The NEP: one of the roots of corruption

No, we don’t need more anti-corruption laws. We need an end to licences and permits. And abolishing the NEP would also help to a certain extent. Then we need to execute corrupted Malaysians like what they do in China.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Penang offers RM10,000 reward for info on corruption

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said on June 2 the state government is offering civil servants RM10,000 for providing information on colleagues who commit corrupt practices.

Lim said on the plan take effect immediately.

He said the plan was part of the state government's competency, accountability and transparent philosophy, as it seeks to improve delivery system.

He added that one staff member was the first recipient for exposing such wrongdoing. He added this would also act as a preventive measure. – THE EDGE

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THE ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW
By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

1. We need a law against corruption just as we need laws against all crimes. But sometimes the laws are so framed that they promote crime rather than prevent them. Such a law is the Malaysian law on corruption.

2. It seems logical and right that those who receive illegal gratification should be considered guilty of breaking the law and should therefore be punished. But when we talk of corruption we think of those endowed with power abusing their power in order to gain personal benefit. We think that those who offer gratification as being the victim and should be given some consideration.

3. But the law says that those who pay for the service they receive should also be considered as guilty and should be equally deserving of punishment.

4. Since both the giver and the recipient may be charged with corruption, both would be unwilling to report the incident. This of course makes corruption difficult if not impossible to be brought to a court of law and tried successfully.

5. Besides the process of law would be much prolonged, as each would seek lawyers to argue on his behalf. Not only will the trial take ages but the result can be quite unpredictable.

6. But there is another factor. The person reporting would be marked by those sympathetic to the other party so that it would affect his dealings with them as well. If they are Government servants whose approval would be needed, the approvals may not be forthcoming at all later, even if other officers are involved.

7. Because of the ineffectiveness of the laws corrupt people often get away with their corrupt practices.

8. Yet corruption is such a bane on society that it must be stopped somehow. If the law is ineffective then it must be made to be effective. One of the ways is to give immunity to the aggrieved party reporting the case, provided that the evidence was substantial and not perjury.

9. In the case of political corruption both parties may be willing participants. The bribe is given by a candidate to a willing recipient to gain support for himself. Both are therefore unlikely to complain and reveal the act.

10. The recipients on the other hand would be glad to receive the bribe, unless he is a person of high principal unwilling to betray the cause his party was fighting for.

11. In political corruption it would be extremely difficult to get evidence of the bribe being given or received. Electronics now play a role to hide the act. The money is deposited into the account of the person (voter) concerned via the ATM machines. The recipient would be called via phone to ask whether the money had been received, giving the name of the candidate.

12. Despite the difficulties for detection, a Government that is truly determined to prevent corruption can find ways of detecting corruption. But if the Government itself is corrupt then corruption cannot be stopped. In fact corruption would spread in every direction and would become a way of life. At this stage nothing can really be done.

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There you have it. One is a statement by the Chief Minister of one of the most economically progressive states in Malaysia and the other is a statement by he who ruled Malaysia for 22 years and dragged us screaming and kicking into the modern world. Nevertheless, they have both missed the mark by a mile. The problem is not that we need more laws or a reward system for stool pigeons. The problem is that we are an overregulated country. And excess regulations breed corruption in a society that froths and foams at the mouth screaming about religion but is steeped in vile.

It never ceases to amaze me when Malays rant and rave like cows suffering from Mad Cow Disease after Friday prayers in demonstrating their support for Islam, and in condemning those they perceive as having insulted Islam, when these are the same people who are corrupted like hell. Give me an atheist who upholds decent values and clean living anytime. I trust these people more that the corrupted religionists. Corrupted religionists are extremely dangerous and the millions of people murdered over thousands of years by religionists hiding behind the name of God is testimony of how dangerous they can be. I sometimes wonder whether religion is really the cause of all our problems and whether mankind is better off without it.

Malaysia needs to deregulate. Malaysians, in particular those Malays who are in government and those who walk in the corridors of power, are just too corrupted and hypocritical to be entrusted with the job of regulating things. Now don’t get me wrong. Chinese and Indians too are extremely corrupt. Just looks at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone fiasco and Samy Vellu as examples. These are totally ‘non-Bumi’ corrupt acts. The only ‘good’ thing is these MCA and MIC slime-balls and scumbags do not go around shouting that the Kafirs are going to hell like the Malays do.

Do you know that 70% of the slot machines (one-arm bandits) are owned by one Chinaman who is a crony of anyone who becomes Prime Minister since the time of Tun Dr Mahathir? Yes, and this man paid Hee RM25 million to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat Perak government.

And do you know how much he pays to operate these slot machines? And we are talking about tens of thousands of slot machines here. First he has to pay the Umno politicians a hefty sum for the licence. Then he has to pay a monthly ‘commission’ to ensure that the licences are not cancelled. Then he has to pay the police a monthly ‘protection fee’ to ensure that the premises where the slot machines are located are not raided and the machines confiscated for ‘breaching the terms and conditions of the licence’.

If you want a gun licence that too can be arranged. All it takes is the right fee to the state Chief Police Officer. The less eligible you are the higher the fees to get the gun licence. If you are an underworld boss then the price can go as high as RM250,000.

If you get arrested then no problem, even for crimes that attract the death penalty. If you are a ‘common’ drug pusher then the fee to escape the death penalty is RM250,000 while if you are a rich tycoon Datuk then it can go as high as RM10 million or more depending on how strong the evidence against you is and whether they also need to make this evidence ‘disappear’.

A Datukship, especially of you are a Chinese underworld boss who needs some ‘respectability’ to your name, starts from RM250,000. Tan Sri is even more expensive while the ‘lesser’ JPs can go for RM50,000 to RM100,000. (I remember a Malay Tan Sri who missed his flight because the Germans paged for a Mr Tan and he did not know they were calling him).

You need licences and permits to do anything in Malaysia. And that is why Malaysia is so corrupted. Eliminate all these licences and permits and corruption would be reduced drastically. Those who make the most money through corrupt means are those who approve these licences and permits and those who are the beneficiaries of these licences and permits. No permit, no corruption. No licence, no corruption.

Of course, in many instances, these licences and permits are imposed to ensure that the aspirations of the New Economic Policy (NEP) are met. You need to be a Bumiputera or meet the conditions of the NEP to qualify for the licence or permit. Most times the Chinaman would just need to go into an Ali Baba arrangement with a corrupted Malay, while another corrupted Malay would approve the licence or permit for an under-the-table fee. Then they all go to the mosque to pray and scream that they will go to heaven while the Kafir are going to hell.

Give me just a day as Prime Minister and I will cut down corruption by at least half. I will just abolish all licence and permit requirements. You want to do business, just set up your stall. You want to open a gambling den, carry on, buy all the slot machines you require, no need licence. Just pay the local council tax and licence fee and you can do whatever you want.

Take the Ah Long problem as another example. Back in the 1970s we in the Malay Chambers of Commerce already told the government about this problem. But the Ah Longs are in partnership with the police so nothing was done about the problem. That’s right, you think the Ah Longs can operate if not for the fact they pay the police protection money?

Now, 30 years later, everyone is screaming. Hey, we screamed 30 years ago. Why only now you scream?

We did a study in a small fishing town called Dungun in Terengganu (YB Rosli Pop, over to you, you know about this). Invariably, this is a Malay town. We found out that almost every Malay petty-trader borrows money from Ah Longs at the sepuluh-empat rate. This means they pay 4% interest a day.

They borrow RM1,000 but will receive only part of that money. The interest is deducted in advance. Yet they are considered having borrowed RM1,000. Then, every day, they have to pay RM40 interest. Every day! The RM1,000 principal, however, remains the same. That never gets reduced. So they pay RM40 a day for the rest of their life while they owe RM1,000 also for the rest of their life.

Why does this happen? Well, these Malay petty-traders can’t get loans from proper banks. Banks need collateral, guarantors, working papers, cash flows, feasibility studies, etc., before they give you a loan. In other words, you need to be rich to borrow money from a bank. Poor people just can’t borrow money. So they go to Ah Longs to borrow money at RM40 interest a day on every RM1,000 they borrow. They don’t need working papers, cash flows and feasibility studies to borrow from Ah Longs and the collateral is their life and that of their family. And the police will help act as debt collectors if you don’t pay your RM40 a day for every RM1,000 borrowed.

No, we don’t need more anti-corruption laws. We need an end to licences and permits. And abolishing the NEP would also help to a certain extent. Then we need to execute corrupted Malaysians like what they do in China. That will not eliminate corruption totally but it would certainly help reduce it drastically. And if Malays can become proper Muslims and not talk-only Muslims, then that may help bring corruption way down. Until then, cakaplah sampai berbueh mulut.

Oh, and Pakatan Rakyat states are not exempted from corruption either. Maybe YB Ronnie Liu can help explain what happened to the state wide WiFi project for Selangor. Selangor started first but it appears like Penang is making better progress. Is this because we have idiots running the Selangor State Government or is there corruption involved here?

And if you don’t reply, Ronnie, I am coming to Pandamaran to chop of your balls and will nail them to the wall.

Have MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

By Lim Kit Siang,

Has MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

I have received the following email from a Malay student in a private college:

“I am 21. My father left the family in 1995 and since then my mother has been taking care of the family by herself. I have two other elder sisters, all of whom are working now. My mother was a teacher but now she is retired. She is taking care of the family by herself with the pension she receives every month.

“I studied in … School and later at International Islamic College (IPTS), taking a diploma in computer science. I was a self-sponsored student in IIC.

“I was supported by my mother since she could afford it back then but I had to keep to a really tight budget. Although we were in a quite a difficult financial situation back then, I didn’t waste any time and studied hard.

“I was in the dean’s list every semester until I graduated, with an overall CGPA of 3.931. After graduating, I worked for one year as a technician to gain some experience before I furtherd my studies at …College, taking Bachelor in Computer Science.

“In December 2008, I went to … College to enquire about their courses and other details such as the fees. My enquiries was handled by Mr. … and he helped me a lot with my documentations. I asked him if there’s any financial aid for bumiputera students and he said that most bumiputera students in …are sponsored by MARA and he encouraged me to apply for the same MARA loan (discounts apply if my results are good).

“In early January 2009, I went to see … again to submit my application form, but I didn’t submit it together with the MARA form as the deadline for the MARA loan application is on the 14th of March 2009. I paid RM4750.00 as part of my first semester fees. I was told that the remainder will be settled by MARA when the MARA loan is approved.

“… I submitted my (MARA) form on the 14th of March 2009. I was made to understand that this is the deadline for both January (Foundation students) and February (degree students) intakes. The application forms for both the intakes will be compiled and sent to MARA HQ after the deadline.

“Recently, on the 28th of May 2009, I went to MARA marketing office in …to check my application status. When I arrived, I asked the same officer about my application and she said ‘Sorry but right now all loan applications are frozen because MARA doesn’t have the funds to support students’. She said that all other students nationwide are affected, not just students from …College.

“When I asked how long must we wait till MARA has the funds, she said ‘We don’t know. We keep calling MARA HQ and they keep asking us to check back one week after another, delaying. Maybe some politicians have their own agenda, even the students who applied in January also has had their loan application frozen’. I was shocked to hear this because when I asked her about the probability of a student like me getting the loan, she practically said it was virtually guaranteed as I had nothing to worry about if I got my application form in order.

“Worst of all, there is no black and white notification saying our applications are frozen and why it is frozen. We were not contacted at all! We weren’t even stopped from applying for the loan if indeed MARA had run out of funds. If I didn’t follow-up and check on my application, I don’t know when will they tell me the true status of my application, if they are planning to do so in the first place. MARA running out of funds seem a far-fetched reason to me. If it is true, perhaps MARA should come clean on its current situation instead of leaving all of us in the dark.

“I am not begging for the MARA loan but there were no notification given that our applications are frozen nor were we stopped from applying for it, giving us false hope. If MARA had told me earlier, I would have tried to find other alternatives to finance my studies. Now with the final exams three weeks away, I am left with this huge problem as I’ve only settled a part of the first semester fees. I can only hope that …College will allow me to sit for the exams while I try to sort out this problem.

“I find this MARA absurdity very funny. Where did the funds of this big organization which is under Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah go?”

I call on the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to personally look into this problem and explain to all stranded MARA students as well as their parents where have the millions of ringgit approved by Parliament for purposes loans to bumiputera students gone to.

Tigers: Missing Tiger spy chief spells trouble

Asia Times Online, June 02 2009
By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - A little over a week after the Sri Lankan government triumphantly announced the elimination of the entire top brass of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), there is some unease in Colombo over the fate of one of the most powerful Tigers, the LTTE's intelligence chief Shanmugalingam Sivashankar, better known as Pottu Amman.

The failure of the government to produce his body has triggered speculation that Pottu Amman might not be dead after all and could have escaped the final stages of the military offensive that left some of his comrades, including LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, dead.

Some reports claimed that Pottu Amman is alive but in army custody. But had that been true, said Indian intelligence officials, "He would have been paraded on state television."

After initially naming Pottu Amman among a list of LTTE leaders who were killed last week, the Sri Lankan army has gone silent on the issue of Pottu Amman's fate.

Hundreds of yet-to-be identified bodies of slain Tigers are said to be in army custody. It is possible that Pottu Amman's body is lying among them.

"If it is not and the Tiger intelligence chief is alive and out there, then the Sri Lankan security forces' troubles are far from over, as are those of India," an official of the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external agency, told Asia Times Online.

Pottu Amman is also the head of the Black Tigers, the LTTE's suicide squad unit. As the LTTE's intelligence chief, Pottu Amman was very powerful within the organization, in a position to make or mar the fate of senior Tigers by building "evidence" of their treachery to the LTTE and Prabhakaran. He is wanted in India for his role in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber in May 1991.

A Sri Lankan Defense Ministry official who spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity insisted that it would have been impossible for Pottu Amman to escape the tight army cordon and the final military offensive. He admitted that if he is indeed alive, "Then there is reason for concern."

Among the bodies that have been identified so far is that of the LTTE chief. The LTTE's eastern commander, "Colonel Karuna", who broke away from the group in 2004, identified Prabhakaran's body last week. Last Thursday, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara announced that DNA tests on the body of the man they believed was Prabhakaran matched that of his slain son Charles Antony.

Controversy continues to cloud not only the circumstances in which the Tiger chief was killed but also whether he was in fact killed. Many LTTE supporters have refused to accept that Prabhakaran is indeed dead. It appears that Tigers are divided over the fate of Prabhakaran, or rather on the strategy to adopt following his death.

The LTTE's head of the international relations department, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, confirmed in a statement that the "incomparable leader, the supreme commander of the LTTE [Prabhakaran], attained martyrdom" while fighting the Sri Lankan forces and even declared a week of mourning. But its intelligence department claimed on the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet that the "LTTE leadership is safe and will re-emerge when the right time comes".

The contradictory statements are being interpreted by political analysts as signs of a rift among Tigers operating overseas on how to proceed. It is also being interpreted as a battle for succession.

Selvarasa Pathmanathan is widely believed to be Kumaran Pathmanathan, or KP, the man who built the LTTE's formidable international network. KP has been in charge of raising funds for the LTTE abroad and arms procurement. If Prabhakaran was the brain behind the LTTE's military strategy, it was KP who provided the Tigers with arms to implement that strategy.

If the LTTE's international relations chief is indeed KP and if, as claimed by the Sri Lankan government, Pottu Amman is dead, then Pathmanathan would be the most senior Tiger alive today and therefore the strongest contender for its leadership. If Pottu Amman is still alive, that claim would be under challenge.

Prabhakaran was the undisputed leader of the LTTE. Any Tiger who posed even the slightest of challenge to his authority or even popularity was swiftly deal with.

Analysts predicted that a battle for succession would break out among senior Tigers following the death of Prabhakaran.

While the contradictory statements could indicate a rift and a possible succession battle, the scenario today is not quite what analysts predicted. Few would have imagined even a year ago that it would be for the leadership of a militarily vanquished LTTE that the Tigers would fight.

Tamil expatriates say that the LTTE is militarily defeated but financially still in good health. LTTE fundraising among the Tamil diaspora and investment in various businesses abroad had made it a cash-rich organization. While Tigers abroad are likely to find it difficult to raise money from expatriates on the scale they did when Prabhakaran was alive, radicalization of the diaspora over the plight of the Tamils back home could allow the LTTE to continue to attract funds from them.

The rift could be over control of the LTTE's overseas funds as well. KP, who was a close confidante of Prabhakaran, controlled the funds for decades.

Divisions among overseas Tigers were visible even before Prabhakaran's death, over the mass protests in Western capitals. Pathmanathan apparently wanted the Tamil diaspora to focus on humanitarian issues, but a powerful section headed by the LTTE's overseas administration head "Castro" feared that the Tamil Eelam cause would slip out of the Tigers' control if Tamil expatriates were allowed to direct the protests. The latter was keen that LTTE flags be visible in the protests.

There is speculation that Pathmanathan is now seeking a new path for the LTTE. He told the BBC in a telephone interview that the LTTE had "given up violence" and would "enter the democratic process" to achieve self-determination for Tamils.

The Sri Lankan government is expected to hold local council elections in Vavuniya and Jaffna districts in the Northern Province within the next few months. Elections for the rest of the councils in the Northern Province, where most people are displaced, are expected to take place later. Is Pathmanathan eyeing the electoral path to power?

Indian intelligence officials say that Pathmanathan had the most to gain from Prabhakaran's death. They are not ruling out the possibility of him having struck a deal with the government in the final hours of the offensive under which he would deliver the Tiger chief into a trap in return for his own amnesty.

However, the government's initial response suggests that it is not in a mood to play ball with Pathmanathan. Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa dismissed his statement on the LTTE's intention to take up democratic politics. Daily Mirror, a Sri Lankan English-language newspaper, reported that the government had sought Interpol's assistance in arresting Pathmanathan. If Pathmanathan was hoping for a smooth landing in Sri Lankan politics, he has miscalculated. And it is not just the government that is likely to make things difficult for him.

There is the Pottu Amman factor to reckon with.

If Pottu Amman has survived he can be expected to revive the LTTE's violent strategy. While it would be near-impossible for him or any other Tiger to build the LTTE back to the formidable force it once was, the LTTE could be in a position to keep the army on its toes.

Pottu Amman's survival would spell bad news for Pathmanathan and others abroad who are positioning themselves to take over the leadership of the LTTE. They can expect their ambitions and plans to come under fierce fire from Tigers on the island.

Neither the Sri Lankan government nor aspirants for Prabhakaran's mantle can sleep easy until Pottu Amman's body is found and identified. The search for the body will be keenly watched and monitored in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

Factory worker believed killed by loan sharks

NST,PORT KLANG: A factory worker was found dead with his neck almost severed in the shrubs near a railway track at Kampung Jalan Keretapi yesterday. The body of S. Sundrajan, 39, was found lying face down by a passer-by who used the gravel road to go to his workplace at a nearby factory at 7.30am.

Klang Criminal Investigation Department chief Deputy Superintendent Ruslan Ibrahim said there were no signs of a struggle.

"We found a parang believed to be the murder weapon.

"He was believed to be on his way back home when he was attacked a kilometre away from his house."
He said the deceased was believed to have died a few hours before his body was found.

Sundrajan worked at a factory in Pandamaran, and had been on medical leave after he injured his right hand in a workplace accident three months ago.

He left behind wife, Teh Ling Choo, in her 30s, and three daughters aged between 1 and 14.

Teh said the family had been surviving on Socso allowance for the past three months after her husband went on an extended medical leave as she is a full time housewife.

She said she last saw her husband at 5pm when he left home on foot with RM10 in his pocket.

Neighbours who refused to be identified said Sundrajan's death may be linked to loan sharks.

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The Star

Tuesday June 2, 2009

Murdered six months after surviving brutal attack

PORT KLANG: Last December, S. Sundarajan, 39, lost the use of his left hand when he was slashed and robbed on his way to work with his father-in-law Teh Oh Kow.

Yesterday, he lost his life when he was attacked and slashed by unknown assailants.

His remains were found in some bushes near railway tracks in the vicinity of the now demolished Kampung Keretapi near here.

A petroleum company employee on his way to work made the gruesome discovery at 7.30am.

Klang CID chief DSP Ruslan Ibrahim said Sundarajan had deep slash wounds in the neck.

Meanwhile, Sundarajan’s wife Teh Ling Choo, 39, said her husband left home at about 5pm on Sunday with only RM10 in his wallet.

She added that her husband was on medical leave since the first attack and was on a Social Security Organisation allowance.

“He was supposed to have undergone surgery on his injured hand on the 15th of this month,” said the sobbing housewife.

The couple has three daughters aged 14, 10 and 18 months.

A family friend, who claimed to know Sundarajan’s family for almost 30 years, said the deceased had borrowed from a loan shark due to financial difficulties.

“That’s why they left their own home in Pandamar Indah to live in a friend’s flat here,” said P. Muthu at the scene of the crime.

Teh, however, said she was unaware

58,000 students may not study in comfort next year

KUALA KRAI, 2 June 2009: Some 58,000 students who will be placed in 58 secondary schools nationwide next year might not be able to study in comfort, Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said today.

He said this was because the appointed contractors had failed to complete the school buildings on time.

"From the 128 secondary school building projects nationwide, 58 will not be completed within the agreed timeframe," he told reporters after meeting 200 educationists here today.

Mohd Puad said the government had also identified nine primary school building projects that were behind schedule for various reasons, including financial problems.

He disclosed how a construction company that was given a contract to build 26 schools worth RM300 million failed to complete 22 of the projects within the given time.

Hence, he said, contracts given to companies which failed to complete the projects soon would be terminated.

"We will not compromise anymore. We have given them enough time. Why should we extend their contracts?

"We have enough evidence that the contractors, with unreasonable excuses, have failed to complete the school building projects within the given time," he said. — Bernama

THE MAIL SAYS: Cops shouldn't play doctor

Malay Mail

Custodial deaths are a major concern, with statistics revealed in Parliament last year showing that there were 1,535 custodial deaths in the country between 2003 and 2007, including deaths caused by diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

On May 1, a suspect in police custody was beaten up by angry members of the public in Klang.

Mohd Adzrul Ishak was handcuffed and left unattended while police went after others suspected to be involved in a mugging earlier.

He died at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital hours later. Now we have another family claiming that Port Dickson police were negligent in waiting for a long time before calling for an ambulance to send car repossessor S. Telak to hospital.

Telak was at the receiving end of vigilante justice and dumped at the Port Dickson police station. Despite pleas
from relatives that he be taken to hospital, the family claimed, police dismissed Telak's plea for medical attention as "play-acting".

Telak subsequently died in hospital, apparently from a heart attack. Port Dickson police chief Supt Mazlan
Othman now says that Telak was in the balai for barely an hour.

That was, of course, challenged by Telak's brother Arusu, who insisted it was almost two hours before police did anything to get medical care.The duration, really, isn't the issue. When someone is brought to the station bleeding profusely from open wounds, the natural course of action would have been to call for immediate
medical attention.

It should never have been the way Mazlan tried to justify it.He said: "After he was brought in by several people, we waited for the statement to be recorded and then we called for an ambulance to take him to hospital."

Is that normal police procedure?

Aren't the police trained to recognise critical situations and prioritise?

Shouldn't a bleeding man be the bigger concern than a statement?

There is a simple rule of thumb - a cop should not try to be a doctor as well.All the station had to do was assign a couple of policemen to accompany Telak to hospital, if their concern was that he might escape.

A life could have been saved. This could have been an innocent man, one who had to pay with his life for the
alleged sins of his nephew. Even if he was no angel, didn't he deserve medical attention?

It is a human anomaly - to pretend not to see or hear because we think that absolves us of guilt.

The police must find out if there is truth to the claim that there were those who didn't do the right thing and aided in the death of Telak.

The police must obey the law while enforcing the law

My Sinchew

IN JULY 2006, Khairy Jamaluddin who was then the Deputy UMNO Youth Chief led some 2,000 protestors in a march to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the 39th Asean Ministerial Meeting was being held. Their objective was to protest in opposition to Israeli violence against the Palestinian people and to hand over a memorandum concerning this to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Local newspapers reported that Khairy gave Rice five minutes to come out and receive the memorandum. When Rice failed to do so, Khairy and 200 other supporters pushed their way past the FRU line but were then blocked by the police who had formed a human chain in front of the entrance to the convention centre.

Khairy was later permitted to enter the building and was seen being taken to the Police Control Centre. He came out about 20 minutes later and told his supporters that the memorandum was with Rice.

In January 2009, Khairy and other Barisan Nasional Youth representatives marched to the Palestinian embassy to denounce Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The police just watched.

In March 2006, police used water cannons to break up a protest by about 400 people against the increase in fuel prices and arrested more than 30 people. According to the police, the protest which was organized by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress did not have a permit.

In January 2007, police arrested 21 people during a demonstration in Cheras that was organised by anti-toll hike organisation Protes, civil society groups, trade unions and student groups. This protest part of a series of protests organised to oppose the hike in the toll rates at five Klang Valley highways that began on January 1, 2009.

In May 2009, eight Perak Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives were among those arrested by the police for illegal assembly. They were arrested while walking in a procession from the DAP headquarters to the High Court to observe a suit being filed against the BN state government over the sacking of elected village heads. Earlier that same day five members of public were arrested while making arrangements for the launch of a three-day hunger strike to persuade the Perak sultan to dissolve the state assembly.

Less than two weeks ago Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching and Teratai state assemblyperson Jenice Lee were arrested at a vigil in Seputeh which was held to mark the situation in Perak.

The above incidents exhibit the prevailing attitude of the Malaysian police. They fold their arms and become mere bystanders when demonstrations concern external affairs. However, when it comes to demonstrations that concern internal issues, the play book changes.
How can it be that protest marches and demonstrations are only illegal and undeserving of police permits when it touches on the plight of ordinary Malaysians?

The freedom of expression is a right that should be afforded to every citizen or civil society no matter what the issue is. The task of the police is to uphold that right and not to play arbiter as to whether a particular protest is acceptable or not.

Three weeks ago, police arrested five lawyers outside the Brickfields police station for unlawful assembly. The truth is that these lawyers were merely attempting to gain access to detainees inside the police station who could be heard shouting “We want lawyers”. The five lawyers were kept overnight like petty criminals.

The task of the police is to defend the sanctity of the criminal justice system and uphold the constitutional guarantee of the right to legal representation. It is not to arrest lawyers who turn up outside a police station in the middle of the night seeking access to clients who were arrested for exercising their fundamental right to expression and peaceful assembly.

What we have today is a situation where the people’s confidence and trust in the police force has been shaken to the core. Today, we are more afraid of the police than respectful of them simply because we are not sure whether the police obey the law in the first place.

In the 1959 case of Spano v. New York, the United States Supreme Court was faced with a case involving a foreign-born of 25 with a junior-high-school education and no previous criminal record who had been indicted for first-degree murder.

The young man retained counsel and surrendered to police. He was then subjected to persistent and continuous questioning by numerous police officers for virtually eight hours until he confessed. He had repeatedly requested, and had been denied, an opportunity to consult his counsel. At his trial in a state court, his confession was admitted in evidence over his objection, and he was convicted and sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court held that the young man’s will was overborne police pressure causing his confession to be given involuntarily. The admission in evidence therefore violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The opinion of the Supreme Court in the Spano case was delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren who relentlessly upheld civil rights and civil liberties and is regarded as one of the greatest jurists of modern times. In his opinion, Justice Warren issued the stark reminder that “the police must obey the law while enforcing the law”.

50 years later this reminder finds itself relevant in Malaysia. The law promises equality for all. The law promises access to legal representation. The law promises that the guilty will be found and punished. None of these promises are being kept on a constant basis.

Four months after the custodial death of A. Kugan, the country still waits for justice to punish the young man’s murderers.

Hopefully, we do not have to wait that long for those responsible for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco to be brought to justice. It is an odd thing when excess and mismanagement costs RM12billion and the total stimulus package shaped to carry the entire country out of these tough economic times amounts to only five times that amount at RM60billion. (By DAVID D. MATHEW/MySinchew)

Press Release: Accept dissent as a democratic norm

The Malaysian Bar deplores the astounding spate of arrests that the Police have made in recent weeks. We are concerned whether this heavy-handed and disproportionate approach is an ominous portent of the trend we can expect to see under the current Government's administration.

It is lamentable that the Government continues to be unable to accept dissent as a legitimate form of expression and a democratic norm. Equally deplorable is the Police's intolerance of the freedom of speech, expression and assembly and their abuse of power in the repressive and almost unrelenting use of arrest and detention as the preferred mode to stifle public opinion and silence dissenting voices that are unfavourable to the ruling Government.

Over 120 individuals have recently been arrested, and some charged under draconian and authoritarian laws such as the Sedition Act, for simply expressing their viewpoints peaceably, including lawyer Karpal Singh, BERSIH representative Wong Chin Huat, politician Lim Kit Siang and participants at various peaceful candlelight vigils.

The repressive and forceful manner of dealing with dissent reinforces the perception that the Police force is biased in favour of the government of the day. The rule of law must be respected, and applied to all, including the Police, which must regain public confidence as an institution not mired in politics. It must not be seen as a tool to intimidate and cow those who express disagreement.

The Malaysian Bar is gravely disappointed that the Government has not seen fit to embrace the public's increased expression of viewpoints as a positive development in our society and to accord it the necessary democratic space to flourish. Instead, this new Government appears determined to crack down on all dissent, persecuting and punishing those who dare to speak out.

As much as dissent and opposition may be unpalatable, these must not be silenced but countered with open and healthy debate, reforms and concrete changes. The Malaysian Bar calls for the Government to demonstrate commitment to the rule of law and to democratic processes by encouraging open discourse on issues of concern to the Malaysian public. We urge the Police to exercise restraint and to even-handedly protect and uphold the rights of all concerned citizens to assemble peaceably to express their opinions.


Ragunath Kesavan
President
Malaysian Bar

THE ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW

1. We need a law against corruption just as we need laws against all crimes. But sometimes the laws are so framed that they promote crime rather than prevent them. Such a law is the Malaysian law on corruption.

2. It seems logical and right that those who receive illegal gratification should be considered guilty of breaking the law and should therefore be punished. But when we talk of corruption we think of those endowed with power abusing their power in order to gain personal benefit. We think that those who offer gratification as being the victim and should be given some consideration.

3. But the law says that those who pay for the service they receive should also be considered as guilty and should be equally deserving of punishment.

4. Since both the giver and the recipient may be charged with corruption, both would be unwilling to report the incident. This of course make corruption difficult if not impossible to be brought to a court of law and tried successfully.

5. Besides the process of law would be much prolonged, as each would seek lawyers to argue on his behalf. Not only will the trial take ages but the result can be quite unpredictable.

6. But there is another factor. The person reporting would be marked by those sympathetic to the other party so that it would affect his dealings with them as well. If they are Government servants whose approval would be needed, the approvals may not be forthcoming at all later, even if other officers are involved.

7. Because of the ineffectiveness of the laws corrupt people often get away with their corrupt practices.

8. Yet corruption is such a bane on society that it must be stopped somehow. If the law is ineffective then it must be made to be effective. One of the ways is to give immunity to the aggrieved party reporting the case, provided that the evidence was substantial and not perjury.

9. In the case of political corruption both parties may be willing participants. The bribe is given by a candidate to a willing recipient to gain support for himself. Both are therefore unlikely to complain and reveal the act.

10. The recipients on the other hand would be glad to receive the bribe, unless he is a person of high principal unwilling to betray the cause his party was fighting for.

11. In political corruption it would be extremely difficult to get evidence of the bribe being given or received. Electronics now play a role to hide the act. The money is deposited into the account of the person (voter) concerned via the ATM machines. The recipient would be called via phone to ask whether the money had been received, giving the name of the candidate.

12. Despite the difficulties for detection, a Government that is truly determined to prevent corruption can find ways of detecting corruption. But if the Government itself is corrupt then corruption cannot be stopped. In fact corruption would spread in every direction and would become a way of life. At this stage nothing can really be done.

BN Won't Use Friday Sermons To Campaign - Ahmad

KUALA KRAI, June 2 (Bnerama) -- Barisan Nasional (BN) will not use Friday sermons as a campaign strategy to win people's confidence in the coalition, said Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan Tuesday.

"BN will conduct its campaign by meeting the people face-to-face either at their houses, coffeeshops or by the roadside to deliver the correct message," he said.

He said Umno and BN had no plans to use houses of worship in its campaign against other political parties.

Commenting on the remarks by Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who is also Pas general adviser that his party would continue to use mosques in its campaign, Ahmad said what Pas was doing was beyond the ordinary and could be considered in conflict with policy and concept of sermons.

Ahmad who is Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department rejected that method used by Pas saying that Friday sermons were a platform to deliver the reminder from Allah for Muslims.

He also did not dismiss the possibility of Pas using religious issues in the Manik Urai by-election. "We are ready for it," he said.

He said Umno had a list of credible speakers including religious scholars and professionals so that the voters were not easily taken in by Pas' propaganda.

The Manik Urai seat fell vacant following the death of assemblyman Ismail Yaacob on May 22.

'Death of democracy' protesters off the hook

Twelve demonstrators, including a member of Parliament and state assembly representative, were let off the hook by the police today after being arrested on May 19 for taking part in a candlelight vigil.

MCPX

Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching and Teratai state assemblyperson Jenice Lee, two DAP female politicians, were arrested along with seven party workers at the candlelight vigil which was held outside DAP MP Teresa Kok's office in Seputeh.

The vigil was organised to mark the 'death of democracy' in Perak and all those who were present wore black.

The protesters, who were released on a police bail after being detained for seven hours, were told to report back to the Brickfileds police headquarters today.

When they went there at about 10am, the police told them that they would not be charged.

"The police decided to clear all charges against us, and there is no need for us to be on bail or come back to report in future," Teo told reporters later.

UN can investigate Sri Lanka’s actions - war crimes judge

The United Nations is able to investigate the war crimes which occurred recently in Sri Lanka, British human rights lawyer and international war crimes judge, Geoffrey Robertson QC said Sunday. The avenues for the UN include the UN Human Rights Committee, which can investigate individuals’ complaints against states under the International Convention on Human Rights, to which Sri Lanka is a signatory. The UN Human Rights Council, by contrast, is a “highly politicized” body staffed by diplomats of various countries, including those abusing human rights, rather than human rights experts, he said.

BBC: Sri lanka will face UN inquiry

Mr. Robertson has served as an appeal judge at the UN’s Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2002-2007 and is presently on the UN’s Internal Justice Council.

Having been counsel in many landmark cases in constitutional, criminal and media law in the courts of Britain and the Commonwealth, Mr. Robertson makes frequent appearances in the Privy Council and the European Court of Human Rights.

Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC

Asked on BBC radio about the UN Human Rights Council’s acceptance last week, by majority vote, of a self-congratulatory resolution tabled by Sri Lanka, Mr. Robertson said he wasn’t surprised.

“Well, the Human Rights Council is a highly politicised body. It is made up not of experts on human rights, but of paltering diplomats. Europe only has seven seats … We have countries like Russia and China obviously concerned to keep their own internal problems down and away from international oversight. So the decision [on Sri Lanka] is not really surprising.”

“[However] that’s not the end of the story because UN officials can [still] look into it,” he said.

“[ ] Sir John Holmes is concerned. [ ] Judge Navi Pillay wants to conduct an investigation.”

“More importantly, there is the UN Human Rights Committee which sits in Geneva. It is a kind of court and individuals can complain [to it]. Unusually, Sri Lanka has actually signed up to the International Convention on Human Rights which has this is the body that investigates complaints. So any individual can complain against Sri Lanka.”

“So there is certainly going to be an inquiry, I would have thought, by Human Rights Committee.”

“And there are other possibilities - the convention on Torture, the convention on Rights of the Child, even the Genocide convention, could all be applied in due course,” Mr. Robertson said,

“So there are ways and means of finding out – fact-finding in effect - as to whether there have been breaches of the Geneva Convention, the targeting of civilians, the bombing of hospitals, and so forth as has been alleged.”

Mr. Robertson was asked about Sri Lanka’s continued denial of access to the war-ravaged north where 20,000 Tamil civilians were massacred by Colombo’s military in recent months.

“The Sri Lankan government kept out the international media so that there would be no immediate eyewitnesses.”

“They allowed the Red Cross in, but … [it is] prevented from giving testimony in international courts. … That is the quid-pro-quo: they can be in on wars but are not allowed to testify if they see war crimes.”

“[Moreover] other humanitarian bodies were kept out and are being kept out.”

However, Sri Lanka’s actions will in any case eventually come out, Mr. Robertson said.

"In the fullness of time, of course, you do have witnesses, you do have thousands of people who were on that dreadful strip of beach," he said, in reference to the ‘no-fire zone’ in Mullaitivu where concentrated civilians were pounded by Sri Lankan artillery and planes.

Meanwhile, there were mass graves that would be excavated he said.

"This is the way, unfortunately, war crimes are now dealt with, through forensic investigators finding out the story by investigating mass graves.”

“And there do seem, from aerial photographs, to be some [that can be investigated there]."

Mr Robertson is the author of ‘Crimes against Humanity – The Struggle for Global Justice’, published by Penguin and the New Press (USA), now in its third edition and published in six foreign language editions.

Polis Tempelak Manikavasagam

Komen YB Kapar:

1) Mendiang S Tilak berada dibawah pengawasan Polis hampir selama 3 Jam dan Tangannya di Gari. Bukankan itu bermaksud beliau di TAHAN.

2) Apa yang berlaku dalam tempuh masa beliau berada di Balai Polis?

3) Kenapa Polis bertindak lambat memanggil Ambulance atau meminta bantuan perubatan ? Sekiranya beliau diberi rawatan awal, kemungkinan Tilak masih hidup Punca utama kematian Tilak kerana kecuaian serta kelekaan pihak polis yang tidak menghormati hak asasi manusia.

Dari Malaysiakini :

“Thilak not involved’

The family also claimed that Thilak was not involved in any criminal activities.

His brother Arasu said the deceased was not the one who allegedly robbed the house.

According to him, their estranged nephew who was just released from prison after serving a three-year jail sentence was the culprit.

“One of Thilak’s friends (who was allegedly involved in the crime) had asked the nephew to call him (Thilak) to fetch them from the house.

“But Thilak said that he was at work and couldn’t go over to fetch them,” he told Malaysiakini.

He also claimed that the persons who allegedly attacked Thilak then traced the phone call to Thilak and got him entangled in the case.

“They took my brother Rajen as ‘hostage’ and made him contact Thilak.

“When Thilak finally went to see them, Rajen was released and they (took Thilak in the car and) sped away with him,” he said, adding that they only saw Thilak at the police station after that.

The nephew’s whereabouts are unknown, he added.”

Siap Benar ? Polis atau Keluarga.

4) Ahli politik terpaksa campur tangan kerana kezaliman dan sikap talam dua muka semakin berleluas dalam sistem pentadbiran kini. Pihak Keluarga terpaksa meminta bantuan kerana hilang kepercayaan terdapat sistem yang sedia ada.

5) Apabila Keluarga meminta penjelasan kenapa polis menakutkan mereka?

6) Bedah Siasat pertama Mati Akibat Serangan Sakit Jantung , manakala bedah siasat kedua temui kesan-kesan luka akibat di pukul. Bedah siasat bebas di curigai, tapi hasil siasatan mereka harus kita terima. Mana adil?

6) Polis tidak dapat mengurangkan jenayah serta membiarkan pembunuh berkeliaran tetapi orang yang membela nasib rakyat di takut-takutkan. Kenapa nak geretak orang awam jika pihak sendiri tidak bersalah? Cari pembunuh atau pesalah bukan cari jalan nak putar belitkan isu agar orang awam keliru.

7) Sepatutnya pihak akhbar Kuncu-Kuncu MIC (muka depan Tamil Nesan, suka sangat kat saya) serta UMNO (Berita Harian) memaparkan hasil yang positif daripada tindakan saya itu and bukannya membuat rumusan negatif.

Saya Tetap dengan pendirian saya dan tidak akan berganjak daripada apa yang saya perjuangkan demi membela nasib mangsa.

Yang Zalim akan tetap di adili.

In his father’s footsteps, but minus the impact

JUNE 2 – Officials and the media are giving great significance to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s four-day official visit to China from today, comparing it to his father’s trip in 1974.

Abdul Razak was the first non-aligned Asian leader to embrace Mao Zedong . He was given a hero’s welcome at home, even by local Chinese who were angry with him after Malay soldiers killed Chinese civilians during race riots in 1969.

Similarly, Najib, who became prime minister on April 3, is banking on his visit, made on the 35th anniversary of his father’s trip, to win back local Chinese who have deserted his National Front coalition for the alliance led by rival Anwar Ibrahim.

Even Chinese embassy officials emphasised the significance of the son following the father, something they say enhances trade and economic ties and helps local Chinese progress.

The government has also trooped out diplomats, academics, professionals and business and community leaders to emphasise the significance of Najib’s visit and praise Malaysia’s closeness to China.

The New Straits Times has given extensive coverage to Abdul’s 1974 visit and reminded the public the son is following in the father’s footsteps. National television is constantly showing images of Razak shaking hands with Mao.

The highlight of Najib’s visit is his meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao tomorrow.

Malaysian-Chinese support for the government has plummeted to 35 per cent from a high of 70 per cent in 2004. Perceived official arrogance towards minorities and anti-Chinese remarks by Malay leaders are blamed for the fall, along with failure to abolish pro-Malay economic policies.

To atone, Najib is wooing Chinese, promising them equality and justice under his “1Malaysia concept” and has even shown willingness to dismantle pro-Malay policies.

His trip is a major opportunity for him to reassure local Chinese that he is “accepted and endorsed” by Beijing, burnishing an image battered by numerous controversies.

“He hopes to win acceptance by playing the China card with local Chinese,” said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng. “It worked for Razak but will not for Najib.” Khoo said, pointing out that China is no longer such a mystery.

“Malaysians know China well. They travel to China often. Chinese visit Malaysia often. The old magic is just not there any more.”

Veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang agreed, saying Najib would do better by dismantling pro-Malay policies, and promoting human rights.

“Not just Chinese but all Malaysian races desire reform and change,” Lim said. “As Malaysians, we Chinese don’t hold China in great awe any more.” – South China Morning Post

As PPP spat continues, Najib may be forced to choose

By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — With two presidents, two sets of supreme council members and possibly two upcoming AGMs in the PPP, Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak is caught in a dilemma.

Should he attend the PPP Team A congress held under longtime president Datuk M. Kayveas on Sunday June 7 or a similar function being planned by upstart president Datuk T. Murugiah who is heading the Team B in the party?

Another alternative, PPP insiders said, is for Najib to steer clear of both factions in the hope that they resolve their dispute over time.

Najib, who is making an all important official visit to China and will be back in time for the PPP congress, is very keen on the “hands off” strategy.

He has asked his deputy Tan Sri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to talk and negotiate with both factions to find a solution before Sunday (five days time).

“The worry is that by attending and officiating on Sunday Najib would be virtually endorsing the faction led by Kayveas,” said a PPP leader in the Team B faction.

“We don’t want this to happen because Kayveas is unfit, both legally and morally, to lead the PPP when he was not properly elected,” the leader said, adding that the Murugiah faction had met Muhyiddin to explain that endorsing Kayveas would spark a grassroots rebellion in the PPP against the BN.

“We told Muhyiddin that while some PPP leaders were behind Kayveas the bulk of the grassroots have fled to Murugiah,” he said adding that the Kayveas faction is like a “head without a body.”

“The body has fled to Murugiah,” he said adding Umno and other BN leaders are aware of the situation. “The issue can only be resolved if Kayveas steps aside gracefully and let the more popular Murugiah lead the party.”

“After all Kayveas has been heading the party for 15 years,” the leader said, drawing parallels with the MIC which is led by the ageing Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu who has been president since 1979.

That’s exactly what top BN leaders hope for — a smooth leadership transition in PPP (as well as in MIC) that would see Kayveas, who has been president since 1993 and was re-elected last week to the post for another five-year term, stepping aside for Murugiah.

The problem is that the law is in the way because Murugiah’s EGM and election as president is considered invalid by lawyers involved in the issue as well as the Registrar of Societies.

“No proper notices were given, no nominations were held nor a proper election held,” said a lawyer allied with Kayveas. “The registrar (Registrar of Societies) has already informed us that Kayveas remains the legal president of the party.”

“The law is solid and backs Kayveas as the true president,” the lawyer said adding that if the law is followed the Registrar has no choice but to hold all the moves and “decisions” by Team B as illegal and invalid.

Najib has asked Muhyiddin to find a solution acceptable to all factions so that he can participate in Sunday’s congress without rancour from any side.

Muhyiddin has said a decision (on which faction for the BN to stand by) would be made after consulting the Registrar and how he rules on the validity of Murugiah’s EGM and his claim to be “rightful” president of the PPP.

“If the Registrar follows the book Kayveas remains the president and Murugiah stands expelled,” the lawyer said while urging all factions to close ranks and find a political solution.

“Only a political solution is viable under the circumstances,” the lawyer said adding that Kayveas is willing to consider a political solution.

Kayveas, his supporters said, is willing to rescind the expulsion of Murugiah and six others and allow them to return to PPP but on condition they recognise Kayveas as the valid president.

But the Murugiah faction, sources said, will only agree if Kayveas agrees to hand over the party mid-way into his new five-year term as president.

PPP sources said Kayveas has point blank refused to even consider such a possibility.

“Why should he...he was just re-elected legally for another five year term...why should he handover to a upstart nobody,’ said a Kayveas supporter.

All this gives Najib a giant headache — to attend or avoid Sunday’s congress.

One solution would be for Najib to send Muhyiddin, to placate both factions temporarily but that would not end the feud.

Permohonan Maaf YB Nozula, Kisahnya

Sheih Kickdefella

Akhirnya terungkai juga satu episod setelah hampir dua tahun. Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan BN – Paloh hari ini memohon maaf secara terbuka kepada Haji Husam Musa.

Bertempat di lobby ADUN di Dewan Negeri Kelantan pada November 22, 2007, YB Nozula Mat Diah telah memanggil satu sidang media dan membacakan tuduhan-tuduhan rasuah terhadap Haji Husam sambil menunjuk beberapa bungkusan bahan bukti yang kebanyakkannya adalah print-out daripada blog Mohd Sayuti Omar.

Setelah sidang media tersebut, YB Nozula dan lebih sedozen ADUN BN Kelantan telah berarak bersama kontijen media ke Pejabat Badan Pencegah Rasuah (sekarang SPRM) Kelantan lalu membuat satu laporan rasuah ke atas Haji Husam dan Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan.

BPR Di Persila 24 Jam Sehari

Haji Husam mendiamkan diri. Tuan Guru Nik Aziz pula memberi arahan supaya semua akses kepada dokumen Kerajaan Negeri di beri 24 jam sehari kepada BPR. Ahli-ahli politik dan pemimpin PAS semuanya bersetuju memberi kerjasama penuh. Syarikat-syarikat yang mendapat tender, kontrak dan permit balak juga diharapkan dapat berbuat perkara yang sama.

Pejabat mereka yang baik dan rapat dengan Haji Husam diselongkar. Dokumen-dokumen berkaitan dengan Haji Husam dalam apa bentuk sekalipun diimbas dengan amat berhati-hati. Pejabat Perbadanan Menteri Besar Kelantan dan Air Kelantan juga tidak terkecuali.

Akhirnya, BPR menemui dari rekod Air Kelantan bahawa Haji Husam telah didapati belum melunaskan tunggakan bil air sejumlah lebih kurang RM200.00. Kakitangan terbabit ditekan dan disoal siasat bagi mewujudkan kes salah guna kuasa terhadap Haji Husam. Setelah tuduhan yang besar-besar didapati fitnah semata-mata, maka usaha diambil untuk mendakwa Haji Husam kerana terlewat melunaskan tunggakan bil air sebanyak lebih kurang RM200.00.

Husam dalam satu temubual media, menceritakan bagaimana dia menitiskan airmata bila melihat keadaan rumahnya dengan dokumen-dokumennya berselerak diselongkar semata-mata kerana terlewat membayar tunggakan bil air.

Akhirnya, BPR menutup kes setelah mendapati tiada satupun pertuduhan tersebut berasas. Husam menjelaskan tunggakan bil air tersebut dan para sahabat yakin, beliau kini insaf dan bertaubat untuk tidak melupakan tanggungjawabnya membayar bil utiliti.

Namun kegagalan BPR untuk menemui sebarang bukti yang setidak-tidaknya dapat memulakan pertuduhan ke atas Husam tidak meredakan keadaan. Bahkan media-massa langsung tidak mahu membantu menghebahkan secara adil bahawa Husam telah dibersihkan oleh BPR. Maka dengan itu, Husam memulakan tindakan menyaman YB Nozula Mat Diah dan beberapa akhbar.

Nozula Mangsa Blogger

Semalam, pihak YB Nozula telah tiada upaya melainkan membuat permohonan maaf seperti yang dituntut oleh peguam yang mewakili Haji Husam bagi mengelakkan kes itu dibicarakan. Mengelakkan kes itu dibicarakan tentu sekali melegakan banyak pihak terutama blogger yang segala tulisannya menjadi punca Nozula terperangkap.

Namun begitu, difahamkan Nozula juga adalah mangsa. Nozula ditekan oleh Annuar Musa yang ketika itu Ketua Pembangkang untuk menjadi hero setelah Nozula digantung dari menyertai Persidangan Dewan Negeri sehari sebelum itu kerana menendang ADUN PAS. Annuar Musa pula telah bertemu dengan seorang blogger sehari dua sebelum itu untuk mendapatkan pertuduhan-pertuduhan terhadap Husam.

Setidak-tidaknya, itulah yang dimaklumkan kepada pihak Haji Husam.

Jawapan Kedua Sayuti Kepada Kickdefella

Sementara itu, Hari ini Blogger Mohd Sayuti Omar telah respons terhadap jolokan pendedahan smsnya kepada Husam dengan mendedahkan beberapa sms Husam terhadapnya.

Sms-sms Husam kepada Sayuti itu adalah seperti berikut,

• “Penulis bisa kadang kala ingat tuhan tidak ada. Boleh tulis ikut sedap. Kerana dunia sanggup godam duit rakyat. Insyallah mana yang mahal dan rugikan rakyat kita tolak w pun tak disenangi. Nilai perjuangan bukan boleh dibeli dengan ugutan. Ya Allah bantulah hamba Mu mengatasi orang yang zalim walau siapa dia.”

• Bismilah. Insyallah ambo takkan tunduk pada perasugut demo nak komisyen dgn cara hina. Ambo hanya mampu berdoa atas segala aniaya demo. Allah tetap akan penuhi janji bila tiba masanya.”

• “Teruskan kemuliaan demo. Tuhan tak dok saja.”

• “Demo kutip cari makanlah dgn perasugut tu, manusia tak tahu. Demo mulia. Ambo tak tahu hal demo. Ada menteri mana demo boleh peraugut, buatlah. Tuhan beri tangan boleh tulis lagi, loh la,”

Jelas kepada para pembaca kini, menerusi sms Husam yang didedahkan oleh Sayuti bahawa Husam menghantar sms itu kerana Husam telah diugut oleh Sayuti, lihat keratan sms Husam,

• Nilai perjuangan bukan boleh dibeli dengan ugutan.
• ambo takkan tunduk pada perasugut demo nak komisyen dgn cara hina.
• Demo kutip cari makanlah dgn perasugut tu,

Kepada pembaca budiman saya bertanya, mengapa hendak Husam menghantar sms sedemikian jika dia tidak diugut?

Cabinet assurance needed - all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities

By Lim Kit Siang,

From the statement of the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled from Yemen and my discussion with the Higher Education Department director-general Datuk Prof Radin Umar Radin Sohadi, no concrete assurance is forthcoming that the 4,574 student-victims of USM Apex University student intake fiasco will definitely be given places in other public universities.

Although Khaled described the foul-up by the country’s only apex university as serious and directed that an independent committee be set up to investigate the matter, he has no assurances for the 4,574 student victims.

All Khaled said was that students who were rejected by USM will get another bite of the cherry, as they will be considered for placements in other public universities by the University Admissions Unit (UPU).
This is scarce consolation for the 4,575 students who went through emotional havoc over the USM foul-up.

Over 22,000 students applied for places in USM, which was conducting its own intake of undergraduates for the first time, in line with its status as an apex university. Out of this number, 8,173 were pre-qualified but only 3,599 were offered places.

The problem arose when all the 8,173 pre-qualified students were mistakenly uploaded on the USM website as being successful in their applications, creating emotional shockwaves for 4,575 students and their parents when their joy of being accepted by USM were immediately dashed by the USM bungle.

Khaled’s assurance that the 4,574 will be considered for placements in other universities is totally unsatisfactory, as this means that they are placed in the same category as the over 14,000 students who applied for admission to USM but were not pre-qualified. How can this be fair?

My discussion with Radin Umar is also not successful in getting any assurance that the 4,574 students would all be offered places in the other public universities.

He said that there are 40,366 places for public universities available for the 2009/2010 academic session while the UPU has received 61,027 applications. The UPU results would be announced on June 19.

When I asked that the 4,574 students should be given special attention as they are pre-qualified by USM, Radin Umar said that all the 61,027 applicants received by UPU are also “pre-qualified”. He said meritocracy has to be the yardstick unless the meritocracy selection system is not followed.

I do not know what this “meritocracy” Radin Umar is talking about, but I agree that the 4,574 students should be given places in the other public universities without jeopardizing or denying the chances of other eligible students.

This can be done by a two-step process.

Firstly, in the selection of the placement of 40,366 places for the public universities from the 61,027 applications, the UPU uses its meritocracy selection system.

Secondly, those from the 4,574 student-victims of the USM Apex University fiasco who failed to get UPU offers for the 40,366 university places should all be given places in the public universities, which would mean an expansion of public universities places from 40,366 to include this group.

As the 4,574 students were “pre-qualified” by USM from over 22,000 students, I will be surprised if there is even five per cent or less than 250 students from this group who are not offered places by UPU.

I do not believe that it is beyond the capability of the Malaysian public university system to increase university intake by one per cent of its target intake of 40,366 students for the new academic year when such a tiny increase in university places will see that justice is done and that not a single one of the 4,574 students nurse a life-long grievance against an unfair university selection system.

This is a decision which cannot be taken at the bureaucratic level of the UPU but only at the policy level of the Cabinet.

For this reason, I call on the Cabinet tomorrow to give categorical assurance that the 4,574 student-victims of USM Apex University student intake foul-up will be given places in other public universities without jeopardizing or denying chances to other eligible applicants.

Human trafficking rampant off Pengerang

JOHOR BARU, 2 June 2009: Stricter surveillance must be conducted off Pengerang on Johor's east coast as its proximity to a group of Indonesian islands makes it a favourite haunt for human trafficking syndicates, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said.

Its southern region chief, Admiral Che Hassan Jusoh, said the recent drowning of foreigners recently showed the challenges his officers faced.

On 28 April 2009, six Pakistanis were drowned off Pengerang after a boat capsized during a storm.

Che Hassan told Bernama that although the Pakistani embassy in Kuala Lumpur claimed that they were tourists, there was talk that they were in fact going to Batam en route to Australia to seek political asylum.

On 12 May, eight Indonesian illegal immigrants drowned after their boat which was heading for Batam, also capsized off Pengerang.

Most of the boats leaving Pengerang head for Batam, Karimun or Bintan.

Che Hassan said there were many other similar cases involving Indonesian illegal immigrants, making the case for stricter surveillance off the coastal areas all the more important.

"This is because human trafficking syndicates conduct their business on land. There are 15 secret routes used by syndicates to smuggle illegal immigrants along the Pengerang coast," he added.

The Malaysian Armed Forces, assisted by the General Operation Force, has also posted officers to guard the Pengerang coast to check the entry of illegal immigrants.

Other than human trafficking, Pengerang is also used as a base to transfer fuel illegally, to smuggle cigarettes, for unlicensed cleaning of tankers and other illegal activities.

LATEST ON MISSING AIR FRANCE PLANE:Special aircraft to locate marks in sea

New Straits Times

BRASILIA, TUES: Brazil’s air force late Monday deployed aircraft with radar and infrared technology to maintain the search overnight for an Air France plane carrying 228 people that went missing over the Atlantic, an official said.

A daytime search using eight air force aircraft doing visual sweeps did not turn up anything in the area being searched: a zone 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) off the coast of northeast Brazil.

The area is beyond the reach of fixed land radar and near where the Airbus emitted its final communication, an automatic data message signaling multiple failures of its electric and pressurization systems.

The missing plane, Air France flight AF 447, disappeared early Monday, four hours into its 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. More than half the 216 passengers on board were either Brazilian or French.

An air force spokesman, Colonel Jorge Amaral, told reporters that the search would continue overnight with a Hercules C130 plane fitted with equipment to try to detect the Air France plane’s emergency beacon.

Another aircraft being used, an Embraer R-99, had onboard radar and, “if weather conditions permit,” infrared gear that could detect bodies in the water, he said.

The spokesman said two French aircraft that had been searching from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean would have to suspend operations for the night.

Amaral said an anomaly reported by the pilot of a TAM Airlines plane flying in the area around the time the Air France plane emitted its final signal was being weighed.

The TAM pilot, who was flying towards Brazil, said he spotted what appeared to be orange marks in the ocean, in an area under the responsibility of Senegalese air traffic control.

The pilot was unable to make out whether the marks were buoys or flames.

Two post-mortems later, family still in the dark

Tarani Palani (Malaysiakini) | Jun 1, 09 4:55pm
On Saturday morning, Thilak Chellapan, 27, was severely beaten by a group of men after he was allegedly caught red-handed trying to rob a house in Port Dickson.

MCPX

Several hours later, Thilak (left) was pronounced dead at Hospital Port Dickson in Bandar Sungala.

The family was told that the post-mortem revealed he had succumbed to heart complications.

Barely 48 hours later, the hospital could not be certain of the cause of death following a second post-mortem and this has caused anguish for the deceased's family.

The family has yet to receive a copy of the first post-mortem report. They had only been informed verbally by a doctor regarding the cause of death.

Dissatisfied with the findings, the family had requested for the second post-mortem to be carried out.

According to the family's lawyer Jason Tan, he was later informed by a doctor that the cause of death has yet to be ascertained.

"They acknowledged that there were bruises all over his body which were caused by a blunt object but they do not know if this caused the death," he added.

According to Tan, there was swelling of the brain and also the heart but a histology test has to be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.

"The deceased also suffered shock and extreme pain," he added.

When contacted, a hospital spokesperson said post-mortems are carried out for the purpose of police cases.

"As to answer questions pertaining to the details and discrepancies (of the post-mortem), we leave it to the pathologist," he said.

Thilak, a former tow-truck operator, is the youngest of 12 children.

'Thilak not involved'

The family also claimed that Thilak was not involved in any criminal activities.

His brother Arasu said the deceased was not the one who allegedly robbed the house.

According to him, their estranged nephew who was just released from prison after serving a three-year jail sentence was the culprit.

"One of Thilak's friends (who was allegedly involved in the crime) had asked the nephew to call him (Thilak) to fetch them from the house.

"But Thilak said that he was at work and couldn't go over to fetch them," he told Malaysiakini.

He also claimed that the persons who allegedly attacked Thilak then traced the phone call to Thilak and got him entangled in the case.

"They took my brother Rajen as 'hostage' and made him contact Thilak.

"When Thilak finally went to see them, Rajen was released and they (took Thilak in the car and) sped away with him," he said, adding that they only saw Thilak at the police station after that.

The nephew's whereabouts are unknown, he added.

'Cops could have done more'

Arasu's wife Carolyn Harol Haden told Malaysiakini that one of Thilak's brothers received a text message around 6am, stating that the deceased would be sent to the Port Dickson police station and then to the hospital.

The message also read, "We have smashed your brother's head."

Following this, Carolyn said she and several other family members rushed to the police station around 7am and found that Thilak could barely stand due to his injuries.

"He wanted to use the toilet, so two of my brothers-in-law helped him but he just collapsed outside the toilet," she added.

Carolyn also expressed disappointment with the police, saying they could have done more to assist Thilak.

She said the family had pleaded with the police to allow them to personally take him to the hospital but was barred from doing so.

The policemen said they had to wait for a police van to transport Thilak to the hospital, she added.

"He was complaining to the police that he was in extreme pain and had difficulty in breathing. But the policemen accused him of pretending," she claimed.

Dismissing his plea for help, Carolyn said the policemen continued to record statements from the two individuals who brought Thilak to the police station.

Two men have been detained

Negeri Sembilan police chief Osman Salleh told Malaysiakini that policemen escorted Thilak to the hospital around 8.30am and stayed with him at the hospital.

He added that two men, in their early 30s, were detained on the same day to facilitate investigations.

Carolyn said she and the others did not follow Thilak to the hospital because she was pregnant and had to return home.

The family later received a call around 11am informing them of Thilak's death.

"We are not saying that the police caused this but they could have been much more helpful," said Carolyn.

Vell Paari: Was the police negligent?

In a related development, MIC Youth advisor Vell Paari called for a thorough investigation to determine if the police had been negligent with regards to ensuring Thilak received prompt medical attention.

"We know this is not a case of police abuse. But was the police negligent by not taking him to the hospital immediately?" he asked.

"Who knows, he could have been saved if medical attention was given earlier," he told Malaysiakini.

Furthermore, Vell Paari said the family had pleaded with the police to take him but this went unheeded.

In view of this, the MIC Youth advisor said a probe must be launched in relation to the police's standard operating procedure in such cases and to check if there was any element of negligence on their part.

Penanti: Pakatan Rakyat perlu terus hati-hati terhadap angkara Umno-BN

Dari Harakah Daily

Oleh Mohd Sabri Said

Ketua Umum Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KeADILan), Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengingatkan Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat supaya lebih berhati-hati dengan Umno dan Barisan Nasional (BN) kerana kemenangan Pakatan Rakyat di Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) N12 Penanti menjadikan Umno lebih agresif merancang berbagai usaha buruk untuk memenuhi dendam mereka.

Ujarnya, penolakan BN oleh rakyat sejak kebelakangan ini membuatkan kepimpinan parti itu semakin lantang mencerca dan mencipta berbagai usaha memburuk-burukan usaha kerajaan walaupun Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat melaksanakan program kebajikan terhadap rakyat.

“Awasi usaha Umno akan datang kerana mereka akan lakukan apa saja untuk meruntuhkan Pakatan Rakyat termasuk melaga-lagakan kepimpinan gabungan ketiga-tiga parti,” jelasnya ketika memberikan amanat selepas menang di Yayasan Aman, Penanti semalam.

Beliau menambah, pihak Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia (SPR) juga memainkan peranan dengan arahan BN supaya rakyat yang cenderong kepada Pakatan Rakyat tidak boleh mengundi walhal dalam pilihan raya umum lepas nama mereka tertera dalam buku daftar pemilih.

Tidak mustahil Pilihan raya Kecil Manik Urai, Kelantan nanti sambung Anwar, BN cuba melakukan berbagai helah untuk membersihkan nama mereka di Penanti.

Menyentuh isu kemenangan di Penanti beliau yang juga Ketua Pembangkang di Parlimen mengucapkan terima kasih pada pengundi kerana memberi ruang untuk Dr Mansor berkhidmat di Penanti walaupun beliau bukan anak tempatan Penanti.

“Berilah beliau peluang membina harapan baru yang lebih sengit di Dun Penanti. Marilah bersamanya melebarkan semangat serta tingkatkan pembaharuan yang dikehendaki oleh Kerajaan Negeri pimpinan Lim Guan Eng,” katanya.

Pt 2 | One-on-one with Farish Noor

Bkt Koman residents fail to stop goldmine

DAP slams Mingguan Malaysia for calling non-Malays ‘Kaum Pendatang’

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

PETALING JAYA, June 1 — The DAP today slammed the Umno-owned Mingguan Malaysia for fueling racial discord by referring to non-Malays as ‘Kaum Pendatang’ or immigrants.

Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua said the last time the issue was raised, a Chinese press reporter was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), although she was just reporting what was said by an Umno leader.

He was referring to Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng was detained for over 24-hours last September after quoting Bukit Bendara Umno division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail, who made the remark during the Permatang Pauh by-election.

“Is there going to be equal treatment for Mingguan Malaysia?” he asked.

Pua said he is against the use of the ISA but wonders if authorities would take any action against the Sunday edition of Utusan Malaysia.

The column yesterday by Awang Selamat also asked if the sacrifice of Malays has been betrayed by non-Malays.

The article made reference to rights of citizenship given to non-Malays before independence, comparing Malaysia to other countries which according to the weekly had rejected their immigrant communities.

The article also quoted former MIC president Tun V.T Sambanthan who compared Malaysia to Burma where the Indian community had been forced out.

“Is this the 1 Malaysia which (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) is taking about,” he asked adding that it was more like a strategy of divide and rule.

Utusan Malaysia's editorial explaining Najib's 1Malaysia - by Tony Pua

"Kaum Pendatang" Again...

What "1Malaysia"?

UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia's weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia just carried another editorial which was entitled "Melayu Dikhianati" or "Malays Betrayed".

Persoalannya, kini apakah pengorbanan Melayu dikhianati oleh kaum lain?
Who betrayed them? Apparently it's the "kaum pendatang" (again) who are ungrateful towards all the "kemurahan hati orang Melayu".

They even took an alleged quote from Tun Sambanthan from 1965 (source unknown):

Di manakah anda boleh mendapat layanan politik yang baik untuk kaum pendatang? Di manakah dalam sejarah dunia? Saya bertanya kepada anda. Ini adalah fakta. Siapakah anda untuk menjaga keselamatan kami? ... Persoalannya, kini apakah pengorbanan Melayu dikhianati oleh kaum lain?

The article even went to the extent of comparing ourselves with Burma, on the fact that Indians were chased out of the country!

“Di Burma, seperti yang kita semua sedia maklum, kaum India telah diusir keluar, di Ceylon mereka tidak diberikan taraf warganegara seperti juga di Burma. Saya tahu dan anda juga tahu. Apa yang sedang berlaku di Malaya?

So, Najib, this is your 1Malaysia you have been preaching about? That all minority races are still "kaum pendatang" that should be treated with continued discrimination and disdain but remain eternally grateful to UMNO for all it has done?

Tan Hoon Cheng, a reporter was detained under ISA for merely reporting the "kaum pendatang" comments by a racist UMNO leader in Penang. Now, the editors of Utusan Malaysia are openly preaching "kaum pendatang", will we see equal treatment here?

Najib, you preach your "1Malaysia" concept to the minorities in this country very hard to win back their hearts and sympathies. But behind our backs, via UMNO's very own Utusan Malaysia, you continue to preach hatred, division and discrimination. Your vision and implementation of "1Malaysia" is absolutely disgraceful!

NST Editorial: Feast of lies

"We are owned by a political party. We are not a foreign newspaper," said a reporter for one of Malaysia's English-language dailies. "Do you want us to get into trouble with the party? Do you want us to get into trouble with the palace?"

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Feast of lies

APOLOGIES -- at the very least -- are called for. Having suffered several days of distressing but perhaps predictable reports in the Indonesian and Singaporean press and on the international wire services, it was the height of grace for Tengku Temenggong Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra and his wife Cik Puan Temenggong Manohara, the former Odelia Pinot, to issue not a word in response or protest but simply to appear together at the wedding of a family friend. Reports of her torture and torment, as graphically recounted in the regional media, clearly seem greatly exaggerated. While we would dwell no further on the Kelantan royal couple's personal life, beyond hoping their continued happiness together will in time settle whatever unhappiness resides in others close to them, we cannot be so sanguine or hopeful over the erosion of reason apparently afflicting even the professional media these days.

When an aggrieved party's scandalous allegations are leapt on and gnawed to the bone without even a perfunctory attempt at verification, the damning lapse lies in the notion that a lie is news and ought to be reported as such. For the yellow press to make a meal of this is predictable, and their readership would have it no other way. For respected wire services and leading newspapers to pick up the "story", however, running it under headlines such as "Najib dodges queries on model" in reference to the Malaysian prime minister's refusal to take questions on the subject during his official visit to Jakarta last week, suggests that the much-touted need for the "old" media to learn from the "new" is barking up the wrong tree. When sentiment matters more than fact; when any accusation, no matter how outrageous, is deemed to need response or be held as true, some old-fashioned professionalism in reporting would seem a brave rearguard action in defence of the increasingly quaint notion of getting the story right.

As information and communications technology rolls ever onward, enabling ever more virulent text-message scams, invasions of privacy and scandalous rumour-mongering, along with all the benefits of reach, ubiquity and coolness now so piously upheld by those recognising the ascent of ICT over all previous media, it's appropriate once again to haul out the famous observation of 1970s media guru Marshall McLuhan: "The medium is the massage." What really matters is the message, not the medium of its "massage". And we could all be doing a lot better in getting our messages straight.

NST Editorial, 27 April 2009

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Indonesian Teen Model Escapes From Malaysian Prince

Lurid tales of sexual abuse, torture, kidnapping
Asia Sentinel, 1 June 2009

After a dramatic escape from her Malaysian prince husband over the weekend, 17-year-old Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia Pinot said she had been abused, tortured and subjected to sexual abuse in the prince's Kelantan redoubt, and that neither the Malaysian or Indonesian authorities bothered to help her.

Accompanied by her mother, Manohara told a packed press conference that she had escaped from the Royal Plaza Hotel in Singapore after she and her 31-year-old husband, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry had accompanied Fakhry's father, Sultan Ismail Petra Shah II, to Singapore after the latter had a heart attack.

Her escape to Indonesia, she said, was through the assistance of the United States and Indonesian Embassies in Singapore as well as the Singapore police.

"Their guards tried to catch me but they were afraid of having their action recorded by the escalator's camera that would leave their tracks, so they let me go," she said when asked how she could escape from the supervision of the Kelantan Sultan's guards.

After her arrival in Jakarta, Manohara and her mother, Daisy Fajarina, took to Indonesian television to tell a horrific tale of intimidation and torture including having her breasts sliced with a razor, forced drug injections and other abuse. The local media had a field day, running the press conference continually throughout Sunday. The media circus, however, didn't make it to Malaysia, where the story was studiously ignored by the mainstream press, which is controlled by the major political parties of the national coalition. The independent website Malaysiakini ran the story, carefully noting claims that Fajarina had attempted to extort RM600,000 from the prince.

"We are owned by a political party. We are not a foreign newspaper," said a reporter for one of Malaysia's English-language dailies. "Do you want us to get into trouble with the party? Do you want us to get into trouble with the palace?"

The jet-setting teen model, named one of Indonesia's "most precious people" by a fashion magazine, met her husband when she was only 16 at a gala dinner thrown by then-deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Her story was a dramatic counterpoint to the prince's claims in Malaysia earlier this month she was happily married and that her mother was demanding money from him.

A spokesman denied the story of Manohara's escape, saying Prince Fakhry had decided to divorce her. For her part, Manohara on Monday threatened to sue the prince.

"I am still traumatized by all that happened and it has left an impact on me," she told the press conference, accompanied by her mother, her sister Dewi Sri Asih and a staff member of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.

The plight of Manohara and her wrecked fairy-tale marriage raises grim questions for the Malaysian government, which refused to grant Fajarina and her second daughter a visa to visit the country to attempt to rescue Manohara. The mother claimed Manohara had been kidnapped in Saudi Arabia after a February visit to the Muslim holy land to and hustled back to Malaysia aboard a private jet, leaving the mother standing on the tarmac.

The refusal of the Malaysian immigration department to allow the two into the country again raises questions of the disappearance of the immigration records of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu and her two companions after she was murdered in 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards.

It is also the latest blow to the credibility of Malaysia's sultans, who have been the subject of years of reports of abuse of the public purse and refusal to accept accountability. Many have been repeatedly accused of demanding that the states they rule pay huge gambling debts run up in casinos in London.

At one point in the 1980s, the Sultan of Johor was accused of beating a golf caddy to death with a golf club. He was also not brought to justice for shooting a trespasser on his property. Then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused the sultans, among other things, of giving away parts of the country to the British, oppressing the people, breaking civil and criminal laws, misusing the money and property of the government and pressuring government officials. , asking in 1993 that the body strip them of their immunity before the law. Mahathir used the incident in a parliamentary move to limit the sultans' prerogatives

It also poses problems for the United Malays National Organisation, which over the last six months has tied itself closely to the sultans. In a squabble over the dissolution of the legislature on the state of Perak, UMNO has made criticism of the sultans a bone of contention with the opposition, accusing them in effect of insulting the ethnic Malays' birthright, with UMNO membhers filing more than 100 police complaints against an opposition lawyer who filed suit against the Sultan of Perak. The sordid revelations now attached to the Kelantan royal house make it difficult to justify the sultans' immunity from criticism.

Manohara, in her press conference, called attention to other 'Manoharas' who got 'locked up' in Malaysia, presumably by other royal families.

"Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse," she said. "I could never think a normal man could do such things."

After the story blew up in April, Manohara was photographed smiling and at ease at a ceremony in Malaysia. However, she said, she was constantly guarded and spent most of her time in her bedroom in the palace.

"Every time I went out for events, they forced me to smile and would torture me if I did not do what they said," she said. She said she had tried to escape, but was caught by royal family staff and injected with drugs that made her vomit blood. "I was injected twice," she said.

When confirming a reporter's question about whether her husband had cut her nipples, she was reluctant to give details. "Yes it is true. Some parts of my body were cut by a razor," Manohara said.

Manohara said she had secretly called the Singapore police on Saturday night requesting help. Police responded, she told the press conference, and confronted the royal family, telling them they couldn't prevent the girl from leaving, according to Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta. He said police then called the US and Indonesian embassies for assistance.

"After Manohara was secured by the Singaporean police, our embassy staff in Singapore processed all her documents at the hotel within only four hours from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Sunday so she could go back to Indonesia immediately," Teuku said.

Manohara confirmed that the police had helped her escape. "The police told Fakhry that he would be held in jail if he did not let me go. No one could force me against my will in Singapore and I knew I had a chance to escape here," she said, adding that she wanted a divorce and would file a police report against her estranged husband.

Manohara also claimed that Indonesian Ambassador for Malaysia Da'i Bachtiar had previously lied about her condition. "They made it worse by telling lies, saying that I was fine while I was suffering in Kelantan," she said, adding that no media in Malaysia had reported on her plight.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied allegations that its embassy in Malaysia had lied.