federal Bills, and added that the amended enactment contravenes the aims and the spirit of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Bill 2016 "which is intended to secure the Constitutional rights of non-Muslims".

He said that Section 88A of the Federal Bill specifically states that "conversion to Islam can only be done with the approval of both parents".

Wee added that MCA would never compromise on its stand that the religion of a minor is to be determined by the consent of both parents as enshrined in the Federal Constitution as of 1970.

“While Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution reads that the religion of a minor religion shall be determined by a "parent", Article 160 clearly spells out that words in the singular includes the plural and vice versa,” he said.

He said that since the Law Reform Bill had gone through its first reading on April 21, Perlis lawmakers should have “followed” the Federal Bill instead of trying to “subjugate” it.

Wee added that any state or federal legislation, government policy or guideline that does not abide by the Constitution must be rendered null and void, and said that MCA is determined to see the proposed changes and new insertions in Law Reform Bill passed at the next session of the Dewan Rakyat.

He also said that MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has summoned Titi Tinggi assemblyman Khaw Hock Kong to provide an explanation for his walkout to the MCA Central Committee.

Khaw had staged a walkout on Thursday in protest against the passing of the amended Enactment, which was passed by the Perlis state legislative assembly on the same day.

“Our party leadership is of the view Khaw should have expressed our party's firm position of the consent of both parents during the debate inside the Perlis state legislative assembly,” said Wee.

4 get prestigious 2016 Merdeka award

They include pioneer filmmaker L Krishnan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pioneer filmmaker Lakshmanan Krishnan was among the four outstanding individuals who received the prestigious 2016 Merdeka Award tonight.

He was selected in the education and community category for his outstanding contribution to laying the foundation for the modern film industry in the country.

It was also for his instrumental role in developing early acting talents, including Malaysian film icon P Ramlee, and laying the foundation for the modern film industry in Malaysia.

Three other recipients were pro-chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Dr Salleh Mohd Nor for the environment category and distinguished Prof Dr Looi Lai Meng for the health, science and technology category.

Meanwhile, professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Prof Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud was selected for the outstanding scholastic achievement category.

The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, who is the Merdeka Award Trust royal patron, presented each recipient a Merdeka Award trophy, a Merdeka artwork by local artist Latiff Mohidin and RM500,000 at the ceremony held at the Malaysian Philharmonic Hall here.

Present were the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim, Petronas chairman Sidek Hassan, as well as president and group chief executive officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.

More than 700 guests attended the presentation ceremony.

The nomination and selection that begins in January every year, focuses on achievements.

This year’s ceremony marks the completion of the rigorous annual Merdeka Award nomination and selection process, both in Malaysia as well as internationally, to identify outstanding Malaysians and non-Malaysians, who have contributed to the nation.

The Merdeka Award was established on Aug 27, 2007 to recognise and reward excellent individuals and organisations whose works and achievements have not only contributed to the nation’s growth but have also inspired greatness in the people of Malaysia.

It is a prestigious award that honours their outstanding efforts and role in living the “Merdeka” spirit.

Perlis amends law to allow unilateral child conversion

The Perlis state assembly today passed an amendment to the Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment 2006, allowing one parent to convert a child to Islam.

The amendment was to the Malay language version of the enactment, which previously stated that a child who had not reached the age of 18, may convert to Islam with the consent of both "father and mother" or the guardian.

"Father and mother" was replaced with "father or mother" in the amendment to Section 117(b) of the enactment, according to a report by Sin Chew Daily.

The report said MCA's sole representative, Titi Tinggi state assemblyperson Khaw Hock Kong, did not vote while PKR's Indera Kayangan state assemblyperson Chan Ming Khai voted against the amendment.

All other state assemblypersons, 12 from Umno and one from PAS, voted in favour.

Perlis Menteri Besar Azlan Man said the amendment to the Malay language version of the enactment was to harmonise it with the English language version.

Speaking outside the state assembly hall, Azlan was quoted as saying that the English version of the enactment referred to "parent" in the singular.

However, Chan warned the amendment would raise serious conversion issues.

"The state government cannot simply use the excuse of standardisation while ignoring the problems that the amendment will create," he was quoted as saying.

Azlan cited the case of R Subashini versus T Saravanan in 2007 where the Federal Court ruled that Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution allows a child to be converted with consent from one parent.

The amendment appears to run contrary to efforts by the federal government to end unilateral child conversion to Islam.

Putrajaya had in the last Parliament sitting introduced the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2016.

Under the amendment, if one parent converted to Islam, the child must remain in the original religion prior to the parent's conversion.

The child may only be converted to Islam if both parents consent to the child's conversion.

The Bill is expected to be debated and voted on in the next Parliament sitting in March.

Dr M's lawyer: I'll sue Rosmah's aide when 'boss' sues WSJ

Responding to Rizal Mansor's challenge to sue him for defamation, Dr Mahathir Mohamad's lawyer said he will do so exactly a week after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak hauls the Wall Street Journal to court.

Mohd Hanif Khathri Abdullah also told the aide to the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor that there is a struggle which is far greater than him.

“This is to defeat Najib, Rizal's 'boss'. Rizal is not a relevant factor in the mission to save Malaysia.

“However, to satiate Rizal's excitement over his desire to be sued, I can assure him that I have the mandate to sue Rizal on the Tuesday, following the Tuesday when it is confirmed that Najib has filed a defamation suit against the WSJ,” he said.

The lawyer then referred to a report in The Star's Malay online portal Mstar dated July 5 last year, which quoted a “source close to the prime minister” claiming that Najib would file a suit against WSJ the following Tuesday via his lawyer in Kuala Lumpur.

Verbal tussle

This is over the WSJ's report on the RM2.6 billion in the prime minister's personal bank accounts, which was later described as a donation from a member of the Saudi royal household.

Mahathir has repeatedly accused Najib of siphoning funds from 1MDB, which the prime minister has denied and described as an attempt to topple him from power.

Najib has also accused certain foreign media organisations such as WSJ and Sarawak Report of being part of this campaign.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing in the matter.

Haniff and Rizal became embroiled in a verbal tussle when the latter accused Mahathir of belittling Prophet Muhammad during the DAP national convention over the weekend.

He had claimed that the former premier did this in an attempt to outshine DAP.

However, Haniff denied this, and accused Rizal of slander, prompting Rosmah's aide to challenge the lawyer to sue him for defamation.

Dr M reacts to royal snub

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has responded to the cancellation of his invitation to the installation of the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara on Dec 13.

In a blog post, the former premier said he received an invitation last month, and accepted it because he believed it was a national event which is apolitical.

"It turns out that a national event is part of a political party (event),” he added.

Without mincing words, Mahathir also suggested that the cancellation could be related to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"I apologise for making the wrong assumption (that the palace is above politics). I will note now that Istana Negara belongs to Najib and BN," he said.

Yesterday, an aide to the former premier confirmed that a letter was hand-delivered to the Perdana Foundation office in Putrajaya informing Mahathir of the cancellation.

The letter, dated Dec 5, mentioned that no seat would be provided at the event for Mahathir and that the former premier was being informed of this beforehand to spare him any embarrassment if he attended.

The letter bore the signature of the keeper of the ruler's seal Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.

Kelantan's Sultan Muhammad V will succeed Kedah's Sultan Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah effective Dec 13 and be installed as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Perak's Sultan Nazrin Muizzudin Shah was appointed the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Bersih to sue TV3 on 'RM3.2b from Soros' claim

Bersih has decided to sue TV3 for alleged defamation on the TV channel's claim that the electoral reform movement received RM3.2 billion from American financier George Soros.

"We have handed TV3 a letter of demand to ask it to retract and apologise, but it said it will not to do that, so we are proceeding with legal action," Bersih chief Maria Chin Abdullah told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

She said about a week prior to the Bersih 5 rally on Nov 19, TV3 broadcasted a news segment where it claimed the movement received RM3.2 billion from Soros, without attributing any source to the claim.

She said TV3 also did not seek Bersih's comment on the issue.

"We were not given the right of reply," she said.

Bersih sent its letter of demand to TV3 a few days before Maria was arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), on the eve of the Nov 19 Bersih 5 rally.

"They (the lawyers) had to wait till I came out (of detention) for further instructions, so I told them to proceed, since TV3 does not want to retract," Maria said.

Bersih filed the suit against TV3 at the beginning of this week, she said, and it is now waiting for a date to be fixed.

Interrogated on the donation

When she was detained under Sosma, Maria said, she was interrogated on whether Bersih's donation sum of RM2.6 million was part of the purported funding from Soros.

"No. All these are actually from the RM100 or RM1,000 that people give us… which we have announced and discussed in a press conference," she said.

Separately, in Suaram's 2016 human rights report, the civil society said that this was a relatively good year for freedom of assembly in Malaysia.

"There was a growing acceptance by government agencies that the public have a right to peaceful assembly.

"Rather than the usual hostile crackdown involving arrests and detention of activists and participants of an assembly, 2016 has been marked by reduced hostility between police on duty and participants of an assembly," the report states.

However, though there were no crackdowns on participants, Suaram noted that organisers were called in for questioning after peaceful rallies.

It also said that it was unfortunate the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers seemed to be relatively tolerant of the red-shirts, despite their clear intent to instigate violence throughout the Bersih 5 convoy drives.

The seven-week convoy was aimed at raising awareness on the Bersih 5 rally.