Shooting Children

Ironically, Beer-Man declared that the police had performed a perfect-10 in areas that “you will never see, you will never hear, you will never know” such as counter-terrorism. Sure. I am positive that Malaysia has arrested all those Thai Terrorists currently hiding in Kelantan, who decapitated thousands of Innocent Monks and people in South Thailand. And what about those Philippino Terrorists who are hiding in Pulau Gaya just in front of Kota Kinabalu? Name a single sane Policeman who dares walk onto that Island? The real reason we don't hear about anything gallant, or valiant about the Malaysian Police, is because it never happens.
 Written by John Doe
 A new habit has surfaced of late. The recent death of 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah and yesterday’s shooting of 17-year-old Mohd Azizi Aziz at the hands of the police has led to public anger with the police who are already having to deal with the reality of the negative perception over crime levels, custodial deaths and corruption.

The Home Minister, currently shopping in London, tells us otherwise... The following News Report describes the Morbid Monsters in blue uniforms whom the above beer-guzzler is asking Malaysians to wholeheartedly, and unquestioningly support:

Taken from:
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-16035377_ITM

(From AP Worldstream)
Byline: LIBBY QUAID
Eight Malaysian Police Officers have been arrested in the past two days accused of robbery and extortion, news reports said Friday. Four officers are believed to be linked to several robberies in the Klang Valley surrounding Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur. Spent bullet shells at robbery sites matched their weapons, it said....

In another case:
Malaysian Policeman caught after breaking into car, dozing off
(AP): KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Malaysian Police Officer was arrested after he broke into a Mercedes Benz to steal its stereo but then dozed off on its luxurious seat. The police officer allegedly was high on drugs and fell asleep while trying to steal a compact disc player from the car. The officer, who was not identified, is a member of a gang linked to other break-ins and motorcycle thefts, the report said....

It gets better:
New Straits Times
by Alang Bendahara
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian Policeman was detained for forcing a 17-year-old girl to perform oral sex and raping her in a police station in Selangor on June 18. Upon questioning, the policeman, who was with a colleague, discovered that the girl's boyfriend did not possess a licence and the couple was taken to a police station. Sources said the couple was later interrogated separately in different rooms. While being interrogated, the girl was forced to undress and threatened. Fearing for her boyfriend's safety, the girl agreed to the policeman's demand and performed oral sex on him and was also raped. When contacted, Selangor Police Chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed the Rape Report...

I can go on and on, like the Police Brutality in Cheras, the one Tonne of confiscated Drugs mysteriously missing from the Johor Police Station, more than 1,800 Custodial Deaths while in remand, and so on. Simply sift through all those NFA Police Cases, and you will have a much greater understanding of how serious the crimes committed by Malaysian Police are.

The Home Minister also said that instead of constantly attacking the police, the public must support the force as it was one of the institutional pillars that formed the spine of the UMNO. I guess it must have also slipped his mind that even the Two Killers of Altantuya were Special Branch Malaysian Police Officers of high stature! While some might find it excruciatingly painful to accept that the Form 5 Educated people can form the bulk of the Malaysian Police Force, it becomes much harder to see how one is forced to accept this as the core of alleged Law Enforcement. Are Malaysians going to sit down and claim “Takdir”, Fate and/ or Destiny whenever one of your children gets shot? Look, if the Police Special Armed Forces can Strong-Arm the Sultan, what are you? Look no further.  The Judicial? Bah !!! Mr. Korek Korek Korek gets away with "Looks like me, sounds like me, but that's not me". Even though it was proven that the video evidence was filmed in his house!

Well, to the parents of Aminulrasyid Amzah and Mohd Azizi Aziz, please accept my deepest Condolences for your great loss. There is simply no excuse for this shooting, and the only way Justice will prevail, is when the new Government takes over. How many more innocent children will have to die before any Malaysian realizes that taking this sitting-down is simply doing nothing? For those who accepted UMNO's Bribes in Hulu Selangor, this is the blood money which you have in your bank accounts.

The only three words which I agree with this Beer-Guzzler is that “Malaysia is in Transition”. Yes. Most definitely!! It is getting from bad to worse !! And from "Worse-ter to Worstest". I've run out of Superlatives to describe this absurd monstrosity.

A friend of mine traveling down to Singapore this weekend just sent me this picture.



I guess Singaporeans know how to protect their young. Unlike some other retarded Ketuanan Country.

Ironically, Beer-Man declared that the police had performed a perfect-10 in areas that “you will never see, you will never hear, you will never know” such as counter-terrorism. Sure. I am positive that Malaysia has arrested all those Thai Terrorists currently hiding in Kelantan, who decapitated thousands of Innocent Monks and people in South Thailand. And what about those Philippino Terrorists who are hiding in Pulau Gaya just in front of Kota Kinabalu? Name a single sane Policeman who dares walk onto that Island? The real reason we don't hear about anything gallant, or valiant about the Malaysian Police, is because it never happens.

A tale of two shootings

thenutgraph.com

(Malaysia and UK maps: Wiki commons; gun: svilen0001 @ sxc.hu)

MALAYSIA is facing yet another fatal police shooting, this time of 15-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah. The reactions and responses to Aminulrasyid's case remind me of another fatal shooting which took place in London in 2005. However, the reactions and responses to the London case were markedly different.
I have set out below the tragic tales of these two shootings. I leave readers to draw their own conclusions about our nation's leaders and their ability to acknowledge when wrongs have been committed. Admitting mistakes is often seen as a weakness. But I believe that until our leaders have the strength to do so, genuine reform will never occur, and we will see tragic cases such as this recur time and again.
United Kingdom, 2005
Jean Charles de Menezes was the son of a bricklayer from Brazil. He was a trained electrician. In 2002, when he was 24, he travelled to England, found a job and stayed on.
On 22 July 2005, he left his rented apartment in greater London to fix a broken fire alarm. He got on a bus, heading to Brixton tube station to catch a train. The station was closed due to a terrorist alert and bomb threats the day before. He then travelled by bus to Stockwell tube station, went down the escalator to the platform, boarded a train and sat down.
Multiple police officers then approached Menezes. He stood up, was forced down again onto his seat, and then was shot seven times in the head. He died instantly.
Police reaction

Menezes (Wiki commons) Police had mistaken Menezes to be a suspected bomber, and had shot him because they thought he was about to blow up the train. The city had just faced the 7 July bomb attacks where 52 people died. A failed attempt on 21 July had been discovered and suspects had been identified.
The day after Menezes's death, then Metropolitan police chief Sir Ian Blair announced that police had shot the wrong man. He confirmed that Menezes was completely unconnected to the bomb attacks, and apologised to the Menezes family, saying it was a tragedy.
Inquiry
Several days later, it was announced that the shooting would be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Although critical of police action, the commission later decided that no disciplinary action would be taken against specific officers.
In 2007, the Metropolitan police went on trial for endangering public health and safety, and Menezes in particular. The court reviewed a host of issues: the procedure for identifying suspects; procedure on the use of firearms; and the quality of communication between the surveillance and firearms teams, to name a few. The police were found guilty, and were fined £175,000 and £385,000 in costs.
In 2008, an inquest was held into Menezes's death. The court heard evidence from over 100 witnesses, including 40 police officers. A jury dismissed police officers' claims that they were acting in self-defence and gave warnings before shooting Menezes.

Stephenson (Source: met.
police.co.uk) The acting police commissioner at the time, Sir Paul Stephenson, said the force had made a "terrible mistake" and apologised again.
In 2009, the Metropolitan police reached a private settlement with Menezes's family of £100,000, with the commissioner making another "unreserved apology" for the tragic death.
Malaysia, 2010
Aminulrasyid Amzah was 14, going on 15. He was a Form Three student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 9 Shah Alam. His father had died about five years ago and he lived with his mother Norsiah Mohamad.
On 26 Apr 2010, he had driven his sister's car to pick up his friend Azamuddin Omar for drinks. On his way home at about 2am, he passed a police car, which started chasing him. Gunshots were fired, and Aminulrasyid was shot in the head. His friend Azamuddin said Aminulrasyid died in his lap.
Police reaction
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the shooting occurred at 2am in an area that experienced frequent break-ins. He said that Aminulrasyid's behaviour had aroused the suspicion of the police. Media reports alluded to the fact that Aminulrasyid and his friend were possibly involved in robbery and break-ins, leading to angry protests from Aminulrasyid's mother.

Musa Hassan (Wiki commons)Musa Hassan also said a car could be a weapon if used to plough into officers who tried to stop drivers.
He then reportedly threatened to instruct his officers to refrain from stopping cars being driven suspiciously, or illegal racers from taking over roads. "If you do not want police to enforce the law, then say so," Musa reportedly told reporters on 29 April.
Police also claimed that Aminulrasyid had been reversing his car into them to avoid a roadblock.
They also said they had found a machete in the car boot.
Government reaction
Home Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein defended the police and asked the public to be fair. He reportedly said, "People are angry when a member of the public is shot, but the same can't be said when the police are shot. They have no sympathy at all. Is there a difference between the life of the public and police [officers]?"
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil made a comment about parents needing to know where their children were at night.
No apology was forthcoming from any government authority regarding Aminulrasyid's fatal shooting. The cabinet, however, eventually issued a statement to Aminulrasyid's family on 5 May, expressing sadness and condolence.
Inquiry
An eight-member special panel, headed by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop, was set up to "monitor" the police investigations into the shooting.

Abu Seman Yusop (Wiki
commons) On 4 May, the panel reportedly went to the shooting site late at night to begin investigations. Their Home Ministry bus was escorted by a police outrider, a convoy of police cars, and journalists.
Aminulrasyid's family has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up to investigate the incident. They want the results of an independent investigation to be made available to the public.
However, after their late-night excursion and a three-hour meeting on 5 May 2010, the special panel said there was no need for a Royal Commission. The deputy home minister reportedly said, "We concluded that the police investigations into the case have been transparent and fair."

Quality, Quantity, and Equity in Malaysian Education #1

By M. Bakri Musa

[First of Three Parts]

Quality Education and Economic Development

In referring to the low quality of our labor pool, the New Economic Model Report cites statistics showing that 80 percent of our workers have only SPM level (11 years) of schooling. That surprises me, not the figure rather the fact that the SPM is now viewed as inadequate.

That observation reflects more on the quality of our education system than it does of our workers. For had our education system maintained its quality, and today’s SPM is of the same caliber as the old Cambridge School Certificate “O” Level, then I would argue that our workers are among the most highly educated.

Members of the National Economic Action Council (they wrote the NEM Report) are old enough to appreciate that when they obtained their O-level certificate, they were in command of sufficient intellectual and other skills to prepare them well for life. The same cannot be said of today’s SPM, as the Report clearly implies.

In suggesting that Malaysian workers should have more years of education, the folks at NEAC are falling into the same trap that had ensnared others, of confusing quantity with quality of education. For if our education system stinks (it certainly does!), then it does not matter whether our workers have college degrees; they still will not be well prepared for the workplace, as attested by the already thousands of unemployed graduates.

As declared in the Center for Global Development’s A Millennium Learning Goal: Measuring Real Progress in Education, we should “focus on the real target of schooling: adequately equipping the nation’s youth for full participation as adults in economic, political and social roles.” School completion alone is an inadequate indicator of this. Likewise, generous funding, low pupil/teacher ratio, and physically grandiose schools and universities do not necessarily reflect quality education.

Consider years of schooling. One can readily appreciate that a year at an Indonesian high school is not the same as at a South Korean one. Even within a country, there are significant variations, as with an inner city school in South Chicago and one in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. In California, the students are challenged with calculus; in inner city Chicago they struggle with “consumer math.”

As for pupil/teacher ratio, South Korean classrooms are more crowded than American ones, yet that does not negatively impact the learning of the Korean children.

Earlier cross-national studies attempting to relate workers’ educational levels with a country’s economic performance used such readily obtainable data as the level of funding, pupil/teacher ratio, and years of schooling. Even with such crude measurements economists were able to conclude confidently that workers’ educational levels correlate well with a nation’s economic development.

That however, could be the effect and not the cause. It could be that when a country is rich, it could afford to spend more on education rather than the investment in education making that country rich.

Such studies also exposed some glaring anomalies. Latin American countries have universal education yet their economies have been underperforming. Egypt and South Korea spend proportionately the same on education, with their young having comparable levels of schooling, yet their economies are a universe apart. What gives?

The OECD made a cross-national study of its labor force focusing specifically on cognitive (in particular reading and mathematical) abilities rather than years of schooling. As can be appreciated, this was a much more formidable undertaking than merely comparing national statistics that may or may not be actually comparable. The findings of this much more rigorous study are even more impressive, confirming not only the earlier findings but also explaining the anomalies.

OECD has since refined and expanded its studies to include developing countries. The resulting Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey is sufficiently rigorous to conclude that workers’ cognitive skills are causally (not just statistically) correlated with economic development across a broad spectrum of countries, from developing to developed ones. Meaning, a country could not develop economically if its workers are cognitively not up to par, regardless of the number of years of formal education.

The relevant cognitive skills relate to critical thinking, language abilities, mathematical competence, and science literacy. It should not surprise us that Indonesia, Bolivia and Peru remain economically backward considering that, as per PISA findings, the average reading ability of Indonesian students was equivalent to that of the lowest seven percent of French students; the average mathematics score of Brazilian students was equal to the lowest scoring Danish students; while the average science score of Peruvian students was equal to the lowest five percent of American students, despite the same number of years spent in school.

Malaysia was not included in the PISA study but it did participate in the Third (1999) International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMMS – R). We scored somewhere in the middle, way behind Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. And so is our economy.

Malaysian leaders and educators do not like to be reminded of this; instead they would prefer us to focus on the fact that we are still ahead of Indonesia, Bolivia and Peru.

The American performance in TIMMS was not impressive either, and that prompted much soul searching. By way of contrast, in Malaysia I have not heard of any official pronouncements or seen academic papers on the subject. The only analyses done on the Malaysian performance on TIMMS were conducted by Malaysian-born American scholars.

Americans realize that they need a skilled workforce to create innovative products and start new entrepreneurial ventures that would drive economic development.

The American performance at TIMMS illustrates another apparent anomaly. While American students lag behind those of Asia and many OECD countries, the American economy outperforms theirs. At first glance this would negate PISA’s conclusion.

Two factors explain the apparent American anomaly. The first relates to the American curriculum and system of teaching. Since this is more important, let me dispose quickly of the second factor, that is, American industries, often supported by public funds, devote substantial resources to training and continually upgrading their workers’ skills.

My hospital has a department devoted entirely to the continuing professional education of its nurses, doctors and other personnel. American editors for example, regularly send their reporters to writing classes and to hear from luminaries in their fields.

For contrast, query any Malaysian civil servant on when was the last time he attended a course that would contribute to his professional development, and you would draw a blank. The response would be the same if you were to ask what professional journals he subscribes or reads regularly.

Returning to the more important first factor, while it is true that American students do not do well in science and mathematics, they shine in the critical and creative thinking department. Unfortunately these skills are not tested by TIMMS or indeed any pencil-and-paper test. The American curriculum, both at school and college levels, does not emphasize rote memory and regurgitation at examination time. Instead the focus is on critical and independent thinking. Thus American students have “open book” and “take home” examinations, a concept incomprehensible to Malaysians. American test questions probe your ability to think critically, not regurgitate textbook or lecture contents.

For those who find an “open book” examination incomprehensible, let me suggest some examples. If Hikayat Hang Tuah were a text in an American course, a typical examination question would be:

The central injunction of our Quran is to “command good and forbid evil.” To what extent have the three main characters (Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, and the Sultan of Melaka) followed this creed?

For Shahnon Ahmad’s Ranjau Se Panjang Jalan, a suggested question would be:

Describe three major ranjau (obstacles) faced by Lahuma (the central character). Imagine yourself the assigned caseworker. How would you guide him to overcome them?

Come to think of it, this would also be a good intellectual exercise for my readers who have read both great works of Malay literature!

As can be seen, those questions make you think. Further, there is no right or wrong answer. Such exercises in critical and creative thinking are the norm in an American classroom. It is this that accounts for the continuing innovativeness, remarkable resilience, and entrepreneurial vigor of the American economy.

Consider this. The American University in Cairo, which has an American curriculum and teaching style, has an enrolment of about 5,000, less than one percent of the total undergraduates in that country. Yet at the Egyptian embassy in Washington, DC, a prestigious posting where only the best get chosen, 40 percent of the staff are AUC graduates. The Egyptian establishment has rendered its judgment as to the quality of that institution, and by implication, the rest of the country’s universities, including its most famous and oldest, Al Azhar.

Undergraduates at AUC are required to take a course, “The Human Quest: Exploring the Big Questions,” where they pursue such queries as, “Who am I?” and, “What does it mean to be a human?”

The Asian ‘tigers,’ their robust economies notwithstanding, appreciate the value and uniqueness of the American system of liberal education; they strive to make their own more ‘American.’

Singapore consciously does this, but is burdened by the fact that it relies on current personnel (teachers, administrators, and policymakers) and institutions to effect these changes. Unfortunately they have been brought up under the old rigid system. I never underestimate the power of inertia, systemic as well as personal. It is especially difficult for individuals to change as that would mean repudiating the very system that had brought them to where they are today.

South Korea imports wholesale American schools, complete with the teachers and texts. As these schools are expensive, only the children of the elite could afford to enroll. In a way that would be a quick and effective channel of changing the whole system as those students are destined to be influential in their country.

Japan brings in thousands of young Americans to teach English under the JET program. Although they are primarily for teaching English, nonetheless their teaching methods and styles would inevitably spill over to the ‘native’ teachers.

Thailand recognizes the limitations of its current personnel and institutions to effect changes. Consequently it attacks the problem frontally by opening up the system. Thus international schools, primarily British and American, are mushrooming there. As in South Korea, these schools are affordable only to the elite. However, because of the ensuing competition from the sheer number of new entries, the costs have come down substantially and these schools are now within the reach of the middle class. Such schools would spawn a new revolution in education in that country.

These countries realize that they have to go beyond the numbers, as with the number of school years or universities, and focus instead on quality. These excellent schools are still far from being the norm; those countries still face the major challenge of access, and thus equity.

How should Malaysia approach the dilemma of quantity versus quality, as well as the issue of equity in her education system? The rest of this essay is my attempt at answering this.

Next: The Trinity of Quality, Quantity, and Equity

Aminul shooting report for Cabinet this week

The Star by FLORENCE A. SAMY

PETALING JAYA: An interim report on the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah will be submitted to the Cabinet this week.

The eight-member special panel set up to oversee police investigations into what caused the controversial shooting will meet today to discuss the report before submitting its preliminary findings to the Cabinet meeting this Wednesday.

The panel has interviewed the key persons involved and gone through the witnesses’ statements but has not concluded its investigations.

“This is only an interim report, There are still other issues that we need to look at. It is just a preliminary finding but it is a fair one for both sides,” said a panel member.

Aminulrasyid was shot dead by police after a 6km car chase on April 26 after, as police said, he tried to reverse and ram the vehicle he was driving into policemen in Section 11, Shah Alam.

However, his friend Azamuddin Omar, 15, who was with him in the car, has denied the police claim.

The panel, which is chaired by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop, had also visited several locations in Shah Alam leading to the fatal shooting beginning from the restaurant where the two had eaten on the day in question.

It will also evaluate the Standard Operating Procedure on the discharge of firearms by policemen on duty.

Other panel members are former Inspector-General of Police Tun Mohammed Haniff Omar, Home Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Ahmad Fuad Abdul Aziz, law lecturer Assoc Prof Datuk Abdul Halim Sidek, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute chief executive officer Datuk Dr Michael Yeoh, lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee, social scientist Datuk Dr Dennison Jayasooria and crime analyst and actor Kamal Affendi Hashim.

Live - Cross-examination of Saiful - Anil Netto

Live updates of the much-anticipated cross examination of Saiful Bukhari in the Anwar trial today.

Najib = anti-cronyism? I wonder what the French investigators think.

By Nathaniel Tan,

 

TMI:

The Najib administration has abandoned the policy of helping just one or two Bumiputera businessmen as it does not bring economic or political benefit to the grouping.
Instead, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said his government would focus on prospective entrepreneurs who genuinely qualify for assistance and have the potential to venture abroad.
“People come to see me, asking me to approve contracts. I can do so but this is not the way to help the Malays as we don’t want to help only one or two of them. We want to help them overall,” he told reporters after opening the Penang Malay Economic Convention here today.

Oh really? Then I suppose the French investigation into the RM 500 million “commissions” for the Scorpene purchases that went to Razak Baginda’s company will find nothing fishy :P nothing fishy at all :P

Obama adviser: Times Square suspect linked to Taliban

Washington (CNN) -- The suspect in the failed Times Square bombing was likely working with the Taliban movement in Pakistan, President Obama's top terrorism adviser said Sunday.

John Brennan, the assistant to the president for counterterrorism and homeland security, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the ongoing investigation pointed to Faisal Shahzad having links to Tehrik-e-Taliban.

"It looks like he was working on behalf of the Pakistani Taliban," Brennan said.

Shahzad has been charged in connection with the attempted bombing in Times Square on May 1.

The group, also known as the TTP, is "closely allied with al Qaeda" and has pledged to carry out attacks on other parts of the world, including the United States, Brennan said.

Attorney General Eric Holder told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the evidence in the Shahzad case shows the Pakistani Taliban was "intimately involved in this plot."

"We know that they helped facilitate it, we know they helped direct it, and I suspect we're going to come up with evidence that shows they helped to finance it," Holder said.

Shahzad was arrested while trying to fly out of New York on Monday night, two days after he allegedly attempted to set off a car bomb in Times Square. The bomb failed to detonate.

It was the second case in the last six months of a bungled terrorist attack on the United States, following the failed bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.

Brennan said U.S. counterterrorism efforts had degraded the ability of groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban to launch successful attacks.

"They're trying to find vulnerabilities in our defenses," Brennan said, noting the attempts have been "unsophisticated."

Shahzad, a Pakistani-American, had traveled to Pakistan several times in recent years, Brennan said.

"He was captured by the murderous rhetoric of al Qaeda and TTP," Brennan said of the suspect.

Preventing attacks by individuals, especially American citizens such as Shahzad, is a "very difficult challenge," Brennan said.

The case raised new questions about whether terrorism suspects should be read the Miranda warning that advises them of their rights to remain silent and obtain legal representation. Critics have accused the Obama administration of losing interrogation opportunities by giving Miranda warnings to terrorism suspects, including the alleged Christmas Day airplane bomber and Shahzad.

Brennan said Shahzad was interrogated for four hours under an exclusion to the Miranda warning involving public safety. Authorities then advised Shahzad of his rights, as required by law, Brennan told the "FOX News Sunday" program.

"It did not impede our ability to continue to acquire very important intelligence from him," Brennan said. "It was, I think, a very good example that law enforcement, operating within ... the existing system, were able to leverage the opportunities that they had to get this information."

Also on the FOX program, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York argued a change in the Miranda warning was necessary.

"If there's another 10, 15, 20 plots out there, that to me is more important to get all the intelligence we can on that," King said. "So I think we may have to work on revisions."

One idea, King said, would set up "separate system of justice dealing with American citizens who are allied with a foreign army or a foreign enemy."

Holder also said Sunday that he was considering possible changes to the Miranda warning. Asked if international terrorism made the current Miranda warnings too limited, Holder told the ABC program "This Week" that some adjustment may be necessary.

The system is working so far, Holder said, but "we also want to ... make determinations as to whether or not we have the necessary flexibility, whether we have a system that can deal with the situation that agents now confront."

"We're now dealing with international terrorism," Holder said, adding that his department would work with Congress "to come up with a proposal that is both constitutional, but that is also relevant to our time and the threat that we now face."